Bennehan Cameron, Democrat, Representative from Durham County, was born September 9, 1854, at "Fairntosh," Stagville, then Orange, now Durham County. Son of Paul Carrington and Anne (Ruffln) Cameron. Prepared for college at Horaer Military Academy, 1868-1871; Eastman National Business College, 1871; graduated at Virginia Military Institute, 1875; Captain Co. C. Admitted to the Bar in 1877. Farmer. Director of the Morehead Banking Company, Durham, N. C Took an active part in organizing the First National Bank of Durham, and in the building of the Lynchburg and Durham Railroad, the Oxford and Clarksville Railroad, the Durham and Northern Railroad, and the Oxford and Dickerson branch. Director in the Raleigh and Augusta Air Line Railroad. One of the organizers of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad Company; president of the same, 1911-1913. Director and vice-president of the Rocky Mount Mills. President of the North Carolina State Agricultural Society, 1896-1897. Vice-president of the Southern Cotton Growers Protective Association, 1904-1906. Vice-president of the Farmers' National Congress, 1901-1907; president, 1907-1909. Member of Royal Agricultural Society of England, 1908-1914. Captain of Orange County Guards, 1875-1876. Captain of the staffs of Governors Vance, Jarvis, and Scales. Colonel on the staffs of Governors Fowle, Holt, and Carr. Represented North Carolina on the staff of General Phil Sheridan at the centennial celebration of the adoption of the Federal Constitution, 1887, and on the staff of General Schofield at the centennial celebration of the inauguration of President George "Washington, 1889. Organizer and director of the Quebec-Miami International Highway. Organizer and vice-president of the Southern National Highway. Director of the American Automobile Association. President of the Scottish Society of America. Assistant treasurer of the North Carolina Society of the Cincinnati. Vice-president of the North Carolina Sons of the Revolution. Chairman of the Committee on the Codperation of Patriotic Organizations under the American Committee for the Celebration of the Century of Peace among English speaking Peoples under the Treaty of Ghent. Representative in the General Assembly, 1915; State Senator, 1917. Episcopalian. Married Miss Sallie P. Mayo. Two children. Address: Stagville, N. C.
(Source: North Carolina Manual. 1919. Published by the North Carolina Historical Commission.)

BENNEHAN CAMERON, the only surviving son of the late Paul C. Cameron, was born at Fairntosh, the country residence of the Camerons for a century. This beautiful home was built by Judge Duncan Cameron, and was the residence of Mr. Paul Cameron, and there, on the 9th day of September, 1854, the subject of this sketch was born. It was originally in Orange County, but now in Durham County, and is located near the old trading path of the earliest colonial days leading from the Roanoke settlement to the Trading Ford near Salisbury, which passed along the Enoe and by the Oconeechee Indians, who lived near the present site of Hillsboro. It was along that route that Lawson made his journey in the year 1700 from Charleston to Pamlico.

There in that fine mansion, the center of a large and valuable landed estate, surrounded by the industries and activities of plantation life, the boyhood of the subject of this sketch was passed. Inheriting a vigorous constitution and blessed with fine health, he enjoyed the pleasures of rural life and was trained to horsemanship and to country sports. At first he was taught at Cedar Grove in Orange County, where Mr. Samuel Hughes conducted an excellent boarding school. From there he passed to the fine academy of Horner and Graves at Oxford, whose reputation as teachers was not excelled in the State. Having completed his academic course, he entered the Eastman Business College at Poughkeepsie, New York, and after a year there became a student at the Virginia Military Institute at Lexington in 1871, the University of North Carolina not being then open for students. He graduated on the 4th of July, 1875, taking distinction both in academic studies and in military proficiency. Indeed, on the day of his graduation, so thorough was he in his studies and so excellent was his bearing and character, that he was tendered the position of commandant of the corps of cadets and of professor of tactics, ordnance and gunnery in the Kentucky Military Institute at Boiling Green.

