USA > North Carolina > History of North Carolina: North Carolina biography, Volume VI > Part 66
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United States Senator John Sharp Williams is a descendant of this family, and D. M. Clark, inentioned briefly in this publication, is also a descendant of this family.
THE LILLINGTON FAMILY of North Carolina was founded by Maj. Alexander Lillington. The tradi- tional account is that he came from Barbadoes, where after serving in the English army under Marlboro he was made Governor of the Island.
The oldest public record in the State of North Carolina is the commission issued December 3, 1669, to Alexander Lillington and four others to hold the precinct courts of Berkely Precinct, now Perquimans County. The two provinces of North and South Carolina were not formally divided for some years, but a governor was appointed for the Southern Province and a deputy governor for the Northern. In 1693 Alexander Lillington was ap- pointed titular deputy governor and virtual gov- ernor of North Carolina. He married Sarah Adams, of Massachusetts, and left one son and four daughters, John, Sarah, Elizabeth, Ann and Mary. From these daughters many of the oldest and most honorable families of the state are de- scended. The son John married Sarah Porter, and they were the parents of John Alexander, who afterward dropped the name John, and he was the Gen. Alexander Lillington of the Revolution.
Gen. Alexander Lillington at the beginning of the war for independence lived at Lillington Hall, a large estate in New Hanover County, owned by him. He immediately joined the patriots and helped to organize a company of troops known as Minute Men of Wilmington and New Bern, of which Colonel Caswell and himself were made colonels. Their command, which has been joined by a large number of volunteers, fought the battle of Moore's Creek on February 27, 1776. It was the first victory gained by the Patriots in North Carolina, and was important in its results, pre- venting a reunion of the Scotch Tories under Gen. Donald Macdonald (the husband of the famous Flora Macdonald) with Sir Henry Clinton, who had just arrived at the Cape Fear River. Had they succeeded in joining their forces the whole country would have been at their mercy. General Macdonald was taken prisoner with a large number of others, and a quantity of arms and ammunition, with horses and wagons, and fifteen thousand pounds sterling were also secured. Further refer- ence to this battle is unnecessary since the account will be found in all the standard histories of North Carolina. Colonel Lillington soon after- ward received his commission as general and served through the war. A monument has been erected to the memory of General Lillington on the battle- field. His son John served with him during the entire war and was commissioned colonel. General Lillington was wealthy and contributed largely to the cause of independence. He and his son wore on their hats silver crescents on which were in- scribed "Liberty or Death." Most unfortunately these with his commission as general were sent for exhibition to the Philadelphia Centennial and were never returned.
General Lillington had two sons and two daughters, John, George, Mary and Sarah. The male lineage is carried through his son George,
who was the father of John Alexander Lillington. John Alexander Lillington married Mary Hill, and had two sous, John Alexander and George, and four daughters.
This John A. Lillington, third, great-grandson of General Lillington, married Betty Williams, of the Williams family elsewhere noted. Their sons were Nicholas Williams and Alexander and of their several daughters Margaret married E. T. Clark. The three Clark children, all living, are Alexander Lillington Clark, David MacKinzie Clark, and Mary Williams, now Mrs. Felix Graves of Mebane, North Carolina. David MacKinzie Clark is mentioned briefly in this publication.
HON. ROBERT MARTIN DOUGLAS. A career of great personal distinction and service came to a close with the death on February 8, 1917, of Robert Martin Douglas, for many years a lawyer, public official, and a former judge of the Supreme Court of North Carolina.
The interest felt in his history is magnified by the fact that he was a son of one of the most illustrious figures in American statesmanship and politics, the Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois who all but held the destinies of the nation in his hand during the two decades prior to the Civil war. Of the career of Judge Stephen A. Douglas it is, of course, superfluous to speak at this point be- yond noting briefly his family connections. Stephen Arnold Douglas was born in Vermont April 23, 1813, and died at Chicago June 3, 1861. His father was a New England physician. Stephen A. Douglas started west in 1833 and in the fol- lowing year located in Illinois, which was his home state the rest of his life. On April 7, 1847, he married Martha Martin, daughter of Col. Robert Martin of Rockingham County, North Carolina. She died January 19, 1853, and Judge Douglas was again married. Martha Martin was also a grand-niece of Alexander Martin, fourth governor of North Carolina after the adoption of the con- stitution of 1776.
