USA > North Carolina > History of North Carolina: North Carolina biography, Volume VI > Part 15
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
Of that tract of land which comprised his first purchase at Morven and for which he paid six hundred dollars, Mr. Martin recently sold an eighth of an acre, a single town lot, for eight
hundred dollars. Altogether he has sold abont one hundred fifty lots in the town. South of the lime establisned for that purpose he laid off and sold to colored people some seventy-five or eighty lots, and the colored population has re- mamed in the south part of town, leaving the north part for the white people. He gave the colored people lots for their Baptist and .Pres- byterian churches and their schoolhouse. Similar donations were made by him for rengious and educational purposes in the white section of the town. It is said that Mr. Martin has made more deeds to land than any other citizen of Anson County.
When he became a land holder at Morven there was one saloon doing business. In a very short time he got rid of that local institution and in every deed which he has since executed a stipn- lation is written therein that if the land is ever used as a place for selling liquor it shall auto- matically revert to the Martin estate. Conse- quently Morven has always been a dry town, and was so long before state prohibition went into effect. Morven has grown and prospered greatly. There are now several brick business buildings, a brick schoolhouse that cost over ten thousand dollars, three substantial brick churches, and the other advantages and facilities of a modern town. Mr. Martin has proved very liberal and public spirited, and as the largest property owner has been generons in the matter of voting taxes for school facilities and good roads.
For twenty-five years Mr. Martin was a deacon in the Morven Presbyterian Church and in 1916 was honored by being elected elder of the con- gregation. For two years he served as post- master. That is almost the only public office he has ever held. Official honors have been urged upon him, but it has been a matter of policy to which he has strictly adhered to decline official places of distinction. He has often been asked to become democratic candidate for the Legislature and other offices.
While not an office seeker, his influence in public affairs has been by no means constricted. He has done much in both local and state poli- ties, and is undoubtedly one of the most convinc- ing campaign speakers in North Carolina. He does this work for the good of the cause, never asks or expects reward from the party, and in- variably pays his personal expenses for campaign- ing, refusing any financial aid from the party managers. Mr. Martin did some specially success- ful work in the campaign of 1916. When it be- came known in the summer of 1916 that Con- gressman Page would retire, Mr. Martin at once got into the arena with his specially selected candidate, Hon. Lee D. Robinson. Mr. Martin has been called the "political father" of the able and talented Mr. Robinson, and had long favored him in the belief that he was a coming man in public life in North Carolina and the nation. He was influential in securing the nomi- nation of Mr. Robinson, and then went on a speaking tour in the interests of his young protege. His campaigning was especially effect- ive in the western counties of the district, the mountain district which is normally largely re- publican. The people from the mountains have always looked upon Mr. Martin as one of their own people, and they flocked to hear him in great numbers. His plain and simple, though forceful and tactful arguments, presented in a homely but attractive style, entirely devoid of
54
HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
bitterness or abuse, made hundreds of friends for himself and his candidate and Mr. Robinson was elected by a handsome majority and is now a member of Congress from the Seventh North Carolina District.
Mr. Martin married for his first wife Miss Fannie Nivens, of Anson County. At her death she was survived by four children. Mr. Martin married for his present wife Mrs. Carrie Fearby of Winston-Salem. Her son, Sam Fearby, is a well known newspaper man, now editor and pub- lisher of the Hickory Times. Mr. Martin's chil- dren, all by his first marriage, are Earl Martin, Mrs. Grace Ham, George Martin and Mrs. Nina Copeland. Mr. Martin has always shown both in belief and practice a special friendliness for education, and in line with that practice he has given his own children the best of advantages. His son Earl is a graduate of the University of North Carolina. Grace graduated at the High School of Morven. George graduated at the Oak Ridge School, while Nina completed the course of the Morven High School, and attended the Winston-Salem Female College.
WILLIAM PRATHER HUTTON, cashier of the South Greensboro branch of the American Ex- change National Bank, has devoted practically all the energies of his mature career to banking and other lines of commercial activity at Greensboro.
