Caswell County

by Tise, Larry E. Iveson Lewis Brookes, Baptist clergyman, planter, and Southern sectionalist, was the eldest of five sons of Jonathan and Annie Lewis Brookes and was born in Rockingham County. His father was a [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Jones, H. G. Bedford Brown, farmer, legislator, and U.S. senator, was born in what is now Locust Hill Township, Caswell County, the third of eight children of Jethro Brown and Lucy Williamson Brown. He attended [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Powell, William S. John Blackwell Cobb, tobacconist and capitalist, was born in Caswell County, the son of Henry Wellington and Mary Howard Cobb. He was educated in private schools in his native county, and at the age [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Pollitt, Phoebe Ann. Originally published in "North Carolina Nursing History." Republished with permission. For personal educational use and not for further distribution. Please submit permission requests for other uses [...] (from Appalachian State University.)

by Wrenn, Tony P. Day, Thomas by Tony P. Wrenn, 1986; Revised by Jared Dease, Government and Heritage Library, December 2022.   See also: Thomas Day, Research Branch, NC Office of Archives and [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Stokes, Durward T. John DeBow, Presbyterian minister and chaplain in the American Revolution, was born in either Monmouth or Hunterdon County, N.J. He was a descendant of migrants from Amsterdam, Holland, who changed [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Keever, Homer M. Charles Force Deems, clergyman, educator, and author, is best known for his connection with the Church of the Strangers in New York City during the late nineteenth century and for his friendship with [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Powell, William S. Archibald Dixon, U.S. senator and lieutenant governor of Kentucky, was born in the Red House community of Caswell County, the son of Wynne and the grandson of Henry ("Hal") Dixon, both revolutionary [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Miller, Mark F. Henry ("Hal") Dixon, Revolutionary War officer, was born in the part of Granville County that later became Orange and then Caswell, the son of Henry Dixon, Sr. Little is known about his life before [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Hirsch, Jerrold M. Joseph Fels, soap manufacturer and reformer, was born in Halifax County, Va., the second son and fourth of seven children and the first American-born child of Lazarus and Susanna Frieberg Fels, [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Carroll, Grady L. E., Sr. Fitzgerald, Oscar Penn by Grady L. E. Carroll, 1986 24 Aug. 1829–5 Aug. 1911 Oscar Penn Fitzgerald, Methodist clergyman, editor, educator, and author, was born in Caswell County near Ruffin, [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Niswonger, Richard L. Robert Thomas Fuller, attorney, circuit judge, and planter, was born at Leasburg, Caswell County. He was graduated from The University of North Carolina in 1844 and studies law. Beginning about 1850 [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Stevenson, George, Jr. Hamilton Fulton, civil engineer, was born in Great Britain into a Scottish family presumably connected with the engineering family of that name in Glasgow. He studied under John Rennie (1761–1821), [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Humber, John L. Graves, Calvin by John L. Humber, 1986; Revised by SLNC Government & Heritage Library, June 2023 3 Jan. 1804–11 Feb. 1877 Calvin Graves, legislator, lawyer, and farmer, was born in [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Levy, Suzanne S. Henry Lee (Lea) Graves, Baptist minister, college president, and teacher, was born in Yanceyville, the son of Thomas and Mary Lee Bennett Graves. He was graduated from The University of North [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Bullock, J. Marshall. Allen Hatchett Gwyn, lawyer and judge, was born near Yanceyville, Caswell County, the son of Joseph P. and Sarah E. Hatchett Gwyn. Gwyn attended the Yanceyville graded school and received the A.B. [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Harrelson, Ronald. Herndon Haralson, soldier, politician, and planter, was born in what is now Person County, one of thirteen children of Paul and Nancy Lea Haralson. His grandfather had immigrated from Holland to [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Powell, William S. Hendrick, John Kerr by William S. Powell, 1988 10 Oct. 1847–20 June 1921 John Kerr Hendrick, [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Evans, Phillip W. On 21 Nov. 1812 Hogg became a surgeon for the First Regiment of Tennessee Volunteers, a position he held until 22 Apr. 1813. His medical talents were appreciated by Major General Andrew Jackson, who [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Bridgers, H. C., Jr. George Allen Holderness, businessman, farmer, banker, and state senator, was born in Caswell County near Milton, the son of Sarah Foreman and William H. Holderness. In his youth he was a traveling [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Ham, Marie Sharpe, Blake, Debra A., Morris, C. Edward. Holt, Louisa Matilda Moore by Marie Sharpe Ham, Debra A. Blake, and C. Edward Morris. Excerpted from North Carolina's First Ladies, 1891-2001, copyright 2001. Reprinted with permission from [...] (from North Carolina's First Ladies: 1891-2001, North Carolina Historical Publications.)

