USA > North Carolina > History of North Carolina: North Carolina biography, Volume VI > Part 22
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EPHRAIM THOMAS WATSON has won a substan- tial place in the legal profession in North Caro- lina, though he is one of the younger members of the bar. He began life on his own respon- sibility at an early age, sought his education while earning his own living, and is looked upon with respect due to his unusual qualifications and suc- cessful record in the community at Mount Olive, where he now practices.
He was born in Wilson County, North Caro- lina, October 19, 1883, a son of Wiley and Nancy (Ricks) Watson. His people were farmers and he had a rural environment during his youth. Besides the country schools he attended Kenley Academy, and gained his first important experience and had his first regular occupation as a bookkeeper. While keening books during the day he read law at home at night. and finally entered Wake Forest College in the law department, where he was graduated in 1913. About the time he was admitted to the bar Mr. Watson was appointed register of deeds of Johnson County, an office he filled with the quiet capability characteristic of him until 1915.
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In that year he took the summer course in law at Columbia University in New York City, and on returning to North Carolina began his active prac- tice at Mount Olive. For the past year, in part- nership with B. B. Granthan, he has also been en- gaged in the real estate business as well as in the practice of law.
Mr. Watson is a democrat in politics, and is affiliated with the Masonic Order and the Junior Order of United American Mechanics. He was married December 18, 1912, to Miss May McInnis Tatum, daughter of Dr. A. Tatum.
COL. JOSEPH EDWARD ROBINSON. Distinguished in many fields and equally at home in all, Col. Joseph Edward Robinson, founder and editor of the Daily Argus at Goldsboro, has long been one of the foremost men of Wayne County. He was brought to Goldsboro when one year old but was born in Lenoir County September 23, 1858. His parents were John and Margaret (Dillon) Robin- son, both of Irish birth. His father was college bred, having such classmates as Edward Cun- ningham, of Halifax, North Carolina, and Dr. William Hay, of Princeton, North Carolina, and prior to coming to Goldsboro, North Carolina, in 1847, had been a member of the faculty of St. Patrick's University at Dublin, Ireland.
Joseph Edward Robinson had many advantages in early environment. Private tutors directed his early studies and afterward for seven years he had for preceptor a Catholic priest of the Domini- can order. In 1879 he was graduated from St. Charles College, Maryland, under the teaching or- der of the Sulpician fathers.
Turning his attention then to the study of law, he found in one of his classmates a congenial friend, who afterward became well known to the state as Governor Aycock, with whom he was ad- mitted to the bar in 1881. The friendship formed in student days continued and in later years Governor Aycock appointed Joseph E. Robinson a member of his personal staff, with the rank of colonel. The law class to which Colonel Rob- inson belonged was an unusually brilliant one and aside from the colonel and Governor Aycock numbered Judge F. A. Daniels, Lieutenant-Gov- ernor F. D. Winston, Congressman John H. San- ace and Judge M. R. Allen.
Colonel Robinson established himself in the practice of law at Goldsboro. and within a few years had made a reputation for himself in the profession and had secured a substantial prac- tice. In the meanwhile he had shown the divers- ity of his talents by doing editorial work on the leading newspaper in Wayne County, a semi- weekly called the Goldsboro Messenger. Perhaps it is not too much to say that this editorial work opened the way for what may seem the special, among numerous others, talent, for journalism in North Carolina would have lost much had he ne- glected his natural leaning in this direction.
Thirty-five years ago many cities of larger pop- ulation than was Goldsboro at that time had no daily newspaper. Along with many other new things it was looked upon almost as an unneces- sary modern invasion, but when Colonel Robinson took the matter in hand he soon proved that his daily issue was not a luxury but a necessity. He established the Daily Argus in April, 1885, and there has been no more uplifting element in the city's life than this daily journal. It is ably edited by a scholarly, conscientious man, one who is not afraid to speak the truth and to advocate
reforms even in the face of adverse public opin- ion, as at times has been the duty he has imposed on himself. At the time Colonel Robinson founded the Argus, although no murmur was yet heard of the present great temperance wave sweeping the country, he came out flatly against license and made it plain that not one line could be bought at any price in the Argus by any of the thirty- one saloons then operating. Other crises have arrived but with equal firmness, although often to his business loss, Colonel Robinson has weath- ered them. He has always stood for the things that are right, whether expedient or not, and on such a foundation his business rests.
