USA > North Carolina > History of North Carolina: North Carolina biography, Volume VI > Part 20
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On account of the devastation that came with war and the disarrangement of all family and individual plans following it, Colonel McLean re- ceived no further education from regular insti- tutions of learning, but he has always been a
close reader and a sound thinker, and his speech and manner carries with them an air of scholarly depth and distinction. His life-long association with able men has also brought him an ease of bearing and a broad and ready fund of informa- tion with which mere contact with books and col- leges would never have endowed him. Finally, his legal education has given him the intellectual and methodical training to solidify his other gifts.
Colonel McLean studied law under the late William B. Wright, a leading attorney of Fay- etteville, and was licensed to practice at Lilling- ton, the county seat of Harnett County, in 1876. Since that year he has practiced constantly and successfully, and has also taken part in every cam- paign as an able and aggressive democrat. Noth- ing pleases him better than to have the odds against him; for then he can prove the temper of his metal. Since the reconstruction period he had fought in many sensational contests, and the part he has taken in them would make highly in- teresting reading. His first political office was held in 1876, when he was a member of the Leg- islature. He was also elected in 1898, being one of those who brought North Carolina back into the democratic fold after the populist-fusion up- rising of the early '90s. In 1916 he was nomi- nated by his party for state senator, his district comprising Lee, Harnett, Sampson and Johnston counties. It was a district hopelessly republican, and he did not expect an election, but he had the satisfaction of reducing the republican ma -. jority from 1,250 to less than 200, and of re- deeming his own county to the democracy. He has twice served as a presidental elector-in 1880 he represented his district on the Hancock ticket, and in 1900, with Hon. Lee Overman (pres- ent United States senator) he was chosen elector- at-large from North Carolina on the Bryan ticket. All the indications and the facts show that he is highly honored and greatly beloved in his home town and county, and in the state of his na- tivity.
Colonel McLean married Miss Mary McDou- gald, daughter of Neil McDougald and grand- daughter of Rev. Allen McDougald; the last named a native of Scotland who came to North Carolina and became one of the noted Presbyterian divines of the state. In early years of his ministry, when there were still many of the Scotch settlers who spoke Gaelic, it was his custom to preach first a sermon in English and then a discourse in Gaelic.
The Colonel and Mrs. McLean have two sons and two daughters. One of their sons, A. M. McLean, is a graduate of Wake Forest Law School, a young lawyer of prominence, and asso- ciated with his father in practice. John Tyler McLean is editor of the Age-Herald, the leading paper of Birmingham, Alabama. Another son, Dan Hugh, Jr., died in 1915, aged twenty-three. He was a young man of beautiful character, en- joying the esteem of all who knew him.
DAVID A. HOUSTON. Two years ago David A. Houston had achieved a position as a business man and financier that made him known at least all over Union County, where he was cashier of the First National Bank of Monroe. His friends have always been greatly impressed by his integrity and energy, and have expressed no astonishment when new opportunities or promo- tions came to him. From the position of country banker Mr. Houston has recently been elevated
Pant Basinger.
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HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
to one of the most responsible financial offices in the South, first as treasurer and then as presi- dent of the Federal Land Bank at Columbia, South Carolina, which operates for the states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida under the Rural Credits Act. In his position Mr. Houston has the direction and su- pervision of millions of dollars distributed through this bank as loans to southern farmers and land owners.
Like many of the leading men of the country, Mr. Houston started upon his career as an edu- cator, and from that entered business and bank- ing. He is a well versed lawyer, and has been admitted to practice. He was born in 1871 at Monroe in Union County, son of Robert V. and Lessie (Covington) Houston. His paternal grand- father, H. M. Houston, was the first clerk of the Superior Court of Union County, his maternal grandfather, Major D. A. Covington, being the second incumbent of that office. It is worthy of note as a remarkable coincidence that their grandson, in later years, was selected for the same honor. H. M. Houston was born in Union County and became a very prominent man of his day and a large landholder in Union County and at Monroe, his home being just northwest of the city. This branch of the Houston family is descended from the stock that produced the distinguished educator, Dr. David Franklin Houston, who was born in Union County, was president of the University of Texas, and of Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, and who now occupies the position of secretary of agriculture in the cabinet of President Wilson.
