USA > North Carolina > History of North Carolina: North Carolina biography, Volume VI > Part 62
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Henry Elbert Gibbons was born at Carthage, Moore County, North Carolina, in 1872, and is a son of Rev. L. H. Gibbons. His father, who is now deceased, was born at Snow Hill, Greene County, North Carolina, and was a lifelong Methodist minister of prominence in the North Carolina Conference, having occupied a number of the conspicuous pulpits of the state. The public schools of several communities furnished Henry Elbert Gibbons with his preliminary educational training, following which he attended Trinity College, Durham, North Carolina, where he was a student from 1891 to 1893, and Eastman's Busi- ness College, Poughkeepsie, New York, where he took a commercial course. Mr. Gibbons came to Hamlet, Richmond County, North Carolina, in 1899 to take a position with W. R. Bonsal & Company, railroad contractors, and has made his home here continually since that time.
When Mr. Gibbons came to Hamlet it was a small, half-formed village, its chief distinction be- ing that it was a railroad crossing, but from a mor- al and business standpoint anything but an attrac- tive or desirable place in which to live. There were four saloons in the town, and matters were pretty well controlled by the liquor element, who fiercely resented anything that looked like an infringement upon what they considered their rights. Not long after his arrival Mr. Gibbons began to take an interest in the regeneration of the village. He was young, courageous and full of energy, and from the time that he threw himself into the work of creating a higher civic and moral atmosphere, he gave himself whole-heartedly to the cause. By the year 1902 sufficient interest and co-operation had been aroused among the better class to en- courage them to make a stand against the saloons. It was conceded that the fight would be a failure at that time, the odds being too one-sided, but Mr. Gibbons, realizing that this movement would pave the way for further and stronger campaigns, accepted the nomination for mayor on the anti- saloon ticket. He was defeated by a large ma- jority, but had the satisfaction of knowing that he had started a movement that would grow and
strengthen until the ultimate goal was attained. That his foresight has been vindicated is shown in the fact that today Hamlet is one of the liveliest and most thriving of the smaller cities of North Carolina, bristling with energy and bustling with the promotion of business and industries. It is one of the most important railroad towns on the Seaboard Air Line system, with large shops located, and is the division headquarters for the main line as well as for the Wilmington-Charlotte Division. It has a population of progressive busi- ness men and railroad men, boasts of handsome business blocks, fine educational and religious structures and beautiful homes, aud is one of the best governed cities of Richmond County.
Mr. Gibbons has continued with W. R. Bonsal & Company, and is now the manager of the Cross Tie & Lumber Departments of the business and operations of that concern, which operates a num- ber of sawmills for timber used in construction of railroads, gets out large quantities of ties, etc., and operates several gravel pits, one of which, located near Lilesville in Anson county, is one of the largest producing gravel pits in the South. W. R. Bonsal who is a resident of Hamlet, is vice presi- dent of the Seaboard Air Line and the company has for several years been the contractor for the construction work of this huge system.
In 1910 Mr. Gibbons again became a candidate for public office, this time for the position of county commissioner of Richmond County. He was duly elected and served as such for six years, his last term ending in December, 1916. He was dur- ing the last two years chairman of the board, and at all times was one of the most active members thereof. While his record shows that many good results were achieved during his terms of office, it . is in connection with his work in securing good roads that his best labors were accomplished. Rich- mond County is noted for its sand-clay roads. In every community there is some slight opposition to making extensive outlays for road work, which finally disappear. In Richmond County it appears that this element was decidedly strong, and there. fore it became a stupendous labor to secure funds, rrincipally in the issuance of bonds. To this work Mr. Gibbons brought the same judgment and energy that he has always given to his business enterprises. His work in this direction often called him from his private business affairs, often cost him much sacrifice, and called for the over- coming of numerous obstacles, but the result of his tireless and persistent efforts is shown today in the fact that Richmond County roads are fam- ous for their excellence. Other public-spirited movements have had the same kind of support from Mr. Gibbons, who can be truthfully entitled one of his city's most useful citizens.
Mr. Gibbons was married to Miss Margaret Wallace, of Wilmington, North Carolina, and they are the parents of four bright and interesting children : Henry Elbert, Jr., Charles, Margaret and Stephen Wallace.
