r-5is ^20 Tfy>pA- .'gi :i i.h' and in 1708-10, was either his stepson or his son- in-law. His son-in-law, Dawson, does not appear to have been in Carolina. Archdale's daughter Annie, who died in 1731, mar- ried, in 1688, Emanuel Lowe of Pasquotank. Lowe died in 1727; his daughter Annie married Thomas Pendleton; Annie Letitia Pendleton married Demsey Connor of Pasquotank (d. c. January, 1754) ; their son, Demsey Connor, Jr., was a man of some prom- inence in the Revolution. He married Nancy Blount, and their daughter, Frances Clark Pollock, who married as a second hus- band William Hill, secretary of State, 181 1-57, was, as far as known, the last living descendant of Archdale in America. There are English representatives living in Norfolk County, England. In 1707 Archdale published in London a "Description of Caro- lina." It deals almost exclusively with South Carolina. It is hardly a description ; it is rather a memoir, rambling, discursive, defensive. It has little historical interest. A volume of his manu- script papers of more historical value than the "Description" be- longs to the estate of the late Charles Roberts of Philadelphia. JOHN ARCHDALE 65 The present sketch is made up entirely from the fourth chapter of my "Southern Quakers and Slavery," and from an article on John Archdale and some of his descendants, published by myself in the Magazine of American History, February, 1893. In these articles his career as far as known will be found in detail. Archdale's memory is preserved in North Carolina in the name of one of the halls of Guilford College, known as the Archdale Hall, and in a little village in Randolph County, formerly known as Bush Hill. Stephen B. Weeks. SAMUEL A'COURT ASHE ^^J^^f^^^^^N all ages and in all countries there have been iL^iSV\Aj«5!Sj ^jjjg j^gj^^ ^gii equipped and wise, who were not so prominent as to become historic. There is no little of seeming accident and result of for- V«^^^^?^fe^ tuitous combinations of circumstances entering ^aTj^^^^^:^ into political successes and aggressive leader- ship. The greatest, even the most useful and judicious, men, do not invariably reach the front and achieve the highest possible fame. Clay, Calhoun, and Webster did not attain to the Presi- dency of our country, eminently and richly endowed as they were, and with such protracted service for their native land. There are in this hour as great, or greater, men at home as can be found in places of supposed honor and high public trust. I am about to write a character sketch of a North"" Carolinian who has never occupied high office, who, by reason of original endowment, actual accomplishments and thorough usefulness, has performed real ser- vice for the Democratic Party and the welfare of North Carolina in a time of political stress and peril that equals fully the services rendered by any contemporary official, alone excepting that puis- sant man of the people, Zebulon Baird Vance. I refer to Samuel A. Ashe, a citizen of commanding individuality, and one of the ablest and best equipped editors of the South in the last thirty years. He may not be so well known as such, but that will not affect the truth of the statement nor in any way diminish his unmis- SAMUEL A'COURT ASHE 67 takable merits. He is a North Carolinian of the purest type and deserves most richly to hold a front place among the genuine men of mark in our time and in our State. While Captain Ashe's chiefest reputation and most meritorious service are based on his editorial life, extending through many years, he has been a really powerful factor in political management even when not identified with a newspaper. He has long been a most useful, influential and judicious contributor to the press when not actually engaged in professional work as an editor. Samuel A. Ashe was born at Wrightsville Sound, eight miles from Wilmington, in New Hanover County, on the 13th of Sep- tember, 1840. He was a son of William Shepperd Ashe, of the Rocky Point family of that name, and his wife, Sarah Ann Green, who in the maternal line was a Grange. He is of distinguished ancestry in North Carolina, and but few families have furnished to the State so many men of superior merit and excellence of character. His parents had three sons and several daughters, among the latter being Miss Willie Ashe 'of Raleigh; of the former, James Dobbin died early; Major John Grange Ashe, educated at West Point, was a capable Confederate officer, serving with distinction with Lee, and with General Taylor in the Red River campaign. He married in 1861, and in 1865 moved to Texas, wherehe died in 1867. Their second son is the subject of this sketch. He was a bright, promising boy. When a small lad his father resided on the old plantation at Rocky Point, originally settled by Edward Moseley. He was taught by private tutors, and attended the old field schools until the winter of 1849, when he spent six months at school in Macon, Georgia, and then attended Abbott's Academy at George- town, District of Columbia, and Rugby Academy at Washington, and the Oxford Academy at Maryland, until 1855, when he entered the Naval Academy at Annapolis. He had been thor- oughly taught, and at Annapolis, although one of the younger members of his class, he took the position as second in his class, and continued to be one of the star members until he resigned 68 NORTH CAROLINA from the Academy in November, 1858, and returned to his father's