(Professional Engineer, Retired)
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I am a North Carolina native, a 1966 graduate of North Carolina State University with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, and a retired Professional Engineer in North Carolina. In 1977, I founded Stanford White, Inc. (now the North Carolina office of Salas+O'Brien), an engineering consulting firm located in Raleigh, North Carolina, and semi-retired in November 1998. My wife, Janice Diane "Jan" Jones, and I relocated from Raleigh, NC to Morehead City, NC after retiring and then moved to Lincolnton, NC in late 2018. |
I am a descendant of Joseph Stanford (c1660-c1723) who, with his wife Jane, settled along the banks of Wicomico Creek in Old Somerset County on the Eastern Shore of Maryland about 1690. Between 1760 and 1810, many of the Maryland family members moved to northeast Georgia, acquiring land grants for Revoluntionary War service and/or winning land lotteries. Over the years the family has expanded to Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Arizona, North Carolina, and (especially) Texas. |
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My paternal grandmother, Eula Mae New, was born in 1907 in Aiken County, South Carolina. Her earliest ancestor yet identified is William New, born about 1775 in North Carolina, who settled in Edgefield District, South Carolina before 1820.
My maternal grandparents were Millis Monroe Brown, born in 1879 in Randolph County, North Carolina, and Norma Luella Luther, born in 1888 in Randolph County, North Carolina. Millis Brown was a descendent of Edward Brown, born about 1632, who settled in Lower Norfolk County, Virginia. Edward's grandson, John Brown, migrated to North Carolina and settled in what is now Chatham County before 1750. Norma Luther was a descendent of John Georg Luther, born in 1715 in Strasbourg, Alsace, France/Germany, who settled in Frederick County, Maryland about 1750. This family tree includes the Browns and Luthers, along with other associated families including the Coles, Callicutts, Parkers, Havlicheks, Sanfords, and Monroes.
JONES FAMILY
Jan is the daughter of Ralph Irwin Jones (1910-1983)and Helen Barbara White (1921-1995) of Brandon, Minnehaha, South Dakota. The Jones family immigrated from Wales to South Dakota in 1883, while the White family immigrant ancestor arrived in Boston, Massachusetts in 1632.
For 20 years, Jan and I lived on the coast of North Carolina in Morehead City in Carteret County, North Carolina. This is a small county with a rich history dating back to 1722. Today it is a tourist mecca, home of the Cape Lookout National Seashore, and a retirement center. And, it has its problems. My book, A Look Into Carteret County, North Carolina, provides an overview of the county as it is today, its history, and the challenges it faces. |
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From 2003 through 2012, Jan and I were volunteers with the National Park Service at Cape Lookout National Seashore in North Carolina. The center piece of our volunteer effort was the Cape Lookout Lighthouse, completed in 1859 and lighted for the first time in November of that year. While classed as a nominal 150 foot tall lighthouse, it is actually 163 feet from ground level to the ball ventilator at the top. The black-and-white "checker" or "diamond" daymark is unique; no other U.S. lighthouse is painted this way. My book, Cape Lookout Lighthouse provides a overview history of the lighthouse and its keepers, along with the livesaving station, etc. at the cape. |
