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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
■OLD NORTH STATE" EDITION
THIS EDITION IS STRICTLY LIMITED TO SEVEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY REGISTERED AND NUMBERED SETS, OF WHICH THIS IS SET NUMBE R
f^
^
of XJottf) CJarolma
PVom Colonial Times to the Present
Editors
Samuel A. Ashe
Stephen \l. Weeks
(Charles L. Van Noppcn
V{)LLMr*; V '
Charles L. \' a n N op p e n
i'i;iii.]siii-R
Cireeiisboro, N. C.
MCMVI
THE
:i
• ';. R
PUBLIC 1.;' j.'.FvY
3921 52 A
ASTOR. LENOX AND MLUEN FOUNDaTIONB
COPYRK'.HT, 1*X>6
BY CHARLES L. Van NoH'kn All rights reserved
. •••: •••/• • •. ••• . •::•:
• • • •
Kemp P. Battle . John C. Buxton Theo. F. Davidson Junius Davis rufus a. doughton Thomas J, Jarvis
JaMKS V. JuVNER .
Charlks D. McIvkk
Wll.I.lAM L. PoTICAT JaM1:s II. SOUTIIGATK ClIARI.I'S \V. TlI.LETT
Chapel Hill
Winston-Salem
. Asheville
. Wilmington
Sparta
Greenville
Raleigh
Greensboro
Wake Forest
Durham
. Charlotte
Advisory Board vii
Contents ix.
Portraits xiii
Contributors xv
Allen, Eleazar i
Belo, Alfred H 8
Blue, John 14
Boyd, Adam 18
ixBruton, John Fletcher 23
Butler, John 29
Buxton', Jarvis 38
Blxton, Ralph P 41
Buxton, John Cameron 46
Carr, Lewis Albert 53
Carteret, Peter 59
Catchmaid. GeoRtiE 63
ClKVELAND, liENJAMlN 69
Clintos. Richard 74
Cox, Ohlamxj R 79
Dickson. Willlam 85
Fanning, David 90
Forney, Peter 98
Forsyth, Benjamin 102
CONTENTS
Gore, Joshua Walker 107
Gray, Julius Alexander >^-^-^
Hall, John 117
Hamilton, John 121
Hassell, Gushing Biggs 124
Hassell, Sylvester 129
Hawkins, Philemon, Sr 135
Hawkins, Philemon, Jr 139
Hawkins, Benjamin 144
Hawkins, William 154
Hawkins, John D 160
Hawkins, Alexander Boyd 164
Hawkins, William J 169
Jackson, Andrew 174
Jenkins," John 183
Johnston, Gabriel 187
King, William R 194
McAden, Rufus Yancey 198
Maffitt, John Newland 203
McIvER, Charles Duncan 212
McIvER, John McMillan 230
Mangum, Willie Person 236
Mangum, Willie Person, Jr 258
Mangum, Priestley Hinton, Sr 263
Metts, James Isaac 267
Moore, Bartholomew Figures 275
Morgan, Samuel Tate 287
Pearson, Richmond M 295
PiTTMAN, Thomas Merritt 310
Polk, Thomas 316
Poteat, William Louis 321
CONTENTS xi
Pratt, Joseph Hyde 327
Reinhardt, Robert Smith 333
Rex, John 339
Ricks, Robert Henry 342
Royster, Frank Sheppard 345
RuFFiN, Thomas 350
RuFFiN, Thomas, Jr 360
Skinner, William 367
Stanly, Edward 370
Starkey, John 379
Stockard, Henry Jerome 383
Sumner. Jethro 395
Taylor, John Louis 402
Thompson, George Warren 407
Van Noppen, Leonard Charles 412
Walker, H^enderson 422
Watkins, William Henry 426
Weeks, Stephen Beauregard 433
Whitehead, Marcellus 442
Whitehead, John 446
Whitehead, Richard Henry 44g
Whitehead, William Henry 452
Williamson, Hugh 458
Williams, Benjamin 467
Wilkes. John 473
Winhorne, Benjamin Brodie 480
WiTHERSPooN, John 487
Wright, Richard Harvey 493
McIvEK, Charles D Frontispiece
Bklo, Alfred H facing 8
Blue, John " 14
Bkuton, John F " 23
Buxton, Jarvis " 38
Buxton, Ralph P " 41
Buxton, John Cameron " 46
Cabs. Lewis Albert " 53
Cox, Orlando R " 79
Gore, Joshua Walker " 107
Gray, Julius Alexander " no
Hassell, Gushing Biggs " 124
Hassell, Sylvester " 129
Hawkins, Philemon, Jr " 139
Hawkins, Benjamix " 144
Hawkins, William " 154
Hawkins, John D " 160
Hawkins, Alexander Boyd " 164
Hawkins, William J " 169
McAden, Rufus Yancey " 198
McIvER, John McMillan '■ 230
Mangum, Willie Person " 236
Mancum, Willie Person, Jr " 258
xiv PORTRAITS
Mangum, Priestley Hinton, Sr, facing 263
Metts, James Isaac " 267
Moore, Bartholomew Figures " 275
Morgan, Samuel Tate " 287
Pearson, Richmond M " 295
Pittman, Thomas Merritt " 310
Poteat, William Louis " 321
Pratt, Joseph Hyde " 327
Reinhardt, Robert Smith " 333
Ricks, Robert Henry " 342
RoYSTER, Frank Sheppard " 345
RuFFiN, Thomas " 350
Stockard, Henry Jerome " 383
Thompson, George Warren " 407
Van Noppen, Leonard Charles " 412
Watkins, William Henry " 426
Weeks, Stephen Beauregard " 433
Whitehead, Marcellus " 442
Whitehead, John *' 446
Whitehead, Richard Henry ** 449
Whitehead, William Henry " 452
Wilkes, John " 473
Winborne, Benjamin Brodie " 480
Wright, Richard Harvey " 493
Sahukl a. Ashe
Richard H. Battli, A.B.,LL.D.
G. SAUttSL Bradshaw, A,M.
JOHM C. BUXTOM
Joseph P. Caldwell J. B. Carlyle, A.m. CoLUSR Cobb, A.M. R. D. W. Connor, Ph.B.
Robert P. Dick, A.M.,LL.D.
Benjamin F. Dixon
Al Fairbrother
Robert B. Glenn
J. G. dE R. Hamilton, A.M.
Marshall De L. Haywood
George Howe, Ph.D.
Thos.H.Hume,A.M.,D.D.,LL.D.
James McNeill Johnson
Theo. F. Kluttz Patrick R.Law, A.B.,B.D.,D.D. M. L. Lawrinci Jahes H. Myrovbr Frank Nash
Louis Juiiem Picot, M.D. Thomas M. Pittmah Edward W. Sikes, Ph D. William C. Smith, A.B. James H. Southgate, A.B. Leonard C. Van Noppen, A.M. Francis P. Venable, Ph.D. Stephen B. Weeks, Ph.D.,LL.D. George Stockton Wills, A.M. Robert W, Winborne, A.B. Francis D. Winston, A.B. William A, Withers, A.M.
ELEAZAR ALLEN
jHE subject of this sketch, Eleazar Allen, for some fifteen years, durii^ a most interesting period of the development of the Province of North Carolina, played an important part in public affairs. Not only, as stated on his tomb- _ __ stone, "did God endow him with an admirable
understanding, and his parents with a liberal education, of both of which he made the most excellent use," but by his family con- nections and his public emplojment he exerted a strong inBuence on the course of events.
He was bom in Massachusetts in 1692, of English parentage. His grandfather, Reverend John Allen, of Norfolk, England, was educated at Cambridge, where he took B.A. in 1615, and M.A. in 1619. In 1637 he came to America and organized the church at Dedham. Massachusetts, which he served as minister until his death in 1671. One of his sons, Doctor Daniel Allen, graduated at Harvard in 1675, was librarian of the college, and took the degree of M.A. in 1678. He marrie<l Mary Anna Bendall, and had by her, among other children, the subject of this sketch. After the death of Doctor Allen his widow married Samuel Lynde. In her will Mrs. Lynde makes a bequest "imto my lov- ing son, Eleazar, of Carolina." It is interesting to note also that a sister of the subject of this sketch, Katherine Allen, married Josiah Willard, and bequests were likewise made by Mrs. Lynde
NORTH CAROLINA
to her Willard grandchildren. Circumstances led the footsteps of young Allen to Charleston, South Carolina, where he became a merchant, and there at some time prior to 1722 he married Sarah Rhett, the eldest daughter of Colonel William Rhett, who was born June, 1697. Another daughter of Colonel Rhett mar- ried **King'' Roger Moore of the Cape Fear, and a niece of Mrs. Allen married Thomas Franklin, an officer of the British Navy, and another niece married William Dry of the Cape Fear.
In 1723 Colonel Maurice Moore determined on making the set- tlement of the Cape Fear, and sought to interest his connections in South Carolina, as w^ell as those in the Albemarle region, in this enterprise. Roger Moore and his family were among the first to move, and Mr. Allen agreed to join them in their new home. In 1725 he obtained a grant for land on the Cape Fear adjoining the Orton plantation, where Roger Moore built, and there later he made his residence, calling his plantation Lilliput.
It appears, however, that Mr. Allen, about that time, returned to Massachusetts and graduated at Harvard in 1726. He was then about thirty-four years of age; and possibly it may have happened that he had left Harvard in his youth without graduat- ing, and he now returned merely to finish his course, perfect him- self in some lines, and obtain his degree. Coming back to Charleston, he was for some time Clerk of the Assembly of the Province of South Carolina, and he remained in his old home until 1734. It was expected, however, that he would take up his residence on the Cape Fear earlier, and in August, 1730, when lUirrington was apjx^inted Governor of North Carolina, he rec- ommended Allen to be one of his Council : and he was appointed, but he remained in South Carolina and was not sworn in as a Councillor until November 2, 1734. Governor Johnston arrived at the Ca|>e Fear on October 27th; on November 6th Governor Hurrinsjton mot the General Assembly at Edenton, and most of the Council were in attendance at that place. On November 2d, Hahon. Allen and Roger Moore, being at Brunswick, formed a Council, and Governor Johnston exhibited his commission and boefan his administration. On the 6th of March following Gov-
ELEAZAR ALLEN
crnor Johnston appointed Allen Receiver-General of the Province in the place of John Hamerton, who was then absent from the Province; and a fortnight later he appointed him an assistant Judge of the Court of Oyer and Terminer, and directed that the first term of that Court should be held at Newton on the following 13th of May ; and he also appointed Allen one of the Justices of New Hanover Precinct. Mr. Allen's business qualifications, as well, peiiiaps, as his fine education, at once gave him prom- inence in public matters ; and at the first meeting of the General Assembly, he and Secretary Nathaniel Rice were appointed a committee of the Council to draw up an address to the Governor ; and the General Assembly recommended to the Governor and Council his appointment as Treasurer of New Hanover Precinct in the place of John Baptista Ashe, who had recently died, and the appointment was made.
The matter of the dividing line between North and South Caro- lina had long been unsettled. Originally the Lords Proprietors intended to establish a number of counties in Carolina, each with its local government, but all under a general Parliament. At the very first there were established, with undefined limits, the coun- ties of Albemarle, Clarendon and Craven. At length, about 1689, when Ludwell was appointed Governor, his commission gave him authority "over that part of our Province lying north and east of Cape Fear." Then Bath County was established with undefined southern limits, and Clarendon County ceased to ex- ist, probably in 1667 when the Cape Fear was deserted and re- lapsed into an unoccupied wilderness. When Carteret Precinct was established, it extended south to the limits of North Caro- lina. The South Carolina authorities claimed the Cape Fear River as the boundary, and in 1692, under this claim, a settlement had been projected, if not actually made, on the Cape Fear River, and a grant of 40,000 acres to Landgrave Smith had been located about where the town of Brunswick was afterwards built ; and in subsequent years other South Carolina grants were located on the Cape Fear agreeably to this claim on the part of the South Carolina authorities. But Burrington, who was interested in the
NORTH CAROLINA
settlement of the Cape Fear and had two plantations on that river, when he went to England in 1729, on the purchase of Caro- lina by the Crown, to push his claim for appointment as first Royal Governor, exerted himself to have the limits of the Prov- ince extended further to the southward. In 1732, learning that some South Carolina patents were being located on the north side of the Wackamaw River, on lands formerly occupied by the Con- garee Indians, he advertised in the newspaper at Charleston that that section was in North Carolina. Burrington's instructions were that "the line should begin at the sea thirty miles distant from the Cape Fear, and should run at the same distance from that river to its head, and thence a due west course, unless Wackamaw lie within thirty miles of the Cape Fear River; then Wackamaw was to be the boundary." A question arose whether that meant the mouth of Wackamaw, or any part of that stream. In consequence of the representations made by Burrington and his strenuous endeavors to advance the interests of North Caro- lina, it was ordered that each province should appoint commission- ers to agree upon a proper line subject to the King's approval. Eleazar Alien was appointed one of the commissioners on the part of North Carolina, and the commissioners met at his house at Lilliput on the 23d of April, 1735, and agreed that a due west line should be run from Cape Fear along the seacoast for thirty miles, and then proceed northwest to the 35th degree of north latitude, etc.
One week later the commissioners began to run the line, and the thirty miles carried them to ten poles from the mouth of Little River. In September they ran the line seventy miles to the north- west. In 1737 the line was extended in the same direction twenty- two miles; and from there in 1764 it was extended due west to Waxhaw Creek. This line was very much more favorable to North Carolina than any that had been previously proposed. In- deed the South Carolinians had contended for a boundarv that would have thrown into their province the greater part of west- em Carolina. It is apparent, therefore, that Mr. Allen and hi3 associates on that occasion rendered the Province excellent service.
ELEAZAR ALLEN
Indeed he was well qualified to discharge the duties that devolved upon him in this and other employments of a public nature, for he was without doubt a man of superior parts and fine attainments. That the Cape Fear could even at that early date boast a society not surpassed in refinement elsewhere in America is a matter highly interesting and creditable. Not only were many of the first settlers men of wealth and ability, but there was a diffusion of education that imparted to the settlement a notable character ; and Mr. Allen himself was an example of this culture. His library, according to the inventory before us, contained some 300 English and Latin volumes, including the standard works of that era: the classics, poetry, history, travels and works of fiction, as well as of a religious nature. Besides, there were fifty volumes in French: history, travels, science, poetry, and French transla- tions of Latin authors. The last book in the catalogue is "La Vie de Jesus Christ."
On a careful examination of this inventory of a library in use on the Cape Fear at that early period, one can but admire the fine taste and culture that led to such a collection of standard litera- ture. It is an evidence of a refinement and an elevation of senti- ment that reflects high credit on the community.
Moreover, a similar illustration is found in the will of Mrs. Allen: "I ordain that the said Mrs. De Rossctt and Mrs. Dry liavc the care of all my private papers. . . . As to all my other letters to and from my several correspondents abroad and in America, as also what miscellaneous I have of the amusing kind, I commit them entirely to their discretion ;" from which it would appear that Mrs. Allen employed herself at times in literary composition.
Mr. Allen's worth was appreciated by Governor Johnston, and in addition to his duties as Councillor and Judge he was Receiver- General of the province, having the duty of collecting the quit rents.
This last employment entailed no end of trouble and finally brought him into financial difficulty. The original practice, under the Act of 1 71 5, was to pay these rents in commodities at a fixed
NORTH CAROLINA
valuation on the plantations. The authorities now undertook to change that practice, and a conflict ensued that led to the cessation of payments. An Act was, however, passed in 1737 that com- promised the points at issue, and all difficulties would have been removed if that Act had not been disallowed in England ; but it was annulled, and there was trouble in collecting the rents. Mr. Allen made frequent representations as to these matters, but with such little avail that after his death a claim was made by the Crown against his estate and his property was held liable for his failure to collect the rents.
Hardly had Governor Johnston gotten warm in his seat as Gov- vernor before he became interested in promoting the growth of Newton, later called Wilmington, to the detriment of Brunswick, throwing himself in conflict with the gentlemen who had settled in the older town. Thus the Governor, along with Murray, Innes, and other Wilmingtonians, came into collision with the Moores and their connections, who were called by the Governor's faction "The family." Mr. Allen belonged to "The family," and there was some friction between him and the Governor until that matter was finally settled.
On the nth of July, 1749, Edward Moseley, who was Treas- urer of the Province, died, and Mr. Allen at the succeeding ses- sion of the General Assembly, October, 1749, was elected treas- urer in his place. Rut he himself died the succeeding January, and at the next session, April, 1750, John Starkey was nominated by the Lower House, the Council proposing another. Starkey was appointed, but that was a beginning of the controversy be- tween the two Houses over the right to appoint a treasurer, which never was finally settled.
When Burrington came over, he was accompanied by William Smith, then appointed Chief- Justice of the Province. A year or two later Smith returned to England and Burrington appointed Daniel Hanmer Chief-Justice in his absence. Smith died in 1743, and Governor Johnston appointed John Montgomery Chief- Justice. Montgomery died in 1744, and Edward Moseley was appointed to succeed him. Enoch Hall seems to have been then
ELEAZAR ALLEN
appointed Chief-Justice, perhaps being commissioned by the Crown. In March, 1748, Eleazar Allen, Edward Moseley and Roger Moore were appointed Associate-Justices of the Province by the Governor. In October of 1749 Hall was acting as Chief- Justice, but on the i8th of December, 1749, Eleazar Allen took the probate of a deed as follows: "Personally appeared before me Eleazar Allen, Chief- Justice of the Province," etc.
On the tombstone of Mrs. Allen is an inscription reciting that she was the widow of Chief- Justice Allen. From these facts it may be inferred that during the absence of Enoch Hall, the Chief- Justice of the Province, towards the end of the year 1749, Eleazar Allen, being the senior Associate Justice, temporarily filled the office of Chief- Justice by appointment of the Governor. But Allen did not long live to enjoy his new office. He died Janu- ary 7, 1750. On his tombstone the date is stated, January 7, 1749, but evidently that is according to the old system when the year began on the 25th of March instead of on January ist; for he certainly was alive in the Fall of 1749. On his tombstone it is recorded that "his life was a constant course of piety and vir- tue," and indeed every memorial that has come down to us in- dicates that he was held in high esteem ; and in a period when there was much jealousy among the public men, there was no word of disparagement recorded against him. Mrs. Allen sur- vived her husband eleven years, dying February 26, 1761. She passed her widowhood on the Lilliput plantation, but appears to have made two voyages to England. Having no children of her own, she felt almost a mother's aflfection and interest in her nieces, the daughters of Roger Moore and his wife, and of Captain Franklin and of William Dry ; and a most affectionate remem- brance of her and of her husband was long cherished by a large circle of friends and connections among the people of the Cape Fear.
The writer of this sketch is much indebted to Mr. W. B. Mc- Koy, of Wilmington, for the use of his collection of manuscripts in the preparation of this sketch.
.S'. A. Ashe,
VA.'
..w-
l-u
,4 FO-il^^
L.^- —
ALFRED H. BELO
at New York for the supply of the Belo business, having ex- hibited unusual capacity as a business man with so short a training.
When the crisis of 1861 came on, although he deprecated the precipitous course of the Southern States that seceded, upon the call to arms by Notth Carolina he raised a company, of which, on May 22, 1861, he was commissioned captain and which be- came Company D of the 21st Regiment, William W. Kirldand being the colonel.
Captain Belo shared in the fortunes of his command and regi- ment, and by his gallantry and bravery won the applause of both his men and his superiors. His regiment was in the battle of First Manassas and was in hot pursuit of the routed Federal Army for several miles, thinking they were going right into Wash- ingtCMi; but to their amazement they were ordered to arrest the pursuit and retrace their steps. The regiment later was assigned to Trimble's brigade and participated in the historic valley cam- paign, performing a great part in the battle of Winchester, where General Banks was defeated, routing Shields, and indeed, in re- peated engagements, sweeping away no less than four Federal armies, and then striking McClellan's right in front of Richmond.
On the reorganization of the 21st. Captain Belo was assigned by Governor Clark as adjutant of the camp of military instruction at Raleigh, and in the Fall of 1862 he served on the staff of Gen- eral Hoke, near Winchester, and performed staff duty at Peters- burg, and in March, 1863, he was commissioned major and as- signed to the 55th Regiment, which became a part of General Davis's Mississippi Brigade. In the Spring of 1863 ^^^s brigade constituted a portion of Longstreet's command that was sent to make an attack on Suffolk. Virginia. While on this duty a differ- ence arose between Captain Terrell and Captain Cousins on the staff of General Laws and the officers of the 55th that led to an interesting episode. The former had stated that the 55th North Carolina had been assigned to protect a battery which the Federal forces captured, and Colonel Connally, denying that statement, demanded that they should correct their report, which they de-
10 NORTH CAROLINA
clined to do. Thereupon, on Colonel Connally's suggestion, it was agreed that the field officers and the captains of the 55th should take the matter up and by continued challenges fight it out to the bitter end. Agreeably to this, Colonel Connally challenged As- sistant Adjutant-General Terrell, and Major Belo challenged Captain Cousins. The meeting between the four officers oc- curred at the same hour and with only a ridge of hills separating them. Cousins selected large-calibre rifles and a distance of forty paces. Both fired simultaneously. Major Belo's shot passed through Captain Cousins's hat, and Cousins's shot missed Belo. Somewhat dissatisfied with their bad shooting, at the second shot Belo missed Cousins, while Cousins's ball passed through Belo's coat just above the shoulder. Before their third shot, the friends of Colonel Connally and of Captain Terrell, who had engaged in an effort to make an honorable settlement, succeeded in doing so; and Captain Terrell, becoming satisfied that he was in error, withdrew the original cause of offence, which prevented further hostilities between him and Colonel Connally; and this informa- tion was communicated just in time to prevent the exchange of a third shot between Major Belo and Captain Cousins. The affair was then amicably settled.
Major Belo's coolness and courage were unsurpassed. From Gettysburg, where he was in command in the railroad cut, down through the carnage at Cold Harbor, his spirit and gallantry and persistence were heroic. At Gettysburg he was severely wounded, and there received his promotion as lieutenant-colonel, and he was again wounded at Cold Harbor. But he was engaged in all the great battles up to that time, although because of his wounds he was unable to serve with his regiment after that. The his- torian of the 55th Regiment says :
"Colonel Belo's wound was in the arm, half-way between the elbow and shoulder joint; the bone was shattered and the operation of re-section was performed. The loss to the regiment was irreparable. He had been with the regiment in all its hard-fought battle« and had the absolute confidence of every man in the regiment. He had a genius for organization and ap- preciated every detail that contributed to the effectiveness or character
ALFRED H. BELO ii
of a military organization. He was in North Carolina at the time of Gen- eral Lee's surrender, and he reported to General Beauregard and was as* signed by him to the command of a force."
When Johnston surrendered he rode off to join the army of General Kirby Smith across the Mississippi, and after all the Confederate armies had surrendered, he pushed on to Texas on horseback, intent on gaining a livelihood. Taking up the first work that offered, he taught a small school at Galveston for some time, but soon found employment with the Galveston News, whose owner, Willard Richardson, quickly appreciated his su- perior excellence as an organizer and manager and proposed a partnership. Entering upon a journalistic career, he became one of the most successful newspaper men and one of the greatest editors of the South. It was a labor vast in its dimensions, for the people were accustomed to the old sentimental Southern way of doing business. The credit system, the sensitiveness of the advertiser and subscriber when the ordinary rules of business were applied to them, made the management doubly difficult. It not only involved a reform in the office, but in education of the pec^le to proper methods of dealing with the newspaper. But through It all the policy outlined by the new manager was un- swervingly enforced. Besides the change in business methods he introduced new purposes in the editorial conduct of the jour- nal. For the most part, the Southern journals had been attached to the fortunes of individuals and sought the elevation to office of those politicians who they preferred should be honored, nat- urally condemning those whose views were antagonistic to the views of the paper, exploiting the virtues of friends and merciless- ly excoriating foes ; but under the new departure, put in force by Colonel Belo, his paper was free from such blemishes. Ab- solute truth, as far as it could be obtained, in the publication of the news, and absolute fairness to all men, were the cardinal principles on which the editorial management was made to stand. The struggle was great. His individual labors extended through- out the day and far into the night. But they were not without avail. His impress was recognized by the people, and the sterling
12 NORTH CAROLINA
worth of his paper became realized by the public. His journal began to prosper. Its utterances on public affairs at a period when conditions and situations existed that had never before been encountered commanded attention and respect. Its refusal to become an organ of individuals or of political parties called upon it the anathemas of ambitious men ; but it was always sup- ported by the conservative element of the State, which, realizing the mission of a great newspaper, bulwarked it with an irresistible strength. The growth of the commonwealth was great, but the paper kept step with step in its advance. It became a great power and influence which was wielded for the progress of the people and the advantage of the State.
The immensity of Texas prevented the daily delivery of the Galveston paper to its subscribers in the remote sections. It was therefore determined to establish another and complete paper at Dallas in North Texas, where the immigration into the State had been most important, and the Dallas Netvs was the result. Both papers were owned and managed by the A. H. Belo Com- pany. Correspondents were established at Washington and at Austin, who were of the first order of ability and were loyal to their papers and to the State. Wires connecting the two plants were installed and the new experiment in the newspaper business was entered upon. This new departure in journalism eventuated in new conditions that had to be met. Special trains had to be run to convey the newspapers either to other localities or to overtake or connect with other trains; so that now the Galveston News and the Dallas Nezvs dispatch three special trains daily to reach patrons who cannot be speedily served by the regular mails as established by the Government.
The papers grew marvellously in wealth and their progress was marked by a wider range of influence, which they exerted invariably for the development and well-being of the State. Each newcomer from across the border was greeted by them and quickly learned to depend on them for his daily news. The weekly edition grew into a semi-weekly, and it is doubtful if any paper, not devoted to special lines, has a larger circulation.
ALFRED H. BELO 13
Colonel Belo indeed had the true idea of the profession of a journalist. He discussed matters from his own standpoint. His newspaper was the vehicle to the public of his own views on the public questions of interest to the people. Truth, reason and justice were interwoven in the presentation of his thoughts and gained the respectful consideration of the better element through- out the great State of Texas. His position thus became of the first consequence, and he exerted an influence much greater than that which was accorded to any other citizen of the State. Un- trained at first in newspaper management and in the vocation of a journalist, fortunately he was well equipped by his natural char- acteristics and by the business qualities which had been developed under the methods practised by his father and during his trying experiences of the war, so that he rose equal to the demands of his new business, and promptly and effectively solved the questions of business details as they presented themselves, and solved them so correctly that his papers have long stood as a great institution in the most important Southern States.
It has brought him not merely wealth but fame and power, which he enjoyed and used for the advancement of his State.
At length, however, failing health superinduced by his old wounds required that he should put his house in order, and under the influence of the affections of his earlier years he turned once more to the home of his childhood, and in April, 1901, he died at Asheville, North Carolina, and was buried in Salem, North Carolina, according to his request, amid the surroundings of his youth.
In 1868 Colonel Belo was happily married to Miss Nettie En- nis, of Houston, Texas. Two children were born to this union : Alfred H. Belo, Jr., who worthily succeeded his father as Presi- dent of the A. H. Belo Company, and carried the business on to even a higher degree of success until his untimely death in April, 1906, and Jeanette, who married Mr. Charles Pealxxly, of Cam- bridge, Massachusetts.
5. A. Ashe,
JOHN BLUE
/ HE career of John Blue is a fine exemplifica- tion of success achieved in life by native North Carolinians without the aid of friends or other influences than capacity and persistent intelli- gent lahor. He was lioni on a farm in Que- whiffle Township, Cumberland County, on August 4, 1845, and so is now just threescore years of age. He was the second son and fifth child in a family of eleven children, while his father was the youngest of thirteen. His parents, Neill McK. Blue and Eliza Smith, were sturdy Scotch on both sides. His grandfather, John Blue, was born in the Isle of Jura in 1765 and immigrated to America in early childhood with his father's family and settled in the sandhills of Cumberland County.
The Scotch had begun their settlement on the Cape Fear as far Itack as 1734. about the time that Governor Johnston, himself a Scotchman, came to this colony; and the migration continued until the opening of the Revolution. The causes that led to this movement were not all political, but the industrial condition in their old homes had changed towards the middle of that century, and life in the Xcw World opened up so many possibilities to improve their fortunes that the emigrants gladly availed them- selves of every opportunity to come to America, The health- fulness, the salubrity, the equable temiwrature, and the unfailing water su(>|)ly of the upper Cape Fear attracted the hardy Scotch- men to those parts, where the record is that many of them have passed the century mark, and as strong as they have been in their
JOHN BLUE 15
physical constitution, equally remarkable are they in the develop- ment of high character, intelligence and sterling worth. The Highlanders of Cumberland County did not generally enlist in the cause of American Independence, and Peter Blue, the father of John Blue, mentioned above, was allied with the Tory leaders of that region. After Comwallis had gone north and Greene had returned to South Carolina, the Tories became very active on the Cape Fear. On one occasion when Colonel Wade and Captain Culp, who were Whigs, were returning to their homes, a band of Tories, with whom was Peter Blue, fell upon their camp at Piney Bottom and massacred such of the party as were there. To punish them for this. Colonel Wade and Culp collected about one hun- dred dragoons under Captain Bogan and raided the section about Drowning Creek, and ascertained the names of all the Tories who were in that affair and began the work of exterminating them. Towards the end of their expedition they reached Rockfish and came to the house of Peter Blue, where they found him, and, also, Archibald McBride, who was a patriot Whig. Immediately both of them were shot, McBride unfortunately being killed on the spot, and Blue badly wounded.
On the return of peace these Scotchmen who had been loyalists during the war became entirely reconciled to the triumph of those who had fought for independence ; and in succeeding generations all those partisan differences have been entirely forgotten, and the families of those who participated in those bloody scenes of partisan warfare have largely intermarried, their descendants reverencing the bravery, spirit and courage of those who fought for their King as well as those who hazarded all for independence.
Mr. Blue's childhood was spent in moderate, healthful toil. His parents were neither rich nor poor, but occupied the happy middle ground, manhood's cradle, where there is nothing to waste, and no actual want ; a typical Scotch couple and faithful prototypes of that parent pair, where :
"The mother, wi' her needle and her shears. Gars auld claes look amaist as weel's the new — The father mixes a* with admonition due."
i6 NORTH CAROLINA
The sublime faith of the mother and the sturdy honesty of the father have left their imprint uneflFaceable on the character of their son.
At the age of eighteen Mr. Blue became a member of Com- pany B, 6th Battalion, Armand L. De Rossett captain, and ren- dered such service as was required of him until he was discharged with Johnston's army at Greensboro in May, 1865.
Because of the circumstances of the war Mr. Blue's education was limited, but after the close of hostilities his educational train- ing was supplemented by one or two terms in a very efficient high school, which was kept at that time at Jackson Springs by N. D. J. Clark, and he profited very much by the instruction he received at that institution.
In 1867, at the age of twenty-two, Mr. Blue's battle of life be- gan in earnest. He had at that time a capital of not more than $200; but so prudent, so enterprising, so active and industrious was he that every year brought him fresh success and inspired him with hope of better things for the future. He became actively engaged as a turpentine operator, and he continued in that busi- ness for more than twenty years, branching out and constantly becoming a more important factor in that line of work. The secret of his success was that from the first he determined to keep inviolate all his obligations, and his reputation in that regard soon secured him unlimited credit, which, however, he has ever been chary of using. To this he added an extreme care at all times in regard to the details of his business, which would have assured him success, even without that intuitive judgment in crises which enabled him to know what to do without apparently having to take the trouble to think it out.
In 1892 Mr. Blue chartered and began to build the Aberdeen and Rockfish Railroad, running from Aberdeen eastward through a belt of as fine yellow pine timber as ever grew in the world, large quantities of which he had the foresight to purchase in the days when it had but little money value. This enterprise has proved enormously profitable, and the railroad has been extended until it now forms a connecting link with the Atlantic Coast line.
JOHN BLUE 17
a few miles south of Fayetteville. Besides being the owner of nearly all the stock of this valuable railroad, Mr. Blue has quietly invested his earnings in large tracts of timber in Georgia and Alabama, so that now he is easily the wealthiest man in Moore County ; but withal he is as unassuming, easily approachable, and as careful of the rights of others as when he had not thought of ever gaining this distinction.
In 1874 Mr. Blue married Miss Fannie A. Owen, of Cumber- land County, and to this marriage there were bom eight chil- dren, two of whom died in infancy, the other six still remaining at home with their parents.
In 1881 Mr. Blue, who has always been a member of the Dem- ocratic Party, served his community in the only political office he has ever held. He was elected as State Senator from Cumber- land and Harnett Counties. In that body he took deservedly high rank because of his business qualities and information. He was appointed a member of the committee on the State debt and rendtt^ efficient and valuable service in that connection; and he was also appointed a member of the committee on claims. Among his fellow-members were some of the best men of the State, and he established himself high in their regard.
In his church affiliations Mr. Blue is a Presbyterian, and he served his congregation, Sandy Grove Church, as deacon from 1872 till 1890, and since that time the Bethesda Church as ruling elder. He is deeply religious, with a childlike faith, but entirely free from intolerance and from that spirit which has too often caused cruelties to be committed in the name of the Prince of Peace.
Busy a man as Mr. Blue is, he is never too busy to visit the sick in person ; and his many acts of relieving distressed persons by his personal ministrations, which are always done without ostenta- tion, attest his kindness of heart and human sympathy and stand in refreshing contrast to the tendency of some wealthy men to purchase a reputation for human kindness.
/. McN. Johnson,
ADAM BOYD
IDAM BOYD occupied no inconspicuous place in North Carolina at the time of the Revolu- tion, as well as before and after that war. He was a native of Pennsylvania, born November 25. 1738, and of Presbyterian antecedents, though he himself later became connected (after the Revolution) with the Church of England under its new name— the Protestant Episcopal Church. Mr. Boyd was a son of the Reverend Adam Boyd and his wife, Jane Craighead. In January, 1764, before he began his first work in Wilmington as an editor (or "printer," as editors were then called), Mr. Boyd was initiated into the Masonic fraternity, probably as a member of St. John's Lodge, now No. i, which had been chart- ered ten years prior thereto and is still in existence.
It was on October 13, 1769, that Mr. Boyd began the publica- tion of the Cape Fear Mercury at Wilmington. This was the second paper published in that town, and its editors used the presses of Andrew Stuart, whose publication was called the North Carolina Gazette. Another North Carolina Gazette was published at New-Bern a little later. In 1767 Stuart's paper was discontinued, and this left the field occupied by the Mercury alone. In the troublous and uncertain days preceding the Revolution, as well as during that war, Mr. Boyd was a firm and uncompro- mising foe to British oppression, and his paper was the mouth*
ADAM BOYD 19
piece of the patriots of the Cape Fear section as well as elsewhere in North Carolina. Could a full file of the Mercury be obtained, it would settle the long-standing controversy about the Mecklen- burg Declaration of Independence of May 20, 1775. What pur- ported to be a fac-simile of a copy containing that Declaration appeared in the issue of Coiner's Weekly, of Philadelphia, for July I, 1905. The paper from which this fac-simile was made was afterwards examined by Dr. Worthington Chauncey Ford, of the Library of Congress, and pronounced by him a "clever forgery." Several gentlemen from Charlotte, who were deeply in- terested in proving the authenticity of the Declaration, also ex- amined the alleged Mercury and were of the same opinion as Doctor Ford. About the end of the year 1773 Mr. Boyd married Mrs. Mary De Rossett, relict of Moses John De Rossett, who had distinguished himself by his patriotic action while mayor of Wilmington in the Stamp Act times, but he died on Christmas day, 1767. When the troubles with the mother country broke out afresh in 1774, Mr. Boyd was a brother-in-law of Colonel James Moore, and otherwise was connected with leading patriots on the Cape Fear. He himself was an ardent patriot and a member of the committee of safety. He served with Har- nett and others on the local committee of correspondence, and entered with enthusiasm on the execution of measures that the situation required. Upon the opening of active hostilities with Great Britain, Mr. Boyd entered the Continental Army on Jan- uary 4, 1776, as ensign in the ist North Carolina Regiment, then commanded by Colonel James Moore, his brother-in-law. On March 3, 1776, Ensign Boyd was promoted to the rank of lieutenant, but soon thereafter — in May, 1776 — resigned his com- mission. Something more than a year later, Mr. Boyd re-entered the service, being commissioned chaplain of the 5th Regiment on October i, 1777. By what authority he then acted in a minis- terial capacity is not positively known. In his younger years his religious aflfiliations were probably Presbyterian, and he was not ordained in the Protestant Episcopal Church until after the war. In May, 1775, "Reverend Mr. Boyd" presented to the Pro-
20 NORTH CAROLINA
vincial Congress at Hillsboro two hundred copies of the pastoral letter of the Synod of Philadelphia on the subject of the war; and it is thought that this gentleman was Mr. Adam Boyd, and at that time he was probably a Presbyterian Licentiate. Hav- ing in the first flush of patriotic ardor enlisted as a soldier, he later appears to have considered it more seemly that he should render service as a chaplain.
On August 1 8, 1778, Mr. Boyd became brigade-chaplain. Dur- ing his service he went with the army through its terrible north- ern campaign in the Winter of 1777- 1778, and served on a number of courts martial, as well as in other military capacities. He re- signed on June i, 1780.
After his return home Mr. Boyd was not idle, but set about to devise means for the relief of suffering among the American prisoners at Charleston. On June 3, 1780, he wrote Governor Abner Nash as follows:
"As soon as I got home I wrote a letter to General Hogun, requesting him to acquaint me of the wants of himself and his fellow- sufferers, that I might endeavor to supply them. I took the liberty of assuring him that Your Excellency would give me all the assistance therein that was in your
power As I am very certain our officers are in great want of
many articles of clothing. I submit it to Your Excellency if it would not be well to send a flag, either with a letter to know their particular wants.
or with such articles as we know they must stand in need of
I shall most cheerfully go in with the clothing, should Your Excellency think proper to grant me a flag, for I think it my duty, as a servant of the States, to do every service in my power; but for that corps it is more especially my duty to exert myself in everything."
In the same letter he adds:
"I have a large quantity of paper, very fit for cartridges, both small and large. Would it not be proper for the Commissary of Stores, or some other State officer, to get it for the use of the State?"
On June 5th, a few days after this letter was written, Mr. Boyd was still at his old home in Wilmington.
When Craig took Wilmington, Mrs. Boyd remained at her
ADAM BOYD 21
hocne» and she witnessed the cruel treatment of Cornelius Har- nett, who, when taken in Onslow County from a sick-bed and exhausted by the fatigue of his journey » was brought into the town, thrown across a horse's back, like "a sack of meal." Later she herself was driven from town by the British commander, and took refuge at the residence of her sister, Mrs. Moore, on the North East; and once that house was bombarded by the enemy, who allied that some of the patriots were harbored there. When later in life Mr. Boyd went to the West, she did not accompany him. Indeed, during the last years of her life she was afflicted with total blindness, and remained with her daughter, Mrs. Toomer, a child of her first marriage. Her marriage with Mr. Boyd was without issue.
Just after the Revolution Mr. Boyd aided in organizing the North Carolina Society of the Cincinnati, and was one of the original members of that order. A little later he went to Georgia.
On August 18, 1788, Mr. Boyd was ordained to the priesthood in the Protestant Episcopal Church, by the Right Reverend Sam- uel Seabury, Bishop of Connecticut, and for a while was rector of §t. James's Church at Wilmington. He had remained only a short while, however, when the poor state of his health forced him again to leave Wilmington, and return to Georgia. At Augusta, in the last-named State, he held a charge from 1790 to 1799. His health there was poor and he met with little encour- agement. In a letter written to Judge Iredell on February 15, 1792, he stated that he had sought the post of chaplain in the event that a garrison should be stationed there.
While at Augusta, in 1799, Mr. Boyd repulsed from the com- munion table a woman of questionable character, and this gave rise to a controversv which finally caused him to abandon that place. He went to Tennessee, and was at Nashville in 1800. Shortly thereafter he went to Natchez, Mississippi, and there re- mained until his death, on March 7, 1803. In Natchez he found some friends from North Carolina, and their society was a source of great satisfaction to him.
Mr. Boyd was afflicted with almost every physical malady that
22
NORTH CAROLINA
human flesh is heir to during his later years — gout, asthma, lame- ness and other infirmities. On April i8, 1800, he wrote:
**I shall not repine, and hope to preserve such a sense of the goodness of God as shall secure for my mind such a calmness which is natural to a trust in that Power. Yet with grief and shame I confess I am not as tranquil as I was. Continual disappointments and losses I now fear have an influence I did not expect. If you knew all, or one-half, you would say that to be serene under such a mountain requires more strength of mind than is commonly the lot of man. Indeed, I do not think it attainable without superior aid. Perhaps I failed in this in being too secure or too confident in myself; the first I think the cause: as to the last, I know I have no strength. I am too thoughtless in everything; hence all, or nearly all, the evils of my chequered life."
Marshall De Lancey Haywood.
T'-S J-l'iiV'' YOKK
PUIiLlC LIBRARY
A-r.V.,, LENOX A^'D R
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24 NORTH CAROLINA
trace upon the character of his son. Colonel Bruton's mother, Margaret G. Nixon, died while he was an infant. His father married a second wife, Jennie V. Mauney, to whom the child's training was committed. She gave him regular duties about the house — cutting the wood, working in the garden, feeding the horse, milking the cow — which taught him early in life the mean- ing of responsibility and the value of methodical habits. In more important ways than this, however, the character and influence of the step-mother were felt. At that period educational ad- vantages were limited. The ravages of Reconstruction had de- stroyed the public school system of the State, which had not been fully restored.
The preachers of the State, however, have ever been warm ad- vocates of education, often preaching its importance from their pulpits, and they have managed to secure for their children primary training at least, and by reason of their deep conviction of its importance have inspired their children to seek academic training. The father of Colonel Bruton was not an exception to the rule : he was poor, but by sacrifices he was able to secure for his son the advantage of attendance on private primary schools, and what with the generosity of certain teachers towards preach- ers' children, and especially the faithful and devoted efforts of a loving step-mother, the subject of this sketch gained a fairly good primary training. His step-mother was an ambitious woman of strong character and fine intellect, and it was under her persistent training and efforts that the fire of ambition was first lighted in the boy's soul. He was persuaded to believe that the future was pregnant with possibilities greater than the realities about him. She assured him of this many times and compelled him to study. While his father was presiding elder of the Salisbury District, North Carolina Conference, and a resident of Statesville, young Bruton enjoyed the marked advantage of attending the school of J. H. Hill, a wcH-known and capable teacher. After two years here, he spent two years at the famous Bingham School. To the admirable training received under Colonel Bingham he attributes much of his success. Bv this time his ambition had turned to-
JOHN FLETCHER BRUTON 25
ward the law, but having to pay a part of the cost of his years at school, he of necessity had to defer his law studies until the debt could be cancelled.
In the Fall of 1881, therefore, he became a teacher in the Wil- son Public School. His success in the classroom met with de- served promotion in June, 1883, when he was elected to the super- iittendency of the schools. After a successful year's work as superintendent, he resigned to enter the Law School at the Uni- versity of North Carolina under the instruction of Doctor John Manning, one of the greatest law teachers the State has pro- duced. In the Fall of 1884 he was licensed to practise in the courts of North Carolina, and settled at Wilson, where he had made many warm friends.
Qosely identifying himself with the interests of the com- munity. Colonel Bruton lost no opportunity to give his encourage- ment and support to helpful enterprises, whether industrial, in- tellectual, or religious. His community interest, his ability in conducting his clients' causes, his fidelity to various trusts con- fided to him, won his way into the confidence and good-will of the people. From the first success in his profession was assured.
In November, 1887, Colonel Bruton was married to Miss Hattie Tartt Barnes, daughter of John T. Barnes, a prominent and in- fluential citizen of Wilson. In her he has found a companion who, sympathizing with his ambitions, has been to him a constant source of inspiration. Three children have been born to them, one of whom died in infancy.
In 1889 he was elected captain of Company F of the 2d Regi- ment of the State Guard. After three years' capable service, he received a commission as colonel of the regiment. The military training received at Bingham's school, added to natural inclina- tions, made him one of the most efficient officers of the State Guard. Though he was strict in the enforcement of discipline, he was popular with the officers and privates, and when he resigned his commission seven years later, he left the 2d Regiment with- out a superior in the State.
As a member of the I. O. O. F., Colonel Bruton has manifested
26 NORTH CAROLINA
great zeal in promoting its interests, and has received much honor at the hands of his fellows. He was elected grand-master for 1 89 1 and 1892, and the Odd Fellows* Oq)han Home was es- tablished at Goldsboro during his term as grand-master, he being among the first advocating it; for 1892- 1893 he was grand-rep- resentative, and again for 1895 and 1896. These honors came to him as a testimonial from his fellow-members of his devotion to the Order. Colonel Bruton is also a member of the A. T. O. College Fraternity.
An illustration of the estimation in which the people among whom he lives hold Colonel Bruton was given in 1895, when they elected him without opposition mayor of Wilson. His admin- istration was conducted with much courage, tact and patience, and was in every way worthy of the confidence placed in him. The next year he was re-elected, but much to the regret of his fellow-townsmen he was compelled to resign before the expira- tion of his term. The immediate cause of this step was his elec- tion in January, 1897, as president of the First National Bank of Wilson, for the additional duties imposed on him by this new trust made it necessary for him to give up his public service. In July, 1902, the Wilson Savings Bank, afterwards the Wilson Trust and Savings Bank, was organized, and Colonel Bruton was elected president. Both banks are still under his management, and the confidence the business public place in these institutions attests the efficiency of his services. Colonel Bruton was one of the charter members of the North Carolina Bankers' Association and served as its president in 1900 and 1901 ; he is also a director of the North Carolina Home Insurance Company at Raleigh.
Though in the midst of an exacting and constantly growing private business. Colonel Bruton has not refused to give of his time and talents to such public service as demands the attention of patriotic citizens. The educational interests of the community and State have always had a strong hold on his attention. In 1 90 1 he accepted the chairmanship of the Board of Education of Wilson County to which he had been elected by the General Assembly of North Carolina. During the same year he obeyed
JOHN FLETCHER BRUTON 27
the call of his church in accq)ting a place on the board of trustees of Trinity College. In 1903 and again in 1904 he was elected a member of the exectitive committee. He takes an active interest in educational progress and considers the call to such places of responsibility as a call to service.
In politics Colonel Bruton is a Democrat. Though he has never sought ^ce at the hands of his party, his advice is frequently sought by the party leaders and always cheerfully given. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. From boyhood his interest in church affairs has been active, and, though broad-minded and tolerant, his loyalty and devotion to his church are marked characteristics.
His election by the North Carolina Conference of 1905 as a delegate to the General Conference of Southern Methodism to meet in Birmingham, Alabama, in May, 1906, was an expression of the confidence reposed in him by his church, and is an honor worthily bestowed and justly earned by his unvarying course in life.
Although Colonel Bruton's career has not been one in which the arts of oratory are cultivated and developed, yet he has de- livered several addresses both in and out of the State that have attracted attention and brought him reputation as a popular speaker. His ideas are always clear, and he presents them not only in eloquent language, but in an engaging and elegant manner. Particularly was an address delivered before the Association of the Mrginia Bankers in 1903 on the subject of "The Country Banker" admirably conceived. It bore evidence of his being a student of high ideals along practical lines, and merited the com- mendation bestowed upon it. As an illustration of the views he sought to enforce, we reproduce a paragraph that at the time was the subject of high compliment in several banking periodicals and daily papers:
"The banker to fill his place and meet the demands laid upon him should be an all-round man ; he should be possessed of a good conscience, clean ; he should enjoy an unobscured vision with vocabulary to match, clear: he should be without subterfuge, candid; free from the gambling spirit,
28 NORTH CAROLINA
conservative ; thoroughly familiar with life and the art of living, practical ; careful without being cowardly, prudent; familiar with the truth whereby to convince, persuasive; untiring in his efforts to bring things to pass, persistent."
Striking in appearance, pleasing in address, courteous in man- ner, Colonel Bruton possesses the power of attracting and con- ciliating men. In social intercourse companionable and sym- pathetic, in business affairs firm and aggressive, he is modest in estimating his achievements. Throughout his career he has made it a guiding principle never to enter into any undertaking half-heartedly. Whatever he does, he does with his whole heart and mind. Hard-working, thorough, careful in details, methodi- cal in habits, straightforward in his dealings — these character- istics are the secret of his success. Pure in private life, honorable in all public relations, his life and character are an inspiration to men who have an uphill climb to reach success.
R. D. IV. Connor.
JOHN BUTLER
ffClRTH CAROLINA has ever been a sectional Stale. Much of the history of the State is I made plain by this fact. The first settlers cattie from Virginia into the AlbeniaHc region; the Swiss anil Germans located at New-Beni; the Scotch look possession of the Cape Fear; the ish and Gennans came direct from Pennsylvania to the middle of the State. At the time of the Revi.'Iiitinn fnsion had not taken place. The Scotch along the Cape Fear stiW spofce their native tongue and maintained their ancient customs. The State was thoroughly clannish — especially the more recently settled parts. The people were accustomed to following local leaders. The Moravians had clustered around Salem and had not fused with their neighbors.
Shubal Steams had made a settlement of Baptists at Sandy Creek, and these had their leader. The same was true of the Jersey settlement on the Yadkin, and the Irish and the German communities of that section.
All these settlements were distinct. Foote in his sketches of the early Presbyterian churches speaks of the "Hawfield con- gregation," and describes the home of a prominent man as being on the "edge of this. congregation." There was not yet in the State that social co-ordination which is necessary for highest State life. The result was that when the Revolution came on
30 NORTH CAROLINA
there was little integral action. One community became Whig and another Tory.
Not only was this true, but the system of government tended to the formation of classes and parties. The government was centralized. Many local officers were appointed by the central authority. The judiciary was not local. Not only the judges, but the justices of the peace, received their authority from the Assembly. The clerks of the courts received their appointments from the Governor. The executive officers were based on the same models. The sheriffs were appointees of the Governor and looked to him for approval. The military organization at the Revolution was similar : officers of the countv militia were elected bv the Assemblv.
Such a system seems to indicate centralization and integration, but one result followed that hindered such a tendency. The Gov- ernment could and did do little for the scattered settlements of the West. They, and not the Government, kept a watch on the Indian and protected their homes. A dislike for the office-holding class was fostered. This feeling prevailed from Chowan to Anson. The Regulator movement was the most dramatic ex- pression of this feeling, but this feeling was prevalent in nearly every portion of the State. The popular party was opposed to the office-holding party.
John Butler, of Orange, belonged to the office-holding party and lived in the Hawfields congregation on the western edge, "near Judge Ruffin's Mill.*^
He was sheriff of Orange County and testified before the As- sembly in December, 1770, that he had found much difficulty in performing his official duties. The Regulators were opposed to him. Governor Trvon invited the sheriffs of several counties to appear before the Assembly and bear testimony to the difficul- ties that these Regulators put in their way. Butler's own brother, William, was a member of the Regulators of Orange.
What part John Butler took in the Regulator disturbance is not known, but he was of course on the side of the constituted authorities.
JOHN rtUTLER 3'
After ihe battle of Alamance was over, however, lie befriended the Regulators and stayed the hand of the executive authority. He signed many petitions asking pardon for those who had op- posed the Government.
But like Caswell and the others who had put down the Regu- tilators, be joined the revolutionary party against the British Govcmnient, and was a member of the District Committee of Safrty for the Hillsboro District in 1775.
The Provincial Congress at Hillsboro in the Fall of 1775 real- ised that the hour of forcible opposition and defence had come. Governor Martin, who had fled from bis palace at New-Bern at the end of May, was on board a British man-of-war in the Cape Fear, devising plans to subjugate the people. The whole Stale was thoroughly organized for defence.
Tbc militia of each county were organized under their colonels; and John Butler was made lieu ten ant- colonel for Orange County. In the next year, 1776, he was made colonel. During these years there was, no fighting in that section, but men were preparing for the conflict that was inevitable. The tide of war had struck North Carolina, but had been rolled hack. The British fleet failed to make conjunction with the Scotch Tories of the Cape Fear. The battle of Moore's Creek Bridge had shown the Whigs of the State what to expect, and all was expectancy.
It was at this time that the people of Orange chose Butler to represent them in the two important Congresses that were to meet at Halifax in April and November. By the April Congress he was appointed to purchase arms and ammunition and prepare for the conflict. Moore's Creek had been fought and the strife between revolutionist and loyalist had already begun. The dom- inant party had begim to confiscate the property of the loyalists, especially those taken in arms. Butler was appointed to assist in the inventory of this property.
In the November Convention he did not take his seat till the Constitution had been adopted and the most important legisla- tion had already been enacted. The election of the Orange rep- resentatives was in dispute. Butler was not elected at first. The
32 NORTH CAROLINA
Convention pronounced the election fraudulent and ordered a new election. At this new election Butler was chosen. This accounts for his not being present when the first State Convention was adopted. In 1776 brigadier-generals were appointed for the dif- ferent districts; and General Thomas Person was the brigadier for the Hillsboro District. He resigned in 1777, and Butler was chosen by the Assembly in his place. This position Butler held throughout the Revolutionary War and till 1784, when he re- signed and Ambrose Ramsey became his successor. Butler never joined the Continental Line. His services to the American cause were always with the militia. There was no call for military ser- vices as long as the British campaigns were planned against the central States. In 1778 the British policy changed, and the scenes of the war began to shift from the North to the South. The scheme was now devised to roll up the colonies as a scroll, and to begin with Georgia, the weakest of the thirteen. Upon this scheme King George and Lord George Germaine had set their hearts. In this year there was skirmishing along the frontier be- tween Georgia and Florida, which had remained loyal to the Crown. General Robert Howe was in command of the southern division, with his headquarters at Savannah. He came into col- lision with the British and met with no success. The South Caro- lina delegates in Congress requested his removal. General Ben- jamin Lincoln superseded him. In November, 1779, Lincoln passed through North Carolina on his way to take charge of the southern army. North Carolina had been busy for some weeks preparing troops to march southward. Butler was ordered by Governor Caswell to get the troops in his district ready for march- ing. In October and November he was busy, and late in the year he sent his men forward under Antony Lytle. When Lin- coln arrived in South Carolina he had to collect the lowland militia of that State, but could not for fear of a slave insurrec- tion. Under John Ashe North Carolina sent two thousand men. But from North Carolina also went loyalists to help the British. Seven hundred loyalists marched from the State to join the British force at Augusta.
)HN' BUTLER
Or March 3, 1779. Ashe's force was cut to pieces at Brier Creek, near the Savannah River. Even before the news of this disaster had reached North Carolina, Governor Caswell had ordered lintler to embody mure troops in his district and go to the help of Lincoln. The time of the enlistment of those whom he had sent forward under Lytic was about to expire and the new levy was to take their place.
Butler left Charlotte on April nth and reached Lincoln, near Augusta, on the 26th. Lincoln's move into Georgia uncovered Charieston, which was n6 sooner known to the British than Gen- eral Prevost crossed the Savannah, and made toward Charlestoa, raiding as be went Lincoln, with Butler's men and others, hastily returned to protect the city. Prevost was forced to retreat, and on June 19th was attacked by Lincoln at Stono Ferry. Butler and Sumner, of North Carolina, were in the thick of the fight Butler's raw troops fought well. In a letter to Governor Caswell be said:
"I can with pleasure assure you that the officers and men under my com* mand behaved better than could be expected of raw troops."
But these troops had enlisted for only a few months. Enlist- ments were generally for three months. On July 15th his men returned home. This was a fault in the policy of using the mihtia. They were never destined to become inured to the hard- ships of camp life or to the discipline of veterans. When their time expired they left camp and returned home. Like an Arab encampment, in the morning they were not.
In December, 1779, Butler sent more men to the help of Lin- coln, but did not go himself. Elarly in 1780, Sir Henry Clinton decided to push the campaign in the South. He took eight thou- sand men from New York and brought them South to unite with Prevost. Later he brought Lord Rawdon from New York with three thousand more men. Washington saw that Lincoln needed help, and dispatched from his army all the troops of North Caro- lina and some from Virginia.
On May 12, 1780, Charleston was forced to surrender, and
34 NORTH CAROLINA
with this fall went all the regular troops North Carolina had, be- sides several hundred of her militia.
Again the militia were called upon to come into the field. Gov- ernor Caswell, whose term as Governor had expired, was now invested with the command of all the militia. He made his head- quarters near Cheraw. His three commanders were Rutherford, with the western troops ; Gregory, with the eastern ; and Butler, with the central. In August there were assembled at Cheraw, awaiting the arrival of Smallwood's Maryland Brigade, the Dela- ware regiment and some Virginia militia, who were following under General Gates, who had been appointed by Congress to command the southern army. The rashness of Gates in march- ing forward without horsemen to gain information resulted in his falling in with the British Army at night.
The fate that met him and his troops is a sad page in our Rev- olutionarv history. In front of the North Carolina militia was the Virginia militia. They gave way and in their flight the North Carolina militia joined them. A part of Gregory's Brigade fought well ; Dixon's regiment of this same brigade, being along with the Maryland regulars, stood firmly and gained great credit; but many of the other militia never fired a shot. In fifteen minutes the whole left of Gates's line of battle, composed entirely of militia, was a mob struggling to escape. Colonel Webster had come down upon them in a furious charge, and was then followed by the fearful Tarleton.
The North Carolina militia fled toward home in anv wav thev chose. On their return they met many pretended friends going to join the American army, who, on learning of its utter discom- fiture, proclaimed themselves friends of the victors. These roving bands plucked the militia as they fled. One of these bands met General Butler and robbed him of his sword, remarking by way of consolation, **You'll have no further use of this."
But Butler was not willing to give up the fight. "He who fights and runs away will live to fight another day." September found him with more militia covering Salisbury and Charlotte, and when retreating before Cornwallis's advance, skirmishing as he fell
.J
JOHN BUTLER 35
back. He was ordered by the Board of War at the same time to guard the provisions that were being brought from the Moravian settlements. In those days of disorganization Butler gave the dis- consolate State what help he could. He and Sumner patrolled the banks of the Yadkin, watching the enemy and keeping him back.
But in the midst of all this his troops vanished, for their term of enlistment had expired.
After the battle of King's Mountain, Comwallis fell back into South Carolina, and in December General Greene took charge of his scattered forces and began the work of reorganization. He divided his army and sent one part of it west of Charlotte under General Morgan, and with the other he took post at Cheraw. By February Butler had collected another force, and was ordered to join Lillington in watching Major Craig, who had taken Wil- mington on January 29, 1781. While Butler was near Wihning- ton, Comwallis entered the State the second time in pursuit of Morgan after his thrilling victory at Cowpens. Butler was now ordered to hasten to the help of Greene. Comwallis at Hillsboro wanted to prevent their junction. For several days there was a game of hide-and-seek between these great commanders, but Greene enabled his militia to join him on March nth, and then challenged Comwallis to do battle at Guilford Court House on March 15th.
Again Butler and his militia were to face the trained veterans of the British Army. In this fight the North Carolina militia under Butler and Eaton were placed on the left of the front line, and the Virginia militia in their rear. But when the British vet- erans under Leslie fired on them they sought safety by retreat. Butler tried hard to stop the panic, but in vain. It must be borne in mind that these were not the troops that were with Butler at Camden. He was always in command of raw militia. Again these men scattered and many of them returned home. General Morgan seems to have been the one American general who knew how to pit these raw soldiers against trained veterans, for at Cowpens they fought well, even against the terrible Tarleton.
36 NORTH CAROLINA
Butler remained with General Greene while Comwallis re- treated to Wilmington. When Greene decided to leave Com- wallis at Wilmington and so push him off the board, himself go- ing into South Carolina, he left Butler at Ramsey's Mill, near the junction of the Haw and the Deep, to collect provisions and the scattered militia and to watch the enemy. From this place Butler wrote General Sumner on April nth that "we have now in the field 240 men of those that fled from the battle on the 15th ult. They are for one year and will in a few days join head- quarters." In addition to his military duties he was sent to the House of Commons, where he was on the Committee for Defence ; also he was a Councillor of State.
But his chief work now was to keep down the Tories. In North Carolina it was thought that Cornwallis would retreat from Virginia back through North Carolina. Governor Burke was very busy preparing to assist Greene or to make it unpleasant for Cornwallis if he returned through this State. Butler kept a com- pany encamped on Haw River. With the departure of Greene and the presence of Major Craig at Wilmington, the Tory spirit rose again. In Butler's district were Chatham and Moore and Randolph, where there were many Tories. These Tories planned to surprise Butler's camp, but Governor Burke warned him. Then the Tories, learning that Burke was at Hillsboro and not well de- fended, determined that they would surprise him, which they did. He was captured and the Tories began their retreat. With them was the notorious David Fanning, shrewd and capable and bloody-minded. When Butler heard of the capture he set out in hot pursuit. At Cane Creek a desperate fight took place, which was orobablv a drawn battle. He did not rescue the Governor, and the Tories continued to Wilmington. Butler then hurried around Wilmington and fought the Tories in small engagements at Hammond's Creek and Brown Marsh in Bladen. He still kept his troops embodied in 1782 and was in camp near Salis- bury. His home and plantation, probably called Mt. Pleasant, had been destroyed by the British under Comwallis. It was some years before the strife of Tory and Whig ceased in his district.
JOHN BUTLER 3;
To re-establish order in the State was a difficult task, ant! But- ler was charged with a part of this duty. In the Assemblies o£ 1784 he was chairman of tlie Committee on Grievances, and there were many. His name appears on nearly every page of the proceedings.
Al llie November session of 17S4 he resigned the brigadier- generalship, and was excused from further attendance on the sessions.
Little is known of his personal traits or characteristics. He must liavc been a popular man, possessing the confidence and re- spect and esteem of the State, to have had the chief command in his district for seven years, especially during the troublous years of tlip war. He was in nearly every session of the Assembly, save when he was in the field, and he was several times a Councillor oi State. While his froops did not fight well, there is nowhere an> imputation of inefficiency or of a lack of courage on his part. He was too plain and simple a Democrat to indorse the Society of the Cincinnati, and one of his last measures introduced into the Assembly was to preclude any member of that order from sitting in the General Assemblv of North Carolina.
E. IV. Sikcs.
JARVIS BUXTON 39
of establishing an Episcopal Church there. At that period Ashe- ville was hardlv more than a secluded hamlet in the mountains, and Doctor Buxton had at the beginning of his work but one communicant.
There being no railroads yet built in that part of the State, Doctor Buxton's trips between his two parishes in Rutherford- ton and Asheville were made on horseback, and his visits to his old home in Favetteville were made in the same wav.
On January 6, 1848, in Fayetteville, Doctor Buxton was mar- ried to Miss Anna Nash Cameron, daughter of Judge John A. Cameron, appointed United States Judge for Florida, and a brother of Judge Duncan Cameron, of Hillsboro ; and this union was blessed with eight children, five of whom still survive.
After his marriage Doctor Buxton returned to his charge at Asheville, and was ordainefl priest by Bishop Ives, June 17, 1849, at Rutherfordton. His work all through the mountain country of western North Carolina was pressed with energy and con- tinued to grow in extent and in importance. He was the first missionar>' of the Episcopal Church to enter upon a field of labor west of the Blue Ridge, and he not only established the church there, but also established missions all through the country. He likewise had charge of stations at Waynesville and Burnsville. He built churches on the French Broad, on Haw Creek and Beaverdam, and it was through him that the valuable Ravens- croft property in Asheville was purchased for the diocese.
The first church which Doctor Buxton built was found too small for the growing congregation, and during the latter part of his ministry it was torn down and a new church costing some $20,000 was erected.
In 1 89 1, after a ministry of forty-five years. Doctor Buxton resigned the rectorship in Asheville and with his family removed to Lenoir, in Caldwell County. Here he served St. James's Church in Lenoir, the Peace Chapel near Lenoir and the church in the valley of the Yadkin.
( )n June 30, 1896, Doctor Buxton lost his wife, and a few years later he returned to his old home in Asheville, and from that time
40 NORTH CAROLINA
until his death he was actively engaged in the ministry, especially mission work in North Asheville. Physically and mentally he was at work until the last davs of his life. The devoted life of Doctor Buxton was closely connected with the spiritual and tem- poral growth of Asheville, and his loss was felt by hundreds who admired his noble qualities of mind and heart, his unselfish devo- tion and his Christian character; indeed his friendship was not confined to members of his denomination, but he was warmly beloved by all with whom he came in contact.
The missionary spirit abounded in Doctor Buxton, and his labors were not limited to the bounds of his own parish. A noble priest, an humble, devoted Christian, who led among his people a most consistent, blameless life, he labored for the good of his fellow-man, to the glory of God, with the judgment of mature years and the energy, buoyancy and perseverance of youth. He thought evil of no man and never despaired of even the most reckless and wayward being brought back to the paths of right- eousness.
Though shadows crossed his path in his later years and sorrow fell upon him, yet no man ever heard him speak except in kind- ness of any one, and his trust in his Saviour was unfailing.
While loyal and devoted to the teachings of his church, he never failed to attend those in sickness and affliction, whether Jew or Gentile, to whom his ministrations could bring comfort or re- lief, and his presence was a benediction to the community in which he lived. He knew the weakness of men, but he loved them for the good there was in them.
His benevolence was limited only by his means, and despite his advanced years he continued in his Christian efforts to the
m
last.
He passed away in the eighty-third year of his age, lamented by his church and greatly missed by the community where he had labored so unremittingly, carrying ever with him the spirit of the Saviour.
/. C. Buxton,
42 NORTH CAROLINA
the strenuous conflict on the stump, ever cast the stigma of self- ishness or corruption on his Republicanism: he may have been regarded wrong-headed, but not wrong-hearted. Nay, more, though he lived in a community Confederate to the backbone dur- ing the Civil War, and afterwards Democratic always to a white heat, before his lovable and irreproachable private character the social ostracism which lashed others shrank abashed before him; and about the hearthstone of his refined and hospitable home gathered the best and most notable men and women of the city — many of the former his avowed and uncompromising enemies on the hustings.
Judge Buxton was a member of the Convention which met for the amendment of the Constitution, and few men of either party in that Assembly addressed themselves to the work before them with broader views and a more conservative spirit than he. In truth, while he abhorred the Democracy of the Southern Bourbon, it was a misnomer to call him a "Radical," as the Republicans were known thirty and thirty-five years ago.
He was the gubernatorial candidate of the Republican Party in 1880, and was defeated by Thomas J. Jarvis, the nominee of the Democratic Party. He left behind him a political record of which few men in his party in the South could boast: that he was never an aspirant for office, or a seeker after its spoils ; that the honors which came to him were unsolicited, and were tributes to his abilities and integrity.
He was on the Superior Court bench during the first admin- istration of Governor Holden, and afterwards held the same posi- tion by election of the people, defeating the late Bartholomew Fuller, who died at Durham, but was then a member of the Fay- etteville bar. Mr. Fuller was nominated at Rockingham, and at that time the Fayetteville Judicial District was made up very largely of the territory afterwards known as the Charlotte Con- gressional "Shoestring" District. I am unable to give the dates, which are immaterial, but Judge Buxton, during the course of his public life, enjoyed the honor of securing a nomination from both the Republican and Democratic Parties.
RALPH P. BUXTON 43
On the bench Judge Buxton was a safe rather than a brilliant jurist. Like the junior counsel, Lynx, of the Yatton trial in War- ren's "Ten Thousand a Year," he crept rather than ran over a case — not that he was mentally slow and plodding, but he was constitutionally careful and accurate. The late William B. Wright was a man of gigantic frame, more than six and a half feet in height, with a stalwart build in proportion, though the time was to come when old age "clawed him in its clutch," and bowed and broke the once herculean form. He had a leonine head and grizzled mane, which he shook in the thunders of juridi- cal polemics at bench, jury and bar, and the other lawyers af- fectionately called him "Father Magnus." Mr. Wright had a high opinion of the intellectuality and legal acumen of Ralph Buxton, and often wondered especially at his mastery of all the minute details of a case. "Buxton," he once said, in his deep, burning voice, as the two were sitting in Mr. Wright's office on Green Street, "the ordinary eye can hardly follow a fly on the wall, but I believe that you could pick out a red bug in a saw- pit !"
His personal qualities eminently fitted him to be an interpreter and executor of the law. He was patient; not easily provoked to anger, though like the Laird of Dumbiedikes, in Scott's "Mid- lothian," something dangerous when fully aroused; tolerant of the weaknesses of human nature, affable and courteous to the bar, sympathetic and indulgent to the masses of the people who, as spectators or litigants, sought the interior of the court-room.
Reverend Jarvis Buxton passed away when his son Ralph was in his early youth, but the boy retained through life much of the fortiter in re of his learned and distinguished father in matters of moral principle and even of important concerns of daily life, while he had still more of the siiaviter in modo which made the women of his family so charming, and especially marked the char- acter of his sister, Mrs. T. S. Lutterloh, who for many years was an admired leader of Favetteville societv.
Judge Buxton was gifted with a delicate and exquisite sense of humor. He delighted in his hours of relaxation and ease to
44 NORTH CAROLINA
meet with his friends at his home or at the houses of his neigh- bors in the enjoyment of an evening's reading or recital. He could always be depended on for ^'flashes of merriment to set the table in a roar," and he was no mean elocutionist in didactic selections. His rendition of Cowper's "J^^^^ Gilpin's Ride" was inimitable. The joke at his own expense seemed to intensify his enjoyment, and his mirth was no whit checked because it was "one on him." He used to tell with much gusto of one of his early experiences, when he had procured his license, hung out his **shingle," was ''raking the woods" for a client, and was at- tending court over in Richmond County. In those days, during the regime of the County Court, before the County Commissioner system of government, it was the time-honored custom for the Judge on the Superior Court bench to call on the newest-fledged lawyer to charge the grand jury, or to assign to him the task of defending the toughest minor criminal under the frown of the solicitor. This last duty fell to Buxton; and the case of his client, a negro charged with larceny, looked *'blue" — in fact, the evidence was dead against him. But the young lawyer did his best ; and much to his gratification, and perhaps still more to his surprise, the jury brought in a verdict of not guilty. It was a feather in his cap, and in spite of his modesty there was a little strut in his walk as he crossed the Court House green at the noon recess until two or three of the jury met him, and one of them said : ** Buxton, we all thought your client guilty, but we didn't want to discourage you at the very outset of your career."
On one occasion, while Judge Buxton was holding a term of Cumberland Superior Court in Fayetteville, looking up from his notes while a witness was being examined on the stand, a look of surprise came over his face, succeeded by an indignant frown. "Get down oflF that chair!" he said to the witness. The man, a bright mulatto, looked astonished and bewildered, and turned his eyes helplessly towards the sheriflf. "Get down off that chair !" called the Judge still more sharply. "Why, Judge," said the sheriff, while his face reddened and his eyes watered in the effort to keep back a guffaw, "he is not standing on a chair; he is just
RALPH P. BUXTON 45
about the tallest man in North Carolina, nearly seven feet liiph !" Judge Buxton slowly raised himself and leaned forward until he could see the feet of the witness squarely planted on the floor, and sank back in his chair, while a peal of laughter rang through the court room, in which the bench joined without recourse to the gavel.
The last few years of Judge Buxton's life were passed in re- tirement from the cares and burdens of public life. In bis office on Donaldson Street he attended industriously as of yore to the concerns of his profession, his counsel ever eagerly sought by the other members of the bar. Never a man of robust physique. his hcakh visibly dechned ; and every day. as he rode in the early wftcnioon on a large sorrel horse to his borne over Haymount, liis friends could see the mysterious beckoning hand not far a»ay.
The summons came as doubtless his brave soul would have it come, when the harness was loosed and ready to be laid by. when lie dosed his brief, made up bis case ready for the verdict. He pawed away, sitting in his chair at his borne, the "Buxton Oaks," known also as the "Dobljin Homestead," where lived for many years before the war James C. Dobbin, Secretary of the Navy in the administration of President Pierce.
Judge Buxton was a member and vestryman of St. John's Epis- copal Cliurch. He left no children, but is survived by his widow. /. H. Myrover.
JOHN CAMERON BUXTON 47
having the money to continue his studies, he showed his pluck and determination to acquire a good education by teaching one year at Edenton, North Carolina, this enabling him to enter the senior class at Hobart College, Geneva, New York, where he graduated in 1874 as salutatorian of his class — ^thus, in spite of obstacles, standing in the very front rank of a college in which he had spent only one year, and had no help from friends or from favoritism.
Mr. Buxton studied law in Asheville, North Carolina, under Judge John L. Bailey, and was admitted to the bar of the State in January, 1875. He immediately moved to Winston, North Carolina, then a very small place, just commencing its marvellous growth, and with it has grown up until both he and the city have reached their present success. His first coming to Winston was both pathetic and amusing. He had no friends in his newly adopted home, was a perfect stranger to all, was utterly ignorant of the practice of his profession, and his worldly goods could have been summed up in these words, "his sheep-skin, a new suit of clothes, a change of underwear, and twenty-five cents in money." His energy, cordial manner, and determination to succeed soon, however, won him many friends. At first he was associated with Colonel J. W. Alspaugh, who was then a newspaper editor, law- yer, and the general business man of Winston. Very soon, how- ever, he started out for himself, and by his faithful devotion to his clients' interests commenced to win a good practice. At this time Watson and Glenn, two of the very foremost lawyers in western North Carolina, Colonel Joseph Masten, and Judges T. J. Wilson and D. H. Starbuck had the entire practice of Forsythe County. The last three named gentlemen soon practically retired on account of age, leaving the field to Mr. Buxton and Messrs. Watson and Glenn. Single-handed, Mr. Buxton continued his practice, each day establishing himself more firmly in the hearts of the people, and winning for himself a splendid reputation l)Oth as a counsellor and a trier of causes in the Court House. r)n October 16, 1877, Mr. Buxton was united in marriage to Miss Agnes C. Belo, of Salem, North Carolina, daughter of the late
48 NORTH CAROLINA
Edward Belo and Amanda Fries Belo, Mr. Belo being the first president and prime mover in the building of the N. W. N. C. R. R. (now part of the Southern System), which proved the source and cause of the present wealth and growth of Winston- Salem and that vicinity. In his marriage Mr. Buxton was as wise as he had proved himself to be in other matters, for he chose well, hav- ing in his wife an estimable, true, strong Christian woman, who has added not a little to her husband's power and strength. In 1883 Mr. Buxton w^as elected Mayor of Winston, and by his en- thusiasm and push gave a new impetus to city affairs, many new and beneficial changes being made in its municipal management* In 1884 without any solicitation on his part he was nominated and elected by the people of the 32nd senatorial district to rep- resent them in the State Senate, and so in January, 1885, he re- signed his place as Mayor to become State Senator. As a rep- resentative of the people's interests in the Senate Mr. Buxton was always vigilant and alert. He exposed everything he felt was wrong, and stood for all that tended towards the elevation of the State. On one occasion he found some bill with an innocent title covering a vast amount of legislation that was very hurtful, and with his accustomed zeal exposed the efforts of its author — who was secretly trying to get it through — until he accomplished its defeat, the author exclaiming, as he saw the end of his pet scheme, *'That great big man has sat down on my little bill and killed it."
In the summer of 1884 J- C. Buxton was chosen one of the delegates to the Democratic Convention that met in Chicago, and was largely instrumental in turning the votes of the North Caro- lina delegation, among whom were Senators Vance and Ransom, from Mr, Bayard, of Delaware, to Grover Cleveland, of New York — a favor which Mr. Cleveland has never forgotten, as shown by his subsequent acts.
In 1884 the firm of Watson and Glenn by mutual consent dis- continued their partnership for the practice of law, Mr. C. B. Watson forming a partnership with Mr. Buxton, which partner- ship has continued unchanged ever since, except to admit to the firm in 1896 Mr. T. W. Watson, son of the senior member.
JOHN CAMERON BUXToN 49
This firm has bceii and is now justly considered one of tlic very strongest in the State, and has always enjoyed a most extensive and lucrative practice. During a period of twenty-one years the author of this sketch has been intimately associated with the firm, and can say of them, individually and as a firm, that in all that time he never knew them to do in their practice a questionable or censurable act. They always tried their cases openly and foirly. using no uncertain methods to influence either judge or jurT,'. proving themselves under all circumstances high-minded, able, honest lawyers, who won their victories by merit and knowl- edge, and lost cases by no dereliction of their duty, but because the law or facts were against their clients. In matters requiring exposnre, or the unearthing of liltleness, Mr. Buxton was par- ticularly strong, and in all cases where the responsibility was ihrown upon him he measured up to the responsibility, antl proved himself equal to ever}' emergency. Twice in my life I have heard judges of the Superior Court say, after listening to his powerful, logical presentation of his case, "That was the stroi^est speech I ever heard in the Court House."
Mr, Hiixtim has always taken a great interest in the materis] and educational development of Winston-Salem. For years he has been president of the Graded School Commissioners, and much of the credit for Winston's splendid city schools is due to him. Continuing his zeal in behalf of education, he induced Mr. Carnegie to give $15,000 for the erection of a public library in Winston, which is not only an ornament but a blessing to the entire community.
In 1890 he was elected president of the First National Bank of Winston, having a capital of $200,000, holding this position until January, 1893. when he resigned to attend to his pressing law business. In July, 1893, when on account of the panic pre- vailing everywhere this bank failed, he was appointed by Comp- troller Eccles to re-organize the bank, which he successfully did until it later consolidated with the People's Bank of Winston. Fifteen years ago he was elected president of the Winston-Salem Building and Loan Association, one of the most successful and
50 NORTH CAROLINA
helpful institutions of the Tiinn-Cit}', and has held it ever since. Thus we see that Mr. Buxton, as well as being an able lawyer, is likewise a successful man and educator.
Mr. Buxton has always been a loN-al, sterling Democrat, ever ready to aid his party, even when not himself a candidate, thus not showing the selfish spirit that sometimes marks our political brethren. In addition to being senator and del^^te to the Na- tional Convention, he was also chairman of the Democratic State Convention that met in Raleigh in July, 1887, his address to the Convention being considered of unusual power and force. In 1900 Mr. Buxton was nominated by the Democrats of the Eighth Congressional District to represent them in Congress, and though he was defeated, the majority against him was 1600 less than against the Democratic nominee for president, thus showing it was no want of popularity on his part, but the unfortunate politi- cal complexion of the district. His defeat was a great loss, for North Carolina has few sons that could and would have made a truer and stronger member of the House of Representatives than Mr. Buxton. In religion Mr. Buxton, inheriting his creed from his dear old father, whom he loved most tenderly, has al- ways been an ardent and influential Episcopalian. He loves his church and the name Protestant Episcopal, and when at the Gen- eral Convention of his church that met in San Francisco in 1901, to which he was a delegate, an effort was made to change the name of the church, he introduced a resolution against such change, and through the influence of himself and other conserva- tive members who loved the old name the move was lost. He has been senior warden of his church for many years, and one of its most liberal supporters. He also takes a great interest in the Brotherhood of St. Andrew, having made several strong speeches in its behalf. To show Mr. Buxton's strong character, as well as his zeal for his church, at the Convention in Boston in 1904, be- ing dissatisfied with the part a certain bishop of the church had taken in establishing a subway tavern where intoxicating liquors could be bought, he introduced a ringing resolution deploring and condemning the action of said bishop; and though the chairman
JOHN CAMERON BUXTON 51
ruled his resolution out of order, as reflecting on a member of an- other house, to wit, the House of Bishops, still later in a speech, with words that carried conviction to every heart, he scathingly denounced the efforts of any one, preacher, bishop or layman, who tried to commit the church to the encouragement of saloons.
Mr. Buxton has never aspired to be called an orator, yet at times, in his powerful arraignment of facts and merciless exposure of crime and falsehood, he has risen to heights of sublimity and power to which few men attain.
The author of this sketch has reason to remember with grati- tude his power as a speaker, and still blesses him for his kind words. At the Democratic Convention of 1904 he was requested to place in nomination for Governor Forsythe's candidate, R. B. Glenn. His speech was the last of the many speeches made. This is the description that a hearer afterwards made of the speech : '*It wasn't pretty ; it wasn't eloquent ; it was simply powerful, grand, like the fearful onward rushing of mighty waters, sweeping all before it in its resistless force." The ap- plause it brought attested its power.
Mr. and Mrs. Buxton have had born to them four children: Cameron Belo Buxton, a graduate of Chapel Ilill, and now hold- ing in Philadelphia a splendid position as traffic agent of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad ; Miss Caro Fries Bux- ton, a beautiful and accomplished young lady, a graduate of Bryn Mawr, Pa., now living with her parents ; Miss Anna Nash Bux- ton, a splendid type of young girlhood, now attending Bryn Mawr College; while little Jarvis, the idol of his parents, and loved of all, was taken when ten years old, while pure in heart, to be with Go<l. Of all Mr. Buxton's life, his home life is the best. De- voted to home and family, he seeks his pleasures there, not at the club or lodge, and to know him truly is to know him at home. It is one of the sweetest homes in which I have ever visited, sur- rounded by an atmosphere of love and a reign of peace.
That Mr. Buxton has faults, and has committed errors, none would admit more readily than he, but no one regrets his mis-
52 NORTH CAROLINA
takes or sorrows more over his faults, and this desire to profit by his failures has but insured his success.
Mr. Buxton is a large, strong type, physically, mentally and morally, of American manhood, with a heart as big as his body and a nature too true to be little. To sum up his strong per- sonality and character in a few closing words: He is a lawyer who is diligent, forceful and honest. In his political career he has always proved himself fearless, bold and above a suspicion of using questionable methods to secure his advancement. With his strength, however, there is also gentleness, for no one sym- pathizes more deeply with the distressed or lends a more willing hand to relieve suffering. As husband, father, friend, and citi- zen he fills each niche well, at home ruling through love, and in business succeeding by the strength of his intellect, using no un- certain methods.
Mr. Buxton is yet young, just in the prime of his manhood. The State in its present tide of prosperity needs such men to help de- velop its resources and direct its affairs, and it is earnestly to be hoped that John Cameron Buxton may yet be spared for many more years of usefuFness for the promotion of right and the up- building of the State.
R, B, Glenn.
f
r^ : '• \'
tiiu i:u\. >v-.*'
54 NORTH CAROLINA
of age, leaving a family of nine young children — six of whom were boys and three girls. The management of the farm and the rearing of the children thus devolved on the mother, Mrs. Jane M. Carr, who fortunately was a woman of exceptionally fine sense and judgment and well versed in the practical affairs of life. Neces- sarily the boys, as they became of sufficient strength, were em- ployed in the duties of their farm-home. Their work and pas- times, their labor and recreation, were not different from those of their neighbors. They followed the plow and harrow, cured the hay, housed the corn, and marketed the wheat ; and when the farm- work of the year was over they attended the country schools that were taught during the winter months.
The schoolhouse was some four miles distant from the Carr farm, and the boys during its session made the daily journey of eight miles or more, going and returning. This exercise and their farm-^ork in the open air had a beneficial effect in establishing fine constitutions and developing vigorous frames and well- rounded mental equipments, in some measure dispensing with the necessity of the training afforded by higher school advantages.
At length at the age of seventeen the subject of this sketch, realizing that the farm no longer needed him, and having a man's ambition for a larger life, determined to seek a business career in the neighboring city of Baltimore. His education, while not a finished one, was far from deficient ; he was vigorous, the soul of energy, and prepossessing in manner and appearance. He soon obtained employment with Charles A. Gambrill and Company, a great house, owning extensive flouring mills, renowned for the superior excellence of its flour and having an established trade througho\it the entire South ; but being without experience, the compensation he at first received was only $5 per week.
Having gained a footing in that establishment, young Carr was never allured to other employment. He remained steadfast at his work and gradually rose in usefulness, meriting the confidence of his employers and receiving manifestations of their good opinion. Indeed he possessed those characteristics that were calculated to win his way in life and bring him fine success.
LEWIS ALBERT CARK 55
For thiricen years he served Gambrill and Company, constantly growing in efficiency and developing his business qualities; and then finding himself able to enter npon an independent career, in 1883 be formed a partnership with J. W. Wolvington, under the luinK- of Wolvington, Carr and Company, and established a grain and flour business. A thorough master of every detail of the wheat and flour trade, he brought to the new firm ripe experi- ence, and its business was ver\' successful.
On the 21st of November. 1878, Mr. Carr was happily married to Miss Clara Watts, a daughter of Mr. Gerard S. Watts, a pros- perous merchant of Baltimore. She was a sister of Mr. George W. Watts: and after his removal to Durham, Mr. and Mrs, Carr were drawn also to locate there. Thus it came about that in 1888 Mr, Carr sold out his interest in his Baltimore business and made liiv lunne at Durham, He came to Durham jnst as that town was recovering from some little backset in its general course of rapid progress, and he contribuletl somewhat to giving it the increased momentum that has ever since carried it forward in its remark- able development.
The Durham Fertilizer Company was then being formed. He made an invcstnicnl in that enterprise and was elected secretary and treasurer of the company ; and from that time his name has been closely associated with all the great enterprises and immense factories and vast interests that have sprung from that parent stock.
Active and zealous in promoting every enterprise that would tend to the advantage of Durham, he was interested in the con- struction of the Durham and Northern Railroad, and since 1892 he has been a director of that company. So also he was a promo- ter of the Durham and Lynchburg Railroad Company, and was a director of that company until it was incorporated into the Nor- folk and Western. The benefit Durham has received from the construction of these additional railroad facilities has been beyond calculation, and the community is largely indebted to the vigor and enterprise of Mr. Carr for their accomplishment.
He was one of the organizers of the Citizens' Savings Bank of
S6 NORTH CAROLINA
Durham, and for five years served as a director of that institution. His interest in the industrial welfare of the city led him to promote the incorporation of the Commonwealth Cotton Mills. Since 1899 he has served as a director of the First National Bank of Durham, and the value of his services in connection with finances has been well recognized by his constant re-election as Vice-President of that progressive and well-managed institution.
Besides his connection with these well-known companies, he has been interested in many other enterprises, not merely those of local interest, but others established in various parts of the State. Nor has he concerned himself exclusively with matters of busi- ness. Other lines of work also interest him — such as the Watts Hospital, of which he is a trustee.
Among his most notable enterprises was that of establishing the Interstate Telephone and Telegraph Company. Of this he was the originator, and he achieved a fine success in organizing and putting it into operation. It was the first independent tele- phone company organized in the South. The work engaged his close attention and called forth his best capacity, and it has been a large success and has conferred a great benefit on many communi- ties in North Carolina. It also has established exchanges in Mary- land and Virginia.
But as varied and important as have been the indefatigable labors of Mr. Carr in other lines, the chief work of his life is, by common consent, that arising from his connection with the fer- tilizer company. When the Durham Fertilizer Company had demonstrated by its great success the value of that line of business, it was determined to expand, and the Norfolk and Carolina Chem- ical Company was thereupon organized. Mr. Carr, who as secre- tary and treasurer of the parent concern exerted a powerful in- fluence in its affairs, was a chief factor in organizing the new company, which was owned by the plant at Durham. He was much employed in the construction of the large works at Pinner's Point, and was secretary and treasurer of the Norfolk Chemical Company until it was merged in the Virginia-Carolina Chemical Company. So fine a field of industry was here opened that, with
LEWIS ALBERT CARR 57
a comprehensive grasp of the business interests involved, Mr. Carr and his associates, in 1895. determined to bring the different properties manufacturing fertilizers in the State, and some else- where, under the direction of one management ; and the Virginia- Carolina Chemical Company was formed with that object. Mr. Carr. who had achieved such remarkable success in the manage- ment of the Durham Company and of the Norfolk and Carolina Clieniical Company, now became Managing Director of the Nortli Carolina Division of the Virginia- Carolina Chemical Company, and he held that imjjortant position until the reorganization in 190J. At that time various changes were made in the system of management, and to Mr. Carr was committed the very important work of Manager of the Is'orth Carolina Sales Department of the Company. In connection with the affairs of this great company, one of the largest industrial organizations of the world, Mr. Carr has been a director of the Southern Cotton Oil Company, and is a director of the Navassa Guano Company of Wilmington, and of the Charleston Mining and Manufacturing Company of Charles- Mn, South Carolina.
In all the large duties of his several positions Mr. Carr has ex- hibited a comprehensive intelligence, a careful thought, a rapid determination, and an unwavering attention to business that have gained for him high rank as a manager of affairs and brought him fine reputation for administrative ability.
As a citizen he has ever been quick to join others in advancing the interests of his community, and has been among the foremost of those men who have placed Durham on her substantial basis of prosperity. While never seeking political preferment, be has, in order to be useful to his town, served four years as Alderman of Durham. In politics he is a Democrat; and he is zealous for the advancement of his friends, while not caring for public applause or station for himself.
His religious affiliations are with the Presbyterians, and he is a member and a deacon of the First Presbyterian Church of Dur- ham, and contributes liberally, not merely to his church but gen- erally to all the charities that appeal to his benevolence.
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Busy as he is, he has but little leisure to pass in recreation, but he is very fond of the hunt and occasionally joins his friends in that sport.
Mr. Carr's home at Durham from the time of his first arrival has ever been a notable feature in the social life of his com- munity. But after twenty years of happy wedded life he had the misfortune to lose his first wife, who, dying on March 12, 1898, was survived by four children : one son and three daughters. The eldest of these daughters was married on November 7, 1900, to Mr. George L. Lyon, a grandson of the late Mr. Washington Duke. On May 2, 1900, Mr. Carr was married to Miss Jessie B. Carroll, a daughter of Mr. O. J. Carroll, of Raleigh, and one of the loveliest of her sex.
S, A, Ashe,
PETER CARTERET
f N the death of Samuel Stephens, about the end of the year 1669, he was succeeded by Peter Carteret, who was probably chosen President by the Council at that time, and a few months later was appointed by the Proprietors tn Eng- land. At the meeting of the Proprietors in January, 1670, Sir George Carteret named Peter Carteret as his Deputy, and probably they were of the same family. Peter Car- teret came to Albemarle in the Fall of 1664. In the first letter of instructions to Sir William Berkeley the Proprietors mentioned that they reserved the nomination of a surveyor and a secretary as officers particularly charged with taking care of their interests. They mentioned that Sir George Carteret had recommended Monsieur Lepre_\'rie for surveyor and Lord Berkeley had recom- mended Richard Cobthrop for secretary, who promised to be ready 10 go out within a month. These gentlemen, however, did not go, but instead, Thomas Woodward was the surveyor, and Peter Carteret the first secretary; and it appears that Carteret brought over with him the commission and instructions for Governor Drummond in the Fall of 1664. His office of secretary was of importance, as he kept the record of ail the surveys, and it was upon his certificate that the Governor made the grants. Thomas Woodward says of Carteret in his letter of June 2, 1665 : "I make no question but Mr. Carteret, our secretar\-, will answer all your
6o NORTH CAROLINA
expectations, for I assure you that he is diHgent." It may be assumed that from that time onward Peter Carteret was the Dep- uty and representative in Carolina of Sir George Carteret. It is said that he was Speaker of the Assembly of Albemarle.
The instructions sent him as Governor in 1670 required him to put in force the grand model of Government as near as may be — "and not being able at present to put it fully in practice by reason of the want of Landgraves and Cassiques and a sufficient number of people, however, intending to come as nigh it as we can in the present state of affairs in all the colony of our said Province, you are therefore required to have the four precincts elect five representatives each, and then, the five persons chosen by us being added, and who for the present represent the No- bility, are to be the Assembly." The Assembly was to elect five persons, who, being joined with the five deputed by the Pro- prietors, were to compose the Council. The Governor and the five Deputies were to be the Palatine's Court. The Governor, with the consent of the Council, was to establish other Courts. The Assembly was to make the laws, which, being ratified by the Gov- ernor and any three of the five Deputies, were to be in force as under the Fundamental Constitutions.
It is to be noted that the changes in the polity required by these instructions, which supplanted and took the place of the Funda- mental Constitutions, were neither numerous nor important. There being no nobility, that element in government provided for in the Constitution found a substitute in the Deputies and in five other persons elected by the representatives of the people; and this addition to the Council of persons chosen by the As- sembly made that body more responsive to the will of the people. In that respect the change was towards popular rights.
It is true that one of the provisions of the Constitutions was that the people should take an oath or affirmation to observe them and to abide by them ; but yet the Constitutions had no vitality or operation beyond what was contained in the instructions to the Governors. Still they hung somewhat as a cloud over the people, and there are traces of popular discontent. During the Miller
PETER CARTERET 6i
troubles some of the people raised the cry that "they did not want Landgraves and Cassiques," but the leaders in that affair quickly told them not to say that ; they were not quarreling with the Lords Proprietors.
There was, however, a matter of more vital import that caused dissatisfaction. Under the Great Deed the rent was a farthing an acre, payable in commodities; while the Constitutions prescribed a rent of as much silver as is contained in a penny, thus increasing the rent fourfold and making it payable in money. This provision, however, was never enforced. When the Proprie- tors later g^ve instructions that such rents should be collected, the people demurred, and the Proprietors eventually recognized the validity of their agreement contained in the Great Deed.
So far as the changes inaugurated in Carteret's time were of interest to the people, they seemed rather to subserve the public convenience than to be a cause of irritation and discontent. The county was laid off into four precincts, and Precinct Courts were established and other changes were made that came naturally with the growth and development of the colony. At the session of the Assembly in April, 1672, more than fifty-four Acts were passed, which, however, probably embraced all former laws then re- enacted.
While the administration of Carteret is thus historic because of the alteration in the system of government, it is also historic because it witnessed the introduction of the Society of Friends among the people. Both under the Concessions and the Consti- tutions there was absolute freedom of conscience and religious toleration. In 1672 Edmundson and George Cox both visited Albe- marle. The latter says that he found only one Quaker there, Phillips, who had not seen a Friend for seven years. The former mentions having borrowed a canoe and "with this boat we went to the Governor's. The Governor, with his wife, received us lov- ingly : but a doctor there would needs dispute with us." From this it appears that Carteret was married and that he was a man of kindly disposition. Fox continues : "We tarried at the Gov- ernor's that night ; and next morning he very courteously vyalked
62 NORTH CAROLINA
with us himself about two miles through the woods to a place whither he had sent our boat about to meet us." The visits of these Quaker preachers marked the rise of the Quaker sect in the colony.
