Biographies: Alamance Co., NC Genealogy

Dr. Chester ALEXANDER: An outstanding minister and citizen. Remembered for the fine work he did for the Presbyterian Church in Burlington.

Rev. Charles Atlas BOONE: born May 21, 1839 and died in 1916. After Elon College was established, he moved there in order to educate his children. His son, Dr. William Henry Boone, was born March 18, 1870, and died in 1954. Dr. W.H. Boone was a member of the Elon College Board of Trustees and chairman of the Board for many years. At his death he left an endowment of more than $25,000 to Elon College.

Roy Oscar BROWNING: Married Flossie Burke and they had one child, Gertrude, who married Beverly Madison Currin. R.O. Browning was a leading citizen and a highly respected insurance executive. B.M. Currin was connected with the first National Bank of Burlington until he, along with Pat Hay, started the Currin-Hay Men’s Store.


Flossie Burke, see Roy Oscar Browning.

J. Wesley CATES: Born Septemeber 30, 1847, died January 5, 1918. A pioneer, progressive citizen, prominet churchman and leading civic worker. One of the organizers of the First Baptist Church of Burlington, former mayor and alderman, director of four banks, school board member, secretary of the Chamber of Commerce. Father of nine children: Luther CATES, James W. CATES, Robert B. CATES, C. Brady CATES, Mrs. J.H. (Sally CATES) VERNON, Mrs. L.D. PERRY, Bertha CATES, Verna CATES, and Julia CATES.

C. Ben COBLE, Sr.: a farmer on or near Edgewood Avenue Extenion. He and his wife, Myrrtle Nicholson, were more responsible than anyone else for curb markets that existed in Burlington during the early days of the city. They were also active in other progressive movements, and when the opportunity presented itself they decided to cut their farm into a residential development and provide homes for new citizens. The couple were leaders in the community for fifty years.

Robert A. COBLE: A pioneer hardware and farm implement dealer. Among other positions, he served as President of the First National Bank of Alamance Co. He had one son, Wade G. COBLE.

Staley Albright COOK: spent most of his adult life with the Burlington Times News and for many years he was its editor. He had vison and forethought and years before it happened, was telling people to go North of Burlington and build a dam for the community’s water supply. His editorials were encouraging to those who stood for good, clean government and to those with vision too plan for the future. Alamance is a better county because of the life of Staley COOK.

Flonnie Elsie COOPER, see Walter McADOO WILLIAMS.

John M. CRAWFORD: merchant, Christian gentleman, civic minded, and a Rotarian who lived up to the Rotary code of ethics and motto, “He profits most who serves best” or “Service above self.”

Dr. James Earl DANIELEY: a graduate of Elon College in 1946 and a native of Alamance Co., he served at Elon College as a chemistry professor for ten years and as Dean of the College for three years before he was named the college’s sixth president served. For over 25 years he was a member of the faculty and served over 14 years as president. He received the Master’s and Ph.D. degrees from the University of North Carolina and did post graduate work at The Johns Hopkins University. He was very active in civic and academic circles, as well as, in church work.

Jessie DAWSON, see Dr. and Mrs. Alonzo Lohr HOOK.

Simon DIXON: one of the early settlers of Snow Camp. He was a charter member of the Cane Creek Friends Church. He bought land in the area in 1751 from the Lords Proprietors. A marker honors him in the Cane Creek Friends Church cemetery.

Delos Montgomery ELDER: Born in 1868 and died in 1936. He was married to Lora Perry who was born in 1874 and died in 1942. He was a prosperous farmer and trader. They were active in the church and social activities of their community and the Burlington area.

C.B. ELLIS, Sr.: a pioneer merchant in Burlington. He was taller than the average man in his day, always looked neat, was polite and courteous and paid his bills promptly. One of his habits was to open his mail at the post office and write his checks before he left for his place of business. The old families of Alamance remember C.B. ELLIS with his horse and buggy and a sewing machine on the back of the buggy. This was the beginning of what is now the C.B. ELLIS Music Company. He had at least one son: C.B. ELLIS, Jr.

