USA > North Carolina > History of North Carolina: North Carolina biography, Volume VI > Part 9
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Senator Redwine has rendered much public and useful service to his city, county and state. He served for some months as chairman of the board of county commissioners and as a member of the
A. B. Medicul
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HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
board of education. In the former position he was largely instrumental in inaugurating improvement in the county by working convicts on the county roads. He was secretary of the Democratic Union County Executive Committee in 1894 and carried on a successful campaign, and in 1895 was elected from his county as a member of the Lower House of the Legislature. In 1907 he was elected to rep- resent his district in the North Carolina State Senate, in which body, as in the Lower House, he acquitted himself with honor and distinction. Sen- ator Redwine was particularly active in advocat- ing more efficient laws for the government of penal affairs in the state, believing always that the state's prisoners as far as able should be made to work and to be as self-sustaining and as little expense to the state as possible. He was also an advocate of better laws for the care of the in- sane and other indigents, and of all laws for the moral betterment of the people at large. In local affairs Senator Redwine was instrumental in es- tablishing a city recorder's office at Monroe, which has saved the county a great deal of money. He is contributing his share to educational advancement as a member of the board of trustees of the Uni- versity of North Carolina. Senator Redwine is well known in banking circles as president of the Savings, Loan & Trust Company, which was or- ganized in 1903 and has had a successful career as a financial institution. He also organized the Lake Land and Lumber Company, which carried on a highly successful series of land operations in Florida.
Senator Redwine was married in 1895 to Miss Sallie Wall McAlister, of Walltown, Anson County, North Carolina, and they have eight children: Sarah McAlister, a student at Randolph-Macon College, and active in educational work; and Mary Catharine, Robert B., Jr., Thomas Worth, John McAlister, Florence Stockhouse, Margaret Wall and Elizabeth Armentine Redwine.
WILLIAM SLOAN. Garland is a town not more than thirty years old and reflects the riches and prosperity of one of the districts of most varied resources in Eastern North Carolina. One of the men whose work and interests have leen con- sistently identified with Garland from the begin- ning is Mr. William Sloan, a planter there before the town was laid out and continuously since 1890 its postmaster and one of its chief merchants.
Mr. Sloan's career is interesting because of what he has accomplished and the influences he has directed towards the upbuilding of this com- munity, and also for prominent family connec- tions. The Sloans are an old and distinguished family in both Sampson and Duplin counties. His grandfather, Hon. Dickson Sloan, lived in Duplin County and represented that section in the Gen- eral Assembly for a number of years. Through his mother he was related to the well known Dickson family of North Carolina. Dickson Sloan married Catherine Bryan, descended from the noted Col. Needham Bryan, a branch of the ancestry described more in detail on other pages. Dickson Sloan's home was originally in Duplin County and in what is now Taylor's Bridge Township in Sampson County. The old home was in the same community where the modern Delway stands.
In that locality was born Dr. David Dickson Sloan, father of William Sloan. Dr. David Dickson was a lifelong country physician and
planter. He left the ancestral home during the '40s and established the present Sloan place on the South River, a mile west of the Town of Gar- land in Sampson County. Dr. David Dickson Sloan married Harriet Cromartie, daughter of John Cromartie and granddaughter of William Cromartie, who founded the Cromartie family of Bladen County in 1765. The Cromartie lands are only three miles west of Garland. The story of the Cromartie family makes one of the most interesting chapters in North Carolina families and is related somewhat at length on other pages.
At the home of his parents above noted in the town of Garland William Sloan was born in 1858, and has always kept his home in that one local- ity. Mr. Sloan has a fine body of land compris- ing about seven hundred acres in his home place, with about a hundred acres under culti- vation. He owns another farm of two hundred acres four miles below in Bladen County. While these are sufficient to constitute him one of the larger farmers of the county, much of his busi- ness has been in mercantile and naval stores business. He has one of the large stores in Garland, and the postoffice has been an adjunct of his business there for many years.
Mr. Sloan married Miss Carrie Moore, daugh- ter of Charles Peyton and Margaret Maria (Rob- inson) Moore of Currie in what was originally New Hanover, now Pender County. She is a member of one of the historic . Moore families whose name is perpetuated in the Moore's Creek Battleground of Revolutionary fame. Charles Peyton Moore, her father, was a Confederate sol- dier in the war between the states. Mrs. Sloan's great-uncle, Col. John Sellars, was in command of a North Carolina regiment during the Revolution.
Mr. and Mrs. Sloan's commodious and beau- tiful home on the South River is noted for its cheer and hospitality. Their children were reared here and the friendly associations of their child- hood bring them back constantly to its inviting environment. Mr. and Mrs. Sloan have a highly educated and cultured family of seven children. Their names in order of age are Dr. William Henry Sloan, Mary Moore, Charles Austin, Carrie Bryan, David Dickson, Anna Belle and Elizabeth Wren Sloan. The older son, Dr. William Henry Sloan, graduated A. B. from Davidson College and in medicine from the University of Mary- land in 1915, and is in the Medical Reserve Corps of the United States Army and now in France. The second child, Mary Moore, is the wife of Dr. J. W. Farrar, of Kenansville, North Caro- lina. She was educated in Peace Institute at Raleigh, graduating in 1909. Sloan graduated from the University Charles Austin North Carolina in 1915, and when this was written in April, 1918, he was in the officers' training camp at Camp Jackson, South Carolina. Carrie Bryan is the wife of Mr. J. O. Bowman, an educator, who is now located at Cranberry, center of the iron and copper mining industry in Western North Carolina. The son, David Dick- son, is a sophomore in the University of North Carolina and Anna Belle is a sophomore at Peace Institute. Mr. and Mrs. Sloan are members of the Presbyterian Church.
CHARLES W. PEPPLER, PH. D., professor of Greek in Trinity College, is one of the prominent classical scholars of America, and both as teacher and author has done much for the cause of classi- cal education.
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HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
He was born in Baltimore, Maryland, January 16, 1872, son of Charles and Laura Virginia (God- man) Peppler. He early distinguished himself by pronounced intellectual ability and attainments. He was educated in the Baltimore public schools and in 1889, at the age of seventeen, was grad- uated from the Baltimore City College. The same year he entered the Johns Hopkins University. His progress through that institution was marked by his winning a Hopkins Scholarship for 1889-90 and Honorary Hopkins Scholarships for 1890-91 and 1891-92, and in 1892 he was graduated with the A. B. degree. He was awarded University Scholarships for 1892-93 and 1893-94, and a Fel- lowship for 1895-96. He received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the Johns Hopkins in 1898. He is a member of the Johns Hopkins Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. In 1902 Doctor Peppler was a student in the University of Berlin.
Since his graduation in 1898 he has been teach- ing Greek in colleges: From 1898 to 1912 he was the "George I. Seney" professor of the Greek Language and Literature in Emory College, Ox- ford, Georgia, and since 1912 he has been profes- sor of Greek in Trinity College, Durham, North Carolina.
Doctor Peppler's work as an author includes the following: Comic Terminations in Aristoph- anes and the Comic Fragments, 1902; The Persians of Timotheus, 1904; The Termination- kós, as Used by Aristophanes for Comic Effect, 1910; The Sinai Manuscript of the Bible, 1912; New Greek Literature, 1914; The Suffix-ma in Aristophanes, 1916; Comic Terminations in Aris- tophanes, Part IV, 1918; besides numerous book reviews in Classical Philology, The American Journal of Philology, The Classical Weekly, The South Atlantic Quarterly, etc.
Doctor Peppler is a member of various learned societies, including the American Philological As- sociation and the Classical Association of the Middle West and South. He was first vice presi- dent of the Classical Association of the Middle West and South in 1910-11, and was vice president for Georgia in 1908-12, and for South Carolina in 1908-09. He is a democrat in politics and a mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
On June 11, 1902, in Baltimore, Doctor Pepp- ler married Miss Edith Virginia Adams, daughter of Matthew W. and Laura Virginia (Brady) Adams.
ARCHIBALD FAIRLEY PATTERSON. Among the fine farms and country homes that give dignity and prestige to the rich section of North Carolina known as Scotland County, one is owned by Archi- bald Fairley Patterson of the Laurel Hill com- munity. Mr. Patterson comes by his vocation as a planter very naturally, that having been the worthy calling of his ancestors here for many generations and it is almost bred in the bone of the Patter- sons to be substantial and successful farmers as well as very bright and honorable citizens.