home, then at Rocky Point. Here for two years he devoted himself to the close study of history and literature bearing on the pro- fession of law, reading Reeves's "History of the Common Law," Sharon Turner's "Anglo-Saxons," Robertson's "Charles the Fifth," Hallam's "Middle Ages and Constitutional History," and other such works, so that it is probable that no other young man in a century has come to the bar in North Carolina with the same equipment for the study of the law as he possessed. He began its careful study under Mr. William Ruffin, the eldest son of the eminent Chief Justice Ruffin, who outranks any one who ever sat on the Supreme Court Bench of North Carolina. His son William was endowed with great faculties, and is credited by some with having had even a higher legal mind than his very able father. When Fort Sumter was bombarded, Mr. Ashe re- turned to his home and offered his services to Major Whiting, who by courtesy had taken charge at Wilmington, and was appointed by him a lieutenant and assigned to duty at Fort Cas- well. The fort at that early date was entirely defenseless, and Lieutenant Ashe, under the direction of Captain F. L. Childs, was largely instrumental in putting it in condition for defense. Later the State authorities sent him an appointment in the corps of engineers and artillery, and he continued on duty under Cap- tain John C. Winder, on the lower Cape Fear, with some slight intermission until November. In August the State turned over her troops to the Confederacy, without making any provision for its engineer and artillery officers, still Lieutenant Ashe remained on duty without rank or pay until the Federal fleet, having passed the North Carolina coast, captured Beaufort, South Carolina, and his pressing work being then substantially finished, he went to the front in South Carolina, along with Colonel Radcliffe's regi- ment, and later enlisted as a private in Company I of that, then known as the Eighth Regiment, but later as the Eighteenth North Carolina Troops. In the early spring, however, the President sent him a commission in the regular army of the Confederate States, with an assignment to duty with Captain F. L. Childs, SAMUEL A'COURT ASHE 69 then in command of the arsenal at Charleston. In June he ac- cepted an appointment as captain and adjutant-general on the staff of General Pender, and joined Pender's brigade and served with it in the campaign against Pope, being particularly men- tioned for conduct at the battle of Cedar Run, and he was very useful in the battle of Second Manassas. The night after that battle, however, he was taken prisoner and confined in the Old Capitol Prison at Washington for some weeks and then parolled. Returning home, he found Wilmington depopulated because of the yellow fever then raging there, and that his father had been killed by an accident. In November, having been exchanged, he was assigned to duty under his regular army commission on the staff of General Clingman, and the next summer, when the Fed- erals attacked Battery Wagner, he was assigned to duty as ordnance officer of that post. It was one of his duties during that memorable siege to repair at night the damages done by the incessant bombardment during the day. He often worked be- tween two and three hundred men all night in removing debris, replacing carriages and mounting new guns, so as to be ready for the next day's defense, being subjected all the while to fire from Coehorn mortars of the enemy. That siege was one of the most terrible experiences of the war. On the day the fort was abandoned, in obedience to orders from Richmond, he left Charleston and reported at Fayetteville, and was assigned to duty as assistant to the commanding officer of that great arsenal of construction — Colonel F. L. Childs, who from their first inter- course at Fort Caswell, in April, 1861, had the highest apprecia- ation of Captain Ashe's services. Although anxious to return to the field, the department would never consent to his leaving the work assigned him, and he remained at Fayetteville until the close of the war. His father's property having been swept away by the war, he began life absolutely without means and with a considerable family dependent upon him. In January, 1866, he was appointed conductor on a freight train on the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad, and after some months' 70 NORTH CAROLINA experience was transferred to the passenger service, and then transferred to the sleeping-car service, and ran the first sleeping cars from Wilmington to West Point, in Georgia, a trip of two days and a night going and two days and a night returning. During that period he resumed the study of law, and retiring from the railroad service on the ist of December, 1866, he studied at home during that month and obtained his license, and began the practice in January, 1867, at Wilmington. At this critical time Commander A. T. Mahan, of United States Navy, who had been his classmate and intimate friend at the Naval School, wrote to him that he "had just returned from a long cruise, and had saved $500. If you have survived the war, you will need it. I would take it from you; you must take it from me." This aid enabled him to live until his practice began to pay. His business steadily grew and became lucrative. Deeply interested in the welfare of the people, he zealously co-operated with others in endeavoring to avert the