by Bair, Anna Withers, Kendall, Katharine K. Lancelot Johnston, physician, Revolutionary War surgeon, and planter, was born in Ardess, County Fermanagh, Ireland, of Scottish ancestry. He received his medical education at the Medical College of [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Jones, H. G. Richard Jones, farmer, miller, and legislator, was born in Virginia but moved to Caswell County, N.C., where he married Mary Ann ("Polley") Foster in 1811. Beginning with his wife's inherited farm on [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Jones, H. G. William Henry Jones, educator, was born in Caswell County, the son of Thaddeus Cornelius and Rebecca Jane Roberts Jones. He attended rural schools in Caswell and Rockingham counties and was graduated [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Kendall, Katharine K. John Kerr, Baptist minister and congressman, was born in Gloucester District, southern Caswell County, of Scottish and English ancestry. He was the son of Mary Graves and John Kerr, a planter. Young [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Kerr, John H., III. John Hosea Kerr, lawyer, Superior Court solicitor and judge, and congressman, was born at Yanceyville, the son of John Hosea McNeill and Eliza Catherine Yancey Kerr, great niece of Bartlett Yancey [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Kendall, Katharine K. John Kerr, Jr., congressman, judge, and legislator, was born in Halifax County, Va., of Scottish and English ancestry, the son of Elizabeth Williams and John Kerr, a Baptist minister and congressman. [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Butler, Lindley S. Lea, Solomon by Lindley S. Butler, 1991 21 Nov. 1807–30 Apr. 1897 Solomon Lea, Methodist minister and educator, was born in Leasburg, the son of William, a merchant and a county sheriff, and [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Derohan, Geoffrey A. Jacob Elmer Long, lieutenant governor, legislator, and attorney, was born in Yanceyville, the son of Jacob A. and Esta Teague Long. He received his early schooling at Graham College (1888–90) and [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Troxler, George W. Hugh McAden, Presbyterian minister, was born in Pennsylvania to "poor but pious parents" of Ulster Scots ancestry. He was graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1753 [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Alexander, Roberta Sue. Rufus Yancey McAden, legislator and financier, was born in Caswell County, a member of a distinguished North Carolina family of Scottish ancestry. His great-grandfather, the Reverend Hugh McAden, was [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Cheshire, William Polk. Montford McGehee, lawyer, planter, legislator, and public official, was born at Woodburn, his father's plantation in Person County, the youngest child of Thomas (1784–1867) and Elizabeth M. Jeffreys [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Stokes, Durward T. McGready, James by Durward T. Stokes, 1991 1763–February, 1817 James McGready, clergyman and evangelist, born in Guilford County, was the son of James and Jean McGready, who had immigrated [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Anderson, Jean B. Colonel John Moore chose a mercantile career and moved to New York, where he amassed a fortune in real estate while following his father's lead in public service. He was a member of His Majesty's [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Caldwell, Martha B. Arthur Cleveland Nash, architect, was born in Geneva, N.Y., where his father, Francis Philip Nash, was a professor of romance languages at Hobart College. His mother, Katharine Cleveland Coxe Nash, [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Wodehouse, Lawrence, Bushong, William B. William Percival, architect and civil engineer, was said to have been a British army officer who retired with the rank of cornet. According to his advertisements he had professional architectural [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Stroupe, Henry S. Edwin McNeill Poteat, clergyman and educator, was born near Yanceyville in Caswell County, the youngest of three children of James and Julia A. McNeill Poteat. His siblings were William Louis, [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Powell, William S. Poteat, Ida Isabella By William S. Powell, 1994 15 Dec. 1858–1 Feb. 1940 Ida Isabella Poteat, artist, teacher, craftsman, and patron of art, was born at Forest Home near Yanceyville in [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Woodard, John R., Jr. William Louis Poteat, educator, was born in Caswell County, the son of James and Julia A. McNeill Poteat. He was taught by a tutor and then entered the village academy at Yanceyville. In 1877 he was [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Taylor, R. Hargus. Prichard, John Lamb by R. Hargus Taylor, 1994 6 June 1811–13 Nov. 1862 John Lamb Prichard, clergyman, was the second of [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Powell, William S. Edmund Richardson, the world's largest cotton planter, was born in Caswell County, the son of James and Nancy Payne Ware Richardson. Educated in local schools, he worked on the family farm and [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Plumblee, M. Q. William Anderson Roberts, artist, farmer, and Confederate soldier of English descent, was born in new Prospect Church three miles west of Yanceyville, the son of Elijah, a farmer, and Rebecca B. [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Jones, H. G. Romulus Mitchell Saunders, lawyer, legislator, congressman, and diplomat, was born near Milton, Caswell County, to William and Hannah Mitchell Saunders. His mother died while he was an infant, and [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Jolly, Benjamin A. Ralph James Scott, congressman, state legislator, and district attorney, was born on a farm in southeastern Surry County's Shoals Township, the son of Samuel Martin and Daisy Murphy (Cook) Scott. His [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Menius, Arthur C., III. George Sims, schoolmaster and Regulator spokesman, thrust himself into the limelight with a timely appeal to the agitated people of western North Carolina and then just as suddenly disappeared from [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Sink, M. Jewell. H[arvey] Hoyle Sink, jurist, was born in the Tyro community, Davidson County, a son of Thomas Franklin and Martha Anne Lanning Sink. The Sink (Zink or Zinck) family emigrated from Germany to [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Tilley, Nannie M. Abisha Slade, tobacco farmer and local politician, was born in Caswell County, the son of Ezekiel, a planter of northern Caswell County, and Mary Hubbard Slade. Reared in a comfortably situated [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Gaddy, David Winfred. John Baptist Smith, Confederate army signal officer and inventor of a forerunner of naval blinker signaling, was born at Hycotee in Caswell County, the fifth child of Richard Ivy (an 1820 graduate of [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Gaddy, David Winfred. Andrew Jackson Stedman, journalist, lawyer, minister, and Confederate officer, was born in Gatesville, the fifth son of William Winship (1798–1836) and Rebecca Walton Stedman (1794–1873) of Chatham [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Trelease, Allen W. John Walter Stephens, Republican state senator from Caswell County assassinated by the Ku Klux Klan, was born near Bruce's Cross-roads, Guilford County, the son of Absalom and Letitia Stephens. As a [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Dalton, Carol E. Richard Sterling, educator, publisher, and mayor, was born in County Down, Ireland. When he was twelve, his parents immigrated to the United States and settled in Newburgh, N.Y. He received an A.M. [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Wyllie, Robert J. George William Swepson, businessman and Republican activist during Reconstruction, was born in Mecklenburg County, Va., but in the early 1840s moved to Caswell County, N.C., where he is said to have [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Price, Joseph L., Jr. Edward H[enry?] Tarrant, soldier, and Texas official, was born in North Carolina, probably in Caswell County, as one Henry Tarrant was active there between 1799 and 1801. Manlove Tarrant [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Davis, Sarajanee. Day, Thomas  Fine-Crafted Freedom By Sarajanee Davis, N.C. Government & Heritage Library, 2019; Revised December 2022. From the NCpedia K-8 Collection Ca. 1801-1861 Do you [...] (from NCpedia K-8 Collection.)

