J.J. Webster

James Jefferson Webster Sr. (September 27, 1898 – May 24, 1965) was an American businessman, farmer and politician who served as Rockingham County commissioner in North Carolina from 1942 to 1952. As a county commissioner, he played a role in the development of North Carolina Highway 135, which was posthumously named after him, and worked on the gubernatorial campaign of W. Kerr Scott. He owned a dairy and tobacco farm, tobacco warehouses, a general store, and co-ran a car dealership in Rockingham County.

Biography Webster was born on September 27, 1898, in Patrick County, Virginia, to James Thomas Webster and Lillie Holt Davis. He was one of six children. The family relocated to Rockingham County, North Carolina, where his father was possibly employed in the construction of the Avalon Mill. By the time he was six, Webster was orphaned, and he spent the next few years living with his brothers and other families. On December 24, 1923, he married Nannie Hurt Strong in Martinsville, Virginia, and had five children with her: James Jefferson II, Nancy Lucille, Margaret Ann, Robert Penn, and John Ray.

In 1927 Webster purchased a wood-built store at the intersection of North Carolina Highway 135 and Settle Bridge Road in Rockingham County and opened J.J. Webster's Store. and operated tobacco warehouses in Stoneville and Clarkton. In 1955 the wooden J.J. Webster Store building was moved and a brick structure was erected in its place.

Political career

On November 3, 1942, Webster—receiving 241 votes from Madison—was elected as a member of the Democratic Party to the Rockingham County Board of Commissioners. In the late 1940s he worked on W. Kerr Scott's successful gubernatorial campaign. When Scott passed a large road construction project through the state legislature, Webster used his position as county commissioner to ensure that N.C. Highway 135 and Settle Bridge Road were paved. He remained on the Board of Commissioners until 1952. and died on May 24, 1965. He was buried at Centenary United Methodist Church in Stoneville, where he was a parishioner. In May 1995 following the concurrence of Rockingham County's municipalities, the board of commissioners approved a resolution to dedicate N.C. Highway 135 in Webster's name. A formal dedication ceremony took place at 11:00 a.m. on October 28, 1998, at Dalton L. McMichael High School.