Chowan County

by Fant, H. B. William Allen, congressman, governor of Ohio, lawyer, and nationally prominent Democratic leader, was born in Edenton, one of three natural sons of Nathaniel Allen (ca. 1755–1805) and Fanny Coulston. [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Parramore, Thomas C. Benjamin Allison, physician and member of Parliament, was a native of Sutton-cum-Lound, England. He was educated at East Retford Free Grammar School and trained with Joseph Bright, a surgeon of [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Smith, Claiborne T., Jr. John Alston, early settler, is remembered more as the progenitor of a family whose members have played significant political and social roles in North Carolina than as an important figure in his own [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Martin, Michael G., Jr. Penelope Barker, revolutionary patriot, was born in Edenton, Chowan County. Her parents were Samuel Padgett, physician and planter, and Elizabeth. Penelope Barker's mother, Elizabeth Blount [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Martin, Michael G., Jr. Thomas Barker, lawyer and political leader, was born in the colony of Rhode Island. Little is known of his ancestry or life before he moved to North Carolina. He received legal training in Rhode [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Lemmon, Sarah McCulloh. Frederic Beasley, Episcopal clergyman and philosopher, was born near Edenton, the son of John Beasley and Elizabeth Blount Beasley. His mother was a sister of James Blount, owner of Mulberry Hill, [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Johnson, Elmer D. Thomas Benbury, revolutionary leader, was born in Chowan County of English ancestry. His father was John Benbury; his grandfather, William Benbury, came from England to settle near Edenton about [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Smith, Claiborne T., Jr. Angelo Ames Benton, Episcopal clergyman and scholar, was born at Canea on the island of Crete. His father, the Reverend George Benton, was serving at the time as an Episcopal missionary in Greece. In [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Holloman, Charles R. John Blacknall, Anglican missionary, came to North Carolina from London in the retinue of Sir Richard Everard, who arrived in Edenton in July 1725 as the governor newly appointed by the Lords [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Lemmon, Sarah McCulloh. Frederick Blount, physician, the oldest son of James and Ann Hall Blount, was born at Mulberry Hill Plantation, Edenton. He is not to be confused with his uncle, Frederick Blount. His maternal [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Nash, Jaquelin Drane, Flowers, John B., III. John Blount, member of the council and justice of the general court, was the son of Captain James Blount of Chowan County and his first wife, whose name is not known. The elder Blount came to Chowan [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Parramore, Thomas C. William Hill Brown, novelist and poet, was born in Boston, Mass., the son of Gawen Brown, a noted clockmaker, and Elizabeth Hill Adams Brown. At the age of twenty-three, Brown published a novel [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Johnston, Hugh B., Jr. Lemuel Burkitt, Baptist clergyman, member of the Hillsborough convention of 1788, and author of religious and other works, was born in the neighborhood of Yeopim Baptist Church, a few miles east of [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Price, William S., Jr. George Burrington, colonial governor, was born in Devonshire, England. His father was Gilbert Burrington, and his relatives were among the earliest supporters of William III in the Glorious [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Delp, Robert W. Cabarrus, Stephen by Robert W. Delp, 1979; Revised by NC Government & Heritage Library, August 2022 See also: Speaker of the Assembly   August 29, 1754 - August [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Nash, Jaquelin Drane. Joseph Blount Cheshire, Episcopal clergyman and botanist, was born in Edenton, the second of nine children, of whom only he and two sisters grew to maturity. His father was John Cheshire, a [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Stevenson, George, Jr. Thomas Child was an attorney general, legislator, as well as an agent and attorney to John Carteret. Child was born in 1720 or 1721 in the vicinity of Sudbury, Suffolk County, England. He was the [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Dunaway, Stewart. William Churton began working as a surveyor and cartographer for the Granville Land District beginning in 1748 soon after arriving in America from London, England. His English heritage dates back to [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Powell, William S. Josiah Collins, II, planter, merchant, and banker, the son of Josiah Collins, Sr., and his wife, Ann Lewis, was born at Islington, London. In 1773 he came with his father to America, where they lived [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Menius, Arthur