History of Morganton, (Burke County) North Carolina United States of America

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Biographies:

Alphonso Calhoun Avery, jurist, was born at Morganton, N.C., Sept. 11, 1835; son of Col. Isaac T. Avery, and grandson of Col. Waightstill Avery, a signer of the Mecklenburg declaration of independence. He was graduated at the University of North Carolina in 1857; studied law under Chief-Justice Pearson, and was admitted to the bar. He served as 1st lieutenant and captain in the 6th North Carolina regiment, 1861-'62; was promoted assistant inspector-general with the rank of major in Hill's division. Army of Northern Virginia and afterward served on the staff of Breckenridge Hood and Hindman. He was taken prisoner and held until 1865, when he resumed practice in Morganton. He was a member of the state legislature in 1866; of the state constitutional convention in 1875; judge of the superior court of his district, 1878-'88, and justice of the state supreme court, 1888-'96.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

John Gray Bynum, jurist, was born in Gilbertown, Rutherford county, N. C., Feb. 15, 1846; son of John Gray and Mary Moffate (McDowell) Bynum. His mother was a granddaughter of Major Joseph McDowell, who commanded the right wing of the American forces at the battle of King's mountain. At the age of sixteen he volunteered as a private in the Confederate army. After the Mine Run campaign in 1863 he was discharged for disability. Governor Vance, in 1864, appointed him clerk on the blockade-runner Ad Vance, and he was captured with the vessel in September, 1864, by the United States steamer Santiago de Cuba, and was for some time imprisoned in New York city. After the close of the war he studied law with his stepfather, Chief Justice Pearson, and was admitted to the bar in January, 1867, practising his profession at Morganton, N. C. In 1878 he was elected to the state senate. In January, 1889, he was appointed by Governor Scales judge of the superior court for the tenth judicial district of North Carolina, and in 1890 he was elected to the same position.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Thomas Lanier Clingman, senator, was born in Huntsville, N. C., July 27, 1812; son of Jacob and Jane (Poindexter) Clingman, and grandson of Alexander and Elizabeth (Kaiser) Clingman. His grandfather emigrated from Germany to Pennsylvania about 1770, and served throughout the war of the Revolution. Thomas was graduated at the University of North Carolina in 1832. He established himself as a lawyer and was sent to the state house of commons in 1835. In 1836 he removed to Asheville and in 1840 was elected a state senator. In 1842 he was elected as a Whig a representative in the 28th congress, was defeated for the 29th but was again elected to the 30th and succeeding congresses to and including the 35th, in which he was chairman of the committee on foreign affairs. Upon the resignation of Senator Biggs in May, 1858, Representative Clingman was appointed to succeed him as U.S. senator, and his appointment being confirmed by the state legislature, he took his seat Dec. 6, 1858. On Dec. 3, 1860, he was the first senator to obtain the floor and violently arraigned the north for its opposition to slavery, and justified secession. He was re-elected at the expiration of Senator Biggs's term for a full term extending to March 3, 1867, but was expelled on account of disloyalty, July 4, 1861. In congress he was distinguished in debate; had a notable encounter in the house with Henry A. Wise of Virginia; replied to Representative Duncan's "coon speech"; made a speech on Henry Clay's defeat which led to his duel with William L. Yancey of Alabama; and opposed the Clayton-Bulwer treaty and commercial restrictions. He was a Whig but joined the Democratic party. In the Confederate government he was commissioner to congress from North Carolina to express to that body the loyalty of the state. In the army he entered as colonel and rose to the rank of brigadier-general, in command of a North Carolina brigade. He surrendered at Greensboro, N. C., with Gen. Joseph E. Johnston. He was a delegate to the Democratic national convention of 1868. As a scientist, he made numerous contributions to geology and mineralogy and first made known the wealth in mineral resources of North Carolina, including the diamond, ruby, platinum, corundum and extensive mines of mica, which he first opened. He explored and measured many of the peaks, the highest of which in the Black mountain ranges the Smithsonian institution named Mount Clingman in his honor, and in 1858 he determined the highest peak in the Smoky mountains, afterward known on the map as Clingman's dome. He published a volume of his speeches, and Follies of the Positive Philosophers (1878). In September, 1897, he was sent from his own home, by order of his physician, to the insane asylum at Morganton, N. C., and died there Nov. 3, 1897.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor