John Motley Morehead III
1870 – 1965
Spray, NC – Rye, NY 

John Motley Morehead III [November 3, 1870 – January 7, 1965]

• Chemist, Inventor, Industrialist, Author, Philanthropist

• University of North Carolina, Phi Beta Kappa 1891

• Awarded an Honorary Doctorate at UNC 1932

Morehead Family Name 

• Son of James Turner Morehead [1840 – 1908] and Mary Elizabeth Lily Connally [1842 – 1917]

• Grandson of North Carolina’s 29th Governor, John Motley Morehead [1796 - 1866] and Ann Elizabeth Lindsay [1804 -1868]

• Nephew of John Lindsay Morehead [1833 - 1901] and Sarah Smith Phifer [1835 - 1867]

• Cousin of U. S. Congressman John Motley Morehead II [1866 – 1923]

• Husband of Genevieve Birkoff [1/7/1878 – 4/16/1945], married 1911

• Husband of Leila Duckworth Houghton, [dates unavailable], married 1948

Partial List of Business and Professional Endeavors

• Morehead III was employed at Willson Aluminum Company, Eden [then Spray], NC

  • Company founded by Thomas L. Willson and James Turner Morehead

• Willson and Morehead’s efforts to produce aluminum failed!

  • James T. Morehead, Willson and Morehead III inadvertently discovered and then developed a new process to manufacture calcium carbide and acetylene!

• Several companies merged to become Union Carbide & Carbon Company 1898.

  • Morehead III produced polyethylene, the company’s largest product.

  • Company name changed to Union Carbide Corporation 1957

• Morehead III volunteered for World War I. He ranked as a U.S. Army Major.

• He moved to Rye, NY in 1902, Mayor 1925-1930 [3 Terms]

  • City is near Union Carbide Corporation Laboratories

• Ambassador to Sweden 1930 – 1933

• Died in Rye, NY and buried in Rye Presbyterian Church Cemetery 1965

Outstanding Donations to University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

• Morehead-Patterson [Rufus Lenoir Patterson] Bell Tower 1931

• Morehead Foundation for North Carolina Scholars 1945

• Morehead Building including Planetarium and Genevieve B. Morehead Art Gallery 1949

Outstanding Donations to John Motley Morehead High School, Eden NC

• Tri-City High School 1952; Renamed in honor of John Motley Morehead III 1958

• Football Field House

• Football Stadium South Side Bleachers

• Carillon Chimes

• Steinway Grand Piano in Memory of his wife, Genevieve Birkoff Morehead

References:

 John Motley Morehead III:

• Payne, Latala. EDEN SUNDAY NEWS, “Portrait Receives Nameplate,” July 1, 2012.

• Rutland, Aulica. NEWS & RECORD, “A Few Branches of the Morehead Family Tree,” March 5, 2000.

• Who is John Motley Morehead, III?

• Find A Grave

• History NC

• RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project

• The Carolina Story: A Virtual Museum of University History

• Our Campaigns

• Museum Exhibits

  • Lists John Motley Morehead (III) [1870 – 1965] as JMM, Jr.

• Governor John Motley Morehead

• Father James Turner Morehead  - Greensboro Historical Museum, MSS Collection 8

  • Lists John Motley Morehead (III) [1870 – 1965] as JMM II.

• Uncle John Lindsay Morehead

• Cousin US Congressman John Motley Morehead (II) [1866-1923], Mecklenburg County, Charlotte, NC

• Thomas Leopold Willson. Princeton, Ontario

• Morehead Planetarium

• John Motley Morehead High School: Retired faculty members and Leaksville Township Schools administrators - Duane Best, Mott Price, Faye Roberts and Bob Wilkes. Dr. John M. Hough, Jr., son of John M. Hough, Sr., deceased Superintendent of Leaksville Township Schools.

• Confirmation of Information [7-2-12] - Great-Great Niece, Page Nelson Lyon, Annapolis, MD

• Compilation - Gloria T. Best, Morehead High School Duane Best Scholarship Fund, Eden, NC [6-24-12]