USA > North Carolina > History of North Carolina: North Carolina biography, Volume VI > Part 40
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Professor Bulla's father was Benjamin F. Bulla, who was born in Back Creek Township in 1854. He occupies his father's homestead and for many years has lived there cultivating his crops and performing all the duties of the public spirited citizen. He married Harriet Ann Redding, who was born on a farm three miles west of Ash- boro, daughter of Thomas and Louisa (Steed) Redding and granddaughter of Jonathan Redding, who was a farmer and lifelong resident of Ran- dolph County and died at the age of eighty-six, while his wife passed away at eighty-two. Thomas and Louisa Redding had four children, named Harriet Ann, Martha J., William Franklin and Jennie. The children of Benjamin F. Bulla and wife hore the names Louetta, Mattie, T. Fletcher, William Ogburn, Franklin M., Calvin E., Mary Wade, Dewcy C. and Kate.
Thomas Fletcher Bulla has been directly asso- ciated nearly all his life with schools and institu- tions of learning either as a scholar or as a teacher. From rural schools he entered Liberty
Normal at Liberty, North Carolina, and in 1911 graduated from Guilford College. After leaving college he was for two years an instructor in the Woodland Academy in Wayne County, but in 1913 was elected superintendent of schools in Randolph County, and has held that position by re-election ever since. He is a member of the North Carolina Teachers' Association and in 1914- 15 was secretary of the Randolph County Histori- cal Society. He is a member of the Methodist Protestant Church, while his wife is a Friend. In 1914 Mr. Bulla joined the State Militia and was commissioned captain, but resigned in 1916.
May 1, 1916, he married Miss Mary Lamb, a native of Guilford County and daughter of Shu- bel and Prudence Lamb. Mr. and Mrs. Bulla have one son, Thomas Fletcher, Jr.
OSCAR CARROLL DANIELS. One of the leading specialists in eye, ear, nose and throat in North Carolina is Doctor Daniels of Goldsboro. He took his general medical degree from the Medical Col- lege of Virginia in 1903, practiced along general lines for a number of years, but since coming to Goldsboro in July, 1913, has confined his attention to diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat, in which he has won well deserved reputation as a specialist. Doctor Daniels did post-graduate work in the New York Post Graduate School in 1913 and again in 1916.
Doctor Daniels was born in Pamlico County, North Carolina, January 2, 1881, a son of Paul Jones and Mollie E. (Small) Daniels. His father was a farmer and Doctor Daniels grew up on the farm but had good advantages both of public and private schools. Before coming to Goldsboro he did general practice at Oriental in Pamlico County.
He is a member of the Wayne County and State Medical Societies and the American Medical Asso- ciation. At Goldsboro he is a member of the Al- gonquin Club.
Doctor Daniels was married October 6, 1904, to Miss Jessie Holdeman, of Staunton, Virginia. They are the parents of one child, Oscar Carroll, Jr., born July 5, 1911.
HARTWELL S. POOLE. One of the representa- tive men of Montgomery County, Hartwell S. Poole, farmer and banker, needs no formal intro- duction to the people of this section, for the whole of his busy life has been passed in his native section of the state. He was born about two miles southwest of Jackson Springs in Montgomery County, North Carolina, in 1862. His parents were Hartwell S. and Eliza ( Harris) Poole, and his maternal grandfather was Roland Harris. Both families are old ones in the state and in earlier days were in affluent circumstances. The Pooles originated in England and came to Montgomery County from Virginia about 1815. After the death of the elder Hartwell S. Poole, the three children left fatherless were taken to the home of the grand- father.
On account of the disorganized condition of the country and the paralysis of many of its indus- tries, Hartwell S. Poole in boyhood had fewer op- portunities and advantages than he was entitled to. His grandfather was a farmer and the youth learned the principles of agriculture on the home place and took interest in his work, having a natural inclination in that direction. Although his opportunities were meager, he was a young man of energy and enterprise and when he found him-
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self, at the age of twenty-six years, possessed of a capital of $100 he determined to venture it all in a farm of his own. In January, 1888, he invested this capital in twenty-seven acres on a high plateau in Montgomery County. The story of his progress is well worth telling. In 1889 he and his wife moved into a little log hut on the property, taking with them several head of cattle and one mule, and that year Mr. Poole put up a barn. Through personal labor with a little help he cleared ten acres of his land and on this he planted cow peas, thus introducing the necessary nitrogen into the soil, and followed with corn and cotton, oats and wheat, but for three years reaped no real profit from his farm. In the meanwhile he had the assistance of his admirable wife and under her care the garden and poultry yard supplied a large part of the food. Mr. Poole continued his scientific methods with his land and within three years he estimated that he had increased its value five times over. He kept wide awake to every opportunity to increase his income and found one source in "running turpentine."
By this time Mr. Poole's hardest days were over and from then on until the present his farming op- erations have been important and profitable. He now owns 352 acres, which highly improved farm is situated eight miles from Candor, a little east of south and about half way between Jackson Springs and Norman, and it is valued at many thousands of dollars. Mr. Poole has been methodi- cal and scientific in his farming operations and his success is most gratifying. He still manages his farm industries but has widened his other activities and each day during business hours he may be found in the bank at Candor, of which he is cashier. He has become one of the substantial men of his county and in considering his well directed efforts all along the way one is forcibly impressed with the fact that in any career, indus- try, perseverance and an open mind are most helpful factors. Mr. Poole is naturally regarded by his neighbors in the light of an expert and on all matters concerning soil production his advice is eagerly sought. He is farm demonstrator for three counties, Moore, Montgomery and Richmond. called the Sand Hill Section, and was appointed by the Federal Government.
Mr. Poole was married to Miss Sarah McLeod, who is a daughter of John A. McLeod. of Mont- gomery County, a family well known and respected here that can trace a sturdy Scotch-Irish origin. Nine children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Poole, as follows: Clarence R., Julian H .. Clifton A., Herbert G., Shelton R., Marshall O., Elma N., Melvin C. and Jeannette E. To the World war Mr. and Mrs. Poole have contributed three noble young men, a sacrifice laid on the altar of patri- otism. One of these, Julian H., is a second lieu- tenant, and another, Clifton A., is a sergeant in the medical corps in the United States army. Mr. and Mrs. Poole are members of the Methodist Epis- copal Church.
MAXCY LUTHER JOHN. In the field of general law one of the most eminent figures of the bar of Southern North Carolina during the past quar- ter of a century is Maxcy Luther John of Laurin- burg. Mr. John has fairly earned his position in the law. and during twenty-five years of practice has been a faithful conserver of all the interests confided to his care and fine judgment. thus estab- lishing a career that is deserving of more than a temporary place in the history of the bar. His
standing as a citizen is firm and broad and he has been a progressive and prominent factor in public life.
Mr. John was born in 1866, in Marlboro County, South Carolina, and is a son of James Thomas and Margaret MacRea John, both now deceased. The great-grandfather of Maxcy L. John, Griffith John, was one of three brothers who came from their native Wales to America, first settling in Pennsylvania, from whence Griffith John and a brother went to Mecklenburg County, North Caro- lina, prior to the Revolutionary war. Later mem- bers of the family moved to Marlboro County, South Carolina, where, in 1825, was born Capt. James Thomas John, the father of Maxcy L. John. He was a son of Daniel and Mary (Spears) John, and was a captain of militia in Marlboro County, but when the war between the states came on enlisted in the regular Confederate army as a private. He was in all branches of the service, first in the heavy artillery on the coast, then in the light artillery, and subsequently in the cavalry and infantry. At the close of the war he had, risen to the rank of lieutenant, and as such had acted in the capacity of captain of his company, and after his first service in the heavy artillery the remainder of his service was in Virginia. All of those who knew him in the army accorded him a high place as a brave and efficient soldier and officer. After the war, in 1866, he located in what is now Scotland County, then a part of Richmond County, North Carolina, not a great distance from his former home in Marlboro County, South Caro- lina. The place where he located is at what has since been known as John, which is now a station on the Atlantic Coast Line in the southeastern part of Scotland County. His wife's estate embraced a large body of unimproved land in that vicinity, and for the next few years Captain John was busily engaged in clearing and putting consider- able tracts of this rich land in cultivation. He became one of the largest and most successful farmers in this section of the state, and a man of wealth and influence, as well as a most valuable and valued citizen. He was particularly generous in the education of his children, who received the best of college and professional training. His death occurred in 1910. His wife, to whom he was married in 1856, was before her marriage Miss Margaret MacRae, a member of one of the old Scotch families of this section of North Carolina. Besides Maxcy Luther, the following sons were in the family: Dr. Peter John, of Laurinburg, a prominent physician and surgeon, a graduate of the University of North Carolina and of the medi- cal department of the University of Maryland, with extensive hospital experience; Hon. Henry M. John, of Lumber Bridge, North Carolina, a large farmer and an ex-member of the North Carolina Legislature; Rev. Dr. R. B. John, a Methodist minister, who has occupied a number of important positions as a minister and a presiding elder, and who on December 1, 1916, became presi- dent by unanimous choice of the Carolina College for Women, at Maxton; and J. T. John, who lives at the old place at John Station and is a promi- nent farmer. merchant and millman.
