University of North Carolina Chapel Hill - Yackety Yack Yearbook (Chapel Hill, NC)

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on. vanciB ©onneff iVimion urru ' he subject of this sketch comes of distinguished ancestry, a family that has impressed itself upon not only this but other States. The blood is English, mixed with Scotch-Irish. Francis Donnell Winston was born in Bertie county, North Carolina, October 2, 1857. His parents were Hon. Patrick Henry Winston, one of North Carolina ' s ablest jurists, and Martha Elizabeth Byrd, a ladv of rare womanly virtues. ' The Winstons came originally from Lincolnshire, England, and settled in Hanover county, Virginia. One of the family, Sarah Wincton, was the mother of Patrick Henry, the great orator of the American Revolution. The Byrds came from Scotland and settled in Virginia. Colonel William Byrd, of West- over, Va., the most cultivated Virginian of the last century, was a member of this family. Thus Mr ' . Winston is a descendant of two of the oldest, most talented and most eminent families of the South. His brothers are Hon. P. H. Winston, lawyer, author and wit, Spokane, Washington, and at present attorney-general of that State; George T.Winston, LL. D.. Presi- dent of the University of Texas, Austin, Texas, and Hon. Robert W. Winston, ex-judge of the Superior Court, Durham, N. C. Their sister, Mrs. F. S. Spruill, of Louisburg, is one of the most talented women in our State. Mr. Winston ' s education was received at the Fetter School, Henderson; the Horner School, Oxford; Cornell University, New York, and the University of North Carolina. From the latter institution he graduated with distinction in 1879. At the University Mr. Winston ' s talents and universal popularity won for him honors prophetic of those which he has since reaped in life as a lawyer and a citizen. He was assistant ball manager in 1876, representative of the Philanthropic Society in 1877, revived the University Magazine in 1878, - and twice elected editor thereof, Washington orator in 1878, president s- of the Philanthropic Society, historian and president of the Class of 1879. In January, 1881, he was licensed to practice law, having been a student at the Dick and Dillard Law School at Greensboro. Just after le was WX licensed. Judge Aug. S. Seymour appointed him clerk of the Superior Court of V H Bertie count} . Mr. Winston was nominated for State Superintendent of Public Instruction bv the Liberal patty in 1884. In 1886 he was elected and served as a State Senator from Bertie and Northhampton counties. In 1890 he was nominated for Judge of the Second Judicial District by the Republican party but declined the nomination and declared his allegiance to the Democratic party. Since 1892 he has been a member of the Democratic State Executive Committee and a member of the Second Congressional District Democratic Committee. He presided over the State convention of Democratic clubs in 1894 and over the Congressional convention of that year in his district. At the request of Hon. F. M. Simmons, State chairman of the late campaign. Mr- Winston had charge of the formation and organization of the White Government Unions, which were most potent factors in the campaign. 7

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HON. FRANCIS DONNEI.I, WrNSToN.

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In every campaign since 1890 Mr. Winston has canvassed a large part of the State, and his public speeches are strong, and filled with a fund of humor that renders him popular with the people. Mr. Winston takes an active interest in education. He has been a trustee of the University since 18S7, and was one of the orators at the last commencement. He is a large-hearted, philanthropic man ; I and largely at his instance the county of Bertie has established a house of correction, with a farm attached, where the aged and infirm are cared for. He was chairman of the board of directors until removed by the Fusionists. In his professional relations Mr. Winston enjoys the confidence of the people of his section in a high degree. He is an advocate of power — a well equipped lawyer. On the loth day of October, 1898, he was unanimously nominated fo r the Legislature by his party in Bertie county. He at once entered upon an aggressive and thorough campaign, which resulted in his own election and that of the entire ticket on which he ran by an average majority of 100, in face of the fact that the Fusion ticket had carried the county at the previous election (1896) by 900 majority. In the Legislature of 1899 he took high rank and served on the following committees : Privileges and Elections, chairman ; Election Laws and Constitutional Amendments ; Counties, Cities and Towns ; chairman of the committee to name trustees for the University and the College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. In all matters relating to suffrage Mr. Winston took a most prominent part, but the most important piece of legislation he per. formed for his State was his introduction of the Constitutional Amendment Bill relative to the qualification of voters in North Carolina. Not only was he a member of the above-named committees in the House but he was one of its recognized leaders, abounding in tact and good sense, eloquent and convincing in debate, and always ready with kind word and sympathetic heart to help his friends and constituents. Our distinguished friend was frequently men- tioned for the speakership of the House. He occupies a place in the front rank of that able body. His native county is fond of her distinguished son and sees in the future high honors awaiting him. He has the boldness to declare for the principles and policies of his party and the abilit) ' to take care of himself in any emergenc} ' . He takes a great interest in Masonry and has been one of that order ' s grand officers for some years. As the chairman of the special conmiittee appointed in January, 1898, to raise a fund for the construction of girls ' buildings at the Orphan Asylum at Oxford he ha raised the splendid sum of |5,ooo. Mr. Winston is most happily married to Miss Rosa Mary Kenney, a musician of rare ability, and a most excellent help-mate to a man who finds his chiefest pleasure around his fireside.