USA > North Carolina > History of North Carolina: North Carolina biography, Volume VI > Part 64
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Van Buren Humphreys, father of Ira R., was born in Williamsburg Township of Rockingham County April 28, 1842. Before reaching his ma- jority and soon after the breaking out of the war he enlisted and went to the front and saw much hard and arduous service. Among the more im- portant battles in which he participated was the three days fighting at Gettysburg. During the last months of the war he was captured and held a prisoner in Point Lookout, Maryland, until paroled July 18, 1865. After returning home he took up the difficult routine of civil life with the same earnestness that characterized him as a soldier. He went in debt for a small tract of land and worked hard and exercised the strictest economy in order to provide for his family. His life was an honest and useful one and many besides his children pay him the tribute of a grateful memory. He died at the age of seventy-four. He married Margaret Perkins. She was born at Lawsonville in Williamsburg Township of Rockingham County, daughter of Constantine and Isabelle (McCollum) Perkins. Her grandfathers were Abraham Perkins and Daniel McCollum. Both the Perkins and Mc- Collums were among the pioneers of Rockingham County. Mrs. Van Buren Humphreys still lives on the old homestead. She has four living chil- dren, named John D., Thomas F., Ira R. and Nannie.
Ira R. Humphreys as a boy was trained to habits of industry, and at an early age had to take his part in the fields of the home farm. He attended rural schools and later was a student in Reidsville graded schools and took his law course in the University of North Carolina. He was admitted to practice in 1901 and for nine years had his home and offices at Wentworth, since which time he has been in practice at Reidsville.
On September 12, 1918, Mr. Humphreys regis- tered for service in the present war with the Cen- tral Powers and was made local attorney for the War Department, acting as Government Appeal Agent in the selective draft.
In 1907 Mr. Humphreys married Dora Price. Her birthplace was the village of Price in Rock- ingham County. She is a daughter of Robert P. and Lula (Dalton) Price. Mr. and Mrs. Hum- phreys have five children : Dorothy, Margaret, Robert, John H. and Louise.
HENRY HARDING DODSON, M. D. The Dodson family is an old and prominent one of North Carolina, and besides Dr. Henry Harding Dodson of Greensboro, an eminent specialist of that city, the present representatives are his sister, Miss Mary Grace Dodson, his daughter, Priscilla Hard- ing Dodson, all of Greensboro, Charles R. Dodson, Misses Mary E. and Elizabeth Dodson of Kinston, North Carolina, and Charles Dodson, Jr. (the fourth Charles), nephew of Charles R. and the Misses Dodson.
A small colony that came from England and set- tled at Burlington, New Jersey, in 1677, included
A. N. Dolar
2. 0
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among its members, John, Thomas and Mary Dodson, who were children of Daniel and Susanna Dodson of Knaresboro, Yorkshire, England. Of these Thomas Dodson, from whom the North Car- olina branch of the family is descended, was born at Marysboro, England, October 19, 1669. He grew up in the American colonies, and on July 16, 1698, married Catherine Savill, daughter of John Saville of Snape, England. Thomas and his wife later settled in Talbot County, Maryland. Their children included Tom, Robert and Susanna. John Dodson, oldest son of Thomas and Catherine, married Lucy Long and settled in Virginia. Their children were named David, Charles, William, James and John. David remained in Virginia while Charles and William came to North Caro- lina.
Charles Dodson, first to bear that name, mar- ried in 1770 Eleanor Poindexter. They had two children, Stephen and Lucy. Stephen Dodson, born in 1778, married in 1803 Mary Smith, daugh- ter of Renben and Mary (Mayfield) Smith, of Granville County, North Carolina. Stephen Dodson later moved to Milton, Caswell County, North Carolina, and was prominent in the affairs of his county, representing it three times in the Legis- lature. He filled other positions and was always known in his community as Squire Stephen Dod- son. As an interesting item of his history it may be recalled that he had twelve grandsons in the Confederate army, four of whom were his name- sakes-Stephen Dodson Turner, Stephen Dodson Dye, Stephen Dodson Richmond and the celebrated Maj. Gen. Stephen Dodson Ramseur. The chil- dren of Stephen and Mary Smith Dodson were Elizabeth and Eleanor, twins, Parmelia Tate, Mary Randolph, Lucy Mayfield, Frances Ann, Re- becca Harvey, Charles Russell, Stephen Lewis. The two sons became physicians. Dr. Stephen Lewis Dodson when a young man went to Texas, lived and married and died there, leaving a large family named Mayfield, Joseph, Charles, Mary, Stepha and Elizabeth. Three of the children after the death of their father came to North Carolina. One of them is Charles Dodson, third of the name, a tobacconist and prominent man of affairs at Kinston, North Carolina. Another is Miss Mary E. Dodson, associated with her brother in business and one of the foremost business women of the state. Miss Elizabeth Dodson is a trained nurse and now active in welfare work in New York State. Miss Stepha Dodson is princi- pal at St. Mary's Episcopal School for Girls at Shanghai, China, where she has been actively at work in the mission field for years. Charles, Jr., son of Mayfield Dodson, was in Texas, in business with his uncle, and is now in the army, having just reached his majority.