Maxcy Luther John was prepared for college at Laurinburg, in the famous school conducted by the late William Graham Quackenbush. and then en- tered the University of North Carolina, from which he was graduated with the degree of Bache- lor of Philosophy in 1888. Following this he taught school for three years and then took the law course in the University of North Carolina, grad-
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uating in the law department in 1892. He began the practice of his profession that year at Laurin- burg and has continued to be one of the most successful lawyers in this part of the state and ranking with its leaders. He was very thorough as a student, and this characteristic has dominated the practice of his profession, his law library being one of the largest and most comprehensive to be found in this part of the state. Mr. John has been three times county superintendent of schools of Scotland County and three times mayor of Laurinburg. As mayor he was active in en- forcing the law and maintaining law and order, in encouraging civic betterment, as an exponent of clean and efficient government, and as a pro- moter of public-spirited movements for the growth and development of the town.
Mr. John married Miss Lila Hamilton Bell, of Mocksville, North Carolina, daughter of Dr. W. M. and (Martin) Bell, and grand- daughter of Dr. J. F. Martin, of Mocksville, a distinguished man of his day and one whose name appears prominently in the history of North Caro- lina. He was a surgeon in the Confederate service during the war between the states, and for several years was the head of a notable medical college .at Mocksville. Mrs. John is also descended from Sallie Johnson Lanier, who was the half sister of the mother of George Washington. Mrs. John is a graduate of Peace Institute. She and Mr. John have three children: Frank Bell, Mary and Mar- garet MacRae John.
COLONEL L. W. HUMPHREY. Of the names that meant most to the life and destiny of North Caro- lina during the last half of the nineteenth cen- tury that of Colonel L. W. Humphrey is one that deserves long and distinguished memory. He was a lawyer, a gallant soldier, a public leader of power, influence, broad views, disinterested mo- tives and noble patriotism. The name Humphrey means "protector of the home."'
He was descended from old English ancestry. The Humphrey family is reputed to be of Danish origin, but intermarried with the Normans, and went to England with William the Conqueror. The family long flourished in Devonshire, England.
The record of the family's settlement in Onslow County, North Carolina, has not been accurately kept. The county was represented in the Assembly of the state in 1812 by Lotte Humphrey and nine years later by W. D. Humphrey. Colonel Hum- phrey's grandfather was Daniel W. Humphrey, while his father was Williams Humphrey. Wil- liams Humphrey had four sons and two daughters, Williams, Daniel, Indiana, Ann, Edgar and Lotte. Indiana Humphrey married Dr. John Shackelford of Greensboro, and their son John Williams Shackelford, was a member of Congress when he died January 18, 1883. Ann married Maj. George Ward of Jacksonville, North Carolina.
Lotte Williams Humphrey, the youngest of these six children, was born at the home of his parents near Richlands in Onslow County June 30, 1830. With superior advantages in early life his train- ing brought out his best powers and capabilities. He early gave promise of his career of usefulness and public life, and in 1854 was elected as a democrat from Onslow County to the State House of Commons. In that House he was associated with many distinguished North Carolinians, and in the following session he voted for the constitu- tional amendment enlarging the electorate for members of the Senate by removing the freehold
requirement for qualification. At the same time another figure came into North Carolina's public life, Zebulon B. Vance, representing the whig party. Vance and Humphrey, representing differ- ent parties and different sections of the state, were for a long period of years opposing forces in state politics, and their relations developed many mat- ters of conflict and antagonism. After his first term Mr. Humphrey was re-elected without oppo- sition.
