USA > North Carolina > History of North Carolina: North Carolina biography, Volume VI > Part 70
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Mr. Gray's wife was Jennie C., the daughter of Jerry R. Withers, of Gaston County, and they had ten children, eight of whom survive, five girls and three boys. Mr. Gray was a man exceedingly fond of his home, and no business exaction was allowed to encroach upon the pleasures of his home life.
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JOSEPH A. SEPARK, who was closely associated in the cotton mill business with George A. Gray, who was his father-in-law, is now one of the prom- inent cotton manufacturers of Gastonia. Mr. Se- park was born at Raleigh, North Carolina, where he attended public and private schools, and sub- sequently was a student at Trinity College, Dur- ham, North Carolina, from which institution he was graduated in 1906. For ten years thereafter he was a teacher in various schools of North Car- olina, including those of Gastonia, and in 1906 entered the cotton mill business with Mr. Gray, with whom he was closely and intimately identi- fied until the latter's death in 1912. Since that time Mr. Separk has carried on the extensive in-' dustrial interests founded by his father-in-law, the principal ones among which are the Gray Manufacturing Company Mill at Gastonia and the new Parkdale Mill, which Mr. Separk built at Gastonia in 1916.
JOHN FRANKLIN RHODES is a successful and substantial Newbern business man, where for near- ly twenty years he has been in the building and contracting business. Mr. Rhodes' work as a con- tractor has made his name familiar pretty well over the state.
He is an expert in his line and has the advan- tage of a practical knowledge of carpentry and other building trades as a basis of his business.
Mr. Rhodes was born at Kinston, North Car- olina, December 16, 1874, a son of Zacheus and Mary Eliabeth (Rhodes) Rhodes. His father was born a farmer and carpenter and his mechancial skill was inherited by his son. John F. Rhodes was educated in the country schools.
He gained a great deal of valuable knowledge to him for use in later years by employment in sawmills. He was thus employed until he was twenty years of age and was then with a firm engaged in road building and bridge construc- tion. In the meantime he acquired a thorough practical knowledge of the carpenter's trade and for several years was a foreman on contract work.
In 1898 Mr. Rhodes began contracting for himself, and it would require a long list to enu- merate all the contracts he has successfully car- ried out since then. He built several schools at Newbern, the Sloan plantation buildings, the Pepsi-Cola Building, the Marks Building, and
erected the Woman's Club Building in Raleigh, North Carolina. Besides his work as a contractor Mr. Rhodes is half owner in a hardware and builders supply store at Newbern.
He is an active and influential member of the North Carolina Builders Exchange. Fraternally his membership is found in the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Woodmen of the World and the Masonic Order.
On February 8, 1899, the year following his setting up in business for himself as a con- tractor, he established a home of his own by his marriage to Blanche Pittman, of Lenoir County. Five children have been born into their house- hold: John Franklin, Rudolph, E. Ural, Sallie May and Effie Longley.
FRANK ARMFIELD HAMPTON. This is a name that has already come to mean much in the public life and public service of North Carolina, and as it is held by a man of youthful years and very unusnal talents there is every promise and indi- cation of its becoming still more widely known with each passing year.
Mr. Hampton practiced law a number of years at Rocky Mount, but is now a resident of the City of Washington, where he is serving as chief clerk of the Finance Committee of the United States Senate and private secretary to its chairman, Sen- ator Simmons.
He comes of a deeply rooted and prominent family stock in Virginia and the Carolinas. The Hamptons of Old Virginia have given the South some of its most notable characters, chief among whom was Wade Hampton of South Carolina, famous as a Confederate general, and as governor and United States senator.
About 1750, James Hampton and his brother Anthony Hampton left Hamptonville, Virginia, the ancestral seat of the family, James locating in Stokes County, North Carolina, and Anthony mov- ing on to South Carolina. Anthony was father of the first General Wade Hampton. Colonel Henry Hampton, a son of James Hampton, later moved to what was then Surry, now Yadkin Coun- ty, where he founded the Village of Hamptonville. In that locality his descendants have lived from a time antedating the Revolutionary war. Col. Henry Hampton made a record as a soldier in the struggle for independence. He had a son, Dr. John Hampton, who in turn was father of Col. John A. Hampton.