C., III. Josiah Collins, III, planter, the son of Josiah Collins II and his wife, Ann Rebecca Daves, was born probably in Edenton. Growing up with almost every conceivable advantage available to a youth in [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Menius, Arthur C., III. Josiah Collins, Sr., merchant, politician, manufacturer, land speculator, and enslaver was born in Taunton, Somersetshire, England, the son of Joan and David Collins. Little is known of his early [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Stevenson, George, Jr. Corbin, Francis by George Stevenson, 1979; Revised by Andrea Smythe, November 2023  d. 1767 Francis Corbin was a council member, judge of the court of admiralty, associate [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Price, William S., Jr. James Craven, member of the royal council, was a native of Droughton in Yorkshire, England. Although the date of his immigration to North Carolina is unknown, he was serving as clerk of the court in [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Parker, Mattie E. E. William Crawford (Crafford), council member and leader in Culpeper's Rebellion, came to the North Carolina colony, then called Albemarle, in his mid-twenties. A contemporary document calls him a New [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Dease, Jared, Putt, Alyssa. Richard Benbury Creecy, author and newspaper editor, was born at Greenfield Plantation near Edenton, NC. He was a son of Joshua Skinner and Mary Benbury Creecy. His grandfather was Lemuel [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Green, C. Sylvester. William Cumming was an attorney, legislator, enslaver, and member of the Continental Congress. He was born in Annapolis, Maryland and was the son of Elizabeth Courcey and William [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Moore, James Elliott. William Johnston Dawson, congressman, was born near Edenton in Chowan County, the son of Colonel John Dawson, member of the provincial council, and Penelope Johnston, daughter of Governor Gabriel [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Powell, William S. Richard Dillard, physician and local historian, was born at Farmers Delight, his father's plantation in Nansemond County, Va. The son of Dr. Richard and Mary Louisa Beverly Cross Dillard, he was [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Evans, Esther. Richard Dillard Dixon, businessman, lawyer, clerk of court and superior court judge, and judge of the United States Military Tribunals, was born in Edenton, a descendant of distinguished eastern [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Powell, William S. Henry A. Donaldson, merchant and builder of cotton mills, appears in Edenton, Chowan County, in 1807 when he married Elizabeth McDonald whose father apparently was a merchant in that county. [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Brewster, Lawrence F. Robert Brent Drane, episcopal clergyman, was born in Wilmington, the son of the Reverend Robert Brent Drane and Catherine Caroline Parker Hargrave. After his father's death in 1862, he was reared at [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Troxler, George W. Daniel Earl, Anglican clergyman, school teacher, and missionary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, was born in Bandon, County Cork, Ireland, the youngest son of an Irish nobleman. [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

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

by Powell, William S. John Elmsley, chief justice of Canada, was born in Halifax, the son of Alexander Elmsley and his wife. He moved to England with his parents in the summer of 1768 and was graduated from Oriel College, [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Powell, William S. Everard, Sir Richard by William S. Powell, 1986 24 June 1683–17 Feb. 1733 See also: Sir Richard Everard, Research Branch, NC Office of Archives and History Sir Richard Everard, governor, [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Taylor, R. Hargus. Finch, Josiah John by R. Hargus Taylor, 1986 3 Feb. 1814–21 Jan. 1850 Josiah John Finch, clergyman and educator, was born in Franklin County, the fourth child and oldest son of Caswell and [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Moore, James Elliott. Frederick FitzGerald, Episcopal clergyman and Confederate chaplain, was born in London but came to North Carolina at an early age and was reared in the family of Josiah Collins at Scuppernong. [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Walser, Richard. Fletcher, (Minna) Inglis by Richard Walser, 1986 20 Oct. 1879–30 May 1969 (Minna) Inglis Fletcher, novelist, was born in Alton, Ill., of English ancestry, the daughter of Maurice William and [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Spicer, Shirl. With fists raised, members of the audience paid homage to “The Great Agitator” on July 24, 2004, as North Carolina laid to rest one of its greatest unsung heroes of the Civil Rights movement—Golden [...] (from Tar Heel Junior Historian, NC Museum of History.)

