This is a brief summary of the men who were elected political leaders in Henderson County from 1860 to 1900. Research has not been conducted yet on those who served in Henderson County government (commissioners).
Only one man lived in Henderson County at the time of his election to the U.S. House of Representatives during this time period. This was Hamilton Glover Ewart.
In writing and verbally, references have been made to Alexander Hamilton Jones being from Henderson County. He was not born in Henderson County. He did not live in Henderson County at the time of his election. He lived in the county from about 1851 to sometime during the Civil War. Because of these reports and a book that he wrote on the Civil War in this region, and that promoted the Unionism myth, the following information on Alexander Hamilton Jones is given.
Alexander Hamilton Jones was elected to serve the district during Radical Republican Reconstruction, 1868 to 1870. Remember that white men who had served in the Confederate Army or who were active in the Confederate government of the state could not hold office or vote in 1868. This was the majority of the voting population of the county, the region and the state (women could not vote).
Jones was born in 1822 in Buncombe County (not the section that became Henderson County) and grew up in Asheville. Extensive genealogical research has yet to find any documented connection with his family to that of the pioneer Jones families in Henderson County.
He moved to Hendersonville in 1851 and was a merchant. He was too old to be drafted by the Confederate Army. After the war, he wrote that during the war he was a member of a secret Union League. There is no documentation anywhere that such a league ever existed and no other references to such a league have been located. It is documented that during the war he wrote articles for “newspapers” under false names. He stated in his autobiography, written after the war, that he was editor of a newspaper called the Hendersonville Times. The name associated as publisher with this newspaper in recent searches was William Dedman. One copy was found with William Love as editor. It is possible that Alexander Jones wrote some articles for the newspaper.
He also wrote that he joined the Union Army, was captured by Confederates and served time in prison. There are no Confederate or Union military records substantiating such claims. He is not listed on any Union military lists in the National Archives or in the state. He is not listed on any Confederate POW prison records.
It is known that he left Hendersonville some time during the Civil War, most likely to Tennessee. In 1868 he moved back to Asheville and was elected under Radical Republican Reconstruction to the U.S. House. Keep in mind that only a few hundred white men could vote, along with newly freed slaves. He lost re-election in 1870 when the vote was returned to the majority of white men.
He then lived in Washington, D.C., until moving back to Asheville in 1884. He lived in Asheville until 1890 when he left for Oklahoma. By 1897 he was living in California, where he died in 1901. While in the U.S. House, he wrote an undocumented account of the Civil War in WNC that is filled with inaccurate statistics. He provides no documentation for any of his statistics. Documentation in the National Archives, the state archives, and in Confederate and Union records shows his numbers to be completely false and erroneous. Despite detailed and extensive documentation proving his book is factually incorrect, this book is still used by some people to perpetuate the myth of Unionism in WNC.
Hamilton Glover Ewart
Hamilton Glover Ewart was born in Columbia, S.C., in 1849, the son of James Beckett Ewart and Mary A. McMahon Ewart. He lived in South Carolina until moving to Hendersonville with his parents in 1862 at the age of 13. After the Civil War, he returned to South Carolina and attended the University of South Carolina, where he studied law.
In 1874 he married Sarah Cordelia Ripley, daughter of his stepfather, Valentine Ripley.
He began his law practice in Hendersonville in 1875, serving as a “referee in bankruptcy” for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina.
Ewart was elected mayor of Hendersonville in 1876, serving until about 1878. He served in the state General Assembly as a member of the N.C. House of Representatives from 1887 to 1889, 1895 to 1897 and 1911 to 1913. During his first term in the General Assembly, he introduced the bill creating a Railroad Commission.
He was elected as a Republican to the U.S. House of Representatives and served from 1889 to 1891. He was a member of the Committee on Claims, the Committee on the Merchant Marine, and the Committee on Private Land Claims. He also played a prominent role in the investigation of the Civil Service Commission. He spoke strongly in opposition to the federal election bill and stressed that if passed it was likely to renew animosity between the North and South. He also favored federal aid to education and urged the repeal of internal revenue laws. He lost his bid for reelection in 1890 and lost again in 1904.