horrible fate that then threatened them. It was his custom to make political speeches in every campaign, although he never expected to enter public life, since the county as well as the State was RepubHcan by a very large majority. However, at the election of 1870 the Republicans had two sets of candidates in the field, and the County Executive Committee determined to try and run in some Con- servatives between them. As a result of prudent management. Major McClammy was elected to the Senate and Captain Ashe to the House, his colleagues being a carpet-bagger, G. Z. French, and a negro named Mabson. It was at the time of the Kirke War, and the Conservatives obtained a majority in the legislature. In the House, Captain Ashe was a very active member — was chairman of the Finance Committee, a leading member of the Judiciary Committee, and also served on other important com- mittees. When Governor Holden was impeached, a dozen of the other leading members of the House sought the position of man- agers of that trial, and during its long continuance were with- drawn from the House, which threw Captain Ashe still more in the leadership, and he doubtless had more to do with the legis- SAMUEL A'COURT ASHE 71 lation of that eventful and critical period than any other member. As chairman of the Finance Committee, he not only reformed the tax laws and contributed to bring order out of chaos and remedy the evils of a looted treasury, but formulated a proposition for the settlement of the State debt, which passed the House, but was not considered in the Senate, which had passed the ineffectual proposition of Senator J. M. Worth. Captain Ashe's measure was substantially the proposition that at a later period was adopted, under which the State debt has been happily settled. He married at Raleigh, in August, 1871, and began the practice of law there. He entered actively in the campaign of 1872, and in conjunction with John Spellman issued a campaign paper called Blasting Powder. In January, 1873, he entered into partnership with United States Senator Merrimon and Colonel Thomas Fuller, later a United States judge, which was a most agreeable association, and continued until July, 1879. It was considered the strongest law firm in the State. In 1874 he edited a daily paper called the Evening Crescent (founded by T. B. Kingsbury), which probably did more than any other one instrumentality in bringing about the redemption of the State, the Democratic majority in that year reaching over 12,000. He wrote most of the publications made by the Democratic Executive Committee, and in 1876 largely con- ducted the campaign, along with General Cox, who was the chairman of the committee ; and then he himself became chairman, and so continued until 1880. On the failure and sale of the Raleigh Observer in 1879, he was induced to purchase that paper and change his vocation in life. Two years later the Daily News was consolidated with his paper, the entire management being committed to him, and for some years the paper was prosperous. In 1885 he was appointed postmaster at Raleigh, and for four years filled that office with entire accept- ability. About that time his paper ceased to be profitable, and there being other competitors in the field, the News and Observer had a hard struggle to maintain itself; but it survived all its competitors, and eventually, in 1893, it obtained possession of its 72 NORTH CAROLINA last competitor, the Chronicle, and Captain Ashe published the News-Observer-Chronicle. In the meantime, however, other gen- tlemen had become financially interested in the paper, which was in debt, and there then being a clear field, they thought that a good time to dispose of their property, and sold it out at a sacrifice. This ended his editorial career. He sought to return to the law, but after two years, not being able to re-establish himself in a lucrative practice, he accepted the position of cashier in the office of the collector of internal revenue, Hon. F. M. Simmons. At the end of his term he found employment in connection with a cotton manufacturing establishment at Willardville, which ceasing in 1904, he engaged in editing the sketches contained in this work. Captain Ashe, as editor, rendered extraordinary services to the Democracy and to the State at large. For some sixteen years he was an earnest, able and wise editor, and never flashed or failed for a day in his strong advocacy of the genuine, most necessary principles of the Democracy. He was not only true, but he was wise and full of foresight. His forecast and discretion, his judg- ment and ability, were of the best, for he not only stood four square by fundamentals, but he was true to the changing phases of minor principles that parties necessarily take on to meet passing demands and temporary exigencies. If he had been placed in high official position, he would have reflected honor upon himself as well as upon his native Carolina, and would have been as true, as wise, as useful and as able as he had shown himself to be in the editorial room, aiding the party of the people to victory after victory. As editor he commanded the attention of the leaders, and was not only the advocate of measures of importance suggested by others, but himself put in motion other important measures that were alike timely, judicious and most necessary. Governor Jarvis, who was a practical, efficient, able chief executive, under whose