USA > North Carolina > History of North Carolina: North Carolina biography, Volume VI > Part 44
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
On December 20, 1890, Mr. Lewis married Miss Dora McDaniel, of Treuton. They are the par- ents of six children: Richard Henry Lewis, Mc. Daniel, Meriwether, William F., Donovan and Mar- jorie. The three oldest are lieutenants in the National army.
ROMULUS ALONZO WHITAKER, M. D. Because of his upright life, his splendid service to his pro- fession, and the influence he had upon men aud his varied material interests the death of the late Dr. R. A. Whitaker was an event that brought widespread sorrow and regret. He lived out his active years chiefly in Jones and Lenoir counties, and was in practice at Kinston for fifteen years.
Doctor Whitaker was born in Jones Couuty, North Carolina, January 8, 1857, and was not yet sixty years of age when he died, as a result of a stroke of apoplexy, July 18, 1916. 'His ancestors were of English origin, and some of them were among the earliest settlers in the colonies of Vir- ginia, North Carolina and Louisiana. His imme- diate ancestors located in Wake County, North Carolina. His parents were Thomas Jefferson and Sarah Elizabeth (Koonce) Whitaker. The father was especially prominent and influential in Jones County during the Reconstruction Era, during which troublous times he filled with credit and with an unshaken courage the offices of sheriff and clerk of courts.
The late Doctor Whitaker, being a member of an old and substantial family, had good advan- tages, though much of his youth was spent in the decade of the war and Reconstruction. He was trained by private tutors until he entered Trinity College, where he remained until graduating in 1882. He took his professional course in the Col- lege of Physicians and Surgeons at Baltimore, where he was graduated in 1885, and subsequently took special courses in the Johns Hopkins Univer- sity.
Doctor Whitaker began practice at Trenton in Jones County, North Carolina, and soon had built up a large practice and became recognized as a physician and surgeon of exceptional skill and of remarkable wisdom and judgment in the han- dling of his cases. The successful practice he had enabled him to accumulate a large amount of land in Jones County. In 1901 he removed to Kinston and continued the practice of medicine there. He became prominent in Lenoir County not only pro- fessionally but in business affairs, in social life and in politics. He was a man of striking per- sonality, was a congenial associate, had a host of warm personal friends, and proved himself a friend in need to all classes, especially when engaged in the work of his profession.
He took a prominent part in the North Carolina Medical Society from the time of its organiza- tion, and at one time was a delegate from his state society to the Virginia Medical Society. He served in that capacity in 1905. For two terms beginning in 1909 he was superintendent of health in Lenoir County. Doctor Whitaker was a stock- holder and director in the Caswell Cotton Mills at Kinston, and for a number of years gave more
or less active supervision to his extensive land holdings in Lenoir and Jones counties.
He wielded a large influence in the democratic party in his section of the state. He was affiliated with the Masons, the Knights of Pythias, the In- depeudent Order of Odd Fellows, the Alpha Tau Omega college fraternity, the Lenoir County Med- ical Society, and was a trustee of the Methodist Church at Kinstou.
Doctor Whitaker was married at Farmville, Vir- ginia, December 18, 1885, to Miss Martha A. Bid- good, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. R. M. Bidgood, of Farmville, Virginia. Doctor Whitaker 's second marriage occurred at Trenton, North Carolina, April 8, 1896, wheu Miss May C. Murray, daugli- ter of Mr. and Mrs. William Murray of Wilson, North Carolina, became his wife. Both wives were members of prominent aud influential fam- ilies in their respective states. By his first wife Doctor Whitaker had the following children: Dr. R. B. Whitaker, of Whiteville, North Carolina, who married Miss Stella Gilmer, of Lewisburg, West Virginia; T. J. Whitaker; R. A. Whitaker; Mattie Whitaker, wife of Mr. W. D. Hood. By the second marriage there were three children, Paul Whitaker, Marvin Whitaker and Miss Mar- garet Rountree Whitaker.
ROMULUS ALONZO WHITAKER. One of the young men whose careers have started with great prom- ise and practical ability, in the field of law is R. A. Whitaker, who has been rapidly establishing himself in the esteem and professional confidence of the people of Kinston since leaving law school.