Mr. Patterson was born about three miles from his present home in 1857, a son of Dr. Archibald and Mary Anne (Fairley) Patterson. Dr. Archi- bald Patterson, who was born in 1824 in the same locality where his son now has his home, spent his life in a country enriched by the association of members of the Patterson and Fairley families from before the time of the Revolutionary war. Both families originated in Scotland. Dr. Patter- son graduated in medicine from the University of Pennsylvania and until the time of his death kept
up his interest and work in that institution. He was one of the leading physicians of his day over a wide extended territory. His death came in the very prime of his usefulness on November 30, 1872. He was a leader in all good works, a man of ex- alted character, and though forty-five years have passed since his death his virtues are still recalled in the old community. He was an elder in Laurel Hill Presbyterian Church, as his son Archibald Fairley is today. This is one of the oldest and most historic churches in this section of the state. It lies almost within a stone's throw of Archi- bald Fairley Patterson's home. The old church was in the direct pathway of the invading army of General Sherman during the war, and for a time was used by General Sherman as headquarters. The mother of Archibald Fairley Patterson was Mary Anne Fairley, a daughter of Dr. Archibald Fairley. Her grandfather was Alexander Fairley, an historic character of this section of North Car- olina. Both the Fairleys and Pattersons are rep- resentatives of the best families of wealth and character who have lived here for over a hundred and fifty years and have made the Scotch country of Southwestern North Carolina the richest sec- tion of the state. Where these families settled was originally a part of Anson County, later of Richmond County, and now part of the newer county of Scotland.
When Archibald Fairley Patterson was eighteen years of age he left his father's old plantation and came to his present home about two miles away. The land he now cultivates is a part of the original Patterson estate. He began here as a planter, and that has been his sole occupation. His holdings have increased until he is now proprietor of about 700 acres of the rich soil for which Scotland County is famous. In the territory around him may be found an agricultural class of unusual prosperity, especially in these days of high priced cotton. The Patterson plantation is known as Meichledale. It is in Laurel Hill Township, about 412 miles north of Laurinburg, the county seat, and some distance from Laurel Hill, the local post- office. Mr. Patterson's home is modern, equipped with conveniences and comforts, but also retains the air of fine hospitality typical of the old South. In front of the residence is a fine grove of trees which Mr. Patterson himself set out when a young man.
Mr. Patterson married Miss Emily Elliott, who died in June, 1913. She was a sister of George D. Elliott and of Mrs. W. L. Williams of Linden, and many of the particulars of her family will be found on other pages. Mr. Patterson is the father of six children: Miss Jane Evans Patterson, a missionary now in service in Cuba; Miss Mary Fairley Patterson. Mrs. Kate McMillan. Mrs. Eliza Shaw, Miss Emily and Miss Carolyn Patter- son.
CHARLES HOERTEL has been a factor in the manufacturing affairs of High Point for a num- ber of years and is an expert mirror maker.
Mr. Hoertel was born in Alsace, son of William and Salome Hoertel, also natives of the same province and of pure French ancestry. William Hoertel came to the United States, but after a few years returned to his native land. Mr. Charles Hoertel's only brother served several years in the French army.
Charles Hoertel was twelve years old when 'he came to this country with his father and grew to young manhood in New York City. He had at-
yours truly bokas Saertel.
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HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
tended school regularly while in his native country, and also had some instruction in the public schools of New York City. When still a boy in years he entered the service of Ferd Ecker, the mirror manufacturer, and was in his employ in New York City and in 1904 came with Mr. Ecker to High Point, and has been actively identified with the Ecker interests in that city. He is also an in- terested principle in the High Point Art and Decorative Company.
Mr. Hoertel is affiliated with Numa F. Reid Lodge No. 344, Free and Accepted Masons, of which he is a past master, is past high priest of High Point Chapter No. 70, Royal Arch Masons, is past eminent commander of High Point Com- mandery No. 24, Knights Templars, and is also affiliated with Carolina Consistory No. 1 of the Scottish Rite and with Oasis Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Charlotte. Besides his Masonic connec- tions he is a member of High Point Lodge No. 1255, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is an active member of the Commercial Club and is a member of the Lutheran Church.