WALTER FRANKLIN PETERSON is one of the lead- ing bankers of Sampson County, and has gained a substantial position in the business affairs of Clinton by hard work, sterling integrity and by a persistent utilization of opportunities close at hand.
Mr. Peterson was born at Clinton, North Carolina, August 14, 1878. His father, Julius Franklin Peterson, was for many years a successful farmer and lumber and mill op-
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erator in this section of North Carolina. His mother's maiden name was Mary Elizabeth Pur- vis, member of the well known family of that name. Mr. Peterson was . educated in public schools and as a boy he became a factory hand. He learned business by practical experience, and after a few years he and his brother, George L. Peterson, became general dry goods merchants at Clinton under the firm name Peterson Broth- ers. Four years later he sold his interest to his brother, and then was employed for two years as a salesman in a dry goods establishment.
Mr. Peterson was one of the organizers of the Bank of Sampson at Clinton in 1906, and took the post of cashier when that bank was opened for business. He was largely responsible for the growth of the institution and in January, 1915, accepted the post of president. The Bank of Sampson has a capital stock of $15,000, surplus of $7,000, while its average deposits are $175,000.
Mr. Peterson served one term as a commissioner of Clinton. He is affiliated with Hiram Lodge No. 98, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and is a deacon in the Clinton Baptist Church. On January 20, 1903, he married Miss May Herring, of Clinton, daughter of Clarence F. and Katie A. Herring. Her father is also a lumber manufac- turer. Three children have been born to their union: Catherine Elizabeth, Walter Faison and Frank Holmes.
JAMES P. HAYMORE, the oldest son of the fam- ily, was born December 12, 1830, on Stony Creek, Westfield Township, Surry County, was reared on the farm, attending the duties required of him, and attended also a district school. On reaching his majority he was allured by the reports of the great rich Missouri valleys, and in 1855 he left his home and started on a trip, having with him $60 in money, which embraced his entire estate. He traveled by boat up the Missouri River, stop- ping at St. Joseph, then quite a small place, and followed the trade in this city as a carpenter until forty years of age. Having accumulated quite a sum of money and feeling that he would like to become a farmer, in 1873 he purchased 110 acres of land at $40 per acre, which was added to year- ly in acreage until the estate included 600 fertile acres, located in section 1, Crawford Township. His life is a strong illustration of the rule so often spoken of that successful men invariably arose from humble positions in life. It would nat- urally be inferred that poverty in youth is a blessing instead of a misfortune. It is true, also, that hardships in early life develop steady traits of self-reliance and self-denial which is found predominant in the wealthy. Mr. Haymore was one of those well-known citizens of Buchanan County whose unaided exertions have resulted in prosperity. In 1873 he was married to Miss Nancy Yates, daughter of Pleasant Yates. She was a native of Buchanan County, having re- ceived an excellent education and taught school for some time prior to her marriage. She was a consistent member of the Presbyterian Church. In 1875 James P. Haymore built an elaborate dwelling on his place where he lived until his death in 1907. In 1894 his brother, Robert D. Haymore, held a series of revival meetings in the Town of Fawcett, Missouri, near his home. At this meeting he was converted and joined the Bap- tist Church. Afterwards he built in the main a splendid Baptist Church which has a strong mem- bership at the present. Mention of his ancestors
is made in the sketch of his brother, R. L. Hay- more.
ROBERT DANIEL HAYMORE, the third son, was born on Stony Creek, Surry County, 1840; rather small in stature, but well proportioned and when grown had rather a soldiery bearing. While a boy he displayed noticeable capacity for public speak- ing and at any time when he, with other boys in the field at work, could spare time he would vol- untarily mount a stump and deliver a speech. When his parents moved to Ararat River, near Mount Airy, North Carolina, in 1857, he took ad- vantage of his mechanical turn and operated a blacksmith shop, but in less than two years later and while at the anvil, and amid the sparkling iron and roaring furnace, heard the call of Higher Power to go into the ministry. He did not hesi- tate, but went at once and for a while was a stu- dent under Rev. L. H. Shuck at Madison, North Carolina. Limited in money and education but urged on with a zeal like an Apollo, he entered actively into the ministry, having joined the Mis- sionary Baptist Church, and while his brother, John B. Haymore, was a soldier in the Confeder- ate army at Fredericksburg, Virginia, he joined the company that his brother was in and became its chaplain, and served until he became disabled from an attack of typhoid fever, was released from his service and sent to a private home in Floyd County, Virginia, for treatment. Recover- ing from this attack, he resumed his ministerial duties, traveling long distances and preaching in schoolhouses and under bush arbors in different states.