His purpose, however, was to seek a professional career as a lawyer, a vocation more in accord with his taste and capacity and offering a broader field of usefulness and more in consonance with his laudable ambition, and therefore he declined this flattering offer of the Kentucky Military Institute, and returning home, he became a law student of his uncle, William K. Ruffin,' who possessed a great legal mind and was an excellent instructor, and who, indeed, was thought by some to excel even his eminent father, Chief Justice Ruffin.

Admitted to the bar in 1877, well prepared and equipped for his profession, Mr. Cameron entered upon the work of mastering the details of professional life in the office of the law firm of Messrs. Graham & Ruffin at Hillsboro, but circumstances led him to relinquish his purpose to practice the law, and he took charge of the plantation at Stagville, near Fairntosh, and devoted himself to agriculture, following in the footsteps of his admirable father. Mr. Paul Cameron was now well advanced in years, and was nearing the close of his active career, and needed the aid of his son in the management of his large and varied interests. In this field of activity, which called for the application of a very high order of intelligence, Mr. Cameron found ample exercise for his best capabilities, and he addressed himself zealously to the details of the important work committed to his charge. He became an excellent farmer, versed in the practice of handling and planting the products of his fields, and in his career as an agriculturist he met with gratifying success; and continuing it, he has taken a special pride in his stock farm, where he bred fine horses and elegant herds of Jersey cattle.

Possessed of both Fairntosh and Stagville, which for a period of one hundred and forty years has been the property of his ancestors, forming one of the most important and interesting estates in North Carolina, Mr. Cameron has had ample means and sufficient leisure to enter upon other fields of usefulness and engage in other enterprises. He has taken a prominent part in many affairs of importance, his fine ability, capacity, executive talent and energy leading to his employment in business positions of high consequence. He was instrumental in the organization of the First National Bank of Durham and of the Morehead Banking Company, of which he was one of the original directors. He also became interested in phosphate lands and in the cultivation of orange groves in Florida, being a director in the company controlling the affairs with which he was concerned in those branches of business. He also organized and is still a director of the Rocky Mount Mills.

His prominence as an agriculturist has been recognized on many occasions. When the Cotton Growers' Protective Association was formed, he became one of the vice-presidents, and has been constantly continued in that position. He has been president of the North Carolina State Fair Association, and conducted the affairs committed to his charge with great sagacity and signal ability. He attended the meeting of the Farmers' National Congress in 1901, and received prompt recognition by his election as second vice-president of that body, and in 1903 he was elected first vice-president. Indeed, he has been active, energetic and zealous in all matters that have had a bearing on the advancement of the agricultural interests of the South and the industrial development of that region.

In such matters but few, if any, others have been more useful to his fellow-citizens engaged in agricultural pursuits. In railroad circles he has likewise been of influence and of singular usefulness. He was a director of the North Carolina Railroad, and made successful opposition in the courts against the surrender of the tax exemption, which was secured by the charter of the company, but which the State administration proposed to relinquish. And he was also active, energetic and influential in maintaining before the courts and the legislature the lease of the North Carolina Railroad to the Southern Railway, which has had the effect of giving much additional value to the shares of stock in that company. He was one of the committee that built the Union Depot at Raleigh and the Caraleigh Railroad branch. But as important as his work in connection with the North Carolina Railroad has been, that in regard to the Seaboard Air Line has largely excelled it in beneficial results. He was also a promoter of the Oxford and Clarksville Railroad, of the Lynchburg and Durham Railroad and of the Durham and Northern Railroad, and, indeed, the Oxford and Coast Line Railroad was built in his name. He strongly urged the construction of the Richmond, Petersburg and Carolina Railroad, which connects with the old Raleigh and Gaston at Norlina, and he introduced the resolution in the stockholders' meeting of the Raleigh and Gaston under which that important connection was constructed. But his greatest service to that system of railroad lines, which was also a distinct benefit and advantage to the agricultural section tributary to that system, was his successful effort in influencing the consolidation of all those railways into the great Seaboard Air Line system. It had been committed to him to secure a great part of the legislation necessary for the organization of the consolidated companies; and he was most successful in the accomplishment of the purpose, and he presided at a number of the meetings that resulted in the formation of that great railway line of 2600 miles; and this consolidation has resulted in great benefits to the agricultural communities served by that railroad system.