Robert Martin Douglas was born January 28, 1849, at Douglas, North Carolina, the home of his maternal grandparents in Rockingham County, and owing to the early death of his parents he was reared largely by his grandmother, Mrs. Martin, on the plantation in that county. Thus the most concise sketch of his career is found in the memo- rial resolutions adopted by the Bar of Guilford County, from which the following extracts are made :
"He was educated at Georgetown University, from which he was graduated in 1867 A. B., A. M. in 1870, and in 1897 his alma mater conferred upon him the degree LL. D. In 1868, at the age of nineteen, he was made private secretary to Governor Holden of North Carolina, and a year later, while still under twenty-one, was selected by President Grant as his private secretary. Thin office he held four years. In 1873 he was ap- pointed United States Marshal for the state of North Carolina, and when the state was divided in 1875 into two districts he held that office for the western district until 1883.
"To enter the legal profession had always been his ambition and purpose, but having assumed public office at the early age of nineteen and re- maining there continuously until 1883, he was prevented from carrying out this cherished desire until 1884. In that year he began the study of the law, which he pursued with his usual assiduity,
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and was duly licensed and admitted to the bar in 1885. He established himself in Greensboro, where he devoted himself to the practice of his profession with that diligence for which he was always noted. In 1886 he was appointed standing master in chancery for the Western District of North Carolina by the United States Circuit Court, and served in that capacity until 1896, when he was elected associate justice of the Supreme Court of this state. At the expiration of his term in 1904, in recognition of the able and efficient man- ner in which he had discharged the duties of that high office, he was unanimously renominated but with the rest of his party suffered defeat.
"As a judge he was noted for his learning, his fairness, his patience and his utter impartiality. His written opinions display not only a thorough comprehension of fundamental legal principles, but an ornateness of style and lucidity of expres- sion that have never been excelled by any member of that court. He was ever a stanch upholder of the principles of justice and right, without respect of person, and without regard to the nature or magnitude of the interests involved. When he laid aside the ermine it was as spotless as when it first touched his shoulders.
"After his retirement from the bench he was chosen by his party by unanimous vote as its candidate for corporation commissioner in 1906, when this office was the highest one on the ticket. In 1910 he was again requested by his party to accept the nomination for the Supreme Court bench, but he declined to yield to that request.
"Since his retirement from the bench he has practiced his profession continuously in the city of Greensboro, where he has lived since 1873. He was senior member of the firm Douglas & Douglas at Greensboro.
"In addition to his work as a member of our profession Judge Douglas devoted a considerable part of his time to literary pursuits. He was a welcome and valued contributor to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the Youth's Companion, and many other periodicals in this country. He wrote fre- quently upon economic subjects and always with eloquence, incisiveness and force. He was a member of the American Bar Association and one of the judicial delegates to the Universal Congress of Lawyers and Jurists which was held in St. Louis in 1904. He was one of the founders of the Chamber of Commerce of this city and always manifested a deep interest in its upbuilding and progress. He gave to the city what is known as Douglas Park.
"In all these relations Judge Douglas was a kind and gentle man; a steadfast, affectionate friend; a faithful public servant; a painstaking, erudite, conscientious lawyer; and, above all, an upright, honest, high-minded gentleman. To his brethren at the bar he was universally courteous, considerate and polite. On the bench he was pa- tient, industrious and affable, and his opinions disclosed an unbiased and comprehensive mind earnestly devoted to the work of ascertaining and declaring the law in accordance with the estab- lished principles of justice and right."
To the many tributes paid his memory one es- pecially should be quoted as coming from a North Carolina man, Walter Clark, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, who wrote: "Judge Douglas wrote his name legibly in the history of the law of this state in the many valuable and instructive opinions from his pen in our reports. He had a
clear vision of the future and a broad outlook upon life. He always stood for those things which tended to the uplift of the administration of the law and against the technicalities which hindered and often brought it into disrepute in this intelli- gent age. During my eight years' association with him I ever entertained the warmest regard for him and his many lovable qualities. A gentle- man in every sense of the word, a lawyer of acute perceptions and of abilities of a high order, he commanded the respect of all and his place in the history of the bar and the judiciary of North Carolina is beyond challenge."
