USA > North Carolina > History of North Carolina: North Carolina biography, Volume VI > Part 84
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
man of wealth and substance. It is indeed a re- markable change that has taken place at Gastonia and in Gaston County since Mr. Love began his uplift movement. In place of the large number of distilleries, etc., mentioned above, and a poor, shiftless, unprogressive population, there is now heard everywhere the hum of industry, there be- ing now more cotton mills in the county than formerly there were distilleries, and new ones being erected all the time, giving honest and profitable employment to thousands of people. The city of Gastonia itself has miles of beautiful, asphalt-paved streets, concrete sidewalks, elegant homes, costly business blocks, and every improve- ment and comfort of a modern city. Much of this improvement must be accredited to the unflagging and capable labors of Mr. Love, who, a man of large interests, was never too busy to put aside his own affairs and enter actively and unselfishly into the work which meant the betterment of the locality in which he lived. In his death there was removed a force for advancement and progress, an influence for civic betterment, moral advance- ment and better citizenship.
William T. Love has been connected with the cotton mill industry in Gaston County practically ever since he was a youth, although for some years he was also a prominent character in politics and in public life. He was sheriff of Gaston County for four years, from 1896 to 1900, during which ยท time he resided at Dallas, which was the county seat until 1909. He was one of those who were influential in having the county seat removed to Gastonia and in securing the building of the beautiful county court house in this city. While he was in public life he was also an enthusiastic promoter of good roads in the county; in fact, he inaugurated this work soon after he became sheriff by having the county prisoners work on the roads instead of lying idle. The first road he built in this manner was the one from Gastonia to Dallas. Mr. Love was also mayor of Gastonia for two terms, during which time he inaugurated many of the fine public improvements which the city enjoys. Beginning in 1902. he served in the House of Representatives at the state capital, and in 1908 was elected to the North Carolina State Senate and served in that body for one term.
Mr. Love's principal cotton mill interest at the present time is the Spencer Mountain Cotton Mill, located at Spencer Mountain, about six miles north- east of Gastonia. this being one of the best and most modern mills in the county. The power for this plant is obtained from the Spencer Mountain Power Company, of which he is rresident. He is treasurer and manager of the inill company, and is also interested in other industries and enter- prises of the city and county. of which he is one of the most valuable and public-spirited citizens.
Mr. Love is president of the Piedmont Telephone and Telegraph Company, an auxiliary of the Bell System. Under the management of Mr. Love and Mr. R. B. Babbington, the Piedmont Company has built up one of the finest telephone systems in the South, on which score it has been repeatedly congratulated by the officials of the parent Bell system. Besides giving to the public the benefits of first-class telephone plants and physical equipment and all the modern devices for the very best tele- phone service, a special feature has been the making of the lowest possible rates to the people for this service, and this without the spur of any opposition-it has been done voluntar'lv. The sys- tem takes in two counties in South Carolina, ex-
312
HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
tending through Gaston, Lincoln and Catawba counties to the city of Hickory in the latter county, and the company owns all the toll lines from Char- lotte, North Carolina, to Gaffney, South Carolina, and from Charlotte to Rutherford, North Carolina. This splendid business represents an investment of $400,000.
Mr. Love married Miss Elizabeth Horton, of Watauga County, North Carolina, and they have three children: William Thomas, Elizabeth and Samuel. Mr. and Mrs. Love are members of the Presbyterian Church, and Mr. Love is fraternally affiliated with the Knights of Pythias.
LUTHER M. FARTHING. One of the representa- tive business men of Watauga County, farmer, stockman, and also cashier of the Bank of Valle Crucis, is Luther M. Farthing, a member of an old and distinguished family in Western North Carolina. Mr. Farthing was born near Watauga Falls, in Watauga County, North Carolina, in 1868, and is a son of Rev. Linville Whitfield and Nancy (Farthing) Farthing.
The Farthing family undoubtedly is of Eng- lish origin, but the first Farthing in North Car- olina, Dudley Farthing, was born in Virginia, in 1749. He settled in Wake County, North Caro- lina, about the beginning of the Revolutionary war, and one of his sons, Rev. W. W. Farthing, was born in Wake County. He was the great- great-grandfather of Luther M. Farthing. He was a noted Baptist minister and missionary, and in 1826, accompanied by his brother, John Far- thing, came to what is now Watauga, but then a part of Ashe County. They settled at Beaver Dams, which place has during succeeding gener- ations remained the principal home place of the numerous and prominent Farthings of this country.