He was born on a farm in the southern part of Guilford County and represents some of the old and honored names in the history of this locality. His great-grandfather, George Hutton, Sr .. was a native of England. Coming to North Carolina, he settled among the pioneers in what is now Guilford County and was busied with the management and cultivation of his farm the rest of his years. His son George Hutton, Jr., probably also a native of Guilford County, acquired some very extensive tracts of land and managed their cultivation with the aid of his slaves. He was a member of the Methodist Church. His remains now rest in the Hutton burying ground in the eastern part of Guilford County. George, Jr., married Isabelle Gunn, who was of Scotch-Irish ancestry. Both she and her husband attained advanced age.
James Hutton, son of George Hutton, Jr., and father of the Greensboro banker, was born in the eastern part of Guilford County May 10, 1806. Though reared on a farm he had a very good edu- cation and he followed his inclinations for rural life, succeeded to the ownership of his father's farm, and managed it productively for many years. He was a member of the State Militia and re- ceived the commission of major. He finally re- moved to Rutherford College in Burke County for the purpose of educating his children, and lived there until his death on November 5, 1876.
The mother of his children was his second wife. Her maiden name was Mary C. Prather. She was born about a mile from Yancyville in Caswell County January 26, 1835, and is still living, mak- ing her home with her daughter. Her grandfather, Leonard Prather, was probably born in Caswell County, and was a Presbyterian minister, holding pastorates at different places in the state. Leonard Prather married Frances Williamson, whose great- uncle was Hu. Williamson, a signer of the Constitu- tion of the United States. She was born in Cas- well County. Her mother's maiden name was Swift, of the Swift family. Robert Richardson Prather, father of Mary C. Hutton, was born in Caswell County, North Carolina, in 1800. In early
life he joined the Methodist Protestant Church, and took up that cause as a preacher. He had been liberally educated, and was a teacher before he entered the ministry. The ministry did not represent to him a gainful occupation and he owned and occupied for many years a fine farm of 300 acres six miles north of Greensboro. He died at that homestead in 1881. The maiden name of his wife and the maternal grandmother of William P. Hutton was Frances Lambeth. She was born ten miles east of Greensboro in Guilford County in 1806, daughter of Josiah and Elizabeth (Lofton) Lambeth. Frances Prather died August 15, 1885. She reared thirteen children, named William G., Robert B., Frances Elizabeth, Anthony, Joseph, Mary Catherine, Sarah, Loveck Lambeth, Edna Lou, Virginia, John N., Emma and Valeria. Of this large family six were still living at the beginning of 1918, the youngest about seventy years old.
Mr. and Mrs. James Hutton had three children: James Robert, William Prather and Frances Isa- belle. The daughter is the wife of Edmund L. Sides.
William P. Hutton was educated at Rutherford College and High Point, and also had a course in the Smithdeal Business College at Greensboro. Having made definite choice of a commercial career, he was employed a few years as bookkeeper for the Wakefield Hardware Company, and for a time was in the mercantile business for himself as a general merchant. After that he was an insur- . ance man until 1907, when he became connected with the South Greensboro branch of the American Exchange National Bank as bookkeeper, was promoted to teller and since 1912, as cashier, has given all his time to the management of the affairs of this highly prosperous institution.
Mr. Hutton's mother is one of the representa- tives of the old fashioned type of highly educated women in North Carolina. Though she began her education in the rural schools, she attended Sum- merfield Select School and High Point Seminary, and for several years before her marriage was a teacher. Her life has always been an inspiration to her children.
On October 15, 1908, William P. Hutton married Lovella Rook Coble. Mrs. Hutton is a native of Kansas, born at Marion in that state, and was educated at the 'Marion High School and the Kansas University. Her father, George C. Coble, was a native of North Carolina. He was the son of George Coble and Judith Theresa (Hanner) Coble, both old and well known families of Guil- ford County, whose ancestry dates back to the early settlers before the Revolutionary war. They were both members of the old Alamance Presby- terian Church and their remains lie in the church burying ground.