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Robert V. Houston, father of David A. Houston, was born in Union County in 1846, and grew up on the home plantation northwest of Monroe, where he was living at the outbreak of the war between the states. He was a mere lad at the time, but did his share in the support of the Confederacy as a member of the Home Guard Reserves. A few years after the war he re- moved to the City of Monroe, where he passed the remainder of his life, his chief occupation being in looking after his large landed interests in the county and elsewhere, although he was also interested in several local business enter- prises. He always took a prominent and spir- ited part in the affairs of his city and county, and served for two or three terms as mayor of Monroe and as a member of the Legislature of the state, in both of which capacities he won distinction as a capable. energetic and honorable public servant. His death occurred in 1913, when he was sixty-seven years of age, at which time the community lost one of its best and most highly honored citizens. Mr. Houston mar- ried Lessie Covington, a daughter of the late Mai. D. A. Covington. one of Union County's distinguished citizens and a gallant officer in the war between the states. He was the grand- father of Thomas W. Bickett, the present gov- ernor of North Carolina.
David A. Houston received a thorough educa- tion in his youth, first attending the public schools of Monroe, and then entering Trinity Col- lege from which old and distinguished institu- tion he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in the class of 1891. Following this he taught for two vears at Trinity, where ne occupied the chair of political science, and subsequently was put in charge of the business education department of the institution. He had
studied pharmacy, and after securing a state pharmaceutical license in 1895, established the Houston Pharmacy at Monroe, an establishment situated on the west side of Main Street. Here Mr. Houston built up a large and successful busi- ness, and through energy and industry, combined with courtesy, attracted a representative trade among the best families of the city. While still engaged in this business he became a candidate for the office of clerk of the Superior Court, of which office, as before noted, both his paternal and maternal grandfathers had been incumbents in former years. He was duly elected for a term of four years, beginning in 1906, and so well did he discharge his duties that in 1910 he was again the choice of his fellow-citizens for this office. After serving one year of his second term, however, he resigned from the position to assume the duties of. cashier of the First Na- tional Bank of Monroe. This is one of the strong banks of Western North Carolina, with a capital of $100,000 and a surplus of over $25,000. It has behind it some of the leading moneyed men. of this part of the state.
Prior to entering the court house, Mr. Houston had become interested in the study of law, not with the idea of adopting it as a profession but rather as a help to him in his business. While acting as clerk of the Superior Court of Union County he had many opportunities for protecting himself in legal matters, and was able to pass the examinations and secure his license to prac- tice. His legal attainments stand him in par- ticularly good stead in the banking business.
Mr. Houston married Miss Berta Totten, who was born in Caswell County, North Carolina, daughter of Robert Allen and Lottie (Rutland) Totten. They have six children: Hugh F., Ruth, Berta Allen, David A., Jr., F. M. and Charlotte.
Mrs. Houston has studied music and dramatic art under some of the best talent in this country and is well known in musical and literary circles. Whatever of success thus far in life has come to Mr. Houston, he does not fail to credit Mrs. Houston with her part in the inspiration.
REV. PAUL BARRINGER. Formerly an active minister of the Reformed Church and now a cotton manufacturer, Rev. Paul Barringer, sec- retary, treasurer and manager of the Tuscarora cotton mill at Mount Pleasant, is a member of the distinguished Barringer family of North Carolina. His career has been one in which he has shown versatility, as well as courage in the face of obstacles. His entire training had been along the line of his profession and his religious work had absorbed his entire attention so that when he became afflicted with a misfortune that deprived him of his oratorical powers, he was forced to enter upon some business entirely strange to him. That he has since been so successful as a business man is indicative of his possession of abilities far beyond the ordinary.