On one occasion while passing through Henry County, Virginia, he came across a vast crowd assembled near the little village called Penn 's Store, Patrick County. He naturally stopped and joined the crowd, when he was informed that it was a Masonic celebration and that their selected speaker failed to be present. While the crowd was about to disband some one suggested that there was a young minister, R. D. Haymore, in the crowd. The committee urged him to fill the delayed speaker's place, and with modest reluc- tance he was conducted to the stand and intro- duced to the crowd; the boy preacher had just received initiation into this particular order of Masonic fraternity. Some of the ablest lawyers were present, and those best qualified to judge said that the speaker entranced the audience with an appropriate selection of subjects and a grace- fully made speech and the Masonic order was charmed with his efforts. This speech made an indelible impression. The people said of him that in style and magnetism he was like a Beecher or a Spurgeon. This effort so introduced him to the people of that community that he was employed soon thereafter by the Baptist State Board of Virginia, the Hon. H. K. Ellyson, of Richmond, Virginia, now deceased, its president, to evangel- istic work in the Blue Ridge Association, embrac- ing the territory Floyd, Franklin, Patrick and Henry counties. Virginia. With these appoint- ments he organized and built a house of worship at Jacksonville County Courthouse of Floyd, also at Stuart County Courthouse of Patrick and one at Rocky Mount, Franklin County; he organized and established the work at Martinsville, Henry County, Virginia; also in Pittsylvania, Virginia, the home of his parents; for more than ten years in succession he had care of a group of wealthy churches, erecting church buildings at Mount Her-
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HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
mon, Ringgold and Sherron, branches of the Ken- tucky Church. He organized and built a church at Cascade, Pittsylvania County, Virginia; was pastor of the First Baptist Church, Bristol, Ten- nessee, for seven years, building a house of wor- ship there; at Chattanooga, Tennessee, was pas- tor of the Central Baptist Church for seven years, purchasing a valuable lot on McCauly Avenue, and afterward a house of worship was erected thereon. He left the impress of his life and min- istry throughout that section of Tennessee and Virginia, was frequently called on to render spe- cial service in many parts of Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia, and in many southern cities held re- vival services. Hundreds of persons were converted at these revival seasons.
Finally he tired of the drudgery of city pas- torates and longed to see again the great con- gregation of the country church; he preached to them out of the fullness of his heart; he sighed for the home of his boyhood and the companion- ship of those he had known and loved so long. He wanted to live a simple life and look out on his native hills while his sun was going down. He came back to Mount Airy and became pastor of the First Baptist Church, the county of his birth- place, where he preached to the delight of his friends and relatives. He was entirely without those little jealousies which marred the effective- ness of so many otherwise good men and servants of the Lord. He loved the old Gospel and preached it with strange and wondrous power un- der the unction of the spirit, sometimes rising to great heights of eloquence. He possessed a mar- velous versatility ; he could speak a logic that con- vinced with eloquence that charmed. In private life he was as simple and artless as a child; his devotion to his ever faithful and confiding wife was beautiful to behold. He died in the harness, having spent near fifty years in the ministry, tell- ing the story of a Crucified Savior to dying men and women and was buried in the Oakdale Ceme- tery at Mount Airy.
He married the daughter of a prominent physi- cian of Henry County, Virginia, Dr. Robert A. Read. Of this union four sons were born and raised to manhood and success, popular and well- to-do men of Chattanooga, Tennessee, where they all reside. The younger, Dr. Germaine P. Haymore, named for his parental grandfather, Germaine Hay- more, Sr., is well educated, having given himself all the opportunities for thorough training and proficiency in so important a profession, attending in Europe the Medical Congress held there for the advancement of new diseases, new symptoms, developments, advance treatment, etc., considered authority in malignant typhoid, pneumonia and spinal meningitis, and now owning with Dr. J. B. Wolford the Highland Sanitarium and Hospital at Chattanooga.
