USA > North Carolina > Guilford County > The History of Guilford County, North Carolina > Part 12
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The oldest furniture plant in High Point was established in 1888 by Mr. Wrenn. The first piece of furniture made in High Point is a desk in the office of the High Point Furniture Company. This company has an average shipment of one carload per day, sending its suites of furniture all over the country.
Green logs are brought to High Point from the forests prime- val of Guilford, Davidson, Randolph and elsewhere. This timber
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is made into the highest grade of furniture, coffins, chairs, suites, etc., to the finest wood workmanship.
SKETCHES OF FAMILIES OF GUILFORD.
THE MCADOO FAMILY AND THEIR CONNECTIONS. By Victor Clay Mc Adoo.
Dr. Caruthers, speaking of the Scotch-Irish, says : "Combin- ing the intelligence, orthodoxy and piety of the Scotch with the order and love of liberty peculiar to the Irish, they were the most efficient supporters of the American cause during the struggle for independence; and they have done more for the support of learn- ing, morality and religion than any other class of people."
Along with the first settlers of that noble race in this County came James and John McAdoo, and a little later, their sister, Nellie. They came via Charleston, S. C., and were prompted to leave home because their father, William, had married a second time, against their wishes. Upon their arrival in this section they took up large grants of land near Alamance Church, and settled there and reared large families. Nellie McAdoo married John Ryan and among her children was William Ryan, who took a prominent part in the battles of Raft's Swamp and Wetzel's Mill, and represented Guilford County in the Legislature of 1816-1817- 1818. Dr. Caruthers speaks of him as "one of our most upright and estimable citizens." Nellie McAdoo Ryan died at the age of 105 years, and is buried at Buffalo Church.
John McAdoo was granted, in 1759, 640 acres near Alamance Church, and he and his wife, Ellen Nelson McAdoo, had among their children, David McAdoo, Samuel McAdoo, John, William and James McAdoo. Samuel McAdoo, a son of John and Ellen Nelson McAdoo, was born in Guilford County, April 10, 1760, and educated at Mecklenburg College, and married Henrietta Wheatley. He moved with his brother-in-law, John Larkins, and James McAdoo's wife and children to Dickson County, Tennessee,
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where John Larkins had been granted, with his brother Hugh, two thousand acres of land by North Carolina for their conspicuous services during the Revolutionary War. Samuel McAdoo became a minister of great distinction, and was one of the founders of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, which was organized by him and associates at his house in Dickson County, in 1810. He died in Illinois, March 30, 1844, leaving two sons and two daughters.
James McAdoo married Margaret Houston, and their chil- dren were Mary, Sarah, Dorcas and Martha, John, William, David and Ezra. James McAdoo died in 1800, and his wife, with her children, moved to Dickson County, Tennessee. Mary McAdoo married James Larkins, Sarah married Houston, and Dorcas mar- ried Nesbitt.
John McAdoo married Hannah McNeiley, and was a trustee of Dickson County for fourteen years. His brother, David, was sheriff of the county for six years. Among their children were John, Hugh and James McAdoo. James now lives at Waverly, Tenn, and is the oldest elder in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church there, and one of the largest farmers in that county.
John M. McAdoo is the Judge of the County Court at Wav- erly, Tennessee, was a captain in the late war, and several times represented his county in the Legislature, and is now a ruling elder in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.
Hugh M. McAdoo was born in Dickson County in 1838, and was educated for a lawyer. He was a captain in the late war, several times member of the Legislature from Humphreys County, and was in 1876 elected to the Senate, being chosen its Speaker. He was a man of great legal ability. He died in 1894. The descendants of James McAdoo in Tennessee are now among the state's foremost citizens, and they are now residing in many of the Western States. Some of those who have attained prominence and are descendants of the McAdoo family are Samuel J. Keith, a banker; Dr. William Morrow, a prominent physician, and Rev.
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McConnell and Martha Peeples McConnell, March 7, 1839, the ceremony being performed at the McConnell home, four miles east of Greensboro, by Rev. Eli Caruthers. Col. Walter McCon- nell came to this county from near Harrisburg, Pa., when a young man, and engaged in farming, and conducted several large tan- yards in this and adjoining counties. He married Martha, a daughter of Capt. Lewis Peeples and Jane Hicks Peeples.
David Peeples, father of Capt. Lewis Peeples, was one of the early settlers in this county, and took up large grants of land on Jacob's Creeek and Haw River, and I judge from the number of grants recorded in this county to him that he must have been among the largest land owners in the county.
