USA > North Carolina > History of North Carolina: North Carolina biography, Volume V > Part 8
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107
In business affairs Mr. Hawes is a merchant, bank director and manufacturer, and is associ- ated with his father in various industrial and commercial enterprises. A number of years ago he established the mercantile business at Atkinson, and is also a director of the Bank of Atkinson of which his father is president, and is secretary and treasurer of the New Atkinson Hosiery Mills, which began operations in the summer of 1918 for the manufacture of hosiery. This is an impor- tant industry for the little city. With his fa- ther Mr. Hawes is owner of several thousand acres of valuable timber and agricultural land in the vicinity of Atkinson.
JULIAN SMITH MANN. Lawyer, plantation owner, public official, Julian Smith Mann rep. resents one of the old and prominent families of North Carolina, and through his own career has impressed himself influentially upon his native state. He is now serving as superintendent of state prisons, and in 1916 became a candidate for state treasurer.
His home district is the old County of Hyde,
from which locality he was first promoted into politics, and where for a number of years he served as chairman of the Democratic Committee. He was born there August 15, 1863, and is a son of Edward L. and Mary M. (Gibbs) Mann. His father was a prominent planter, was a member of the North Carolina Secession Convention, and served both in the Lower House and Senate of the Legislature. Both parents were natives of Hyde County.
Julian Smith Mann was educated in Horner's School at Oxford, North Carolina, and in the State University, where he graduated in 1885 in the literary course. He continued his studies in the . law department, and in 1887 was admitted to the bar. Mr. Mann practiced a few years at Newbern, and had soon surrounded himself with an influential clientele. At the death of his father, however, he returned to take active charge of the plantations, and to their manage- ment has devoted his business energies ever since.
In 1891 Hyde County sent him to the Legis- lature. That was his first term in state politics. In the following session he performed a notable service to the people of North Carolina by in- troducing and securing the passage of the bill for the protection of oyster fishermen in North Carolina. As a result of this measure the foreign fishermen were driven away from the oyster beds along the North Carolina coast, but it required a quota of state troops to accomplish this, and since then the oyster industry has been conducted by and for North Carolina people. In the mean- time the beneficial effects of the bill have proved apparent in the immense growth of the oyster fisheries. He was also active in securing the passage of the measure providing for the Shell Fish Commission, and Governor Elias Carr ap- pointed him chief commissioner of that depart- ment.
In 1900 Mr. Mann was again elected to the Legislature for the session of 1901. Governor Aycock appointed him a director of the state prison, and at the special request of the governor the board of directors elected him superintendent of the state penal institution, and as such he served through Aycock's administration and was again appointed by Governor Glenn. At the ex- piration of his second term in 1909 he returned to Hyde County, and was busied with his plan- tation until 1913, when at the request of Gov- ernor Locke Craig he was again made super- intendent of state prisons. He is a man of great executive ability, a thorough organizer, and the state penientiary system has correspondingly benefited by his administration. Mr. Mann is a member of the Capitol Club at Raleigh, is a Mason, and belongs to the college fraternity Kappa Alpha.
On March 18, 1895, he married Emma F. Bonner, of Hyde County North Carolina, daugh- ter of Dr. William V. Bonner. To their union have been born five children: Edith M., Edna E., Margaret E., Julian E. and Edward Bonner.
COL. LUTHER GRAVES WAUGH. Distinguished not only as a native-born citizen of Surry County, but as a direct descendant of two of the oldest and best-known families of North Carolina, those of Franklin and Graves, Col. Luther Graves Waugh, of Dobson, a man of unquestioned integ- rity and ability, is eminently deserving of repre- sentation in a work of this character. A son of Harrison M. Waugh, he was born on a farm three
28
HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
miles from Mount Airy June 3, 1847. His grand- father, James Waugh, a native of Pennsylvania, migrated from that state to Kentucky, becoming one of the pioneer settlers of Nicholas County, where he spent the remainder of his days.
