Little, William Person [1]
Little, William Person
12 Nov. 1765–19 July 1829
William Person Little, state official, militia officer, and horse breeder, was born in Hertford County [2], the son of George and Mary Ann Person Little. Adopted by his uncle, General Thomas Person [3], from whom he inherited considerable money and land, he was educated at a school near Williamsboro in Granville County [4]. As a planter he named his home in eastern Warren County [5] Little Manor, from which the town of Littleton took its name. Mosby Avenue in the town was once the track where he raced his fine horses.
Little was a delegate from Hertford County to the Hillsborough Convention of 1788 [6], which refused to ratify the U.S. Constitution. In 1791 he was elected a member of the Council of State [7] but apparently declined to serve. He was a member of the state senate from Granville County [4] from 1792 to 1798 and from Warren County from 1804 to 1806. For many years he was a justice of the peace in Warren County and a colonel in the militia. He founded a school in Littleton, where he also served as postmaster. On 27 Dec. 1787 Little took part in drawing up the Masonic [8] "declaration of independence" from the British lodge.
In October 1798 he married Ann Hawkins of Pleasant Hill, Warren County, daughter of Philemon Hawkins, Jr., and sister of William Hawkins [9], governor of North Carolina from 1811 to 1814. They became the parents of George, Thomas Person, Susan, Lucy, Mary, Minerva, and William P., Jr. A portrait of Little hangs in the Mordecai House in Raleigh. He was buried at Little Manor, still owned by a descendant.
References:
John L. Cheney, Jr., ed., North Carolina Government, 1585–1974 (1974).
Estate Papers, Little-Mordecai Papers (North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh).
Manly Wade Wellman, The County of Warren, North Carolina, 1586–1917 (1959).
1 January 1991 | Skinner, Sue Dossett