Annapolis, Maryland, United States
John attended the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland in 1846 and after one year of studies, graduated 1st in his class of 135.
Annapolis, Maryland, United States
John attended the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland in 1846 and after one year of studies, graduated 1st in his class of 135.
John Wilkes was born in New York City on 31 March 1827. He was the son of Charles Wilkes and Jane Jeffery Renwick. His father was a lieutenant in the United States Navy and often went on exploration voyages during John’s childhood, which undoubtedly influenced John to join the Navy at age 14.
John attended the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland in 1846 and after one year of studies, graduated 1st in his class of 135.
During the Mexican War, John Wilkes served on the cruiser Mississippi, which participated in attacks on the Brazos and at Vera Cruz. After traveling to China and Manila, he returned to the United States in 1852. He resigned his commission in early 1853.
In December 1853, he moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, where he bought mining and milling property. Five years later, he owned the Mecklenburg Flour Mills. Wilkes, who in 1860 was a member of the Home Guards and part of a local vigilance committee, gave one of his mills to supply the army in Virginia.
He also built the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad from Greensboro, North Carolina, to Danville, Virginia, and he began a railroad from Raleigh to Lockville. In 1859, he bought the Mecklenburg Iron Works, which he gave to the Confederacy two years later. Wilkes was also a large supplier of the Confederate Navy.
His entire fortune, expertise, and business interests in foodstuffs and clothing were given over to the war effort. Although he never held office in the Confederacy, from the beginning of the war he served as a financial advisor to the state government officials of North Carolina. After the war, he received a federal pardon and tried to rebuild his fortune.
Wilkes obtained a charter for the First National Bank of Charlotte, of which he was president from 1865 to 1869. In 1869, he was ruined financially by a venture into manufacturing, the Rock Island Woolen Mills, and he returned to the Iron Works. An alderman and a vestryman of St. Peter's Parish in Charlotte, he represented the diocese of North Carolina in the general convention of the Episcopal church in 1886 and for some time thereafter.
John Wilkes is considered one of its most influential citizens of Charlotte. He purchased an operating flour mill, which was already successful business, and supplied most of the flour needed by the Confederate Army during the Civil War.
He organized the First National Bank of Charlotte. This bank had the distinction of being the first national bank established south of Richmond.
John also purchased the old Confederate Navy Yard from the United States government and restarted the Mecklenburg Iron Works, transforming it into one of the leading iron and brass foundries in the area.
Wilkes was a very active member of the Episcopal Church both on the parish level and often as a delegate to the diocesan convention. He held numerous positions at St. Peter's Episcopal Church on North Tryon Street, including a vestryman, Sunday school teacher, and a representative for St. Peter's at church councils.
In April 1854 John married Jane Renwick Smedberg, who became a prominent Charlotte philanthropist. The couple had nine children, five of whom died young.
1798-1877
1801-1848
1829-1921
1838-1908
1865-1865
1827-1913
1855-1873
1856-1857
1858-1868
1860-1925
1862-1930
1864-1953
1866-1894
1867-1868
1871-1939