Harrison M. Waugh was born November 7, 1804, in Nicholas County, Kentucky, and was there bred and educated. Coming to Surry County, North Carolina, in early manhood, he first located in Waughtown, from there removing to Mount Airy where he embarked in mercantile pursuits. He afterward lived for a while in Rockford, but spent the closing years of his life in Dobson, passing away November 11, 1882. He was three times married, his first wife having been a Miss Waugh, of Waughtown. The maiden name of his second wife was Mary Ursula Graves. She was a daugh- ter of Solomon, and Mary (Franklin) Graves, and on the paternal side was a lineal descendant of Thomas Graves, who emigrated from England to America in 1607, and settled in Virginia, while on the maternal side she was of equally honored ancestry, having been a granddaughter of Gover- nor Jesse Franklin. She died in Rockford, Surry County, in 1852, leaving but one child, Luther Graves Waugh, the special subject of this brief sketch. By his first marriage Harrison M. Waugh had four children, James, Samuel, Susan and Vic- toria. By his union with Nancy Axson, his third wife, five children were born, Lulu, Jessie, Cora, Stella and John.
Scholarly in his tastes and ambitions, Luther G. Waugh attended first the public schools of Dob- son and later completed his studies at Emory and Henry College in Emory, Virginia. In August, 1864, a youth of scarce seventeen summers, he enlisted in Company B, Second Battalion, and went with his command to Virginia. Continuing with his regiment, he took an active part in vari- ous engagements, and on February 7, 1865, at the battle of Hatcher's Run, was captured by the enemy. Being taken to Point Lookout, he was there confined as a prisoner of war until June, 1865, when he was paroled. Returning to North Carolina, Colonel Waugh became actively inter- ested in the development of the agricultural re- sources of Surry County, and is now the owner of two valuable farms, one that adjoins Dobson containing 240 acres, and one in Fisher River Valley containing 100 acres.
A steadfast supporter of the principles of the democratic party, Colonel Waugh has always taken much interest in public affairs and has represented Surry County in the State Legislature. Religiously he remains true to the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he was reared.
WILLIAM ALEXANDER COOPER. To build up an important business, to maintain the standards of business integrity and civic public spirit through- out a long period of years, to ally oneself with every undertaking for the moral, religious and community welfare, is the kind of achievement which will always attract the energies of the best men, and it is by such standards that the life of William Alexander Cooper can be measured.
He was born at Clemmonsville, Forsyth County, North Carolina, May 22, 1868, a son of Thomas Dabney and Sarah (Wommack) Cooper. His par- ents are both deceased. He was reared in a home not without its refining influences and with incen- tive to character development, but at the same time he had no luxuries, was able to attend school only in such institutions as were maintained in
his home locality, and found it expedient at an early age to get out in the world and make his own opportunity. At the age of sixteen he went to Winston, and served a four years' apprentice- ship in the marble and granite business, and his expert efficiency in that trade has been the founda- tion on which his business career has been built up.
At the close of his apprenticeship he formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, Frank Cook, and they bought out the establishment of his former employer. The firm remained at Winston- Salem six years. Then in 1894 Mr. Cooper and his brothers, T. R. and G. W. Cooper, moved to Raleigh and bought the Raleigh Marble Works. The business has been conducted under the name of Cooper Brothers and later of Cooper Monu- ment Company. This is one of the most complete and extensive monument establishments in North Carolina. Their business headquarters are on West Martin Street near the Union Station in Raleigh. Long experience, continued growth of capital and resources, have brought the equipment of this firm to the highest point of efficiency. The firm has long employed some of the ablest artists in the stone cutting trade, and at the same time the plant has been equipped throughout with me- chanical processes so that practically every phase of the work, the cutting, carving, polishing, let- tering and boxing of monuments is done by ma- chinery. The business of the firm long since ex- ceeded local limitations. There is one fine example of the Cooper Monument Company in the City of Washington. This is the monument to John Car- roll, first bishop of Baltimore, made out of North Carolina stone and standing in one of the public parks of the nation's capital. The statute of Governor Z. B. Vance in Capitol Square at Raleigh is another example of their workmanship, and there are many statues of individuals, Confederate monuments, and other similar work to be found practically all over the State of North Carolina.
On January 6, 1909, Mr. Cooper celebrated his twenty-fifth anniversary of his business career. He received many tributes from his fellow business men and also one in the form of a letter couched in terms of congratulation and of reference to the high standing of his business and his own personal integrity, from Governor R. B. Glenn, who also came from Forsyth County.
