People from Franklin, North Carolina

Adrian Shawn Bryson (born November 30, 1976) is a former American football running back. He played college football at the University of Tennessee.

David Leinail Richmond (April 20, 1941 – December 7, 1990) was a civil rights activist for most of his life, but he was best known for being one of the Greensboro Four. Richmond was a student at North Carolina A&T during the time of the Greensboro protests, but never ended up graduating from A&T. He felt pressure from the residual celebrity of being one of the Greensboro Four; his life was threatened in Greensboro and he was forced to move to Franklin, NC. Eventually, he moved back to Greensboro to take care of his father. Richmond was awarded the Levi Coffin Award for leadership in human rights by the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce in 1980. Richmond seemed to be haunted by the fact that he could not do more to improve his world, and battled alcoholism and depression. He died in 1990 and was awarded a posthumous honorary doctorate degree from North Carolina A&T

Charles D. Swift (born 1961) is an American attorney and former career Navy officer, who retired in 2007 as a Lieutenant Commander in the Judge Advocate General's Corps. He is most noted for having served as defense counsel for Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a detainee from Yemen who was the first to be charged at Guantanamo Bay; Swift took his case to the US Supreme Court. In 2005 and June 2006, the National Law Journal recognized Swift as one of the top lawyers nationally because of his work on behalf of justice for the detainees.

James Ivan Roland (December 14, 1942 – March 6, 2010) was an American professional baseball relief pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, Oakland Athletics, New York Yankees, and Texas Rangers.

Charles Frazier (born November 4, 1950) is an American novelist. He won the 1997 National Book Award for Fiction for Cold Mountain.

Charles Z. Smith (February 23, 1927 – August 28, 2016) was an American judge who served as a Washington State Supreme Court Justice from 1988 to 2002. He was the first person of color and the first African American to hold the position.

Edward Wiley Ray (born December 21, 1926 in Franklin, North Carolina) better known as "Eddie Ray" is a consultant and former Operation Director and Vice Chairman of the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame Museum. He was an African American record company executive, record producer, songwriter, author, and an inductee in the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame. He was also a United States Presidential Appointee under Ronald Reagan serving as Commissioner and Chairman of the Copyright Royalty Tribunal.

James Wayland Davis (born January 7, 1947) is an American politician and orthodontist serving as a member of the North Carolina General Assembly. He represents the Senate's fiftieth district, which includes Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Jackson, Macon,and Swain counties.

James Lowry Robinson (September 17, 1838 – July 11, 1887) was a Democratic politician from the U.S. state of North Carolina; he served as the fourth lieutenant governor of the state for four years under Governor Thomas J. Jarvis and as acting Governor of North Carolina for one month in 1883.

Robert C. Carpenter (June 18, 1924 – August 6, 2011) was a Republican member of the North Carolina General Assembly. He represented the state's fiftieth Senate district, including constituents in Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Jackson, Macon, Swain and Transylvania counties. A retired bank executive from Franklin, North Carolina, Carpenter was elected to the state senate in 1988. He served eight terms, finally losing his seat in 2004 by fewer than 300 votes.