In 1856 he married Miss Rebecca G. Bradley, daughter of Dr. John Bradley of Onslow County. He studied law under Chief Justice Richmond M. Pearson at Richmond Hill in Yadkin County. Re- ceiving his license in 1857-58, he opened his office and soon found himself engaged in a lucrative practice.
In August, 1858, he was elected to the State Senate. In the Senate he became chairman of the committee on corporations, in charge of the charters of all cities and towns and incorporations of all railroads. He was also a member of the committee on the deaf and dumb asylum, and of the committee on public buildings.
Amid the turmoil of politics in the year 1860 Mr. Humphrey was again chosen senator from his district. With his varied legislative experience he now was acknowledged as a leader in the Senate. He was again made chairman of the committee on corporations and was appointed chairman of the committee to investigate the charges against the management of the Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad. He stood with Governor Ellis in the latter's recommendation that North Carolina should make adequate preparations for defense in view of probable hostilities between the North and South. He actively supported the proposition for a convention to consider the subject of secession, and gave his closest attention to all the grave questions that came before the Assembly during the year 1860.
After returning from the special session of June, 1861, Mr. Humphrey assisted in organizing a mili- tary company in which he was elected first lieu- tenant. This company was known as the "Gatlin Dragoons," and for nearly a year it served as an independent company. In the summer of 1862 Lieutenant Humphrey raised another company, known as the "Humphrey Troops," of which he was captain. In Eastern Carolina at that time were ten unattached cavalry companies, and in August, 1862, Brigdier General T. L. Clingman, carrying out instructions from Adjutant General Martin, ordered the commissioned officers of these companies to report at Goldsboro for the purpose of effecting a field organization, the regiment to be known as the Forty-first North Carolina State Troops, being the Third Regiment of Cavalry. In conformity with this order the officers of six of these companies met, and Captain Humphrey was elected colonel, receiving every vote cast except his own. General Clingman reported the results of the election to General Martin, and his election as colonel of the Third Cavalry was fully recog- nized by Adjutant General Martin, and he was offi- cially recognized with that rank. However, a few days later Colonel Z. B. Vance, on being inangu- rated governor, chose to disregard this election and appointed a former whig as colonel of the Third Cavalry. He thus ignored the patent claims and merits of Colonel Humphrey, and his action was one that Colonel Humphrey resented all through his life. Colonel Humphrey remained in the army until the early months of 1863, when, as
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the result of a long cavalry ride and severe ill- ness he gave his resignation to the army. He had rendered highly valuable services to the Confed- eraey. A careful examination of historical records shows that the Third Cavalry was responsible for the protection of the line of the W. & W. Railway, keeping open this line of communication and sup- plies and protecting a vast section of North Caro- lina from incursions of the enemy. His work as a soldier was done largely in the capacity of a partisan ranger, and similar to the operations car- ried on in the Carolinas during the time of the Rev- olution by Marion and Sumter, "the swamp foxes" of the Revolution. Mr. Humphrey was well suited for this service, being tall and well knit, and ad- mirably qualified to undergo the hardships of con- stant vigilance and action. He was a man of fine intelligence, prompt to decide, resolute, quick in thought and deed.
In December, 1863, he was elected by the jus- tices of Onslow County as solicitor for the county. The office of solicitor was at that time much more important than the duties of the office today make the position. He filled the office with credit until the reconstruction period. After the fall of New- bern Onslow County became the theater of partisan warfare and open to the incursions of Federal troops. In view of these depredations Colonel Humphrey removed his family into the interior, and carried his negroes to Davie County, placing them on farms.
