Withers, William Banks

William Alphonso Withers was born on May 31, 1864 in Riverview, North Carolina, near Davidson College. Withers was the son of William Banks Withers and Sarah L. Rutledge. He had seven siblings: Ida who married a Sloan, J.R., Jamie, Banks, Rosa, Victoria, and Mary B. who went by "Mamie".

He received his A.B. degree from Davidson College in June of 1883, and his A.M. from Davidson in 1885. From 1884 through 1888, he served as Assistant Chemist at the North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station in Raleigh. From 1885 through 1902, and again from 1905 through 1915, he was the North Carolina State Statistical Agent for the United States Department of Agriculture. He did graduate work at Cornell University from 1889-1890, where he received the Sage Fellowship in Agricultural Chemistry during that time. In 1917 Davidson College awarded him an honorary ScD.

From 1889 until 1923 he was Professor of Pure and Agricultural Chemistry at the North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. He served as the North Carolina State Chemist from 1897 to 1898. He was the Acting Director of the North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station from 1897 to 1899, where he was also a chemist until 1921. From 1916 through 1923, he served as Vice President of North Carolina State College. From 1917 through 1923, he was the Summer School Director for North Carolina State College.

In 1898 Withers was a member of the Executive Committee of the National Pure Food and Drug Congress, and in 1899, authored the North Carolina Pure Food Law. From 1899 through 1905 he was Chairman of the Committee on Pure Food and Drug Legislation of the Association of American Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations. He held leadership positions in many professional organizations. From 1901-1902 he was the President of the North Carolina section of the American Chemical Society. From 1909-1910 he was President of the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists. From 1917-1918 he was President of the North Carolina Academy of Science.

Withers was active as an alumnus of Davidson College. In 1886 he was appointed Chairman of the committee preparing the Semi-Centennial Alumni catalog. He worked to secure memorials to General William Lee Davidson, a Revolutionary War hero, and General Francis Nash. Withers was also extremely active in the community. He was and elder of First Presbyterian church, a Grand Commander of the Knights Templar in 1896 and Grand High Priest of the Royal Arch Masons the following year, President of the Rotary Club, President of the Raleigh YMCA, and President of the Raleigh Chamber of Commerce. William Withers died in Raleigh on June 20, 1924. On December 21, 1938 the Chemistry Building at North Carolina State College was named in his honor.

In June of 1896, William Alphonso Withers married Elizabeth (Bessie) Witherspoon Daniel, daughter of the Reverend Dr. Eugene Daniel and Susanna Tweed Witherspoon. Rev. Dr. Eugene Daniel was a Presbyterian minister in various churches in North Carolina and Virginia. Elizabeth Daniel was born in 1874 and died on August 20, 1905. After Elizabeth's death, Withers married Jane Hinton Pescud on July 20, 1909. William Withers had two children with his first wife, Elizabeth: Susanna Withers, (1897-1903) and Banks Withers, born October 2, 1901 and died in San Mateo, CA Apr 27, 1946. William Withers died in Raleigh, Wake County, North Carolina on June 20, 1924.

From the guide to the William Alphonso Withers Papers, 1868-1926, (Special Collections Research Center)