Mayors of the Town of Sparta

A few years ago, our then mayor, John Miller, wanted a list of all the past mayors of the Town of Sparta. To his surprise and dismay, there wasn’t one. Not at the town office, not at the county office and not in any state record he could find.

He asked us about it. The Historical Society had less information than he did. So John mentioned it to his grandson, and Micah made it into a Senior Project. Last month, Mayor Wes Brinegar brought a copy of Micah’s research to us, and it was so interesting we used it as a base for the article in our Spring 2024 Newsletter.

The new list isn’t complete. There are still holes in the timeline, and we would welcome corrections and additions as we build this and other important records for our archive. Working as a community on projects like this, will make the information available for the next person who needs it.

The historical record, Laws of North Carolina, 1879, pages 578-579, includes the language from the 1879 Act of the General Assembly to incorporate the town of Sparta.

The text of the Act, dated February 25th of that year, names W.E. Hardin as Sparta’s first mayor. In February, 1887, the charter was amended and A.J. Carson became mayor. On March 2, 1893, an act was ratified to amend the charter a second time, striking out A.J. Carson and naming H.K. Boyer as his successor.

Sparta was incorporated in 1879, but, like many towns in North Carolina, it was incorporated twice. In 1924, the state changed the requirements for the incorporation of towns, so the Town of Sparta went through the process again.

Here’s what we know:

William E. Hardin was born on February 4, 1845, in Grayson County, Virginia, to James Wilburn and Sabra Catherine Vaught Hardin. On November 2, 1871, he married Mary Ellen Gentry, daughter of Allen and Rebecca Reeves Gentry.

Mr. Hardin died February 6, 1899. Mrs. Hardin died just a year later on February 21 of 1900 and they were both buried in the Shiloh Methodist Church Cemetery.

They had four children: Walter Reed (who married Mattie Eugenia Young), Fred Gentry (m. Ines Laura Flowers), Lura Gayle (m. Robert Halsey Hackler) and James Allen “Jay”(m. Georgie Corpening).

However, probate records of W.E. Hardin mention a fifth child, Willie C. Hardin, infant, who along with James (who was still a minor at that time), was represented in the legal proceedings by Alleghany attorney, William Callahan Fields. Jay later became a ward of his brother-in-law, Robert Hackler, but, so far, we’ve found no further mention of little Willie C. Hardin.

Andrew J. Carson served from 1887 to 1893, according to the original Town Charter.

Andrew was one of eleven children of John and Ann McIlrath Carson. John and Ann had emigrated from Ireland, with their oldest two children, sometime between 1815 and 1820. They settled at Glade Creek in a log house and later, built a larger house, there.

A.J. was born in 1834 and was called “Sparta Andy,” to distinguish him from an uncle. He married Emaline Boyer, older sister of H.K. Boyer. The couple had three children: Emma (who married Henry Spaugh and lived in Winston), Ellen (who married Rufus King Parks, the first postmaster of Gap Civil); and Alexander Smith Carson (who married Zollie Edwards. A.S. and his uncle, H.K. Boyer, founded the Alleghany Star newspaper in 1889).

Andrew J. Carson passed away on May 27, 1905, at his home in Sparta, at the age of 71. He and Mrs. Carson are buried at the Sparta Cemetery.

Hugh Kelly Boyer was born August 4, 1862, in Alleghany County. He served as Sparta postmaster in 1887 and again in 1890. In 1889, he and his nephew, Alexander Smith Carson, founded the Alleghany Star newspaper. (A.S. was just 3 years younger than his uncle.)

H.K. was a lawyer and he later became a Methodist minister. We know H.K. Boyer served at least one term as mayor, beginning in 1893, but we don’t know how long this term lasted.

The truth is, we’ve not yet found records of who occupied the mayoral seat in the years between Dr. Boyer and Eugene Transou, whose term, according to a document at the NC Secretary of State’s Office, began in 1924. As primary sources, like newspapers of the period, etc. become more available we will be able to fill in the timeline.