In June, 1859, Mr. Humphrey had suffered the loss of his first wife. Four years later in Septem- ber, 1863, he married Miss Ida Clingman, only daughter of Dr. Henry Pattillo Clingman and sis- ter of Nixon Poindexter Clingman, elsewhere re- ferred to in this publication. Late in 1864 Colonel Humphrey brought his family back to his planta- tion in Onslow. Affairs reached a crisis in Feb- ruary, 1865, Wilmington having been occupied by the Federal Army and in consideration for the safety of his family he located them in Goldsboro. They were at Goldsboro when that city was entered by Sherman's forces, and on the 24th of March, 1865, while Sheman's army was still marching through Goldsboro, a son was born in Colonel Humphrey's home amid the tumult of marching soldiery and clank of artillery. After the fall of the Confederacy, Colonel Humphrey, in order to place his family beyond the danger of military law and terror, took his wife and children to Norris- town, Pennsylvania.
In August, 1865, following the example of Gen- eral Lee and many other public men of the South, Colonel Humphrey filed his application for pardon and amnesty. Conditions having quieted some- what, he brought his family back to Goldsboro in the fall of 1865 and opened his law office and took up the duties of citizenship. While resuming the practice of his profession he also continued the op- eration and management of his plantation in On- slow until well into the '80s, when he sold it to Mr. Richard B. Bassett.
Only a few words may be devoted to the period of reconstruction. Colonel Humphrey was in full sympathy with his former democratic friends and kent himself a conservative and one who at every possible occasion worked for the restoration of law and order and the political power where it be- longed. In 1872 he was elected senator from Wayne County. and did all possible to promote the success of Judge Merrimon, the conservative can- didate for governor. When the Assembly met in November, 1872, occurred that notable political
contest between Judge Merrimon and Governor Vance for the United States Senate. Here it was that the differences between Colonel Humphrey and Vance during the war bore special fruit. He re- fused to enter the caucus of his party because he did not wish to be bound by its action in case the caucus favored the election of Vance. It was a long and bitter contest, and Colonel Humphrey steadfastly supported Judge Merrimon. When the electiou came out of the caucus and into the meet- ing of the two houses Vance and Merrimon were still rivals and the republicans forsook their own candidate and voted for Merrimon, thus giving him a majority, but the bitterness of the contest did not end there, one of the results being that Colonel Humphrey became a supporter of the Brog- den administration two years later.
In the meantime, as state senator Colonel Humphrey served as chairman of the committee on internal improvements, was a member of the finance committee and other committees. His committee had to deal with bills concerning the railroads of the state, and he was particularly influential in this class of legislation. He introduced the bill which passed, providing for a uniform rate of in- terest in the state.
Governor Brogden virtually secured Colonel Humphrey's election to the presidency of the At- lantic & North Carolina Railroad, a position for which he was well qualified by his talents and busi- ness training.
Two plans of administration were open, one to run the road in connection with the Wilmington & Weldon Railroad, with facilities toward the North, and the other in connection with the North Caro- lina Railroad then controlled by the Richmond & Danville Railroad, with facilities for western or state travel and traffic and steamship connection at Morehead City to the North. Colonel Hum- phrey pursued the latter plan. As a result of ar- rangements made with the Richmond & Danville, freights from Raleigh east were turned over to the A. & N. C., and an arrangement made with the Clyde Steamship Company for a line of steamers from Morehead City to New York or Philadelphia. The road began at once to haul an immense amount of freight. Colonel Humphrey by reason of this movement was in high favor with the people of his section, who looked forward to great things from this arrangement. But the patronage of the road through the region which it passed was not sufficient to make it a profitable property, and with all the economy and wisdom of his administration the receipts were barely sufficient to pay running expenses. Colonel Humphrey continued as presi- dent of the road until 1877. On the change of administration at Raleigh he was replaced by a Vance democrat, Maj. John Hughes. Major Hughes reversed Colonel Humphrey's policy and made the road a cooperating line with the Wil- mington & Weldon at Goldsboro. About that time an effort was made by the Wilmington & Weldon to lease the Atlantic & North Carolina. This was in direct antagonism to the views and policies of Colonel Humphrey, who soon published in the Goldsboro Messenger a notable article in which he made it plain that the proposed lease would not be to the advantage of either the Atlantic and North Carolina or the people of the eastern section of the state. As a result of his arguments the project was defeated, and it was a great personal triumph for Colonel Humphrey, who even after he had retired from the presidency exerted a bene- ficial influence on the railroad property.
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