Alfred Moore Scales | |
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45th Governor of North Carolina | |
In office January 21, 1885 – January 17, 1889 |
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Lieutenant | Charles M. Stedman |
Preceded by | Thomas Jordan Jarvis |
Succeeded by | Daniel Gould Fowle |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from North Carolina's 5th district |
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In office March 4, 1875 – December 30, 1884 |
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Preceded by | James M. Leach |
Succeeded by | James W. Reid |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from North Carolina's 6th district |
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In office March 4, 1857 – March 3, 1859 |
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Preceded by | Richard C. Puryear |
Succeeded by | James M. Leach |
Member of the North Carolina State Legislature | |
In office 1865 |
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Personal details | |
Born |
Reidsville, North Carolina |
November 26, 1827
Died | February 9, 1892 Greensboro, North Carolina |
(aged 64)
Resting place | Greenhill Cemetery Greensboro, North Carolina |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse(s) | Kate B. Henderson Scales |
Alma mater | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
Profession | Lawyer Educator |
Military service | |
Allegiance |
United States of America Confederate States of America |
Service/branch | Confederate States Army |
Years of service | 1861–65 |
Rank | Brigadier General |
Battles/wars |
Alfred Moore Scales (November 26, 1827 – February 9, 1892) was a North Carolina state legislator, Confederate general in the American Civil War and the 45th Governor of the U.S. state of North Carolina from 1885 to 1889, and Congressman.
Scales was born at Reidsville, in Rockingham County, North Carolina. He lived on Mulberry Island Plantation. After attending a Presbyterian school, the Caldwell institute and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Scales entered teaching for a time. Later, he studied law with Judge William H. Battle and Judge Settle and then opened a law office in Madison, North Carolina. While at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he was a member of the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies.
Scales was elected county solicitor in 1852. He was elected four times to the North Carolina state legislature and served as chairman of the Finance Committee. In 1854 he ran a close but unsuccessful race as the Democratic candidate for United States Congress in a Whig district. In 1857 he was elected to Congress but was defeated for re-election two years later. From 1858 until the spring of 1861 he held the office of clerk and master of the court of equity of Rockingham County. In 1860 he was an elector for the Breckinridge ticket and subsequently involved in the debate over North Carolina's secession.