Sampson County

by Woodard, John R., Jr. John Thomas Alderman, educator, Baptist historian, and Mason, was born in Salemburg, Sampson County. His father was Amariah Biggs Alderman (1819–89), a Baptist minister in Sampson and adjoining [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Durden, Robert F. Marion Butler, agrarian leader and U.S. senator, was born near Clinton in Sampson County. His grandfather, James Butler, fought in the Revolutionary War, and his father, Wiley Butler, served in the [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Register, Alvaretta K. Richard Clinton, county and early state official, is believed to have been a natural son of John Sampson and a nephew of Colonel Charles Clinton, the father of Governor George Clinton and of General [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Woodard, John R., Jr. Needham Bryan Cobb, Baptist minister, educator, historian, and author was born in Jones County, the son of William Donnell Cobb and his wife, Ann Spicer Collier. He received his B.A. degree from The [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Moorf, Claude H. John Miller Faison, physician and congressman, was born on a plantation near Faison, the son of Henry W. and Martha Hicks Faison, the paternal grandson of Isham and Sallie Thomson Faison, and the [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Smith, Claiborne T., Jr. John Atkinson Ferrell, health director, was born in Clinton, the son of James Alexander and Cornelia Murphy Ferrell. After attending the local schools he entered The University of North Carolina [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Moore, Claude H. John Edgar Fowler, congressman, was born on his family farm in Honeycutts Township, Sampson County, the son of Miles Beatty and Mary Victoria Herring Fowler. He was a direct descendant of John Fowler [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Cheape, Kathleen S. H. Benjamin Franklin Grady, educator, soldier, congressman, and farmer, was born in Albertson Township, Duplin County, the oldest son of Alexander Outlaw and Anne Sloan Grady. His Grady forebears were [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Hawkins, Linda. John Hay, lawyer and legislator, was born in Belfast, Ireland. In 1779, while still in Ireland, he purchased 2,800 acres of land in Duplin County, formerly the property of royal governor Arthur [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Wehlitz, Lou Rogers. Jacob Franklin (Frank) Highsmith, surgeon, was born at Hives (now Roseboro), the son of John James and Mary Ann Fowler Highsmith. His father, a well-to-do farmer, supported the Confederacy and fought [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Holoman, Katherine Highsmith. John Henry Highsmith, public educator, was born in McDaniel Township, Sampson County, the son of Lewis Whitfield and Margaret Tatum Highsmith. He grew up in Durham where he was graduated from public [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Cecelski, David S. I visited with master plasterer William M. Hill at his home in Clinton, an hour southeast of Raleigh. At age 77, he is renowned for his painstaking restorations of some of the state's most historic [...] (from Listening to History, News and Observer.)

by Hirsch, Jerrold M. Hobbs, Samuel Huntington, Jr. by Jerrold M. Hirsch, 1988 4 Feb. 1895–16 Nov. 1969 Samuel Huntington Hobbs, Jr., rural sociologist, was born on a family farm near Clinton, the first son and [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Mcfarland, Daniel M. Gabriel Holmes, lawyer, governor, and congressman, was a native of Duplin (now Sampson) County. He attended Zion Parnassus Academy in Rowan County and for a time was a student at Harvard. Afterwards [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Angley, Wilson. GABRIEL HOLMES Governor: 1821-1824 by Wilson Angley Research Branch, NC Office of Archives and History, [...] (from Research Branch, NC Office of Archives and History.)

by Castel, Albert. Holmes, Theophilus Hunter by Albert Castel, 1988 13 Nov. 1804–21 June 1880 Theophilus Hunter Holmes, Confederate general, was born near Clinton in Sampson County, the son of Gabriel and [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Jones, H. G. Norman Ethre Jennett, artist, illustrator, cartoonist, and author, was born in the Grantham community of Wayne County, the son of Elijah Stanton and Clarissa King Jennett. The boy was only a year old [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Green, C. Sylvester. Amos Neill Johnson, physician, was born in Garland, Sampson County, the son of Jeff. Deems, Sr., and Mary Lily Wright Johnson. After attending the elementary school in Garland, he became a student at [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Green, C. Sylvester. Jeff. Deems Johnson, attorney and North Carolina Supreme Court justice, was born in Garland, Sampson County, the son of Jeff. Deems and Mary Lily Wright Johnson. He was the third of five children. [...] (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 Martin, John M. William Rufus Devane King, congressman, diplomat, U.S. senator, and vice-president of the United States, was born in Sampson County, the second son of William and Margaret Devane King. His father was [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Bullock, Walter Richard, Jr. Lindsay, Colin by Walter Richard Bullock, Jr., 1991 1744–1 Dec. 1817 Colin Lindsay, Presbyterian minister, was [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Parramore, Thomas C. Belvin Maynard "The Greatest Pilot on Earth" by Dr. Thomas C. Parramore Reprinted with permission from the Tar Heel Junior Historian. Fall 2003. Tar Heel Junior Historian Association, NC [...] (from Tar Heel Junior Historian, NC Museum of History.)

