USA > North Carolina > History of North Carolina: North Carolina biography, Volume V > Part 85
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December 20, 1905, he married Miss Neli Mor- gan, of Smithfield. They have a family of four children : Morgan, Pauline, Virginia and Nell Morgan.
GEORGE HOWARD has been an important figure in industrial and business affairs at Tarboro and elsewhere for upwards of thirty years.
He was one of the organizers of the Runnymede Mills, Nos. 1 and 2 at Tarboro and No. 3 at Wil- son, and has been president of the business since organization. He is also vice president of the Edgecombe Homestead and Loan Association, president of the Tarboro Ginning Company, treasurer of the Edgecombe County Fair Associa- tion, chairman of the Board of Trustees of Tar- boro Public Schools, a member of the exemption board and has also carried on a large business as a builder and contractor and as a dealer in build- ers supplies.
Mr. Howard was born May 13, 1866, son of George and Anua (Stamps) Howard. His father was a prominent and successful attorney of North Carolina. George Howard was educated in the Bingham Military School and in 1885 graduated from the University of North Carolina. He was first associated with his father in the hardware business, before he entered the larger field of industrial enterprise where his name is now one of the most conspicuous in the state. Mr. Howard is a Knight Templar Mason, and is an elder of the Presbyterian Church of Tarboro.
April 19, 1892, he married Miss Elizabeth Rawls of Tarboro, daughter of E. W. and Mary (Cham- berlain) Rawls. Her father was a merchant. Mr. and Mrs. Howard have five children: George; Elizabeth Stamps, now Mrs. B. R. Howell, of Fayetteville, North Carolina; Rawls; Mary Chamberlain; and Robert.
ELLIOTT S. MILLSAPS. To be full of his subject, to have its fundamentals gronnd into him by ex- perience, is one of the primary qualifications of the teacher, the salesman, or in any line of lead- ership, whether it be in the humblest role of di- recting a few employes in a common task, or in handling the operations of an army.
A position of leadership, involving peculiar re- sponsibilities and powers, is that of district agent for the agricultural extension work carried on by the United States Department of Agriculture, and the State College of Agriculture and Experiment Station. The man in charge of this district of North Carolina of which Statesville is the center is Elliott S. Millsaps. Mr. Millsaps was a practical, thorough and efficient farmer long before he as- sumed the role of a leader in the agricultural up- lift of Western North Carolina. Another valuable qualification was his former experience as a teacher, and thus he has the ability to mix with farming people of his own class and at the same time impart knowledge through his own well trained mind.
Mr. Millsaps is not only a native of North Caro- lina but is identified with the state by a line of ancestry that goes back into extremely early days. The original seat of the Millsaps family was Alexander County. That section of the state was originally settled by Mr. Millsaps' great-great- grandfather, Joseph Millsaps. Joseph Millsaps with two companions, Mayberry and Smith, ar- rived there some years before the Revolutionary war. Joseph Millsaps was either a native of Wales or the son of a Welshman. These three original settlers on coming to the region, after the man- ner of pioneer settlers, "looked the country over" and having each manifested his choice they divided the territory among them into three parts. The land thus settled embraced a very large expanse of country.
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Mr. Millsaps' great-grandfather was "Billy" Millsaps, who became the father of nineteen chil- dren. These children and their descendants scat- tered over not only Western North Carolina but many western states, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missis- sippi, Louisiana, Texas, and through all the gen- erations they have proved a strong, sturdy, sub- stantial race of people. For the most part they have followed the vocation of farming.
The grandfather of Mr. Millsaps was Col. Tom Millsaps, who before the war was a colonel of State Militia in Alexander County. Elliott S. Millsaps was born on the old Millsaps homestead eleven miles northeast of Taylorsville in Alexander County in 1865. His birthplace was on land con- tained in the original tract settled by his great- great-grandfather. He is a son of Joseph and Jane (Hendren) Millsaps, the former of whom is deceased. His father served a portion of the war in the Confederate army, and was for many years a farmer. Mr. Millsaps' mother is of pure English descent. She was born in Wilkes County, North Carolina, where the Hendrens were very early set- tlers.