Though his father had been one of the greatest figures in the democratic party, Judge Douglas was affiliated with the republican party from 1867. He was a delegate to the national convention of 1876. Judge Douglas was a Catholic.
June 23, 1874, he married Miss Jessie Madeline Dick, daughter of Judge Robert P. and Mary E. (Adams) Dick. Her father for many years was judge of the District Court of the United States for the Western District of North Carolina. Mrs. Douglas survives her husband at Greensboro, and is the mother of four children: Robert Dick, Jessie Madeline, Stephen A. and Martin Francis. Stephen A., named for his grandfather, is de- ceased.
Robert Dick Douglas, son of Judge Robert M., and grandson of Stephen A. Douglas; was born at Greensboro April 7, 1875. He graduated A. B. from. Georgetown University in 1896, and studied law with his maternal grandfather, Robert P. Dick. He was admitted to the bar in 1897 and has since been prominent both as a lawyer and man of af- fairs at Greensboro. In 1900 he was state director of the North Carolina Railway and in the same year was appointed attorney general of the state to fill an unexpired term. In 1906 he became postmaster of Greensboro and from 1905 to 1907 was editor in chief of the Daily Industrial News, the only republican daily paper iu the South At- lantic states. He is attorney and director of the Greensboro Loan and Trust Company, and has served as president of the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Douglas was delegate to the re- publican national convention at Chicago in 1904 and is a recognized leader in his party in the state. He is a Catholic. April 14, 1909, he mar- ried Virginia Land Brown of Greensboro.
HENRY WHITEHURST. One of the oldest and best known citizens of Newbern is Henry Clay Whitehurst, whose individual career has much of interest and value to give it permanent worth in the annals of North Carolina, and whose name is also associated with the state through his prom- inent family and ancestral connections.
He was born at Newbern in Craven County, North Carolina, November 5, 1844. His father was Henry Purefoy Whitehurst and his mother Anne Wright Ernull Whitehurst. Both were de- scended from one ancestor on the maternal side. They had a long and honorable English ancestry, and Mr. Whitehurst was lineally descended from Sir Nicholas Purefoy, who was a prominent fig- ure in the Virginia Land Company. The grand- mothers of both parents were Purefoy sisters, de- scended from Capt. Thomas Purefoy of Virginia. The mother's paternal ancestor was the Siegnieur Moses Eruull of the lower Palatinate on the bor- der of France and Germany. He espoused the cause of the Huguenots, and was consequently
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subjected to religious persecution until he finally took refuge in England. His property in South- ern Germany was confiscated. As early as 1728 he immigrated to America and became a resident of Virginia. At the beginning of the French and Indian war in 1754 he served with the Virginia troops. A complete reference to all the ances- tral connections of Henry C. Whitehurst would afford a view of persons and characteristics, insti- tutions and questions which would explain much of the real history of our nation and would re- flect back to the life and times of old Europe.
Henry Clay Whitehurst was educated in the Newbern Academy and prepared to enter the University of North Carolina. His university ca- reer was deferred by the outbreak of the war between the states. He was not yet seventeen when hostilities came upon the country, and while not permitted to go out as an enlisted soldier, he served unofficially as a scout and courier be- tween his father in the secret service at Newbern and Gen. Robert Ransom at Kinston. He was once captured and put in jail at Newbern, and on being released spent the night with his father and memorized important information, depart- ing with it to General Ransom and carrying along some maps. He was given a commission on Ran- som's staff, but Col. J. D. Whitford interfered and the commission was withdrawn for family reasons that did not appeal to the ardent and enthusiastic soldier boy. Later he was granted a commission as first lieutenant in Whitford 's Regiment and carried the flag. He was promoted by General Hoke at Wise's Fort for conspicuous bravery on that battlefield. Of his service as a soldier there appeared an interesting article in the Carolina Southern Cross of April and June, 1913.
