Merchant and Baptist Clergyman, James Simpson Purefoy was the youngest of three sons to Rev. John and Mary Fort Purefoy. He was born near Forestville in Wake County. His paternal great grandfather was an early advocate of religious freedom.
The ancestral family came from the central midlands of Leicestershire county, England. The Immigrant, Lt. Thomas Purefoy came to Jamestown of the Virginia Colony in 1621 on the ship George. The family immigrated to Craven County in the Carolina colony. The tombstone is in error in listing the Purefoy family as descendants of the French Huguenots. The Purefoy family has a long history in England, beginning soon after the conquest of William the Conqueror in 1086.
Purefoy had a limited formal education but was an avid reader and able writer.
In 1834 he joined the Wake Union Baptist Church of which his father, John Purefoy was the Pastor. The family home is still located across the street from the church on the Campus of Southeastern Theological Seminary. It contains the offices of the Wake Forest Baptist Church.
He was ordained to the work of the gospel ministry in March 1842.
It was through his connection with Wake Forest College as trustee, financial agent and benefactor that Purefoy accomplished his most signifant work. As treasurer of the Board of Trustees, he excercised sound judgment in the management of the college funds. During the Civil War, he saved the institution from financial ruin by witholding considerable funds from investment in Confederate Bonds. Through much of 1874-76 he traveled through the Middle Atlantic states, securing pledges of some $10,000 for the endowment. This was a considerable sum of money at the time.
In December 1831 Purefoy married Mary Ransom Fort, the daughter of Foster Fort of Wake County. They became the parents of Addison Foster, Frederick Marion, Edgar Justin, Emma E. (m. Phillip W.Johnson) and Isabella James (m. William Oscar Allen).
A portrait of Purefoy hangs in the reading room of the Ethel Taylor Crittenden College in Baptist History, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
He was buried in the town cemetery at Wake Forest.
Source of this information is from the DICTIONARY OF NORTH CAROLINA BIOGRAPHY, vol 5, edited by William S. Powell. Copyright 1994 by the University of North Carolina Press.
Dr. R. Hargus Taylor, author.
The ancestral family came from the central midlands of Leicestershire county, England. The Immigrant, Lt. Thomas Purefoy came to Jamestown of the Virginia Colony in 1621 on the ship George. The family immigrated to Craven County in the Carolina colony. The tombstone is in error in listing the Purefoy family as descendants of the French Huguenots. The Purefoy family has a long history in England, beginning soon after the conquest of William the Conqueror in 1086.
Purefoy had a limited formal education but was an avid reader and able writer.
In 1834 he joined the Wake Union Baptist Church of which his father, John Purefoy was the Pastor. The family home is still located across the street from the church on the Campus of Southeastern Theological Seminary. It contains the offices of the Wake Forest Baptist Church.
He was ordained to the work of the gospel ministry in March 1842.
It was through his connection with Wake Forest College as trustee, financial agent and benefactor that Purefoy accomplished his most signifant work. As treasurer of the Board of Trustees, he excercised sound judgment in the management of the college funds. During the Civil War, he saved the institution from financial ruin by witholding considerable funds from investment in Confederate Bonds. Through much of 1874-76 he traveled through the Middle Atlantic states, securing pledges of some $10,000 for the endowment. This was a considerable sum of money at the time.
In December 1831 Purefoy married Mary Ransom Fort, the daughter of Foster Fort of Wake County. They became the parents of Addison Foster, Frederick Marion, Edgar Justin, Emma E. (m. Phillip W.Johnson) and Isabella James (m. William Oscar Allen).
A portrait of Purefoy hangs in the reading room of the Ethel Taylor Crittenden College in Baptist History, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
He was buried in the town cemetery at Wake Forest.
Source of this information is from the DICTIONARY OF NORTH CAROLINA BIOGRAPHY, vol 5, edited by William S. Powell. Copyright 1994 by the University of North Carolina Press.
Dr. R. Hargus Taylor, author.