For eighteen years Colonel Robinson has been chairman of the board of education of Wayne County and his influence has been particularly helpful in this connection. He is a trustee of the public library board and takes a personal in- terest in its councils and it is largely due to his efforts that this educative factor has become so important. On every hand one may learn of his public spirit, his conscientious effort, his support of worthy enterprises, and his liberal benefac- tions to charity. It was Colonel Robinson who inaugurated the "Empty Stocking" campaign at the Christmas season, a beautiful form of benevo- lence that has met with most generous returns.
Colonel Robinson was married November 15, 1893, to Miss Ada Clingman Humphrey, who is a daughter of the late Col. Lott W. Humphrey, of Goldsboro.
Colonel Robinson is a member of St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church.
The establishing and completing of the Golds- boro Hospital was a matter very close to Colonel Robinson's heart for many years, he serving as secretary of the board of trustees from its incep- tion. His eloquent address on the opening of the hospital, March 5, 1912, not only was singularly appropriate and a piece of fine literature, but ex- emplified in every line the outlook a man seem- ingly immersed in business and mundane affairs may have in his inner consciousness. The biog- rapher laments that space forbids the quoting of the entire address, but a few lines of particu- lar beauty must be given. This quotation is ex- tracted from the middle of the oration:
"It is a notable fact that this hospital, built by the people of Goldsboro and Wayne County, for the common weal of suffering humanity, is our first tangible expression of community effort. Is it not most creditable, therefore, and inspiring that this first common achievement has been ac- complished under the influence of the greatest of all virtues-charity? And surely such a people that thus give united expression to their noblest ideal are not lacking in righteousness. The peo- ple which go forward with the firm and abiding resolution to make for righteousness and to pos- sess and exercise charity will move onward with stately step and unfaltering trust to a destiny as grand, as enduring, as lofty, as sublime, real- izing in the eternities of God, who is from ever- lasting to everlasting, those beatifie rewards that are promised to the pure of heart, the lovers of righteousness and the charitable. Such a people will engender and leave as an inheritance to their posterity the twofold qualities of greatness and strength-greatness in the possession of grand and heroic virtues, great in overcoming selfishness, great in purity of life, great in allegiance to truth and to lofty ideals, and strong in the power to exercise self control, without which neither in-
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dividuals nor communities
much. ''
ever accomplish
EDMUND HINES GORHAM. Professional, busi- ness and civic honors have been accumulating rapidly for Mr. Gorham since he began his ca- reer as a lawyer at Morehead City . in 1910, seven years ago. For a man who has reached the age of thirty, he carries perhaps as many responsibilities as any North Carolinian of those mature years, and his native state has much to expect of him in the future.
Mr. Gorham was born at Wilson, North Caro- lina, August 12, 1886, a son of William Churchill and Lillie (Durham) Gorham. His father was both a merchant and farmer. As boy Edmund H. Gorham attended the public schools and high school at Wilson and Oak Ridge Institute, and then entered the law department of the University of North Carolina. He was admitted to practice in February, 1910, and at once located at Morehead City. He handles a large general practice, and business interests have been making increasing demands upon his time and attention. He is vice president and solicitor of the Bank of Morehead City, is presi- dent of the Bogue Lumber Company, is president of the Star Fish Company, president of the Morehead City Hospital Company, president of the Sea Fisheries Company and vice-president of the North Carolina Shipbuilding Company. There are some honors which a young lawyer cannot consistently refuse when they are urged upon him, and Mr. Gorham during 1913-14 gave a very capable administration in the office of mayor of Morehead City. He is a democrat, but has little time outside of busines and the law for prac- tical politics. He is also a steward in the Metho- dist Episcopal Church.
Mr. Gorham was married October 26, 1910, to Miss Sarah Meadows of Newbern, North Caro- lina. They have two daughters: Jane Meadows Gorham and Annie Durham Gorham.
