Carr was the son of Chapel Hill merchant and slaveowner John Wesley Carr and Eliza P. Carr ( née Eliza Pannell Bullock ) , and entered the University of North Carolina ( today the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ) at 16 , in 1862 . His studies were interrupted in 1864 by service as a private in the Confederacy , serving with the Third North Carolina Cavalry . Later in life , he was known as " General Carr , " the unofficial rank having been bestowed by the state veterans ' association due to his long service in veterans ' affairs and generosity toward widows and their children . Carr also supported white supremacy and the Ku Klux Klan , spoke favorably of the murder of African Americans that occurred during the Wilmington Massacre of 1898 , which he called a " grand and glorious event " , and celebrated lynchings . In 1923 , UNC bestowed an honorary degree upon Julian Carr
Wilmington Massacre of 1898
Wilmington insurrection of 1898
Julian Carr (industrialist)