From 1895 to 1896, Ewart was a criminal court judge for Henderson County. He was then a circuit court judge for Raleigh from 1897 to 1898. Ewart was twice unsuccessfully appointed by President William McKinley as a recess appointment to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina.
Ewart owned a large amount of farm land around Hendersonville and was a member of the Farmers’ Alliance.
He moved to Chicago in 1916 and continued practicing law until he died in 1918 in Chicago. He is buried at Oakdale Cemetery in Hendersonville.
There were five men born in Henderson County or who lived in the county at the time of their election who served in the General Assembly as state senators, representing a district composed of more than one county.
Balis (Baylus, Baylis) McKendrick Edney
Balis (Baylus, Baylis) McKendrick Edney was born in 1811 in what is today the Edneyville section of Henderson County. At the time of his birth this was Buncombe County. He was the son of the Rev. Samuel Edney and Eleanor “Nellie” Mills Edney. He grew up in Edneyville on the family property off South Mills Gap Road. He never married.
He was a lawyer who traveled throughout Western North Carolina. His law practice covered several counties in the region. There was not a law school prior to 1845 in North Carolina. Prior to this time men studied law under a practicing attorney. Several documents and references refer to him as a brilliant lawyer and orator. One reference: “Bayles M. Edney was a man of fine physique, who always kept his whiskers trimmed ‘a la mode’. He was of commanding appearance and possessed of sparkling wit and infinite and pleasing humor. He was a stormer before a jury.”
He spoke several languages and was well educated. He was influential in state politics and a friend of governors and other state leaders. He was appointed as U.S. consul to Palermo, Italy, in the late 1840s. He returned from Italy about 1851. In 1852 he was appointed charge d’affaires to Guatemala, but it appears from records that he did not “proceed to his post.”
He was elected to the state senate in 1857, representing the counties of Henderson, Buncombe, Madison and Yancey. He served through 1860. While in the state senate he introduced legislation for internal improvements in Western North Carolina. He attempted to get a turnpike road built from Polk to Henderson counties and from Buncombe to Yancey counties. He also introduced legislation to get a railroad into Western North Carolina. When the railroad reached Spartanburg, S.C., from Charleston in 1859, Edney was the principal orator at the celebration.
He was a strong secessionist. He organized and served in the 25th N.C. Infantry Regiment, Company A, Edney’s Greys. He was appointed captain on the day of his enlistment. He declined to stand for re-election as captain in 1862, and resigned. He returned to Henderson County and spent the rest of the war as a strong Confederate, reporting to the governor and advising on activities in Western North Carolina. He was killed April 21, 1865, at his home in Edneyville. He is buried at the Edney-Coston Cemetery in Edneyville. For more information on his death, read the class notes on the Civil War and home-front violence.
William Marcus Shipp
William Marcus Shipp was born in 1819 in Lincoln County, the son of Bartlett Shipp and Susan Forney Shipp. He attended the University of North Carolina and entered the law profession. He first set up practice in Rutherfordton. He represented Rutherford County in the state legislature in 1854 and 1855.
In 1857, he moved to Hendersonville and began a law practice. Shipp was elected a delegate to the constitutional convention of 1861 (Confederate). He enlisted in the 16th N.C. Infantry Regiment, Co. I, and was elected captain. He was elected to the state senate in 1861 and served through 1862. He resigned his commission in the 16th Regiment in December 1862 to accept a superior court judgeship and held that post until 1868 (Radical Republican Reconstruction began in 1868).
Shipp then moved to Charlotte to practice law. He did not live in Henderson County again. In 1870, when former Confederates could now vote and hold office, he was elected state attorney general. He lost the next election. In 1881 he was appointed a judge of the Ninth Judicial District of the superior courts, a position he held until his death.
Shipp was married twice. In 1851 he wed Catherine Cameron, who died in 1866, and in 1872 he married Margaret Iredell, daughter of Gov. James Iredell. Shipp died in 1890 and is buried in Charlotte.
