James Turner Morehead

James Turner Morehead (August 6, 1840 - April 20, 1908) was an American chemist and entrepreneur. Early life The son of Governor John Motley Morehead, he graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1861, where he joined Beta Theta Pi. Career Commissioned a lieutenant in the Confederate army, he was wounded at Bristoe Station, Virginia in 1863; he ended the war as a major. Following the war, he served two terms as a state senator (1870-1874). Upon his father's death, he inherited his properties, and soon became a pioneering chemical manufacturer. He and his son, John Motley Morehead III, would found one of the world's leading chemical companies — Union Carbide, assisted by Thomas Willson, who discovered calcium carbide at one of his furnaces.