John Motley Morehead
John Motley Morehead (July 4, 1796 – August 27, 1866) was an American lawyer and politician who became the 29th governor of the U.S. state of North Carolina (1841 to 1845).In 1835, Morehead was chosen to be a delegate to the state Constitutional Convention, where he advocated representation based on population (which benefitted western North Carolina because of its relatively few enslaved people).During his two gubernatorial terms, Morehead supported the new public school system, extending railroad lines, river and harbor improvements and constructing canals and turnpikes, but the Democrats in the state legislature passed few of those measures.[3] After his term as governor ended in 1845, Morehead returned to his home, Blandwood, in Greensboro, North Carolina, designed by New York City architect Alexander Jackson Davis.His granddaughter Lily Morehead Mebane was decorated by the governments of France and Serbia for her relief work after World War I; she later served two terms in the North Carolina state legislature.