Capt. Lewis Peeples inherited a great deal of property from his father, and he lived in style and luxury for those days. He was born December 22, 1760, and died December 29, 1828, and left a son, Col. Allen Peeples, who was a man of prominence in this county for years. He was a member of the Legislature in 1830, 1831, 1832 and 1833, and married Betsy Braziel. Capt. P. A. Peeples, a son of Col. Allen Peeples, was mortally wounded at Gaines' Mills, in 1862. Another son, Dr. Pinkney Peeples, was, at the time of his death, president of the National Bank at Jack- son, Miss. Col. Allen Peeples left here before the War with his family, and went to Mississippi, where his children married, and are prominent people in that State.
Col. Walter McConnell had one son, Washington McConnell, who married Mrs. Garvin, of Rhode Island, and they had two children, Dr. Charles McConnell and Lola McConnell McLeod, who now live in Boston, Mass. Col. McConnell built for his son, Washington, the large brick storehouse on West Market Street now owned by Mrs. C. C. Gorrell, and built a home for him, also, on West Market Street, now occupied by Mrs. M. A. Winstead.
The store conducted by Washington McConnell was, before the War, the principal store in Greensboro, except the store con- ducted on East Market Street by my grandfather, C. N. McAdoo.
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Washington McConnell died in St. Louis, October 21, 1865. My grandfather, Calvin N. McAdoo, and wife, Isabella McConnell McAdoo, resided at their home at the corner of Gorrrell and Ashe- boro Streets, and their children were: Walter David, born Jan- uary 28, 1840; Martha Elizabeth, born May, 1842, died September 29, 1843; Victor Clay, born March 25, 1845, died November 5, 1878; William Calvin, born May 25, 1848, died April 8, 1878.
Calvin Nicks McAdoo was for years the most successful merchant in this county, and conducted branch stores at Madison and Graham, his business extending over several surrounding counties. He was one of the organizers of the Greensboro National Bank, and a director in it at the time of his death. He died April 24, 1887, and left one of the largest estates in the county. "For more than half a century he was connected with the active business affairs of Greensboro and Guilford County. He was scrupulously correct in all his dealings and probably had more transactions with his fellow-citizens than any man who has lived here. His strong intellect held to the last. His was a busy life. He was always considerate of the feelings and rights of those in his employ. His loss will be keenly felt throughout the county and many will sincerely mourn his death. One more of the few remaining early settlers of Greensboro has released his grasp on this world and passed over to join the great majority." (*Capt. W. S. Ball in Greensboro North State.)
My father, Victor Clay McAdoo, was educated at Wilson's School and the University of North Carolina, and joined Company I, Fifth North Carolina Cavalry, Capt. Nathaniel Rankin, Gor- don's Brigade, Stuart's Division, Army of Northern Virginia, and
NOTE: The name McAdoo has stood for much in the commercial life of Guilford County. It has been like a business backbone in Greensboro since the founding of the city. No McAdoo ever failed in business, or failed to pay a debt, or to make money. The McAdoos love real estate and know how to hold on to it. The genuine McAdoo has no fibre of stinginess in him, but "you can't hoodoo a McAdoo." They have a clearer per- ception of justice than some folks, and have a way of recognizing good in others. Messrs. Victor Clay and Thomas J. McAdoo have belived in the South as the great field of future literature. More than one writer of recognition can take off his hat to these men. They love the old North State. The McAdoo family have some pride of race and sense of honor for the name inherited from a noble line. Honor to whom honor is due.
SALLIE WALKER STOCKARD.
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was in the battles of Ream's Station, Stoney Creek and Yellow Tavern. He was wounded several times and given his parole in Virginia at the close of the War. He married Nannie Witcher Jones, a member of the families of Jones, Keenes and Witchers, . of Virginia. They have three sons, Thomas Jones, Victor Clay and Calvin Nicks.
William Calvin McAdoo was educated at Wilson's School, the University of North Carolina and Washington and Lee Uni- versity, Virginia. He was engaged in business in this city and died at thirty years of age, never having married.
Walter David McAdoo was educated at Wilson's School and Dickinson College, Pennsylvania. He joined the army at the breaking out of the War and fought bravely till severely wounded at Gettysburg, on which field he was commissioned Major, but never was able to accept the commission. After the close of the War he married Miss Josie A. Moore, of Virginia, and has two children, William and Mary.