It has often been declared of the Farthing family that no other has done as much for Wa- tanga County in matters of religion, moral uplift and good works generally. Rev. W. W. Farthing was the pioneer preacher who brought the Baptist banner of faith into Watauga and surrounding counties, and by his zeal and Christian energy he planted seed that has come to a mighty harvest, as the predominance of the Baptist faith through this entire section testifies. He was one of the mighty leaders that the church loves to recall when it points to its past achievements. He was the father of a large family and four of his sons were Baptist preachers, and another son, Dudley Farthing, became prominent as a lawyer and jurist, while all of them were men of honor and rectitude. These qualities mark the family of the present day, and two prominent representa- tives still residing at Beaver Dams and widely known over the state are Col. Henry Barrison Farthing and Hon. Winfield S. Farthing, the lat- ter being a member of the State Senate.
Rev. Linville Whitfield Farthing, father of Lu- ther M. Farthing, was born at Beaver Dams, and was a life-long Baptist minister. His death oc- curred in February, 1917. He married Nancy Farthing, who still survives, a daughter of Dud- ley Farthing, a representative of a distant branch of the old English family.
Luther M. Farthing was reared in a home of education and refinement and completed his stu- dies in the Johnson County College at Butler, Tennessee. For some years he devoted himself to educational work, teaching school in Watauga and Ashe counties, in the latter being principal of
both the Sunderland Academy and the Ashe County Academy. In 1905 he established his home about four miles from Valle Crucis, his val- uable farm being situated between this place and Banner Elk, and in addition to somewhat exten- sive farming operations Mr. Farthing devotes considerable attention to livestock and is justi- fied in taking some pride in his fine herd of Shorthorn cattle. His main business interest, how- ever, is in the financial field and he is cashier and managing official of the Bank of Valle Crucis. This institution was established January 22, 1915, and is very prosperous. It serves a quite exten- sive agricultural region, probably one of the rich- est in the state, old settled farmers of thrifty habits owning the greater part of this territory and being constant patrons of this well managed institution.
Mr. Farthing was married to Miss Hepsey Greer, who belongs, like her husband, to one of the fine old families of this county. They have six children, namely: Victor L., Russell A., Beu- lah Beatrice, Albert, Ruby Florence and Mar- shall Whitfield. Mr. Farthing and his family are members of the Baptist Church. Their beau- tifully situated country home is one where old- time southern hospitality is dispensed.
HON. ROBERT HAYES MCNEILL. North Caro- linanians who have gone beyond the borders of their home state and made names for themselves now constitute a host in number. Many of them are bound to their native state by the closest ties of loyalty and affection, and it is only natural that people of the state regard their careers with special interest.
One of these men, and a young man at that, is Robert Hayes McNeill, who won his first successes as a lawyer in North Carolina and is now looked upon as one of the foremost members of the bar in the City of Washington. He is an able lawyer, and equally able and successful in business and financial affairs and also stands high in social and civic circles.
Mr. McNeill was born at Wilkesboro, North Carolina, April 25, 1877. His parents, Rev. Milton and Martha (Barlow) McNeill, still live at Wilkes- boro. The MeNeills are of pure Scotch stock. They have been identified with North Carolina since colonial times. One of the ancestors, great- great-grandfather of Rev. Milton McNeill, was Rev. George McNeill, a minister of the Baptist faith. He served as chaplain with the American Army in the Revolution. He was with the troops that marched from Wilkes County to the battle of King's Mountain.
A greatly beloved figure in Wilkes County is Rev. Milton McNeill. He was born in that county and has spent his life there. By profession he is a Baptist minister and has been active in church. work since young manhood and still occupies country pulpits near Wilkesboro. His preaching, however, has no doubt been mostly a matter of philanthropy. He is equally distinguished by "his success in material affairs. For a long period of years he has served in many public and busi- ness positions. He was once coroner of Wilkes County, served as sheriff four years, followed that with the office of clerk of the Superior Court for eight years, has represented his county in the State Senate at Raleigh, was mayor of Wilkesboro and subsequently postmaster. He now holds the office of clerk of the United States Court at Wilkes- boro. He and his estimable wife have had eleven
R. He Materiel
313
HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
children, nine of whom grew to manhood and womanhood.
