Archippus Floyd Barrett (1870-1926)

Barrett as he looked during his mayoralty.

  Alamance County, North Carolina resident Archippus Floyd Barrett served eight years as mayor of the city Burlington, and in addition to his mayoralty carved out a notable career for himself as a pharmacist in that city. Born on March 15, 1870, in Person County, North Carolina, Archippus Floyd "Chip" Barrett was the son of Aaron and Rebecca Ann (Carver) Barrett. Sharing a first name with a figure briefly mentioned in the New Testament, Barrett's first name also has a variation in spelling, being spelled with both a double "p" and a single "p". However, numerous Burlington city directories (as well as Barrett's own death certificate from 1926) record the spelling as "Archippus", and it is that spelling that is given here.

  There exists a dearth of resources regarding Barrett's early life or education, excepting notice of his entering the druggist's trade at an early age. In the 1880s he was employed by the R.A. Morton & Co. drug store in the town of Roxboro and in October 1891 married to Margaret E. Pentecost (1872-1940). The couple were wed until Barrett's passing in 1926 and had five children, Essie Mae (1894-1959), Carl Victor (1898-1960), Raymon Ellis (1899-1971), Clifford Edwin (1902-1978), and Archippus Floyd Jr. (1913-2001). 

  Removing to Burlington in 1894, "Chip" Barrett soon joined the R.A. Freeman Drug Co., where for more than two decades he worked in the prescription department. Sources also denote Barrett and R.A. Freeman as being the co-managers of the Burlington Opera House from 1906-07, their full dates of service remaining unknown at this time. 

  By 1903 Barrett's love for his adopted city and popularity amongst its citizens led to his being nominated for mayor that year. He would win that election and for the next several years was continually reelected, his last term concluding in 1911. Barrett's mayoralty saw multiple improvements made to city infrastructure, including the introduction of city street lights in 1904, and in 1908-09 Barrett and the board of aldermen gave the go-ahead for the installation of:

"Another steam generating unit at the power plant on Hawkins Street; also a deep well; a frog tight reservoir and water and sewer lines. And to furnish sufficient pressure for hydrants, an elevated steel tank was erected on a knoll northeast of the old railroad shops."

   In addition to the numerous structural improvements made during his terms, Barrett's mayoralty also saw the Burlington city hall move to more respectable quarters on the second floor of the C.G. Moore building, prior to the construction of an actual city hall building in 1915. After leaving office Barrett continued as a druggist with the Freeman Drug Co. and in 1913 was named to the city Water, Light, and Power Commission in the wake of the resignation of J. Ed Moore, who had been elected as mayor.
  Archippus Floyd Barrett died at his home in Burlington on March 8, 1926, one week shy of his 56th birthday. His cause of death is given as influenza (as per his death certificate.) He was survived by his children and wife Margaret, who, following her death in 1940, was interred alongside her husband at the Pine Hill Cemetery in Burlington.

Sessler Carlysle Isley (1912-1997)

From the Elon College Alumni News, February 1974.

  The cities of Asheboro and Burlington, North Carolina share the fact that both have elected two oddly named men to the mayoral chair, and after profiling both Chisholm Clark Cranford and Doctor Bulla McCrary of Asheboro, we remove to Burlington and Sessler Carlysle Isley, a two-term mayor of that city as well as a leading figure in the state rotary club. Coincidentally, Isley shares a common theme with Cranford and McCrary as he too was affiliated with the textile industry, serving as a manager for the Standard Hosiery Mills of Burlington. One of eleven children born to Joseph Albright and Estelle Elizabeth (Ingle) Isley, Sessler Carlysle Isley was born on March 10, 1912, in Alamance County. While his first name is certainly curious, most sources mentioning Isley denote him under the abbreviated name "S. Carlysle Isley".

   A graduate of the Burlington High School in the early 1930s, Isley studied at Duke University for a time before transferring to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he earned his A.B. degree. He married in June 1937 to Margaret Plonk (1913-2013), and the couple's six-decade union produced three children, Kay Ellen (1941-2006), Carlysle Scott, and Joseph Plonk Isley. 

  After graduating from the University of North Carolina Isley was employed by the Duke Power Company for a time, and in the 1940s took work with the Burlington Mills, where he was affiliated with its personnel department. In 1946 he joined the Standard Hosiery Mills Inc. of Burlington as its director of personnel and was still employed by that company at the time of his election as mayor. This period saw Isley first gain prominence through his work with Rotary International, being the secretary-treasurer of the rotary club in Burlington in 1949, and from 1966-67 held the presidency of Rotary District 7690, which comprised Alamance, Caswell, Chatham, Davie, Davidson, Forsyth, and Guilford, amongst other counties. 

  S. Carlysle Isley made his first foray into Burlington politics in March 1949 when he entered into the race for Burlington City Council. When the ballots were counted on election day, May 10th, it was Isley who polled the highest number of votes out of the candidates running, and with a total of 1,539 votes, "he was unanimously named to serve as mayor by other elected members of the Burlington city council."

From the Burlington Daily Times-News, March 15, 1949.

  Following his swearing-in ceremony, the Burlington Times-News profiled Isley as a "youthful, energetic, enthusiastic, intelligent Mayor" and that:

"There is no question about his fellow Council members confidence in his ability to counsel with them wisely in the interest of sound economy and community progress, working together for an efficient managment through the Manager employed to advise them and carry out in turn such directive as he receives from them."

  During Isley's first term the Ed Thomas Water Filtration Plant was completed and dedicated in 1950, relieving Burlington's "increased demand for water service." He won a second term as Burlington mayor in 1951, with his term concluding in 1953. After leaving office Isley joined another hosiery firm, the Kayser-Roth Hosiery Co., where he would serve as Vice President of Industrial and Public Relations for an indeterminate period. Named as Alamance County's Citizen of the Year for 1956, Ilsey remained prominent in Burlington civic affairs through the 1960s and 70s, holding the chairmanship of the city school board for nine years, serving as president of the Burlington Rotary Club, and was president of both the Burlington Chamber of Commerce and the local United Way chapter.
  In November 1973 S. Carlysle Isley undertook a career change, leaving the Kayser-Roth Hosiery Co. to accept the post of Director of Institutional Relations for Elon College, located in Elon, North Carolina. His nine-year tenure in this post saw Isley:

"Directly responsible for all external affairs of the college to include development, alumni and parent relations, community services, publications, and information services."

  Following his retirement from Elon College Isley was affiliated with Coldwell Banker as a realtor in Burlington, and in February of 1992 was named listings leader for "total units listed and total volume listed." He retired from Coldwell Banker in 1996 at age 84 and died one year later on April 12, 1997, one month after celebrating his 85th birthday. Sessler Carlysle Isley was survived by his children and wife Margaret, who died several months short of her 100th birthday in 2013. Both were interred at the Pine Hill Cemetery in Burlington.

From the Burlington Times-News, February 9, 1992.