Battle (Family : Battle, William Horn, 1802-1879)

William Horn Battle (1802-1879) lived near Louisburg, N.C., until late 1839, when he moved to Raleigh. In 1843, he moved to Chapel Hill and remained there until the closing of the University of North Carolina in 1868, when he went to Raleigh to live with his sons. Battle served as a Superior Court judge in 1840 and as a Supreme Court judge, 1852-1865. He was a Whig in politics and represented Franklin County in the House of Commons, 1833-1834. Battle was a professor of law at the University of North Carolina. The connection of the Law School with the University was nominal at the time, but Battle, as a prominent trustee, father of several University students, and close friend of University President David L. Swain, was quite active in University affairs.

Battle married Lucy Martin Plummer, daughter of a prominent family in Warren County, N.C. Their son, Kemp Plummer Battle, married his cousin, Martha Ann Battle (Pattie). Kemp Plummer Battle studied at the University of North Carolina, where he remained as a tutor for several years after graduation, studying law at the same time. When he secured his law license, he began to practice in Raleigh and soon thereafter married Pattie. They lived in Raleigh for 20 years. During this time, Kemp Plummer Battle practiced law and participated in public affairs as a member of the Convention of 1861; state treasurer, 1866-1868; and as an active member of the Whig Party before the Civil War, and, after the war, as a moderate conservative, and later Democrat. He was president of the Chatham Railroad and had interests in real estate ventures through the Southern Land Agency and Battle, Heck, and Company. Kemp Plummer Battle was active in the re-opening of the University of North Carolina. In 1876, he was elected president of the University and, in 1877, moved to Chapel Hill to begin work. He remained president until 1891, when he resigned to become professor of history, a post he held until his retirement in 1907.

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