USA > North Carolina > History of North Carolina: North Carolina biography, Volume V > Part 75
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In 1870 Stephen H. My's was married to Miss Wiuifred Crump, and the following children sur- vive him: Mrs. W. P. Covington, of Ellerbee; A. G. Myers, vice president of The Citizens National Bank, Gastonia; W. R. Myers, of St. Louis, Missouri; Mrs. M. F. Kirby, Jr., of Gastonia; B. C. Myers, of Portsmouth, Virginia, and C. C. Myers, of Durham, North Carolina. Mr. Myers was a member of the Methodist Epis- copal Church on Tryon Street, Charlotte. He belonged also to Charlotte Camp, United Confed- erate Veterans, who attended his funeral in a body, leaving him in the peaceful quiet of Elm- wood.
A. G. Myers was quite young when the family settled at Charlotte and there he was reared aud educated. Almost the entire period of his busi- ness life has been identified with banking, and for several years he was with the Merchants and Farmers National Bank of Charlotte. Thus he came experienced to The Citizens National Bank at Gastonia, of which he is the active vice presi- dent. This institution is in a very flourishing condition, and Mr. Myers' connection with it is one of its soundest assets. Since locating here he has taken a hearty and intelligent in- terest in general affairs and has shown a com- mendable spirit of co-operation in matters of public importance. He is president of the Groves Mills, Incorporated, of Gastonia, president and treasurer of the Dillings Cotton Mills of Kings Mountain, and also identified in various capacities with the Armstrong group of mills.
WILLIAM DOUGALD MACMILLAN. During his active connection with business affairs at Wil- mington, Mr. MacMillan has built up an extensive business in the handling of automobiles, and at the same time has become a factor in local affairs and is now serving as one of the county commis- sioners of New Hanover County.
Born at Wilmington, January 24, 1872, he represents some sterling Scotch lineage, and is a son of William D. and Maggie Wright ( Ander- son) MacMillan. His father was an old and prominent physician, and now has residence at Sloop Point in Pender County.
Mr. MacMillan finished his education in the-
public schools of Magnolia, and at once took up commercial pursuits. He spent six years in the auditing department of the Atlantic Coast Line Railway, and for two and a half years was agent of that railroad at Washington, North Carolina. He theu returned to Wilmington, and established sales stables for the handling of horses, and of buggies and wagons. After the automobiles came into popular favor he established in 1910 an auto- mobile sales agency, and is one of the leading automobile dealers of the city.
Mr. MacMillan was appointed in February, 1916, to the office of county commissioners, and he has proved a valuable addition to the board of admin- istration. He is a member of the Cape Fear Club, the Cape Fear Country Club, the Carolina Yacht Club, is past master of Lodge No. 305, Ancient Free & Accepted Masons, belongs to Concord Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, and to the Knights Templar Commandery and Sudan Temple.
On February 12, 1896, he married Miss Kathar- ine Gaston de Rosset, of Wilmington. They are parents of four children: William D., Jr., Louis de R., Jane Dickinson and Margaret Anderson. The family are members of St. James Episcopal Church, in which Mr. MacMillan is vestryman.
J. VANCE MCGOUGAN, M. D. Not alone for professional success, although it has been unusual, is Dr. J. Vance McGougan well known in Cum- berland County, where he is one of the large land- owners and most progressive and scientific agri- culturists, but additionally because of his in- telligent activity in civic affairs at Fayetteville and the hearty support he is always ready to give to worthy enterprises. Of Scotch ancestry on both sides, Dr. McGougan has not far to seek to discover whence came his heritage of admirable traits with which he has been richly endowed.
J. Vance McGougan was born at Lumber Bridge, Robeson County, North Carolina, in 1870. His parents were Duncan Blue and Catherine (McGou- gan) McGougan. All the MeGougans are High- land Scotch. Duncan Blue McGougan was born in Robeson County, near Lumber Bridge. His father came to North Carolina from Scotland, landing at Wilmington and later coming up the Cape Fear River, in the early part of the nineteenth century. He settled permanently near Lumber Bridge in Robeson County, and there the father of Dr. McGougan was reared and passed his life.
