George C. Bonniwell (1837-1912), a highly mobile manufacturer, builder, and architect, was a native of New York who moved to the western Piedmont of North Carolina in the late 1870s. He and his daughters Josephine and Norma constituted an unusual family in North Carolina building practice--as "Bonniwell and Daughter" for a time. His daughter...

The Howe Family of Wilmington, North Carolina, encompassed at least four generations of men of color active in the city's building trades. As traced in Strength Through Struggle, they included Anthony Howe (d. 1837) and his sons Anthony (ca. 1807-after 1870), Pompey (d. by 1869), and Alfred Augustus (1817-1892); Anthony's sons Anthony Jr. (dates...

Joseph Perry Kramer (1867-1924), a carpenter, builder, and architect, planned and constructed many of Elizabeth City's buildings during the early 20th century. He was a representative example of the many builders who worked in a locale for many years, producing a wide range of building types that shaped the architectural character of their communities Born...

John B. Lane (1834-1910), a leading builder in post-Civil War New Bern, was one of three sons of New Bern's best-known antebellum builder, Hardy B. Lane, Sr. (1793-1856). The other sons were Frederick Lane (ca. 1824-1868) and Hardy B. Lane, Jr. (b. ca. 1829). Doubtless trained by their father, the Lane sons entered building...

John C. (Christie) Stout (December 19, 1860-November 24, 1921), a contractor and architect from Randolph County, worked briefly in Wilmington, then moved to Wilson and to Rocky Mount. He had a large practice that extended throughout much of eastern North Carolina and concentrated in the railroad towns of the inner coastal plain. Like other...

James Albert Tennent (1842-1916) was a builder and architect active in Asheville's late 19th century boom years. One of many Confederate veterans who established a new life after the Civil War, he built important public buildings and houses from the 1870s onward, and continued into the early 20th century as the city's "dean" of...

John A. (Adam) Wagner (July 16, 1836-December 5, 1924), a Union veteran and "pioneer builder" in Asheville, came to the mountain city in the 1880s and remained there for the rest of his long life. He was best known for constructing the original Battery Park Hotel (opened 1886), which was razed shortly before his...

James Walker (1827-1901) was a Scots-born builder, contractor, and brickmason who came to Wilmington, North Carolina, in 1857 to supervise construction of the United States Marine Hospital for his brother John Walker, the contractor for the project. James stayed in Wilmington the rest of his life, becoming one of the leading builders and a...

James Manassas Westall (September 11, 1861-January 1, 1943), a "pioneer builder" in Asheville, was a contractor who erected many of the city's railroad boom era buildings before retiring to operate a building supply business. He was one of several men from the "first families" of western North Carolina who became leaders in the building...