In 1672, during his administration, new navigation laws and customs duties were passed in England, and it was required by the Crown authorities that these laws should be enforced in Albe- marle, and they interfered with the established trade of the Col- ony. The new element introduced into the Council by the ad- mission of five inhabitants elected by the Assembly changed the attitude of that body toward public measures and brought it under the rule of the people themselves. The Council was no longer in harmony with the Governor. Carteret's efforts to compose diflferences were fruitless. He wearied of the attempt; and his three years' term being about to expire, he laid down his office and went to England, probably with the hope that he might suc- ceed in having the causes of dissatisfaction remedied. On the 25th of May, 1673, a Council was held at the house of Thomas Godfrey. Carteret had then sailed for home, and Colonel John Jenkins, the senior member of the Council, presided as Deputy- Governor. It does not appear that Carteret ever returned.
S. A, Ashe.
GEORGE CATCHMAID
2EORGE CATCHMAID, the first Speaker of the Assembly of whom there is any particular I mention, is an interesting character in our his- I lorical annals because of the events and inci- dents with which he was connected. Of his _ personal history but little is known. He is de- scribed in ihc grants made to him as being of the rank of "Geii- lieman." and "of TresMck." He came to Carolina in 1662; is said to have bri.nit;ht into the settlement sixty-seven persons;' was the Speaker of the Assembly at the session of the Summer of 1666 ;' shortly afterwards he died, and his widow married Timothy Biggs. He left no children ; and many years afterwards Edward Catchmaid, of London, claiming to be his nephew and heir, sought to obtain possession of his lands in Albemarle. This is a brief statement of the known facts of his life. But in connection with him several important matters relating to the settlement of Albe- marle and concerning the early inhabitants have been incidentally recorded.
Some writers have thought that the first settlement on the Chowan was under a grant to Roger Green, which was made by the Grand Assembly of Virginia in 1653. on behalf of himself and certain inhabitants of Nansemond River. This grant offered 10,000 acres of land to the first hundred persons who should seat
'Bancroft, Vol. 2. p. 135. 'C. R., Vol. 1, p. rs2.
64 NORTH CAROLINA
themselves on Roanoke River and on the south side of the Chowan River and its branches. It was made after Virginia had sub- mitted to Parliament and when there was not only no oppression of dissenters in Virginia, but when every freeman in the Old Dominion had the right to vote, and the Legislature elected the Governor and all other officers, and the only religious restriction was one forbidding the use of the Prayer Book in churches. There is no evidence that any settlement was ever made under this grant ; and Bancroft says particularly "that these conditional grants seemed not to have taken effect."^ It is to be further ob- served that the lands explored by Roger Green and mentioned in this grant were not on the shores of the Sound, but south of the branches of the Chowan, which was not in the limits of Caro- lina. The authorities in Virginia well knew that the territory south of the 36th degree of latitude had been long since granted by the Crown under the name of Carolina, and was not under their jurisdiction.
In a suit growing out of George Catchmaid's settlement in Carolina, the record of which is preserved by Doctor Hawks in his second volume, page 132, some account is given of those who first seated themselves on the shores of Albemarle Sound. From that record it appears that George Durant came in company with the "first seaters," but for two years he occupied himself with finding out the country and selecting a good location. Having done that, he purchased from the King of the Yeopim Indians a certain neck of land on Perquimans River, receiving his deed on the first day of March, 1661 (1662) ;* and from this it would ap- pear that the "first seaters" came in 1659 or 1660. George Durant, while beginning his clearing, encouraged Catchmaid to seat a tract of land adjoining his own, and Catchmaid sent in 1662 Richard Watridge with three hands to settle and seat the said lands ; and a month later Catchmaid, having come to Albemarle, informed Durant that Governor Berkeley had then lately returned from England, and had announced that the settlers at Albemarle should
* Bancroft, Vol. 2. p. 134.
' At that time the year began March 25th, and not January ist.
GEORGE CATCHMAID 65
hold no longer under Indian titles, but that he would grant patents to those desiring them : and Catchmaid proposed to take out pat- ents for the land occupied by both Durant and himself.
As a matter of fact Governor Berkeley did go to England, and while there mentioned to the King these new plantations in Caro- lina outside of Virginia, and asked for instructions, and the King directed that he should require those settlers who had bought their lands from the Indians to take out patents and grants from Virginia. Berkeley returned in the Summer of 1662: so Wat- ridge's arrival on Durant's Neck was in the Fall of 1662.
Catchmaid accordingly procured a patent for 3,333 acres of land, the date of the same apparently being prior to the 13th day of March, 1662 (1663), for on that day he made an agreement in writing to convey Durant's part of the land to him, which, however, he failed to do ; and thus arose the occasion of the law- suit many years after his death.
Besides this grant of more than three thousand acres, made before March, 1662 (1663), Governor Berkeley, as Governor of \'irginia, also made another grant to Catchmaid for importing thirty persons into the Colony of Virginia, dated 25th of Sep- lemlx^r, 1663. six months later. This last grant was in the vicin- ity of the foriner one, but appears to have been entirely distinct from it. It would seem that in addition to the sixty-seven per- sons that Bancroft says "Catchmaid established in Carolina," he also brought into the Colony of Virginia thirty other persons. On that same day, September 25, 1663, Governor Berkeley made irrants, which have been preserved, for lands at Albemarle, indi- cating that at least one hundred persons had been brought into X'irginia by those to whom these lands were granted. It would therefore seem that planters of considerable substance were con- cerned in this first settlement ; such indeed is the statement of John I^wson. the first historian of North Carolina, who wrote in 1708 and knew what the people of Albemarle said about it. He says :
"A second settlement (after Walter Raleigh's) of this country was made alnuit fifty years ago. in that part we now call Albemarle County, and chiefly in Chowan Precinct, by several substantial planters from Virginia and other plantations."
66 NORTH CAROLINA
After mentioning some of the difficulties of the new settlement, he continued:
"Nevertheless, I say, the fame of this new-discovered Summer country spread through the neighboring Colonies, and in a few years drew a con- siderable number of families thereto."
The next resident to write of North Carolina was Doctor Brickell, who, after residing in Albemarle, substantially repeats what Lawson wrote: and so Lawson's account of the settlement would seem to have been in agreement with local traditions.
Conditions of freedom continued to exist in Virginia until after the Restoration, when a political revolution set in which eventu- ated in restoring the old order of things, religious as well as tem- poral. If Roger Green, clerk, was a minister of the Church of England, and in 1653 designed to lead his flock into the wilder- ness because of the overthrow of the Church of Virginia, ten years later the requirement that the whole Liturgy should be read, and that no Nonconformists might teach even in private under pain of banishment, doubtless tended to drive the Independents into Caro- lina. Thus it may be that after the first settlements, subsequent accessions to the inhabitants of Albemarle were influenced by re- ligious intolerance in the Old Dominion; and after the grant of Carolina to Governor Berkeley and his brother and the other Pro- prietors, Berkeley probably viewed such a movement with satisfac- tion, as it promoted his personal interests. Yet it is to be remem- bered that Woodward, the surveyor, in 1665, ^^^^ "^^ mention such an influence as aiding the settlement of the Colony. In 1664 Drummond was appointed governor, Carteret the secretary, and Woodward the surveyor. The Proprietors limited grants to fifty acres and charged half-penny an acre quit-rent, while in Virginia the rent was one shilling for fifty acres. The first Assembly that met petitioned the Proprietors for the same terms as existed in Virginia, and Woodward in June, 1665, wrote urging their ac- quiescence. He mentioned that he had many years been en- deavoring and encouraging to seat Albemarle, and he urged a larger apportionment than fifty acres to the person, saying: "To
GEORGE CATCHMAID 67
think that any men will remove from Virginia upon harder con- ditions than they can live there, will prove, I fear, a vain imagina- tion, it being land only that they come for" This would seem to be in line with the traditions of the settlement as perpetuated by Lawson, and apparently negatives the idea that the settlers were seeking the wilderness to escape from religious oppression. But however it may have been in regard to the Independents, it is quite certain that the Quakers did not make the first settle- ment In 1671, ten years after Durant's party had built their cabins, Edmundson came to Albemarle and found only one Friend there, Phillips, and he had been there only seven years. He and his wife came from New England. However, Edmundson made several converts at that time ; and Fox, who followed him the next year, says that he also made "a little entrance for the truth among the people in the north part of Carolina." Three or four years later Edmundson again visited Albemarle . and "turned several to the Lord ;" "people were tender and loving, and there was no room for the priests, for Friends were finely settled, and I felt things were well among them." Indeed, from a memorial made by the Quakers in 1677 it appears that there were then at least twenty members of that faith in the Colony who had settled in Carolina as early as 1663. and 1664. Necessarily their conversion was the work of Edmundson and Fox, and the Quaker element in the Colony is to be dated from that period, spme ten or twelve years subsequent to the original settlement. To the same effect is the statement of Governor Walker in 1703,^ who then wrote:
"George Fox. some years ago, came into these parts, and, by strange infatuations, did infuse the Quaker principles into some small number of the people : which did and hath continued to grow ever since very numer- ous, by reason of their yearly sending in men to encourage and exhort them to their wicked principles."
WTiile the Friends constantly grew in strength, it was not until the end of the century that any other denomination of Christians had either a minister or a house of worship in Albemarle. It
' C. R.. Vol. I, p. 572.
68 NORTH CAROLINA
would thus seem that the inhabitants were not particularly de- voted or interested in their religious affiliations.
Catchmaid was probably Speaker of the first Assembly, held prior to the month of June in 1665. He was Speaker of that held in the Summer of 1666. Tobacco-planting in Albemarle was then so considerable that in June, 1666, Maryland appointed commissioners to arrange with Virginia and "the Southward plantations" for the cessation of planting tobacco for one year in the three colonies; and the Legislature of Carolina assented to this. In transmitting the Act authorizing this agreement in the Summer of 1666 there was some delay because of an Indian War which prevented the messengers leaving Carolina.
It was doubtless while Catchmaid was Speaker that the Act was passed providing for civil marriages, similar to the law in Virginia from 1654 to the Restoration ; and another providing that settlers should be exempt from actions for debt, that being a law earlier in force in Virginia. Certainly the Speaker of the As- sembly exerted no little influence in the new settlement and con- tributed much to its growth. It is apparent that a considerable number of settlers were received from Massachusetts, and that at a very early day New England traders established connections in Albemarle and sought to engross the trade and commercial dealings of the settlement. As Catchmaid was not only a man of substance, but a leader in directing public matters and a man of some social standing, "a gentleman," he must have made an impress as such on the colony.
His widow married Timothy Biggs, Deputy of the Earl of Craven, and Comptroller and Surveyor-General of His Majesty's Customs. His action as a customs officer had much to do with bringing on Culpepper's Rebellion in 1677. Biggs had the sym- pathy of the Quakers, but does not seem to have been of that faith ; at any rate he was belligerent, for in 1678, when he had gone to England, he recommended to the Lords Proprietors to send an armed vessel to Albemarle, and to enlist a body of troops in Virginia to suppress the rebels. The Proprietors, however. warned him ta hold his peace, and his bloody plan was not favorably considered. S. A. Ashe.
BENJAMIN CLEVELAND
J F all the fierce frontiersmen whose activity spread consternation among the partisans of King George in the Southern campaigns of the American Revolution not one stood higher than Colonel Benjamin Cleveland, who was born May 26, 1738. Thanks to the splendid histori- cal effort of Doctor Lyman C. Draper in his volume entitled "King's Mountain and Its Heroes," as well as to the works of less importance, we are enabled to present for the consideration of our readers a sketch of the career of this remarkable man. Prince William County, \'irginia, was the birthplace of Ben- jamin Cleveland ; and his father's home was on Hull Run. a stream whose name was later to be known in all quarters of the globe as the njxrning scene of the greatest of American wars in 1861. While siili a child young Cleveland was carried sixty miles west- ward to Orange County, Virginia, when bis father removed to the latter locality. His new home was about six luiles above the junc- tion of Hull Run with the Rapidan River.
The personal prowess for which Cleveland was distinguished in the maturity of life was manifested in early childhood, and Draper tells us that at the early age of twelve he seized bis father's pun and put to flight a party of drunken rowdies who were rais- ing a disturbance at his home while John Cleveland, the father, was absent. Having "an imconquerable aversion to the tame
70 NORTH CAROLINA
drudgery of farm-life," young Qeveland soon became famous as a hunter, and ranged the great forests of his neighborhood in search of big game. To him the Hfe of a hunter was a source of profit as well as pleasure, for the hides, furs, and pelts won by his rifle brought him no inconsiderable income. Tradition says that Cleveland saw some service in the French and Indian War and there received his first schooling as a soldier. Before leaving Virginia he married, in Orange County, Mary Graves, daughter of a gentleman of some fortune, who later came with his own family and that of his son-in-law to North Carolina.
It was about the year 1769 that the above party settled in North Carolina. Cleveland first cultivated a farm on the waters of Roaring Creek, a tributary of the Yadkin River, later removing to a river bend of the Yadkin which (from its horseshoe shape) was called "The Round About." In after years, when the cele- brated Daniel Boone was a resident of the Yadkin Vallev, his tales of the hunting-grounds to the westward so stirred the rest- less blood of Cleveland that in 1772 he set out with a party of four companions — five men in all — to Kentucky. These men were set upon by a large band of Cherokee Indians, who robbed them of all their belongings, guns included, and ordered them to return to the place from whence they came. After a painful journey the half-famished hunters finally succeeded in reaching the settle- ment of the white race once more. Cleveland later returned to the Cherokee country for the purpose of recovering his horse, and accomplished that object with the help of some friendly In- dians furnished him by Big Bear, a chief of the Cherokee nation.
At the beginning of the Revolution Cleveland was com- missioned an ensign in the 2nd North Carolina Continental Regiment, commanded by Colonel Robert Howe, on September i, 1 775 ; he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in January, 1776, and became captain in November, 1776, later resigning from the Continental Line, or Regulars, and entering the militia. He bore some part in the Moore's Creek campaign in the Spring of 1776. In the Spring of 1777 Cleveland commanded a company of volunteers against the Cherokees; but in the following July
BENJAMIN CLEVELAND 71
peace with the Indians was effected by the treaty oi the Long Island of Holston.
The County of Wilkes was formed in 1777, chiefly through the instrumentality of Captain Cleveland, and he was made colonel of the militia forces of the new county in August, 1778. In 1778 Colonel Qeveland represented Wilkes in the North Carolina House of Commons, and was State Senator therefrom in 1779. In this county he was also Presiding Justice of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions.
To tell in full of the desperate encounters in which Qeveland engaged would fill a volume. He was constantly engaged against the enemy, in 1777 serving in Indian campaigns, going on the ex- pedition to Georgia in 1778, and returning in 1779, and after- wards marching against the Tories at Ramseur's Mill, though he did not reach that place in time for the battle which was fought there on June 20, 1780.
"Old Round About," as Qeveland was familiarly known (tak- ing that sobriquet from his plantation of the same name), prob- ably had a hand in hanging more Tories than any other man in America. Though this may be an unenviable distinction, he had to deal with about as unscrupulous a set of ruffians as ever in- fested any land — men who murdered peaceable inhabitants, burnt dwellings, stole horses, and committed about every other act in the catalogue of crime. Draper gives a number of instances where this fierce partisan avenged with hemp the wrongs of his neigh- borhood. Rut Cleveland was not always a man of a relentless moo<l. On one occasion, related by Draper, a particularly ob- noxious character was finally captured, and Cleveland called out : "Waste no time! — swing him off quick!** Instead of being ap- palled by his approaching doom, the man turned to the colonel and remarked with perfect coolness : "Well, you needn't be in such a d — d big hurry about it." Struck with admiration at this display of bravery, Cleveland exclaimed: **Boys, let him go!** This act of magnanimity, from a source so unexpected, completely won over the Tor>', who at once enlisted under Cleveland's banner and became one of his most faithful and devoted followers.
72 NORTH CAROLINA
Says the historian above quoted :
"Cleveland was literally "all things to all people.' By his severities he awed and intimidated not a few — restraining them from lapsing into Tory abominations; by his kindness, forbearance, and even tenderness winning over many to the glorious cause he loved so well."
The battle in which Cleveland gained his greatest renown was that fought at King's Mountain on the 7th of October, 1780. The rendezvous preparatory to this ever-memorable engagement was at Quaker Meadows, a plantation owned by the McDowell family in Burke County, near the present town of Morganton. Here the members of Cleveland's command were joined by their com- patriots. The battle of King's Mountain was fortunately a great and overwhelming victory for the Americans ; and among all the desperate fighters there engaged not one showed more personal courage than Colonel Cleveland. A description in detail of the battle could not be placed in a brief sketch such as the present, and so for fuller particulars we must refer the reader to works which have been devoted to that great event. When the victory was complete, and the British commander, Colonel Ferguson, had been killed, that officer's horse was, by common consent, turned over to Colonel Cleveland because the latter "was too un- wieldy to travel on foot," and had lost his own horse during the battle. In view of Cleveland's size — weighing, as he did, more than four hundred pounds — it is wonderful that he could have led a life of such activity.
After the victory at King's Mountain more than thirty Tories were condemned to death, and nine were executed — the others being reprieved. The executions here alluded to were, for the most part, punishments for past crimes — house-burnings, out- rages against women, desertions and betrayals, assassinations of non-combatants, etc. These measures were also in retaliation for past British cruelties — a few days before this eleven Americans having been hanged at Ninety-Six in South Carolina, and many more having been accorded similar treatment at other times. Cleveland was a member of the court (or court martial) — the nature of the tribunal being of a perplexing character — which
tried and condemned these Tories. The Battle of King's Moun- tain restored coinparalive order lo western North Carolina, yet there was more fighting to be done, and Colonel Cleveland as usual bore more than his share, serving under General Griffith Rutherford.
After the war Colonel Cleveland's plantation, "The Round About." in North Carolina was lost to a litigant who had a better title therefor, and Cleveland soon removed to South Carolina, where he became, first, an Indian fighter, and a judge, after peace with the Cherokees had been effected. Before he died Cleveland attained the enormous weight of four hundred and fifty pounds.
The death of Colonel Cleveland occurred in what is now Oconee County. South Carolina, in October, i8o6. He left two sons and a daughter, and many of his descendants are now living. Gov- ernor Jesse Franklin {elsewhere noticed in this work) was a son of Cleveland's sister. Robert and Larkin Cleveland, brothers of the colonel, and "Devil John" Cleveland, the colonel's son. were all brave and efficient officers in the Revolution, as was also Jesse Franklin, above mentioned.
By Chapter 9 of the Laws of 1840-41 a county was formed out of Lincoln and Rutherford and named for Colonel Cleveland. In this act the name was misspelled Cleaveland. but by another legislative enactment — passed many years later — the error was remedied.
Marshall De Lancey Haywood.
RICHARD CLINTON
J HE coil nly- seat of Sampson County is called Clinton, as a compliment to Colonel Richard Clinton, one of the Revolutionary patriots of tliat vicinity. The Clintons along with the Kenans and others came over from Ireland witli Colonel Sampson about 1736, and were among the first to settle in the wilderness on the head-waters of the northeast branch of the Cape Fear. Because of this Irish set- tlement it was at first proposed to call that region the county of Donegal, but when in 1749 the upper part of New Hanover was cut off to form the new county it was named Duplin, in honor of Lord Duplin, one of the Board of Trade at that time ; and Duplin County during the Revolution extended far to the west, embrac- ing the territory of Sampson County and covering a large and ex- tensive region.
Whether the subject of this sketch was bom before or subse- quent to this first Irish settlement is unknown; he may have been one of the very first white children born in that part of the State. It is said that he was a nephew of Colonel Charles Ointon, the father of Governor George Clinton and of General James Clinton, of \ew York ; and in person and characteristics he was not inferior to those distinguished gentlemen. He was remarkably handsome, was always cool and self-possessed, a thoughtful man, and one of much dignity of character.
RICHARD CLINTON 75
On November 29, 1768, Governor Tryon commissioned him one of the justices for the county of Duplin; so at that early age he had attained a position of influence and was a man of conse- quence in his community ; and by successive appointments he held this position until the Revolution.
His military career began in the civil commotions which dis- turbed North Carolina prior to the Revolution, he being a major in Governor Tryon's army, which marched against the Regulators and routed them at the Battle of Alamance. Before that time, be- tween 1762 and 1765, he married Penelope Kenan, a sister of Colonel James Kenan, and he was a man so highly regarded that he held the office of register of the county of Duplin under the Crown.
When the troubles with the Mother Country came on he was an active Whig, and was elected to represent Duplin County in the Provincial Congress which sat at Hillsboro in August and Sep- tember, 1775. By that body he was elected lieutenant-colonel of Duplin County, when the militia of the State was organized for Revolutionary purposes on September 9, 1775. The next Provincial Congress, April, 1776, selected him as one of the com- missioners to procure arms and ammunition for the army, and he was energetic and efficient in that service. When the last Pro- vincial Congress met in December, 1776, it adopted a State Con- stitution and established a State Government and organized Courts of Pleas and Quarter Sessions under the Constitution, and he was appointed by the Congress a justice for Duplin County. In the early stage of the Revohition the Provincial Congress had adopted a Test Oath, which all the Revolutionists took, and the Legislature at its session of November, 1777, prescribed an Oath of Allegiance and Abjuration. This oath was taken by the citi- zens of the different counties, and the record is preserved wherein Colonel Clinton took it in Duplin County. He represented his county in the House of Commons continuously from 1777 to 1784. In that year Sampson County was formed out of Duplin, said he represented Sampson County in the Senate in 1785 and until 1795, with the exception of one year. He thus served his
76 NORTH CAROLINA
people in the Legislature during nearly the whole period of the Revolutionary War, and participated in the adoption of those measures which were relied on to protect the State from the in- cursions of the enemy.
After the Battle of Moore's Creek and the departure of the British fleet from the Cape Fear in the early Summef of 1776, quiet reigned in North Carolina until the opening of 1781, al- though detachments were sent to the aid of South Carolina when that State was invaded. What share Colonel Qinton had in the operations to the southward is not recorded, nor has the par- ticular part he played in 1781 been perpetuated. He was, how- ever, the right arm of his brotjier-in-law, Colonel Kenan, during the troublous times that were ushered in when Major Craig oc- cupied Wilmington on the 28th of January, 1781. At that time the militia of Duplin and of other counties were ordered down to the great bridge twelve miles above Wilmington; but Craig had hastened to demolish the bridge, and had then returned to the town, which he immediately fortified to protect the garrison. When Colonel Kenan, Colonel Clinton and their forces had reached the bridge and found it destroyed, they fortified themselves on the northern bank to hold that pass and prevent the enemy from mak- mg excursions into the country. There were about seven hun- dred militia collected there under General Lillington when about the first of March Major Craig attacked them with artillery from across the river, the contest being maintained for two days, and then having accomplished nothing the British returned to their fortifications at Wilmington. In April Comwallis began his march northward, and Lillington retreated to Kinston, where on the 28th of April he discharged all the militia, and the men re- turned to their homes to protect their several communities from the Tories, who became very active in Duplin as well as in every part of the country where the British Army had passed. At length Colonel Kenan and Colonel Clinton got together in July some four hundred men and took post near Rockfish Creek, when Major Craig marched out against them with his main army and field^ pieces and dispersed the militia, who were badly armed and had
RICHARD CLINTON 77
bill litlle amnninilion. Major Craig remained several days in Du- plin and then inarched on to New-Burn. The Tories were reani- maied by the presence of this British force and were more auda- cious than ever. Kenan and Clinton collected some light-horse and iomied a little flying camp and made frequent sallies on their ene- mies ; and when Craig heard that General Wayne was approaching Halifax, and hurried for protection to his fortifications at Wil- mington, the Whigs of Duplin embodied to the number of eighty light-horsemen, and marching quickly into the neighborhood where the Tories were embodied, surprised them, killed many, and put to instant death all the prisoners they took. This bloody ac- tion struck such terror into the Tories of Duplin that they sub- sequently gave but lillle trouble. During that period Colonel Clinton and his associates were as active and as zealous as any of the famed partisan leaders of the Revolution,
After peace was won he continued to enjoy the respect and es- teem of his people, and by his wise counsels in the halls of the Legislature promoted their interests and welfare, and was re- garded as one of the most patriotic statesmen of that part of the State.
When Sampson County was established he owned llie land that is now the site of the town of Clinton, and when it was laid off he donated five acres for a public square and Court House and also a lot for a public school.
Colonel Chnton died in 1796, leaving two sons and four daugh- ters. William, the eldest son. married Miss Seawell, a daughter of Judge Seawell, and had two sons, William and James. Rich- ard Clinton married Ferebee Hicks and moved to Georgia. None of Colonel Clinton's descendants bearing his name now live in North Carolina. His daughter Mary married Mr. Roland, of Robeson County; his daughter Rachel married Mr. Rhodes and left one son. Doctor Richard Rhodes. Elizabeth married David Bunting, of Quaker descent, originally of Pennsylvania but set- tling in Sampson County, and left eight children, one of whom, Penelope Bunting, became the wife of Colonel Thomas K. Morisey, who was her cousin, being the son of George Morisey,
78
NORTH CAROLINA
of Cork, Ireland, and of Jane Kenan, a sister of Mrs. Penelope Clinton. The youngest child of Colonel Clinton, Nancy, married Owen Holmes, a brother of Governor Holmes, and left five sons and three daughters. One of her sons, Owen, was a distinguished lawyer, located at Wilmington, was a member of the Constitu- tional Convention, married Betsy Ashe, a daughter of Colonel Samuel Ashe, of Rocky Point, and left three children: Owen, who died unmarried ; Bettie, who married Doctor John Meares, of Wilmington ; and Sam Ashe Holmes, who married Mary Strudwick, of Alabama. These removed to California.
5*. A, Ashe,
■Ill I ■■■
THE HEW YORK
PUBUC LIBRARY
TikOEM rOUMDATtOMt
.t_
8o NORTH CAROLINA
There is nothing more interesting than the study of the build- ing of the character of a man whose plans are jointed or dove- tailed, and made to fit as one by one they mature and take their places in the splendid structure of a superbly built and success- ful life. It has been the good or ill fortune of the writer to touch life at many points in his checkered career and to know something of the lives of many men of many minds and many vocations. Within the range of his observation there has rarely come a life so rounded, so smooth, so straight, so unaffected, so serious, so earnest and so successful as that of Orlando R. Cox. From the humblest beginning it has grown and expanded each and every day until at its meridian we find its impress upon nearly every enterprise and institution of his church and his native county. Nor has the sphere of his influence and usefulness been limited by the confines of his county. His name is linked with a chain of financial and commercial institutions throughout the State, and in their management his fine business judgment is invoked in the capacity of a director.
He comes from one of the oldest, largest and most substantial families of the county of Randolph. Born at Cox's Mill on the 26th of August, 1844, he remained on the farm until the year 1868, when he began work as clerk or salesman in the general store of Hugh T. Moffitt at Moffitt's Mills, North Carolina. Here he was engaged for about one year, after which he accepted a position as clerk in the company's store at Cedar Falls, North Carolina. His earliest ancestor of whom there is public record was Abel Cox, a citizen of sterling virtues. The name of his own father was Micajah Cox, who was a farmer and millwright by occupation. He was well known and is still well remembered by the older citizens of the county. He was fond of hunting and fishing, and many amusing incidents of his hunting exploits still live in the traditions of his people. It is told that many a wild buck fell a victim of his deadly aim and many a timid doe lay lifeless at his feet. He was a leader in his community, an en- thusiastic Mason, a devout member of the Methodist Protestant Church, and was Justice of the Peace of his county for thirty-one
ORLANDO R. COX 8i
years. The name of the mother of our subject was Matilda John- son Cox. It was from these plain, honest, industrious and God- fearing parents of simple life that Orlando R. Cox inherited the fine traits, the rugged virtues and the sterling qualities which have marked his steadily successful career. It was in the year 1869 that Orlando R. Cox, the plain fanner boy, with limited education acquired from the "old field schools" and two terms with Professor Holt, came as a clerk, as before told, in the com- pany store at Cedar Falls at a very small salary. Here began the real work of his life, and it was not long before he, by diligence and fidelity, had made himself an essential, individual factor in the management of the business of the company as well as a val- uable and popular citizen of the county. Seven years thereafter, in 1876, without solicitation on his part, he was elected sheriff of the county. Before the expiration of his term he violated the political epigram: **Few die, none resign." He grew tired of political ofiice, tendered his resignation as sheriff, and accepted the position of secretary and treasurer and general manager of the Cedar Falls Manufacturing Company — ^a position whose duties were more congenial and more in keeping with the ambition of his life. This company had been organized and created the year before and had become the purchaser and owner of what was known as the Cedar Falls property, including the cotton mill, store, sites, tenement houses and everything. Cedar Falls Cotton Mill is the oldest in the countv.
Cedar Falls takes its name from a cluster of majestic cedars which grew around a rugged shoal in Deep River, on the banks of which the village is built about midway between Randleman and Raniseur on a branch of the Southern Railway. It was away back in 1848 that this first cotton mill in the county was built, and for more than half a century the winds that blow through the venerable cedars that grow there have been vibrating with the music of its busy machinery. It has been a training school for some of the cotton mill men who are to-day among the South's leaders. It was here that the Elliotts, the Makepeaces, the Odells and others learned the practical part of the cotton mill business.
82 NORTH CAROLINA
It was here that Benjamin Elliott, the first man who inspired the building of a cotton mill in Randolph County, lived and pros- pered, and beneath those cedars sleep the remains of this pioneer and benefactor. It was near here that the late George Makepeace lived. Of him the late Reverend Doctor Braxton Craven said in his sermon, dedicating the Naomi Cotton Mills :
"George Makepeace was the very genius of organization, and few men could govern men, women, and children with less annoyance or greater effect. In spirit and life he was a model man ; quiet, considerate, cool- headed and warm-hearted, he said and did the right things at the right time and always with the happiest results."
Mr. George Makepeace was the grandfather of C. R. Make- peace, cotton mill architect and builder, now of Providence, R. I.
Cedar Falls and its surroundings are rich in interesting biog- raphy and industrial reminiscences. These mills were here before Greensboro, Charlotte, Wilmington, Rockingham, Fayetteville or Raleigh had a railroad. Its founders were Henry B. Elliott and Philip Horney. Of these two men Doctor Craven further said in the sermon referred to:
"There was Philip Homey, a man whose heart was young when his body was old. He made money and spent it, or a part of it, as a true man should ; he was an ardent friend and supporter of the church ; his tabic was always spread for the hungry ; his sympathy reached towards all who needed it, and everybody called him friend. There was Henry B. Elliott. one of the noblest of Randolph's noble citizens. He had something of the bearing of an English nobleman, but withal the courtesy and self-sacrific- ing generosity of a warm-hearted and true man. He was gifted in in- tellect and finely cultivated in extensive learning and enthusiastic in every- thing that seemed to promote good for the country."
There was inspiration in such associations for a young man of Mr. Cox's determination and ambition. He reckons these names and associations among the strongest influences which stimulated him in the great task he had set for himself.
Following and succeeding these men was Doctor John Milton Worth, whose wise counsel and far-sightedness as president of this company constituted the strongest support Mr. Cox had for many years. Under the vigorous and successful management of
ORLANDO R. COX 83
Mr. Cox, aided by President Worth, the Cedar Falls Mills have more than trebled in the number of spindles and capacity, and he has been enabled to build a new mill with two hundred looms at the same places. He is a practical mill man, with all the word implies. His knowledge was acquired around the spindles and in personal work and attention to every detail of the complex opera- tion of a cotton mill. Some conception of the magnitude of the task may be formed when it is remembered that at the time he as- sumed control of this magnificent property, in the early days of 1878, the value of its assets did not exceed the amount of its in- debtedness. Without name or credit or backing, save that which grim grit and tireless pluck gave, he assumed a burden from which others had shrunk, and steadily for years toiled at his desk and in the mill through the long hours of day and the heavy hours of night until he had lifted every dollar of encumbrance and made the stock of this company the most desirable and valuable in the markets of the State. It is doubtful if there can be found in the State a man who has given his time more constantly, un- selfishly, and unreservedly to the promotion of the interests of his company. In the meantime, by close economy and the most frugal habits he was enabled to purchase from time to time stock until he became the largest stockholder of the company, and is to-day the practical owner of the two mills:
In more recent years he has been induced to invest some of the fruits of his toil in other plants and institutions. He succeeded Doctor J. M. Worth as president of the Bank of Randolph, the largest and strongest bank of the county, in which he has been a stockholder and director from its incorporation. He also suc- ceeded Doctor Worth as president of the Asheboro Furniture Company, in which he had been a stockholder and director since its incorporation. He is a stockholder in the Asheboro Chair Factory, the Concord Wholesale Grocery Company of Concord, North Carolina, J. W. Scott and Company of Greensboro, North Caro- lina, the Wachovia Loan and Trust Company of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and the Greensboro National Bank. He is also a charter shareholder and director of the Greensboro Loan and
84 NORTH CAROLINA
Trust Company, the strongest financial institution in the Gate City, as well as in the North State Fire Insurance Company and Greensboro Life Insurance Company of the same city. There are other corporations in which he is interested and holds stock. This list, however, will suffice to show the value of his career to his community, his county and his State. It tells its own story. It is his own work. He is the architect of his own fortune.
Twice married, he was blessed by his first marriage with six children, three of whom are dead and three living. The issue of his last marriage are five children, all of whom are living. Nor is this all. There is another field in which we may note the harvest from the good seed he has sown. He is and has been from earliest young manhood a member of the Methodist Prot- estant Church, and for years has been one of the leading and most influential lavmen of that church in North Carolina. Time and again he has been selected as delegate to the annual and quad- rennial convocations and for the highest positions of trust and honor in that church. At his home he is a faithful communicant and liberal supporter of his church and all of its enterprises. In the Sunday-School and elsewhere he is as prompt, as active, as enthusiastic and as earnest as he is in the prosecution of his busi- ness affairs. It is to be recorded, too, that while, as a rule, he has resisted the flattering inducements to enter politics he has, from a sense of public duty, served his county four years as a County Commissioner and ten or twelve years as a Justice of the Peace.
He is the upright man and the model citizen. He meets and measures up to every exaction of Church and State. He has wrought well in his day and generation. His record is a proud heritage for his children. His is a life whose lesson is worth pre- serving. It may not be written in bronze or brass or stone, but it will live in the ever-widening circles of the lives it has touched. When the old county of Randolph comes to make up the roll of her native sons who, in the last three decades, have done the most for her material growth, her credit and her good name, there will be on that roll no name ahead of that of Orlando R. Cox.
C. S. Bradshaw.
WILLIAM DICKSON
I R. JAMES O. CARR, a distinguished member of the Wilmington bar, has rendered the State notable service by the publication of "the Dick- son Letters," which form an interesting and valuable addition to our literature, covering the dark period of 1781 in the Cape Fear section and the period when the Federal Constitution was adopted. In this sketch the writer will follow the Introduction made by Mr. Carr to the Dickson Letters, whose preparation shows painstaking research.
The Dickson family in Duplin County trace their descent to Simon Dickson, who was a stern English furitan and an ardent adherent of Oliver Cromwell, and received as his reward for his services a grant of 400 acres of land in County Down, Ireland, There he settled and had a numerous offspring. John Dickson, fifth in descent from Simon, was born in Ireland in 1704, and <iied in Duplin County, Xorth Carolina, on the 25th of December, 1774. When thirty-four years of age he emigrated from Ireland and located in Chester County, Pennsylvania, where he resided a few years and where three of his sons were bom. He then moved to Maryland, but after a short while located in Duplin County some time previous to 1745. He had eight sons and one daughter. The eldest son, Michael, moved to Georgia; William, the subject of this sketch, was the third; Robert, another son, towards the
86 NORTH CAROLINA
close of the Revolution moved to Virginia, but returned to Duplin in 1784. He served in the House of Commons in 1777 and con- tinuously from 1784 to 1788. Joseph also left the county about the close of the Revolution, but returning served as Register of Deeds and County Surveyor and was in the House of Commons in 1780 and 1797. Alexander likewise emigrated to Virginia in 1781, but returned in 1784. He was a public-spirited and patriotic man and highly esteemed in his county. He left no children, and in his will devised the bulk of his property "to the use of a free school or schools for the benefit of the poor of Duplin County." In 1817, when his estate was settled, this fund amounted to $12,621. It has alwavs been known as the "Dickson Charitv Fund," and until after the Civil War the income was applied to educational pur- poses, and since the war to the Public School Fund. Edward Dickson, another son, was one of the most respected and pros- perous citizens of Duplin County. His granddaughter, Ann Wil- liams, married Doctor Stephen Graham, and their daughter, Sarah Rebecca Graham, married Honorable Owen R. Kenan, and be- came the mother of Colonel Thomas S. Kenan, of Raleigh, North Carolina ; James G. Kenan, of Kenansville, and the late William R. Kenan, of Wilmington.
William Dickson, the subject of this sketch, was bom in Chester County, Pennsylvania, on the loth of January, 1739, and was brought by his father to Duplin County during infancy. His ed- ucational advantages were limited, as he was reared among the early settlers in the wilderness before the establishment of schools. Still he appears to have been well taught at home ; wrote with un- common ease, and was a man of comprehensive ideas, good judg- ment, and great wisdom. He discussed political questions with in- telligence, and forecast the future with intuition and remarkable foresight.
He had just reached manhood when the exciting period of the Stamp Act troubles fostered unrest and mental activity among the colonists ; and this was followed by the trying times of the Revolution, during which he was recognized as one of the trusted leaders of his community.
WILLIAM DICKSON 87
He was a delegate from Duplin County to the first Provincial Congress held at New-Bern on the 2Sth of August, 1774; and he was a member of each successive Congress, and participated in the deliberations of the body that framed the Constitution of the State. On the establishment of county courts in 1777 he was elected clerk of that court for Duplin County, and it is said that he held that position for forty- four years. While he did not serve in the Continental Army, he was active in the militia, especially in the year 1781 after Major Craig took possession of Wilming- ton and the Tories rose in the Cape Fear country. He was with Lillington and Kenan when they held the Great Bridge from February until April, retiring in front of Comwallis. In his letter of 1784 Mr. Dickson gives a graphic account of the devastation of Duplin County during that April and June. "At length/' he said, "we got collected about four hundred men under Colonel Kenan in Duplin and made a stand." About the 20th of July Colonel Kenan was joined by a part of Brigadier-General Caswell's Brigade, making his total force the number above stated. Breast- works were thrown up about one mile east of the present village of Wallace, where the county road crosses Rockfish Creek, and on August 2d Colonel Craig's force of Regulars, about five hun- dred strong, moved up and attacked them. Colonel Kenan had but a few rounds of ammunition, and when this was exhausted his militia gave way, and in the stampede some thirty or forty men were captured, besides the loss in killed and wounded. After this encounter the Whig forces were dispersed and the enemy stayed several days in Duplin, the Tories gathering very fast and taking possession of the county. Major Craig, having marched to New- Bern, returned towards Kinston, proposing to move north- ward, but heard that General Anthony Wayne was approaching Halifax, which deterred him from further operations, and he soup^ht safety in his fortifications at Wilmington. This retreat gave renewed courage to the Whigs, who now embodied, William Dickson being among them. They organized about eighty light- horsemen, marched into the neighborhood where the Tories were, surprised them, cut many to pieces, took several and put them to
88 NORTH CAROLINA
death. During all those troublous times, though Mr. Dickson had many narrow escapes, he received but one wound, which was a shot through his right leg. About the middle of October General Rutherford and General Butler, with 1500 militia from the back country, came down the Cape Fear and suppressed the Tories. As Rutherford drew near to Wilmington intelligence was re- ceived of the surrender of Cornwallis, and Major Craig hastily sailed away for Charleston, and the troubles of the Revolution were over.
William Dickson was a patriotic and progressive citizen. His interest in the establishment of the Grove Academv at Kenans- ville indicates the importance he attached to education. He men- tions that about Christmas, 1785, "we made up a small school of fourteen or fifteen boys, which is the first attempt that has ever been made to teach the languages in this part of the country." In 1787 he states that "at our Grove Academy there are yet but twenty-five students under a master, who teaches only the Latin and English Grammar and the Latin and Greek languages."
In that same letter he refers to the Constitution of the United States, then submitted to the Legislature of each State for con- currence, and says :
*'Our General Assembly for this State are now convened and have it under consideration. We hear that debate runs high concerning it, also the populace and the country are divided in their opinion concerning it. For my own part I am but a shallow politician, but there are some parts of it I do not like. However, I expect our Legislature will adopt it in full."
In a subsequent letter he says of the Federal Constitution:
'*I think that it is formed so as to lay the foundation of one of the great- est empires now in the world, and from the high opinion I have of the illustrious characters who now hold the reins of government, I have no fear of any revolution taking place in my day. Since I wrote to you on the subject I have become reconciled to it."
He adds :
"It was a matter of necessity rather than choice when the Convention of North Carolina received it about twelve months ago, we being the last
WILLIAM DICKSON 89
Slate except one (Rhode Island) which came into the measure. Virginia. though with much reluctance, and the other States around us, having pre- viously adopted the Federal plan, the State of North Carolina could not remain independent of the Union and support the dignity of the State ilsell. Had Virginia only stood out with us. I think North Carolina would not have been in the Union yet. It appears to me that the Southern Stales will not receive equal benefit in the Government with the Northern Slates. . . . The Southern Stales will have their vote, but will not be able to carry any point i^ainst so powerful a party in cases where either general or local interest are the object. Some attempts which were made in the course of the last session of Congress have much alarmed the Soulh- tm people. The most strenuous exertions were made by some of the Northern representatives to liberate and emancipate the slaves in the United Slates, and though they did not carry their point, they seemed de- termined never to drop the matter until they do. This, if effected, will be arbitrary, cruel and unjust."
These extracts of letters made conteinporaneoiisly with the events they refer to are not only interesting of themselves, but in- dicate thai William Dickson was a man of profound thought and a good writer. That he exercised a great influence in his com- munity cannot be doubted.
He died January 20. 1820. at the age of eighty-one years. He married in 1767 Mary Williams, a tlauKhtcr .if Jn^,-|<|i Williams of Onslow County, and a granddaughter of Benjamin Williams, who is said to have been descended from Frances, a daughter of Oliver Cromwell, and settled near Halifax, North Carolina, prior to 1750.
William and Mary Dickson had nine children. One of their descendants became the wife of Leroy Polk Walker, Secretary of War in President Davis's Cabinet, and later a brigadier- general in the Confederate Army ; another descendant was Albert Pickett, author of a "History of Alabama." A son of William Dickson, Doctor William Dickson, of Tennessee, was a member of Cong- ress for three terms, and the county of Dickson in Tennessee was named for him.
S. A. Ashe.
DAVID FANNING
i AVID FANNING, one of the most extraordi- nary men evolved by the Revolutionary War, was born about the year 1756. His parentage and his birthplace are obscure. In his "Sched- ule of Property lost to him on account of his attachment to the British Government, tiled and sworn to at St. Augustine in November. 1783." he mentions "550 acres of land in Amelia County in the Province of Virginia, with dwelling-house, etc.. orchards and large enclosed improvements valued at 687 pounds ; and 550 acres of land near said plantation, heir to the estate of my father, and some improvements with a dwelling-house, 412 pounds; three saddle-horses, twelve planta- tion horses," etc. From this it would appear that Colonel Fanning was a native of Amelia County, Virginia. Governor Swain, however, in tracing his career stated that he was bom in that part of Johnston County which has since been embraced in Wake, and that he was apprenticed to a Mr. Bryan, from whom he ran away when about sixteen years of age, finding a temporary home at the house of John O'Deniell, of Hawfields in Orange County. He was untaught and unlettered, and he had the scald head, that became so offensive that he did not eat at the table with the family; and in subsequent life he wore a silk cap SO that his most intimate friends never saw his head naked. In the course of two or three years he left North Carolina and settled on Rae-
DAVID FANNING 91
bum's Creek, a branch of Reedy River in Laurens District, South Carolina, and engaged in trafficking with the Indians. That part of the country was inhabited by the ScovelHtes, who had been sup- pressed about the time of the Regulation movement in North Carolina, and like the Regulators they sided with the King rather than with the Whigs.
David Fanning left a journal from which the events of his career are collated.
In April, 1775, Colonel Fletcher, the colonel of Laurens County, who was a Royalist, directed the captains to muster their com-^ panics and present two papers to be signed, to see who were friends to the King and Who would join the Whigs. Fanning, then in his nineteenth year, was sergeant of his company, and at the muster on the 15th of May he presented the papers, and 118 men signed in favor of the King. There were sharp collisions be- tween the Loyalists and their Whig neighbors during that year; and that Autumn, when it was learned that a large quantity of ammunition was being sent to the Cherokee Nation by the new Whig Government, as was customary, Fanning and his friends intercepted the pack-horses and secured the powder. Because of this, the **Snow Campaign" of December, 1775, was under- taken by Colonel Martin, Colonel Rutherford, and others, with North Carolina forces, and the Loyalists dispersed and the am- nnmition recovered. In July, 1776, the Indians made their foray on the western frontier of North and South Carolina, in accord- ance with the plan devised by Governor Martin for the subjuga- tion of North Carolina, beginning their massacre on the very day of the bombardment of Fort Moultrie. Fanning hastened to join the Indians, carrying twenty-five of his neighbors with him, and they attacked a fort in South Carolina containing 450 Whigs, but the assailants were driven off, and Fanning came to North Caro- lina. After experiencing numberless hardships, however, he re- turned to his home in March, 1777. From the beginning, in May, 1775, he had been constantly active as a zealous Loyalist, always on the warpath, and undergoing many vicissitudes; and this course he continued to pursue, being entirely irrepressible.
92 NORTH CAROLINA
In March, 1778, he was chosen commanding officer of the Loyalists of his region, and there were daily conflicts between his followers and the Whigs, until at last the Loyalists were dis- persed, and for three months he was obliged to remain in the woods, living only on what was killed in the wilderness.
Eventually there were embodied some 500 Loyalists determined to go to St. Augustine, but the Whigs having intercepted them and dispersed them. Fanning undertook to make his way to Hol- stein River, but later returned to Raeburn's Creek; and after a great many thrilling experiences he agreed to live peacefully at home under a conditional pardon. For a year he observed the terms of his surrender, but on the reduction of Charleston in May, 1780, he and one William Cunningham, known as "Bloody,'' con- cluded to embody a party of men, and they were rapidly joined by many Loyalists. They captured the fort at Ninety-Six and the fort at White Hall, together with 300 men. Fanning now with a small party scouted on the frontiers, and he fell in with Colonel Ferguson's detachment five days before the destruction of that force at King's Mountain, but did not join it. After that battle, the Whigs in upper South Carolina took heart, and Fanning's situation becoming alarming, he left that State and came to Deep River, where he remained quiet, but all the while discovering who were friends to the King.
In July, 1780, when South Carolina was entirely submissive to the British and the North Carolina Loyalists were bold and exulting, Major Ferguson arranged for their organization and commissioned seven captains with their subordinates for com- panies in Randolph ; six captains for Chatham ; four for Cumber- land ; three for Anson and two for Orange ; and so the organiza- tion and nucleus of a loyal militia force in that part of North Caro- lina was substantial. These officers, however, remained inactive until Craig took possession of Wilmington and Cornwallis reached Hillsboro and issued his proclamation for the Loyalists to embody. Captain John Rains, of Randolph County, was the first to beg^n to embody his company. Doctor John Pyle, who was a physician and an estimable man, one of the Regulators, feeling conscien-
DAVID FANNING 93
tiously bound by his oath, also responded and was assigned the command of some 300 men, the first Loyalists to collect. On their way to join Comwallis at Hillsboro they fell in with Colonel Lee and his troops, on the 2Sth of February, 1781, near the site of the town of Burlington, and were cut to pieces. At that time, however. Fanning was still on Deep River, with a smaller party, arousing the Loyalists to action.
He joined Comwallis at Dixon's Mills on •Cane Creek, but after accompanying him as far as Cross Creek, he separated from the army and began the career of murder and rapine that has made his name infamous. It must be said, however, that he was one of the boldest men, most fertile in expedients and quick in execution, that ever lived in North Carolina. Had he been on the Whig side, his fame would have been more enduring than that of any other partisan officer whose memory is now so dear to all patriots. Foraging on the country, seizing what he wanted, slaying, slaughtering, burning homes and butchering in cold blood according to his mood, he became a terror and a scourge.
His headquarters were at Coxe's Mill on Deep River, and from there he sallied forth in every direction, intercepting all parties passing to and from General Greene's camp in South Carolina, and terrorizing all that region. Early in June Colonels Collier and Balfour led a detachment to dislodge him, but Fanning by a forced march was enabled to make a night attack upon them and drove them off. For a time then Colonel Christopher Dudley oc- cupied Coxe's Mills with a force of 300 Virginians, but could not suppress this indefatigable partisan. Emboldened by the protec- tion and by the presence of the British Army, the Tories of Cum- berland, Bladen and Duplin had likewise become very active and the Whigs had been driven from their homes, while many who were not resolute partisans had submitted to the dominion of the Loyalists. In Chatham, Randolph, Anson and Cumberland, Fan- ning and his coadjutors were in absolute control ; and all that region was dominated by the Royal adherents.
About the first of July there was a muster of the Loyal militia at Fanning's camp, and he was chosen colonel, and thereupon
94 NORTH CAROLINA
set out for Wilmington to obtain a commission : and on the 5th of that month Major Craig commissioned him colonel of the Loyal militia in Randolph and Chatham Counties. On his return he at once collected about 150 men and began active operations. A few days later, about the middle of July, there being a general muster and a court-martial at Pittsboro, Fanning made a descent upon that place and took fifty-three prisoners, including all the militia officers of the county except two, a Continental captain and three members of the Assembly. He parolled some and carried others to Wilmington. It was a great advantage to these Tory bands that they could obtain all the ammunition that they needed from the British Army, while the Whigs were entirely without am- munition and were very badlv armed.
Fanning's next exploit was to attack Colonel Alston's party at his house ; and on the nth of August he again passed on down to Wilmington to .obtain supplies and ammunition. Returning towards the end of August, he found Colonel Slingsby at Eliza- bethtown, and the night that he separated from Colonel Slingsby occurred the Battle of Elizabethtown, in which Slingsby was killed and the Loyalists were routed by Colonel Brown. A day or two later he joined Colonel McNeil on Drowning Creek, who was threatened with attack by Colonel Wade. Fanning, however, be- came the assailant, and won a victory. On the 9th of September, being joined at Coxe*s Mills by Colonel McDougal with 200 men from Cumberland, and Colonel Hector McNeil with his party from Bladen, and having himself some 950 men, he proposed to put in execution a plan he had long had in mind of capturing the Governor of the State. General Butler and Colonel Robert Me- bane lay within forty miles of Coxe's Mills, and Fanning let it be understood that he proposed to attack them. He marched to Rocky River, and then, changing direction, pressed on to Hills- boro without stopping. At seven o'clock on the morning of the 1 2th he entered the town in three divisions, killed fifteen, wounded twenty, and took upwards of 200 prisoners, including the Gov- ernor, Burke, his Council, and many officers of the Continental Line and seventy-one Continental soldiers. At noon that day they
DAVID FANNING . 95
left Hillsboro and early the next morning reached Lindsay's Mill on Cane Creek, where General Butler intercepted them. At the first outset eight of the Tories fell, including Colonel McNeil ; but after a four hours' conflict Butler's troops were driven off. Fan- ning, however, lost heavily: twenty-seven killed, sixty so badly wounded that they could not be moved, and thirty others slightly wounded. Fanning himself received a shot in his left arm, break- ing the bone in several places ; and his loss of blood was so gjeat that he had to be secreted in the woods on Brush Creek. His army, however, proceeded under Colonel McDougal and the prisoners were safely delivered to Major Craig at Wilmington. In this Battle of Cane Creek Butler lost twenty- four men, killed, and left ninety wounded on the ground, and the Loyalists took ten prisoners. Of the killed were Colonel Luttrell and Major Knowles. It is of interest to record that Colonel Pyle, who was a humane man and a physician, attended these wounded Whigs so carefully that he was pardoned by the Whig Government, and became a quiet, peaceful citizen during the remainder of the war. A month elapsed before Colonel Fanning was able to move about. Then having received a fresh supply of ammunition, and embodying about one hundred and fifty men, he sallied forth a^ain. But the Whig forces pressed him so closely that, learning of Cornwallis's surrender and of Craig's evacuation of Wilming- ton, he divided his followers into small squads, continuing, how- ever, to scour the country. On the loth of December Colonel Isaacs led a party from the west and took possession of Coxe*s Mills, and after this Fanning was in the woods and kept moving with a small party as occasion required. Daily he perfonned some extraordinary feat, until at length in January he proposed terms for an annistice. Pending these negotiations, he was more quiet, but when they fell through, receiving a message from Colonel Balfour that *'there was no resting-place for a Tory's foot upon the earth,*' on the 12th of March he set out for Balfour's planta- tion. **When we came upon him,** says Fanning in his Narrative, **hc endeavored to make his escape: but we soon prevented him, fired at him and wounded him. The first ball he received was
96 NORTH CAROLINA .
through one of his arms and ranged through his body ; the other through his neck, which put an end to his committing any more ill deeds." Miss Balfour's account of this murder is given else- where in this work.
Hard and bitter indeed was the conflict during those bloody months between the Tory and Whig elements throughout the en- tire Cape Fear section from Guilford County to the sea. All that region was a scene of turmoil, rapine and fierce warfare, but the fires of patriotism were not extinguished, and the trials, suffer- ings, sacrifices and endurance of the Whig people were heroic. A momentary view of what they suffered is given in the Nar- rative of Fanning, after he had murdered Balfour:
**We then proceeded to their Colonel's (Collier), belonging to said county of Randolph. On our way we burnt several rebel houses and caught several prisoners. The night coming on, and the distance to said Collier's was so far that it was late before we got there. He made his es- cape, having received three balls through his shirt. But I took care to destroy the whole of his plantation. I then pursued our route and came to one Captain John Bryan's, another rebel officer. I told him that if he would come out of the house I would give him parole, which he re- fused. With that I immediately ordered the house to be set on fire, which was instantly done. As soon as he saw the flames of the fire increasing. he called out to me and desired me to spare his house, for his wife and children's sake, and he would walk out with his arms in his hands. I immediately answered him that if he walked out that his house should be saved for his wife and children. When he came out he said» 'Here, damn you, here I am.' With that he received two balls through his body; he came out with his gun cocked and sword at the same time."
And so it was almost every day during the period that Fan- ning was raiding in North Carolina, burning homes, murdering, and hanging. On the other side there was equal violence, and many Tories were hanged and many shot without quarter, par- ticularly when taken bushwhacking and marauding in small squads.
Fanning's proposition for a truce was for a neutral territory' twentv miles north and south, thirtv miles east and west, Ham- mond Coxe's Mill being the center, to be totally clear of the Whig Light-Horse ; to be no plundering or murdering ; all public roads
to be travelled by any person or company iinciiolested : the Loyal- ists to have free trade with any port. And that was to last until the end of the war. This proposition was finally rejected about the middle of March; and in April' Fanning, together with two of his captains, took unto themselves wives on Deep River, and early in May left North Carolina with their wives and properly for the peace-ground on the Pedee in South Carolina, Remaining Ilicre a month, on the 17th of June, 1782. he departed for Charleston, and on the 28th of September, together with the other Loyalists at Charleston, he took passage for St. Augustine, Florida, where he remained two years. After peace many of the Loyalists returned to North Carolina. But Fanning's career had been too bloody for him to find a resting-place among the people he had so outraged. His remorseless rapine and murderous exe- cution were without a parallel. Besides individual hangings and minor encounters, he had participated in thirty-six bloody en- gagements; and the plantations he had ravaged and despoiled, leaving ruin and suffering in his path, were innumerable. The General Assembly extended amnesty and pardon to all Tories with the excejition of three, and Fanning was among those pro- scribed. His crimes and butcheries were beyond forgiveness.
In September, 1784, he located near St. John's, New Bruns- wick, and later resided at Digby, Nova Scotia, where he died in
.825.
S. A. Ashe.
PETER FORNEY
JETER FORNEY was a soldier of the Revolu- ' tion, a lawgiver for the State and Nation, and \ the founder of the iron industry in western North CaroHna. He was the son of one of the . most distinguished of the early settlers of Lin- ^ coin County, and was himself the progenitor f many whose names are upon the lionor-roll of this and other States. He was born in Lincoln (formerly Tryon) County in April, 1756, and died there ist of February, 1834, in the seventy- eightli year of his age. He was the second son of General Jacob and Mariah (Dcrgncr) Forney. His mother was a native of Berne, Switzerlantl. She came to America on board the same ship which brought the young man to whom she afterwards gave her heart and hand. General Jacob Forney was born about 1721 in Alsace upon the Rhine, to which place his father, who was a Huguenot, had fled after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. About 1735 he went to Amsterdam, then to Pennsyl- vania, and about 1754 joined the tide of emigration for the South, and settled in Lincoln County. In 1781 Cornwaliis, while in his pursuit of Morgan, made his headquarters for about three days at the house of General Jacob Forney, and during that time con- sumed much of his food supplies and forage, and carried off his gold and silver, amounting to about one hundred and twenty pounds sterling. The Forney log house, in which ComwalUs
PETER FORNEY 99
was an unwelcome guest, was still standing a few years ago, and perhaps is now. The name was originally spelled Famey, but was changed by the grandfather of the subject of this sketch dur- ing his residence in Alsace.
Peter Forney entered military service in 1776, about the first of June, and marched under command of Colonel William Graham and Captain James Johnston to Fort McFadden (Rutherfordton) to protect the inhabitants of that section against the Indians. He joined a detachment of one hundred men and pursued the fleeing red men for several days. Failing in overtaking them, he re- turned to the fort. His next expedition was against a body of Tories assembled near the South Carolina line. In this expedi- tion he served as lieutenant in the company of Captain Charles Reid, the detachment being in command of Colonel Charles Mc- Lean. The detachment brought back several prisoners who were conveyed to Salisbury. Lieutenant Forney was then transferred to the company of Captain Kuykendal, and was frequently out on expeditions for suppressing and intimidating the Tories. In the Fall of 1779 he volunteered with a party to go to Kentucky (Harrod Station), where he remained but a short while. Lieu- t^ant Forney then joined the militia company of Captain Neal, which was preparing to march for the relief of Charleston. While in waiting at Charlotte for the assembling of more troops, he was promoted to the captaincy in place of Neal by Colonel Hampton and Lieutenant-Colonel Hambright. He marched to Charleston under command of Colonel Hall. The militia of the State was then under command of General Lillington. While at Charleston the period of enlistment of most of Forney's men expired, but he succeeded in persuading them to remain for about six weeks, at which time fresh troops were expected. Immediately after his return from Charleston, which was the Spring of 1780, Captain Forney volunteered under Lieutenant-Colonel Hambright and went in pursuit of Colonel Floyd, a Tory leader, on Fishing Creek, South Carolina. Returning from this expedition, he found the Tories assembled at Ramseur*s Mill under Colonel John Moore, and another body of them near Mountain Creek. He
392152 A
loo NORTH CAROLINA
went at once to report these facts to General Rutherford, whom he found encamped at Colonel Dickson's on the Catawba, three miles northwest of Tuckaseege Ford. He attached himself to Ruther- ford's force and marched to Ramseur's, but did not arrive until two hours after the battle. Captain Forney participated in the battle at Cowan's Ford on the ist of February, 1781. When the gallant Davidson fell the militia was repulsed. Forney retreated across the Yadkin and remained upon Abbott's Creek about six weeks, during which time he had no regular command, but as- sisted the American cause wherever he could do so most effec- tively. His last service in the Revolution was to command a com- pany of dragoons under Major Charles Polk in the expedition of General Rutherford to Wilmington. When these troops ap- proached that city, Major Craig, having heard of Cornwallis's sur- render, fled, and thus carried away from the soil of the State the last red-coat.
Having devoted several years of his life to military operations, Captain Forney now turned his attention to matters of a more peaceful nature, but none the less profitable to his country. He fortunately became the owner of the "Big Ore Bank," located seven miles east of Lincolnton. His brother Abram (who had participated in the battle of King's Mountain) was associated with him for a while. It is recorded in a small note-book of his that he produced hammered iron in his forge on the 26th of August, 1788. This is believed to be the first manufacture of iron in the western part of the State. This iron deposit was "granted" by the State in 1789 to Peter Forney and others whose interests he subsequently purchased. In 1791 he sold a portion of this bank to Captain Alexander Brevard, Major John Davidson and General Joseph Graham. Vesuvius Furnace on Anderson's Creek and Mount Tirzah Forge were erected by this company. Forney erected a forge near his home (now the property of Mrs. Hall), bought other lands, and about 1809 erected Madison (Derr) Furnace on Leeper's Creek about five miles from Lincoln- ton. These works supplied the Government with cannon-balls during the War of 1812. Madison Furnace was washed away by
PETER FORNEY lat
a freshet about 1868, and the Mariposa Cotton Mills, owned by Captain Joseph G. Morrison, now occupy the site.
Having served as a soldier and as a "Captain of Industry." Captain Forney had attained to such a position of confidence and respect in the hearts of his fellow-countrymen that he was called ujion by them for ser\'ice in die political affairs of the State. In the meantime he had been appointed by the Legislature to the posi- tion of brigadier- general in the State Militia. He was elected a member of the House of Commons in 1794, 1795 and 1796, and of the State Senate in i8or-02. His services here were so satis- factory that he was elected to membership in the Thirteenth Con- gress over his fonner partner, General Joseph Graham, one of tile mf)st prominent and distinguished men in the State. He served from the 24th of May, 1813, to the 3d of March, 1815. and had the honor of being succeeded by his son, David M. Forney. He was Presidential Elector several times: at first on the Jeffer- son ticket; then in 1813 on the Madison ticket, and again in 1825 and 1829 on the Monroe ticket.
In 1783 General Forney married Nancy, the daughter of David Abcrnethy, a lady of great moral worth, gooflness of heart, and Christian benevolence. Five sons and seven daughters blessed this union. They and their children have proven themselves worthy of their illustrious ancestry.
General Forney passed away at his home, "Mount Welcome," at a ripe old age. In the language of Wheeler, he was "a bright example of the useful citizen and upright man. Generosity, can- dor, integrity and freedom from pride and vain show were prom- inent traits of his character,"
IV. A. IVilkcrs.
BENJAMIN FORSYTH
an act of the General Assembly of North ' Carolina ratified on the 16th day of January, 1849, Stokes County was divided, and out of it was created the county of Forsyth, the name (as , the act states) "being given in honor of the , memory of Benjamin Forsyth, a native of Stokes County, who fell on the northern frontier in the late war with England." Stokes County had been named as a compliment to Colonel John Stokes, who lost his right arm in a fight with Tarleton's Dragoons during the Revolution; and it was just and proper that its daughter coimty of Forsyth should bear the name of another soldier who made a still greater sacrifice — even life itself — in defence of America's rights during our second conflict with Great Britain. Benjamin Forsyth's first entrance into the army was as second lieutenant of the Sixth Infantry on April 24, 1800; but he was honorably discharged a few months later, on June 15th. This very brief service was possibly due to a temporary increase in the army on account of the imminent probability of war growing out of the strained relations with France at that time. Returning to his native State, Mr. Forsyth took some part in the politics of that day. In two successive sessions of the North Carolina House of Commons, which met on the i6th of Novem- ber, 1807. and on the 21st of November, 1808, he represented Stokes County. Before the meeting of the latter session Forsyth
BENJAMIN FORSYTH 103
had again been commissioned an officer in the army, but remained in North Carolina to serve out his term in the Assembly, which adjourned on the 23d of December, 1809. Hence he did not ac- tively enter upon his military duties until 1809, though his com- mission bore date July i, 1808. He was assigned to the Rifle Regiment with the rank of captain, and held this position when the second war with Great Britain opened in 1812. His first ex- ploit in that war was in September of that year. On the 20th of that month he embarked at Cape Vincent on the St. Lawrence River in New York, and went down in boats to the towns of Gananoque and Leeds on the Canadian side, for the purpose pri- marily of destroying the King's store-house at one of those places. In Captain Forsyth's party were seventy riflemen from the reg- ular army, and thirty-four militiamen. They landed before day- break on the 2 1 St without being observed, but were discovered shortly after sunrise and fired upon by a body of 125 British regulars and militia. This fire was returned ; and, after a sharp skirmish, the King's forces fled, leaving ten or more of their num- ber dead on the field, while others fell into the stream. Eight British regulars and some of the militia were made prisoners by the Americans, who destroyed the store-house and returned to Cape \'incent with many captured military supplies, after paroling the militia prisoners. In this expedition the United States forces had only one man killed and one slightly wounded. On Janu- ary 20, 1813, Captain Forsyth was promoted to the rank of major. He was an officer not only of great bravery, but of unusual dash, vigor and enterprise.
While commandant of the post at Ogdensburg, New York, on February 6, 181 3, Major Forsyth gathered together a force of about two hundred regulars and volunteers, and with these pro- ceeded in sleighs up the river to Morristown. At three o'clock in the darkness of the following morning they crossed over the river to Elizabeth town, surprised the guard and took fifty-two prisoners, among whom were five officers. They also captured 120 muskets, twenty rifles and several boxes of ammunition : and returned to Ogdensburg without the loss of a man. A few days later, on
I04 NORTH CAROLINA
February 21st, the British gathered a force of more than twice the number under Forsyth, who was at Ogdensburg, and finally suc- ceeded in driving him out of that place, but suffered severely in so doing. On that occasion the British forces formed themselves in two columns of 600 men each, and in the battle killed and wounded about twenty Americans. Forsyth reported that, from the coolness with which his riflemen fired he was led to believe that the British had lost at least three times that number. The Americans retreated to Black Lake, about nine miles from Ogdensburg. Shortly thereafter Forsyth was present at the cap- ture of Fort George, in Canada, on May 27, 1813, and greatly added to his reputation as a soldier in the battle fought there.
For '^distinguished services" Major Forsyth was first given the brevet rank of lieutenant-colonel, and was later (April 15, 1814) commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the 26th Infantry.
An anecdote of Colonel Forsyth appeared shortly after his death in the Pennsylvania Journal, and was copied in Niles's Reg- ister for January 11, 1817. This account says:
"Colonel Forsyth, so celebrated in the last war as the commander of a band of sharp-shooters which harassed the enemy so much, happened in a scouting party to capture a British officer. He brought him into his camp and treated him with every respect due to his rank. Happening to enter into conversation on the subject of sharpshooters, the British officer observed that Colonel Forsyth's men were a terror to the British camp — that as far as they could sec they could select the officer from the private, and the officer of course fell a sacrifice to their precise shooting. He wished very much to see a specimen of their shooting. Forsyth gave the wink to one of his officers, then at hand, who departed and instructed two of his best marksmen, belonging to the corps, to pass by the commanding officers' quarters at stated intervals. This being arranged, Colonel For- syth informed the British officer that he should be gratified, and observed that he would step in front of his tent and see whether any of his men were near at hand. According to arrangements made, one of the best marksmen appeared. The colonel ordered him to come forward, and in- quired whether his rifle was in good order. 'Yes, sir,' replied the man. He then stuck a table knife in a tree about fifty paces distant and ordered the man to split his ball. He fired and the ball was completely divided by the knife, perforating the tree on each side. This astonished the British officer. Presently another soldier appeared in sight. He was called, and
ordered, at llie same dialance. to shoot the ace of clubs out of the card. This was actually done. The British officer was confounded and amazed — still more so when the colone! informed him that four weeks before those men were living at their homes in the capacity of husbandmen. So much for the American soldiery."
The death of Colonel Forsyth occurred near Odelltown, on the Canadian frontier, June 28, 1814, and was due to his refusal to retire even when ordered to do so. His commanding general had ordered a small party of Americans to attack a larger body of British, and then to beat a hasty retreat, leading the pursuing party into an ambtish which had been formed. A portion of this ambuscade was commanded by Forsyth, who also had orders to retreat after a short brush with the British; but he preferred to fight to a finish then and there. In a contemporaneous publi- cation in North Carolina (the Raleigh Register of July 15, 1814I we find this account :
"At a short distance from the road Colonel Forsyth lay with a party of riflemen in ambush. It is said that the Colonel had also been ordered to retreat if discovered by the enemy while advancing; and that, bad the orders been obeyed, a strong detachment then moving in the skirl of the wood would have gained the enemy's rear and captured them. But un- /ortunatcl)' for the -■iervicc as well as for hiitist^l, Calont:! Ryrsyl/i, an- souii
as the enemy came up, gave them battle. They suspected the ambuscade, returned two fires and retreated. At the first fire Colonel Forsyth fell. He received a shot through his breast, and shortly thereafter expired. Colonel Forsyth was a brave and intrepid soldier. On our part, except the Colonel, two only were wounded, and none killed. Of the killed and wounded of the enemy we are not informed,"
Another contemporaneous account of the death of Forsyth we find in Niles's Register for July 16, 1814, under the head of "Events of the War." This account says :
"Lieulenant-Colonel Forsyth, of the Rifle Corps, was killed on the 28th ult,. in a skirmish near Odelltown, It appears that a plan had been formed for ambuscading a detachment of the enemy, near that place, by Brtga- dier-General Smith, and that Forsyth had orders lo attack, retreat and draw them into the snare. The affray commenced ; but, instead of falling back, his personal courage tempted him to make a stand, and he remained in the road within sixteen rods of the enemy, where he received a ball
io8 NORTH CAROLINA
prived of a father's guidance; but the devoted mother was both father and mother to the boy.
His early education was received at the Loudon Valley Acad- emy, from which, in 1871, he entered Richmond College. While there he made certificates in mathematics and physics and did work in ancient and modern languages. In 1873 he went from Richmond College to the University of Virginia, from which he was graduated in 1875 with the degree of Civil Engineer. After leaving the University he spent two years (1876-78) at Johns Hopkins as Fellow in Mathematics, paying special attention also to physics. At the Hopkins he was directly under the instruc- tion of the great Sylvester in mathematics and of Rowland in physics.
Mr. Gore was soon elected Professor of Physics and Chemistry in the Southwestern Baptist University at Jackson, Tennessee, where he remained until 1881, when he was selected bv his hon- ored teacher, Colonel C. S. Venable, as his assistant in mathe- matics in the University of Virginia. In 1882 he was called to the professorship of physics in the University of North Carolina, which position he is still filling efficiently and acceptably.
At the University of North Carolina he has been wholly re- sponsible for the electric light plant, and in large measure for the heating and water plants. He was one of the prime movers for the investment of endowment funds in these and other im- provements, which are sources of revenue to the University. He was also greatly interested in and aided in establishing the Uni- versity Press, and has had charge of the erection of the Y. M. C. A. building. He has developed a strong course of electricity at the University, and as Dean of the Department of Applied Science he is aiding in the upbuilding of an institution to meet the growing needs of the South.
Professor Gore is the inventor of improvements in telephony and in wireless telegraphy, and takes an active interest in many matters connected with the subject of engineering. He is a mem- ber of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and of other learned societies. During the greater part of his life
JOSHUA WALKER GORE 109
in Chapel Hill he has been Dean of the University. He was Act- ing-President during President Alderman's absence in Europe, and upon the resignation of Doctor Alderman as President of the University the visiting committee recommended to the board of trustees that Professor Gore be made Acting- President for a year pending the selection of a president.
He was urged by his friends for the presidency of the Uni- versity of North Carolina, and also for the same position in con- nection with the College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts at Raleigh, though he never consented to the presentation of his name for either position. His remarkable executive ability and excellent business sense have brought him flattering offers from beyond the bounds of the State, but he has preferred to remain with the University of North Carolina, and much of the marked success of the institution has been due to Mr. Gore's good common sense, sound judgment and business ability.
On November 9, 1883, Professor Gore married Miss Margaret Corinthia Williams, daughter of Reverend J. W. M.Williams, D.D., noted minister of the Gospel, bom in Portsmouth, Virginia, who for over forty years was pastor of the First Baptist Church of Baltimore, Maryland. Mrs. Gore's mother was Miss Corinthia Read, of the Eastern Shore of Virginia, a lineal descendant of Colonel Edward Scarborough, Surveyor-General of Virginia under King George III.
Mr. Gore is a Democrat and a Baptist, and an active worker in both Church and State. He is a man of affairs, an alderman of the town of Chapel Hill, and a director of the bank of Chapel Hill. In reviewing Professor Gore's career one hardly knows whether to attribute his success to his owm individual initiative, to the marked influence of a most remarkable mother, or to his singularly happy home life; but perhaps it were better to say that these combined have made him the man he is.
Collie f -Cobb.
i
JUUL'S ALEXANDER GRAY
on the part of the State to treat with the Indians of western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee, while Tennessee was yet a part of North Carolina.
Alexander Gray married Sarah, a daughter of Jeduthan Harper, a citizen of Randolph County, a colonel during the War for In- dependence, and a representative of his county in the Legisla- ture-— a man of vigorous character and a kinsman of Robert Good- loe Harper, the celebrated Maryland lawyer and statesman.
Julius Gray was born in liis father's home September 6, 1833, He grew up in the conventional way of boys in his station in life and of his opportunities. Strong in body and of vigorous health, he lived an active and wholesome life, but was not subjected to any systematic labor. He was prepared for college at the "High School" in Greensboro— probably the Caldwell Institute — and luider the Reverend Jesse Rankin at Le.vington, North Carolina. Entering the Sophomore class at Davidson College in 1850, he was graduated from that institution in 1853. Two years later, when he was tweiit_\-two years old. he became teller and book- keeper in the Cape Fear Rank of Greensboro, of which Jesse H. Lindsay was president. He was fortunate in thus beginning his business career. Jesse H. Lindsay was one of the best and best- known bankers in his section of the State. Of methodical habits, unalloyed integrity, the strictest moral conduct, and a conspicu- ously consistent Christian character, he was in every way fitted to influence for the best the young men whom he trained in his bank. Not only did Mr. Gray come in contact with such a per- sonal influence in the beginning of his business life, but in com- ing to Greensboro he came to the most important business locality in that part of the State, and to a locality whose social life was unpretending, select, sincere, elevated, and elevating.
After living three years amid these surroundings Mr. Gray was elected, in 1858, cashier of a bank in Danville, Virginia, and went to that town to live. In October of the same year he mar- ried Emma Victoria, a daughter of Governor John M. Morehead, an<l a niece of Jesse Lindsay, his former chief in the Greensboro bank. He remained in Danville but little more than two years.
112 NORTH CAROLINA
ill-health compelling him to resign his place in the Fall of i860 and spend the Winter in Florida. He returned to North Caro- lina the following Spring, and took charge of his father-in-law's cotton mills at Leaksville. During the same year he was appointed to a position in the treasury department of the Confederate States Government, a position which he held until the fall of that gov- ernment.
The Civil War, although adding to the burdens of Mr. Gray's life, did not so completely lessen its continuity as it did most men in his station. The family slaves, it is true, were lost, the value of the family property much decreased and made uncertain, and the social and political life of the section of country in which he lived radically changed. But he had remained in civil life and had kept his grip on business. He could, therefore, go on after the war with less of readjustment than the most of his friends and neighbors had to make. His duties, however, were onerous enough. During the war his father, his only brother, and his two brothers-in-law had died, his brother Robert, the lieutenant- colonel of the 2nd Regiment, North Carolina Troops, dying in camp near Fredericksburg, Virginia, in March, 1863. To settle the estates of these men, and to provide for their families, upon the conclusion of peace, was Mr. Gray's particular duty; and to that he devoted the first few years immediately following the close of the war.
In 1869, when the Bank of Greensboro was chartered by the State, with Jesse H. Lindsay as president, Julius A. Gray was made cashier; and, in 1876, when the bank was converted into the National Bank of Greensboro, he was continued in the same office.
On the 3d of April, 1879, Mr. Gray was by an almost unani- mous vote elected president of the Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railwav, in which he owned fortv-three and a half shares of stock. The task thus laid upon him was one which he might have hesi- tated a long time before accepting. The Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railway had been chartered originally as the "Western Railroad Company," to build a railway between Fayetteville "and the coal region in the counties of Moore and Chatham." But the
JULIUS ALEXANDER GRAY 113
company was only to an indifferent degree successful in its pro- jects. In 1861 it had become lieavily involved in debt, the larger part of which was due the Stale, and had in operation only about forty miles of road poorly equipped. During the Civil War there could, of course, be no satisfactory inanag;cment of the property — financial or constructional. In 1S66 tlie company had little ready inone>' at its cominand, it owed the State $600,000, and its prop- crij' was so covered by mortgages that further borrowing was im- practicable.
In December, 1866, the State Treasurer was authorized to ac- cept the company's stock for the debt due the State ; thereby can- celling this debt and putting the State in possession of the most of the stock. Charges of fraud in the management under State direction between 1869 and 1871 were freely made. To what extent or in what particulars they were true it is no part of this paper to discuss. It is sufficient to say that during the dozen years just preceding Mr. Gray's election to the presidency the road had slender assets, was heavily in debt, and was involved in what seemed to be a hopeless tangle of litig[ation. For keeping the prop- erty together during these critical years, and fighting to a suc- cess/ul fiinsh nearly if not quite all 0/ die fcgaJ bau!<ss, luU credit is due the administration of L. C. Jones, Mr. Gray's immediate predecessor. But for his work, that of Mr. Gray, arduous though it was, would have been far more difficult.
During these years the charter of the road had been from time to time amended to allow an extension from Fayetteviile to the South Carolina line, there to connect with any road in South Carolina, and from the "coal region" to the Tennessee line by way of Wilkesboro, and to the Virginia line by way of Mount Airy. But upon the consolidation, early in 1879, of the Western Rail- road with a company organized to build a road from Greensboro to Mount Air>% the Tennessee route was abandoned, and a route from Fayetteviile to Mount Airy by way of Greensboro de- termined upon as the main line, the whole system to be known as the Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railroad.
Mr. Gray prosecuted vigorously the work of finishing the road ;
1 14 NORTH CAROLINA
but he found an insurmountable difficulty in the State's owner- ship of 5500 shares out of a total of 7170. He consequently, in 1883, organized a company which purchased the State's stock, making possible the securing of the money needed to construct and equip the road. Thenceforward the president and directors could command with little difficulty the money they needed.
At the time of this change of name and administration trains were running regularly between Fayetteville and "the Gulf," a distance of forty-four miles, and the roadbed was graded four miles beyond ''the Gulf' towards Greensboro. It had earned the preceding year $30,512.49; and its operating expenses had been $26,837.40. When the State's interest was bought the grading had been completed to Greensboro, and almost completed beyond to Walnut Cove, from Favetteville to the South Carolina line to- wards Bennettsville. The earnings the previous year had been $45,946.06: the expenses $37,177.13.
Mr. Gray put all of his energies, now unhampered by any political contingencies, into the finishing and equipping of the road. The route by Wilkesboro to the Tennessee line was aban- doned to make Mount Airy the northwestern terminus, with the idea of ultimately connecting with the Norfolk and Western Rail- way. Progress was rapid. April 16, 1884, regular trains wxnt through from Fayetteville to Greensboro; and December 5th of that year from Fayetteville to Bennettsville , South Carolina. June II, 1888, the extension from Greensboro to Mount Airy was opened for business; and, February 17, 1890, from Fayetteville to Wilmington; and by the middle of June, 1890, the Ramseur and Madison branches had been completed. In all there were in opera- tion about 338 miles, as against something over forty in 1879.
Mr. Gray and his company planned largely for their road and its part in the material development of North Carolina. How suc- cessful they would have been is a matter for conjecture only. The company had borrowed money largely to do what had already been done; so when the road, in consequence of the business **panic" of 1893, failed, on account of decreased earnings, to pay the interest on its debt, Mr. Gray having died in 1891, it went
JULIUS ALEXANDER GRAY
into the hands of a receiver. But Mr. Gray's credit for what he did should not be, for this reason, the less. Under his manage- ment the road won the esteem and good-wili of all who had any dealings with it. The employes were treated with kindness and consideration; shippers found an accommodating service and just rates ; and passengers met with courtesy and found every pro- vision for their comfort and safety.
Although the railway received Mr. Gray's closest attention and his best efforts during the last dozen years of his life, it by no means absorbed his energies. The demands of his social life were met in his home by a gracious and cordial hospitality, and else- where by a geniality of manner and unselfishness of spirit that made him a welcome guest wherever he went. In his mingling with men, whether his social and business equals or his sub- ordinates, his intercourse was tmiformly marked by a dignified respect for himself and a considerate thought fulness of others. He was actively identified with all the phases of life in the com- munity in which he lived, supporting its business, educational, and religious enterprises with equal earnestness. He was the Vice- President and General Manager of the North State Improvement Company, the construction company which buiif the Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railway. In 1887 he was elected President of the National Bank of Greensboro, to succeed Jesse H. Lindsay, who had just died. He had been cashier of this bank since 1869, though only nominally so since his election to the presidency of the railway. He was the Vice-President and one of the original directors of the Guilford Battle Ground Company — an association organized to purchase and improve for the public the site of the battle of Guilford Court House. When the Greensboro Female College was sold for debt, he was one of the men who organized a stock company to purchase the property and equipment and to continue the same as a girls' school. Besides these, he was identi- fied in one way or another with numerous minor organizations, one of the most important being the Greensboro Chamber of Com- merce, of which he was President.
In 188! Mr. Gray joined, upon confession of faith, the First
ii6 NORTH CAROLINA
Presbyterian Church of Greensboro, and remained in that com- munion for the rest of his Hfe. He died April 14, 1891, of an at- tack of pneumonia, contracted a few days before, during a busi- ness trip to New York City. He left a wife and six children: Annie, the wife of J. W. Fry ; Robert Percy ; Jessie, the wife of E. E. Richardson ; Mary, the wife of Doctor J. Allison Hodges ; Eugenia, the wife of George C. Heck; and Morehead. The widow and all the children, except Percy and Mary, who lives in Richmond, Virginia, are now (1906) dead.
In positions where the temptations to work primarily for one's self, and to use others as stepping-stones for one's own advance- ment, are so strong, Mr. Gray ever maintained his ideals. The daily papers of Greensboro and of the State at large, and resolu- tions of the organizations of which he was a member or with which he was in any wav affiliated, and his friends and associates in private life, with one voice paid imqualified tribute to his in- tegrity of character, his gentleness, lovableness of manner and disposition, his regard for the feelings and the rights of others, and his patriotic devotion to whatever could promote the public welfare. Though not one of the leaders of men in the departments of life which historians usually emphasize — war and politics — ^he lived to the full his life in that direction which is at the foundation of all healthy commonwealths — loyal, public-spirited citizenship.
George Stockton Wills,
JOHN HALL
1 OHX HALL, one of tlie Justices of tlie Su- preme Court of North Carolina at the time of its organization in 1818, was bom in Augusta Comity, \'irginia, on the 31st of May, 1767. His father. Edward HaM, was a native of Ire- land, who came first to Pennsylvania, later ■ in Virginia, about the year 1736. In the Spring of 1744 (his Edward Hall was united in marriage with Eleanor Stuart, a daughter of Archibald Stuart, Sr., of the noted family from which sprang Judge Archibald Stuart. Jr., the Honorable A. H. H. Stuart, of President Fillmore's Cabinet, and General J. E. B. Stuart, of the Confederate Army. The above lady was mother of a large family, one of her sons being our present subject. After due preparation John Hall entered William and Mary College, and there formed the acquaintance (among other friends of later years) of John Stark Ravenscroft, a young law student who afterwards entered the ministry and was Bishop of North Carolina at the same time that Hall was a member of the Supreme Court of the State. Young Hall studied law at Staunton, Vir- ginia, under his kinsman, Judge Archibald Stuart. Of Hall's sentiments toward the latter gentleman it has been said:
"He was fondly attached lo his legal instructor, and cherished an ardent gratitude towards him for his assistance in the prosecution of his pro- fes!iiona1 studies as well as for his uniform friendship and kindness. He
ii8 NORTH CAROLINA
often spoke of him with warm affection in subsequent life, and named a son after him. The intelligence of Judge Stuart's death was received by him with deep emotions of sorrow during his own last illness."
When a young man about twenty-five years of age John Hall, having completed his legal studies, located at the town of War- renton, North Carolina, which was his place of residence through- out the remainder of his life. In his new home the prospects of the young stranger were at first discouraging. He was of a rather diffident nature, and reserved in his intercourse with the public. Nor were his talents as an orator of a high order. But he had a splendid intellect which laborious study had richly stored with legal knowledge, and a profitable clientage was soon drawn to him. Judge Hall was not only ever grateful to those who had befriended him in his early struggles, but it is said that he never lost an opportunity to favor their descendants in after years when occasions offered.
It was in 1800 that Judge Hall took his seat on the Superior Court Bench, and he remained theron until 1818, when the Su- preme Court was established. Then he became one of the Justices of that tribunal.
Judge Hall was distinguished as a member of the Masonic Fraternity, and belonged to Johnston-Caswell Lodge No. 10 at Warrenton. He was Senior Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge from December 18, 1802, till December 12, 1805, and Grand Master from December 12, 1805, till December 16. 1808.
It was January i, 1818, that the Supreme Court was organized, John Louis Taylor being Chief-Justice, with Leonard Henderson and John Hall as Associate-Justices. This court first sat for the dispatch of business on January i, 1819. Hall remained on the bench until December, 1832. when he sent in his resignation on account of ill-health. In 1829, while still a member of the Su- preme Court, he was chosen one of the Presidential Electors from North Carolina. Though the station he occupied prevented his active participation in the campaigns of that day, he was a pro- nounced Democrat of the Jefferson ian school.
This sketch is largely drawn from an account of Judge Hall
JOHN HALL 119
written by William Eaton, Jr., and published (with portrait) in the North Carolina University Magazine for April, i860. Of the religious views of Judge Hall, Mr. Eaton said :
*'He did not become a professor of religion until a few months before he died, although he had at all times great respect for it. His early predilections were in favor of the Presbyterian Church, but he finally joined the Episcopal Church, and the sacrament was administered to him in his own chamber shortly before his death by the Reverend Joseph H. Saunders, then rector of Emmanuel Church at Warrenton, who removed to Florida a few years afterwards and died there."
An oil portrait of Judge Hall adorns the Supreme Court Chamber at Raleigh, and another is owned by the Masonic Grand Lodge of North Carolina.
The death of Judge Hall occurred on the 29th of January, 1833. We copy the following obituary notice of him from the Star, a paper published in Raleigh :
"Died, at his residence in Warrenton, on Tuesday, the 29th ult., the Honorable John Hall, for many years one of the Judges of the Circuit Court, and, since its organization, of the Supreme Court of North Caro- lina. Thus has the cruel and ungovernable disease of cancer of the throat, after a lingering progress of twelve months, at length destroyed one of the best .nnd purest men that ever adorned humanity. Judge Hall was a native of Virginia, but for the last forty years had been a resident of Warrenton. Of the sternest and most scrupulous integrity, of the most unaffected simplicity of manners and feeling, possessing —
"A heart where rich .benevolence was found,
That beat not for itself alone.. But shed its warmth on all around,"
it may well be imagined that as living he was universally beloved, so in death he was sincerely lamented by all. But it is not as a private individual only that we deplore his loss — the State, the country, has been deprived of a useful, a valuable man. Judge Hall, when he lately tendered his resignation as a Judge of the Supreme Court, had occupied a seat on the Inrnch for upwards of twenty years. During the whole time he gave the most entire satisfaction. Indeed, in all the essential qualities of a good Judge, in untiring patience, accurate intelligence, and incorruptible hon- esty of purpose, he never was surpassed. As a politician, he was well informed, frank, faithful and firm. In a word, in all the varied relations of life he was 'an Israelite indeed, in whom there was no guile.' Let
120 NORTH CAROLINA
not, then, his amiable family indulge in useless sorrows for their loss — let them repose on the sympathy of a whole community — let them rest on the fair fame that has been bequeathed to them — let them reflect that this, at least, not even can time affect, but that it will prove a 'monument more lasting than brass.' "
On January 31st, when news of the death of Judge Hall reached Raleigh, a joint meeting of the Bench and Bar was held in honor of his memory. Over this meeting Chief Justice Leonard Hen- derson presided, and William H. Haywood, Jr., afterwards United States Senator, acted as Secretary. The following series of res- olutions, offered by the Honorable William Gaston, was adopted on this occasion :
"Resolved: That the intelligence which has just been received of the death of the Honorable John Hall, lately a Judge of the Supreme Court of North Carolina, requires of us an expression of the sense we entertain of the merits of the deceased, and the regret we feel for his removal from among us.
"Resolved: That the able, faithful and devoted services which the deceased rendered to the community during the thirty-two years in which he has acted as a Judge of the Superior and Supreme Courts of the State entitle his memory to our highest respect, while his private virtues com- mand for his name a firm place in our affections.
"Resolved: That, in testimony of this respect and affection, we will wear the usual badge of mourning for thirty days."
Judge HalKs wife was Mary Weldon, daughter of William Wcldon, and granddaughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel Wel- don, an officer of North Carolina Militia during the War of the Revolution. By her he left a large number of children, and has numerous descendants now living. Judge Edward Hall, one of the sons of Judge John Hall, occupied a seat on the Superior Court Bench in 1840-41.
Marshall De Lancey Haywood.
JOHN HAMILTON
t HEN the last formidable force raised by the Royal House of Stuart was swept away in the carnage of Culloden, many Jacobites, who had the g:ood fortune to escape the battle and the axe of the executioner, began life anew in America. Of this numtier was John Hamil- ton, a mere youth at the time of the tattle, which occurred on the i6th of April, 1746. At what time Hamilton came to North Caro- lina is not known. He was a merchant in Halifax when the troubles with Great Britain began, and during the succeeding war was a devoted adherent of King George,
In Halifax, where Hamilton lived, he had for his friends and neighbors such men as Willie Jones, Thomas Eaton, and other fiery Whigs, and it took no small amount of courage to stand forth for the cause of King and Parliament amid such sur- roundings.
Some time after the great American victory at Moore's Creek Bridge, North Carolina, on the 27th of February, 1776, Hamil- ton (who was probably not in that action) gathered together as many of the demoralized Loyalists as could be induced to Join the King's standard, and repaired to St. Augustine, Florida, where he drilled his recruits and organized them into a formidable regi-
The chief scenes of Hamilton's military activities in 1779 and
122 NORTH CAROLINA
1780 were in South Carolina and Georgia. He held a command at the Battle of Kettle Creek, Georgia, on the 14th of February, 1779, when the British were defeated; but a short while thereafter (March 3d) was at Briar Creek, Georgia, where his side triumphed ; later, on June 20th, he materially aided in the victory of the Royal forces at the Battle of Stono. In the Fall of 1779 he was at the siege of Savannah. He joined the army under Sir Henry Clinton in South Carolina in March, 1780; and, on the 27th of that month, was taken prisoner by the cavalry forces of Colonel William Washington. In recounting this occurrence, the South Carolina historian, McCrady, observes : **Colonel Ham- ilton, of whom we have before spoken, was a valuable prize, but Washington was hunting for much bigger game, and came near capturing Sir Henry Clinton himself."
After being made a prisoner Colonel Hamilton was taken to Charleston, but his captivity was of short duration; for, on the 1 2th of May, 1780, the American garrison there surrendered to Sir Henry Clinton. During the British occupation which fol- lowed Hamilton was indefatigable in his efforts to promote the comfort of American prisoners — especially his old friends from North Carolina — and thereby increased the respect in which he had always been held by the Whigs.
In the Spring of 1780, the Americans being apparently over- awed by the great forces gathered against them in the South, James Moore, of Lincoln County, North Carolina, returned tc his old home and announced himself a Lieutenant-Colonel of Hamilton's regiment, and that he was sent into North Carolina to raise the King's standard. He ordered a rendezvous of the Loyalists ; but on news of this reaching the Whigs a force of the latter was gathered, and at the Battle of Ramseur's Mill (June 20, 1780) the Tories were defeated and scattered.
At the Battle of Hanging Rock, South Carolina, on the 6th of August, 1780, Colonel Hamilton was present, and he also aided in gaining the great British victory at Camden ten days later.
Hamilton was with Cornwallis on his march through North Carolina, w^as present at the Battle of Guilford Court House
JOHN HAMILTON 123
(March 15, 1781), and his military career probably ended with the surrender of Comwallis at Yorktown. He was in St. Augus- tine, Florida, in the Fall of 1783, and in London in the Spring of
1785. During the course of the war some of the hardest fighting done
by Hamilton's regiment was when it was pitted against troops from North Carolina; and the latter were often commanded by former friends. At the Battle of Briar Creek, where the Ameri- cans were routed, Thomas Eaton was one of those who fled for life. Speaking of Eaton, McRee, in his biography of Iredell, says:
"He had a very small foot and wore a boot of unusual finish and neat- ness. In the haste of his flight, he left his boots behind. They were recognized and purchased of a soldier by John Hamilton, who afterwards^ commanded a regiment of Loyalists in the British service. After the war, at a dinner party at Willie Jones's, Hamilton, with some good-natured raillery, produced the boots and passed them to their former owner, who, greatly incensed, threw them across the table at Hamilton's head."
Hamilton's estates in North Carolina were confiscated during the war along with those of many other Loyalists.
As a reward for his fidelity to King George, Colonel Hamilton was appointed Consul at Norfolk, in Virginia, and there he re- mained for some years. The great poet, Thomas Moore, visited him there during a tour through America. In a note on a piece of verse entitled "To George Morgan, Esq., of Norfolk, Virginia," who served in the consulate under Hamilton, Moore says :
**The consul himself. Colonel Hamilton, is among the very few in- stances of a man ardently loyal to his King, and yet beloved by the Ameri- cans. His house is the very temple of hospitality ; and I sincerely pity the heart of that stranger who, warm from the welcome of such a board, could sit down and write a libel on his host, in the true spirit of a modern philosophist. See the 'Travels of the Duke de la Rochefoucault-Lian- court.' Vol. II."
Colonel Hamilton did not remain in Norfolk permanently, but finally returned to Great Britain. In his work on American Loyal- ists, Sabine says that Hamilton died in England in 1817 at a very advanced age. Marshall De Laucey Haywood,
r
»•• '
\ \\
GUSHING BIGGS HASSELL 125
Before attaining his majority he entered upon a mercantile career which he followed until his death. His business was large and generally prosperous. He was an indulgent creditor. He said that in this way he helped many needy persons. He preferred to suffer these losses "rather than grind the faces of the poor." . At his deatli he left a comfortable fortune for his family. He was twice married. In 1832 he married Mary Davis, who bore him seven children and died in 1846. Three years afterward he mar- ried Martha Maria Jcwett, widow of Elder Daniel E. Jeweit, of Warwich, New York. She bore him four children.