Mr. Whitaker was born at Trenton, Jones Coun- ty, North Carolina, November 11, 1890, a son of Dr. R. A. Whitaker. He was liberally educated, attending the public schools of Trentou and Kins- ton, and his alma mater is Trinity College. He graduated A. B. and in 1915 completed his law course there and at once established himself in the general practice of law at Kinston. Mr. Whitaker is a democrat, and is active in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, being lay com- initteeman and also a member of the Baraca Class.
During the early part of the year 1918 Mr. Whitaker became associated in the practice of law with G. V. Cowper, under the firm name of. Cowper & Whitaker, and, although the junior member, his capacity and influence at once became felt in the practice of the firm in Lenoir and ad- joining counties. His career as a lawyer, however, was soon interrupted by the call to military serv. ice in the war with Germany, and Mr. Whitaker volunteered to serve in the aviation department and at this writing is pursuing his course in the School of Military Aeronautics at Austin, Texas.
JOHN T. BRITTAIN. There are many old families in North Carolina whose histories run back in an unbroken line prior to the Revolution, but it is one of the distiuctions of the Ashboro lawyer, John T. Brittain, that his lineage goes back in one line at least more than two centuries; while in the paternal line this family were the first re- corded permanent settlers in Guilford County.
Obviously a book might be written concerning the activities and experiences of such a family, but here it is possible only briefly to sketch the out- standing names and facts. The Brittain lineage goes back to James Brittain, a native of Wales. As a young man he immigrated to America, early in the eighteenth century, and after a short resi- dence in Peunsylvania moved to Virginia. From Virginia he came on a tour of exploration through
James Bay July John M. Bitaw
163
HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
the colony of North Carolina. It was a prospec- ing and also a hunting trip. North Carolina was at that time almost a virgin wilderness, and only here and there in the more favored locations had colonists acquired small tracts of land from the Crown. Altogether, the hunting trip gave James Brittain a favorable impression of the new wilder- ness country to the south. After his return to Vir- ginia he married a Miss Witty, and then with his bride and her sister and husband, Simon Moon, returned and settled in what is now Guilford County. The old annals of this locality give these two families credit of being the first permanent settlers of Guilford County. They located there several years before the Moravians settled at Bethabia in what is now Forsyth County. It was a country to delight the heart of a true frontiers- man and hunter. Indians were more numerous than the whites and occasionally were disposed to hostility at the invasion of Europeans. Wild game of every variety and in utmost abundance satisfied the sportsman's instincts of James Brittain. The lands which he secured as his home were in Bruce Cross Roads Township, a tract that is now owned by the Stafford heirs. In that location he cleared and improved the first farm land in Guilford County. The locality is known as William Smith 's Long Hollow. There James Brittain spent the rest of his days.
His son, Samuel Brittain, Sr., was born in what is now Bruce Cross Roads Township of Guilford County in the year 1742. That date serves as an indication of the very early settlement of the fam- ily here. Samuel Brittain made the acquaintance of his wife by a rather romantic circumstance. When he was a young man the peace of the com- munity was somewhat disturbed by the presence of a hostile Indian chief, who had a band of his followers in Stokes County. Samuel Brittain, Sr., with a party of other settlers, including Mr. Moore, went in quest of those Indians, and while on the expedition in Stokes County met Mary Perkins. This casual acquaintance developed to the closest ties of matrimony. Mary Perkins was a daughter of Valentine Perkins, who it is said had Indian blood in his veins. Valentine Perkins had four daughters, one of whom married a Dalton, another a Gibson and another a Wakefield. His only son, Thomas Perkins, went to Western North Carolina. Valentine Perkins married a Miss Stringfield.
After his marriage Samuel Brittain, Sr., settled on Reedy Fork at Hannah Moore's Ford, two miles east of Oak Ridge. A few years later he moved to Brittain 's Branch, where, about 1770, he erected a substantial log house. This was the residence in which he died in 1837. When General Greene and Lord Cornwallis were camped near Guilford Court House, Samuel Brittain, Sr., made General Greene a present of a barrel of whisky. When Cornwallis heard of Greene's success on Brittain's Branch he, too, sent for a barrel, but the supply of whisky had conveniently given out before the arrival of the British.
The children of Samuel Brittain, Sr., were Samuel, James, Joseph, William, John, Annie, Mary and Nancy.