During his army experience he kept up his studies in Greek and Latin by reading a New Testament in the original. The war fell heavily upon the Whitehurst family, whose property was held by the Union troops during most of the war. His father lost his sight while serving the Con- federacy, and the son Henry felt that his duty lay in procuring employment that would make him at least independent. Pursuing that determina- tion he became a conductor on the Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad, the president of which was his father's cousin, Col. John D. Whitford. However, it was the ambition of his father that his oldest son should not be associated with any ca- reer that had to do with business, manufacturing or trade. and finally, in obedience to his father's wish, Henry Clay Whitehurst reluctantly gave up active work and resumed his studies.
He read law with Hon. Alexander Justice of the Newbern bar and with other lawyers, and was finally given his license to practice. He soon had a remunerative business as a lawyer and became actively associated with public affairs. He served as county attorney and for many years was a member of the school board and took the deepest interest in the work and welfare of the Newbern graded schools. He seldom served in any posi- tion that afforded a salary or one in any way commensurate with the importance of his work. He acquired interests in banks and other enter- prises. and was a man of varied talents and gifts. He had an excellent literary style, though his lit- erary efforts were not numerous and were chiefly confined to articles on history.
Always a loyal democrat, he cast his first vote during the gloomy days of reconstruction. He
was twice invited by his party to represent Cra- ven County in the Legislature, and he campaigned as enthusiastically and faithfully as 'if the cause were not a forlorn hope. In religious matters he accepted the doctrines of the Baptist Church to which his mother adhered, but after his mar- riage he followed his wife into the Episcopal Church and his family were all reared in that faith.
Henry Clay Whitehurst was married in the Episcopal Church at Newbern by Rev. Edward Forbes to Miss Maria Forbes Gooding, daughter of Jacob Gooding of Newbern. Mrs. Whitehurst was a lineal descendant of Samuel Tisdale, a Scotch earl who had a prominent part in colonial affairs in the Carolinas. She was also a de- scendant of John Council Bryan, gentleman, of Newbern. Mr. and Mrs. Whitehurst had two chil- dren: Harold Bryan Whitehurst and Sarah Street Whitehurst.
THOMAS BAYARD WHITEHURST is an active young business man at Newbern, and has exem- plified many of those characteristics which have made the family notable in the early and later history of this city and of the state at large.
Mr. Whitehurst was born at Newbern Febru- ary 21, 1886, and is a son of Moses and Maria (Bailey) . Whitehurst. His father has for many years been an active merchant in Newbern. The son was well educated in the grade and high schools, and after completing the school course he entered business with his father. He is now manager of his father's book, stationery, china and house furnishing business.
Thomas B. Whitehurst is a thirty-second de- gree Scottish Rite Mason, and a member of the Mystic Shrine, the Benevolent and Protective Or- der of Elks and the Improved Order of Red Men.
ROBERT EMMET WHITEHURST, a lawyer of standing and success in the Newbern bar, is a member of an old and well known family of that city.
Mr. Whitehurst was born at Newbern Septem- ber 18, 1889, and is a son of Moses Ernul and Maria Jane (Bailey) Whitehurst. His father is a well known merchant of Newbern. Educated in the public schools, he then entered the Bing- ham Military School at Mebane, where he was graduated in 1907. He began the study of law in Georgetown, D. C., and then continued in the University of North Carolina Law Department. Mr. Whitehurst was admitted to the bar in Feb- ruary, 1912, and after two years at Morehead City has been steadily building up a general practice at Newbern. He is a member of the North Carolina Bar Association and is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. On June 30, 1915, he married Miss Margaret Edna Ervin, of Catawba County, North Caro- lina.
HARRY R. BUSH, president of the Dixie In- surance Company at Greensboro, has given prac- tically all his mature years to insurance work and is recognized as one of the most capable insurance managers in the South.
