Peacock, Dred

12 Apr. 1864–10 Mar. 1934

Dred Peacock, college president and attorney, was born in Stantonsburg of English and Scottish ancestry, the son of Dr. C. C. and Eva Heath Peacock. An outstanding student at old Trinity College and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, he received the A.B. degree in 1887, the A.M. in 1888, and the Litt.D. in 1889. In 1887 he married Ella Carr of Trinity, where the school was located, near High Point.

Peacock accepted a position at Greensboro College as professor of Latin and then served the school as president from 1894 to 1902, when he retired. Afterwards he became involved in furniture manufacturing and insurance at High Point. His love of learning prompted him to read law and he passed the North Carolina bar examination in 1912. A successful attorney, Peacock represented numerous prominent clients including McClellan Stores Corporation, of which he was an organizer and a director. He took a lively interest in educational and religious matters and, as a Democrat, in state and local government.

Peacock's avocation was the study of the French Revolution. A natural scholar, he gathered one of the finest libraries on that period—it remained intact at the home of his daughter, Mrs. J. Everett Marsh, in High Point. At the time of his death, Peacock was a member of the boards of trustees of Duke University and Greensboro College as well as chairman of the Guilford County Board of Education.