Contributed by Gerry Hill
Charles Brantley Aycock - Governor of NC Born 1 Nov 1859 Nahunta Township, (now Fremont) Wayne, NC Died 14 Apr 1912 Birmingham, Jefferson, all-while campaigning for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate - buried Oakwood Cemetery, Raleigh, NC Child of Benjamin Aycock 1817-1875 & Serena Hooks 1917-1892 Grandchild of James Aycock & Charity Wilkinson: Robert Hooks & Mary Bishop Great Grandchild of Jesse Aycock & Piety Barden: General Hardy Hooks & Drucilah Barden James Biship & Mary Great Great Grandchild of: William Acock & Rebecca Poythress Pace (According to his Biography-disputed) William Hooks I Jacob Barden & Sara Great Great Great Grandchild of: Richard Pace & Rebecca Poythress (Disputed) John Hooks & Ruth Charles Brantley Aycock married 25 May 1881 Alice Verina Davis Woodard born 15 Apr 1861 NC died 9 Jul 1889 Wilson Co NC dtr. of Elder William Woodard 1830-1910 & Delphia Roundtree 1828-1892. They had: Ernest Woodard 14 Mar 1882-11 Nov 1882-Wayne Co NC Charles Brantley 26 Dec 1883-10 Dec 1901-Wayne Co NC Alice Verina 26 Dec 1886-Wayne Co NC-1912 married Clarence Poe 28 May 1912 Wake Co NC Charles Brantley Aycock married Cora Lily Woodard born 1 Nov 1859 Wayne Co NC-4 Apr 1912 Biirmingham, Jefferson, Al Buried Oakwood They had: William Benjamin 23 Mar 1892 Mary Lily 1 Oct 1893 Wayne Co NC married 25 Jan 1917 Wake Co NC Lennox Polk McLendon Conner Woodard 14 Nov 1895 Wayne Co NC John Lee 7 Aug 1897 Wayne Co NC Louise Roundtree 14 Sep 1899 Wayne Co NC Frank Daniel 9 Jul 1902 married Martha Morgan Charles Brantley III 12 Aug 1907-born Brantley-name changed to Father's by act of NC Legislature. Though his father died when Charles the 10th child was only 15, his mother and older brothers recognized his abilities and determined that he should go to college. Charles showed an interest more in his Father's Politics than in Farming. After graduating from the University of North Carolina in 1880 with first honors in both oratory and essay writing, he entered law practice in Goldsboro and supplemented his income by teaching school. His success in both fields led to his appointment as superintendent of schools for Wayne County and to service on the school board in Goldsboro. His political career began in 1888 as a presidential elector for Grover Cleveland, when he gained distinction as an orator and political debater. From 1893 to 1897 he served as U.S. attorney for the eastern district of North Carolina, and he was elected governor in 1900.He was unanimously nominated for Governor on 11 April 1900 and on 2 August 1900 was elected with the largest majority over opposition ever given a candidate in North Carolina. The campaign determined Aycock’s position as the foremost orator of his generation in North Carolina. His greatest achievement in office was in education, to which he was dedicated after watching his mother make her mark when signing a deed. He felt that no lasting social reform could be accomplished without education. He supported increased salaries for teachers, longer school terms, and new school buildings; almost 3000 schools were built during his administration. Other reforms he supported included laws to establish fair election machinery, to prevent lynching, to erect a reformatory for boys, and to restrict child labor. He resumed his law practice in 1905, but in 1911 he yielded to pressure to seek the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate. His ability to rouse people to support education at the local level stimulated the construction of approximaetly eleven hundred schools - one for every day he was in office. By the end of his term, citizens had seen enrollment increased, school districts consolidated, and teacher training improved. Though he was only forty-five years of age when he left the governorship, Aycock assumed the role of elder statesman in the Democratic Party of his state. He was an influential adviser, moderator, and harmonizer. The former governor opened up a new law partnership and continuted to work for educational progress, traveling widely to speak on behalf of education. Charles Aycock announced his candidacy for the United States Senate in the year 1911 but died on April 2, 1912, while delivering an address on universal education in Birmingham, Alabama. His final words were: "...sometimes on Sundays they would ask me down to the churches to talk, and I always talked about education." Forty-seven years later his boyhood home was dedicated as a state historic site. The Historic Site Found off the beaten path, two miles south of Fremont, the historic site features a mid-nineteenth-century farmstead, including a house, kitchen, and outbuildings. The house is furnished with pieces from the period. A corn barn and stables attest to the days when men worked the land. Sheep and fowl, a field crop, and a three-season kitchen garden bring the farm to life. A one-room schoolhouse (1893) moved to the site represents the grass-roots educational revival that became statewide after Governor Aycock's election in 1900. An accessible visitor center features exhibits and an audiovisual program. "The Life and Speeches of Charles B. Aycock" R.D.W. Conner and Clarence Pope: 1912, Doubleday, Page & Company Historic Site-Birthplace information In northern Wayne County
Charles was the great-nephew of my ancestor Ephriam Aycock, son of Jesse.
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