lieutenant death_date children birth_date term_end alma_mater death_place profession order term_start spouse image predecessor birth_place party governor successor religion article_title birth_name
'' vacant '' 11 april 1896 6 15 july 1831 january 12 , 1893 1891 university of north carolina at chapel hill alamance county , north carolina industrialist , politician 47th north carolina governor of north carolina 6th lieutenant governor of april 7 , 1891 1889 louisa matilda moore thomas michael holt governor of north carolina.jpeg daniel gould fowle charles m. stedman alamance county , north carolina democratic daniel gould fowle elias carr rufus a. doughton presbyterian thomas michael holt
 thomas michael holt
thomas michael holt

col. thomas michael holt -lrb- july 15 , 1831 -- april 11 , 1896 -rrb- was a prominent north carolina industrialist who served as the 47th governor of north carolina from 1891 to 1893 .
formerly a north carolina state senator and speaker of the house of the north carolina general assembly , holt was instrumental in the founding of north carolina state university , as well as in establishing several railroads within the state and the state 's department of agriculture .
holt was also responsible for the technology behind the family 's holt mills ` alamance plaids , ' the first colored cotton goods produced in the south -- a development that revolutionized the southern textile industry .
he was born in alamance county , north carolina , july 15 , 1831 .
thomas michael holt was a descendant of michael holt or holdt , one of the earliest settlers of the germanna colony in virginia in the early 18th century .
holt studied at the university of north carolina at chapel hill for one year before briefly moving to work in a philadelphia , pennsylvania , dry goods store .
in 1858 , thomas and his father , edwin michael holt , acquired benjamin trollinger 's bankrupt textile-manufacturing mill later known as the `` granite mill , '' -lrb- located in haw river , north carolina -rrb- .
in 1861 , thomas acquired his father 's interest in the mill and moved to haw river to oversee the mill 's operations .
-lrb- edwin michael holt had formerly manufactured the so-called alamance plaids , the first cotton goods produced in the south on power looms .
edwin m. holt established his alamance cotton mill in 1837 , thus beginning the southern textile industry . -rrb-
in 1868 , thomas 's brother-in-law , adolphus `` dolph '' moore , became business partners with thomas and the operation was renamed holt & moore .
in 1876 , moore was murdered , and the mills were consolidated as the thomas m. holt manufacturing company .
-lrb- other members of the holt family were operating the haw river mills , glencoe mills , carolina mill , lafayette mill , the pilot mill of raleigh , and others in their expanding family empire . -rrb-
after thomas 's death in 1896 , his son , thomas jr. , took over operations of the mills and expanded them .
in 1900 , the mills were organized by a local labor union , which sponsored a strike that was eventually broken by lockouts and mill housing evictions by the mill management .
thomas 's party affiliation was democratic , and he served as a local magistrate , a county commissioner , as a member of north carolina 's state senate -lrb- 24th district -rrb- in 1876 , as a member of north carolina 's state house of representatives from alamance county , 1883 -- 1887 , as the sixth lieutenant governor of north carolina , 1889 -- 1891 , and upon the death of governor -lrb- daniel g. fowle -rrb- , as 47th governor of north carolina , 1891-1893 .
as governor , he was actively involved in establishing a new system of county government , in the construction of the western north carolina railroad and the cape fear and yadkin valley railway as well as the north carolina railroad , which holt served as president , as well as in increasing the funding for public schools , the university , and the state hospitals .
he pushed for the establishment of an institution for the deaf at morganton .
an outstanding accomplishment was his getting the holders of bonds for the north carolina railroad to release the state from the lien on the state 's shares .
this saved the state money as the property was valued at more than $ 5 million .
the holt family had long ties to the railroad company , and these were undoubtedly useful in holt 's striking a deal with the bondholders .
following his service as governor , holt sat on the boards of both the university of north carolina and davidson college .
holt was aided in the burgeoning holt family mill empire by his brother-in-law , james nathaniel williamson , who had married thomas michael holt 's sister mary .
the holt family eventually became the largest textile barons in the state , running scores of different mills , under various names , and as various holt heirs and their in-laws broke off from the main enterprise and founded their own companies .
ultimately , however , the holt mills were sold by the family and became the backbone of the emerging burlington mills -lrb- later burlington industries , overseen by rival industrialist spencer love .
thomas holt died april 11 , 1896 and is buried at linwood cemetery in graham , alamance county , north carolina .