Leander “Lee” Sams Gash
Leander “Lee” Sams Gash was born in 1813 in the Horse Shoe or Etowah communities of Henderson County, the son of John Gash and Nancy Gudger Gash. At the time of his birth this location was within Buncombe County. He was the husband of Margaret A. McClain.
He was a teacher in a log one-room school near Blythe Street in Hendersonville and was also a dry goods merchant. He owned extensive acreage in what is today Transylvania and Henderson counties. He was one of three landowners who donated land for the town of Brevard, where he had a store. He also served as a postmaster in Claytonville (Etowah). He was a Confederate leader in the county and was pardoned by President Andrew Johnson.
He was elected to the state senate, serving from 1866 to 1868 during “Presidential Reconstruction.” His Confederate pardon was revoked under Radical Reconstruction.
He died in 1872 in Raleigh. He is buried at Shaw’s Creek Methodist Campground Cemetery in Horse Shoe.
James Blythe
James Blythe was born in 1808 in the Big Willow community of Henderson County, the son of Jesse Blythe and Susanna Williams Blythe. At the time of his birth this was located in Buncombe County. He married Martha Nelson.
He was one of the most well-known and prominent Baptist ministers in the region. He was the first pastor at Hendersonville First Baptist Church and at Saluda First Baptist Church. He also served the following churches: Little River, French Broad, Beulah, Ebenezer, Refuge, Mud Creek, Green River, Mountain Page, Crab Creek, Mount Moriah and Cathey’s Creek.
He was elected the Clerk of Court for Henderson County prior to the Civil War, serving eight years. He established and printed the first newspaper published in Hendersonville, the “Carolina Baptist.” He was one of the founders of Judson College.
He served in the N.C. House in 1866 (Presidential Reconstruction). In 1868, during Radical Reconstruction, he was elected to the state senate. He was too old to serve in the Civil War and had no political connections to the Confederate government in the state. In 1872, he was elected to the state house again.
He died in 1897 and is buried at Refuge Baptist Church Cemetery in the Dana community.
Terrell Wilkie Taylor
Terrell Wilkie Taylor was born in 1826 in the Dana community of Henderson County, the son of Joseph Taylor and Mary (last name unknown). At the time of his birth, this location was in Buncombe County. He first married Theresa McClain.
He was the third sheriff of Henderson County, serving from 1848 to 1852. In 1865, he bought the stagecoach line from John T. Poole. Taylor owned the stagecoach line until the railroad was completed in 1879.
Taylor also became the seventh sheriff in the county, serving as sheriff from 1870 to 1874. It was during his second period as sheriff that the famous hanging of the Adair brothers took place in Henderson County. It was the duty of the sheriff at this time to carry out the sentence of hanging. This was one of the most famous murder cases and hangings in the state of North Carolina. The crime, trials and hangings were carried in newspapers throughout the state and region. The escape of Martin Baynard, who was also found guilty and sentenced to hang, was also reported throughout the Southeast. (More information on the murders, hangings and escape will be available in class notes on law enforcement in the county).
Taylor, a Democrat, was elected as a state senator to the N.C. General Assembly three times, serving from 1874 to 1890. On July 4, 1879, he was grand marshal of the parade that greeted the arrival of the first train in Hendersonville. He also spoke during the ceremonies.
He died in 1904 and is buried at Refuge Baptist Church Cemetery in Dana.
Henderson County elected one person every two years to represent the county in the N.C. House of Representatives in the General Assembly. From 1860 to 1900, 10 men represented the county.
Joseph Pleasants Jordan
Joseph Pleasants Jordan was born about 1830 in the Blantyre community of what is today Transylvania County, the son of Joseph Jordan and Hannah Davis Jordan. At the time of his birth, this location was within Henderson County.
He obtained a law degree from Wake Forest University and had a law office in Hendersonville. He served in the state legislature from 1860 to 1861. At the time he was elected, Transylvania County did not exist. He introduced the bill to create Transylvania County from the counties of Henderson and Jackson (with the help of Marcus Erwin from Buncombe County).