by Price, William S., Jr. Edmund Gale, provincial official, was the son of Miles (1647–1721) and Margaret Stone Gale. His father, an Anglican clergyman, was rector of Keighley in Yorkshire, England; his mother was a daughter [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Smith, Claiborne T., Jr. Angelo Garibaldi, steamboat captain and shipbuilder, was born in Italy of unknown parentage. He is said to have come to Baltimore as a boy with an uncle. On the death of this relative, young [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Everhart, James D., Jr. Alfred Moore Gatlin, lawyer and congressman, was born in Edenton, one of six children of James and Mary Gatlin of Craven County. Alfred's older brother James, Jr., was the father of Radford Gatlin, [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Bullock, J. Marshall. Arthur Goffe, Council member and receiver general of North Carolina, was living in the colony by 1723. On 15 January of that year, after he produced for Governor Burrington and the Council his [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Paschal, Herbert R., Jr. Charles Griffin, first known schoolteacher in North Carolina, Brafferton Professor at Virginia's College of William and Mary, and a pioneer in the education of the southern Indian, was born probably [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Powell, William S. Clement Hall, Anglican missionary and author, was born in Warwickshire, England, probably in or near Coventry where he is known to have had relatives. He was baptized at St. Mary's Church, Warwick, [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Price, William S., Jr. Robert Halton, colonial official, first appears in North Carolina when he took the oaths of a royal councillor in Edenton, 25 Feb. 1731. He seems to have been a soldier in England and may have known [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Crawford, Jon G. Daniel Hanmer, colonial chief justice and councillor, was described by Governor George Burrington as "bred to the profession of the Law"; he was a nephew of Sir Thomas Hanmer, the leading Tory member [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Lennon, Donald R. Cornelius Harnett, colonial official, planter, and innkeeper, formerly a merchant of Dublin, Ireland, settled in Chowan County by 1720. In 1722, when he sold land on Queen Anne's Creek to Chief [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Lennon, Donald R. Harnett, Cornelius, Jr. by Donald R. Lennon, 1988; Revised by Jared Dease, Government and Heritage Library, December 2022; Revised by SLNC Government and Heritage Library, June 2023 20 Apr. [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Cecelski, David S. Christmas serenaders don't visit Rockyhock anymore, but their spirit can still be heard at David Harrell's music jamborees. Every Friday night, he hosts a crowd of country, bluegrass and gospel [...] (from Listening to History, News and Observer.)

by Paschal, Herbert R., Jr. James Robert Bent Hathaway, businessman and historical editor, was born in Edenton. The Hathaway family, of Welsh origin, migrated in the mid-eighteenth century from Dartmouth, Mass., and settled [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by London, Lawrence F. John Hooker Haughton, lawyer and planter, son of John and Mary Ryan Hooker Haughton, was born in Chowan County. His parents later moved to Tyrrell, his mother's home county. He received his [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Robertson, Henry A., Jr. Peter Henley, chief justice of North Carolina, was the son of John Henley of Wotton Abbas, Dorset, a member of Parliament. The family had been granted Wotton Abbas early in the reign of Queen Anne. [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Martin, Michael G., Jr. Hewes, Joseph by Michael G. Martin, Jr., 1988; Revised by Andrea Smythe, SLNC Government and Heritage Library, December 2023  July 9, 1730–November 10, 1779 Joseph Hewes, merchant, [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Stumpf, Vernon O. John Hodgson, Edenton lawyer, attorney general, assemblyman, speaker of the house, provincial treasurer, judge of the admiralty court, and commissary of North Carolina troops in the War of Jenkins' [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Stumpf, Vernon O. John Hodgson, II, Chowan plantation owner and Edenton merchant, was the son of John Hodgson, attorney general, assemblyman, and provincial treasurer, and Elizabeth Pagett Hodgson. Upon the death of [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Parker, Mattie E. E. Robert Holden (Holding), Council member, secretary, customs collector, receiver general, and escheator, was identified in January 1678/79 as a "Merchant Lately belonging to Virginia and now bound for [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Horne, Meade B. B. Charles W. Hoskins, army officer, was born in Edenton. The records of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point indicate that he and his father attested that he was eighteen at the time of his [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Crabtree, Beth G. James Iredell, Jr., U.S. senator, North Carolina governor, general of state militia, and Superior Court judge, was born in Edenton. His father was James Iredell, Sr., well-known jurist and member of [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Yellin, Jean Fagan. Harriet Jacobs by Jean Fagan Yellin, Revised March 2022 by NC Government and Heritage Library  See also: Harriet Ann Jacobs for K-8 students February 11, 1813 [or 1815] - March 7, [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Price, William S., Jr. Joseph (or James) Jenoure, colonial official, first occurs in the records of North Carolina in the 1720s. A resident of Edenton, he appeared before Governor Richard Everard and the Council on 28 May [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Moore, James Elliott. Charles Johnson, state senator and congressman, was born in Scotland. According to family tradition, he was a member of the great Johnston family in southern Scotland. As a youth he took part in the [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Nash, Jaquelin Drane. Gabriel Johnston, second royal governor of North Carolina, was born in Southdean, Borders Region, Scotland, where he was baptized on 28 Feb. 1698, the son of the Reverend Samuel and Isobel Hall [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Bair, Anna Withers. Johnston, Samuel by Anna Withers Bair, 1988; Revised by SLNC Government and Heritage Library, February 2023 15 Dec. 1733–17 Aug. 1816 See also: Samuel Johnston, Research Branch, NC Office of [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Lowry, Charles B. Frederick Jones, merchant, lawyer, and planter, was a member of that class of Virginians called by Carl Bridenbaugh "First Families of the Chesapeake," families often founded by sea captains such as [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Powell, William S. Thomas Jones, lawyer and colonial and state official, a native of Gloucestershire, England, was clerk of court in Chowan County in 1758. Because there were numerous men of the same name in the [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Linn, Jo White. Jesse Lee, a pioneer Methodist preacher in North Carolina and "the apostle of Methodism to New England," was born in Prince George County, Va., the son of Nathaniel and Elizabeth Lee, prosperous [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Skinner, Sue Dossett. George Little, soldier, county official, and planter, was born in Chowan County, the son of Chief Justice William and Penelope Gale Little, daughter of Chief Justice Christopher and Sarah Laker [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Watson, Alan D. William Little, merchant, planter, and politician, was the son of Lieutenant Isaac and Bethiah Little. Born in Marshfield, Mass., he was graduated from Harvard in 1710, seventh in a class of [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Price, William S., Jr. Lovick, John by William S. Price, Jr., 1991; Revised by SLNC Government and Heritage Library, December 2022 d. 2 Nov. 1733 See also: Lovick, [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Pennywitt, Neil C. Thomas Lovick, assemblyman, member of the General Court, and militia colonel, held a variety of governmental posts in eastern North Carolina. The older brother of John Lovick, he was born in Chowan [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Troxler, George W. Peter Mallett, Jr., merchant and Revolutionary commissary officer, was born in Connecticut of French Huguenot ancestry. His father, Peter Mallett, Sr., the youngest of five children of David Mallett [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Manning, Elizabeth W. John Manning, naval commander, was born in Edenton, the son of Joseph and Sarah Pell Manning. His father was a captain of a volunteer company in the War of 1812. John Manning was appointed a [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Manning, Elizabeth W. John Manning, Jr., lawyer, congressman, and teacher, was born at Edenton. His grandfather, Joseph Manning, was the first of the family to settle in North Carolina; in 1803 Joseph left the plantation [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Manning, John T. Thomas Courtland Manning, minister to Mexico, lawyer, and chief justice of Louisiana, was born in Edenton, the son of Joseph and Sarah Haughton Manning. In the 1840s he attended The University of [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Moore, Elizabeth Vann. John Mare, painter, merchant, and politician, was born in New York City, the oldest child of John and Mary Bes Mare. His father was from Devonshire, England, and his mother was presumably of Dutch [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Carraway, Gertrude S. Richard Sharpe Mason, Episcopal clergyman and educator, was born on the island of Barbados in the West Indies and came to the United States with his parents when he was quite young. In 1812, at age [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Lowry, Charles B. Maule, William by Charles B. Lowry, 1991; Revised by Jared Dease, Government and Heritage Library, December [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Price, William S., Jr. Alexander McCulloch, provincial official, was the son of James McCulloch of Great Britain. He was residing in North Carolina as early as 1745 and serving as deputy auditor of the province in Edenton. [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Green, C. Sylvester. Harry McMullan, Sr., attorney general of North Carolina, was born in Edenton, the son of Dr. James Henry and Carolina Tucker McMullan. He attended Edenton Academy and at age seventeen entered The [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Sims, E. Thomas. Thomas Shelton McMullan, physician and author, was born in Hertford, Perquimans County, the son of William Thomas, a merchant, farmer, and mayor of Hertford, and Sally Wood McMullan. His first known [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Smith, Claiborne T., Jr. William Skipwith Mearns, eccentric, was the son of William Mearns, clerk of court for Chowan County (1748–50) and Currituck County (1757–58), and his wife Dorothy Skipwith, the daughter of Sir [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Neville, John D. Cosimo de Medici, Revolutionary War officer, was probably born in Italy; however, little is known about him either before he came to North Carolina or after he left. Letters for him arrived in [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Johnson, Mary Lynch. Thomas Meredith, minister and editor, was born in Warwick Township, Bucks County, Pa., the son of John, a prosperous farmer, and Charlotte Hough Meredith. John Meredith's great-grandfather, Simon [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Hurley, Marshall. John Montgomery, chief justice, attorney general, and Assembly member in colonial North Carolina, was appointed attorney general on 23 Aug. 1723 during the administration of Governor William Reed, [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Bell, John L., Jr. William Armistead Moore, lawyer, judge, and Confederate officer, was the oldest of seven children of Susan Jordan Armistead and Augustus Moore of Edenton; he had four brothers and two sisters. His [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Price, William S., Jr. Edward Moseley, colonial official, may have been the single most important political figure in the first half of the eighteenth century in North Carolina. He was a man of great and varied skills: [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Parramore, Thomas C. William Hardy Murfree, attorney and congressman, was born at Murfree's Ferry (now Murfreesboro), the son of Hardy and Sally Brickell Murfree. He was graduated from The University of North Carolina in [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Nash, Jaquelin Drane. Nash, Abner by Jaquelin Drane Nash, 1991; Revised by SLNC Government and Heritage Library, March 2023 ca. 1740–2 Dec. 1786 See also: Abner Nash, Research Branch, NC Office of Archives and [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Smith, Claiborne T., Jr. Thomas Newnam, Anglican clergyman, was born in England and moved to North Carolina in 1722 as a missionary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. He began his work in [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Sanders, John L. William Nichols, architect and builder, was born in Bath, County Somerset, England, and probably received his early training in England. Arriving in North Carolina in 1800, he was a resident of New [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Gass, W. Conard. Norcom, James, Sr. by W. Conard Gass, 1991; Revised by SLNC Government and Heritage Library, December 2022 29 Dec. 1778–9 Nov. 1850 See also: Jacobs, Harriet James Norcom, Sr., physician, [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Price, William S., Jr. William Owen, colonial official, was appointed an assistant justice of the North Carolina General Court by Governor George Burrington in October 1732. He quickly appealed to Burrington, who was [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Williams, Max R. Robert Treat Paine, lawyer, shipper, and politician, was born in Edenton. Little is known of his ancestry but the family was apparently well-to-do. He was graduated from Washington (now Trinity) [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Stevenson, George, Jr., Smythe, Andrea. Paul Palmer was a general Baptist clergyman and a founding father of Baptists in the upper South. Morgan Edwards’ 1772 account of Baptist History in North Carolina states that Palmer was born in [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Stevenson, George, Jr. Joseph Parker, general Baptist (now Free Will Baptist) clergyman, founded churches in Halifax, Pitt, Greene, and Lenoir counties. According to tradition, he was a member and probable pastor of the [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Lemmon, Sarah McCulloh. Charles Pettigrew, clergyman, planter, and educator, was born on the Pennsylvania frontier, the sixth of eleven children and the third son of James and Mary Cochran Pettigrew, both immigrants from [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Lemmon, Sarah