USA > North Carolina > History of North Carolina: North Carolina biography, Volume VI > Part 63
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
A great deal of his liberality has been mani- fested in the direction of improved school facili- ties. In 1897 he went to Raleigh, appeared before the Legislature and secured the passage of the bill by which the state contributes $500 a year for the support of a high school at Mount Airy, pro- viding that Mount Airy appropriates a similar amount. He also secured the law by which the Board of Town Commissioners of Mount Airy was permitted to supplement the school fund. The high school was founded at Mount Airy in 1897. Mr. Haymore also contributed to Meredith College at Raleigh when it was established.
Politically he has long been a recognized leader in the republican party of North Carolina and has done much to give the minority party prestige and power. In 1908 he was elected and served as Representative from Surry County in the Legisla- ture at its session 1909, and also again in its ses- sion of 1913; was elected as minority speaker of the minority party and served as such in the House of Representatives in 1913; during this session was
233
HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
appointed by the speaker a member of a special committee of twenty from the Senate and House on Constitutional Amendments, the report of which was considered and adopted in part at special session of the Legislature convened in September, 1913; was elected and served as state senator from Surry and Stokes in 1911 and again as state senator in 1915, and was chosen leader of the min- ority party and served as such with fairness and ability during the duration of the Senate in 1915. He was again elected and served as a member of the Legislature in 1917 and by joint session of the House and Senate was elected one of the trustees of the State University at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, for eight years; and again elected state senator for Surry and Stokes in 1919.
In both house and senate he nas served as floor leader of the minority party. A man of convic- tions, of earnest and sincere citizenship, he has proved a power in the effective proceedings of the Legislature. Among the more important com- mittees on which he has served both in the Senate and House are the judiciary, rules, finance, con- stitutional amendments, corporations, penal insti- tutions, railroad and agriculture. In his home community Mr. Haymore has served as city attor- ney of Mount Airy, as trustee of the graded schools, as a member of the water and light committee and has also been mayor. He has been actively identified with the First Baptist church since 1884 and for a number of years served as a trustee and also as superintendent of the Sunday school. Mr. Haymore is affiliated with the Junior Order of United American Mechanics and Camp No. 109, Woodmen of the World.
NORWOOD LEE SIMMONS is a lawyer by profes- sion, though for the past four years his time has been entirely taken up by active business affairs. The name Simmons has been identified with the legal profession at Washington for many years.
He was born at Washington November 25, 1885, a son of Enoch Spencer and Claudia Lee (Grist) Simmons. His mother was a daughter of James R. Grist. His father, formerly of Hyde County, was a prominent member of the Washington bar, and practiced his profession successfully for twenty years after the total loss of his eyesight.
Norwood L. Simmons attended local public schools, spent one year in the academic course of the University of North Carolina in 1902-03, and one year in the law course, 1905-06. Admitted to the bar in August, 1906, he practiced with his father under the firm name of Simmons & Sim- mons until his father's death in March, 1907. He was then associated in practice with Hon. W. M. Bond (now judge of the First Judicial District of North Carolina), from March, 1907, to 1910, under the firm name of Bond & Simmons. He then continued practice alone until March, 1914, at which time, abandoning his professional duties, he organized the Washington-Beaufort Land Com- pany, and has since been general manager, secre- tary and treasurer, with headquarters at Washing- ton. This is one of the largest organizations handling farm and timber lands in the state.
Mr. Simmons has an interesting record in public affairs. In 1910, at the age of twenty-four, he was candidate for solicitor of the First Judicial District and in the nominating convention stood second in the list of four candidates, being finally defeated for the nomination by Hon. J. C. B. Ehringhaus of Elizabeth City. In 1908, at the age of twenty-two, he canvassed the First Judicial
District under the direction of the state executive committee for the democratic party.
Mr. Simmons is a member of Tau Chapter of the Phi Kappa Alpha fraternity of the University of North Carolina, and is affiliated with the Elks, Improved Order of Red Men, Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, Woodmen of America, is a thirty- second degree Scottish Rite Mason, a member of Sudan Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Newbern, and of several social clubs in his home town.