WILLIAM N. EVERETT, one of the ablest business men, farmers and civic leaders in Richmond County, is a son of the late Captain William Isaac Everett, whose career also deserves more than passing mention in any history of the state.
The Everett family has been identified with Richmond County since pioneer times. Captain William Isaac Everett was born there January 3, 1835, son of C. A. and Ann (Ewing) Everett, who were also natives of Richmond County. C. A. Everett was a planter, and close connection with the soil and with its activities has characterized every generation of the family. C. A. Everett was a leader in the Baptist Church, though his wife was a Methodist. He died in 1874, at the age of sixtv-seven, and his wife in 1872, aged fifty-two.
The second in a family of seven children. Wil- liam Isaac Everett was educated primarily in Rockingham, and subsequently completed a course in civil engineering in the University of North Carolina. His active career covered more than half a century, beginning in 1853, at the age of eighteen, and continuing until his death at his home in Rockingham in 1911. For one year he clerked in a store, for about a year applied his energies to the old time art of photography, then was a school teacher, and when the war broke out in 1861 he was a civil engineer in the employ of the W. C. & R. Railroad.
It was his experience and ability as an engineer Vol. VI -6
that made him most valuable to the cause of the Confederacy during the war. In May, 1861, he enlisted in Company D of the Twenty-third North Carolina Volunteer Infantry. For the first two years he served as orderly sergeant and as mem- ber of the engineer corps and quartermaster in the Twenty-third Regiment. In 1863 the War Department detailed him to complete the construc- tion of the railroad from Wilmington to Char- lotte. In 1864 he was made roadmaster, and re- signed that position after the close of the war in 1866, when he was elected general superin- tendent and chief engineer of the road. He left the service of the railroad company in 1870 and for two years was a construction engineer. Nearly forty years before his death he established a mercantile business at Rockingham, and that business has been successfully continued to the present time.
In 1887 Captain Everett was elected president of the Great Falls Manufacturing Company at Rockingham, and succeeded in making that one of the most important manufacturing enterprises of the city. He was also a director and stock- holder in the Pee Dee Manufacturing Company and the Roberdel Manufacturing Company. He was for many years a partner in the cotton com- mission house of Everett Brothers & Company of Norfolk, Virginia.
Great as were his achievements in the com- mercial field, his services to his home state were even more important through his activities as a farmer and a pioneer in the building and main- tenance of good roads. For many years he con- ducted one of the largest farming estates in Northı Carolina. For years he talked and advocated, in season and out of season, the cause of good roads. He helped to build some of the pioneer high- ways when North Carolina was especially defi- cient in country roads, and his work in Rich- mond county inaugurated a movement which has accomplished such valuable results in subsequent years that the county now has the best roads of any similar section in the state. From 1879 to 1890 he held the office of county commissioner, and through this office he carried on a very ef- fective campaign in behalf of improved high- ways. He was also for more than ten years a member of the city council of Rockingham and for two terms as mayor of the city, and in 1884 led his ticket and was elected a member of the State Senate from the Twenty-sixth District. Captain Everett was a broad minded democrat, served for many years as a trustee and steward in the Metho- dist Episcopal Church. South. was a member of the Masonic Order, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of other societies and organiza- tions. He was a man of altruistic spirit, was deeply concerned in the welfare of his community and state, and set an example that may well be emulated by future generations. It should not be forgotten that while he was a member of one of the best families of the state he started out comparatively poor and made his success through the energetic use of his individual talents and op- portunities.
On July 15. 1863, Captain Everett married Miss Fannie H. LeGrand, daughter of James and Martha LeGrand, of Richmond County. Of the nine children born to the union. the six who reached maturity were: William N., Minnie L., who married H. C. Dockery, Anna. who married J. P. Little. James L., John and Bessie F.
William Nash Everett, who was born on his
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father's farm in Richmond County in 1864, has proved a very worthy successor of his honored sire, and has not only found but made for him- self an important place in the world's affairs.
