The Civil War in North Carolina



Reminiscences and Memoirs of North Carolina and Eminent North Carolinians

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patriotic character of Grace Greenlee has already been alluded to.

        One of Mr. Harper's daughters, Emma, married Clinton A. Cilly, who was, in 1868, one of the Judges of the Superior Courts of North Carolina. Judge Cilly is a native of New Hampshire, and was an officer in the army of the United States during the whole war. He is a nephew of the Hon. Jonathan Cilly, a distinguished member of Congress, who fell February 24, 1838, at Bladensburg, Maryland, in a duel with William J. Graves, of Kentucky.

        Judge Cilly, having settled since the war in North Carolina, is a standing reproof to the idea that meritorious men of northern birth are not welcome to the State, and an evidence that North Carolina appreciates and elevates integrity and talent wherever found.

        George Nathaniel Folk resides at Lenoir, Caldwell County. He is a native of Isle of Wight County, Virginia; born in February, 1831. He removed to Watauga County in 1852, and represented that county in 1856 and 1861. He entered the Confederate army and served two years in the 1st Regiment North Carolina Cavalry, and was promoted to a colonelcy of the 6th North Carolina Cavalry. Wounded at the battles of Chickamauga, Vine Vine, and in East Tennessee. He removed to Lenoir in 1866, and represented that district in the Legislature in 1876. He is esteemed as an able lawyer, and was Chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

CAMDEN COUNTY.

        General Isaac Gregory was born, lived and died in this county. He was a brave and patriotic officer in the Revolutionary army, and did some service in the cause of Independence. He was one of the Committee of Safety in 1776 for the Edenton district, and by the Provincial Congress that met at Halifax, April 4, 1776, he was appointed one of the field officers of one of the regiments of Pasquotank, of which Camden was then a part.*

        * Autobiography of Lemuel Sawyer, page 7.


He commanded a brigade of State troops at the ill-fated battle of Camden, and was wounded severely. But he was more of a politician than a soldier. He was the first Senator from Camden County in the Legislature, 1778, in which he was continued, with some intermission, until 1796.

        We regret our material is so scant of the services and the character of General Gregory. He left a son, General William Gregory, that that many recollect, who was remarkable for style of dress and fine equipage, which won for him the sobriquet of "Beau Gregory." His resemblance to General LaFayette was a subject of remark by all who knew them both.

        He was fond of gay life and pleasure, but not of labor, either mental or physical. He was a member of the Legislature from Pasquotank in 1828. Sheriff for some years, and postmaster at Elizabeth City.

        Dempsey Burgess, who resided and died in this county, was also one of the field officers appointed lieutenant-colonel with General Gregory. He succeeded William Johnson Dawson as a member of Congress 1795 and 1797, and re-elected in 1797 and 1799.

        His brother-in-law, Lemuel Sawyer, born 1777, died 1852, was one of the most eccentric men and successful politicians who entered public life about this time. He was elected a member of the Legislature in 1800.

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