Edmund FANNING: the principal object of hatred for the Orange County Regulators, Edmund FANNING held a number of colonial posts. A lawyer, he was chosen representative to several colonial assemblies, was register of deeds for Orange County, and in 1766, was a judge of the Superior Court (Court of Oyer and Terminer and Goal Delivery). FANNING also served as a colonial in the provincial militia. FANNING was a native of Long Island, New York; he graduated from Yale College in 1757. He then studied law in New York, and came to Hillsborough in 1761. He was only 24 when he arrived. Fresh from the genteel northeast, “Ned” FANNING arrived in Hillsborough with high expectations, and he soon began to acquire wealth and influence. He was, after all, a good lawyer and an efficient government agent. He expressed educated ideals; he surrounded himself with finery; he became a friend of Governor TRYON. Befitting his position, FANNING was active in getting Hillsborough a minister, a schoolmaster, a town clock, and a marketplace. He donated a bell to the local Anglican church. But between FANNING and most Orange County citizens, there was a constant tension. The backcountry farmers and traders, not as ignorant as some believed, had needs and ambitions totally different from those of Ned FANNING. One can imagine the latter the butt of tales told in Orange County taverns, and see a dusty farmer mimic FANNING’s “dandified” mannerisms after he has passed by on Hillsborough’s main thoroughfare. As one can suspect that Ned FANNING himself was not blind to all this. Eventually an antipathy, and perhaps even a hatred, grew up between the lawyer and the less affluent citizens. Merely by following the “letter of the law,” FANNING deepened the mutual feeling of ill-will. His letters to Governor Tryon were somewhat pretentious, and it was Ned FANNING who termed the first meeting of the future Regulators “insurrectionary,” helping to close the door on their attempts to alleviate problems on a local level. But the Orange County situation worsened and the methods of the Regulators turned more and more toward violence, the citizens of Hillsborough turned to Fanning, electing him borough representative in 1770. After the Battle of Alamance, FANNING followed TRYON to New York, becoming the governor’s personal secretary. In New York, he was a colonel in the militia, commanding a regiment of Loyalists during the Revolutionary War. In 1783 he became lieutenant-governor of Novia Scotia, and later became governor of Prince Edwards Island, a post he held for almost nineteen years. By 1808, FANNING was ranked as a general of the British army. He died in London in 1818. Edmund FANNING was no villain; neither was he a model of compassion. His contempt for the backcountry man, his desire to “make a name for himself,” and his aristocratic display of wealth and education in a frontier community, all combined to provoke the Regulators and give them their needed “common enemy.”


Jesse GANT and his wife, Manerva M., of Alamance Co., NC appoint John I. ANDERSON their (power of ) attorney to demand of the Clerk and Master of the Court of Equity for Caswell Co., NC, the share of the proceeds of the lands of the late Sarah ANDERSON of said Caswell Co. “coming to said Manerva M. as one of the heirs at law of said Sarah ANDERSON.”

Roger GANT: A member of a pioneer family and a leding industrialist. He was a man of good character, high ideals, strong and determined mind, always standing for what was right.

Mr. and Mrs. James C. GARRETT: Born 1853 and died in 1900. His wife was born in 1862 and died in 1932. Both were active in working for better schools, better roads and other improvements for their community. Mrs. Garrett was appointed to the Friendship School Board as the first woman in Alamance Co. to hold such a position of that type (by Dr. W.S. LONG who was then superintendent of the county schools). After her husband’s death, she managed to give all her eight children a college education and they have made their mark in thevarious communities in which they settled. Children believed to be Rudy P. GARRETT, Walter C. GARRETT, Early B. GARRETT, Verna GARRETT RIGGINS, and Polly GARRETT DAVIS.

W. Sam GRIFFIN: a community leader and successful hosiery mill executive.

Col. Junius Hill HARDEN: a native of Alamance Co. and a pioneer in building streetcar lines from Haw River to West Burlington, in providing gas and electricity for the area, and a great salesman. He was a candidate for the U.S. Congress and original Trustee of Elon College. He was an active Christian layman and was responsible for the Rayon Company coming to Burlington in 1923 and locating at the site of the Western Electric Company.

Dr. William Allen HARPER: Elon College’s fourth president, he served from 1911 to 1931, and was the first Elon College alumnus to become an Elon president. After graduation from Elon, he taught at several preparatory schools and did his graduate work at Yale before returning to his alma mater where he held positions as Professor of Latin and Dean of the College before he assumed the presidency. After the disastrous college fire in 1923, he directed a great rebuilding program for the remainder of the 1920s.

John HINTON: Of all the patriots who lived in Wake County during the Revolution, probably the most distinguished, both as a soldier and statesman, was Colonel John HINTON, who was native of the precinct of Chowan, where his father, also named John HINTON, resided, his home being in that part of Cowan which is now Gates County. It was about the year 1750 that John CHOWAN, where his father, also named John HINTON, then in the prime vigor of manhood, first came to Johnston County. The part of Johnston in which he settled was severed in 1771, and (with parts of the counties of Orange and Cumberland) erected into the county of Wake. In 1768, when the trouble with the Regulators was in its early stages, John Chowan, where his father, also named John HINTON, then a major of Johnston County troops, went to Hillsboro to confer with Governor TRYON as to the best means of quieting the disturbances. The efforts to quell the insurrection by peaceable means having failed, TRYON raised an army in the spring of 1771, and after scattering the Regulators at the Battle of Alamance on May 16th, put an end to the revolt. In TRYON's army HINTON was one of the most trusted officers, being colonel of the Wake County detachment, and he behaved with distinguished bravery in the battle. In the war of the Revolution Colonel HINTON's efforts in the cause of colonies began early. He represented Wake County in the second independent Provincial Congress of North Carolina, which met at New Bern on the 3rd of April, 1775. At Hillsboro, in the following August, he sat in another congress of the like character. On September 9th the Hillsboro Congress elected him colonel of the troops of Wake County and member of the Committee of Safety for the Hillsboro District, of which district Wake formed a part. In the Provincial Congress at Halifax, in April, 1776, he was once more a delegate. He was also a justice of the Court of Pleas and Quarter sessions for Wake County. At the battle of Moore's Creek Bridge, on February 27th, 1776, Colonel HINTON was present, and there the same courageous spirit marked his conduct as at Alamance. The death of Colonel HINTON occurred in the spring of 1784. His wife was Grizelle KIMBROUGH, and by her he left many descendants. In the South Atlantic Quarterly Durham, North Carolina) for April, 1902, there is an account of the life of Colonel HINTON written by Miss Mary Hilliard HINTON, one of his descendants. In that sketch will be found many interesting incidences in his life and career, an account of his family and also a list of his children. Two of his sons were Revolutionary officers.

Callie HOLT, see Dr. Robert W. MORROW.

Edwin M. HOLT: founded the Old Alamance Mill. It was in this mill the first Colored Cotton Fabric was maufactured in the South. The mill was built in 1837 on Alamance River, burned and re-built in 1871.

Thomas Michael HOLT: the first native of Alamance Co. to serve as Governor of North Carolina. Governor Holt was Lt. Governor at the time of the death of Daniel G. FOWLE in 1891. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Edwin M. Holt and a member of one of North Carolina’s most prominent families. Buried in the Graham cemetery.

Dr. and Mrs. Alonzo Lohr HOOK: two of the best known and highly respected citizens of Alamance Co. Dr. HOOK came to Elon College as a student in 1909 and while there met Jessie DAWSON, who lived near Elon College, and latr they were married. They were at Elon College from then on except while Dr. HOOK was away studying at other institutions. Dr. HOOK has been Dean of the Elon College faculty, Faculty Chairman of Athletics, and practically every other title on ecould mention in connection with Elon College.

Ada CHRISMON MOORE HOOKER, was born 8 January 1894 in Alamance Co., NC, the only child of Broks CHRISMON and Lizzie FAUCETTE CHRISMON. She was first married to John MOORE. She had nine children and ten stepchildren: Bronzola MOORE, Brooks MOORE, Signora COUSIN, Nettie MOORE, Louise WARREN, George MOORE, Elizabeth GRAVES, Morgan HOOKER, Syk HOOKER, and A.D. HOOKER, all of Burlington, NC; David MOORE and Inez GRAVES, both of Baltimore, MD. Preceding her in death were Odessa MOORE, Alonza MOORE, Worth D. MOORE, Frank MOORE, Willie MOORE, Dideas MOORE, and Lacy MOORE. After the death of her first husband, HOOKER remained a widow for 15 years until she met and married Albert HOOKER. In 1999 she had 56 grandchildren, 106 Great-grandchildren, and 50 great-great-grandchildren. At age 14, she joined Clover Garden African Methodist Episcopal Church and was Mother of the Church. She also served as a Sunday School teacher and a class leader.

James HUNTER: Popularly called the “General of the Regulators,” James Hunter seems to have been genuinely interested in reform for reform’s sake. Legend has it that he was asked to command the Regulators at the Battle of Alamance but refused, commenting, “We are all free men and every man must command himself. HUNTER was born in Virginia in 1740, and was thus still a young man during the Alamance crisis. He was mentioned as a “ringleader” in several pieces of government correspondence, and was outlawed after the Battle of Alamance. Yet, his main claims to Regulator fame were (1) that he and Rednap HOWELL (an Orange County schoolmaster, traditionally known as the writer of many “Regulator ballads”) presented a Regulator petition to Governor TRYON at Brunswick Town (June, 1768), and (2) Hunter was the intended recipient of a letter written by Rednap HOWELL. This letter, intercepted by TRYON's agents in 1771, explained attempts to organize Regulator groups in the east. HOWELL also commented on the anti-govrnment resolve of the backcountry. The letter played a part in convincing the governor and council that the Regulators were bent on insurrection. After the Battle of Alamance, James HUNTER went into hiding. In 1776 he appeared again, arrested by the Whigs as a potentially dangerous Tory. He later took an oath of allegiance to the new state, represented Guilford County in the House of Commons (1778 to 1782), and at different times served as sheriff, treasurer, and county court judge in Guilford. HUNTER died in 1820, and was described by his grandson as having been

...a fine-looking man...six feet tall...the Irish brogue was distinct in his denunciation...He was a strict Presbyterian...his habits were temperate...in absence of company he was generally reading. I never saw him dressed otherwise than in black broadcloth, and his linen was always clean and fresh looking.

Herman HUSBAND: Of the major figures in the “Regulator Movement,” none was so prominent, and none so enigmatic as Herman HUSBAND. Colonial officials thought him the principal organizer and leader of the Regulators; HUSBAND himself claimed not to have been a Regulator. Herman HUSBAND came to North Carolina from Pennsylvania in the mid-1700s, and he settled in Orange County. He was soon expelled from the local Quaker congregation, apparently for his tendency to be outspoken. In and out of jail duriing the entire Regulator movement, he disappeared from the colony on the day of the Battle of Alamance. HUSBAND finally resettled in western Pennsylvania, becoming a participant in the “Whiskey Rebellion” of 1794. For this activity, he was tried in Federal court and sentenced to die, but was spared under the terms of a mass pardon issued by President WASHINGTON. HUSBAND is credited with having three published pamphlets. The first, “Some Remarks on Religion...,” appeared in the 1750s, while HUSBAND was still in Pennsylvania. Two other tracts, “An Impartial Relation,” and “A Fann for FANNING and a Touchstone for TRYON” (the latter actually a series of newspaper articles), were propaganda pieces written during and after the Regulator movement and published in the northern colonies. Herman HUSBAND began his adult life as a Quaker, but only after much youthful soul-searching. While not an “intellectual,” HUSBAND nevertheless seems to have read a great deal, being especially fond of the writings of Benjamin FRANKLIN. His religious stirrings, which put him against the Church of England, also seem to have influenced his distaste for aristocratic and federalist forms of government. Apparently the man had honest instincts as a radical reformer, but did not have the necessary will to act effectively on his convictions. Still, his ability to organize and his talents as a pamphleteer made him a Regulator hero. HUSBAND was in his mid-forties during the Regulator movement, and was described in a Regulator ballad:

Who would have tho’t Harmon, that hum drum old fox,
Who looks so bemeaning with his towsled locks,
Would have had resolution to stand to the tack;

Indeed, Herman HUSBAND (also called “Harmon Husbands”) actually seems to have lacked the necessary “resolution.” His pamphlet describing his religious experences ends on a troubled note--unresolved. In this pamphlet, the author quotes a poem he found particularly appropos to his situation:

I will To-morrow, that I will, I will be sure to do it;
To-morrow comes, To-morrow goes, and still thou art to do it:
And thus Repentance is referr’d from one Day to another,
Until the Day of Death comes on, and Judgment is the other.

Mrs. George KERNODLE: spent a lifetime trying to interest others in becoming interested in the Alamance battlefield and finding for the Battle of Alamance its proper place in history. She has been a dedicated member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and active Christian worker in educational and cultural life of the area.

Robert Thomas KERNODLE: born June 28, 1855 and died on July 12, 1938, having spent 83 years of active living in the Union Ridge area. He was one of the best loved of all the men in Alamance Co. and was helpful to many. He was Sheriff of Alamance Co. in the 1880s and 1890s. In 1894 he was elected Sheriff and again in 1896. After ten years, in 1906, he was again elected sheriff and served two years. He was not a politician, but was a popular citizen. He was one of the largest landowners in Alamance Co. with over 2500 acres of good farmland. Sheriff KERNODLE, as he was called, was the first person to evergive Elon College $5,000 at one time; he counted the $5,000 out in gold and gave it to Dr. W.A. HARPER, President of Elon College. He was a member of Bethlehem Christian Church. When Sheriff KERNODLE was approached by someone wanting to rent a farm, he would always go and look at the prospective tenant’s woodpile. If he didn’t have a good pile of wood he wouldn’t rent to him, having the philosophy that anyone who wouldn’t work for himself, wouldn’t work for anyone else. He was married twice, first to Miss Martha GRAHAM, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John A. GRAHAM. To this union were born four children: Ida Estelle KERNODLE, who married L.E. WALKER; Nannie KERNODLE; Fannie KERNODLE, married to Willis A. DAMERON; and Walter G. KERNODLE, who married Wyona SOMERS. Sheriff KERNODLE’s second marriage was to Mrs. Nannie TAPSCOTT GRAHAM, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. Marion TAPSCOTT. Sheriff KERNODLE also served in the Legislature representing Alamance Co. in 1916 and 1917. One of his great interests was fox hunting. He belonged to a club that had a lodge on what is now Fort Bragg. One of the last few hunts he went on was to Wayne Co. after he was 81 years of age. Sheriff KERNODLE has many prominent descendants now living in Alamance Co.

Grizelle KIMBROUGH, see John HINTON.

Sol. I. LEVIN: came to this country from Lithuania about 1910. He worked hard, invested wisely, and found himself at one time to be rated as one ofthe good, sound businessmen of Alamance Co. He was a good citizen and had a host of friends who admired him for his honesty and integrity.

John W. LONG: well known for his ability to supply needed materials for buidng and for the straightforward way in which he dealt with his customers and with his employees.

Dr. William S. LONG: prominent dentist in Graham for many years; founder and first president of Elon College. A true pioneer of education n the area and the first of three natives of Alamance Co. to become an Elon College president. Had a son by the same name.

Ben V. MAY: A community leader and a successful hosiery mill executive.
John A. McCALEY and his wife, Jane E., of Alamance Co., NC 16 May 1873, appoints William A. SMITH of Johnston Co., NC, (power of) attorney to collect all sums of money “Due the said Jane E. McCAULEY by reason of a certain judgment now upon the docket of the Superior Court of the said county of Johnston against one Thomas ATKINSON, who was the guardian of the said Jane E. McCAULEY.”