To illustrate his usefulness as a citizen, it may be stated that he energetically and successfully filled the following positions of usefulness and honor; Trustee of the University of North Carolina, trustee of WilHamston Academy, founder, Secretary and Treasurer of WilHamston Library Association; Oerk and Master in Equity of Martin County; Treasurer of Martin County; Presi- dent of the Roanoke Steam Navigation Company; member of the Constitutional Convention of i86i and also of the Constitutional Convention of 1875. These important positions show the versa- tility of his usefulness. When first elected treasurer of Martin County only four votes were cast against him. In politics be was a Democrat, and in the struggle of his party to redeem the State in 1875 he exerted all his great power of mind and body. As a campaign speaker he was eloquent and convincing. His state- ments on public questions were not questioned by his opponents. But his great services to his community, county and State in sec- ular matters were all overshadowed by his work in the ministry of bis church.
In the Winter of 1827-28 he felt himself arrested by some super- natural power. It is told by his son in an excellent sketch that he was first a religious skeptic, and read the Bible simply to demonstrate its inconsistencies and seeming absurdities. That Winter was a time of unusual religious excitement in his com- munity. He tried to hide his broken heart from the world. He fled to the law for refuge and safety, and resolved to live a still more moral life. These things were but dross, and bowing low
126 NORTH CAROLINA
to the stroke of the Master, on January 13, 1828, he arose a be- liever in His mercy and goodness and power. Then and there he felt the burden of sin removed and he experienced a sensation of joy unspeakable. He was then living in Halifax. There was no Baptist Church there. He was deeply impressed with his duty to be baptized. In March of that year he went to Williamston and was baptized by Elder Joseph Biggs and by him received into the fellowship of Skewarky Church. The great doctrines of that faith — election, total depravity, particular redemption, ef- fectual calling, and final preservation of the saints — were at an early period firmly settled in his mind. In 1833 he was chosen a deacon of Skewarky Church. In that year General William Clark, a man of wealth and talents and a minister of one of the churches of the Kehukee Association, withdrew from her communion and wrote a pamphlet defamatory of that body. Mr. Hassell replied in a pamphlet of sixty pages which the association adopted and circulated. The reply was crushing. Clark was silenced and went to the Southwest in new fields of labor.
For many years he was an active worker in prayer meetings and church conferences. In 1840 he was licensed to preach, and in 1842 a presbytery composed of Elders James Osbom, Joseph Biggs, and William Whitaker ordained him. His first pastorates were at Skewarky and Spring Green churches. In 1859 ^^ was chosen Moderator of the Kehukee Association, and to this honor- able and responsible office he was annually re-elected until his death. For the first ten years of his ministry he received no dona- tions from any one ; but he then concluded that for the donors and himself such a course was wrong, and during the last thirty years of his life he received from marriage fees and preachmg an average of less than a hundred dollars a year — ^an amount barely sufficient to defray his actual traveling expenses. He did not labor in his Master's vineyard for earthly reward. His own dona- tions to others amounted to large sums. His religious life was lived in his family, and at its altar daily morning and evening prayers were said, after Scripture reading and the singing of a hymn. He sang well and taught his children to sing. Each Sab-
GUSHING BIGGS HASSELL 127
bath morning after prayers it was the custom to instruct his chil- dren in Scripture history and the plan of salvation.
For years the Primitive Baptist Church of his community held prayer meetings at each other's homes every Sunday night. After the war all these meetings were held at his home.
Few excelled him in extemporaneous oratory. All the ser- mons were preached without written preparation and frequently without moments for forethought. He said he preferred to search the Scriptures before preaching. In order and method, in neatness and cleanliness of person and attire, in self-control and evenness of temper, in untiring industry, he had few equals. He wrote his autobiography up to the year 1847, and kept a diary of his life ever afterward. He recorded in blank books, with interesting particulars, all his ordinations, baptisms, texts, marriages, and the donations made to him. He rarely retired before midnight and almost invariably arose at five o'clock in the morning. He frequently said he would rather wear out than rust out, and that he wished to live so that he would be missed when he was gone. He was appointed in 1876 by the Kehukee Association to write a history of that body and of the Church of God from the creation to the present time. He devoted most of the year 1879 to this work. At the time of his death he had completed the history of the Kehukee Association and of the churches composing it, a statistical table of all the old school Baptist associations in America, a series of articles on the distinctive tenets and practices of his denomination and a history of the church for 4300 years — from the creation to the year A.D. 350. This was the crowning work of his life and it sapped his strength. He felt that his time was short. He preached in his favorite pulpit — Skewarky — for the last time on February 8, 1880. His last discourse was the in- troductory sermon at the meeting of Skewarky Union meeting at Conoho, February 27, 1880. The next day his fatal illness seized him. In all those hours he exhibited no anxiety about the future state. Not a cloud dimmed his prospect for a blessed im- mortality. A little while before he died he said : **I am passing to a better world. I am going from the land of the dying to the land
128 NORTH CAROLINA
of the living/* For almost every one that called to see him he had some special message and heavenly advice. When quite restless and tossing about, toward twelve o'clock Saturday night, April loth, he was asked if he wanted anything, and he said, "Nothing in the world/' A little after midnight, just as the Sunday was coming in, without a struggle he died. A placid and heavenly smile rested upon his countenance, and he was at peace.
Every store and shop of his town was closed at his burial, such was the universal esteem and love in which he was held by all classes.
Gushing Biggs Hassell was a strong man, in mind, in body, in character, in love and in tenderness. He added to the sum of human happiness. His was a simple life. Hear his words on his death-bed : "Bury me in a plain wooden coffin, and without display, or ceremony, or preaching, in the simple manner of the Apostolic age. I have never engaged; in funeSfal preaching. Just let my friends gather in silence around when my. body is deposited in its last resting-place, feury me at Skewarky by the side of my children.*'
F, D, Winston.
TKE KZW YORK
PUBLIC LIBRARY
r L
I30 NORTH CAROLINA
the University of North Carolina. He matriculated at that in- stitution July, 1858, and remained there until August, 1861, when, on the fall of the forts at Cape Hatteras, he returned home to as- sist his father in his business. At the University he received first distinction, leading his class from the time he entered. At the commencement of 1867 the degree of A.M. was conferred on him by the University — it was then an honorary degree. In July, 1889, he was called back to his Alma Mater to deliver illustrated lectures on astronomv at the Summer Normal School.
At the beginning of the Civil War the subject of this sketch was in very low health. He was examined by a recruiting officer and exempted for physical disability. During the war he was similarly examined six times, and each time he was declared incapacitated for service by reason of an affection of the lungs and throat which continued for a year after the close of the war. Notwithstanding the extremely low state of his health, he served in the Winter of 1862 as Secretarv of Colonel Samuel Watts of the Martin Countv Militia, at Fort Hill, near Washington, North Carolina, for three weeks, until the disbanding of the regiment at the fall of Roanoke Island. During the remainder of the war he taught his younger brothers and sisters when he was physically able. An older brother, Theodore Hassell, was lieutenant of Company A, Seven- teenth Regiment and later Ordnance Officer of the Brigade and member of General Martin's staff. Lieutenant Hassell was killed in the battle of Kinston, March, 1865.
After the fall of Roanoke Island, February 8, 1862, the people of this section were subject to continued raids of Federal troops, both by cavalry and marines on land and gunboats coming up the Roanoke River. At one time these gunboats bombarded Wil- liamston seventeen hours because of a few Confederate soldiers who had been seen in their retreat up the river; the finest resi- dence in town was burned bv hot shot, and Elder C. B. Hassell's house was pierced by the fragment of a bomb. At another time, November, 1862, an army of 10,000 men, under General J. G. Foster, marched from Washington, North Carolina, through Wil- liamston to the vicinity of Tarboro, and then returned to Wash-
ington. In their raid they plundered, shipped North, gave away, or destroyed all the goods of the merchants in Williamston — as they did in other toxvns in their path — and almost every other portable article of value. At yet another time a company of raid- ers brought light wood to burn the home of Elder C, B. Hassell because he was a friend of the Confederacy, but they were calmly dissuaded by him from doing so.
Elder Sylvester Hassell began his chosen profession — teaching — as principal of the Williamston Academy, where he remained from 1865 to 1868. In 1869 he went to the Slate Xormal College of Delaware to fiSl the chair of Ancient Languages. While living in Wilmington, Delaware, he was married in 1870 to Miss Mary li^bclla Garrell. daughter of Julius S, Garrell, of Martin County, North Carolina. He taught there and at New Castle, Delaware, until the last sickness and death of his wife in 1871, and resigned the principalship of the New Castle Graded School to rest a while and then teach in Wilson. North Carolina. Of this marriage one son, Paul, who died at the age of lifEeen, was bom. In 1872 he es- tablished the Wilson Collegiate Institute, at Wilson, North Caro- lina. For fourteen years he successfully managed this school. On May .j, i8/fi, he was married lo A/(B:^ Frances Luuisa VV'oud- ard, daughter of Calvin Woodard, of Wilson County. There were born to them seven children, four of whom, Francis. Charles, Mary, and Calvin, are now hving. His wife died in January, 1889. It was while Hving at Wilson that his father. Elder Gush- ing Biggs Hassell. was appointed by the Kehukee Primitive Baptist Association {in 1876) to prepare its third history, and to combine with it a history of the Church from the creation. The general history of the Church Elder C. B. Hassell requested his son. Elder Sylvester Hassell, to write. Accordingly the latter purchased the most valuable church histories published in Europe and America for this purpose. He did not have time for this work, as he had six or seven teachers and a large school. His father, who had retired from business, consequently undertook the whole work. For three years Elder C. B. Hassell labored at his task. On his death in 1880 he committed his manuscript to his son to
132 NORTH CAROLINA
complete the work. He at once set about the task, which was a great and laborious one, and devoted his great talents and almost his entire time for six years to the completion and revisal of the history, bringing it down to A.D. 1885. A close student and a finished scholar, he gave the very highest authorities where there was any question as to the position he was taking. At times, in deciding upon some particular point, he frequently had open be- fore him twenty authorities of the highest character. On com- pleting this monumental work in 1886, he gave up the school at Wilson and returned to his old home in Williamston, North Caro- lina, to become again principal of the academy there and to serve the church near that place, of which he was a member and pastor. The history was published by Gilbert Beebe's sons, Middletown, New York, in 1886, in a closely printed octavo volume of 1032 pages, with a very copious Table of Contents and Alphabetical Index.
There had been two other histories of the Kehukee Association, one by Elders Burkett and Read, published in 1803, and one by Elder Joseph Biggs, father of Judge, and afterwards United States Senator, Asa Biggs, and published in 1834. These were confined chiefly to the association, and did not purport to be his- tories of the Christian Church.
The "Church History" of Elders C. B. and S. Hassell contains succinctly an account of all the leading religions of the world and of all denominations of Christianity, and states substantially the fair and full truths as found by the authors, irrespective of the creeds of their Church or any other Church. They endeavored to write a non-sectarian history. The work passed through two editions, and a third edition is much in demand. It is a candid, faithful, truthful, and scriptural "History of the Church of God from the Creation" to A.D. 1885.
After returning to his home, Williamston, and teaching there from 1886 to 1890, he, by reason of failing health, discontinued teaching and traveled and visited churches in several States.
We have thus far given his history, and an account of his nat- ural services to his fellow-men. By far the greater and better part
SYLVESTER HASSELL 133
of his great and useful life has been spent in his unselfish service to his God and the churches, in writing and preaching. Before proceeding further, it may be well to say just a word about the Church with which he has been allied.
Before, during and since the war between the States there was and has been and is a wonderful unity of belief and affection be- tween Old School or Primitive Baptists, North, South, East and West, though of course there are some differences of expression and forms among some of them. The ministers are often led (as they believe of the Divine Spirit) to visit distant counties and States and sometimes other nations to preach the Gospel of the Son of God, and they are kindly received and treated, and the God of Providence sustains them and their families in these labors without the aid of any human societies. While the most of the churches do not have any large increase at any one time, still their numbers gradually increase with the population of the country. In 1892 Elder Hassell became associate editor of the Gospel Mes* sen get — a monthly religious magazine founded in 1878, and at the time owned and published by Elder J. R. Respass, of Butler, Georgia. After the death of Elder Respess in 1895, he purchased the paper in 1896, and has continued its owner and editor-in-chief until the present time. It is now published in Williamston, North Carolina, and is devoted entirely to the defense and the dissemina- tion of the doctrine and truths of the Word of God. There are four editors associated with him in the work, Elders J. G. W. Henderson and S. W. Stewart, of Alabama, Lee Hanks, of Georgia, and J. H. Oliphant, of Indiana. The paper's circula- tion extends to twenty-six States and Canada.
Elder Hassell is an accomplished linguist. He has been a stu- dent all his life. His fine library of about 3000 volumes, which he has been many years collecting, is the library of a scholar and theologian. Most of his fellow-ministers know only the English language and have had very limited educations (though there are a few ver\' highly educated) and have few books besides their Bibles and hymn-books, yet they are well acquainted with the spirit and letter of the Word of God. All the ministers of
134 NORTH CAROLINA
the Primitive Baptist Church serve their churches without any charge or stipulated salary.
Elder Hassell has never been a member of any moral or re- ligious order or society other than his Church. His just convic- tions of a religious nature began when young ; and as he was ar- rested by supernatural power and shown the deep depravity of his carnal nature, he fled first to the Law and then to the Cross for mercy, and found peace and pardon in the atoning blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. He received the evidence that his sins were forgiven August 17, 1863, and joined the Church at Skewarky, near Williamston, January 7, 1864. He began his labors in the ministry December 10, 1871, at the age of twenty-nine, and was regularly ordained to the full work of the Gospel ministry August 9, 1874, by a presbytery consisting of his father and Elders David House and William Whitaker. He has had the pastoral care of his home church, Skewarky, since 1881. Besides, he has labored extensively in his own State and Virginia, West Virginia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Texas, Florida, Louisi- ana, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, New York, Massa- chusetts and Canada. He has been the Moderator of the Ke- hukee Association — the oldest Primitive Baptist Association in the United States, having been formed in Halifax County in 1765 — almost continuously since the death of his father, and has recently been chosen by that body as their permanent presiding officer. His wise and timely counsel is always faithful and always for peace and harmony. He is still laboring with tongue and pen for the glory of God and the good of the churches and his fellow- man, ''speaking the truth in love" and publishing the glorious Gospel of Christ — "Glory to God in the highest: on earth peace and good-will to men." He is to-day justly regarded by many as one of the most learned, honest, able, and truthful expounders of the Word of God now living, and he is still humbly laboring for the cause which is dearer to him than life itself, without the promise or hope of any earthly reward, but with the desire for the triumph of truth, and with a conscience void of offence toward God and man. M, L, Lawrence,
PHILEMON HAWKINS, SR.
fHILEMON HAWKINS, first of his name to settie in North Carolina, resided in the colonial [ county of Bute, which was established in 1764 I out of the eastern part of Granville County and which was divided into Warren and Franklin- , Counties in 1779. He was bom in Virginia on the 28th of September, 1717. His father was Philemon Haw- kins, who was bom in England in 1690, and emigrated in 1715 to Virginia, where he died in 1725. The wife of this founder of the family in America (and Ihe mother of Philemon Hawkins, later of North Carolina) was Ann Eleanor Howard. The Haw- kins family claims descent from the renowned Elizabethan ad- miral and explorer. Sir John Hawkins.
One of the sons of Colonel Philemon Hawkins (subject of this sketch) was Colonel Philemon Hawkins, Jr., of Pleasant Hill, in Warren County, North Carolina. In a ponderous Family Hible. formerly owned by the latter, we find many interesting items about the subject of our present sketch and his family's early history in North Carohna. Following are some of the entries :
"Philemon Hawkins, father of Philemon Hawkins of Pleasant Hill, was bom in Virginia. He removed lo the mouth of Six Pound Creek in North Carolina ; was one of the first settlers there. He was an exiretnely active and industrious man, an uncommonly good husband and father.
136 NORTH CAROLINA
and one of the best providers for a family. The Creator blessed him with a great share of chattels and wealth, and he lived to be nearly eighty-four years of age. He departed this life loth day of September, A.D. 1801."
He came to North Carolina in his young manhood, about 1737, and settled in what was then the western part of Edgecombe County, later Granville, afterwards Bute, and later still Warren: being among the first to settle in that section.
Concerning the wife of the last-named is an entry in the above Family Bible which gives some account of her life and char- acteristics in the following words :
"Delia Hawkins, mother of Philemon Hawkins of Pleasant Hill, de- parted this life the 20th day of August, A.D. 1794, respected and esteemed by all her acquaintances. She was the daughter of Zachariah Martin, a respectable planter and native of Virginia. She was one of the first set- tlers upon Six Pound Creek in North Carolina, where her husband, Phile- mon Hawkins, owned a mill. The country was then a wilderness, which occasioned corn to be extremely scarce; and, when the poorest of the people came with their corn to the mill, instead of taking toll, she would add to their morsel and have it ground into meal gratis. She was uni- versally kind to the poor. The great Creator of us all blessed her with a great share of health and wealth, and she lived to be seventy-three years of age."
Next after the above entry is another recording the death of the family's most distinguished member, who was a son of Colonel Philemon Hawkins, subject of the present sketch. This was Colonel Benjamin Hawkins, the interpreter of French on the staff of General Washington during the Revolution, member of the Continental Congress, United States Senator, Agent for the Creek Nation, etc., who spent his last years at Fort Hawkins, Georgia. This reads :
"Colonel Benjamin Hawkins, Agent for the Creek Indians, departed this life on the 6th of June, at eight o'clock in the evening, 1816. in the sixty-second year of his age. He has served as a publick character in vari- ous departments and always discharged the trust faithfully for thirty-six years — a worthy, honest man."
Colonel Philemon Hawkins, of Bute County, our present sub- ject, is usually styled Philemon Hawkins, Sr., in history, to dis- tinguish him from his son, Colonel Philemon Hawkins, Jr., of
PHILEMON HAWKINS, SR. 137
Pleasant Hill, in Warren County, a man of equal note, who will be the subject of a separate sketch in the present voltune, as will also Benjamin and other members of the family. Both Philemon, Sr., and Philemon, Jr., fought under Governor Tryon at the bat- tle of Alamance, May 16, 1771.
On September 28, 1829, Colonel Hawkins, the younger, gathered as many relatives and friends at Pleasant Hill in Warren County as could be gotten together, and celebrated the 112th an- niversary of his late father's birth. One of the chief features of this gathering was an oration on "Philemon Hawkins, Sr.. De- ceased," delivered by Colonel John D. Hawkins, son of the younger Philemon. In this we find many interesting facts about the elder Colonel Hawkins. Concerning the distinguished part he took in the Battle of Alamance, the speaker said :
"Upon this occasion His Excellency selected our venerated ancestor as his chief aid-de-camp and assigned to him the hazardous duty to read to the Regulators his proclamation, which he did promptly. And, after the battle commenced, he was the bearer of the Governor's commands throughout the whole action. This so exposed him to the fire of the ene- my that his hat was pierced by two balls, various balls passed through his clothes, and one bullet and two buckshot lodged in the breach of his gun. which he carried and used during the action. But he had the good fortune not to !>e wounded. After the battle was over, he was compli- mented by the Governor for the very efficient aid given him, and for the bravery and ability displayed during the engagement,"
At the family reunion, when the above quoted address was de- livered, the ceremonies were opened with prayer by Leonidas Polk, a young clergyman, whose mother was a daughter of the host. Colonel Philemon Hawkins, Jr. This youthful churchman later became renowned alike as bishop and general, and was killed while fighting for the Confederacy at Pine Mountain, Georgia, on the i-vth of June, 1864.
Rut recurring to the history of Colonel Philemon Hawkins: not only did he distinguish himself at the Battle of Alamance, as above noted, but he filled many public posts. In Bute County he was High Sheriff (an office of great honor and dignity under Royal rule), and he was also at one time sergeant-at-arms of the
138 NORTH CAROLINA
Colonial Assembly. At the outbreak of the Revolution, Gov- ernor Josiah Martin greatly desired to gain the Hawkins family for the King's cause. With this end in view he inserted the name of Philemon Hawkins, Sr., and of Philemon Hawkins, Jr., in a commission (January lo, 1776), directing a rendezvous of Royal forces at Cross Creek, now Fayetteville. Neither father nor son took notice of this action by Martin, and both became faithful patriots. Referring to the matter, Governor Swain, in one of his historical addresses, said:
"These gentlemen were sturdy and well-tried Whigs throughout the Revolutionary War. Governor Martin may have been misinformed in relation to them, or may have inserted their names in order to render them objects of suspicion and strip them of their influence among the Whigs."
By his wife, Delia Martin, six children were bom to Colonel Philemon Hawkins, Sr. His two daughters .were Delia, who mar- ried Leonard Bullock; and Ann, who married Micajah Thomas. Both of these ladies died without surviving issue. The four sons of Colonel Hawkins were Colonel John Hawkins, Colonel Phile- mon Hawkins, Jr. (subject of separate sketch in this work), Colonel Benjamin Hawkins (also subject of separate sketch), and Colonel Joseph Hawkins.
The elder Colonel Philemon Hawkins, whose life we have at- tempted* to portray herein, was offered a brigadier-generars com- mission in the beginning of the Revolution, but declined. For a short while, however, he was a lieutenant-colonel of militia. Some civil appointments were conferred upon Colonel Hawkins, and these he accepted. He was a Justice of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions, first for the county of Bute, and later of Warren County. As heretofore mentioned, his life was the sub- ject of a memorial address delivered in 1829 by his grandson. Colonel John D. Hawkins. A son of the latter, Doctor A. B. Hawkins, of Raleigh, recently had this address reprinted.
Marshall De Lancey Haywood,
THE
"S t'.cV,' vc'^K
/ r^ r
w .
I.
140 NORTH CAROLINA
at the North, there was a general arming throughout North Caro- lina, and independent companies were then formed, which, how- ever, were disbanded by order of the Congress which met in Sep- tember, 1775, and arranged for a permanent military organiza- tion of the people of the State. It was apparently during that Sum- mer that a company was formed in Bute, the association paper being printed in the ninth volume of the Colonial Records, page 1 104. As illustrating the sentiments of the people in those trying times, we make some condensed extracts from the same :
"We, therefore, the trusty and well-beloved brothers and friends, to each other, of Bute County, North Carolina, .... do most seri- ously, religiously, join our hearts and hands in embodying ourselves into an Independent Company of Freemen, to be in readiness to defend our- selves against any violence that may be exerted against our persons and pioperties. to stand by and support to the utmost of our power the salva- tion of America; and do most humbly beseech our Lord Jesus Christ, of his great goodness, that he be pleased to govern and guide us to his glory, and to the good of our distressed country ; and with full dependence thereon, we the subscribers do constitute and agree that this Company consist of ninety rank and file, two drummers, eight sergeants, one en- sign, two lieutenants, and a captain to command, with full power, to our
glory and our country's good We will coincide with the
majority of the Company, should we ever be called for by the Command- ing Officer of the American Army. Being now cheerfully enlisted in this Independent Company of brothers, neighbors and friends, we do engage to stand by each other with life and fortune; and, through whatever fate should befall either, to cherish each other in sickness and in health; and do furthermore most cordially promise to each other, under all the tics of virtue and humanity, that should either of us survive the dreadful calami- ties of war, that we will religiously cherish and support to the utmost of our power each other's desolate and loving wife and tender, affec- tionate children, being poor orphans, from poverty and want; and for the faithful performance of this our brotherly and friendly covenant which we mean to perform, so help us God."
The expressions in this paper show the solemnity of the enlist- ment. It appears that young Philemon Hawkins was captain of the company.
When the Provincial Congress convened on April 4, 1776, the town of Halifax was its meeting-place, and Philemon Hawkins,
PHILEMON HAWKIXS. JR.
Jr., was at the age of tweiity-tliree- a member of that body. On May 3(! this Congress advanced Hawkins to the full rank of colonel, placing him in command of a regiment drafted from the districts of Edentoii and Halifax for the special purpose of sup- pressing an insurrection in the Currituck district. ( »n May 9th the Committee on Claims in the above Congress recommended an allowance to Colonel Hawkins "for the services of his regi- ment of militia on the late Currituck expedition, and against the insurgents." Colonel Hawkins was a member of the Pro- vincial Congress at Halifax in November, 1776. While the Rev- olution was in progress he also ser\'eil as a memtKir of the Gov- ernor's Council and often sat in the Assembly both during and after the war.
By Chapter 19 of the Laws of 1779 Bute County was divided, and out of it were created the counties of Warren and Franklin — the two latter named for Revolutionary patriots, Joseph Warren and Benjamin Franklin. The residence of Colonel Hawkins lay in that part of Bute which became Warren County ; but by sidi- sequcnt enactments and re-enactments his home was at different times placed in the counties of Granville and Franklin, as well as Warren, hut eventually his home place became permanently a part of Warren. At .seven sessions of the General Assembly, beginning in 1779, and extending — with one intermission — till 1787. Colonel Hawkins represented Granville in the North Caro- lina House of Commons: and was sent to the same body from Warren at the sessions of 1787, 1789, 1803. 1805, 1806, 1817 and 1818. He was al.so State Senator from Warren at the sessions of 1807. 1808. 1810, and 18(1.
In the Convention which met at Fayetteville in November, 1789, and ratifieii the Constitution of the United States, Colonel Hawkins represented Warren County, and two of his colleagues in the Warren delegation were his brother, Colonel Benjamin Hawkins, and Wyatt Hawkins, a more remote connection.
The death of Colonel Hawkins occurred on the 28th of Jan- uary, 1833. An obituary, containing much valuable data concern- ing his life, appeared in the Raleigh Register of February 8, 1833 :
Y'^''-'
i..
BENJAMIN HAWKINS 145
a neutral island of the West Indies and a sort of Nassau of that day. Tobacco was used as a basis for purchases. It was bought in North Carolina and shipped to the West Indies and there ex- changed. Hawkins loaded a merchant ship and sent her to North CaroHna with supplies, chiefly munitions of war, but she was captured by the British on the home trip, and her owner, John Wright Stanly, of New-Bern, failing to recover from the State. sued Hawkins in his personal capacity. The Courts decided that the purchases and contracts of the State's agent did not bind him personally (ist Haywood's Reports). His efforts at importa- tion from foreign ports were not entirely without success, for in Fcbruan,. i"8o. he had imported 878 stands of arms from St. Eustatia. but adds: "I could not procure anything on the faith of the State, or by barter for provisions or tobacco, as was ex- [jected." ( State Rec, XV. i p. 337.) At home he was also employed in procuring food supplies, especially corn, salt and pork, and met with more success than in his foreigTi enterprises, for there were fewer obstacles to overcome.
He early impressed the Assembly with his fitness for activity on a wider field, for as early as February- 3, 1779, he was nom- inated fur. and on July 14. 1781, was dccted a delegate to the Continental Congress in place of Charles Johnson, declined (State Rec. XIII. 585 ; XVII. 872). He first appears in the journals of that body on October 4, 1781 ; was re-elected May 3, 1782; again in May, (783, and served until 1784. He was chosen December 16. 1786, for the remainder of the year, which had begun Novem- ber 1st. to supply a place then vacant and was again elected in December, 1787, but seems not to have served this last appoint- ment. While in the Continental Congress he was particularly in- terested in the navigation of the Mississippi, in the protection of the frontiers from the Indians, in a southern post route, in trade and commerce, etc. In December, 1787, along with Robert But- ton and William Blount he gives a gloomy but accurate picture of the state of the Union. It was then on the eve of bankruptcy ; little had been paid on the foreign debt, and the Government was on the verge of dissolution. He resigned his post the same month.
146 NORTH CAROLINA
Hawkins had served in the North Carolina Assembly as early as the April and August sessions, 1778, and January session, 1779. He was again in the Assembly in April, 1784, as a rep- resentative from Warren. He played here a conspicuous part, being often on the floor and serving on such committees as that on the tax to be levied by the Continental Congress and on the Continental Line, and on such special committees as those on con- fiscated estates, civil list, duties, Martinique debt, etc. He was nominated for membership in the Council of State this year, and it is known that he opposed the wholesale condemnation of Tories, acting in this connection wath the conservatives and opposing such radicals as Blood worth, Rutherford and Martin (State Rec- ords XV IL 145).
During the years immediately following the war the State was very much oppressed by the want of a fixed circulating medium. The paper money had depreciated till it was worth only 800 to i ; there was practically no gold and silver in circulation, and as a result the State was hard put to meet its current obligations, pay its officers, and raise its proportion of the foreign debt of the Con- federation. To meet this emergency State buyers of tobacco were appointed in various towns, who gathered and stored such amounts of merchantable tobacco as were available. This was then sold to the best advantage and the proceeds used in payment of the foreign debt. In 1787 Haw^kins and William Blount, in addition to their other duties as delegates in the Continental Congress, were charged with the sale of this tobacco, which work was successfully accomplished.
In December, 1788, Hawkins was nominated along with Hugh Williamson and Abishai Thomas as agent to settle the accounts of North Carolina with the United States; the last two were chosen. In November of that year he was also nominated as a delegate to the proposed convention, whose work it was to be to further revise and democratize the new Federal Constitution. In November, 1789, he represented Warren County in the Fayette- ville Convention. He served on its committee on order and voted for the adoption of the Federal Constitution.
BENJAMIN HAWKINS 147
After the State entered the new Federal Union there was an- other struggle between the two parties of the day, conservatives and radicals, or Federalists and anti-Federalists, later Republi- cans, over the senators to the new Federal Congress. The strug- gle began in the Assembly three days after the ratification of the Constitution. The nominees for senators were Samuel Johnston, Benjamin Hawkins, James White, Joseph McDowell, Timothy Bloodworth, Thomas Person, William Blount, John Williams, William Lenoir, John Stokes, Richard Dobbs Spaight and Wil- liam Polk, a goodly company, where the rankest Federalist was crowded and jostled by the extreme Radical. The Federals were in power, and it was proper that Samuel Johnston, the leading exponent of that party's political principles, should be chosen the first senator in Congress from North Carolina (November 27, 1789). After some skirmishing Hawkins was chosen on Decem- ber 9th as the second senator. He was the first to enter upon his duties, having qualified January 13, 1790, and winning the long term served till March 3, 1795. Johnston drew the short term and served from January 29, 1790, to March 2, 1793. In the meantime the political tide changed in North Carolina, and the Federalist and ultra-conservative Johnston was succeeded in 1793 by the more liberal Alexander Martin, while in 1795 Hawkins, aristocratic, conservative, proud and wealthy, gave way for the ultra-radical Bloodworth, who had begun life as a blacksmith and by sheer force of native intellect had worked his way to the front in public life.
It is of interest to make note here, merely as a sign of the times, that in 1790 the "alarming secrecy" of the Senate caused the North Carolina Assemblv to instruct its senators to use their influence to make the debates of the Senate public when sitting in its legislative capacity ; "to correspond regularly and constantly with the executive during the recess of the Legislature" and at other times with the Legislature itself, and to secure the publica- tion of the journals of the Senate.
Hawkins had been appointed a commissioner on March 21, 1785, to treat with the Cherokees and "all other Indians southward
148 NORTH CAROLINA
of them" in accord with the act of Congress of March 15, 1785. The other commissioners were Daniel Carroll, William Perry, Andrew Pickens and Joseph Martin (q. v.). Carroll and Perry did not serve and their place was taken by Lachlan Mcintosh. They were instructed to give due notice to the Governor of North Carolina. They were to treat with the Cherokees, and also with the Creeks, Chickasaws and Choctaws, and were authorized to draw on Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia for funds, and warned the executives of those States that funds must be forthcoming if the treaties were to be held. Caswell writes back that, while North Carolina was hard pressed, he would furnish one-third of the total sum asked for. The commissioners spent 1785 in making preparations; goods were purchased and sent to Charleston to go overland to Keowee. The Indians were slow in coming: the Creeks failed them entirely and the Con- tinental commissioners did not sign the treaty of Galphinton, which was the work of the agents of Georgia alone. On Novem- ber 28, 1785, Plawkins signed at Hopewell on Keowee with the Cherokees the treaty of Hopewell, than which perhaps no other Indian treaty was more roundly denounced by the whites. The object of this treaty was to define the claims of the whites and Indians respectively and so prevent encroachments of the former. William Blount was present as agent for North Carolina, and agents for Georgia were also in attendance. The treaty was mainly the work of Martin ; the chief question was that of bound- aries, and the Indians drafted a map showing their claims. They were induced to give up Transylvania, to leave out the Cumber- land section and the settlements on French Broad and Holston. The boundaries thus fixed were the most favorable it was possi- ble to obtain without regard to previous purchases and pretended purchases made by private individuals and others. The Indians yielded an extensive territory to the United States, but on the other hand the commissioners conceded to them a considerable ex- tent of territory that had been purchased by private individuals, though by methods of more than doubtful legality. The com- missioners agreed to remove some families from the Indian lands.
BENJAMIN HAWKINS 149
but they did not agree to remove those between French Broad and Holston. This angered the Indians, who said that they had never sold those lands. The whites were angry because some favors had been shown the Indians and because there had not been further curtailment of territory, and the States were angry because the commissioners had encroached on their reserved rights. William Blount, as agent of North Carolina, protested, and efforts were made in Congress to destroy the treaty (State Rcc, XVir. 578-9; XVIII. 49, 591-2, 490-1; XX. 762). En- CFoachments continued; orders were issued by North Carolina and by the Continental Congress that settlers should leave the In- dian lands. These settlers were even threatened with the army ; but treaties, proclamations and threats were alike in vain, for the terms of the treaty were never fully executed. Hawkins, Pickens and Martin signed treaties with the Choctaws on January 3d, and with the Chickasaws January 10, 1786, at the same place.
With this preliminary experience Hawkins was somewhat pre- pared to undertake the difficult and dangerous work of an Indian agent. His term as senator expired March 3, 1795. In June of that year Washington appointed him along with George Clymer, of Pennsylvania, and Andrew Pickens, of South Carolina, to treat with the Creek Confederacy and to investigate the anomalous political relationship caused by the treaty of Galphinton in 1785, where the Creeks had acknowledged themselves as within the limits of Georgia and members of the same, and the treaty of New York, signed August 7, 1790, where they placed themselves under the protection of the United States alone and bound themselves not to enter into anv treatv with any other individual, State or power.
In 1796 Washington appointed Hawkins agent of the United States among the Creeks and general superintendent of all the tribes south of the Ohio River (Chappell's "Miscellanies;" his commission was renewed by Jefferson in 1801 ). From this time, 1796, the remainder of the life of Benjamin Hawkins was de- voted entirely to the Indian. It is said that his family opposed this determination, for it was ambitious and wealthy. It is possible
ISO NORTH CAROLINA
that there was an element of pique at the change in the political tide in North Carolina, but it is certain that Hawkins had al- ready been much among the Indians; he had penetrated the mighty forests and had tasted the freedom that comes with life in the woods; he had felt what a modem novelist has keenly denominated the "call of the wild/' and when this spirit has once entered into and mastered the soul of man it is seldom that he again willingly submits to the restraints of civilization. When Hawkins accepted this position as Indian agent he practically quit civilized society, buried himself in the remote and savage woods and among a still more savage people, with whom the remainder of his days were spent.
On June 29, 1796, Hawkins negotiated with the Creeks the treaty of Coleraine which served as a useful supplement to the treaty of New York and by which the boundaries of the earlier treaty were confirmed. From this time for twenty years Colonel Hawkins as United States agent among the Creeks wielded a pro- consular sway over a scope of country regal in extent: Begin- ning at St. Mary's the Creek boundary ran across to the Altamaha ; thence it turned up and along the west bank of that river and of the Oconee to the High Shoals of the Appalachee, where it inter- sected the Cherokee line; thence through Georgia and Alabama to the Choctaw line in Mississippi; thence south down the Choc- taw line to the 31st parallel; thence east to the Chattahoochee, and then down that river to its junction with the Flint; thence to the head of St. Mary's River, and thence to the beginning.
Hawkins began his work as agent by a careful study of the people and of their country. He did much to initiate and encourage them in the lower forms, the basal elements, of civilization ; pastur- age was brought into use ; agriculture was encouraged by example as well as precept, for he brought his slaves from North Carolina and at the agency on Flint River cultivated a large plantation and raised immense crops of corn and other provisions, thus setting a high example of how to do by doing. He owned great herds of hogs and cattle and practised towards the Indians a profuse hospitality which always wins their friendship and esteem. Other
BEN"JAM!\ HAWKINS 151
treaties were negotiated with the Creeks at Fori Wilkinson, Georgia, in 1802 and at Washington, D. C, in 1805 ; also with the Chickasaws and Choctaws in 1801, 1802, 1803, and 1805, in which Hawkins was more or less of a participant and all of which meant a further cession of lands to the United States by the Indians who were under his control. But peaceful and friendly relations were generally maintained by Hawkins between advancing white and retreating Amerind for about sixteen years. With the war of 1812 the times changed. It was no longer possible for him to control the Creeks, who fell under the influence of British emis- saries. Tecumseh had visited them in 181 1 on a mission of war, Hawkins met the great warrior of the north at Tuckabatchee, the Creek capital, while holding a great council of the nation, but Tecumseh kept silent as to the object of his mission till the dc- [>3rture of Hawkins. Then, through that fierce Indian eloquence of which he was master and by the fanatical religiosity of his brother, the Prophet, a great Indian war was kindled, which spread far and wide over the frontier. But that part of tlie Creek country bordering on Georgia and extending west from the Oc- miilgce to the Chattahoochee never became the seat of actual war- fare, and hence the eastern frontier was spared its horrors. This was due very largely to the fact that Hawkins's scat was on the Oanulgee. opposite the present Macon, and afterwards on the Flint at the place since known as the Old Agency, and that his intlucncc was naturally greater on the eastern than on the western border of the Creek country. The eastern Creeks were actually organized into a regiment of defence of which Plawkins became titular colonel, the actual command devolving on the half-breed chief. William Mcintosh.
The uprising of the Creeks was crushed in fire and blood by Jackson early in 1814: by the treaty of Fort Jackson their limits were greatly reduced and their strength broken forever. This treaty was the death-knell of the nation ; even the friendly chiefs withered under its influence, and the passing of the people for whom he had so long and faithfully iabored perhaps hastened the death of Hawkins himself, which occurred at Hawkinsville,
152 NORTH CAROLINA
Georgia, June 6, 1816. Wheeler states in his ''Reminiscences" that Hawkins married and left one son, Madison, and three daughters.
Colonel Hawkins was a man of liberal education, high attain- ments and much experience. He was far abqve the average In- dian agent of that day and of this in general culture and grasp of affairs. Further, he was a man of approved honesty, and his life, as seen in his published letters, shows clearly that he was de- voted to the material upbuilding of the Indians under his care and to their intellectual advancement. The eminent position that the Creeks, Cherokees, Chickasaws and Choctaws now occupy among the civilized tribes of the Indian Territory is to be traced beyond question in part to the fostering and fatherly care shown them a hundred years ago by one who sought not to exploit his proteges for his own material benefit, but strove rather, by ex- ample as well as precept, to lift them to a higher life, and whose efforts they recognized and rewarded in the significant title Iste- chate-lige-osetat-chemis-te-chaugo — Beloved Man of the Four Nations.
Colonel Hawkins also devoted much time to the studv of In- dian history, especially that of the Creeks. Much of his material was destroyed by fire, but eight manuscript volumes escaped and are in possession of the Georgia Historical Society. These vol- umes relate to the history of the various tribes with whom he treated and are filled with details of treaties, his correspondence on behalf of the Indians with the State and General Governments, vocabularies of Indian languages, records of the manners and customs, religious rites, civil polity, etc. His "Sketch of the Creek Country in 1798 and 1799" was published in 1848 as Part i of V^ol- ume 3 of the Historical Collections of the Georgia Historical So- ciety. It is filled with matters relating to the life, manners and customs of the Creeks and to the natural features of their coun- try. His journal of a **Tour Through the Creek Country," November 19, 1796, to May 21, 1797, is still in manuscript and is owned by the same society. While in many respects Hawkins's studies have been superseded by later and more scientific ones, they are in others still of great value, and if published would
5er\-e as a valuable picture of Creek Indian life at a time when that powerful nation had come little in contact with the English-speak- ing world b_\' whom they were to be in part destroyed, in part absorbed.
This sketch is based on the sketch of Hawkins in his "Creek Counlrj." on that in Chappell's "Miscellanies of Georgia," on the "North Carolina State Records" and on Royce's "Indian Land Cessions in the United States."
Slephai B. Weeks.
WILLIAM HAWKINS
f HEN hostilities between America and Great Britain opened for a second time in 1812, the Governor of North Carolina was William Haw- kins, a native of the county of Bute, and a citi- zen of the county of Granville at the time of his election as Chief Magistrate. Two years after the birth of Governor Hawkins the name of Bute County was expunged from the map, and its territory divided into the counties of Warren and Franklin. This action — taken while the Revolutionary War was in progress — was done to perpetuate the names of two honored patriots in lieu of that of Lord Bute, one of the ministers of King George. Upon the division of Bute, Warren County became the home of the Hawkins family. This family had stamped its name on the history of North Carolina long before William Hawkins added to its honors. Governor Hawkins was a son of Colonel Philemon Hawkins, Jr. (subject of one of the preceding sketches), and his wife, Lucy Davis.
William Hawkins was born on the loth of October, 1777, and was reared at Pleasant Hill, his father's seat in Warren County. His early childhood was passed in the troublous times of our War for Independence, but comparative quiet reigned in his native county, for "there were no Tories in Bute." After receiving a good preliminary education, he took up the study of law in Gran- ville County under Judge John Williams. About the time he be-
came of age, his uncle, Colonel Benjamin Hawkins, invited him to make his home at Fort Hawkins, Georgia, and offered him the office of Assistant Indian Agent. This office young Hawkins ac- cepted, and left N'orth Carolina for his new home in the month of December, 1797. After two years spent at the Agency, Wil- liam Hawkins grew tired of the Indian country, and longed for his native State. At the suggestion of his uncle, however, he decided first to spend several years at Philadelphia, and there renew the study of law, besides perfecting himself in French and other branches of knowledge. Many of the friends made by Benjamin Hawkins while a member of the Continental Congress and Senate at Philadelphia were still residents of that city, so his favorite nephew did not go as an unknown stranger to Pennsylvania's metropolis.
In 1801 young Hawkins returned lo his native Stale, a finished scholar and a man of affairs. About a year after his arrival, Gov- ernor Turner made use of his experience in the Indian country by entrusting to his management the settlement of some troubles with the Tuscaroras. In 1804 William Hawkins was elected to represent Warren County in the North Carolina House of Com- mrins; he was re-elected to the same post in 1805. his colleague being his father. Colonel Philemon Hawkins, Jr. At the sessions of 1809, 1810 and 181 ! he represented Granville County in the North Carolina House of Commons. The House of Commons for
1810 elected him Speaker; he was also Speaker of the House in
1811 {November 9th) ; but during the latter session, on Decem- ber 7th, he was elected Governor of North Carohna. Two days later, on December 9th, he was duly inaugurated. He was twice re-elected — serving three annual terms in all — and retired on December 7, 1814, when Governor William Miller qualified.
Nearly the whole of the second war with Great Britain fell within the administration of Governor Hawkins. On the 23d o£ June, 1812. an express messenger reached Raleigh, announcing the declaration of war. In his message to the General Assembly (November 18, 1812), Governor Hawkins said:
156 NORTH CAROLINA
"The insolence, the injustice and the complicated aggressions on the part of that nation [Great Britain] towards the United States not only afforded our Government abundant cause of an appeal to arms long be- fore the period when that event took place, but seemed in the most com- manding terms to call for the adoption of that alternative in order to convince the enemy and the world that we possessed the will and the power to maintain and defend that liberty and independence which emanated from and were secured to us by the glorious struggles of our
Revolutionary fathers Let England be taught to know that
the present race of Americans are not of spurious origin — that they are the legitimate offspring of the heroes of our Revolution. She will then respect our rights, and the savage warwhoop will cease to terrify the de- fenceless inhabitants of our extensive frontiers."
Later on in this message Governor Hawkins stated that in the preceding April the President had directed him to detach from the militia of the State seven thousand men (including officers) for service when needed. This quota had been raised, said he, and consisted nearly altogether of volunteers, while many com- panies throughout the State were asking to be sent into the field whenever needed.
On hearing that a landing on our seacoast had been effected in July, 1813, Governor Hawkins left Raleigh on the 19th of that month, accompanied by his aide-de-camp, Colonel Beverly Daniel, and the Wake Dragoons under Major Thomas Henderson, while General Calvin Jones preceded him with another detachment of troops. After inspecting the defences in the vicinity of New- Bern and then going to other points along our coast region, Gov- ernor Hawkins returned to Raleigh on August 20th, and later sent a report of his observations to the Secretary of War.
In his message of November 17, 181 3, to the General As- sembly, Governor Hawkins referred to the efforts for peace, say- ing:
"If we weaken ourselves by cherishing internal divisions; if we exhibit ourselves to the enemy as a nation composed of two hostile parties, each endeavoring to destroy the other, we shall place that object at a distance from us. Great Britain, presuming upon our weakness, thus produced, will not only be more obstinate, but will be encouraged to indulge her ambition and arrogance. Is there an instance recorded where British
WILLIAM HAWKINS 157
rapacity hns yielded to the supplications of the weak? We cannot expect (hat nation, whose Government is so hostile In ours, will ever grant us peace a» a boon. Every American citizen, therefore, who is anxions IhaE ■1 shoultl be restored, will deem il his imperative duty to give his support lo the vigorous prosecution of the war as the only effectual means of obtaining it."
The Adjutant-General of North Carolina ( Robert Williams, of Surry) on November 24, 1813, reported that the Stale militia niitnbered 51,298 officers and men. At that time all able-bodied citizens were rctiuired to attend musters and were considered a part of the militia.
In his message of November 23. 1814. to the last Legislature which met during his administration. Governor Hawkins con- tinues to pour forth his defiance against the enemy and to in- voke a .spirited resistance to the unjust demands of England. After recounting some of the incidents of Ihc war, he says:
"When we view the effect which these outrages, and the arrogant and iniultinK demands of the British Government as the conditions of peace, have produced upon the two great contending parties of our country, we find real cause of exultation. The eyes of all are opened. The character of the enemy stands exposed. Party prejudices and distinctions are done away. The love of country predominates. That determined spirit which aiifiualed and nerved (he arms of our Rt^folaCiorisry iathtrs in achieving the liberty and independence which we now enjoy, pervades this exten- sive Continent. The resolution is now formed to bring into action the united energies of the nation to chastise our perfidious and insolent foe, and to compel him to abandon his iniquitous pretensions and give us peace upon honorable terms."
Speaking of events in North Carolina, the Governor went on to say in this message:
"Since the adjournment of the last Assembly the enemy in small plun- dering parties have made a few hasty incursions on the seacoast, but none of a character lo render it necessary or even allow time to call out the local militia. One company, however, was ordered on duty tor a short time to relieve a detachment of militia drafts which had garrisoned Fort Hampton, and whose term of service was about to expire. This company was subsequently recognised as being in the service of the United States by Colonel Long, of the United Stales Army, commanding in this State, who received their returns and informed me they would be paid. Several
158 NORTH CAROLINA
detachments of the requisition of the General Government have, however, been called into service. In the early part of the year a regiment under the command of Colonel Jesse A. Pearson marched to the Creek Nation to aid in suppressing the hostile part of these Indians. I had the grati- fication to learn from the commanding general, and it gives me pleasure to communicate to the Legislature, that this regiment — in point of dis- cipline, soldier-like demeanor, and promptness in the execution of every command that was given them — could not have been surpassed by any troops who have been no longer in the service. After their term of ser- vice had expired, they were marched to this State, received their pay, and were honorably discharged. Another regiment is now in the service of this State, a third at Norfolk, Virginia, and a fourth is ordered to ren- dezvous on the 28th inst. to reinforce the garrison of that place."
As heretofore noted, the third and last administration of Gov- ernor Hawkins ended on December 7, 1814. On the 24th of the same month a Treaty of Peace was signed at Ghent, and hos- tilities ceased when news of this event reached America.
The erection of the Governor's mansion, which formerly stood at the southern end of Fayetteville Street in Raleigh, but which has since been demolished, was begun during the administration of Governor Hawkins; and his successor. Governor Miller, was its first occupant. As late as December, 181 5, the building com- mittee reported to the State Senate: "The edifice intended for the Governor's dwelling is not yet completed."
For many years — from 1803 until his death in 18 19— Hawkins was one of the trustees of the University of North Carolina, and was ex-ofHcio President of the Board during his term as Governor.
About the year 1805, some years before his election to the office of Governor, William Hawkins removed from Warren to Gran- ville County, and took up his residence on a plantation on Nut- bush Creek, not far from the town of Williamsboro. Previous to this time, on the 24th of December, 1803, he had been united in marriage with Ann Swepson Boyd. To this union were bom seven children. They were: Emily, who married James Nuttall; Matilda, who married Doctor Joseph Nuttall; Lucy, who first married Doctor Littleton W. Coleman, and afterwards Honorable Henry W. Connor, M.C. ; William, who married Miss Carson;
WILLIAM HAWKINS 159
•
*
Celestia, who married Junius Amis; Henrietta, who married Junius Amis after the death of her sister, who was his first wife ; Mary Jane, who married Major Benjamin Morrow.
As heretofore noted, William Hawkins spent some of his early years at the Indian Agency in Georgia, as assistant to his uncle, Colonel Benjamin Hawkins. A younger brother of William was Captain Philemon Hawkins, who served in the Army of the United States during the second war with Great Britain, and was honorably mustered out on June 15, 181 5. At the urgent desire of his uncle, this young gentleman went to the Creek Agency at Fort Hawkins, but died soon after, March 22, 1817. Colonel Benjamin Hawkins himself had died before this, on the 6th of June, 1816, leaving a large fortune to his wife and children, with the further provision that a child's share should go to his nephew William, who was appointed executor. Governor Hawkins gen- erously declined this legacy, but qualified as his uncle's executor. After this he made visits to Georgia for the purpose of winding up the estate; but being attacked with a pulmonary disease, he himself did not long survive. His death occurred at Sparta, Georgia, on the 17th of May, 1819, while returning from Fort Hawkins to North Carolina.
The career of Governor Hawkins forms an interesting chapter in the history of North Carolina, filling as he did the highest office in the State at the time of America's second war with Great Britain. In the discharge of his duties he united the wisdom of a statesman with the firmness, energy and incorruptibility of a patriot. Nature endowed him with a pleasing countenance and graceful figure, but denied him the robust constitution which usually marked the members of his family. He was brave when bravery was needed, but the "small sweet courtesies of life" shone brightly in his daily intercourse. Of his ancestry he was proud, but it was a quiet, wholesome pride, far removed from arrogance, and a stimulus to high thoughts, gentle manners and generous actions.
Marshall De Lancey Haywood.
r
THi: r':v,' yo?.k
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JOHN D. HAWKINS i6i
Governor of the State) he was a vigorous supporter of war meas- ures during the second conflict with Great Britain. At the ses- sions of the General Assembly for the years 1834, 1836, 1838 and 1840, Mr. Hawkins represented Franklin County with marked ability in the State Senate of North Carolina.
In Warren County, as well as in Franklin, Mr. Hawkins owned large agricultural interests. On Sandy Creek, in Warren County, he owned a large flouring mill where whef t was ground on toll. He was also extensively engaged in the cultivation of tobacco, shipping this product to Petersburg for market.
Realizing the benefits which would accrue from internal im- provements to citizens of the State in general, and especially to those like himself who were compelled to have products shipped over rough scanty roads in order to reach a market, Mr. ^Hawkins was an early advocate of railroads in North Carolina. In 184& his kinsman, General Micajah Thomas Hawkins (former Member of Congress) was a candidate for the office of State Senator from Warren County, and was known to be opposed to the policy of internal improvements. As the question of chartering the North Carolina Railroad Company and giving it State aid was to come up at the ensuing session, his kinsman's attitude was a source of a p^ood deal of uneasiness to John D. Hawkins, who finally pre- vailed on A. R. Hawkins (a son of Doctor Joseph Hawkins and not to be confused with Doctor A. B. Hawkins, son of John D. Hawkins) to become a candidate on a platform favorable to the pr(>f)osed charter and subscription to stock by the State. In the election A. R. Hawkins was successful, and it was well for the rail- road company and for the State that such was the case ; for, in the Senate, a tie vote resulted, and the casting vote of the Speaker, Honorable Calvin Graves, won the fight for the road. Had A. B. Hawkins been defeated by M. T. Hawkins in Warren, a majority of one vote in the Senate against the charter would have resulted. About that time John D. Hawkins, Joseph Hawkins, and George W. Mordecai went personal security to the extent of $400,000 to aid the Raleigh and Gaston Railroad in its building operations. Subsequently the State came to the rescue by making an addi-
i62 NORTH CAROLINA
tional subscription of $400,000 to its stock, and these public- spirited gentlemen were thereby saved from loss. After this $400,000 had been subscribed, the State owned one-half the road, and private stockholders the other half.
At a Hawkins family re-union at Pleasant Hill, the country home of his father, Colonel Philemon Hawkins, Jr., in Warren County, in 1829, John D. Hawkins delivered an address on the life and career of his^ grandfather, Colonel Philemon Hawkins, Sr. This pamphlet was one of the earliest works of its kind in America, and in 1906 was reprinted by Doctor A. B. Hawkins, of Raleigh, one of the sons of John D. Hawkins, its author.
The death of John D. Hawkins occurred on December 5, 1838. He was buried in Franklin County, but later his remains were re- moved to Oakwood Cemetery, near Raleigh, where they now re- pose. The wife of Mr. Hawkins (who is buried by his side) was Jane A. Boyd, a daughter of Alexander Boyd, of Boydton, in Mecklenburg County, Virginia. This lady was born December 25, 1784, and died November 30, 1875.
The sons of John D. Hawkins were James Boyd Hawkins, of Matagorda County, Texas, who was a sugar-planter, and left descendants, among whom is James B. Brodie, of Henderson, North Carolina; Frank Hawkins (mentioned below). Doctor William J. Hawkins, of Raleigh, of whom there is a separate sketch ; John Davis Hawkins, of New Orleans, who married Miss Ann Clark and was a large commission merchant in New Orleans; he left two sons, Weldon Edwards Hawkins, who was a planter at Swann Lake in Mississippi, and Edward Hawkins, a lawyer, residing at Seattle. Philemon Benjamin Hawkins (another son of John D.) married his cousin, Fanny Hawkins, and had a daughter Bettie, who became the wife of Mr. Walter Boyd, of Warrenton ; this P. B. Hawkins was State Senator from Franklin County. Doctor Alexander Boyd Hawkins was the youngest son of John D. Hawkins, and his biography will appear elsewhere in this work. Besides these sons John D. Hawkins left the following daughters : Ann Hawkins, who married Colonel Wesley Young ; Lucy, who married Thomas Kean, of New-Bern ;
JOHN D. HAWKINS 163
Mary, who married Protheus E. A. Jones; Virginia, who mar- ried William J. Andrews, one of their sons being Colonel A. B. Andrews, Vice-President of the Southern Railroad ; and Jane A. Hawkins, who died unmarried.
The members of this family have been particularly noteworthy for their culture and high social station in life. While inheriting the fine qualities of their father, the influence of their mother on them was most decided and of great advantage. She was a lady of surpassing excellence, and inspired her children with unusual devotion, with the happiest results in elevating their characters and fostering a refinement that distinguished them in after life.
Frank Hawkins married Ann Read, of Halifax, North Carolina, and located at Winona, Montgomery County, Miss- issippi. They had a son, John, who early died in Winona, Mississippi. He married Miss Sallie Falkner, of Warrenton, and left Frank Read and Ann Read Hawkins. A second son, Rhesa, while yet a boy, volunteered in the Confederate Army and served with patriotic devotion. He married Miss Herring and resided at Vaiden, Mississippi ; Frank, a third son, who also married a Miss Herring, and on her death married Miss Alberta Coleman, of Macon, Georgia, is now the President of the Third National Bank of Atlanta.
Besides these sons, the elder Frank Hawkins left a daughter, Jane Boyd, who married Mr. James C. Purnell, of Winona, Mississippi. He also is a planter and banker. Indeed the suc- cess of Rhesa Hawkins, Mr. Frank Hawkins and Mr. Purnell in life has been most noteworthy. They are all bankers and have been very prosperous, and are men of culture and influence lx)th in church and State matters. Rhesa Hawkins and Mr. Pur- nell are esteemed among the foremost laymen in the diocese of Mississippi. They enjoy the highest reputation for their zeal as churchmen and their practical Christianity.
Marshall De Lancey Haywood.
7 ■■ " •■ ■ ■ ' T*
ALEXANDER BOYD HAWKINS 165
engaged him and was amply remunerative. For seven years he remained the physician of that community, enjoying the esteem of a large clientage and realizing a handsome remuneration for his services and constantly growing in reputation and usefulness.
In April, 1858, he married Miss Martha L. Bailey, a daughter of General William Bailey, of Jefferson County, Florida, who was one of Florida's most successful and distinguished citizens; and he abandoned his practice and removed to Florida, where he engaged in the business of planting. He made his home in Leon County, and soon entered on as successful a career as a planter as had distinguished him as a physician. His planting operations yielded him an ample income and he devoted himself assiduously to the improvement of his estate. It was not long before his suc- cessful management was so pronounced that his reputation became extended as a sagacious planter, and he attained a high standing in his new home.
One who knew him well at that time says:
•*He resided for some years on his plantation in Leon County, where he and his most estimable wife dispensed a generous hospitality, known only to the plantation life of antebellum days. Doctor Hawkins was not only a genial gentleman, but one of the fine business men of the South. His success as a large planter was soon demonstrated, and he at once took a stand as one of the successful young men of the county."
The management of a large plantation indeed called for the exercise of a high order of ability, and gave a mental training that developed the business capacity of Southern gentlemen. Prudence, carefulness, patience, a thoughtful consideration of the elements involved in the problems of plantation culture, were all requisite to achieve success and to bring good results. And so plantation life, while full of enjoyments and admitting of the finest hospitality, yet developed administrative abilities, fostered busi- ness habits and business sagacity. Thus it has been that Southern planters have from time immemorial been well versed in affairs ?nd of superior excellence in those characteristics that lead to success.
After the war Doctor Hawkins removed to Tallahassee, where
i66 NORTH CAROLINA
he resided in the palatial brick building on Park Avenue, now known as "The Columns." There the hospitality which he had dispensed on his plantation broadened out, and "few public men of note who visited the capital cannot but recall with pleasure the cordial greetings of Doctor and Mrs. Hawkins at their elegant home." "He displayed remarkable ability in everything he under- took. Indeed he was soon recognized throughout the State as one of Florida's most reliable and successful business men. His use- fulness as a citizen was demonstrated in many and various chan- nels, and everything he touched felt the quickening influences of a well-trained business intellect."
Honorable P. W. White, a gentleman of large experience and now of great age, in a letter speaks in the most approving terms of the part Doctor Hawkins took "in the most trying times of our history." He says, in speaking of his eventful career while a citi- zen of Florida :
"Doctor Hawkins's political affiliations were with the Democratic Party, of which he was a conservative member, and he always stood firmly for the old States Rights doctrines and principles of the party. I do not think he ever sought or accepted a political office ; but as a private citizen he always showed his interest for the public good by taking an active part in all of the proceedings and conventions of his party. In this manner he exerted a strong influence in the selection of men best qualified for public office."
He was frequently a delegate to the State Democratic Conven- tion, and his influence was always felt in political action.
His standing as a man of high character throughout the State and his recognized sound judgment as a financier gave him great influence in public affairs — of which indeed the State still feels the beneficial effect. Judge White continues:
"Doctor Hawkins's business habits were ever characterized by prudence and careful thought, and in whatever business he engaged he always acted on business principles. In the destructive days of Reconstruction he saved not only his own but many other estates from wreck. He excelled all the men of my acquaintance in the wise and successful administration of all estates and trusts committed to his management.''
ALEXANDER BOYD HAWKINS 167
It had happened indeed that Doctor Hawkins had become guardian to many orphans, and was trustee of many large landed estates, and he managed them so well that in many cases he added to their value and, in addition to the income, when the trust was over surrendered the property more valuable than when he re- ceived it.
When he removed to Florida he retained his fine plantation in Franklin County and owned a large flouring mill on Sandy Creek in Warren County, and all during the war he continued this mill in successful operation, and for several years afterward, when he sold it. His reputation as a business man was unsur- passed in Florida. For more than five years he hel<l the position of receiver of the Florida Central and Peninsula Railroad, under appointment of the United States District Court. This road was at that period one of the most important in the Slate, and as re- ceiver Doctor Hawkins had the management not only of its finan- cial affairs, but had practical charge of all the details of its opera- tion. His administration gave entire satisfaction to all interested in its proper management, and he displayed not only unusual financial ability but administrative capacity of a high order. His accounts were large, varied and difficuJl but ivere kept with such fidelity, carefulness and skill that when audited they excited the admiration of the auditors and received the praise of the Court.
In 1884 Doctor Hawkins began the culture of sweet oranges and grape-fruit, and he was very successful in this enterprise, that business having since become so important to the State of Florida. However, in 1895 that region was visited by a severe frost, which killed his trees, and be then largely abandoned it. In 1884 he began to make his Summer home in Raleigh, and built his hand- some residence on Blount Street, where he has since permanently resided.
Judge White, speaking of his life in Florida, says :
"In social life he was frank and cordial and had the happy faculty of winning friends wherever he wenl. His hospiialiiy was dispensed in a free and ea^^y manner, and his guests ever feh honored by the kind and gracious reception accorded them by his charming family. It was in his
170 NORTH CAROLINA
career, and although gifted with a mind that eminently fitted him for the bar, he chose the study of medicine, and in 1842 he grad- uated in the medical department of the Universit)* of Pennsyl- vania. Indeed his gentle manner, his habit of thought, his astute apprehension and his unusual powers of observation well quali- fied him for the duties of the bedside. He located at Ridgeway, not far distant from his childhood's home, and being admirably equipped, entered on the successful practice of his profession. His skill and talents and accomplishments soon found apprecia- tion and he won his way steadily in the confidence of the com- munity. But he was destined to a career in a larger and more useful field.
His father. Colonel Hawkins, and other members of the family, animated by a progressive spirit and an intelligent apprehension of the needs and requirements of the section in which they lived, had for many years been warm promoters of internal improve- ments. They were largely interested particularly in the construc- tion of the Raleigh and Gaston Railroad, and had given important financial aid in the completion and operation of that road. Doctor Hawkins had been one of the directors of the company and represented a considerable private interest. His fine sense, his unerring judgment and unusual capacity gave him a prominence in the affairs of the company that in 1855 led to his election as its president. He was now in a field well suited for the develop- ment of his particular talents. There were three great railroads in North Carolina at that time : the Wilmington and Weldon, the North Carolina, and the Raleigh and Gaston. The president of each stood high in railroad circles, but Doctor Hawkins enjoyed a rep- utation for management equal to the best. Under his direction the Raleigh and Gaston Railroad Company entered on a new career of prosperity.
The benefit that accrued to the State from his placing the Raleigh and Gaston Railroad in a condition of high efficiency was incalculable. When the war came on he was ardently attached to the Confederate cause and he threw his whole soul into render- ing efficient service to his State and country. His line was a most
WILLIAM J. HAWKINS 171
important link in transportation, for there was no road then from Greensboro to Danville ; and all the troops from the South, stores and supplies had to pass through Weldon. In those days of emer- gency he strained every nerve to maintain his line in a good run- ning order. The difficulties that beset the railroads of the Con- federacy during that period were beyond conception. The de- mands for transportation were largely increased and in many in- stances pressing necessity compelled the greatest haste. There were no facilities to renew either rolling stock or the railroad iron or any of the appliances requisite to maintain the engines, cars or road bed in repair. The problems that came up daily taxed the energies of the railroad managers to their utmost, and as the work of the transportation lines was most important, so the services rendered to the cause of the Confederacy by Doctor Hawkins and the other presidents of the railroad companies were not less use- ful than those of successful generals on the field of battle. To- ward the end of the struggle the various roads were indeed worn out, and it was with difficulty that trains could be run at all. Military necessity had pushed the construction of the Chatham road to the coal fields in Deep River, and after peace was declared that road fell into possession of the Raleipfh and Gaston, that soug^ht to complete it under the name of the Raleigh and Augusta Air Line.
Doctor Hawkins had comprehensive ideas of railroad manage- ment. He sought to brin^ about a close business connection be- tween his roads and the North Carolina Railroad, and had the desip^n to lease the North Carolina Railroad, which should in its turn lease a line from Charlotte to Atlanta. His great ideas were somewhat in advance of his time, but his policy has since been adopted and carried into effect by others. While he did not secure for the Raleigh and Gaston the control of the North Caro- lina, his Seaboard system has been pressed to the South and has become one of the three great systems of the South Atlantic States; and it should not be forgotten that he was the original projector of this closer connection of the several lines that have since his dav been consolidated. Indeed it mav be said that he was
172 NORTH CAROLINA
one of the wisest, most progressive and far-seeing of the railroad men of the South ; and it was only because of the limited financial facilities of his time, when the South was still in an impoverished condition, before the era of its great prosperity, that he did not carry into effect the large projects which he realized would be so much to the advantage of his lines and of the people.
He remained president of his company until October, 1875, when because of ill-health, for he was a great sufferer from rheumatism, he retired, and, abandoning his railroad business, devoted himself to his private affairs.
Doctor Hawkins was a large stockholder and a director in the Raleigh National Bank, which was the first bank organized under the United States Banking Law in this State; and in 1870 he founded the Citizens' National Bank of Raleigh. He selected as the president of that institution Colonel William E. Anderson, who was a well-trained bank officer, and had been connected with the Raleigh National Bank; and on Colonel Anderson's death in 1890 he himself took the position of president. From the first the bank was a success, and his management was most advan- tageous. No one enjoyed a higher reputation for skill and finan- cial ability than he did, and his achievement in connection with the Citizens* National Bank was indeed remarkable. Since his death the institution has continued to flourish, and under the direc- tion of Joseph G. Brown has attained a standing not surpassed by any other financial institution in the South. But it must be re- membered that its unvarying success is only the fruition of his work. He laid the foundations and set the course that has sinc« been pursued.
As a business man, Doctor Hawkins was unsurpassed. "Al- ways cool and self-poised, cautious and clear-headed, deliberate in counsel, but firm when a conclusion had been reached, gifted with quick perceptions and possessing a remarkably sound judg- ment, he combined those elements that have entered into the char- acter of the distinguished members of his family in past genera- tions and which would have assured him conspicuous success in any department of activity that he might have chosen." His
WILLIAM J. HAWKINS 173
tastes, however, led him to a business career and not into public life. He did not care to take part in the scramble for office, and though always warmly interested in political contests, he never held any official station in Government. Nevertheless, he had a strong influence, and this he exerted in public affairs always for the advantage of the ptublic interests. When he had leisure from the pressing calls of his business, in 1881 he became a trustee of the University and continued as such until his death ; and he at- tended with much interest to the affairs of that institution, warmly promoting all plans for its improvement.
Doctor Hawkins was united in marriage to Miss Mary Alethea Qark, a daughter of David Dark, Esq., of Halifax Cotmty, on January 4, 1844. By her he had two sons: Colin M. Hawkins, an esteemed citizen of Raleigh, and Marmaduke J. Hawkins, of Ridgeway. Mrs. Hawkins died in September, 1850, and on De- cember 27, 1855, Doctor Hawkins married Miss Lucy N. Clark, by whcwn he had two daughters — Loula, who became the wife of William T. McGee, of Raleigh ; and Alethea, who married J. M. Lamar, of Monticello, Florida. On October 9, 1867, Mrs. Lucy Hawkins died; and on the 12th of May, 1869, Doctor Hawkins married Miss Mary A. White, a daughter of Andrew B. White, of Pottsville, Pennsylvania. By this marriage Doctor Hawkins had one daughter. Miss Lucy C. Hawkins, who became the wife of Mr. Sherwood Hi^^s, of Raleigh.
Toward the end of his life Doctor Hawkins was a great sufferer from his old enemy, rheumatism, but his mind re- mained ever clear and strong, and his judgment was unclouded and he continued to transact business with a sagacity that marked him as one of the foremost men of North Carolina. On October 28, 1894, while on a visit to Philadelphia, he passed away, mourned by all who knew him.
S*. A, Ashe.
ANDREW JACKSON
J HE most notable and most famous man ever bom in North Carolina was Andrew Jackson. He was of Scotch-Irish descent. His grand- father, Hugh Jackson, was a linen draper, in the old town of Carrickfergus, near Belfast, Ire- land. A son of Hugh Jackson, Andrew married in Ireland Elizabeth Hutchinson, and had by her, bom in Ireland, two sons, Hugh and Rol)crt. He was a farmer and a poor man, an<l his wife's family were also poor, her sisters being linen weavers. In 1765. Andrew Jackson, his brother-in-law, James Crawford, and his wife's brother-in-law, George McKemey, and other relatives moved with their families to America. Arriving at Charleston they located in the Waxhaw settlement, where many of their Scotch-Irish friends had preceded them. George Mc- Kemey bought laud on Waxhaw Creek, some six miles from the Catawba River and about a quarter of a mile north of the bound- ary line between Xorth and South Carolina. Andrew Jackson set- tled on Twelve Mile Creek (a few miles from the site of the town of Monroe, the county seat of Union County), then in Anson County. North Carolina. He was too poor to obtain title to his land : and having built a log house and cleared some fields, tn the Spring of 1767 he sickened and died. His remains were borne to the old Waxhaw Churchyard and there interred. His widow did not return home from the interment, but went to the house of
ANDREW JACKSON 175
her sister, Mrs. McKemey, near-by, and there a few days later, on the 15th of March, 1767, Andrew Jackson was bom. Governor Swain says that in a journey in June, 1849, ^^ ^^^ some pains to ascertain the precise locality which gave birth to General Jack- son and to James K. Polk, who were born in the same county, Mecklenburg. The spot where Jackson was bom could be identi- fied. It was about twenty-eight miles south of Charlotte, and the birthplace of President Polk was eleven miles south of Charlotte. Mrs. Jackson remained with Mrs. McKemey some weeks, and then moved to the house of another sister, Mrs. Crawford, some two miles distant, but in South Carolina; and there she remained as one of that family until her death in 1781. Her son Andrew, al- though bom in North Carolina, passed his younger years just across the line. He attended the old field schools and did such work as a country boy would do, until at length, in 1780, war came close to their doors. His brother Hugh was in the battle of Stono and died there. Andrew, then thirteen years of age, and his brother Robert were with the patriots in the attack on Hang- ing Rock, but were not regularly attached to any command. After the battle of Camden, Mrs. Jackson, seeking a more secure lo- cality, left the Waxhaw settlement, and took her two bovs to a relative's house some miles north of Charlotte; but she returned to Waxhaw in February, 1781, Cornwallis having then retired. At that time Andrew Jackson was tall and had outgrown his strength, but he had the spirit of a man. In the partizan warfare which ensued when Lord Rawdon approached Waxhaw, both Robert and Andrew Jackson participated. They were taken prisoners in a raid made by Tories and British dragoons, were brutally wounded, and were confined at Camden. Mrs. Jackson, however, was able to secure their exchange after they had suffered much from their confinement and from their wounds ; and in the meantime they had besides contracted the smallpox. With great difficulty she managed to get them home. Two days later Robert died ; and it was only after several months that Andrew recovered. In the Summer of 1781, says Parton, in his admirable Life of Andrew Jackson, **a great cry of anguish and despair came up
176 NORTH CAROLINA
to Waxhaw from the Charleston prison ships, wherein, among many hundreds of other prisoners, were confined some of the sons of Mrs. Jackson's sisters, and other friends and neighbors of hers from the Waxhaw country. Andrew was no sooner quite out of danger than his brave mother resolved to go to Charleston and do what she could for the comfort of the prisoners there. While stopping at the house of a relative, William Barton by name, who lived two miles and a half from Charleston, Mrs. Jackson was seized with ship fever, and after a short illness died. And so Andrew, before reaching his fifteenth birthday, was an orphan, a sick and sorrowful orphan, bereft of parents and without brother or sister, homeless and dependent. It has been said that he taught school for a year or two ; and then after one year of hesitancy, during which he gave rein to his horse-racing in- clinations, he concluded to study law. At the age of eighteen, he began the study of the law with Spruce Macay at Salisbury. He seems, however, to have devoted more thought to amusement and pleasure than to his books. After studying a year or so with Judge Macay, he finished his course under Colonel John Stokes, in Surry, and then passed a year at Martinsburg, the old county scat of Guilford County.
At the November Term, 1787, of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions of Surry County, the following minute was made:
"William Cupplcs and Andrew Jackson, Esquires, each produced a license from the Honorable Samuel Ashe and John Williams, Esquires, two of the judges of the Superior Court of Law and Equity, authorizing and em- powering them to practice as attorneys in the several Courts of Pleas and Quarter Sessions within this State, with testimonials of their having here- tofore taken the necessary oaths, and are admitted to practice in this court."
Tn the Spring of 1788, having his license to practice law, An- drew Jackson was appointed prosecuting officer of the Superior Court, then just established in the Nashville district of Tennessee, which Judge John McNairy was appointed to hold. Shortly after- ward the judge, Jackson, and some other young lawyers met at Morganton and began their horseback ride to Tennessee. It was
ANDREW JACKSON 177
a perilous journey, particularly between Campbell Station and Nashville ; and in that part of the route they were attended by a guard, and about sixty families were of the party.
Arriving at Nashville, Jackson at once entered on the practice, which from the beginning was lucrative. His position as prose- cuting officer was one of importance and brought him speedy reputation and influence, and for years he was employed in the greater part of the civil litigation in his courts.
The experiences of the war had made their impress on his char- acter and disposition, which was fiery, brave and determined ; and now in the wilderness of Tennessee he was brought into close con- tact with unfriendly Indians. Between 1780 and 1794, within seven miles of Nashville, the Indians killed one person in about every ten days. In Jackson's travels he was constantly in peril from the murderous red man. And so the circumstances of his life de- veloped in him courage, coolness and intrepidity, and his natural combative characteristics were fostered and became so fixed that they dominated his course throughout his entire career. Whether engaged in the court-house or in military operations, or in the ad- ministration of civil affairs in the high positions to which he at- tained, he would brook no opposition and was a fighter of the most determined character. An incident is recorded that will il- lustrate his promptness to rip^ht a wrong. In the trial of a cause in a court in Tennessee, he conceived that Honorable Waightstill Avery had insulted him. and tearing the flyleaf from a law book, he wrote him in a minute a challenge and handed it to him. The duel came off on the adjournment of court, but fortunately neither was wounded.
His education was not a finished one; he did not have the ad- vantage of collegiate training, and while he never overcame his deficiencies in the use of words, and never perfected himself in spelling or pronunciation according to the most correct standards, yet his ideas were clear, and he could express them with a vigor and force that begot a natural eloquence.
In 1 791 Andrew Jackson married a Mrs. Robards, a daughter of a Mrs. Donelson, with whom he foimd board on first reaching
178 NORTH CAROLINA
Nashville ; and although they had no children, they were devotedly attached to each other throughout life. She, however, died just before his inauguration as President in 1829.
In 1796 the Territory of Tennessee formed a State Constitution. Jackson was elected a delegate from Davidson County to the Constitutional Convention, and was a member of the special com- mittee that framed the Constitution. By that time he had attained a high position in Tennessee, and doubtless he impressed himself strongly on the Constitution, which was a very admirable funda- mental law of a new State. Tennessee being admitted to the Union, Jackson was in the same year elected the only representa- tive in Congress the State was entitled to, and took his seat in that body. His political views were strongly Republican, and he voted with Macon and others who thought like Jefferson. A va- cancy occurring in the Senate the next year, Jackson was elected by the Tennessee Legislature to that body, but after one session as Senator, he resigned and returned home. It was in 1796, while Jackson was on his way to Philadelphia, that he accidentally ob- tained information that the land frauds, in which Glasgow and his associates were engaged, were being perpetrated, and his honest nature at once led him to bring the matter to the attention of Governor Ashe of North Carolina. The explosion of which he was thus the innocent cause was attended with great consterna- tion among those holding fraudulent titles in Tennessee, and Jackson became an object of their malevolence. But soon after he retired from the Senate the Legislature elected him a Judge of the Supreme Court of Tennessee, a court that tried causes in the different counties : and he served on the bench for six years.
At the age of thirty-seven Jackson had served some eight years as Solicitor, two years as Representative and Senator in Congress, and six years on the highest court of his State. Retiring from the bench in 1804, he devoted himself more particularly to planting, his home being then near the subsequently famous Hermitage, in the vicinity of Nashville. He also engaged in mercantile business, which, however, was chiefly conducted by his partner, General Coffee.
ANDREW JACKSON 179
He had always kept in touch with military affairs, and was gen- eral of the Tennessee militia. His influential position led Aaron Burr, when contemplating his movement at the Southwest, to visit Jackson and seek to enlist his aid in the enterprise. To some ex- tent Jackson helped him, but on learning that there was a pos- sibility of a treasonable intent, he warned Governor Claiborne at New Orleans. However, he became reassured that Burr had not contemplated treason, and on being summoned as a witness against Burr at the trial at Richmond, he was loud in Burr's defence, and he then broke with President Jefferson, but continued to be a Re- publican in his political views. It is not proposed here to develop those events in his career which belong to general history and have but little bearing on North Carolina matters ; suffice it to say that Jackson allowed no man to excel him in devotion to the Union, in lofty patriotism, in personal honor, and high ideals, while his military career was fortunate and glorious, and he became the hero of his day because of his victory at New Orleans and un- varying success on every field of battle.
Whatever had been Andrew Jackson's early deficiencies of edu- cation, they had almost entirely disappeared, and he took rank amon^ the first men of America. He was not only a popular hero, but was reco^ized as a clear-headed statesman.
After the War of 181 2 the Federalist Party ceased to exist as an organization, althoup^h a lar^e element remained faithful to their principles. But the great leaders being all Republicans, it was a [)cri()(l of fierce factional warfare, fostered by the personal ambi- tions of men.
In 1822 and 1823 Major William R. Lewis, of Nashville. Ten- nessee, undertook to bring General Jackson out as a candidate for the Presidency to succeed Monroe. It so happened that in 18 16 General Jackson had written a letter to President Monroe, sug- gesting that he should disregard old party differences in making appointments, and Major Lewis possessed a copy of that letter. Colonel William Polk, of Raleigh, a strong Federalist, being on a visit to Major Lewis, was shown a copy of that letter, and admir- ing its sentiments, warmly espoused Jackson's candidacy. United
i8o NORTH CAROLINA
States Senator Montfort- Stokes, of North Carolina, was the father-in-law of Major Lewis, and an ardent Republican. He, too, agreed to support Jackson, should Calhoun not be in the field. The joinder of the old Federalists under Polk with the influence of Stokes and other friends in North Carolina assured that State to Jackson. Notwithstanding Macon supported Crawford, who was the caucus nominee, and notwithstanding the efforts made in behalf of Clay and of Adams, North Carolina gave Jackson 5000 majority. Elsewhere similar influences prevailed, the Fed- eralists giving Jackson a cordial support.
But although at the election Jackson received a much greater popular vote than any other candidate and a considerable plurality in the Electoral College, the choice of the President was thrown into the House of Representatives, and Henry Qay giving his in- fluence to Adams, a minority candidate, succeeded in electing him. Jackson never forgave Clay for this action, which he regarded as a great wrong. He and his friends crucified Qay for having de- feated him in opposition to the will of the people.
At the next election, in 1828, Jackson was elected by an over- whelming vote, and John C. Calhoun was chosen Vice-President on the same ticket. On forming his Cabinet, President Jackson appointed Senator John Branch, of North Carolina, Secretary of the Navy. In 1830, however, General Jackson broke with Cal- houn because of some developments made of matters occurring when Jackson invaded Florida; and in the Spring of 1831 Cal- houn made a publication that led to implacable hostility between them. Govenior Branch and two other members of the Cabinet were friends of Calhoun, and Jackson, proposing to form a new Cabinet, asked all of the Cabinet to resign, and they did so, Branch retiring on April 19, 1831. Prior to that time the North Caro- lina public men had generally been warm supporters of the ad- ministration. Now divisions began to manifest themselves. The same result followed elsewhere. Clav's followers had been called National Republicans to distinguish them from the administration Republicans. Calhoun preferred the name of Democrat. In 1832, the year following his breach with the President, Calhoun influ-
ANDREW JACKSON i8i
enced South Carolina to adopt an Ordinance to nullify the Tariff Act of 1828, and to threaten to secede from the Union. Jack- son, on the other hand, announced a resolute determination to pre- serve the Union and enforce the laws of the United States, and a great breach was made between the administration and the State's Rights men of the South. In addition to these matters of contro- versy, the President's opposition to granting a new charter to the bank of the United States, his removal of the Government de- posits, and his fierce war on the bank, and on all those who sus- tained that institution, drove off friends from him ; and beginning with 183 1 these various questions engendered bitter feuds from which the public men of North Carolina were not exempt.
Jackson's course had been so arbitrary, partaking of the nature of the prerogative of kings that Clay classed his followers as the Tories of England, and likened the opponents of the administration to the '*Whigs," and this gave the name to the party that rallied around that leader.
When the Senate met in December, 1833, a majority of the Senators were in the opposition, and on March 28, 1834, the Senate passed a Resolution of Censure, proposed by Mr. Qay, by a vote of 26 to 20. Among those who voted for this Resolution was Senator Mangum, who in 1831 had succeeded Senator James Iredell. The Legislature of North Carolina had, however, re- mained faithful to Jackson, whose principles and policies com- mended him to the masses of the people. Indeed in 183 1, when Jonathan Worth and a few other members of the Assembly re- fused to vote for a resolution sustaining Jackson, they were de- nounced *'almost as traitors." Senator Mangum's vote on Clay's Resolution led to resolutions of instructions which resulted in his resignation; and in 1836 Robert Strange succeeded him. In that year North Carolina gave her electoral votes to Van Buren, who was Jackson's choice for his successor, although in the same year Edward B. Dudley, who was not a friend to the administration, was elected governor of the State.
On March 16, 1837, Benton's Resolution to expunge from the records of the Senate the Resolution of Censure was adopted by
i82 NORTH CAROLINA
a vote of 25 to 19, Senators Strange and Brown, of North Caro- lina, voting for it. The Assembly of 1838 was, however, in op- ]Kjsition to the administration and adopted in its turn resolutions of instructions that resulted in the resignation of the two Demo- cratic senatrjrs. Stranjje and Brown; and Mangum and Graham were elected in their stead.
Indeed that decade, covering Jackson's public life, was one of the most stirring eras in the histor\- of our people. It was marked by the beginning of internal improvements, by the erection of a new Capitol building, by the Constitutional Convention of 1835, the culmination of the intense bitter feeling between the East and the West, by the rise of great sectional animosity between the North and the South on the slavery question and on the Tariff fiuestion. There was likewise great bitterness developed among the public men, because of Jackson's measures, and some of the States Rights men affiliating with the Whigs, eventually, in 1840. the opposition to the Van Buren administration became so strong in Nr)rth Carolina that the electoral votes of the States were given to Harrison, who, badly defeated in 1836, now was overwhelmingly triiunphant. To the end, however, the Democratic followers of Jacksf»n were ardent in sustaining him, and were fiercely opposed to (lay and thr^sc North Carolina statesmen who followed the fr)rlunrs of that gallant leader. It thus came about that this son of Carolina, Jackson, who in his early manhood had left the State, exerted in his subsequent career a powerful influence on her af- fairs. Because of him and his measures her public men became widely estranged and her people divided. In this way he entered as a powerful factor into the life of the State.
At the expiration of his second term as President, in 1837, Gen- eral Jackson retired to his residence, the Hermitage, which many. years before h<* had erected in the vicinity of Nashville, and he was known among his friends as **The Sage of the Hermitage." His remaining years, after one of the stormiest lives that ever marked the career of any American statesman, were passed in a quiet dig- nity, befitting so illustrious a character. He died June 8, 1845.
■^. A, /iSn€m
JOHN JENKINS
[JHEN Governor Carteret left Albemarle in the Spring of 1673 and went to England, he trans- ferred the administration to Colonel John Jen- kins, as Deputy-Governor. "Captain John Jenkins" was one of the first settlers of Caro- lina. He had located on the Perquimans River before the grant to the Lords Proprietors, and conformably with the instructions of the King, he took out a patent for his land from Governor Berkeley, as Governor of Virginia. This was on September 25, 1663, and before Berkeley had been informed of the grant to himself and the other Proprietors. Captain Jenkins was a man of some consequence, bringing into the province at that lime fourteen persons, and from the first he was an important personage in the settlement. In 1670 he was the Deputy of the Earl of Craven, and had risen to the dignity of Colonel and was the senior member of the Council.
At the time of bis accession to power, his inleresls were those of the community, but he was the representative of the Proprietors, and one of the nobility according to Carteret's instructions, and thus had to sustain government. Discontent was rife because of the new Navigation Acts and custom duties interfering with the es- tablished trade with New England, whence alone the planters had been accustomed to draw their needed supplies. Some time elapsed, however, before any attempt was made to enforce these
i84 NORTH CAROLINA
acts. At length commissions came for Copely and Birch to be respectively the King's Collector and Surveyor of Customs; but the men themselves did not come and the duty devolved on Governor Jenkins to have the offices filled and the law observed There was opposition, but Jenkins reconciled the people and the appointments were made. Valentine Bird, a rich planter, was made Collector, and Timothy Biggs, who had married the widow of George Catchmaid, the Surveyor of Customs. Bird probably was not diligent in the execution of his office. It was said that many hogsheads of tobacco went out marked as "bait" for the New England fishermen ; and European merchandise was landed that did not come direct from London. Still there was cause for irritation. In addition, the terms of the Fundamental Constitu- tions raising the quit rents gave uneasiness, and there were rumors that the province was to be apportioned among the Proprietors and that Albemarle was to be allotted to Governor Berkeley, a sugges- tion that was abhorrent to the people. About that time an Indian war set in. and just when needed Captain Gilliam brought his ves- sel into port with a cargo of arms and ammunition, and a force was organized to suppress the Indians. On the return from this cam- paign, the people, being armed, demanded that the export tax on tobacco should not be collected. Chief among the insurgents was George Durant, and in alliance with him was Valentine Bird him- self. Governor Jenkins, unable to resist, oflfered a compromise, and consented that only one-half the required tax should be col- lected. This action was without authoritv. and it is an evidence of the difficulties of his situation. In discharging his duties, bad blood arose between him and Thomas Miller, who was probably an agitator. Miller was arrested on the charge of uttering treason- able words against the King's person and the monarchy, and blas- phemy. He was sent to Virginia for trial, but was acquitted. In the meantime the General Assembly deposed Jenkins from office as Governor and President of the Council, and imprisoned him, and on Miller's going to England, they sent to the Proprietors for instructions. In this conflict between the Assembly and Jen- kins, the latter was sustained by a majority of the deputies, and
JOHN JENKINS 185
the exact lines of divergence between them cannot be traced. During this interregnum, the Assembly seemed to have governed, perhaps aided by the councillors who assented to their authority. When Miller arrived in London, he was joined by Eastchurch, the Speaker of the Assembly, and the latter was appointed Gov- ernor and Miller was appointed Collector of Customs. George Durant being in London at the time told the Proprietors that Eastchurch should never be Governor. Hastening back, Durant organized opposition. On their return voyage, Eastchurch stopped at the island of Nevis, and sent Miller on with authority to exer- cise the office of Governor, as well as Collector of Customs. Hav- ing information of Durant's threat, Miller resorted to arbitrary measures, made limitations on the choice of Assemblymen, and succeeded in having himself invested with the power of imposing fines at his own pleasure. Armed with this authority, he issued warrants to have some of the most considerable men in the colony brought before him dead or alive. These proceedings led to great commotions, and Valentine Bird, with John Culpepper and s<xne other coadjutors, embodied a force, seized Biggs and Miller, called a free Parliament, which deputed five of its members, among them John Jenkins and Valentine Bird, to fonn a court to try the pris- oners, who were charged with treason. In all these proceedings Jenkins was an actor, although John Culpepper, who in 167 1 had been Surveyor of the Province and then claimed to be Collector, was the chief director, and Durant was also a manager. East- church arrived in Virginia, but died, and the Assembly continued to povern. At length, to compose all differences, the Proprietors ap[x>inte<l Seth Sothel Governor, who on his .way fell into the hands of the Algerines; and then they appointed John Harvey Governor, and re-appointed the old deputies, and the Assembly elected the other members of the Council ; Harvey's instructions dated February 5, 1679, being similar to those given to Carteret. Harvey, however, died within a few months after his administra- tion l>egan, and Jenkins was again elected Governor, and now had the support of the Legislature, Durant being the Attorney-Gen- eral and the manager of affairs. During his first administration.
i86 NORTH CAROLINA
Durant seems to have been opposed to Jenkins, but on Miller's return to the colony, Jenkins and Durant made common cause against him. In these turmoils it does not appear that the au- thority of the Lords Proprietors was questioned or that their policy and management was a principal factor in events, but rather that there was a popular demonstration against the enforcement of the navigation laws and the new custom duties of 1672. It was rebellion against the Crown and not against the Proprietors ; or rather a purpose to displace some Crown officers and substitute others who would not vigorously enforce the obnoxious laws. On learning of the death of Harvey, the Proprietors sent Captain Henry Wilkinson over as Governor, who, appearing in the colony in 1681, relieved Jenkins of the administration. During this last administration of Jenkins, order was maintained fn the colony, al- though the Quakers, who had then become quite numerous, com- plained that Durant was pursuing them with a strong hand and oppressing them because they had not sympathized with the- re- bellion.
Colonel Jenkins did not long survive his last ^term of office as Governor. He died in December, 1681.
5". A. Ashe.
GABRIEL JOHNSTON
f OVERNOR BURRINGTON on his return to North Carolina in 1731, as the first Royal Gov- ernor, soon found that the inhabitants would not acquiesce in the claims of powers and pre- rogatives made on behalf of the Crown; and political divergences quickly developed per- sonal antagonisms. As a result of his asperity of temper, he was removed, and in 1733 Gabriel Johnston was appointed to succeed him.
The Johnstons were of an ancient family and derived their name from the Barony of Johnston, in Annandale, Scotland. Gabriel Johnston was a native of Scotland, and had received his ciUication in the University of St. Andrews. After spending a few years studying medicine, be was appointed Professor of Oriental Languages in the University, but later removed to Lon- don and entered into politics as a political writer. He contributed to the Craftsman, a periodical opposed to the ministry, and was associated with Bolingbroke and William Johnston, afterward Earl of Rath, a relative of the subject of this sketch. From 1726 to the time of his departure from England, he lived almost con- stantly with Spencer Compton, Baron of Wilmington, Lord Presi- dent of the Privy Council, and was intimately thrown with many persons of distinction.
Governor Johnston was well advanced in years, a man of learn-
i88 NORTH CAROLINA
ing, and something of a politician. Unlike his immediate prede- cessors, he was neither given to profanity nor to drink, and he had the purpose to promote the interests and prosperity of the prov- ince committed to his care, but at the same time to govern it ac- cording to his notions. He arrived at Brunswick on October 27, 1734, and on November 2d took the oaths of office. The Legislature at that time was in session at Edenton, and receiving notice of Governor Johnston's arrival, on November 13th it adjourned.
The end of Burrington's administration had been very stormy. Several members of the Council had fled from the province from fear of personal violence. These now returned and gave their version of their differences with Burrington into willing ears, and Johnston readily espoused their cause. He showed but slight favor to Governor Burrington. It was not long, however, before he himself became embroiled with the inhabitants.
The little hamlet of New Liverpool had been beg^n at the con-* fluence of the two branches of the Cape Fear, and its fame had reached Great Britain. Later, in 1732, the town of Newton was laid off by Caleb Grainger and others about a mile lower down the river. Competition had already set in between this nascent village and Brunswick, then nearly ten years old. GovenKM" Johnston took sides with Newton, and determined to make it the metropolis of that section. He directed in May, 1735, that the Council should be held there, and designated it as the place for holding courts and for payment of taxes, and other public purposes. He bought land in the vicinity, promoted its settlement and identified himself with its growth, naming it in honor of his patron, the Earl of Wil- mington. Thus at the very outset he threw himself into antago- nism with the powerful interests that were centered at Brunswick.
Besides, his instructions with reference to annulling patents that had been issued in blank without actual survey, also arrayed op* position against him. His puq)ose to have the quit rents collected and his efforts to remodel the form of government, fashioning it after that of England, were likewise causes of controversy.
These were the chief occasions of the political troubles that
GABRIEL JOHNSTON 189
marked the early years of his administration. The quit rents had from time immemorial been payable on the farms and in com« modities and at a valuation Axed by the Act of 171 5. Now they were demanded at some certain central points ; and when the reg- ulations were not complied with, they were levied by distress with extravagant charges. Edward Moseley himself refused to observe those regulations, and others followed his example, so that the rents were not collected. The Governor, however, in 1739, agreed to a compromise, and a bill was passed whereby concessions were made on each side ; but the Crown disallowed that Ac^^- and it was years before any quit rent law was passed.
In 1744 Lord Granville's share of Carolina was set apart, the line running from Cape Hattoras West, so that the northern coun- ties were in Granville's territory, and the people there had interests different from the inhabitants of the southern portion of the province.
The various officers of the Government had been required by the Act of 1722 to keep their several offices open at Edenton, and, now that the southern part of the province was somewhat settled, that location of the capital was inconvenient, and the inhabitants of the southern counties preferred New-Bern as being much more accessible to them. To this the northern counties would not as- sent; and having five representatives each, while the southern counties had only two, they held the majority and their objection prevented any change.
Governor Johnston was anxious for the progress of the prov- ince, and sought to promote all measures that tended in that di- rection; and particularly was he solicitous for the establishment of the seat of government at New-Bern as being more central than Edenton. Thwarted in his desire, he resorted to "management" to accomplish the purpose. He convened the Assembly to meet at Wilmington. It was not convenient for the northern members to attend, and they remained at home. The southern members were in full sympathy with the Governor, for it was a sectional fight between the counties. It seemed unreasonable that the inhabitants of the Cape Fear should have to travel 150 miles through the
ic;o NORTH CAROLINA
wilderness to Edenton in order to transact public business; and entirely unjust that the six small northern counties should have thirty assemblymen, while the eleven larger counties had only twenty-two. They proposed to remedy these political evils.
When the members of the Assembly came together at Wilming- ton, they were so few in numbers that the question presented it- self— could the House proceed with less than a majority? Speaker Swann determined that a majority was not necessary. The mem- bership of the House of Commons in England was 540, and forty members constituted the quorum of that body. Basing his ruling on that, the Speaker held that fifteen members were sufficient to constitute a quorum in the province, and he proceeded to business. Two Acts only were passed : one equalizing representation, and allowing only two representatives to each county ; the other fixing the capital at New-Bern and providing for a court system, fash> ioned after that in vogue in England, and laying taxes to carry the Act into eflfect.
