A Look Into Chatham's Past

Mildred “Mama Dip” Edna Cotton Council

Mildred “Mama Dip” Edna Cotton Council was born in the Baldwin Township of Chatham County. In her youth, she worked with her parents as sharecroppers; however, she knew from a very young age cooking was her calling. She worked in countless kitchens around Chapel Hill, eventually opening her own restaurant. Her restaurant would go on to receive love from influential people like Michael Jordan and President George W. Bush. Council also published two cookbooks and a line of food products.

James Iredell Waddell

James Iredell Waddell was born in Pittsboro, North Carolina in 1824. He would go on to become a lieutenant in the Confederate Navy after resigning from his post in the United States Navy. Waddell’s time as captain of the Shenandoah would make him notorious for his continued fighting after the end of the Civil War.

Clarence Hamilton Poe

Clarence Hamilton Poe was born in 1881 and would go on to become a household name within the farming community. He owned the Progressive Farming Company and was editor of the Progressive Farmer for the majority of his life, helping to increase circulation of the magazine from 5,000 to 1,400,000 copies.

Wilkins Perryman Horton

Wilkins Perryman Horton was born in 1889 in Kansas City, Kansas. By three, the Horton family had relocated to Pittsboro, North Carolina, where Horton would from then on spend most of his life. Horton was a lawyer with different practices in Pittsboro at varying points in his career. He also was a politician, serving as a state senator and as North Carolina’s lieutenant governor from 1937 to 1941 before running for governor.

Simon Green Atkins

Simon Green Atkins was born in Haywood, Chatham County to two former enslaved people. He went on to co-found the North Carolina Negro Teachers’ Association. Later, he created Slater Normal and Industrial School which in time would become Winston-Salem State University.