George C. Coble, father of Mrs. Hutton, went to Kansas when a young man and was an early pioneer of Marion County, helping to organize the county and serving as first sheriff of the county. He passed through many hardships and trials dur- ing the Indian troubles of the early days and later became one of the prosperous farmers of the county, and is still loved and highly respected in the community where he lived for more than forty years. In 1868 he was married to Hannah A. Rook. To them were born four children, of whom two are living, T. E. Coble, of Blanchard, Wash- ington, and Mrs. W. P. Hutton, of. Greensboro, North Carolina. Hannah Rook was also a Kansas pioneer, being one of the first school teachers of
c:
-
55
HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
Marion County. She was born in Trumbull County, Ohio, the daughter of William B. Rook and Parmelia. (Franklin) Rook. William B. Rook was a native of Trumbull County, Ohio, and served in the Civil war in the Forty-second Wisconsin Cavalry and was mustered out at the close of the war. Parmelia Franklin (Mrs. Hutton's maternal grandmother ) was born in Chautauqua County, New York, and was the daughter of David Benja- min Franklin, who was a nephew of Benjamin Franklin, the American statesman and philosopher whose history is known to every American citizen. In 1905 Mrs. Hutton's father moved to the State of Washington and resided in Bellingham for some years, but is now at the home of his son in Blanchard, Washington, and is still a very active man at the age of seventy-eight years.
Mr. and Mrs. Hutton are active members of the Spring Garden Methodist Episcopal Church, South. He is a member of its board of managers and is also affiliated with Greensboro Council No. 3, Junior Order of United American Mechanics.
TEAGUE & DEES. One of the best known law firms of Goldsboro is that of Teague & Dees. While it has been in existence only since 1914, the firm has acquired an extensive clientage and a reputation for thorough and energetic handling of the interests of their clients. Both partners are young and ambitious men, and both of them before entering the law had considerable experi- ence as teachers.
Samuel Farris Teague was born at Fall Creek in Chatham County, North Carolina, July 24, 1885, a son of Dr. Samuel E. and Sarah (Mof- fitt) Teague. His father was a physician. As a boy he attended the public schools, had aca- demic training, and finally entered the University of North Carolina, where he completed the aca- demic course and graduated A. B. in 1910. Dur- ing subsequent summer terms he studied law in the University of North Carolina, but the rest of the year was spent in teaching. He was prin- cipal of the Fremont public schools in 1910-11, was principal of the Goldsboro High School in 1912-13. In 1914 he graduated LL. B. from the law department of the State University and at once engaged in general practice at Goldsboro, the firm of Teague & Dees being formed in the same year.
Besides his professional interests Mr. Teague is vice president of Barfield-Baker Company, is a director in the Chamber of Commerce, and is su- perintendent of his home Sunday school. He is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, the Jun- ior Order of United American Mechanics and the Woodmen of the World. On October 19, 1916, he married Miss Lou Wilkins Norwood, daughter of George A. Norwood.
William Archie Dees, of the law firm of Teague & Dees of Goldsboro, was born in Wayne County, North Carolina, November 5, 1877, a son of Charles Franklin and Lillie Ann (Smith) Dces. His father was a farmer and he spent his early life on the farm.
He attended the public schools of Wayne County, the Fremont High School, the Academy, and continued his higher education in the Univer- sity of North Carolina, where he completed the liberal arts course in 1911. Like his partner he continued the study of law in the University dur- ing the summer time, and was admitted to the bar in August, 1913. In 1911-12 he taught school at Raeford, and from 1912 to 1914 was a teacher
at Rowland, North Carolina. He then became a member of the firm of Teague & Dees. Mr. Dees was elected a representative to the State Legis- lature in 1916. Fraternally he is a member of the Masonic Order.
WALTER EUGENE SHARPE. The business and profession of insurance demands for its success- ful performance some of the most exacting quali- ties of the human mind and energy and char- acter, and it is therefore generally true that a successful insurance man is also a very capable and public spirited citizen and a man whose presence means much to any community. It is this dual relationship which Walter Eugene Sharpe sustains to the old industrial and cotton mill town of Burlington, where he has been active in business life for the past ten or fif- teen years.
Mr. Sharpe was born in Burlington November 4, 1877, son of John William and Sallie (Al- bright) Sharpe. His father was a merchant. The son was well educated in the public schools and did his first work as a traveling salesman. He was on the road from 1899 and then entered the insurance field and in 1906 organized the Alamance Insurance and Real Estate Company, of which he has since been treasurer and gen- eral manager. This company has a capital stock of $30,000, has a surplus of $60,000, and is carry- ing a large share of the local business of real estate and loans. Mr. Sharpe is also a director of the Alamance Loan and Trust Company, is secretary and treasurer of the Alamance Home Builders Association, and is superintendent of agencies for the Southern Life and Trust Com- pany of Greensboro in the Piedmont District. Few men anywhere in the state have excelled him as a keen and resourceful director of insurance work.