When the Civil War began, he enlisted in the 35th N.C. Infantry Regiment, Company G, Henderson Rifles, and was elected captain. He died April 22, 1862, of disease in Raleigh while serving in the Civil War. From the “Weekly Standard Newspaper,” Raleigh, N.C.: “We regret to record the death of Capt. Joseph P. Jordan, of Henderson County, commanding company G, of the 35gh regiment. Captain J. was taken ill with typhoid fever before the battle of New Bern and was removed to this City, and had been confined ever since under medical treatment, at the Yarborough House. A few days ago we learned he was better and likely to recover, but on Tuesday morning last he grew worse and died suddenly. His remains were carried home for interment. Capt. J. was a good citizen and soldier, and a useful member of the House of Commons.”
His burial site is not known.
William Marcus Shipp
William Marcus Shipp 1861-1862. (Information above under state senators)
James Blythe
James Blythe, 1866-1868 (Information above under state senators)
William Davenport Justus
William Davenport Justus was born in 1819 in the Upward community of Henderson County, the son of John Justus Jr. and Elizabeth Thomas. At the time of his birth, this location was in Buncombe County. He first married Martha Elizabeth Tabor Jones. After her death he married Nancy Pittillo.
He was a farmer in the Upward community. He served as sheriff of Henderson County during the Civil War. He was elected the representative from Henderson County to the N.C. General Assembly in 1868 and served until 1870, during Radical Republican Reconstruction. He was not prohibited from serving because he was not a member of the Confederate government and did not serve in the Confederate Army.
He died in 1892 and is buried at the Jones Cemetery at Upward.
William Gunaway Brownlow Morris
William Gunaway Brownlow Morris was born in 1842 in the Green River community of Henderson County, the son of Richard Morris and Lucinda McLean Morris. He married Amanda King after the Civil War.
He began teaching at the age of 17 in the Green River community and taught school until the Civil War. He also taught school at Mountain Page. He enlisted in the 35th N.C. Infantry Regiment, Co. G, Henderson Rifles, and later the 64th N.C. Infantry Regiment, Co. B, and was promoted to captain. He was captured at Cumberland Gap, held prisoner in the prisoner of war camp at Johnson’s Island, Ohio, and was released in June 1865.
He re-opened the Blue Ridge Academy (Blue House) at Dana after the Civil War and taught there until 1879. He was elected a legislator to the N.C. House of Representatives in 1870 and served until 1872 (Redemption Reconstruction).
In 1871 he was a professor at Candler College in Buncombe County. Later, he was a professor and assistant principal after a high school was opened at the former Judson College in Hendersonville. He served as postmaster of the Hendersonville Post Office twice between 1881 and 1891. In 1889, he became superintendent of Henderson County Schools.
He died in 1891 and is buried at Oakdale Cemetery in Hendersonville.
James Blythe
James Blythe, 1872-1880 (Information above under state senators)
Thomas Franklin Bird
Thomas Franklin Bird was born in 1824 in Haywood County, the son of William Spencer Bird and Ann Ballew Bird. He married Mary Ann Carland and moved to the Mills River community in Henderson County in 1849.
He left the county during the Civil War, after the death of his wife. He returned during Radical Reconstruction when he was appointed by the government to assist in reconstruction of the county. He married Mary Jane Williams in 1867.
He was a farmer and lime manufacturer. His tombstone has “Rev” engraved on it. He did not list reverend as his occupation in census reports or in legislative biographical facts. He was elected a legislator to the N.C. House of Representatives in 1880 and served until 1886.
He died in 1892 and is buried at Mills River United Methodist Church Cemetery.
Hamilton G. Ewart
Hamilton G. Ewart, 1886-1888 (Information above under U.S. House of Representatives)
John Gaston Grant
John Gaston Grant was born in 1858 in the Bat Cave community of Henderson County, the son of William Grant and Elizabeth Freeman Grant. He married Zura Edney.
He was a farmer and taught himself to read and write. Grant was elected a representative to the N.C. General Assembly in 1889 and served until 1892. He declined re-nomination. He was elected sheriff of Henderson County in 1892 and served until 1896. He refused a re-nomination in 1896. He was an elector to the Republican National Convention in 1896.
In 1908, he was elected congressman to the U.S. House of Representatives from the 10th N.C. District, serving until 1911.