SKETCHI OF THE ARMFIELD FAMILY.
As far as is known, all the Armfields in America have sprung from the same source, i. e., from English Quakers in the north of England, where the family is still numerous. And although the majority of them have drifted away from the old church, yet they still exhibit many Quaker traits, such as honesty, thrift and sim- plicity. It is believed that they are of Anglo-Saxon stock, judging from the name and from the florid complexion and light hair of the older members of the family in this country. But the name is now common in Sweden, and a Count Von Armfeldt was a brilliant general under the meteoric Charles XII. of Sweden. (See Enc. Britt. )
The original John Armfield, from whom all the Armfields of whom we know were descended, was born in the north of England in 1695. He was a strict Quaker and a school-teacher by profes- sion. He and his young wife came with a colony of Quaker emi-
J. WYATT ARMFIELD, HIGH POINT, N. C.
OF
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grants to Philadelphia in 1718. Afterward he moved to Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where he bought a farm and taught school. He had five sons and three daughters. About 1760 John and his oldest son, William, together with a company of twenty men and thirty horses, came to North Carolina on an exploring expedition. For the greater part of the way they traveled through dense for- ests of unpopulated country and located in Rowan County, now the northern part of Guilford. This proved to be a favored sec- tion, as there were no Indian settlements in this particular locality.
This band of adventurers avoided the Indians as much as possible, though the savages did not seem to be very hostile at that time, for they often ran off and slipped away from the white men. These emigrants had no sources of living except game, which was found in large quantities, and consisted of bear, deer, buffalo, wild turkeys and squirrels. Their horses fared sumptu- ously on the grass and pea-vines which covered every spot not covered with leaves. There was no undergrowth at that time, but the whole country was a vast forest of large timber.
Their horses were herded in a pen, with one or more men to guard them. This pen was built on a creek which therefore became known as Horse-Pen Creek. The Indians once endeavored to stampede their horses, but failed. However, the emigrants be- came alarmed and moved their camp and settled on Deep River, at a point near the present Coltrane's Mill. Game was not quite so abundant there, but the river furnished quantities of fine fish.
Having remained in North Carolina about three years, they packed up, loading some of the extra horses with furs, dressed hides and a few relics, and returned to Pennsylvania.
In 1765 John Armfield and wife, with their sons, viz., Wil- liam, John, Robert, Isaac and Thomas, and a number of their neighbors, sold their furniture and set out for North Carolina. The three daughters were married, and remained in Pennsylvania. There were about one hundred men, besides women and children, all traveling horseback. John Armfield acted as leader, as he was
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acquainted with the route. It took nearly two months to make the journey. Several families came from Nantucket, via Penn- sylvania, and John Armfield and others joined them and all came on to North Carolina together. The party reached its destination the last of May, 1765.
Upon their arrival in North Carolina, John Armfield and family settled on South Buffalo, about one-quarter of a mile southwest of Pomona or Salem Junction. Their first log-house stood a short distance north of the present railroad track, a little over three miles from Greensboro, on land now owned by J. Van Lindley. The Ballingers settled west of New Garden Meeting House, on land which is still owned by the family. The Iddinges settled on the road which leads from Greensboro to Guilford Col- lege at a place which became later the home of the late Joshua , Lindley. The Hodgins settled in what is now South Guilford; the Worths still farther south on Deep River, in the present county of Randolph, and also in South Guilford, near Centre. The Stu- arts built their home near the headwaters of Deep River, in south- west Guilford. The Coffins settled in northwest Guilford, near the Ballingers; the Mendenhalls on Deep River, which place is . now known as Old Jamestown. The Gardners lived east of James- town. The names of other families have become extinct, on ac- count of emigration to the West.
As only two of John Armfield's sons, William and Isaac, had families and remained in North Carolina, we will trace each branch separately and mention the other three sons in the proper order.
John Armfield, who came from England, had five sons, whose names were given above as follows : William, John, Robert, Isaac and Thomas. William, the oldest son of John, was born in Penn- sylvania in 1720, married Mary Hamilton there about 1745. They had seven sons : William (Little Billy), Robert, Nathan, Solomon, Jonathan, David and John; also three daughters. One daughter married a Fields, another a Macy, and the third a Barnet. Wil-
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liam moved to the Worth Settlement, in southern Guilford, now Centre, about 1770, and together with his brother-in-law, Hamil- ton, opened a blacksmith and wagon shop. At the beginning of the Revolution, his father, John, being very old, persuaded Wil- liam to sell out and return to the old homestead. This he did, and managed the farm very successfully, and took care of his father until his death in 1792, in his ninety-seventh year. John Armfield, and later his sons William and Isaac, were buried in the New Gar- den graveyard.