Col. John A. Hampton, father of Frank Arm- field Hampton, was born at Hamptonville in Yad- kin County, March 8, 1836. He made a con- spicuous record for bravery and chivalry as a Confederate soldier and officer in the war between the states. He went out as first lieutenant of Company B, First North Carolina Infantry, later becoming captain of the company and serving in that capacity until the fall of 1864. Governor Vance then appointed him lieutenant colonel of Wilkes County Battalion of North Carolina State Troops. Colonel Hampton had begun law practice at Wilkesboro, a short time before the war. After the war he returned to Hamptonville and resumed practice in Yadkin County. He was county so- licitor for three terms. A democrat of the old school, he was elected to this position over very strong republican opposition. Yadkin County was one of the historie republican counties of Western North Carolina. He was elected to the State Sen- ate in 1882, for the Thirty-third Senatorial Dis- trict embracing Yadkin and Surry counties. Hc
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practiced law at Hamptonville and Yadkinville for over fifty years. This distinguished and eminent lawyer and citizen died at the family home at Hamptonville, December 4, 1917. He had been the acknowledged democratic leader of his county and section ever since the war and was a man of commanding power and influence. Colonel Hampton was one of those fine characters of the old school, who seem to have entirely passed away. Of most exalted character, a man whom everyone loved, having a great heart and a great mind, he did much more for others than he ever did for himself. His powers and talents were largely expressed in disinterested service and the distinguished honors that were frequently paid him were never belittled by his action nor his character. He was one of the big lawyers of his time and won many a notable legal battle.
Col. John A. Hampton married Caroline Brown, who is still living. Her father, the late Rev. William Green Brown of Yadkin County, was a Baptist minister for over sixty years and in that profession was a man of commanding power and personality. He was a leader in the founding of Baptist churches and the various Baptist associations in Western North Carolina. The present power of that demonination in Western North Carolina is largely a reflection of his pioneer work.
A son of these parents, Frank Armfield Hamp- ton was born at the old home at Hamptonville, March 9, 1884. He grew up there, being edu- cated in the public schools of Yadkin County and the Yadkinville Normal School. There is every reason to believe that Mr. Hampton would have achieved a more than ordinary success in life even without the prestige of a splendid family name and family position. He has in fact been largely the architect of his own fortunes.
At the age of eighteen he went west. to Kan- sas City and became a reporter on the Kansas City World. While there he read law, and re- turning to his native state in the fall of 1903 continued reading the North Carolina law course until 1904 in the office of Furches, Coble & Nicholson at Statesville, and in the office of Thad- deus Adams of Charlotte. During 1905 he was editorial writer on the Charlotte Evening News. In 1906 he was editor and general manager of the Washington (N. C.) Daily Messenger.
During 1907-08 Mr. Hampton was engaged in private business. In 1909 he was licensed to prac- tice law in the North Carolina Supreme Court, and at once located at Rocky Mount. There he served two terms as city solicitor. He was also edi- tor of the Rocky Mount Echo and general man- ager of the Rocky Mount Chamber of Commerce.
Mr. Hampton especially distinguished himself during the presidential campaign of 1912. In that campaign he was manager for Mr. Oscar Underwood in the Second Congressional District for Governor Daughtridge for the office of l'eu- tenant governor, and also managed the campaign in his section of the state of Senator Simmons, candidate for the United States Senate.
In 1913 the Federal Government appointed Mr. Hampton income tax agent to conduct the income tax investigations of individuals and corporations in the two states of North and South Carolina. In this capacity Mr. Hampton attained the highest field position provided for under the law, and was promoted to it solely on his merits and the results he had obtained. He is perhaps prouder of no
achievement in his life than this, and there is none that reflects greater credit upon his ability. Mr. Hampton continued in this work until May 15, 1918, when he was appointed private secretary to Senator Simmons and also chief clerk of the Finance Committee of the United States Senate. This is the dominating committee of the Senate.