On June 20, 1910, he married Miss Claudia B. McCullers, daughter of Dr. Joseph Joel Lane and Alice Perkinson . McCullers of McCullers, Wake County. They have two children, Norwood Lee, Jr., and McCullers. The family are members of St. Peter's Episcopal Church and the Presbyterian Church.
LOUIS A. STATES. The position and services of Louis A. States as consulting engineer and ex- pert in cotton mill construction and work can scarcely be appreciated merely from a brief re- view of varied and important commissions he has filled during his many years of residence at Gas- tonia, one of the chief cotton mill centers of the South.
His accomplishments are really the achievement of a man who by long perseverance, study and ambition attains the front rank in a profession after overcoming handicaps that would have daunted any but the bravest and most determined of men. Mr. States was born at Wilmington, Clinton County, Ohio, in 1867. Though otherwise the matter might pass unnoticed, it is necessary to call attention to a physical defect in order to emphasize the merit of his career and his achieve- ments. Since early youth he has suffered from extreme deafness, and for years has carried on personal communication by means of a conver- sation tube.
As a boy he followed his bent toward mechan- ical studies, and while he did not have the op- portunity of attending technical schools and has made his own way in the world, he took up the study of engineering, used night hours and other odd times, and is largely self educated. He has never ceased to be a student, and mastered both the theory and practice while under actual work- ing conditions. A deserved honor that came to him, and a recognition of his attainments, was his recent election, without any solicitation on his part, as a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. This is a highly coveted honor, since the membership of that organization includes practically the most eminent men in the special field throughout the country. Mr. States' many friends in Gastonia were especially pleased with this highly deserved compliment to their fel- low citizen and associate.
Mr. States came to Gastonia in 1901, and that city has since been his home. He has had a prominent part in the upbuilding of the great cotton mill industry of the Carolinas, particu- larly as an expert and consulting engineer in the construction of power plants for cotton mills and in remodeling old plants. During the years he has been here he has carried out many commis- sions for construction work, among the more re- cont ones being the power plant of the Bladen- boro Cotton Mills at Bladenboro, North Carolina, the power plant of the Yadkin Finishing Com- pany's Mill at Salisbury, both of which are not- able examples of modern power plant construc- tion. Mr. States is consulting engineer for a
234
HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
number of large cotton mills at Gastonia and other centers.
His experiments and investigation have led to the adoption of several of his own devices for power plants. One of these, especially note- worthy, is the States Sectional Grate. This is a boiler grate bar which is now being widely adopted in the cotton mills and power plants of the South. As a consulting engineer he has fur- nished his services in connection with a large number of power plants and in designing, remo- deling, inspection and testing of such plants.
Mr. States married Miss Annie Elizabeth Wil- liams, daughter of Thomas N. and Sarah Gaston Williams, of Gastonia, Gaston County. Mr. and Mrs. States have two children: Louis A. States, Jr., and Thomas Williams States.
CLAUDE ROBERSON WHEATLY. A young lawyer who has done much to prove his ability and open a way. for a large and successful career in the law. Claude Roberson Wheatly is busy with his practice in the city where he was born and reared, and is one of the leading professional men of Beaufort.
He was born January 23, 1882, a son of George Washington and Sallie A. (Tarkington) Wheatly. His father has long been prominent in business affairs at Beaufort, was a fish and oyster planter, and at one time served as postmaster of Beaufort, Mr. Wheatly was well educated, attending St. Paul's Episcopal Church School at Beaufort, took two years in the literary department of the Univer- sity of North Carolina, and in 1906 graduated LL. B. from the University Law School. Prior to taking up practice he taught school two years, but since 1909 has given his best thought and energy to the general practice which is steadily accumulating. He is a member in good standing of the North Carolina Bar Association, and one step in his experience to success in law was service as city attorney. Mr. Wheatly has also been active in the Chamber of Commerce at Beaufort. He is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and member of the Soudan Temple of the Mystic Shrine at New Bern.
On May 23, 1916, he married Miss Osey Garner, of Newport, North Carolina, daughter of T. P. Garner, a well known merchant and farmer.