Dr. Robert W. MORROW: A prominent dentist and active in the business, social, and community activities of the Burlington area from the latter part of the 19th century until his death in 1926. He was married to the former Callie HOLT. Believed to have had at least one daughter: Mrs. Delores MORROW BARNWELL.

Mr. and Mrs. Green Alexander NICHOLSON: Mr. NICHOLSON born October 14, 1857 and died August 21, 1949. He married Martha Anne GARRETT who was born May 13, 1860 and died April 12, 1943. He was superintendent of the L. Banks HOLT farm, a successful farmer and prominent citizen of Alamance Co. Mrs. NICHOLSON was a music teacher.

Martha NICHOLSON, see Dr. and Mrs. J.A. PICKETT.

Martha Velna NICHOLSON, see Mr. and Mrs. Hurley E. WHITESELL.

Myrtle NICHOLSON: a native of Alamance Co., she was a teacher and inspired many young people to continue their education and to dedicate themselves to serve others. She was married to C.B. COBLE. Her talents and skills, her interest in agriculture, gardening, cultural, and spritual affairs have meant much to many.

Elvira LOWE, see Marvin Boren SMITH, Sr.

Dr. Emmett Leonidas MOFFITT: a native of Randolph Co., he was the third president of Elon College, serving from 1905 to 1911. He received his early education at Graham College, a forerunner to Elon College, where he came under the influence of Dr. Wiliam S. LONG. He received his B.A. and his Master’s degrees from Trinity College (now Duke University) just in time to become on eof the original faculty members of Elon College.

Lora PERRY, see Delos Montgomery ELDER.

Dr. and Mrs. J.A. PICKETT: Dr. PICKETT practiced medicine in the Belmont-Alamance area for over 50 years. He was married to Martha NICHOLSON. He was chairman and member of his local School Board for many years. He served in the North Carolina State legislatre for two terms. Dr. PICKETT was born in 1863 and died in 1946, leaving three chidren: Howard PICKETT, Mrs. Margaret PICKETT SNUGGS, and Mrs. Mattie PICKETT EDWARDS.

Sophia Maude POWELL: a native of Alamance Co. and finished high school at Friendship, after which she graduated at Elon College and entered the teaching profession. She married Dr. Thomas Edward POWELL, Jr. and lived in the Town of Elon College. Dr. and Mrs. POWELL had four children: Sophia POWELL, Thomas Edward POWELL, III, John POWELL, and James POWELL.

Dr. Thomas Edward POWELL, Jr.: a graduate of Elon College (M.A. from Duke, Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina). He was married to Sophia Maude POWELL. He was a member of the Alamance Co. Board of Education for 24 years. He was also Town Alderman. He took an idea, worked hard and built what was to become known the world over as the Carolina Biological Supply Company.

Thomas RUFFIN: a resident of Alamance County, he served as Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court. He was a native of Virginia and was born in 1786. He graduated from Princeton University in 1805. He studied law with his kinsman, Judge ROANE, at the same time, in whose office was General Winfield SCOTT. He moved to North Carolina and in 1813, 1815, and 1816 represented Hillsborough in the House of Commons.

Robert W. SCOTT: elected Governor of North Carolina in 1968. He was the son of Governor and Mrs. W. Kerr SCOTT and the third Alamance Co. citizen to become Governor of North Carolina.

W. Kerr SCOTT: Governor of North Carolina from 1948-1952 and later served as United States Senator. He was known for his sound philosophy and sense of humor, and was the second Alamance Co. citizen to become Governor of North Carolina.

Mr. and Mrs. Porter A. SHARPE: Porter A. SHARPE was born in 1872 and died in 1958. He married Alma Pearl SHOFFNER who was born in 1887 and died in 1968. Porter SHARPE was a large landowner and farmer in the Alamance area and ws a dealer in livestock. He was active in community affairs and in his church. They are buried at Lowe’s Lutheran Church.

Alma Pearl SHOFFNER see Mr. and Mrs. Porter A. SHARPE.

John SHOFFNER: a pioneer hosiery executive and started in the town of Alamance what became Kayser-Roth. He was proud of his community and happy that he was doing something for his people.