Merchant and Baptist Clergyman, James Simpson Purefoy was the youngest of three sons to Rev. John and Mary Fort Purefoy. He was born near Forestville in Wake County. His paternal great grandfather was an early advocate of religious freedom.
The ancestral family came from the central midlands of Leicestershire county, England. The Immigrant, Lt. Thomas Purefoy came to Jamestown of the Virginia Colony in 1621 on the ship George. The family immigrated to Craven County in the Carolina colony. The tombstone is in error in listing the Purefoy family as descendants of the French Huguenots. The Purefoy family has a long history in England, beginning soon after the conquest of William the Conqueror in 1086.
Purefoy had a limited formal education but was an avid reader and able writer.
In 1834 he joined the Wake Union Baptist Church of which his father, John Purefoy was the Pastor. The family home is still located across the street from the church on the Campus of Southeastern Theological Seminary. It contains the offices of the Wake Forest Baptist Church.
He was ordained to the work of the gospel ministry in March 1842.
It was through his connection with Wake Forest College as trustee, financial agent and benefactor that Purefoy accomplished his most signifant work. As treasurer of the Board of Trustees, he excercised sound judgment in the management of the college funds. During the Civil War, he saved the institution from financial ruin by witholding considerable funds from investment in Confederate Bonds. Through much of 1874-76 he traveled through the Middle Atlantic states, securing pledges of some $10,000 for the endowment. This was a considerable sum of money at the time.
In December 1831 Purefoy married Mary Ransom Fort, the daughter of Foster Fort of Wake County. They became the parents of Addison Foster, Frederick Marion, Edgar Justin, Emma E. (m. Phillip W.Johnson) and Isabella James (m. William Oscar Allen).
A portrait of Purefoy hangs in the reading room of the Ethel Taylor Crittenden College in Baptist History, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
He was buried in the town cemetery at Wake Forest.
Source of this information is from the DICTIONARY OF NORTH CAROLINA BIOGRAPHY, vol 5, edited by William S. Powell. Copyright 1994 by the University of North Carolina Press.
Dr. R. Hargus Taylor, author.
The ancestral family came from the central midlands of Leicestershire county, England. The Immigrant, Lt. Thomas Purefoy came to Jamestown of the Virginia Colony in 1621 on the ship George. The family immigrated to Craven County in the Carolina colony. The tombstone is in error in listing the Purefoy family as descendants of the French Huguenots. The Purefoy family has a long history in England, beginning soon after the conquest of William the Conqueror in 1086.
Purefoy had a limited formal education but was an avid reader and able writer.
In 1834 he joined the Wake Union Baptist Church of which his father, John Purefoy was the Pastor. The family home is still located across the street from the church on the Campus of Southeastern Theological Seminary. It contains the offices of the Wake Forest Baptist Church.
He was ordained to the work of the gospel ministry in March 1842.
It was through his connection with Wake Forest College as trustee, financial agent and benefactor that Purefoy accomplished his most signifant work. As treasurer of the Board of Trustees, he excercised sound judgment in the management of the college funds. During the Civil War, he saved the institution from financial ruin by witholding considerable funds from investment in Confederate Bonds. Through much of 1874-76 he traveled through the Middle Atlantic states, securing pledges of some $10,000 for the endowment. This was a considerable sum of money at the time.
In December 1831 Purefoy married Mary Ransom Fort, the daughter of Foster Fort of Wake County. They became the parents of Addison Foster, Frederick Marion, Edgar Justin, Emma E. (m. Phillip W.Johnson) and Isabella James (m. William Oscar Allen).
A portrait of Purefoy hangs in the reading room of the Ethel Taylor Crittenden College in Baptist History, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
He was buried in the town cemetery at Wake Forest.
Source of this information is from the DICTIONARY OF NORTH CAROLINA BIOGRAPHY, vol 5, edited by William S. Powell. Copyright 1994 by the University of North Carolina Press.
Dr. R. Hargus Taylor, author.
Family Members
Parents
Advertisement
Advertisement