JOHN C. CLIFFORD. One of the leaders of the North Carolina bar and for many years an in- fluential democratic leader, Hon. John C. Clifford, of Dunn, Harnett County, is a credit to his Irish ancestry and his American training and education. He was born in Davie County, North Carolina, on June 16, 1867, to John Wells and Louisa ( Wise- man) Clifford.
The father, John W. Clifford, a teacher and farmer by profession, was a native of Davie County, where he died in 1875. The great-grandfather came from his native Ireland about the time of the Revolutionary war and settled in Rowan, now Davie, County, North Carolina. Mrs. John W. Clifford was the daughter of William Washington Wiseman, of Davidson County, that state, who was serving in the Legislature at the time the old state house was burned and in his day was a prominent figure in the public affairs of North Carolina.
John C. Clifford, the son of such worthy parents, graduated from Wake Forest College in the class of 1892. During the four succeeding years he taught school at Warsaw, Wakefield and Dunn,
coming to the city last named in 1895. After pur- suing his professional studies at the law school of Wake Forest, he was licensed to practice in 1896, and opened an office at Dunn during the same year. In addition to the large general prac- tice which he has established Mr. Clifford is counsel for the Atlantic Coast Line Railway and for a number of other important corporations.
For many years Mr. Clifford has been a leader in the political and public affairs of the state. As chairman of the County Democratic Executive committee in 1898 he conducted the campaign which defeated the populist-fusion administration. He was also chairman in 1900, the year that the suffrage amendment to the constitution was adopted. For several years he was campaign manager for Hon. H. L. Godwin, representative from the Sixth Congressional District. He served for two sessions in the Lower House of the Legis- lature, those of 1907 and 1908, and wielded a wide and strong influence.
John C. Clifford married Miss Annie F. Pearsall, who comes of a distinguished family of the eastern section of Carolina. Born in Duplin County, she is a daughter of David Moulton Pearsall and granddaughter of Jerry Pearsall, the latter being representative of his county many years in the General Assembly, and being for a number of years master in equity of the county. Mrs. Clif- ford's maternal grandfather was Capt. James Middleton, one of the leading patriots of the Amer- ican Revolution and was prominent in the subse- quent history of the state. Mr. and Mrs. John C. Clifford have five children: Rachel Middleton, John C., Jr., David Pearsall, Louise Wiseman and William Henderson. The father is a member of the Baptist Church, while Mrs. Clifford is a Pres- byterian.
WILLIAM FRANCIS JONES. Though he has had to work hard for all he got in the way of a fair education, William Francis Jones has made rapid progress since he was admitted to the bar a few years ago, and is now one of the leading lawyers of Wilmington.
He was born in Brunswick County, North Caro- lina, February 17, 1877, a son of Benjamin F. and Anna E. (Henry) Jones. His father spent many years in the active railroad service. After attending public schools his education was com- plete so far as his literary training was concerned, and after some years of supporting himself he took up the study of law in private offices. To complete his course he entered the University of North Carolina, where he was graduated in 1911. Since then he has handled a growing general prac- tice of a lawyer in Wilmington.
In 1913 Mr. Jones was elected a member of the city council, and in 1915 was again chosen for that office under the commission form of govern- ment. His home is in the First Ward of the city. Mr. Jones is attorney and director of the Howard-Wells Amusement Company, and belongs to the Knights of Columbus. For a number of years he has taken an active part in the demo- cratic rarty. In 1917 an act of the Legislature of the State of North Carolina created the office of public defender of New Hanover County, and in the bill W. F. Jones was named as the incumbent of that office which was the first office of its kind to be created in the South.
February 2, 1899, he married Miss Dora A. West, of Savannah, Georgia. Their five children
e
Wolfone
235
HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
are William L., Marion W., Horace W., Lois W. and Corrinne W.
NANNIE PASTEUR GEFFROY was born in Beaufort, North Carolina, a daughter of James C. and Sallie Pasteur Davis. Mrs. Geffroy when but a girl, realizing the need of education, began her work by employing a teacher and taking a small class of children The work began in one room of a dwelling, developed into the first high school in Carteret County, and is one of the finest elemen- tary and preparatory schools in North Carolina. The object of St. Paul's School is to promote the spread of practical Christianity and to teach young boys and girls to use hearts and hands as well as minds, and to help those who are willing to help themselves.