Educated in the public schools of Rockingham and the University of North Carolina, he spent some four or five years of his young manhood in the cotton commission house of Everett Brothers, Gibson & Company of Norfolk, Vir- ginia. That old firm, with which his father was also counected, is now out of existence. Ou re- turning to Rockingham he took active charge of the Everett mercantile interests at Rockingham, succeeding to the heavy responsibilities previously carried by his father, aud has kept the family name continually associated with a broadening and enlarging scope of business effort. The Everett store was originally a house for the han- dliug of general merchandise, but in later years the principal attention has been given to the hardware trade, and that now constitutes the main feature of the Everett mercautile business.
Like his father, William N. Everett is one of North Carolina's leading farmers and also a leader in everything that pertains to the im- provemeut and advancement of rural life in his section of the state. He with his brothers owns and operates a splendid farm in Richmond county near Rockingham, and besides other crops he grows between 1,000 and 1,200 acres of cotton annually. It has been described as a "seventy- five horse farm," since that number of work animals are required for its operation. Mr. Everett has been succesful in farming on a large scale and according to modern scientific methods. His broad training and experience in mercantile affairs has caused him to introduce the same systematic management into the management of his fields and erops.
Mr. Everett is chairman of the county board of education. In that capacity he gives his spe- cial interest and influence to the education and training of country boys and girls. As member of the couuty board he gave every possible assist- ance to the establishment of what is known as the Derby School in the northern part of the county. This rural school was named in honor of Roger A. Derby, who erected the building. Mr. Everett 's enthusiasm in supporting and assisting this school is more than justified. It is not only a school where the general educational branches are taught, but also trains its pupils in the manual and in- dustrial arts. Its efficiency, the results obtained and the value of the school as a means of uplift to the community, has made it one of the noted institutions of its kind in North Carolina.
In the Legislature of 1917 he was the senator from the Twenty-first District. He has always been much interested in the university, and has been a member of the board of trustees for many years and chairman of the visiting committee since 1917.
Among other business interests Mr. Everett is a vice president and director of the Bank of Pee Dee and the Richmond County Savings Bank and has financial connections with various business and industrial concerns. He married Miss Lena Payne, of Norfolk, Virginia. They are the par- ents of three children: William N., Jr., Mrs. Isaac Spencer London, and Miss Mary Louise Everett.
REV. HUGH MCLEOD BLAIR, editor of the North Carolina Christian Advocate at Greensboro has
been prominent as preacher, presiding elder, circuit rider and editor in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, of this state for over thirty years. Both the church and the people have come to appreciate and set a high value upon his singular gifts and attainments.
Rev. Mr. Blair was born on a farm in Little River Township, Caldwell County, North Carolina. He represents a family of colonial ancestry in the Carolinas. All the evidence points to the fact that the founder of the name in America was James Blair, a native of Wales, who on coming to America settled in Berks County, Pennsylvania, and spent the rest of his days there. His son, Colbert Blair, a native of Berks County, came to the colony of North Carolina about 1740. He was a pioneer in what was then Burke but is now Caldwell County, and in the locality known as Powelltown. Later he removed to a portion of Guilford County which is now Randolph County, but after some years returned to Burke County and spent his last days in Cedar Valley. He mar- ried Sarah Morgan, who was a near relative of Daniel Boone's mother.
John Blair, son of Colbert and grandfather of Rev. Hugh Blair, was born in what is Lenoir Township of Caldwell County, grew to manhood at the home of his parents in Guilford County, and soon after his marriage returned to Burke, now Caldwell County and bought land in Cedar Valley, where he was engaged in general farming until his death. John Blair married Frances Hill. Both were laid to rest in the Cedar Valley church- yard.