It is evident that Mr. Hampton's honors have come to him through sheer merit and ability. From early youth he has been a hard worker, a diligent student, never idle, always busy. He is a master in efficiency and thoroughness, and his friends and associates have often noted his exceptional capacity for getting things done. These are some of the reasons which have proved suf- ficient to his many loyal friends in North Caro- lina in urging his name as a candidate for the lieutenant governorship in 1920.
In 1906 Mr. Hampton married Miss Luola Moore, of Fayetteville, member of a prominent old family of the Cape Fear section. They have two daughters, Frances and Winifred, the former aged ten and the latter eight years.
EDWIN BROWNRIGG BORDEN, son of Arnold Bor- den and his wife Mariah Brownrigg Borden, was born in Waynesboro, then the county seat of Wayne, on July 5, 1831.
His father, a descendant. of Richard Borden who came to Massachusetts from the County of Kent, England, in the early part of the seven- teenth century, settled at Waynesboro in the year of 1825 and engaged in merchandising and farm- ing in Wayne County and Alabama, where he owned a large plantation.
His mother was a member of the Edgecombe branch of the large and prominent Brownrigg family which had representatives in many of the counties in Eastern North Carolina.
He was educated in the private schools of Wayne County and at the school of Bishop Ives at Valle Crusis, from which he returned home upon the death of his father in 1848, terminating his educa- tional career at the age of seventeen, to assist his mother in the conduct of her hotel in Golds- boro, and the management of her farm.
On the 13th of October, 1853, he was married to Miss Georgia C. Whitfield, daughter of Lemuel and Anne Sasser Whitfield, who died in 1871, leav- ing eight children, three of whom preceeded him to the grave.
He was married the second time on June 19, 1873, to Miss Ellen Lambert, who with four of her children survive him.
For a number of years, beginning with 1853, in connection with the late Rufus W. Edmund- son and William T. Dortch, he carried on a mer- cantile business which he discontinued in 1860 to take charge of the branch of the Bank of North Carolina, then established at Goldsboro.
The war soon afterwards put an end to the activities of the first attempt at banking in the county and Mr. Borden became Quartermaster of the Fiftieth North Carolina. Regiment and after- wards served as Confederate Depository at Golds- boro.
After the war he was actively engaged in the organization and management of many of the most important manufacturing enterprises of the com- munity and in conducting large farming opera- tions, but principally devoting himself to the business of the Bank of New Hanover, of which he was president from 1873 to 1891, when it was
E. B. Banden
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HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
succeeded by the Bank of Wayne of which he was the organizer and until his death the president and dominating spirit.
Though in declining health he continued his valued service to this institution during business hours every day until, in his 87th year, while engaged in this labor of love and in the place more congenial to him than any other except his home and his church, he was stricken with the illness which, on May 6, 1918, terminated the useful and honored career of one who for fifty years had stood at the head of the community and whose high character, good life, clear intellect and fine business sense had been and will continue to be an inspiration to safe, farsighted and progressive methods characterized by the sternest integrity and the highest ideals of service.
In 1878 Mr. Borden was elected a Director of the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad Company in which capacity he continued to serve until 1900 when the merger of the company into the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company took place, and there after he was elected and served as Director of the last named company until his death, at which time he was in age and length of service its oldest Director.
Though his education was suddenly interrupted and never resumed, he possessed a high degree of clearness, directness and propriety of speech and his correspondence and business and legal papers were models of correct, condensed and luminous English.
He had no desire for public position, yet he sacrificed his own inclination to serve as Chair- man of the Board of County Commissioners of his county, at a time when his business ability was desired to remedy the effects of a confused and unbusinesslike management of county finances, and, having placed them on a sound basis, he declined further service which an appreciative public would have thrust upon him. Interested in the public welfare, he gave his active support to every meas- ure for the improvement of the community, and served for many years as Commissioner of the Sinking Fund of the City of Goldsboro.
He was an early advocate of public education, and as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Goldsboro Graded Schools, and for many years Chairman of the Board, he devoted much of his time and thought to this beneficent cause.
Mr. Borden early in life became a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and for half a century had been a member of the Board of Stewards of his local church. His deep interest and wise council was highly esteemed by the mem- bers of his denomination, and he was a loyal and liberal supporter of all its institutions.