admin- istration North Carolina entered upon a glorious career of pro- gressive action and prosperity, has written that "Captain Ashe was really a part of his public life, and that he really owes much to him for the success he had in the public work that fell to his lot." The same could doubtless have been said by the other Democratic SAMUEL A'COURT ASHE T^ governors who succeeded Governor Jarvis. Assuredly, he was a great factor and an untiring worker in his wise, well-directed efforts to save the State from vicious and dangerous rule. As a resolute, eager, honest friend of humanity and of his own native State, he stood forth as the champion of the constitutional Demo- cratic government, seeking to perpetuate and guarantee liberty, to secure the peace, happiness and prosperity of the people, and to hand down in unbroken perpetuity the traditions, the convictions, the faith of the noble men who had gone before. In several times of doubt and danger since the great war he was a strong, unbend- ing sentinel upon the watch-tower, and while sounding alarms, offered from the treasury of his wisdom, tact, guidance and plans to save, and pointed the way to preserve the State from threat- ened injury. He did a great deal to crystallize the genuine, honest Democracy and keep it firm and true to well-known principles. In 1881, when "Liberalism," so called, sprang up and antagonized "County Government" so vigorously and pertinaciously, the able editor of the News and bserver stood fast, and but for his leader- ship it is probable that the important system would have then failed. At other periods in our history within the last quarter of a century there have indeed been perilous times. In 1891 there were serious conditions, when, under new ideas and doubtful prin- ciples, so many former Democrats turned away from their party to coalesce with men filled with political vagaries and deceptions. Captain Ashe then showed his ability and fidelity in a marked degree. In 1892 it was worse. The opposition was stronger, more aggressive, more carried away by theories and promises that de- luded and enticed. The times were filled with threatened omens. The fight was on with tremendous determination, and a bitter war was waged. Captain Ashe, as in other years, did his duty without hesitancy or fear. He showed himself a wise leader, a judicious interpreter, a master builder. In his controversy with Colonel Polk he bore himself with a force, a vigor, a consecration to the right that gave him a great triumph. So decided was his victory that one of his editorial contemporaries declared that "he deserves a monument." He sought sedulously, serenely, wisely. 74 NORTH CAROLINA to aid the white men to retain control of the State. After he had left the editorial field, however, the Populists and Republicans fused, and for a time the grand old party of civilization and of sound principles was in a minority. In 1898 and 1900 he zealously and efficiently worked with Chairman Simmons, and aided to re-establish the Democratic Party in power. It was in 1897 that he broached the very important, crucial subject of a constitutional amendment, providing that after 1901 no voter then coming of age should be allowed to register unless he could read and write. This proposition was not intended to deprive any one who had ever been admitted to suffrage of his right to vote, but it was intended, by providing an educational test, to stimulate a desire on the part of the illiterates to have their children educated. This proposition, however, was not acted on; but subsequently a constitutional amendment more far-reaching was proposed, and although he preferred his own, nevertheless he zealously advocated its adoption, and contributed largely to that end. His chief work has been on the line of building up, strength- ening and conserving the Democratic Party in the State, in rescuing the whites from negro rule, and in securing the control of public affairs to those people o'f North Carolina who were best fitted to preserve Anglo-Saxon civilization. He began his patri- otic work as far back as 1868, and extending through the years, it has been possibly more unremitting, constant, effective and beneficial to that end than have been the labors of any of his contemporaries. He had early in life become interested in State history, and was very helpful to Colonel Saunders in the preparation of the "Colo- nial Records" and to Judge Clark in the preparation of the "State Records." He has written many historical papers, and when in the post-office, having then the first leisure of a very laborious life, he, in conjunction with his sister, prepared a school history of the State, which, however, has never been published; and more lately he has written a larger history of North Carolina down to the Revolutionary period. He writes with precision, lucidity, propriety and discernment. He has been an active, faithful toiler SAMUEL A'COURT ASHE 75 with his pen, always laborious and almost unceasingly engaged. Idleness has been no part of his life, and he has not been addicted to reading unprofitable books. He has been literally "instant in season and out of season." In those days of sorrow which fol- lowed the subjugation of the South, he read and studied religious works, and became a communicant of the Protestant Episcopal Church. He was a vestryman of St. John's Church at Wilming- ton and of Christ Church, Raleigh, for many