The older son of Stephen and Mary Smith Dodson was Dr. Charles Russel Dodson, father of Dr. Henry Harding Dodson. The elder Dod- son was a man without fear and without reproach. A lad of seven years when his parents moved to Milton, North Carolina, he grew up in a commu- nity known for its culture and refinement. A graduate of the University of North Carolina, he received his degree in the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, and then returned to Milton, where until he was seventy-six years old he actively and untiringly practiced his chosen profession. He was a profound student of medi- cine, of broad general learning, was modest to a fault, and gave his life unselfishly for the relief of human suffering. No appeal, however poor or
humble, failed to call forth the efforts of his gen- tle ministrations. A doctor of the old school, he always kept abreast of the times, taking ad- vantage of everything science or medicine offered for the good of those among whom he had cast his lot. After a life spent in ministering to oth- ers he died at the age of eighty-five, having well earned the grand old name of gentleman.
In February, 1853, Dr. Charles Russell Dod- son married . at Raleigh Miss Priscilla Harding. They had three children, Henry Harding, Lucy Mayfield, who died in infancy, and Mary Grace.
The Harding family is of old New England line- age. Of pure English stock, they came to New England in 1623 with Sir Robert George's colony, which was planted at Wessagesseth, now Wey- mouth Landing. From there they went to Plym- outh. The North Carolina Hardings were de- scended from Joseph and Martha Harding. Joseph died leaving his widow, Martha, who died at Plym- outh in 1633, and two sons, John, born in 1624 and Joseph, born in 1629. Joseph married Bertha Cook, daughter of Josiah and Elizabeth (Dean) Cook. Their children were Nathaniel, Nehemiah, Ephraim and Samuel. Of these Nathaniel Hard- ing married Johanna Lombard. Their son, Ne- hemiah Henry Harding, maternal grandfather of Doctor Dodson, was born at Brunswick, Maine, October 11, 1794.
Brunswick, Maine, was a community of seafar- ing people. Nehemiah Henry Harding and his brothers were masters of merchant marines. As a young man he was captain of vessels that touched almost all known ports, especially in the West Indies trade. In this way he came to North Caro- lina, and through the old channel of Ocrococke Inlet to Newbern. While there his health gave way and going to Raleigh he decided to enter the Presbyterian ministry. After finishing his course at the University of North Carolina he took the theological degree from Princeton Seminary. and returned to Raleigh and married. His first charge was at Oxford, North Carolina, and later he moved to Milton, where he had charge of the historic church there and in the surrounding country for a number of years. He died February 17, 1844, and is buried at Milton. It is said of him that, while an exceedingly modest man, he never lost his tendency to command derived from his early ex- perience as a sea captain. He has been described as "a man of strong intellect, strong character and indomitable courage." Two of his children are still living: Rev. Ephraim Henry Harding, D. D., retired at the age of eighty-six and living with his son and daughter, C. R. Harding Ph. D., professor of Greek at Davidson College for a num- ber of years. and Mrs. Amie Harding Whitaker, at Davidson, North Carolina, and Mrs. Fleming (Harding) Bates, of Raleigh, North Carolina.
Nehemiah Henry Harding married at Raleigh in 1828 Mrs. Hannah Smith Callum, a widow. As an orphan girl she was brought to Raleigh, from New England. by her uncle and adonted father, Mr. William Shaw, a Scotch Presbyterian and a man of property and culture. The children of Nehemiah and Hannah Smith Harding were: Pris- cilla Shaw, born in September, 1829; Venable, born in December, 1830; Ephraim, born in Novem- ber. 1832; and Robert, born November 18, 1836; Hannah, born February 2, 1838, and Priscilla Shaw Harding, who married Dr. Charles Russell Dodson, died at Milton, North Carolina, in July, 1869.
