Surry County

by Anderson, Jean B. Martin Armstrong, Revolutionary War soldier, surveyor, and politician, was born in Augusta County, Va., the fourth son of James and Jean Armstrong, previously of Lancaster County, Pa. About 1750, the [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Rodabaugh, K. John Morehead Brower, congressman and state legislator, was born in Greensboro, the son of John W. Brower and his wife. His father was a businessman in Mt. Airy. Brower received his early education [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Ayers, Annette. Chang and Eng Bunker Surry County’s Original Siamese Twins By Dr. Annette Ayers * Reprinted with permission from the Tar Heel Junior Historian, Fall 2008.  Tar Heel Junior Historian [...] (from Tar Heel Junior Historian, NC Museum of History.)

by Traywick, Darryl. Eng and Chang Bunker, the first conjoined (formerly known as Siamese) twins to receive world-wide attention, were born in the fishing village of Mekong, Siam (now Thailand), to unidentified [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Stafford, Garland R. Hugh Gwyn Chatham, industrialist, public servant, philanthropist, and promoter of various enterprises, was born in Elkin of English and Welsh ancestry. He was the eldest son of Alexander and Mary [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Pleasants, Julian M. Richard Thurmond Chatham, U.S. congressman, industrialist, and philanthropist, was born in Elkin, Surry County, the only son of Hugh Gwyn and Martha Lenoir Chatham. His grandfather was Alexander [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Waugh, Betty Linney. Benjamin Cleveland, frontiersman, was born in Virginia on the now-famous Bull Run. He was the son of John Cleveland and the grandson of Alexander Cleveland, who came from England and settled in [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Butler, Lindley S. Daniel William Courts, legislator, state treasurer, and enslaver, was born in Culpeper County, Va., and by 1806 moved with his father, George Courts, to Rockingham County. Reared in Rockingham [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Mcgrew, Ellen. Calvin Josiah Cowles, merchant, real estate and mine operator, union leader, and assayer, was born in Hamptonville, the son of Connecticut natives Deborah Sanford and Josiah Cowles. In describing his [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Denny, Bessie B. Emery Byrd Denny, lawyer and North Carolina Supreme Court justice, was born on a farm near Pilot Mountain in Surry County, the son of the Reverend Gabriel and Sarah Delphina Stone Denny. After [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Christian, Ralph J. Alonzo Dillard Folger, attorney, judge, and U.S. representative, was born in Dobson, the son of Thomas W. and Ada Robertson Folger. After attending the public schools, he entered The University of [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Christian, Ralph J. John Hamlin Folger, attorney, state legislator, and U.S. representative, was born in Rockford, the son of Thomas W. and Ada Robertson Folger. Shortly after being graduated from high school in 1898, [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Mcfarland, Daniel M. Franklin, Jesse by Daniel M. McFarland, 1986 24 Mar. 1760–31 Aug. 1823 See also: Jesse Franklin, Research Branch, NC Office of Archives and History Jesse Franklin, Revolutionary War [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Farnham, Thomas J. Meshack Franklin, congressman and legislator, was born in Orange County, Va., the son of Bernard and Mary Cleveland Franklin. In 1778 his parents sent their eldest son, Jesse, to North Carolina to [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Evans, Phillip W. William Franklin ("Dixie") Gilmer, congressman, was born at Mount Airy, the son of W. F. and Emma Elizabeth Prather Gilmer. The family soon moved to Oklahoma, where young Gilmer attended the public [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Cusic, Don. Andy Griffith by Don Cusic, Professor of Music, Belmont University, 2010 Reprinted with permission from the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame, 2010. Updated by the Government & Heritage [...] (from North Carolina Music Hall of Fame.)

by White, Emmett R. William Hall, governor of Tennessee and congressman, was born in Surry County, the son of William and Thankful Doak Hall. His father was a major in the Surry County militia during the early period of [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by York, Maury. William Hill, public official, son of William and Eliza Halbert Hill, was born in Surry (now Stokes) County. His father, a Baptist minister, attended the Provincial Congress at Hillsborough in August [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Green, C. Sylvester. Holland Holton, educator, the son of Samuel Melanchthon and Aura Barrett Chaffin Holton, was born at Dobson, but his family moved to Durham in 1894. He completed his secondary education in Durham [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Conway, Cecelia. Benjamin Franklin Jarrell, musician, was raised in Surry County on the southern slope of the Blue Ridge, the son of Rufus A. and Susan Turney Jarrell. According to his father, the Scot-Irish family [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Conway, Cecelia. Thomas Jefferson Jarrell, musician, born and raised near Round Peak in Surry County, was the oldest child of Benjamin Franklin and Susan Letisha Amburn Jarrell. He was an exceptional instrumentalist, [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Stanfield, Linda Blue. Tommy Jarrell was born Thomas Jefferson Jarrell, one of eleven children of Benjamin Franklin and Susan Letisha Amburn Jarrell. The family lived in a community called Round Peak in Surry County. Like [...] (from Tar Heel Junior Historian, NC Museum of History.)

by Sparger, Celia C. Thor Martin Johnson, musician and educator, was born in Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., the son of the Reverend Herbert B. and Anna Reusswig Johnson. In 1925 his father entered pastoral service in the [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Howe, Richard D. Edward Francis Lovill, Confederate officer, attorney, legislator, and Indian agent, was born near Siloam, Surry County, the son of William R. and Eliza J. Reeves Lovill. His great-grandfather, [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Inscoe, John C. Lyon, John by John Inscoe, 1991 1765?–14 Sept. 1814 John Lyon, botanist and plant [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)