Elliott S. Millsaps grew up on a farm and with all his other interests he has never for any length of time been out of touch with the things of the soil and the vocations based upon it. For several years he combined teaching with farming. His early ambition was to secure a collegiate educa- tion, but conditions prevented his carrying out this aim. By hard work he acquired what might be termed a liberal education. He attended pub- lic schools until he was about sixteen and at nineteen began teaching in his native county. He taught school while he was finishing his own edu- cation and was connected with several academic schools in Alexander, Yadkin and Iredell coun- ties.
Mr. Millsaps came to Iredell County and began farming and teaching in 1895. He bought and occupied a farm eleven miles northwest of States- ville on the Wilkesboro Road. After three or four years he gave up teaching and turned his entire attention to the management of his land.
It is largely due to his experience as a practical and successful farmer that he has the complete con- fidence of the hundreds of men with whom he comes in contact as a district agricultural agent. The farm which he acquired in Iredell County twenty years or so ago was not one in which he could take great pride on account of its fertility and well tilled fields and improvements. He has built it from the ground up, and in solving the various problems with which North Carolina agriculturists have to deal, Mr. Millsaps is not only able to point out methods that have been successfully used elsewhere, but also the results of his own experience vivid in his mind. When he left his farm to take his present position, he carried with him the record of a most successful experience. He had developed his land to the point where he raised on portions of the farm fifty bushels of corn to the acre and a bale of cotton to the acre. He kept a herd of pure bred Poland China sows and usually sold about eighty pigs per year. Mr. Millsaps still owns this farm, comprising 153 acres, and it is undoubtedly one of the best in the entire county.
Mr. Millsaps served for a time as county demon- stration agent in the Government's extension work, and in 1908 he was offered and accepted his pres- ent work as district agent of the agricultural ex- tension work under the department of agriculture.
His district embraces forty-one counties in North Carolina, and he has under him thirty county agents. This district embraces practically all of the rich Piedmont region of North Carolina as well as the mountain section. Mr. Millsaps has the ability to speak plainly and forcibly and to the point and express himself in simple and clear English. Much of his work consists of lecturing and demonstrating and he has the reputation of being one of the ablest public speakers before the Farmers' Institutes and other agricultural gatherings and one whose addresses are always heard with profit.
Progressiveness has been a keynote in his entire career. He is always quick to adopt modern ideas without sacrificing the best of the old ones. Some years ago he wrote for the Progressive Farmer at Raleigh, edited by L. L. Polk, the first article in North Carolina advocating rural free delivery. This article was widely copied throughout the state. It was at his own solicitation and petition that the second rural route in the state was established, the one out of Statesville over the Wilkesboro Road toward his own home. In the matter of rural telephones he was also a pioneer. He got the first rural telephone line in Iredell County, a line built out toward his farm, and soon that community had eighty subscribers. Mr. Millsaps has always conceived it his duty to do things not only for himself but for others as well. He de- termined that his children should have a college education, and in affording them these privileges he earned one of the durable satisfactions of life. Mr. Millsaps is a member of the Baptist Church.
His wife before her marriage was Miss Delia E. Brown of Iredell County. They have four chil- dren, two sons and two daughters: Miss Vera, Ewing S., Gratz B., and Miss Katherine. Miss Vera is a science teacher and in 1917 took charge of the science department of the high school of Gastonia. The son, Ewing, is a graduate of the A. & M. College, has served as county demonstra- tion agent for Clay County, but is now a sergeant in the Statesville Volunteer Company that is en- rolled in the new National army. The other son, Gratz B., is a corporal in the same company.
NATHAN O'BERRY, son of Thomas and Cinderilla (Pope) O'Berry, was born in Tarboro, North Car- olina, on January 26, 1856. His father was an extensive flour miller and railroad official, and his mother a woman who led the simple life, be- lieving that the demands of the outside world furnished no excuse for neglecting the duties of home-a type of woman which has done great things for the state and nation.
The education of the son was in the high school of Edgecombe County-in the school of experience, and by familiarity and acquaintance with good books.