Following his elemental educational training, Dr. MeGougan spent two years as a student at Wake Forest College, and two years in the med- ical department of the state university at Chapel Hill, but completed his medical education in the University of Maryland at Baltimore, from which institution he was graduated in the class of 1893. After spending one year as an interne in hospital work in Baltimore, Dr. MeGougan came to Fayette- ville and entered upon the practice of his pro- fession, and his medical knowledge and surgical skill, supplemented by a genial, wholesouled man- ner that serves to partly banish apprehension, have contributed to the upbuilding of a profes- sional reputation that extends all over and beyond Cumberland County. While this pleasant, agree- able manner is undoubtedly an asset in the sick room, the cheerful attitude is borne by the Doctor into other circles wherever his interests reach, and perhaps no citizen of Fayetteville is more generally popular.
Dr. McGougan is a member of the county, state and the American Medical associations and is ex-
France Moura
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vice president of the North Carolina State Med- ical Society. He is local surgeon for the Atlantic Coast Line Railway, the N. & S. Railroad and also of the Aberdeen & Rockfish Railway. For some years he served as surgeon for the Second Regi- ment, North Carolina National Guard, and re- tired with the rank of major.
Many men with heavy professional cares would do well to follow the example set by Dr. McGou- gan in finding recreation through agricultural in- terests. He has acquired a large acreage of rich, agricultural land, his principal estate being his plantation of 950 acres located four miles west of Fayetteville. He owns other fine farms in the county and near his old home in Robeson County, but the most famous of all is the plantation above referred to because of its great productive- ness. Of this large estate he now has 700 acres under cultivation and practically produces a bale of cotton and 40 bushels of corn to the acre. In bringing this yield about Dr. McGougan has ex- pended considerable capital in improvements, in- cluding fertilizing agents and modern machinery, in the meanwhile finding a vast field of enjoyment opened up in scientific experimentation, which be- longs so essentially to the life and habit of the enlightened physician. Dr. McGougan is un- married.
WILLIAM CHESTER GIBSON is a prominent build- ing contractor and now has the largest organization and the most complete facilities for the handling of all classes of contracts in that line in the City of Durham.
Mr. Gibson was born November 16, 1886, in Graham Township of Alamance County, North Carolina, son of substantial farming people in that locality, Moses M. and Docie (Fogleman) Gibson. As a boy he attended public schools, the high school at Hawfield, and in early life skilled himself in the carpenter's trade. In 1909 he came to Durham and since 1914 operated independently as a building contractor. The services of his organ- ization have been called to the construction of many of the stores, banks and public buildings and residences throughout Durham and surround- ing territory. In the fall of 1917 Mr. Gibson formed a partnership with Mr. C. H. Shipp, the firm now being Gibson and Shipp. The offices are in the First National Bank Building.
Mr. Gibson is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, is a democrat and a member of the Presbyterian Church. September 20, 1911, he married Bettie Cole of Alamance County, North Carolina. They have one daughter, Bettie Mae.
DELOS WENFORD SORRELL. A member of the Durham bar for the past twelve years Delos W. Sorrell has prosecuted his professional labors with such energy and ability as to achieve both reputation and the earnings which go with success at the bar. It has been his fortune and privilege to have been connected with some of the most im- portant cases tried in the local courts. At the same time he had shown much public spirit in for- warding every movement for the welfare of the community.
Mr. Sorrell was born in Durham County, North Carolina, April 8, 1882, a son of Milton Lynn and Ruanna R. (Bagwell) Sorrell. His father was a farmer. He attended the local district schools and the high school at Cary, and in 1898 entered Wake Forest College, from which he graduated A. B. in 1902. Following his collegiate career he
taught school at the Fruitland Institute in Hender- son County and also in the Nelson public schools, and in 1904 Wake Forest College conferred upon him the Master of Arts degree. The following year he spent with a warehouse company, but in 1905 entered the law department of the University of North Carolina and took the Supreme Court examination in February, 1906. The next month he located at Durham and began general practice. From 1907 to 1909 Mr. Sorrell was county attor- ney and also served as chairman of the board of education and as secretary of the democratic committee of the county. On March 14, 1917, he was elected for a term of three years as chairman of the Board of Water Commissioners of the City of Durham. He has taken an active part in fra- ternal matters, especially with the Knights of Pythias and the Junior Order of United American Mechanics. He is grand vice chancellor of the Knights of Pythias for the state and has been rep- resentative to the national convention of the Junior Order of United American Mechanics. Mr. Sor- rell is a deacon in- the First Baptist Church of Durham.