His services in other departments of usefulness have likewise been remarkable. Well trained at the Virginia Military Institute, a year after his graduation it was his distinguished privilege to introduce at the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia, in 1876, the speaker of the House of Representatives of Congress, Hon. Samuel J. Randall, to the corps of cadets of the Military Institute of Virginia, whom Mr. Randall welcomed to Pennsylvania soil in terms of patriotic eulogy. In 1877, while a law student at Hillsboro, he organized the Orange Guards, one of the few volunteer companies of the State, and which was one of the original companies forming the nucleus of what became the State Guards, and Mr. Cameron became captain of that company. On changing his residence to Stagville, however, he resigned his office of captain, but was at once appointed assistant inspector-general by Governor Vance, a position for which his admirable training and fine military carriage well fitted him, and he continued to serve the State in this capacity under the administrations of Governor Jarvis and Governor Scales, through a term of ten years; and on the inauguration of Governor Fowle he was commissioned as inspector-general of rifle practice with the rank of colonel, and continued to perform those duties during the administrations of Governor Holt and Governor Carr, and was thus in continuous service from 1871 to 1897, twenty-six years. In his military capacity Colonel Cameron has not only been an efficient officer, but has on several occasions represented the State of North Carolina with high credit. He represented the State in his official capacity on the brilliant occasion of the Yorktown Centennial, and during Governor Scales's administration he represented the State at the centennial of the adoption of the constitution, serving on the staff of General Phil. Sheridan, who, as the commanding general of the army, reviewed at that time 80,000 troops. Similarly, he was appointed by Governor Fowle as an aide to represent North Carolina on the staff of Major-General Schofield at the Inauguration Centennial of President George Washington at New York on April 30, 1889, when 100,000 troops were in line. Again he represented North Carolina on the staff of General Clinton Payne, who was commander of the Maryland troops in the military review and sham battle and bombardment of Fort McHenry on the occasion of the Maryland Exposition at Baltimore. By appointment of Governor Holt he represented North Carolina on the Military Committee of the Columbian Exposition at Chicago. By the selection of Senators Vance and Ransom, he represented North Carolina on the staff of the chief marshal at the inauguration of President Cleveland after his second election. His familiarity with public men and pleasant relations with them have led to his being very useful in securing legislation. In particular, he was appointed by the Society of Cincinnati, of which he is a member, to secure the passage through Congress of a bill providing for the erection of monuments to General Nash and to General Davidson, those devoted patriots who fell on the battlefield during the Revolution; and although it was a difficult matter to succeed, yet he interested so many influential senators and representatives that finally the appropriation was made and the monuments erected in the Guilford Battle Grounds. General Fitzhugh Lee, with whom he had the most pleasant relations, being the president of the Jamestown Exposition, placed in his charge the bill asking aid from North Carolina for that exposition, and Colonel Cameron managed that matter so well that General Lee was invited to address the legislature, and he secured the passage of the measure. Indeed, he has often appeared before the legislatures of this and other States, and he has invariably produced a good impression for the measures he has advocated, among his characteristics being thoroughness in detail, frankness of statement and a pleasant and interesting manner of presenting his views and enforcing them. As a speaker he is agreeable and attractive, and on every occasion where he has been called on to participate in a public function he has borne himself with credit to the State and with advantage to the cause he represents. One of his happiest efforts was his response, as first vice-president of the Farmers' National Congress, to the address of welcome of the governor of Missouri at St. Louis during the Louisiana Purchase Exposition; another was before the committee to urge the passage of the Isthmian Canal, whose opening it is expected will benefit so much the southern portion of the Union.