by Stephens, H. Kenneth, II. Allmand Alexander McKoy, politician and superior court judge, was born in Clinton, the son of Dr. William and Ann Hall McKoy. He was the grandson of Allmand Hall, a Wilmington printer and [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Carr, Eugenie W. William Belvidere Meares, lawyer, planter, and politician, was born in Spring Garden, New Hanover County, to Jane Meares, a spinster. His father was Henry Hyrne Watters, a prominent planter who [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Weare, Walter B. John Merrick, black businessman, community leader, and founder of the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company, was born in Sampson County, the son of an enslaved mother; his father is unknown. [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Bowman, Charles H., Jr. Monk, Archibald by Charles H. Bowman, Jr., 1991 ca. 20 Aug. 1788–7 June [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Bowman, Charles H., Jr. Monk, John Carr by Charles H. Bowman, Jr., 1991 19 Feb. 1827–10 Sept. [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Ingram, Charles M. Peter Weddick Moore, educator, was born near Faison in Duplin County, the son of Weddick and Alecy Thompson Moore, both enslaved people. His father allegedly was killed by the Ku Klux Klan during [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Adams, Ezra. Moore, Thomas Overton by Ezra Adams, 1991; Revised March 2022 10 Apr. 1804–25 June 1876 Thomas Overton Moore, cotton and sugar planter and governor of Louisiana, was born in [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Milner, Susan. Patrick Livingston Murphy, psychiatrist, served for almost twenty-five years as superintendent of the Western North Carolina Hospital in Morganton. He was the son of a wealthy Sampson County couple, [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Stroupe, Henry S. John Alexander Oates, editor, lawyer, and educator, was born in Piney Grove Township, Sampson County, the son of John Alexander and Mary Jewell Ashford Oates. His father was sheriff of Sampson County [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Green, C. Sylvester. John Fletcher Owen, psychiatrist, was born in Sampson County, near Roseboro, the son of John Fletcher and Eugenia Herring Owen. Both his parents died before he was nine, and he made his home with his [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Massengill, Stephen E. Edward Featherston Small, Confederate soldier, photographer, and salesman, was born near Washington, Beaufort County, the son of Henry H. and Margaret Hill Small. He was a cousin of Congressman John [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Johnston, Hugh B., Jr., Eagles, Brenda M. Owen Lun West Smith, U.S. minister to Liberia and Methodist leader, was born in Giddensville, Sampson County, the son of Ollen and Maria Hicks Smith, both of African descent. As a youth he served as [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Smith, Claiborne T., Jr. George Vaughan Strong, judge and legislator, was born near Clinton in Sampson County, the son of Dr. Salmon and Eliza Sampson Strong. The family of Dr. Strong had moved to North Carolina from Bolton, [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Harrington, Sion H., III. Tar Heels in World War II "Courage above and beyond the Call of Duty" by Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Sion H. Harrington III Reprinted with permission from the Tar Heel Junior Historian. [...] (from Tar Heel Junior Historian, NC Museum of History.)

by Powell, William S. John Huske Tillinghast, clergyman and Confederate chaplain, was born in Hillsborough, the son of Samuel Willard and Jane Burgin Norwood Tillinghast. His father was a native of Uxbridge, Mass., and [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Taylor, R. Hargus. Vann, Preston Stewart by R. Hargus Taylor, 1996 1870–27 Apr. 1954 Preston Stewart Vann, educational administrator, was born in Sampson County, the youngest of twelve children of Kedar and [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Rives, Ralph Hardee. Robert Herring Wright, teacher and educational administrator, was the first president of East Carolina Teachers Training School (later East Carolina University). He was a descendant of John (d. 4 [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)