November 28, 1906, he married Miss Margaret Dean Holloway of Durham, daughter of James L. and Lucy ( Blackwell) Holloway.
EDWIN HUTCHINSON MALONE is a lawyer of reputation and successful practice at Louisburg, and is a former law partner of the present gov- ernor of North Carolina, T. W. Bickett.
Mr. Malone was born in Louisburg November 26, 1882, a son of Dr. James Ellis and Anna Rich- mond (Fuller) Malone. His father was a widely known physician in that section of North Caro- lina. Edwin H. Malone secured most of his early training in the Louisburg Male Academy and from there entered the University of North Carolina, where he studied law and was admitted to the bar in August, 1911. Since then he has been in general practice at Louisburg formerly as member of the firm Bickett White & Malone. After Governor Bickett was inaugurated as chief executive of the state he withdrew from the firm, leaving the partnership as at present White & Malone.
Mr. Malone is also counsel for the local board of education and is chairman of the Democratic County Executive Committee. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Or- der of Elks and is a steward in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. November 1, 191", he married Miss Eleanor Bryant Cooke, of Louis- burg. Her parents are Charles K. and Rosa Kearney Cooke.
ARTHUR BERTRAM SKELDING. A civil and elec- trical engineer whose wide experience has con- nected him with many important undertakings both North and South, Arthur Bertram Skelding has been a resident of the City of Wilmington since 1897 and has been during that time general manager of the Tide Water Power Company, one of the largest corporations for the development of electrical power in the State of North Carolina.
He is a Northern man by birth, and was born at Riverside, Connecticut, July 6, 1868, a son ot Arthur Eugene and Esther Ann (Lockwood) Skelding. His father was a Connecticut attorney. He was liberally educated, attending the Kings School at Stamford, Connecticut, and in 1889 graduating from the Yale University. He pursued the scientific and technical course, and for the
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past quarter of a century has been actively en- gaged in the work of his profession. From 1889 to 1891 he was employed in the testing department of the General Electrical Company, and from 1891 to 1893 was in the employ of Thomas A. Edison at Orange, New Jersey. During 1893-95 Mr. Skelding was connected with the Hall Signal Company, and the following two years was with W. A. McAdoo as manager of a street railroad in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Tide Water Power Company and its predecessors had their chief de- velopment and extension of service during the twenty-one years that Mr. Skelding has been in active charge. He resigned from the Tide Water Power Company January 1, 1918.
He is a member of the Cape Fear Club, the Cape Fear Country Club, the Carolina Yacht Club and of the Masonic Order.
On February 8, 1898, he married Miss Dorothy Ames, of Washington, D. C. She was a grand- daughter of Columbus De Lano, who served as Secretary of the Interior under President Grant. Mrs. Skelding died December 4, 1904, leaving one daughter, Elizabeth Ames. On April 3, 1907, Mr. Skelding married Mary Alan Short, daughter of H. B. Short, of Lake Waccamam, North Caro- lina. There are three children by the second mar- riage, Mary Alan, Esther Ann and Bertram.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN GRADY, who was one of North Carolina's most distinguished sons, did his greatest work as an educator. Unless the con- dition of his life and times are considered, that seems faint praise. He taught and led men to better things, not in the "piping times of peace,"' when thought and effort are liberally bestowed on matters that have a cultural advantage, but in those years when war had devastated the South, when men and women and children had to struggle to the limit of their energies for the bare ne- cessities of existence-then it was that he proved a light shining in the dark, a steady flame that never was dimmed except when his own spirit went out to the God that gave it. He was a natural teacher, a force for purity and culture in the finest sense of the phrase, and as one who turned many to righteousness his name deserves to shine as the stars in the firmament.
While first and repeated emphasis must be placed upon his achievements as an educator, his life was not without other considerable distinc- tions. He was one of the bravest soldiers who fought for the Southern cause and aided it not only with his presence in the ranks of the fighting armies but with the advocacy of an enlightened mind and an effective pen. He also served two terms in Congress, and that also should be men- tioned because he was truly a representative of the people.
