George Benton "Bent" Alford, an honorary colonel (related to his service in the Confederate Army), was the first of the seven children of Green Haywood Alford (1820-1877) and Rebecca Jones (1822-1890). In 1875 he married Charlotte Olive (1856-1899), with whom he had two children, and, second, in 1899, as a widower, Texana Ora Alice Branch Collins, the widow of (Joseph) Walter Collins (she had four children to whom he was a benevolent stepfather). Bent was in the mercantile business and in timber/lumber and turpentine during much of his life and was a railroad president; he was a major force behind incorporation of the town of Holly Springs; was Holly Springs Postmaster, 9 Mar. 1880-19 Oct 1881, and Wake County commissioner for two years. His home was the house now called "The Leslie-Alford-Mims House" (100 Avent Ferry Rd.) in Holly Springs, N.C., and he is buried with his first wife, Charlotte Ann Olive Alford, and some other family (including at least his sister, Elizabeth "Laylon Elizabeth") on the grounds of the home in a family cemetery. His second wife is buried with her first husband in the Holly Springs Cemetery.

son: Green Haywood Alford (called Haywood), 1882-1960, m. Elizabeth Pollard
dau: Mattie Viola Alford, 1886-1959, m. Raeford J. (Junie) Utley (buried Holly Springs Cemetery)

his siblings: Andrew Jackson (1847-1929), Elizabeth Leland (Jones) (1848-1928), Columbus Augustine (1850-1908)(Hillcrest Cemetery, Sylvester, Worth, Georgia), Frances Adner (1853 or 1854-1891)(bur. Parkerville, Worth, GA), Salina Branch (Godwin)(1857-1945)(Hillcrest Cemetery, Sylvester, Worth, GA), William Leorus Haywood (1863-1931)(d Shingler, Worth, GA)

see
http://www.alfordassociation.org/OBITS/NCOBIT.htm
accessed 11/06/08

NEWS AND OBSERVER
Raleigh, NC-9 April 1924
Published in AAFA ACTION, Fall 1999

FUNERAL SERVICES FOR COL. G. BENT ALFORD
Laid to Rest at Holly Springs
Great Grandson of Revolutionary Hero

HOLLY SPRINGS, April 8-The funeral of the late Col. G. Bent Alford was held in the Methodist church here Sunday afternoon at 3 o'clock.... The Junior Order Lodge of Holly Springs of which Col. Alford was a member, assisted at the grave. . . .
Col. Alford was a member of Company I 41st Regiment, Third North Carolina Cavalry. He joined this command at Dinwiddie Court House, Va., in October, 1864, and was in action afterwards at Stony Creek, Bellfield and other engagements.
Col. Alford's first wife was Charlotte A. Olive to whom he was married April 28, 1875. Two children, Green Haywood Alford and Mrs. Mattie V. Alford [error--Mattie Viola Alford married Raeford Utley, becoming Mattie A. Utley, not to be confused with the Mattie V. Alford lying in Collins Grove Church Cemetery--bcs], of Holly Springs, were born of this union. In 1899 he was married to Mrs. Texana [or Texanna - bcs] Collins, widow of Walter Collins of Holly Springs township. There were no children by this union although his second wife was the mother of four children by her first husband, these being, M.H. Collins, R.F. Collins, and Mrs. M.E. Mims, of Holly Springs, and Lieut. H.W. Collins, of the Engineer Corps, U.S.A., with headquarters at Hopkinsville, Miss.
Col. Alford was a great-grandson of Jam. Tanner Alford, a Revolutionary hero, who fought at the battles of Cowpens and Guilford Court House. His grandfather was Green Alford; born three miles from Wakefield in 1787; and his father was Green Haywood Alford, born June 7, 1820, near Wakefield.
Col. Alford had been in a precarious . . . condition since February 14, when he fell and sustained the fracture of a hip.
The article in the News and Observer on the day after his death was in error in saying that he joined the Populist party. He voted for Palmer and Buckner on the gold standard platform against W.J. Bryan as he believed that Mr. Bryan was wrong in his theories as to the currency.
----

(see Historical Raleigh: With sketches of Wake County [from 1771] and its ... -- By Moses Neal Amis)(on Google Books)

(see
http://www.hollyspringsnc.us/about/history.htm
accessed 12/24/09

"He ran a general mercantile, sawmill, cotton gin, turpentine works and brick kiln. He even drained a local lake to plant rice paddies. Alford, along with 20 other Holly Springs men, helped bring a railroad (to become the Durham and Southern) to the community. He also established the Holly Springs Land and Improvement Company, which encouraged economic development in Town, and the Cape Fear News and Advertising Company, which published the Cape Fear Enterprise newspaper." )

(see
http://durhamsouthern.com/history.html (accessed 6/09) ; Durham and Southern RR History: "The Cape Fear & Northern Railroad was chartered in 1892 by Holly Springs resident Mr. George Benton Alford [note that he was given the title "Colonel" as an honorary title for his service in the Confederate Army] from the State Legislature." )

(see
http://www.alfordassociation.org/BIOS/gre820nc.htm
acc 12/23/09

Being a war veteran, George decided not to let the legend of his heroic mother die. He had her tombstone engraved as follows:
A devoted Christian Mother
Who whipped Sherman's bummers
With scalding water
While trying to take her dinner pot
Which contained a ham bone
Being cooked for her
Soldier boys)

see

Col. George Benton Alford
..." Seventy-nine years ago, July 24, 1924, Col. G.B. Alford was born in a log house near Cary, Wake County, North Carolina. There he was reared, his early life being spent on a farm. His father was Green Haywood Alford, born near Wakefield, N.C., in 1787 , and his great grandfather was Major Tanner Alford, a Revolutionary hero who fought in the battles of Cowpens and Guilford Courthouse. G.B. Alford enlisted in the Confederate Army at the age of eighteen, but was discharged for some time on account of sickness. Later on, in October 1864, he joined his command at Dinwiddie Courthouse, Va and was in action at Stoney Creek, Bellfield, and other engagements serving with Company I of the 41st Regiment, the 3rd North Carolina Cavalry; and served with bravery and distinction during the remainder of conflict. He was devoted to the cause of keeping alive the history of the achievements and sacrifices of the men who wore gray. He was commander of the Oscar R. Rand Camp, No. 1278 U.C. V., of Holly Springs, N.C. Colonel Alford attended all reunions, local, state, and general, and was deeply interested in these gatherings. He had been a very successful businessman.
On April 28, 1875 Colonel Alford was married to Miss Charlotte A. Olive, daughter of Rev. Johnson Olive, one of the best known and most beloved Baptist ministers of his day. Two children were born of the union, a son and a daughter. Colonel Alford's first wife died in 1897. His second wife was Mrs. Texanna Collins of Holly Springs township. His health failing in late years, Colonel Alford desisted from some of the activities of his earlier life, but a few years ago he made up his mind that there should be a monument to the Confederate heroes at Holly Springs, N.C., so with much effort, he raised the money with which to erect it, and on October 25, 1923, this beautiful memorial was unveiled. He was very happy over it and told the large audience that he had built the monument on faith. He was Christian [attended Methodist Church - bcs], thoughtful of the poor and needy, and faithful to every religious cause."
(Published in AAFA Action, December 1990, page 32)
(From "The Last Roll," CONFEDERATE VETERAN, page 230, published June 1924 in Nashville, Tennessee)