These Acts, passed by less than a majority of the House, were held by the northern counties as null and void, and they were so obnoxious to them that they would not recognize their validity in any respect. When writs were issued for a new assembly, each northern county voted as formerly for five members, which the Governor and Assemblv would not admit, and so it came about that the northern counties ceased to send members to represent them ; nor would the people there attend any General Court or pay anv taxes.
The condition in the northern counties was that of an unarmed rebellion against the Provincial Government; but yet the county courts were held as usual, and local matters were administered. From 1746 to 1752 the same Assembly continued to meet, holding eleven sessions. Then the questions raised by the northern coun- ties were decided by the Crown officers in their favor, and the Acts complained of were declared void, and the small northern counties were represented in the Assembly by five representatives, each, until the Revolution.
But notwithstanding the political differences that marked his
GABRIEL JOHNSTON 191
administration, Governor Johnston, who thought himself a wise politician, was seldom embroiled in personal controversies; and so in many matters he was able to exert an influence which other- wise he would not have done.
Thus in 1740, when there was much political disaffection, on the war breaking out with Spain he was able to raise companies of men, both in the Albemarle and on the Cape Fear, that served in the expedition against Carthagena, where nearly all of the colonial troops either fell victims by disease, or were destroyed in battle. Captain Innes went with one of these companies, and gained a high reputation by his fine conduct.
Governor Johnston sought to promote the settlement of the province, and in 1736 efforts were made to locate foreign Protest- ants in the interior. Henry McCuUoh, who had been appointed Receiver-General of the King's rents in both North and South Carolina, associated with himself Huey and Crimble and obtained from the King grants for many thousand acres of land that were located on the Catawba, on the Pedee, Cape Fear and Neuso rivers, under an agreement to settle them with Protestants. They first sought to secure Irish tenants ; and almost contemporaneously with the arrival of Governor Johnston came the forerunners of a settlement of Irish Protestants, who located in upper New Han- over, now Duplin and Sampson, and Scotchmen, who settled at Wilmington and in Bladen. Because of the Irish settling on the Cape Fear, the new county there laid off for them was named after Lord Dupplin, but in time one of the p's was omitted ; and on the waters of the Neuse a new county was contemplated, called Essex, but when established, it was named in honor of the Gov- ernor himself, Johnston.
In September, 1739, a large body of Scotchmen arrived on the Cape Fear, accompanied by Dugald McNeal, Colonel McAlister, and several other Scotch gentlemen; and the Legislature appro- priated a thousand pounds to aid them, and resolved that **wher- ever forty persons shall arrive in one company and settle in the province, they shall be exempt from all taxes for ten years." Gov- ernor Johnston fostered this immigration from Scotland and from
192 NORTH CAROLINA
the north of Ireland, and a stream of Scotch settlers poured in, taking possession of the upper waters of the Cape Fear; and this migration continued for thirty-five years, 350 Scotchmen having come in at one time as late as 1775.
During his administration also the Moravians settled at Sakm, and there was a great influx of population into Edgecombe and other counties near the Virginia line, while from South Carolina immigrants pressed up into Bladen and Anson counties. But separate and distinct from these settlements was a stream of im- migrants from Pennsylvania, Scotch-Irish and Germans, that took possession of the western portion of the province. When Johnston came in, only the land near the great sounds and about the vicinity of Wilmington was occupied. At his death population had ex- tended almost to the foot of the mountains, although necessarily there were large tracts unoccupied ; and the number of people in the province were somewhere about 90,000.
But notwithstanding the great increase in population in the province and the rapid progress made in development during Johnston's administration, the hands of Government were very much weakened because of the divergences incident to the strug- gle between the northern and southern counties. The Act creating a rent roll and providing for the collection of quit rents passed in 1739, having been disallowed by the Crown, and no other passed, no rents were collected and for fourteen years before the Gov- ernor's death he received no salary, which was payable out of the quit rents. Toward the end of his administration efforts were made by McCulloh and others to have him dismissed from his post, and various charges were made against him before the Board of Trade in London, but he successfully defended himself from the attacks of his enemies and continued in office until the day of his death, July 17, 1752, when Nathaniel Rice, the senior member of the Council, succeeded to the administration.
Governor Johnston was accompanied to North Carolina by his brother, who was the father of Governor Samuel Johnston of the Revolution. He married Penelope Golland, a daughter of the wife of Governor Eden by a former marriage. This lady had al-
GABRIEL JOHNSTON
193
ready been married three times. Governor Johnston being her fourth husband. She received from Govenor Eden the Eden House and plantation in Bertie County; and although Governor Johnston had originally intended to reside in Bladen County, where a mansion was erected on the Cape Fear River for him, he look up his abode at the Eden House.
By this wife Governor Johnston had one daughter, who mar- ried John Dawson, Esq., and resided at Eden House. His first wife dying, he married again, and in his will he mentions his wife, Frances Johnston, and earnestly requests her to be a kind, tender mother to his dear little girl. He also mentions his brother, Sam- uel Johnston, and "my brother's two sons, Henry and Samuel Johnston."
His widow, Frances, later married John Rutherford, Esq., of New Hanover County.
S. A. Ashe.
WILLIAM R. KING
r ILLIAM R. KING, Vice-President of the IJnite<l States, was a native of Sampson County, and attained eminence while a representative of the Cape Fear District in Congress. Mr, William S. Ashe, who represented the same district in Congress in 1853, at the time of
Vice-President King's death, in the course of a eulogy delivered
in the House of Representatives, said :
"Colonel King was born in Sampson County in April, 1786. Hil father, William King, was a gentleman of fortune and diaracter. During the Revolutionary War he rendered important services to his country's cause, both by personal service and the generous use of his fortune. After the conclusion of Ihe war he was a member of the Convention which was called to adopt the Federal Constitution, and he was repeatedly elected a delegate to the General Assembly from his county. His situation in life enabled him to bestow on his children all the advantages of education which our country at that time afforded.
"Colonel King was sent at an early age to the University of North Caro- lina, which institution he left in his seventeenth year, bearing with him the happy consolation of having commanded the respect of his professors, the love and esteem of his associates. He studied law with William DulTy. an eminent jurist, residing in the town of Fayetleville, where he formed friendships which he preserved with affection till the day of his death.
"On being admitted to the bar, he settled in his native county, from which he was returned ihc following year (1808) as a member of the Leg- islature, By this body he was, at the age of twenty-two, elected solicitor for
WILLIAM R. KLNG 195
the Wilniinglon Dislrict. In the year 1810, before he was twenly-five years of age, he was elected to the Congress of the United States. This was a most important crisis in our national affairs. France dominant in Europe, England mistress of the ocean, our neutrality was grossly disregarded by each of these supercilious powers. To our manacing protests France ultimately yielded respect. England continued her career of haughty in- solence. War or national degradation was inevitable.
"Trne Republicans avoided not the issue, but met it boldly. Colonel King acted with them with his whole soul; and though one of the young- est members of the Congress, he was distinguished for the firm and fervid earneslness with which he supported the illustrious Madison in his patri- otic cftori.'; to sustain the honor of our country. He continued a niembei; of Congress until after [he conclusion of the war. when, in i8t6, he ac- cepted a diplomatic position abroad, associated with that scholar and statesman, William Pinckney, the Envoy -Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotcntiar>' lo Russia."
This brief resume of Colonel King's career up to his thirtieth year indicates at once his high patriotism and his intellectual ca- pacity. He came from stock which during (he Revolutionary War had been baptized in patriotism, his ancestors having fought with Colonel Kenan and made strenuous endeavors to secure tlie in- dependence of their country. Animated by the iipirit of his Rev- olutionary sires. Colonel King in Congress during the War of 1812 cast lustre upon his North Carolina constituents and won for him- self the respect and esteem of those conversant with his career.
At the time of his return from abroad the territory of Alabama was being organized, and he determined to cast his fortunes in that attractive country Hardly had he arrived in his new home when he was elected a delegate to the convention which was to form a State Government. To the performance of the delicate and re- sponsible duties now cast upon him, he brought the matured ex- perience he had gathered in the councils of the Union, and the wisdom of the illustrious statesmen of North Carolina, and he was one of the most active and efficient of those who laid the founda- tions of Alabama's fundamental law. At that time North Caro- lina's sons were spreading themselves throughout the West, every- where being received with cordiality and good will, for North Carolina spirit and honorable conduct were proverbial, and the
196 NORTH CAROLINA
stainless career of her public men gained for them the highest consideration. But in addition Colonel King had an individuality that at once commended him to the esteem and confidence of the people of Alabama. As soon as the Constitution was adopted, he was chosen a Senator from that State in the Congress of the United States, and for thirty years, except a brief period of two years, when abroad, he represented Alabama in the Senate. In 1844, at a critical period, he accepted the mission as Minister to France, and by his address rendered extraordinary service to his country in securing the acquiescence of France and of England in the annexation of Texas to the United States. Both of those countries were disposed to object to this extension of the United States, and ominous clouds, betokening war, were gathering, when by his decision and characteristic resolution, he dispelled them.
In the Senate, on all occasions when a great issue was before the country, calling for the exercise of firmness, courage and patriotism, Colonel King was abreast of those who stood foremost for the safety and glory of the Republic.
It has been said of him "that he graced the chair of the Senate longer than any other man that ever occupied it — not continuously, or by virtue merely of repeated elections as temporary President, but often also at the request of the presiding officer." He was thus engaged in the performance of the duties of President of the Senate during the greater part of the terms of five vice-presi- dents ; and that at a time "when party spirit raged in torrents of fire." and the master spirits of that era were among the members of the Senate, Clay, Calhoun, Webster and their associates, who made that period of our history illustrious.
Colonel King was from principle and conviction a State's Rights man. but he loved the Union and believed that harmony between the Federal and State powers were the essence of the Union. In the memorable session of 1849 and 1850, he voted for nearly all of the Compromise measures then proposed by Clay, because of his devotion to the Union.
In 1852 Colonel King, while still in the Senate, was nominated for the Vice-Presidency by the Democratic Party on the ticket
WILLIAM R. KING 197
with Franklin Pierce, and was elected to that high position: but a mortal malady had already seized him. He spent that Winter in Cuba seeking renewed vitality ; but losing hope, he hurried home to die in the midst of his friends. On March 4, 1853. he took the oath of office of Vice-President in Cuba, the oath being adminis- tered by the American Consul. He reached his home at Cahawba, Alabama, on April 17th following, and died the next day.
A North Carolinian by birth, educated and trained among her people, he attained prominence as one of North Carolina's Repre- sentatives in Congress, and voiced her sentiments at a critical period in the histon.' of our country ; and although transplanted to a nc^v home, it was still bis North Carolina characteristics that made his career honorable and brought him such high distinction among ihc public men of the Union.
5". A. Asltc.
RUFUS YANCEY McADEN 199
most distinguished families of North Carolina. The name of Yancey is prominent not only in North Carolina, but also in Ala- bama, Mississippi and Virginia.
R. Y. McAden was left an orphan when quite young, and his grandmother, Mrs. Bartlet Yancey, took him to her home and adopted him into her family, and he was reared and educated chiefly by this queenly woman. His boyhood was spent in the country amid the scenes and with the environments which tend to make great men. There is no place on earth better suited to the raising and training of boys and girls than a good country home, where the people believe in God and the angels, and where the great heart of nature beats strong amid her hills. Young McAden lived like other country boys, and spejit his time in breaking colts, fishing in the streams, working in the fields, attending the country schools, until he was prepared for college. He entered Wake Forest College and graduated therefrom in his twentieth year, and subsequently read law with Judges Nash and Bailey in the old his- toric town of Hillsboro, and began the practice of his chosen profession in his native county of Caswell. When he was twenty- five years old he married the beautiful and accomplished Mary F. Terry, daughter of Doctor B. F. Terry, of Prince Edward County, \'irp:inia, and inoved the next year from Caswell to Alamance and settled in Graham. His popularity and his ability were soon rec- ognized in his adopted liome, and friends prevailed upon him to become a candidate on the Whig ticket for the Legislature in i860. He was defeated, but succeeded in reducing the Democratic majority from 300 to 13. In 186 1 he was almost unanimously elected to the State Convention, on the Whig or Union Ticket, but the Convention was not called. In 1862 he was elected to the Leg- islature, and re-elected each year until 1867. In 1866 he was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives over Colonel K. H. Cowan, of Wilmington. He made a model Speaker. Dur- ing the exciting times of that period, and the bitter party opposi- tion, he was so absolutely fair and just in his rulings that no ap- peal was ever taken from them. He knew men and he knew how to manage men.
200 NORTH CAROLINA
The First National Bank of Charlotte in 1867 was looking around to find a sj,iitable man for its President. R. Y. McAden was the man selected, and no better man could have been secured, as the subsequent history of that bank clearly showed. He con- tinued in the Presidency of the bank until his death. Mr. Mc- Aden soon tired of politics and law, consequently in 1867 he began a career of business prosperity almost without a parallel in the history of North Carolina. In the following year he became as- sociated with that great railroad builder, Colonel A. S. Buford, in the construction of the Atlantic and Charlotte Airline Railroad, and was elected Vice-President of that corporation. He also or- ganized and constructed the Spartanburg and Asheville Railroad, for without his untiring efforts and indomitable perseverance the road never would have been built. Both bf the roads are now a part of the great Southern Railway, which has done so much in the development of the Piedmont Section of North and South Carolina. Both States owe him a debt of lasting gratitude for his devoted work in carrying on this great work. In the year 1881 Mr. McAden went into the cotton milling business, his wondrous foresight causing him to be a pioneer in the marvelous develop- ment of cotton manufacturing in the old North State. He built a large cotton mill at McAdensville, in Gaston County, around which has sprung up a beautiful and picturesque town on the banks of the south fork of the Catawba River. That mill is still in successful oi)eration, and the whirr of its spindles and the thunder of its looms still bear witness to the wisdom and foresight of its founder.
Mr. McAden was a gifted man intellectually, and his great en- dowments were directed to achievement. The most distinguished characteristic of his mind, and that which elevated him above his contemporaries, was the brilliancy of his intellect, the quickness and rapidity of his thoughts and his almost instantaneous conclusion upon any proposition submitted to his consideration. The slow process of reason and deduction employed by others in reaching conclusions were by him leaped over, at a single bound, as mere impediments for delay ; yet the accuracy of his conclusions, so ob-
RUFUS YANCEY McADEN 201
tained, seldom failed to reach the goal, while others were working their slow way by the old and well-trod methods of logic.
Not only was his mental activity such in reaching conclusions, but as a man of action, as well, he was no less alert and rapid in the execution of them. To decide upon an enterprise and to be- gin its execution were words almost of equivalent meaning, so quickly one followed the other. In the prosecution of his work no obstacles such as would stagger men of ordinary nerve could halt, deter or depress him. Such was his abounding faith and fertility of resource, that not only was his confidence unshaken where others despaired, but his buoyancy and cheerfulness never deserted him. A single instance of this unconquerable will-power occurred in the construction of the Spartanburg and Asheville Railroad. Such were the obstacles, the lack of funds, repudia- tion of contracts, complicated litigations and other hindrances, that but for his unwavering faith, courage, energ>', resources of mind and unconquerable perseverance, that road, now so popular and useful, would not have been constructed. Such were the char- acteristics of Mr. McAden in all his enterprises and such were the secrets of his success.
Another trait of his mind and moral nature was his fidelitv to his friends. When he chose friends, he gave them his unbounded confidence and trust and never forsook or doubted them. No favor that they could ask or that apjx^ared to him to be agreeable to them was ever denied them or withheld by him. This fidelity and loyalty to his friends was almost romantic in its simplicity and beauty.
Another, but not the least, amiable trait in this man's character was his cherished domestic felicity. His inner domestic home life around the family altar is too sacred for intrusion in this sketch ; but that happiness, unity and love between father, mother and children were supreme in the household, could not be concealed. Xor did he ever fail to respond to any call for public or private charity, or to lend his aid to any enterprise for the honor and pros- j)erity of the public and his native State.
In j>erson Mr. McAden was of medium height, a compact and
202 NORTH CAROLINA
well-knit body, a fine head, firmly set upon his shoulders, brilliant blue eyes, inquisitive and searching. His walk was quick, firm and decisive, indicative of business. His manners were easy, cordial and cheerful, devoid of stiffness or ceremony and«one of the most approachable of men.
After a life full of the largest service to his native State, R. Y. McAden died January 29, 1889, at his beautiful home in the city of Charlotte, leaving a devoted wife and five children. At the time of his death he was President of the First National Bank of Charlotte, President of the Spartanburg, Union and Columbia Railroad, the Asheville and Spartanburg Railway, the Falls of Neuse Manufacturing Company, and the McAden Cotton Mills. He was still in the prime of a vigorous manhood, with his mind clear and his natural force unabated. In a letter which the writer received from Mr. Henry M. McAden, a son of R. Y. McAden, and President of the Piedmont Fire Insurance Company, of Char- lotte, North Carolina, he says: "In writing the sketch of my father I shall highly appreciate your treating the subject with per- fect fairness and candor." This I have tried to do. Colonel A. B. Andrews, First Vice-President of the Southern Railway, savs: **Mr. McAden was one of the finest business men I ever knew, and in everything that tended to the internal improvement of North Carolina lie was a brave and fearless leader." This is high praise when it comes from a man who knows so well how to weigh his words. McAden was a brave and strong man in every phase of his character. From his Scotch ancestry he inherited char- acteristics of promptness, truth, and industry, which doubtless had much to do in shaping his great business career, and crowning his life work with success. His motto was "Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well," hence he did everything thor- oughly, and finished the matter entirely before leaving it. Thus he was able to do an immense amount of work with less worry than it would give other men. When he died Charlotte lost her greatest financier, and the State lost a true and loyal son.
B. F. Dixon.
JOHN NEWLAND MAFFITT
C HE most picturesque character in the annals o£ North Carolina, perhaps, was John Newland Maflitt, a captain in the Confederate Navyi who during his eventful career was particularly dis- tinguished for his charming personality, his ac- complishments, skill and heroism. His father, who bore the same name as the son, was bom in Ireland on December 25, 1795. He was a clei^man, lecturer, author and poet, a man unusually endowed by nature and thor- ouphly educated. He was the author of "Tears of Contrition," "Pulpit Sketches," and also a volume of poems. For two years he was chaplain of the United Slates Congress. As an evangelist, he made extended tours throughout the United States, and was regarded as one of the most powerful pulpit orators of his day. Although so many years have passed since he visited Raleigh, tra- dition siili exists in that community of his wonderful preaching. He married in Ireland Ann Carnick, and the subject of this sketch, their third child, was born February 22, 1819, at sea, dur- ing their voyage to America. Eventually Mr. Maffitt located at Mobile, Alabama, where he died May 28, 1850.
It was convenient because of his father's career for the son to live with his uncle, Doctor William Maffitt, who resided near Faycttcville, North Carolina, on a plantation which he called "EllcsHe"; and at the age of five years the subject of this sketch passed from his father's care and became a member of his uncle's
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household. His education was begun at schools in Fayetteville. His friend and playmate in those days, the brilliant Duncan K. McRae, even late in life well remembered that among the adven- turous boys of his age young Maffitt was always a leader — "a bom leader/'
When only nine years old his uncle placed him at school at White Plains, New York, under the care of Professor Swinbum ; and it is worthy of remark that the little boy, in that era of 'stage coaches, made the trip from Fayetteville unattended. At school he diligently applied himself, was well taught, was strong and capable, so that on reaching his thirteenth year he was appointed a Midshipman in the United States Navy; and the following Sep- tember he joined his ship in the West Indies. Thus at that early period of his life he entered on a career destined to be remarkable, in the very theater where he was to win applause.
In 1835 he joined the Constitution, the old Ironsides, the flag- ship of the Mediterranean squadron, being then sixteen years of age; and in his entertaining book, "The Nautilus," he has pre- served some account of the exciting incidents of his three years' experience while on that station, visiting and becoming familiar with historic countries and places of renown.
Promoted to Past-Midshipman, in 1838 he was again in the Gulf of Mexico ; and there, at Pensacola, he met Miss Murrell, of Mobile, a lady remarkable for her beauty and loveliness of char- acter, to whom he was united in marriage in 1840, when just twenty-one years of age.
Mr. Maffitt's reputation as a competent and skillful officer had now become well known, and in the Spring of 1842 he was de- tached from ordinary service and ordered on Coast Survey duty. In this new field of work he won the highest praise from the Super- intendent, Professor A. D. Bache, LL.D., who reported to the department that Lieutenant Maffitt **as a surveying officer has not been excelled bv anv one with whom I have come in contact, and has been equaled by few. The quantity and quality of his work is remarkable indeed. I cannot speak too highly of the capacity, efficiency and zeal of Lieutenant Maffitt."
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When the Mexican War broke out, Lieutenant Maffitt, anxious for an opportunity to participate in its perils and honors, earnestly applied for orders to the seat of war, but Professor Bache inter- fered, and he was retained on the Coast Survey work. His operations extended from Maine to Florida ; at the North during the Summer, at the South during the Winter, incessantly at work, and so competent and efficient that at length he was appointed as* sistant to the Superintendent. His charts of the coast proved of great value, and his Southern work was of particular use during the war between the States.
His first wife, who passed much of her time at Elleslie, bore him two children: Florence, who became the wife of Mr. J. G. Wright, of Wilmington; and Eugene Maffitt. His wife dying on August 3, 1852, he married Mrs. Caroline Laurens Read, a member of the distinguished Laurens family of South Carolina. At first their residence was near Fayetteville, but after a year or so Mr. Maffitt purchased a home on the James River, establishing his family in the vicinity of that of Colonel John Jones, the father of Captain J. Pembroke Jones, and of other friends.
In 1858, being then Assistant Superintendent of the Coast Sur- vey, he moved to Washington City, where his home was fre- quented by a circle of choice friends — Honorable Jeremiah Black, Ju(lg:e RatcHffe, Professor Rache, etc., and their families — social life at the Federal capital being then in the zenith of perfection. Here, however, in 1850, Mrs. Maffitt succumbed to disease; but his family continued to occupy his home.
After sixteen years of distinguished service in Coast Survey work, (lurinj2^ which Mr. Maffitt won the highest encomiums, on June I, 1858, he was given command of the brig Dolphin and ordered to cruise in the Gulf to suppress piracy and to capture slavers, vessels carrying cargoes of Xegrocs from Africa to the Spanish Islands. These slavers were for the most part fitted out in Xew England, and while their cargoes were intended for Cuba aufl other coninuniities to the South chiefly, vet on one or two oc- casions it was thought that a cargo had been landed in some of the
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slave-holding districts of the United States. His cruise was suc- cessful, and Lieutenant Maffitt was the first American Navy of- ficer to capture a slaver with her cargo. It was the brig Echo which, having captured, he sent into Charleston, South Carolina, for condemnation. A year later he was assigned t^ the command of the steamer Crusader, and continued on the same duty. With her he captured three more slavers, the last falling into his h^ds in August, i860.
The secession of some of the Southern States made the opening of the vcar 1861 ominous. The future seemed full of trouble. Officers whose lives had been passed under the flag of their coun- try, whose honor and glory was as dear to them as life, were now much perplexed. Many of the army officers of Southern birth re- signed their commissions; the navy officers, abroad on the high seas, were placed in the most delicate situation. Honor required the strictest fidelity to the flag of their country until relieved of their obligations. At his request Lieutenant Maffitt was on March i, 1861. detached from his command, and he returned home to settle his accounts. All of his property was at the North ; and the South, with no ships, oflfcrcd no active employment to Navy officers. r>ut Lieutenant Maffitt did not hesitate. Resolved to share the fortunes of the Southern people, he made every sacri- fice. Early in April he sent his children to the home of his cousin, Mrs. Eliza Hybart, at Elleslie (near Fayetteville, North Carolina), where they remained during the period of the war, and which he regarded as his own home, always saying, **I love every blade of grass about it." And then, on May 2d, having tendered his resig- nation in the Ignited States Navy, he turned his face Southward, and ^\Q (lavs later offered his services to the Southern CcMifed- eracy. His resignation was accepted by the Federal Government on June 4th to date on May 2d.
President Davis commissioned him Lieutenant in the Confed- erate States Navy, and assigned him to duty with Commodore Tatnall, who was organizing a fleet of small vessels on the coast of South Carolina: and Lieutenant Maffitt bore a distinguished part in the l)attle of Ilihon Head, when the Federal fleet took pos-
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session of Port Royal. In the same battle his son, Eugene, re- ceived his baptism in blood.
That Fall General R. E. Lee was assigned to the command of the coast, and on November 11, 1861, Lieutenant Maffitt joined his staff and was employed on the special duty of mapping roads, con- structing forts and obstructing the Coosaw River. His associa- tion with the great chieftain was most agreeable. Some three years later he brought through the blockade a sword belt which he intended to present to General Lee, and having sent it. General Lee wrote him the following letter:
"I have received the sword belt you were so kind as to send me. It is very handsome, and I appreciate it highly as a token of your remembrance. I recall with great pleasure the days of our association in Carolina — with «qual admiration your brilliant career since, in defence of your country. Wishing you all happiness and prosperity, etc"
The war had broken out suddenly without any preparation for it either at the North or the South. The conditions at the North, however, readily admitted of the organization of both military and naval forces and their speedy equipment. At the South it was very different, there being neither ships of war nor any naval or mili- tary stores. The first movement of the Federal Government was to declare the ports of the South in a state of blockade, but for some months there was no adequate force to intercept commerce. For sometime ordinary sailing vessels were engaged in carrying out Southern products and bringing in needed cargoes. At length, at the opening of 1862, the Confederate Government determined to engage in that enterprise, and on January 7, 1862, Captain Maffitt was ordered to the Confederate States steamer Cecile to run the blockade and bring in arms, ammunition and military stores. He was selected for this particular work because of his superior knowledge of the harbors of the coast, and well did he perform the service with which he was charged. He continued to run the blockade until May, when he was ordered to take com- mand of the Florida, a Confederate steamer then at Nassau. This vessel had been built in England and had sailed under the name of Ore to. Receiving her, an empty hull, Captain Maffitt equipped
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her under difficult circumstances near a desolate and uninhabited island known as Green Kav, some ninety miles southward of New Providence ; and boldly took the sea. But yellow fever breaking out, it became necessary to enter a Confederate port, and he de- termined to proceed to Mobile. The draught of the Florida made it perilous to cross the bar at night, and he preferred the dangers of a naval encounter. At 3 o'clock on the afternoon of Sep- tember 4th he sighted Fort Morgan, and three Federal men-of-war hastened to contest his entrance. Oftentimes boldness is the best policy. Resolutely he pressed forward under a full head of steam, steering directly for the flagship Oneida, When eighty yards from that vessel she and the other two blockaders opened furiously upon the Florida. Without firing a'gim the Florida kept on, through roar of shot and bursting shell, with crashing spars and rigging, mingled with the moans of the wounded, silently pursuing her course. Simultaneous! v two heavv shells entered the hull of the Florida with a thud that caused a vibration from stem to stem, but nothing vital had been injured; and with calmness Maffitt pressed on, finally clearing the circle of his foes, whose artillery roared still more furiouslv, and denser became the black clouds from their smoke stacks as they fed their fires with rosin to increase their speed and overtake their prey But the dangers were passed, and the Florida successfully came to anchor under the guns of Fort Morgan.
Admiral Porter in his "Naval Historv" recounts the wonderful story of this perilous run through Commander Preble's fleet in broad daylight, with a crew decimated by yellow fever, and Maffitt himself scarcely able to stand, owing to its prostrating eflFects; he and the man at the wheel being alone on deck. He describes Captain Maffitt as standing "amid the storm of shot and shell per- fectly immoved, keenly watching the marks for entering the port," and savs :
"During the whole war there was not a more exciting adventure than this escape of the Florida into Mobile Bay. The gallant manner in which it was conducted excited great admiration, even among the men who were responsible for permitting it. We do not suppose that there ever was a
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case where a man, under all the attending circumstances, displayed more energy and more bravery."
Commodore Preble was dismissed from the service for permit- ting the Florida to pass through his lines; subsequently, how- ever, he was reinstated. The Federal Government bent on keep- ing the Florida hermetically sealed up in Mobile Bay, increased the blockading force, and gave stringent orders to prevent her escape. Captain Maffitt, having repaired his vessel and perfected her equipment, awaited his opportunity to return to the sea. A perfect master of his profession and at home in the fiercest storms, he awaited a heavy gale to leave his port. On January 14, 1863, a terrible storm set in. It was so violent that it was impossible to get under way until two o'clock at night, and then he passed the bar, was discovered and pursued by half a dozen swift block- aders. "From stormy mom till stormy eve the chase was vigilantly continued ;" but when nightfall came Maffitt, fertile in expedients, furled his sails, stopped his engines, and allowed his pursuers to pass him by. And then he made sail and entered on his career, which extended from opposite New York to a thousand miles south of the Equator. Many vessels of great value were seized by him and disposed of according to his instructions ; but he never was forgetful of the dictates of humanity in providing for those whose misfortune it was to fall into his power. He soon cap- tured a vessel freighted with a heavy cargo of anthracite coal and converted her into a cruising storehouse. Having captured a fast brig, the Clarence, he turned her over to one of his lieutenants, C. W. Read, equipping her as an armed tender. Read subse- quently exchanged her for the Tacony, and made many captures on the coast of Maine, even entering the harbor of Portland at night. Alone on the great deep, without friends, unable to ask assistance in time of distress, he braved the storms and hurricanes that swept the seas, and proudly bearing the Confederate flag, he pursued his perilous way, and drove American commerce from the highways of the ocean. After an eight months' cruise, during which Captain Maffitt and his tenders made many captures and destroyed property to the value of about ten millions of dollars.
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he put into the harbor of Brest, in France, for repairs. He him- self was still debilitated from the effects of yellow fever, and so he applied to be detached. As soon as his health permitted, he took command of a blockade runner in England, the Florie, named for his beautiful daughter, and brought her into Wilmington. He later made several trips in command of the Lucile, bringing in a large amount of needed stores. During the brief periods when his vessel was being loaded, he made visits to his family at Fayetteville.
In the Fail of 1864 he was ordered to the command of the Ironclad, Albemarle, at Plymouth, but toward the end of December, 1864, he was given the command of the Owl, and car- ried out successfully 780 bales of cotton. On his return he found that the Federals had captured Fort Fisher, but he did not leara of this catastrophe until he had anchored off the wharf of Fort Caswell, and it became necessary to depart. He sought to enter Charleston, but the blockading squadron attacked him so furiously that he withdrew from that harbor. He then steamed to Galves- ton, which, however, he found already in the possession of the Federals. Almost in despair he made his way to Havana, and from there to Halifax, still hoping to make a Confederate port. At last, abandoning the hope, he obeyed the last order of the Navy Department, given when all hope for the cause had departed, and sailed for Liverpool, where he turned over the Owl to Messrs. Frasier, Trenholm and Company.
On September 12, 1865, he wrote to his cousin, Mrs. Hybart: "Mv stomach is too delicate as yet to take the nauseous dose of asking for pardon." Indeed, the bitterness of the Federal people and authorities toward the Confederate Navy officers was beyond expression. These gentlemen, who were ornaments of their pro- fession, were habitually stigmatized as pirates, and regarded as irresponsible corsairs beyond the pale of civilized warfare; and yet Federal Navy officers and others bore cheerful testimony to the humanity and superior excellence and chivalrous bearing of Captain Maffitt.
On March 7, 1865, Captain Maffitt, having passed his examina-
JOHM NE\VLA\D MAFFITT
tion as a British captain, received command of the British merchant steamer Widgeon, trading between Liverpool and Rio Janeiro, and that vessel being sold to the Brazilian Government, lie sur- rendered her on March 27, 1867, and finally returned to the United States. He soon located at Wilmington, where he bonght a farm on the sound, which he named the Moorings, and there he gathered his family around him. Admired and beloved in that community where he was so well known and so justly esteemed, his life now became most agreeable in its tranquillity. A charming conversa- tionalist, a man of lofty sentiments and a gentleman distinguished for refinement and courtesy, he made the Moorings a resort where congenial spirits loved to assemble. On November 23. 1870, he was married to Miss Emma Martin, and in her deHghtfuI com- panionship he prepared for publication his own reminiscences under the title of "The Nautilus," and wrote an admirable account of his experiences in running the blockade, and various other valuable sketches, among them biographical notices of Admiral Senimes and of Captain James W. Cooke, of the Confederate States' Navy, who built the Albemarle and commanded her in the famous battle of Plymouth. By his second wife Captain Maffitt had two sons. John Laurens and Colden Rhind, and his last mar- riage was blessed by three children, Mary Read, Clarence Dudley and Robert Strange. At length, in the early Spring of 1885. he became a sufferer from Bright's disease, and on May 15, 1886, he passed away, lamented by the entire community.
5". A. Ashe.
CHARLES DUNCAN McIVER
J T times more or less critical in the historj* of our State, it has now and then fallen to our lot to pause in the toilsome journey of progress while we awaited the coming of a master spirit who should guide us safely and surely in the direc- tion of some wished for goal. Nor have we at such times long waited in vain, for, North Carolina, whatever else she may have lacked, has not been wanting in men able and willing to dedicate themselves to the service of that State whose glories are her sacrifices and whose spirit finds truthful expression in her motto, "To be rather than to seem." Thus, whether the call came in war or peace it mattered not. It was sufficient to know that there was service to be rendered, and it followed that what men could do was done.
Among those who have thus faithfully and efficiently ser\'«l the Mother State in time of need is to be included the name of Charles Dimcan Mclver. Bom September 27, i860, on a farm near Sanford. in Moore County, N'orth Carolina, he was ushered into the world in the midst of the most exciting Presidential campaign in the history of our country. But all unnoticed by him passed the partizan and political strife then absorbing the attention of State and nation ; nor was his child-mind old enough to com- prehend the momentous significance of the years which followed, when fratricidal war wrought havoc in the land and left in its
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desolating wake ravages scarce repaired by a long thirty years of matchless striving. The aftermath of war it was given him to know and feel, not through a morbid recounting of its incurable evils, nor through the handing down of a heritage of hate, but by means of the saner teachings of economy, self-denial and bodily toil, lessons hard in the learning, but mighty in the making of men.
The region around what is now the town of Sanford was peopled largely by settlers whose ancestors came from the High- lands of Scotland. Evander Mclver, when eight years old, bade farewell to his rugged birthplace, the Isle of Skye, and with his father made his new home in the pleasant sand hills of North Carolina. In his son, Matthew Henry, the father of Charles D. Mclver, were exemplified the many sterling traits that history shows to be characteristic of the Highland Scotch. Among these traits may be mentioned earnest piety, devotion to liberty, respect for law and order, and love for education. A successful farmer, a respected elder in the Presbyterian Church, a useful and influential citizen, he was an admirable type of that class upon which in great- est measure rests the stability of State and society. A similar description applies to the maternal ancestors of Charles D. Mclver, who were of Scotch and English descent. To his mother, whose maiden name was Harrington, and who on her maternal side is descended from the McNeills of Scotland, the son ascribes the formative and directive influences of his earlv vears. No small measure of the fruit of his useful life is of seed of her careful sowing. Leal and true — these Scotch and English ancestors de- cided in their convictions on questions of church and State, yet tolerant and charitable ; patriotically responding to the call of the South in her hour of need, and bravely giving themselves to the rebuilding of waste places in the dark years that followed ; fearers of God, and supporters of schools and churches, it is worth some* thing to be born in a community of which such men are citizens, and to reckon them among one's neighbors and personal fritnds.
Amid the thrifty and orderly influences of this Christian home and community, in attendance upon the excellent private schools
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of the neighborhood, and in the daily performance of all the vari- ous labors that fall to the lot of the healthy farmer boy, the sub- ject of this sketch spent the first seventeen years of his life. Here were laid the foundations of that vigorous health that has enabled him to stand so well the mental and physical strain of later years, and here were implanted that love for man and nature, and that intelligent and sympathetic appreciation of the needs of our rural commonwealth which have proved valuable forces in fitting him to become an able champion of the great cause of universal education.
The Fail of 1877 found our farmer lad enrolled as a student of the University of North Carolina. Here he spent four profitable years, graduating in 1881 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In scholarship he took high rank, leading his class in Greek and French, and sharing with three others the honors in Latin.
Undecided as yet upon his life work, he turned to the profession of teaching, and in the Fall of 1881 became assistant in a private school in Durham, North Carolina. His ability won quick rec- ognition, and in the Spring of the same scholastic year he was made principal of the school. In May, 1882, he cast his first vote, this being in favor of a local tax for the support of the Durham public school system. The fact is worthy of record in that as a private school man he voted for a measure which, though for the public good, seemed decidedly against his own personal interests. He assisted in the establishment of the Durham graded schools, and, after serving them as principal for one and one-half years, resigned to accept a similar position and to perform a similar work in the schools of Winston. Here he remained from Fel)ruary. 1884, until September, 1886, at which time he accepted a call to Peace Institute, Raleigh, North Carolina, where, as prin* cipal of the literary department, he remained until June, 1889.
In the meantime he had fully decided upon his life-work, and rejecting attractive offers of partnerships in business and law strove to make himself master of his chosen profession — teaching. He put himself in touch with the quickening forces of the time, and sought to add to the strength of the old, the inspiration of
CHARLES DUNCAN McRER 215
the new, era. Visits of inspection were made to schools of prom- ise, and conferences songht with able educational leaders. The ideas thus obtained were accepted, modified, or rejected, as the actual work of the schoolroom proved them valuable and prac- ticable, or the reverse. He early associated himself with the North Carolina Teachers' Assembly as one of its active members and supporters. The vacation periods of every year were devoted to work in county institutes and in State Summer schools. In addition to his labors as teacher and lecturer, he served as prin- cipal of the State Summer Normal School at Wilson, and for two successive tentis as superinlcndcnt of the Summer Normal School at Sparta. While thus availing himself of the means at hand to promote the interests of public education, he was quick to realize the inadecjuacy of the work as then conducted. "The majority of teachers," he reports in 1887, "cannot go a great distance to attend normal schools. Small salaries and short school terms render it in many cases impossible. Efficient coimty insti- ttiles should be brought within the reach of every teacher in the Slate.""
Here we have presented in few words the lines of future edu- cational reform. Institutes within the reach of every teacher — will he do aught to accomplish this ? Larger salaries for teachers, a longer school term, with the increased appropriations which these imply and the higher professional equipment and better ser- vice which they in turn demand — will he do more than call the attention of the State Superintendent to these needs? But we must not anticipate.
To the urgent need of better qualified teachers those interested in education now began to give earnest attention. Through the agency of the Teachers' Assembly petitions for the establishment of a normal training school were several times presented to the Legislature — but without effect. Feeling that more active steps should be taken, Charles D. Mclver, in 1889, made a stirring speech before his fellow-educators at their annual meeting, which
■Bennial Report of State Superintendent of Public page 40,
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resulted in the appointment of a committee, of which he was made chairman, to appear before the Legislature at its next session and personally present and urge the adoption of a bill for the estab- lishment of a training school for teachers.
On a day agreed upon the members of the committee appeared before the General Assembly, presented the bill and earnestly advo- cated its passage. The Chairman, being at the time a resident of Raleigh, was in a position to labor continuously in behalf of the measure of which henceforth he was the recognized champion. He met with little encouragement and with much opposition, but so convincingly did he press home his arguments in personal con- ferences with members of the Legislature, that, to the surprise of all, the bill passed the Senate by a large majority and failed in the House by onlv a few votes.
Although the General Assembly did not at this time provide for the establishment of a State normal college, it wisely trans- ferred the appropriation hitherto devoted to the eight Summer normal schools to the maintenance of a system of countv insti- tutes. Thus provision was made for carrying into effect the rec- ommendation urged by our Sparta normal school superintendent of bringing institutes within reach of every teacher in the State. Charles D. Mclver and Edwin A. Aldennan, then superintendent of the Goldsboro schools, were induced to take charge of this work, and were therefore appointed State institute conductors.
Now began one of the most important campaigns ever con- ducted in the State, and perhaps one of the most interesting in the history of public education. For three years, from September, 1889. to September, 1892, Winter and Summer, these men preached a crusade in behalf of universal education. In every county and in ever}' important city and town in the State, by lec- tures, by teaching, by public addresses, by conferences with teach- ers and school committeemen, by talks with farmers, editors, county officials and politicians, by every approved method, in short, known to advocate and reformer, the work was diligently and vigorously prosecuted. The good results of their labors are with us to-dav, and will continue to bless the commonwealth when
CHARLES DUNCAN McIVER 217
we, our children, and our children's children have finished life's appointed lessons and put the books away.
"My work," declares the man whose career we are following, "is con- ducted with a view to stimulating and encouraging the teachers, and to making friends to the cause of public education among the people. . . • My institutes last five days. The first four days are devoted mainly to the professional work of the teacher. Lectures are delivered on the different branches taught in the public schools; on school organization, discipline, methods of teaching, and methods of studying; on school law, and on the proper use of the books on the State list. Friday, the fifth day, is, in a special sense, 'People's Day.' The school committeemen and people gen- erally are urged to attend, and the exercises are arranged with a view to interesting and instructing them in the work of public education. Besides various other exercises, a special address is made on that day, showing the necessity for education by taxation, and answering objections to it com- monly heard among the people."*
Amid the arduous duties of his campaign work the necessity of a training school for teachers was not forgotten. In truth, this may be reckoned one of the means on which more and more he came to rely as promising most surely to secure the great end he had in view — universal education. Another problem now pre- sented itself — namely, where should vokmteers for this needful service be found in largest numbers, who, when trained, would make the best and most sympathetic instructors of the State's children ? Wider and more varied experience and a deeper insight into the real sources of the mental and moral progress of the human race convinced him that his syllogism, which before had been — Edu- cation a State necessity, the teacher the chief means of education ; therefore, the teacher a primary object of State concern, might be carried logically further and made to read : Universal education a necessity, woman the universal educator; therefore, the educa- tion of woman the foundation of human progress.
This advocacv of the more liberal education of woman is shown not only in his public addresses of that period, but in his written reports and recommendations to the State Superintendent of Pub-
* Report of Conductors of County Institutes in North Carolina, 1889-90, page 15.
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lie Instruction. His report of June 30, 1890, contains this sig- nificant utterance relating to the establishment of a State normal college :
'*To those who are still skeptical as to the wisdom of the training-school movement, I would add one more reason why the school should be es- tablished and be liberally supported by the State. Under our present sys- tem of higher and collegiate education, a white girl, unless her father is comparatively wealthy, cannot, as a rule, get the scholarship necessary to make her a first-rate teacher. Her brother can get it at the University and colleges of the State, because in those institutions about three-fourths of his tuition is paid by the State and the churches. Up to the present time the State and our leading churches have adopted the suicidal policy of refusing to help educate white girls, except in the public schools. . . . The girls who would, if prepared, make the best teachers for the State's children, cannot even get the scholarship necessary to become teachers; One of the results of this is that two-thirds of our public school teachers are men, whereas two-thirds, at least, ought to be women. The State ap- propriates nothing for the training of white women, except the $4000 for the Institutes. It appropriates $8000 to the training of colored teachers and uses it in helping — both sexes. In this way the State appropriates as much to train one negro woman as it does to train four white women, for there are about twice as many white as negro women in the State. By the help of the State, the churches and the philanthropists, a fair opportunity of getting an education is given to every white boy, negro boy and negro girl in North Carolina. Neither of the three has to pay more than one-fifth of the expenses of tuition ; but the white girl must pay for every cent of hers. If the training school shall be established for white girls, it wfll make education possible to thousands of girls who, under present condi- tions, must grow up in a state of ignorance and dependence worse than al- most any other form of slavery. In addition. North Carolina will secure teachers better than she has ever had and who will bless her because she has blessed them."*
His report thus emphasizes the justice and the wisdom of State provision for the higher education of white women. An objection urged against the former bill for the establishment of a teachers' training school was its co-educational feature. In 1891 Mr. Mc- Iver and his friend and associate, Mr. Alderman, were again before
^Reports of Conductors of County Institutes in North Carolina, 1889^ pages 20, 21.
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the Legislature with a bill for the establishment of the much needed institution, but this time, with the co-educational feature omitted. The bill passed almost without opposition, and thus, more than one hundred vears after the University was chartered, the State established its college for women. Of this college the board of directors, consisting of one member from each Congressional dis- trict, elected Charles Duncan Mclver President.
Now it was that this people's servant sought to build a people's college, not a thing of brick and stone, but an institution both worthy of and representative of the State that gave it birth. It should be an open door of opportunity to every worthy white girl, however poor, however rich, within the borders of the common- wealth— a means of fitting her for good and useful citizenship. A woman's college for North Carolina women it should be, char- acterized by sound learning, liberal culture, earnest living and high thinking, but not by narrow specialization on the one hand, nor by a profitless striving for showy accomplishments on the other. The best that a State could give should be theirs ; the best that educated woman could give should be the State's. In this spirit was the institution conceived, and in this spirit has the State Normal and Industrial College lived, and grown and labored, presided over, inspired, guided and led, by one who has not spared to ^ive to it all that man may give.
It is doubtful if any other public institution was ever in so true a sense the pro<luct of the unselfish love and labor of one man. As to him in largest measure arc owing its conception and crea- tion, so to him are due its internal and external workings, the policy which characterizes it. and the success which it has achieved. And this is true not merely in the larger matters pertaining to its general management, but in all the details relating to its work and administration. The college plant and its equipment, the depart- ments of instruction, the courses of study, the various organiza- tions, the ideas for which the institution stands, the spirit it ex- emplifies, the work it seeks to accomplish, its relation to the pub- lic and the relation of the public to the college — all these, in a very true sense, find in him their source and sustenance, and this, not
220 NORTH CAROLINA
in a spirit of formal oversight and official dictation, but through the living spirit of creative work and fellow service.
And to what extent have these ideas been realized, and what fruit have these labors borne ? Let him answer who can estimate the value to State and nation of over 3000 women, who, in the short space of fourteen years, have availed themselves of the ad- vantages here provided, and with increased power of usefulness and enlightened zeal for service have passed on teaching lessons of right thinking and right living to more than 200,000 North Carolina children. Let him consider that the students have come from every county in the State, that they represent every respecta- ble calling, profession and industry, and every form of honest labor in which the people of North Carolina are engaged; that there is not a county in the State in which representatives of the college are not to be found actively engaged in public service ; and, finally, that two-thirds of all the students enrolled, and more than nine-tenths of those who graduate become teachers in North Care* lina. A veritable fulfilling of his prophecy this— education made possible to thousands, and the State blessed in her teachers because she has blessed them !
'We would willingly dwell at length upon this phase of Doctor Mclver's work, on the intimate relations he sustains to the State's College for Women, and on the influences which through it he has exerted upon public education. What this virile man has done in supplying strength where of old existed finishing-school superficiality, how he has inculcated ideas of ser- vice, how he has made vital the conception of woman as a citizen, how he has diffused abroad a spirit of wholesome democracy — and all this through constructive labors, preserving, strengthen- ing, and multiplying the influences that make for culture and true womanliness — this, did space permit, we would willingly cm* phasize. But the mere suggestion must suffice, for things unsaid press upon us and on details we may not linger.
Important as are these services, they constitute but a part of the faithful labors which have won for him State and national recognition as an educational leader and statesman. State appre-
CHARLES DUNCAN McIVER 221
ciation may be said to find expression in an editorial appearing in one of our leading North Carolina daily newspapers which, under date of January 24, 1904, asserts that he *'has been a leading force in every movement looking for progress, educational or otherwise, in North Carolina," . . . and concludes by saying, "When the history of this decade is written, the story of the public service rendered his State bv Charles Duncan Mclver will be one of the brightest pages in that splendid volume of patriotic achieve- ment. There is not a man in the State who has made himself felt so powerfully and so helpfully for progress."
The national point of view may be taken as indicated in an article on Public School Leaders appearing in the July, 1905, magazine number of the Outlook. Relative to the topic under consideration it says :
"In the Southern States there is no man better entitled to be called a champion of the public schools, and of the whole idea of popular educa- tion, than Charles Duncan Mclver, of North Carolina.* . . . He is a man of intense earnestness, energy, insight and common sense. For the past twenty years his voice has been raised in behalf of popular education, not only in every county of his own State, but throughout the South and in great national assemblies. There is no abler speaker on this subject than Doctor Mclver. He has been the soul of the forward movement in his region, and he is now chairman of the Campaign Committee inaugurated by the Southern Education Board for the promotion of universal education."
The wide variety of this public service is indicated by the posi- tions of honor and influence thus far held bv Doctor Mclver in the course of his busy life. In addition to the fourteen years of his college Presidency and the work already referred to as con- ductor of State and county institutes, superintendent of Summer n(^rmal schools, and chairman of the committee that secured the establishment of the Normal and Industrial Collep:e, he has been a participant in all the imjx)rtant work of the North Carolina Teachers' Assembly and its President in 1892; a worker in the Southern Educational Association and its President in 1905, and an active member of the National Educational Association, serving at various times as chairman of its Committee on Resolutions,
222 NORTH CAROLINA
member of its Committee on Education and Taxation, President of its Normal School Department, and member of its National Council. During the administration of Governor Elias Carr he served as Proxy to represent the State stock in the North Caro- lina Railroad Company. He was one of the organizers of the Southern Education Board and is the efficient chairman of its Campaign Committee and a leader in the movement for local taxa- tion for public schools throughout North Carolina. To him is owing the organization of the Woman's Association for the Bet- terment of Public Schools. He has since its organization been a member of the State Literary and Historical Association, and is Vice-President of the State Library Association. A loyal son of his Alma Mater, the University of North Carolina, he has served it officially as trustee and member of its Executive Committee, and has liberally and heartily supported every movement for the pro- motion of its influences and welfare. In recognition of his public services the University has conferred on him the honorary degrees of Doctor of Letters and Doctor of Laws. In presenting him for the latter degree, Doctor Charles Alphonso Smith, dean of the graduate department, said:
'*I have the honor to present ... for the degree of Doctor of Laws Charles Duncan Mclver, President of the North Caro-
lina State Normal and Industrial College for Women. As State Institute Conductor from 1889 to 1892. he first showed himself peculiarly fitted to be a molder of educational thought. A firm believer in the education of all the people, he has devoted his rare powers of organization and appeal more especially to the education of women. 'No State,' he declares, 'which will educate its mothers need have any fear about future illiteracy.* That this sentiment has at last found recognition not only in the educational creed, but also in the educational policy of North Carolina is due more to Doctor Mclver than to any other out man."
To add to this already long list the various local organizations, city and county, to which he has belonged, such, for example, as the Young Men's Business Association, the Industrial and Im- migration Association, the Chamber of Commerce, the Guilford County Board of School Improvement, and the North Carolina
CHARLES DUNCAN McIVER 223
Reunion Association — to mention all such organizations and to specify the committees on whicli he has served would be to convert the latter part of this sketch largely into a catal(^ue of society and committee names. Interpreted aright there is a profound sig- nificance in this long array of social, industrial, educational, busi- ness, literary and historical associations, since it indicates not only a healthful interest in national, State and local atTairs, but a wide and intimate famiharity with the agencies of progress and a whole- sonlcil enlistment of his energies in all movements that promise to promote the public good.
It is as a public speaker and orator that Doctor Mclver is most widely known to the general public both in his own Slate and be- yond its borders. The demands thus made upon him are frequent and at times almost continuous. It is his custom to carrj' with him a pocket calendar on which are noted the dates of promised ad- dresses. When a new appointment is sought, he consults his calendar, names the nearest unfilled date, and thus, by an unending process, adds to what he calls his "incidental and vacation work." Appointments arc often made several months in advance and it is not unusual for him to have every available date filled for six weeks in succession. The acceptance ol these invitations is de- termined by the opportunity for service afforded by the particular town, city or community from which comes the call. If any doubt arises the chances are nearly always in favor of the smaller and weaker community, and the message is carried to the few hun- dreds that gather at the cross-roads, store or country church rather than to the larger number who assemble in opera house or city hall. The message, too. has reference to the needs and special condi- tions of time and place, and thus constitutes a sowing of good seed in suitable soil, for it is safe to say that Charles D, Mclver never addressed an audience without having a distinct end in view and that end the provoking to good works. There are few places in Xorth Carolina where his voice has not been raised in behalf of some public measure. Large audiences, too, in great cities far removed from his native State, have greeted this educational leader, and from his lips heard wholesome truths relative to our
224 NORTH CAROLINA
educational progress. Thus he has been invited to make educa- tional addresses in more than one-half of the States in the Union.
His favorite topics are, of course, those that relate to educatioa, but as this is among the most comprehensive of subjects, his ad- dresses may be said to embody a wide range of themes. He is not a man to deal in generalities, but with a partictilar purpose in view selects a timely theme, appropriate to a given audience, and seeks by means of a clear and forceful presentation of facts to accomplish a definite result. He will, for example, address a body of lawmakers on the duty of the State to make liberal pro- vision for the education of its citizens — the citizens themselves on the advantages of local taxation for public schools. Or, the **Teacher as a Citizen'* will perhaps be the subject of a talk to teachers, and when urged to repeat it before a general audience, he will respond with an address on the Citizen as a Teacher. Although an interested student of our past histor>', he seldom draws upon its storehouse for the materials of his public dis- courses, but prefers to live in the present and in it to find the chief objects of public concern. With him the past is our heritage, the present our opportunity, and the future — a result of the labors of to-day. To the work at hand he therefore addresses himself, and though he sometimes sees visions, he never dreams dreams. All his speeches, whether intended primarily for men or women, and whether addressed to students, teachers, civic organizations, or the general public, have this one thing in common — they all, without exception, emphasize the duty of public and community service.
While relying chiefly upon the power of the spoken word as an agency in conveying his message to mankind, he has not been unmindful of the influence of the pen. Amid the duties of official life and the numerous outside calls made upon him, he has found time to write much that is of more than passing value. His newspaper and magazine articles, his educational campaign docu- ments and oflficial reports, and his speeches, revised and prepared for publication, these, if gathered together, would doubtless com- prise several goodly volumes, and would constitute a valuable ad- dition to the literature relating to education and civic ideals. His
CHARLES DUNCAN McIVER 225
writings, like his speeches, are clear and forceful discussions of topics pertaining to education and public service.
The life here sketched would seem to leave little opportunity for the enjoyment of the quieter pleasures of home, and the leistire and happiness which home suggests. But the life here sketched is but the outer and visible workings of an innner life which finds its center in the home and family. In Miss Lula V. Martin, of Win- ston, North Carolina, Charles D. Mclver found a life companion whose Christian graces of character and powers of intellectual s>'mpathy render her the true encourager of worthy efforts and a wise judge and rewarder of success. Four children, a son and three daughters, add happiness to their union. . A simple home is theirs, blessed by generous affection and pervaded by an atmos- phere of hospitality and genial courtesy — a home where culture and quiet refinement are justly esteemed and where trust in God and faith in humanity remain unquestioned and sincere. Their religious faith is that of the Scotch Covenanters, adhered to in its simplicity, but lived in the spirit of Christian rather than of sect. They have amassed no wealth, yet none would call them poor, for love and confidence here bear choice fruits, and mutual sympathy and helpfulness add that which mere worldly wealth is ever powerless to bestow.
Twenty-five years have elapsed since, diploma in hand, Charles D. Mclver passed from college halls into the larger school of life. In the prime of his vigor and usefulness he bids fair to add to them twenty-five other years rich with the fruitage of abundant harvests. The work already done he may riot do again ; hut work there will be for his w^illing hands to do and he will do it with his might. He has accomplished much, and in the doing of it has taught us to demand of him, and of ourselves, and of all men — more. This, we suspect, is as he would have it, for his message to his fellow man has been : Live more abundantly through more abundant service, striving hopefully for the larger things of life.
Even as the proof sheets of this sketch were passing through the f)ress, there came to Charles Duncan Mclver the call — **Enter
226 NORTH CAROLINA
into rest." The story of a people's grief is indicated by the fol- lowing tributes, few among hundreds, all expressive of the keen- est personal loss, yet eloquent, also, in gratitude for a life so nobly spent in the service of humanity.
From Press Correspondence:
"The tour of William J. Bryan through North Carolina began yesterday afternoon (September 17, 1906) with the departure of his special train for Greensboro accompanied by a large party of prominent citizens. The trip to Greensboro started auspiciously, but was saddened just as the train left Durham by the death of Doctor Charles D. Mclver, the leading educator and most useful citizen of North Carolina. The death of Doctor Mclver came as a great shock, and it spread the shadow of a great sorrow over every person on the train. On account of the sad and untimely end of his friend and traveling companion Mr. Bryan declined to speak at Hillsboro. At Burlington he said:
" 'I am sure that you will agree with us that this is not the time or occasion for a political speech. Doctor Charles D. Mclver was the man who first invited me to North Carolina twelve years ago, and I have never been in your State since that he was not on the reception committee and the first to greet and cheer me. His life, perhaps, more than that of any man I knew as well, illustrated the value of an ideal. He was an educated man whose sympathies were with the uneducated. He moved in the highest circles, yet snapped the golden cord, unselfishly lifting others up. His death is a loss — a fearful loss — to his country, his State, his city of Greensboro, to the glorious institution of learning which is now his monument, to his family, to his party and a great personal loss to me.*"
From Daily Industrial News:
'* 'Charles D. Mclver is dead' — as a pall this sentence fell upon Greens- boro yesterday afternoon. And not to Greensboro alone, but to the entire State is the loss — not alone to the State, but to the entire educational world. For Doctor Mclver had made for himself a place in his chosen field of work that cannot be filled. To the education of the South, espe> cially the women of the South, he had devoted his life. . . .
**Through his work will he live in the history of North Carolina, but even aside from his work he will not be forgotten by the multitude who called him friend. He is gone with much already accomplished, and yet with apparently much still before him. In the prime of manhood he was suddenly stricken and taken from the field of useful endeavor— dead but not forgotten. Yes, gone in the body and gone from the sight of mortal eyes, and yet not wholly gone, for never will his memory fade
CHARLES DUNCAN McIVER 227
from the minds and hearts of those who love humanity and love those who loved huitianil)', and of such in the fulleal measure was Charles Duncan Mclver."
From The Daily Record:
"This entire community was shocked bey-ond expression by the sad in- telligence of the sudden death of Doctor Charles Duncan Mclver. Not only has Greensboro and the State, but the nation as well, sustained a severe loss. Men — great men — die every day. but their places arc soon filled and they are almost forgotten, but it is no exaggeration lo say that to fill his place will be a task of difficult proportions. He was a lovable man. Every one of the thousands of young women who attended the Norma! loved him: he made their lives pleasant; his great aim was to make the poorest girl, the friendless girl, feel that she was at home; that poverty was an honor if honorably worn.
From The Greensboro Telegram:
"It is no exaggeration to say thai Greensboro was panic stricken yesterday afternoon when the news went from lip to lip that Doctor Mclver
"It is quite impossible to fully realize all that the death of such a man means to the community, to the State, and to the nation.
"The debt that the womanhood of the Stale owes him can never be paid. To him is to be traced in the last analysis all the influences which have floun hom Uie Kormal College for the uplJft oS Noi-th Carolina ii-twnen, for he was the Normal College in the sense that it was his creation. He it was who both planned and executed, overcoming seemingly insuper- able obstacles by his titanic energy and determination. From first to last the institution bore the impress of his powerful personality, and his in- fluence will ever be fell in its future history.
From The Charlotte Observer:
"The news of Ihe death of Doctor Charles D. Mclver will carry a shock from one end of the State to the other. Upon the subject of education he was an enthusiast; an always rational, intelligent enthusiast. No man in our history has done more to forward it. His own institution, the in- stitution which, one will say, was born to him. which he nursed and fostered, was the objeci of his special and natural affection, but in the whole field he was a champion, an advocate, and in his death the cause has lost a stalwart friend. It will be difficult to fill the vacancy which his death has created. It was a proper tribute paid him at Greensboro last evening that there was no political address, but that the meeting was made one of memorial."
228 NORTH CAROLINA
From Bryan's eulogy on Doctor Mclver, delivered in Greens- boro, on Monday night, September 17th:
". . . Professor Mclver has shown us what man can do. He has not only shown us, but did what man ought to do. He has given us an ideal of life, and I am coming more and more to believe that the ideal is the important thing. .
"I believe that Professor Mclver's life was a success. Wc have a great man, Rockefeller — the richest man in the world — and if I had to choose between leaving the record of Professor Mclver and leaving the money of Rockefeller, I would a thousand times rather leave Mclvcr's record to posterity. I will tell you a tfest of whether life has been a success or not. We all live amid an environment. Sometimes we are only known to a little circle, sometimes to a larger circle; but when wc die there is going to be a just verdict, and that just and honest verdict is the thing that we ourselves, when we come to take a proper view of life, will be more interested in than the houses and lands that we leave for our children to quarrel over, and I have thought that it can be said that a life has been lived successfully if, when it passes out, we can say of the person, as we can say of this dear friend of mine and of yours:
*' 'The night is darker because his light is gone out : The world is not so warm because his heart is cold in death.*"
From the Raleigh Netvs and Observer:
"Charles D. Mclver was the best type of Southern manhood. His faith was profound, his courage unconquerable, and his capacity for labor apparently a thing that had no limit when the interests which he held dear were concerned. He was of massive brain and electric personality. Easily of national size, he preferred to stay in North Carolina and devote his genius to her educational advancement
"The profession that he adopted made Doctor Mclver an educational statesman, but he was more than that. He was a patriot and a statesman in the broad sense.
"It would be difficult to name any movement— educational, industrial, religious or political — that was making for the betterment of the State that did not feel the helpful touch of Charles D. Mclver. He was an optimist of the best type, and went about making others have faith in themselves and inspiring them with patriotism and civic virtue and public spirit. Other men will be found who will carry on the college and direct the public educational work, but his spirit of faith and hope and cheer will be missed in an hundred ways, and it was the thing that made him easily the most useful man in North Carolina and the best loved private citizen.
Albert Shaw in the October, 1906, Ret'iew of Rericws: "... Doctor Mclver was nol quite forty-six years old; but his influence was already great, and his achievement was of the sort that saves itnperiled civilizations and transforms communities. ... He was a man of remarkable eloquence, and of great readiness and power on all oc- casions in public speech. He was famous for his wit, and for his un- limited store of amusing incidents and anecdotes. . . . H he had chosen to turn his energies into political channels he wonld have been Governor of bis State and then United Slates Senator."
Walter H. Page in the October, 1906, South Atlantic Quarterly:
"... I suppose that he was regarded as a close personal friend by more men and women, and he had the intimate confidence of more men and women than any other man in North Carolina. . . . Twice he bad a chance possibly lo become President of the State University, but be considered his work in building a college for women of greater im- portance. He might at any lime during the last six or eight years have received an income that would have relieved him of all financial care and provided luxuriously for his family if he had given his time lo business undertakings. But the building and the development oE a great college for the training of women (and by the training of women, the lifting up of the whole people) was dearer to him than all other aims in life; and he never hesitated."
Extract from Governor's Proclamation :
Governor R. B. Glenn issued the following proclamation to the people of North Carolina at the request of a number of prominent citizens:
'"The iifework of Charles D. Mclver is ended. For Iwenlyfive years he served his State with fidelity, zeal and efficiency not surpassed in her annals. No one has rendered the State a greater service. It is now the high duty and privilege of the people whom he served with unselfish devotion to manifest iheir grateful appreciation of his life and character by a memorial which will transmit his memory to posterity and be a per- petual incentive to the youth of the State to emulate his example. An heroic statue in bronze, designed and cast by a great artist, has been selected by general consent as a most fitting memorial. Charles D. Mclver's en- tire life was given for the better education of all our women, the improve- ment of the educational opportunities of all our children, the uplifting of all our citizenship and the elevation of all our ideals of civic service." William C. Smith.
r. I i;i:v.' york
f\il.^: LiDllARY
r:
I \
JOHN McMillan mcIVEr 231
relating the race from which he sprang, the place where he was reared, the institutions, the social customs and educational forces which molded his character and thus singled him out from his species, individualizing him for all time. The task is a pleasant one. History loves to trace the lineage of those whose lives rise above mediocrity and shine with deeds of high morality and beauti- ful unselfishness. H*the blood that courses through the veins bears upon its tide the virtues by which it was first distinguished, then there is a prestige of birth that may prompt generations in their turn —
"To draw forth a noble ancestry From the corruption of abusing time, Unto a lineal, true-derived course."
Still the glory of embellishing a name, of adding to its luster, is superior to that of first drawing it from the ages agone.
John McMillan Mclver was bom on November 6, 1838, near^ Carbonton, in Moore County, hard by the Mne of Chatham, on the hills of the historic Clarendon, now Deep River, and within the bounds of old Euphronia Presbyterian Church.
His great-grandfather, Donald Mclver, was one of the three brothers who emigrated from Scotland in 1772. Two of these brothers settled in North Carolina and one in South Carolina. From this trio have descended nearly all of the sturdy folk who bear the name in both States.
The name of his father was Alexander Mclver, a farmer, a loyal Presbyterian and an elder in Euphronia Church. His mother was Miss Ann Gordon, daughter of Mr. Langston Gordon, of \'ir^inia, an Englishman.
The life of the subject of this sketch from birth has been typ- ically North Carolinian, modified by traits of parentage through his rugp^ed paternal ancestry. There were but few environments better calculated to form character than those found in the atmos- phere among the hills of his birthplace where the parish schools, hard by the kirk in the fatherland, had been transplanted and re- ligiously fostered. He was born into that way of life which might be called in other lands the middle class, but happily in our coun-
232 NORTH CAROLINA
try character and capacity make their own level. He was neither of the richest nor of the poorest, neither proud nor humble; he knew no hunger he was not sure of satisfying, no luxury which could enervate mind or body. His parents were sober. God-fear- ing people ; intelligent and upright ; without pretension and with- out self-effacing. He grew up in the company of boys who woriced on the farm like himself — wholesome, honest, self-respecting. Thev looked down on nobody, they never felt it possible they could be looked down upon. Their houses were the homes of probity, piety, patriotism. They learned from the inspiring traditions of their fathers, and at the feet of teachers of sound Christianity and ennobling patriotism, the lessons of heroic and splendid life which came down from the past.
His father died when he was only one year old. The loss was great : but his mother proved a wise and capable counsellor, and her care and training molded him into manly excellence. His earliest recollection of his mother was seeing her kneeling in prayer with her three little children around her. A comfortable l)atrimony fell to him from his father's estate. In early life he had a strong desire for an education. The impulse was natural to one of such ancestry and living in such surroundings. The first con- fession of faith adopted by the church of his progenitors, about two hundred and seventy-five years before, contained a provision for the planting of a school in every parish. Coming as did his forefathers and others, so to speak, from the feet of John Knox. the greatest of Scotchmen and the most illustrious pupil of John Calvin, they became founders and patrons of academic schools, which, without cabinets, lalxjratories and other parts of a college equipment, educated many young men for the gospel ministry, the bar and other learned professions. The influence of these early and useful schools had not died out as an inspiration to the young of that day. By both inheritance and environment there came therefore to him an overmastering and enthusiastic impulse for an education.
Preparation to matriculate at the University was obtained under that celebrated teacher, Doctor Alexander Wilson, at Melville
JOHN McMillan McIver 233
Academy in Alamance County. In 1858, in his twentieth year, he was admitted to the classes of the University of North Caro- lina. In 1861, when the war between the States beg^an, he left the University promptly to enter the army. An attack of sickness frustrated his plans and he returned to the University and grad- uated in 1S62. receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts. On leav- ing the halls of the University he enlisted immediately as a soldier in a cavalry company, made up mostly of descendants of Scotch Highlanders, with Reverend James H. McNeil as commandant. The field of service for his command was in Eastern North Caro- lina until the opening of the famous Gettysburg campaign in 1863, when as the Sixty-third North Carolina Regiment it was trans- ferred to the army of Northern Virginia. Sur\'iving the hard- ships and many blootly battles of this great army, he surrendered widi it at Appomattox Court-House in 1865, having made a splendid record as a brave and conscientious soldier, whether in camp, bivouac or battle.
The active work of his life as a civilian was begun as a school- teacher. In 1865 he laiight at Buffalo Church in Moore County, and afterward in Bladen County, and at Waynesville in Haywood County. In each of these communities Jijs inHucnci: was lorcclul and far-reaching. The hearts as well as the heads of his pupils were impressed with his Christian life and nice scholarship. Some of his pupils became eminent as officers of the State, and many bear testimony to-day most gratefully to his uplifting and lasting work upon their minds artd their character. In 1870 he became engaged in business at Gulf and established his home there. Mr. McIver has six children : three, the children of a former mar- riage to Miss Mattie Lee Morrison, of Asheville, and three, the children of his present marriage to Miss Lois Anderson, of Davidson.
His career as a worker in the church has been marked by ex- ceptionally distinguished services; and to few men have so many and such high honors fallen. He was one of the founders of his church at Gulf and was elected its first elder. During the years of its earlier historv he alone constituted its session. He is the
234 NORTH CAROLINA
only clerk its session has ever had, and the only superintendent of its Sunday-school. As the representative of his church he has attended with notable frequency the meetings of his Presbytery, and is one of the four ruling elders it has so far elected to preside over its deliberations as moderator. Twice he has been elected Commissioner to the General Assembly, the highest court in the polity of the church. He has been called often to serve on the most important committees. He filled with great credit the chairman- ship of the committee in charge of the Elders' and Deacons' In- stitute, and is now one of the two ruling elders on the S\Tiodical Committee in charge of the Twentieth Century Million Dollar Educational Fund.
His career as a business man has been no less successful. He was never a speculator in the commonly accepted meaning of that word. One of the most pronounced characteristics of his work in the business sphere has been conservative. He has accumulated a fine estate. Yet it has been done by the application of the reg- ular and well-known and universally approved business methods of the world. His system, frugality, sagacity, industry, concurred to make his work as gainful as possible, bating the possible out- come of speculative ventures. He is a large and successful farmer, and a merchant with a fine volume of business. He was a pioneer in the roller milling business. As a manufacturer of flour he is widely known and popular. He has been one of those active men who have contributed so much to placing North Carolina on the career of prosperity that marks this period as the most interesting, industriallv, in her history. He is interested as a director and Stockholder in the bank of Fayetteville, a stockholder, director and Vice-President of the Sanford Cotton Mills, a stockholder in the Columbia Manufacturing Company at Ramseur, North Carolina, and the Elmira Cotton Mills in Burlington, North Carolina.
Tracing the service and success that have made up so much of his life back to the principles and methods which led on to them is a task as interesting as it is instructive. He built upon sure foundations. A conscientious desire to do his duty to his fellow- men, to himself and to his God have been prominent and conspicu-
JOHN McMillan McIver 235
ous without ostentation. Three subjects for practice in composi- tion assigned to him when he was a student at Melville Academy by Doctor Alexander Wilson (Festina lente. make haste slowly; Obsia Priiicipiis, oppose the beginnings ; Esse Quam Videri, to be rather than to appear to be) made, he says, a deep impression on him and has had much to do in shaping both his religions and business life. It has been a deep conviction with him that the co5t of success was doing his best. His confidential legal adviser says of him, "He is one man who never forgets his God in his business." In cases actually occurring he lias always readily re- nounced the employment of legal advantages with gain, and chosen instead an equitable procedure with loss.
The following word picture portrays in some measure the make up of the man : One who lives largely not for himself but for others ; and whose pleasure and happiness consists to an excep- tional degree in contributing to the happiness of others. A man of singularly sweet and amiable disposition and retiring in his habits, and yet, surprisingly, a successful business man even in this day of strenuous life and activity. One who can be depended upon at all times and never be found wanting. Of martyr spirit to snffer at the stake for conscience' sake, and for what he believes to be right. Ever ready to aid liberally in any and every move- ment in church or State for the good of his fellows.
A Democrat and interested in politics and influential, yet in- tensely averse to office holding; a Presbyterian in religion, with the most cordial regard for his fellows of other creeds ; an active man in the conduct of large and varied business interests, yet liv- ing always unobtrusively and retiringly he has won distinguished success in business, and wielded a silent but powerful influence for good in business, social and religious life.
In a home notable for its atmosphere of culture and refinement, he is spending his days as a representative of the highest ideal of a Christian gentleman and successful man of business in the hfe of Xorth Carolina as seen to-day.
P. R. Law.
T- >Ir.-\V YORK
1 • ---'"•
WILLIE PERSON MANGUM z^
— the Presidency of the Senate. A President fro tempore of the Senate is chosen by its members in each Congress. His duties are nominal only, bnt upon the death or promotion of the Vice-Presi- dent he became, before a recent law changed the order of succes- sion, the heir apparent to the Presidency.
It follows then that while Willie P. Mangum was President of the Senate, 1842-45, and was next in succession after Tyler to the Presidency, he filled the highest post under this Governniait ever attained by a North Carolinian as such.
Willie Person Mangum, lawyer, legislator, judge. Congress- man, United States Senator and Prtsident pro tempore of the United States Senate, was born in Orange, now Durham, County, North Carohna, May 10. 1793 (not December 29, 1791, as is some- times stated). His birthplace was near but not at the site of his later home, the present L'mbra post office, known to the family as Walnut Hall, and during his life as Red Mountain (not near the present town of Durham, as is also said).
The Mangums were seated in Sussex and adjoining sections of Virginia early in the eighteenth century, and seem to have been caught by the last waves of the great stream of migration that swept over the southern border of that State into North Carolina for a hundred years. Tradition has it that the family is Welch in origin and that the original form of the name was Manghamis ; we know that the Irish branch still spells the name Mangham. It is believed that the subject of this sketch is descended from the Mangimis, who about 1730 to 1750 were located in Albemarle Parish. Sussex County, Virginia. There were three heads of fam- ilies there at that time with this surname, William. James. John — presumably brothers. William Mangum and his wife Mary had four sons: James, bom January 2, 1734; William, born May 16, 1736; Henry, born January 24, 1773 (sic, error for 1737-38?); Arthur, born May 2. 1743. James Mangum, the elder, had two sons, William and James, and a daughter, Lucy; John had a daughter, Rebeckah (Va. Mag. of Hist, and Biog., July, 1894, p. 108).
We are not certain as to the exact time that Arthur Mangum,
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grandfather of Willie P. Mangum, and believed to be identical with the one named above, came into North Carolina ; but he seems to have come by way of Warren County, and perhaps stepped in Granville, for there was a Mangum family in that county as early as 1757. That an Arthur Mangum was in North Carolina in 1763 we learn from a manuscript note made by Thomas Person? ** Bought of Arthur Mangum i Barrel com @ 9/6 Cash he Dr. to 2/6 for Writeing his Deed to Orange Co. next in May, Tuesday, 6 Apr/' (1763.) And again: "Paid Jos. Langston to be given to Arthur Mangum on acct. of a Barrel of Com 10/. Cash 26 Ap."
The first land entries by Arthur Mangum, the grandfather of Judge Mangum, so far as Orange County records seem to show, date from 1760. Some of the lands taken up by him during the next few years remained in the family till February, 1902. Arthur Mangum married Lucy Person. She was a niece of Colonel William Person, of Granville (1700-78) and as such a cousin of General Thomas Person. I have not found the name of her father. She was probably the daughter of that Mary Person whose will was probated in Granville County Court August 11, 1761. Arthur Mangum died between March 12 and 24, 1789; his wife remained a widow for forty years and died about 1829, aged about ninety-two. They had children as follows, order uncertain: (i) William Person Mangum, father of Willie Person Mangum; (2) Arthur, who married Dicey Carrington, daughter of John Car- rington ; he died about 1813, aged about forty, and left "a house full" of children, who migrated to Georgia, Mississippi and Miss- ouri; (3) Willie, who was very handsome and a merchant, died young and unmarried ; (4) Sally married Sion Bobbitt and went to Tennessee; . (5) Holly, who married Cozart; one of her sons, William, was a large merchant in Columbus, Mississippi; another, Herbert, was a merchant in Georgia ; another, James, was a planter
in Granville; (6) Chaney married Mangum, and was the
mother of Colonel Ellison Mangum and grandmother of Captain Addison Mangum and of Professor A. W. Mangum; (7) Clary (or Clara) married David Parker, a famier of Granville; Colonel
WILLIE I'EkSON MANGUM 239
Abner Parker, merchant; Harrison Parker, planter; and David Parker, later of Edgccomlw, were their sons. She left also a daughter, who married William Honier, father of James H. and Thomas J. Horner, the distinguished teachers.
William Person Mangum, who is thonght to liave been the old- est child of Arthur Mangum. was born about 1762. He married Catharine (Kate) Davis, who was bom on the Schuylkill River in Pennsj'lvania. Her father migrated to Orange County, North Carolina, when she was about four years old and there he died. William Person Mangum was a farmer and merchant and spent all his life in Orange, where he died in 1837. aged seventy-five. Hia wife had died in March, 1825. This couple had only three sons: Willie Person, the oldest and subject of this sketch; (2) Priestley Hinton. noticed in the sketch of his son, W. P. Mangum, Jr.; (3) Walter Atvis, born in Orange County, January 28, 1798; married Miss Eliza P, Bullock, daughter of Doctor Benjamin Bul- lock, of Granville; removed to Mississippi in 1832 and became a planter; removed to Louisiana in 1856 and in 1863 to Texas as a refugee ; after the war returned to Louisiana and died there Janu- ary 20, 1868. He left a large family, some of whom have at- tained distinction ; numerous descendants are itill living- in Texas.
It would seem that Willie Person Mangum came to his feeling for statecraft from his grandmother's family, and that the political mantel of his distinguished relative, Thomas Person, rested on his shoulders, for his father's family were merchants and planters and had not been before his day in public life. He received his pre- liminary education in part at the hands of Thomas M. Flint, a strolling pedagogue; in part at the Fayetteville Academy under Reverend Colin Mclver. and in part in the Raleigh Academy under Reverend Doctor McPheeters. He spent some time also as a clerk in his father's store and was graduated at the University of North Carolina in 1815.
He began to study law with Honorable Duncan Cameron; acted as tutor to his son, the late Honorable Paul C. Cameron, and was licensed to practice January 10, 1817. It is evident that
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he was successful from the start. He writes to his brother April 26, 1819:
"I have made a good deal of money this Spring, say upward of $1900 in actual receipts and nearly that sum in good bonds and accounts. My prospects in the practice continue to grow more flattering.
"Vou know that I have made a considerable purchase in Hajrwood. I think I have made more by that than all the rest of the labors of my life. ... In one case of Mrs. Patty Taylor, I have secured a fee at six months of one thousand dollars . . . and an equal share with the first in the other business of that court which is profitable."
But even then he was dreaming dreams of political preferment.
"That I could go to Congress without difficulty I entertain no doubt ** he writes in the same letter. **The dangerous diadem has flittered before my vision and ambition frequently lingers with delight in tracing the out- line of the delusion, but interest, and in my opinion sound judgment, for- bid the thought."
But even then he was in politics. He was a member of the House of Commons in 1818 and 1819 from Orange County; served on the judiciary and education committees; strongly ad- vocated the organization of a distinct Supreme Court and favored calling a Constitutional Convention, one of the burning questions of that day. By the Legislature of 1819 he was elected (December 22, 1819) a Judge of the Superior Court of Law and Equity to succeed Judge Toomer, resigned. There is a story that he was the candidate of his old instructor, Judge Cameron, then a member of the State Senate from Orange. John Stanly had boasted that he would give the vacant judgship to his young kins- man, George E. Badger. Cameron's first candidate was William Norwood, of Hillsboro. Finding that he could not beat Stanly with Norwood, young Mangum was brought out and elected. He rode one of the eastern circuits, but the climate did not agree with him, and after a year of work on the bench he re- signed, November, 1820, and returned to the practice of law.
In 1823 he became a candidate for the i8th Congress (1823-25) from what was then the eighth district, composed of Orange, Person and Wake. His opponent was General Daniel L.
WILLIE PERSON RANGUM 241
Barringer, a resident of Raleigh. The election was held in August, 1823, for until 1861 Congressional elections were held in the odd years and after the term of service had begun in March. The candidates fought it out on their legislative records and on State issues. The main ([uestions were the proposed amendment to the Constitution making the representation of the two sections equal — the old fight between the sections. Mangum favored such an amendment and Barringer avoided it; he also favored the bill which required the banks to pay specie for their notes while Bar- ringer voted on both sides. Mangum received 2523 votes; Bar- ringer, 1729.
Mangum went to Congress as a Republican, and in the Presi- dential campaign of 1824 was a strong supporter of Crawford. He writes Sclh Jones, of Wake, on January 3, 1825 : "I feel it my duty to vote for Mr, Crawford as long as he has the remotest prospect of success." The North Caroiina Assembly had nom- inated Crawford, but the State in 1824 cast her vote for Jackson. When the election came up in the House of Representatives Man- gum voted for Crawford and so did tlie State, as a whole, for A<Iams received but a single vote and Jackson but two. The fol- lowers of Adams called themselves national Republicans. They contended for the largest latitude in the construction of the Con- stitution, favored internal improvements and encouraged immigra- tion, advocated protection, gave fishing bounties and passed navi- gation acts. This was the "American system" and its advocates formed the nucleus of the Whig Party. On the other hand North Carolina in general favored the strict construction views of Craw- ford, Jackson and the Jefferson Party. It is believed that Man- gum's vote for Crawford instead of Jackson made him unpopular at home. I am told by Major William A. Graham, who, of course, had it from his father, that strong effort was necessary to defeat his opponent for the 19th Congress, 1825-27, in August, 1825. This opponent was Josiah Crudup, a skilful and versatile Baptist preacher. Mangum is credited with saying that Crudup was the most formidable candidate he ever met and that an op- ' portune rain which prevented Crudup from preaching on a certain
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occasion was all that saved him. He won by a bare majority of fifty-six votes.
During these two terms in Congress Mangum served on the committee on commerce, and on that on the services and sacrifices of LaFayette. He resigned March i8, 1826, and was succeeded by Daniel L. Barringer, Democrat, who took his seat December 4, 1826.
Mangum was on August 18, 1826, appointed by Governor Bur- ton to fill an unexpired term as judge of the Superior Court of Law and Equity. The term for which he was appointed expired the same year and his failure of re-election by the Assembly of that year called out expressions of regret from Nat Macon and others. In 1828 he was an elector on the Jackson-Calhoun Ticket, showing that he had not as yet accepted the principles of Adams, whose re-election was advocated in North Carolina by Gaston and others. Jackson electors were chosen in North Carolina (November 13, 1828). Mangum was again chosen without op- position a judge of the Superior Court (December 10, 1828), to succeed Rufiin. He served in this capacity through 1829 and into the Spring of 1830 (later than April 3, 1830), when he re- signed, presumably to enter the race for Senator.
The first intimations w^e have of senatorial aspirations is in a letter from his lifelong friend, Thomas J. Green, who writes him May 24, 1828:
"If you could have a desire to return to the Federal city in a higher char- acter than when you left it, go to our next Legislature a member. A word to the wise is sufficient."
There was then no vacancy in the Senate, for Macon did not resign till November 14, 1828, but there is no doubt that Green's letter was in anticipation of such an event, which was probably expected. Mangum withdrew, however, in favor of Iredell, who received the appointment, as is seen from the following letter of General Edward Ward, dated Raleigh, November 30, 1830:
"The friends of Judge Donnel [sic ] are very desirous to know from you whether you arc to be a candidate at the present session of the Gen-
WILLIE PERSON MANGUM 243
eral Assembly for a seat in the Senate of the next Congress of ihe United Scatrs.
"They are by no means disposed to jeopardize the interests of the Re- publican Party, by starling, or having two candidates of the same party to run, when in all probability the opposite party will start a candidate to defeat Ihcir object ; jour declining to run two years ago, when the Eastern Republicans were anxious to start you, was Ihe cause of Judge Donnel's being brought forward at the last session, and many of his friends arc anxious to run him again, but they are, however, anxious to have a friendly understanding with you upon the subject."
Iredell had been elected to fill out Macon's term, which expired March 3, 1831, In 1830 Mangum was a candidate for the full term, as were also Governor Owen, Judge Donnell, R. D. Spaight and Governor Stokes. Mangiim was thought to be the most avail- able candidate against what was characterized as the "Spaight faclion," composed of R, D. Spaight, Charles Fisher, R. M. Saunders and Joseph li. Bryan as leaders, followed by Stokes, Monlgomcry, O'Brien, Sleadman, Bynum and others. It was thought that Donnell would prevail over Owen in the race for Senator and that Spaight would heat him for Governor (letter of \V. M. Snced, November 18, 1830).
December 2, 1830, Charles L. Hinton writes Mangum: "There was no general concert, there was a rebellion on the part of the friends of Owen, Donnel [sk], Fisher and Jesse Spaight with a hope of bringing each on the turf. . . . Your angry feelings toward Governor Owen I know can never be allayed. I regret the occurrence. If, as you say, he h,is ever been your enemy he has deceived me, for during the sum- mer he frequently expressed his preference for you and unwillingness lo
The fight turned more and more on the defeat of Owen. On December 3d Romulus M. Saunders gives further news of the battle :
'"Your letter directing the withdrawal of your name was not received until Owen's nomination and two ballots, having you lied at 89. Yesterday Owen had gj. you 96, 14 blanks. , , , The intention is if you wish to decline a further ballot and Donnel [sic] or some other person cannot succeed (o postpone until the next session, , . . Both your sayings and your letters have been misrepresented. The letter you wrote to Governor
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Owen has been used as a menace or challenge, and he has not thought proper to call either for General Ward's letter or Colonel Hinton's . . . Donnel and friends are prepared to co-operate in whatever shall be deemed advisable. Fisher . . . feels confident your presence and nothing dst can save us from Owen*s election. I view his success under existing cir- cumstances as fatal to our future prospects."
It seems that Owen was finally induced to withdraw in favor of Mangum, and the latter was chosen Senator. I have not learned with exactness the reason for his anger with Owen save that it grew out of the bitterness of this campaign. But on December ist, in letters to General Ward and Charles L. Hinton, Mangum took occasion to implicate Owen's '^political principles in the strongest and most unequivocal manner," and with that open frankness and chivalrous disregard of personal consequences that characterized him all his life he at once notified Owen of his letters and avowed his willingness to give him the satisfaction then usual among gen- tlemen. Owen considered this a challenge and accepted. Louis D. Henry was his second, while W. M. Sneed, State Senator from Granville, acted for Mangum; but through the mediation of D. F. Caldwell and an intelligence as sensible as unusual, the sec- onds appeased the wrath of the principals, and later they became political friends.
It will be seen that Mangum was elected as a Republican or Democrat, or follower of Jackson. He had been a Jackson elector in 1828, and this contest for Senator seems to have been a sort of friendly squabble among the leaders of the Republican Party. Mangum had as yet developed few of those tendencies which after- ward led him into the Whig Party.
His first important speech on the floor of the Senate seems to have been that on the TariflF of 1832. His sympathies were with the South on that question, and he was by no means in love with Jackson's constitutional views, as announced in his famous proc- lamation to the people of South Carolina ; but while his sympathies drew him in that direction he was not a nullifier, although often so charged by his enemies. In January, 1832, Mr. Clay proposed the removal of all duties from articles which did not come in com-
WILLIE PERSON MANGUM 245
petition with similar articles produced in this country. The effect, and the purpose, ivas to make necessary higher rates of duty upon the articles which could be or were produced by our people. Mangum said in part ;
"Sir, the Slate from which I come regards ihis struggle with deep solici- tude, and the most patriotic anxiety. . . , She deprecates the pres- ent system of taxation as especially sectional and selfish, and as ETTadu- slly undermining the fabric of our noble institutions. She has hitherto ac*iuiesced in this policy with a dignified moderation, looking to the extinguishment of the public dclit as a period favorable to the alleviation of her burdens, and as a rectification of the systems. . . . What is the effect of the resolution upon the table? It is to aggravate the evil. It is (o tax the necessaries of the poor man. wltiic the rich man may revel in luxuries as free from taxation as the air he breathes. . . . The only feature of mitigation is to be found in the reduction of revenue. This, however, is more than counterbalanced by the increased inequality in the action of the system."
He controverted the claim of constitutional authority to tax imported foreign goods for purposes of protection. This right was claimed under tlie clause "to regulate commerce with foreign na- tions." and under this clause they assumed the right to annihilate commerce by the imposition of prohibitory duties, lie also dis- sented from the position taken by Jackson in his annual message in December, 18,^0. in which it was claimed thai as the States be- fore the Constitution was adopted had absolute control of the sub- ject, and as the whole authority to regulate commerce was trans- ferred to the general government by that instrument. Congress therefore possessed all the power over the stibject which the States had formerly possessed.
.■\fter pointing out the inequalities in the working of the tariff and its disastrous effects on the South in piling up money in the bands of manufacturers at the North, he concludes:
"It is money — money — give me money or — sir, tf I could coin my heart into gold, and it were lawful in the sight of Heaven, I would pray God to give me firmness to do it, to save Ihis Union from the fearful — the dreadful shock which I verily believe impends."
Of this speech Mangum writes to his wife (February nth):
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"I was not exactly pleased with my own effort, yet I have reason to be- lieve that the almost universal opinion of the Senate is that it was elo- quent and powerful."
Mangum was now leaning away from Jackson, but he was not one of those who voted against the confirmation of Van Buren as Minister to England. He spoke on the bill, commonly called the Force Bill, or bill to collect the revenue in South Carolina, on January 22d, and writes his wife February 2, 1833:
"We are deeply engaged in the Senate upon South Carolina affairs. I fear we shall make war upon her. I am opposed to all harsh measures.'*
It was thus that Manguni's alienation from the old Jacksonian republicanism was developed: i. He was hostile to Jackson's tariff system, and also to that of Clay. He believed in a tariff for revenue only; and indeed Clay at that time was forced by stress of circumstances to abandon protection and come round to his position. In his anxiety to prevent impending war between the sections, Clay, after a conference with Calhoun, drew a bill which his friends first put through the House of Representatives and which he had no difficulty in putting through the Senate^ which by a gradual process, running through nine years, com- pletely abandoned protection and brought the duties down to the revenue standard of 20 per cent, ad valorem. As agreed, Cal- houn voted for this bill, and it became a law March 2, 1833, and it settled the sectional troubles of that day. 2. He opposed Jack- son's policy of coercing South Carolina, while himself opposed nullification. 3. In 1834 came up the question of the United States Bank, its rechartcr, the removal of the deposits, the cen- sure on Jackson and Benton's Expunging resolution. He had long seen the drift in the matter of the bank and had proclaimed his hostility to Jackson as early as January 19, 1832, in a letter to William Gaston :
"I think it is to be very much regretted that the United States Bank has come before Congress at this session. I regard the continuance of that in- stitution as of almost indispensable necessity.
"By deferring its application to next session I have no doubt, with but slight modification (to save appearances), it would have met with the Ex-
WILLIE PERSON MANGUM 247
tcutivc favor. Il is now nmrc ihan doubtful wlicliicr il will — and the whole may ultimalely lake the appearance of a (rial of strength between General Jackson and the bank. In [hat case the bank will go down. For General Jackson's popularity is of a sort not to be shaken at present. 1 hope for the best results from the wise and patriotic counsels of Mr. McLane."
4. In the Slate there was also bitter warfare over the question of instruction of Senators. This principle Mangiini denied, while Bedford Brown, his colleague in the Senate (who had succeeded John Branch), accepted. In fact, these two Senators came more and more to represent the two wings into which the old Rcptibli- can Party was sphtting in North Carohna as elsewhere. In 1834 they canvassed the State on the subject of instruction. They aroused great interest and some excitement. The partizans of eadi vied wilh their opponents in giving the biggest public din- ners and forming the largest processions. Brown stood for the strict construction idea, which supported Jackson and developed into the modem Democratic Party. As we have seen, Mangiim U'as more of a latitudinarian, anti-Jackson, pro-bank, and later came lo support Clay. Out of this latter class grew the Whig Party. Besides Clay and Mangum, it numbered among its adher- ents Preston and McDuffie of South Carolina ; Poindexter of Mis- sissippi. Berrien of Georgia, Bell of Tennessee and others. In North Carolina it claimed Badger. Graham, Gaston, the Galeses and others. Hugh L. White, representing the hostility to Van Biircti, Jackson's political heir, was the candtcJate al this st'tH ttrror- ganized party for President in 1836, and Mangum was freely talked of as his running mate.
The tendency to party cleavage in Mangum's career was accentuated and confirmed by the bank struggle. The Whig Parly, of which we may now begin to speak, with the help of Calhotin, concentrated their forces in opposition to Jackson. The United States Bank was selected as the subject over which the trial of strength should be. The bank had never been popular in North Carolina, but under the leadership of Mangum, Gaston and others it gaine<l ground, and branch banks were established. In fact, Iredell writes Mangum February 4, 1832: "Whether right
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or wrong, that bank is at this time very popular in our State ; I believe, indeed I know, it has done us vast good, and as yet we have felt no evils from it." Calhoun allied himself with Benjamin Watkins Leigh in Virginia and Mangum in North Carolina, not only because they were representatives of the pro-bank idea, but also because they represented the opposition to receiving instruc- tions from the Assembly, and the party in those States which stood out against the tyranny and extra-constitutional assumptions of Jackson. Mangum voted for the resolution of censure on Jackson for removing the deposits, passed March 28, 1834, and refused to vote for Benton's resolution to expunge the censure. The North Carolina Legislature of 1834-35 was Democratic or pro- Jackson, and hence opposed to Mangum. It availed itself of the oppor- tunity offered and instructed him to vote for the Expunging reso- lution (North Carolina acts, 1834-35, p. 95). These instructions, with a bitter arraignment of the party in power, Mangum refused to obey. He said that in reference to the instructions he would avail himself of the occasion barely to say that he should not con- form to them. He should vote against the Expunging resolution. The Legislature had no right to require him to become the instru- ment of his own personal degradation. He repelled the exercise of so vindictive a power ; and when applied to himself he repelled it with scorn and indignation. The members of the Legislature were servants and representatives of the people. He was likewise one. That they were disposed to guard with jealousy the honor of the State, it was not his province to discuss or question. He, likewise, felt it his duty to guard the honor of the State, and not less to guard his own personal honor; both, in his con- ception, imperiously required him to disregard the resolutions; and, that point being settled in his mind, he trusted no one who knew him would entertain a doubt as to his course on this subject.
His course in the Senate was applauded by his political friends in the State and denounced by his opponents (including^ Brown, his colleague), but the weight of opinion in the State, so far at least as it found expression in the form of memorials to Con-
WILLIE PERSON MANGUM 249
gress, seems to have been decidedly pro-bank and in favor of Manguni.