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ISAAC A. MURCHISON. Whether in war or peace few families of North Carolina have fur- nished more men distinguished by substantial abilities that the Murchisons. Of the generation of the family that grew up before and during the war period one is Isaac A. Murchison, who for many years was a successful practicing law- yer at Fayetteville, but latterly has occupied him- self with the supervision of a plantation in Cum- berland County at Manchester, and resides at the noted old family home, "Holly Hill."
Of the many beautiful country estates in North Carolina "Holly Hill" possesses features and associations that give it rare dignity and interest. It is located on the Lower Little River, along which stream in ante-bellum days were a number of the largest and most prosperous plan- tations of the state. It has been known as "Holly Hill" since the time of the grandfather of its present occupant. The name is due to the presence of a grove of magnificent holly trees, native to the soil and a conspicuous fea- ture, adding charm both summer and winter. The grandfather and father of the present owner did much to adorn nature in this respect by planting sycamore trees among the holly. These tall and stately examples of the classical plane tree are responsible for 'not a little of the air of fine dignity which surrounds the plantation.
The founder of this old home in Cumberland County was Kenneth Murchison, grandfather of Isaac A. The latter is one of the few residents of North Carolina who can claim the relationship of grandson with a Revolutionary soldier sire. Kenneth Murchison was a native of Scotland, came to America as a young man a short time before the outbreak of the war for independence and settled in the northwest part of Cumberland County, twelve miles northwest of Fayetteville, where is now the village of Manchester. Soon afterward he ardently espoused the cause of the colonists and fought through several cam- paigns of the Revolution. He was a fine type of the sturdy Scot who settled the Cape Fear country and transmitted to his descendants a heritage of the highest character. He is buried an old Longstreet Presbyterian Church. This Revolutionary soldier married a Miss White.
Duncan Murchison, one of the children of Kenneth Murchison, was born on the old Mur- Vol. V1-3
chison plantation or Holly Hill in 1801, and died there in 1870. He was not only a prominent planter but a very enterprising business man. At Manchester he established one of the first cot- ton mills in the state. It was founded almost at the same time with the establishment of the fa- mous Holt cotton mill in Alamance County. Be- sides supervising his large plantation Duncan Murchison conducted his cotton, mill for several years before and also during the first years of the war. In the latter part of that war it was demolished and burned by Sherman's army. Sherman's "bummers" in addition to this work of destruction also stripped and robbed the Murchison home of everything of value, and left that plantation and many others in the vicinity in a complete state - of devastation. Duncan Murchison had great stores of rosin and tur- pentine on the place, besides hundreds of bales of cotton, all of which, if valued at prices that were current just after the war, were worth easily half a million dollars, and all of which went up in smoke and flame set by the ruthless soldiers of the invader.
Duncan Murchison married Catharine Wright, daughter of Isaac Wrignt of Bladen County and a granddaughter of James Gillespie. Capt. James Gillespie was of such distinguished promi- nence in North Carolina that reference is else- where made to his name, but it is appropriate that some of the particulars of his career should here be stated. He was born in County Mona- ghan, Ireland, in 1746, came to North Carolina in early life, and enjoyed distinctions which have seldom been paid to any man of the state since his time. He was captain of the First Battalion, North Carolina Volunteers, in 1776, was member from Duplin County of the Provisional Con- gress at Halifax, North Carolina, in November, 1776; member from Duplin County of the North Carolina General Assembly from 1779 to 1786; member from North Carolina of the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 8th United States Congresses, and died at Washington, D. C., while a member of Congress, on January 11, 1805. He was a man of liberal education, having been trained in early life in the University of Dublin. Gillespie Street in Fayetteville was named in honor of this early North Carolina soldier and statesman. He mar- ried Dorcas Mumford, and one of their sons, Major David Gillespie, served with that rank in the War of 1812.
Duncan Murchison had married for his first wife Miss Fannie Reid of Chatham County. The present residence of Holly Hill was built by Duncan Murchison in 1846. Both inside and out it has the beauty and attractiveness which are popularly associated with some of the finest old southern homes. As the tastes of the Mur- chison family have always run to that elegance which is most closely connected with simplicity, those qualities distinguish the furnishings and the atmosphere of the house today. The home contains a fine private library of about a thou- sand volumes and there are many interesting and valuable relics of ante-bellum days.