Morgan Blair, father of Hugh M., was born in 1812 in what is now Caldwell County, and as a youth learned the trade of wagon maker. He suc- ceeded to the ownership of the old homestead, es- tablished a shop upon it, and while busied with the building of wagons and general repair work, also superintended the operations of his planta- tions. He lived there until his death at the age of seventy-four in 1886. He married Elizabeth McLeod. She was born in Iredell County, North Carolina, daughter of John and Elizabeth McRae McLeod. Her parents were both natives of Suth- erland County, Scotland, and came to America directly after their marriage. Their voyage was made in a sailing vessel which encountered adverse winds and storms and delayed them nearly three months. They landed at Boston, but after a year came to North Carolina and located in Iredell County. John McLeod before his marriage had served in the Royal Army, and was honorably dis- charged. He brought his discharge papers' to America and preserved them carefully until they were burned in a fire which destroyed his home. Mrs. Morgan Blair died in 1877, at the age of sixty years. She was the mother of ten children: Milton B., John C., Mary Ann, Sarah Jane, Nancy Elizabeth, William F., who died at the age of thirteen, Hartwell S., Hugh McLeod, Enos Hill and Emma Roena.
Hugh McLeod Blair grew up on a farm and had rural school advantages, supplemented by attend- ance at Rutherford College, from which he gradu- ated B. S. in 1875, and later received the degree Master of Arts from the same institution. Before graduating, at the age of twenty-two, he had taught in the rural schools of Caldwell County. On leaving college he continued teaching, and for six years was in the high school at Hickory. In the meantime by careful study he had equipped himself for his chosen life work, and in 1883 en-
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tered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. He joined the North Carolina Conference, and for six years was preacher in cir- cuit work and for several years had regular as- signments. For four years he was presiding elder of the Mount Airy district. Mr. Blair in 1894 was called to the editorship of the North Carolina Christian Advocate, but after one year resumed his post in the field as a minister. For four years he was stationed at Mount Airy, two years at Selby, and in 1901 was again called to the editor- ship of the North Carolina Christian Advocate at Greensboro. He has given that paper and the spread of its wholesome influence the best of his energies and abilities for over seventeen years.
Mr. Blair married in 1878 Miss Effie Bell. She was born in Lincoln County, North Carolina, daughter of Robert and Jennie (Ramseur) Bell, and granddaughter of Archibald and Mary (Mc- Neely) Bell. Her maternal grandparents were David and Annie Ramseur, of a famous North Carolina family referred to in more detail on other pages of this publication. Mrs. Blair died in 1902, leaving one daughter, Eva Bell. In 1903 Mr. Blair married Laura A. Ramseur, who was also born in Lincoln County, daughter of George and Eliza (Warlick) Ramseur.
The achievement of Mr. Blair's lifework is the recent completion of a constructive enterprise in which he had been able to secure for his church a splendid building and equipment as the per- manent home of the North Carolina Christian Ad- vocate. This building and plant is now valued at more than $40,000 and the Conference had here a paper permanently housed with a constantly growing circulation and influence, and also a grow- ing general printing business. After all these years, however, Mr. Blair still claims the heart of the loyal Methodist itinerant and stands ready each year for his marching orders.
ELDER JAMES T. COATS. One of the newest in- corporated towns in the state, a flourishing cen- ter of business and home life in Harnett County, bears the name of the owner of the original farm land from which the village was carved, the pio- neer citizen of the locality, and a character upon whom such an honor is most fitly bestowed.
Not long ago a local historian told the story of the origin of this village in the following words: "Coats derives its name from the Coats family whose ancestral home is near the site of the present town and whose head is that fine Christian old gentleman, Elder J. T. Coats, a prominent leader of the Primitive Baptists of this section. If I remember correctly, Elder Coats conducted a store somewhere in the neighborhood several years after our old friend, the late la- mented John Angier, decided to extend his line to Dunn, and the place was then known as Coats; though that the little settlement would eventually become one of Harnett's leading towns was never dreamed of at that time. After the railroad came the progressive people of the locality realized that here was an excellent site for a town whose pos- sibilties for future growth were unlimited, being backed by a large territory whose agricultural possibilities were unsurpassed though very scant- ily developed. First came a few merchants. These prospered, built nice homes, pioneered the Coats boom and paved the way for the real estate auc- tionecr. Its location is ideal, its streets are broad and well kept, its homes pretty and comfortable, its business buildings large, its several manufac-
turing enterprises give employment to a large number of operatives, its public school facilities are ample, its churches embrace nearly every Prot- estant denomination and the people rank among the thriftiest, most. industrious and intelligent of the state. ''
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