Benjamin Franklin Grady was born in Albert- son Township, Duplin County, October 10, 1831, and died at Clinton, North Carolina, March 6, 1914, in the eighty-second year of his age. In his own career were combined the talents and characteristics of a notable group of antecedents. His name indicates Irish origin. No family in America has preserved in larger measure certain racial characteristics than these North Carolina Gradys. From this family was descended the noted Henry Woodfin Grady of Georgia, certainly the most eloquent orator the South has produced, who had back of his oratory a great and far- seeing mind, whose orations were not merely
beautiful thoughts finely expressed, but were the outcroppings both of a great intellect, which could grasp the most profound problems of civic life, and of a heart full of love for his fellow men. Henry W. Grady, though he died at thirty- nine, left an imprint upon the American public mind which will never fade.
According to standard authorities the Gradys and O'Gradys go back in Ireland to the fourth century. Very much, however, of this early family lore is mythical, not only in relation to this family, but with all the families dealt with which go back of the year 1000. A prominent early character was John O'Grady, Archdeacon of Caswell in 1365. In 1405 another John O'Grady was Bishop of Elfin, a cathedral founded by St. Patrick in the middle of the fifth century. The Grady coat of arms is thus described: "Per pale gules and sable, three lions passant per pale argent and or. Crest: A horse's head erased argent. Motto: Vulneratus non victus."
The ancestry of the North Carolina branch of the family goes back to William Grady or Graddy, who was in North Carolina prior to 1718, since on June 30th of that year James Rutland con- veyed fifty acres of land on Deep Creek in Bertie County to William Grady. It is said that the name has always been pronounced Graddy in Duplin County.
William Grady had a son John who moved to Duplin County and settled on a tract of land in the fork of Burncoat Creek and Northeast River. That land is still owned by the Grady family. This John moved to Duplin County in 1739. He married Mary Whitfield, daughter of William Whitfield. Of the children of John, the son John was killed at the battle of Moore's Creek Bridge in 1776, and a monument to his memory stands on the old battlefield. Another son, Alexander, who participated in the same battle, afterwards married Nancy Thomas, and lived the remainder of his life on the old Grady plantation. His son, Henry, commonly called by the family "Lord Harry," married Elizabeth Outlaw, daughter of James Outlaw, January 6, 1799. On February 17, 1800, there was born of this marriage Alexander Outlaw Grady, father of Benjamin Franklin Grady.
In 1830 Alexander Outlaw Grady married Anne Sloan, daughter of Gibson and Rachel (Bryan) Sloan. Through his grandmother, Rachel Bryan, Benjamin Franklin Grady was directly connected with the Bryan family of North Carolina as well as with William Jennings Bryan of Nebraska. All of this family is directly descended from Lord Needham of Ireland, whose daughter mar- ried a Bryan and immigrated to America. One of the most distinguished of this branch was Colonel Needham Bryan, who was colonel of Johnston County while Tryon and Martin were the governors of the province and the representative of his county in the Provincial Congresses of 1774 and 1775. Thus B. F. Grady had in his veins the blood of the Whitfields, the Outlaws, the Bryans, the Sloans, the Needhams, the Kornegays and many other prominent families of North Carolina.
The Gradys, while favorable to the adoption of the Federal Constitution in 1788, subsequently adopted Mr. Jefferson's political views. In 1832 Alexander Outlaw Grady, after hearing Mr. Cal- houn's address before the Legislature of North Carolina, of which he was then a member, became an adherent of Calhoun's doctrines aud sym-
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B. F. Grady.
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pathized with South Carolina's action at that time. By 1860 he was a pronounced secessionist. Alexander O. Grady was a farmer, but a student of politics. His library, though small, was well selected; consisting chiefly of histories and biog- raphies and political works, with only a few books of lighter literature.
B. F. Grady therefore had the inestimable bless- ing of good birth and family tradition. His boy- hood was spent in the country. He attended the old Field schools in the winter and in the summer worked on a farm. He was blessed with good health, and was vigorous in body and mind. He enjoyed hunting and fishing, and thus early be- came a student of nature. From his father he acquired a knowledge of politics and of public problems. Under the guidance of his mother he read and studied "The Science of Common Things." When he was about seventeen years of age his father and some neighbors engaged a classical teacher, and afterwards he was prepared for college at the Old Grove Academy, then taught by Rev. James M. Sprunt, a Scotch Presbyterian. In 1853 he entered the university and graduated with the highest honors in 1857, receiving the degree A. M. Among his classmates were Col. Thomas S. Kenan, Judge A. C. Avery, Maj. Robert Bingham, Dr. D. McL. Graham, Capt. John Dugger, Hon. John Graham, and many others who became prominent subsequently.