Besides his position as president of the Cooper Monument Company, Mr. Cooper is also president of the Granita Company, and was one of the organ- izers and is a director in the Anchor Trust Com- pany of Raleigh.
A thorough public spirit and broad and active interest in every movement for the betterment of his home city have gone hand in hand with Mr. Cooper's progress as a business man. He served three terms as an alderman of Raleigh from the Third Ward. It is said that he was the most efficient chairman of the street committee who ever occupied that office. On account of the demands of his private business he tried to be relieved of his responsibilities as an alderman at the close of his second term in 1909, but his constituents refused to be without his public service, and he was nominated unanimously and re-elected. Of his civic work perhaps the most important was his leadership and effective influence in behalf of the paving of Raleigh's principal streets with asphalt. Such pavement was the first to be laid in the state and as much as anything else they have served to keep Raleigh in the front of pro- gressive American municipalities.
F
D.H. Harmon!
29
HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
Church, fraternal organizations, philanthropic institutions and other movements have all bene- fited from Mr. Cooper's active relationship. He has long been a member of the Raleigh Baptist Tabernacle, and took an active part in the enlarg- ing and remodeling of the church edifice a few years ago. He is a member of the Baptist State Mission Board, and has been especially liberal of his time and means in. support of the Baptist Orphanage at Thomasville. He originated the an- nual festive occasion at the orphanage known as Cooper Carnival, which is a time of rejoicing to the many children who recognize that institution as their only home. Mr. Cooper is also a trustee of Rex Hospital at Raleigh, one of the best equipped and best managed institutions of its kind in the state. He is a Knights Templar Mason and is also a member of the board of charities, of the Law and Order League, of the board of health, the Good Health League, and is a trustee of the Raleigh Y. M. C. A. In 1916 he was state councillor of the Junior Order of United American Mechanics. He made his year in that office not- able. Addressing all the councils of the state he called for a general observance of April 7, 1916, as "Service Day" when as local bodies or in- dividuals all members would assume some special service of good to the sick or burdened or to im- proving the conditions of community. In Wake County every country schoolhouse received a fresh coat of paint. Results throughout the state were so gratifying that "Service Day" has been adopted as a feature of the annual program of the order all over the United States.
DEWITT HARMON, now serving as county engi- neer of Forsyth County in his sixth year, is a successful business man at Kernersville and is one of the well known figures in the public life of his native county. Mr. Harmon for many years was engaged in railroad engineering, and therefore brings a vast amount of training and experience to his present official position.
Mr. Harmon is a native of Kernersville. His grandfather, Appollus Harmon, was born in Suf- field, Connecticut, of colonial ancestry. He was reared and educated in his native state, but when a young man came to North Carolina and at Kernersville met and married Salome Kerner. Sev- eral years later they went back to Connecticut, but eventually returned to Kernersville, where Appollus Harmon located on land inherited by his wife. He was there engaged in farming and remained a resident until his death at the age of sixty-seven. His wife, Salome Kerner, was the daughter of Joseph and Christina (Cosner) Kerner. Excepting for the few years she lived in Con- necticut she was a life long resident of Kerners- ville.
Julius Sheldon Harmon, father of DeWitt, was born at Kernersville in 1824. Part of his early education was acquired in Connecticut, and at an early age he was apprenticed to learn the trade of millwright. He inherited studious tastes, was a great reader, and though he had little opportu- nity for formal schooling he acquired a very thorough education. For a time he taught school. Besides teaching he worked at his trade as mill- wright and also did surveying. His home for the greater part of his life was at Kernersville, where he died in 1891. The maiden name of his wife was Antoinette Kerner, daughter of Phillip Kerner. Their four children were Cora, Della,
DeWitt and Tilla E. The first two are now deceased. Tilla is a graduate of Salem College and is a successful music teacher. She and her brother now occupy the old homestead at Kerners- ville.