The work began with a few pupils. A limited range of influence has grown into a noble institu- tion, with 275 pupils, a faculty of fifteen teachers, a roomy and well equipped school building, dormi- tory, work shop, printing department, library and reading room, infirmary and kindergarten. About sixty-five of the pupils live in the dormitory.
St. Paul's School, the creation and life work of Mrs. Geffroy, is a noble institution doing good work. The deeds are vested in a board of trus- tees, who will continue the work after her death. The school is justly proud of its alumnus, many of whom have gone on to higher institutions of learning or have begun their life work and are making splendid records.
ROBERT ERASTUS TOWNSEND. The handling of realty is a vocation of dignity in any growing community, and some of the oldest concerns as well as the most substantial business individuals of Wilson County are engaged in this line of en- deavor. One of the fast-growing communities of the county is the county seat of Wilson. As this city has grown. stretching out its arms to em- brace outlying localities, so have men responded to the needs of the business of handling the de- mand for homes. There was a time when many who were engaged in business were compelled to live in a restricted area in order to go to and from their establishments each day, but at pres- ent there appears to be very elastic limits to the confines of residential districts. One of the men who has for years been one of the moving spirits in the real estate business at Wilson, who was one of the founders of Rountree Place, and whose operations have covered a wide territory, is Rob- ert Erastus Townsend.
Mr. Townsend was born on a farm in Robeson County, North Carolina, February 6, 1866, and is a son of Rev. Jackson and Sarah Jane (Thomp- son ) Townsend. His father was an agricultur- ist with a well-cultivated farm in Robeson Coun- ty, and also labored as a minister of the Metho- . dist Episcopal Church, South, for many years. Robert E. Townsend was brought up on the home farm, under religious influence, and received his education in private schools. When still a youth he became a clerk in a general store, being thus employed for three years, and then went to Wil- mington, where for five years he served as book- keeper for a mercantile concern. Mr. Townsend came to Wilson in 1895 and established himself in business as a shoe merchant, but after two years disposed of his interests in this venture. For some time he had noted the increasing pros- perity of Wilson and the contiguous territory, its
increasing population, its advancing interests and its rapidly-growing land values, and these facts led him to take the step that he had under con- templation, entrance into the real estate field. In 1898 he began business as a real estate and in- surance operator, and from that time to the pres- ent his business has grown and developed with the advancement of the community. He has car- ried this on very extensively, has contributed much toward the improvement of Wilson, notably in assisting in laying out suburban property and has been a co-operant factor in many measures for the public good. While chiefly interested in real estate transactions, he also has other inter- ests, and is one of the directors of the Planters Bank, of which institution he was one of the organizers. Fraternally he is affiliated with the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, and holds membership also in the Country Club.
Mr. Townsend was married December 23, 1891, to Miss Ella Heide, of Wilmington, North Caro- lina, and they are the parents of two children: Kate Elise, who is attending Randolph-Macon Col- lege at Lynchburg. Virginia; and Robert Edgar, formerly a student at Bingham College, Asheville, North Carolina, but now (1918) in the United States Army Training School.
DAVID TEN EYCK HUYCK. This distinguished musician, whose genius and talent in presenting in audible form the compositions of the masters have been an important factor in imprinting upon the material energy characteristic of Charlotte a high . aesthetic quality, has been a resident of this city since 1901, and during this time has acted as organist and choirmaster at the Tryon Street Methodist Church. He is also widely known as a traveler, and there are few places of interest that have not at one time or another known him as a visitor on this and the European continent.
