A family of exceptional achievement lived in the upper section of Lancaster county in the last century. The father, Moses Chappell Heath (1806-1867) was a planter who had a large acreage on both sides of the North Carolina-South Carolina border.

When the Civil War came along, five sons enlisted. James Morrow Heath, a captain in Gen. Nathan Forrest's cavalry, died in action at Chickamauga. His brother, George Leonidas, was killed in action at Cold Harbor.

Drury Morrow Heath died at home from wounds received in the Battle of Seven Pines. Allen Watson and Moses Chappell Heath, Jr. also served. The last named was only 13 when he joined but he was cited for bravery at the Battle of the Crater at Petersburg and Colonel McMaster added, "He was one of the bravest soldiers in my command."

Not one of the Heath sons chose to be a planter after the war.

John Postell Heath settled in Camilla, Georgia, where he established a bank and ran several businesses. One of his sons, Moses Chappell, or Chappie, was a cotton trader with a New York office and a Columbia, SC cotton compress. He also built Heathwood, one of Columbia's major suburban housing areas.

Allen Watson Heath was an early partner of William Henry Belk and then branched out with a chain of stores of his own. His son, William Chappell Heath, owned a number of stores of his own. He became president of the Southern Vehicle Association and was the first president of the American Cotton Manufacturers Association. Chap Heath also served two terms in the N.C. Senate.

Moses Chappell Heath, Jr., was the only brother to seek a profession. He graduated from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia and interned at Bellevue Hospital in New York. Dr. Heath located at Richmond, KY, and practice medicine there until his death in 1920.

Benjamin Dawson Heath opened a general store in Waxhaw, NC at the age of 18. He saved his money and attended a business college in Baltimore. In 1874 he moved to Monroe, NC, and set up a mercantile, cotton and banking business. One of the clerks he trained was William Henry Belk, the founder of the Belk Stores.

B.D. Heath and Leroy Springs were partners in a mercantile business. The town of Heath Springs is named for the two men. Heath helped organize Charlotte National Bank in 1897 and was president until 1911. The bank eventually evolved into NationsBank.

B.D. Heath also served as president and general manager of Manetta Mills at Lando, Chester County, and Jackson Mills in Monroe, NC. He was president of Edgmoor and Manetta Railroad Co., a life insurance company in Greensboro, a real estate brokerage in Charlotte and Cliffside Mills, among others.

Osgood Pierce Heath was a big-time speculator internationally, especially in cotton and sugar through his cotton brokerage, O.P. Heath & Co. He filed for bankruptcy in 1911 with liabilities exceeding $1 million, a great sum at that time. Four years later, Heath nearly corner the world cotton market but his Liverpool partner betrayed him. He committed suicide March 2, 1916. An obituary cited "ill health and financial reverses."

Everard Heath was a businessman in Matthews, NC, and was a partner in some of the enterprises of O.P. Heath.

The Heath brothers were ambitious and acquisitive, nevertheless, they were generous in their support of the towns they lived in and gave freely to educational institutions and churches.