John Pool was born near Elizabeth City on June 16, 1826. A lawyer and politician, Pool supported William Woods Holden's campaign for governor both during and after the Civil War. In 1868 he became a senator for North Carolina in the U.S. Congress, where he supported Holden in his efforts at combatting the Ku Klux Klan. Pool died in Washington, D.C. on August 16, 1884.