William was a strict Quaker and took no active part in the War until shortly before the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. The Tories made a raid in advance of the armies. They went to his house and took six horses, twenty or thirty head of cattle, all his ' corn, bacon and such articles of clothing, bedding, etc., as they wanted. William implored the Tories to leave him one favorite black horse, as he had a large famliy, but they mocked him and went away, leaving him only one poor, sickly calf.
At this point William Armfield lost his Quakerism for a time. He shouldered his musket and, pretending that he was going to hunt, he set out to join the Continental Army. The morning of the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, he went to head- quarters at New Garden Meeting House and said to General . Greene: "General, I have come to help thee out today." The General smiled at his broad-brimmed hat and Quaker coat, but at William's urgent request, he gave him a place in Joe Lovett's company, where he fought all day. Joe Lovett was a private soldier and a great friend of William Armfield. When the latter reached home that night, weary and worn out, his wife asked: "William, where is thy game." He replied: "The game I killed was not worth bringing home."
William Armfield married the second time, Mrs. Lydia Fields, the widow of a soldier who was killed in the Battle of King's Mountain. She had ten Fields children and her husband, William Armfield, had eleven children by his first wife, Mary Hamliton.
Fields ( can )
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They had two more children after their marriage, which made twenty-three in all. One of the last two died early ; the other was Joseph B., from whom much of this history was obtained. He lived to be ninety-six years old and remembered his grandfather, John Armfield, of England. Much of this information was writ- ten down at his dictation about twenty-five years ago by his grandson, G. Will Armfield, of Greensboro.
William Jr. (Little Billy), oldest son of William, the first, married Bettie Greeen, of Jamestown. They had four sons, Jacob, Robert, William and Isaac; and three daughters. One married John Macy, another Christopher Hiatt, and the other John Un- thank. "Little Billy" lived to be ninety-nine years old.
Jacob, oldest son of William Jr., married Ann Stevenson, sister to the wife of his half-uncle, Joseph B. Jacob's sons were as follows : Hiram, Alfred, Tillman, Isaac, Paris and Elam. His daughters were: Jane, Diana and Susan. Hiram married Jane Carmichael. Alfred married Polly Iddings, sister of Meshach Iddings, who was the manufacturer of the celebrated Iddings augers. Diana married Joseph Iddings. The entire family of Jacob went to Indiana in 1831. This ends all our knowledge of his branch of the family.
Robert, William Jr.'s second son, married a Bland. He had five sons, who were: William Nelson, John T., Robert Franklin, Alexander and Morehead. William Nelson married Miss Moon. Their children were: John F., Julius, William E., Mary May, Alice Lee and Sarah. John F., oldest son of Nelson, married Rosa Holmes and went to the West. He has five sons : John, William, Robert, Frederick and Nelson. Julius, second son of Nelson, married Leanna Reich. He died and left a widow and one son, Claud, who lives in Winston. William E., Nelson's third son, married Ella Shore. Their children's names are as follows : Walter, Weldon, Duke, Allen and Ruth. Mary May, Nelson's oldest daughter, married Harper Cummings. Their sons are Cyrus and Charles. Alice Lee, second daughter of Nelson,
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married C. F. Perry. Their children are Alden and Byron. Sarah, youngest daughter of Nelson, married Eugene Vaughn, and has two children, Sadie and Nelson. John T., second son of Robert, studied medicine under Dr. Coffin, at Jamestown. He practiced in South Carolina, where he married a Miss Campbell and then moved to Alabama. Both are dead. They left several children, whose names we are unable to give.
Robert Franklin, third son of Robert, married a Miss Denny. Their sons are Charles H., Joseph, James and Robert, and there are three daughters. Robert Franklin was the well-known Judge Armfield, of Statesville, who was one of the State's most gifted sons. He served as Colonel in the Confederate Army, as Con- gressman for two terms, as Lieutenant-Governor of the State, and as Judge of the Superior Court. But he was perhaps greatest as a criminal lawyer. He defended many men in the most noted murder cases in the State, and was successful without exception.
His oldest son, Charles H., is bearing his name and wearing his father's mantle worthily. Another son, Joseph, was the bril- liant and admired young Colonel of the First North Carolina Regiment, which served in Cuba during the War with Spain. Alexander, fourth son of Robert, married in Georgia.
