Wyatt P. Exum

Born in Wayne County, North Carolina, he studied medicine at Trinity College and served in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.

He resumed his medical practice and eventually garnered the funds to purchase land in Wayne County which he cleared and turned into a farm.

At Exum's formal suggestion, the convention initially nominated Harry Skinner to serve as the party's candidate in the 1892 North Carolina gubernatorial election.

[4] In his acceptance speech, Skinner appealed to the convention to allow him the discretion to withdraw from the race should the Republican Party's candidate appear to be leading and threaten the rule of the "white man" in the state.

[5] Many delegates were infuriated by the notion of backing out of the election, and Exum moved to have the nomination vote reconsidered, with 25 other men seconding his motion.

Two weeks after he was nominated, The News & Observer reported on him being fined by the mayoral court of Goldsboro for using obscene language in front of women at the local post office.

[8] Shortly thereafter, The Wilmington Messenger publicized the fact that Exum had been earlier indicted for a concealed weapon violation and threatening someone's life.

Exum then told Butler to remove himself from the situation or be killed before his wife ran out of the house and convinced him and Aycock to cease fighting.