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Hocutts Leave Heritage of Education and Service


This picture of the Hocutt family was taken during one
of their annual trips to Wrightsville Beach. From left,
first row, Zelma, John, Naomi, and Alma; second row,
Rosa, Jefferson Davis Hocutt holding Betsy, Mrs.
Hocutt holding Louise, and Manly; back row, Jefferson
Davis, Jr., Berta, Robert, Olivia, and George.

Born September 4, 1913, Louise Hocutt Turner, of Wilmington, NC, was the last surviving child of Pender County preacher, farmer, and leader Jefferson Davis (J.D.) Hocutt. Upon her death, a scholarship was established at Campbell University through a will bequest to benefit worthy students studying to become teachers. The Hocutt Family Scholarship is a living legacy of the Hocutt family, but more important, it is the legacy of a father who, with only a fifth-grade education, sacrificed everything to educate his children.

Jefferson Davis Hocutt

Born in 1861 in the Rocky Point community of Pender County, Louise’s father, Jefferson Davis Hocutt, yearned to be educated like his brother who attended Wake Forest College, but circumstance required him to stay behind and care for his aging parents. Nevertheless, J.D. Hocutt felt the call to serve God and decided that if he could not get an education by conventional means, he would educate himself.

Hocutt, who by that time had married Hester Catherine Murray and was a tenant farmer in the Ashton community, studied every moment he could steal from tilling the soil and making sausages to sell at market in Wilmington. He eventually became an ordained minister and leader of the community, serving as a state legislator for a brief time. But his most significant contribution was providing 10 of his 15 children a higher education. A total of 10 children graduated from North Carolina colleges and two from southern Baptist seminaries. Four of the Hocutt sons spent a year or more in Baptist high schools, one of the four completing his high school diploma.

An estimated $28,000 was spent on his children’s education while J.D. Hocutt farmed rented land and was often unable to meet many of his bills. And while there was no money to spare, almost all of the Hocutt children inherited their father’s love of learning and commitment to service. In fact, if one tabulated the amount of time the Hocutt children spent in Baptist schools, it would approximate 175 years.

The Hocutt Children: Many Were Leaders in Baptist Life

Out of the 10 children who received a higher education, six of whom attended Buies Creek Academy or Campbell College, many served as teachers, preachers, missionaries, and leaders in Baptist life.

Rosa Hocutt Powell and her husband, J. Carlyle, met while they were attending Delway Baptist High School in Sampson County. They became missionaries to West Africa, where they served 36 years.

Berta Hocutt Scott taught mathematics for 25 years in high schools in Pender and New Hanover counties, and used much of her early salary to help pay the educational expenses of younger brothers and sisters.

Naomi Hocutt Chambers, Louise Hocutt Turner, Olivia Hocutt Marshburn and Betsy Hocutt Wilder were also teachers. Naomi and Louise taught mathematics, while Olivia taught English and French. Olivia’s teaching career spanned 48 years, 36 of which were spent at Southwood College in Salemburg and four years at Campbell College in Buies Creek. Betsy taught for approximately 36 years.

Jefferson Davis, Jr., who never married, studied at a business college and spent his life as a bookkeeper. Found among his possessions after his death was a diploma designating him a certified public accountant, something his family members never knew.

George and Manly Hocutt followed in their father’s footsteps. George, who studied at Buies Creek Academy and Wingate College before obtaining a degree from Wake Forest University and The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY, served as a pastor for 34 years. Manly, who graduated from Campbell College in 1927, was a pastor for over 43 years and served as a missionary and clerk in the Buncombe Baptist Association and as a moderator in the Rowan Baptist Association.

Zelma Hocutt met her husband, Lewis Harper Dawson, while attending Buies Creek Academy. Dawson served as a pastor of Baptist churches in Virginia and Kentucky for over 40 years. In addition to her duties as a minister’s wife, Zelma taught mathematics for 25 years.

John, the youngest son, also graduated from Buies Creek Academy and worked for the Atlantic Coastline Railroad until his death in 1962.

David, the oldest son, worked with the Atlantic Coastline Railroad as a young man and spent many years in New York, where he was employed with the subway system.

Robert spent his life as a farmer just south of Burgaw and helped his father in the sausage business.

Alma Hocutt Blanchard is the only one of the daughters who did not teach school. She married Fulton Blanchard, and they lived at the old home place for many years.

Infant Fannie Hocutt died at the age of seven months.

All totaled, the Hocutt children spent more than the equivalent of three centuries in service to others through ministry and education, a legacy the family scholarship will continue to perpetuate for future generations.


Bulletin 0205-07/22/04

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