Of these Samuel Brittain, Jr., was the grand- father of John T. Brittain of Ashboro. He was born in Deep River Township of Guilford County in 1797. Having inherited a portion of the home farm, he was engaged in general farming and lived in that neighborhood until his death. He married Jemimah Stanley. It is through his grand- mother, Jemimah Stanley, that John T. Brittain 's
colonial connections date back furthest in North Carolina history. Jemimah Stanley was a daughter of Strangeman Stanley, who married a Miss Far- rington, daughter of Nathaniel Farrington. Na- thaniel Farrington was a Revolutionary soldier and was one of the giants of his time, standing seven feet tall and of great strength and capacity. He was a planter in Deep River Township. Jemimah Brittain survived her husband several years and finally moved to Indiana, where she died in 1974. She reared seven children, named John M., Henry M., Marian F., Harmon, Cyrus, Naomi and Julia.
John Moore Brittain, father of John T., was born in Deep River Township of Guilford County November 19, 1822. He bought the estate owned by his father and grandfather and was one of the successful men engaged in farming and stock rais- ing there until his death on September 7, 1887. He married Milliacent Trueblood, who was of the very earliest North Carolina colouial families. She was born in Pasquatank County, North Carolina, daughter of Isaac and Mary (Outland) Trueblood. She was lineally descended from John Trueblood, whose early settlement in the Province of North Carolina is perhaps best indicated by his will, which is deposited in the Museum at Raleigh and which bears date 1692. So far as known, this antedates any document of the kind in the state. The line of descent in the Trueblood family is through the following heads of generations: John, 1; Amis, 2; John, 3; Fisher, 4; and Isaac, 5. Isaac . (5) Trueblood's mother was named Peele. Her grandfather, John Peele, though a Quaker, con- tributed £200 to an American officer commanding Colonial troops to be used to buy necessary sup- plies. Mary Outland, mother of Milliacent True- blood, was a member through her mother of the Copeland family.
Isaac's daughter Milliacent married John M. Brittain December 31, 1844. Their seven children were named Isaac, James, Rachel J., Bettie A., Martha C., Mary R., John T. and Loula S.
John T. Brittain was born on his father's farm in Deep River Township of Guilford County Feb- ruary 1, 1862, and during his youth he was edu- cated in the rural schools and the Oak Ridge Institute. He commenced teaching school at the age of nineteen, and was considered one of the best teachers in Guilford County. He led all his classes and was the best mathematician in his sec- tion of the county. He also took his stand among men early and before reaching his majority was overseer of two public roads, and for four years was deputy sheriff in Guilford County, commencing at the early age of twenty-one years and being considered a faithful officer. He ran a flour mill four years and began reading law while a miller. He finished preparation for his profession in the famous law school of Greensboro conducted by Dick & Dillard. He was licensed to practice in 1888, and after a brief experience at Greensboro moved to Ashboro, where he has enjoyed some of the best successes of his profession for thirty years. He was elected mayor of Ashboro in May, 1895, and served in the Legislature of 1901 from Ran- dolph County, and was reelected in 1902, leading the democratic ticket. Since then he has declined to become a candidate for public honors. He is now practicing his profession under the firm name of Brittain & Brittain, his son, Basil F. Brittain, being his law partner. This son was educated at Chapel Hill. North Carolina, and entered practice in 1914. Ile has made a host of friends in the county and is meeting with success in his profes-
164
HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
sion. The firm owns the best law library in the county.
In 1886 Mr. Brittain married Virginia Lanier. Mrs. Brittain was born three miles north of Greens- boro, daughter of James F. and Caroline (Dennis) Lanier. She is the fifth generation of direct de- scent from Henry Lanier, who was a member of the North Carolina Militia and during the British invasion in the Revolution took active service with the army of General Greene and fought in the battle of Guilford Court House. After that battle Heury Lanier entertained General Greene and his army, turning over the abundance of his stores for feeding them. His home was on the present site of the Speedwell Iron Works in Rockingham County. Henry Lanier had a son, Sampson Lanier, and his son in turn was James Lanier, who was the father of James F. Lanier, father of Mrs. Brittain. Grandfather James Lanier married a Miss McCuis- ton. Mrs. Brittain's maternal grandfather, Joseph Dennis, a sou of William Dennis, and grandson of Daniel Dennis, was a man of excellent education and an early school teacher. He died when only thirty-six years old. Joseph Dennis married a Miss MeCuiston.
