USA > North Carolina > History of North Carolina: North Carolina biography, Volume VI > Part 49
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seemed that he has had only to connect himself with a business for that enterprise to become very successful, but the explanation for this lies in his splendid executive ability, unerring judgment of men, and the high standard and just methods of all his commercial dealings. He has been "square" in his transactions with his fellowmen and they have learned to place confidence in him. Mr. Ricks is president of the Rocky Mount Mills,
R.H. Rus
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the largest manufacturing concern of the city; vice president and director and one of the largest stockholders of the Bank of Rocky Mount, the oldest financial institution of the community; vice president of the Mayodam and Washington Mills, president of the Rocky Mount Ice and Fuel Com- pany, president of the Enfield Hosiery Mills, mem- ber of the firm of Ricks & Bland, who operate three magnificent hotels at Rocky Mount, one at Washington, The Bland at Raleigh, and the new and modern hotel at Capital City; member of the firm of Thorpe & Ricks, among the largest leaf tobacco dealers in Eastern North Carolina; mnem- ber of the firm of H. E. Brewer & Company, one of the city's largest retail and supply stores, and part owner of the Jeffreys-Ricks Clay Works, large brick manufacturers. He is also one of the largest planters in Nash County and is interested in numerous other things of note and consequence in the commercial life of Rocky Mount and the surrounding territory. As a planter, for years he has been blazing the way for better and more sci- entific farming methods and cultivation and con- sequently more remunerative agriculture. He was the pioneer in this section in the growth and cul- ture of tobacco, which has since become such a great industry here. Here was illustrated the foresight and judgment that have been such promi- nent characteristics of his business career. Mr. Ricks owns some 1,600 acres of the best situated, most highly improved and most valuable farming lands in Nash County, besides his extensive real estate holdings in the City of Rocky Mount. His large plantation, five miles from the city, and his modern and intensive farming methods and ma- chinery are models for the farmers of the section. His plantation home is a gem, from standpoints of beauty, convenience and architecture. The broad and beautiful grounds surrounding his home were laid out by an expert landscape artist and constitute one of the loveliest views in the county. Stately oaks and sweet magnolias add to the beauty of the surroundings.
While. he has always been an extremely busy man, with large and important interests, Mr. Ricks has made sacrifices and found time to serve his county and state in a number of public positions of responsibility and trust. For four years he was a member of the board of commissioners of Nash County, was a member of the North Caro- lina House of Representatives in 1903, state sen- ator from Nash County in 1905, a member of the board of education for four years and its president, a member of the board of directors of the state penitentiary and a member of the board of trus- tees of the North Carolina Agricultural and Me- chanical College. In each of these capacities he served with honor to himself and with signal credit to the public. He has been generous in his con- tributions to the sick and needy, and poor men struggling to get a foothold upon the ladder of success have found him a wise advisor and one who was ready to assist them in a more material way. At one time, when the Rocky Mount graded schools were in temporary straits, he contributed $800 from his own pocket to meet their pressing needs. This is one instance of the many in which he has come to the rescue of deserving men and movements when they were hard pressed.
Mr. Ricks was married in 1874 to Miss Tempie Thorne, of the prominent family of that name, and their union has been a notably happy and congenial one. They have no children, but the children of others not so well provided with this
world's goods have had reason many times to bless their goodness and liberality in the furnish- ing of means for their education and in other ways giving them a start in life.
Mr. Ricks is a member of the Masonic order and furnished the money for the Masonic Build- ing, and is a Knight Templar Mason and Shriner. He is a commander of Nash County Camp, No. 1412, of the Confederate Veterans.
THEODORE WILSON TILGHMAN, of Wilson, has for many years, practically since youth, been identi- fied with lumber manufacturing and is one of the leading lumbermen of North Carolina. His promi- nent connection with that industry has naturally brought him other relations with business affairs.