Mr. Bush was born March 7, 1868, at the home of his maternal grandparents in Norfolk, Virginia, but represents a splendid line of Kentucky ances- tors, concerning whom more is said in later para- graphs. He was reared in Kentucky, attending public school in Frankfort and also the Dudley
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AMBush
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Institute in that city. After leaving school he took up fire insurance work at Louisville, being a local agent there. In 1900 Mr. Bush became southern special agent for the London Assurance Corporation at Atlanta, Georgia. Resigning this post in 1905, he went to Chicago to become super- intendent of agencies for the Traders Insurance Company of that city. A year later he became manager of the Southern Department of the Amer- ican Insurance Company of Newark, New Jersey. This position he resigned in 1909 to come to Greensboro as vice president of the Dixie Insurance Company. Much of the credit for the splendid record of this company is due to Mr. Bush's able and energetic prosecution of its affairs. In 1911 he was elected president of the company. He is also largely interested in real estate, and was one of the organizers and is president of the O. Henry Hotel Company, builders and owners of the O. Henry Hotel at Greensboro. He is also a director of the Guilford Insurance and Realty Company. Mr. Bush built the first house on Sunset Drive in Irving Park, Greensboro.
Mr. Bush is a great-grandson of Christopher Bush, a native of Holland who immigrated to America about 1750 and located in Virginia. While a resident of that old commonwealth he served as a soldier in the Revolutionary war. A short time after that war he joined Col. John Hardin and others in founding a colony in the wilds of Ken- tucky. They located near the present site of Hardinsburg, where Christopher Bush assisted in building the fort occupied by the colony. While living there one of his sons was killed by prowling Indians. Later he secured land at Elizabethtown, and while developing that tract his family lived in the fort nearby. He reared a family of children, one of whom, Sally, married Thomas Lincoln and thus became stepmother of Abraham Lincoln.
Christopher Bush, Jr., was born in the old frontier fort near Elizabethtown, Kentucky, grew up on a farm, and bought a place of his own four miles from Elizabethtown bordering Valley Creek. In those quiet surroundings he spent his active years. He married Polly Goodwin, daughter of Isaac Goodwin, a Revolutionary soldier. She likewise spent her life in Hardin County, Ken- tucky.
The father of Harry R. Bush was William Pope Duvall Bush, for many years a prominent figure in the life and affairs of Kentucky. He was born in Hardin County March 14, 1823, and considering the time and opportunities enjoyed a liberal edu- cation. He was first taught in the rural schools, afterward in the Seminary at Elizabethtown under Prof. Robert Hewitt, and for three terms he him- self was a teacher at Hodgenville. In 1845 he was appointed clerk of the County and Circuit Courts of Hancock County, Kentucky. He re- signed that office at the outbreak of the Mexican war to enlist in Company F of the Fourth Regi- ment, Kentucky Volunteer Infantry. With his comrades he went by boat down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to New Orleans, where he was transferred to a transport. This vessel was wrecked, but all hands reached shore, whence they were put on board another vessel and crossed the, Gulf to Vera Cruz. From there they marched under Gencral Scott through the swamps and over the mountains, constantly harassed by the foo, until the heights guarding Mexico City fell before them and they entered the gates of that ancient capital. After this victorious campaign and the
close of the war William Bush remained in Mexico City in the employ of the United States Govern- ment for one year. He then returned home, lo- cating at Hawesville, county seat of Hancock County, Kentucky. Having been admitted to the bar, he engaged in the practice of law and in real estate dealing and developing of coal mines. In 1860 he bought a farm of six hundred acres adjoining Lewisport, Kentucky, and occupied it until 1863, when he removed to Frankfort and practiced law in that city. In 1869 he went to Louisville, and was owner and editor of the Evening Ledger of that city until 1876. For a number of years he held a high place in the public life of his city and state. He was in the Kentucky Legislature in 1861, 1863, 1865 and 1867. It was largely through his influence that the ex- patriation act was passed by the Legislature of 1865. Governor Bramlette before signing the bill sent for Mr. Bush and told him he proposed to veto the measure and requested that a bill which discriminated against those who had served in the Confederate army be enacted in its stead. Mr. Bush succeeded in convincing the Governor that the bill for which he asked would perform a purposeless humiliation upon the ex-Confederates who were now loyal citizens and that on the whole it was in no way preferable to the law already passed. The Governor then signed the bill. During the war all the eligibles of Kentucky were regis- tered for conscription, including every man of military age, whether Union or Confederate. For this reason Kentucky's quota was much larger than that of other states in proportion. Mr. Williamn Bush took these facts to Washington and after an audience with President Lincoln showed the injustice and proved that Kentucky had already given its proper quota without resort to the draft. The result was that after his return to Ken- tucky the order for draft was rescinded.
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