Tabitha Anne Holton

Written by Kellie Slappey

The first woman to be licensed as an attorney in North Carolina and in the Southern United States was Tabitha Ann Holton.

One of five children, Tabitha Ann Holton was born in Iredell County in the early 1850s to Quinton and Harriet Holton.  Her parental lineage included Quaker and Moravian roots, and her family, like many other religious dissenters, migrated southward from the northern United States into North Carolina.

Her father, however, was a radical, itinerant Methodist preacher who regularly and publicly condemned slavery.  In 1863, her father was elected as the president of the North Carolina Conference for Methodist Preachers, and his additional duties undoubtedly demanded more time away from his familial responsibilities.  As a result, Tabitha saw her father every so often in between preaching circuits. FOR MORE

Local Lore: Tabitha Anne Holton