In 1836 came up for consideration Jackson's scheme of specie payments. Mangimi seems to have been rather uncertain as to the proper stq>s, but even then saw the growing danger from cor- porations. He said on the specie payments matter: That the measure contemplated an important change in tlie currency of the country, and he preferred it should he left in charge of its friends, who better understood it. He was perfectly ready to vote for it, if it came recommended by the gentlemen from the new States ; and he was willing to do so because he looked upon it to be a remedy against speculation in the public lands; and because it might possibly bring about a sounder state in the circu- lating medium. They might be chimeras, but he believed that all these wealthy corporate institutions were inimical to a spirit of liberty, which he preferred to all the wealth and splendor of the great cities. Banks, railroads, stock companies of every descrip- tion, might be useful, but he was opposed to them all, because, in his opinion, they were inconsistent with the true spirit of lib- erty. On another occasion he opposed pving pre-emption rights to si^irattcrs on the pttblic domain in the Wtsf.
The campaign of 1836 was conducted in North Carolina on the L'nited States Bank, nullification and the instruction of Senators. The Legislature chosen was at first Whig, but Muse of Pasquotank resigned and was succeeded by a Democrat. This threw the Legis- lature into the Democratic camp, and Mangum, interpreting this as a condemnation of his course, resigned (last of November or first of December, 1836) and was succeeded by Robert Strange, a Democrat, who took his seat December 15, 1836.
In 1837 the eleven electoral votes of South Carolina, which Calhoun was said to have carried "in his vest pocket," were given to Manguni for President. This, in view of the fact that Mangum had supported some of the policies of the great South Carolinian, raised a howl in the Democratic papers that there had been a cor- rupt bargain between the two. Of this there is no evidence. There is in fact little evidence that the vote of South Carolina was
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due more to the action of Calhoun than of William C. Preston, his Whig colleague in the Senate, a personal friend, and for whom Mangum named his only son (cf. Dodd's Macon, 335-397)-
After his resignation from the Senate in 1836 Mangum retired to his plantation and returned to the law ; but politics was to him as the breath of his nostrils. He was no less in public life, though not in public office; in 1837 he declined to become a candidate for the House of Representatives, though strong pressure was brought to bear upon him ; but in 1840 he was sent to the State Senate from Orange County. He was chairman of the Commit- tee on Education and assisted in drawing an act to provide public schools for the State. Although since revised and altered, the Act of 1840 is in reality the basis of the common school system of North Carolitia to-day (see Weeks's "Beginning of the Common School System in the South" in Report United States Commis- sioner of Education, 1896-97, p. 1422).
In the meantime the organization of the Whig Party was being perfected. It was composed of men with many different shades of political belief and with very different political antecedents, but all were drawn together by the particular hope of defeating the Locofos, as the \'an Buren branch of the Democratic Party was called. The name Whig, so Clay explained, was generic and was expressly adopted to embrace men of all political opinions. In 1839 this newly fonned party met in convention in Harrisbui^ to nominate candidates for President and \'ice-President. Mangum was a member and went to the convention as a friend of Oav. It was a time when both North and South had to be propitiated in the matter of nominations; when the nomination for President went to Harrison, Clay's chances were gone. Mangum thought that Clay had been unfairly treated and that his own acceptance of the second place would prove him untrue to his friend, espe- cially as he was also a member of the convention. This was his reply in substance to a committee which asked him to accept the secontl place. The committee went to him three times and urged the place upon him. hut their solicitations were unheeded. This is the report that comes to me of the matter from his family, and
WILLIE PERSON MANGUM 251
I have found contemporary e\-idence in Niles's Register which confirms this account. The family account says further that when Mangum's name was under consideration Governor Owen, who was president of the convention, remarked, "We have better things in store for Mr. Mangum." This would imply that the North Carolina delegation was not a unit in his support, which we learn also from other sources, and this no doubt had its weight in defeating any aspirations he may have dierished. On the other hand. Dr. Lyon G. Tyler, son of President Tyter, claims that his father was from the first the choice of the convention, while Henry A. Wise, in his uncritical biography of Tyler, "Seven Decades of the Union" (pp. 158. 161, 169), claims that Tyler's nomination had been settled long in advance.
The question of instruction of Senators had now received a new Inm in North Carolina. Mangum had been instructed in 1834 to vote for Benton's Expunging resolution and bad refused to do so or to resign, and this had brought him into sharp conflict with Bedford Brown, his colleague, as we have seen. After his resignation. Brown and Strange, his successor, voted for Benton's resolution (passed January 16. 1837), The Xorth Carolina Assembly of 1838 was Whig. It censured Brown and Strange for voting for the Expunging resolution and then instructed them to oppose Van Buren's sub-treasury system, to advocate a division of the proceeds from the sale of public lands among the States according to population, and to endeavor to secure reform in the public expenditures and a reduction of taxes (December 8, 1838). The Senators were bnih Democrats, and in a letter, dated Decem- ber 31, 1838, claimed not to understand the purport of the cen- sure and resolutions of the Assembly. Their resignations were finally forwarded during the Harrison-Van Buren campaign in 1840 and caused considerable excitement.
In that year the State went with the Whigs. Mangum was re-elected to the Senate as a Whig to succeed Brown, and took his seat December 9, 1840; William A. Graham, also a Whig, suc- ceeded Strange an<l took his seat December 10. As Brown's term expired March 4, 1841, Mangum was chosen to fill the full term
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beginning on that date, and so served continuously by re-elections from December 9, 1840, to March 3, 1853. During his senatorial temis he served on the committees on roads and canals, pensions, foreign relations, judiciary, militia. District of Columbia, finance and as chairman of the committee on naval affairs in 1841. In general he advocated the policies of the Whig Party. The WTiigs repealed Van Buren's Independent Treasury or sub-treasury and passed an act establishing a new Bank of the United States, which was vetoed by Tyler. They then passed an act for a fiscal corporation which was to have the functions of a bank, and the draft of which had been submitted to Tyler. This act he also vetoed ; he was then read out of the Whig Party. After these failures Mangum favored depositing the public money in State banks, regulated by law, and said that not one Whig in five thou- sand in North Carolina was opposed to a national bank. He opposed the Exchequer Board scheme, devised by the Secretary of the Treasury. This Board was to consist of three men who were to have charge of the finances. It was denounced with great severity by Mangum and others and defeated. He regarded it as placing the public purse as well as the sword in the hands of the President.
On Tyler's accession to the Presidency, Samuel L. Southard of New Jersey, who had been previously chosen President of the Senate pro tempore, became its regular presiding officer and as such acting Vice-President. Southard resigned May 3, 1842, and on May 31st Mangum was chosen his successor. He continued to occupy this position till March 4, 1845 1 '^ was he who that day inaugurated the practice of turning back the hands of the clock in order to lengthen the official day.
In 1844 the Whigs opposed the immediate annexation of Texas and rejected Tyler's treaty on that subject; in 1846 Mangum strongly opposed the attitude of the country on the Oregon Ques- tion, which threatened to involve us in a war with England; he also opposed the war with Mexico. In 1847 ^^ was offered the nomination for President bv the executive committee of the Native American Party of Pennsylvania; in 1848 he was much talked of
WILLIE PERSON MANGUM 253
as a running mate to Judge McLean of Ohio, who was being con- sideretl for the Presidency: again In 1852 he could have had the Whig nomination for Vice-President, but because of the temper of the people in North CaroHna decHned.
It will be noted thai at the time of Mangum's election to tlie highest office in the gift of the Senate, and what was at that par- ticular time but one remove from the Presidency, he had had less than seven years of senatorial life in all and had been returned to the Senate less than two years before. He had been chaimian of the Senate Committee on Naval Affairs in 1841 : it is evident that he had rapiilly forged ahead and had in a very short time taken high rank among the leaders of his day. This position of leader- ship he continued to hold. He was not a frequent speaker. He did his work outside the Senate chamber in settling disputes, shaping policies and keeping the running gear of the party in go<xl order. He was such an astute political manager that his political enemies were even inclined to regard him as a Machia- velli. Clay was perhaps his warmest personal friend, although he was hardly less intimate with Webster. The secret of his power seems lo have been in his masterful intellect, his dignity and character. He never neglected his duly; was a thorough parlia- mentarian and was never uninformed as to anything pertaining to his station. The Senate ranked him higher than his own
We have a contemporary estimate of him as a presiding officer. Caleb Atwater of Ohio, in his "Mysteries of Washington City" (Washington, 1844), says;
"He presides in the Senate and occupies the Vice-President's room in the Capitol. He is a man above the common size, of fair complexion and commanding air. ralher grave in his manners, but very agreeabte and ap- pears to be kind-hearted. His voice is clear, sufficiently loud and distinct to be heard all over the Senate chamber and its gallery. On the whole, he is, taking him all in all, ihc best presiding officer Ihat I ever saw in any legis- lative assembly. He is always at his ease, always dignified and always afcrecablc. His appearance is that of a man about forty years old. He is a Whig, unwavering and unflinching, yet. like the Kentucky Senators, not a persecuting Whig, often voting to confirm men in offices who are not
254 NORTH CAROLINA
Whigs or anything else — long. He appears to look more to the interests of his country than his party." (Page 131.)
Alexander H. Stephens said he had great influence in the Senate; that he spoke with clearness, conciseness, terseness and power and dealt very little in the flowers of rhetoric or the orna- ments of oratory. Hannibal Hamlin called him one of the ablest men of his time. In fact, it has been said that he had more influence in the Senate than any other Southern man of his dav.
The whole of Judge Mangum's life was spent in the service of his State. For thirty-five years, 1818 to 1853, when his health had already failed, to be followed soon after by a disease of the spinal column, he was almost constantly in the public service. He was so passionately devoted to the Union and to the interests of his State that his private affairs, had it not been for the business capacity of his wife and daughter, would have been seriously impaired. As a campaigner he has seldom had an equal in the State, for he was subtile and persuasive and skilful as a dialecti- cian. His superior among North Carolina speakers has never appeared. In the day of great orators in the Senate he held his own, and I am told that traditions of his. fame in oratory still linger in the Senate chamber like a sweet aroma of a long- vanished past ; the reputation of an orator, however, does not con- sist in the things that men remember but in the memory of the efl'ects produced, and it is impossible for the historian to transfer to writing the persuasiveness of his compelling periods.
He was for many years a trustee of the University of North Carolina; received the degree of A.B. in 1815, A.M. in 1818, and LL.D. in 1845. He was often in demand as a commencement orator, but seems to have carefully avoided such engagements. He was a Mason and an Odd Fellow ; in personal appearance was large, being over six feet in height and well proportioned; full' of dignity and courtesy, his stateliness was noticeable and com- manding. He was successful as a lawyer and judge, and, while a man of si)lendid accomplishment, was still more remarkable for the suggcstiveness of his thought (see Tourgee's "A Royal
WILLIE PERSON ilANGUM 253
Genilcnian," for a pregnant paragraph on this phase of Southern character).
On ihe more personal and human side Mangum was the hfe and soul of a dinner party, and his stories were full of pith and point. The charm of his conversation was extraordinary, his sincerity, his mclhfluous voice, the grace and dignity of his per- sonal carriage, his affability and kindness, bis love of nature in general and birds in particular, his unbounded charity — were winning qnalities which made him honored, respected and loved.
Of his kindness in particular Judge Edwin G. Reade wrote in 1865 that he "was always interested tn the young and in the friendless. It was characteristic of him; whenever he could, he made them his companions and advised them and praised them, and when need was defended them." Of his powers as a popular orator, he says: "He was almost all his life in the public coun- cils, and no man of his day was esteemed wiser. But his most interesting exhibitions were before his own people as a popular orator. It was then that his commanding person, his rich, flowing language, his clarion voice, his graceful gesticulation and his genial humor, made him almost irresistible. No one ever tired of listening to him. He never let himself down, was never afraid of overshooting his audience."
And in more recent years the late Daniel R. Goodloe wrote :
'"As presiding officer lie discharged ils duties with distinguished ability and coiirlesy. and received the unanimous thanks of the body. He be- came an ardent friend of Mr. Clay, and in 1852 took an active pari in tiringing out General Scott to succeed General Taylor,
"Mr. Mangum was an admirable conversationalist. My friend, John B. Fry. who is a devoietl admirer of Mr, Clay, whom he knew intimately, ns he did Mr, Mangum, thinks the latter excelled the great Kentuekian in thii accomplishment, I knew him well, and I have never met his equal in this regard, taking him all in all ; for he never forgot to listen, as well as 10 talk, which most superior men who are good talkers are apt to do,
"Judge Mangum was my best friend, to whom I am greatly indebted for kindness. I came here in 1844 in search of employment. He found it for me as associate editor of a daily Whig paper. The Whig Standard. ... At the end of the campaign in November, I owed him nearly fifty dollars; and when I was able to repay him, two years later, he was unwilling to
256 NORTH CAROLINA
admit that I owed him anything. When I told him the exact amount, and insisted on paying, he urged me to go and buy me a suit of clothes. How- ever, I persisted in forcing the money on him, and he at length received it. It is my pleasure, and my duty, to record this fact, illustrative of the generous nature of one of North Carolina's greatest men."
As the war came on Judge Mangum naturally sided with tiie South, but he was never a secessionist ; in fact, he was a strong Union man till the war became a reality. He then went with the South and sent his only son to the front. The death of this son caused a return of the paralysis with which he had been afflicted for years, and he died at his country seat, Walnut Hall, then in Orange, now in Durham County, North Carolina, September 7, 1861 (not September 14th).
Judge Mangum married September 30, 1819, Charity Alston Cain (1795-1873). She was the daughter of William Cain and of Mrs. Sarah (Alston) Dudley. The Cains were Irish and set- tled in Maryland. William Cain was bom in Baltimore; migrated to Orange County, North Carolina ; became a prosperous merchant and planter ; founded a large and well-known family, and at the first meeting of the trustees of the University of North Carolina, December 18, 1789, made to that body a larger donation than they had up to that time received from any other source. Mrs. Man- gum's mother was the daughter of James Alston (died 1761) of Orange and granddaughter of John Alston (1673-1758), founder of the North Carolina family of that name and a justice of the colonial Supreme Court (q. v.). To Judge and Mrs. Mangum were born five children : Sallie Alston ( 1824-96) ; Martha Person (Pattie) (1828-1902) ; Catharine Davis, died in infanc}*; Mary Sutherland (1832-1902) : and William Preston (1837-61). The son was educated at the University of North Carolina and began the study of law, but delayed practice to attend his father's plantation ; he volunteered as a private, became second lieutenant in Company R, Sixth North Carolina R^ment, Colonel Charles F. Fisher, C. S. A., and died July 28, 1861, from the effects of wounds received at the first battle of Manassas.
Sallie Alston Mangum married in 185 1 Colonel Martin Wash-
WILLIE PERSON MANGUM 257
ington Leach (1806-69), an older brother of General James Madison Leach (1815-91). and an extensive planter and capi- talist of Randolph County, North Carolina, They had three chil- dren to attain maturity and who are still living: Mrs. Julian A. Turner of Greensboro, Mrs. Stephen B. Weeks and Miss Annie Preston Leach of Randolph County, North Carolina. The third generation is represented by three boys and six girls. None of tlie other children of Judge Mangum ever married. Misses Martha and Mary Mangum resided at Walnut Hall til! their death. During the war and for some years after its close they conducted at their home a select school for young ladies, which drew patrons from many sections of the State.
This brief sketch of the very active career of Judge Mangimi is based mainly on his correspondence and on family history. His public career will be found in the joiirnals of the Assembly and of Congress, while the genealogy of his family will be found in part in the supplement to Groves's "The Alstons and Allstons of North Carolina and South Carolina." Short sketches of his career have appeared in the various biographical works dealing with the United Stales and North Carolina, but no suitable biography, no worthy sketch even has hitherto appeared. There are at least tour oil portraits of Mangum, one in possession of Willie Mangum Person, Esq.. of Loiiisburg, North Carolina, one in the hall of the Dialectic Society at Chapel Hill and two in possession of the family, including the one from which the accompanying engrav- ing is made. His correspondence, large in amount and varied in character, is in my hands, and I have in preparation a volume on his life and times which 1 hope to make definitive.
Stephen B. Weeks.
PUbi-i: LIBRARY
V-'
WILLIE PERSON MANGUM, Jr. 259
came a judge of one of the inferior courts in Arkansas and died in Washington City, April. 1903.
In 1838 Willie P. Mangum, jr., entered the Bingham School and remained there til! 1H44, when he entered Wake Forest Col- lege. He was there two years; went to the University of North Carolina in 1846 and was graduated in 1848, delivering an oration on the character of Sir Walter Raleigh. He became a tutor in Wake Forest College and remained one year, when he began the study of law under his father; after his death he removed to Washington City and took a position in the Census Office. In 1853 he returned to North Carolina and resumed the study of law. this time in Raleigh, under Judge Badger, and later con-, tinued his studies in New York City under Honorable E. W. Stoughton. judge and later L'nited States Minister to Russia. He was admitted to the bar in New York State, in the District of Columbia and to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States, and the next few years were devoted to his profession.
Unlike the rest of his family in the civil struggle which was now coming on, he sided with the North, and on March 2y, 1861, was commissioned by the State Department as United States Consul at Kingpo, China. He arrived there December 11, 1S61, tiro days after its capture by the T'ai-p'ing rebels, under Fang. It soon be- came necessary to take measures for the safety of the foreign com- munity at Ningpo, and on January 12, 1862, proceedings were taken to this end and for the government of the 75,000 Chinese who had crowded for protection into the foreign quarter of the city. This heavy duty fell upon the consuls of the treaty powers, and as the French consul was practically incapacitated it was dis- charged by the consuls of England and the United States, Mr. Mangum and his colleague holding court on alternate weeks, from January 12, to May 10, 1862, when power was restored to the former authorities through a bombardment of the city by the English and French. These judicial services were highly appreci- ated by the people, who expressed their thanks in oriental fashion by presenting to each of the consuls a large umbrella, like that borne before mandarins of the first rank.
26o NORTH CAROLINA
In the Spring of 1864 Mangum was transferred to the consulate at Chin-Kiang, on the Yang-tse, at the junction of the Grand Canal with that river, but the confinement resulting from the dis- turbances in Ningpo and the Chekiang province had undermined his health and compelled his return to America, for which he sailed April 29, 1864. The change of scene, the sea voyage, and Winter restored his health, and on March 18, 1865, he was made consul to Nagasaki, Japan; he was reappointed by Johnson, May 29, 1865, and there he remained till 1880.
He was detailed to take charge of the consulate general in Shanghai, as Vice-Consul-General, February i, 1867, to March 19, 1868, in the absence of George F. Seward, the Consul-Gencral, and in this connection was also United States postal agent ; he organ- ized and started the first American mail service in China, their first ofiice being in the consulate general in Shanghai. After resuming his duties at Nagasaki he continued his postal work till arrangements were perfected by the Japanese Government for taking over their mail service.
Ill December, 1868, along with Reverend Guido Verbeck, the apostle of Japan, he spent some days, by invitation, in visiting the Prince of Hizen in Saga, his capital. They were the first white men to be seen in Saga, and this was one way taken by the Prince to reconcile his people to the impending changes, for the clans of Satsuma, Choshiu, Tosa, and Hizen were leaders in the strug- gle then going on against the Shoguns (Tokugawa family), and out of which came the restoration of the Mikado to supreme power and the opening of Japan to the Western world. The Prince of Hizen remained the firm friend of Mangum and presented him many rare specimens of ceramics, which cannot now be duplicated.
Mangum sailed for America November 10, 1872, and his last visit to North Carolina was in the spring of 1873. He reached Japan on his return July 16, 1873, and resumed his duties at Nagasaki. In the Spring of 1874 he was chosen sole arbitrator in tlic case of the Takashima coal mines, a matter which involved England. Holland and Japan in many intricate and opposing views and had been long in the courts. No satisfactory conclusion
WILLIE PERSON MANGUM. Jr. z6i
seeming possible, it was decided to submit the whole matter to three arbitrators, one to be chosen by each nationality; but, on comparing the nominations, it was found that Mangum had been chosen by each, a singular and remarkable proof of the esteem in which he was held. His decision was rendered the following summer and was acceptable to all.
Mangum's health was always more or less delicate, and with the ho])e that a colder climate would restore him, he was trans- ferred to Tien-Tsin, in North China, March 29, 1880. He left Japan in September of that year, but the colder climate failed to do what was hoped from it, and he died in Tien-Tsin, February 11, 1881. He was temporarily interred at that port, but was laten removed to .America and reinterred in the Congressional cemetery in Washington City.
He was long dean of the consular corps in Nagasaki and was held in high esteem by his colleagues. He was of a pleasant, courteous disposition, dignified, but genial and charming in con- versation, and while energetic and business-like in important affairs, in unessential things was disposed to the doctrine of laisse: fairc. He was elected March 20, 1866, a non-resident mem- ber of the North China Branch of the Koyaf Asiatic Society, and on June 30, 1876, for long services rendered to his consulate, was decorated by the King of Portugal with the Royal Portuguese Military Order of Our Lord Jesus Christ. He was highly esteemed by resident and visiting Americans and the Japanese soon learned to consult with and trust him in many matters of im- portance outside of his consular duties. Although long a non- resident. Mr. Mangum never forgot the State of his nativity. That he considered it his home to the last is shown by the filing of Ids will lor proliatc in Wake, the county of his birth.
Mr. Mangum married in Washington, D. C, on October 24, 1855, Miss Fannie Vaulx Ladd, daughter of Joseph Brown Ladd and Harriet \'au!x Conway, widow of Major W. H. Nicoll, L'. S. .\. No children were born to this marriage. Mrs. Mangum was a woman of decided literary tastes ; she was an artist, and an authority on ceramics and concholc^ and to some extent on
262 NORTH CAROLINA
numismatics. She gathered an extensive and costly library and made a great collection of ceramics from China and JapAn, many of them being in costly patterns, gifts from distinguished person- ages, which can no longer be procured or produced. She made also a great and valuable collection of shells. Her collections were in part destroyed by fire ; the remainder, after being somewhat aug* mented by other selections from the East, were presented to the University of North Carolina. She presided over the social life of the foreign residents in Nagasaki, accompanied her husband in all his travels, brought back his body to America, and spent her last days in Washington City, where she died in 1901.
This sketch is made up from a sketch printed by Mrs. Mangum in the North Carolina University Magazine in 1890, and from materials in possession of the family.
Stephen B. Weeks,
THE NEW YORK
PUBLIC LIBRARY
a^kv, l^nox and
TlLbLN F0VNDATION8 II . L
264 NORTH CAROLINA
well said of him that he was equal to every station he occupied. He, Governor Graham, Mr. Macon and Judge Badger were the most influential sons North Carolina has produced.
Mr. Priestley Mangum married Miss Rebecca Hilliard Suther- land, whose father, Colonel Ransom Sutherland, was a Revolu- tionary officer and served with high distinction during the war for independence.
The influence of such parents and of such association in his early life was not without its effect in forming the character of the sub- ject of this sketch. His father was a man of fine judgment and strong common sense, a man of high integrity, well educated and a lawyer of great influence in his community ; but he was fond of home life and preferred a residence on his farm, and as Mrs. Man- giun unhappily died when her son was very young, he fell more particularly under the directing care of his father than is usual with children.
He was prepared for college by William J. Bingham, the second of that name, and entering Wake Forest College, graduated at that institution in 1851. Intending to devote himself to agriculture, he immediately began the life of a farmer and located on the farm where he was born two miles west of Wake Forest ; and there, on December 16, 1856, he brought his bride. Miss Mary Thomas Price, and six children, now surviving, blessed their union.
Agriculture has always been the most important industry of the people of North Carolina, and it has employed the best talent of the State. In the days of slavery the finest minds and strongest men were engaged in this occupation, and they brought to it their best intelligence, and it was esteemed the noblest emplo>'mcnt for a man's capabilities, as it was accompanied by a spirit of independ- ence and of self-reliance and of noble manhood that was not so thoroughly fostered by other vocations.
Since the abolition of slaverv it has been attended with more difficulties, and its successful practice has required even closer at- tention and more strenuous endeavors ; but still it is a field for the exercise of superior talent, and Mr. Mangum's career is a notable illustration of this fact, for it has been said that "by his farm he
PRIESTLEY HINTOM MANGUM 265
has reflected as much credit on the State as his uncle did Sy his distinguished services in the Senate of the United Slates." The ver\' fields amid which he was born and reared have been the scene of his exploits as a successful and intelligent farmer. His methods have attracted wide attention, and his fanii has been held up before the agriculturalists of the State as an example. Indeed, one of the foremost men of Mecklenburg County, which has always been noted for its fine farms and improved methods, has been par- ticidarly pronounced in calling attention to the advantages of the new methods introduced and used by Mr. Mangum ; and residents of other parts of the State have recommended the adoption of the system practiced on this model farm. In an article entitled "A Model Farmer." a judicious and intelligent editor says:
"Mr. Mangum's wheat was just about ripening and the fields of golden grain presented a most attractive scene. One field of thirty acres would yield at least thirty bushels to the acre. In llie same field was clover knee high. In another large field was a good stand of cotton, which last year averaged over a bale to the acre, there were several fields of clover and other grasses, and there were stacks of last year's hay not yet used. The cattle looked fat and sleek, the milch cows with distended bags, and many of improved breeds. The hogs were kept Ln a clover field and literally loohed like (hey wtre 'living in clover.' so fat and healthy were Ihey. The barns and siables were commodious and conveniently arranged, and large pile; of barnyard manure showed that Mr. Mangum did not depend upon bought fertilizers. We saw quite a number of the most improved labor-sav- ing machines, which nowadays are necessary for profitable farming."
.\s eloquently as these facts speak of the successful results of Mr. Mangum's farming operations, they are also evidence of the jndgment and intelligence which he brings to his aid in following his business as an agriculturalist. Another illustration of his su- perior merit is to be found in his progress iven ess. He devised and introduced the modified terrace and used them in his fields, doing away entirely with hillside ditches. Under his system the land is prevented from washing and it can be cultivated more easily than under the system of ditches and without any waste. These terraces are from one to two feet high and about ten feet wide and carry off the water in a gently flowing current. In constructing
266 NORTH CAROLINA
them he utilized his old hillside ditches, plowing down the upper bank several times, but allowing the low embankment to remain. In front of this, where the ditch was, is a space of ten feet on a dead level. This level drain has a fall of ij inches to 13 feet, 4 inches. The guide row is then staked off and horizontal furrows run plowing through this level drain and the embankment just as they chance to go. To run these terraces a spirit level set in a light frame 13 feet, 4 inches wide is used, and of course much judgment is needed to make them. Plowing down the hillside across the ten-foot level drain and lightly over the embankment, the water is distributed uniformly and slowly, and in the severest rain will never overflow.. Whatever sediment or soil washes down is saved, the terrace gradually gaining more soil and becoming the richest part of the field. General Barringer, in his account of this fine farm, says :
'*We saw land which was formerly ravines and gulleys presenting a beautiful and uniform slope. The terrace system as devised by Mr. Man- gum rids the field of grass. Every foot of land is under cultivation."
His system has attracted general attention and has found such favor as to have been adopted by other progressive and intelligent farmers in the hillside country with advantage. If he who has made two blades of grass to grow where one grew before is to be commended, the advantage to agriculture of the devices in- augurated by Mr. Mangum arc still more beneficial, and are yet more worthy of high commendation.
In his political affiliations Mr. Mangum, like his illustrious uncle and other members of his family, was a Whig before the Civil W^ar, but because of the issues evolved since that period, he has affiliated with the Democratic Party.
He is a member of the Episcopal Church and his walk in life has been consistent with his religious profession. A busy man, earnest and active in his agricultural pursuits, he has had no time for sports or amusements, and he finds sufficient exercise in horse- back riding;^ over his farm, every part of which is constantly under his supervision. ^^ ^^ ^^^,,^^
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268 NORTH CAROLINA
General Marion in the Revolutionary War), and of Polly Engrc- ham. He was a farmer and merchant at Kinston until his re- moval to Wilmington in 1848. He was industrious and a man of firm convictions, insistent on fully periorming all his duties in life; unassuming, he was noted for his courteous bearing and for his sympathetic disposition, and in particular was he generous and liberal toward those who were in need. His inclinations ever led him to be helpful to the poor and to be useful to those in distress. His son, the subject of this sketch, was six years of age on the removal to Wilmington. His health in childhood was good and he was fond of out-of-door games and developed into a strong boy, particularly skilled in athletic exercises. His health giving way at the age of fifteen years, he was taken from school for two years, being then prepared for college. He was taught by that eminent instructor, Mr. George W. Jcwett, and being prepared for collie, entered the University in the Fall of i860. Of young Metts as a schoolmate, one of his friends writes as follows :
"He was a general favorite because of his unselfishness, his modesty and his manliness. He was quiet and dignified on becoming occasions, but in all the healthful manly sports of the day, he was our joyous leader. He scorned that which was low and mean and he was clean and honest and fair in his speech and behavior. He led the school as an athlete, and he performed such feats as jumping into the air and turning somersaults on level ground; walking a block on his hands with heels aloft and other amazing things with the agility of a Japanese wresder, and when he threw a clam shell over the tower of St. James' Church, we thought he had reached the acme of undying fame. I think he was one of Mr. Jcwett*s models as a scholar : I know that he .<;tood well in his classes and that he applied himself diligently to his studies. He has the same characteristics now that he had then and he bears a record of which any hero might be proud."
On the breaking out of the war, on April 15, 1861, he joined as a private the Wilmington Rifle Guards, of which Oliver P. Mearcs was the captain, and under the orders of Governor Ellis that company took possession, along with the Wilmington Light Infantry, of Fort Caswell, where it remained until some months later the Eighth Regiment was formed under the command of
JAMES ISAAC METTS 269
Colonel Kaelcliffe; this company being Company I of tliat regi- ment, and Captain Mearcs being elected Lieutenant-Colonel. Then for some months Company ! was stationed at Fort Fisher and was among those that laid the first foimdations of that famous fortification. When the State organized her ten regiments of State troops, the Eighth Volunteers became known as the Eighteenth North Caroiina»Troops. In the meantime private Metts had be- come Corporal and one of the Color Guard of the regmient and served as such with it at Camp Wyatt, near Fort Fisher, and at Coosawhatchie in South Carolina. On the ejtpiration of the twelve months for which the first volunteers had enlisted, he being then color bearer of the Eighteenth Regiment, he was discharged with others, but he re-enlisted and hecame fifth Sergeant of Company G, Third Regiment, of which the intrepid Gaston Meares was Colonel, tlie Lieutenant -Colonel being the beloved and efficient Robert H. Co\van. who was subsequently commissioned Brigadier- General, but on account of ill health resigned ; and William L. DeRossett, afterward so distinguished as a military man. the Major. Their first baptism of blood was in the campaign before Richmond ; and Sergeant Melts bore himself with conspicuous courage, and his coolness was especially manifested in reforming a part of the regi- ment al the batile of Cold Harbor, and lih gsilacttry was displayed when commanding a detail, guarding a causeway in the Chicka- hominy swamp. At the battle of Malvern Hill he was among those who received ihe last orders of the lamented Colonel Meares, who fell on that field. During those battles he became Orderly Sergeant, and on returning to camp he was assigned to the duty of drilling the recruits received by his company, and was compli- niented by some officers of the regiment as being the best drilled man they ever saw.
Although he had escaped the deadly peril of those bloody bat- tles, he. however, contracted disease in the peninsula swamps and for a time was separated from his company. In the promotions which followed the loss of officers at Sharpsburg, Spartanburg, Sergeant Metts became the senior Second Lieutenant of his com- pany, and at Winchester he was detailed as Commissary of his regi-
270 NORTH CAROLINA
ment, and after the battle of Fort Royal he discharged the duties of Adjutant. Cool, brave and determined, his admirable conduct on every field attracted the attention of his sui>eriors, while at P'red- ericksburg he won encomiums by his gallantry. Again, however, he was a victim of pneumonia, but he was able to join his regiment in time to participate in the fighting around Winchester, where his brigade, under Stewart, did much toward winning-the victory over Milroy. At Jordan's Springs his coolness under fire especially at- tracted the attention and admiration of the privates and was much discussed by them after the battle. His efficiency gained for him the confidence of his superiors and he was selected to command the rear guard of the brigade as they were about to cross the Po- tomac. On June i8, 1863, the regiment encamped near the Dunkard Church in the woods on the battlefield of Sharpsburg, where the regiment had lost so heavily. A detail of men from the First and Third Regiments, under the command of Lieutenant Metts, did honor to their fallen associates and fired a military salute over the spot where they were buried ; and in the quietude of twilight the First and Third Regiments with arms reversed and to the roll of the muffled drum marched to the place of interment, and Reverend George Patterson, the beloved Chaplain of the Third, read the impressive burial services. **Uix)n this solemn occasion," says the historian of the 3d, '*many tears stole down the bronzed cheeks of the old veterans and all heads were bowed in grief."
Lieutenant Alctts accompanied his regiment to the vicinity of Carlylc and then by a forced march reached Gettysburg on the evening of the ist, but the brigade was not seriously engaged until the next evening. Then being on the left of the line at Gulp's Hill, thcv drove the cnemv from their first defenses, and Lieu- tenant Mctts, loading his men forward, was soon hotly engaged within seventv-five yards of their second line of breastworks. There he fell from a rifie ball that penetrated his right breast and passing through the lung inflicted a terrible and most dangerous wound, from which none thought he would recover, and from which at times he still suffers. An eve-witness stated that when Lieutenant Mctts was shot he was gallantly cheering his men, his
JAMES ISAAC METTS 271
hat in one ham! and his sword in the other, both aloft. In that battle the Third Regiment, which entered with 300 guns, lost 223 men and no prisoners. Lieutenant-Colonel Parsley, Captain E. H. Armstrong and Lientenant Lyon were the only officers who passed through the terrible ordeal unhurt. Adjutant James helped his fallen friend to the ambulance corps, and for two miles Lieutenant Metts was hauled over rough roads, suffering the most excruciating agony and weakened by the loss of blood. On the withdrawal of the Confederate forces, he fell into the hands of the enemy, but was cared for by kind ladies from Baltimore and was conveyed to the General Camp Hospital and to the hospital at Baltimore, where he was the recipietit of great kindnesses from the ladies of that citj'; and later he was transferred to Johnson's Island, Lake Erie, where his kinsman. Colonel Thomas S. Kenan, was his bunkmate for thirteen months. Their sufferings during the Winter were terrible — insufficient food, scant clothing, houses neither ceiled nor plastered, the mercury at times 20 degrees be- low zero, and with but one stove for sixty prisoners. In August, 1864, although the Federal authorities had ceased exchanging prisoners, the Confederates turned loose several thousand Federal prisoners, and in view of that some of the Confederates were se- lected atid sent South in exchange; and Lieutenant Metis was chosen as one of the most enfeebled and delicate of the prisoners for this exchange. Having been told by some of the doctors that he could not stand another Winter there, often as the winds became chilly he would look over the fence at the graves of his poor com- rades and feel that in a short while the boys would place him among them ; but not long afterward he found himself once more upon the streets of Richmond. During his captivity he had been promoted to Captain of his company, which he joined at Staunton in December. He took command of his company and also of Com- pany E and served in Cox's Brigade of Grimes' Division until detailed as a Special Inspector on the staff of Major-General Grimes, and shared in all the hardships and memorable experiences of those fateful days. When Lee surrendered, and the night before arms were to be stacked at Appomattox by the remnant of the
272 NORTH CAROLINA
heroic army of Northern Virginia, Captain Metts accompanied a band from Division Headquarters to serenade their beloved leader, General Lee. General Lee was so much affected that he could say but a few words, but he gave to each of the brave vet- erans who had thus sought to manifest their love and sympathy a warm pressure of his hand and an affectionate good-by.
On his return home from Appomattox, Captain Metts, pressed by necessity, at once addressed himself to the duty of supporting his mother's family. He soon obtained employment as a clerk with two F'ederal sutlers, but later obtained more remunerative employment; and his merits, his strict attention to business, his accuracy and good habits commended him to the business men of Wilmington and eventually, after long and severe struggles, he was able to enter the field for himself as a merchant and broker, and he has met with gratifying success and commands the esteem and respect of iho business men of his community.
On November ii, 1869, Captain Metts was happily married to Miss C\)rnelia F. Cowan, a daughter of Colonel Robert H. Cowan, his old conunander, and their married life has been blessed with six children.
Captain Metts is an earnest, sincere man with the highest prin- ciples and most correct sentiments. His course in life has been consistent with that devotion to duty which he displayed in the ranks of the Confederate Army. He was baptized by Reverend George Patterson in the Potomac River in 1863 while en route into Pennsylvania, and has been an humble Christian, ever faithful to his profession, and for many years a communicant of the Episcopal Church, and for several years he has been a vestry- man of St. James's Church at Wilmington. He is a member of St. John's Lodge A. F. and A. M., and also an active member of the Seaman's l^^riond Society, of which he has been the President. He has ever lH?en laborious in his work and diligent in business, and from his own experience he suggests that young men can attain true »;uccess in life if they will follow *'honesty, sobriety, faithful- ness to one's self, perseverance, and trust in God."
Captain Motts has always remembereil the years of his life when
JAMES ISAAC METTS 273
he followed the Confederate flag, and lie has taken great interest in whatever affects the welfare of the old Confederate veterans or the honor and fame of North Carolina and of her troops. On several occasions he has prepared iuleresting articles concerning the gallant action of his North Carolina associates on the field of battle. Particularly he has written a notable paper descriptive of the charge at Gettysbnrg. and also an etiually interesting one rela- tive to the important action of the Thirtieth North Carolina Regi- ment at Chancellorsville when it turned the flank of Siegel's Di- vision, and in it he corrects sonie errors into which General Rodes had accidentally fallen. He has also written an article showing that the last shot at Appomattox was fired by North Carolinians. and in conjunction with Captain Cowan he prepared the "History of the Third Regiment" for the "Regimental Histories of the State."
When at Johnson's Island some of his comrades formed a the- atrical troop under the name of the "Rebellonians," and Captain Metts was one of the actors. The delicacy of his frame led to his being assigned a lady's part. In the original melo- drama, in five acts, "The Battle of Gettysburg," ending in act fifth with "Home .'\gain," he played the part of Mrs. Lonisa White. The concluding farce was "Box and Cox." On another occasion, of which the programme has likewise been preserved, he recited "Bonnie Jean," and the third part of that programme was "an original farce for the times" written expressly for the "Rebellon- ians," entitled "The Intelligent Contraband." He occasionally re- ceives letters from some old prison-mate, who remembers the sweet songs which he and Lieutenant Mayer sang, accompanied by Colonel Thomas S. Kenan with his violin or guitar.
Turning from those episodes of prison life, on July 19, 1897, a stranger entered Captain Metts's office, and observing the name on the sign, asked if he was any relation to Lieutenant James Metts, who was killed at Gettysburg. Giving his name as Reverend B. C. Morton and stating that he was the Chaplain of the Twenty-third Virginia Regiment, he said that he knew Lieutenant Metts, who was killed at Gettysburg, and recalled his thin, emaciated, sun-
274 NORTH CAROLINA
burnt face as he lay on the cot. He went on to say how much he was impressed with his noble character, and how he had offered up a prayer for him, feeling at the time that it was useless ; and he added that he had caused to be published an account of the death of Lieutenant Metts at the time. Captain Metts quietly said: **I am the Lieutenant Metts you knew." Mr. Morton at once arose from his chair and with his eyes streaming with tears and with a fervent *'God bless vou,*' he embraced him. There these two old comrades stood and their emotion found expression in tears of joy.
In the hospital at Gettysburg, Captain Metts, thinking he was about to die, gave his sword to Doctor Reeves, of Maryland, to keep the Yankees from getting it. In 1882 Doctor Reeves, not supposing that Captain Metts had survived, made inquiries, with the view of returning it to some one of his connection, and was astonished to learn that Captain Metts had not died, had the hap- piness of returning it to him after he had sacredly kept it for its brave owner, who now treasures ft aa an honorable memento of a fearful struggle.
Captain Metts's interest in the old Confederates has been appre- ciated by his surviving associates, and in April, 1899, he was elected First Vice-Commander of the Cape Fear Camp, 254 U.C.V., and the next year he was chosen Commander of the camp. In April, 1905, he was again elected Commander of Cape Fear Camp, No. 254. In 1902 he was appointed Brigadier-General of the Third Brigade LT.C.\^. North Carolina Division, which honorable post he now holds, much to the gratification of all who know him and who admire in him those sterling qualities of manhood which distin- guished him as a soldier and which formed the basis of his fine character.
S. A. Ashe.
276 NORTH CAROLINA
he moved to a farm near Halifax, where he lived for a num- ber of years, removing to Raleigh in 1848. From the time of his removal to Halifax, throughout his life, he enjoyed a large and lucrative practice.
He was early an aspirant for political position, declaring him- self a candidate for the House of Commons in 1828, but he was defeated. He had in 1824 been a supporter of Crawford of Georgia for the Presidency, who represented the old Republicans, and he became strongly opposed to the leveling and, as he be- lieved, agrarian tendencies of the Jacksonian Democracy; and upon the formation of the Whig Party, he cast his fortunes with Henry Clay. In 1836, after his removal to Halifax County, he was chosen representative of that county in the House of Commons. At this session of the Legislature he took a prominent part in the work of the committee on the revisal of the statute law. His ap- pointment on the committee was in recognition of his knowledge of law, which was unusual for so young a man. At this session he supported a bill for the aid of the Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad Company, and in consequence was strongly opposed in the next campaign and defeated by one vote. But he was again elected in 1840 and for two successive terms. In the work of these sessions he took a prominent part, particularly on the Judiciary Committee, of which he was chairman in 1844. His course during his legislative career was such as to win the respect and admira- tion of those with whom he came in contact. His acquaintance with the people of the State increased and at the same time they commenced to realize his ability in his profession. Throughout his entire legislative career he was a strong friend of internal im- provements, realizing, with the keen and practical business in- stinct which he applied to the solution of every question, that noth- ing could so build up the State as adequate transportation facili- ties. In 1844 he was chairman of the Committee on Internal Im- provements. In 1840, in the famous debate on the question of the right of the State Legislature to instruct the United States Senators, he took the ground that it was not within its province, as the Senators were responsible to the people alone. He was a
BARTHOLOMEW FIGURES MOORE 277
firm believer in public education, and in 1840 favored the Worth Common School Bill, which provided for public schools on the basis of Federal instead of white population. He made a very eloqucnl and powerful speech in support of the bill, and was of grenl service in securing its passage. He also realized the re- sponsibility resting upon the people of the State in regard to the care of the unfortunate, and in 1840, as spokesman for a com- mittee, introduced and argued a bill providing asylums for the insane and for orphans. In 1S46 he declined to be a candidate for re-election.
In 1848 Governor Graham appointed him to the office of At- torney-General to fill the vacanc)' caused by the resignation of Edward Stanly, and the same year he was chosen by the General Assembly for the ensuing term.
In 1851 the Legislature made provision for a revisal of the statute law of the State. Asa Biggs, B. F. Moore and R, M, Saunders were chosen as a commission for the purpose. Mr. Moore's experience in the Legislature in regard to the earlier revisal. as well as his wisdom and learning, made him particularly valuable as a commissioner, and it is not imjust to the other com- missioners to give him the greatest nuiotcnt o£ credit (or a. most valuable piece of work, judged not only from a legal, but from an historical point of view. His was the guiding hand of the com- mission and his work on the revisal of 1854 alone would entitle him to distinction in the history of North Carolina.
Learned in statute law, Mr. Moore was at his best in the com- mon law. Always a close student, while still a young man he be- came a profound law\er and the equal in knowledge and ability of any in the State, and this at a time when great lawyers were not uncommon in North Carolina. He proved his ability in many cases, but he first made a lasting reputation in the case of The State •: Will.* Mr. Moore's argument in that case is regarded as without a superior in the history of the State. In this connec- tion another great case in which Mr. Moore took a prominent part may be mentioned, although occurring at a much later period in
•For this case see i Devereux and Battle, North Carolina Reports.
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his life. This was the Johnston Will case, in many ways the most famous case ever tried in North Carolina. The will of Mr. James Johnston, of Edenton, was contested by his relatives on the ground that he was insane when the will was made. The case was tried in Chowan in February, 1867, and lasted for nearly four weeks. An array of the most distinguished lawyers in the State was pres- ent. Among them may be mentioned ex-Governors Graham, Vance and Bragg for the contestants, and B. F. Moore, Judge R. R. Heath and Edward Conigland for the will. Mr. Moore, in a most able way, conducted the cross-examination of the contestants' witnesses, of whom former Surgeon-General Hanmiond was regarded as the most important, and whose testi- mony made a great impression. Mr. Moore, however, secured from him the admission that he was receiving a professional fee for his services as a witness, and so destroyed the eflFect of his testimony. Mr. Moore's speech in the case, also, was verj' power- ful. The verdict in the case sustained the will, as did the decision of the Supreme Court on appeal.
In manner Mr. Moore was inclined to be somewhat austere, and conscc[uently he won the reputation of being very stem and c(^l(I. But his intimate friends and his family knew the falsity of anv such estimate. He was a tender husband and a devoted father, combining with his affection a wise forethought for the welfare of his family. In his social and business relations he was plain spoken and utterly fearless, if once he was convinced that he was right. Principle was always of first consideration and im- portance. He appreciated to the fullest extent the regard and ad- miration of the public, but never sought popularity for its own sake. He was never widely popular, but he was universally re- spected and admired for his ability and character. He could have been elected to any judicial position in the State, but would never consent to consider such a suggestion, preferring to continue in the practice of his profession, particularly as he felt that with his large family he ought to make some adequate provision for the future. In religious matters Mr. Moore affiliated with the Epis- copal Clnirch, and though not himself a communicant was in-
sisicnt on llie faithful discharge of its duties by all the members of his family.
Mr. Moore viewed with alarm and disgust the approach of war. By education and from conviction he was a believer in the inde- structibility of the Union and never conceded that the right of secession could exist. In i860 he wrote his d.-iiighter: "1 would not impress upon you that the South has no cause of complaint. She has many, but if for such a cause a people may quit their allegiance, there then can be no durable Union." He refused in l86i to become a candidate for election to the Convention, but accepted an appointment on the Board of Claims for which the Convention made provision. This constituted his only assistance lo the Southern cause. Mr. Moore made no secret of his Ijelicf that the war was wrong, but suffered no injnry for his opinion, Soon after the war began Judge Asa Biggs, who had formerly been judge of the Federal Court, but was now on the Confederate bench, opened court in Raleigh. Mr. Moore hatl a great many cases and went into the court-room at the opening of the term. He had scarcely taken his seat when Judge Biggs directed that the oath of allegiance to the Confederate States should be admin- istered to the members of tlie bar present. Mr. Moore gathered up his papers anil left the court. Nor diii he return. He, how- ever, practiced in the Slate courts wliere no oath w.ns required.
When finally the war closed, in 1865, he was ready to do his part in the restoration of the State to its normal relations with the United States. President Johnson indicated that he would be glad to have Mr. Moore, among others, come to Washington for a considtalion in regard to North Carolina affairs. Accompanied by ex-Governor Swain and William Eaton, he went to Washing- ton in May. .Xu interview with the President was arranged by John If. Wheeler, and on May 22d they met him at his office. The President exjdained to them his plan of reconstruction, showing them the amnesty and North Carolina proclamations. Mr. Moore read both carefully and then denounced the plan with decision. He especially opposed the exception of certain classes from the benefits of the amnesty, particularly applying to those worth
2So NORTH CAROLINA
$20,ocx), (Icnyinj^ the power of the IVesident. He denied also the power of the i 'resident to appoint a Governor and through him to call a ccMivention of the j)eopIe. He asked him where he got it, and upon the President's replying, ** Article IV., Section 4 of the Con- stitution," said, **J>ut the President is not the United States." lie suggested that the State could take care of herself by her own citizens, urging that the speakers of the two houses of the General Assenihly should he allowed to summon a special session of that body to call a convention of the people which should repeal the secession c)r(linance and restore Federal relations. The President asked what could be done if the Legislature, after he had recog- u'lzcd it, should refuse to make the changes which were deemed necessary. Mr. Moore assured him that there was no member of that Inxly that could not be led back into the L^nion **by a silken thread." Mr. Mcn^re was verv caustic in his remarks and became very fiery as the discussion went on, at one time walking over to President Johnson and shaking his finger at him by way of em- phasis. The President was very dignified but very good-natured, and took Mr. Moore's excitement in good part, refusing, however, to make any change in his plan, which indeed was the plan prepared by President Lincoln and agreed upon by Lincoln's cabinet.
The next day the three gentlemen, again accompained by John II. Wheeler, went to see the President again. With him they found another delegation from North Carolina, headed by William W. Holden. the editor of the Standard, who had been summoned by the President some time before and who had invited the others to accompany him. They were R. P. Dick, Willie Jones, W. R. Richardson. I. 11. P. Russ, W. S. Mason, Reverend Thomas Skinner and Doctor R. J. Powell.
The President showed them his two proposed proclamations, with the name of the pnu'isional Governor omitted in the one pro- viding for the restoration of North Carolina; and after the new tKlegati<Mi had exj^ressed their approval of the plan, he stated that he wtMild appoint as j'irovisional Governor the person they might nominate. He then left the rix>ni. Mr. Moore was at once called
BARTHOLOMEW FIGURES MOORE 281
to the chair, but refused to take any part in the proceedings and left the room, accompanied by Messrs. Swain and Eaton. Those that remained nominated Mr. Holden, who was appointed by the President.
Mr. Moore was elected to the Convention of 1865 as one of the delegates from Wake County and took a leading part in the de- bates of the body. He drew the ordinance, which was afterward adopted, declaring that the session ordinance of May 20. 1861, was and always had been null and void. That ordinance repealed the ratifying ordinance of 178Q, and declared the Union existing be- tween North Carolina and the other States severed by that repeal. In the sharp debate on the matter he made a strong speech, declar- ing that he favored the ordinance because it preserved the right of citizenship in the United States for citizens of North Carolina, and that otherwise it might be destroyed. He also favored de- claring vacant all State offices, opposing the theory held in the decision of the State Supreme Court in the case of Hoke v. Hen- derson, that the holder of an office had a right of property therein, and quoting the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of Butler v. Pennsylvania, which was exactly to the contrary. He held that a convention oS the people was not bound by any State Court, but only by the United States Supreme Court, and this view was agreed to by a majority of the Conven- tion. Concerning the war debt, the other important subject of dis- cussion in this session of the Convention Mr. Moore was imcertain. He thought that the Convention should delay final action until the whole matter could be investigated and the mind of the people, as well as of the delegates, cleared of any doubt. His upright nature and business sense made him opposed to repudiation on principle. But he took little part in the debate until a telegram, sent by the President, in response to an exceedingly misleading one from (Governor Holden, was received by the Convention, demanding the instant repudiation of the whole war debt. Then it was that Mr, Moore's opinion became to an extent settled. He was op- posed to Federal interference, and on the floor of the Convention criticised the President sharply for sending the message, and ad-
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vised that the Convention should refuse to accept his dictation. But his efforts were in vain and repudiation followed.
In the Worth-Holden campaign of 1865 Mr. Moore, while not .an admirer of the latter, was opposed to a contest and refused to oppose him. He gives his reasons for fearing a division in the following extract from a letter to Tod R. Caldwell :
"A division, placing the Unionists on one side and the Secessionists on the other, will lead to a breach made wider and deeper every day, until the extremest partizan on either side will become the most powerful man of his party and the most dangerous to the quiet and prosperity of the State. With such tools as these, we shall be sure to dig up negro suffrage and worship it as many did the cotton bag."
Under an ordinance of the Convention, Governor Holden ap- pointed Moore, W. S. Alason and R. S. Donnell to suggest such changes in the laws of the State as were made necessary by the emancipation of the slaves, and to draw up a code in reference to the freedmen. Their report, written by Mr. Moore, was an able and elaborate discussion of the whole subject. It is too long even to give a summary of it here, but it was the most liberal Legisla- tion proposed by any Southern State in regard to the freedmen. It made all the laws, with two slight exceptions, apply equally to both races, recognized the citizenship of the freedmen as dating from emancipation, and gave them the full protection of the laws in the courts. All the legislation suggested, with but little amend- ment, was adopted by the General Assembly of 1866. . In May, 1866, the Convention met in adjourned session. Most of the session was s|)cnt in reconstructing the State constitution. The draft proposed to the Convention embodied most of the old constitution with certain additions and amendments. Its arrange- ment was the work of Mr. Moore, and throughout the debates he was its strongest defender. To him was largely due its adoption by the Convention. It was a much more compact and finished in- strument than the original constitution and the amendments were all improvements. When submitted to the people it was opposed by many on the ground that the Convention, called as it was by the President of the United States, for the purpose of restoring
the Stale to the Union, had no legal power to alter the funtiamental law of the State. Jiidge Thomas Rnffin and Judge M. E. Manly were t!ie most conspicuous and influential of its opponents, and to their influence, probably, was due its rejection by the people.
Mr. Moore was not in sj-mpathy with the party in control of affairs in North Carolina from iS66 to 1868. Nor was he in sym- pathy with the radicals. When the reconstruction acts were passed he belie\'ed them unconstitutional, but he refused to take ■ part in the conservative movement, as he thought there should be a convention of the people to settle the questions which were then at issue. But when the Convention met and he saw its char- acter and tendencies, he was convinced that but little good could come out of it ; and this view was confirmed when its debates were concluded and the new constitution completed. Regarding this, he wrote his daughter in 1868: "It is in my view, with some ex- ceptions, a wretched basis to secure lil>erty or property. The leg- islative authority rests upon ignorance without a single check, ex- cepl senatorial age, against legislative plunder by exorbitant tax- ation." Concerning the Republican candidates at the first elec- tion under it, he said in the same letter : "The Radical Party pur- poses to fill our Congressional representation with those men re- cently introduced from other quarters of the United States, and to impose them upon us through the instrumentality and league of the ignorance of the State ; nor have they stopped there — they have proposed for the administration of justice in our Superior Courts men whose knowledge of law is contemptible and far be- low the requirements of a decent county court lawyer. The party has had no regard, unless where they thought they would increase their strength, for the selection of a single man of worth or in- telligence for any office, however high might be the qualifications demanded for it."
Mr. Moore's fears in regard to the character of the new Govern- ment were confirmed in i86g. when certain justices of the Supreme Court took part in a political demonstration of the Republican Party in Raleigh. Mr. Moore, as "Father of the Bar," of North
I
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Carolina, wrote a protest which seems well worthy of quotation in full. It is as follows:
"A Solemn Protest of the Bar of North Carolina Against Judicial In- terference in Political Affairs.
**The undersigned, present or former members of the bar of North Carolina have witnessed the late public demonstrations of political parti- zanship, by the judges of the Supreme Court of the State, with profound regret and unfeigned alarm for the purity of the future administration of the laws of the land.
"Active and open participation in the strife of political contests by any judge of the State, so far as we recollect, or tradition or history has in- formed us, was unknown to the people until the late exhibitions. To say that these were wholly unexpected, and that a prediction of them by the wisest among us would have been spurned as incredible, would not ex- press half of our astonishment, or the painful shock suffered by our feel- ings when we saw the humiliating fact accomplished.
"Not only did we not anticipate it, but we thought it was impossible to be done in our day. Many of us have passed through political times al- most as excited as those of to-day; and most of us recently through one more excited ; but never before have we seen the judges of the Supreme Court, singly or en masse, moved from that becoming propriety so indis- pensable to secure the respect of the people, and throwing aside the ermine. rush into the mad contest of politics under the excitement of drums and flags. From the unerring lessons of the past we are assured that a judge who openly and publicly displays his political party zeal renders himself unfit to hold the 'balance of justice,' and that wheno'er an occasion may offer to serve his fellow-parlizans, he will yield to the temptation, and the 'wavering balance' will shake.
"It is a natural weakness in man that he who warmly and publicly identi- fies himself with a political party will be tempted to uphold the party which upholds him, and all experience teaches us that a partizan judg^e can- not be safely trusted to settle the great questions of a political constitu- tion, while he reads and studies the book of its laws under the banners of a party.
"ITnwilling that our silence .should be construed into an indifference to the humiliating spectacle now passing arotmd us, influenced solely by a spirit of love and veneration for the past purity, which has distinguished the administration of the law in our State, and animated by the hope that the voice of the bar of North Carolina will not be powerless to avert the pernicious example, which we have denounced, and to repress its contagions influence, we have under a sense of solemn duty subscribed and published this paper."
BARTHOLOMEW FIGURES MOORE 285
This, signed by Mr. Moore and one hundred and seven other lawyers, was published in the Daily Sentinel of April ig. i86g. The Supreme Court, on June 8th following, ordered that the twenty-five attorneys who had signed it and who were then prac- ticing attorneys before tlie Supreme Court should be disabled from appearing until they shoidd show cause to the contrary. The rule was served upon B, F, Moore, Thomas Bragg and Edward G. Haywood only. Messrs. Battle. Person, Fowle, Barnes and Smith appeared for iheni, and the (luestion was argued before the Court. The respondents claimed that while they had intended to express their disapproval of the action of certain members of the Court, they had not intended to injure it or bring it into contempt, their sole purpose being to attempt to preserve the purity of the Court and to protect the administration of justice in the State. After this disavowal and the payment of costs, the rule was discharged and the respondents excused. Mr. Moore's view of the matter, as expressed to his daughter Lucy, is interesting. He said :
"While I rejoice that my course is sustained by all the virtuous and sensible, yet I weep over the degradalion into which the Court has plunged ilKlf and ihe liberties of freemen. I had no purpose to degrade the Court; God knows that my only object was to purify and clevalc it.
"The (omiiici of individuals composing Ibc Court was unbecoining the jiiilfce!^, according to my judgment, founded upon all the past examples of the enlightened men who had adorned our annals. I saw that if such con- duct should be tolerated and become common, the judiciary would sink into partisan political corruption. I felt it my duty as the oldest member of the bar to lift my wavering voice against the pernicious example. I did so as an act of duly. I feel now .still more sensibly that it was my duly. I made no sacrifice in doing my duty. The ordeal I have passed through has m.idc me proud of my poEiition. I fell that I was called to account for having rebuked a great vice, for having discharged fearlessly a high and nohic duly, and I was prepared to come off more than conqueror. I feci no stain on my name. There is none. I am cheered by every lawyer and gentleman I have heard speak, without as well as within the State. Every man of sense ridicules the opinion of the Court. It is without law to sustain it. contradictory, despotic, spiteful and malignant. It is the common sport of every man. I wish that I could have saved the Court from the degradation into which ihey have fallen, but it was bent on re- venge and lo ! they li.ive fatten into their own pit."
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When Governor Holden was impeached Mr. Moore was sought by each side as counsel, but decHned to appear. He was, however, in favor of impeachment and wrote his daughter the following in regard to it : '*Holden's impeachment is demanded by a sense of public virtue and due regard to the honor of the State. He is an exceedingly corrupt man and ought to be placed before the people as a public example of a tyrant condemned and punished."
After this time his practice was largely in the Federal Court In 1 87 1 his son-in-law, John Catling, became associated with him in his practice.
Mr. Moore died at Raleigh, November 2^, 1878. In his will he bequeathed one hundred dollars to each of all his former slaves living in North Carolina ; he also remembered generously the Uni- versity of North Carolina, the Masonic Orphan Asylum, and the Grand Lodge of Masons. Of this fraternity he had been a loyal and devoted member for many years.
He rests in Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh with this fitting in- scription above him :
BARTHOLOMEW FIGURES MOORE, LLD.
Born January 29. 1801 ; Died November 27, 1878. Citizen, Lawyer, Statesman.
To himself, his family and his country he was true; to evade a duty was to him impossihle ; in the discharge of duty he was diligent. Difficulty intensified his effort. Danger rendered his resolu- tion more firm. A devoted son of North Carolina. A never-failing friend and liberal benefactor of her interests. An uncompromising foe to oppression. A profound jurist and a fearless patriot.
/. G, dc Roulhac Hamilton,
288 NORTH CAROLINA
All of these families possessed strong characteristics and stood well in their respective communities.
Samuel Davidson Morgan was a native of \'irginia. He moved into North Carolina in 1851, and settled in the Fishdam district of Wake County. There he married and engaged in planting to- bacco, and he likewise manufactured tobacco. To him and his wife, Talithia Adaline Tate, w'ere bom two sons, William M., the eldest, born September 8, 1855 ; and Samuel Tate, the subject of this sketch, born on May 15, 1857.
The year 1865 was one of general calamity, but in particular (lid it bring sorrows and changes to the Morgan household. At its very o|)ening, in January, when the people were mourning the (lire results of the war, Samuel Morgan, the father of the family, (lied, and in I'ebruary Mrs. Morgan lost her only brother, and the next month she was also bereft of her father. To the widowed niotluT there were left only her two young sons, aged nine and seven res|)eclively. And at the very period of this accumulation of sorrow, the retreating Confederate army passed to the west- ward, and the b'ederal army, to the terror of the people, took pos- session of the country in which she lived — being now a part of Durham Comity. Their presence was a menace and a horror, and the calamity and distresses of that woeful time of war can neither be j)ort rayed nor imagined.
The estates of both her husband and father were considerable, but consisted chiefly of land and slaves. The slaves were now freed, and the negroes moved here and there at will, and labor was disorganized, and the land was practically valueless. Mr. Morgan had also been engaged in manufacturing tobacco, and had ac- cimiiilated (|uite a large (|uantity of tobacco, which was still on hand •It the time when that section was occupied by the Federal army. Indeed nearly all the pn^perty of the family, except their land and negroes, consisted of this tobacco — and it was all taken and used by Slierman's marauding troops. The superior quality of the to- ba(*co raised in that region had gained for it, even before the war, a good r(^j)ntation, and the distribution of that accumulated by Mr. Morgan, as well as that possessed by other persons in the
SAMUEL TATE MORGAN 28.J
neighborhood of Durham Station, wliere Sherman's army rested, tended to make famous the Durham tobacco, wliich in later years became celebrated far and wide for its excellence.
The (lifticiilties that surrounded Mrs. Morgan at that period of aflliction, trouble and uncertainty were enough lo crush the spirit of any ordinary person, but Mrs. Morgan saved what she could from the wreck and devastation of those evil days, and with a brave heart addressed herself to the duties of her situation.
Eventually she secured the services of an overseer, and the cul- tivation of her plantation was again resumed, but under circum- stances that were far from propitious. Yet she managed to make enough to support her family and send the children to school. Her eldest son was educated at Bingham's Military School, which was then located at Aiebanesville ; and then the subject of this sketch was placed first at Horner's Military School at Oxford, and after- ward he, too, went to Bingham's. Both of these schools were ex- cellent, not merely because of the admirable teaching, but as well because of the military feature and discipline, which inculcated obedience to duty and developed a high standard of moral char- acter. At the age of seventeen, however, the subject of this sketch, who was then well advanced in his studies, was withdrawn from school to join his mother at home, for she was residing on her plantation, in the midst of negroes, the only other white person near being the overseer; and the negroes were often lawless and had an undue sense of their importance, in those first years of their freedom and exemption from the restraints of their former planta- tion life, which indeed their political leaders constantly fostered, thus greatly contributing to their demoralization.
Being at home, Mr. Morgan engaged in the usual work of farm life, developing a robust physique and an excellent constitution; and, like his brother, he also employed himself in the manufacture of tobacco, a crop that was raised on their farm and generally in that region. Rut the internal revenue laws were exacting, and were very stringcntl\' enforced in those days, so tliat there was always danger of falling into trouble with over-zealous revenue agents. And so Mrs. Morgan, apprehensive of trouble, required
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her sons to abandon that business ; and the subject of this sketch took up the mercantile and hmibering business, which he success- fully pursued until 1879.
Indeed, so successful was he and so hopeful of the future that in 1875 he became united in marriage to Miss Sally F. Thompson, the only daughter of Honorable George W. Thompson and Frances Crenshaw, his wife, of Wake County — a marriage that was most fortunate and happy for him. Of Mr. Thompson the eminent Doctor Thomas E. Skinner, in an article published in the Biblical Recorder, among other things, said :
"Without seeking office ever, he was chosen and elected to the State Senate three terms, for one of which he defeated the late Governor Charles Manly. His friends also placed upon him the honor of representing this district in Congress; this he declined, but recommended the late General L. O'B. Branch, who was elected to that position. George Thompson's ambition was unselfish. He did not seek honor of men for the sake of the honor merely, but only to be useful to his fellow man. He was one of the most honorable and valuable citizens that Wake Coimly has produced."
The association of Mr. Morgan with his father-in-law resulted largely to his benefit, and the intercourse between them being close, he has ever cherished throughout life a warm affection and ad- miration for him.
In the Fall of 1878 his brother moved into the town of DurKam, which had rapidly grown from a small hamlet in 1872 to quite a town, and the next year the subject of this sketch also located in that town. Durham was then becoming a center of trade ff»r all the tobacco region, as it was one of the leading tobacco marts of this country. Here he began a wholesale trade in grain and pro- visions, and also a commission business in connection with hand- ling fertilizers.
After acting as agent for several fertilizer companies for a war or two, he became impressed with the belief that fertilizers could be manufactured in Durham as well as elsewhere. He was led to consider this subject because of the vast quantity of tobacco stems, a waste product of the tobacco factories of Durham, ready at hand, known to be rich in potash, and proved bv experience
SAMUEL TATE MORGAN
to be valuable as a fertiliziT, especially for tobacco crops. His business having prospered, and being able to embark in this new enterprise, he organized a partnership in connection with Mr. Eu- gene Morehead, of the Morehead Banking Company, and his brother, Mr. William M. Morgan, whose line talenls and profi- ciency had led to his employment as cashier of the Morehead Bank- ing Company, for the purpose of manufacturing fertilizers. The firm name was the Durham Fertilizer Company, The company prospered. As anticipated b)- Mr. Morgan, Durham proved an excellent location for the manufacture of fertilizers, and he met with no difficulty in disposing of his products at a remunerative price. In i88g Mr. Morehead died, and the partnership was dis- solved and was succeeded by a stock company, witli a capital stock of $6o,coo, Mr. Morgan being President of the company, and hav- ing the practical management of its affairs. With this increased capital, under the intelligent direction of Mr. Morgan, the con- cern now entered on a marvelous growth. Gradually the capital was increased to $400,000, and branches were established at Rich- mond, Virginia, and at Blacksbiirg, South Carolina ; and Mr. Mor- gan also organized the Norfolk and Carolina Chemical Company at Xorfolk. erecting there a large plant, which was entirely owned by the Durham Company. Indeed the development and progress of the business was so great and so gratifying in its results as to place Mr. Morgan in the forefront of the important business men, not only of Dnrhamj but of the State.
In the meantime, while alwavs cautious and conservative, his progressive spirit led him to be intimately connected with all the business enterprises begun in Durham at that period. He was instrumental in constructing the first street railway that was built in Durham, and was concerned in establishing the second cotton mill that was erected in the town, and he contributed to the pro- motion of the various industrial movements of that era so remark- able fnr its activities and so important in enhancing the growth of Durham.
Early in 1895 the business of the Durham Fertilizer Company, and of the companies connected with it. had expanded to such an
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extent that Mr. Morgan conceived the idea of organizing into one compact corporation all the fertilizer companies of North Caro- lina and Virginia. After months of laborious work this purpose was substantially accomplished, the outcome of it being the or- ganization of the V'irginia-Carolina Chemical Company, with a capital stock of $5,000,400. At that time the business of the consolidated companies was very remunerative, and the output of the several factories approximated 100,000 tons of commercial fer- tilizers. Now began a new era of progress. Mr. Morgan speedily recognized the possibilities of the situation, and was indefatigable in utilizing every element that promised beneficial results. Pur- chases were made of large fields of phosphate deposits, and with a truly enterprising spirit ^Ir. Morgan sought to secure ample sup- plies of the raw material for his factories at first hand and at the lowest cost. The value of cotton seed as the basis for fertilizers was early appreciated, and Mr. Morgan obtained for his company control of a considerable number of mills erected for the purpose of crushing this product of the Southern cotton fields.
It seemed desirable, for the purpose of distribution, that the company should own a steamship of its own, and he caused to be built a vessel particularly adapted to the business. The Rich- mond Times, in mentioning the accomplishment of this purpose, in 1899 said:
'•The launching of the 5". T. Morgan is an event of great importance to the South, and in a sense, an event of national interest. Of interest to the South, in that the steamer is owned by the Virginia-Carolina Chemical Company, a mammoth enterprise, the prosperity of which means the pros- perity of the Southland, and food and raiment to its people. Of national interest, in that the 5". T. Morgan is the first tramp steamer ever built and owned in this country, and intended to ply to all parts of the world. It is befitting that the steamer should bear the name of the president of the company, Mr. S. T. Morgan. Mr. Morgan was the organizer of the Virginia- Carolina Chemical Company, and since its organization in 1893 has been its president. He is a strong, conservative, yet progressive man of affairs, possessing great executive ability, and under his guidance the company has become the greatest fertilizer manufacturing company in the world."
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It is to be observeiJ that the use of fertilizers has indeed been of great advantage to the agricultural portions of this country, and especially to tlie South. Formerly Peruvian guano was the chief reliance of the Southern planter, and when the supply of that valuable commodity was exhausted it became of exceeding inter- est that some suitable substitute should be furnished ; this has been done in great part by the company which Mr. Morgan organized and created, and his work has been of incalculable beneiit to the agriculture of the South.
He has been unremitting in his efforts to give the country a cheap, reliable and valuable fertilizer ; and in seeking to carry out this purpose, Mr. Morgan has visited Europe and made contracts and has purchased large beds of mineral deposits, and has made similar purchases in Mexico.
In 1902, on the occasion of the visit of Prince Henry of Prus- sia to this country, The New York Sun, in suggesting that the Prince should meet at luncheon "One hundred immortals of Yankee industry." said :
"The industrial development of the United Slates would hardly have been what it is to-ilaj had it not been for the wonderful ilevclupmcut of the South. It has seemed to the ^un that two men. perhaps more than any others, should stand for the industrial development of the country south of Mason '.s and Dixon's line. One of Ihem is Samuel T. Morgan, President of the Virginia-Carolina Chemical Company. By a process which he de- vised for the making of phosphate. Mr. Morgan has turned barren waste of the South into productive cotton plantations, and thereby has turned millions of dollars into the pockets of the Southern people."
Frotn year to year the business of his company has constantly been enlarged, until at length it has a paid-up capital of $46,000,000, and manufactures a million tons of fertilizers, while its subsidiary companies do a business of over $14,000,000 l>esidcs. it being the greatest industrial organization of its kind in the world, and by far the largest industrial organization of any kind in the South. And as vast and important as it is. this company is virtually the creation of Mr. Morgan; and from its inception it has been under his guidance and direction, for he
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has been the only President and head it has ever had. His whole time and attention is devoted to the work of his company, and he gives but little thought to outside matters. Indeed, as Presi- dent of the Virginia-Carolina Chemical Company and of its sub- sidiary companies, the Southern Cotton Oil Company, and the Charleston (S. C.) Mining and Manufacturing Company, he is so thoroughly employed as to leave no time for other things. Some of the largest financial institutions at the North have tendered him honorable and responsible positions as a director in association with leading men of the Union, but he has felt compelled to decline these flattering offers ; the only directorships he has ever accepted being in the Merchants* National Bank and in the Virginia Trust Company, both of Richmond, Virginia.
In 1896 Mr. Morgan's family moved from Durham to Rich- mond, where he could be more with them, and he has made that city his residence ; though he still retains his citizenship in North Carolina, and his business is of such a nature that he cannot call any particular spot his home. He is still devoted to the State of his birth and the old homestead where he was raised ; and he owns to-day every foot of land he inherited from his parents.
His marriage has been blessed with three children — Alice, Blanche, Maude Crensliaw, and Samuel Tate, Jr., all of whom are living.
Mr. Morgan has always been identified with the Democratic Party, and his religious affiliations are with the Baptist Oinrch. While thoroughly a business man, he has always been extremely fond of hunting and finds the recreation of a day or two of this sport every now and then beneficial as a tonic, and as restoring the waste of mind and body. Nor is he so exclusively devoted to business that he does not indulge in social intercourse. He is a member of the Westmoreland, Commonwealth, and Deep Run Hunt Clubs of Richmond. Virginia; the New York Yacht, the Calumet and Manhattan Clubs, of New York ; and he enjoys his association with the members of these different organizations.
/. H, Southgate.
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Robinson Miimford, an Englishman. By this marriage he had six children — Sarah, Eliza, Charles, Richmond Mumford, Giles and John Stokes Pearson. He was an enterprising and successful planter and merchant until the War of 1812 wrecked his fortune.
Mrs. Pearson was eighth in descent from Elder William Brewster, and she was a woman of remarkable force of character, and she exerted much fortitude, energy and wise discretion in alleviating the pecuniary misfortunes of her family, and in guid- ing, instructing and educating her children. I have often heard Chief Justice Pearson speak of his mother in terms of filial admi- ration and the most tender affection.
After the pecuniary failure of Colonel Peiarson, his son, the Honorable Joseph Pearson, agreed to advance the money and su- perintend the education of his half-brother, Richmond Mumford At this time he was a member of Congress, and he carried his young brother to Washington, placed him in one of the primary schools of that city, and also caused him to be baptized by Archbishop Carroll of the Roman Catholic Church.
On his return from Washington young Richmond commenced his academical studies in Statesville, in the school of John Mushat, who was a celebrated teacher at that time. In this school he was prepared for college, and entered the University at Chapel Hill, where he was graduated in 1823 with the first honors of his class.
While at college Judge Pearson devoted but little time to the beauties of poetry and the elegancies of polite literature. He * studied diligently the classics prescribed in the college curricu- lum, not from any decided taste for such accomplishments and learning, but influenced by a sense of duty and a generous ambition which he realized in receiving the first honors of his class.
After graduation he was offered a tutorship in the University, which he declined, as he was desirous of commencing at once the study of the law. In early life he had determined to follow the legal profession, and in the bright day-dreams of boyhood he had placed the Chief Justiceship of the Supreme Court as the goal of his ambition. When he quit the halls of science and learn-
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ing, crowned with the laurels of scholastic triumphs, he was eager to enter upon the struggle for the highest prize of usefulness, for- tune and fame to be won in the intellectual contests of the fonun. With a strong and fixed purpose of reaching the goal of his young ambition, he became a law student under Judge Henderson, and commenced the study of that noble science which in all his after life was the object of his admiration and almost exclusive devotion.
I have often heard him speak of Chief Justice Henderson in terms of high admiration and fond affection. He remained about two years in the law school, and was a diligent student and acquired extensive legal learning with great accuracy.
While on the bench with him, I remember on one occasion, when investigating a legal question involved in a case before the Supreme Court, I could obtain no satisfactory information from our State reports and other books which I had examined, he told me that I could find the question solved in a note in Saun- ders* Reports, about the middle of the second volume, half-way down on the left-hand page. From this direction, in a short time, I found the information desired. He was pleased with the result of my investigation, and said that he remembered reading this note at the law school and had not seen it for more than forty years.
Judge Pearson was admitted to the bar in 1826, and the prepa- ration for the duties of his profession was so thorough and exten- sive that he did not have to undergo the melancholy period of long probation which many imperfectly prepared young lawyers have to endure before they achieve success. He had a good prac- tice almost from the beginning of his career, and in a few years he stood as an acknowledged equal among the distinguished law- yers of his circuit of larger experience and consummate ability. Tic was remarkable for his integrity and strict attention to pro- fessional business and his unwearied diligence in the preparation of liis cases. He had not the gift of eloquence, of words and imagery, hut the clearness and precision with which his argu- ments were made gave them the force of the eloquence of thought
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and pure reason. He was always faithful to his clients, and whether he lost or won their cases they felt that he had done all that his intellect, integrity, industry and learning could accom- plish. After a successful practice of the law for nine years, he was elevated to the Superior Court bench in 1836. As a Superior Court judge, he was prompt and indefatigable in the perform- ance of his public duties, and administered justice with a wise discretion and with strict integrity and impartiality. He was on the Superior Court bench twelve years, and during that period held the courts several times in each county in the State, and was regarded by all of his fellow-citizens as an able, wise, just and incorruptible judge.
In 1848 he was elected by the Legislature as an Associate Jus- tice of the Supreme Court, and here he entered upon the field of his future usefulness, greatness and permanent fame. He was brought into contact with Chief Justice Ruffin and Judge Xash, two as able and incorruptible judges as ever presided over any judicial tribunal, and he was soon regarded as their equal in abil- ity, integrity, and common-law learning. He recognized the exalted merit of Chief Justice Ruffin as a great chancellor, and at once began to devote himself to the study of the enlightened and highly cultivated system of chancery jurisprudence. In a few years he had so completely mastered the subject and become so much interested in the study that he commenced preparing a treatise on equity, and would have completed the same but for the publication of Mr. Adams, which covered the ground and the arrangement which he proposed to adopt.
The opinions of Judge Pearson while on the Supreme Court bench constituted the monum.ent of his legal fame and will endure forever. In 1858 he was chosen Chief Justice by the Court to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Chief Justice Nash, and he held this office until he was elected Chief Justice in 1868 under our new constitution, upon the nomination of both political par- ties, and by an almost unanimous vote of the people of the State. He occupied this distinguished position until his death, in Januar>\ 1878, when on his way to the Supreme Court. He was on the
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bench for more than forty years, and he died in the path of duty with his untarnished mantle on.
His character as Chief Justice is so distinctly portrayed by liis conduct and opinions, and is so universally understood and recog- nized, that it can be easily delineated. He possessed exalted intel- lect, extensive learning and many rare j udicial and administrative qualities. He was remarkable for his cheerful devotion to the important duties of his position, the attention and care which he bestowed on all cases before the Court, and his assiduous labor to dispose of business and to prevent the accumulation of unde- cided cases on the docket. He seemed to feel that justice delayed was justice denied, and at every tenn he went through the docket and gave every litigant an opportunity of having his case deter- mined. In the hearing of cases he was patient and attentive, and when he went into the conference of the Court he Was ready and willing to do more than his share of labor, and he gave his associ- ates the full benefit of his reflection and learning.
When he was in good health I do not remember of ever having seen him weary from judicial labor. The "gladsome light of jurisprudence" seemed to keep his mind always fresh, elastic and vigorous. He never shrank from any responsibility which the duties of his office imposed upon him; no weight of difficulty seemed long to oppress him, no mnltipHcity of details to confuse him, and no element of excitement to disturb him. He seemed to look through a case at a glance and understood, as by intuition, the facts and points of law involved as well as the able and learned coimsel who had laboriously prepared an argument ; and by a few, simple suggestions he would bring distinctly to view the points decisive of the matter, or throw a flood of light upon questions which before had been dark and intricate to the most acute legal minds.
His style of composition in his opinions was not marked with the ease and elegance of classic culture and erudition, but he had a power of prompt and ready expression in correct and appropri- ate diction remarkable for perspicuity and precision. He had a wonderful faculty in marshaling and arraying the most compH-
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cated facts, and lucidly applying the legal principles involved. In important cases his opinions are masterly and luminous judicial compositions, always exhibiting genius and power; even making difficult subjects easy of comprehension to the untrained popular mind. He often used homely phrases and illustrations taken from everyday life, but they were always apt in elucidation of the mat- ter discussed. In one of his opinions he compared the common law to the bark of the oak, which imperceptibly expands to give room for the exogenous growth of the tree, as it sends its roots deeper into the subsoil and among the rocks, to prepare to with- stand the storms and to extend its branches graceful with foliage, affording healthful and refreshing shades.
Chief Justice Pearson never did any judicial legislation that caused injustice and wrong to individuals or society, and he never departed from the rules of law if they could, by any reasonable construction and application, be made subservient to the adminis- tration of substantial equity and right. He only modified to some extent the rigid rules of the common law by applying the more liberal and enlightened principles of equity jurisprudence, which declare that every legal right should have an adequate remedy.
Before referring to the conduct and opinions of Chief Justice Pearson during the late Civil War, and the bitter and stormy political contest which existed during the long Reconstruction period, I desire to say something as to his political views and history. In 1829 he became a member of the State Legislature, and continued in that service until 1832, and diligently and faith- fully performed all the duties imposed upon him by that important and responsible position. In 1835 he was a candidate for a seat in Congress against the Honorable Abram Rencher and the Hon- orable Burton Craig. During that memorable canvass he used all his energies and intellectual powers in opposition to the spirit of nullification which was rife in the South. He believed in the fundamental doctrine of American independence and freedom — "that all political power is vested in and derived from the people"; and that the American people, in the proper exercise of this right- ful authority, ordained and established the Constitution of the
RICHMOND M. PEARSON 301
United States for the puqjose declared in its preamble ; and that the Constitution was an obligatory covenant of perpetual union, making the American people a great nation : and was not a loose compact of confederation between sovereign and indejiendent States that could be dissolved by the will and action of one of the Slates of the Confederacy. He also believed that the general government thus formed was paramount in the exercise of its delegated powers, and that Congress could rightfully make such laws as were necessary and proper to advance and secure the purposes for which the government was formed, and that the Supreme Court of the United States was the only lawful tribunal that could finally determine the question whether Congress had exceeded the limits of constitutional authority.
He understood and properly appreciated the true principles of State sovereignly. He believed that the States should control the administration of local affairs, and should secure, protect and enforce individual and local rights, and in all respects exercise all the reserve powers not delegated to the Federal government. He believed that it was the wise and patriotic puqrose of the found- ers of our general government to adjust and mold the principles of Stale and National sovereignty in a harmonious system, sus- taining, strengthening and vitalizing each other, and by thus uniting separate and independent States into a grand, powerful and prosperous nation, able to protect and secure all the blessings of the most enlightened and rational human freedom, greatly contribute to the advancement of the highest forms of Christian civilization.
His patriotism was not cramped and dwarfed by the selfishness of undue State pride and the bitterness of sectional prejudices, but extended to all the States and to the furthermost limits of our great Republic. He was deeply impressed with the belief that the magnificent and lieneficent pnrjiose of our fathers could only be accomplished by preserving the Union, which they formed by the Constitntion, and by cultivating and cherishing a spirit of nation- ality and brotherhood among the people of every section.
In this canvass he was defeated by the Hon. Abram Rencher,
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who was a State's Rights Demcxrrat, but not an advocate of the doctrines of nullification. From this time Judge Pearson devoted himself exclusively to the profession of the law, and had no politi- cal record until the appearance of his celebrated letter in July, 1868 — *'An appeal to the calm judgment of North Carolinians/' in which he set forth in clear, forcible and patriotic terms the facts and the reasons which influenced him to support General Grant for the Presidency of the United States. He never had anv skill in political management or electioneering legerdemain, and I have no knowledge of his having ever attended a party convention in his life. He was an old-line Whig and he was sometimes called a Federalist, as he so firmly believed in the constitutional suprem- acy of the general government, was such a decided friend of the Union, and was so much opposed to the doctrines of secession and nullification. In the excited political contests since the late Civil War, he never held extreme opinions or expressed his views with offensive violence, and I feel sure that he never suffered political considerations to influence his judicial decisions. He was not a parti zan. but was truly conservative and national in all his views, and earnestly wished that the bitter sectional political ani- mosities of the times might be soothed and calmed by wise and patriotic action and counsel, and not be transmitted as an inheri- tance of hatred to posterity. He honestly believed that he adhered to the sound, liberal and patriotic principles of the old Whig Party, and he was not able to fully understand how he became dis- severed from his old Whig friends of former years.
With anxious solicitude and fearful apprehensions he wit- nessed the gathering clouds of civil war, and the cup of his sor- row was full when the fearful storm of fratricidal strife burst in fury over the peaceful homes of the land, and North Carolina attempted to leave the Union formed by the thirteen revolutionary sister States, and her true, brave and gallant sons were marching inuler a strange flag and firing upon the "Old Flag" that had floated in triumph over the battlefields of American glory and freedom consecrated by the blood of their fathers. Although the proud and patriotic memories of the olden time still thrilled his
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heart, and he looked with sad forebodings into the dark and ter- rible future, he joined his fortunes with his native State, deeply sympathized in the sorrows and misfortunes of his people, and was proud of the patient endurance and heroic deeds of North Carolina soldiers.
In 1863 the fortunes of war became adverse to the South — the Confederate Government strained everj' ners'e and sinew to main- tain the unequal contest against overwhelming odds and disastrous defeats: conscription laws with unjust discriminations were passed by Congress, and enrolling officers with military escorts were visit- ing the humble homes of the land to arrest the unwilling con- scripts, to make them fight in a cause in which they had no per- sonal interest and against a government which they still honored and loved. In the ardent zeal for success, and under fearful apprehension of defeat, and with the arbitrary opinions of mili- tary supremacy, many of the fundamental principles of constilii- tiotial freedom were disregarded — military authority became supreme, and the civil laws seemed silent in the assertion of right, and gloom and terror tilled the hearts and homes of the people.
At this time Chief Justice Pearson was applied to for writs of habeas corpus to protect and secure the legal and constitutional rights of citizens, who fled to the civil courts for refuge from the oppressions of military power. The writs were issued, and per- sons unlawfully detained were discharged from custody; and in opinions of great clearness and force he maintained the suprem- acy of the civil over the military authority. The War Depart- ment at Richmond determined to disregard the decision of Judge Pearson, but he was successful in the contest, as he was sustained by Governor \ance. who. although a warm friend of the Confed- erate Government, felt it to be his duty to maintain the suprem- acy of the civil law when declared by judicial authority.
I will make no further reference to the action of Chief Justice Pearson in those cases. His written opinions are a part of the legal history of the State; his conduct was passed upon by the tribunal of public sentiment, and his grateful and admiring coun- trymen in electing him by an almost unanimous vote to the Chief
H
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Justiceship, in 1868, pronounced a verdict of vindication, approval, confidence and honor.
Upon entering upon the duties of Chief Justice under the newly formed State government, he was surrounded with many embar* rassments and was called upon to consider and determine many cases of ''new impressions," presenting difficult and perplexing legal questions growing out of the late war and the Reconstruction measures which followed. The abolition of slave property, which had before constituted a large part of the wealth of the State, embarrassed our railway improvements, broke our State banks, disorganized our labor system and industrial interests, and brought a large number of our most enterprising, intelligent and energetic citizens into bankruptcy. These adverse circumstances gave rise to a large amount of business in the courts from novel sources of litigation. Numerous remedial statutes and ordinances were enacted in legislatures and conventions which made great innova- tions and radical changes in our old system of government, many of which were ill-considered and unwise, and had to be fre- quently amended or repealed. The system of pleading and pro- cedure in the courts which had been derived from the common law. and had been shaped, molded and regulated by the experi- ence and judicial wisdom of ages, were suddenly swept away, and a new system of civil procedure established for the administration of justice. The difficulties and embarrassments which surrounded the courts in this transition and revolutionary period were g^reatly increased by the bitter partizan contests which divided and estranged our people. The courts and judges were the subjects of constant denunciation in a part of the public press and on the excited hustings. Many members of the bar, of high position and influence, who in former times had been strong friends of the bench, in the heat of party animosity and under the exasperation of defeat, pronounced a judgment of condemnation against the justices of the Supreme Court upon the unjust statements of a party press, before the condemned had any opportunity of explana- tion and defense. The power exercised by the Court was founded in right reason, well-established precedents, and was well sus-
RICHMOND M. PEARSO\
tained by the highest judicial authority both in this country and in England. The justices were not influenced by any personal animosity or prejudice, but acted from a high sense of duty in sustaining the rights and dignity of the Court and asserting the majesty of the Law.
[ will make no further reference to this unfortunate conflict betwctn the bench and the bar. I desire not to stir the ashes and cinders which time, calm consideration and reconciliation have spread over the almost extinct embers of former controversy.
In no period of Chief Justice Pearson's life did he exhibit a more elevated moral courage, and more exalted wisdom and intel- lectual power, than in leading the Supreme Court and ihc bar to the solution and determination of the difficult and perplexing legal questions which were presented for adjudication. His opin- ions are to be found in our State reports, and they need no com- mendation from me, as they speak for themselves to the calm and enlightened judgment of the Bar and the country.
I hope that 1 do not violate the solemn proprieties of this occa- sion in referring briefly to the celebrated habeas corpus cases before the Chief Justice, which grew out of the arrests made under the order of Governor Hoklen. the lawful commander-in-chief of the militia of the State. I have distinct impressions, clear con- victions, and vivid recollections of those troublous and terrible times. In these quiet days of peace and restored reason, scenes and events sometimes come to the memory of us all, and seem like the hideous phantoms of distempered dreams.
I know well ihe thoughts, the feelings and the motives which influenced the action of the Chief Justice, and I approved them then and I approve them now. On this subject his fame needs no vindication from me, for with his own hand he wrote a memo- rial to the Legislature which, under the advice of friends, was not presented, but it has been published since his death. His clear, candid and truthful statement of facts and motives in that memorial must produce a complete and triumphant vindication in every unprejudiced mind. I hope, however, that I can with pro- priety express my individual opinion. In those cases he was influ-
3o6 NORTH CAROLINA
enced by sound reason and patriotic prudence, and by the concur- ring opinion of all his associate justices, sustained by the satisfacton- decision of Chief Justice Taney in a case involving similar questions and circumstances. He sincerely believed that if he had issued the unlawful order requested, he would have caused military insubordination, and brought on the bloody strife of civil war. He did what he thought was right, and disregarded the importunity and urgency of public clamor that surrounded him. He felt that if he issued that order he would violate the law which he had sworn to support, and would have the blood of his fellow-citizens on his hand and on his soul. In his conduct he displayed a firmness, dignity and lofty courage equal to that of the noble Roman Senator when assailed bv the barbarous and infuriated soldiers of Brennus.
I recall with pleasure the memory of my association with Chief Justice Pearson on the bench of the Supreme Court. Before that time my relations with him were only of a professional character, and I had not become acquainted with his many private virtues. I had regarded him as somewhat stern and reserved in his deport- ment, and was pleased to find him so kind, affable, genial and generous in his nature. During an intimate association of four years, I do not remember a single unkind word that ever passed between my brethren of the bench in any of the conferences of the court.
The peculiar circumstances of the times, to which I have here- tofore alluded, often placed him in positions of danger and diffi- culty. When bitterly denounced by a portion of the public press, assailed by rancorous partizan clamor, threatened with impeach- ment, charged with gross dereliction of duty and corruption in office — when foibles were magnified into vices, and even the affairs of private life were the subject of caviling criticism, and he was deserted by timid and faithless friends upon whom he had bestowed confidence and kindness — ^lie bore all with sublime patience and lofty heroism, and remained steadfast and self- reliant in the discharge of his important public duties. He stood like a grand rock on the ocean shore, unmoved by the rage of
RICHMOND M. PEARSON' 307
the billows, although for a time obscured by the murky mist and covered by the spiteful spray of the tempest.
I will now refer to some matters about which there can be no difference of opinion. Chief Justice Pearson was a worthy high priest in the temple of Jurisprudence — that noble and elevated science Ihat has received the admiration and devotion, and called forth the highest and best efforts of the most virtuous, enlight- ened and intcHecInal men of all the ages. He was at the time of his death the acknowledged head of the legal profession of the State, and ranked among the leading lawyers of the age.
He was a peer among the great judges of England and America, who have adorned the bench and done so much to strengthen the citadel and build the bastions and bulwarks of justice and truth, of human rights and human freedom.
I feel that I would do injustice to the memory of my friend were 1 not to make further reference to his private life and character. When he entered upon the duties of manhood, he felt that "Life is real, life is earnest," and he had a fixed and deter- mined purpose to achieve success. He was prudent and indus- trious in business, and soon obtained the means to repay every dollar which his generous brother haJ advaitcc<} toward his &luca- (ion, and he also laid the foundation of the ample fortune which he afterward acquired.
When a young man, he entered with much zest into the enjoy- ment of social life, and was remarkably fond of the society of ladies : and I am informed that this pleasant and elevating associa- tion sometimes gave him the inspiration of the Muses, In 183! he married Margaret, the handsome and intelligent daughter of Colonel John Williams of Tennessee, and had by her ten chil- dren, only three of whom survived him. He commenced his mar- ried life at Mocksville. and was very kind and affectionate in all his family relations, and no place had for him such charms and attractions as his home. He was fond of cultivating his garden and farm, and often labored with his own hands. He was plain and simple in his tastes and manners, and was always pleased to have his friends at his hospitable board. When his time was not
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engaged by the urgent demands of public duty, he was fond of relaxation and pleasures of society, and he laid aside the dignified manners of a judge and became an affable companion. On such occasions he never exhibited any pride of genius and extensive learning, or assumed any superiority on account of his high official position, but with simplicity of manner and with unaffected inter- est, talked with ease and familiarity about the ordinary topics of social intercourse. In such conversations he expressed his opin- ions with frankness and candor, and often with much originality and force. He was free from anything like hypocrisy and deceit, and on all subjects his views were eminently practical, as he pos- sessed in a high degree the genius of common sense. He was not ostentatious in his benevolences and charities, but he alwavs remembered the trials, privations and hardships of his early life; and many a young man in similar condition was the recipient of his favors, and his quiet beneficences will long be remembered by the humble poor.
Soon after Chief Justice Pearson was elected a Superior Court Judge, he opened a law school at Mocksville, and acquired much reputation as a legal instructor, and obtained a number of students who became eminent in the profession — some as leading lawyers, some as Superior Court judges, and some sat by his side on the Supreme Court bench.
In 1847 h^ moved to Richmond Hill, in Surry County, where he lost the wife of his early love, and remained a widower for several years. In 1859 he married Mrs. Mary Bynum, and this genial, practical and highly accomplished wife was the partner of his joys and sorrows, and presided over his hospitable home until his death.
At Richmond Hill the law school was very prosperous. I have heard him say that he had instructed more than a thousand law students, who are scattered throughout the State and nation. He had great skill in the art of communicating knowledge, and by his cheerful and paternal manner he won the respect, confidence and affection of "his boys." He had no strictly scientific arrangement or definite scholastic system of education, but he communicated
RICHMOND M. PEARSON
309
instruction by frequent exaiuination on the text-books, accom- panied by familiar conversational lectures, and, like the great philosopher of Athens, he never reduced any of his lectures to writing. He was fond and proud of "his hoys," and did not con- fine his instructions to the class-room. He would talk to them on legal subjects whenever an opportunity was presented — at the table, on the path in the woods as they went to a neighbor's house, at the fishing place on the river, and in the Summer afternoons as they sat beneath the shades of the old oaks on the hill or down by the spring.
