Birthplace of Greatness
From
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slrcaiiiod a procession of
brillistnl and influonlinl men.
How conics it that so many ener¬
getic and influential people should be
born within about a twelve - mile
radius? We don’t know the answer,
but we do know that Warren was that
kind of magic circle. She could fill a
sizeable Hall of Fame with her no¬
table offspring. To North Carolina she
contributed four governors, six attor¬
ney generals, three supreme court jus¬
tices. and five magnates of the tobacco
industry. From 1789 to 1841, War¬
ren had. with the exception of one
term, unbroken representation in the
national House of Representatives.
1815 was a particularly stellar year.
Warren held perhaps the greatest po¬
litical power of any comparable com¬
munity in the United States. Nathaniel
Macon and James Turner were in the
Senate, and William Miller was Gov¬
ernor of North Carolina. Weldon Ed¬
wards sat in Congress; John Hall was
a Superior Court judge. Kemp Plum¬
mer went to the Senate in Raleigh.
Brilliant young students came from
many places to be tutored in the law
by Warren’s legal brains. Blake Baker
was especially esteemed and was said
to have the finest private library in
North Carolina.
Nathaniel Macon
Nathaniel Macon deserves more than a
mention. Elected to the House of Representa¬
tives in 1791. Macon had previously served
in the State Legislature and was a member
of the anti-lcderelist faction led by Willie
Jones. In Washington, he became the recog¬
nized leader of North Carolina's delegation,
and of the party which was first called
Republican and finally Democrat. It was
quite a different party from the one today.
The 18th century Democratic platform was
for economy in spending, states' rights, and
protection of the planter class and its way
of life. Macon stayed in Washington from
1791 to 1828, advancing from House to
Senate. He was Speaker of the House for
five years, the only North Carolinian to
enjoy that honor, and President pro tem
of the Senate for 3 years.
Any young political aspirant would be
more than happy to possess the biographi¬
cal background of Nationicl Macon. Born
in 1757 of one of the oldest families in
Warren, went to Princeton, turned down an
officer’s commission to fight as a private
THE STATE, QCTOBIR 27. 1962
Nathaniel Mocon. Thomor JeHerson collod him
"The lost ot the Romans."
in the infantry (Revolutionary War), farmed
a modest plantation (he could have had
more), worked in the fields alongside his
slaves, never built an elaborate mansion,
was a charter trustee of Warrenton
Academy, and believed in the People.
Ilawkins
Of the three or four families that first
migrated to Warren County in the 1730‘s.
Philemon Hawkins, Sr., came with the least
and died with the most. In addition to great
property and wealth, he had four sons, all
of whom were colonels in the Revolution
and all of whom added a little more glitter
to the family name. Benjamin Hawkins is
probably the best known.
Л
fellow student
of Nathaniel Macon's at Princeton, Ben¬
jamin excelled in French and served as in¬
terpreter on George Washington’s staff for
some time. In 1780, he was chosen com¬
mercial agent for North Carolina and aide-
de-camp to Governor Nash. After several
years in both houses of Congress. Benjamin
Hawkins got the assignment which made
him famous: Agent in charge of superin¬
tending all Indians south of the Ohio River.
He discharged the strenuous duties of this
post from 1796 to his death in 1816. The
office was in Georgia, where he is grate¬
fully remembered for voluminous writings
on the history and topography of that state.
Business Men
Warren boys who made good in the busi¬
ness world: George G. Allen started as a
bookkeeper with
У. В
Duke in 1895 and
ten years later was director of the British
American Tobacco Company. Onetime
chairman of Duke I ndowment Duke Power.
Member of the boards of Guaranty I mst
and American Cyanamid. Still living. Wil¬
liam Henry Alston formed his own com¬
pany. Alston Tobacco Company . John White
Arrington pioneered the development of tex¬
tile manufacture in the South. Peter and
Richard Bolton Arrington, brothers were
both associated with the administration of
J. B. Duke and B. N. Duke tobacco enter-
priscs.
Thcre arc many others, in tobacco, con¬
tracting. industry and commerce. In litera¬
ture. Warren's most notable was William
Polk, son of Tasker Polk. Attorney. Mayor
of Warrenton. editor of the Greensboro
News, and author of tales local and foreign,
Polk knew and loved his home about as well
as anybody. His father Tasker was a nephew
of President James K. Polk. In writing
about Warrenton. Bill Polk called it Hast¬
ings, a pseudonym previously used by Ellen
Mordecai in her wonderful and intimate
History of Hastings, describing the town
as it was a hundred years ago.
James Turner
Warren has reared four governors for
North Carolina, more than any other county
besides Wake. First was James I inner,
elected for a three-year term upon the death
of Governor-elect John Baptists Ashe in
1802. Turner was born in Southampton
County. Virginia, in 1766 and moved to
Warren County four years later. He went
to school there and at the outbreak of the
Revolution was an eleven-year-old private
in Nathanael Green’s Army, turner was a
friend and political ally of Nathaniel Macon
and the growing Republican party. He served
in the House of Commons and the Senate
before becoming Governor. 1 urncr's two
main goals for the State were public educa¬
tional facilities and improvement ol trans¬
portation throughout the State. I he school
legislation didn't pass, hut some improve¬
ment of the rivers was financed. In 1805,
Tuner was chosen to fill a vacancy in
the U. S. Senate and was a member of Con¬
gress until 1816, when he resigned be¬
cause of bad health. He died in 182-1.
William llawkins
William Hawkins held the reins during
the War of 1812. Son of Philemon Hawkins.
Jr, he was born in 1777 and reared at
Pleasant Hill in Warren lounty (now in
Vance). He studied law under Judge John
Williams in Granville County.
Hawkins was a nephew to Colonel Ben¬
jamin Hawkins, general superintendent of
all Indian tribes south of the Ohio. In
1797. Willum joined his uncle as assistant
Indian agent at Fort Hawkins. Georgia, rc-
( Continued on page 26)
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