years ; but is not so now. He married in 1871 Miss Hannah Emerson Willard of Raleigh, and has lived a very domestic life. He has eight children now living. Captain Ashe, in addition to historical and biographical essays, has frequently made literary addresses. One was particularly well praised, that on the "Press: the Defender of the Liberties of the People." In February, 1904, he delivered an address at Raleigh on General Lee that received high commendation, and he delivered the loth of May address at Wilmington, by the invitation of the ladies, and it was regarded as appropriate, patriotic, impressive and eloquent. He also delivered an address a day or two later, at the request of the Colonial Dames, at Old Brunswick Church, a few miles below Wilmington, that was of very superior literary and historical merit. It was much praised and highly relished. Among other literary work done by him in 1905 was an open letter to Hon. John G. Carlyle, concerning the special tax bonds which were repudiated by the State in March, 1870. This was said to be "the most important document of vital public interest that has been printed in North Carolina in many days." Governor Jarvis wrote "that he read it with infinite delight; that it was accurate and overwhelming." Its publication caused great inter- est in the other Southern States that had repudiated similar bonds ; and the Governor of North Carolina carried it to the Governor of New York and presented it as containing reasons why the State of New York should not accept donations of these repudiated securities. It has been justly considered as a great and valuable service to the people of North Carolina, and in a measure to the people of the Southern States. T. B. Kingsbury. CHARLES B. AYCOCK fF the men of North Carolina who have attained distinction since the close of the Confederate period, among the most prominent is Charles B. Aycock, the governor of the State for the term ending January, 1905. Unaided by adventitious circumstances, or by the glamour of a military record, he has steadily risen in the esteem of the people until he was called, with unusual unanimity, to the highest position in the commonwealth. Among the particular characteristics that com- mended him to public favor have been frankness of demeanor, sincerity and candor. Thus without effort he has retained all his early friends, and as his acquaintance widened his popularity extended, until his name became a household \yord in every section of the State. Public attention was first attracted to him because of his unusual powers as an orator, for he is endowed in a remark- able degree with brilliancy of conception and fervor of expression, while his sentiments are elevated, being founded in purity and truth, and he has been particularly happy in clothing them in elegant and choice language. Indeed, as a public speaker he has had few equals in North Carolina, and his addresses made in other States have established for him a fine reputation far beyond our borders. Governor Aycock was born on the 1st day of November, 1859, near Nahunta, now Fremont, in Wayne County, where his kins- CHARLES B. AYCOCK ^^ people, the Aycocks and Hooks, had for several generations been held in high esteem for their strength of character and sterling worth. His father, Benjamin Aycock, married Miss Serena Hooks, of the same vicinity, and was happy and fortunate in his family relations'. He was a farmer, and having inherited an excellent property, by his industry, despite the disasters incident to the war and the disorganization of labor, he made accumulations, while enjoying the substantial comforts of country life. He was a man of action rather than of words, thoughtful, painstaking and prudent, and being of excellent judgment and high integrity, he easily retained the confidence and respect which had for generations been accorded his kinspeople by a wide circle of friends. He was clerk of the Superior Court of Wayne, and on the resignation of William K. Lane, State senator, in the spring of 1863, he was elected to represent his county in the Senate. In that body he was distinguished for his patriotism. The legis- lature at that time was divided into two chief factions, one of whom sustained the war measures of the Confederate Government and the other was intent to find cause of hostile criticism and to embarrass the Confederate administration rather than to aid it. On every vote taken in the Senate on matters of this import, Aycock's name always led the list of those who sought to uphold the Confederate administration, and although that party was in a minority in the Senate as well as in the House, he never flinched in the performance of his full duty to the soldiers in the field and to those who were making such Herculean efforts to achieve Southern independence. At the session of May, 1864, he joined with Senators Pitchford and Holeman in making a majority report on that part of the governor's message which related to conscrip- tion and exemptions, which did him the highest credit and illus- trated his devotion to the Confederate cause. A majority of the senators did not sympathize with his ardent feeling, and it was thought to conciliate them. In his report Senator Aycock said : "Your committee most sincerely lament the necessity of con- scribing persons between seventeen and eighteen and forty-five 78 NORTH CAROLINA and fifty years of age, but do not consider the present