Chatham Calhoun Lyon (1850-1931), Chatham Calhoun Clark (1908-1983)

From the Lumberton Robesonian, June 1, 1931.

   A standout figure in the judicial and political history of Bladen County, North Carolina, Chatham Calhoun Lyon was for over thirty years a practicing attorney in Bladen County before winning election as County Solicitor, an office he would fill for four years. He would later be elevated to the State Superior Court of North Carolina, where he logged sixteen years on the bench. The son of Joseph and Mary Jane (Lucas) Lyon, Chatham Calhoun Lyon was born on August 4, 1850, in Elizabethtown. In his youth, Lyon resided at the home of an uncle, J.J.D. Lucas, in Whitehall, North Carolina, and attended the Maysville High School in his native county of Bladen.

  Deciding to follow his older brother Robert's example of a career in law, Chatham C. Lyon began reading law under his brother and in 1872 was admitted to the state bar. He joined his brother in practice shortly thereafter and over the next three decades practiced in Elizabethtown and surrounding areas, "handling some of the most important legal interests in Bladen County." 

  Chatham C. Lyon wed his first wife, Margaret P. Richardson (1859-1897), sometime in the mid-1870s and was married until her passing in July 1897. The couple would have five children, John Richardson (died 1879), Homer LeGrand (1878-1956), Martha Terry (1881-1974), Joseph Alden (1883-1926), and Terry Alexander (1885-1957).  Of these children, Homer LeGrand Lyon followed his father into public service, being admitted to the state bar in 1900. He would later be a Democratic National Convention delegate, solicitor for North Carolina's 8th judicial district (1913-20) and was elected to four consecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives (1921-29) before returning to his law practice. 

  In 1902 Chatham Lyon made his first run at public office when he won election as Solicitor for North Carolina's 7th judicial district, serving until 1906. In that year Lyon was elected judge of the Superior Court of North Carolina's Ninth judicial district, and would continually be reelected until his retirement in 1922.  Lyon's career on the bench was later profiled in the 1919 History of North Carolina, which lauded him as having:

"Brought long experience, secure prestige, and has served as a digified and impartial judge. Such public service on the part of such a man must necessarily mean self sacrifice. He gave up to a large extent his profitable law practice in order to attend to his duties on the bench."

  Following his retirement in 1922 Lyon continued to serve his state as an emergency judge until February 1931, when ill health compelled him to give up his judicial duties. A farmer in addition to his judgeship, Lyon owned and operated two farms in Bladen County, where he raised not only crops but Berkshire hogs. Sometime after his first wife's passing in 1897 Lyon remarried to Mary Eliza (Robinson) Stedman (1849-1914), who he also survived. 
  After many years of service to Bladen County and his state, Chatham Calhoun Lyon died at his home in Elizabethtown on May 29, 1931, aged 81. He was later interred at the Elizabethtown City Cemetery, the same resting place as that of his wives. In an intriguing historical tidbit, Lyon would have a Liberty ship (manufactured by the North Carolina Shipbuilding Co.), named in his honor. The SS Chatham S. Lyon was one of over two thousand specialty cargo ships built for use during WWII, with each being named in honor of a distinguished deceased figure from American history.

From the Lumberton Robesonian, June 1, 1931.

From the 1967 North Carolina State Manual.

   Another North Carolina based "Chatham" that entered into public service was Chatham Calhoun Clark, the maternal grandson of Chatham Calhoun Lyon. A leading business leader and political figure in Bladen County, Clark is the first CIA official to warrant a write-up here, and in addition to his being a radio station executive and banker, entered into politics when he was appointed to fill a vacancy in the North Carolina Senate. In 1966 he won election as a state representative and served one term. The son of John Marvin Clark and the former Martha Terry Lyon (the daughter of Chatham C. Lyon), Chatham Calhoun Clark's birth occurred in Elizabethtown on August 15, 1908.

  A student in schools local to Bladen County, Clark later enrolled at the Davidson College, where he earned his bachelor's degree in 1929. Clark continued his studies at Yale University in 1945, where he took Japanese language classes, and for a time flirted with a diplomatic career, studying at the School for Far East Affairs in connection with the American Foreign Service. A veteran of the U.S. Air Force during World War II, Clark's time in that branch extended from 1942-46 and attained the rank of Major. During wartime, Clark remained in New Bern, North Carolina, where he was affiliated with the Emergency Relief Administration.  

  After the conclusion of WWII, Chatham Clark worked in government service in connection with the then-nascent Central Intelligence Agency, the full extent of his duties and tenure being unknown at this time. Following his return to Bladen County Clark established the county's first radio station, WBLA, which signed on in 1956. He would serve the station as its general manager and secretary-treasurer, and later held the post of president of the Bladen Broadcasting Corporation. In addition to his stewardship of WBLA, Clark went on to hold the directorship of the Bank of Elizabethtown and was a member of the Elizabethtown Chamber of Commerce.

  Chatham C. Clark entered local politics with his service on the Elizabeth town board and later was mayor pro tem and town commissioner. In 1961 was appointed to the North Carolina State Senate due to the resignation of Edward Breeden Clark (1916-2000), who had been elevated to the State Superior Court. Clark would serve out the remainder of his term and in 1966 won a term of his own in the state legislature, this time as a state representative from Bladen and Sampson County. Clark's service in the 1967-69 session saw him named to the following committees: Appropriations, Conservation and Development, Higher Education, Local Government, Military and Veterans Affairs, and Propositions and Grievances.

  Active in the Bladen County Historical Society prior to and after his service in the legislature, Clark's membership in that organization saw him author two books, including a biography on Bladen County's namesake, British colonial politician Martin Bladen (1680-1746). A lifelong bachelor, Chatham Calhoun Clark died on October 18, 1983, aged 75. He was later interred at the same cemetery as his grandfather, Chatham Calhoun Lyon.