Silence and solitude now reign at Richmond Hill, for the "old man eloquent" is dead ; but the fame and influence of Chief Jus- tice Pearson is more indelibly inscribed upon the legal and judicial history of North Carolina than the name carved upon the granite shaft that marks hi.'; tomb.
Roberl P. Dick.
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THOMAS MERRITT PITTMAN 311
number of that faith having settled at that time in Virginia. This Puritan colony was expelled from Virginia about 1648, the members going to Maryland, among them being Richard Bennett and his brother. When Parliament sent a fleet to reduce the Old Dominion to submission, Bennett returned as one of the commis- sioners, and, a free government being instituted and the restric- tions of Nonconformists removed, in 1652 he was elected Gov- ernor of that province by the House of Burgesses. With the third generation, the male line of Richard Bennett became extinct, but the family has given a number of distinguished men to the coun- try, including, it is said, General R. E. Lee, the Blands and Ran- dolphs of Virginia, Thomas Atkinson, Bishop of the Diocese of North Carolina, R. B. Hubbard, Governor of Texas, Dr. I. T. Tichenor and others.
About 1750 Richard Bennett and two of his brothers, descend- ants of the brother of Governor Bennett of Virginia, but who had not returned to Virginia with the other Nonconformists, left Maryland and came to Carolina, Richard locating in Halifax County, another brother going to Anson County, from whom the family of Judge R. T. Bennett is descended ; and the third settling in Bennettsville, South Carolina, from whom that place takes its name. One of the sons of Richard Bennett of Halifax, and great- grandfather of Mr. Pittnian,\vas Reverend Philemon Bennett. For seventeen years, preceding the division of the Baptist churches, which resulted in the organization of the Primitive and the Mis- sionary Baptists, he was moderator of the old Kehukee Baptist Association, and was for many years pastor of churches in Warren and Halifax counties. He, as well as most of the other Bennetts, was a thrifty farmer of good judgment and strong char- acter. The simple, vigorous lives of these men were conducive to longevity, for Philemon lived to a good old age, and six of his sons attained three score and ten.
The Reverend William Lancaster, the uncle of Willie Lancaster, the grandfather of Mr. Pittnian's father, was a member of the State Convention of July, 1788, at Hillsboro, which rejected the Federal Constitution as first prepared and presented to the States.
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Mr. Pittnian's childhood was passed in the country, he alter- nately attending the brief sessions of the rural public school and doing a young boy's work on a farm. For a time he was under William J. King, a teacher of recognized ability at Belford Acad- emy, Franklin County. He had the ordinary happy childhood of a country bo>', healthy in body and with a pure mind, when on the death of his father, just after entering his teens, he found himself dependent uix)n his own endeavors for a livelihood. At the age of fourteen he went to Charlotte and entered the machine shops of the Mecklenburg Iron Works as an apprentice. The incentive of his early training gave him a firm resolve to strive for a high goal in life, and the apprentice boy, who by day wielded the riveting hammer in the noisy shop, studied at night that he might ultimately prepare himself to work in a broader field. It is at this age and under these conditions, when deprived of the protecting influence of a home life, that a youth is liable to be led into the bad habits with which the city boy is always menaced. Young Pittman's ambition spurred his mental vigor and inculcated study and application during hours that boys usually devote to amuse- ment. The early religious training of his mother led him to avoid many evils, and strengthened and rounded his religious and moral nature in that formative period which creates or destroys a man's character. The pleasant address and sociability of the young ap- prentice gained him many friends, who came to admire him for his sturdy and independent character, and with true kindness and un- selfishness delighted in offering him assistance. These kindly offices, often simple, but from the heart, pure and unaffected, which were performed for him, Mr. Pittman now recalls with the keen- est pleasure, and feels that if in anv wav he has reallv missed life's goal, the friends he made with each successive step were more than worth the struggle. He followed under the guidance of these friends courses of reading and study, which developed his mental faculties, as his manual work gave him physical strength and en- durance, a clear eve, a confident hand, accuracv and self-reliance. In 1876, before he was eighteen years of age, the apprenticeship was finished, and after serving for a short time as foreman in the
THOMAS MERRITT PITTMAN 313
machine shops of the Carolina Agricultural Works of Charlotte, he entered the law offices of Guion and Flemming of the same city. This firm was composed of the late Colonel Haywood W. Guion and Major W. W. Flemming (the latter of whom young Pittman already numbered among his friends), and it was in accord with the advice and suggestion of Major Flemming, seconded by his own inclination, that he undertook the study of law. Major Flem- ming personally directed his professional course and imposed a severe curriculum, including such great old authors as Coke upon Littleton, Saunders on Uses and Trusts, Feame on Remainders and Chitty on Pleadings, while not neglecting to drill the ambitious student in modem law and the existing practice. In 1878, when yet under age, Mr. Pittman secured his license, and in June of the same year he opened an office in Charlotte for the practice of his profession, and the next year he was appointed Examiner in Equity of the United States Circuit Court for the Western Dis- trict of North Carolina. In 1885 he removed to Henderson, Vance County, North Carolina. He became attorney for the bank of Henderson and for Vance County, and in 1901 for the town of Henderson, which last position he still holds. While Mr. Pittman has not sought business as a criminal lawyer, he has appeared in about thirty capital cases, and so well has he worked for his clients that not one of them has ever yet been hanged. In his legal prac- tice, he has had the following partnerships : with Captain Robert D. Graham, as Graham and Pittman ; with W. B. Shaw, Esquire, as Pittman and Shaw ; with J. H. Kerr, Jr., of Warrenton, as Pittman and Kerr. This last partnership is for local court busi- ness only, and yet exists. Besides having extensive corporation practice, Mr. Pittman has served as attorney in many special cases for various counties and municipalities, and enjoys an extensive and lucrative practice. In spite of the demands of his profession Mr. Pittman finds time in some measure to put in practice his con- ceptions of the ideal citizen, and while not a politician and never a candidate for a political office, he has when called on made cam- paign speeches, believing that every man owes society such public service as lies within his power. A leading member of the Mission-
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an- Baptist Church, he has been prominently identified with many of its organizations — vice-president of the Baptist State Conven- tion of North Carolina; clerk of the Charlotte Baptist Church; clerk and deacon of the Henderson Baptist Church ; superintendent of Sunday-schools in Charlotte and Henderson ; for a number of years vice-president of the American Baptist Historical Society: member of the Publication Committee of the North Carolina Baptist Historical Society; honorary member of Wake Forest Alumni Association, and of the Philomathesian and Astrotekton Literary societies of Wake Forest College, and of the Baptist P'cmale L'niversity, respectively.
Mr. Pittman has published some important historical and bio- graphical monographs and papers, and delivered some notable addresses dealing with historical subjects, most of which have been printed.
The most important of these are : Nathaniel Macon, an oration delivered July 4, 1902, at Guilford battlegrounds, and subsequently published ; John Porter and the Carey Rebellion, an address before the Summer school at the North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, August, 1903, published; North Carolina from 1832-42 (the Julian S. Carr Prize Essay), recently ordered printed by the North Carolina Historical Commission ; the Revo- lutionary Congresses of North Carolina, a North Carolina book- let, October, 1902; the preparation for Baptist Work in North Carolina, an address before the North Carolina Baptist Conven- tion, memorial service, at Greenville, North Carolina, December 11, 1898, subsequently published in Januar)', 1900, in the Baptist His- torical papers ; the Great Sanhedrin of the Jews and its Criminal Procedure, an address delivered at Wake Forest College and other places (this is a study from a legal point of view of this Council when it resolved itself into a judicial court for criminal trials) ; Reverend J. D. Huffliam. D.D., a sketch of his life, published; the Trent Affair, published ; Lemuel Burkitt, published in Wake Forest Student: John Penn, published in North Carolina Booklet; sketches of Governor W. W. Holden and others in "Biographical History of North Carolina."
THOMAS MERRITT PITTMAN 315
Besides these he has delivered many lectures and addresses, and published nnmeroiis newspaper articles. In 1902 he drafted the resolutions of the Vance County Democratic Convention, which ihe Biblical Recorder mentions as a "notable utterance," and the Raleigh Post declared "sufficient for the State platform."
Mr. Pitlman constantly has some new work in view, being al- ways a busy man and looking to the future, and just now he is making a study of municipal organization and government, with a view to submitting to the towns of N"orth Carolina plans link- ing to greater symmetry and uniformity in our municipal system. His deep and unflagging interest in the history of this State is well known. A collector of documents which bear on the different phases of the State's settlement, rise and development, he has gathered with the zeal of a virtuoso a Jarge number of rare and valuable papers, pamphlets and manuscripts aiifecting the State's past, and much of the time that he can spare from his professional duties is devoted to the patriotic service of studying and elucidat- ing the Slate's history in its various aspects. To more thoroughly foster his interest in his historical work he is affiliated with a num- ber of historical societies, among them the North Carolina Baptist Historical Society, the American Baptist Historical Society and the Alabama Historical Society.
In his literary writings he is concise and perspicuous, and has elegance of diction and clearness of expression that make a choice historical style. He attributes its derivation to a close study of the Bible for many years, and of the Sf-eclalor with its dainty refine- ment of speech, which was the one book that when a boy he was fond of reading again and again.
As he has derived his literary tastes and drawn his style from both of these Ixioks. so he has molded his life on the former, and has been influenced by the moral philosophy of the latter. He feels thai life's goal, no matter how lofty, is not worth the struggle un- less the means are as worthy and hoTiorable as the prize ; and that a worthy life and true manhood itself mark success.
S. A. Ashe.
THOMAS POLK
SHOMAS POLK, of Mecklenburg, one of the most prominent figures of the State during the Revolutionary period, was a distinguished member of a distinguished family. He was :he fourth son of William and Priscilla (Rob- ■ erts) Polk, and was born in Carlisle, Pennsyl- vania, to which place his father had moved shortly after his mar- riage, William Polk was the only son of John and Joanni ( Knox) Polk and the grandson of Robert Polk (or Pollock), the founder of the family in America. Robert Pollock (or Polk) was !i member of the parliamentary army against Charles First and an active participant in the cami)aigns of Cromwell. He mar- ried Magdalen, widow of Colonel Porter, his companion in arms. and daughter of Colonel Tasker, his regimental commander, who was at that time Chancellor of Ireland, of Bloomfield Castle on the river Dale. P.y this marriage he acquired the estate of "Mon- ing" or "Mnnccn Hill" in the barony of Ross, County of Donegal. Ireland. Robert Pollock took ship at Londonderry in 1659 and settled on the eastern shore of Maryland. After his arrival in .America he changed the spelling of his surname to Polk. His estate. "Polk's I-'olly," lies south of Fauquier Sound, opposite the moiuli.'; of the Xanticoke and Wicomico Rivers, and is still in the possession of the family. Robert Pollock was the son of John Pollock, a gentleman of some estate in Lanarkshire, not
THOMAS POLK 317
far from the cathedra! city of Glasgow, during the reign of James Sixth, of Scotland, and First of England. John I'ollock was an uncompromising Presbyterian, who left liis native land to join the new Colony of Protestants whicii had been formed in the Nonh of Ireland. The Pollock coat of arms bears tlie device of a wild boar pierced with an arrow, and the motto "Audaciler el sirenuc."
In 1753 Thomas Polk set out to seek his fortune with his brothers Ezekiel (grandfather of President James K. Polk) and Charles. He finally reached the county of Mecklenburg and set- tled upon Sugar Creek, a branch of the Catawba River, in a neigh- borhood made up of Scotch-Irish stock to which he also belonged. There in 1755 he married Susan Spratt, who had removed with her father two years before, and whose bright eyes, tradition says, were largely instrumental in attracting young Polk from his old home. By industry and enterprise he soon acquired a large tract of land and a sufficient fortune to enable him to rear and educate the nine children bom of this marriage.
During tlie year 1767 the town of Charlotte was chartered by Chapter 11 of the Private Laws enacted by the Colonial Assem- bly. Thomas Polk is named as one of the commissioners and town treasurer. The original tract of land upon which the citv now stands contained 360 acres and the conveyance of it was made on the 15th of Jannary, 1767, to Thomas Polk and others, trustees and directors — the consideration being "90 pounds lawful money," In 1769 he was chosen a member of the Provincial As- sembly. One of his acts was to secure the charter of Queen's College {or Museum) (Chapter 3, Laws of 1770). This insti- tution was established in Charlotte and afforded the young men of that section better educational advantages than were possessed by most of the early settlers of other sections. Polk was made a trustee of this institution when it was chartered as Queen's Col- lege, and when it was re-chartered in 1777 (Chapter 20, Private Laws, April session) as Liberty Hall Academy.
In 1771, as captain of a company under command of Colonel Moses Alexander, he marched troops from Charlotte to Salisbury,
3i8 NORTH CAROLINA
to act against the Regulators. During this year he was also engaged as surveyor in establishing the dividing line between North and South Carolina by appointment of the Governor.
During the period immediately preceding the Revolution com- mittees of safety were organized in the counties, and these met fretiuently to discuss the issues of the day. Charlotte became the central point in Mecklenburg for these assemblages. Polk was the presiding officer and ujxjn his call the committees met. The meeting on May 19, 1775, has become famous. Upon this date the interest in the meeting was so great that, in addition to two men from each captain's district called by Polk to meet, there were vast crowds from everv section of the countv. After due deliberation resolutions were adopted expressing the attitude of the j)alri()ts of that section. This instrument is known as the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence. It was read from the court house stei)s on May 20th, by Thomas Polk, who was recog- nized as a master spirit in the movement.
On May 31, 1775, an indei^endent government was formally established, and the resolutions adopted that day were published on the 1 6th of June, in Charleston, and the same day at New-Bcm. Colonel Cogdell, the chairman at New-Bern, sent them on to Cas- well, then at Philadelj)hia, and the paper was preserved by his colleague. Joseph 11 ewes. In transmitting them Cogdell said: **\'ou will observe the Mecklenburg Resolves exceed all other cr>niniittees or the Congress itself. I send you the paper wherein they are inserted."
Johnston in referring to them in a letter to Joseph Hewes said:
"Tom Polk, too, is raising a very pretty spirit in the back country (sec the newspapers). He has gone a little farther than I would choose to have gone, hut perhaps no further than necessary."
Thus it api)ears that Johnston, who was at the head of the revolution, ascribed the action at Mecklenburg to Colonel Polk, and doubtless Colonel Polk was the leading spirit there. What- ever he considered necessarv to do, he had done.
It being thought that two lawyers, Dunn and Boote, of Salis*
THOMAS POLK 319
bury were in communication with Governor Martin, in a confer- ence by Colonel Martin, Sara Spencer, Colonel Polk and others, it was planned to seize them and send them to South Carolina. This was the first of August, 1775. When the prisoners were brought to Charlotte. Colonel PolW received them, and at the head of 60 horsemen conveyed them to Camden, where they were kept in prison more than a year.
During 1775 the Provincial Congress assembled at Hillsboro; at its session on September 9th Thomas Polk was appointed colonel of the second battalion of mihtia raised in the district of Salisbury. Shortly afterwards in command of 900 men he marched to South Carolina to assist in suppressing the Tories.
On April 22, 1776, the Provincial Congress which met at Hah- fax appointed Thomas Polk colonel of the fourth additional regi- ment of Continentals. Under command of General Francis Nash he marched to the N'orth to join the army of Washington. Here he served for two years, and he participated in the hattle of Bran- dywine and the hardships of \'alley Forge. He was not a par- ticipant in the battle of Germantown. as he was in charge of Ihe escort detailed to guard and convey the heavy baggage to a place of safct)' at BeihlelK?in. .\mong the impciiinienta was the Sanjous "Liberty Bell." On June 26, 1778, he tendered his resignation to Washington.
On September 15, 1780, a monih after the battle of Camden, he was appointed by the Board of War convened at Hillsboro, "Superintendent Commissary of the District of Salisbury." In securing supplies he pledged his own credit. He was com- meniied by the board for his zeal and ability in the performance of those duties. While engaged in this work Cornwallis entered Charlotte (September 26, 1780). and selected for his headquar- ters the residence of Colonel Polk, which was called the "White House"— it being the only painted edifice in the town. Corn- wallis seized and confiscated ail the property of his involuntary host that he could find. Hearing of the battle of King's Moun- tain, Polk wrote, "In a few days we will be in Charlotte, and I will take possession of my house and his lordship take the woods."
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After the fall of General Davidson at Cowan's Ford, February I, 1 781, the field officers on March 5th petitioned General Greene to appoint Polk to take command of the forces of the district, and he was accordingly commissioned a brigadier-general. But the Assembly would not confirm the appointment with this rank, but instead commissioned Polk as "colonel commandant." Polk declined this commission, but patriotically performed the duties pending the appointment of a successor. Colonel Matthew Locke was appointed on May 15, 1781, and Polk retired from further military service. After the evacuation by the British and the con- clusion of hostilities, he returned to his residence in Charlotte, where he lived to an honored old age, surrounded by his sons. whom he reared to an honorable and self-reliant manhood. The census of 1790 shows that he owned 47 slaves — ^the largest pos- session of any one in Mecklenburg or the western section of the State at that time. He died in 1793, and was buried in the grave- yard of the First Presbyterian Church in Charlotte.
Joseph Seawell Jones says that Thomas Polk was the first to maintain the necessity of dissolving the political ties which bound the Colonies to Great Britain. His feelings and opinions were de- cided ; his expression of them was frank and courageous. Out of these feelings grew the Mecklenburg Declaration, in the fram- ing of which Thomas Polk was a leading spirit. While others were striving to devise expedients to avert a war into which they were blindly drifting, Thomas Polk was preparing the stem and not easily governed people of his neighborhood for the clash of arms which he saw to be inevitable. His posterity have borne with distinction the honored name transmitted to them.
IV. A. Withers,
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tion; a sweet, affectionate wife; mens scna in cor pore sano; children devoted to truth, honor, right, and utility, with love and respect to their parents; and faithful and warm-hearted friends, in a country politically and religiously free."
Reared in such a home, though not required to perform manual labor tasks, as his father was a large slave-holder, he grew up strong and healthy, his special tastes and interests being those of the country boy in exceptionally good circumstances.
During his first school years he was under the instruction of a governess. Afterward he attended the village academy at Yan- ceyville, taught by Miss Lowndes.
In 1872 he entered Wake Forest College, and graduated in 1877 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Later he completed the course for the Master's degree, which was conferred upon him in 1889. In June, 1905, while on a visit to that institution to deliver, by invitation, the annual commencement address, he received from Baylor University, Waco, Texas, the honorary degree of LL.D.
While at college no marked preference for one branch of studies over another was indicated, a uniformly high grade of scholar- shij) being maintained by him in all the departments. His pro- ficiency in Latin and Greek was not excelled by that achieved in other studies, and the habit of accuracy, which his careful and sympathetic study of classic literature helped to develop, must have had much to do with the formation of that stvlc that so graces the productions of his pen. As a writer and speaker abilities were displayed that pointed to literature as the province in which he would probably find his vocation. However, in these early essays of the pen and platform there was potential a temper of mind friendly to the spirit of science, and needing only favoring conditions to stimulate and unfold it into a vital force.
It may be said of him at this period, as was said of another: *'He was a most exemplary student in every respect. He was never behindtime at his studies ; never failed in a single recitation ; was perfectly observant of the rules and regulations of the institu- tion ; was gentlemanly, unobtrusive and respectful in all his de-
WILLIAM LOUIS POTEAT 323
portment to teachers and fdlow-stiidenls. His specialty was finish- ing itp. He imparled a finish and a neatness as he proceecied to everything he undertook."
He had be^nn to read law, when, a year after his graduation, the trustees of Wakx Forest College elected him a tutor. His ac- ceptance of this position determined his life work. In 1880 he became Assistant Professor of Natural Science: and in 1883 was placed in full charge of the Chair of Natural History, now known as the Chair of Biology.
In the pursuit of science there has been on his part from the beginning a questful openness of soul to Nature that has made her fain to yield him the meed of many a clue to her manifold mazes. At the same time he has been toward himself in study and field and laboratory a most exacting task-master. He has com- muned in spirit also with the great masters and has come to know their voice.
With such an attitude to his calling, opportunities that might have been worthless to the less alert have been golden ones to him. Thus it would be difficult to value too highly the beneficial results of a brief course that he attended in the University of Ber- lin, and of a course in the Marine Bioto^ical Laboralory, Woods Holl. Massacluiseits, not to speak of repeated opportunities that have come to him of intercourse and work with men of science.
His well-earned reputation as a teacher of science is due in no small degree to the fact that he understands how to make its very rudiments interesting, bringing his students face to face with Nature in such a way as to stimulate them to a sympathetic study of the common facts of nature, and leading them to an insight into the dominant methods of science. He has the faculty of making them realize the appositeiiess to this realm of the Biblical formula: ".-\sk. and it shall be given you ; seek, and ye shall find ; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." By tactful questioning and by the turn given to laboratory work and field excursions he makes them feel that they are conducting for themselves investigations for the discoverv of truth. The success with which he has directed his
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department is attested by the quality of work done by men whom he has trained, some of whom are taking high rank in the walks of science.
While his special work has been that of a teacher he has won enviable distinction also as an essayist and public lecturer. Much of his effort in these fields has been devoted to subjects pertain- ing exclusively to his department. Those of his lectures, however, that have attracted most attention have been upon topics relating to science and religion. Though the subjects discussed have been at times of an abstruse nature, his manner, his facility of illustra- tion, and his felicitous diction have succeeded in attracting and in- teresting all classes of hearers. Invitations to appear before in- tellectual and critical audiences have not interfered with the ac- ceptance of invitations to speak to assemblies of illiterate colored people ; nor have these been infrequently extended.
The following in The Examiner of New York, April 5, 1900, is from the pen of Doctor A. T. Robertson, Professor of New Testament Exegesis in the Southern Baptist Theological Sem- inary, Louisville, Kentucky:
"Professor W. L. Poteat, of Wake Forest College, delivered the Gay lectures on March 20th-23d. before large and enthusiastic audiences. His theme was 'Laboratory and Pulpit.* The first lecture discussed 'The Biological Revolution/ the second treated The New Appeal/ while the third considered 'The Unknown Tongue/ There was a vigor, a grasp, a sweep, a point, a devoutness and a charm of diction in the lectures that made them notable indeed. Professor Poteat is a scientist of large attain- ments and an earnest Christian. It was inspiring to hear him proclaim the death of materialism among men of science, and the tremendous wit- ness science bears to God and the spiritual world. Evolution may or may not be true, but it is certainly possible for an evolutionist to be a sincere Christian. Professor Poteat claims that Christian evolution will serve to win back men of science to Christianity. His lectures were an intellectual and a spiritual stimulus, and will always be remembered here. Mr. Theo- dore Harris, a prominent Baptist layman of the city, was so impressed by the lectures of Professor Poteat that he gave $1000 for the purchase of scientific hooks for the Seminary library. Five hundred dollars will be used at once, and the interest on the remainder will be used annually to purchase new scientific works."
WILLIAM LOUIS POTEAT 325
From April 26, 1897, to May i, 1899, Professor Poteat was a member of tlie North Carolina State Board of Examiners.
In March, igoo, he was lecturer on the Gay Foundation before the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky ; and in May, 1905, he was lecturer on the Brooks Foundation be- fore Hamilton Theological Seminary, Colgate University, Hamil- ton, New York. Both of these courses of lectures were on Science and Religion.
He was president of the North Carolina Teachers' Assembly in 1897; first president of the North Carolina Academy of Science in 1902, and president of the North Carolina Literary and Histori- cal Association in 1903,
In 1901 he published "'Laboratory and Pulpit: The Relations of Biology to the Preacher and his Message" (Philadelphia: The Griffith and Rowland Press).
He has also published in scientific journals investigations in the groups of spiders, microscopic plants, and microscopic ani- mals.
Being professionally occupied with the biological sciences, which are largely responsible for the intellectual revohition of our period, Professor Poteat's reading has drifted strongly into the region where science and religion meet. For refreshment and enrichment his rehance is upon the great poets and the great masters of prose. Current literature does not attract him. A habit that has yielded him a rich harvest is that which he has long maintained of setting down in note-books thoughts and abstracts on any subject of special stud)-, so that when the time to write came all the collected material was available, the utility of the plan being greatly en- hanced by his devoting to each subject one or more note-books.
For relaxation and amusement he has relied largely on contact with nature in field and wood, with observation (not too strenu- ous) of what goes on there. Some slight sketches of such experi- ences have been published in the Wake Forest Student (February, 1898, and May, 1899V
In politics he has always voted with the Democratic Party ex- cept when its nominees have appeared to him in character or
326 XORTH CAROLINA
opinions to be unworthy of his support. While he has never changed his party allegiance, he would not consider it discredit- able to do so upon sufficient grounds.
His religious life has not been without jar. While from his childhood he has been under the influence of Christian convictions, the serious part of the voyage of life was entered upon in a period of brewing storm, a time of threatened conflict between science and religion, and it was then that convictions touching the testimony of the new science began to lay hold on him. This to many was the sad augury of spiritual shipwreck. But the tranquil sea and anchorage were reached by him not only with faith intact; but with a contagious optimism concerning the Kingdom of God.
Professor Poteat is one of the most active and useful members of the Wake Forest Baptist Church. For a number of years he has been the leader of its music, one of his endow^ments being his musical talent.
He was married June 24, 1881, to Miss Emma J. Purefoy of Wake Forest, the gifted and accomplished daughter of Rev. A. F. and Mrs. A. W Purefoy. and granddaughter of Rev. J. S. Purefoy, whose labors and sacrifices in behalf of Wake Forest College are a part of its history. Three children have been bom to them, all now living.
Professor Poteat is one of a noteworthy family trio, the other tw(^ being a brother. Doctor E. M. Poteat, President of Furman University, Greenville, South Carolina, and a sister, Miss Ida Poteat, head of the Department of Art in the Baptist University for Women, Raleigh, North Carolina.
On June 10, H)05, Professor Poteat was elected President of Wake Forest College and was inducted into this responsible posi- tion with appropriate ceremonies on December 7, 1905.
IV. B, RoyalL
328 NORTH CAROLINA
spiritual side of his life was never neglected for the sake of the physical or the mental, but the three were evenly trained. The chief principle instilled was that to every task, however trivial. nuist be given the best that was in him, and that it was far more manly to take pride in one's work than to be ashamed of it. Even in his early boyhood, the direction that his energy and industry were to take in the man showed themselves in the dominant pas- sion for collecting minerals and specimens of natural history.
His education so begun in the home was continued in the public high school of Hartford, whence he entered in 1890 the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University. His work here was in the chemistry course, leading to the degree of Ph.B. He attracted early the attention of his instructors by the high qualities of mind and character, and in 1893 took the degree with highest honors. His natural tastes and his acquirements led him to de- vote his attention, even during the vacation of his undergraduate days, to active work in the subjects of his special study, and it was at such a time that he first came to North Carolina. In the Summer of 1892 he was in the employ of the North Carolina Geo- logical Survey with Professor S. L. Penfield of Yale, engaged in collecting minerals for the State exhibit at the Chicago World's Fair. In the Fall of 1893 he continued his studies at Yale, special- izing in graduate courses of mineralogy, geology and chcmistr>'. During part of the time that he was engaged in these duties he served also in the capacity of assistant in chemistry and mineral- ogy, and in the Summer of 1894 he taught mineralogy at the Har- vard Summer school. Through this period, also, he spent his Summers in North Carolina, working on corundum, mica and other non-metallic minerals, in the employ of the North Carolina Geological Survey.
The high level of his work during this period is still testified to by his professors. Says Professor H. L. Wells: "His chemical work was of high quality. His thesis work for the degree of I^h.D. was chiefly in chemistr>;, and his principal investigation was 'On the Double Halides of Czesium, Rubidium, Sodium and Lith- ium with Thallium' (published in the American Journal of Science
i5). This was an elaborate and important piece of work, in which some fourteen new salts were made aiici described." In 1896 lie was awarded the degree of Ph.D. From 1895 to 1897 he was instructor in mineralogy at Vale, and found time for numerous independent investigations, the results of which ap- peared from time to time in the scientific journals.
Endowed as he was with an unusual amoimt of energy, he did not restrict himself to scientific activity to the exclusion of all other interests. A member of the Congregational Church and a devoted Christian, he made himself so endeared to the people by his un- tiring work in Simday-school, in city missions, as president of the Christian Endeavor Society, that on his departure from Xew Haven a public gift, to which all had been eager to contribute, witnessed the esteem in which he was lield. He lias continued this work since coming to North Carolina, and has been instrumental in the establishment of a number of Sunday-schools in the moun- tains of the State.
In 1897 Doctor Pratt left Yale to accept a position as assistant to the general manager of the Toxaway Company of the Sapphire country in North Carolina, and also to serve as mineralogist to the N'orlh Carolina Geological Survey. He took advantage of this opportunity to carry on independent investigations of the corun- dum properties of the company, a field of mineralogy in which he is now recognized as an authority. While here he met Marv Dicus Bayley of Springfield. Ohio, whom he afterward married, April 5. 1899. He resigned his position with the Toxaway Com- panv after a very short time to devote all his time to his work as State mineralogist in connection with the Slate Geological Sur- vey at Chapel Hill, and as consulting mining engineer. Here he was made lecturer on Economic Geology, and in 1904 was elected professor of that subject. With an interruption of two years — 1901-03 — he has continued to the present time to ser\-e the State L'niversity in this capacity. In 1905. in the absence of Professor Holmes, he was appointed acting State geologist, and in the fol- lowing year was made State geologist. Doctor Pratt's researches in mineralogy have resulted in the discovery of several new minerals.
330 NORTH CAROLINA
anionjf which are the following: pirssonite, wellsite (with H. W. Foote), mitchellite (named after Professor Elisha Mitchell of the University of North Carolina), northiipite, rhodolite (with W. E. Hidden), a new gem mineral that has only been found thus far in North Carolina. (Published in the American Journal of Science. )
His private collections of North Carolina gems, gem minerals and corundum minerals have been awarded gold medals at the Buffalo, the Charleston and the St. Louis expositions.
In the department of economic geology he has recently accom- plished an important piece of work in superintending the briquet- ting tests of the coal-testing plant of the L'nited States Geological Survey, by which it was clearly proven that uncommercial coals could be made marketable by the process of briquetting, ( Pub- lished in the United States Geological Surrey Professional Paper No. 48, J). 1389, 1906.)
He has advocated vigorously the construction of good roads throughout North Carolina, and of State aid for this purpose ; and believes that the time will shortly come when, through the assist- ance of the State, the various counties will be traversed with graded maca(lam roads. Quietly but persistently he has worked for the establishment of the Appalachian Forest Reserve.
His activity in these various branches led to his appointment on the Commission of the Appalachian Forestry Reserve which waited on Congress in 1906. At the St. Louis Exhibition in 1904 he was put in full charge of the North Carolina mines and minerals, and was a member of the International Jurj' of Awards. He was also a member of the Jury of Awards at the Portland Exposition.
His abilities as a mineralogist and geologist, made widely known through his publications, received recognition alike from various mining companies and from the United States Government. From 1899 to 1906 he was field geologist for the United States Geologi- cal Survey, and in i()02 a si)ecial agent of the United States census. In 1(^02-03 ^^^ ^^'^•'» secretary of the Engineering Com- j)any of America, and since 1900 has held a directorship in the Rogers Iron Company and the Gray Iron Casting Company, both
JOSEPH HYDE PRATT 331
of Springfield, Ohio. He has been retained by numerous mining companies as consulting engineer, and in this capacity his un- failing skill and knowledge, together with his incorruptible in- tegrity, have so increased the demand for his services that he is unable to satisfy it. In 1903 he received general recognition of these qualities by the offer of the presidency of the Colorado School of Mines. He is a member of the Alpha Tau Omega Fra- ternity, the Sigma Xi Scientific Society, the Yale Club of New York City, the Norih Carolina Historical Society, the North Caro- lina Audubon Society, the North Carolina Academy of Science, the North Carolina Good Roads Association, the American Forestry Association, the American Institute of Mining Engineers, the American Geographical Society, the American Chemical Society, the N'ew York Academy of Science, and a Fellow in the Geo- It^cal Society of America, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In unbroken political allegiance he has identified himself with the Democratic Party.
The value of such a man to the State of his adoption cannot be estimated solely by the measure of liis scientific activities in bringing to light the natural advantages of the State, however far-reaching these may be. His character lends inestimable weight to his achievements. A man of unlimited energy and in- dustry, wholly accurate in his knowledge, he has unusual executive abilities in organization and in the leadership of men. He is brought by his work into contact with many and various men, and his absolute integrity and trustworthiness, aided by his infinite tact, places him at once at their head. He is a man of most polished manners and of a commanding presence. His private life in the home is ideal, and his friends are numbered by the number of his acquaintances. When it might be so easy to bury himself in his scientific researches, on the contrary his public interest makes itself felt in entering heartily into the business life of the com- mtmity in which he lives, and in supporting every movement which tends to improve financially, educationally, religiously and aesthetically the people of his neighborhood.
Beginning with 1894 Doctor Pratt has published over one hun-
332 NORTH CAROLINA
dred important papers and books. The list is too long, however, to be embodied in this sketch. Many of the papers were contributed to the American Journal of Science; others are embraced in the Mineral Resources and Bulletins of the United States Geological Survey; others appeared as bulletins and other publications of the North Carolina Geological Survey ; while still others appeared in the Engineering and Mining Journal, Mining and Metallurgy, and in the Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Society, Among the more important publications not elsewhere mentioned are "Co- rundum and the Basic Magnesian Rocks of Western North Caro- lina," published in conjunction with Professor J. V. Lewis of Rutgers College, a volume of oyer 300 pages, which will un- doubtedly be the standard reference book on these rocks for some time to come (Vol. I of the North Carolina Geological Survey); "On the Occurrence and Distribution of Corundum in the United States,'* two bulletins prepared for the United States Geological Survey, Nos. 180 ( 1900) and 269 ( 1905), 268 pp. ; "The Steel and Iron Hardening Metals of the United States, including Nickel and Cobalt, Chromium. Tungsten, Molybdenum, Vanadium, Tita- nium and Uranium." representing several papers published in the Mineral Resources of the United States Geological Survey ; numer- ous papers on asbestos, embodying the results of investigations relating to this mineral, regarding which he is now a recognized authority. His papers on the general subject of abrasive materials show the grasp that he has of this subject, being called upon to do special work in this line; on the tin deposits of the Carolinas (with D. B. Stcrrett) and on the talc deposits of North Carolina, two papers which take up in detail the occurrence, origin and uses of these minerals. The former was published as Bulletin 19 and the latter as Economic Paper No. 3 of the North Carolina Geological Survey.
The reports of Dr. Pratt on the mining industry and general mineral resources of the State are as important to the commercial development of the State as any of his publications. These ap- peared as Economic Papers Nos. 6, 7, 8 and 9 of the North Caro- lina Geological Survey. George Howe,
ROBERT SMITH REINHARDT
? 1 i li strength of Southern men and their power to achieve success are weil exempUfied in the career of R. S. Rcinhardt, the president of the American Cotton Manufacturers' Association. Tlie fortitude, intellectual vigor, energy and persistent endurance of toil and hardship that were ilic cliaracteristics of Southern soldiers are traits that wuiikl naturally develop the high-est business capacity when- ever opportunity should arise for Southern men to engage under favorable conditions in the vocations of peace. And so it lias happened that after the long coufljcl, wilh the unfavorable circumstances that ujion the restoration of the Union pressed the South down, had ended in the establishment of prosperous times among the people, we have witnessed an industrial development that would seem marvelous if we were not aware of the power, the energy, and the capacity of those Southern men who have wrought this great work in their respective localities.
Among those who have displayed fine powers in comprehending the questions and problems incident to the manufacture of cotton at the South, Mr. Reinhardt has been accorded by his fellow- workers a most enviable position.
Without the advantages of higher education or scholastic train- ing, and without the aid either of influential connections or of considerable means, at the early age of fifteen he began a mer-
334 NORTH CAROLINA
cantile business and did not become interested in milling enter- prises until he had attained his thirty-first year. But after fifteen years of experience in manufacturing, he finds himself president of the American Cotton Manufacturers' Association, with a mem- bership embracing every section of the Union and extending from New England to the Gulf of Mexico. Still his career, like that of Mr. Duke, the head of the American Tobacco Company, is only an illustration of the capacity of Southern men to achieve success in every field of human endeavor, and is an exemplification of the fact that Peace hath her victories no less renowned than War.
Mr. Reinhardt is a native of Lincoln County, 'North Carolina, and has alwavs lived in Lincoln Countv.and traces his descent from the sturdy German Pathfinders who braved the hardships and dangers of pioneer life, and wrested the region watered by the Catawba from the savages of the forest. They began to come from Pennsylvania to new homes in North Carolina in small com- panies as early as 1745, but it was five years later before they moved in large bodies to the fertile Piedmont country. Locally they were known as the "Pennsylvania Dutch/' because they came from Pennsylvania, and because of the peculiar language used only by those particular people, which was made up of the dialects found in the ancient Palatinate, in VVurttemberg and other coun- tries bordering on the Rhine, intemiingled with English words. which contiinied to be used in their settlements for several gen- erations.
Christian Reinhardt. the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, coming from Pennsylvania, where the name is still found, settled on land that now adjoins the town of Lincolnton, and around his house was fought in the War of the Revolution the famous battk^ of Ramseur's Mills, and the same ground w^as afterward for two days occupied by Lord Cornwallis and the r>ritish army, lie married Barbara, a daughter of Samuel War- lick, another ])ionecr, whose mill was twice burned by the hostile Cherokees.
Christian Reinhardt. Jr., son of the pioneer, married his lovely
ROBERT SMITH REIXHARDT 335
neighbor, Mary Forney. Her father, General Peter Forney, was a brave, active and zealons partizan officer in the Revolution, being almost continuous in his operations, beginning with Rutherford's campaign against the Cberokces and ending with Rutherford's movement against Craig, which drove that scourge of the Cape Fear from his post at Wilmington. He represented his county in the Legislature several times, and during the War of 1812 was a Representative in Congress: and he was an elector on the Jef- ferson, Madison, Monroe and Jackson tickets. He was a man of energy and enterprise, and after the Revolutionary War he pur- chased an undeveloped deposit of iron ore in Lincoln County and became the most noted pioneer ironmaster of that section. He was a son of Jacob Forney, Sr., who, as a pioneer, had many en- counters with the Cherokees, whose frequent incursions into the Catawba region, seeking to drive the planters from their new homes, gave a hazardous and perilous cast to their frontier life. Like his son. he was a firm and unwavering Whig during the Rev- olution, and contributed much by his zeal and activity toward the success of the cause of Independence. When the British forces were in pursuit of Morgan their progress was impeded by the high waters of the Catawba, and Comwallis made his headquarters in Mr. Forney's comfortable house for three days, consuming his entire stock of cattle, hogs and pouUry, as well as all the com and forage on the plantation. Franklin M. Reinhardt, the father of the subject of this sketch, was proprietor of Rehobeth Furnace and a successful ironmaster. He was a man of great enterprise, and noted for his good sense, geniality and kindness of heart. He married Sarah, a daughter of David Smith. Esq., by his wife. Miss Amdt, who was a daughter of Rev. John Godfried Amdt, a pioneer Lutheran minister of great learning and piety. When, in 1773, because of the absence of ministers and teachers, the Lutherans in North Carolina were obliged to send to Hanover to get men to supply their needs, Mr. Arndt came over as a teacher, and then became a minister, and after a notable service in Rowan CoTinty. eventually settled in Lincoln County, where he laid sure and deep the foundations of the Lutheran Church in that commu-
336 NORTH CAROLINA
ity. All of Mr. Reinhardt's ancestors lived in Lincoln County and were noted for their energy, integrity and thrift, for the high re- spectability of their character and their public spirit. The earlier ones, like all their German neighbors residing in that region, were devoted adherents of the Lutheran and Reformed churches.
Mr. R. S. Reinhardt was born at Rehobeth Furnace, Lincoln County, on the first day of January, 1858. In 1867, when but nine years of age, he had the misfortune to lose his father, and while his admirable mother exerted herself to secure for him all possible advantages, and herself trained him in the paths of a high and virtuous manhood, yet because of the ravages of the war and the loss of her husband, she could do no more than send him to the public schools of the neighborhood, until attaining his fourteenth year, he was placed for one year at the North Carolina College. However, under her fine influence he had made the best of his opportunities, and his understanding and character were de- veloped and he was so well advanced in education that when only fifteen years of age he was justified in trying to begin work as a man on his own account.
He started life as a merchant in 1873, establishing a general merchandising business at Iron Station.
Inheriting from his sturdy ancestors a conservative disposition and strict integrity, and trained in habits of economy, he applied himself with energy and zeal to his business and soon became master of the trade of his section. Courteous and kindlv in his intercourse, and possessing the entire confidence of his neighbors, who esteemed him for his fair dealing, he entered on a prosperous career, which was enlarged when he united to merchandising the business of dealing in cotton. He continued his mercantile opera- tions at Iron Station for fifteen years, when, becoming connected with the Elm Grove cotton mill, he removed to Lincolnton. Dur- ing the year 1889 he was elected treasurer and manager of the I^lm (ifove cotton mill, which had been erected on the Catawba about one mile from Lincolnton some three vears before. The mill had at that time only about three thousand spindles and was
ROBERT SMITH REIN'HARDT 337
not prosperous. Mr. Reinliardl and his brother. Mr. J. E. Reiti- hardt. together with some other friends, bought the control of the property, and under the new management, with an increased capacity and controlled by the fine business sagacity of the Reiri- hardts, it soon entered on a career of great prosperity. In con- nection with this subject it is interesting to observe that the first cotton mill ever erected in the South was built by Michael Schenck in 1815 within three miles of the site of Elm Grove, the spindles and machinery being made in the local country shops, although afterward, in 1818, other machinery was brought from Providence, Rho<le Island, and the mill continued in operation until 1863, when it was destroyed by fire. It is somewhat remarkable that the new industrial life of the South now finds one of its most important fields in the near vicinity of that first attempt at South- em enterprise.
Since his connection with this mill began Mr. Reinhardt's efforts have been principally devoted to conducting the business of Elm Grove : but he is also president of the Piedmont cotton mill of Lincolnton. and is connected with three other mills. Having great faith in the outcome of the milling interests, with judicious fore- thought Mr. Reinhardt purchased and has improved much prop- erty in Lincolnton. which has now largely appreciated in value. Since moving to that town, his best thoughts and tiretess energy have been devoted to the cotton mill industry, and he combines a thoroughly practical experience in cotton manufacturing' with a high order of business ability. He is progressive and quick to adopt improved processes, and his efforts have been crowned with success and have brought him merited fame as one of the progres- sive men pressing forward the industrial development of the southern section. He is one of the four organizers of the South- ern Cotton Spinners' Association, which was recently merged into the American Cotton Manufacturing Association. He has been on the board of governors ever since its organization, and a member of the committee of arrangements for every meeting, hav- ing served as chairman at the last four annual meetings; and at the meeting in 1904 he was elected president of the National Asso-
338 NORTH CAROLINA
ciation, being now one of the best known and most highly esteemed of the mill men of the South.
Mr. Reinhardt has always taken an active interest in matters that concern the welfare of his people, and while he has never sought political preferment he has manifested his interest in politics by liberal contributions and by having served several years as chairman of the Democratic executive committee of his county.
He is a consistent member of the Presbyterian Church and is liberal in donations to all good works; he is Past Master of Lincoln Lodge, No. 137, A. F. & A. M. ; a Knight Templar and a Thirty-second Degree Mason ; Shriner, Past Chancellor of Lincoln Lodge, No. 48, Knights of P}'thias,and member of the D. O. K. K., and is interested in the works of all these various organizations. A man so busy and so interested in the matters that claim his at- tention finds little time to indulge in amusements, and Mr. Rcin- hardt's principal relaxation and exercise have been riding and driving good horses, for which he has a fondness ; a g^ood animal always exciting his admiration.
He was happily married on the 13th of February, 1879, to Miss Laura Pegram, a lady of refinement and culture. Mrs. Reinhardt is active in church work, and, indeed, zealous in all works of benevolence, and is a favorite in the social circle of which her charming home is the center. Their home life is happy and beauti- ful. They have two sons and two daughters, while they have lost three children.
Contemplating the life and character of Mr. Reinhardt, one sees what prizes are open here at the South to the meritorious. Early bereft of a father's control and guidance, at a tender age assuming the responsibility of a business career, he has, unaided by fortune's favors, but solely by the strength of his own consistent adherence to manly principle, achieved a name for himself that places him deservedly in the front rank of the industrial army of Southern men.
S. A, Ashe.
JOHN REX
llic old city cemetery at Raleigh, where the "rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep." is a slab marking the grave of a highly respected citizen of the community who in life was not considered a great man — ^indeed, one who may lint now be called great — yet whose memory iif many of his more pretentious contempo- raries. This was John Rex, founder of Rex Hospital ill his adojited city of Raleigh. The inscription on this slab states that he was a native of Pennsylvania, and one of the earliest settlers in Raleigh, who departed this life on the 29th day of January, a.d. 1839. aged seventy-four years; that he sustained dirough life the character of an honest and industrious man; and, at his death, devoted the fruits of his industry and economy to pur- poses of benevolence and charity. When this is read the simple story of his life is before us; yet a few more particulars may be gathered, and these we shall now give.
John Rex was a tanner by trade. His establishment was at a place called Rex's Spring, well within the present city limits and on a s<|uare bounded by Lane, Jones. Salisbury and McDowell streets. In his Tucker Hall address on "Early Times in Raleigh," on August 24, 1867. Governor Swain said: ■John Rc>
was one of the earliest citizei i flight. In appearance he
s of Raleigh. My acquaintance (as said to txar striking re-
340 NORTH CAROLINA
semblance to that of John Quincy Adams. He was a grave, sedate, quiet retiring, modest man. not unlike in character his worthy contemporary. William Peck. By long years of industry, economy and thrift in the man- agement of the first tannery established in Raleigh at Rex's Spring, near the railway station, he accumulated a handsome estate; and, like Mr. Peace, atoned for his failure to build up a family, by a liberal provision for the children of misfortune and want. He manumitted all his slaves at the close of life, and bequeathed the remainder of his estate to the endow- ment of a hospital, the construction of which is said to be in early pros- pect. The Rex Hospital and Peace Institute, the latter far advanced to- ward completion, will constitute the appropriate and enduring monuments of these public benefactors."
Mr. Rex was never married, and at the time of his death had few near relations. To a kinsman and namesake. John Rex, he be- queathed fifty acres of land called the Broad Axe Tavern tract, in Montgomery Coimty, Pennsylvania. Not only were Mr. Rex's slaves freed by his will, but it was also provided that they should be sent to Africa and there settled in some free state under the aus- pices of the American Colonization Society — expenses of transpor- tation and settlement to be borne by the Rex estate. It was also pro- vided that any negro who so desired might be sold in America in- stead of being freed and transported to Africa.
The American Colonization Societv was a Southern institution of \'irginia origin, having been created by the Legislature of that State in December, 1816. It was organized in Washington City by a number of Southern gentlemen, the first president being Bush- rod Washington, the favorite nephew and principal legatee of Gen- eral Washington, who remained at its head for many years, and it was ardently supported by Henry Clay and other Southern states- men, who hoped through its instrumentality to prepare a way for the removal of many negroes to Africa and gradually to arrange for the complete emancipation of the negro slaves of the South.
Mr. Rex died in 1829, and it was many years before his benevo- lent purj)osc to provide a hospital for Raleigh was carried into effect. The trustees of the bequest decided to wait until the fund had grown to sufficient dimensions before using it. They managed it skillfully, and by 1 861 it amounted to nearly $40,000.
JUHN REX 341
The investment was lai^ely in bank stodcs and other securities, which had not only been retntmerative, but in times of peace were secure, for the North Carolina banks were admirably managed and tbe legislation of the State in regard to them was so wise that the Slate hanks were among the most substantial in the Union. During the war, however, the banks received Confederate money and State money in the course of their business, and as a result of tbe fall of the Confederacy and the enforced repudiation of State obligations, the whole banking system of North Carolina went down in disaster. In 1866 scarcely $5000 worth of property remained to the fund. Again the trustees addressed themselves to the duty of increasing it by accumulation, and so admirably did they manage it that by 1893 it had grown, to about $27,000. It was then decided to carry Mr. Rex's purposes into effect.
At that time another hospital was in operation in the city of Raleigh. It had been established by St. John's Guild, an organiza- tion created by Rev. Mr. Rich, the pastor of the Church of the Good Shepherd, who by the aid of his congregation and with many of the members of Christ Church, with one or two other benevolent citizens, formed the corporation for tbe purpose of maintaining a city hospital. Dr. P. K. Hines was the chief surgeon. Ijcing as- sisted by some of the other physicians of the city. Established in 1884, for a decade St. John's Hospital was supported by voluntary subscriptions, and was a most beneficient charity. When, in 1893, the trustees of the Rex Hospital fund determined to open a hos- pital in comformity with Mr. Rex's bequest, it was thought that the community could not well sustain both institutions, and the St. John's Guild considered it best to discontinue their hospital, and it conveyed its building and property to the Rex Hospital, receiv- ing as the price comparatively a small amount, just sufficient to pay all the indebtedness of St. John's Guild.
In the Fall of 1893 Rex Hospital was opened, the city of Raleigh then appropriating S2000 annually for its maintenance, and this appropriation has been continued to the present time. The insti- tution has been of inestimable advantage to the community. M. DeL. Haywood.
il
\
1 .
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ROBERT HENRY RICKS 343
with zest into such amusement, and being gifted with a robust constitntinii and fine health, he excelled in all sports in which he engaged. The school facilities of his vicinity were limited, and his education was obtained at the local pnbiic and private schools of the neighborhood, which kept only ten weeks a year; and, in- deed, after he reached tlie age of sixteen he ceased going to school at all, and was employed on his father's farm until 1859 when, being twenty years of age, he engaged as a farm hand with Mr. Joel Wells of the same county.
Two years later the war broke out and Mr. Ricks enlisted as a private in the Confederate army, serving in Manly's Battery and in other batteries of light artillery. This army service at this time of life was of great benefit to him, as it proved to be also to thousands of others. It tended to develop the sterling qualities of manhood ; fostered courageous action ; inured one to danger and hardship; begat a spirit of self-reliance, cultivated the powers of obsen-ation, and practiced one in habits of application and a methodical discharge of duties.
Emerging from the war. the trained soldier with fine resolution settled down to the routine of fann life, determined to achieve success. By 1874 he had so far improved his condition that he felt able to marry, and on the first day of December of that year be married Miss Tempie E. Thorne. and from that time onward his business lias vcarlv increased. As circumstances permitted he has branched out in business, and has successfully engaged in manufacturing and in banking, thus aiding in the industrial de- velopment of his vicinity. He is a successful and large farmer, and was the pioneer of bright tobacco cuhure in Eastern North Caro- lina.
.\l)r.ut the year 1889 he became a director of the Rocky Mount cotioii mills, and so evident was his sagacious management of the affairs of that great corporation that in 1899 he was elected its president, a position that be still retains. In the meantime, in 1894, he became director and vice-president of the Bank of Rocky Mount anil of the Mayo cotton mills, and in 1902 vice-president of the large Washington cotton mills of Virginia. Indeed, step by
344 NORTH CAROLINA
step he has advanced so surely and with such good results that he is now recognized as one of the most prosi>erous, most ener- getic and most useful citizens of that portion of the State.
Alwavs a Democrat, Mr. Ricks has been constant in his efforts to advance the interests of that party, and has been zealous to establish on a secure basis the supremacy of the white man in Eastern Carolina. Being intent on his business affairs, he has not, however, sought political preferment. Still he has served his community as county commissioner, and under the administration of his friend and neighbor. Governor Carr, he served as a member of the board of directors of the Penitentiary, but declined later to accept the same employment when elected by the Legislature, He was a member of the House of Representatives from Nash County in the Assembly of 1903, and was recognized as one of the most influential members of that bod v.
Mr. Ricks is not a member of any church, but is affiliated with the Primitive Baptists, and he attributes his first impulse to strive for the prizes of life to the influence exerted on him by his mother, a woman of strong mentality, who, while training him morally, also was potent in giving direction to his life. Indeed, he ascribes his success, first, to the influence of his mother and his home, and then to contact with men in the army, developing self-reliance and resourcefulness, and to the ambition engendered by association with worthy citizens. He is a member of the A. F. and A. Masons, and has always been a constant reader of good books, preferring, however, histories to other literature. In business he has been fortunate, since his application, industry and sagacity have so uniformly brought him success ; and he suggests to young men that no true success can be attained without constant energy and integrity. S, A, Ashe,
TKE NEW YORK
PUBLIC LIBRARY
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346 NORTH CAROLINA
period were straining at the leash in their eagerness to go out into the world and conquer for themselves a name or a fortune. The goal of their ambition was not college honors, but remunerative w^ork. Boys such as these did not spring from the loins of incompe- tents, and well have they proven this since. The great industrial progress of the South for the past thirty years has been very largely their handiwork, and with them still guiding, directing and leading it, this once impoverished section is to become erelong one of the industrial centers of the world. Thus they have testified to the moral and intellectual stamina of the race from which thev sprang.
Among the leaders in the industrial rehabilitation of the South is Frank Sheppard Royster, the subject of this sketch. He came of the sturdy stock of gentlemen farmers, who, before the Civil War, made Granville County so attractive with its free life and abounding hospitality. His father, Captain Marcus D. Royster, w^as a successful merchant and farmer in that countv. He was a man of strong mind, took an active interest in public affairs and exerted considerable influence over them. He was, too, one of the presiding justices of the county court for a number of years. His mother, Frances Webb, daughter of John Webb, who lived and died on Tar River, near Oxford, was a woman of exemplary Christian character, a devout member of the Presbvterian Church. Though she died when he was thirteen years of age, Mr. Royster is indebted to her training and example for the success that has attended him throughout his life. She was of that Webb family from which, during the past hundred years, have sprung so many first-class merchants, physicians, law^yers and public men. These even to this day may be found here and there throughout six or more Southern States, maintaining the traditions of their family activity, intelligence and enterprise.
F. S. Royster was born December 24. 1849. ^^s first school- days were spent at the Oak Hill Academy, near his father's home. This was taught by Jesse P. Bagby. At the age of twelve he was sent to the Bethel Acadeniv, Person Countv, under the care of Reverend T. J. Horner, who afterward removed to Tally Ho, Gran-
FRANK SHEPPARD ROYSTER 347
ville county. He remained at the Homer school until the close of the Civil War, when he returned home to take a position in his father's store at Oak Hill. There he remained until October, 1870, when he commenced his business career as a clerk for O. C. Farrar in Tarboro, North Carolina. Mr. Farrar was a man of a strong, rugged nature, indomitable energy and great natural ability. Perceiving the business aptitude and sterling honesty of young Royster, he soon made him his confidential clerk, and later partner in the concern. The firm of O. C. Farrar and Co., thus constituted, did an enormous business, remembering that it was located in a town of 1500 inhabitants. The larger part of this was in furnishing supplies to fanners, taking as security liens and mortgages. Under the strain and stress and arduous labor of such a business. Mr. Royster's health failed, and in 1876 he re- tired from the firm. In that year he associated himself with Mr. C. C. Lanier of Tarboro in a general brokerage and com- mission business, itnder the style of Lanier and Royster. Mr. Lanier was a careful, painstaking, accurate business man, and the enterprise flourished from its inception. In 1882 these gentle- men, desiring a larger field for operations, took Mr. Edmund Strudwick, then of Hillsboro. North Carolina, now of Richmond, A'irginia. into partnership and established a cotton commission house at Norfolk, \'irginia, under the firm name of Royster and Co. Mr. Lanier remained in charge of the office in Tarboro, while Mr. Royster removed to Norfolk. In April. 1883, however, the firm was dissolved by the death of Mr. Lanier. It was then reorganized under the name of Royster and Strudwick, Mr. Royster returning to Tarboro, while Mr. Strudwick remained in Norfolk. Mr, Strudwick was one of the ablest and most promising of the young business men of the period, and his subsequent career has amply fulfilled that promise. A sketch of his life appears elsewhere in these volumes. This firm prospered also. In 1891, Mr. Royiter having become interested in other enterprises, sold his interest tliercin to Mr. Strudwick.
Few persons of the general public appreciate the important part that commercial fertilizers have played in the agricultural develop-
348 NORTH CAROLINA
ment of the South in the past thirty years. Without their use large areas of productive lands would long since have become barren wastes. Von Leibig, the father of agricultural chemistry in 1840, showed the world that the growth of crops was a taking from the soil chemical elements which were its life. These must be restored from time to time, else the land would become practically worth- less. The process of fertilizing is then nothing less than supplying the land with necessary food, without which it would- die — ^a slow death, it is true, but one that is absolutely inevitable where the soil is exhaustible. The commercial fertilizer is simply a food in a digestible form for these hungry, starving, worn-out lands, and thus preventing the wholesale destruction of capital, has proved itself a boon to the country at large as well as to the farmers.
In 1885 Mr. Royster, realizing the great future of the manufac- ture of fertilizers, erected a small plant in Tarboro. The total output of this plant the first year was 250 tons. The enterprise proved successful. He could not supply the demand for his prod- uct, and in 1891 he determined to devote his whole time to that business. In 1897 so extensive had it become he transferred his headquarters to Norfolk. The F. S. Royster Guano Company was incorporated, F. S. Royster, President, and Charles F. Bur- roughs, vice-president, and a large and complete fertilizer fac- tory with a yearly capacity of 75,000 tons was erected on the Southern branch of the Elizabeth River. Since, there has been a constant increase in the business of the company. It now covers the States of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama, distributing the product of six plants, one at each of the following places: Norfolk, Tarboro, North Carolina; Co- lumbia and Spartanburg, South Carolina; Macon and Columbus, Georgia, the whole valued at over three millions of dollars, with a capacity of 200,000 tons and sales verging close upon the capacity.
This, in short, is the record of a very remarkable commercial success — a success wholly deserved. It has been Mr. Royster s fortune to be associated throughout his career with men of more tlian ordinary ability and enterprise — O. C. Farrar, C. C. Lanier, Edmund Strudwick and Charles F. Burroughs. This in itself
is high testimony to his own worth, but it docs not account for liis remarkable success. He knows his business in detail and in ils general features thoroughlv. He knows what is demanded by the fanners in the territory which his concern reaches, and he strives earnestly, intelligently and honestly to meet that demand, and those who buy from him know that they are getting honest goods at a fair price. In al! this it seems to me lies the secret of his success.
He has steadfastly refused to enter any combination of fertilizer manufacturers, and so, with the financial strength of his company and its annually increasing business, he is able to occupy an inde- pendent position and to meet all competition.
For many years he has been an elder in the Presbyterian Church, an official relation to the church of his mother that has never been nominal. On the contrary he has given liberally of his time and of his means to its service. Nor is his Christianity nominal. It is to him a very real thing, influencing him in all the relations of life, and constituting to him the prime rule of action, I can sug- gest only the benevolence of his character, for in that be sounds no trumpets before him that he may be seen of men.
November 5. 1874. he married Miss Mary Stamps, of Milton, North Carolina, a lady of fine culture and great intellectual charm, and they have four children living, two sons and two daughters; WiJIiam Stamps, the eldest, is treasurer of the R S. Boyster Guano Company. Mrs. Royster is a daughter of the late Doctor William Stamps of Milton, and a younger sister of the wife of the late Judge George Howard of Tarboro.
Mr. Royster is still in active business with powers unabated, and in the natural course of events may look forward to years of usefulness. Many a man who makes more noise in the world could be better spared than he. If to make two blades of grass grow where one grew before is to constitute one a public bene- factor, how much more is he who makes whole fields to bloom where otherwise there would be desolation?
Frank Nash.
THU.MAS RL'I'""FIN 351
of Rockingham County, Cadwalader Jones, then of Halifax, later of Orange, and Weldon N, Edwards of Warren, who continued through life his intimate friends, the subject of this sketch entered the College of Princeton, New Jersey, and graduated with honors in 1805. He studied law with Mr. J. A. Robertson, of Petersburg, and continued in his office until 1807. In that year his father re- moved to North Carolina, settling in Rockingham County, and the son also coming to this State completed his legal studies under the direction of Jtidge A. D. Murphey, and was admitted to the bar in 1808. The next year he located in Hillsboro.
Just east of that historic town, touching indeed its boundary, was a rounded mound, scarcely high or abrupt enough to be called a hill, whose sides and top were covered by an open grove of mag- nificent oaks, hickories and maples. Through this in 1809 ran a footpath to Ayrmount, the home of the Kirklands, a mile away. In this grove, the Summer of the same year, and on 3 tree trunk fallen by the wayside. Thomas Ruffin, the ambitious young law- yer, with his future already to himself secure, but unsuspected by others, addressed Annie M. Ktrkland, then scarcely more than a child — not yet sixteen years of age — and was accepted by her; and they were married Dcccmlxr 7, iSo^. Miss K'lrklatid was 5 daughter of William Kirkland, a prominent merchant of Hillsboro.
For the next twenty years Judge Ruffin made his home at Hills- boro. representing that town in the House of Commons in 1813, 1815 and 1816, when he was elected as judge to succeed Judge Duncan Cameron, but he remained on the bench at that time only two years. He had become surety for Judge Murphey, whose financial embarrassments involved many of his friends in pecuni- ary distress. Judge Ruffin was very punctilious about money matters, and having suffered this heavy loss he felt it incumbent on him to retire from the bench and seek to restore his fortune by his practice at the bar. Probably no other lawyer in the State at any time made greater professional efiforts than he did at this juncture. He extended his practice into the courts of the adjoin- ing districts, and habitually made two courts in one week, and for forty-lhree weeks in the year he had his engagements in court, and
352 NORTH CAROLINA
despite all conditions of weather, traveling in a stick gig, he rarely failed to meet any of them. Throughout all these years of strug- gle and of striving, of disappointment and disgust, his wife was ever his good angel, soothing the asperities of his temper, restrain- ing his ardent, sometimes intense, sensibilities, stimulating his hope and ambition and sharing his disappointments and trials. Meantime she was caring for, guiding and controlling their grow- ing family. It is said that she was the only influence that came into the life of this great but rugged personality to which he de- ferred— the kind of deference that is beautiful always, but strik- ingly so in such a character. Six years of this hard, unremitting toil, however, brought its reward, and being relieved of embarrass- ment, upon the resignation of Judge Badger in 1825, he again ac- cepted an appointment of Judge of the Superior Court.
As an advocate Judge Ruffin was very successful and very strong. In his addresses he was earnest and impassioned, and sometimes he would bend his slender, lithe form until he could strike the floor in front of the jury with his knuckles, and he was eminently successful as a jury lawyer, while his thoroughness in the learning of his profession gave him great influence with the Court. He had no rival in the Supreme Court except the dis- tinguished Archibald Henderson and Judge Gaston, and in the lower courts he had command of all the important cases. Indeed it may be said that he was the first practitioner in the State when he retired from the bar and accepted a place on the bench in 1825.
In the Autumn of 1828, however, because of his fine business qualifications, he was prevailed on to take charge of the old bank of North Carolina ; and the next year Honorable John Branch, be- ing then appointed Secretary of the Navy, resigned his seat in the United States Senate, and Judge Ruffin was urged to become a candidate for that position, to which he certainly would have been elected ; but, like Judge Gaston, he declined, declaring that he had rather go down to posterity as a lawyer than as a |x>litician. Thereupon the Legislature elected him a judge of the Supreme Court, and four years later, upon the death of Chief Justice Hen- derson, he succeeded to that high office. In this, his chosen field.
THOMAS RUFFIN 353
he won imperishable fame. His decisions illumined the annals of jurisprudence. As great as he was as a common law lawyer, he was even more distingruished for his equity decisions. His reputa- tion extended beyond the bounds of North Carolina and his opin- ions were quoted not merely in other Stales but with approbation also in Westminster Hall. They were authority relied on by eminent writers of text-books no less than by the justices of the Supreme Court of the United States. Few judges in the Union have been of the same class as he in the annals of judicial litera- ture, li any have had a greater influence upon the development of the law in this country, it was because their decisions dealt with questions broader in their scope and more varied in their aspects and not because they were greater judges.
His style was elevated and his language well selected, clear and precise, well suited to judicial opinions. For twenty-five years he adorned the bench and his opinions run through thirty-five volumes of the reports and formed the bulk of our judicial litera- ture for a generation. They are of unsurpassed excellence, un- rivaled in the jurisprudence of any other State or country; and tliey constitute a memorial of North Carolina thought, sentiment and juridical learning that posterity will ever value as the chiefest pride of our people.
Chief Justice Clark has written of him in the History of the Supreme Court:
''The hunter in the Indian jungle discovers by unmistakable signs when the king of the forest has passed by. So the lawyer who turns over the leaves of the North Carolina Reports, when he comes upon an opinion of Thom.is Ruffin. instantly perceives that a lion has been there. He reached the rare distinction of being equally great both in the common law and as an equity lawyer. Pearson probably equalled him as a common law lawyer, but fell far short of him in the grasp and application of the great principles of equity."
Judge Clark continues:
"It is hi; singular fortune to have resigned twice from both the Superior Court and Supreme Court bench. It is worthy of note, too, that in 1848 all three of the Supreme Court judges (Ruffin. Nash and Battle), the gov- ernor (Graham), and one of the United States senators (Mangum) were
i
354 NORTH CAROLINA
from the single county of Orange. Already from 1845 to 1848 two of the Supreme Court (Rufiin and Nash), the governor (Graham), and one United States senator (Mangum) had been elected from that county; while at the Legislature of 1841 both United States senators (Graham and Man- gum) were elected from the same county of Orange, in which the chief justice then resided, and from 1852 to 1858 two of the Supreme Court judges were again from Orange.
"Take him all in all. we have not seen his like again. By the consensus of the profession he is the greatest judge who ever sat upon the bench in North Carolina, and those few who deny him this honor will admit that he has had no superior. In political opinions he was the follower of Jef- ferson, hut this did not prevent his reverence for Chief Justice Marshall, who was his personal friend, as was also Chancellor Kent. Mr. Frank Nash in the course of a discriminating article says: 'Judge Ruffin's men- tal constitution was more like that of the great Chief Justice Marshall than of any judge of whom the writer has knowledge, but the defects of RufHn's temperament, assuming that he had been placed on so broad a stage, would have prevented him from becoming so great a judge. Both were endowed by nature with what, for lack of better term, we call a legal mind; both had great courage and strength of will; both were ambitious in and for their profession ; both had a great capacity and fondness for labor, both had great vigor of understanding, and both loved the law as a science and were thoroughly imbued with its principles. Marshall, how- ever, had a calm evenness of temper, a sweetness of disposition, a thor- ough control over his prejudices that Ruffin never had, nor could ever ac- quire, so the order of his temperament made him. who otherwise might have been a Marshall, more of a Thurlow. So great, however, were the endowments and acquirements of Judge Ruffin that one can but regret that he had not been placed upon the bench of the Supreme Court of the United States, side by side with Marshall. What noble discussions of fundamental questions from opposing points of view we should have then have had.'"
And of him Judge R. T. Bennett says:
*'I have read every opinion delivered by the late Chief Justice Ruffin. as Associate-Justice and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of North Caro- lina, and when I completed these readings, I said in my deepest thought 'Chief Justice Ruffin is the greatest judge who ever administered justice in an English-speaking community.' "
When in the zenith of his fame, in 1852, he resigned from the bench, proposing: to retire from all professional work. In 1830 he had removed to his plantation on Haw River in Alamance
THOMAS RL'FFIN' 355
County, while operating another on Dan River in Rockingham County, and he had become known as one of the most progressive and successful fanners of the State, and that employment was very agreeable to his disposition. Tlie pursuits of tlie farm gave him pleasant recreation, as well as large profits, and his home was a seat of culture and refinement and bounteous hospitality. In 1854 the Agricultural Society of North Carolina elected him its president, and for six years he continued in that position, and by force of his example and by his precepts he contributed largely to the improvement of agricultural methods in the Stale. And not only so, but he availed himself of his position to urge improve- ment in all lines that would be beneficial to North Carolina. There had always been a great stream of North Carolinians seeking homes in new regions, and in his address before the State Agricul- tural Society in October, 1855, he said:
"I cannot close, however, without asking you once mori' lo cleave tO North Carolina. Stay in her, fertilize her, till her, cherish her rising manufaclnres. extend her railways, encourage and endow her schools and colleges, sustain her institutions, develop her resource], promote knowledge, virtue and religion throughout her borders, stimulate State pride and exalt her renown,"
Such indeed had been his own course in reference to the State, and no one could urge her people onward and forward so well as this eminent citizen who hail reflected so much honor on the State and who had set such an example of usefulness and development
On the death of Chief Justice Xash, in December, 1 858, however, having been elected his successor by the almost unanimous vote of the General Assembly, he again took his seat as a justice of the Sujircme Court, but sat only one or two terms, returning to private life in the Fall of 1859.
After his retirement from the bench he was appointed a magis- trate for his county, and for many years he presided over the county courts of Alamance County and attended to all the busi- ness of his community. Nor did he abandon his interest in the University, of which he was a trustee for nearly fifty years, being at last retired in 1868 by the Republicans to make way for some
356 NORTH CAROLINA
of those who destroyed the usefulness of that institution. He worthily received the honorary degree of LL.D. from the Uni- versity and also from his Alma Mater.
The religious affiliations of Judge Ruffin were with the Protest- ant Episcopal Church, of which for more than forty years he was a communicant, and he was one of the most active members of the church in the State and more than once he represented the diocese in the General Convention of the church in the United States.
Judge Ruffin was from his early years an adherent of the Demo- cratic Party, and in 1824 was a candidate on the electoral ticket of William H. Crawford for President, Mr. Crawford being the nominee of the caucus of the Democratic members of Congress, that being before the era of national conventions, and thus the regular ticket ; but on that occasion North Carolina gave her votes to Andrew Jackson, and the election was thrown in the House of Representatives, where Henry Clay gave his preponderating influence to John Quincy Adams, making that break with Jackson that led to the formation of the Whig Party. Judge Ruffin continued to adhere to the Democratic Part>' and was a supporter of Jackson's administration. He not only held like political views with Thomas Jefferson, but in other respects resembled him.
In the campaign of i860 he supported Breckenridge as the Democratic candidate for the Presidency, and when toward the end of January, 1861, the Legislature of North Carolina made an ef- fort to secure a peaceful solution of sectional differences by sending commissioners to represent the State at Montgomery and at the Peace Conference called by Virginia to meet at Washington on February 4th, Judge Ruffin was appointed a delegate to the Peace Conference at Washington. He accepted the employment with the purpose of preventing a rupture of the Union if possible. In that body he urged compromise, concession and conciliation. Nor did he confine his efforts merely to the members of the Congress. General Scott, then at the head of the Federal army, was a man of potent influence, and he had been a fellow law student with
THOMAS RUFFIN 357
Judge Ruflin at Petersburg, At this critical period Judge Rutfin gladly renewed their former acquaintance and urged upon him that there should be an amicable arrangement of differences, and he also sought to influence others who bore relations with the in- coming administration. General Scott in his Autobiography men- tions that if the sentiments of Judge Ruffin had prevailed the coun- try would have escaped the sad inflictions of the war ; and Presi- dent Buchanan makes the same statement in his "defense" of his administration.
But the pleadings of this illustrious patriot were unheeded by the victorious partizans who were about to possess themselves of the Federal Government. In that Congress North Carolina and Virginia were unable to approve of the conclusion reached by a majoriiy of the delegates, still as weak as the report was it was not acceptable to those in control of ihe Federal Congress. The party friends of Mr. Lincoln had no purpose to conciliate or to remove the causes of apprehension which had led to the action of the Southern States. They preferred war with all of its horrors and sufferings ralher than live up to the provisions of the Constitution of the United States. The concessions and sacrifices offered by the South were disdainfully rejected by these rabid partizans. With a heavy heart Judge Ruffin returned to North Carolina and retired to the quietude of his home. It happened that the writer, then a student of the law under Mr. William Ruffin, was present at the time and daily listened to Judge Ruffin's conversation on the portentous events of that momentous period. There also came his distinguished kinsman, Mr. Edmund Ruffin, of Virginia, and his son, who later married Judge Ruffin's daughter Jane. It seemed to these gentlemen that the movement at the South was forced by the people rather than led by the public men, who ap- peared inclined to be more conservative than the masses; and hopes were still entertained that war might be averted until the whole situation was changed by President Lincoln's call to arms. Then the younger men of the household and of the family at once responded in defense of the South and hastened to occupy, with others, the forts on the seaboard.
358 NORTH CAROLINA
The conservative and union sentiments of the venerable ex- chief justice were well known, but he himself realized the exe- gencies of the occasion. A public meeting was held in Hillsboro in April, 1861, that the citizens of the town might express their sentiments on the alarming state of public affairs. Judge Ruffin, though residing in Alamance until after the war, was present. In the course of the meeting he called the veteran Democratic politi- cian, General Allison, up to the bar and, facing the audience, stood by his side with one arm about him, and said : **My good old friend, I ask you what ought to be done now?" General Allison's reply was inaudible, but as he was known to be a Union man, it was guessed. Judge Ruffin, leaving the old general standing, ad- vanced a step toward the audience, and his whole frame in a quaver of emotion, extended his arms, bringing them down in vehement gesticulation at each repetition of the word, as he shouted, *i say Fight! Fight! Fight!'* It was the scream of the eagle as he swoops upon his prey. The war feeling already aroused became the dominant passion in every man's breast.
In May, 1861, after the war had begun, a convention was called to meet on the 20th of that month, and Judge Ruffin was elected a delegate from Alamance County. In the Convention he sought to avoid a declaration of a constitutional right on the part of the State to secede, preferring an ordinance merely declaring the union between North Carolina and the other States dissolved to the one j)roj)osc(l by Mr. Craige, which repealed the Ordinance of 1789, by which the State became a member of the Union; but in this he mav have been influenced bv considerations of tender- ness toward those who had violently opposed the doctrine of a constitutional right to secede, as well as by doubts of that right imdcr the provisions of the Constitution. However, on being over- ruled by a majority of the Convention, he acquiesced in the views of his associates and voted for the Ordinance of Secession pro- posed by the ultra-States' Rights men and signed it, when passed.
The Convention continued in session for a year, taking several recesses, and Judge Ruffin contributed from the stores of his ex- perience to the promotion of the success of the Southern cause.
THOMAS RUKKIN
He advocated those measures that were early adopted to put the State in a position of defense, making large appropriations to obtain military supplies and to equip soldiers for the field. His action was ever patriotic and based on the wisdom of a thoughtful statesman.
At the end of (he war he found that his farm had been desolated in consequence of the army having been encamped upon it, and the sj'stcm of labor being abolished, he felt imcqual to the task of seek- ing to resuscitate his plantation and continue its cultivation. The calamities that had befallen him at his age were too great for him to successfully combat. He, therefore, disposed of his estate and again took up his residence at Hillsboro, where, in the enjoyment of the highest respect and veneration of the State, he passed his declining years in the midst of friends and surrounded by his children and grandchildren.
He lived through, the period of Reconstruction and saw the baleful consequences of the sudden and violent abohtion of slavery and the subversion of the Constitution and system of laws which for more than half a century he had aided in perfecting, and the blighting and degrading effect of subjecting the State to the do- minion of ignorant negroes and their allies; and at length, on January 15, 1870. in the eighty-third year of his age. after an ill- ness of but four days, he passed away. No man in any coitinumity ever attained a higher eminence for virtue, for learning or for integrity of character than this exemplary citizen of our State.
Mr. Nash in summing up his career said of Judge Ruffin:
"He was great as a l.iwyer, great as a judge, great as a financier, great as a farmer— a rugged, indomitable soul in a frame of iron, made to con- quer, and conquering every diffieiihy on every side."
"A man resolved nnd steady to his trust. Inflexible to ill and obstinately just."
S. A. Ashe.
THOMAS RUFFIN, JR.
gllOM AS RUFFIX. the fourth son of Chief Jus- tice Rufllin and his wife, Annie KirkUnd, also an eminent jurist, was born in Hillsboro in 1824. Ho was prepared for college by a celebrated teacher of his day, familiarly known as "old Sam Smith," who instructed many men that afterward attained distinction, and who always regarded him with affictionatf voneration. After a thorough preparatory education, at the age of sixteen he entered the University of North Carolina, where he graduated with distinction in 1S44. He was gifted with a logical niitKl and. being a man of fine attainments, he looked for- ward to a professional career. His disposition was genial and he was sociable b>- nature and fond of fun, and without bad habits or any inclination to dissipation. He was fortunate in beingr in- structed in the elementary principles of the law, and in the prac- tice, l>y his distinguished father and his elder brother, William, who was unexcelled as a teacher of jurisprudence. Having tib- taincd his license to practice, he located in "Rockingham County; and a fc^v years later, in 1848, he formed a partnership with John H. Dillard, in whom he found a congenial companion, and the friendship then l>egan lasted throughout life.
Popular and attentive to their business, they soon establi^ed an extensive and lucrative practice and won many friends in their conniy. Following in the footsteps of his father, the subject of
THOMAS RUFFIN, Jr. 361
this sketch attached himself to the Democratic Party, and in 1850 he was elected as a Democrat a representative from Rockingham County to the Legislature, and served with great acceptability to his constituents, but he had no liking for public life and never afterward sought any political preferrnent. He was ambitious to excel in a professional career, and in 1854 was elected Solicitor of his district, in performing the important duties of this office he attained widespread celebrhy for his fearless discharge of duty and as being a master of the criminal law. He had married early in life Miss Mary Cain, a lovely lady of his native community, and his father being then a resident of Alamance County, he moved to Graham, continuing, however, his partnership relations with Mr. Dillaril in the Rockingham business. At that period Mr. Ritffin held rank among the foremost of the younger lawyers of the State. With a fine person and a high order of intelligence, he united strong characteristics and high professional attainments. His home at Graham was a center of a charming circle and the hfe of his household was most happy and enviable.
While he entered but little into politics, he was much interested in the vital questions that convulsed the South in i860, and with g-ri-al earnestness be advocated the electfotr oi Creirkenridg^e, Che nominee of the regular Democratic Convention. Although he was not .in advocate of secession in the earlier stages of the trouble, he realized that it l>ecamc every Southern man to stand shoulder to shoulder when war had become inevitable. When news was received of the first gun being fired at Fort Sumter, Mr, Ruffin im- mediately organized a company in Alamance County, and on April 16th hastened with it to Fort Macon, and together with others seized that fort and held it for the State of North Caro- lina. I'pon the organization of military forces by the State he was on Mav 3. 1861, duly commissioned Captain of his company, and he conlinued to serve with it when it was organized as a part of the Third Regiment, later known as the Thirteenth Regiment of N'orih Carolina Troops. Its first colonel was William D. Pender, who was succeeded in the Fall of 1861 by Colonel A. M. Scales. In October, 1861, Judge Dick, of the Superior Court,
362 NORTH CAROLINA
died, and Governor Ellis tendered the appointment to Captain Riiffin, who accepted it, and he held the remaining terms of the first court. But he felt drawn to the military service and resign- ing returned to his company in the field.
On April 26, 1862, upon the reorganization of the volunteer regiments Captain Ruffin was elected Lieutenant-Colonel of the Thirteenth, which was under General Colston and on duty near Williamsburg on the Peninsula. It was there that the regiment had its first engagement, Colonel Ruffin being in command of the left wing. It was a hand-to-hand fight, which lasted but a few min- utes, some of the Thirteenth being bayoneted ; but if short it was hot. The companies engaged under the direction of Colonel Ruffin behaved with the greatest gallantry and utmost coolness. "Not a man moved except to the front." Colonel Ruffin served with distinction along with the Thirteenth throughout the battles be- fore Richmond and in the battles at Second Manassas, South Mountain and Sharpsburg, the regiment being then in Garland's Brigade, and he was in command of it on the return from Mary- land. At South Mountain, the regiment, under Colonel Ruffin, covered itself with glory. Garland's Brigade alone defended the pass against a division led by General Butterfield. Brigade after brigade assaulted our line, but each time they were driven back with heavy loss. Never was there a more stubborn contest. "Ow- ing to the fact that Colonel Ruffin was very careful of the lives of his men. cautioning them against unnecessary exposure, the casualties of the Thirteenth were fewer than might have been ex- pected, but it was one of the most heroic actions of the war.** In that battle Colonel Ruffin was severelv wounded, and in March following he resigned his commission in the army. It was about that time that he was recommended bv the officers of the Twelfth Regiment to be appointed Colonel of that regiment. He, however, declined to accept that position, but was soon afterward appointed Presiding Judge of the court of Kirby Smith's corps in the West- ern army, which he continued to hold until the end of the war. On the field he had exhibited a fearless courage and unusual coolness in positions of peril and difficulty, and he was distinguished for
THOMAS RUFFIN. Jr. 363
his sympatliy with the soldiers and his care and kindness for tliem.
As presiding judge he discharged his duties with considera- tion, and with a spirit that met the approbation of the Confederate authorities.
After the war he returned to his home and sought to battle with the adversities that surrounded the home Ufe of the South- ern people. He was by no means a political agitator; on the con- trary, his breadth of view was that of a statesman, and his dis- position was to foster in the hearts of the people a complacent ac- quiescence in the unfortunate termination of the struggle for Southern independence. He recognized the facts and was not un- mindful of the logic of events ; but the spirit of the Northern people was too intolerant to win his approbation, and he took hts place among his neighbors and friends in their great effort to secure for the people of the Slate the control of their local affairs. In 1868 he steadfastly opposed the Reconstruction measures and the pro- ceedings of the Federal authorities under them.
While never a prominent leader in public affairs, he was always a faithful and steady friend to and an advocate of all measures tending to the amelioration of social conditions, and he sought to elevate public sentiment and to add by his example and counsel to the march of virmnits, enlightened and material progress. De- voting himself with patience to his professional work, he became well known as one of the strongest and most resourceful lawyers of the State. As an advocate it has been said that he was truly eloquent. While his language was not remarkable for its elegance, it was pure and forcible and his argument was convincing and aroused the fervid emotions of his audience. He prepared his cases with great labor and fortified them strongly with well-ar- ranged evidence and selected his authorities with careful dis- crimination. In forensic debate he was a formidable adversary, fertile in intellectual resources, well equipped and persistent and energetic in maintaining his position, and ready with quick per- ception to take immediate advantage of any mistake on the part of opposing counsel.
364 NORTH CAROLINA
Judge Dick mentions in particular a speech that greatly im- pressed him :
"The incidents and outside facts relating to his client that awakened his sympathies and called forth his intellectual powers were that she was poor, a woman, a widow, a stranger, without money and far from friends and her home. There may have been greater speeches at the bar than he delivered ; but for clearness of statement, for force of logic, for keenness of invec- tive, for nobility of sentiment, and for tenderness of pathos, I have no*cr heard the speech equaled in any forum."
He again became associated in partnership with Judge Dillard and conducted a joint business with him until the latter was ele- vated to the Supreme Court bench in 1878, and after that he con- tinued to practice alone. Year by year he grew more and more largely in the public estimation and came to be regarded as the first lawyer of the State. At the time of the sale of the Western North Carolina Railroad in 1880, he was employed with Honorable George Davis to advise the Legislature and to put the contract in proper shape. This work, because of its delicate nature and the many provisions the contract necessarily contained to guard the interest of the State, was highly important, and the skill displayed by these distinguished attorneys in its preparation gained for them unmerited applause, which was not diminished when they avowed that on their part it was the work of patriotism, and that they would receive no compensation for their labor.
Upon the resignation of Judge Dillard in 1881 the profession at once turned to Judge Ruffin as his most worthy successor, and Governor Jarvis tendered him the appointment to the vacancy, which he accepted and for a few years adorned the bench. His health, however, was now impaired, and the exacting service of the Supreme Court bench did not facilitate a recover^', and on September 23, 1883. he retired from the bench and resumed the practice of law at Hillsboro in connection with Major John W. Graham.
Judge Ruffin had passed his life as an advocate and came to the Supreme bench without any training in a judicial career. As a lawyer in full practice, the habit of his mind had become that of
THOMAS RUFFIN. Jh. 365
the advocate, which in some respects differs from a judicial in- vestigation of the principles underlying legal cases and the prep- aration of judicial opinions. He had had no experience in juridi- cal composition. He therefore came to the lacnch under circum- stances somewhat adverse to an immediate manifestation of his superior excellence. That he was an industrious and impartial and learned and able judge is evidenced by his work upon the bench: and his opinions also show that his views of the law were broadly comprehensive and enlightened, while in his methods of thought he was judiciously conservative and cautiously progres- sive. His greatness as a lawyer frequently led to his being com- pared favorably with his distinguished father, the great chief jus- tice; but he was on the bench too short a time to develop his capabilities as a writer of jurisprudence, and while in thought and in learning he occupied the same high level as his father, he had not the oi»portunity to attain ihc same training as a writer of incom- parable judicial opinions. Of him it has been said thai he "pos- sessed dauntless physical courage, but his high moral courage was far more admirable. He had due regard for public sentiment when he believetl it to be right, but he never quailed before the clamor and prejudices of political bigotry or popular frenzy. He dis- countenanced all forms of social disturbance and lawless violence, and by words and acts bravely combatted all kinds of public or private injustice and oppression. He was the friend and defender of the poor, the weak, the helpless and unfortunate; and he aided even the erring in their efforts at reformation by kind words and acts of sympathy and enconragement."
Judge Dick, in tlie course of his address on the life and char- acter of Judge Ruffin, says:
"\Vc may reasonably ask ourselves what were the object and purposes of his creation: what Ihc rewards of his toils, his sufferings and his noble endeavors? The fame which he acquired as a brilliant advocate may live in tradition for many years and then he obscured by the mists of time. In a half a century Ihc report? in which are printed the memorials of his genius and wisdom will he retired to the dtxst of law libraries. But he had a more blessed faith. He lived for a nobler purpose. He believed that death was only the nauiral process of I
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nobler life. He was cheered with the subh'me Truth revealed by his Re- deemer and Saviour."
In this blessed hope the end came to the fearless soldier who, amid the perils of the most desperate hattlefields, manifested a coolness and an intrepidity in entire harmony with his courageous nature ; a citizen no less distinguished in civil life than in military action, eminent for his forensic ability and who bv his virtues, his character and his learning adorned lx)th the bar and the bench of his native State.
His health remained precarious after leaving the bench in 1883, and although he still engaged in the practice, he did not pursue his labors so actively as in former years. At length on May 23, 1889, he y)assed away, greatly lamented by the people of the State.
S, A. Ashe,
WILLIAM SKINNER
1 OTH in peace and war the Skinner family of Eastern North Carolina has borne an honor- able record. At the time of the Revolution its most noted member was Brigadier-General William Skinner, of the county of Perquimans, one of the most active patriots in the Albe- He was the son of Richard Skinner, who died in 1752. To avoid confusion, we may here mention lliat there were at least two members of this family living in colonial times who bore the name Richard Skinner. One of these died in 1746. The town of Hertford, in the county of Perquimans, was erected by Chapter 6 of the Private Laws of 1758, which was amended by Chapter 22 of the Private Laws of 1767, and by Chapter 2 of the Private Laws of 1773. By the two amendatory acts last mentioned, William Skinner was elected one of the com- missioners or "directors" of said town. He also served in the Assembly of Xorth Carolina during the colonial period.
In the Revolution Mr. Skinner's first service appears to have been as a member of the Provincial Congress of North Caro- lina which met at Hillsboro in August, 1775; and that body (which continued its sittings till the following month) elected him lieutenant-colonel of Xorth Carolina militia for Perquimans County on September 9th. He was a member of the Provincial Congress at Halifax in April, 1776; and of a similar body which
368 NORTH CAROLINA
held its sessions at the same place in November and December, 1776. The last named Provincial Congress elected him a Justice of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions for the county of Perquimans on December 23, 1 776. On the same day, December 23rd, Congress passed a resolution, requesting Colonel Skinner to take into his possession the records of the Inferior Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions for the county of Perquimans, and also authorized him to act as clerk {vice Miles Harvey, deceased) until a clerk could be regularly elected by the justices of said court.
On December 20, 1777, Colonel Skinner was elected brigadier- general of the North Carolina militia for the district of Edenton; and, at the same time he was elected treasurer of the northern counties of the Colony. These two offices he held at the same time. He was re-elected treasurer for several terms. He was also commissioner to settle the accounts of North Carolina with the general Government ; and, on April 25, 1778, was voted 5,000 pounds by the Assembly as compensation for that service. The reader must not be led to think that this five thousand pounds was over-generous compensation, for it was paid in the paper currency of that day. General Skinner himself in a peti- tion (or "remonstrance'*) addressed to the Assembly oni January 28. 1779, complains of the great inconvenience by him in "con- veying great cart-loads of money through the country/' so ^'e may safely assume that North Carolina was adequately supplied with currency of its own manufacture.
Having the good sense to realize that his want of knowledge in military matters might jeopardize the lives of soldiers serving under him. General Skinner determined to resign his commission. and accordingly did so on May 10, 1779, when bodies of troops were being organized to serve beyond the limits of the State. Addressing the General Assembly, which was in session at Smith- field, in Johnson County, he said :
"As my experience in military matters is very small, my continuing in that office might, perhaps, be a public injury, as well as fatal to those
WILLIAM SKINNER 369
whose lives might in a manner depend on my conduct. For these rea- sons I take the liberty at this lime of resigning that appointment which I heretofore with reluctance accepted."
Two days after his resignation as brigadier-general, Mr. Skin- ner was once more elected treasurer.
When a law was enacted creating the offices of district treas- urer, General Skinner became treasurer of the district of Eden ton.
It is greatly to be regretted that so little is known of the per- soTial history of General Skinner. He died in the winter of 1797-98. He lies buried in the Yeopim section of Perquiinans County, four or five miles from the town of Hertford, and a marble slab marks his grave. He was t\vice married and left five children. By his first wife he had three daughters: Penelope Skinner, who married Lemtiel Creecy ; Elizabeth Skinner, who married Josiah Cotton; and Lavinia Skinner, who married Mr. Harvey. The two children of General Skinner's second wife were William and Caroline Skinner.
When the first official census of the L'nited States was compiled in 1790, General Skinner owned more slaves than any other citii^en of Perquimans County.
Marshall De Lancey Haywood.
EDWARD STANLY
JDWARD STANLY, the subject of this sketch, was born in New-Bern in 1808. He was a son
I of John Stanly, an ardent Federalist and a noted figure in North Carolina political history. Edward Stanly was educated at the North and was graduated from Norwich University in 1829 He studied law and commenced the practice of the pro- fession in Beaufort County, North Carolina. Soon after he mar- ried a daughter of Dr. Hugh Jones, of Hyde County.
His success in his profession was immediate, but his ambitions were political rather than professional, and his mind was soon turned to politics, though he did not enter political life actively for some time. From his father he inherited an intense hatred of the Democratic Party, and consequently he was, from the birth of the Whig Party, an ardent believer in and supporter of its doctrines. This intense hatred of the Democratic Party, combined with his passionate and fiery nature, led to many difficulties with hi.s ])olitical opponents. He, like other members of his family, posscs.icd .in uncontrolled temper which often injured him and made for him many hitter enemies. But hke most similar natures, he wa.s po.s.sesscd of 3 wonderful ability to make warm friends. Personally he was attractive, with a great amount of magnetism, which affecled even those who were not personally acquainted with him.
EDWARD STANLY 371
In 1837 he was elected to Congress and served for three terms. While there he distinguished himself by his ability as a debater and by his eloquence as a speaker. His repartee was exceedingly clever, but so sharp as to excite anger. His "Cock Robin" retort to Mr. Preston was particularly memorable. At times he was very bitter in his denunciation of opponents, and in an attack upon the Tyler administration he excelled himself, and won great ap- plause from his Whig associates in the House. He also dis- tinguished himself by several personal encounters. Henry A. Wise on one occasion was so aroused by a sharp speech of Stanly that he walked over to the latter's seat and threatened him. Stanly refused to apologize and a fight followed. A committee investigated the matter and utterly exonerated Stanly, John Qiiincy Adams taking occasion to make a very complimentary speech in reference 10 Stanly's conduct in the affair. On another occasion a quarrel with Samuel W. Inge, of Alabama, led to a dnel between them. Neither one was injured. Thomas L. Cling- nian attacked him in the House and a fight followed. But by the end of his term he was recognized as one of the leaders of his party in the House. Mr. Stanly attracted so much attention by his Congressional career that when Harrison was elected presi- dent in 1840 he was considered for the navy portfolio. The men- tion of the probability of his appointment was most favorably re- ceived all over the country, the press, regardless of politics, being particularly complimentary. The honor, however, did not fall to him, but to another North Carolinian, Judge George E. Badger.
In 1844 he was a delegate to the National Whig Convention in Haliimore. The same year he represented Beaufort County in the House of Commons and had conferred upon him the un- usual honor of being chosen Speaker at his first session. This was. of course, due to the reputation he had made in Congress. He presided with dignity, impartiality and ability and was elected again at the following session. In 1847 he had been made at- torney-general, but resigned in 1848 to go to the General As- sembly and was succeeded by B. F. Moore. He was elected to the Commons for the third time in 1848. but failed to be chosen
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Speaker. On the floor he was a leader, and by throwing his in- fluence against the proposed railroad from Charlotte to Danville de- feated what he called ''The Danville Sale/* agreeing instead to charter the North Carolina Railroad, as proposed by W. S. Ashe.
In 1849 h^ ^^'^s again nominated for Congress and defeated \V. K. Lane by a substantial majority. In 185 1 he defeated Thomas Ruffin, of Wayne, making his campaign on the question of secession, which at the time was agitating the countr}\ There was no discussion in North Carolina as to the advisability of the State's severing her connection with the L^nion, the question being purely an abstract one. Alfred Dockery, who was also a Whig candidate for Congress, declared that if he should be elected, he would vote men and money to whip South Carolina back into the Union, in the event of her secession, adding that he would do the same if North Carolina was the State in question. Stanly ex- pressed somewhat the same sentiments, and both were elected by large majorities. William W. Holden, the editor of the Stand- ard, tried vainly to create the impression that Stanly was an ab- olitionist, and after the election declared that he was elected by the anti-slavery Quakers in Wayne and the adjoining counties. In 1853, in consequence of the growing discontent in the State with the attitude of the North regarding slavery, he was defeated bv Thomas Rufiin for reelection. In the Fall of the same vear he removed with his family to California.
In his new home he attained great prominence as a lawyer, both from his ability and on account of his past record. He soon allied himself with the Republican Party, and in 1857 ^^^ nom- inated for governor in spite of the fact that he still owned slaves and was a believer in the institution of slaverv. He made no secret of liis belief and on the stump advocated non-interference with slavery. Tlic Democrats nominated John B. Weller, who had just retired from the United States Senate. Weller was suc- cessful, receiving a majority of over 32,000 votes.