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS HAYMORE, born on Stony Creek, Surry County, in 1848, was the fourth son. From birth he was frail in physique, but tall and straight. His feeble health from boy- hood prevented his completing his course in col- lege, wherefore his educational advantages were not so good, but whatever was lacking in his in- tellectual training was accounted for in energy and perseverance. In the beginning of his life he labored as a mechanic and earned his first money in the blacksmith shop. He began his ministry in Mount Airy, North Carolina, and spent his entire service in Surry and adjoining coun- ties, preaching occasionally in other parts of the
state. He was a pioneer Baptist preacher in all that section of the country, possessing unusual executive ability. He was a leader of the people in all his undertakings; his highest ambition was to serve. He knew not himself, no sacrifice was too great or weather too bad for him, often with no remuneration whatever, and never a living un- aided by his personal earnings. He was a leader of his flock "de jure."' He knew his people and they knew him. He first served as pastor at White Plains, Surry County, also at Rocky Shoals, Yad- kin County. He organized a church and built a new house of worship at Pilot Mountain, North Carolina, also one at Pinnacle, Stokes County; he organized a church and built a house of worship at King, Stokes County. These are splendid houses of worship. He served as pastor of the church at Westfield, Surry County, also at Peters Creek, Stokes County. He organized a church near the Granite City Rock Quarry, where he served for several years and built a new stone church, which is handsome and commodious, known as the Flat Rock Church. This church is strong iu its faith and membership. Before this, however, he had organized a Baptist Church at Mount Airy when there was only five Baptist ladies in the entire . towu and community. A new church was built and dedicated with the aid of that distinguished divine, A. C. Dixon. Since then a splendid stone building has been erected, at an estimated value of $30,000. The membership of this church in influence and strength for good in the community is among the best. He also organized and built a new church while he served as its pastor at Germanton. He served also as pastor at Red- bank Church, Forsyth County. He served many years at the Church of Enou, Yadkin County. This church was greatly enlarged and revived by his services. His last service was in organizing the Second Baptist Church at Mount Airy, com- posed of a large membership and having repaired the old church building and bought and paid for a new site preparatory to a stone building on Rockford Street. During all this time he was in frail health, thinking that every year would be his last, but on and on the Lord led him in his life of usefulness. As this servant of God looks back over his ministerial life there is one thing that brings peculiar joy, namely: The number of young men whom he has baptized and encour- aged to enter the ministry, some of whom are now filling the best pulpits in all the country, and some of them have already crossed over the river to await the coming of their Father in the Gos- pel. He married the daughter of James L. Black- well, a distinguished and well known family of Yadkin County. His wife was a capable and dutiful companion. Her devotion to the cause for which he worked was beautiful. Their home was an open door of hospitality and friendliness for those interested in the cause of religion.
HON. RUFUS LAFAYETTE HAYMORE. The true and able lawyer wields an influence in his community such as is rarely possessed by any other profes- sional man. Besides his work as counsel and court advocate, duties which as a rule are quietly per- formed and attract only occasional notice, the successful lawyer is also a man of affairs and almost inevitably becomes a public leader. Such has been true of the career of Rufus Lafayette Haymore during the forty years he has practiced at Mount Airy in Surry County. He has done much to build up the prosperity of Mount Airy as a commercial and industrial center. He has given
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liberally to its institutions and has exercised an influence second to none in the educational advance- ment.
Mr. Haymore is a native of Surry County and has spent practically all his life within its boundar- ies. He was born in 1850, on Stony Creek in Westfield Township. His great-grandparents were natives of England and coming to America in Colonial times located in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. The grandfather, Daniel Haymore, ac- quired a plantation on Big Sandy in Pittsylvania County and was successfully engaged in farming there until late in life, when he sold and moved to Surry County, North Carolina. Here he bought land in Westfield Township, and that was his home until his death.