Mr. Tilghman is descended from one of the oldest of American families, his ancestry in this country dating back to the first part of the seven- tenth century. The founder of the family in England was William Tilghman, who was born at the old family seat in England at Holloway Court, Snodland Parish in County Kent. Theodore Wil- son Tilghman was born June 13, 1851, a son of Littleton and Mary Parker (Elliott) Tilghman. His father was a successful planter and farmer at Salisbury, Maryland. Theodore Wilson Tilghman was reared and schooled in Maryland and at the age of twenty-one began farming. Part of his early experience was as a workman in a saw mill and he found the lumber business so attractive and congenial that he determined to make it his permanent career. In 1877 he went with the E. E. Johnson Company at Whaleyville, Virginia, and during the five years with that firm he acquired an intimate and practical knowledge of all branches of the business. He subsequently was manager of the lumber plant in Bertie County, North Caro- lina, and in 1888 became associated with two prominent lumbermen, Dennis and D. D. Simmons, under the name Simmons & Tilghman Company. In 1892 this firm was incorporated as the Dennis Simmons Lumber Company. Mr. Tilghman is now president and general manager of this corporation, which has some of the largest holdings still left of North Carolina pine. Mr. Tilghman is also a director of the North Carolina Pine Association.
He is vice president of the Hackney Wagon Company of Wilson, is president of the Roanoke & Tar River Steamship Company, a director of the First National Bank of Wilson, and the Wilson Savings and Trust Company, and a director of the Toisnot Banking Company of Elm City, North Carolina.
On January 3, 1882, Mr. Tilghman married Miss Rosa Lynnwood Davis, of Salisbury, Maryland. They are the parents of the following children : Theodore Clyde, Mary Lynnwood, Mrs. Benjamin S. Herring, Rose Vance and Harriet Simmons.
JOSEPH FLANNER HENDREN, a lawyer of excep- tional qualifications and large practice at Elkin, was born at Raleiglı, North Carolina.
His father, Rev. Linville L. Hendren, was born near Mocksville in Davie County. In his early youth he joined the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, became a preacher, and his labors were as- sociated with various pastorates in the North Carolina Conference until old age. His death oc- curred in 1896, at the age of seventy-four. He married Elizabeth Mayhew, daughter of William and Mary (Flanner) Mayhew. Through her father she was descended from one of the very early pioneer settlers at Nantucket, Massachusetts.
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Joseph F. Hendren acquired a liberal education, attending Bingham Institute at Mebane, for two years was a literary student in the University of North Carolina, and then entered the law school of that institution. He was licensed to practice in September, 1891, and did his first work as a lawyer at Winston. Since 1892 he has been located at Elkin and is one of the oldest and most successful members of the bar.
In 1898 he married Miss Emma Ring, daughter of Dr. J. W. and Mollie Ring. To their marriage were born seven children : William Mayhew, Joseph, Mary, Irene, Linville, Clement and Thomas. Mr. and Mrs. Hendren are active mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he has served as member of the Board of Stewards. He is affiliated with Elkin Lodge No. 454, Free and Accepted Masons and Elkin Council No. 96, Junior Order of United American Mechanics.
WILLIAM DUNN, JR. A live and public spirited citizen of Newbern, and member of that city's oldest and most prominent families, William Dunn, Jr., has been leader in the local bar for a number of years and has many other influential associa- tions with his native community.
He was born at Newbern August 31, 1882, a son of John and Lucretia Roberts (Guion) Dunn. His father is a well known banker and insurance man at Newbern. William Dunn, Jr., after leaving the public schools entered the University of North Carolina, where he was graduated Ph. B. and also from the law department with the degree LL. B. in the year 1904. Since then he has been steadily coming to the front as a lawyer and now handles a large general practice. He is also a director of the Citizens Savings Bank and Trust Company, a director of the Newbern Building and Loan Asso- ciation and of the Home Building and Loan Asso- ciation.
He is a member in good standing of the North Carolina Bar Association, and has attained the Knight Templar degree in the Masons and belongs to Sudan Temple of the Mystic Shrine and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Mr. Dunn is a vestryman in Christ's Episcopal Church. He was formerly treasurer and vice president of the Newbern Public Library.
On December 14, 1907, he married Miss Octavia Winder Hughes, daughter of Dr. F. W. Hughes of Newbern. They are the parents of four children: William, third; Francis Hughes; Caroline Winder and John Oliver.