Mr. Stanly saw with alarm the gulf wdiich was yawning be- tween the North and the South, but he never quite realized that the threat of the South to secede would be put into effect. Even
EDWARD STANXV 373
after secession had begun, estimating public sentiment by what it had been nearly ten years before when he left the State, he was confident that North Carolina would remain in the Union. He felt sore that the majority of the people in the State were opposed to secession and favorable to the Union, or at least that they were acting through a misunderstanding. Consequently, he felt that if the real facts, as he believed them to be, in regard to the purpose of the North could be put fairly before them by one whom they felt was a friend and one lo be trusted, they would at once renew their allegiance to the United Slates. He accordingly notified Pres- ident Lincoln of his willingness to undertake such a commission for the Federal Government. The President seemed to have considered the secession movement as merely a slaveholders' re- bellion and without much strength, and just at that time was con- sidering a plan for the restoration of the Southern States by the establishment of military governments, about which those citizens who were loyal to the Union might rally and thus weaken the power of the State administrations. The two States where the plan seemed most likely to succeed, according to belief then pre- vailing in the North, were Tennessee and North Carolina. He accordingly appointed Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee, and Ed- ward Stanly military governors of their respective States with the rank of brigadier- general. The appointment of Stanly, for sonic reason, never went to the Senate for confirmation, but he had arrived in Washington in May. 1862. and at once assumed the duties of his new office, reaching Ncvv-Ilern. which had been chosen as his headquarters, on May 26th.
Hy his commission Stanly was empowered to perform all the duties of governor, and to appoint officers, institute courts, and suspend the writ of habeas corpus, during the pleasure of the president, or until a civil government should be organized. Secretary Stanton wrote him :
"'Tlie great purpose of your appointment is lo reestablish the amhnrity of the Federal Government in the Slate of North Carolina. ami 10 provide the meant of maintaining peace and secnrity to the loyal inh.ibilants of thai Stale until they shall be able to establish a
«ivil government."
374 NORTH CAROLINA
General Ikirnsidc, who was in command of the Federal forces in North CaroHna, was directed to cooperate with Stanly and to furnish any mihtary assistance that might be necessary.
So far as his devotion to the Union was coi^cerned, Mr. Stanly was a most suitable person to "foster Union sentiment" in North Carolina, as the Honorable John S. Ely, of New York, wrote him. But his high temper and his inability to see but one side of a question made him ill-suited for a conciliatory mission such as he was engaged in. The fact that he was a native of North Caro- lina only made his task more difficult.
No sooner had he reached North Carolina than, in seeking to conciliate the people and to execute the laws of the State, he made himself an object of dislike and intense suspicion to the element ill Congress and at the North to whom the chief purp)Ose of the war was the abolition of slavery. An enthusiastic gentleman from New Enijland, a Mr. Colver, had shortlv before established a school for negro children in New-Bern. Mr. Stanly informed him that he had been sent there to restore the old order of things, and while he was in full sympathy with charity to the destitute, both black and white, the laws of North Carolina forbade any such undertaking as that in which Mr. Colyer was engaged, and that as governor he could not give his approval, as it would injure the Union cause if, at the beginning of his administration, he should encourage a violation of the law. He gave permission for re^ ligious instruction to be given the negroes. In regard to fugi- tive slaves, also, Stanly took like ground. Slaves were constantly leaving their masters and coming into the Union lines, and in many instances they were taken away by the soldiers and in- formed that they were free. Whenever the owners would take the oath of allegiance to the United States, Stanly had the slaves restored to tliem. fie also threatened with confiscation the own- ers of vessels who carried slaves awav from New-Bern.
n. n. Helper, who held some Government position in New- Bern, presunied to advise Stanly as to the policy that he should pursue as military governor, and Stanly at once requested him to leave New-Bern on the ground that his speeches to the soldiers
EDWARD STANLY 375
and negroes were having a bad effect. Helper was joined by Colyer. and the two went North and furnished the newspapers with a highly colored account of Stanly's actions. In conse- quence the House of Representatives passed a resolution re- questing the President to furnish information in regard to the powers conferred upon Stanly by his appointment as military governor, whether he had interfered to prevent the education of children, black or white, and if so, by what authority? If by the authority of the Federal Govenimcnt, for what purpose were such .'nstructions given ? The Senate passed similar resolutions. Secretary Stanton referred the matter to Stanly, who replied, out- lining his policy and asking for instructions. He acknowledged that he found the negro question perplexing. He had restored slaves to loyal masters, for almost all the inhabitants of New- Bern had gone awny and he wished to reassure them thai if they should return they would be well treated, believing that unless he could convince them that it was a war of restoration there would be no peace for years to come. He said that he had found that Union men of irreproachable lives sincerely believed that the Prei-ident proposed the entire destruction and total desolation of the S'lUlh. with universal emancipation and rnin. He thought (hat his aclion in regard lo the negro school had been wise and had resulted in good to the Union, but that it had caused trouble in the North, and for that reason he would like to have some in- structions as lo his duties and the policy that he should pursue. The following extract will give some idea of the difficulties with which he was confronted almost daily:
"When slaves are taken violently from loyal owners by armed men and negroes, wlial protection can be given for the future? When per- sons connected with ihe army cause slaves to leave their masters, can the latter, jf loyal, have permission and protection to prevail on them to return? Will authority be given to prevent the removal of slave prop- erty by vessel withool the consent of the owners? If the military gov- ernor should interfere with actions that are in violation of long cMablishcd laws of the State, and persons connected with the army should make inflammatory appeals to a crowd composed of several hun- dred negroes, exhorting them to violence and bloodshed, what action
376 NORTH CAROLINA
should be taken to prevent its recurrence? When slaves of loyal owners are employed by the United States authorities, can any steps be taken to secure part of their earnings for their owners?"
In addition to these difficulties Stanly was beginning to dis- cover the difference of oi)inion that had arisen between himself and those with whom he had been intimately associated in the past, and that Union sentiment was at a minimum in North Caro- lina. KvQu in New-Bern, occupied as it was by Federal troops, very little appeared. This change of sentiment at first seemed inexplica])le and incomprehensible. But at last he began to sec deeper into the feeling of the people, particularly after a very strong letter from his kinsman. Judge Badger, outlining the posi- tion of the former Union men in North Carolina.
Mr. I'adger, in a letter to Mr. Ely, but intended for Mr. Stanly, said :
"There is no Union feeling in North Carolina, as you suppose, and is probably supposed by the generality of Northern men. There was in this State a very strong Union feeling — a strong love for the Union as established by our forefathers — but as soon as Mr. Lincoln's proclanu- tion of April, 1861, appeared, offering us the alternative of joining an armed invasion of our Southern sister States for their subjug^ation, or resisting the authorities of the United States, our position was taken without a moment's hesitation. From that moment, however we may have difFored in other things, there has not been, and there is not. any difference ; hence our people with one heart sprang to arms."
In the hope of arousing some of the old feeling, he visited some of the Eastern towns where he was well known and which were now occupied by the Federal forces. He made a number of speeches and interviewed the .people, but he accomplished little for the Union cause, for he was generally regarded with hatred, suspicion, and contempt as a traitor to his State, and this kept from him the support of all men of character and influence.
The policy of the State Government and of the Confederate officers was to ignore Stanly's i)retensions to the office of governor and to communicate officially only with General Burnside. In the l-'all of 1862 Stanly wrote to (Jovernor Vance and asked for an interview with him or with any citizens of the State that he might select. He said that he felt sure that North Carolina was
EDWARD STANLY 377
in the quarrel only through a misunderstanding, and he wished to confer in regard to measures that might lead to an honorable peace ; that he was authorized to negotiate an exchange of po- litical prisoners and wished this interview with its object should be perfectly open. Governor Vance declined to treat with hira in any way, as he was without authority from the Confederate gov- ernment to treat for peace, and separate State action was not to be thought of. A correspondence with General D. H. Hill and General S. G. French did not lead to any more hope of recon- ciliation, but, if possible, rendered it more unlikely, since Stanly provoked indignation by the violence of his language. He was greatly handicapped in his peaceful efforts by the operations of the Federal troops in the eastern part of the State. His argument that they were "a glorious army of noble patriots" lost its signi- ficance in view of the constant plundering and burning, and his protests against this were unavailing. General Burnside had for- bidden all unnecessary injury to the property or persons of the inhabitants, but when General Foster assumed command no at- tention was paid to this order, Stan!3''s last official act was a protest against the conduct of the Federal troops in Hyde Couniy, where the so-calle<l "loyalty" of the population insured no im- munity from outrage and violence at the hands of the Federal troops.
In December Stanly ordered an election to be held for a mem- ber of Congress from the second district. Jennings Pigott. a native of the State who had been a resident of Washington City for many years, and had only returned to North Carolina as pri- vate secretary to Stanly, was chosen. A committee appointed by the House of Representatives to investigate his claim to a seat decided against him, and he was not seated.
In the meantime Stanly bad become convinced of the hopeless- ness of bis mission. More than that, he was utterly out of sym- pathy with the policy of the administration in regard to the slaves. He protested against the enlisting and drilling of them on the groimd that they were, in general, unfit for soldiers in the existing war, and because it created a danger of a servile war. Finally
378 NORTH CAROLINA
on January 15, 1863, he sent his resignation to the President, giving at the same time the reason for his action. He stated that he had assured the people of the State that the administra- tion was only trying to restore the Union and would secure the rights of the people. But since the emancipation proclamation any further assurance of the kind was impossible. Regarding the proclamation, he said :
''It is enough to say I fear it will do infinite mischief. It crushes all hope of making peace by any conciliatory measures. It will fill the hearts of Union men with despair, and strengthen the hands of the detestable traitors whose mad ambition has spread desolation and sor- row over our country. To the negroes themselves it will bring the most direful calamities."
He reviewed his course as military governor and said concern- ing this:
"That I have offended some is probable; but they were those whose schemes of plunder I defeated — whose oppressions of the innocent and helpless I resisted — those purposes seemed to have been to join or follow the troops, and to encourage and participate in the most shameful pillag- ing and robbery that ever disgraced an army in any civilized land."
His resignation was accepted in March and he returned to California. No successor was appointed. It is not improbable that the position seemed to the President a very useless one. In 1864 Mr. Stanly wrote the President that he had been asked to return to the State, as it was thought in New Bern that his pres- ence would be beneficial to the Union cause. He said that when he could be of assistance in any other capacity than that of gov- ernor, he would be glad to come back. He was never needed and so never came.
Gradually he got completely out of sympathy with the Repub- lican Party on account of the radical policy of Gmgress. In 1867 he opposed the Republicans in California and canvassed the State, speaking against the election of the Republican candidate for governor.
He died in San Francisco, July 12, 1872.
/. G. de Roulhac HamUton,
JOHN STARKEY
E LTHOUGH the settlement of the Cape Fear had begun in 1725, and in 1729 the southern- most part of Carteret Precinct had been cut off and called New Hanover, yet the intervening territory between Beaufort and Brunswick re- mained largely primeval forest. On Biirring- toti\ iciiirn :is Ttoyal governor, he sought to establish a colony on Xfw River, and the Johnstons later also had interests there. Indeed ihe county seat of Onslow Precinct was first named Joliusionville. Iml many years afterward it was wiped out fay a cyclone, and when rebuilt it was called Jacksonville, probably after General Jackson, On \ew River among the early settlers was John Starkey, who in 1734 was appointed one of the justices of the peace. It is said that he was a regularly ordained minister of the Church of England, a disciple of Rurnet rather than of Laud. On Sundays be generally read the services of the church to his family and neighbors, who assembled at his house for worship. He first appeared as a public man in the Legislature of 1739. and at once took a prominent place among the leaders of that body. In 1746, when the Committee on Proposition and Grievances was formed to consider matters calling for redress, he was appointed on that committee, and he was fearless and persistent in seeking to maintain the privileges of the Assembly and the rights of the ])eop!c. To him belongs the honor of having brought forward
38o NORTH CAROLINA
the first bill to establish a free school in North Carolina. His bill passed the Legislature April 5, 1749, but the governor, although he had long before urged the adoption of measures establishing public schools, was forced under his instructions to refrain from giving it eflfect.
On the death of Treasurer Eleazar Allen, he was appointed by the House of Commons Treasurer for the southern counties, Thomas Barker being then the Treasurer of the northern coun- ties ; but the upper House dissented and a struggle ensued. The Council claimed the right to nominate the treasurers, while the House of Commons insisted that it was their exclusive privilege to make the appointment. At the first session, because of this dis- agreement, his appointment fell ; but at the next session, the House adhering to its prerogatives, the Council assented and the matter was temporarily adjusted, to come up, however, again on the death of Starkey in 1765. That he was well qualified for this posi- tion sufficiently appears by the general esteem in which he was held, and the carefulness and prudence and attention to details that characterized his course in life. It is said that every species of domestic manufacture was carried on at his premises. That there tailors, shoemakers, saddlers, all plied their trades ; and he became the guardian of many minor children and administrator of many estates. When an issue of paper money was made for public puri)oscs, even before he became treasurer, he was one of the commissioners charged with the duty of preparing the currency and issuing it. While he antagonized Governor Johnston in some of his measures, there was no personal hostilities between them, and on the death of Mr. Samuel Johnston, the surveyor-general. and a brother of Governor Gabriel Johnston, Mr. Starkey acted as guardian for his children, one of whom was the distinguished Samuel Johnston of the Revolution ; and as these children were all beautifully educated and were ornaments of society, that fact alone is testimony of the superior excellence of their guardian.
Toward the close of Governor Johnston's administration, the northern counties having withdrawn from the Assembly, there were but few matters of disagreement between the administration
JUH\ STARKEV 381
and the Legislature, which was acting in accord with him on the two great subjects then agitating the province, the equahzation of representation and the location of a seat of government. But when Governor Dobbs succeeded to the administration various other questions came up and Starkey took strong ground against him. Governor Dobbs accorded to him great influence, which he ascribed "to his capacity and diligence and in some measure his garb and seeming humility in wearing shoestrings, a plain coat, and having a bald head ;" by which it is to be understood that the treasurer dressed like a plain man and not like a colonial gentle- man with knee breeches and powdered wig. The governor also regarded him as one of the most designing men in the province, saying that he was "a professed, violent Republican ; in every in- stance taking from his Majesty's prerogatives and encroaching upon the rights of the Council and adding to the power of the As- sembly in order to make himself popular. That being treasurer and having in charge the payment of its members, he could sway all the unstable and impecunious members to follow him like chickens, and he swayed the House against the most sensible mem- bers." He held the position of colonel of his county as well as justice ot the peace, and being continuousfy a member of the As- sembly, he did exercise a strong influence. Having offended Governor Dobbs by influencing the Assembly not to allow a proper salary to a storekeeper at Fort Johnston because the appointment of that officer was not accorded to the Assembly, and for other such contumacious acts, the Governor deprived, him of his com- mission as colonel anil as justice of the peace: but this declara- tion of personal hostility in no wise lessened the zealous activity of Treasurer Starkey in promoting the liberties of the people and the rights of the Assembly.
In 1754 it appears that in an Aid Bill then granted, Mr. Barker and Starkey were appointed the treasurers for a time unlimited, and Starkey felt himself entirely independent of the governor and Council. As years pas<;ed and the disagreements became more pronounced, the governor ascribed to Starkey and those with whom he co-operated advanced Republican principles and de-
384 NORTH CAROLINA
purity and loftiness, of that ennobling and spiritual quality in which the poetry of her son excels. No doubt his boyhood on the farm and his early sense of the responsibilities of life also helped to give him that habit of contemplation and that serenity of mind which are the foundation of all his work.
After his academic studies at the Graham High School, young Stockard took si)ecial courses at Chapel Hill. Here, encouraged by that splendid educator, Doctor Thomas Hume, of whose soul- waking enthusiasm, erudition, and unusual talents the writer can testify from personal knowledge, the genius of the poet rapidly developed.
Thus equipped and honored with the degree of A.M. by Elon College, he began his career as a teacher. After teaching some while in the schools of Alamance he was app>ointed principal of the Graham High School, and became in succession County Super- intendent, then Assistant Professor of English at the State Uni- versity, and later Professor at Fredericksburg College, Virginia. He is at present Professor of Latin in Peace Institute, Raleigh.
Mr. Stockard has been a contributor to the leading mag^ines for years. Of his poetic work I shall speak later. Some of his poems will be found in Stedman's Anthology, in "Representative Sonnets by American Poets," and in the *' Songs of the South." He will soon ])ublish **A Study of Southern Poetry" — a text-book for the use of colleges, and some critical studies of "In Memoriam" and other classics. Also another book of verses is in preparation.
In politics Mr. Stockard is a Democrat. He belongs to the Knights of Pythias and is a member of the Presbyterian Church. His conversation, rich with a great and varied culture, his sym- pathy, his loyalty, his sincerity, his capacity for friendship, and above all, his heli)fulness to others combine to make a jjersonality as charming as it is inspiring. His philosophy of life may be summed up in one sentence : "The better is the enemy of the best."
He has been twice married : first, in 1878, to Miss Sallie J. Holleman. a noble. Christian woman, and after her death, to Miss Margaret Lulu Tate, in 1890. The latter — with whom the writer is personally acquainted — lovely in person and manner, ar-
HENRY JEROME STOCKARD 385
tistic and intellectual, is at one with her gifted husband in all things. To her sympathy and co-operation is due in no small measure that chorus of great words which makes Stockard the voice of North Carolina.
It is no common privilege this — to appraise poetry like that of Stockard's. After an unintermitting study of English verse, after this long conning of masterpieces, day and night, for fifteen years, I do not hesitate to say that his little book with its modest title, "Fugitive Lines" — this little book that has made so little noise in the large world — was in many respects one of the most important literary events of our time. It will ultimately, I feel sure, be uni- versally so regarded.
As a maker of sonnets, Stockard has no living superior. Fraught with a tenderness "too deep for tears," sad with the sad- ness of the unsatisfied, throbbing with the anguish of the unat- taincd, his poetrj' pulses with "The still sad music of humanity." There is in it the appealing pathos of "lost Eden's loved," the dumb aspirations of unconscious nature and all the hope and melancholy of conscious man. His best is bound to rank with the best in ht- erature. In grandeur and in sublimity few have lived that can approach him, and man)' there be, appJauJed of the muhitude, that are not fit to touch the hem of his garment.
Like his own eagle, that lord of loneliness, he has a passion for the infinite; and soaring into the white ether of eternity, remote from the reasons of time, he confronts hfe as a whole, gazing deep into the glory which is God. His poetry is in the highest sense cosmic. To apply one of his own lines, it is "tuned to the move- ments of the joumeying stars."
He has not — to compare him with his foremost contemporaries — the sensuous music, the color and the motion of that belated Greek, Swinburne, nor the vivid vizualization, the titanic power and passionate energy of Markham. that glorifier of the common- place, whose mighty lines lean down from high places to shake hands with you: he has not the chiseled delicacies and the subtle languors of LeGallienne nor the limpid beauty and the intimate spirituality of Stephen Phillips; he has not the easy cadence and
386 NORTH CAROLINA
the elegance of Woodberry, nor the charm and unfailing fancy of van Dyke ; he has not the dignified diction and the rolling res- onance of William Watson, nor the lofty stateliness and the mystic imaginations of Moody ; he has not the instantaneous insight and the startling phrase of Roberts nor the beautiful abandon of Bliss Carman : he is distinguished for none of this. But more than any of these, he has the sense of vastness, of that spaciousness beyond the soar of wings. In this respect no poet in our literature surpasses him — not even the great Milton himself.
Evermore his soul goes marching over mountains ; yet often his eyes also look upon valleys of beautiful surprise. I approach his work, therefore, with a feeling akin to worship, with aw-e and with reverence. I shall quote where I can, satisfied that nothing I can say would justify my enthusiasms as much as will his own incom- parable lines.
Though he has not shown the sustained epic flight of the great poets, yet who, even of these, has soared higher than this sonnet:
IMAGINATION.
"Back through the chaos of the primal past.
Upon unfailing wings she takes her flight.
Or sounds the future's universal night 'Mid worlds to elements resolved at last. The gates of death unclose and down the vast
Cloud-huildcd stairs she faces shapes that fright,
Or wanders through Elysium's fields of light — For she would fain all pang, all bliss forecast!
But she shall never on life's bourne — ah me! If ever on that distant unknown shore!
Preen her adventurous pinions to explore The date of Him before whose veiled face
The universe, with its eternity, Is but a mote, a moment poised in space!"
Xow read this sonnet, culled from Harper^ s Magazine, a sonnet as fine as that of Blanco White on Night:
MOLLUSKS.
"Down where the bed of ocean sinks profound, Lodged in the clefts and caverns of the deep,
HENRY JEROME STOCKARD
Where silence and eternal darkness keep,
These dumb primordial living forms abound.
What know ihey of Ihis life in the vast round
Of earth and air? How wild the pulses leap
At love's Bweel dream — what storms of sorrow sweep,
What hopes allure us and what terrors hound?
And scattered on these slopes and plains, below
This atmospheric sea, one with the worm
And beetle, for a momentary term :
What know we more of those ethereal spheres
What rapture may be there, what poignant woe,
What towering passions and what high careers?"
Stockard's poetry is a twilight full of splendid moments. A far-scouting roamer of uniniagined solitudes, no other lias so well suggested the measure of immensity. Let me illustrate by these lines from his "Closing Century" :
"Yet what is time itself? 'Tis but a swing Of the vast pendulum of eternity."
I could quote much more of equal sublimity, but there are other phases of the poet's genius of which I desire to speak. Stockard has the poet's fury for perfection, and it is because the ideal is hia only real that he is so consummate an artist. Yet ever before him, as before all that aspire to immaculate truth, is the realization of the beauty beyond expression, and lines nobler than these have never voiced the divine despair of man :
THE UNATTAINED
"The marble, bosomed in the mountain hoar.
Holds in its heart, waiting some hand most skilled. Forms featured fairer yet than that which thrilled
.\nd moved beneath Pygmalion's touch of yore.
The instrument's keys await a grander score Than that whose faintest echoes, haply, chilled Mozart with rapture, and an instant stilled
His breath, (hen died away forevermore.
There is a scene no painter ever feigned, Of Eden's restful fields — lost visions loved ! Deail shores where tempests hoarse, Titanic roll —
388 NORTH CAROLINA
A song unsung more sweet than that which chained The heart of Hades' King — than ever moved The subtlest chord of Shakespeare's lofty soul!"
To Homer and Shakespeare our poet has reared imperishable memorials. In his **Homer" is all "The surge and thunder of the Odyssey," so vainly essayed in the sonnet of Andrew Lang.
The following poem stalks through the mind like a god trail- ing a cloud of awe. I know nothing finer in all poetr}- :
SHAKESPEARE
"He heard the Voice that spake and unafraid.
Beheld at dawning of primeval light
The systems flame to being, move in flight Unmeasured, unimagined and unstayed. He stood at nature's evening and surveyed
Dissolved worlds — saw uncreated night
About the universe's depth and height Slowly and silently forever laid. Down the pale avenues of death he trod
And trembling gazed on scenes of hate that chilled His blood, and for a breath his pulses stilled, —
Then clouds from sun-bright shores a moment rolled And blinded glimpsed he One with thunder shod.
Crowned with the stars, and with the morning stoled I"
Stockard has that rare mastery of music never absent from great poetry. His tones are not subtle like the sinuous melodies of Poe, nor are they hush-compelling like the orchestral symphonies of Lanier; but often, like Milton^s, they seem smitten from the harp of the storm. \Miat grandeur of utterance in the sonnet be- ginning:
"Great Day of Wrath whereof no mortal knows. Nor Angel, nor Archangel of high Heaven."
Then subsiding to a calmer mood he conjures with a wand of lotus, low and sleepy sounds, until amid ^Eolian murmurs we can hear the laugh of silence in a land of leaves. But soon again the young thunder, cradled in the heart of the calm, wakes from his sleep ; and, shaking his cloudy locks, leaps to a clime of elemental wars.
HENRY JEROME STOC
Both of these moods find glorious expression here :
AFTER READING A TREASURY OF SONNETS
"Vague visions fill my brain to-night, — high deeds Round Ilium's shadowy wall ; old Memnon grey With vacant gaze looks toward the rising day.
And breathes with mystic lips of ancient creeds.
Through Morven's haunted halls my fancy leads. And Loda's spirit bends o'er me, — far away On unblest shores, through cities of Cathay,
By perilous passes where the eaglet feeds.
Confusing sounds awake, — celestial strings, The clash of cymbals, tramp of armed bands. Songs fugitive, from Pelion's height outblown:
Round Anthemusia's slumberous island sings Brave Orpheus to his comrades, of home lands
Dim visioned, long across the seas unknown."
Can anything be more musical than the following?
SOME VERSES CAROL
**Some verses carol blithely as a bird
And hint of violet and asphodel;
While others slowly strike a funeral bell, Or call like clarionets till, spirit-stirred. We hear the mustering tramp in every word.
In some, the ocean pounds with sledges fell,
Or Neptune posts with blare of trumpet shell By shores that visionary seas engird. As soft as flutes, they croon the lullabies
Of cradle years ; play clear as citherns ; wail Like harps .^olian in the grieving wind : Some are the deep-drawn human moan by pale And silent faces 'neath lack-lustre skies. Peering through panes on darkness unconfined !"
In the next sonnet is a variety of tone and a potency of sugges- tion beyond that of any with which I am acquainted.
MY LIBRARY
"At times these walls enchanted fade, it seems, And lost, I wander through the Long Ag< In Eden where the lotus still doth grow. And many a reedy river seaward gleams.
390 NORTH CAROLINA
Now Pindar's deep-stringed shell blends with my dreams.
And now the elfin horns of Oberon blow :
Or flutes Theocritus by the wimpling flow Of immemorial amaranth — margined streams. Gray Dante leads me down the cloud-built stair.
And parts with shadowy hands the mists that veil Scarred deeps distraught by crying winds forlorn: By Milton stayed, chaotic steeps I dare,
And. with his immaterial presence pale. Stand on the heights flushed in creation's mom!"
Like Milton, our poet dares to come into the open to voice a noble indignation — dares to wage merciless campaign against the tyrannies of the time. Now fronting "Wrong as with a thousand spears," he assails "castled Error, mailed in guile:" now, stand- ing lonely on Truth's lighted tower, he challenges the lurking min- ions of the million-tented lie.
As fine as the best of Watson's "Purple East*' is that grand
war-cry :
"Nations of earth with one firm purpose rise And visit with vengeance fell the Ottoman race."
Already I have spoken of Stockard's melancholy, which, like a recurring monotone, rises and falls, murmuring softly of un- sounded deeps. He keeps tryst with cheer only in the twilight and sadness is never beyond call. No matter in what untroubled A ready he pitches the tent of his song, he cannot forget how fleet- ing arc the joys of life. Occasionally his musings remind me of the minor tones of some of the younger Dutch poets : of Kloos.with his passion for death ; of Helena Swarth, to whom sorrow is be- come a luxury, and of' van Eeden, that philosopher of tears.
He is forever haunted with the beginnings of things ; yet also he has that noble conception of human destiny which makes the poet a prophet. Behind the subjective sorrow he sees the radiant objectivity of the larger vision — sees
*'Into a day gilt with perpetual sun."
All of his words are
"Brave with the promise ol unrisen days,"
HENRY JEROME STOCKARD
for lie cannot but feel
" lift's pangs and tears
Parts of some large, divine-appoinled Whole,"
All the various phases of life he beholds as gradual approaches to the oneness which is God. His poetry is a call to arms, a sum- moning to a higher pilgrimage. It pulses with the upward surge
of the soul.
Surely poet never sang finer optimism than that voiced in this great sonnet ;
THE PAST "O ye that pine for the vanished years, as pined Odysseus for one glimpse of Hellas more; Thai toward them lean, as toward their fading shore Poor exiles, imto earth's far ends consigned, Lean to reclaim some echo which, confined. Birdlike shall sing in memory's mournful door — Know this: life's earlier land lies on before — Not over widening seasons far behind ! Anil wc shall find it in the great To-Be. It lapses not away, as to our eyes Doth seem, but swiftly and forever nearsi As brave M.igellan nho sailed the imcharted sea. Full circling earth, saw his home shores arise. So shall we come again on our lost, happy years!"
Of Stockard's lyrics, I have space for only a few words. In these, as in his sonnets, he is altogether himself. Full of fine brooding is the poem "Come Tenderly, O Death"; and richer melancholy than that of "Pallida Mors" is nowhere to be found.
Splendid is the "Review of the Dead." where before us march
"Battalion on battalion, riders pale On dim, mysterious chargers."
This has all the qualities that make for permanence:
"The Hand that binds the star
In its far center, and around it rolls Through space il? worlds, with never halt nor jar, No less my step controls.
392 NORTH CAROLINA
The same unfailing Hand
Hath led me forth from still eternity, 'Twill guide me onward through star vistas, and
I follow trustingly."
"Lead me, O God," not inferior to Newman's great hymn, thrills with the same Christian trust. ''Bethlehem," too long to quote here, J. H. Boner called *'an immortal poem." The following is a
triumy)h : THE LOW INN
"Pilgrim, what though prone, belated. You are hastening but to win Somewhere down the lonely valley The low inn.
"It has housed full many a traveler Peasant, monarch, prophet, Christ, And the cheer that it dispenses Has sufficed.
"Drink the slumber giving beaker And forget the hurting cold While the gradual shades of evening Arc unrolled.
"Sleep, nor fear, for you shall weaken To the warden's call at dawn ; And a child, in some glad morning, Journey on."
Sonic of Stockard's serenades and lullabies are among the best in the lang^nage. Here is a lyric which any poet might be proud to have written : NOCTURNE
"Night closing in on reaches gray
Of marsh and dune and shingle lone. Whose hush brings out the far away Eternal moan.
"Darkness, unbcaconed. unconfined, A mist along the void that sleeps; A lost forlorn and crying wind From central deeps.
"O ship that sailed with canvas black Into the dolorous waste of sea, From its uncharted zones bring back My love to me."
HENRY JEROME ST( ^ )
I have not yet spoken of Stoclcard's patriotic poems. T Charge at Appomattox," one of the greatest of war lyrics, finest memorial of the Lost Cause. Here are two stanzas :
"Scarred on a hundred fields before, Naked and starved and travel-sore,
Each man a tiger hunted. They stood at bay as brave as Huns, Last of the Old South's splendid sons, Flanked by ten thousand shotted guns.
And by ten thousand fronted.
*'But the far ages will propound What never sphinx had lore to sound
Why in such fires of rancor The God of Love should find it meet For Him, with Grant as sledge, to beat On Lee, the anvil, at such heat
Our nation's great sheet-anchor.'
tf
There are many other poems in which the old North State is heard beating in every line; ot ; bolizc *'the great renascent South," but these we mi fo
Even finer than that fine fragment of Tennyson's, by which it seems to have been suggested, is this lyric :
THE AMERICAN EAGLE
"Brooded on crags, his down, the rocks, He holds the skies for his domain : Serene he preens where thunder shocks And rides the hurricane.
'The scream of shells is in his shriek; His wings, as swords, whiz down the air; His claws, as bayonets, gride; his beak, As shrapnel-shards, doth tear.
''Where Shasta shapes its mighty cone, Where Mitchell heaves into the skies, Silent he glares, austere, alone. With sun-outstaring eyes !"
394 NORTH CAROLINA
Set to appropriate music, what a magnificent national hymn this would make! It is one of the most notable songs ever written.
Stockard is not prodigal of his genius. Now and then a song or a sonnet, long prisoned in the silence of his mind, flashes out like a splendor of surprise.
Here, however, is the man chosen by nature to write the great epic of the South. Could he but be given the leisure to devote him- self to this work, he would more than justify the privilege. Such poetry as his is too sublime to be popular, and I fear it will be long before our poet shall enter into his heritage of fame. But when he is known, as known he must be, I am confident that he will occupy a niche not lower than that of Poe and of Lanier.
Leonard Charles van Noppen.
JETHRO SUMNER
THE settlement of Granville's territory, from I Edgecombe County to Granviile inclusive, was chiefly made by immigrants from Virginia, among whom wore many families of conse- ence whose various members attained distinc- n in North Carolina. Among these were the ,■ Sumner often represented Chowan County in the Provincial Congresses and was chairman of the Committee of Safety of his county and rendered important service during the Revolutionary War. David Sumner likewise was a member of the Provincial Congress of August, 1775. was a member of the Com- mittee of Safety of Halifax, and lieutenant-colonel of militia. James Sumner was lieutenant in the company of Light Horse. Robert Sumner represented Hertford County in the Provincial Congress of 1776. Elizalicth Sumner married Eiislia Battle, who was a Representative from Edgecombe in the Revolutionary Con- gresses, and from her are descended that family of Battles that has been so prominent in North Carolina. The most eminent of all of the Sumners, however, was Jethro Sumner, the subject of this sketch. AH of these kinsmen were grandchildren of William Sumner, who was a freeholder in Virginia about the year 1688, and who was associated with the substantial families of the Old Dominion. Jclhro Sumner was bom on his father's plantation, called Manor, about one mile from the town of Suffolk, in the year
396 NORTH CAROLINA
1733. When about twelve years of age he had the misfortune to be deprived of his father's care, but his early life seems to have been passed amid circumstances of affluence.
In 1758 Governor Dinwiddie gave him a letter of recommenda- tion to Colonel Washington, who was then on duty in western Virginia, and young Sumner was appointed a lieutenant in a Vir- ginia regiment of which William Byrd was colonel, and which was attached to the forces of General Forbes on an expedition against Fort Du Quesne. Sumner remained in the service until his rai- ment was disbanded in 1761, receiving at that time three years* training that was of invaluable service to him in after life. That he made his mark as a young officer is manifest, for on November 26, 1760. Colonel Boquet, his commander, committed to his trust a separate command at Fort Bedford ; and on two occasions Sum- ner marched with his regiment down the Holston River against the Chcrokees, who were then being reduced to subjection after their horrible massacre of the garrison of Fort Loudoun, which was just west of the present county of Swain. When peace came and his regiment was disbanded, young Sumner lingered a few years in \^irginia and then removed to North Carolina, settling at the court house of the new countv of Bute, which was located near the dividing line between Warren and Franklin Counties. There an inn was established, kept by one Elliott, but owned by Sumner; and from its accounts it appears that Sumner had lo- cated in Bute {)rior to November, 1769. In 1772 Sumner was ap- pointed sheriff of Bute County, having already attained a posi- tion of prominence in his new^ home. He had married, had a goodly estate, and was leading the life of a prosperous gentle- man. In 1774 a captain in the British Army, J. F. D. Smyth, who was making a tour through the Colonies, recorded his impressions of Sumner, saying that he was **a facetious man" and **one of violent principles."
Sumner's first appearance in a representative capacity was at the Ilillsboro Congress of August, 1775, he being then in full sympathy with tlie other patriots of the province. At that time the militia was organized, two regiments of Continentals raised.
JETHRO SUMNER 397
and six battalions of Minnie Men, and Sumner was appointed major of the Minute Men of the Hahfax district. In November,
1775, Governor Dunmore of Virginia seized Norfolk, and North Carolina hurried troops to the aid of the Virginians, Colonel Howe marched his regiment there, and on (he 28th day of Novem- ber the Committee of Safety ordered Colonel Long and Major Sumner, with what Minute Men and volunteers they could raise, to press forward with the utmost dispatch. The North Caro- linians gained great credit in that campaign ; and while the part that Sumner played was not particularly recorded, yet his action was so highly appreciated that at the next meeting of the Provin- cial Congress, when four more Continental regiments were raised, Sumner was awarded the colonelcy of the first of the new regi- ments. Colonel Sumner's regiment was during that Summer in South Carolina, and perhaps participated in the defence of Charleston. At any event it accompanied General Lee on his expe- dition to take St. Augustine in Florida. On the 3d of September,
1776. the condition of his regiment at Savannah being distressing, by direction of General Lee, Colonel Sumner himself returned to North Carolina in order to obtain for his soldiers the equipments of which llicy stood in need. In his orders to Colonel Alston he said:
"Yon ought to be particularly careful of the discipline and to your utmost keep up a good imderstaniling among the officers and soldiers. Yon arc at all times to keep up strict discipline, but to reserve a mode of clemency, as being among young troops. Be careful in seeing no fraud is done them by tlic commissaries and their pay regularly to a month delivered to them by their captains."
These directions give a keynote of Sumner's management of his
On the 15th of March, 1777, the North Carolina Regiments moved north to join Washington. General Nash was in com- mand of the brigade, which was a part of Lord Stirling's divi- sion, and the North Carolinians displayed courage at the Battle of Brandywine, and won still greater renown on the 4th of Octo-
398 NORTH CAROLINA
ber at the battle of Germantown, where Sumner's regiment lost heavily. The brigade endured the sufferings of Valley Forge; and at Monmouth, being on the left flank of the army, rendered particular and notable service. The North Carolina troops suf- fered heavily at the North, and on account of their diminished numbers, in May, 1778, they were consolidated into three regi- ments commanded respectively by Colonel Clark, Colonel Patten and Colonel Sumner; and on January 9, 1779, Sumner was pro- moted to be brigadier-general and was ordered South to aid in the defence of Georgia and South Carolina. His brigade had the post of honor in the attack on the enemy at Stono Ferry on June 20, 1779. ^<^ insure success he ordered his men not to fire, but to use their bayonets only. They, however, met with such a deadly fire that they could not be restrained from returning it. They behaved with great spirit ; but because of the failure of a part of the plan intrusted to Moultrie, General Lincoln deemed it best to abandon the movement. Shortly after that battle active opera- tions ceased, and Sumner having fallen a victim to the malarial fever of tlic South Carolina swamps, in July returned to North Carolina to reestablish his health, also being engaged in forward- ing recruits for his depleted brigade. In November, however, he was again with Lincoln, rendering efficient service ; but later he was detached to raise four new regiments of Regulars in North Carolina. He thus, fc^rtunatcly, was not with the army Avhen Lin- coln capitulated at Charleston in May, 1780, surrendering the entire Continental Line and a brigade of North Carolina militia that had joined in the defence of Charleston. The situation at the South now was full of peril, and the North Carolina Assembly recognized it.
To assist Gcncrnor Nash a board of war was organized : Cas- well was appointed major-general in command of all the militia, and Sumner and the other Continental officers in the State were seeking to form Continental battalions. On June 13th Gates was appointed to the command of the Southern Department, and De Kalb was sent South along with a Maryland brigade imder Gen- eral Small wood, a Delaware regiment, and a brigade of Virginia
JETHKO SUMXER
militia under General Stevens. De Kalb's camp was established on Deep River, and Caswell moved with the North Carolina militia to Cheraw. Gates on the 2Sth of July reached De Kalb's camp, and, moving forward, on ihe 7ih of August joined Caswell and met with disaster at Camden on the I5tli of August.
It is worthy of note that somewhat earlier General Lillington, in command of a brigade of militia in South Carolina, had called particular attention to the value of the services of Major Hall Dixon, of the Continental Line, who was with him; and in the Battle of Camden Major Dixon had command of some militia who covered themselves with glory. The advantage of thus em- ploying experienced Continental officers at this critical juncture was very apparent, and Governor Nash seems to have realized it. He called for a second draft of militia and formed a brigade of 1 200 men, which he placed under the command of General Sumner, who moved to Salisbury and then lo the south of Char- lotte. Gates was at that period reforming his Continentals at Hillsboro. Towards the end of September Comwallis took posses- sion of Charlotte, and Sumner fell back to McGoin's Creek, where early in October he was joined by General Butler's brigade and by General Jones's Halifax brigade. Perhaps at Gates'.s sugges- tion General Smallwood, who claimed credit for valuable service at Camden, and who was now the officer next in rank to General Gates, was appointed by the Legislature major-general and offered the command of the North Carolina militia, and he ac- cepted the appointment. General Sumner was with his command on the Yadkin on the loth of October when General Davidson reported to him the defeat of Major Ferguson, and he transmitted the inicliigonce to General Gates. A few days later, however. General Smalhvood arrived in his camp and took command. Comwallis having withdrawn from the State, it seems that the militia returned to their homes. Sumner felt keenly and resented Smalhvood's appointment over him. On the 2d of December General Greene arrived at Charlotte, and superseding Gates, took command. He at once directed General Sumner, as the senior officer of the Continental Line in the State, to use renewed activity
400 NORTH CAROLINA
in reestablishing the North Carolina Continentals, and Sumner, ably aided by the other Continental officers in the State, was en- gaged in organizing the new troops and equipping them. Early in February, on the return to the State of Lord Cornwallis in pur- suit of Greene, Sumner tendered his services and those of all the Continental officers to the Governor and urged their employment.
On the 27th of January, 1781, the Legislature met at Halifax. The Board of War was then discontinued and a Council-Extraor- dinary was substituted for it, the members being General CaswelU Alexander Martin and Allen Jones. General Caswell was again ap])ointed major-general and assigned to the command of the militia of the State. Towards the close of Februar>' Corn- wallis was at Hillsboro and Greene was in the hills of Orange awaiting reinforcements of militia to give battle. General Greene now directed General Sumner to tender again the services of the Continental officers to discipline and command the militia, and Governor Nash utilized some of the officers in that way, and Sumner hoped to have the command of a brigade.
Indeed Colonel Alexander Martin, when at the head of the l>oard of War, had so employed some Continental officers; but for some reason General Caswell, who was now at the head of the Council-Extraordinary as well a^ in command of the militia, did not utilize these experienced soldiers in the hour of the State's great need. There was apparently some friction between Caswell and Sumner.
After Cornwallis had marched from Wilmington to Virginia Sumner continued to make extraordinary exertions to form new Continental battalions, his camp being at the site of Oxford ; and at one time he had orders to lead what forces he had collected to the aid of Baron Steuben in Virginia; but later these orders were countermanded and about the middle of July, having re- ceived a supply of arms from Baron Steuben, among them 250 excellent muskets with bayonets, he marched with a brigade of TOGO men. formed into three battalions, commanded by Colonel Ashe and Majors Armstrong and Blount, to reinforce Greene in South Carolina. At that time and for several months before
JETHRO SUMNER 401
the entire region from Guilford Court House to the ocean was the scene of a fierce warfare between the Tories and the patriots. Major Craig was in possession of Wilmington, and the Tory bands were often more powerful than the Slate forces combating than. Early in June Governor Nash had asked General Sumner to send some of his Continentals into that region, but his orders from General Greene to hasten to his aid he considered too per- emptory for that, and lie did not comply with the request.
General Sumner having joined Greene towards the end of August, General Greene prepared for a conflict with the enemy, which occurred on the 8th of September at Eutaw Springs. This was one of the bloodiest battles of the war, and the North Caro- linians behaved nobly and suffered severely. General Sumner, his officers and men, indeed won great glory. Shortly after that battle General Sumner himself was directed to return to North Carolina and send forward to General Greene all the twelve months' men that could be raised and secure clothing and supplies for Greene's army, and he continued actively employed until peace was declared and the amiy disbanded. On the 23d of April, 1783, furloughs were granted to the North Carolina sol- diers and they returned to their homes, and CejieraJ Sumiicr re- tired to his plantation in Warren County, near old Bute Court House. It was about that time apparently that he suffered a .severe bereavement in the loss of his wife. Only once did he afterwards leave his privacy. On April 13, 1784, he presided over the North Carolina division of the Society of the Cincinnati.
He died March 18. 17R5, leaving three children, all minors. One of them, Jacky Sullivan, married Thomas Blount, a brother of Major Reading Blount, and eventually changed lier name to Mary Sumner Blount. He left two sons, who died without issue. General Howe, General Sumner and General Rutherford were the three most useful military men furnished by North Carolina in the struggle for independence.
S. A. Ashe.
JOHN LOUIS TAYLOR
f HE Supreme Court of North Carolina was or- f;aiiized In its present form in the year l8l8, and tlie first cliief-jusfice of that tribunal was John Louis Taylor. This eminent jurist was born of Irish parentage in the city of London on March r. 1769. His father dying during his childhood, he remained under the care of his mother until he reached the age of twelve, when he came to America with James Taylor, an elder hrother. Jn the same ship came Pierce Manning (whose daughter was afterward adopted by Taylor) and John Devcrcux, an ancestor of a well-known North Carolina family.
With the assistance of his brother, young Taylor entered Wil- liam and Mary College in the State of Virginia, but left that insti- tution before graduating. Later coming to North Carolina, he en- tered upon the study of law without any instruction; yet, despite this disadvantage, he had made such progress that he was licensed to practice before he became of age. He was sworn in before the County Court of Guilfonl in 1788, and before the Superior Court of Hilisboro District on April 11, 1789. He took up his residence in the tnwn of Faycttcvilic : and while still a very young man he was elected to represent that Ijorough in the North Carolina House of Commons at the sessions of 1792, 1793 and 1794. At a subse-
JOHX LOUIS TAYLOR 403
quent period (late in I7()6 or early in 1797) Mr. Taylor removed to New-Bern.
While he remained at the bar, Taylor easily ranked with the first lawyers of North Carohna. Talents of a high order, which he possessed, were improved by education and self-culture; and as a forceful and convincing speaker he was equalled by few. He was also well versed in the classics as well as in the polite litera- ture of more modem times. All this, added to a handsome per- sonality, attractive and engaging manners, and a generous nature, made him one of the most popular men of his time. It was in 1798 that he was elevated to the bench of Superior Court (then the supreme judicial tribunal of the State), and this post he oc- cupied until 1818, when a still higher honor fell to his lot. In i8[o, prior to the establishment of the present Supreme Court, it was deemed advisable to have a tribunal to fulfill the functions of a Court of Appeals. The Legislature, therefore, enacted that the Superior Court judges should meet in a body — should sit in banc, to use the old English phrase — and should have power to select one of their number as presiding justice. By common con- sent the latler honor was assigned to Judge Taylor. As already mentioned, the present Supreme Court of North Carolina was established in 1818. The first members of that tribunal were Jolin Louis Taylor, chief justice; and Leonard Henderson and John Hall, associate justices. This court was first opened on January i, 1819.
Chief Justice Taylor remained at the head of the Supreme Court until his death more than ten years later. Judge Taylor became a citizen of Raleigh about the year 181 1. His home was on Hills- boro Street in tlie house now occupietl by Captain Samuel A. Ashe. This was built by him and afterward owned by Judge Gaston, who conveyed it to Judge Romulus M. Saunders.
While Andrew Jackson was a practicing lawyer in North Caro- lina, prior to his removal to Tennessee, a strong friendship sprang up between him and Judge Taylor. In after years, when Jackson was a candidate for the office of President of the United States, Taylor voted for him, though perhaps not fully in accord with his
404 NORTH CAROLINA
political principles. After his elevation to the office of chief jus- tice, Mr. Taylor paid a visit to relatives in England; and while there a handsome miniature of him was painted. Both the Su- preme Court of the State and the Masonic Grand Lodge own oil portraits copied from this miniature.
In April, 1828, Georgetown University, in the city of Washing- ton, honored Chief Justice Taylor with the degree of Doctor of Laws.
Few men have ever lived in North Carolina who were more prominently identified with the Masonic fraternity than was Judg^c Taylor. He was deputy grand master from December 4, 1799, till December 12, 1802; grand master from December 12, 1802, till December 12. 1805; and again grand master from November 26, 18 14, till December 7, 1817. He was not a Mason merely in name, but was an active worker up to the time of his death ; and when his earthly career came to an end, Hiram Lodge, No. 40, in the city of Raleigh, laid his remains to rest with Masonic honors. In 1803 F'rani^ois Xavicr Martin, of New- Bern, compiled a work entitled "Ahiman Rezon and Masonic Ritual/' which he dedi- cated to Grand Master Taylor "as a tribute of esteem for his amia- ble virtues, respect for bis learning and talents, and fraternal grati- tude for the zeal and fidelity with which he presides in the chair." In this work is published (among other matter) a Masonic ad- dress which Grand Master Taylor delivered before the Grand Lodge of North Carolina at Raleigh in 1804. In the course of that address Taylor said :
**Thc purest system of ethics does not recommend any virtues which are not inculcated by the principles of Masonry. If. unfortunately, its lessons have failed to produce their proper effect with some men: if a few unhappy Brethren continue to abandon themselves to vice and in- temperance, notwithstanding the instruction and correctives they have re- ceived, such examples are sincerely deplored by all real Masons. For they ardently desire that every Brother should exemplify in his conduct the tenets of his science, and they utterly disown all those in whom a long course of immorality has extinguished the hope of reformation."
In the first volume of Devcreux's Equity (i6th North Caro- lina Supreme Court Reports), page 309, is a memoir of Chief Jus-
JOHN LOUIS TAYLOR
tice Taylor, written shortly after his death, which has this to say of his career on the bench :
"How he discharged his duties during the Iwenly years he administered justice on the circuit, it is impossible that the bar or tlic community can have forgotten. He was pre-eminently a safe Judge. It was difficult to present a question for his determination upon which his reading had not Stored up. and his memory did not present, some analogous case in which it had been settled by the sages of the law. And with him it was 3 re- ligious principle la abide by Ihe landmarks, 'stare decisis.' Uniting in an extraordinary degree suavity of manners with firmness of purpose, a heart tremblingly alive to every impulse of humanity with a deep-seated and reverenliai love of justice, the best feelings with an enlightened Judg- ment, he made the law amiable in the sight of the people, inspired re- Bpcct and alTectinn for its institutions, and gained for its sentences a prompt and cheerful obedience.
Of his opinions on the Supreme Bench the same writer says: "While all may be read with profit and are entitled to respect, there are many — very many — which may be regarded as models of leg>I investigalion and Judicial eloquence. There is, indeed, a charm in all his compositions, seldom to be found elsewhere, which has induced not a few to regret that the Chief Justice had not devoted himself entirely to a literary life. He would pribably have proved one of the most elegant writers of bis day. He who could render legal truth attractive could not fail to have recommended moral excellence in strains that would have found an echo in every heart."
Chief Justice Taylor was author of a short biographical sketch of .Associate Justice .Mfred Moore, of the United States Supreme Court. This was re-pnblishcd many years after Taylor's death in the North Carolina Umversily Magazine for October, 1844. In the same periodica! for March, i860, is a sketch of the life of Tay- lor himself, written by Judge William H. Eattlc. Another notice of Taylor will be found in the North Carolina Supreme Court Re- ports, volume 107, page 985,
In the Grrcn Bag Afagadiie for October, 1892, Chief Justice Clark of the Supreme Court of North Carolina gives the follow- ing synopsis of the legal writings, etc., of Chief Justice Taylor: ■'s Reports, which now form a part of the 1 Reports.' In 1814 he published the first
4o6 NORTH CAROLINA
volume of the 'North Carolina Law Repository/ and in 1816 the second volume of the same, and in 1818 Taylor's 'Term Reports.* These three volumes arc now united in one, known as '4 North Carolina Reports. As originally printed, the 'Repository' contained much interesting matter (other than decisions of the court) which has now been omitted in the re- print. In 181 7 he was appointed by the General Assembly jointly with Judge Henry Potter, of the United States District Court for North Caro- lina, to publish a revision of the statute law of the State. This revisal, known as 'Potter's Revisal,' came out in 1821. In 1825 Judge Taylor published a continuation of this work, including the Acts of 1825. This is known as 'Taylor's Revisal.' He also published a treatise on executors and administrators. He possessed a singular aptitude for literature, and would have excelled in composition if his 'jealous mistress,* the law. had given him opportunity. His elocution was the admiration of all who heard him. His style of writing is preserved to us in his opinions, and in beauty of diction they are not surpassed, if equalled, by any of his successors. Chief-Ju<tice Taylor came to his post at forty-nine years of age, and during the ten years he presided in the new court his opinions form at once his judicial record and his lasting eulogy. His charge to the Grand Jury of Edgecombe in 181 7 is a model of style and subject mat- ter. It was published by request of the Grand Jury.'*
Chief Jtjstice Taylor was twice married. His first wife was Jtilia Rowan, and by her he had an only daughter, Julia Rowan Taylor, who married Major Junius Sneed, and was mother of Associate Justice John Louis Taylor Sneed, of the Supreme Court of Tennessee. The second wife of Chief Justice Taylor was Jane Gaston. By her he had an only son and namesake, who died unmarried, and an only daughter who became the wife of David E. Sumner, and left descendants. The second Mrs. Tavlor was a sister of Judge William Gaston, and a daughter of Doctor Alex- ander Gaston, who was killed in the Revolution. Sketches of both of these gentlemen will be found elsewhere in the present work.
The death of Chief Justice Taylor occurred on January 29,
1829. His remains were interred on his premises in Raleigh, but
later removed to the State plot in Oakwood Cemetery, where they
now repose by the side of those of Chief Justice Pearson and other
public servants, who now, after duty well done, rest from their
labors.
Marshall De Lancey Haywood,
T Z IIEVI YOM
4o8 NORTH CAROLINA
age one of the substantial and influential men of the county — so much so that in 1844 he was urged by the people to become a candidate for the State Senate. This was before nominating conventions were held by either the Democratic or Whig Part}', being tlie parties in which the voters of the State were then di- vided ; though the Whigs often called the Democrats Loco-focos. Candidates announced their candidacv in the most effective wav they could, and the following paragraph is to be found in the Raleigh Register, a Whig paper, of May 28, 1844:
"\Vc learn that several of the candidates for seats in the Legislature pre- sented themselves before the Grand Jury of this county last week, it being that of our County Court, and declared themselves as such. The gentle- men composing the tickets are: Charles Manly (Whig) and George W. Thompson (Loco) for the Senate. For the House of Commons. Henry W. Miller. Samuel P. Norris and Charles L. Hinton (Whigs) ; James B. Morgan, Gaston H. Wilder and James B. Shepard (Locos). . . ."
At that time Charles Manly, a man of decided ability, and after- ward g(ncrnor of the State, was, with the probable exception of Weston R. C^ialcs, then editor of the Register, the most popular Wlii;^ in the county, and the parties were not far from evenly di- vided, but Mr. Thompson was elected by a safe majority. He was re-elected by increasinfj; majorities in 1846 and 1848, his opp>onents bein^- resj>ectively Samuel P. Xorris and Edward Hall, both good men and with influential connections in the county. At that time one of the (lualitlcatit^ns of a senator was that he should own 300 acres of land, and of a voter for the Senate that he should own 50 acres of land. During the campaign of 1848 there was pro- posed an amendment to the Constitution by the legislative mode, to j)nn'i(le for "free sufTrage" for the Senate and Mr. Thompson annoimced himself as favoring it; though the amendment was not perfected initil nearly ten years later. He was a JefFersonian Democrat, while his father had been a Federalist and was a WTiig. It is said that when he first became a candidate, the trend of affairs and his stncly of the constitutional history of the country having convinced him that it was his duty to ally himself with the Demo- cratic Partv. he told his father and a brother that he wished them
GEORGE VVAKREN THOMPSON 409
to vote for their principles, and they dtd so, easting their ballots for his opponent.
After his third term of service in the Senate, Mr. Thomp- son retired from public life and devoted himself to his in- creasing business. In or about 1854 the Democratic Party in the district nominated him for a seat in the national House of Representatives ; but he declined and suggested for the nomination the name of L. O'B. Branch, who had recently moved back to North Carolina from Florida and afterward became a dis- tinguished Confederate general and was killed at Sharpsburg. He would have been elected, as Mr. Bran<:h was, but he preferred life at home and among his neighbors to that in Washington City,
In 1858 the late Major William A. Bledsoe, a popular Democrat. led a revolt from his party, and was supported by the Whigs and members of the N'cw American Party on an issue of ad valorem taxation. The Democratic Convention called Mr. Thompson from his retirement by nominating him as Major Bledsoe's opponent. .Able and active men were nominated for the House on both sides. There was a very spirited campaign, and Mr. Thompson was de- feated by a very close vote. He could not be induced again to enter public life. In 1871 he was nominated by the Conservative Democratic Parly with ex-Govcmor Thomas Bragg and Honorable Daniel M. Barringer for a seat in a Constitutional Con- vention, the vote upon the c.illing of which was to be taken on April 30, 1871 : but he declined the nomination. To the last, how- ever, he look an interest in public affairs, and exerted a wholesome influence for Democracy in his section of the county. During the war between the Slates he gave a cordial support to the cause of the South, and al! three of his sons were volunteers in the Con- federate army. His conduct and counsel during the war and the period of rcconstructinu after it were dignified and conservative. He never lost courage or hojic that things would come out right in the end. Especially was his counsel deemed invaluable in the uncertain |)eriod which fo!!owe<l the overthrow of the Confederacy, when because of new conditions never before experienced, all public affairs and private matters were involved in the utmost con-
41 o NORTH CAROLINA
fusion. At that time Mr. Thompson's advice was sought by lead- ing men even in distant parts of the State, and his influence was exerted to the benefit and advantage of the people of the State. His integrity and prudence in business and his kindness as a neigh- bor caused his services to be sought before and during the war as executor, guardian, etc., and these fiduciary relations during the "chaotic times'* which followed gave him much concern. Dur- ing the last year of the war, when the value of Confederate money had sunk to 25 or 50 to i, while he never refused to take the de- preciated currency in payment of his own debts, he took and fol- lowed the advice of counsel about declining to accept it in dis- charge of claims he held as executor or guardian. Nor did the de- nunciation of some extreme Confederates move him to violate his duty. His settlement of complicated estates, after the ma- chinery of the courts was running smoothly, was satisfactory to all concerned.
Mr. Thompson was a great suflferer from facial neuralgia for many years before his death, and he could frequently be seen driv- ing to town, in inclement weather, twelve or fifteen miles, with a thick green veil over his face ; and the wTiter whom he honored with his friendship could not but admire the patience with which he bore his suffering. Never did a complaint or murmur escape his lips.
He was a member of the Missionary Baptist Church for over sixty years before his death, and his consistent conduct during all these years was testimony of his faithfulness to his religion.
Firm in his own faith, he was ever tolerant of the religious opin- ions of others. In manners, while approachable to all, he was dignified and courteous, ever a gentleman of the old school. As a conversationalist he was, as the result of reading, exf)erience and accurate observation, interesting and instructive. As a public speaker he was easy, self-possessed, logical and accurate and edify- ing in his statement of facts and principles. The arts of the dema- gogue he was too honest and true to practice.
He was a member of the first Board of Trustees of Wake Forest College and was the last survivor but one of that board. He con-
GEORGE WARREN THOMPSON 411
tinned to be a member, and always a regular attendant at its meet- ings until tbe last.
Mr. Thompson married Miss Frances Crenshaw, danghter of William Crenshaw and a sister of the venerable Major John M. Crenshaw of Wake County. She was ever a helpmeet to him and survived him a few years. They had three sons and a daughter, who lived to maturity. Their son William Marcellus was killed at Malvern HiH, having gone into the army as a lieutenant of the Oak City Guards. Their son Henry A. died a few years after the war from disease contracted by exposure in the war. Their son A. Judson became a physician, and died a few years since in Moore County, respected by the community in which he lived for his skill in his profession and his urbanity, in which he followed the example of his father. The only daughter, Sarah Frances, is the wife of Mr. Samuel T. Morgan, who was raised her ne^h- bor in Wake County, but is now the president of the Virginia- Carolina Chemical Company and resides in Richmond. Virginia.
Among the brothers of Mr. Thompson was Michael Thompson, Esquire, near his own age, who lived in his immediate vicinity, and between them there was always a most affectionate and brotherly sympathy and association. Michael Thompson was one of (lie most esleenied citizens of the county, & mag-istrate, and long a member of the Special Court of the county. He was the father of John W. Thompson, Esquire, once clerk of the Su- perior Court of Wake County, and of Doctor S. W. Thompson, who also enjoyed the esteem of all who knew him.
The influence of the life of George W. Thompson was potent for good, and for good not only in his generation ; and it is well that his mcmnry should be preserved in a biography of leading North Carolinians. He truly was worthy of imitation.
R. H. Battle.
n
Z",,,, yi^.-y V"*r.V
1 • NO?. AND
L
LEONARD CHARLES \AN NOPPEN 4'3
came miicli esteemed and was on tlic bright road to prosperity when, in 1887, at the age of forty-seven, he was killed in an acci- dent. Proud of his American citizenship, he strove in every way to be worthy of his adopted country. Also he labored assidnously for the education of his children, whose aspirations he ever en- couraged.
The sweet wife and affectionate mother, amiable, homc-loving and charitable, had the grace and charm pf the French tempera- ment. Unhappily she lived only a few months after the death of her husband. Leonard inherits her artistic nature and quick sensi- bility.
Members of both families have for generations been prominent in the professions. Three are to-day clergymen in the Established Church of Holland, and only recently a cousin. Doctor Marinus van Melle, was chosen, at ihe age of twenty-eight, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam, the youngest man ever to achieve that distinction. A paternal grandfather accom- panied Napoleon to Moscow. Another* ancestor. Admiral Jose de Mixir, who prevented, by his defeat of Spinola, tlie junction of the united fleets with the anny of .'Alexander of Parma, was an important factor in the annihilation of the Spanish Armada. On the maternal side the dc Bois connection was for several hun- dred vcars one of the wealthiest and most infltiential famihes of rianders.
During their first years in North Carolina this interesting household, then located near New Garden, was brought into close association with the Society of Friends, of which both parents be- came menilwrs, while the three sons received their academic train- ing at what was then New Garden Boarding School.
After the death of their father, whose labors they assisted for several \'ears with becoming industry, Leonard and Charles re- turned to Friends' School, now become Guilford College, where Leonard took the degree of A. It. in 1890. Later he continued his studies in literature at the University of North Carolina, where lit- was graduated R.Litt, in 1892.
At Chapel Hill he had the inspiration of the larger circle and
414 NORTH CAROLINA
made a splendid record as a student. Quickened by his environ- ment, encouraged by his teachers and kindled by the example of his friend, Henry J. Stockard, he gave evidence of his latent p>owers by some vivid poetical compositions. Furthermore he used his pen with vigor and effectiveness as the editor of The IVIiite and Blue, a paper established by him and others in opposition to the secret fraternities, which they believed had en- croached upon the rights of the student body.
In 1893 he took his A.M. at Haverford College, Pennsylvania. Here he had the rare advantage of study under that eminent scholar. Doctor Francis B. Gummere. The next Fall he returned to Chapel Hill, where he took the law course under Doctor John Manning and Chief Justice Shepherd. He successfully passed the examination before the Supreme Court, and in 1894 received his license to practice.
The literary instinct, however, soon revived, and in 1895, acting on a sudden inpulse, he went to Holland to study the literature of his forbears.
During the two years of his first visit to Holland, he not only learned to speak the language fluently, but also he achieved his metrical version of Wmdcl's "Lucifer," the prototype of "Paradise Lost." This translation appeared in 1898 and was hailed by the scholars of Europe and of America as a masterpiece. Doctor Gerard Kalflf, Professor of Dutch Literature at the L'niversitv of L'trecht, said of it : "The spirit and character of Vondel's tragedy are folt, understood, and interpreted in a remarkable manner: and an extraordinarily difficult task has been magnificently done." Doctor Jan Ten I>rink, professor at Leyden. was not less en- thusiastic. Doctor Francis Gummere said it "filled a g^p in the Miltonic criticism." Professor Kittredge of Harvard and Doctor William H. Carpenter of Columbia bore witness to its dis- tinction and general excellence. Doctor C. Alphonso Smith in Modern Lanj-uGiT^e Notes praised its metrical effects and its fidel- ity : while Mayo W. Hazeltine devoted five columns of the New York Sunday Stui to a discussion of its merits, which, he con- cluded, were "not unworthy of the great original." Many English
LEONARD CHARLES VAN NOPl'EN 415
reviews, furthermore, among olhers London Literature and The Athentrum, acclaimed it as an event of unusual significance.
Nor was there lack of interest among the literati. Ed- mimd Gosse. Doctor Henry Van Dyke, Joel Benton, Vance Thomp- son, George Henry Payne, James Huiieker, Walter Blackburn Harte, Henry J. Stockard, E. C. Stedman and Edwin Markham all expressed their appreciation of its poetic value. Richard Wat- son Gilder said it was "the most notable literary performance of a decade." To this chorus of praise also the distinguished Dutch poets Nicholaas Reels. Albert Verwey, Frederic van Eeden and A. T. A. Heyting added eloquent tributes.
To illustrate the case and the vigor of the style, we give one of the speeches of Lucifer :
"Now swear I by my crown, upon ihis chance To venture all, to raise my seat amid The firmament, the spheres, the splendor of The star.* above. The Heaven of Heavens shall ihcn My palace be. the rainbow be my throne, The starry vast, my tonrl ; while, down beneath, The Earth shall be my footstool and support. I shall, then swiftly drawn through air and light, Hfgh-sealcd on a chariot of cloud. With lightning stroke and thunder grind to dust Whate'cr above, around, below, doth us Oppose, were it God's Marshal grand himself. Yea, ere ive yield, these empyrean vaults. Proud in their lowering masonry, shall burst With all their airy arches and dissolve Before our eyes: this huge and joint-racked earth, Like a misshapen monster, lifeless lie; This wondrous universe to chaos tall. And to its primal desolation change. Who dares, who dares defy great Lucifer?"
In consequence of this work the young author was selected to deliver four courses of lectures on Dutch literature at Columbia L'niversity. Recommended by W. D. Howelts, he gave also two courses at the Lowell Institute in Boston, and later lectured at Princeton, at the Brooklyn Institute, and elsewhere.
4i6 NORTH CAROLINA
When not engaged in lecturing at the American universities, he continued his studies at Leiden and at Utrecht. And he is to-day regarded not only as the first authority on the sources of Milton, but also as the only American specialist in Dutch Hterature.
Scholarship, however, has not smothered his creative instincts. He has written some significant poems; and is ranked with the best of our younger poets.
Here is a sonnet from The Century entitled "Chillon":
CHILLON
''I stand within the grandeur-girdled room Where Bonnivard heard the dull oozing hours Drip from his stagnant life : here where the powers Of shuddering death from shadows hewed a tomb. 1 feel the horrors crawling through the gloom, And Judgment frowns, and trembling Conscience cowers. Here broods the Night, and Hell's grim terror lowers. And all the air is dread with coming doom. The mountains o'er these dungeons of despair For ages kept their silent sentinel, Guarding the ghastly secret of the waves. Then Byron woke the spectres slumbering there: Once more is heard the midnight-shivering bell, And the dumb waters are alive with speaking graves!"
The following sonnet api)eared in Tom lVatson*s Magazine:
MARTYRDOM
"The world cries loud for blood; for never grew One saving truth that blossomed, man to bless. That withered not in barren loneliness. Till watered by the sacrificial dew. Behold the prophets stoned — the while they blew A warning blast — the sad immortal guess Of Socrates — the thorn-crowned lowliness Of Christ! And that black cross our Lincoln knew!
Tis only through the whirlwind and the storm
That man can ever reach his starry goal.
Some one must bleed or else the world will die!
l^pon the flaring altar of reform
Some heart lies quivering ever. To what soul
That dares be true, comes not the martyr's agony?**
LEONARD CHARLES VAN NOPPEN
The San Francisco earthquake evoked
A SUPPLICATION
"Prostrate before the triumph of Thy Face, O Lord of Desolations, millions fall: Anguish is all their glory, and a pall Blots out the sun; and, humbled to their base. The groaning mountains cower into disgrace I Death walks the world, and doomed cities call Out of the flame and sink to silence, all, Granite at dawn, crushed by some mighty macel The planet trembles and her quiet dead Feed the loud greed of the abysmal grave; And all our pride is shaken into dust. Great God of Judgment, be Thou more than just Be merciful, and quench Thy lightnings dread; Revoke Thy thousand thunders, save, O save!"
A propos of the Russian massacres are these daring lines :
ANSWER, O RUSSIA!
"Answer, O Russia! that appealing blood. That human wine from living chalice shed. Whereof made drunken, thy oppressors dread, Flush to make feast on yet a dearer food. Let from thy broken heart no Neva flood Leap to a silent sea. O heed, instead, That crimson cry, and answer red with red — With thunders like the throbbing heart of God I
"Answer with death that ancient Wrong and dark! Dethrone one tyrant that a million thrones Rise regnant from his mighty ruin. Hark! The Judgment, and the knell of midnight hour Dooms ! To the Morning from that mist of moans The Age of Freedom passes, shod with power!"
Not without interest are these lines on Napoleon, entitled
THE EXILE
"Lo ! on a sudden island in the dark. Behold, encircled by a sea of death, Lone in a bleak and black futurity. The figure of an exile, stern and proud : — Some king of triumphs by a star betrayed ! Who, chafing at his doom inglorious,
4i8 NORTH CAROLINA
Long with a tiger-pacing peacelessness
Paves the bare edges of a brine-burnt coast: —
One that pavilioned in august renown
Once arrogantly summoned to Assize
Earth's aged potentates — all throned Powers
Between the far Antipodean Poles ; —
One that in midnight Councils like the moon
Rose but to rule, and awed the ancient men ;
Who, monarch of the moment, could achieve
Ages of battle by his angry brows !
Who, wilful, in his mad ambition, wont
To juggle with the starry dice of fate.
Made splendid hazard and to win the world
Threw in his soul, to tilt the even scales! —
One like a lion in the wilds of war,
Whose look was like the lion's when he roars;
Who in the sessions of the peers of peace
The Prince stood of the proudest; who, self-crowned.
The Pontiff of a million destinies,
Armed with a thousand armies, poising dread
His clouded threat of many thunders, like
Some mitred moon stood plotting the eclipse
Of hoary empires, — then from zenith pride
Plunged, like a comet, down the drowning night,
Dragging to darkness all his bright dream world !*'
Mr. \'an Xoppen's metrical version of VondePs **Samson," the source of ?^Iilton's "Samson Agonistes," soon to appear, will be published with critical addenda suited to the needs of the class- room. According to scholars, it promises to revolutionize the study of Milton. The "Lucifer" was inscribed to the author's brother Charles, whose timely aid made the effort possible; and this volume will be dedicated to Mr. George W. Watts of Durham, without whose generous assistance this exhaustive study could not have been continued. Basing his scheme to some extent upon the plot of X'ondeFs play, Mr. Van Noppen also has written "Samson : A Drama of Revolution.*' From this original tragedy, symbolistic of the triumph of truth and of labor, we cull a few passages : Chorus.
'"Rut how fell Samson, how did Samson die? What mighty bolt laid low that mighty oak?"
LEONARD CHARLES VAN N
Messences "ll sEcms some falling pillar, with no bruise Crazing his bosom, brought forgetfulness ; — Yea. like a miracle of mother hands Pitied hii; tears and hushed his weeping heart, And so delivered him from life of dole. Thus he. our foe. magnificently died, Despite his humbled state, died like a And from the dark his tall star-staturea si Crashed, like a cornel, through ol
Dragging a shining sorrow after Uiml And still he lords the scene, who long against Thai armied menace stood antagonist, A tower of blindness in a sea of eyes! King of a troop of thunders, lord of dooms, Hurler of sudden death! Who with one swift- One fierce, terrific wrench, with might Iremcndoua, Buried a nation, shook a kingdom down; Who in that sea of triumph like a towcr Fell, ruin rippling from him to the lini! So with one blow a bannered host be ■■lew And like no mortal blotted out the sun; — So wrought his vengeance throughly, emperor . Of desolations, which he rules in death ; And like a god's his Name walks down the years!"
Chorus "His words were princes, but his deeds are kings!
A PROPHECY OF THE CHRIST "Now comes a silence as of brooding love And there i-; hush, as if the winds held brealh, As if a whisper moved around the world, Mothering closely a most holy Name; — All other names forgotten in that Name! Then all the tongues that bode of times to com Unfiint that frozen fiame of prophecy And. blading into royal rapture, make Annunciation of a King of Kings! And all the maiden Silences that pause, Conscious of unappareni conqueror, Unveil [heir hearts and blush into one Name!
420 NORTH CAROLINA
And now the soothsayers, the sages gray
And miracle-commanding magi : these,
And the shrill bards of battle, clear their gaze, —
Beholding all, mid pealing jubilee,
'Mid singing silver and the laugh of gold,
The advent of a Triumph through the air.
So, seeing, tremble, seeing, are amazed.
Awed into voicelessness, previsioning
One coming from the Country of the Soul,
Godly of mien, grave, noble and benign.
Throned upon music: One whose lifted orbs
Are shining prophecies ! Upon whose brow,
Haloed with brightness, like a rainbow broods
Beautiful benediction ! And He seems
Exceeding lovely, altogether fair,
Most joyous-virginal, exhaling youth
Immortal : One undimmed by dying years.
With Face too fair to die! A Presence mild,
Pure as the dew on lilies, white as dawn.
Arrayed in resurrections like the sun ! —
A King of Mercies burning through the dark,
Bowered in buds that break in roses, blooms
Like wonderful, like world-devoted wounds I
And round His head, a mystic aureole;
And in His eyes the after-glow of dreams: —
Such dreams as angels dream that sleep in God
And waken, praising — wonder in their song!"
This is from a passage devoted to
THE MILLENNIUM
"And He shall build the Right upon a Rock, Wrestle with ancient Wrong and overthrow The triumphs of Untruth, shall banish cloud, Found chanting temples open to the Light And shall restore, like peace that follows storm. Beautiful Sabbath, tracing on the sky The Rainbow as His arch memorial! And He shall guide the erring heart and be The shining pilot of the utter lost. And surely to the Sun of Suns shall lead The long night-marches of humanity! Yea. through the midnight like a spirit-moon, Over earth's dim-communing multitudes.
LEONARD CHARLES VAX NOPrEN 421
Brightly shall walk the darkness, leading tip All tides of meditation into God! Then after time's dark anguish, after all The darts of death are showered, He sha!! rise Rejoicing, crowned with sudden resurrect ion», A mighty Morning, robed with rising suns; — Who. shepherding salvations to the dawn. Joyfully singj, and lifts his gladness high. Leading like lambs His white millenniums 1"
It is needless to comment upon such work. It speaks for itself.
While in Holland Mr. Van Noppen rendered valuable assistance to the Boer cause. Often consulted by the various leaders to de- vise means and methods to prolong the campaign, he carried the propaganda into America. He made the English version of President Stein's Independence. Proclamation which, transmitted to the English Government, severed the relations of the Orange Free State with the British Empire and was received as a declara- tion of war. Afterward, in Paris, he met Kruger and Leyds. and on his return to Holland assisted the Boer Press Bureau at Dordrecht.
At Jamestown, New York. September 28, 1902. Mr. Van Noppen was married to Adah Maude Stanton Becker, a connection of the family that gave two generals to the War of 1812, and later Lin- coln's Secretary of War. He Hves at present at Westerleigh, Staten Island. He has a warm and grateful memory of his friends in North Carolina, and his new friendships do not weaken the gra'ip on his heart of those sacred old associations.
Thomas Hume.
HENDERSON WALKER
3ENDERSON WALKER, President of the Pro- vincial Council of North Carolina and later Governor of tlie colony, was born in the year 1660. He appears to have come into the colony about 1682, just after he became of age. By profession he was a lawyer. "In 1695," says -■cords of the court show that he fell under the dis- pleasure of tilt judges for some act of contempt, and he was pro- hihiteil from ajuicaring professionally before them. He probably purged hiinsclf of the contempt very soon, as in October of the same year he was sworn in as Attorney-General." Walker soon became a member of the Council, and on March 17, 1699, was commi.ssioncd {together with Daniel Akehurst) to act in ccm- junctioii with representatives from Virginia in running the boun- dary between the two colonies. For years this boundary was a subject of dispute, and it was not settled definitely until a long time thereafter.
For several years Mr. Walker was one of the justices of the General Court of the province. The original minute-book of this tribunal is now in the office of the Secretary of State, at Raleigh. Upon the death of Governor John Harvey, on July 3, 1699, Walker was chosen his successor, and presided over the govern- ment of the colony until his death.
.\l first gdvcrnors wore appointed for the county of Albemarle,
HENDERSON WALKER
but about i68q Philip Ludwell was appointed Governor of "that part of Carolina that lies north and east of Cape Fear," and he appointed a lieutenant-governor for North Carolina. Thomas Harvey was Deputy-Governor of North Carolina under Governor Archdaie from 1694 and until his death, and then Henderson Walker, as President of the Council, succeeded to the admin- istration ; and during the decade the colony was under their rule there was contentment, quiet, progress and development. They were among the principal inhabitants, and promoted the interests of the people.
In his History of North Carolina (Vol. 2, p. 502), Doctor Hawks sums up tlie character of Governor Walker and the merits of his administration in the following language:
"The characler of Henderson VVailtcr deservedly stood high. Without much brilliancy, he possessed a found mind, and was not unskilled in hii profession. Naturally amiable, he was conscientiously religious ; and few of iho;e occupying elevated positions in his day did more than he did to obtain and perpetuate in Albemarle the t>enelits of Christianity. ... It was during the administration of Walker that a very important change was made in the jndiciarj'. Up to this time, the General Court— the highest tribunal in the province — had been held by the acting governor, the dep- uties of the Lords Proprietors, and two assistant?. In addition to the fact that the judges were much too numerous (two more would have been enough for a jury), there was the greater evil arising from the circum-. stance that there was never any security to the people that a majority of the court would know anything about the law, for ihcy were not trained to the profession, , . , To remedy this evil, the Proprietors (notwith- standing Chalmers says they look no notice of Albemarle for seven years) appear to have issued a commission appointing five justices of the Supreme Court, two of whom were named of the quorum, and the presence of one, of which two was necessary lo constitute a court."
To the above observations Doctor Hawks adds the remark:
'"Walker's rule was exceedingly mild and judicious, if we may judge from the testimony of contemiwraries, and the favorable report he left behind him,''
In a list of American governors, with the manner of the election of each, made about the year 1700, we find this entry;
424 NORTH CAROLINA
"Henderson Walker, Governor of North Carolina, chosen by the Coun- cil only, in ye room of Thomas Harvey, deceased."
In his religious tenets Governor Walker was an adherent of the Church of England, and was elected one of the vestrymen of Chowan Precinct in 1701. The vestry of which he was a member gave a contract in November, 1701, for putting up a church building. Thus was founded St. Paul's Parish, at Edenton, though the present house of worship there is of more recent construction. In a letter dated October 21, 1703. and addressed to the llishop of London, Governor Walker gives some interesting information concerning the condition of affairs in Albemarle, and incidentally mentions some important points in the history of the colonv. lie savs : "We have been settled near fiftv vears in this place," which would make the original settlement some- what earlier than 1660; and, 'T may justly say most part of twenty-one years, in my own knowledge, without priest or altar; and before that time, according to all that appears to me, much worse. George Fox some years ago came into these parts, and, by strange infatuations, did infuse the Quakers' principles into some small number of the people, w'hich did and hath continued to grow every since very numerous, by reason of their yearly sending in men to encourage and exhort them to their wicked principles."
From this statement it appears that there were no Quakers to speak of among the first settlers, but that the Quaker element had its rise about the time of Fox's visit, in 1672, some twelve years after the settlement.
Governor Walker continues, and says that **some time alwiit four years ago" ( 1699) Doctor Bray sent to Albemarle Mr. Daniel Brett, a minister appointed to this place, who was the first minister of the Church of Fngland to come to Albemarle. **We did about this time two years, with a great deal of care and management, get an Assembly, and w-e passed an act for building of churches and establishing a maintenance for a minister among us ; and in pursuance thereto we have built one church, and there are two more agoing forward." But up to that time that act had not been ratified by the Lords Proprietors, and Governor Walker urged
HENDERSON WALKER
+25
the bisliop to have it ratifieil and "to send some worthy good man among us lo regain the flock and so perfect us in our duty to God."
Governor Walker married Ann Lillington, a daughter of Major Alexander Lillington. After Walker's death this lady became the wife of Edward Moseley, one of North Carolina's most noted colonists.
Governor Walker died April 14, 1704, and was first buried five miles below Eclenton, but recently his remains have been removed to the burial groimd of St. Paul's Church, in Edenton. Of this parisJi, as has been noted, he was a vestryman. His epi- taph refers to him as one "during whose administration the prov- ince enjovetl that tranquillity which it is to be wished it may never want."
Marshall De Lancey Hayuuutii.
v'z t:e\v YOl^lt
rUBLi: LIBRAKY
. Ll'NOX AND
WILLIAM HENRY WATKINS
It is of one of these we write, and his unstained name is William Henry Watkins. The name is Welsh. The earliest known ancestor was James Watkins, who came from Wales to this coimtry more than two centuries ago. Four other ancestors on Ihe patt-rna! side were Captain Carraway Watkins, of Mary- land; Lieutenant Watkins, of Massachusetts; William Watkins, of Virginia, and Captain Cassaday Watkins, who served with dis- tinction in the war of the Revolution. The last named won more distinction than any other member of the family in that war and was afterward a member of the Cincinnati Society.
The name of the father of william Henry was Culpepper Wat- kins, who was a farmer and hved in the county of Stanly, North Carolina, on January 5, 1839, where and when the subject of this sketch was born. The name of his mother was Ann Marshall Tomlinson, whose ancestry has been traced back to Captain John Dejamette, who fought under General Marion of South Caro- lina. The Dcjarnettes were Huguenots, of the best blood of ^France. The line extends down through the Tomlinsons, the Co\-ingtons and the Marshalls — the best families of Nortli Caro- lina and Virginia. The great grandfather on the maternal side was James Marshall, whose mother was Mary Malone. He mar- ried Miss Ann Harrison, sister to William Henry Harrison, whose name has been preserved in all succeeding families. It is to be observed, loo, that the Marshalls played a conspicuous part in the Revolution. Colonel Thomas Marshall made an enviable record for giillantry.
The limits of this sketch forbid more than a passing reference to the heroic services rendered by the members of this family in the Revolutionary War and in the late war between the States. There never was a draft made by the country upon the courage or patriotism of any member of this family which went to protest. In the darkest hour of war their names will be found on the roll nf those who stood and fought and bled and died for what they believed to l)e right.
William Henry Watkins is worthy of the noble ancestry behind him. In the early days of 1861, this young man, whose days had
428 NORTH CAROLINA
been spent in the corn and cotton fields of his father's farm, with no e(hicational advantages save those afforded by the **old field schools" of his neighborhood and one term at Jonesville High School, responded to the call of his State. Proud of and inspired by the record of a line of ancestors who had never faltered or wavered in the face of danger, and by the memory of a sainted mother encouraged and sustained by the confidence of a fond father, ambitious to bring honor to both and, withal, victor\' to the cause he had espoused, he dropped a tear in the rapture of his high resolve to put the scenes of childhood's affections behind him and to meet with knightly nerve the stem demand of every duty of the dark future. Enlisting at the call of his State, he was ])lace(l in the Fourteenth North Carolina Regiment of the anny of Northern \'irginia, in which he scored four years of suflFering. sacrifice and hardship, sharing with his comrades the joy and the bitter, the defeat and the glory, of that bloodiest of all wars in the annals of time.
Returning with the scattered remnant of that glorious army, he found the scenes of his boyhood and the face of the old common- wealth, in whose name and at whose bidding he had given of his life's wealth. strip])ed, torn and bleeding — prostrate and helpless, in ruin — in ashes — in poverty and in the depths of sorrow. De- feated in name but unconquered in spirit, bruised of body but un- dainited and luistained in soul — he, like his comrades, faced a new field recjuiring and exacting a higher courage and a stouter nerve than the bloody field of battle. It was the stupendous task of re- ])airing and rebuilding home and State. The accomplishment of this task makes a record not less glorious than the historic pages on which arc preserved the deathless deeds of valor of a thousand fields of battle. There is no man in North Carolina who has been more diligent or more faithful or more steadfast in his share of this great work than William Henrv Watkins.
With little or no capital, save his character, energy and in- domitable j)luck. he began the active work of life as a merchant at Norwood in his native county in the year 1865, where he suc- ceeded as he did everywhere. Three years later, on March 17,
WILLIAM HENRY WATKINS 4^j
1868, lie was happily married to Miss Louisa Eunice Smitlicrnian of Troy, Korlli Carolina, daughter of Mr. Jesse Smithernian. one of the leading and most prominent citizens of Montgomery County, The issue of this marriage was six children, four of whom are still living. Shortly thereafter he moved to Troy, North Caro- lina, where he met with continued success as a merchant until the year 1S79. In the meantime, he was elected to and held the office of Sheriff of Montgomery County from 1874 to 1878. In the year 1879 he was attracted by an unusual opportunity for in- vestment in a manufacturing site on Deep River in the county of Randolph, at a place then known as Columbia and now known as Ramseur. After purchasing this property he moved the same year to this place, his present home, and now a growing and thrifty town, which is the terminus of a branch of the Southern Railway and in which is located the large mills of the Columbia Manufac- turing Company and the plants of the Ramseur Furniture Com- pany and the Watkins-Leonard Company. The Columbia Manu- facturing Company is now one of the most flourishing cotton mills of the State and its success is due to the wise management, sleep- less vigilance and tireless energy of Senator Waikins, who, from the organization of the compam-, has been its active secretary and treasurer and general manager, as well as its largest stockholder.
He is also president of the Sanford Cotton Mills, located at Sanford, Xorlh Carolina: vice-president of the Ramseur Furni- ture Company and the Wat kins-Leonard Company, and also a di- rector in all nf Ihcm and in several banks of the State, in all of which he is largelv interested.
Success has rewarded him in every field of his activity. The town of Ramseur in iS/Q was scarcely more than a country post- office with a small store and one mill, and was then called and known as Columbia. The name of the place was later changed In that of Ramseur, in honor of General Ramseur of Confederate fame, who was Mr. VV'atkins's commander in the late war. The growth of this place into a town, the expansion of the mill into one of llie largest manufacturing plants of the county, the estab- lisliTucnl of other industrial and manufacturing plants, the ex-
430 NORTH CAROLINA
tension of a branch railroad to this place, the establishment of churches and schools are largely the result of his labor, his fore- sight, his fine judgment and his superior business tact and ability. His has been and is now the leading spirit and gliding genius in the upbuilding, not only of this town but of the immediate sec- tion of the county adjacent thereto.
It goes without saying that in building for others he has built for himself and has accumulated, since the dark days of 1865, a com- fortable fortune. More than that and above all, he has built for himself a character which, in the financial, commercial, social and political circles of North Carolina and elsewhere, commands the unstinted confidence of his fellow-men.
In politics Senator Watkins is a Democrat of the Samuel J. Tilden brand. While loyal and courageous in conviction, he is brave enough to be independent and broad enough to be tolerant. This is another way of saying that he accords to every fellow-man the right of opinion and the freedom to express it at the ballot- box or elsewhere. His independence, his tolerance, his fairness, his superb courage and inflexible honesty have given him a high place in the confidence and esteem of the people. This is amply attested by the fact that he was never defeated in his life, although more than once a candidate in the face of decided Republican majorities against him. Time and again has he been importuned to permit the use of his name for political honors, but of late years, with two exceptions, he has resolutely refused. In 1897 ^^ ^^ luctantly accepted a place on the County Board of Education, which he filled for two years, and in 1904, at the urgent solicitation of the people, he accepted the Democratic nomination for State Senator in the Twenty-third Senatorial District, composed of the counties of Randolph and Montgomery. It is to be noted that in this contest, as well as in every other political contest, he al- ways led his ticket. It is superfluous to add that in these public po-sitions he brought to the discharge of public duty the same vigilance, diligence, punctuality and fideHty which have marked every page of his private life.
He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and
WILLIAM HENRY WATKINS 431
backs his faith with his purse and his works. While modest and iinassuming in all things, he responds to the roll-cail of duty in all movements looking to the uplifting of his community and the bet- terment of his fellow-men. His public spirit is written into every enterprise and institution of his community. He is a most lovable man. Gentle as a woman, modest as a school boy. generous and forgiving in thought and in speech, highminded and cleanhanded in his intercourse with his fellows, of knightliest nerve and kind- liest impulse, of sunny nature and amiable spirit, brave and true as steel, he loves his fellow-men, and were it within his power thi.s life would be longer, fuller, larger, richer, better and sweeter. If the writer was called upon (o express it all in one word — it would be kindliness — the ereatest thing, after all, in the affairs of this life.
This a running sketch of a man whose years have covered the most momentous and stupendous events of his country's history and witnessed the most wondrous transformations in every phase and department of human life, and who has woni and borne through them all and amid it all "the white flower of a blameless life." It is worth while to have lived these years and won success in the fierce and rapid clasli of change and growth. The sca.rs ol the battlefield are now tender memories whose aroma adds sweet- ness to the fleeting hours of the evening of life. The hard and fierce struggles for victory in the bloodless fields of commercial warfare and in all the cvcry-day Hnes of life and human endeavor have brought the comfort of rich reward to the declining years of a strenuous and eventful life. The sixty-seven years of this life have been full of toil and trial and struggle. In war and in peace, the full mca.sure of dutv has been met at every point and in every crisis. There is not a blot on a single page of its fine record. As a .soldier he wore the white plume of a Murat in every test of cour- age and sacrifice and hardship. In the peaceful pursuits of private life, he has illustrated every virtue of the correct business man and emphasized every trait of the model citizen. Truly he has done well his ]>art. He belongs to the flower of North Carolina's chivalry.
432
NORTH CAROLINA
It is not a matter of wonder that Time has dealt gently with this sunny, sweet-spirited, lovable and strongly built man. Nor is it stranq^e that as he enters the realm of the lengthening shadows, his thoughts should turn more fondly and constantly to the church of his faith and his choice, in which he is now a leader and a pillar of strength and at whose altar he will watch and wait for the serene and beautiful sunset of his busy career.
G. S, Bradshcnv.
PUtUJ UCDiRY
M' < -. LL-.HOX AMD
434 NORTH CAROLINA
The later period was characterized by a body of bright and gifted writers, including Mrs. Cornelia Phillips Spencer, Major Sloan, Doctor Battle, Doctor Huffham, Doctor Kingsbury, Colonel Saunders, Judge Schenck, Major Moore, Doctor Bemheim. Colonel Waddell, Captain Ashe, Bishop Cheshire, Chief Justice Clark, Colonel Creecy, Major Graham, Doctor Vass, Doctor Taylor, Doctor Clewell and others worthy of high mention. In this enumeration the younger writers have been purposely omitted, because it is conceived that they represent a distinct class and a new departure in this field of literature. It is to be noted that none of those named were trained to historical investigation, and none of them except the venerable Doctor Battle have followed it as a profession. The seminary method did not characterize their work, and there were times when it was difficult to discover whether the statements of some rested on authoritv or tradition. Thev had liberty, and sometimes used it with much freedom. Their culture was broad and their view was large. They were freciuently weak on fact, but strong on interpretation. They Lindcrstood the bearing of things, and translated Avy details into living pictures of real life.
Xcar the close of the century a new school of historical writers came to the front, composed of ,the younger men, who were trained in the science of historical investigation, principally at Johns Hopkins University, which they adopted as a profession. The old school sought such details as were needed for the picture in hand. The new school was not picturesque. It sought to complete the record by giving all the facts and noting the authority for every statement. The one was strong in its generalization and its interpretation, the other in its investigation and complete- ness of detail. It is not intended to discredit the accuracv of the one nor the understanding of the other, but to note the existence of the two, and to show the trend and emphasis of each. Among the leaders of the new school are Stephen B. Weeks, Charles Lee Smith, J. S. P>assctt, E. W. Sikes, C. L. Raper, W. E. Dodd and M. De L. Haywood.
Stephen Beauregard Weeks is second of these in point of time
STEPHEN BEAUREGARD WEEKS 435
and 6rst in ihe extent of his writing. He was bom in lower Pasquotank County, Noith Carolina, February 2, 1865, of English and Huguenot ancestry.
The Weeks family was of Devonshire, England, extraction, and appeared in North Carolina as early as 1727, when Thomas Weekes settled in Perquimans County, where he died in 1762, leaving five sons and a daughter. He was a large landowner, and is mentioned in the old records as "gentleman" and "school- teacher." He appears to have possessed considerable education and to have occupied a position of influence and leadership. He was sheriflF of the county, representative in the Assembly and for many years one of the justices of the county. In the fourth generation from Thomas Weekes, James Elliott Weeks, father of the subject of our sketch, was born. The same sturdy {jualities that marked the career of his earliest known ancestor characterized his life. He was without political ambition, and his only office was in the militia. He was a Methodist, with Ihe industrious habits of those excellent people, and was looked up to as a leader. He died when Stephen was eighteen months old, leaving him a fair estate for the times.
DfMrtor W'ceks's mother was Mary Louisa Mullen (formerly Moullin). and his earliest known maternal ancestor in this country was Abraham Moullin, of Huguenot family, who came from Vir- ginia and settled in Perquimans County prior to March, 1732. Through his mother's mother, who was a McDonald, he claims descent from I'rvan McDonald, who was slain at Glencoe.
Upon his mother's death, when he was three years old, he was cared for by an annt. Mrs. Robertson Jackson, of Pasquotank County, who with her husband reared him as their own child. He was recpiired to work on the farm, and was well grounded in habits of industry, economy and sobriety. He pays this high tribute to the faithfulness and affection of these foster parents: "I knew no other home. ... I became to them as a son. They were most surely all that parents could have been. , . . God never made a nobler man than Robertson Jackson, quiet, peace- able, unambitious, unassuming, uneducated, but withal one of
436 NORTH CAROLLN'A
nature's noblemen, to whom all his neighbors looked up for com- fort, advice and help of any sort that was needed — one of the gentlest of men."
Young Weeks attended the rather poor country schools of his neighborhood until he reached the age of fifteen years, when he left the farm and entered the school of T. J. and W. D. Horner, at Henderson, North Carolina, where he was prepared for en- trance to the State University, at Chapel Hill. This schcK)l justly ranked as one of the best preparatory schools of the State, and was noted for the thoroughness of its work. Both principals were men of fine scholarship and studious habits, and the younger was a graduate of the University of North Carolina. The senior. Reverend T. J. Horner, was a Baptist preacher, who ministered principally to churches in Granville County. He was a younger brother of the late James H. Horner, of Oxford, with whom he was associated in teaching for many years. He was distinguished for his .scholarship and fine teaching ability, and was very highly esteemed in his community. His age and failing health and the bad health of his son and associate, Mr. W. D. Horner, led to a suspension of the school about the year 1886. He has been dead several years. The son yet lives in Henderson, highly esteemed by his neighbors. Doctor Weeks writes of the father: **His influ- ence was elevating and ennobling, and inspired and encouraged me, as did that of Herbert B. Adams, of the Johns Hopkins." This association of these two names is a high but just tribute to Mr. Horner, who gave to Doctor Weeks his first real intellectual impulse.