Rev. Paul Barringer was born in 1850, near Mount Pleasant, Cabarrus County, North Carolina, being a son of John Daniel and Christina ( Hahn) Barringer. His paternal grandfather was Paul Barringer, his great-grandfather, John Barringer, and his great-great grandfather, John Paul Bar- ringer. who founded the family in America. John Paul Barringer was born in the duchy of Wurttemburg. Germany, in 1721. The family were originally French Huguenots, and several members left France about 1600, before the revo-
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HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
cation of the Edict of Nantes, some of them going to England and some to Germany. John Paul Barringer left his native land and arrived at Philadelphia in 1743. There he was first married to Ann Eliza Eisman, and the young couple settled in the Wyoming Valley, and two children, Catherine and John, were born there. About 1753, during the time that a strong emi- gration had turned southward among the Ger- mans, this family came to North Carolina and settled in what is now Cabarrus County, on Dutch Buffalo Creek, about opposite the place where the founder afterward built his big home, "Poplar Grove." Just before the Revolutionary war, his first wife died, and in 1777 he again married, this time being united with Catharine Blackwelder. To this union there were born seven children, of whom Gen. Paul Barringer of the War of 1812 was one. John Paul Barringer became a man of wealth and prominence in the early history of North Carolina. He was a Revolutionary patriot and was a captain of Colonial Militia. During the war he was captured by the Tories and car- ried prisoner to Camden, South Carolina, and was a prisoner there at the time of the battle of Camden. He was the leading spirit in the separa- tion of a new county from Mecklenburg and which was named Cabarrus County, this event taking place in 1792, and in 1793 was a member of the State Legislature from the new county. He accumulated a large estate and died at the age of eighty-six years, January 1, 1807, being laid to rest in the old Saint John's churchyard near Mount Pleasant.
The son referred to above, Gen. Paul Barringer, was born at Poplar Grove in 1778. He received a classical education and at the age of twenty- one years settled at Concord, the county seat, and began a long and successful career as a merchant, planter and a man prominently con- nected with public affairs of North Carolina for forty-five years. He married Elizabeth Brandon, a member of another distinguished North Caro- lina family, and they reared nine children, the eldest of whom was Daniel Moreau Barringer, who became one of the nation's leading states- men and diplomats. The ninth son was Gen. Rufus Barringer of Civil war fame. Gen. Paul Barringer was commissioned by Governor Haw- kins a brigadier-general of volunteers in the War of 1812. He was a man of great public spirit. and among other things subscribed liberally to the building of the Raleigh & Gaston Railroad, the first in North Carolina, and to the building of the Concord Cotton Mill, a pioneer in what has since become one of the greatest industries of the South. His death occurred in 1844.
Daniel Moreau Barringer, referred to in the foregoing, was the most distinguished of the name in public service, to which he devoted the best years of his life. to the practical exclusion of all private considerations. He was born at Pop- lar Grove, July 30, 1806. and was graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1826, fol- lowing which he studied law and began the prac- tice of that profession at Concord in 1828. He was elected to the Legislature in 1829, and in 1835 was elected a member of the convention which re- vised and amended the state constitution. In 1843 he was elected to Congress from the Second Con- gressional District, and reelected in 1845 and 1847. In 1849 he declined a reelection and was then by President Taylor appointed minister to Spain,
being subsequently reappointed to this post by President Fillmore. His services to his country, in Congress and as a foreign diplomat, were of the highest character and utmost usefulness. In Allen Thorndike' Rice's "Reminiscences of Abra- ham Lincoln," he is referred to as one of the three or four most eloquent members of the House of Representatives when Mr. Lincoln first took his seat in Congress; and it is an interesting fact that Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Barringer subsequently be- came deskmates and firm friends.
Gen. Rufus Barringer, another son of Gen. Paul Barringer, had a distinguished career as a lawyer and statesman before and after the Civil war, and as a brigadier general in the Confederate army. He died at his home at Charlotte in 1895.
The old Barringer place, where Rev. Paul Bar- ringer was born, is two miles northeast of the Town of Mount Pleasant, on Dutch Buffalo Creek. The house in which he was born is still standing, being one of the landmarks of the community. In his youth he was granted the advantages of a good educational training, first attending the old North Carolina College at Mount Pleasant, also Catawba College, Newton, North Carolina, later going to Heidelberg College at Tiffin, Ohio. He was first married when a young man of twenty-three to Miss Mary J. Foil, and began farming, and after her death he resumed his studies at Catawba College. He finished his education after this and three years subsequent to her death he married her sister, Miss Alice E. Foil, who was the mother of all of his living children. Their names are as follows: Dr. G. R. Barringer, O. A., Katie Foil, Mary C., Lilly A., Herman and Ruth. Mrs. Barringer died in later years, and since then Mr. Barringer has married his present wife, who was Mrs. Margaret Alice (Cruse) Kluttz.
