HALIFAX   COUNTY
	Halifax County Biographies
	Joseph B. BATCHELOR, lawyer, was born in Halifax county, N. C., in 1825. He was graduated at the University of North Carolina in 1845, and two years later received a license to practise law. In 1855 he was appointed to the office of attorney-general of North Carolina, which office he held for two years. He was a leading member of the North Carolina legislature of 1860 that voted for the call of the convention which passed the ordinance of secession. He gave largely of his ample means for the vigorous prosecution of the war. At the close of the war he engaged in the practice of his profession at Raleigh, N.C. In 1879 Mr. Batchelor began legal proceedings by which about $700,000 were saved to the state of its interest in the North Carolina railroad. Soon after the adoption of the "Code of Civil Procedure" he secured the passage of the act of the legislature that is styled "Batchelor's Stay Law," which was a necessity to prevent the utter ruin of the agricultural and laboring classes of the state after the construction given by the courts to the "Code of Civil Procedure." He was also largely influential in securing the establishment of the orphan asylum at Oxford. In 1891 the University of North Carolina conferred on him the honorary degree of LL. D.   ----------------------------   John BRANCH, statesman, was born in Halifax county, N. C., Nov. 4, 1782. He was graduated at the University of North Carolina in 1801, was admitted to the bar, and soon rose to eminence in his profession. He became judge of the superior court, was elected to the state senate in 1811, and re-elected each year until 1817, when he became governor of North Carolina. Upon the expiration of his term he was again returned to the legislature, and in 1823 was elected to the United States senate, whore he remained until 1829, when he was appointed by President Jackson as secretary of the navy. On the dissolution of the cabinet in 1831, Mr. Branch was elected as a representative from Carolina, to the 22d Congress, and in 1834 was again elected to the state senate. In 1843 he was appointed governor of the territory of Florida, and after serving until the election of a governor under the new state constitution, he retired to private life. He died at Enfield, N. C., Jan. 4, 1863   ------------------------- John Reeve Jones DANIEL, representative, was born in Halifax county, N.C., in 1802; son of Wiley and Judith (Jones) Daniel. He was graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1821, studied law and was admitted to the bar in his native state. He was a member of the house of commons in the state legislature, 1832-34; attorney-general, 1834-40, and a representative in the 27th-32d congresses, 1841-53, serving several sessions as chairman of the committee on claims. He removed later in life to Louisiana, where he died in 1865. ---------------------------- John HAYWOOD, jurist, was born in Halifax county, N.C., March 16, 1762; son of Egbert Haywood, an officer in the American army in the Revolutionary war; and a nephew of Col. John Haywood, colonist, a native of Barbados, W.I. He possessed an ungainly physique and an unpleasant voice. He educated himself, and by his indomitable will he became a successful lawyer. He was attorney-general of the state, 1791-94, and judge of the superior court, 1794-1800, when he resigned his office to become attorney for Col. James Glasgow, Secretary of state of North Carolina, from whom he accepted a fee of $1000 to defend him, and when his client was convicted of fraud in issuing land-warrants, Judge Haywood incurred so much odium for defending him that he was obliged to leave the state. About 1810 or 1811 he settled at "Tusculum," an estate seven miles from Nashville, Tenn., and took high rank as an advocate. He was presiding judge of the supreme court of Tennessee, 1812-26. He is the author of: A Manual of the Laws of North Carolina (1801); Haywood's Justice and N.C. Law Reports, 1789-1806; Haywood's Tennessee Reports (1816-18); Statute Laws of Tennessee, in conjunction with R. L. Cobbs (1831); The Civil and Political History of Tennessee from Its Earliest Settlement to 1796 (1823); Natural and Aboriginal History of Tennessee (1823) in which he undertook to prove the descent of the American Indians from the ancient Jews; and Christian Advocate in which he discussed the power of water-witches and various occult subjects. He died in Nashville, Tenn., Dec. 12, 1826.   --------------------------   Allen JONES, delegate, was born in Halifax county, N.C., in 1739; son of Robin Jones, an agent and attorney of Lord Grenville. He was educated at Eton, England, and on his return to North Carolina settled in Northampton county and devoted himself to the cause of his country. He was a delegate to the state conventions that met at New Berne, Aug. 25, 1775, and at Halifax, April 4, 1776. He was chosen a brigadier-general of the Halifax district in May, 1776; was a member of the Continental congress, 1779-80; and state senator, 1784-87. As a member of the convention that met at Hillsboro, July 21, 1788, and postponed the adoption of the Federal constitution, he opposed the delay and [p.123] advocated a strong Federal government. His daughter, Sarah, became the wife of Col. William R. Davis, of North Carolina. He died in Northampton county, N.C., Nov. 10, 1798   ---------------------------   Jesse MERCER, clergyman, was born in Halifax county, N.C., Dec. 16, 1769; son of the Rev. Silas Mercer born 1745. His parents removed to Georgia in 1775, and settled in Wilkes county, but returned to North Carolina at the outbreak of the Revolution, where he remained until 1788, when he once more settled in Georgia. He was almost wholly self-educated, and was received the Baptist church in 1787. He was married, Jan. 31, 1788, to Sabrina Chivers, and was ordained, Nov. 7, 1789, by the Rev. Silas Mercer and the Rev. Sanders Walker. He was pastor of churches in Greene, Oglethorpe, Wilkes, Hancock and Putnam counties, 1789-1840, during which time he travelled extensively throughout the state. He was also the leader of a political party in Wilkes county, and was sent by them as a delegate to the state constitutional convention in 1798. He was president of the general Baptist missionary convention, 1816, and represented the board in the general conventions of 1820 and 1826. He was for a time corresponding secretary of the board of trustees of the co-operating Baptist associations for instructing and evangelizing the Creek Indians. He organized the general committee of the Georgia Baptists, which resulted in the Georgia Baptist convention, and was president of the convention for eighteen consecutive years, and presiding officer of the Georgia association up to the time of his death. He was [p.343] influential in establishing Mount Enon academy in Richmond county in 1807, and was one of the founders of Mercer Institute, Penfield, Greene county, in 1833, named in his honor, which became Mercer university in 1837, and was removed to Macon in 1870. He gave the sum of $40,000 to the university during his life and by will, and served as a trustee, 1838-41. He gave about $25,000 to other religious and educational institutions, among them Columbian college, Washington, D.C. He received the honorary degree D.D. from Brown university in 1835. He edited the Christian Index, the first Baptist newspaper published in Georgia, which he purchased of Dr. W. T. Brantly, of Philadelphia, in 1833, and established at his home in Washington, Ga., and in 1840 he gave it to the Georgia Baptist Convention.  He collected a volume of hymns entitled Mercer's Cluster, and is the author of: History of the Georgia Baptist Association (1836). He died in Washington, Ga., Sept. 6, 1841.   ---------------------------   John MILTON, soldier, was born in Halifax county, N.C., in 1740; son of John and Mary (Farr) Milton, and, according to tradition, a descendant of Judge Christopher Milton, brother of John Milton, the poet. His father was born in England, and came to North Carolina about 1734. He joined the Revolutionary army as an ensign in the 1st Georgia regiment, Jan. 7, 1776; was promoted 1st lieutenant; and was taken prisoner at Fort Howe, Ga., in February, 1777, with Lieut. William Caldwell, on the surrender of that place, held as a hostage, and imprisoned in the castle at St. Augustine, Fla., until November, 1777. He was promoted captain, Sept. 15, 1777, and on his release returned to the army and served until the end of the war, retiring Sept. 15, 1782. He was secretary of the state of Georgia in 1777, 1781-83 and 1789, and on Dec. 6, 1778, at the approach of the British, removed the public records to Perrysburg by order of the governor. He engaged in planting after the war, and received the two votes of the Georgia electors for first President of the United States in 1789. He was a charter member of the (Georgia) Society of the Cincinnati. He was married to Hannah E. Spencer, and of their children, Gen. Homer Virgil Milton (q.v.), was an officer in the war of 1812. He died at Milton plantation, near Louisville, Ga., about 1804.   --------------------------   Bartholomew Figures MOORE, lawyer, was born in Halifax county, N.C., Jan. 29, 1801; son of James and Sally (Lowe) Moore; grandson of James Moore of Southampton county, N.C., and a descendant of James Moore the immigrant. He was graduated at the University of North Carolina in 1820 and was admitted to the bar in 1822. He represented Halifax county in the house of commons, 1836, 1840, 1842, 1844 and 1866, and was attorney-general of the state, 1848-51, resigning on being appointed one of the commissioners to revise the statute law of the state. His position among the legal fraternity for twenty-five years gave to him the title "Father of the Bar of North Carolina." He was a trustee of the University of North Carolina, 1840-68 and 1875-78, and received from that institution the honorary degree of LL.D. in 1868. He was a delegate to the convention called in 1865 to reconstruct the government of the state. He bequeathed $1000 to the Masonic orphan asylum of the state. He is the author of: Revised Code of North Carolina (1856). He died in Raleigh, N.C., Nov. 27, 1878. ----------------------------- (above from "The History of Halifax County")   Chiefs of Police in Scotland Neck A Tribute to 3 brave Officers who served through 1936 (contributed by Larry Flowers)
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