HON. SAMUEL GREEN GRIFFIN. In selecting the individual for occupancy of the highest office within the gift of the municipality, the citizens of any live community can be generally trusted to choose one who has proven his worth and ability in his own affairs, his fitness for handling impor- tant issues and his loyalty to the welfare of the section. The complex and often perplexing duties of mayor of such a thriving city as Nashville in their discharge call for a high order of moral courage, absolute integrity in civic affairs and enterprise tempered with conservatism, for a com- munity is frequently judged by the character and actions of its chief executive and the stand which he takes in matters of great issue. The present incumbent of the mayoralty chair of Nashville, Hon. Samuel Green Griffin, has shown himself not only a man of excellent judgment and marked executive ability in the discharge of his official duties, but has long fostered the community 's in-
terests in positions of importance in the business and financial world.
Samuel Green Griffin was born on a farm in Nash County, North Carolina, August 29, 1871, a son of Hon. Marcus Samuel and Sarah (Whittey) Griffin. His father, who for many years has been a prosperous agriculturist of Nash County, is one of the influential men of his community, greatly interested in public affairs, and on several occa- sions has represented his district in the State Leg- islature. Samuel G. Griffin received a public school education, and when but seventeen years of age learned the art of telegraphy, which he followed for thirteen years at Nashville, in addition to which, for a part of this time, he was agent for the Atlantic Coast Line Railway. In 1901 he re- signed his position to engage in a geueral merchan- dise business, of which he was the proprietor for three years, then becoming bookkeeper with a large firm at Nashville, a position which he retained for two years. During the panic of 1907, when many fortunes were being lost and when institutions were daily going under, his ability was recognized when he was called to the Bank of Nashville to lend his aid and counsel in assisting that institu- tion to weather the storm in the capacity of vice president. This position he still retains. He also has large commercial and industrial interests, be- ing vice president of the Nashville Grocery Com- pany, a wholesale concern, and vice president of the Farmers Mutual Warehouse Company of Rocky Mount, North Carolina, of which he was one of the organizers. For a number of years Mr. Grif- fin has been helpfully interested in civic and mu- nicipal affairs, and after serving for many times as town commissioner was, in 1913, elected mayor of Nashville. He acted in that capacity during 1913 and 1914, and in 1917 was again named as the city's chief executive. His administration is being carried on in a business-like manner, and he is conserving the interests of the city and its people in a splendid manner. Mayor Griffin's interest in educational matters is shown in the fact that he has been a trustee of the graded schools of Nashville since their organization. He is a participant in the various activities and move- ments of the community, and is accounted one of. his locality's most forceful, energetic and capable men. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Junior Order of United American Mechanics, and his re- ligious connection is with the Baptist Church, in which he is a deacon.
In 1894 Mayor Griffin was united in marriage with Miss Reca Richardson, of Franklin County, North Carolina, who died in 1895, leaving one child, Reca. Mayor Griffin was married to Louise Wooten, of Lenoir County, North Carolina, and to this union there have been born three children: Marcus Samuel, Charlotte Wooten and Sarah Frances.
DR. JOHN GRAY BLOUNT. Distinguished for his ability, which is recognized by the foremost med- ical men of his state, Dr. John G. Blount, of Wash- ington, North Carolina, is a fine type of the suc- cessful physician who lives up to the highest ideals of his profession.
Born on the last day of December, 1869, in the little city in which he has lived his life, second son of Dr. William Augustus Blount and Katherine Masters Blount, his high character and eminent skill have merited and won full recognition where he is best known. For more than twenty years he has commanded a practice second to none in
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Eastern North Carolina; for twelve years he held the responsible office of superintendent of health in his native county of Beaufort, and during all these years since he reached the age of manhood he has fully identified himself, as one of the lead- ers, with every movement having as its object the progress and growth of his town, county and state, and the uplift and betterment of his people.
John Gray Blount is a name well known for generations in the South as that of one of the South's greatest landowners, and Dr. John G. Blount comes of splendid ancestry. To the readers of the novels of Walter Scott the name is familiar, and the late Governor Henry T. Clark is quoted in Wheeler's "Reminiscences" as expressing the opinion with respect to the name "Blount" that "no family whose name now survives in the state can trace its origin back to a period so remote in the history of North Carolina."
John G. Blount spent four years at Trinity High School, preparatory to entering the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After two years at the University and one year under private pre- ceptorship in the study of medicine he entered and completed three sessions in the Bellevue Hos- pital Medical College of New York, graduating therefrom as an M. D. in March, 1892. Thereafter he took a course in post-graduate work at the Johns Hopkins Hospital of Baltimore, Maryland.