The family of Mr. and Mrs. Brittain consists of six children, named Joseph A., Basil F., Kate Erwin, John Moore, Carrie L. and Samuel Cald- well. The son, Joseph A. Brittain, married Claudia Stack in 1910. He is working for the Southern Railway, running as flagman from Spencer, North Carolina, to Monroe, Virginia. They have four children, namely, Robert O., Mary M., Sarah E. and Margarett. Basil F. was married in 1915 to Miss Mary Ballard, of Iredell County, and has two children, Virginia and Florence. Kate Erwin is stenographer for the firm of Brittain & Brit- tain. John Moore, at the age of eighteen, volun- teered in the American army in the war against Germany and is now in France serving as a soldier. Carrie L. and Samuel Caldwell are at home with their father and mother and attending the Ash- boro graded schools, Mr. and Mrs. Brittain are members of the Presbyterian Church.
DELSON MILLAN HILL. In every profession there are a few men who seem so qualified by kind nature that it is assured from the first that they will lead, and talents and abilities are conceded them very early. Particularly, perhaps, is this true in the law, because in this profession all the legal lore ever published could never produce a great lawyer, a Marshall, perhaps, with the natural in- born gift that compels recognition. Thus it may easily be seen that all yonng lawyers do not come rapidly to the front, nor do all young men in other professions, and when a happy exception ocenrs it is worth taking note of, for in all prob- ability the dignity of the bench and other honors await him before middle life.
Delson Millan Hill, one of the brilliant young members of the Wilson bar, was born in Wilson County, North Carolina, April 22, 1892, a member of one of the old state families. After completing his high school course Mr. Hill entered the Uni- versity of Virginia, and when he was graduated in June, 1915, he had completed both the academic and law courses. He immediately entered into prac- tice at Wilson and has already won professional reputation.
Mr. Hill was married July 1, 1915, to Miss Mary Rawp, who is a daughter of Gillian Rawp, of Tar- boro, North Carolina. Mr. and Mrs. Hill have one little daughter, Mary Gillian. They are members
of the First Methodist Episcopal Church at Wilson and they take part in its many pleasant social as well as religious activities.
Politically Mr. Hill is a democrat but his pro- fession rather than politics has claimed the greater part of his attention thus far. He is a valued member of the Commonwealth and the Country clubs.
JOSEPH J. JENKINS. One of the citizens whose part has been a commendable one in the business and civic affairs of Chatham County over a long period of years is Joseph J. Jenkins, cashier of the Chatham Bank at Siler City. His individual record as a progressive factor in that community covers a period of thirty-five years and is in line with the substantial achievements credited to the family throngh several generations.
Mr. Jenkins was born on a plantation in Wil- liams Township of Chatham County, son of Augustus S. Jenkins, a native of the same town- ship, grandson of Joseph J. Jenkins, also a native of the same township, and great-grandson of San- ford Jenkins, who was probably a native of Gran- ville County, North Carolina. Sanford Jenkins re- moved to Chatham County and bought a tract of unimproved wilderness in Williams Township, and on the land which he cleared and improved spent the rest of his days. He married Elizabeth Bar- bee. Their son Joseph J. Jenkins was a planter with slave labor, and spent all his life in Williams Township. He married Marina Herndon. They reared four sons, Stanford, Angustus S., Thomas Mansfield and E. Wesley, all of whom were soldiers in the Confederate army, the two older dying in service.
Augustns S. Jenkins enlisted in Fisher's Regi- ment of North Carolina troops and was with that command until the battle of Malvern Hill, where he received wonnds from which he died soon after- ward, leaving his family when his children were still young. He married Celia Haseltine Kirby, who was born in Williams Township of Chathanı County, daughter of Osborne and Biddie (Riggs- bee) Kirby. Her grandfather was Wiley Kirby and her maternal grandparents. were John and Phoebe (Stone) Riggsbee. Mrs. Augustns Jenkins died in 1879. She was the mother of two sons, William Graham and Joseph J.
Mr. Joseph J. Jenkins spent his early life in the conntry, attended rural schools and also the Apex High School, from which he entered the University of North Carolina and took his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1886. For five years Mr. Jenkins taught school and was then chosen sheriff of Chatham County and by re-election was held in office for six years. From sheriff he entered the Chatham Bank, and was one of the officers in that institution until 1908, when he was again elected sheriff and served one term. In 1900 he was supervisor of the United States Census for the Fourth North Carolina District. After his second term as sheriff he returned to the Chatham Bank and has since been its capable and genial cashier and much of the success of the institution is due to his management. Mr. Jenkins is also interested in farming as a practical business, and has one of the good places of Chatham County, two miles from Siler City, operated by tenant labor.
