Thomas Bragg (1810-1872) was admitted to the bar in 1832, served a term in the NC House of Representatives in 1842, and became governor of North Carolina in 1854. A states' rights Democrat, he served two terms, advocating internal improvements, a wider franchise, and an improved banking system. Elected to the US Senate in 1859, he withdrew in March 1861, shortly before North Carolina seceded from the Union. He served briefly as attorney general of the Confederacy and after the Civil War resumed his law practice. Shortly before his death Bragg helped secure the impeachment of his former political ally Gov. William W. Holden (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography 1:209).