He died in 1923 and is buried at Oakdale Cemetery in Hendersonville. (More information on Grant will be found under “Political Leaders, 1900 to 1930”)
Jonathan Williams
Jonathan Williams was born in 1847 near Sugarloaf Mountain in the Dana and Edneyville communities of Henderson County, the son of Benjamin Williams and Elizabeth Jackson Williams. He was first married to Sallie Clayton, and, after her death, he married Lillie Shipman.
He taught schools in Henderson and Buncombe counties.
He was the first agent for the Spartanburg-Asheville Railroad. He was elected sheriff of Henderson County in 1878 and served until 1882.
He was one of three men to petition the state to form the French Broad Steamship Company in September 1880 and one of the original incorporators.
He was elected mayor of Hendersonville in 1883, 1891, 1902 and 1904. He was elected to two terms as the county’s representative to the N.C. General Assembly, serving from 1893 to 1896. He was elected as sheriff of Henderson County again in 1896, serving until 1900.
While serving his second period as sheriff, Williams was on the committee of the Carolina Baptist Association to select a site for a school. A site in the Fruitland community was selected and the Fruitland Baptist Bible Institute opened in 1899.
In 1909, he built the Salola Inn near the top of Sugarloaf Mountain. The inn was sold in 1912 to “three men from Jacksonville, Fla.”
He died in 1911 and is buried at Oakdale Cemetery in Hendersonville.
Hamilton G. Ewart
Hamilton G. Ewart, 1895-1898 (Information above under U.S. House of Representatives)
Merida Sevier Justus
Merida Sevier Justus was born in 1846 in the Edneyville community of Henderson County, the son of Daniel Asbury Justus and Elizabeth Caroline Abigail Williams. He married Miriam E. Maxwell Justus. The couple lived in the Upward community of Henderson County.
He was a blacksmith and a farmer. He was elected sheriff of Henderson County in 1882 and served as sheriff until 1888. He and Terrell W. Taylor were the only sheriffs to oversee hangings in Henderson County. In September 1884, Lewis Kilgore Jr. was convicted for the murder of Matt Henderson, a female who lived alone in a cabin close to Hendersonville. The cabin was located near today’s junction of N.C. 191 and U.S. 25. Justus oversaw the hanging of Kilgore on May 6, 1886. Rumors and stories that he refused to oversee this hanging have been proven false.
He was elected to the N.C. House of Representatives in 1898 and served until 1900.
He died in 1914 and is buried at the Jones Cemetery in Upward.
The following men served as mayor of Hendersonville. Prior to 1869, no documentation has yet been found on who may have served in the position of mayor or the town official. Prior to about 1873, the mayor was appointed. Mayors at first were elected for only one year. Grateful thanks are extended to Lu Ann Welter with the Hendersonville Planning Department for compiling a documented list of mayors.
Joseph Livingston
Joseph Livingston was born in 1813 in the Hooper’s Creek community of Henderson County, the son of John S. Livingston and Elizabeth Neisler Livingston. At the time of his birth, this location was in Buncombe County. He was the husband of Harriet Caroline Featherstone.
He served as sheriff of Henderson County from 1844 to 1848. In 1845, he and former Sheriff Robert Thomas were listed as owners of lots in Hendersonville where the Hendersonville First United Methodist Church is now located.
In 1850 he was a merchant living in Hendersonville. His occupation was listed as farmer from 1860 to 1880. He was appointed mayor in 1869. His tombstone has “Col” engraved on it. He did not serve in the Civil War. This may have been an honorary title of some type.
He died in 1890 and is buried at Oakdale Cemetery in Hendersonville.
Thomas Alexander Allen
Thomas Alexander Allen was born in 1824 in the Mill Spring community of today’s Polk County, the son of James B. Allen and Keron H. Braden. At the time of his birth, the community was located in Rutherford County. He married Ruemma “Emma” A. Jones.
He was a graduate of the South Carolina Medical College in Charleston, S.C. He was living in Polk County in 1855 when the county was formed from Rutherford and Henderson counties. He moved to Henderson County prior to 1860. He was a physician in Hendersonville.