McCulloh. Ebenezer Pettigrew, planter, U.S. congressman, and state senator, was born near Edenton of Irish and Scottish ancestry, the son of the Reverend Charles Pettigrew, planter and first bishop-elect of [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Lee, Robert E. George Phenney, governor of the Bahama Islands, customs collector in the southern colonies, and Council member, served effectively in the Bahamas from 1721 to 1727, between the two administrations of [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Carroll, Grady L. E., Sr. Joseph (or Pillmore Pilmore, Pilmoor, clergyman, was born in Tadmouth, Yorkshire, England, to parents who were members of the Church of England. At sixteen he became acquainted with John Wesley [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Stumpf, Vernon O. Cullen Pollock, colonial official, was the son of acting governor Thomas Pollock by his first wife, Martha Cullen West Pollock, the second of their three sons and one daughter who lived to adulthood, [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Price, William S., Jr., Smith, Claiborne T., Jr. Edmund Porter, colonial official, was born in Lower Norfolk County, Va., the son of John Porter (d. 1712) and his wife Mary. He was the brother of John Porter, a leading figure in the pro-Cary forces [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Smith, Claiborne T., Jr. John Porter, legislator, was the son of John Porter (d. 1712). He moved from Chowan County to the area around Bath Town at an early date. In the Tuscarora uprising in 1711, the home of John Porter at [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Smith, Claiborne T., Jr. John Porter, colonial official and ring-leader of Cary's Rebellion, was born in that part of Lower Norfolk County, Va., which after 1691 became the county of Princess Anne. He was the son of John [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Copeland, Elizabeth H. William Dossey Pruden, lawyer, churchman, and Confederate officer, was born near Harrellsville, a son of Nathaniel and Martha Garrett Riddick Pruden. After attending Union Male Academy in his home [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Bullock, J. Marshall. Whitmell Hill Pugh, physician, planter, and state legislator, was one of ten children born to William Scott and Winifred Hill Pugh of Bertie County. The Pughs, who had moved to Bertie County in the [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Smith, Claiborne T., Jr. Giles Rainsford, Anglican clergyman, was born in Dublin, Ireland, the son of Mark Rainsford. A pensioner at Trinity College in Dublin on 2 Apr. 1695, he received an A.B. from Trinity in 1699 and an [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Smith, Claiborne T., Jr. Frederick Ramcke, physician, first appeared in North Carolina in 1783. His antecedents are unknown. His involvement in a large debt to a New York physician at the end of his life suggests a prior [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Price, William S., Jr. Rieusset, John by William S. Price, Jr., 1994; Revised December 2021 d. 1763 See also:  Hayes Plantation John Rieusset (Variants: Rieusett, Rieuset, Rieussetts), colonial [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Woodard, John R., Jr. Martin Ross, Baptist minister, was born in Martin County, the son of William and Mary Griffin Ross. His ancestors had emigrated from Scotland to Virginia, and his father moved from there to North [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Jennette, B. Culpepper, Jr., Smythe, Andrea. Saunders, William Oscar by B. Culpepper Jennette, Jr., 1994; Revised by Andrea Smythe, SLNC Government and Heritage Library, October 2023 May 24, 1884–April, 25 1940 William Oscar [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Cumming, William P. Claude Joseph Sauthier, one of the ablest civilian and military surveyors and mapmakers of the Revolutionary period, was born in Strasbourg, Alsace, the eldest child of Joseph Philippe, a saddler, [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Mcfarland, Daniel M. From 1829 to 1832 Sawyer represented the borough of Edenton in the General Assembly, where he was identified with the antitariff group. In both 1831 and 1832 he was an unsuccessful candidate for [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Nash, Jaquelin Drane. Skinner, Joseph Blount by Jaquelin Drane Nash, 1994; Revised by Jared Dease, Government and Heritage Library, January 2023 18 Jan. 1781–22 Dec. 1851 Joseph Blount Skinner, lawyer, [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Nash, Jaquelin Drane. Thomas Harvey Skinner, Presbyterian clergyman and founder of Union Theological Seminary, was born at Harveys Neck, Perquimans County, the seventh of thirteen children. His father, Joshua, was a [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Cecelski, David S. Dr. James Slade is the sort of impossibly old-fashioned doctor who still makes house calls and has never thought about joining an HMO. For 35 years he has been practicing pediatrics and general [...] (from Listening to History, News and Observer.)

by Parker, Mattie E. E. Anthony Slocum (or Slockum, Slocombe, Slokum), Council member, Assembly member, judge, and leader in Culpeper's Rebellion, was born in England, probably in Somersetshire, where members of the Slocum [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Lee, Charles R., Jr. Smith, Robert Hardy by Charles R. Lee, Jr., 1994 21 Oct. 1813–13 Mar. 1878 Robert Hardy Smith, lawyer, member of the Provisional Congress of the Confederacy, and a colonel in the Confederate [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Parker, Mattie E. E. Edward Smithwick (or Smethwick, Smithwike), Council member, Assembly member, and justice, was probably born in Virginia. His parents were Hugh, who migrated to Virginia before May 1642, and Elizabeth [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Parker, Mattie E. E. Anna Willix Riscoe Blount Sothel (or Sothell), wife of Governor Seth Sothel, was the daughter of Belshazzar Willix of Exeter, N.H., and his wife Anna. Her father, described as "a man of more than [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Green, C. Sylvester. John Barham Spilman, business educator and college administrator, was born in Weldon, the son of Bushrod Washington and Helva Roxanna Barham Spilman. His father, a native of Westmoreland County, Va., [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Stevenson, George, Jr. William Surginer, General Baptist leader who established churches in present Warren, Halifax, Edgecombe, and Nash counties, was a major figure in North Carolina colonial Baptist history. He is said [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Stumpf, Vernon O. John Swan (or Swann), political leader and and state senator, was the son of John Swan, a prosperous planter living in Pasquotank County in 1760 and a councillor to Governor Arthur Dobbs. The elder [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Smith, Claiborne T., Jr. Eben-Ezer Taylor, clergyman, was born in England and moved to South Carolina at an undetermined date as a minister to the dissenters in that colony. There he gained the attention of the governor, Sir [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Stevenson, George, Jr., Smythe, Andrea. Urmston, John by George Stevenson, 1996; Revised by Andrea Smythe, SLNC Government and Heritage Library, October 2023 1662?–November 1731 John Urmston, Anglican clergyman and [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Smith, William S., Jr. Edward Vail, colonial official and member of a large and active family, joined his brother John in 1749 in petitioning the Chowan County Court for permission to operate a mill near Sandy Point. [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Smith, William S., Jr. Jeremiah Vail, local and provincial official, one of several of this name, began to be involved in a number of land transactions and other legal causes in Chowan County beginning in 1697, when he [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Parker, Mattie E. E. Walker, Henderson by Mattie Erma E. Parker, 1996; Revised by Jared Dease, Government and Heritage Library, January 2023 ca. 1659–14 Apr. 1704 See also Henderson Walker, Research Branch, NC [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Long, Dorothy. Edward Warren, physician and surgeon, the son of Dr. William C. and Harriet J. Alexander Warren, was born in Tyrrell County, but both of his parents were of prominent Virginia families. His father [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Smith, Claiborne T., Jr. William Edwards Webb, educator, legislator, and first professor of classics at The University of North Carolina, was probably born in the town of Halifax, the son of John and Rebecca Edwards Webb. [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Smith, Claiborne T., Jr. Weddell, Alexander Watson by Claiborne T. Smith, Jr., 1996 20 May 1840–6 Dec. 1883 Alexander Watson Weddell, clergyman, was born in Tarboro, the son of James and Margaret Ward Weddell. [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Houghton, Jonathan. Robert Henry Winborne Welch, Jr., businessman and founder of the John Birch Society, was born in Chowan County, the son of Robert H. W. and Lina V. James Welch. The first of his paternal ancestors [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Pennywitt, Neil C. Robert West, member of the colonial Assembly and the Council, active in Indian affairs, and a militia officer, was born in Chowan County, the son of Robert and Martha West. After his father died in [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Cecelski, David S. I visited Mary White in her hometown of Belvidere, a predominantly Quaker community in Perquimans County, in northeastern North Carolina. She was one of thousands of mostly young, single women who [...] (from Listening to History, News and Observer.)

by Walser, Richard. Whittlesey, Sarah Johnson Cogswell By Richard Walser, 1996 24 Aug. 1824–14 Feb. 1896 Sarah Johnson Cogswell Whittlesey, writer, was born in Williamston, the oldest child of Luman and Elizabeth [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Parker, Mattie E. E. William Wilkison (or Wilkeson, Wilkinson), Council member, justice, and speaker of the Assembly, moved from Maryland to the North Carolina colony, then called Albemarle, in the 1670s and soon became [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Humber, John L. Hugh Williamson, educator, physician, legislator, merchant, scientist, scholar, and signer of the U.S. Constitution for North Carolina, was born near Octorara Creek in West Nottingham Township, [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Roberts, B. W. C. Wills, Henry by B. W. C. Roberts, 1996 9 Apr. 1764–12 July 1827 See also:  Webb, Sarah M. Norfleet, (from the Dictionary of North Carolina Biography); North-Carolina Gazette (from [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Powell, William S. David Minton Wright, physician, remembered because of the regrettable circumstances surrounding his death, was born in Nansemond County, Va., the son of David Minton (1775–1813) and Mary Armistead [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)