Robert Hayes McNeill was educated in the public schools of his home county, and at the age of eighteen entered Wake Forest College. Two years gave him the degree of Bachelor of Arts and the degree LL. B. In the meantime he taught school at his old home in Wilkesboro for one year. On finishing his law course he began practicing at Jefferson, county seat of Ashe County, and was soon busied with the handling of some important interests before the Federal Courts in the Western District. Within less than a year he was made county attorney for Ashe County. Along with his professional business he showed leadership in the republican party and was one of the most promi- nent younger men in that republican stronghold of the state. Mr. McNeill lived in Jefferson about three years. He was then appointed private sec- retary to Senator Jeter C. Pritchard and came to Washington in that capacity in 1903.
In the fall of 1903 Mr. McNeill married Miss Cora B. Brown, daughter of George H. Brown of Statesville, North Carolina. Her father is a wealthy and prominent banker, manufacturer and capitalist of Statesville, and served as collector of internal revenue during the Taft and Roosevelt administrations. Mr. and Mrs. McNeill have two children, George H. and Frances H.
Immediately after his marriage Mr. McNeill became a permanent resident of Washington and began the active practice of law. He retained many of his North Carolina clients, but also acquired much new and larger legal business in Washington. His professional interests have grown and expanded and have involved his ex- perience before most of the district and federal courts, before.the various government departments and committees of Congress.
Some features of his personal and business record are a matter of special interest to North Carolina. In this state he was chief counsel in the noted Arey case and associate counsel in the Nick Williams case. He was also chief counsel for the North Carolina Manufacturers in their litigation before the Interstate Commerce Commission. In all of these cases Mr. McNeill succeeded in secur- ing for the manufacturers an allowance of the demands made by them for just commercial rates and for adjustment of freight charges on their manufactured articles. One of these cases alone brought about a saving to the manufacturers of over $100,000 per annum. At Washington Mr. McNeill has handled such cases as the Receiver- ships of the Commercial and First National Fire Insurance Companies and the Arlington Hotel Corporation, besides many others of lesser im- portance. His ability in financial matters and his thorough legal knowledge have combined to bring him his noteworthy success. He is attorney for and an officer in a number of financial and business corporations in Washington and vicinity, and, much of his law practice is concerned with these interests. He promoted the Southern Building Corporation which erected the Southern office building, the Arlington Building Corporation, the Powhatan Hotel Building Corporation, and the District Tile and Brick Company.
As a republican Mr. McNeill has taken a part in every campaign since he was twenty-one years of age. He is known to all the national and many of the state leaders of the party. In the last Roose- velt campaign he was special confidential employe of the Republican National Committee, having
charge of all its fiscal affairs in the South. In the recent Hughes campaign he had charge of the important department supervising the work of the National Republican League of Clubs in certain parts of the country.
Much of his time has also been taken up with social, religious and civic matters at Washington. Mr. McNeill is now president of the North Caro- lina Assoziation in Washington. He is president of the Calvary Baptist Church Brotherhood, the largest organization of men in the capital city. He is also a member of the Board of Governors of the Anti-Saloon League, which was the organiza- tion chiefly responsible for making Washington a dry city on November 1, 1917. He is also chair- man of several organizations working for the betterment of conditions of the soldiers and sailors in the camps and on ships near Washington.
HENRY B. STEVENS: Though admitted to the bar more than a quarter of a century ago, Henry B. Stevens has found his legal career interrupted by the intrusion of political and public duties and responsibilities, including a term as judge of the Criminal Court, but for the last fifteen years has been steadily devoting himself to a large and dis- tinctive corporation practice, and is undoubtedly one of the first rank business lawyers of Ashe- ville.
Mr. Stevens was born May 23, 1869, in Bun- combe County, North Carolina, a son of Samuel Norman and Martha (Buist) Stevens. Both par- ents were natives of South Carolina. The great- grandfather of Judge Stevens was a surgeon in the Revolutionary war and established his home in South Carolina about 1760, moving from Massa- chusetts. The Stevens family are English. Judge Stevens' mother came to North Carolina and built a summer home at Asheville, and his father, who was a cotton planter in South Carolina, also en- tered business in Buncombe County as a farmer and as proprietor of Stevens Mills.