He is generally acknowledged as the first elected mayor of Hendersonville. The date he was elected mayor is not proven. He was the mayor from about 1873 to 1876. In 1890 he was listed as the owner of the Globe Tavern. This was the former Ripley Hotel and later became known as the St. John’s Hotel on Main Street at Second Avenue East. He also owned an apothecary shop and dry goods store.
He died in 1914 in Nashville, Tenn., and is buried at Oakdale Cemetery.
Hamilton G. Ewart
Hamilton G. Ewart, 1876-1878 (Information above under U.S. House of Representatives)
William Alexander Smith
William Alexander Smith was born in 1858 in Cartersville, Ga., the son of James Smith and Martha Alexander Smith. He married Ann Haseltine Jordan.
In 1870, at the age of 17, he was living in Tennessee. He was admitted to the North Carolina bar in 1876 and opened a law office in Hendersonville. He served as mayor of Hendersonville in 1880 and again in 1882.
He formed a real estate company in Hendersonville in 1886. Smith, Columbus Mills Pace and James M. Waldrop began development of Laurel Park. Most of the advertising was in Florida. They opened Laurel Park Villa in 1903. In 1905, Smith opened the Laurel Park Railroad Company. For seven years, the “Dummy line” carried passengers from Main Street down Fifth Avenue to the dance pavilion and lake at Laurel Park Villa. He sold his investment in Laurel Park in 1922.
He died in 1922 and is buried at Oakdale Cemetery.
Marcus Mallory Patton
Marcus Mallory Patton was born about 1818 in Buncombe County, North Carolina, the son of Mallory Brandon Patton and Elizabeth “Betsy” Smith Patton. He married Delia A. Spann.
In 1850 he was a merchant and living with the Valentine Ripley family in Hendersonville. By 1860 he was a merchant and married.
He served in the legislature in North Carolina during the Civil War as a state senator (Confederate). He listed his residence as Buncombe County at the time, but he may have actually lived in Henderson County.
In 1870 he was a hotel keeper and in 1880, a justice of the peace. He served as mayor in 1881.
He died in 1883. His burial site is not known.
William Alexander Smith
William Alexander Smith, 1882 (See information above)
Jonathan Williams
Jonathan Williams, 1883. (Information above under N.C. House of Representatives)
Andrew Erwin Fletcher
Andrew Erwin Fletcher was born in 1830 in Buncombe County (Hooper’s Creek community), the son of John S. Fletcher and Martha McBrayer. This section of Buncombe County later became part of Henderson County.
During the Civil War, he enlisted in the 25th N.C. Infantry Regiment, Co. H, Cane Creek Rifles. He was wounded in the left hip at the Battle of Fort Stedman during the Appomattox Campaign, captured and in the hospital at Richmond, Va., was a prisoner at Point Lookout, Md., and was released June 26, 1865.
He married Lela Cummings Johnson in 1890. Prior to this marriage, all census reports state that he was single. Through 1880 he lived in the Hooper’s Creek community and was a farmer. He also served as a justice of the peace.
He served as mayor of Hendersonville in 1884. He was living in the Hooper’s Creek community at the time of his death.
He died in 1915 (drowned in Cane Creek) and is buried at Calvary Episcopal Churchyard in Fletcher.
Thomas Jefferson Rickman
Thomas Jefferson Rickman was born in 1849 in Gilmer County, Ga., the son of John Rickman and Jane Osborne Rickman. He spent most of his childhood in the Mills River community in Henderson County. He married Elizabeth Caroline Johnson.
After his marriage and before 1880, he moved to Hendersonville where he was the tax collector. He served as mayor of Hendersonville in 1885. He was a lawyer in Hendersonville until moving to Asheville prior to 1910.
He died in 1937 in Asheville and is buried at Oakdale Cemetery in Hendersonville.
Adolphus Erwin Posey Jr.
Adolphus Erwin Posey Jr. was born in 1860 in the Mills River community of Henderson County, the son of Adolphus Erwin Posey Sr. and Harriet Catherine Woodfin Posey. He married Eunice Wofford.