Eugene Transou was born January 22, 1872, at Transou, N.C., to Mr. and Mrs. S.M. Transou. He married Laura Cheek in 1894. Eugene was educated at Ore Knob by Lieutenant Governor R.A. Doughton and at Laurel Springs and at the Sparta Institute. He displayed an aptitude for agriculture which led him to the cattle business – he owned one of the largest herds of purebred Angus cattle in the state.

Mr. Transou served as an NC State Senator in 1916 and 1940, became Sparta Mayor in 1924 and was State Representative of Alleghany County in 1928, ‘29, and ‘30. He was a county commissioner for many years, and was chairman of the Board of Education and the Sparta School district.

He served as a member of the Board of Trustees of Appalachian State Teachers College for 30 years. He was also a member of the Sparta Masonic Lodge and the Sparta Methodist Church. Mr. Transou died September 22, 1946, at the age of 74.

Rush Floyd Crouse is referenced as “the first mayor of Sparta” in a few different documents, but apparently, he succeeded Eugene Transou after the town was re-incorporated in 1924. He served multiple, non-consecutive, terms, finally ending his service in this capacity in 1944.

Floyd was born July 5, 1882, in Alleghany County, and graduated in 1916 from the University of North Carolina. He enlisted into the U.S. Army and was stationed in England with Royal Flying Corps. Later, he served as a Representative from Alleghany County in N.C. General Assembly in 1931 and served as a delegate from N.C. to the Democratic National Convention.

In the 1960s, he led the fight against Appalachian Power Company who wanted to construct a hydroelectric dam that would have flooded areas of Alleghany and Ashe Counties. He passed away in October of 1969.

Mr. Crouse is still highly regarded and remembered as a respected public servant.

George W. Cheek was born in 1872 at Whitehead. He attended Trap Hill School, and then Wake Forest College. In 1900, he received his law degree and came home to Sparta to open a law practice here.

While living in Alleghany County and working as a lawyer, he also ran a successful mercantile store from 1911 to 1926. He served as mayor of Sparta from 1928-1931.

In 1941, he and his wife left Sparta for Boulder, Colorado, with the hope that the western climate would be better for their health, and to be closer to their two daughters and grandchildren. From the April 11, 1941, Alleghany News: “For 41 years he had practiced law here. He was United States commissioner, president of the district bar association, a member of the draft board, an elder in the Presbyterian church, an active Mason and member of the Republican party, a former teacher and mayor of Sparta. No doubt there are men in this county the people could easily get along without. George Cheek was not one of them. He leaves thousands of friends who will miss him for what he was worth.”

Thomas Roy “Doc” Burgiss was born in Yadkin County in 1904 to Thomas Edgar and Ella Parks Burgiss. When he was five years old, his family moved to Elkin. Roy worked in Abernathy’s Pharmacy while in grade school and in high school. After graduating from Elkin High School, he decided to study pharmacy at UNC – Chapel Hill.

When he graduated in 1925, Mr. Burgiss came to Sparta and opened the county’s first drugstore, the Alleghany Pharmacy. Since coming to Alleghany, Doc Burgiss served as a member of the draft board, as president and life member of the N.C. Pharmaceutical Association, and as a member of the county Board of Education. He also served two terms in the N.C. General Assembly. He was an active member of Sparta First Baptist Church, and served as a deacon and Sunday school superintendent. He served multiple terms as mayor, beginning in the 1930s and two terms, later, from 1954-1958.

Alton Wayne Thompson was the son of the Rev. and Mrs. E. Wayne Thompson of Glade Valley. He was married to Mary Ennice Osborne and the couple had one daughter, Ann. He served the citizens of Sparta and Alleghany County for 45 years. He was the last of the original staff of the Bank of Sparta, which later became the Northwestern Bank and then, First Union Bank.