Dr. Henry Harding Dodson, whose ancestry
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has thns been traced through two lines, was born at Milton, North Carolina, February 20, 1855. He prepared for college at Cluster Springs High School in Halifax County, Virginia, and later did the work through the junior year of Hampden Sidney College of Virginia. For a few years he was engaged in the drug business in his native town, and at the same time carried on the reading of medicine under his father. In 1882 he gradu- ated from the Medical College of Virginia, and after an interneship of a year began practice at Milton.
September 26, 1883, he married Miss Anne Bar- ker Barrett, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Barker Barrett of Wytheville, Virginia. Doctor and Mrs. Dodson had two children: Charles, who died in infancy; and Priscilla Harding Dodson. Aiter the death of his wife on December 1, 1903, Doctor Dodson with his sister and danghter moved to Greensboro. But prior to that he spent some months in New York in post-graduate study and especially the study of electrical science as applied to medicine and the then new science of Roent- genology. Coming to Greensboro in the summer of 1905, Doctor Dodson established a Roentgen- Ray laboratory and was the first to specialize in this branch of science in the state. Doctor Dod- son is a member of the North Carolina Medical Society; Tri-State Medical Society of Virginia, North and South Carolina, of which he was one of the originators and a charter member; a mem- ber of the American Medical Association; was for two years on the Board of Health in North Caro- lina; six years a member of the North Carolina Board of Health Examiners. He has long been active in Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, has been for a number of years its vestryman and is now a senior warden. Doctor Dodson's home is presided over by his sister Miss Mary Grace Dodson, a woman of charming culture. His daughter, Miss Priscilla Harding Dodson, is following in the foot- steps of her student ancestors and is a student of the State Normal College for Women, specializing in domestic science and art.
Doctor Dodson's wife was a member of the Bar- rett family of pure English Qnaker stock. They located in Granville, New York, in the early eighteenth century. From an old family Bible the family record is briefly given as follows: John Barrett, born April 13, 1728, married Lucy Ors- more, who was born July 16, 1728, daughter of Jaazaniah and Rachel Orsmore. Their son Jaaz- aniah Barrett, born January 21, 1752, married Rhoda Reid, who was born May 24, 1760, daughter of John and Hannah Reid of Rhode Island. Their son Jonathan Farnham Barrett, born Jannary 18, 1786, married Anne Barker, born September 24, 1794, daughter of John and Susan Barker.
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John Barker Barrett, son of Jonathan F. and Anne Barrett, was born April 29, 1819. As a young man he came to North Carolina and his interests became permanently identified with the South. He later moved to Wytheville, Virginia, where he lived for a number of years. John Barker Barrett married Rebecca Harvey Dodson, who was born May 5, 1826, daughter of Stephen and Mary (Smith) Dodson. They were the parents of Anne Barker Barrett, who was born February 9, 1854, and on September 26, 1883, became the wife of Dr. Henry Harding Dodson. John Barker Barrett and wife had several .other children, two of whom attained more than ordinary distinction. One was Dean Robert South Barrett, of the Episcopal Church. He was a profound thinker,
writer and a preacher of great force. His sister, Mrs. Mary Smith (Barrett) Heuser, is a noted artist and portrait painter.
WILLIAM JAMES SCARBORO has been a merchant, manufacturer and leading citizen of Ashboro for over a quarter of a century. During that time his name has been associated with many of the enter- prises and movements which have made this town grow and prosper. At different times his com- munity has honored him with offices of public trust, he has been a leader in the democratic party, and in a business way is secretary and treasurer of the Ashboro Roller Mills, is president of the Ashboro Telephone Company and a director of the McCrary-Redding Hardware Company and of the Bank of Randolph.