On November 14, 1882, he married Miss Estelle Moore, of New Hanover County, North Carolina, the daughter of Joel and Eliza Moore. Mr. and Mrs. O'Berry have two children, Estelle, wife of Dr. Ross S. McElwee, of Statesville, and Thomas, the only son, who married Miss Annie Land, of Kinston, North Carolina. He lives in Goldsboro and is vice president and general manager of Enterprise Lumber Company.
Mr. O'Berry moved to Goldsboro about forty years ago and in 1887 he organized the Enterprise Lumber Company at Goldsboro, North Carolina, and for the past thirty years has been its presi- dent. The Enterprise Lumber Company owns one
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hundred million feet of standing timber and it cuts approximately fifteen million feet per year. It operates twenty-five miles of railway, and the original capital stock of $13,500.00 has been in- creased to $40,000.00. The stock is worth about $600.00 per share.
In 1902 Mr. O'Berry organized the Whiteville Lumber Company, with a capital of $80,000.00. This company has since declared a stock dividend of 100 per cent, and recently there was an increase of the capital, making the total $200,000.00.
During the fourteen years of its existence the value of the company's property has increased three fold, and its stock is now worth $250.00 per share. The company owns and operates forty-five miles of railway and cuts from over 15,000,000 to 18,000,000 feet of lumber a year. There are more than 300 men employed in various departments of the business.
In 1910 he was one of the principal organizers of the Empire Manufacturing Company, and was its first president and is now vice president. This company has 200 persons on its pay-roll. It has a capital of $120,000.00 and its stock is worth from $250 to $300 per share.
He was also one of the organizers of the Utility Manufacturing Company, which was the first com- pany in Eastern North Carolina to work up gum timber for commercial purposes. He is a stock- holder in various cotton mills, and other manu- facturing enterprises of Goldsboro, and is a direc- tor of the Wayne National Bank. He was for two successive terms president of the North Carolina Pine Association. He was also president of the North Carolina Forestry Association.
He began life without money and his great suc- cess is due to tireless energy, sound judgment, fair and just treatment of his employes, and the power of organization.
He has never been a candidate for public office, but his influence in politics has been as potential as in business, and he has taken an active interest in all political campaigns. He was a delegate to the National Convention at Baltimore which nomi- nated Mr. Wilson, and had the distinction of being elected unanimously as a delegate from a district which was very strong for Mr. Wilson, and which declined to instruct him as to his vote, knowing that he would represent truly the sentiment of the district, which he did.
Perhaps one of his greatest achievements was in connection with the State Prison of North Carolina. Prior to 1900 when C. B. Aycock was elected governor of North Carolina, the prison had been a burden to the people of the state and each session of the General Assembly had to make appropriations for its support and maintenance. When Aycock was elected governor he called on O'Berry as his close personal friend to accept the position as a director of this institution, and al- though it was with great personal sacrifice, he responded to the call of his friend and his state, and in four years, being ably seconded by the other members of the board of directors, and by the superintendent, who was elected by the board, he caused to be adopted such changes in business methods and in the manner of keeping books and accounts of the institution, and in cut- ting off unnecessary expenses, that the institu- tion became self supporting, and since that time it has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars into the treasury. The election of the superintendent illustrates the character of the man. The gov- ernor intimated that he desired the election of a
man of high character and fine intellect, but who had not had very much business experience of the nature required in the management of the insti- tution, and Mr. O'Berry told the governor that he could not vote for him; that being his appointee he might consider his resignation in his hands at any time, but that he could not vote for any one for the position as superintendent unless satisfied that he was the best qualified man for the posi- tion. The governor declined to accept his resig- nation and said that while he wanted the man named by him to be elected, and hoped Mr. O'Berry could change his opinion, he expected him to remain on the board because he needed him, and that he could exercise his own judgment in the election of a superintendent.
He has been a very busy man all of his life, but he has found time to take an active part in all that has made for the moral and financial up-lift of his community, and it is rare that there is any move- ment in which the people of this community are in- terested that he is not among the leaders.
He is generous to his church, and has been one of the largest contributors to the Y. M. C. A. and Red Cross funds. He has gone the limit on Thrift Stamps, and has purchased liberally of each issue of Liberty Bonds, both for himself and for the companies he represents.
