Plato Durham
Plato Durham was an American lawyer and politician.
Early life
Plato Durham was born on September 20, 1840 in High Shoals, North Carolina to Micajah and Esther Baxter Durham. He was the fourth of 13 children. Educated in public schools in his youth, he read law in Rutherfordton when he was 18 years of age before moving to Knoxville, Tennessee to continue his studies under his uncle, Judge John Baxter.Upon the outbreak of the American Civil War, Durham enlisted in a Confederate States Army unit in Knoxville. He subsequently returned to North Carolina and joined a unit raised in Cleveland County. His father and two brothers also fought in the war and died.
Career
Following the Civil War, Durham enrolled at the University of North Carolina School of Law. He was admitted to the bar in Shelby in August 1866 and ran a successful legal practice.Durham was elected to the North Carolina General Assembly in 1866.