Mr. Huyek was born near Albany, New York, in 1879, and is a son of Leonard Whitbeck and Nancy Miller (Fisher) Huyck, belonging to a family of Holland Dutch origin which for several generations has resided in the Empire state. The paternal grandfather of Mr. Huyck was Conrad Ten Eyek Huyck, and the latter's mother was a Ten Eyck of the old and distinguished family of that name. One of the paternal ancestors of Mr. Hryek was Jan Van Huvel, from whom he prob- ably inherited much. of his genius, as the fore- father was a professional musician of note. In his very early boyhood David Ten Eyck Huyck began the study of music, beginning with the piano. While attending church with his parents, he be- came greatly attracted to the pipe organ, and at twelve years of age began the study of this instru- ment, the church organist's attention having been attracted to him by the lad's apparent natural talent. His first teacher of the organ was Corinne Houghton Sewell. of New York, under whose instruction he made such rapid advancement that at the age of thirteen years he was organist of the First Methodist Church of Watertown, New York. Later he studied the organ under Wilkins and other New York artists, and at the same time gave attention to the cultivation of his voice. In the latter connection it may be here stated that he is the possessor of a fine tenor, and for two years was a professional operatie singer. While born in New York, Mr. Huyck considers himself a North Carolinian, as he came to this state in 1893, when a lad of fourteen years. The family located at
236
HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
Winston-Salem, and there Mr. Huyck con- tinued his musical career while he was not away from home engaged in study. From his North Carolina home he went to Paris, where he studied organ under a pupil of Guilmant, and subsequently enjoyed the advantages of study in other musical centers of Europe. On his return to Winston- Salem, still a youth, he began teaching and was made church organist, and also taught music at Davis Military Academy of that city, where he was likewise for several years organist of the Cell- tenary Methodist Church. He has made, as pre viously stated, his home at Charlotte since 1901, and gives the greater part of his attention to per- forming the duties of choirmaster and organist of Tryon Street Methodist Church, the musical services of which are known and appreciated throughout the state. Of late years he has spent little of his time and talent in teaching.
Mr. Huyck has an extensive reputation as a traveler. Even as a boy, his chief study beside music was geography, and when he became older this developed into a passion for travel. He has conducted several tours, in addition to making numerous individual trips, particularly to Europe, and in 1916 made a journey through Alaska. On March 1, 1917, he started upon a tour with a party which will take them to all points of South America.
HON. IRA R. HUMPHREYS has made a highly successful record as a lawyer, and in addition to the responsibilities he carries with a large private practice has frequently been honored with public positions. He served eight years as judge of the . Recorders Court. In 1902 he was elected a member of the State Legislature and re-elected in 1904, and for four years he was chairman of the demo- cratic county executive committee.
Mr. Humphreys was born on a farm in New Bethel Township of Rockingham County. His family has been in North Carolina since about the . time of the Revolutionary war. It was founded here by his great-grandfather, Thomas Talbert Humphreys, who was born on a farm in what is now the City of Washington in 1745. At that time the District of Columbia was a part of Prince George County, Maryland. He was about thirty years old when the colonists undertook to win their independence from Great Britain, and soon afterward enlisted with the Maryland Continental Line and fought in a number of battles of the Revolution. One of these was the battle of Guil- ford Court House. It was while campaigning in North Carolina that he recognized and appreci- ated the possibilities of this part of the state. After his marriage he brought his family to North Carolina, and was one of the first settlers of Cas- well County. He bought land there, hewed a farm from the wilderness, and in that locality spent his last years. November 23, 1781, he married Mar- garet Burch. Both are now at rest on the old homestead farm in Caswell County. In Maryland they had both been members of the Fairfax Cir- cuit of the Methodist Church, and the most dis- tinguished resident of that circuit was General Washington. One of the relics of these ancestors which Ira R. Humphreys much prizes is the church letter of membership given his great-grandfather when he came South, signed by two officials of the church, named Simeon Triplet and George Wells.
John H. Humphreys, grandfather of the Reids- ville lawyer, was born in Caswell County March 23,
1790. Soon after reaching manhood he enlisted and served in the War of 1812. From Caswell County he moved to Rockingham County and bought land in Ruffin Township. He lived in that locality until his death. In January, 1818, he married Susan Keen. She was born in November, 1799, daughter of John Keen, a Wilmington ship builder. John H. Humphreys and wife both at- tained good old age and are buried on the Hum- phreys farm near Draper, North Carolina.
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.