Outside of business his principal hobby is the good of his local community, and everything that means some additional advantage for Burlington is sure to command his utmost co-operation and good will. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the graded school system and is chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church. He is also president ' of the North Carolina State Insurance Agents Or- ganization, an organization of fire insurance men.
December 24, 1899, Mr. Sharpe married Sallie Fearington, of Bynum, North Carolina. They have four children, William Norman, Mildred Farrington, Walter Eugene, Jr., and Elouise.
CHARLES S. GRAYSON, M. D. While his abil- ity as a physician and surgeon has kept his services in increasing demand at High Point, Dr. Grayson has also found time to interest him- self financially in several of the business enter- prises of that city, and is one of that group of citizens who have been responsible for the re- markable growth and development of this indus- trial center of the state.
Dr. Grayson was born on a farm near Marion in McDowell County, North Carolina. His father, Beaty Grayson, was born in Rutherford County of this state, and his grandfather Rev. Joseph Grayson, was a native of that county. His grandfather was very prominent in religious and public affairs, was a minister of the Missionary Baptist Church, and served as a moderator of the Green River Baptist Association. In 1872 he was elected to represent McDowell County in
56
HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
the State Legislature. His last years were spent near Bridgewater, just over the county line in McDowell County. Rev. Joseph Grayson married Eliza Wilson, also a native of Rutherford County.
Beaty Grayson, father of Dr. Grayson, was a soldier in the Coufederate army. After the war he became a merchant at Marion and subsequently bought a farm nearby and looked after its culti- vation until his death in 1885. He married Mar- garet Goforth, who was born in Rutherford County, daughter of J. C. aud Eliza (Morris) Goforth, the former a native of Rutherford and the latter of McDowell County. Beaty Grayson and wife had eight children: Ella, John W., Hugh C., Joseph M., Mary I., Charles S., George H. and Albert W.
Dr. Grayson from the district schools entered a preparatory school in the same neighborhood, and subsequently attended the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, where he took the scien- tific course. His medical studies were pursued in the George Washington University in the Dis- trict of Columbia, where he graduated with the class of 1906. He also spent a year as an in- terne in Washington Hospital, and began prac- tice at High Point. He has kept in close touch with advancing knowledge in the field of medi- cine, and has taken post-graduate work in Johns Hopkins and a special course in diseases of children at Harvard University Medical School, also did post-graduate work at The Lying In and Post Graduate Hospitals of New York. Dr. Grayson is a member of the Guilford County and North Carolina Medical societies, the South- eru Medical and American Medical Association. In addition to his large practice he is a director in the Bank of Commerce at High Point, and is a stockholder in several of the local industries.
June 25, 1908, he married Miss Bertha Craw- ford, who was born in McDowell County, daughter of J. C. and Ella (Hemphill) Crawford. Dr. and Mrs. Grayson have one daughter, Margaret. Both are active members of the Baptist Church, which he has served as deacon. Fraternally he is affil- iated with Numa F. Reid Lodge No. 344, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Piedmont Camp No. 62, Woodmen of the World, Guilford Camp No. 13867, Modern Woodmen of America, High Point Lodge No. 1155, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and Repeton Lodge No. 63 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
SAMUEL L. DAVIS, whose name is linked in important relationships with the wood and furni- ture manufacturing interests of High Point, has had a busy career of a quarter of a centruy, beginning as a teacher, and gradually developing the affairs that now occupy his time and energies at High Point.
Mr. Davis was born on a farm in Tabernacle Township of Randolph County, North Carolina. His grandfather, Greenberry Davis, was a tenant farmer in Randolph County. Dougan Davis, father of the High Point business man, was born in Tabernacle Township, was reared and educated there, and came to military age while the war was in progress between the states. During the last two years of that struggle he wore the uniform of a Confederate soldier. When the war was over he entered business as a dealer in horses and cattle. He had much ability as a trader, and in connec- tion with this work he bought and developed a large farm. His home was on the farm until 1892, when he came to High Point, buying city
property, and was one of the leading real estate dealers here until his death in 1911. He married Lucinda Hill, who died in 1917. She was also a native of Tabernacle Township of Randolph County. Her father was Riley Hill, and her mother a Miss Savage. Dougan Davis and wife had nine children, Samuel L., James, Cicero, Harvey, Mary, Hurly, Gertrude, John and Tersie.