Mr. Jenkins married December 27, 1893, Albra T. Pearson. Mrs. Jenkins was born in Orange County, North Carolina, danghter of P. M. and Minerva (King) Pearson. Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins had one son, Joseph J. Jenkins, Jr., who died in
165
HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
1908, and two daughters, Margaret and Minerva. Their mother died in 1904, and for his present wife Mr. Jenkins married Emma Bray, who was born in Siler City, daughter of Reuben and . Emily R. (Dorsett) Bray. Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins have two sons, William Graham and Frank Kirby. Mr. Jenkins and wife are members of the Baptist Church.
Besides the political activities of Mr. Jenkins above mentioned he was the nominee of the repub- lican party for Congress from the Fourth District in 1898 and again in 1916, and also nominee for secretary of state in 1904.
CAPT. WILLIAM HENRY SNOW, who came to the Piedmont section of North Carolina some years after the close of the war in which he had par- ticipated with the rank of captain in the Union army, was in many ways an enlightened citizen and progressive factor in the material upbuilding of this section of the state. His life is an inter- esting one not only for its influence in North Carolina, but for the many incidents and changes of his personal career.
He was born in Washington County, Vermont, September 18, 1825, son of Josiah Snow and grand- son of Solomon Snow. William Snow, brother of Josiah, served as a soldier in the Revolutionary war. Josiah Snow was a farmer and stock raiser in Washington County, Vermont. That was long before railroads were built, and it was his prac- tice to drive his stock across the country to market in New York State. One time he took a drove of sheep to market, and it is supposed that he was robbed and murdered, since he was never heard of afterwards. He married Emily Haynes, who died soon after her husband's disappearance, leaving one son and one daughter. The daughter died at the age of twenty years.
Captain Snow was only four years old when his mother died and after that he lived with relatives on a farm in Washington County, Vermont. The responsibility of earning his own living was thrust upon him when a boy. His first work was as a bobbin boy in a woolen mill. He was identified with some of the cloth factories of New England for several years, and in 1851 moved his family to the great industrial center of Lowell, Massa- chusetts. In the course of the same year he made a voyage half way around the globe to Australia, where under contract with the English Govern- ment he installed the first telegraph line ever constructed south of the Equator. He remained in Australia five years. When he was ready to return to the United States he planned to em- bark on the Royal Charter. A man who owed him a sum of money failed to pay at the agreed upon time and the delay caused him to miss the boat. At that time ships from that part of the world made infrequent trips, and such was his disap- pointment when the vessel left port that he wept tears. But it was fortunate, since the Royal Char- ter was never heard from after she left port. He then secured passage on the next following vessel, and on the way home visited different ports in South America, and finally rejoined his family in Lowell. At Lowell he then established a packing house and kept a provision store. Early in 1861 Captain Snow started for California. He had reached Chicago when the news of the outbreak of the war came, and retracing his steps he returned to Lowell, where he soon recruited a company, which was mustered in as Company B of the Eighth Massachusetts Heavy Artillery. As cap- tain of this company he was with his command
throughout the period of the war. The war over he returned to Lowell. About that time his wife was suffering with tuberculosis and physicians advised that she could not live long in the New England climate. During the war Captain Snow had been in North Carolina and was so impressed with the salubrity of the Piedmont section that he determined to move here for the benefit of his wife. He located at Greensboro, and how fortu- nate he was in the choice of a home is well indi- cated by the fact that his wife, who had lost one lung altogether, enjoyed reasonable health here for nearly thirty-five years.
Captain Snow was ever alert to business op- portunity and had much of the typical New Eng- land instinct in that direction. He had not been long in North Carolina before he began studying means of using the abundance of good hickory, dogwood and persimmon timber for which there was no demand except for fuel. Finally he estab- lished a factory at Greensboro for the manufac- ture of handles and for mallets used by quarry- men. Hickory had never before been used for such a purpose, but it proved on demonstration to be the very best material. He also experimented witlı dogwood and persimmon timber for shuttle blocks used in weaving mills, and succeeded in securing their introduction into a number of factories in New England, thus creating a market for millions of dollars worth of southern timber. The busi- ness he established has been continued and has ex- panded to many other states.
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.