He is on the executive committee of Col. F. H. Fries, who has charge of the Thrift Stamp and War Savings campaign in the state, and is in charge of the organization of the lumber interest in the state for the purchase of these stamps.
He has the absolute confidence of the people of his community and is worthy of it.
COL. DAVIDSON HEARNE MILTON was appointed on October 1, 1916, superintendent of the State Home for Confederate Soldiers at Raleigh, a po- sition for which he is eminently qualified on ac- count of his tact, his genial good nature, his broad experience in public administration and affairs and his specially sincere interest in the welfare of the old veterans, all of whom are greatly attached to him.
Colonel Milton was born at Albemarle, Stanly County, North Carolina, in 1848. The date of his birth indicates that he was only thirteen years old when the war broke out. While his extreme youthfulness was a bar to active military service it did not prevent the outflow of his ardent spirit of enthusiasm for the cause. During the year 1865, when he was seventeen, he bought a horse and equipment and was ready and anxious to join Stuart's Cavalry. Though the war closed with- out his having been called into actual service, his spirit and patriotism were such that he has always been looked upon by the old veterans as a real comrade in arms. For years the old soldiers, his friends and business and political associates have affectionately known him as "Colonel"' Mil- ton, a title conferred upon him on account of his prominence in political affairs.
Colonel Milton is a son of James R. and Mary A. (Kirk) Milton. He is of English descent. Many generations back his lineage was the same as that from which came the great English poet John Milton. His great-great-grandfather, Rob- ert Milton, came from Virginia to North Carolina prior to the Revolutionary war. His settlement was made on the Dan River in Caswell County, near the present Town of Milton, named for the family. Colonel Milton's great-grandfather was
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William Milton, and his grandfather was Thomas F. Milton. James R. Milton, his father, moved from Montgomery County to Stanly County in 1841, soon after that county was organized, it be- ing cut off from Montgomery County. The Mil- tons and the Hearnes were pioneers and were builders of the Town of Albermarle, which has since become one of the industrial cities of North Carolina.
Colonel Milton for a long number of years has borne a very prominent and influential part in state politics. In 1874 he was made chief dep- uty sheriff of Stanly County, under Sheriff W. H. Hearne, serving in that capacity four years. For three years he was deputy clerk of the Superior Court under A. C. Freeman and remained in the same capacity for eight years under S. H. Milton. During Cleveland's second administration he spent four years in Washington in the treasury department under John G. Carlisle. On return- ing to North Carolina he was clerk of the State Department of Insurance at Raleigh under Colonel Young for eight years, resigning this office to engage in banking at High Point. Colonel Mil- ton was cashier of the Home Banking Company of High Point until 1916.
The death of his wife early in that year was such a shock and sorrow to him that his health was seriously impaired, much to the alarm of his many friends, and he was compelled to give up his business interests at High Point and retire. Mrs. Milton before her marriage was Miss So- phronia Hearne, member of the Stanly County family already mentioned. Her father, the late Joshua Hearne, and her cousin, Sidney H. Hearne, were both men of leadership in the affairs of Al- bemarle and Stanly County. Colonel Milton has three children: R. H. and Sam G. Milton, of Greensboro; and Mrs. Elizabeth May Tucker, of High Point.
The people of Stanly County look upon Colonel Milton as one of their most important contribu- tions to the larger life and politics of the state. A sterling and uncompromising democrat, he has been a figure in every campaign in the state since 1868. His influence in politics has been such that more than one election has been decided by him. He has been associated in political cam- paigns as speaker and worker with most of the big men of the state since Vance's first campaign of 1876, and has enjoyed the friendship and clos- est confidence of the state's real leaders in the past forty years.
AMOS TURNER WALSTON is widely known in Edgecombe County, where he has served for over ten years as clerk of courts. He belongs to an old and substantial family of the county, chiefly identified with the agricultural industry.
Mr. Walston was born at St. Lewis in Edge- combe County December 4, 1869, a son of William Franklin and Louise (Pitt) Walston. His father was born a farmer and merchant. The son after an education in the public schools did farm work and clerked in the store for six years, and then settled down to an active career as an agricultur- ist, which he followed ten years. After a brief experience as a merchant he was appointed in August, 1906, clerk of courts, and in November of the same year was regularly elected to that office. He has been the choice of the people at every subsequent election and has given the most satisfactory and creditable administration of the affairs of office.