De Witt Harmon had the advantages of the grammar and high schools of Kernersville, and at the age of eighteen he had qualified as a teacher. His first term was taught in the Pine Grove School in Kernersville Township. After two years as clerk with the general merchandise firm of Beard & Roberts at Kernersville he was offered a position in the Moravian School at Nazareth, Pennsylvania, and he taught there three terms. Resigning he took up an active outside work more to his liking and became identified with the engi- neering corps during the construction of the Rich- mond & Danville Railroad. He began as a chain and stake bearer, and having much ability at mathematics and being eager for advancement he was promoted until he became assistant to the engi- neer of the maintenance department of the road. Many responsibilities were given to him in the engineering work. For five years Mr. Harmon had his headquarters at Asheville, North Carolina. He was then assigned to the Georgia department, with headquarters at Savannah, and remained there until 1891.
On the death of his father he resigned from the railroad and returned home. He had in the mean- time acquired an interest in a flouring mill near Kernersville, and 1897 he erected the Kernersville Roller Mills, equipped with all the modern machinery and facilities for the manufacture of high grade patent flour. That is one of the chief industries of that part of Forsyth County, and Mr. Harmon still operates the plant.
His public spirit has led him into active con- nection with public affairs. For several years he served as one of the Board of Commissioners of Kernersville and also on the local School Board. He was a member of that board when the fine schoolhouse was erected. In 1912, by act of the Legislature, he was appointed a member of the Board of Highway Commissioners of Forsyth County, and in that position his training as an engineer has given him much influence and has enabled him to serve the community with a thorough professional skill. Since he became a member of the board many improvements have been made on the roads and several bridges built. For four years he was a member of the Board of County Commissioners, and in that time several miles of macadam road and the County Home was built.
ALBION DUNN, mayor of Greenville and a prom- inent lawyer of that city, was first elected to the office in 1915 and for a second term in 1917.
The administration of Mayor Dunn will always be a memorable one in the matter of municipal advancement and improvement of Greenville. Practically all the paving of the city in perma- nent form has been accomplished during his ad- ministration. During his first term 89,000 square yards were laid and 40,000 yards were put down in 1917, giving the city now a total of 129,000 square yards of durable pavement. In one twelve month period four miles of sidewalks were con- structed. Gas mains have been extended all over the city and $100,000 were authorized for the construction and improvement of water and light plant. Since he became mayor Mr. Dunn has
30
HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
performed all the services of city attorney free of charge. That was one of the chief savings effected, in obviating attorneys' costs and fees upon paving work.
Mr. Dunn is one of the younger men of North Carolina, but his public spirit and his conscientiou devotion to the public welfare might well be copied and emulated by all municipal officers. He was born at Scotland Neck, North Carolina, June 2, 1883, a son of William Arrington and Kate (Speed) Dunn. His father was also an attorney. The son was educated in private schools, attended the liter- ary department of Wake Forest College for four years from 1898 to 1902, taking his A. B. degree in 1902, and in February, 1904, graduated from the law department. He was not yet twenty-one when he graduated and was admitted to the bar and began practice in 1904. He practiced at Scotland Neck from 1905 to 1910, and since then has been handling a large general practice at Greenville, and has an excellent clientele. He is a member of the North Carolina and American Bar Associations, is former president of the Carolina Club, and is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias. Active in the Baptist Church he teaches the Baraca Class.
January 9, 1907, Mr. Dunn married Miss Grace Gallaway, of Mount Airy, North Carolina. She died March 19, 1907. On December 30, 1909, he married Miss Irma Cobb, of Greenville. They have one son, Albion, Jr., born December 2, 1910. 1
RICHARD C. FREEMAN is an attorney at Dobson, and has practiced since 1899 in Surry County. Be- sides his law business various official positions have been conferred upon him and he is the pres- ent postmaster of Dobson.
Mr. Freeman was born January 19, 1867, and is closely connected with one of the earliest fami- lies of Western North Carolina. His remote Ameri- can ancestry goes back to Samuel Freeman, who was born in England and of English parentage, and was one of the first settlers of Surry County. Securing large tracts of land in the Yadkin River Valley he improved them and cultivated a large acreage with the aid of his slaves. He lived there until his death and his will was probated in 1796.
His son Aaron Freeman, great-grandfather of the Dobson lawyer, was born on the present site of Siloam on the Yadkin River. He removed to Fish River and became owner of upwards of 1,500 acres of land in that vicinity. This extensive plantation he operated with the aid of slaves and lived there until his death.