Isaac A. Murchison was born in this attractive old home in 1850, and as he has never married he occupies it now jointly with his sister, Miss Lucy G. Murchison, who presides over its domestic management. Originally the Murchison family was a large onc, comprising twelve children. Of these besides Isaac and his sister Miss Lucy there is another sister living, Mrs. Margaret Mckay of
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HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
Lillington, widow of Rev. Dr. Neill Mckay, who became widely known as a Presbyterian minister. The oldest brother of Mr. Murchison, Col. John R. Murchison, was colonel of a North Car- olina regiment and was killed at the battle of Cold Harbor. The second oldest brother, the late Col. K. M. Murchison, also a Con- federate officer of distinction, commander of the Fifty-fourth . North Carolina Infantry, after the war removed to Wilmington and gained a successful position in business and finance. He was founder of the Murchison National Bank, accumulated a fortune, and for many years prior to his death, which occurred at Wilmington in 1904, made his home at New York City. There is still another brother, the late Capt. D. R. Murchison, also a Confederate officer, who for many years was successfully engaged in business at Wilmington.
Isaac A. Murchison completed his education in Davidson College. He studied law and was licensed to practice about forty years ago. He had a career as a member of the bar at Fayette- ville for about twenty years, and for six years he was located in practice at Seattle, Washington. At Fayetteville he was senior member of the law firm of Murchison & Pope. As a lawyer Mr. Murchison was distinguished by those solid qualities and abilities which have always marked the family history, and it was in reliance upon them that he depended for his success in his profession rather than upon more superficial brilliance that sometimes gives men of lesser merit a higher place in the world's esti- mation. He was a member of the Legislature in 1885-1887. In 1909 Mr. Murchison retired from practice and returned to the old ancestral home at Manchester, where he finds au ample occupation year in and year out with the super- intendence of the plantation. Holly Hill com- prises about eight hundred acres and one of the principal crops today is cotton.
WILLIS NASH GREGORY. Among the energetic and progressive business men of Perquimans County, one who has won success and position by his resource, initiative and forceful personality is Willis Nash Gregory, general manager of the Eastern Cotton Oil Company. He was one of the organizers of this concern in 1906, and in enlarg- ing and expanding the enterprise his ambition and progressiveness have been equally balanced by sound judgment and careful direction, and largely to his abilities is due the fact that today this institution stands as one of the most reliable and substantial in its line, not only at Hertford, its home community, but throughout this part of the state.
Mr. Gregory was born in Camden County, North Carolina, February 9, 1877, and is a son of Wiley Nash and Eliza Ann (Grimes) Gregory. His father was a substantial and highly respected business man of Camden County, engaged in the conduct of a general merchandise establishment, and the youth was given the advantages of a good education, both general and business, first attend- ing the public schools, later the Elizabeth City Academy, and finally the Eastman Business Col- lege, where he took a thorough commercial course. This latter gave him the training necessary to secure a clerical position, and he accepted the post of bookkeeper with a lumber manufacturing con- cern located at Elizabeth City, with which he remained for two years. From that company he
transferred his services to a corn and rice mill, also at Elizabeth City, where he remained seven years, and in 1905 he came to Hertford, which nas since been the scene of his operations and the field of his success. Upon his arrival he became one of the organizers of the Hertford Cotton Oil Company, which within the period of one year had grown to such proportions that it was deemed advisable to reorganize. This was done and the style changed, so that the Eastern Cotton Oil Con- pany came into existence and has continued to be one of the city's chief enterprises, having grown and progressed materially. At the time of the reorganization Mr. Gregory was placed in charge as general manager, and, as noted, has made a decided success in his official capacity. By the energy and zeal which he has manifested he has not only won an established place in the business world, but has also gained the confidence of his associates and the respect and esteem of the gen- eral public as well. It is but natural that Mr. Gregory should be chiefly interested in the organ- ization of which he has been one of the chief builders, but he is likewise active as an agricul- turist, having wisely invested a part of his capital in farming land, and now owns a farm of 250 acres in Perquimans County which is responding bountifully to the scientific treatment which its soil is receiving. As in his business operations, so in his farming Mr. Gregory is a believer in the use of modern methods and machinery. He is a mem- ber of the local lodge of the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks, in which he has numerous friends.
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