Reverend Barringer had prepared in college for the ministry of the Reformed Church in the United States. His first pastorate was in what is known as the West Rowan charge, of which he became pastor in 1881, making his home at China Grove. He served that charge for about 121/2 years, and subsequently became pastor of the Concord and Gilead churches, the latter being three miles northeast of Concord, and which he served for about twenty-one years. He was compelled then to retire from the ministry because of a severe attack of "speaker's sore throat,"' and he then returned to Mount Pleasant and established his permanent home in this town, near his birthplace. While his previous business experience had been confined to looking after the financial interests of the churches of which he was pastor and of some moderate investments of his own, Mr. Barringer engaged in the cotton mill business, and soon was conversant therewith and making a success of it. He was elected president of the Kindley Cotton Mill, the first to be built at Mount Pleasant, it being established in 1897. Later he withdrew from this enterprise and became associated with Mr. J. W. Cannon. of Concord, in the building of the Tuscarora Cotton Mill at Mount Pleasant. which began operations in 1901, and of which Mr. Bar- ringer is secretary, treasurer and manager. This is a modern mill, equipped with 4,000 spindles and manufactures high-grade hosiery yarns. Mr. Bar- ringer organized the Barringer Manufacturing Company at Rockwell of which he was elected president, but now holds the position of director. He occunies a prominent position in the business life of Mount Pleasant and is also active in the
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HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
public life of the community, taking an energetic part in all movements that have been promoted to foster and add to the general welfare.
BELK BROTHERS is a name that has made com- mercial history in North Carolina. Less than thirty years ago William H. Belk started a store in the Town of Monroe. This store had patron- age, the patronage increased, but the business was noteworthy chiefly as being the foundation of what William H. Belk and his brother, Dr. John M. Belk, who joined him after a year or two, have built up during subsequent years. The en- terprise of Belk Brothers now extends over more than a dozen stores and they furnish their serv- ice and distribute goods to a dozen communities, including the largest city in the state, Charlotte.
The Belk Brothers are natives of a historic community of the Carolinas. They and their family belong to the Waxhaw district of Union County. This district was once the home of the Catawba Indians, figured in the Revolutionary war, was the locality in which some of the earlier gold mines were exploited, and was also the home of a number of famous men. President Andrew Jackson was born there, and President James K. Polk's birthplace was not more than ten miles away, while close by, though over the state line in South Carolina, are the birthplaces of Hayue, Hampton and other great men in American history. This original Waxhaw settlement extended into Lancaster County, South Carolina, and in that region, so rich in history and in men and women of such sturdy character and achievements, the Belk brothers had their origin.
William H. Belk was born in Lancaster County, South Carolina, not far from the present Town of Waxhaw, June 2, 1862. His brother, Dr. John M. Belk was born July 12, 1864. The founder of the Belk family in America was John Belk, who was born in Middleborough, England, and came about 1745 to North Carolina, being one of the early settlers in what is now Union County. He located in what was then Anson, later Mecklenburg, and is now in Buford Township of Union County. Some of the descendants of the original stock still live in Middleborough, and are among the intel- lectual and cultured people of that county. A leading firm of lawyers in Middleborough is Messrs. Belk, Cochrane & Belk.
John Belk, founder of the family in America, had seven sons and daughters. Two of the sons, John and Darling Belk, moved across the line into South Carolina before the Revolutionary war, and both of them were soldiers in that struggle. John Belk of South Carolina had a son John, and Thomas Belk. son of the latter John, was father of Abel N: W. Belk.
