Mecklenburg People

William Graham

Born on what was family farmland, William Franklin Graham (1918-2018), a Charlotte native, was known around the world as an evangelist who fervently shared the teachings of his faith.

Billy Graham was ordained in the Southern Baptist Convention in 1939. Within ten years, his ministry had grown significantly and he began traveling the world to spread his message. Millions of people have attended his gatherings, called crusades. He was a spiritual advisor to American presidents and was welcomed by heads of state around the world.

John Belk

John Montgomery Belk (March 29, 1920- August 17, 2007) was the son of William Henry Belk, the founder of the Belk department stores. After graduating from Davidson College in 1943 and serving the in the United States Army, John Belk began work in the family business, becoming the chief executive officer in the 1950s and remaining in that post until 2006. He guided Belk’s transition from a loose alliance of stores into a more unified operation and its expansion into one of the largest retail chains in the South.

John Flennekin

John Flennekin (3/7/1744 - ?) was one of the original signers of the Meckenburg Declaration of Independence. There are many people in this family with this name, and doing genealogical research is difficult. Family researchers say that his family came from Tryone, Ulster, Ireland about 1730 with other Scotch-Irish natives. They arrived in Philadelphia and later moved to Charlotte. His parents, James and Jean, had nine children. John married and had a son, John Oliver, who often gets confused with his father.

Annie Alexander

In an age when opportunities for women were extremely limited, Annie Lowrie Alexander made a place in history. She was the first woman in the South to practice medicine. She was born near Cornelius, N.C., the daughter of a prominent Mecklenburg citizen, Dr. John Brevard Alexander, and his wife, Ann Wall Lowrie. She graduated from the Women's Medical College in Philadelphia in 1884. She taught in Baltimore and received a medical license in 1885, having earned the highest grade in her class of 100 students.

William Belk

The Belk family moved from Lancaster, S.C., to Monroe, N.C. in 1873. Without money to attend college, William Henry Belk (1862-1952) went to work at age 14 in a local store for $5 per month. He learned on the job and saved what he could of his earnings. By 1888 he had saved $750 and opened his own store in Monroe. His brother, Dr. John Montgomery Belk, joined the family business three years later. Their advertising claimed that their store offered customers the lowest possible prices.In 1895 the store they opened in Charlotte bore the name Belk Brothers.

John Garibaldi

John Garibaldi (1831 - October 28, 1921) was born in Genoa, Italy. He came to the United States, arriving in New York in 1858. He moved to Charlotte a few weeks later. He was the father of Joseph Garibaldi, founder of Garibaldi and Bruns Jewelry Store in Charlotte. He served in the Civil War, enlisting first under Captain White in Fort Mill, and later Unter Captain John Wilkes, for whom he was later employed.Garibaldi amassed extensive land holdings in Charlotte. He farmed and had a cotton gin and a corn mill on South Mint Street, in what is now downtown Charlotte.

Lillian Arhelger

Lillian Arhelger (1907-1931) was a native of Fredericksburg, Texas. She was a graduate of the University of Texas. She came to Charlotte to join the faculty of Central High School as the coach of girl's sports. Miss Arhelger was a counselor for the Girl Scout troop at Myers Park Presbyterian church. On June 21, 1931, while on a trip to Glen Burnie Falls in the North Carolina mountains, she was killed in an attempt to save a young camper who had fallen into the water. In recognition of Arhelger's heroism, the people of Charlotte raised money to erect a public memorial.

Alexander Brevard

One of eight sons and four daughters, Alexander Brevard (1755-1829) was a Revolutionary War officer, planter, and iron manufacturer. He was born in Iredell County.

In 1776, he joined the Continental Army and rose quickly from the rank of ensign to first lieutenant in the 4th North Carolina Regiment. During a brutal winter with George Washington at Valley Forge, he was ordered home due to health problems. In 1779, he was made captain of the North Carolina Militia, and fought at Camden, S.C. with Gen. Horatio Gates in 1780.

King George III

George III (1738-1820, reigned 1760-1820) was ruler of Britain during the years in which American colonists fought for their independence in the Revolutionary War. Both the city of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County were named to honor his wife, Charlotte-Sophia of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Germany.

Queen Charlotte

At age 17, Charlotte Sophia of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1744-1818) in Germany became the bride of England's King George III. Queen Charlotte bore 15 children, including George IV, who succeeded his father to the throne.

In 1762, settlers in the Carolina colony honored the king's new wife by naming a newly formed county for her homeplace. They called it Mecklenburg. When a town was established within the county in 1768, founders named it Charlotte Town in an attempt to win favor with the crown.She never visited the town named for her.

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