by Stone, Richard G., Jr. Jacob Thompson, Mississippi congressman, secretary of the interior, and Confederate agent in Canada, was born in Leasburg, Caswell County, one of nine children of Nicholas and Lucretia Van Hook [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Gillespie, James D. Marmaduke Williams, congressman, legislator, and judge, was born in Caswell County, the son of Nathaniel, a member of the Provincial Congress, and Mary Ann Williamson Williams. Educated locally, he [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Reed, Andrew. Dr. James Edwards Williamson was a physician and well-known politician in Caswell County, North Carolina. Born August 13, 1799 in Caswell County, Dr. Williamson was a graduate of the University of [...] (from NCpedia.)

by Bair, Anna Withers. James Nathaniel Williamson, cotton manufacturer, was born at Poplar Grove, the family plantation in Caswell County, the youngest child of Thomas and Frances Pannill Banks Farish Williamson. Thomas [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Bair, Anna Withers. James Nathaniel Williamson, Jr., cotton manufacturer, was born at the family home in Graham, the second son of James Nathaniel and Mary Elizabeth Holt Williamson. His paternal grandfather, Thomas [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Bair, Anna Withers. Thomas Farish Williamson, early tobacco manufacturer, planter, and church leader, was born at the family plantation, Poplar Grove, in the Stoney Creek Township of Caswell County, the second son of [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Powell, William S. Wilson, Franklin Inge (Frank.) by William S. Powell, 1996 1822–16 June [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Butts, Donald C. John Reynolds Winston, farmer, soldier, and politician, was born in Leaksville, the son of Edward and Susan Reynolds Winston. He received his early education in the local primary school and at the [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Gass, W. Conard. Bartlett Yancey, lawyer, congressman, and longtime state senator, was born at the Yancey family homestead in Caswell County, now within the limits of the county seat, later (1833) named Yanceyville [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Kendall, Katharine K. James Yancey, legislator, merchant, planter, public official, and educator, was born in Gloucester District, Orange (now Caswell) County, of English and Welsh ancestry, the son of Bartlett, Sr., and [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)