From his early manhood the teachings of Christianity became the guide of his thought and conduct, and rarely has it been given to one to live a more consistent Christian life. His sense of justice, his unbending integrity and his un- ostentatious charity have left a deep impression upon all who knew him. Those who in times of difficulty and distress enjoyed his sympathy and helpfulness showed him in many ways their last- ing appreciation.
It has been truly said of him:
"While devoted to the interests of his own church he has extended his interests and liberality beyond the bounds of his own denomination, and his gifts in aid of charity, religion and education have been substantial and continuous, but with- out ostentation."'
While never very robust and though living much beyond the three score years and ten allotted to man, the well-ordered, temperate course of his life and its high purpose and fine activities, con- tinued to the end, preserved him from the "Labor and sorrow" of the Psalmist even though he suffered at times some of the feebleness incident to age. He was a successful man.
CHARLES FELIX HARVEY. The name Harvey and the family of that name have been closely identi- fied with business affairs at Kinston for half a century. Charles Felix Harvey has spent all his active life in that city, and since leaving university has .acquired many substantial interests and is now the official head or otherwise identified with several of the best known corporations in the city.
Lemuel Harvey, his father, was born near Kins- ton in Lenoir County February 14, 1845, a son of Amos and Susan (Bird) Harvey. Lemuel Harvey grew up with only the advantages of the local schools at a time when not so much attention was paid to public school education in North Carolina as at present. He was an extreme youth when the war broke out between the states, and though he endeavored to enlist he was refused admission to the ranks on account of his poor physical condi- tion. Later he was accepted into the Confederate army and enrolled as a member of the Home Guards.
His active business life covered nearly half a century. He began business at Kinston in 1868 and in time built up a large retail establishment, chiefly for the handling of farm supplies. He was at one time a director of the National Bank of Kinston, later was a director of the First National Bank, served as president of L. Harvey & Son Company, as president of the Carolina Brick Com- pany, and of the Kinston Cotton Warehouse Com- pany.
For many years he was chairman of the board of commissioners of Lenoir, was trustee for several years of the Kinston graded schools, and was a director of the Atlantic and North Carolina Rail- way. A lifelong democrat and using his influence for party welfare whenever possible, Lemuel Har- vey attended many party conventions and was a delegate to the national democratic convention at Kansas City. He was a past master of St. John's Lodge No. 4, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, a member of Caswell Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, St. Paul's Commandery No. 18, Knights Templar, and Oasis Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He was a member of the board of stewards of the Metho- dist Episcopal Church, South.
On March 28, 1871, Lemuel Harvey married. Ida Stevenson, daughter of John H. Stevenson. They were the parents of two children: Charles Felix and May Harvey. His death occurred on March 1, 1912.
Charles Felix Harvey, who has carried forward so many of his father's interests as well as formu- lating others of his own, was born at Kinston February 9, 1872. After attending the high school at Kinston he entered the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1888 and was active in student and college affairs there until he was graduated Ph. B. in 1892. He won the Essayist Medal of the Phi Society and also the Hume Essay Medal in 1892.
There was hardly any interval between the date of his graduation from university and his entrance
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HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
upon the practical duties of a business career in his father's office, where he took his place in July, 1892. In 1895 he was made a partner in L. Harvey & Son, and in 1905 this firm was incorporated as L. Harvey & Son Company. He is now president of this corporation, and also president of Seven Springs Supply Company, Kinstou Insurance & Realty Company, Carolina Brick Company, is sec- retary and treasurer of the Taylor-Harvey Real Estate Company, and of the Seven Springs Steam- boat Company. He is a director in these corpo- rations and also in the First National Bank of Kinston, the Orion Knitting Mills and The Trust Company of Norfolk, Virginia.
Mr. Harvey is a trustee of the Kinston graded schools. He has always been in close touch with university affairs and is now a member of the board of trustees of the University of North Caro- lina. Politically his work has been with the demo- cratic party. Mr. Harvey is affiliated with St. John's Lodge No. 4, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Caswell Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, St. Paul's Commandery No. 18, Knights Templar, of which he was at one time eminent commander; and Sudan Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is a Methodist and one of the stewards of the Queen Street Methodist Episcopal Church.
