HAMLET — The family of James E. Clemmons Jr. unveiled a sign bearing the name of the late Richmond County sheriff in a bridge-dedication ceremony at Cole Auditorium on Monday.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation also posted the signs on the bridge itself, nearly 7 miles away, on U.S. 1, crossing over the U.S. 74 Bypass.
Patrick Molamphy, regional member of the N.C. Board of Transportation, welcomed those who came out to honor Clemmons’ legacy.
The crowd featured deputies of the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office and law enforcement officers from across the state — including Pitt and Guilford counties and Clemmons’ home county of Brunswick.
The audience also comprised local and state leaders, like Hamlet native and recently appointed Division of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Wayne Goodwin.
Several members of the N.C. General Assembly were also there: Reps. Ben Moss, R-Richmond, and Jamie Boles, R-Moore; and Sens. David Craven, R-Randolph and Tom McInnis, R-Moore.
McInnis, who co-chairs both the Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee and the Senate Transportation Committee, was instrumental in getting the bridge named after Clemmons, who passed away at his Rockingham home Aug. 5, 2021.
“I received a call on the morning of Clem’s passing that knocked me to my knees, because I didn’t think the good Lord needed another warrior in Heaven that early — I thought he wanted him to fight here on earth a little longer,” McInnis said. “I was shaken to my core because I just didn’t see that one coming.”
According to McInnis, bridge namings in North Carolina are reserved for law enforcement officers who die in the line of duty.
However, exceptions can be made through special legislation which has to come through the Transportation Committee.
“When I talked to Ronald Tillman and I talked to Sheriff (Mark) Gulledge, I let them know that it wouldn’t be an easy task because it’s something that doesn’t happen every day — and it has to be a very, very, very, very special individual to be able to be put on that short list to be able to have their name be put on a bridge outside of a fallen officer.”
McInnis said the measure passed all legislative hurdles by unanimous vote before being signed by Gov. Roy Cooper.
“The reason being, because everybody knew the reputation of James Clemmons,” McInnis said. “It didn’t take too long … to understand where his heart was. He believed in tempering justice with mercy. He believed in the second chance. He knew that if someone made a mistake, they could redeem themselves; he also knew there were some that wouldn’t be able to come back once they were sent off because they had done such a heinous crime that they could not come back to civilized society.”
McInnis added that Clemmons “paved the path” for those coming behind him “to do a lot of great things.”
The senator described the late sheriff as “a lawman’s lawman,” and said he was “so highly regarded” that he was appointed by then-President Donald Trump to the Presidential Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice.
But that wasn’t his only appointment.
In 2019, Clemmons was appointed by Cooper to the North Carolina Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice. He also served as president of the N.C. Sheriff’s Association from July 2018-July 2019 and was chairman of the organization’s executive committee; and he had been on the N.C. Sentencing Commission since 2011.
“That says something about his character,” McInnis said, harkening back to a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “Well, there’s no question about the content of James Clemmons’ character.”
McInnis also had a hand in helping get two other local bridges named.
In 2019, the Millstone Road overpass bridge, which crosses over Interstate 73/74, was named for the late Col. Jack Cardwell, of the N.C. State Highway Patrol, who once called Ellerbe home.
The previous year, through the urging of the Mineral Springs Improvement Council, a bridge on Green Lake Road was named after former N.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Henry Frye, an Ellerbe native.
(See a list of other local named bridges below this story.)
Clemmons was hired as a patrol deputy with the RCSO in 1989 and rose through the ranks during his career, being promoted to major in 2002.
He was elected sheriff in 2010, becoming the first African American to hold the position in the county.
One of those who worked to help him get elected was Lois Jones.
“Clem was the youngest person who was running for sheriff that year,” she recalled, adding that he was running against four other candidates with deep roots in the community, unlike Clemmons, who, although he had been with the RCSO for more than a decade, wasn’t a Richmond County native.
According to Jones, there were some people who were afraid to publicly support Clemmons but would “whisper” that they approved of the candidate.
“Those quiet supporters, it didn’t matter to us — as long as you supported Sheriff Clemmons we were on board,” Jones said.
Clemmons went on to win the primary and general election.
Jones said Clemmons supported the youth of the community and, after winning, his pick of a young Mark Gulledge as chief deputy was controversial.
“Clem stood firm and said, ‘Look, I work with this young man … I know what this young man can do. I know he needs more training, but we all need more training.’”
Gulledge, who was chosen to fill out the rest of Clemmons’ term, was unable to attend the ceremony, but was represented by his chief deputy, Jay Childers.
According to Childers, Clemmons provided support to him and others in times of need in their personal lives.
“You could go on for hours just talking about the things he’s done,” Childers said.
McInnis said Clemmons enjoyed being in the presence of his friends and neighbors, but “didn’t mind being amidst his adversaries, as well.”
“Sheriff Clemmons could calm a storm like no other,” Jones said. “People could be in his face, talking loud, disrespecting — Clem stayed calm. Because he knew that eventually that person was going to have to calm down.”
Dobbins Heights Mayor Antonio Blue recalled a tense situation in 2020 where Clemmons waded out among a group of protesters in the parking lot of Richmond Plaza following the death of George Floyd.
“If he had have been in the Bible days, he probably could have parted the Red Sea,” Blue said. “That was James Clemmons, that was who he was.”
Blue also recalled calling the sheriff at 2 a.m. following an arson and Clemmons showing up within 10 minutes.
“We were blessed more than we deserved.”
Other speakers included Clemmons’ friend Boyce Bostick, former wife Patricia Clemmons, and son James E. Clemmons III, who gave the closing remarks and recited Will Allen Dromgoole’s poem “The Bridge Builder.”
Earlier in the ceremony, the younger Clemmons led the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance prior to Raven Newton’s rendition of the national anthem.
Others bridges and sections of road in Richmond County bearing names include: