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Mecklenburg People
William Thomas "W.T." Harris
William Thomas (W. T.) Harris, of the Harris Teeter grocery store chain, was a prominent businessman, self-made millionaire, Baptist devotee, politician, and community advocate
Mecklenburg People
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Robert Irwin
General Robert Irwin (8/26/1738 - ?) was one of the original signers of the Meckenburg Declaration of Independence. The Irvines, later Irwins, came from Ireland to Pennsylvania about 1730. Robert's father died in Pennsylvania in 1763, so he sold his land gained from his inheritance to a brother and moved to Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.
John Phifer
John Phifer (March 25, 1747 - 1778) was one of the signers of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence. He was the son of Martin Phifer, a Swiss emigrant, who came to America in the late 1730s. Phifer was a planter and prosperous land owner. His land included two State grants that were given after the state was organized. In 1768, he married Catherine Barringer, the daughter of Mecklenburg Declaration signer, Paul Barringer.
John Wilkes
Captain John Wilkes (1827-1908) was a native of New York City. He attended the U.S. Naval Academy where he graduated first in his class in 1847. His naval travels took him from the Gulf of Mexico to China. After his marriage to the former Jane Smedberg, The Wilkes settled in Charlotte. Captain Wilkes was made manager of the Mecklenburg Iron Works plant in 1859. During the Civil War, the Confederate government took control of the plant to make tools and equipment for its navy.
Joseph Ivey
Ivey's parents believed their young son's vision problems would prevent him from being able to learn in a classroom, so they arranged for him to study carpentry instead. As an industrious young man, Joseph Ivey (1864-1958), a Shelby native, went to work in general stores.
James Polk
The eleventh president of the U.S., James Knox Polk (1795-1849), was the oldest of 10 children. He was a descendant of a Scottish religious reformer named John Knox. His family members helped organize the Presbyterian Church in the region. Polk was born near Pineville in Mecklenburg County, not far from the birthplace of another president, Andrew Jackson. Polk graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1818.
John Williams
John Taylor Williams (1859-1924), the man who would become an educator, physician, businessman and diplomat, was born in Cumberland County, N.C., the son of free blacks during the time of slavery. In 1880, he graduated at the top of his class at the State Normal School, now Fayetteville University. He taught at Myers Street School, the first school for black children in Charlotte.
Andrew Jackson
Born at Waxhaw near the North-South Carolina border, Andrew Jackson (1767 - 1845) grew up to become a lawyer, war hero, and the seventh president of the U.S. Unlike most other politicians of his time, his family was not wealthy. His father died before he was born. In 1780 at age 13, he became a Revolutionary War scout and messenger. One year later, he was captured by the British, forced to march to a prison in South Carolina, then orphaned when his mother died.