Mr. Scarboro was born on a farm in Mount Gilead Township of Montgomery County, North Carolina. The family was established there many years ago by his grandfather, Wiley Scarboro, a native of Virginia. After getting a tract of land in Mount Gilead Township he was busied with his farm nntil his death. William J. Scarboro is a son of William S. Scarboro, who was also born in Mount Gilead Township. He had a farm training, and after reaching manhood bought a small farm in the same township. He was called from the fields and his young wife and children for service in the war, enlisting soon after its beginning in Company E of the Fifty-second North Carolina Regiment in the thirty-first year of his age. His service was brief, being terminated by his death at Goldsboro on July 15, 1862. His remains were laid to rest at Goldsboro. He married Lanra Jane Mask, a native of Montgomery County, and dangh- ter of John and Mrs. (Wilson) Mask. After the death of her soldier husband she was twice mar- ried, her second husband being Harrison T. Sed- bnry and her third husband John Scarboro, better known in the community as Millwright John. By the first marriage there were two children, George Nelson and William James. By her second hus- band she had four children, John Harrison, Oscar Montgomery, Eldredge Marshall and Annie Jane Florence. She was an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
William James Scarboro spent most of his youth and childhood in the days of war and re- construction. He had to content himself with the meager advantages of the local district schools but afterwards, largely through his own efforts, acquired a liberal education, attending Troy High School and Ophir Academy in Montgomery Connty. For three years he was a teacher. He laid the foundation of his business experience by two years of work as clerk in a general store at Worthville.
Mr. Scarboro came to Ashboro in 1892. He was a merchant here nntil 1907, when he sold his store and bonght the Ashboro Roller Mills, the institu- tion to which he has since given most of his time and attention.
In 1892 he married Miss Cornelia Hammer, who was born in Ashboro Township, daughter of Wil- liam Clark and Hannah (Burrows) Hammer. She is a sister of Hon. William C. Hammer, present United States Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Mr. and Mrs. Scarboro have two daughters, Bera Gertrude and Annie Lucile. The family are members of the Methodist Episco- pal Church, Sonth. As a democrat Mr. Scarboro has served on the town board and on the board of county commissioners and for eight years was
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chairman of the county democratic executive com- mittee and has been a delegate to numerous county, district and state conventions.
ERNEST MATHEWS GREEN. Success and dis- tinctive honors in the legal profession have come readily to Ernest M. Green of Newbern, where he has practiced law since 1903. Mr. Green is now serving as assistant United States district attorney of North Carolina, and since his admis- sion to the bar various other official responsibili- ties were confided to his capable management.
Mr. Green represents one of the old historic families of North Carolina and one that has had its seat in Craven County since 1706. The origi- nal property of the family was a land grant given in 1706 to Capt. Fournifold Green, one of North Carolina's real pioneers and one who helped to establish civilization and keep back the tide of barbarism. He met his death at the hands of the Tuscarora Indians in the Indian war of 1712- 15. Many other members of the family have been accorded distinctions in public and military life. James Green, Jr., was the first clerk of the General Assembly in North Carolina prior to the Revolution and was clerk of the first Consti- tutional Convention in 1776. Joseph Green was a lieutenant in the Continental Line in the Revo- lutionary war, afterward became assistant to Colonel Allett, who was the first state purchasing agent, and finally succeeded Colonel Allett in that office, with the rank of colonel. It was his duty to supervise all the purchases made by the state of guns, ammunition and other military supplies that made up North Carolina's contribution to the prosecution of the Revolutionary war. Mr. Green's great-grandfather is buried at the old Green plantation in Craven County.
Ernest Mathews Green was born at Newbern September 23, 1871, a son of John Curtis and Martha Wythe (Mathews) Green. His father was formerly superintendent of the gas company at Newbern. The son was well educated, attend- ing the public schools, the Davis Military Acad- emy, and the law department of the University of North Carolina, where he was graduated in 1903. On being admitted to the bar he began a general practice at Newbern, but much of his time has been taken up with his public duties. He was formerly register of deeds of Craven County, served as county attorney ten years, and resigned that office in 1913 to become assistant United States district attorney, the office he still holds. Mr. Green has handled some of the most important cases tried before the Federal courts in the state.
He has also had legislative experience, having served in the Lower House of the Legislature in 1909 and in 1911 was a member of the Senate. In 1900 Mr. Green was a delegate to the Na- tional Democratic Convention at Kansas City, and was one of the delegates at the Baltimore Con- vention of 1912. He is a member of the Order of the Cincinnati, and is affiliated with the Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks, the Independ- ent Order of Odd Fellows and the Woodmen of the World.
Mr. Green married Miss Grace Judd, of Ma- con, Georgia, on June 20, 1911. Her father was Rev. Harvey O. Judd, a well-known Episcopal min- ister. Mrs. Green died December 20, 1914. Both have been active members of Christ Episcopal Church.
JOHN M. BLAIR, M. D. In the medical pro- fession of Union County there is no better known or more greatly esteemed physician than Dr. John M. Blair. For nearly thirty years he has been located at Monroe, where his skill as a practitioner has brought him steadily to a leading place in his calling. But Doctor Blair is something more than a physician. Whole-souled love of humanity, inti- mate knowledge of the requirements of his fellow- men, kindl ness of heart and true Christianity, all these have been merged and blended into his character and evidenced in his every-day work, and have won for him the affection of all with whom he has come into contact professionally or otherwise.
Doctor Blair was born in Chesterfield County, South Carolina, April 3, 1864, his parents being Dr. Isaac H. and Louise (Miller) Blair, both of whom are now deceased, the former a native of Lancaster County, South Carolina, and the latter of Chesterfield County, that state. His father was a practicing physician all his life, and during the war between the states served as a surgeon in the army of the Confederacy. Dr. John M. Blair re- ceived his preliminary educational training in the South Carolina Miltary Academy at Charleston and the Greenville (South Carolina) Military Insti- tute. He began the study of medicine at Charles- ton, and finished in the Louisville Medical College, from which he was graduated with his degree in 1887. After practicing one year at Dudley, South Carolina, he came to Monroe, and here he has since been engaged in the humane work of alleviat- ing the ills of his fellow-beings. For many years Doctor Blair carried on a very large and active practice, and is still the local surgeon at Monroe for the Seaboard Air Line Railway, but much of his active practice has been given up because of his having suffered a slight paralytic stroke, on account of which he has for some time been taking life more easily. In various other ways, however, Doctor Blair is one of the live and active forces in the upbuilding of the thriving and constantly- growing City of Monroe. Not only in present day affairs is he a recognized authority in Union County, but in historical matters as well. He has made many investigations and researches into the history of Monroe and of Union County, and has at his command a large fund of interesting and valuable historical matter on these subjects which is invariably drawn upon by all those seeking en- lightenment in that direction. Among other labors, he compiled and wrote a history of the medical profession of Union County, with biographical sketches of all the old-time physicians, which was published in the Charlotte Medical Journal and in the Charlotte Observer. Doctor Blair is a York Rite Mason and a Shriner.
Doctor Blair has been twice married. His first wife was Miss Matlah Whitfield now deceased, who was the mother of his son, Harry H. Blair. His present wife, who is the mother of his daughter, Hannah J. Blair, was before her mar- riage Miss Hannah J. Sanders, who is descended from the McCalls, Revolutionary patriots of South Carolina. Mrs. Blair is regent of the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and a lady of many graces, and attainments.
Doctor Blair has done a useful work during the span of life thus far allotted him. He has done much to add to the contentment of his friends and neighbors; he has proved of incalculable assist- ance to the growing city of Monroe; and has en- gendered the love and respect of his family, and,
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in fact, of all who have known him, by being a kind and generous father, a true gentleman in every sense and a devout believer in the efficacy of the Golden Rule.
RICHARD LEE HERRING has found his work in life as a lawyer, has made considerable progress and ranks among the men of promise and ability in the bar of Clinton, where he began his practice about four years ago.
Mr. Herring was born in Sampson County, North Carolina, October 27, 1887, a son of Amos Repton and Katherine Folsom (Davis) Herring. His father was a farmer and also for a number of years conducted a mercantile establishment. Richard L. Herring grew up in a home of comfortable circum- stances, attended the public schools and also the. Dells private school. After definitely determining upon his chosen calling he entered the law depart- ment of Wake Forest College, where he was graduated LL. B. in 1913. Mr. Herring at once began practice at Clinton, and is now a member of the firm Butler & Herring. Mr. Herring has also been chosen as attorney for the Road Com- mission of Sampson County. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias order.
On December 28, 1916, he married Miss Emma Grace Carlton, of Warsaw, North Carolina. Her father is Lewis Carson Carlton, a well known farmer of Warsaw.
HON. ROBERT R. RAY. For many years Hon. Robert R. Ray has been one of the leading citizens of McAdenville. Prominent in its business and financial life and its public enterprises, he has also been foremost in citizenship and in the place he has won the confidence and esteem of his fellow-men. Such varied achievement is a proud distinction, the fruition of a symmetrical manhood. It is possible only to the favored few upon whom have been bestowed the fundamental elements of energy, constructive ability and business intuition. All these essential qualities Mr. Ray possesses united with an unbending integrity of character, which have made him a distinctive force in the de- velopment of his community.
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