Mr. Walstou is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Junior Order of Uuited American Mechanics. December 24, 1900, he married Miss Lina Harrell, of Edgecombe County. They have three children, Ellen, Lillian and Sue.
FREDERICK ISLER SUTTON. A very considerable number of the prominent men of North Carolina have had more or less training in the law, aud while oue may not declare definitely that success in' that learued profession proves the possession of abilities that insure the same in others, it so often has appeared to be true that the fact seems reasonably well established. When one considers the broad field of knowledge that is necessarily familiar grouud to the capable lawyer, it is pos- sible to understand why in positions where wis- dom, patience, justice and humanity are equally as important factors he so completely governs the situation. Thus it is not at all surprising that the intelligent citizens of Kinston, North Carolina, discovered in the talented young lawyer, who had rapidly risen to prominence at its bar, the posses- sion of qualities needful for the highest municipal office in their gift, nor that during his three ad- ministrations as mayor of the city he has been efficient in every particular. In numerous ways Frederick Isler Sutton is a leading citizen of Kinston.
Mr. Sutton was born at Kinstou, North Caro- lina, September 7, 1886, his parents being Levi Mewborn and Cora (Grimsley) Sutton. His great- great-grandfather was John Sutton, who married Sallie Arendall, daughter of Maj. William Aren- dall, who served in the Continental Army during the War of the Revolution, he being a son of the Earl of Arendall of Scotland. The great-grand- father of Frederick I. Sutton was William Sutton, who served through the War of 1812, and who mar- ried the daughter of Frederick Isler, who came to America with Baron de Graffenreid. Mr. Sutton's paternal grandparents were Frederick Isler and Huldah (Mewborn) Sutton, and on the materual side his grandparents were W. P. and Elizabeth (Dixon) Grimsley, the Grimsley family being one of the old-established ones of this section. Levi Mewborn Sutton was but sixteen years of age when he volunteered for service in the Confederate Army during the war between the states, through which he served bravely. Later he became a prominent planter.
Ample family means provided the best of private instruction for Frederick I. Sutton until he was ready to enter Kinston High School, from which he was graduated in 1904, and he theu became a student at the University of North Carolina, being graduated in 1908, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. This was followed by a course at the Har- vard Law School, where he received his degree of Bachelor of Laws with the class of 1911, and au enjoyable trip through European countries, then at peace, assisted, as travel ever does, in still fur- ther and broader vision and mental enlightenment. When he entered upon the practice of his profes- sion at his native place in December, 1911, it was with a thorough equipment, not ouly in the law but for the other eventualities that at oue time or another are reasonably sure to be accepted as moral responsibilities by public-spirited and con- scientious men of education. Such men can scarcely avoid political activity and fortunately so, and in 1913 Mr. Sutton was elected to the office of mayor and was re-elected to this office in 1915
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and again in 1917. He gave the city so admirable an administration that business improved, public utilities were started, the city 's finances were placed on a sounder basis and many movements for the encouragement of worthy enterprises were inaugurated. To mention several of these, Mayor Sutton assisted in the organization of the Kinston Fair Association, in which he has continued to be interested; has taken a leading part in the North Carolina Good Roads Association, of which he is vice president, and has been active in the work of the Carolina Municipal Association, of which he is vice president, secretary and treasurer. He has likewise been one of the foremost factors in the activities of the North Carolina Chamber of Com- merce, and at this time is vice president of that association. In 1911, when the Kinston Chamber of Commerce was organized, he was largely instru- mental in its founding and served as its secretary and treasurer four times. Aside from his large and constantly increasing law practice, he is variously interested in business affairs, and is a director of the Caswell Trust and Banking Company. He is prominently known in Masonry, belonging to Saint John's Lodge No. 4, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Caswell Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Saint Paul's Commandery, Knights Templar; and Sudan Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of which last named he is a char- ter member; and also holds membership in the Knights of Pythias and the Junior Order United American Mechanics and Alpha Tau Omega and Pi Sigma fraternities.
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