Samuel L. Davis grew up on his father's farm, but had very liberal opportunities in the way of schooling. From the district schools he entered Oak Ridge Institute, and from there became a student in the University of North Carolina, from which he was graduated in 1892. During the next two years he taught at Ingraham, Virginia, and for two years was an instructor in Oak Ridge Institute. From the profession of teaching he took up salesmauship as traveling representative for the Southern Chair Company. After two years he was called into the home office as general manager of the plant, and has been directing the affairs of this important corporation at High Point ever since. He is also president of the Samuel L. Davis Com- pany and is secretary and treasurer of the High Point Motor Company, is a director in the Bauk of Commerce and has financial interests in a number of other local enterprises.
In 1900 Mr. Davis married Claudia Holliday, who was born in Horry County, South Carolina, daughter of Joseph Holliday. They have one son, Samuel L., Jr., now a student in Bailey Military Institute in South Carolina.
Mr. Davis is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, while Mrs. Davis is a member of the Baptist denomination. Fraternally he is affiliated with Numa F. Reid Lodge No. 334, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, with the Royal Arch Chapter and Knight Templar Commandery at High Point, with Oasis Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Charlotte, and other affiliations are with High Point Lodge No. 208, Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks, Piedmont Camp No. 92, Woodmen of the World, and Guilford Council No. 23, Junior Order of United American Mechanics.
WILLIAM GILCHRIST has been a factor in the business life of Wilmington since he came as a young man of nineteen to the city in 1869 and found work in a wholesale dry goods house. In 1886, as a result of his long and thorough ex- perience and his thrifty habits, he was able to engage in wholesale grocery business as a mem- ber of the firm of Smith & Gilchrist. In 1887 he took the general agency of the Acme Manufac- turing Company, and since January 1, 1908, has been president of this important North Carolina industry.
William Gilchrist was born near Gilchrist Bridge, then in Richmond now Scotland County, North Carolina, April 8, 1850, a son of John and Effie (Fairley ) Gilchrist. His father was a farmer, and it was on the farm that William Gilchrist spent his early life and there had his visions of a rise to influence and success in the commercial field.
In 1880 he married Miss Ella Lilly, of Wil- mington. They are the parents of three daugh- ters: Lilly, now Mrs. John Hunter Wood; Elea- nor, who married Thomas H. Wright; and Jennie Buchanan, at home with her parents.
WILLIAM HENRY MAY is one of the important individual contributors to the many distinctions which Burlington enjoys as a center of the cotton
2, L Fleming.
57
HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
milling industry of North Carolina. He is re- garded as an expert in many phases of cotton mill operation and the cotton business in general.
Mr. May was born in Alamance County, North Carolina, March 11, 1875, son of Henry P. and Barbara Catherine (Clapp) May. His father was a contractor and builder for a number of years, and finally devoted all his attention to farming. William H. May was well educated, first in the public schools, then in Elou College. The foun- dation of his business experience came to him during the eight years he spent as a traveling salesman. Then iu 1906 he accepted the position of assistant manager of the Daisy Hosiery Mills, and since 1912 has been secretary and treasurer of this well known Burlington Mill. Later he and his brother Benjamin Victor May organized the May Hosiery Mills, in which he still has an active part. Mr. May is also secretary and treasurer of the National Dye Works.
On August 8, 1906, he married Miss Emma Watkins Sharpe of Burlington. Their two chil- dren are William Henry, Jr., and John Sharpe May. Mr. May is a. deacon and is chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Presbyterian Church at Burlington.
JAMES LAWSON FLEMING. "Who saves his country, saves all things; and all things saved will bless him.
"Who lets his country die, lets all things die; and all things dying curse him."
A universal sorrow was cast over North Caro- lina on November 5, 1909, when the news was flashed over the wires that James L. Fleming was dead. On hearing this sad announcement the public realized that a premature close of an eventful career of public usefulness and honor had come to one of North Carolina's most loyal and best beloved sons. As a lawyer of great ability and 'enviable reputation he enjoyed a practice throughout the state equal to that of the most successful of his contemporaries. He was the author of the bill that created the Eastern Carolina Teachers Training School, and was a pioneer in the movement that resulted in its loca- tion at Greenville, his home town. As a public servant he was ever alert to the needs of his day and generation and the ardent supporter and cham- pion of all measures that promoted the general welfare of his people.
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.