Wayne County, NC - Heritage Series

Reprinted with permission of the Mount Olive Tribune and cannot be 
reproduced without permission. 

                          William F. Kornegay

"Our Heritage"
By Claude Moore
Friday, September 11, 1992

During the years I have written in this column several times about members 
of the pioneer Kornegay family. All the Kornegays are kin and are descended 
from John George Kornegay, a native of the Rhineland of Germany, who came 
with Baron Christopher Von Graffenreid to New Bern in 1709. He and his 
family were massacred by the Tuscarora Indians in 1711 except his son, 
George, who married and had around 11 children.

The subject of this sketch, William F. Kornegay, belonged to this large clan.
He was born in 1832 and was the son of James F. and Harriet Whitfield 
Kornegay. They owned a large plantation between Mount Olive and the Neuse 
River (Indian Springs community.) Young William attended local schools and 
later attended Randolph Macon College in Virginia. The family were members 
of Indian Springs United Methodist Church (organized 1853). William F. 
Kornegay taught school for a time in Wayne County and in 1861 be enlisted
in the First North Carolina Cavalry of Confederate Troops and was elected 
second lieutenant.

After the War Between the States William F. Kornegay exchanged his farm for 
a mercantile business in Goldsboro which he operated for seven years. He 
then formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, Charles Dewey. It was 
called Goldsboro Machine Works. Kornegay and Dewey introduced steam power 
for cotton gins in eastern North Carolina. They manufactured a great number 
of steam engines. In 1884 the plant was burned and he sold his interest to 
Charles Dewey. This was the forerunner of the present Dewey Brothers in
Goldsboro.

Kornegay returned to farming and became the largest cotton farmer in Wayne 
County. In 1857 he was married to Miss Louisa Borden, the daughter of Arnold
and Maria Borden who owned the Borden Hotel. They had no children and she 
died in 1883. He later married Miss Annie L. Snow, the daughter of 
Theophilus Snow of Raleigh. The Kornegays were active members of the 
Goldsboro Methodist Church where he served as steward, trustee and 
superintendent of the Sunday school.

William F. Kornegay was a Democrat and was active in politics. He helped 
organize the Farmer's Alliance in Wayne County. He served for several years 
as a director of the North Carolina Railroad and also served as president 
of the railroad.

Men like William F. Kornegay with vision for the future have done much to 
promote progressive farming in Wayne County, as well as planning and working
to attract industry.

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