Robert, second son of William the first, was a soldier in the American Army and died during the Revolution. Nathan, third son of William the first, married Polly Dempsey. They lived near Pleasant Garden Church. Nathan represented Guilford in the State Senate for years. He went South, returned with yellow fever, but recovered. He died in 1839. One of his sons severely cut his foot with an axe and died at the age of sixteen. The other, John, went to Tennessee and became a slave-trader, being a mem- ber of the firm of Armfield & Franklin. He amassed a large for- tune. He had an elegant summer home at Beersheba Springs, in the Cumberland Mountains, and winter homes in Alexandria, Va., and in New Orleans, where he and his wife lived and entertained in princely style. He was one of the original founders and
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trustees of the University of the South, at Sewanee, Tenn. He left a widow and an adopted daughter, who live at Belle Air, Md., the latter being the wife of ex-Congressman Archer.
Solomon, fourth son of William the first, married Thankful Cummings. Three sons and as many daughters were born to them. Their names were: William Addison, Allen, Calvin, Ma- linda, Elvira and Jane.
William Addison, oldest son of Solomon, married and had three sons. They were : Dr. John, Jesse and Solomon. John went to Indiana. He has two sons living at Elwood, Ind., Orla, a law- yer, being one. Jesse and Solomon both went West. Allen, sec- ond son of Solomon, never married. He went to California dur- ing the gold fever, then to Missouri, where he died. Calvin, Solo- mon's third son, married first in eastern North Carolina, again in Indiana, and was living there in 1900. Malinda, oldest daughter of Solomon, married Allen Short. Elvira never married, but Jane married Andrew Kirkman. The following are their chil- dren : Calvin, Alpheus, James and a Mrs. Jarvis. Calvin married Adela Armfield, daughter of Ithamar. Alpheus married a Miss Clifton.
Jonathan, fifth son of William the first, went to Indiana and died of cholera during the War of 1812.
David, sixth son of William the first, married Betsy Trotter. They had a large family, who were all prominent people in their day. Their names were as follows : Solomon, Jonathan, Needham, Hamilton, Abner, Ensley, Betsy and Jane.
Solomon, oldest son of David, married a Miss Bland. Their children are these: John, Jesse Lee, Solomon, Mary Mag and Asenath, who died unmarried. John, Solomon's oldest son, mar- ried Roxana Patterson. They had two sons and a daughter- Edgar, William Ensley and Clara. His second wife was Belle Wiley. He lives ten miles south of Greensboro. Jesse Lee, second son of Solomon, married Nannie Kirkman. Their children are : Charles, who married Miss Groome; Minnie, now Mrs. Lee
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Groome, who has several children; and .Genevieve, wife of Chas. Covington, of High Point. Jesse Lee and his children, with the exception of the last-named, live near Jamestown. Solomon, third son of Solomon, never married, but lives one mile east of James- town.
Mary Mag, daughter of Solomon, married J. M. Wharton, a merchant of Jamestown. They have no children.
Jonathan, second son of David, married Sarah Brown, of Iredell County. They had three children: Matthew, Luther and Lou. Both sons went West. The daughter died recently, un- married.
Needham, third son of David, married and moved to Georgia. His son Emsley is now Clerk of the County Court at Monroe, N. C. Emsley married Rachel Phifer, and they have a large and interesting family, whose names are as follows : Ella, Alice, Frank, Davis, Rufus, Wilma, Lina and Emsley. Ella is now Mrs. W. S. Lee, and has six children. Alice married Major W. C. Heath. They have three children. Frank is a prominent young lawyer in Monroe. Rufus married Lola Houston. All live in Monroe. Emsley served in the Civil War. His only brother, Frank, served four years in the Confederate Army and was killed at Appomattox, two days before Lee's surrender and a few months after his mar- riage to Ellen Houston, daughter of the late Hugh Houston, of Monroe.
Hamilton, fourth son of David, married Thankful Short. Their sons are Needham, David the Doctor, Jonathan and Allen, and their daughters, Bettie, Emeline, Mary and Corinna. Need- ham, oldest son of Hamilton, married a Ward. Their children are Rhodema, Walter, Nona, Eugenia Mary, John and Emma.
Dr. David, second son of Hamilton, married Della Sapp. Eugene S., Carl and Earl are their sons. Their daughter, Vera, married Dr. Foscue.
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