A portion of this generous estate in the Fish River Valley was inherited by his son Alexander Freeman, who was born near Dobson. His life's activities were consumed in farming and he was one of the substantial men of that locality. He married Sally Mosely, a daughter of Henry A. Mosely, who married a Miss Shore. The Mosely and Shore families were pioneers in Yadkin county. Alexander Freeman and wife both lived to a good old age. Their five sons were named West, Hawkins, Henry, Samuel and Nicholas. Nicholas was a soldier in the Confederate army.
Samuel A. Freeman, father of Richard C., was born on the farm two miles northwest of Dob- son, September 3, 1842. He inherited some of his father's estate, but most of his brief life was taken up with official work. He was appointed deputy sheriff and to better perform the duties of that office he removed to Dobson. He served both
as deputy sheriff and deputy clerk until his death, which occurred at the early age of thirty-three.
Samuel A. Freeman married Susan E. Waugh, a member of the notable family that gave the name to the present suburban town of Winston-Salem. She was born at Waughtown, a daughter of Har- rison M. and Mary Waugh. Harrison Waugh was a son of Samuel Waugh, a native of Pennsylvania. The father of Samuel Waugh was of Scotch-Irish ancestry and came from England to America, lo- cating in Pennsylvania. From that state Samuel Waugh moved to Carlisle, Kentucky, and lived there until his death. Harrison Waugh came from Kentucky to North Carolina. He married for his first wife Mary Waugh, who was born at Waugh- town, daughter of James Waugh, who was a brother of Samuel Waugh. James Waugh was a native of Pennsylvania, had come to North Caro- lina and bought a large tract of land including the present site of Waughtown. He married Eliza- beth Robinet. Mrs. Samuel A. Freeman survived her husband and was eighty-two years of age on March 22, 1918. Her family consisted of two sons and one daughter, Richard C., Luther W., and Sallie, widow of Dr. Walter C. Folger.
Richard C. Freeman prepared for college at Columbia, Missouri, but studied law in the Uni- versity of North Carolina in 1898-99 and was ad- mitted to practice in the latter year. He forth- with opened an office at Dobson and has been a resourceful and capable member of the local bar ever since. He is also interested in agriculture, having two farms operated by tenants. He also owns considerable real estate at Dobson.
In 1894 Mr. Freeman married Maude Folger, daughter of Dr. Milton Y. and Elizabeth Folger. Ten children have been reared in their household, named Margaret, Rachel, Richard C., Jr., Susan E., James N., Alton Brooks, Clara, Franklin E., William B. and Lucile V. Mr. and Mrs. Freeman are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and are rearing their children in the same faith.
Politically Mr. Freeman cast his first presiden- tial vote for Grover Cleveland. He has been a con- sistent supporter of the democratic party and has been very useful in keeping up the party strength in Surry County. During Cleveland's administra- tion he served as deputy United States marshal. Since reaching his majority Mr. Freeman has at- tended nearly all the state conventions as a dele- gate and many of the district and county con- ventions. He has the distinction of being the first mayor elected at Dobson, has served several years as a member of the school board, and is the pres- ent postmaster. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
J. WORTH ELLIOTT is a member of the firm Elliott Building Company with headquarters at Hickory in Catawba County, and with his firm has handled some of the most extensive contracts for railroad and other heavy construction enterprise within recent years.
Mr. Elliott was born in Iredell County, North Carolina, in February, 1856, son of H. Frank and Catherine (Alexander) Elliott. The Elliotts are a family of builders. H. Frank Elliott during the four years of war between the states served the Confederacy as an expert mechanic and builder in the Confederate navy yards at Selma, Alabama. Afterwards he was a contractor and builder for many years.
J. Worth Elliott practically grew up in the
31
HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
atmosphere of building construction, and has fol- lowed that line continuously since early youth. He is a second cousin of Mr. J. D. Elliott, presi- dent of the Elliott Building Company of Hickory. These relatives came to Hickory together in 1885, and have ever since been closely associated in business affairs. They have developed one of the largest contracting organizations in the South. Their company handles and employs great num- bers of workmen, and have furnished the capital, the organization, and skilled supervision for some of the largest construction enterprises in North Carolina and other states. Their specialty has been the erection of buildings for railroad com- panies, such as depots, and J. Worth Elliott is vice president of the Elliott Building Company.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.