Charles Felix Harvey was married at Durham, North Carolina, December 12, 1894, to Miss Mary Lewis Heartt, daughter of Leo D. and Annie M. Heartt. They have three children: Charles Felix Harvey, Jr., who married Miss Tilla Gill; Leo Heartt Harvey and Mary Lewis Harvey.
WILLIAM SMITH O'BRIEN ROBINSON is one of the oldest members of the Goldsboro bar. He is perhaps most widely known through his service as a judge of the Superior Court, and he has long been recognized as one of the most influential lead- ers in the republican party of this state.
He was born in Lenoir County, North Carolina, April 27, 1852, a son of John and Margaret (Dil- lon) Robinson. His parents emigrated from Ire- land to North Carolina in 1848. Judge Robinson acquired much of his early education by his own efforts. He is distinctively a self-made man. His literary training he acquired in the Goldsboro Male Academy and in Yadkin County he read law un- der the direction of the distinguished Richardson Pierson, former chief justice of the Supreme Court. Admitted to the bar in January, 1876, he came to Goldsboro in the following year, and has now practiced with offices in that city, except during the term he spent on the bench, for up- wards of forty years.
Judge Robinson early espoused the cause of the republican party. In 1880 he was a presiden- tial elector in North Carolina, and led the state ticket by 588 votes. In April, 1882, he was ap- pointed United States district attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, and served until 1885. At one time he was a candidate for Congress against Charles McClannay. One of his important services as a lawyer and business man was his receivership of the First National Bank of Wilmington, and he took up the delicate re- sponsibilities in 1890 and remained receiver until his election as judge of the Superior Court. Judge Robinson sat on the Superior bench for eight years. and since retiring has assumed his general practice at Goldsboro. He is at present national committeeman of the republican party from North Carolina.
Judge Robinson married for his first wife Grace E. Moseley, of Halifax, North Carolina. There are three sons of that union: William S. O'B., Jr., John Moseley and Russell Marable. For his second wife Judge Robinson married Annie W. Pierce, of Halifax. They have a son, Blackwell.
Russell Marable Robinson was born at Golds- boro November 19, 1889, was educated in the pub- lic schools and in the academic and law depart- ment of the University of North Carolina. He fin- ished his law course at Columbia University, and was admitted to the bar in September, 1911. Since then he has been in active practice with his father under the name W. S. O'B. Robinson & Son. He belongs to Zeta Psi college fraternity.
LOUIS GOODWIN DANIELS has for many years been a prominent figure in democratic polities in Eastern North Carolina, and is well and favor- ably known. He was formerly a resident of Pam- lico County, but for the past fifteen years has been largely engaged in business at Newbern and is now serving as postmaster of that city.
He was born in Pamlico County February 21, 1858. He is a son of Wiley B. and Julia (Flow- ers) Daniels. His father was a farmer and also a turpentine dealer, and died October 15, 1865, at the close of the Civil war. Louis G. Daniels in consequence of his father's early death had to depend upon his own resources. As a boy he worked hard at farming, and for five years he ran a boat up and down the sounds and bays of his section of Eastern North Carolina. He finally settled down to the business of dealing in horses and mules, and had a large establishment with connections reaching out into diverse parts of the state. His business headquarters were at Bayboro, the county seat of Pamlico County, un- til 1902.
While in Pamlico County he was an influen- tial member of the democratic party, and in 1894 was the successful candidate of his party for the Legislature, but within a month after the begin- ning of the session he was ousted from his seat by the fusion party, then dominant in the Legis- lature. He also served a number of years. as justice of the peace at Bayboro.
In 1902 Mr. Daniels removed to Newbern and built his sales stables, through which he con- tinued his business as a horse and mule dealer. He sold the business in 1913 when he accepted the office of postmaster, to which he was ap- pointed in December of that year. He has given a very thorough, methodical and efficient admin- istration. He is a former director of the At- lantic and North Carolina Railroad, and was elected a member of the City Council of Newbern from the First Ward, but resigned the office. He is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
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