Germaine Haymore, father of the Mount Airy lawyer, was born on a plantation on Big Sandy in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, in 1806. As a young man he learned the trade of carpenter and followed that in connection with general farming. Subsequently his father gave him fifty acres on Stony Creek in Surry County. The chief im- provement of the land was a log cabin. Into that humble abode he introduced his bride when he married, and prosperity and comfort came to them gradually as the result of their hard and earnest endeavors. The old log house was supplanted by a hewed log house, and that was the scene of Rufus L. Haymore's birth and all the children as well. This log house had at one end a hewed stone chimney and a capacious fire place. Ger- maine Haymore's wife for many years did all her cooking by the open fire. In 1857 this farm was rented out and Germaine Haymore then bought another on the banks of Ararat River across from Mount Airy. There he continued his labor as a planter until declining years, when he moved into Mount Airy and made his home with his son Rufus until his death at the age of ninety.
After execution the bond appears in Surry County Records as follows: "State of North Caro- lina, Surry County. We acknowledge ourselves indebted to John Owen, Governor and etc., in the sum of 500 pounds; but to be void on condition there is no lawful cause to obstruct a marriage between Germaine Haymore and Jane Pittman, for whom a license now issues. Witness our hands and seals, this the 2nd day of January 1830. Ger- maine Haymore (Seal) Blumon Haymore (Seal)."
Germaine Haymore married Jane Pittman, of a prominent Virginia family. She was born in Pittsylvania County. Her father, Professor John B. Pittman, was a graduate of Prince Edward College and made teaching his life work. He wrote several of the text books from which he taught. After his marriage Professor Pittman resided in Pittsylvania County for a time, then removed to Henry County, and from there to Surry County, North Carolina, where he spent the rest of his days. He married a Miss Farmer, a native of Lunenburg County, Virginia, where her father was one of the extensive planters and slave owners. Mrs. Pittman was a well educated woman, a cap- able companion of her scholarly husband, and was cultured and refined. Both she and her husband are buried in the cemetery on the farm where Rufus L. Haymore was born. Mr. Haymore's mother lived to the age of eighty-nine. Her chil- dren were James P., John B., Robert Daniel, Zaitha, who married Washington Cox, who served in the Confederate Army and died in 1863 near Guinea Station, Virginia, and his remains were brought home and laid to rest in the family grave- yard in Surry County; Martha, now deceased,
Ellen, who married W. S. Inman, Elizabeth, who married John H. Jessup, of Westfield, Columbus C. and Rufus L. The oldest, James, went out to Buchanan County, Missouri and became a wealthy farmer there. John B. entered the Confederate Army in the North Carolina troops, died in service at Fredericksburg, Virginia, in 1863, and his re- mains were laid to rest in the cemetery at Spottsyl- vania Courthouse. Before entering the army he was a farmer, a public spirited and leading citizen and highly respected for his courage and nobility. The son Robert became a minister of the Baptist church. He was ordained in 1859, when only nine- teen years of age. For further reference see sketch of Robert Daniel Haymore.
Rufus Lafayette Haymore grew up on his father's farm in Surry County. He acquired an academic education and his law studies were directed by Chief Justice Pierson. He was ad- mitted to practice in 1877, and from that date to the present has been continuously identified with the Mount Airy bar. Mr. Haymore has not only been a hard working and careful lawyer in handling all the varied litigation entrusted to him, but has been a constant student and reader. The law signifies to him a great and noble profession and ` his work has served to dignify it. At the same time every enterprise designed for the betterment of his community has received his capable co- operation. He was one of the original stock- holders and organizers of the Exchange Bank, and also of the Bank of Mount Airy, now in successful operation, the first banking institution of Mount Airy. He was an organizer and one of the first stockholders and directors of the company that built the Blue Ridge Inn, which is still in existence, and was similarly connected with the Renfrew Inn, which has since been discontinued. He was one of the organizers and a stockholder in the Mount Airy Land and Improvement Company and had to do with the establishment of the now discontinued cotton mills. Another institution which he helped organize and to which he gave financial assist- ance was the Chair Factory, now a flourishing industry known as the Banner Manufacturing Company. He was also a member of the first board of directors of the National Furniture Company, which is still in successful operation. Mr. Hay- more is one of the charter members and a trustee of the Slate Mountain Orchard Company; is president of the Mount Airy Cemetery Company; a member of the Board of Trustees of the Moun -. tain Park School, to which he was a liberal donor.
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