Joel Battle studied at the University of North Carolina (UNC), and became a planter like his father and grandfather before him. In 1816 he built one of the first cotton mills in North Carolina at the Falls of the Tar River in Rocky Mount, Edgecombe Co, NC, -- originally called Battle Mills -- which survived through many subsequent generations of the Battle family until 1883. The mill attracted one of the world's longest railroads at the time (the Wilmington and Weldon) and helped to make Nash and Edgecombe Counties the state's largest cotton producing region before the Civil War. The mill was destroyed in 1863 in a Civil War raid; rebuilt in 1869 and remained in operation until 1996.
Joel married Mary Palmer Johnston on April 8, 1801, daughter of Amos Johnston & Dorcas Williams of Edgecombe, and was father to 10 known children (6 boys/4 girls): William Horn Battle (1802-1879), Rev. Amos Johnston Battle (1805*1870), Richard Henry Battle (1807-1882), Catherine Ann Battle (1809-1879), Benjamin Dossey Battle (1811-1857), Christopher Columbus Battle (1814-1859), Isaac Luther Battle (1816-1843), Susan Esther Battle (1819-1851), Caroline C. Battle (1822-1823), and Laura Caroline Battle (1824-1919).
Col. Joel Battle died 1829, age 49. His wife of 28 years would survive him 37 years, passing in 1866 at age 80, having spent the last years of her living with her daughter Caroline Battle Phillips in Chapel Hill.
Some of Col. Battle's children are buried here in Oakwood, including the Hon. William Horn Battle who married Lucy Martin Plummer; Catherine Ann Battle and her husband, Dr. John Wesley Lewis; and Richard Henry Battle, who never married. Daughter, Susan Esther Battle married Dr. William Henry McKee, who is buried here in Oakwood. She died in 1851, but her grave was not discovered by this researcher.
Son, Rev. Amos Battle is buried in Maplewood in Wilson; son, Benjamin Dossey Battle, who managed the mill after his father's death, is buried in the Battle Graveyard in South Rocky Mount, NC. Son, Luther Isaac Battle, removed to Florida where he was a member of the Legislature. He never married and died in 1843 and is believed to be buried in Mariana Co, FL. Youngest daughter, Laura Caroline Battle married Dr. Charles Phillips of NY, who was a noted professor at UNC-Chapel Hill. She died in 1919 and is buried in Old Chapel Hill Cemetery.
Joel Battle studied at the University of North Carolina (UNC), and became a planter like his father and grandfather before him. In 1816 he built one of the first cotton mills in North Carolina at the Falls of the Tar River in Rocky Mount, Edgecombe Co, NC, -- originally called Battle Mills -- which survived through many subsequent generations of the Battle family until 1883. The mill attracted one of the world's longest railroads at the time (the Wilmington and Weldon) and helped to make Nash and Edgecombe Counties the state's largest cotton producing region before the Civil War. The mill was destroyed in 1863 in a Civil War raid; rebuilt in 1869 and remained in operation until 1996.
Joel married Mary Palmer Johnston on April 8, 1801, daughter of Amos Johnston & Dorcas Williams of Edgecombe, and was father to 10 known children (6 boys/4 girls): William Horn Battle (1802-1879), Rev. Amos Johnston Battle (1805*1870), Richard Henry Battle (1807-1882), Catherine Ann Battle (1809-1879), Benjamin Dossey Battle (1811-1857), Christopher Columbus Battle (1814-1859), Isaac Luther Battle (1816-1843), Susan Esther Battle (1819-1851), Caroline C. Battle (1822-1823), and Laura Caroline Battle (1824-1919).
Col. Joel Battle died 1829, age 49. His wife of 28 years would survive him 37 years, passing in 1866 at age 80, having spent the last years of her living with her daughter Caroline Battle Phillips in Chapel Hill.
Some of Col. Battle's children are buried here in Oakwood, including the Hon. William Horn Battle who married Lucy Martin Plummer; Catherine Ann Battle and her husband, Dr. John Wesley Lewis; and Richard Henry Battle, who never married. Daughter, Susan Esther Battle married Dr. William Henry McKee, who is buried here in Oakwood. She died in 1851, but her grave was not discovered by this researcher.
Son, Rev. Amos Battle is buried in Maplewood in Wilson; son, Benjamin Dossey Battle, who managed the mill after his father's death, is buried in the Battle Graveyard in South Rocky Mount, NC. Son, Luther Isaac Battle, removed to Florida where he was a member of the Legislature. He never married and died in 1843 and is believed to be buried in Mariana Co, FL. Youngest daughter, Laura Caroline Battle married Dr. Charles Phillips of NY, who was a noted professor at UNC-Chapel Hill. She died in 1919 and is buried in Old Chapel Hill Cemetery.
Inscription
In Memory Of
Joel Battle
He Died August 25, 1829
In The 53 Years Of His
His Life Was Full of Love,
Of Kindness & Charity
And In The Full Faith
Of Hope
He Surrendered It Without
A Murmur To His God
Family Members
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