Descended from an illustrious ancestry, Colonel Cameron is a hereditary member of the North Carolina Society of the Cincinnati. representing Major Clement Read Nash, who was killed at the Battle of Yorktown, and he is also entitled to represent Captain Thomas Amis of Halifax. In the Cincinnati Colonel Cameron is assistant treasurer, and he was a delegate from North Carolina to attend, at Philadelphia, in 1897, the unveiling of the monument erected by the society to Washington as its first president. And he has attended as a delegate the triennial meetings of the General Society at New York, at Hartford and in 1905 at Richmond. On the latter occasion the guest of honor, both at its banquet at Richmond and on the trip to Yorktown, was Monsieur Jusserand, the French Ambassador to the United States, who represented the French Society of the Cincinnati. In the famous old Moore house at Yorktown, Colonel Cameron recalled that in 1881, at the centennial celebration of Cornwallis's surrender, he drank punch with General Rochambeau and General Boulanger, members of the French society, on the very spot where the articles of British surrender were signed. On that occasion, also, resolutions presented by Colonel Cameron in respect to the memory of General Fitzhugh Lee were adopted, after an eloquent eulogium pronounced upon that fine officer by Colonel Cameron.

In his political affiliations Colonel Cameron is a Democrat, and he has always been influential in the councils of his party, but he has never sought political preferment and has no taste for political life. He has that manly and independent spirit which cannot be brought to bend and fawn in order to obtain the objects of even a laudable ambition.

In all of his multifarious relations Colonel Cameron has not omitted to give encouragement to education. He is chairman of the North Carolina branch of the Society of Alumni of the Virginia Military Institute, and is a trustee of the University of North Carolina, and secured the establishment of ten scholarships at that institution by the Paul C. Cameron heirs, and otherwise he has manifested his hearty sympathy in the general cause of education. When it was proposed, in 1905, to elect a president of the University of Virginia, Colonel Cameron recommended to the trustees of that institution Dr. E. A. Alderman, a North Carolinian, urging that the first president of that famous institution should be a Southern man; and he had the satisfaction of seeing Dr. Alderman chosen, and of attending at his installation.

In like manner Colonel Cameron manifests an interest in all public matters that appertain to the welfare of his community and' to the advantage of society, and a spirit of beneficence leads to a generous liberality in promoting such objects.

The social side of Colonel Cameron's life has been cast in most fortunate lines. His mother, Annie Ruffin, a daughter of Chief Justice Ruffin, moved in a charming circle of relatives and friends, amid elegance, refinement and culture, and these influences were most happy in their effects upon her children, and Colonel Cameron grew up not merely the manly man, but the courteous, polished gentleman.

On the 28th of October, 1891, Colonel Cameron was married to Miss Sallie T. Mayo, a daughter of Mr. P. H. Mayo, a distinguished citizen of Richmond, who is descended from one of Virginia's oldest and best-known families; and their home has ever been a seat of elegant hospitality. Indeed, like his father and grandfather, he has entertained all the distinguished gentlemen of national fame who have visited Raleigh, when his fine mansion was open for the reception of guests. For some years Colonel Cameron resided much at Fairntosh, but in 1894 he removed to his residence in Raleigh, originally built by his grandfather, Judge Duncan Cameron, and which has been rendered still more beautiful by the taste of Mrs. Cameron and himself.

Of Colonel Cameron's fine characteristics much might be said, and we must not omit to recall here one incident in which he displayed heroism and nerve in a remarkable degree on a memorable occasion. It was on the night of August 27, 1891, when one of the most fatal railroad wrecks in the history of this country occurred on the Western North Carolina Railroad near Statesville. Of near a hundred passengers, he was the only one who was not either killed or so desperately wounded as to be utterly helpless; and by his coolness and nerve and persistent efforts he rescued many fellow-passengers and saved them from certain death.   He was a veritable hero in that deplorable calamity; and the public recognized his fine action, his pluck and heroic exertions in terms of the highest praise, and the press rang with expressions of unstinted commendation of his bravery and energetic action and admirable conduct. But as admirable as his conduct was on that occasion, it was only in accord with his fine spirit, which was natural to one who had such an illustrious descent and in whose veins ran the blood of such noble ancestors—the Camerons, the Ruffins, the Kirklands, the Bennehans, the Nashes and the Amises—being ever distinguished for those characteristics that adorn the highest manhood.
S. A. Ashe.
(Source: Biographical History of North Carolina from Colonial Times to Present, By Samuel A. Ashe, Vol. III, published 1906)