Always a thorough student at college, he took a high stand at each institution, and the habit re- mained with him with resultant benefit to himself and those to whom he ministers.
Doctor Blount has served as president of the Beaufort County Medical Society, is a member of the North Carolina Medical Association, the Sea- board Medical Society and the American Medical Association. For two years he served on the board of medical examiners for nurses for North Caro- lina. In February, 1918, he was elected a delegate to the National Medical Association which met in Chicago. For three years he has been examiner on Practice of Medicine on the board of med cal examiners, and during 1918 was made president of the board of medical examiners of North Carolina. · In recognition of his interest in and loyalty to his alma mater he was elected and is now a trustee of the University of North Carolina. He is a mem- ber of the Society of the Cincinnati, and of the sons of the American Revolution, and of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity.
Possessed of fine business ability and the trust and confidence of his people, he is vice president and a member of the board of directors of the Bank of Washington and identified in a responsible way with other large interests.
On May 26, 1897, Doctor Blount married Dena Watters Angel, of Wilmington, a popular and at- tractive young lady who has developed into a splendid woman and fit helpmeet and companion. Of this union there are three children, William Augustus, Samuel Masters and Leonora Watters. William Augustus has just been commissioned a lieutenant in the National Army, and Samuel at eighteen years of age is in France in defense of his country.
REV. THOMAS W. SMITH. Among the sturdy old families of Scotch ancestry in North Carolina none are better known in many sections than the Smiths, descendants of John Smith, the paternal grand- father of Rev. Thomas W. Smith, one of Concord's. most valued citizens: # When John Smith in youth came to North Carolina he located at a point
called Smith's Ferry in Cumberland County. Later he settled on a farm situated about one mile east of the ferry, and there built his house and estab- lished his family and reared many sons and daugh- ters. As the family prospered and increased the little settlement acquired the name of Smithville, and to this day, despite many changes that have come over the land, the majority of the prosperous farmers in that vicinity perpetuate this old name.
Thomas W. Smith was born in the old family home in Cumberland County, North Carolina, in 1847. His parents were John C. and Eliza (Blake) Smith. His father followed an agricultural life and for forty years was an officer in the old Bluff Presbyterian Church and for twelve years an elder, as his father had been before him. This ancient church, perhaps the oldest in the state, has had many romances woven in its history, one of these pertaining to Flora Macdonald, the Scotch heroine, who, after the defeat of the young Pretender, Prince Charles Edward at Culloden, in April, 1746, risked her life in aiding in his escape and he ulti- mately reached France. It was said that at one stage of the flight of Lady Flora and her dis- guised maid servant they both worshipped in the old Bluff Presbyterian Church, which had been founded in 1758. Although she was later im- prisoned in the Tower of London, she was finally released and died peacefully in 1790.
Thomas W. Smith grew up on his father's farm and in boyhood had the educational advantages the neighborhood provided. During the continu- ance of the war between the states he attended school at Tallahassee, Florida, and afterward was a student in Wooford College, Spartansburg, South Carolina. That was a very momentous period of his life, for while there he became converted and entered upon the study of theology, and after com- pleting his ministerial studies joined the South Carolina Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and began preaching in 1871, his . first charge being the Cane Creek Circuit, South Carolina Conference.
At a later date Mr. Smith transferred to the North Carolina conference and for twelve years was an itinerant in that body and during that time served charges at Fayetteville, Raleigh, Louisburg, Concord and Salisbury, together with looking after the spiritual needs of several circuits. His faithful performance of the arduous duties of the itinerant ministry somewhat broke down his health, and about 1884 he retired from that branch and took a local relation, and since then has been a local Methodist preacher who is valued and beloved because of his zeal in the furthering of the inter- ests of the country churches throughout Cabarrus County.
When Mr. Smith retired from the active work of the Conference he established his home at Con- cord and has continued his residence here and has become one of the city's representative business men. About that time he became interested in insurance as a business and built up a substantial fire insurance line that subsequently was consol- idated with the Southern Loan and Trust Company of Concord at the time of that company's organi- zation, and since then Mr. Smith has been manager of the insurance department of this corporation. This business is one of large importance in this section and because it is officered by such men of sterling character as Mr. Smith, commands the con- fidence and receives the patronage of the people of Cabarrus County.
Mr. Smith was married to Miss Mary C. Hub-
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bard, who was born at Clinton, North Carolina, a member of one of the old families of that sec- tion, and they have had six children born to them. The four survivors are: Mrs. J. D. Hatchett, who is a resident of Atlanta, Georgia; Thomas W., who fills a responsible position with the British American Tobacco Company, at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Henry L., who through his fearless service in the aviation corps of the United States army has friends and admirers of whom he has never heard; and Mrs. U. G. Des Portes, who is a resi- dent of Winnsboro, South Carolina.
ROBERT LEE FLOWERS, whose active connections for over a quarter of a century with Trinity Col- lege make him well known to practically all the living alumni of that institution, is a native of North Carolina and of a prominent family of the state.
He is a son of Colonel G. W. and Sarah J. Flowers. They were living at York Collegiate Insti- tute in Alexander County when Robert Lee Flowers was born November 6, 1870. In 1883 the family moved to Taylorsville, North Carolina, where Colonel Flowers engaged in business. In 1904 he removed to Durham, and is now chairman of the Board of County Commissioners of Durham County and a member of the executive committee of the Board of Trustees of Trinity College. For four years he was a soldier in the Civil war, with the rank of lieutenant colonel of the thirty-fourth North Carolina Regiment.
Robert Lee Flowers was educated in the Taylorsville Male Academy and in 1887 at the age of seventeen, was appointed to the United States Naval Academy from the Eighth Con- gressional District of North Carolina by Colonel William H. H. Cowles. He graduated from the Naval Academy in 1891, and soon afterward re- ceived an honorable discharge from the navy. He also holds the degree Master of Arts from Trinity College. At one time he served as Cadet Master of the Fourth Company, Cadet Battalion of Trin- ity.
On leaving the navy in 1891 Mr. Flowers came to Trinity College as instructor in the department of mathematics. He was elected assistant pro- fessor of mathematics in 1892 and in 1893 be- came full professor and has been head of the department since that time. Since 1910 he has served as secretary to the corporation of Trinity College.
He is also prominent in various bodies con- nected with educational and other institutions and in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Gov- ernor Aycock appointed him a member of the Sub-Commission on Text Books and Governor Craig appointed him a trustee of the Oxford Orphan Asylum. He is a member of the Board of Edu- cation of the Southern Methodist Church and of a similar board for the North Carolina Conference. He was appointed to represent the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, at the Quadrennial meet- ing of the Federation of Churches of Christ in America in 1914. He is a member of the staff of the Alumni Register of Trinity College and is president of the South Atlantic Publishing Com- pany, publishers of the South Atlantic Quarterly. Mr. Flowers is an independent democrat and has been affiliated with the Alpha Tau Omega fra- ternity since 1891. He is a member of the official board of Memorial Church at Durham.
June 22, 1905, at Durham, he married Lily Virginia Parrish. Her father, Col. E. J. Par-
rish, was for several years representative of the American Tobacco Company in Japan. Mr. and Mrs. Flowers have two children, Rosa Virginia and Sybil Parrish Flowers.
CHARLES WESLEY RANKIN began teaching school while his own higher education was still incom- plete. He was steadily employed in educational responsibilitet for a number of years and at the time of his death, had accepted work as superin- tendent of schools at Burlington, North Carolina, for the year 1918-19.
He was born at China Grove, North Carolina, September 1, 1886, son of Osborne Rankin, a farmer, and Amanda (Shuford) Rankin. His early education was obtained from the district schools and the New London High School, and on leaving that institution he taught one year before entering Wafford College at Spartansburg, South Carolina. In 1909 he was a teacher in the White- hall School, was in the Stonewall Jackson Training School at Concord, North Carolina, was principal of the Salisbury Grammar School, and in 1913 was elected as head of the public schools of Graham. In the meantime he has furthered his own educa- tion and increased his qualifications by attendance at summer sessions of the University of North Carolina. He was a member of the North Carolina Teachers Assembly, was affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and was a steward in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. He died at Asheville, North Carolina, June 14, 1918, where he had gone for the benefit of his health.
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