Abel Nelson Washington Belk, father of the Belk brothers, was born in Lancaster County, South Carolina, and was a successful planter. Al- though a non-combatant and living peacefully at home, he was wantonly killed in the last year of the war by marauding soldiers from Sherman's army. He married Miss Sarah N. Walkup. Her father, Robert Walkup, was born in the Waxhaw community during the Revolutionary war and her grandfather, Capt. James Walkup, served in the Continental line in the war against England. One of the smaller battles of the Revolution oc- curred at Walkup's Mill, the home place of this family, not far from Waxhaw in what was then Mecklenburg County. One of Sarah Walkup's brothers was Col. Samuel H. Walkup, who was
colonel of the Forty-eighth North Carolina Infan- try during the war between the states. Sarah N. Walkup was born at Waxhaw in 1836 and after the death of Abel Belk she married John P. Simpson, who died in the summer of . 1916. Mrs. Simpson now lives at Monroe.
Some special mention should be made of another member of the Belk family. This was James Belk, a grandson of the original settler, John Belk. James was the son of Brittain Belk, who was killed by the Tories in the Revolutionary war. James Belk was born in 1765. He was with his father at Charlotte at the promulgation of the Meck- lenburg Declaration of Independence on May 20, 1775. A century later he attended the centennial anniversary of that occasion at Charlotte in 1875, and perhaps such an experience was never enjoyed by any other man. He died in 1876, at the age of one hundred eleven.
Wheu the Belk brothers were boys they went to Monroe, the county seat of Union County, in 1873. William H. Belk had his early commercial experience as clerk for B. D. Heath & Company. With a capital of only a few dollars he bought in 1888 a small stock of goods and opened what was known as a "racket" store. He put into this business qualities which make the successful mer- chant everywhere, and in 1889 established a branch store of the same kind at Chester, South Carolina, in partnership with A. W. Kluttz. In 1890 his brother Dr. John M. Belk bought an inter- est in the store at Monroe. Doctor Belk is a grad- uate of the Medical School of the University of the City of New York with the class of 1887, and had in the meantime practiced for several years at Morven in Anson County. Both the brothers at that time possessed very limited means but had a good name and what they had done so far gave them greater credit than actual capital. In 1891 they opened an additional store at Union, South Carolina, associated with R. P. Harry under the firm name Harry & Belk.
In 1895 the Belk brothers had advanced so far in their mercantile enterprise that they were ready to invade Charlotte, the largest city in the state. There they established a department store occupy- ing a building with four large rooms. Though to some degree outsiders, their success in the rich and growing city was almost immediate, and from Charlotte they have since continued branching out and building up a noteworthy chain of stores. In 1899 they opened a department store at Greens- boro, and during the same year a store at Gas- tonia. In 1902 they started a large store at Salis- bury and also a store in their old home community, the Town of Waxhaw. Since then Belk Brothers have established stores at Yorkville, South Caro- lina, Wilmington, Rockingham, Concord, Sanford, Raleigh, Winston-Salem and Kannapolis, making a total now of fifteen stores.
Thus they have attained rank among the great merchants of the South. Their firm name is an exact synonym of success, integrity and business credit. It was not dollars, but initiative, energy and faith that figured most prominently in the ex- pansion of the Belk enterprise. Each of the part- ners refused to be limited by material handicaps, lack of credit or other obstacles. Along with un- limited enthusiasm and energy they also possessed other qualities necessary for success. W. H. Belk has been called a born salesman. and he undoubt- edly has a genius for merchandising. From the time he sold his first goods he has exemplified the spirit of commercial service, and has exempli-
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HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
fied that rule of commercial life that success is only a just, reward for an adequate service deliv- ered. Some one has well said that stormproof character is at the foundation of the house of Belk. Material prosperity has been only an inci- dent of their business career. Doubtless they take even more pleasure and pride in the manner in which their business has been conducted. "Bet- ter than honors or wealth is an irreproachable name. ''
Besides the large chain of retail mercantile establishments the Belk Brothers have been and are stockholders and in some cases officials of a number of other mercantile and manufacturing concerns. They are among the most prominent factors in the present great commercial and indus- trial development now going on in North Caro- lina. They have taken an active interest in public affairs and give generously of their time and means to church, to educational institutions and to worthy philanthropic enterprises.
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