He was a school teacher in 1880 and living in Mills River. He later moved to Hendersonville where he was a lawyer. He served as mayor in 1886.
He died in 1900 and is buried at Oakdale Cemetery in Hendersonville.
James Pinckney Rickman
James Pinckney Rickman was born in 1856 in the Mills River community of Henderson County, the son of John B. Rickman and Elizabeth Barnett Rickman. He married Valerie Justus.
He served as mayor in 1887 and some documentation refers to him as mayor in 1888. He also served as mayor in 1896 and 1897. In 1900, he was a merchant of a dry goods store in Hendersonville.
He moved to Greenville County, S.C., after 1900 and was president of the Fourth National Bank and vice-president of the Norwood National Bank.
He died in 1910 in Greenville County, S.C., and is buried at the Springwood Cemetery in Greenville, S.C.
Victor L. Hyman
Victor L. Hyman was born about 1866, either in Henderson or Buncombe counties, the son of John D. Hyman and Ellen Patton Hyman. There is no documentation that he ever married.
He was a lawyer. From minutes obtained from city records, it appears that he was mayor in 1889 and possibly again in 1890. There are documented papers that state him as mayor in late 1890 and early 1891.
His father was living in Asheville and editor of the newspaper, “The Spectator,” prior to and during most of the Civil War. John D. Hyman was involved in a “famous” duel near Paint Rock in 1855. John D. Hyman died prior to 1877. This is the family for whom the Hyman Heights Subdivision is named.
Victor L. Hyman died in 1891. No gravesite has been located.
Jonathan Williams
Jonathan Williams, 1891. (Information above under N.C. House of Representatives)
Montraville Walker Egerton
Montraville Walker Egerton was born in 1867 in the Chimney Rock community of Rutherford County, the son of Thomas R. Egerton and Sarah Louise Logan Egerton. He married Bessie M. Anderson.
He obtained a law degree from the University of North Carolina and was a lawyer in Hendersonville in the 1890s. He served as mayor in 1892. He became a Baptist minister and served churches in Cleveland, Tenn., and Knoxville, Tenn.
He died in 1905 in Knoxville, Tenn. His grave site is at Oakdale Cemetery in Hendersonville.
George Pinckney Leverette (Liverette)
George Pinckney Leverette (Liverette) was born in 1861 in Henderson County, the son of Robert Leverette and Mary Woodfin Leverette. He was the husband of Blanche Jane Thomas.
His family was living in Hendersonville throughout most of his childhood. He served as mayor in 1893 and again in 1895. In 1900, he was a livery man in Hendersonville. From 1910 until the time of his death his occupation is listed as farmer.
He died in 1940 and is buried at Oakdale Cemetery in Hendersonville.
Adolphus E. Posey Jr.
Adolphus E. Posey Jr., 1894 (See above)
George P. Leverette (Liverett)
George P. Leverette (Liverett), 1895. (See above)
James P. Rickman
James P. Rickman, 1896 and 1897. (See above)
King Galileo Morris
King Galileo Morris was born in 1871 in the town of Hendersonville in Henderson County, the son of William Gunaway Brownlow Morris (see above) and Amanda King Morris. He married Daisy Justus.
He served as mayor in 1898 and again in 1901. In 1900 he was a salesman for a dry goods store. In 1910, he was vice-president of a bank. By 1920 he had entered the real estate and insurance business. He was a partner in the Smith, Jackson & Morris Co. and later worked for Brownlow Jackson & Co.
He died in 1949 and is buried at Oakdale Cemetery in Hendersonville.
Willis McDuffie Ray
Willis McDuffie Ray was born in 1871 in Transylvania County, the son of William Calvin Ray and Martha Galloway Ray. He married Elsie Merle Hagnor.
He attended Judson College in Hendersonville and studied law at the University of North Carolina. He served as mayor of Hendersonville in 1899. He was a lawyer in Hendersonville. He later was elected as a Democrat to the state senate in 1909. He was a member of the Board of Education of Henderson County from 1901 to 1903. He was the Superintendent of Henderson County Schools from 1905 to 1909.
He died in 1934 and is buried at Oakdale Cemetery in Hendersonville.