Dr. Leon Edgar SMITH: Elon College’s longest serving president and second alumnus to serve as president. Ordained to the ministry in 1905, he realized the need for education and came to Elon in 1906. After graduation he went on to Princeton University and received his Master’s degree and theological training there. During more than 25 years of his presidency, he brought the college through a progressive stage that saw enrollment rise from 100 students to 1,350 in his final year. After his retirement he served as President Emeritus and lived in Virgilina, VA.

Marvin Boren SMITH, Sr.: born March 14, 1877 and died May 26, 1952. He was one of the founders of Burlington Industries and a Director until his death. He was a dedicated Methodist layman, steward, and treasurer, a Rotarian and civic leader. He married Elvira LOWE, who was born December 25, 1879 and died February 14, 1969. Their son was Marvin Boren SMITH, Jr., born June 6, 1906 and died January 24, 1943; Marvin, Jr. was a Vice President of Burlington Industries.

Dr. William Wesley STALEY: a native of Alamance Co. and second president of Elon College. He prepared for college under Dr. William S. LONG and received his collegiate education at Trinity College (now Duke University) and the University of Virginia. He was president of the Southern Convention when it was voted to establish Elon and he served as one of the original trustees. From 1894 until 1905 he served as a non-resident president of the college without salary while serving his pastorate in Suffolk, Virginia, at the First Christian Church.

Mary STAPLES, see Rev. Spencer THOMAS.

Nannie TAPSCOTT, see Robert Thomas KERNODLE.

Rev. Spencer THOMAS: founded or pastored a number of black churches in Alamance Co. and surrounding area. He was the son of Laban THOMAS and was born in Wake Co., near raleigh, about the year 1840. He was a slave of the late Judge SAUNDERS of Raleigh, NC. During the Civil War, THOMAS married Mary STAPLES. They had fifteen children, ten of which died before 1993; the five remaining were Samuel B. THOMAS, William H. THOMAS, Arthur S. THOMAS, George THOMAS, and Isaiah THOMAS. After the death of Mary STAPLES, Rev. THOMAS, married Mrs. Millie WALKER, the widow of the late Albert WALKER. They had no children. THOMAS was converted during a religious protracted meeting in 1867 or 1868; later he was licensed to preach. Rev. THOMAS pastored various churches on week-ends, while working for the railroad during the week. Then he left the railroad and established his own "tin shop," which handled tin, brass, and copper. His sons assumed the tin business, as THOMAS devoted increasing time to his ministry duties. He died 20 November 1912 and his funeral was at the First Negro Baptist Church in Burlington, NC. His cemetery monument is an obelisk and it reads: Rev. Spencer THOMAS / Born Feb. 12, 1840 / Died Nov. 20, 1912 / Although he sleeps, his memory doth live."

Robert THOMPSON: the first man killed at the Battle of Alamance in 1771. He had gone to Gov. TRYON’s camp to negotiate and was kept as a prisoner. He spoke some plain truth to TRYON, and the governor grabbed a gun from a militiaman and shot him.

Charles W. TILLETT of Mecklenburg Co., NC, 23 May 1896, as Trustee appointed by Deed of Trust executed by Annie DOONAN to him on 30 November 1893, appoints E.S. PARKER of Alamance Co., NC his (power of) attorney to cancel said Deed of Trust.

Millie WALKER, see Rev. Spencer THOMAS.

Mr. and Mrs. Hurley E. WHITESELL: Hurley Elmo WHITESELL was born at Elon College on August 3, 1893, the son of Jerry A. and Emily HUFFINES WHITESELL. On December 22, 1920 he married Martha Velna NICHOLSON who was born in Alamance Co. on July 9, 1898. Mr. and Mrs. WHITESELL were both active citizens and Mr. WHITESELL served as postmaster at Elon College for many years.

Walter McAdoo WILLIAMS: Born March 1, 1891, and died May 4, 1959. Married Flonnie Elsie COOPER. Prominent churchman, mill executive, trustee of Wake Forest University and the N.C. Baptist Hospital, active in his local church and in civic affairs.