Henry B. Stevens was educated in the Asheville Male Academy under Samuel F. Venable. He studied law at the University of North Carolina and the University of Virginia, and was admitted to the bar in 1890. For two and a half years Mr. Stevens was deputy clerk of the Superior Court of Buncombe County, resigning to enter the prac- tice of law with Col. W. W. Jones under the name Jones & Stevens. This firm was dissolved and later Mr. Stevens practiced as member of the firm of Luther & Stevens and of Stevens & Erwin, In 1898 he was nominated and elected judge of the Criminal Court of Buncombe County and was re-elected in 1900 for a term of four years. He continued to fill the office until the court was abolished, and since then has kept out of the chan- nel of official and public life and has devoted himself to a steadily growing practice as a corpo- ration attorney. He is a director of the Central Bank & Trust Company of Asheville, director of the Tennessee & North Carolina Railroad Company, of the Appalachian Railroad Company, of the Kitchin Lumber Company, of the Pidgeon River Railroad Company.
Mr. Stevens is a member of the Trinity Episco- pal Church and is affiliated with Pisgah Lodge No. 32, Knights of Pythias, at Asheville and the Ben- evolent and Protective Order of Elks. June 6, 1894, he married Catherine Lamb Millard, a native of Sampson County, North Carolina. They have one son. Henry Davis, a student in the University of North Carolina.
314
HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
JOSEPH J. STONE is treasurer and manager of Joseph J. Stone & Company, Incorporated, at Greensboro, one of the largest and best equipped general printing plants in the state. Mr. Stone has been in the printing business nearly all his life, and one time worked in an office under Jo- sephus Daniels, present Secretary of the Navy.
Mr. Stone was born at Louisburg, Franklin County, North Carolina, and the family has been prominent in the state for several generations. His great-grandfather, Jonathan Stone, was a native of England, and came to America with two brothers during colonial times. For a while he lived in Virginia, and from there entered the colonial army in the Revolutionary war. After the war he came to North Carolina and settled near the line between Granville and Franklin counties, where he improved a plantation. His last years were spent in Franklin County, where he died in his eighty-second year. He married Felicia Cook, who was born in what is now Franklin County, North Carolina. They reared ten children.
Hon. Jonathan Murray Stone, grandfather of Joseph J., was born in Franklin County in 1800. He owned and operated a plantation in Granville County, but in 1859 sold that and moved to Nash County, buying a plantation about five miles from Hilliardston, where he spent his last days. He died March 17, 1877, at the age of seventy-seven years. Jonathan Murray Stone represented Gran- ville County in the State Legislature in 1842 and 1844, and after his removal to Nash County was again elected to the Legislature in 1866. He mar- ried Rebecca Winston. Both were laid to rest in the Winston family burying ground in Franklin County. Jonathan M. Stone and wife had six sons and three daughters. The sons, Albert, Jona- than A., Francis M., Silas, Rufus and Andrew J. were all soldiers in the Confederate army and two of them sustained wounds in battle.
Jonathan Atlas Stone, father of Joseph J., was born on a plantation near the line of Franklin and Granville counties and was reared on a farm and educated in country schools. His service as a Confederate soldier was in the Twenty-seventh North Carolina Troops, and he was with that com- mand until the close of the war. The war over he engaged in farming, and that was his vocation until his death in 1882. He and his wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. He married Margaret A. Dent, who was born in Franklin County in 1827, daughter of James and Jane (Patterson) Dent. Her paternal grandfather was James Dent, Sr., and her maternal grand- father was Tillman Patterson. James Dent at one time operated a hotel at Louisburg and also owned a large plantation in Franklin County. Mrs. Jonathan A. Stone died in November, 1910. Her eight children were named Robert C., Mamnie R., Florence O., Mary Elizabeth, Harry D., Joseph J., Rebecca J. and Susie Irby.
