Elias Carr was the 48th Governor

Governor of North Carolina

The Governor of North Carolina is the chief executive of the State of North Carolina, one of the U.S. states. The current governor is Bev Perdue, North Carolina's first female governor.-Powers:...

 of the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

 from 1893 to 1897. A building on the campus of UNC-Chapel Hill is named after him.

He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...

 (1855–1859) and also attained a law degree from the University of Virginia

University of Virginia

The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...

 and then returned to the 100 year old family plantation, Bracebridge Hall. He married Eleanor Kearney, the youngest daughter of William Kinchen Kearney and Benjamin Hardee James Marie Alston Kearney, in 1860 and was the father of six children: Dr. William Kearney Carr, John Buxton Carr, Mary Elizabeth Carr, Elias Carr, Eleanor Kearney Carr, and Annie Bruce Carr. Carr was a member of the board of directors of Rocky Mount Mills, trustee of N.C. College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts (today known as North Carolina State University

North Carolina State University

North Carolina State University at Raleigh is a public, coeducational, extensive research university located in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Commonly known as NC State, the university is part of the University of North Carolina system and is a land, sea, and space grant institution...

), commissioner of the N.C. Geological Survey, agriculturist, and businessman.

Carr became prominent as head of the state Farmers Alliance and Industrial Union (1889–1892). He was part of a more moderate or conservative faction of the Alliance that opposed splitting from Democrats to form a third party. In 1892, he defeated incumbent Gov. Thomas Michael Holt

Thomas Michael Holt

Col. Thomas Michael Holt was a prominent North Carolina industrialist who served as the 47th Governor of North Carolina from 1891 to 1893...

 for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination. Carr then won the three-way race over the Republican candidate, Judge David M. Furches

David M. Furches

David Moffatt Furches was a North Carolina politician and jurist who served as an associate justice and chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court.Furches read law under Chief Justice Richmond M...

, and the Populist

Populist Party (United States)

The People's Party, also known as the "Populists", was a short-lived political party in the United States established in 1891. It was most important in 1892-96, then rapidly faded away...

 candidate, Dr. Wyatt P. Exum. Carr did not win an absolute majority of the vote, perhaps foreshadowing the 1894 election, in which Democrats lost control of the legislature to an electoral fusion

Electoral fusion

Electoral fusion is an arrangement where two or more political parties on a ballot list the same candidate, pooling the votes for that candidate...

of Populists and Republicans, and the 1896 election, in which Democrats lost the governor's race for the first time since 1872. During his term in office, Carr promoted better school facilities and regulation of railroads. After his governorship, he returned to Bracebridge Hall where he died of a 'thyroid condition' in July 1900.