Over the years, Mr. Thompson was very active in civic affairs, serving as chairman of the Alleghany County Savings Bond Program, director of the North West North Carolina Development Association and the New River Soil Conservation District, he was president of the Sparta Chamber of Commerce and Wildlife Club, a trustee of Glade Valley School and chairman of the Sparta Town Council. He was a founding member and officer of the Alleghany Development Corp. He was a member and elder of Sparta Presbyterian Church.

He passed away on Sept. 15, 2002, and was buried at Glade Valley Presbyterian Church Cemetery.

Robert Amos Wagoner, Sr. served one term as mayor, from 1944-1946.

The ninth child in a family of ten, Amos was born June 20, 1890, in Whitehead, N.C. He attended school in Alleghany County and when he was just fourteen years old, bought a ticket to Portland, Oregon, where his older brother was living. He got a job there, working as a helper in the engine room of a large factory and was eventually promoted to assistant superintendent.

While in Oregon, he met and married Emma Frances Pate of Jefferson. The couple returned to North Carolina before Amos was twenty-one. In 1936 he bought stock in what was to become Farmers Hardware, and ran it until he was struck by illness in 1961.

Mr. Wagoner served as chairman of the board of elections for eight years, served as mayor of Sparta, and remained active in the Democratic party until his death in 1964.

George Glenn Nichols was the oldest of six children. He was born in 1884, to Thomas J. and Jane Jarvis Nichols. He attended school in Alleghany, then Appalachian State Teachers College and UNC-Chapel Hill. January 31, 1909, he married Alice Irwin. They had one daughter, Opal. The family joined Sparta Presbyterian Church in 1923. Mr. Nichols was their Superintendent of Sunday School for 30 years and in 1935, he helped to tear down the old church and build the present one.

He served seven terms as mayor (1946-1954; 1958-1963) and was Justice of the Peace for 39 years, performing marriages for hundreds of people from all over the nation. Mr. Nichols taught school for over 20 years- starting in 1918 at Wolf Branch School where he was paid $25 per month. He loved the youth of Alleghany County and always supported them in sports.

He is remembered by his friends for his sense of humor, interest in people, and for so being so young for the age of eighty-six years and nine months at the time his death on January 13, 1971.

Robert Amos Wagoner, Jr. was born in Whitehead, December 2, 1919. The Wagoner family moved to Sparta in 1925. He attended Sparta High School and then Oak Ridge Military School. He attended UNC at Chapel Hill and received a degree in Political Science. His plans to study law were interrupted when he enlisted in Air Force on January 26, 1942, to serve in World War II. After the war, he moved to Ashe County and managed Ashe Hardware. When his father became ill, he returned to Sparta to manage Farmer’s Hardware. He married Doris Richardson in 1952 and the couple had two children, Mike and Marsha.

In addition to serving two terms as mayor (1963-1968), he was a trustee of Alleghany Memorial Hospital, a board member of the Hardware Association of N.C. and S.C., board member for Northwestern Bank, deacon at First Baptist Church, and he was a member of the Sparta Merchants Association and the Alleghany County Economic Development Committee for many years. Mr. Wagoner passed away in 2019 at the age of 99.

Charles Columbus Castevens, Jr., born April 20, 1921, was the only child of Charles and Jennie Reeves Castevens.

Charles graduated from Sparta School in 1939 and then attended Emory and Henry College for three years. While at college, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and spent nineteen months in the Pacific area.

He married Opal Greene (who had also graduated from Sparta High School in 1939) on March 18, 1946, shortly after being discharged from the Air Force. Opal worked as secretary to Floyd Crouse, in his law office, for many years.

Charles served two terms as mayor (1968-1972) and was a member of the Sparta Town Council for sixteen years. He also worked with his father at Castevens Motor Company and ran hotels in Sparta and Elkin.