Joseph J. Stone received most of his education in the Centennial graded school at Raleigh. When only fourteen years old he began an apprenticeship at the printer's trade in a newspaper and job printing office at Clayton. His apprenticeship lasted five years and he did some of his first journeyman's work at Wilson in the office of the Wilson Advance, published by C. C. and Josephus Daniels. After a short time there he came to Greensboro in 1889, and for seven years was with Thomas Brothers. He then established a job
printing business on his own account, beginning with a modest amount of capital and small equip- ment. The business has steadily grown, has kept pace with the rising prominence of Greensboro as a city, and his plant is now equipped to handle promptly and efficiently almost any size of printing contract. The business is incorporated. Mr. Stone has also acquired a number of financial in- terests and is a director in the American Exchange National Bank, is vice president of the Home Building and Loan Association, and is a director in the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce. He is also a director of the Greensboro Young Men's Christian Association and the Young Women's Christian Association. Has served on the official board of the West Market Street Methodist Epis- copal Church, South, and is affiliated with Greens- boro Lodge No. 76, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Greensboro Camp No. 26, Woodmen of the World; Greensboro Lodge No. 80, Knights of Pythias, and Buena Vista Lodge No. 21, Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows. He married in 1898 Estella Duls, who was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, daughter of Nicholas Duls. Mrs. Stone is a member of the Lutheran Church.
J. R. WILLIAMS, M. D. Though now practically retired from active life Dr. J. R. Williams has not been able to relieve himself entirely from the responsibilities acquired by a long and successful career as a medical practitioner. He still serves those who call at his home, particularly his old time patients and their descendants who will have no other doctor. His skill and efficiency in min- istering to the ills of the afflicted brought him a wide repute while he was in his prime and that reputation still follows him though he is now well past fourscore.
Doctor Williams has also been a farmer and still looks after his fine estate in Guilford County, and is one of the old and prominent residents of that section. His birth occurred in South Carolina in 1834. His parents, however, were North Car- olina people and had moved to South Carolina only a short time before Doctor Williams was born. A few years later they returned to North Carolina, and Doctor Williams grew up in Guil- ford County, his home being not far from old Guilford College.
He is one of the few members of the medical profession in North Carolina who received their degrees and qualifications for practice before the war. He studied medicine in Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia and was graduated with the class of 1861. He had hardly returned home and prepared for practice when the war broke out and he volunteered his services to the Confederacy. He was assigned to civil duties in connection with the gun manufacturing plant at Jamestown in Guilford County, and later worked in the Govern- ment wagon shop at the same place.
When the war was over he began practicing his profession and, making his home at Jamestown, for many years rode all over the surrounding country and carried his capable skill into scores of homes. In 1899 Doctor Williams moved to his present place of residence. It is a fine farm on the Greensboro High Point Highway, two miles north of High Point and three miles south of Jamestown. It is a beautiful and attractive estate, managed with a view to productiveness as well as to land- scape effect, and is one of the best farms between. the cities of Greensboro and High Point.
Claude Rises 11
315
HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
VICTOR H. BOYDEN is a grandson of Judge Na- thaniel Boyden, whose long and distinguished ca- reer as a lawyer and jurist of North Carolina is reviewed in detail on other pages of this pub- lication.
Victor H. Boyden was born at Ansonville in Anson County, a son of John A. and Mary Led- better (Cole) Boyden. The Coles are also an old and distinguished Anson County family. Mary L. Cole was a daughter of Stephen W. Cole. Vic- tor H. Boyden graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1894, and for a number of years has been a well known citizen of Raleigh. He is now temporarily a resident of Washington, and is connected with the intelligence department of the war trade board.
CLAUDE KISER is secretary and treasurer of the South, Atlantic Lumber Company of Greensboro. He is a man of wide and diversified experience in the lumber business, both the manufacturing and selling ends, and as an official of the South Atlan- tic Lumber Company has had much to do with developing a new and special field of lumber products.
Mr. Kiser was born in Rural Hall Township of Forsyth County, North Carolina. He is a member of the old Moravian stock of that section of the state. In colonial times the Kisers moved from Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, to North Carolina, following the migration of a large Moravian colony. Mr. Kiser 's great-grandfather, John Kiser, secured a tract of timbered land about a mile northwest of the present site of Rural Hall, and there literally hewed a farm from out the wilderness. It remained his home the rest of his years. Tandy Kiser, grandfather of Claude Kiser, was born in Rural Hall Township, succeeded to the ownership of part of the old homestead, and was successfully engaged in farming with the aid of his slaves for a number of years. In that locality he died at the advanced age of eighty- eight. He married Paulina Shore, who was native and lifelong resident of Forsyth County, where she died at the age of eighty-five. Their two children were Eugene L. and Filena, the latter of whom became the wife of J. N. Anderson of Rural Hall Township.
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.