Vrnm Henderson young W^eeks went to the University of North Carolina, where he took the degree of A.B. in 1886. During two }cars of post-graduate work there in English language and literature, German and Latin, he took A.M. in 1887 ^"d Ph.D. in 1S88. lie says: "These two years were among the most valuable of my life in giving me ideals and ability to write, and acquaintance with the masters." The three following years, 1888-91, were spent as honorary Hopkins scholar at Johns Hopkins University in the study of history, English language, political science and
STEl'HEX BEAUREGARD WEEKS 437
political economy. These latter studies were more emphasized at first; later, by force of what he calls "invincible attraction," he turned to history, and made that his life work. From this Uni- versity he received the Ph.D. degree in 1891.
At tlie close of his student work at the University of North Carolina, he was on June 12, 1888, united in marriage with Miss Mary Lee Martin, daughter of Reverend Joseph Bonaparte Martin of the North Carolina Conference, Methodist Episcopal Church, South, from 1844 until his death in 1897. Mr. Martin was a grandson of General Joseph Martin, pioneer. Indian fighter, Indian agent, early settler of Tennessee and legislator in Virginia and North Carolina; he was a man of marvelous devotion to his work, and more pleased wilh its fruitage than concerned for its emoluments. Mrs. Weeks died May 19. 1891 ; two children were bom of this marriage, and one, Robertson Jackson Weeks, a youth of seventeen years, sllr^'ives his mother.
His second marriage was with Miss Sallie Mangum Leach, at Trinity College, North Carolina, June 28. 189.1. She is the daughter of Colonel Martin W. Leach of Randolph County, North Carolina, and niece of General J. Madison Leach, member of Congress, who i=. yet remembered as one of ihe most remarkable and versatile i)olitical campaigners in the State. She is grand- daughter of Honorable Willie P. Mangum, representative and senator from North Carolina in the Congress of the United States, and president of the United States Senate, 1842-45, whose career was highly distinguished and altogether honorable to the State. She is also a descendant of the Cain and Alston families. There have been four children of this marriage, of whom two are now living.
The active career of Doctor Weeks began with his entrance upon the professorship of history and political science at Trinity Col- lege (old Trinity, Randolph County), in September, 1891. He continued wilh the college during the first year after its removal to Durham, and successfully organized its Department of History, established the Trinity College Historical Society, created an interest among the students in historical work, and or-
438 NORTH CAROLINA
ganized the college library, which has since grown into such splendid proportions under intelligent administration and the lib- eral gifts of the Messrs. Duke. He resigned in June, 1893, owing to differences between President Crowell and members of the faculty and spent the Summer lecturing in Philadelphia, and in historical investigations in Wisconsin. In the Fall he returned to Baltimore and spent the following year as a fellow by courtesy in Johns Hopkins University, giving a portion of his time to the study of Roman law and comparative jurisprudence, and the re- mainder to original investigations along historical lines.
Even before this time Doctor Weeks had become interested in North Carolina history, and a collector of the historical materials of the State. His first impulse in that direction came from his appointment, 1884-87, by the Philanthropic Society of the Uni- versity of North Carolina, to edit its register of members. He writes : ''By my study of the old register I became acquainted with the great men of the University ; they became my familiar friends, and I knew them as perhaps no one else has known them ; from these, through Wheeler's Reminiscences, I branched out into the general history and biography of the State and the work was done." He became an untiring collector of everything pertaining to North Carolina. It has been a hobby in which he has surpassed all others. He now has more than 3300 books, pamphlets and magazines dealing in whole or in part with that State. It is prob- ably the most complete collection of books on North Carolina; certainly^ outside of newspapers and State publications, it is better than any owned by the State. To a collector a most interesting feature of this collection is one in which Doctor Weeks himself takes great pride and for which he makes this claim :
"I have beyond question one of the finest collections of North Caro- lina autographs in existence, inchiding the greater part of the corre- spondence of Calvin H. Wiley, that of Daniel R. Goodloe, the extensive and varied correspondence of Willie P. Mangum and a part of that of Willie P. Mangum. Jr. Speaking roughly, I have perhaps 3000 letters and autographs from men who have been prominent in North Carolina from the Lords Proprietors to the present day."
STEPHEN' BEAUREGARD WEEKS 439
During liis educational period of which we have spoken, Doctor Weeks had already given to the pubHc the first fruits of his studies in tlie following monographs: "History of Young Men's Christian Association Movement in North Carolina. 1857-88" (Raleigh, 1888) ; "The Tress of North Carolina in the Eighteenth Century" (Brooklyn, 1891 ) ; "The Lost Colony of Roanoke; its Fate and Survival" (New York, 1891); "The Re- ligious Development in the F'roviiice of North Carolina" { Balti- more, 1892) ; "Church and State in North Carolina" (Baltimore, 1893) ; "The Historj- of Negro Suffrage in the South" (Boston, 1894) ; "General Joseph Martin and the War of the Revolution in the West" (Washington, 1894).
Of the.iie, the two dealing with religious conditions in North Carolina touched upon controverted questions, and from the fact that they did not give entire satisfaction to any of the parties to giich controversies it may be fairly inferred that he acteil with independence in his study. At any rate, a student must accept these books as able, thoughtful and painstaking contributions to the subjects with which they deal, and as a distinct advance ujKjn any previous work of like character.
In July, 1894, Doctor Weeks accepted a p'lsilioti with the I'nilcd States Bureau of Education, nominally as confidential clerk of the commissioner. In reality he became associate editor of the commissioner's reports, passing upon everything that went into them and making such editorial changes and emendations as seemed well. He was also a contributor of monographs to these reports from year to year until 1899. It was a position that gave him opportunitv for indulging his taste for historical investiga- tion. Indeed, much of his official employment was along that line, and he issued ibe following additional contributions:
■■.-\ I'.ibliography of the Historical Literature of North Carolina" (Cambridge. Massachusetts. 1895') : "Libraries and Literature in North Can.lina in the Eighteenth Century" (Washington, 1896) ; "Address on the I'niversity of North Carolina in the Civil War" (Richmond, 1896"! : "Soiuhern Quakers and Slavery" (Balti- more, 1896) ; "Prclinnnary List of American Learned and Edu-
440 NORTH CAROLINA
cational Societies" (Washington, 1896) ; *'On the Promotion of Historical Studies in the South'* (Washington, 1897) ; ** Anti- Slavery Sentiment in the South" (Washington, 1898) ; ** Begin- nings of the Common School System in the South; or, Calvin Henderson Wiley and the Organization of Common Schools in North Carolina" (Washington, 1898).
This last of his publications in book form is probably the most complete and exhaustive work yet undertaken by any one upon any phase of North Carolina history. Indeed one will hardly read any of his monographs without an impression of his wonderful diligence and capacity in gathering and using materials.
In April, 1896, during his connection with the Bureau of Edu- cation, he assisted in the organization of the Southern Histor\' Association, in co-oi)eration with Doctor Colyer Meriwether, of South Carolina ; Doctor Thomas M. Owen, of Alabama ; Doctor K. P. Battle, of the University of North Carolina ; Doctor J. L. M. Curry, General M. C. Butler, Thomas Nelson Page and a number of other distinguished Southerners. He has been since its or- ganization a member of its Administrative Council and of its Pub- lication Committee. The Publications of the association, of which some ten volumes have been issued, are of high historical value and importance. Doctor Weeks has been a frequent contributor to these papers, and has also written for the Magazine of American History, the Yale Rez'icic. the *' Papers and Reports of the Ameri- can Historical Association," the "Studies in Historical and Politi- cal Science of the Johns Hopkins University," the American His- torical Rcvic7i\ the ''Bibliographical Contributions of Harvard University," and the "Papers of the Southern Historical Society." He is an active member of the American Historical Association. honorar\- life member of the Southern History Association, cor- responding member of the Wisconsin Historical Society and the Maryland Historical Societv. .
The l^ill of i8()9 witnessed another turn in the tide of Doctor Weeks's affairs. His health became so seriously affected that he was compelled to change his residence and employment. He obtained a transfer to the Indian service of the National Gov-
STEPHEN BEAUREGARD WEEKS 441
eminent and was stationed at Santa Fe, New Mexico, as principal teacher in an Indian school. He was made assistant superintend- ent of the school in July, 1903, and the same month was transferred to Arizona, as superintendent of the San Carlos Agency School on the San Carlos Apache reservation, where he is surrounded by the Apaches, who a few years ago were going on the warpath and killing every man in reach. At Santa Fe he was brought in daily contact with Pueblos, Navajoes, West Shoshones, Utes, Pimas» Papagos, Uklahs, Puyallups, Wascos, Osages and other Indians of the Southwest. He finds great interest in observing the work of civilization among them, and speaks hopefully of their progress. This enforced severance from his chosen work and from asso- ciation with scholars of like tastes and interests has been extremely trying to Doctor Weeks. But it has meant life to him. His health has been restored. Friends continue to remember him in his far- away home and demand the services of his pen. Wake Forest Col- lege recognized his services by conferring upon him the degree of LL.D. in 1902, and he still has his books and his work. He yet follows the ruling passion and is engaged in the preparation of an Index to the North Carolina Census Records for 1790, an In- dex to the State and Colonial Records of North Carolina, a Bib- lioirra|)liy of North Carolina, a History of Education in the South- ern States diirinp: the Civil War, and a Life of Willie P. Mangum. These would he a fair life's work for manv men, but no one can ff>resee what the active mind, the persistent curiosity and the rest- less energy of this frail student of our history may yet search out and spread befc^re his fellows. He offers only one word to searchers after success, "work."
Thonxas Af. Pitttnan,
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MARCELLUS WHITEHEAD 443 ,
tinciicii in many walks of life. One of thein, Thomas Whllehead, was honored by his constituents willi a seat in the House of Rep- resentatives, in the 43d Congress of the United States, and was afterward commissioner of agricultitre of the Statt of Virginia; another, Edgar Whitehead, was a leading man of afifairs, and, like Thomas, was a captain in the Confederate army; another, Robert, was one of the leading lawyers of Nelson County, while still another. Reverend Paul Whitehead, D.D., has achieved em- inence in the ministry and councils of the Methodist Church, and at this writing is presiding elder of the Norfolk (Virginia) dis- trict. Marcellus, the subject of this sketch, another son, achieved eminence in his chosen profession of medicine. This is truly a remarkable family, and in patriotic service, in statesmanship, in law. in divinity, and in medicine, its sons have done honor to their Christian rearing. Marcellus Whitehead received his academic training in the excellent academies and high schools of his native section, and after being graduated with honor, from the Rich- mond Medical College of Richmond, Virginia, came lo Salisbury in 1845, and among strangers, began the practice of medicine. Young, handsome, neat and faultless in dress, and of engaging manners, he quickly made friends and acqriired a practice, which determined his location for life. Having firmly established him- self, he returned to \'irginia for the bride of his choice, and was married February. 1846. in Caroline County, Virginia, to Mi*:s \'irginia G. Coleman, daughter of Thomas Burdage Cole- man, a wealthy and influential citizen of that county. Mrs. White- head was a woman of fine intelligence, a devoted wife and mother, and a consecrated member of the Baptist Church. She survived her husband by several years, and to her memory a large and beautiful stained-glass window has been dedicated in the hand- some new Baptist Church in Salisbury. To this union were bom a number of children, of whom only Doctor John Whitehead of Salisbury. North Carolina, and Doctor Richard H. Whitehead of the University of \'irginia survive.
Doctor Marcellus Whitehead would have worthily adorned any profession which he might have chosen, and in his chosen pro
444 NORTH CAROLINA
fession of medicine he was facile princeps. Of splendid physique, of magnetic presence, with features cast in a noble mold, and with an irresistible charm of manner, he was the very spirit of light and comfort and hope, in sick room and hospital ward. His almost in- tuitive quickness of perception made him a very master of diag- nosis and prognosis. During the greater part of his iorty years of professional life, there was little of the present specialization in the profession, and it was his lot, in a large practice, to be at once physician, surgeon, obstetrician, gynaecologist, aurist and oculist.
So proficient was he in every branch of his profession that his patients came from many surrounding towns, and he was sought in consultation by his professional brothers of a wide territory. During the Civil War he was chief surgeon of the large and im- portant Wayside Hospital at Salisbury, to which he not only gave his best work, but his entire salary, and most of his income besides.
In 1872 Doctor Whitehead was elected President of the State Medical Society of North Carolina, of which he had long been a prominent member, and at the next meeting at Statesville, North Carolina, in 1873, delivered a notable and eloquent address, of which the report in the Statesville American of that day says:
"Doctor Whitehead, on retiring from the chair, delivered one of the most beautiful addresses, not only of the session, but that we ever listened to. The subject was the Advancement of Medical Societies, and the duty of the Profession Therein. He deprecated the idea of members of the profession dabbling in politics, as it lowered the standard of the pro- fession."
On March 20, 1875, the General Assembly of North Carolina passed an act to establish the State Hospital for the Insane of Western North Carolina, and on April 20th of that same year Doctor Whitehead was elected a member of the commission to select sites and to do whatever was necessarv to build the institu- tion. He was instrumental in selecting the beautiful site at Mor- ganton, and in planning for the building and government of such an institution as meant a breaking away from the old North Caro- lina ways of indifference to public buildings, w-hich has not only
MARCELLUS WHITEHEAD 445
proved a boon to tlic unfortunate and a credit to the State, but has been largely followed as a model by other States since that time. Doctor P. L, Murphy, the acconiiilished and successful siiperinlendent, in a letter to the writer says:
■■personally. I am very graleful to Doctor VVhiteliead for ilie interest he look in me. and indeed it was by his influence that I was elected superintendent, I haie always felt very grateful to him for his extreme kindness aitd courtesy to me when I came here, an untried man. I re- member how much I was cheered by him in my ardtious undertaking. He took n prominent part in the organization of the institution, and was of great service to the local oflficerE by his advice. By reason of failing health he resigned in 18S3."
Doctor Wliilehead was a public- spirt ted citiEcn. and interested himself in everything that made for the good of his fellow-men. While never connecting himself with any church, he was a de- vout believer in the great verities of religion, and the Baptist preachers who, in passing, made his liouse their home were al- ways hospitably and reverently entertained. Eschewing active participation in politics, he was yet an unswerving Democrat after the war, as he had been a Whig in antebellum times.
By failing health, he was gradually withdrawn from active work after t88_^. Stricken wilh that fatal malady, Bright's disease, whose inevilahlc end lie knew only too well, he never murmured nor rc'jjincd. but with unbroken spirit and much of his old-time chei'rfiilness calmly awaited the coming of the Destroyer. Sur- rounded by bis loving family, he calmly '■fell on sleep" on the second day of January, 1885, in the sixty-fourth year of his age, lamented by every citizen of Salisbury. Every business house in the place was closed during the hours of the funeral, and an im- nietisc CDiicDursc attended as he was laid away under the Winter's snows.
"The earth which hnlds him dead. Hears not alive a knightlier gentleman."'
Theo. F. Klults.
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JOHN' WHITEHEAD
sion. when he returned to Salisbury in 1880; and, entering into partnership with his distinguished father, began a practice which was at once successful and remunerative, and which has so con- tinued to this day. Always a student, fond of original investiga- tion, keeping well abreast of the literature of his profession, and of all the advancements therein, Doctor Whitehead has achieved a deserved success as a practitioner, such as is vouchsafed to few. His practice is limited only by his physical ability to answer the incessant and widespread calls which are made for his services, and, unlike too many of his professional brethren, it has been remunerative and profitable as well.
Absolutely correct in his habits, neat in his dress, courteous and gentle in his ministrations in sick-room and hospital, as well as in his intercourse with his fellows, it is no wonder that he is loved and honored as few men have been,
A surgeon of rare skill himself, he early appreciated the crving need of his community for a hospital, and after unsuccessfully trying the experiment of a charity hospital, he founded what is now the Whitehead-Stokes Sanitarium, whose capacity is constantly taxed by patients from many surroimdiwg communities, who come to receive surgical relief at the hands of Doctor Whitehead and his accomplished associate. Doctor J. Ernest Stokes. This institu- tion has ])roven what Doctor W'hilehead designed it should be, a blessing to suffering hiimanitv.
Following in the footsteps of his sainted mother. Doctor White- head is a devoted ami consistent member of ihe Baptist Church, and is rarely absent frnni its services or its communion. He was largely insirnmental by personal effort and financial contribution in the ercctiim and the furnishing of the present modem and handsnmc new church edifice of that denomination which was recently dedicated in Salisbury,
Doctor Whitehead is a member of the county and Slate medical societies, and has served his fellow -citizens as city alderman, and as a member nf the water commis.sion, in which position he has been largely instrumental in securing and maintaining pure water and efficient sewerage for the city. His abihty as a surgeon has
44« NORTH CAROLINA
been recognized by his appointment as local surgeon for the Southern Railway Company at Salisbury, one of the most im- portant i)oints in the State, which position he has acceptably filled for twenty vears.
Of rare business sagacity, Doctor Whitehead was among the first to appreciate the possibilities of the new railroad town of Spencer, which lies just out of Salisbury, and while the engineers were staking it off, he purchased adjoining property, which he im- proved, and which as the town grew apace, netted him handsome returns. In commemoration of this, one of the most beautiful parts of the now thriving little city is called Whitehead town.
In every movement for the moral and material improvement of his ccMiimunity, Doctor Whitehead has always been among the foremost, and his charities have been liberal and unostentatious. Never actively engaging in politics, he has yet always taken an intelligent interest in public affairs, and has always supported the Democratic Party.
On October 24, 1889, Doctor Whitehead was happily married to his cousin, IMiss Rose Irwin Morris, of Fairfax C. H., Vir- ginia, who was a daughter of Edward Morris, a son of Kichard Morris, who was known as the silver-tongued orator of \'irginia in the days long gone. Mrs. Whitehead is connected with many of the best and oldest families of Virginia. To this union three children have been born, two of whom, Edward Morris antl Susie Morris, survive, little Marcellus having died at an early age. In his hospitable and beautiful home, surrounded by his happy family, secure in the love and confidence of his people. Doctor Whitehead is the model physician and gentleman.
Theodore F. Kluttz.
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450 NORTH CAROLINA
He took post-graduate courses in the University of Pennsylvania and in the New York Post Graduate School.
When, in 1890, the University of North Carolina was looking over the field to secure a professor of anatomy and dean for its newly established medical department, Doctor Richard H. White- head was strongly recommended by the faculty of the University of \'irginia. His election was unanimous, and he entered upon his duties in the Fall of 1890. Doctor Whitehead began with energy the building up of the new department. He showed the qualities of the born teacher, and by his forceful presentation of his sub- ject, lucid exi)lanation of difficulties and careful individual work with his students, he sent them out so thoroughly prepared that the reputation of the department was established on a high plane and it has been maintained ever since.
His style of lecturing is clear, simple, with a convincing, logi- cal sequence and a contagious enthusiasm. Beginning with about half a dozen in the first year, he has built the department up until it numbers a hundred students.
Wtv justly Doctor Whitehead attributes his success in part to his private study. This he has kept up with his accustomed energy and consistency. Perfecting himself in one modern language after another, he has oi)ene(l for himself all of the important literatures of the scientific world. Each year a part of his vacation has been sj^ent in working in some well-equipped Northern laboratory, pur- suing some favorite investigation or perfecting his methods of teaching, thus keeping fully abreast of the times.
He has contributed a number of articles to various medical jour- nals and has written a book on the **Anatomv of the Brain," which has been highly commended and is used as a text-book. He has also taken an active part as a member of the North Carolina Medi- cal Society, the American Medical Association and the Association of American Anatomists.
His (levf^tion to his work as a teacher has led him to withdraw gradually from active practice as a physician, eventually restrict- ing himself to practice among the students of the University and the families of a few friends.
RICHARD HENRY WHITEHEAD 451
Doctor Wliitehead was married to his cousin, Virgllia White- head, June 4, 1891. They have no children.
He finds his chief recreation in hunting and fishing and has the family fondness for fine horses. He is a member of the Baptist Church, and of the Democratic Party, and \vliile at college joined the Kappa Alpha Frateniity.
Doctor Whitehead ranks as one of the best teachers of anatomy in the country. He has on several occasions been approached with tempting offers to go to other educational institutions. On July 21, 1005, Doctor Whitehead was elected Professor of .'\natomy and Dean of the Medical Dqiartment of the University of Virginia. which to the regret of his North Carolina friends he accepted. In this distinguished position he is more than meeting the expec- tations of his friends, and adding to tlie luster of an already bril- liant reputation. Quiet, modest and somewhat reserved, yet with a fund of genial humor he has many devoted friends and has won the respect and esteem of all.
Frauds P. Venahk:
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and enjoy it to the utmost in all her varying moods in the woods and by the gentle flowing streams of his Eastern home. Like many prosperous farmers of that period, Doctor Whitehead's father bred and reared good horses. The breaking of these fur- nished an outlet for some of the boy's pent-up energy, and culti- vated a love for the race horse, that noble animal illustrating to his mind more fully than anything else his own conception of intense energy in action. During his vacations from the neighborhood country schools, he helped at times actively in the cullivation of his father's farm, gaining thereby a knowledge and experience in agri- cultural interests that have served him many useful purposes, It not only strengthened his muscles and expanded his youthful mind, but taught him the nobility and dignity of human labor. To this be added the proud satisfaction of having been of material help to his father and mother, lifting, although a mere boy. many burdens and cares from their minds. The work on the farm early demon- strated to his mind the necessity and begot the habit of exercising judicious economy. He was taught to recognize that the profits on farm products were generally small even under the best condi- tions. He was also taught the proper respect and sympatliy for the laboring man. The care of animals intensified the spirit of innate kindHncss and pity not only for the helpless dumb beast, but in after years for his fellow-niorlals. Very much of his success in after life can well be attributed to the lessons in economy and in- dustry learned during his early days spent on the farm. But a small boy at the outbreak of the war, he attended the country schools dur- ing that period, and at its finish one year at Graves and one year at Horner's School, Oxford, where he studied the full course, in- cluding the classics, taught at that institution. He was obhged to leave school to work for two years at the time he began to feel the greatest need for an education, and after working for this period, at the immature age of nineteen, when his father's property had been swept away by Ihe fortunes of war, moved by the strong and generous impulse to provide comforts for his mother, all conscious of its grave responsibilities and heavy cares, he took up his life's work — the study of medicine. This he diligently pursued for two
454 NORTH CAROLINA
years at the medical department of the University of Maryland. Graduating from tliat college in the class of 1870, he located for the practice of medicine at Battleboro, a small village on the At- lantic Coast Line Railroad. The usual drawbacks to the young physician attended him, but patience, industry, prudence and ever- increasing knowledge of his art gradually overcame these in a few years and brought to him a large country practice among the best people of tliat intelligent and thrifty community. Confidence in himself begot the confidence of his patients.
He has been twice married and happily : first to Miss Bettie C. Powell, January 16, 1872, and second to Miss Bettie M. Marriott, now living, the daughter of Doctor Robert Marriott, a high-class physician of the old school, November 29, 1882. Two children were born from each marriage : one, a son, Doctor Joseph White- head, his father's partner, an accomplished and competent young physician, and inheriting nnich of liis father's talent and profes- sional zeal. I'or twentv-one years at Battleboro and the countr\' surrounding, Doct(»r Whitehead worked faithfully and well, gain- ing an enviable reputation as a general practitioner and surgeon, performing many operations requiring great moral courage and skill far beyond that of the general practitioner. Much of his work was single-handed and alone. In 1873 he allied himself with the State Medical Society, at once taking the most intense interest in all the work and progress of that body. Attending regularly its yearly meetings, he was recognized by its ablest members as well fitted for any j)osition within its gift. He was elected by one of the most flattering votes ever accorded a member of the State Board of Medical Examiners, and by that board unanimously its president. This was the highest gift and gravest trust belonging to the State ^Fcdical Society. His term of office lasted from 1890-96. He was the examiner in surgery. His large experience had thoroughly fitted him for the work in this most important branch of medicine. His examinations were recognized as of the most practical kind and characterized by a spirit of perfect fairness to the applicant for license. The rejected candidate never complained at Doctor Whitehead's decision as to his unfitness, and expressed his
WILLIAM HENRY WHITEHEAD 455
belief of having had even-handed justice from him. His fidelity to his work, gentle and thoughtful courtesy to the other members of the board, aijd fairness to the young applicants won for him many new, and served to strengtlien the ties of attachment of old friends. Doctor Whitehead has been urged many times to accept the presidency of the Stale Medical Society, but always firmly declined that honor, and gladly gave place to one of his many friends, thus showing a rare degree of unselfishness and sacrifice to the interests of others.
Attracted by his reputation as a surgeon, the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company appointed him chief surgeon to its hospital at Rocky Mount, to which place he moved and has lived since 1891, enjoying a large and lucrative practice in that progressive and rapi<lly growing town, and being the chief consultant to the physi- cians of the adjacent towns. He is local surgeon to the Southern Railway, and consulting surgeon to tlie Pittman Sanitarium at Tarboro, North Carolina. He is also special surgeon to the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company. This position was created for him, he being the first lo occupy it. It is one of high trust and grave responsibility, its duties requiring skill, knowledge of men, tact, and at times delicate and intricate diplomacy. No better qualified pliy.Mcian could fill this office. The position carries with it, as it should, a handsome salary, and is considered a life-long engagement.
Doctor Whitehead is a Mason. Knight Templar, Shriner, Odd Fellow and Elk, and feels great interest in each of these orders — especially of the high purposes of Masonry.
His religious affiliations are with the Methodist Episcopal Church. In politics he has been a life-long Democrat. While taking an active interest in county and Slate politics, he has never held or wished to bold, a political office, and has repeatedly re- fusc<l all overtures in this direction.
He is a member of the State Board of Health, this being a branch of the State Medical Society. In 1902 he was appointed by Governor .\ycock a <lirector of the State Hospital for the In- sane at Raleigh.
456 NORTH CAROLINA
To the management of this institution he has brought his years of accumulated business experience. His judicious counsel is sought and highly valued by his fellow members. His sympathies for the poor unfortunates under his directorship are fully enlisted, and the best effort of his life is now being exerted for the lighten- ing of their affliction. He was active in securing the necessary appropriation for the building of additional room by which one hundred and twenty-five more female patients can be admitted.
In whatever cause his interest or sympathy is enlisted, it can be safely said that he is never satisfied or relaxes his vigilance. To his persistence in many lines of effort is due his marked suc- cess in all of his life's undertakings. In all of the various branches of medicine he is widely and thoroughly read, but his love for surgery has directed his reading more fully in that branch. To keep pace with all of its wonderful and rapid advancement in late years, he has taken two post-graduate courses in surgery at differ- ent periods at the most modern and best equipped New York hospitals. As an operative and consulting surgeon, and authority ui)on surgical subjects, he has but few equals and no superior in the State. His great physical strength, power to resist fatigue, coolness, self-possession in emergencies, capacity to think clearly and quickly have made him the successful surgeon. Coupled with these attributes of the surgeon, he has a broad mental grasp and sound judgment. With no vagaries, no hobbies, and a follower of no fads, he accci)ts in science all that has been proven.
Although a lover of general literature, because of his work but little time has been given him to indulge in its pleasures. His sincerity, candor and cheerful help to his brother practitioners always aj^peal to their respect and confidence. His high profes- sional and personal honor, added to his consideration for the young doctors, has made his help widely sought for by that class. Doctor Whitehead is methodical and svstematic in matters of busi- ness. and by industry, economy and judicious investments has laid by a c()mj)etence for his advancing years.
lie has always been held in high esteem for his executive ca- pacity, and his advice has been sought by his friends in matters
WILLIAM HENRY WHITEHEAD 457
of business. He is public- spirited and eager for the advancement of the interests of his community.
He is genial and social in his nature, companionable, a warm and sincere friend. Courageous, physically and morally, inde- pendent in spirit and action, with well pronounced opinions as to men and measures, he has never "bent the pregnant hinges of his knee where thrift might follow fawning." But he is tolerant of the opinions of others. Of striking personal appearance, he is courtly and dignified in manner without any show of pomposity. He is charitable to the poor and afflicted, without ostentation, and has given largely of his time and services to that unfortunate class. He is generous to his friends, kind and affectionate to his family. His hospitality is so marked that the "latch siring to his house hangs outdoors."
Still in the prime of vigorous manliood, long years of honor and usefulness should be left him.
L. J. Picol.
HUGH WILLIAMSON
?ORTH CAROLINA has always warmly wel- comed strangers within her borders. In the de- velopment of a new country it follows naturally that the few natives who have had opportunities of education sufficient to make them leaders must be assisted by new blood from the out- side in llie organization and upbuilding of infant commonwealths. The history of North Carolina in this respect is more like that of the newer States than of the older ones. True the State was set- tled as early as 1663, but the settlements were few and far be- tween, and there was hardly a continuous and certainly not a har- monious development. Add to this the further fact that no other American colony saw its efforts for local self-government and control more frequently and ruthlessly broken into than North Carolina, and we have some of the reasons why her development was retarded. It is true to say that the period from which the real growth nf North Carolina may be said to date is much nearer 1763 than it is 1663. and this will account for the further fact that so few of her leaders in the Revolution were natives. Thus Har- vey, Hawkins. Moore. .Ashe, Bloodworth, Blount, Harnett, Hill. Allen and Willie Jones, Sitgreaves, and Spaight were natives, while Caswell, Martin, Person. Penn, Hooper, Hewes, Henderson. Davie. Johnston. Iredell. Rurke, Nash, John Williams (of Gran- ville). .Sumner, and Williamson were natives of other States or countries.
HUGH WILLIAMSON 459
But while North Carolina lias welcomed outsiders to her fire- side, the conditions of her setllement and growth have not been such as to make her as attractive a residence to men of thought as to those of action. IJeing a rural State, with no large cities then or now, with no large collections of books or other literary or scientific materials where investigations might be conducted, with no literary feeling and no sympathy for scholarship, she could offer few inducements to a man of the scholarly tastes and habits of Hugh Williamson, and yet, by reason of inherent ability and sheer force of character, he made while in the State a most worthy reputation for usefulness.
The parents of Hugh Williamson were John Williamson, an in- dustrious tradesman of Dublin, and Mary Davison, a native of County Derry. They came to America aljout 1730 and are thought to have been of Scotch-Irish stock. It is certain that they showed the qualities of frugality, honesty, industry, and fear of God which have characterized that remarkable people. Hugh, the eldest son, was born in West Nottingham township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, December 5, 1735. His preliminary edu- cational training was received at the academy cslablished at New London Cross Roads by the Reverend Francis Alison, and after leaving this school he devoted himself closely to the study of the mathematical ."sciences. He entered the first class of the College of Philadelphia (now the University of Pennsylvania) in 1753; at the first commencement of the college in 1757 he received the degree of A.B., and while a student had been employed as a teacher in both the Latin and English schools.
In the choice of a profession Williamson's thoughts first turned to the ministry. In 1759 he went to Connecticut to pursue theo- logical studies, was licensed, and admitted as a member of the Presbytery of Philadelphia. He preached for about two years only, was never ordained, and never took charge of a congrega- tion. His leaving the ministry seems to have been caused in part by ill-health and in part by the quarrel then agitating the Presby- terian Church between the followers of Whitefield, or New Lights, and the old orthodox party.
46o NORTH CAROLINA
In 1760 Williamson was made an A. M. by the College of Phila- delphia and appointed professor of mathematics. This position he held for about three years and then resigned. In 1764 he sailed for Europe and entered the University of Edinburgh as a medical student ; he studied also in London and then in Utrecht, from which university he received his medical degree. On his re- turn to America he practised for some years in Philadelphia with success ; but his health, always more or less delicate, and his natu- ral tendency towards speculative studies, drew him off from medi- cine, induced him to embark in mercantile pursuits, and later brought him to North Carolina. In the meantime his philosophi- cal studies were eagerly follow^ed. He was a member of the com- mittee appointed by the American Philosophical Society to ob- serve the transit of Venus across the sun's disk June 3, 1769. He wrote the report of that committee and also published numer- ous other papers on kindred subjects in the ^'Transactions" of the society. He was also on the committee to observe the transit of Mercury, November 9, 1769, was interested in the comet of that year, and evolved a comet theory of his owm. His publications on this and similar subjects in abstract science brought him recog- nition from the scientific men of Europe and the degree of LL.D. from the University of Leyden.
In 1772 Doctor Williamson made a tour of the West Indies in the interests of an academy at Newark, Delaware, of which he was a trustee; in 1773 a tour for a similar purpose was undertaken in England, Scotland, and Ireland. It was during this tour that, by a l)ol(l stroke of diplomacy, he came into possession of the Hut- chison-Oliver letters, which when published in the colonies tend- ed still more to widen the growing breach with the Mother Coun- try, and Lord North is reported to have said that Williamson was the first man to suggest to him civil war as the logical conclusion of the ])oIicy which he was then pursuing.
AVilliamson returned to America March 15, 1777, and found the American army organized and every position on the medical staff tliat he could with propriety accept already filled. He thereupon resolved to retire to private life, and undertook a mercantile specu-
HUGH WILLIAMSON
461 ^
lalion to Charleston, South CaroHna, with a younger brother. The brother sailed to the West Indies, and Dr. Williamson, with as- sistance, purchased a sloop in Charleston, loaded her with a suit- able cargo for Baltimore, and ordered her to stop at Edenton, North Carolina, then a port of considerable importance. In the meantime General Howe had entered the Chesapeake on his way to Ptiiladelphta. and this fact determined Williamson to remain in Edenton, from which he traded to the neutral islands of the West Indies and resumed (he practice of medicine. It was not long be- fore he acquired the confidence of the people of Edenton, and was soon invited to New-Bern to try the newly discovered remedy of vaccination.
It does not appear that Williamson entered public life in North Carolina till 1780, when the Slate was preparing to send aid to Charleston, where General Lincoln was then besieged. In Octo- i)er, 1779, the Assembly had passed an act by which the Governor was authorized to send 300Q men to the aid of South Carolina and Georgia. In April, 1780, the Assembly passed an act by which 4000 men were to be enlisted for three months and sent to South Carolina, and a supplementary act under which 8000 others were to be sent later if "absolutely necessary." Of the levy of 4000 North Carolina militia Richard Caswell was made major-general, and he appointed Williamson his snrgcon -general (North Caro- lina State Records, XIV, 452). Vvom this time till the end of the war Williamson was intimately connected with the North Carolin.T trr>ops and served tliem faithfully and well. He was at the disas- trous defeat at Camden, made a report on the wounded and prison- ers there, and of his own motion was sent with a flag of truce to care for the sick and wounded who had fallen into the hands of the enemy. He remained with thenn two months, rendered essen- tial service, and was held in such high esteem by the British that he was called in as consulting physician during the illness of a general officer.
In the Fall of 1780, the British having taken possession of Nor- folk and Portsmouth, MrRinia, a camp of American troops tnidcr of General Isaac Grcg^ory, who had done good work
L^
462 NORTH CAROLINA
with the raw mihtia of Eastern North Carolina at Camden, was estabhshed on the borders of the Dismal Swamp. By special re- quest Williamson was permitted to serve with him, and as a win- ter campaign was expected he was anxious to see how far atten- tion to diet, dress, and lodgings would preserve the health of the troops. By giving particular attention to diet, sanitation, and sleeping quarters Williamson so far overcame the silent foe of armies that in six months, with from 500 to 1200 men in camp. only two died from disease and none were furloughed on account of sickness.
This work seems to have closed the career of Williamson as an army surgeon in the field. He was now to render the same sort of valuable service in the council chamber. He was a Member of the Assembly from Edenton in 1782 and from Chowan County in 1785 ; when in the legislature he became at once a working mem- ber and took high rank. He served on the committees on privi- leges and elections, propositions and grievances, on depreciation, on North Carolina Line, on claims, and on many special commit- tees ; was active in the introduction of measures which were thought to be of advantage to eastern North Carolina, and in 1785 brought in and secured the passage of a bill for securing literary property — an early instance of a copyright law. (North Caro- lina State Records, XMI, 281.)
That Williamson imj)resscd his fellow-legislators is evident by the fact that as early as May, 1782, he was elected a delegate to the Continental Congress. This honor he accepted and was in ]^hila(lelj>liia as early as July 2y, 1782, perhaps as early as June (North Carolina State Records, XVT, 338, 630). He was elected again in April, 1783, and in April, 1784, and so served three terms continuously.
lie was a])p()inte(l with others as one of the commissioners to meet at Annapolis in September, 1 786, to consider the trade of the States iuul of the United States. Nash, Blount, and W'illiamson accepted apj)ointnients, but the latter was the only one who actu- ally represented North Carolina. He collected statistics on ex- ports and eoninierce for use there, but poor traveling facilities kept
HUGH WILLIAMSON 463
him from reaching the city before the Convention rose on Sep- tember 14th. Of this service he says :
"As I accepted of this appointment froin a zeslons desire lo promote the mercantile interests of this State, I should on the same principles have attempted faithfully to discharge the duties of the appointment, though they had been much more arduous, without the expectation of reward." (N. C. S, R. XVIII, ?;2-3. 655.)
The Annapolis Convention of 1786 was of importance only as it led up to the Philadelphia Convention of 1787, of which William- son was appointed a member by Governor Caswell in March, 1787, TiVc Willie Jones, who declined to serve. The Constitution is signed on behalf of North Carolina by William Blount, R. D, Spaight, and H. Williamson, although Alexander Martin and W, R. Davie were present during some of the sessions. Williamson was present in Philadelphia as early as June 14, 1787, and there as elsewhere he showed by his devotion his "constant and sincere de- sire to serve the State."
There was present here, as everywhere else, the unseemly scramble which has always disgraced our political annals for power between the North and the Sotith, and Williamson came up to the full measure of his duty in stipporting as thoroughly as might be the interests of his adopted State,
In December. 1787, Wiiliamson was again chosen a delegate in the Continental Congress, and was still planning to be at his post when the Old Congress died of inanition in 1789, for on March 9th of that year he writes to Governor Johnston :
"On the fourth instant , . , sundry members of the New Congress . . . met : . . . since that time the members of the Old Con- gress have not attempted to form a House ; some of them are in the New Congrcsi. the remainder are chiefly gone home." (N. C. S. R. XXI, 533.)
In his capacity as delegate in the Continental Congress William- son was a steady worker and a tireless correspondent who kept the executive of North Carolina informed of everything that
464 NORTH CAROLINA
seemed of State or public interest, seasoned with occasional flashes of wit or biting sarcasm. His letters show a devotion to the in- terests of the State which no other man could have surpassed. Painfully diligent in business and even morbidly eager to gain the good- will of his fellow-citizens, a reading of his letters while in the Continental Congress must be followed by an increased admira- tion for the man who wrote them. As he himself expresses it : **With whatever fidelity or abilities I may serve the State, the journals will show^ that I have not eaten the bread of idleness;" and again : "Whatever inclination I may have had occasionally to borrow a holiday, I have it in my pow-er to assure you that from the time I received the instructions of the State I have not been ab- sent from the Chamber of Congress a single day at the usual time of meeting, lest the forming of a Congress shotild chance to be prevented, and the interests of the State suffer by such absence." (N. C. S. R. XX, 495 and XXI, 534.)
In December. 1788, Williamson was elected along with Abishai Thomas by the Assembly as agent to superintend the settlement of the army accounts between North Carolina and the United States. He was then in the Continental Congress, but his duties as dele- gate were nil, for the Old Congress was dying. He worked on the accounts during 1789 and 1790, resigning in December. 1790. lie reports time and again on the carelessness with which North Carolina had conducted the raising of troops. While other States sent not a militiaman into the field without obtaining in advance orders from the Continental Congress or from the proper Conti- nental officer. North Carolina poured out such troops whenever there was need and rushed them into service — patriotic but re- gardless of history and accounts. The result was that North Carolina was in danger of losing for lack of sufficient proofs much of the money justly due her for Continental services. William- son urcred the collection of muster rolls and similar documentar\' evidt iKc of service, and we are no doubt largely indebted to him for the small amount of material of this sort which we possess on our first War of Independence.
Doctor Williamson was not a member of the Convention which
HUGH WILLIAMSON 465
mci in Hillsboro in 1788 and delayed ratification of the Federal Constitution, being at that time employed in the Continental Con- gress, but he represented Tyrrell County in the Fayctteville Con- vention of 1789 which adopted that Constitution, and there favored the ratification of the document which two years before he had assisted in framing. On the adoption he was elected a represen- tative of North Carolina in the New Federal Congress of the Uni- ted States, where he affiliated, as he had done in the Stale, with the Federalist party. He took his seat March ig, 1790, being the first representative from North Carolina to qualify, and served the remainder of the first Congress and through the second, retiring March 4. 1793.
This was the end of Williamson's public career. As we have seen, he was earnest, honest, painstaking, industrious, not unmind- ful of the opinions of others, of unblemished private life, but by no means an orator. That he was highly esteemed by the execu- tives and other officials of the State whom be so faithfully served there is the most abundant evidence in their letters and in the vari- ous votes of thanics passed by the Assembly for his services in the Continental Congress. The querulous Archibald Maclaine alone sounds a discordant note when he writes to Edward Jones:
"U Ihi' all-knowing Doctor Williamson, instead of being on the road to attend to his duty as a representative of the United Slates, torturing hi'- ingeniiilj- how to evade the l.iws of that body of which he has the iin- de'Tved honor to be a member? He would have made a good pettifog- ging -iitorney, but nature never intended him for a legislator." (N. C. S. R., XXI. 574-5.)
Doctor Williamson had married in January, 1789, Miss Maria .■\]>thorpe, a datightcr of Honorable Charles Ward Ap- thorpc of New York. Hy Iter lie had two sons, and her death fol- lowed close on the birth of the second. This event hastened his resolution to retire from public life and devote himself to study, which we have .seen he did after the end of the second Congress. He settled in Xcw York City and never again appeared in public life except in 1805, when he was a member of a medical committee
466 NORTH CAROLINA
to examine into the origin and character of the yellow fever then prevalent in that city.
His time was devoted to the preparation of his work on Climate, published in 1811, which serves as an introduction to his "History of North Carolina." The latter work appeared in two volumes in 1812 (Philadelphia). In the preparation of this work Williamson labored under many and great disadvantages. The material was inaccessible. The result was that, while the historv shows evidence of honest and faithful w^ork, it is a lamentable failure. Williamson was no more a historian than he was orator and poet. His book presents but few facts, and these are of slight importance ; it is lacking in historical perspective ; it is without imagination or the graces of style, and the blunders in mere statement of fact are innumerable, while that period of the State's history where he could have spoken with the weight of an original authority — the Revolution and after — is untouched. Never did an earnest and conscientious man miss his calling more completely than did Wil- liamson w hen he undertook this work, but his high standing and reputation in other fields gave his history a rank w^hich it could not otherwise have commanded.
Besides papers published in the ''Transactions" of the Ameri- can Philosophical Society and in those of the Royal Society, Doc- tor Williamson published in 1786 a series of essays against paper currency. He contributed also to the American Medical and Phil- osophica! Register and to the Medical Repository, was interested in the New York Historical Society and in the organization of the New York Literary and Philosophical Society, and contributed to the growth and development of various charitable medical organi- zations. He died in New York City, May 22, 1819, leaving no descendants.
This brief sketch of the very active life of a man who ser\'ed well his adopted State is based on the North Carolina State Rec- ords and on Hosack's Memoir (New York, 1820).
Stephen B, Weeks,
BENJAMIN WILLIAMS
JENJAMIN WILLIAMS, an officer of the American army in the war of tlie Revolution, I and Governor of North Carolina after inde- pendence had been won, as well as a member of Congress and of balh branches of the State Legislatnre, was born Januarj- i, 1752. He as the SO!) of Jolin Williams, and his wife. Ferebee Pugh, a daughter of Colonel Francis Pngh. John Williams was the son of William Williams, a native of Wales. Ferebee Savage, wife of Colonel Francis Pugh, was a granddaughter of Captain Thomas Savage, an early Virginia colonist, who was brought to the James- town settlement when a child.
A brother of Governor Benjamin Williams was John Pugh Williams, captain in the Fifth Continental Regiment and later colonel of militia during the Revolution, who was also elected Brigadier-General, but declined. This gentleman is often con- fused with Colonel John Williams, of Caswell, who commanded the Ninth Continental Regiment.
From the l>eginning of the troubles with Great Britain, Benjamin Williams sided with the colonies, and rendered services to the State both of a civil and military nature. On August 25, 1774. the first North Carolina Provincial Congress to meet in defiance of the Royal government assembled at New-Bern. In that body Benjamin Williams appeared as a delegate from the
468 NORTH CAROLINA
county of Johnston. He was also Johnston's representative in the Provincial Congress which met at Hillsboro on August 20, 1775, and continued its session until September loth. On September 9th he was elected a member of the Committee of Safety for the dis- trict of Xew-Bern.
The military career of Benjamin Williams began on September i, 1775, when the Provincial Congress at Hillsboro clectetl him Lieutenant in the Second North Carolina Continental Regiment. Less than a year later, on July 19, 1776. he was pro- moted to the rank of captain in the same regiment. The three successive colonels of the Second Regiment were Robert Howe, Alexander Martin and John Patten. Under these officers Wil- liams served throughout the campaigns against Lord Dunmore in X'irginia and Sir Henry Clinton in South Carolina, as well as under Washington in the Northern States, and bore a part in the many battles of that period wherein the Second Regiment participated. He resigned his commission as a captain of Continentals on January i, 1779. In 1779 he represented Craven County in the North Carolina House of Commons.
During the British invasions of 1780-81 Captain Williams was j)romoted to the rank of colonel (July 12, 1781) and placed in command of a regiment of North Carolina State Troops. Prior to this he had fought as a volunteer officer at the battle of Guilford Court House, and rendered valuable services elsewhere. Toward the close of the war, and for some years thereafter, he was often in the Legislature — representing at different times the counties of Craven, Johnston and Moore. He was State senator from Johnston in 1781, 1784 and 1786; from Craven in 1785 and 1789; and from Moore in 1807 and 1809. In 1788 he also represented Craven in the North Carolina House of Commons.
In i7()3 Colonel Williams was elected a member of the 3d Con- gress of the United States, his service therein extending from I)eccml)cr 2, 1793, till March 3, 1795. He was four times elected Ciovernor of North Carolina, but was in office only four years, as the term of a chief magistrate was then one year. The time he filled tliat high station was from November 24, 1799, till
liENJAMIN WILLIAMS 4'>J
December 6. 1802 ; and from Movember 24, 1807, till December 12, 1808. He was first elected on November 22, 1799; and. as above stated, was inducted into office on the day following. His annual term having expired, he was re-elected on November 26. 1800. On being officially informed of his re-election, he accepted with an expression of dissatisfaction which wotdd be quite amusing if used at the present day. Said he:
"While I beg you to be assured, gentlemen, that I receive with due sensibility this added proof of the contidenee of my country, and of your continued regard, I trust il will not be thought a departure from the re- spect I fee! and wish on every occasion to manifest for the representatives of the people, to observe that the value of ihe distinguished appointment yon have ihoiighl proper to confer on me would have been much enhanced in my estimation had the vole which called me to it been more tmani-
Dinnng the lime when Governor Williams occupied the execu- tive chair, the most noted duel in the history of North Carolina occurred in \ew-Bern on Sunday, September 5, 1802. between the Honorable John Stanly rtnd ex-Governor Richard Dobbs Spaight { father of Governor Richard Dobbs Spaight, Jr.)- Spaight was mortally wounded and died on the following day.
There had liccn some controversy between Stanly and Spaight, who were antagonists politically, and both resided at New-Bern. Stanly had made an explanation with which Spaight had expressed himself satisfied, and their difFcrence was thought arranged. But on Sci)temher 4th Spaight published a handbill, denouncing Stanly as a "liar and a scoundrel." and saying that if Stanly should ask fnr satisfaction, it would not have to be asked a second time." Stanlv immediately asked satisfaction. They met the next day, Sunday, in the outskirts of New-Bern, in the presence of a large concourse of citizens, and Spaight fell mortally wounded. A week later Stanly presented all the papers and correspondence to Governor Williams with a petition for pardon. He declared that he liad not sought the duel until it was forced upon him and there was no escape from it. Governor Williams granted the pardon. The Legislature met on October 15th, a month after the duel, and
470 NORTH CAROLINA
while the entire State was excited over the shock of this termina- tion of a political controversy between two such distinguished men. Wheeler says that Stanly applied to the General Assembly for a pardon, and that body declined to take action because the pardoning power was vested in the Governor. Nevertheless, it appears that the application was first made to Governor Williams, who, however, may not have acted on it until after the Legisla- ture in October had refused to consider a similar petition. Be- cause of this duel the Legislature at that session passed a stringent act against the practice of duelling. By that act all persons who should carry a challenge were rendered ineligible to hold any office in the State ; and the act made it a capital offense as to the principals, and declared that all aiders and abettors should be held accessories before the fact, should either of the parties be killed.
Not being eligible for a fourth consecutive term, Governor Wil- liams retired from office on December 6, 1802, when Governor James Turner was inaugurated as his successor. Colonel John BaT)tista Ashe had at first been elected Governor to succeed Wil- liams, but died before being inaugurated.
In a brief farewell message to the General Assembly, under date of November 19, 1802, (lovernor W^illiams said: "The feel- ings which necessarily grow out of my present situation, when on the eve of bidding adieu to a body of men by whom I have been so highly favored and distinguished, are more easily con- ceived than expressed. I have not language to describe them; but would beg you, however, gentlemen, to be assured that a grateful remembrance of your indulgence and support, and the warmest wishes for your prosperity and happiness shall not only be retained by me in private life, but shall be among the last senti- ments which die with me." To this message the Assembly re- turned a polite and appreciative reply on the day following.
When first elected Governor, Colonel Williams seems to have been a citizen of Raleigh, as the Raleigh Register, in noting his first inauguration, refers to him as ''Colonel Benjamin Williams of this city." After his retirement from the office of Governor in 1802, he removed to Moore Count v, and was sent from his new
BENJAMIN' WILLIAMS 471
honie to the North Carolina State Senate in 1807. At the same session (November 24, 1807) he was ag^in elected Governor, and inaiiRurated six days later, on December ist. He served until December 12, 1808, when his successor. Governor David Stone, was inducted into office.
In 1800, the year after his final retirement from the executive cliair, Governor Williams was again elected Stale Senator from the county of Moore.
At his home in Moore County, on July 20, 1814, Governor Wil- liams died. Copies of the monumental inscriptions over himself and wife will be found in the North Carolina University Magasine for 1889 (New Scries, volunu' 8, page 158). In noting the death of Governor Williams, the Raleigh Register of July 29. 1814, said:
"Died: At his seat in Moure County on the 20lh in?!. Colonel Benjamin Williams, a native of Nonh Carolina, somewhat upward of sixty years of age. He embarked at an caflj- period of his life and in the begiiming of the Revohitionary War in the service of his country as a captain in the regular army. He was subsequently appointed to the com- mand of the Stale troops, ordered to he raised hy North Carolina, with the rank of i-.ilinii.-l : and was at the battle fousht at Guilford Court House.
nil'' ■! »as given him.
- ilosed his military career with reputation, and has
■ 1 11 called to Ihp first appoinlments in the power iil his
felU™ iiii/iii>. 1(1 tn-itow, or in the gift of the State — having been long a
member of the flencra! .Assembly, for some years a meml>er of , Congress,
and siib-«iiieully the Chief Magistrate of the State.
"He clied, as be bad lived, much respected and highly esteemed by those who knew liim ; and, from bis general demeanor and devout professions as well previrnisly to as ihiring bis last illness, has left to bis relations and more intimate friends the cheering consolation that he died a be- liever, re-igncrl ,-iiirl happy, in the hope of mercy, through the atonements and merits of the Redeemer."
The wife of Governor Williams (to whom he was married on August 10, 1781) was Elizabeth Jones. This lady (bom Augtist ,V- 17*12) was a half sister of the great Revolutionary patriots Willie and .Mien Jones, and a daughter of Robert or "Robin" Jones, who was allorney-general of the colony of North Carolina under Guvcrnors Dobbs and Tryon, Her mother, whose
472
NORTH CAROLINA
maiden name was Marv Eaton, was the second wife of Attomev- General Jones. Mrs. Williams died on November 24, 1817, at New- Bern, but her remains were afterward carried to Moore County and buried by the grave of her husband. The epitaph on her tomb contains (in part) these words: "Reader! Under this marble are the mortal remains of an aflfectionate wife, a tender mother, and one whose memorv is now embalmed in the hearts of the poor of this extensive neighborhood.**
By his marriage with Elizabeth Jones, Governor Williams left an only son, Benjamin William Williams, who was bom on February 28, 1797, and died on February 8, 1828. His middle name was not always used by him. Referring to his death in its issue of February 22 y 1828, the Raleigh Register said :
Died: In Moore County on Thursday last [sic] Colonel Benjamin Williams, deceased. He was highly esteemed, and his death is regretted by a large circle of relatives and friends."
Colonel Benjamin Williams, last named, was twice married: first (October 9, 1820) to Mary Chalipers ; secondly (January 2, 1823) to Mary McBride. By his first wife, nee Chalmers, he had a son, Benjamin C. Williams, M.D., born on December 20, 1821, and married (April 20, 1858) to Catherine McDougal. The gen- tleman just mentioned was the last of his line, and hence Governor Williams has no descendants now living.
Marshall De Laneey Haywood,
rns NEW-YORK
^^^liC UBRAR7
Ar-
."^•r^y
AN!0
.^'^.S
474 NORTH CAROLINA
born in Warren Street, New York. In 1833 Lieutenant Charles Wilkes removed to Washington, District of Columbia, to establish and take charge of the First United States Naval Observator}'. In August, 1838, he sailed in command of the first exploring ex- pedition sent out by the United States and was absent four years. The expedition discovered, surveyed and chartered many islands and reefs in the Pacific Ocean and was the first to discover the Antarctic continent, sailing for many hundreds of miles along its northern coast, making drawings and surveys. These charts of the Pacific and other oceans, made by this expedition, are still in use, and are considered the most reliable in existence. In 1858, under the direction of the secretary of the navy. Admiral Wilkes made an exhaustive and valuable examination of the coal and iron deposits in the Deep River region of North Carolina.
While his father was absent on his exploration in 1841, John Wilkes received his appointment as Midshipman in the navy, and according to the usage of that period was sent to sea im- mediately. His first voyage, as a boy of fourteen to sixteen, was in the United States Ship Dchivare, under Commodore Charles Morris, to the South Atlantic and then to the Mediterranean. Thus being so early thrown upon his own resources while hard ui)on a boy fresh from home developed his character and taught him many things quite as needful as seamanship.
The control of men — the personal responsibility; the neatness and particularity in small things, and the many occurrences which form character an<l self-reliance, all tended to strengthen and per- fect his natural ability
He was afterward on duty on board the United States ship Mississippi in the Gulf Squadron, during the Mexican War. and participated in the attacks on l^razos, and Vera Cruz, and other services performed by the navy in support of the army under Gen- erals Taylor and Scott.
In 1846 he was ordered to Annapolis, where the Naval Academy had just been established, for a year's study and examinations. In 1847 Mr. Wilkes graduated No. i in a class of 135, which com-
JOHN WILKES 475
prised some of the brightest intellects that have adorned liie naval service.
He is now ( 1906) the oldest living alumnus of the Academy. and is president of the Alumni Association, and is still known as "No i of the '41 date." At that time classes were known by the <late of their appointment, and not, as now, by the date of gradu- ation.
He afterward served in the United States Ship Albany as master, in the Gulf of Mexico. His last sea duty was in the sloop of war Marioit as lieutenant, on board of which he spent nearly three years on the China station, at Hong Kong and Canton, and visiting many ports of the far East, including Manila. He re- turned to the United States in June. 1852.
Tlie most startling event of this cruise was the explosion of a magrazine on the Portuguese ship of war Dona habrUa Sesiinda, lying in the harbor of Macao close by the Marion. Three hundred of the crew and officers were killed, and only two saved. In charge of the Marion at the time of the explosion, Lieutenant Wilkes showed his courage, coolness and promptness in going with the boats of his ship to the rescue, but those taken off tlie burning ship all died save two.
When Commodore Perry was preparing for his Japanese ex- pedition, he asked for John Wilkes as one of his officers, and the appointment was tendered to him while at Hong Kong. But he was eager to return home, and declined the flattering offer. On his return to the United States he was assigned to shore duty for a year, and then given a year's leave of absence. In December, [853. he came to Charlotte to supervise some mining and milling proi>erty and has made that city his home ever since.
In .\pri]. 1854, he married Jane Renwick Smedberg of New York. This lady was the daughter of Charles Gustave Smedberg, a Swedish gentleman, and the second son of a wealthy iron mer- chant of Stockholm and Gnthcnberg, interested also largely in mining and mamtfacturing iron, .^t an early age the son was sent 111 the Fast Indies as supercargo in one of his father's ships. Later he resiclcd in England, entering the employ of Irving and
i
476 NORTH CAROLINA
Company, bankers. In 1812, he, being a neutral, was sent by the firm to New York as their confidential agent to manage their American business during the war between Great Britain and America. There he met Miss Isabella Renwick, the eldest sister of Mrs. Charles Wilkes, to whom he was married in December, 181 5. He then settled permanently in New York, where his daughter, Mrs. John Wilkes, was born.
In the October following his marriage Lieutenant Wilkes re- signed from the navy. He took up his abode for four years, about two miles from Charlotte, at what was called St. Catherine's Mills. The flour mill here was of ante- revolution date, and romance and superstition wove many tales about it.
In 1858, in conjunction with the late William R. Myers, he bought the Mecklenburg Flour Mills, erected by Leroy Springs on the railroad between East Trade and East Fifth streets. For several years he devoted all his energy and ability to this business and made it a success. Much wheat was then raised in South and North Carolina, and the mill was chiefly supplied from these States.
The flour bore a high reputation and brought good prices in Charleston and New York, competing successfully with the famous Richmond Mills.
When the unsettled state of affairs in i860 and 1861 beg^n to affect the country, John Wilkes bore his part as a public-spirited citizen of Charlotte, in the vigilance committee at first, and then in the Home Guards, feeding the troops as they passed and help- ing the destitute who w^ere left at home The mill w^as one of the sources for supplying the army in Virginia.
As the war went on, the great need of railroad communication was more and more felt. The Atlantic Coast Line was the only railroad from North to South, and it was early threatened by Northern troops, so that great inconvenience and danger resulted. A railroad from Greensboro, North Caolina, to Danville, Vir- ginia, to j(^in the North Carolina road from the South to the Vir- ginia roads was a military necessity, and John Wilkes and his brother Edmund undertook the part from Greensboro to Danville
JOHN WILKES 477
tinder direction of tlic engineer of the Confederate Goremmenl, Captain A. S. Myers.
In the latter part of 1861 the work b^an. and was pushed with all the energy of both brothers, under many difficuUtes and dis- couragenients. Incompetent labor, vrant of tools, trouble in feed- ing the large force nnplo>ed, etc. It was completed tn 1864 in time to aid the Confederate Government in transporting men and supplies, and then to serve as the line of sorrowful retreat.
The brothers then bejjan building the TBilroad from Raleigh to Lockville and were so employed when Sherman occupied that sec- tion and stopped their work.
In 1859 Mr. Wilkes estaUished the foundry since known as the Mccklenbiirij Iron W'orks. In 1861 the Confederate Government moved the machinery and men from the Gosport Xavy Yard, and took possession of the foutiilr^'. It was a large factor in supplying the Confederate navy «'ilh shells and machinery, and with repairs for its vessels frnm Richmond to Mobile. In 1865 it came again into Mr. Wilkes's possession.
Immediately after the close of the war Mr. Wilkes set about some work to support his family, a wife and five litlle children. He found ihc situation a))paliin};. ITic country had no money, no crc<lit. nn means of starting necessary enterprises. He went to Washington in 1865 and obtained a pardon from the Government (a preci'ins scrap nf paj>er still in his possession). In August, 1X65. he ]>rociire'l a charter for the First National Bank of Charlntte. the first national l>ank chartered south of the Poto-
It was an institution greatly needed for the business of the town, and aided largely in its restoration to prosperity. Mr. Wilkes was its first president. ]9^^-<y>. resigning to devote himself to manufacturing interests, in which he has since been engaged.
As wheat culture had almost ceased in North and South Caro- lina, the flour mill was no longer profitable, so he entered into part- nership with General John A. ^'onng and Miles Wriston. and re- Tnr>ved their I^>ck M.in.l Wo.,len Mills to Charlotte and operated them at the place of the flour mill, .\fter some years the woolen
478 NORTH CAROLINA
mills met with failure, and General Young and Mr. Wilkes were financially ruined.
Then Mr. Wilkes turned his whole energ)"^ to the Mecklenburg Iron Works, and that speedily became a marked success. As the Seaboard Air Line needed the foundry property, Mr. Wilkes in 1874 sold it to the railroad, and purchased the Doctor Hayes lot on the west end of Trade Street along the Southern Railroad, erected buildings for the iron works, and in 1875 established his family in the old house built by W. A. Elms in 1853. Here the iron works has since been conducted with a wide reputation for ability, good work, and fair and generous dealing with its cus- tomers. Many of the workmen have grown gray or died in its service, and there has never been any dispute, unpleasantness or strike amonc: them. Thev are all devoted to **the Old Man" and his sons. Now the personnel has perforce changed in the forty years since the works were begun, and younger men fill many places left vacant by age or death among the old hands.
In all that concerns the interests of Charlotte, Mr. Wilkes has always been prominent. Several times elected Alderman, he has fully justified the confidence of his fellow-citizens. Repeatedly solicited to be a candidate for the mayoralty, he has felt obliged to decline, being fully occupied with the large business under his management. •
To the church he has always given loyal service and steady sup- port. A vestryman of St. Peter's parish since 1856, its senior warden since i860, for thirty years its lay reader, as its treasurer, as Sunday-school teacher and superintendent, as its representa- tive in church councils, he has always proved himself ready to spend and be spent in his Master's service. He has been chosen delegate to the Diocesan Convention annually since 1856, with the exccpticMi of one or two years, and has represented the diocese of North Carolina in the General Convention of the Episcopal Church since 1886 — seven consecutive conventions.
Since i860, as lay reader, he has kept St. Peter's Church open durini^ intervals of rectorship, and has upheld and aided succes- sive rectors in their work, and has strengthened the church by his
JOHN WILKES
presence, example and money. Many of those now its supporters look back to his influence and training in Sunday-school and church, and are the better men and women, and the stronger churchmen because of his example.
His fellow-citizens respect and eslecm him. His workmen love and trust him. And the State of his adoption has no more de- voted and useful citizen than John Wilkes.
Captain Wilkes has had nine children. Two girls died in in- fancy and one at ten years of age. One son died aged eighteen, and another aged twenty-eight. Two daughters and two sons are living, all married.
Mrs. Rosalie Wilkes Jones, with one daughter, lives with her parents. The sons. John Frank and James Renwick Wilkes, arc their father's assistants in the Mecklenburg Iron Works. Each has a son and a daughter.
Mrs. Agnes Wilkes Rankin lives in Hartford. Connecticut, where her husband, A. G. Rankin, has a large shoe business. They have three sons and two daughters. The eldest son. John Wilkes Rankin, entered the United States Maval Academy at Annapolis in 1904, and worthily upholds the Wilkes's name and traditions. /. P. Caldwell.
BEN'JAMIN BRODIE WINBORNE 481
Sessions of his county. When the Revolutionary war came on, lie enlisted as a private in the company commanded by Captain Joseph Walker, belonging to the Seventh Regiment of the Conti- nental Line of North Carolina, and for three years was a soldier in the War for Independence.
."Vfter the war he was commissioned major by the State, and he was appointed a Jnstice of the Peace of the county. In this capacity he served as one of the Special Court of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions, and as one of those who adminis- tered tlie public affairs of the county. His son, Thomas Winbornc, was later also appointed a member of this court, and ser\-ed at the same time with his father, Thomas Winbonie married Sarah Copeland, a Quakeress of Hertford County; and of this union Eiisha Winborne, the grandfather ol the subject of this sketch, was born on Movember 6, 1792. He, like his father and grandfather, was a member of the County Court, and was held in such high esteem that ahhough he died in 1829, at the age of thirty-seven, he was acting as chairman of the court at that time. At the age of twenty-seven Eiisha Winborne. on April i, 1819. married Martha Warren of Southampton County, Virginia ( ii'lio.so ancestors were from Surrey Couiily in that Stalt^^, and on March 7. 1821, their son. Samuel Darden Winborne, was bom.
Samuel Darden Winborne, the father of Benjamin Brodie, wasa man of marked individuality and force. In early life he aspired to a military career and sought and received from Honorable Kenneth Rayner an appointment as a cadet at West Point, where he was ad- mittt'ilnn July 1, 1840. After remaining there about one and a half years, bad health forced him to resign and return to his home in Hertford County. Here he devoted himself with great energy and success to fanning and to the management of the affairs of his widowed nioihcr. and he soon became a well-to-do planter. He was appointed niaj<ir in the militia in 1847, and was noted for the loyalty of his devotion to his State and county, and he was esteemed by all who knew him as an exemplary citizen. He never snngju nfticia! station, but took a deep interest in all public questions. He served for several years as one of the
482 NORTH CAROLINA
**Sj)ccial Court" in his county just before the abolition of the court in 1868. Before the Civil War he was a staunch Whig, but lie afterward became an ardent Democrat. For a number of years following the Reconstruction period, and when a majority of the l)oar(l were Republicans, he served his county as one of its county commissioners, and it may be justly said that it was due in a large measure to his watchfulness, good judgment and unflinching courage that the deplorable conditions which existed at that time in so many other eastern counties of the State never pre- vailed in Hertford. The mother of Mr. Winbome was Mary Prettow of Southampton County, Virginia, a member of the old and cultured family of that name that were among the early settlers of the county. She was a lady of many personal charms, and of the most beautiful Christian character. She was trained in the best schools c^f her day, and finished her education at a high-grade institution in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, controlled by the relig- ious sect (Quakers) to which she then belonged. She was twice married — her first husband being James Massenburg of her na- tive county, who lived less than one year. After marriage she formed other religious associations, but retained through life all of the j^entle modesty and consecration to duty so characteristic of her (Juaker progenitors.
With such ancestors Mr. Winborne acquired by inheritance the virtue oi directness, and a corresponding dislike of all shams and hyp(X'risy. The active and useful lives of his parents and their ueii^hlx^rs taught him, at an early age, the lessons of independence and self-reliance, and these, perhaps, are the most prominent characteristics of his maturer vears. In vouth he attended Buck- horn Academy, a flourishing classical school about two miles fn^ni his hc^nie, of which Captain J. H. Picot, a graduate of Co- hmihia C(Mlege of Xew York, and a gentleman of gresit learning and literary attainments, was principal. As was usual in such academies at that time, nuich attention was paid to training young nun in juihlic ileclamation and debate: and here doubtless the sub- ject oi this sketch first acquired and developed the tastes which in- clined him {o tiie law. Indeed, a number of men now prominent in
BENJAMIN BRODIE WINBORNE 483
public and private life in the State and in other States received their early training at this ok! academy, the glory of which is now but a memory. And may we not remark here without being considered an enemy of education that these o!d country acade- mies have in the past trained many notable men for the State; and is it not worth while to consider if the public school is cal- culated to develop the same high character and culture? In 1871 Mr. Winbome entered Wake Forest College, where he re- mained for one year, and thereafter continued his studies in Columbian University in Washington, D. C. — 'receiving from the latter the degree of B.L. in June, 1874. He then studied for oiie year in the office of Judge W. N. H. Smith and Hon. George V. Strong in Raleigh. North Carolina, and began the practice of law in June, 1875, in Winton, North Carolina — the county scat of his native connty — having received his license from the Supreme Court of the State in Febrnary preceding, and before he had at- tained his majority. When he commenced to practice a number of able lawyers were members of the Winton bar. and his early experiences, not unlike those of the average young lawyer, had their discouragements and disappointments. But he applied him- self with great diligence to his books^ca re fully reviewing all of his text l)ooks. both academic and law, and studying such others as he had added to his library. His patient industry and indom- itable will to succeed scon brought their reward, and in a few years he won hi? place among the foremost members of the bar. This position he has since maintained, and for a number of years he has been one of [lie leailing and most successful lawyers in the eastern part of the State, During this period his practice in the Supreme Court of the State has been extensive, and as appears from the reports of that court, he has been counsel in much im- portant litigation as well as in many leading cases involving the most intricate and controverted legal principles.
On December 23, 187^. he married Miss Nellie H. Vaughan, a beantifid and accomplished woman, the daughter of Colonel Uriah \'atighan of Murfreesboro, North Carolina, and in January. 1880, he removed lo that town, where he has since resided. In 1877 he
484 NORTH CAROLINA
was elected Solicitor of the Inferior Court of Hertford Court — a court of limited criminal jurisdiction — and served in that capacity for a number of years. In 1891 this court was abolished and a criminal court of general jurisdiction was established in its stead. In response to the almost unanimous demand of the people of his county he agreed to accept the judgeship of the latter court, and was accordingly commissioned by the Governor, and served for a term of six years, except for a brief interval when he resigned to serve in the Legislature of 1895 — being reappointed after its adjournment. As judge he added to his reputation as an ac- curate and learned lawyer, and displayed the firmness, high sense of justice and other qualities of head and heart which eminently qualify him for judicial station. In 1905 he wrote and had pub- lished a most interesting history of the Winborne family; and he is now writing a history of Hertford County and its people.
Mr. Winborne has been unswerving in his allegiance to De- mocracy, and since 1875 has taken an active part in the politics (^f his county and State. He first attracted attention by a series of articles on the progress of political science, published in the Albemarle Times — at that time a weekly newspaper of wide circu- lation in eastern Carolina, edited and published in Windsor, North Carolina, by the late P. H. Winston, Jr. These sketches have been recently published in book form.
From 1878 to 1902 he served as chairman of the Democratic Executive Conmiittce of Hertford County, and it was under his able and aggressive management that the county was first re- deemed from Republican rule in the Fall of 1884, when his brother, R. W. Winborne, now of Roanoke, Virginia, was elected to the House of Representatives. For some years Mr. Winborne served as a member of the Democratic Executive Committee of the .State, and in 1896 he was one of the North Carolina delegates to the Chicago Convention. In the campaign of 1894 he was the Democratic candidate of his county for the House of Representa- tives, and was one of the stalwart thirty- three in the entire State who came out triumphant from the political upheaval of that year. In the Legislature of 1895, though in the minority and at a time
BENJAMIN' BRODIE WIN130R.\E 485
when political fee)ing in the Slate was bitter, his influence was felt. By his ability and conrage he won the respect, and by his courtesy the esteem, of his political opponents in that body; and thus he was enabled to secure the enactment of important meas- ures, as well as the defeat of mudi bad legislation. Thereafter he continued to dcvoie himself assiduously to his large practice until 1904, when he was again a candidate for the House of Representatives, and while there were other good men seeking the nomination, he was nominated at a party primary by an over- whelming majority, and was subsequently elected.
In the Legislature of 1905 he was at once recognized as a lead- ing member, being appointed chairman of the Democratic caucus, chairman of the Judiciary Committee and a member of a number of the other most important committees of the House. He was the author of much important legislation, look a leading part in the debates of the session, and as a member of the Committee on the Revision of the Statutes, his familiarity with the law made him of the greatest usefulness to his associates and the Slate.
In addition to being a strong lawyer, Mr. Winborne is a public- spirited man, and always a leader in the progressive enterprises of his section. He still retains his devotion to the farm, and not- H'iihslandiiig the strenuous exactions of his professional life, is a successful farmer, largely interested in planting and stock raising.
In personal intercourse, Mr. Winborne has pleasing manners, and enjoys ilie imlmunded confidence of those who know him best. He is a popular man, but it is the popularity of a positive and ag- gressive character. His fidelity and loyalty to his friends and clients are proverbial, and while the zeal with which he espouses another's cause sometimes excites antagonisms, he is so honor- able and open as an adversary as to command the respect of his opponents. Warm hearted and generous, he is easily moved bv suffering or misfortune, and gives with a free hand. His con- victions of duty are strong, and whatever he undertakes he per- forms conscientiously and thoroughly, whatever the cost or sacri- fice to himself; and in this, doubtless, is to be found the secret
486 NORTH CAROLINA
of his success. He is intensely devoted to North Carolina, and glories in her traditions and her history, and his profession he loves as a jealous mistress. In the discharge of his public duties he has won the esteem and admiration of his associates. Per- haps no more accurate characterization has been given of any of our public men than is to be found in an editorial of the Raleigh Morning Post, March 8, 1905, concerning the subject of this sketch :
''Judge B. B. Winborne. member of the House from Hertford, goes home with a legislative record that marks him pre-eminently one of the safest, as well as ablest, leaders in the State. He it was who led the fight in the House for the principal provision in the Divorce Law as the Senate passed it, and in which the House finally concurred. His argument on that question in the House, on the night the Divorce Bills were discussed, will long be remembered as one of the really great speeches that have been made in that hall. Then his stand for the granting of new trials in criminal cases for newly discovered evidence was a notable effort, one that of itself, if he had done nothing else, would have singled him out as a strong and just man."
Robert W, Winborne.
JOHN WITHERSPOON
I OHN WITHERSPOON. an eminent divine. Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, and founder of the first church of any denomination ever established in Hillsboro, was bom at "Pembroke," near New- Bern, in 1791. He died on September 25, rc). He comes of a family of divines, scholars He was the son of David Witherspoon. a prominent member of the bar of New-Bern. The Federal census of i/yo shows that David Withersjjoon was ibe largest slave-owner in Craven County al that time, having one hundred amitljjtee;! slaves. Tht- [lattriinl prandfalher was lievariiinl John VVidierspooii, D.D.. LL.D., meml>er of the Continental Congress from New Jersey, signer of tlie Declaration of Independence, president of the CollcRc of New jersey (Princeton) for many years, and teacher of many of the patriots of the Revohition. An uncle. Major James Witherspoim. was aide to General Francis Nash, and was killed at Gcrmantnwn by a part of the shell which killed his ilhistrious commander. An aunt, Frances Witherspoon, was the wife of the historian, David Ramsay of South Carohna. Another aunt, Anna Witherspixin, was the wife of Samuc! Stanhope Smith (who succeciled her father as president of Princeton) and the grand- mother of John C, I'rcckcuridge. member of Congress, Senator and X'ice-l'rcsident of the United States, major-general and secre-
488 NORTH CAROLINA
tary of war of the Confederate States. The signer was the son of Reverend James Witherspoon, parish minister of Yester, Ho(l- dingtonshire, Scotland, and Anne Walker, his wife, who was her- self the daughter of Reverend David Walker of Temple Parish and Margaret Peterson, his wife. The family name was originally spelled Wodderspoon, and the coat of arms bears the motto "Deo Jiivante/' The mother of the subject of this sketch was Mary Jones, widow of Governor Abner Nash, and a great-g^nd- daughter of Frederick Jones, who was chief justice of the colony of North Carolina from 171 7 to 1721. Through her mother, Mary Jones was descended from William Bradford of the Mayiioivcr, the second and many times governor of Plymouth.
On the 1st of July, 1813, the subject of this sketch married Susan Davis Kollock of Elizabeth town, New Jersey, who was the daughter of Captain Shepard Kollock, a Revolutionar}- soldier, member of the Society of the Cincinnati, and a prominent editor; and sister of Shepard Kosciusko Kollock, w^ho was Professor of Logic and Rhetoric in the University of North Carolina, 1819 to 1825. At the age of eight or nine John lost his mother. His father removed to Princeton and died shortly afterward. By the will of his father, John was placed under the guardianship of Doctor Samuel Stanhope Smith of Princeton, and Doctor John C Osborne, a well-known physician of New-Bern. John received his earliest school training at Baskenridge, New Jersey, in an academy of which the Reverend Doctor Findlay was principal, "a man justly celebrated as a teacher and a divine." After a time he was taken from this school by Doctor Smith and placed under the care of his other guardian, Doctor Osborne, who resigned his charge. His half-brother. Chief Justice Frederick Nash, then assumed the guardianship. T.'pon his return to New- Bern he entered the acadcni}', which was under the charge of Doctor Irving, **a man of science and full of learning and an excellent instructor, who trusted more to the rod than to moral suasion." Doctor Irving later turned his attention to the ministrv, was dulv admitted to Orders in the Episcopal Church, and installed as a priest at New-Bern. Several of his pupils in after life achiev-ed eminence, among them
JOHN VVITHERSPOON
Judge William Gaston. John then entered the preparatory de- partment of the University of North Carolina, which was then in charge of Reverend Abner Clopton. He entered the University in 1808. and was graduated in 1810 as a Bachelor of Ans. Among his classmates was James Fauntleroy Taylor, with whom he lied on the senior examinations, and who subsequently became attorney-general of the State. The Latin salutatory was as- signed to Witlierspoon. and the valedictory to Ta\'lor, the latter being the better speaker. Witherspoon and Taylor entered the law office of Chief Justice Nash, and were in due lime admitted to the bar.
White on a visit to Philadelphia, Mr. Witherspoon heard a ser- mon by Reverend Doctor Thomas Skinner, a native of this State, and from it he dated his first serious impression upon the subject of religion. Laler, under the preaching of that eminent man of God, Doctor Robert Chapman, then president of our University, he made profession of faith, and was admitted to membership in the Presbyterian Oiurch at Chape! Hill. He then decided to throw aside his law books and to devote himself to the Gospel ministry. He thus verified the prediction made for him by his first teacher. Doctor Findlay, who said: '"No doubt JoJjh hvJJ yet become a preacher of the Gospel ; that there never had been a time since the death of John Knox inwhich there was not a minister of the Gospel in direct line from him." To prepare himself for the ministry he removed with his family to Elizabethtown, New Jersey, and com- pleted his theological studies under his brother-in-law, the Reverend Doctor John McDowall. then pastor of the Presbyterian Church of that place, and who, in 1820, was Moderator of the Gen- eral Assembly. In the Spring of i8t6 he was ordained a minister of the Presbytery of New Jeniicy. He returned the same year to his native State and located at Hillsboro. "At that time Hillsboro was destitute of the forms of religion; no house dedicated to the ser- vice of .Mmighty God existed within its precincts; nor was there any organized church of any faith: nor was there any regular worship. Its Sabbaths were silent Sabbaths, undisturbed by the 'church-going bell,' and for many a year previous thereto a
490 NORTH CAROLINA
moral or a religious darkness had spread over the community. But a great reformation had recently begun under the preaching of Doctor Chapman. In 1816 (September 25th) the first Presby- terian Church that ever had been formed in Hillsboro was organ- ized by Mr. Witherspoon, who was ordained its pastor ; and there continued to labor as such until 1832." "While pastor of the church in Hillsboro, seeing the destitution of the place in a literary point of view, there being no academy there, he instituted one there, and associated with himself a gentleman of the name of Rogers." Mr. Rogers had been educated for a Roman Catholic priest, but had abandoned that purpose, and had become a midshipman in the navy. Happening to reach Wilmington, he resigned and was employed there as a private tutor, and then he taught at Hills- boro, where he married a daughter of Colonel William Shepperd. He was a fine teacher. "Under their joint labors the academy rose rapidly into public favor. Many of the young men of our State in public life received under these gentlemen the rudiments of their education." "In 1832 he removed to Camden, in South Caro- lina, upon a call from the Presbyterian Church of that State. He continued to labor there until he received and accepted a call from the church in Columbia of the same State." After laboring several years in the church of Columbia, Mr. Witherspoon's health having given way, he returned to his native State to die. "His life was mercifully spared for several years after his return, and though a life of suffering and sorrow, he bore all his trials with meekness, submission and resignation. Nor did he relax his ministerial labors, visiting the poor, the sick and the afflicted, and ministering to their spiritual wants with tenderness and unbroken zeal." "Being young when he lost his mother, and the only sur- viving child of a father broken in health, he never was subject in his earliest days to that restraint so necessary in forming the character of the future man. His mother's death occurred too earlv in his infancy for him to have derived anv benefit from her judicious care and management. At the time, then, when he was placed under the care of Doctor Findlay, he was a wild and reck- less boy, spurning at an authority which was new to him.'' But
JOH\ WITHERSPOON 491
the influence of a long line of godly and scholarly men became more and more assertive, and erelong prevaired. He became a brilliant student and later a beloved minister. "With manners mild and gunllc, a voice sweetly and musically toned, with a sound, discriminating mind, well stored witli learning, and with a heart overflowing with love to his fellow-men, he was fully equipped for battle. In private life he was. especially among those with whom he was familiar, extremely cheerful in conversation, seek- ing to please as well as to instruct. In the pnlpit he was ever solemn, giving apparently his whole soul to the subject before him. \o levity of conduct or of speech ever escaped him — he was there solely to instruct and persuade. By man\' he was con- sidered a fine pulpit orator: he was so, as far as a minister of the Gospel in the pulpit can be so who uses little or no action. Mr, WitherspDon u.sed none or very little. His presence in the pulpit wa.s commanding and solemn, his enunciation clear, his language chaste and pure, and his sweet voice penetrated to the remotest corner of the church. The leading feature, perhaps, of his mind was his knowledge of human character. . . . This power or faculty enabled him to adapt his discourse to his audiences in a. most effective manner. Especially was he successful in addressing the young and his colored hearers. His language and his illus- trations then were suited to their comprehension, and with both classes lie was a favorite."
He assisied Reverend Doctor WiUiam McPheeters with the ser- vices on February 7, 1S18. dedicating the first church building of the First i'resbyterian Church of Raleigh, and with two others he assisted in the organization of the First Presbyterian Church of Green slid ro.
He was the recipient of the honorary degrees of A.M.. D.D., and I-I-.D, The first was conferred by the University of North Carnlina in 1815. and by the College of New Jersey. The degree of D.D. was conferred in 1836 by the College of New Jersey and by Lafa\clte Collcjie. His church bestowed many honors upon him. He wm clcdcd Moderator of Orange Presbytery in 1822, 1827 and i8,i!. a very unusual honor, as one year is the usual
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term of service. At the end of the session in 1827 he was made Stated Clerk. In 1836 the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, which met that year in Pittsburg, elected him Moderator, which is the highest honor in the gift of the church, and it has been said that *'he was found equal to the task," and that **he made the finest impression on the whole church as to his ability and impartiality." According to custom as retiring Moderator, he preached the opening sermon on the following year. The text of his sermon was i .Cor. i :io, 11. At that time the church was convulsed with vital controversies, in which he took an active part, contributing many energetic articles to the Philadelphia Presby- terian. He took the position that the grave political questions which were agitating the nation were not matters upon which the church as a church should legislate.
Shortly after his death Orange Presbytery met at Milton, and during its session resolutions were adopted in reference to Doctor Witherspoon, in which he is alluded to as **gifted with talents of a high order," and as ''having enjoyed opportunities of instruction better than most men of his day." This estimate of him appears in the resolutions : **As a popular speaker he was excelled by none, the silvery tones of his voice, the grace and eloquence of his manner, his ready flow of language, combined with a re- markable memory, a fervid imagination and vigorous powers of thought made him a most attractive preacher. For his success, however, he was, perhaps, not less indebted to his quali- ties as a man than as a preacher — gentle, courteous, affable and kind, he was a pastor greatly beloved." Such a tribute is a price- less inheritance to his children.
W. A, Withers.
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truth of the homely adage, that ^'keeping everlastingly at it will hriiig success" hrought home to us in the early years of his struggles and amhitions ; and we have set before us from the very first mile jx^st that he passed an ideal which was his, and a char- actor formed in the light of that ideal that withstood all tempta- tion, and which proved the strength and foundation of all his undertakings. So in recording the important events in his hfe we arc not without materials ; but for the shades and shadows which illumine many pictures of successful men the reader must su])])ly them, for they have not been given to the limner.
Richard Harvey Wright was born near Louisburg, North Carolina, I^Vanklin County, in the year 185 1, on the 13th day of July. His father, Mr. Thomas D. Wright, was a country gentle- man, horn in North Carolina, his father being an Englishman who settled in the South. As Mr. Wright was early left an orphan, his father dying when he was but six years of age, and his mother, Mrs. l^lizaheth Ci. Wright, ])assing away when he was but four- teen years of age, Mr. Wright never had opportunity to learn anything of imj)()rtance about his ancestors. He found himself alone in the world at the age of fourteen, in delicate health, and decided to enter into the mercantile business. He had gone to Horner's School, and there pre|)ared for a collegiate course, but finding himself financially unable to continue his studies, there- fore reluctantly he closed his books for the time being, went to Oxford and became an ai)])rentice in a general merchandise store, agreeing to work three years for his employer. 'He was to re- ceive his board and washing and $50 per year for the three years. Those >ears were i86(), 1870 and 1 87 1. And while we see the young man, an orphan boy, toiling through the day selling general merchandise, and knowing that he was to receive practically nothing in monev for his services, it turned out that he was better paid than many a young man receiving a hundred dollars a month. While at school the teacher. Professor T. J. Horner, had filled liini with ambition, and many were the long nights that young Wright laid on his bed or sat at a table before a dim light and read and reread the lives of great men; followed them in their
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struggles willi adversity ; wept with ihem in their defeats and rejoiced with tlieni in the final triumphs. It was here, when he was an apprentice, that the character which has stood him in such splendid stead was formed; ii was here, in these midnight hours, that he dreamed a road and way for himself tiirough what seemed an impenetrable forest. The writer of this sketch asked him what else he read, and he told him that many of the poems of Long- , fellow had inspired him and made his burdens light. He was not asked what particular poem sn strongly appealed to him, but we dare say that "The Rainy Day" and the "Psalm of Li fc" were some that he many times read, and resolved that he would "be up and doing, with a heart for any fate; still achieving, still pursuing" — he could labor, hecould wait ! After three years of apprenticeship were passed, Mr. Wright formed a copartnership with his em- ployer under the firm name of Hunt & Wright. They opened a store at Tally Ho, in Granville County, and ran it imtil 1874, and one night it burned to the ground, and not a cent of insurance was to be collected, for the insurance policy had expired. After the fire Mr. Wright found himself worse off than nothing by sev- eral thousand dollars ; all that the firm owed he was in duty bound to pay his part, which he did uncomplainingly — and he also figitred that his seven years' work and toil were in that ash heap, because he diiln'l thfu see Imw he could enga^tjp in general merchandise. But lie never lost heart. He, however, was up against a propo- sition. He was away from home when the fire came, and he was naturally feeling blue, downhearted and despondent. It hap- pened that the famous lecturer, Josh Billings, who not only had an original way of spelling, but an original and striking way of presenting a proposition, was to lecture that night in Raleigh. Young Wright thought he would go and hear the lecture, as Josh Billings was then justly famous, and he told the writer that that lecture was worth to him a thousand times what it cost. ' As slated, he was feeling at odds with the world; he had lost all he hail, was .several diousand dollars in debt, and he was really blue, with all the term implies. In his quaint way, and among the first things lie said on the pl.itforni, Billings remarked: "Young man.
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never grieve over spilt milk, but pick up your milk pail and go for the next cow." Mr. Wright said that any other time per- haps he would not have noticed the import of this philosophy, but it seemed to be directed to him alone; he took it all to him- self— and that was about all he heard or remembered of the lecture. All through the programme he saw another pail ma- terializing ; he saw the cow, and he saw that the thing to do was to get another pail and keep on a-milking. He went to his hotel, and that quaint sentence still rang in his ears; it was there the next day and it refused to leave him. He saw things in a differ- ent light, and it was from what Billings said that he saw he had a heart for any fate, and he at once commenced to look around, and in a short time he was again in business, this time in Durham, with his old partner — and the firm did well.
But after seven years of active merchandising as a proprietor, in 1877 Mr. \\'right took with him another partner in another line, and commenced the manufacture of smoking tobacco at Durham, under the firm name of R. H. Wright and Company. After a year in a rented building, in 1878 he built a factory, and remained in it a year alone, having purchased his partner's inter- est. It was while running the factory alone that he went out into the world — went after business — traveled the West, and while older concerns sent traveling men in the same territor)', Mr. Wright seemed somehow to be able to secure more orders, to sell more goods, than all of them put together, and naturally enough his business began to attract widespread attention in the trade, lie continued a year in his new factory, and was building up a large business. His factory was just in the rear of the factory of W. Duke Sons and Company, and it happened that this firm was attracted to the business being done by Mr. Wright, and especially had Mr. Washington Duke been made familiar with the success of Mr. Wright on the road from the fact that they had traveled together, and Mr. Wright's orders surprised ^Ir. Duke to the extent that he was offered a chance to purchase W. Duke's interest in that concern. So in 1880 he became one of the partners, and for five years there was, in the parlance of
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to-day, "something dcjing." Not only in America, but in all the foreign countries of the world, Mr. Wright went with his samples, and his energy, and his tactful ways, and blazed the way for what afterward became one of the greatest commercial successes iii t!ie United States. It was in these five years, these strenuous years of travel, that Mr. Wright became a true cosmopolite; became a traveler distinct in his class for miles traversed ; familiarized him- self with trade and social conditions of the world and rememl>ereii what he saw ; was alert to all the stopping places of opportunity, as was evidenced in after years. Whether in Kimberley or Johan- nesburg, Alexandria or Khartoum, Bombay or Singapore, Canton of Tokio, Melbourne or Auckland, Manila or Porto Rico, Calcutta or Algiers, Mr, Wright was "at home" — there were friendly hands to clasp his and familiar faces to greet him.
After ha^-ing been four years in this exciting game of travel, Mr. Wright was married in June, 1884, to Miss Mamie Exum, of Wayne County, North Carolina. This estimable lady lived a little less than a year, and again Mr. Wright plunged into the Old World, and returned to sever his relations with the Duke concern and take up another line.
In September, 1885. he moved to Lynchburg, V'irginia, and purchased an interest in the Lone Jack cigarette factorj-. and was managing director until December, 1888, when he retired to take llic sole agcncv of ihc Bonsack Cigarette AJacJjine, of which he was then and still is a large stockholder, in the countries of China, Japan, the I'hilippincs, India and Africa. Since that time Mr. Wright ha.s sj>cnt a great deal of his time in travel. He has circled the globe a dozen tiines, and thinks no more of going to Europe than the average man does of going to some city a half hundred miles away. In a financial way Mr, Wright has been successful far beyond his wildest dreams. He has made his money because of his ability to grasp the significance of events; because of his industry and his honesty. He has never soiled his hands or mind with any get-rich-quick proposition. He has deliberately laid out liis campaigns of commerce as a shrewd general lays out his plans of battle, and if he saw Opportunity sitting in the
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shadows of the Pyramids, he was in Egypt before the ordinary man would be through discussing with himself whether he should go or not. Mr. Wright never believed in the mystic thing called "luck." He ever believed that there must be determination and steadfastness — there must be a purpose back of all human en- deavor, and when he gets on a ship and the purser tells him the only stateroom he has is number thirteen, Mr. Wright says thir- teen is as good as any if it is as good — that the name or number has nothing to do with him.
It would be impossible to attempt a recital of the different busi- ness enterprises in which Mr. Wright is interested. He is presi- dent of Wright's Automatic Tobacco Packing Machine Company, and has supplied this machine to a large part of the tobacco manu- facturers of the United States. He also owns Wright's Cigarette Packing Machine ; is director in the Wright Coal and Coke Com- pany, Prince, West Virginia; and the Stonewall Coal and Coke Company, of Stonewall, West Virginia ; is interested in the United Machine Company, of London, and is president of the Durham Traction Company, and a large real estate owner in Durham. Mr. W>ight has also aided in the perfection of many patents, notably the machine for making crimp laps on cigarettes instead of using paste, and a machine for wrapping and boxing laundry soap.
In all this busy life Mr. Wright has never sought political honors or social distinction, and yet, because of his quiet and unob- trusive ways, he counts his friends by the score. He belongs to but one secret organization — the Masonic fraternity. He is affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal Church, and lives a life in accord with the teachings of that denomination. In his political choice he has always, except when the free silver craze swept the country, voted the straight Democratic ticket, and has always aided, loyally and patriotically, in the upbuilding of the South. In his cliarities he has ever followed the modest teachings, and seen to it that they vaunted not themselves; and only once in public, to tile writer's knowledge, did he allow it to be known that he was giving from liis wealth to relieve distress. That was when
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the terrible story of San Francisco's cataclysm had been wired to the world and the miitc appeal for alms called coinirmnities together to take measures to relieve the distress of the suffering. In a public meeting in Durham, Mr. Wright thought all should give something — and he wrote bis check for a neat sum, remark- ing that there was more if needed.
Mr. Wright is yet a young man ; there is much before him, and it must be with a pride indescribable that he looks back to the time when he was an apprentice boy at Oxford, working three years for the scant sum that he received, and compares it with the present, when he feels secure in this world's gooila; when he knows that he has been as successful as most any man of his time; when he realizes that all his successes have come to him clean- handed, and tliat his record for honesty and probity has never been assailed, "To make a great success," said Mr. Wright to the writer upon one occasion, "one must select a business for which one has a natural talent and taste, and master it until he loves it above all other pastimes or amusement." This is expressed more fully in the idea of Carlyle, who said that "witbout labor there is no ease."
As said elsewhere in tliis brief skelcb, Mr. Wright does not believe in the thing called "luck," and wants nothing to do with sii])erstition. Discussing those two phantom things, lie once said to tlic wriicr: "Circumstances may assist a man, but sterling honesty and integrity, truthfulness, sobriety and good morals, courlfsy, untiring energy, industry and a determination to do ones full duty, coupled with good judgment and practical common sense, will soon put a yonng man in the front ranks of life," and sureiy tlie acliievcmcnts of Mr. Wright bear full testimony to this projKisition.
AltliougJi tile shadow on the dial of time has lengthened to the middle point since Josh Billings incidentally suggested to a mixed audience that those wlio had been unfortunate in having their milk pail upset should gel another pail and go to the next cow, and while misfortune and lack of funds in the early years kept him from graduating at a school of letters, in that larger institution
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of learning, the University of the World, he has graduated with splendid honors. In deportment, in scholarship which has made him familiar with men, in travel, in broad-mindedness and capa- bility, he is at the head of a class of successful men ; and perhaps the hard lines of his youthful career — the long hours spent at the dim oil light in his Oxford home after a hard day's labor, his association with the lives of great men — only in the cold tyi>e of books — and the solace found in the matchless lines of the im- mortal Longfellow, proved a more valuable tutor than had he entered a college with money to burn and received from lettered professors the mysteries found in the Greek and Latin of the curriculum of a famed and fashionable institution of learning. Richard Harvey Wright has written "success" after his name, and who shall say that that is not more satisfactory than had he had better opportunity in his early life and been given authority to write *'LL.D.," which might or might not have indicated a valueless distinction ?
Al Fairbrother,
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