Andrew Vance Choate was born November 24, 1894, the sixth son of Laura Ann and Sowell Choate. He attended Galax High School and Appalachian Training School and played baseball at both schools. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War I. On June 22, 1921, he married Rebecca Sue Osborne and the couple had three daughters, one of whom who died at birth. They were married for 59 and a half years. Mr. Choate was a farmer and breeder of fine horses. He used these horses to cover his sixty-mile rural mail route for forty-two years.

He represented Alleghany as member of North Carolina General Assembly for two terms in the 1960s and was Sparta mayor, serving two terms (1972-1976). During his time as a legislator, he was instrumental in getting bills passed to benefit Alleghany County and northwest North Carolina. He also served on the Robert Lee Doughton Memorial Commission, which developed a new wing at the Alleghany Memorial Hospital.

Margaret “Pinky” Hayden-Carpenter was the first woman to serve as mayor of Sparta. Having been elected to two terms, she served from 1977 to 1980. She resigned from the office of mayor when she won a seat in the N.C. House of Representatives (and became the first woman from fortieth district to be elected to the N.C. State House).

She was the daughter of B.G. and Eula Bledsoe. In 1950, the family moved from Todd in Ashe County, to Piney Creek, when Pinky was in the fifth grade.

She graduated from Appalachian State University and returned to Alleghany to work as a special education teacher at Sparta School. In 1972, Mrs. Hayden was named Alleghany Teacher of the Year. In addition to serving in the N.C. House, she became the Assistant State Superintendent of the N.C. Department of Instruction.

She married Thomas Glenn Carpenter, and now lives in Winston-Salem.

Harley Eugene Gray served from December 1981 to May 1982.

Mr. Gray was born September 2, 1933, in Franklin, N.C. After graduation from Franklin High, he attended North Carolina State University and graduated in 1955 with a degree in Agricultural Education.

Following graduation, he took a position in Ashe County as Assistant Agricultural Extension Agent and worked at that job until 1960. Then he worked with Kraft Foods as a Dairy Fieldman until 1962 when he moved to Alleghany County.

Here, Gene worked as Associate Agricultural Extension Agent and then as County Extension Chairman. In November of 1968, he was employed by BREMCO as District Manager and worked there for fourteen years.

After several years, the Gray family moved to Lenoir, N.C. In 2021, he and his wife, Shirley, moved again, this time to Raleigh.

John H. Miller was born October 1, 1933, in Alleghany County. He attended Sparta School, and Appalachian State Teachers College. He was drafted into the U.S. Army, and served in the Signal Corps at Ft. Gordon, Georgia. He worked as an elementary teacher in the Austin community, then later moved back to Sparta where he served as principal at Piney Creek and Sparta Elementary Schools.

Mr. Miller was the longest-serving mayor in Sparta’s history. He held the office from May of 1982 until 2017. That year, he was honored by the Town for his many years of service, when they named the Town Hall / Municipal Building after him. A plaque was installed, recognizing his service as a community leader, exceptional educator, and statesman.

Mr. Miller was a strong supporter of the Alleghany Historical-Genealogical Society. He always gave encouraging feedback on our projects and we greatly appreciated his warm friendship and consideration.

Mr. Miller passed away on March 25, 2024, and we will certainly miss him.

Wes Brinegar began serving as mayor, succeeding John Miller, in 2018. He resigned from the office in March of this year.

Wes was born in 1970, in Alleghany County, and attended Alleghany High School. He served in the U.S. Marines, where he was given the nickname, “Hillbilly.” He embraced the nickname and became “Hillbilly Wes” after returning home to Sparta, where he often serves as master of ceremonies for public events such as Alleghany Planning Committee’s Hillbilly Show and the Mountain Heritage Festival.

Wes has been a constant supporter of many community organizations, including the Alleghany Historical-Genealogical Society. Wes cheerfully and willingly helps anyone who asks him to volunteer his time. In addition to his work as mayor, he also has served as commandant of the Marine Corps League and as coach for various children’s sports teams, as well as in other capacities for different groups.