Even before his university career B. F. Grady determined that his mission in life was to dispel ignorance and uplift the people. It was much against the wishes of his father that he chose to follow the vocation of teaching. After leaving the university he became) associated with Mr. Sprunt at Old Grove Academy and two years later, on the recommendation of Governor Swain, then president of the university, and Dr. Philips, Professor of Mathematics, he was elected Professor of Mathematics and Natural Sciences in Austin College, then located at Huntsville, Texas .. He entered upon his new duties in Texas in Septem- ber, 1859, and continued this employment until the outbreak of the war, at which time the college suspended.
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Prior to the war Mr. Grady had not become a pronounced secessionist. It was only after the election of Mr. Lincoln and when it was plain that force would be employed to destroy the rights of the Southern states that he identified himself with the Southern cause. Just as he was on the point of enlisting a fever disabled him from active work, and prevented him from entering the army until the early spring of 1862. He then became a member of the 25th Texas Cavalry, which in a few months was dismounted and became an in- fantry organization. He served throughout with the rank of an orderly sergeant, though he twice refused the offer of a captaincy. At Arkansas Post January 11, 1863, the entire command fell into the hands of the enemy. For about three months Mr. Grady was confined at Camp Butler near Springfield, Illinois. He suffered greatly from the rigors of winter and the many brutalities imposed upon the prisoners, and at one time was shot at by a guard because he refused to take off his cap to a Union officer.
He was exchanged in April, 1863, and the regi- ment then became a part of Grandbury's Brigade of Hardee's Corps. He was in the famous divi- sion commanded by Gen. Pat Cleburne. He participated in many battles, notably at Lookout Mountain, Chickamauga, with General Johnston in all the desperate fighting up to Atlanta, and
then with Hood in the disastrous campaign of Tennessee, culminating in the battle of Franklin, where every Confederate officer in Cleburne's division above the rank of lieutenant was killed. Mr. Grady had developed into an expert rifleman and was often detailed to do duty as a sharp- shooter. After Franklin and Nashville the regi- ment made its way to North Carolina to assist in repelling General Sherman. Just before the battle of Bentonville Mr. Grady was again taken ill with fever; was sent to Raleigh, and was de- tained at the Peace Institute Hospital until May 2d. The war closed while he was delirious with fever, and when he regained consciousness both Lee and Johnston had laid down their arms.
Without money, ragged and still suffering from the effects of fever, he wandered back to the home of his father in Duplin County. Two years later, in 1867, he saw his father die of a broken heart at the woeful result of the struggle in which two of his sons had been killed, the other two wounded, and he himself had suffered grievously.
Mr. Grady realized that it was necessary to build up a new South upon the ruins of the past. Teaching was his chosen profession and he be- lieved that in the education of the people lay the salvation of the country. Soon after his re- turn from the army he was employed by a gentle- man who had for years maintained a good private school on his farm. Then in 1867 he was en- gaged to teach the Neuse River Academy near Seven Springs, but in January, 1868, he formed a partnership with Murdock McLeod and taught the Clinton Male Academy seven years. As a result of ill health due to the confining work of the schoolroom he took up farming. He was in no sense a farmer and he soon had some young men around him and was conducting a private school.
In January, 1879, he returned to his old home in Duplin County and in 1881 was elected super- intendent of public instruction, a position he held until 1888. He was pre-eminently fitted for the duties of this office. During his administration the teachers were required to attain to a higher standard than ever before. He visited the schools often, and in the summer months conducted an institute at Keenansville.
Through all these years his reputation had been steadily growing and he had many fast and loyal friends, especially among the agricultural pop- ulation. In 1890 he was elected to Congress to represent the Third North Carolina District and was re-elected in 1892. He represented his district with ability and unswerving fidelity. His desk at Washington was often surrounded by members of Congress seeking information from the "encyclo- pedia," as he was familiarly called. He formed pleasing relations and friendship with some of the most motable of his colleagues, including Speaker Crisp of Georgia, James C. Richardson of Tennessee, William J. Bryan of Nebraska, and Roger Q. Mills of Texas. While in Congress he made it a rule that he would never vote on a proposition until he had thoroughly examined it. Unless his judgment approved the measure he in- variably voted against it. He was at the same time a zealous and influential worker for all measures that promised any benefit to the South and to the agricultural interests of the country.
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