to be the proper time or place to decide upon the constitutionahty of that measure." Continuing, the report recommended that able-bodied men should not be unnecessarily employed by the railroad and the express companies, and "your committee are utterly unable to assign any valid reason for the exemption of militia or any kind of military officers who have no men to com- mand or of justices of the peace who have no judicial duties to discharge." But the majority of the Senate were of a different mind. In the report of the minority of the committee, which represented the views of the Senate, there was much learning about the king and the parliament and the constitution and "the gigantic power of conscribing the whole militia of a sovereign State and placing them in the regular army and sending them to distant lands to fight the battles of the Confederacy." "Such an assumption of power is wholly inconsistent with the vital and fundamental prin- ciples of our system of government and utterly subversive of all State authority." And so the minority report was based on "the single purpose of preserving constitutional principles, which lay at the very foundation of our system of government, and which cannot be abandoned without converting this Confederacy of free States into a consolidated military despotism," and it recommended the adoption of resolutions "that the acts of con- scription of the Confederate Congress, without the consent of the State, are unconstitutional," which was agreed to by a majority of the Senate. It was on such lines that the members of the legislature divided ; and the period of Mr. Aycock's service in that body was one calling for the display of courage, patriotism and high devotion, and he never failed in the performance of his duties to a struggling country and to the soldiers who were suffer- ing such terrible experiences in the campaigns in Virginia. As he said in his report : "Shall the noble-hearted men be suffered to call and die in vain, while a man is left at home who can or ought to render aid?" Such was his spirit and the spirit of those who co-operated with him in the Assembly; a spirit of lofty and CHARLES B. AYCOCK . 79 ennobling patriotism, earnest and sincere in its purpose to achieve independence, and that the heroic sacrifices of our people should not be in vain. On his mother's side. Governor Aycock also inherited a title to popular confidence. Charles and David Hooks were men of mark in their day, the former having nearly a century ago served two terms in the Congress of the United States with great accept- ability. Raised on his father's farm, Charles Aycock was blessed with robust, vigorous health, and from early boyhood was habitu- ated to the usual labor of farm life, and he could plow a furrow as straight as any other young man in his neighborhood. He received his preparatory education at the high schools at Fremont, Wilson and Kinston, and graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1880. During the last year of his collegiate course he read law at that institution, and the following year, being admitted to the bar, he opened his law office at Goldsboro, among the people who were familiar with the merit and worth of his family connections. He had chosen the profession of the law not merely because it was an avenue to honorable position, but because his kins- people, discerning in him remarkable aptitude for that profession, urged him to adopt it. Their expectations were not disappointed ; he soon established himself in the respect and confidence of a large clientage, and quickly achieved distinction at a bar always remark- able for its fine lawyers. His first public employment had for its object the promotion of education among the people of his native county. Being solicited to take the position of county superintendent of public instruc- tion, he did not hesitate to accept it, and he gave an impulse to the educational movement in Wayne County that has borne very excellent fruits. Interested in public affairs, in 1888 he became a candidate for Presidential elector on the Democratic ticket, and his canvass of his district won him so many friends and admirers, and his fame as a campaign speaker became so extended, that in 1892 he was selected as one of the electors-at-large. During that campaign 8o NORTH CAROLINA he made a more extended canvass, meeting the leader of the opposition, Senator Butler, in joint debate, and became recognized as one of the most brilliant orators of the State. After the election an appreciative people presented his name to President Cleve- land, who appointed him United States District Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, which position he held with great acceptability until 1898. During all the political campaigns he performed his whole duty as a party man, and continued to grow in favor with the people; but especially was he a conspicu- ous figure in the hot political battle of 1898, when he was requested by the State chairman to meet Dr. Cyrus Thompson in a joint canvass, which he did so successfully and admirably as to win for himself unstinted applause. He had now attained such wide popularity that there was a general feeling in every part of the State that he should be selected as the Democratic candidate for governor, and at the succeeding State convention he was nominated for that office and was elected by a large majority. His course as governor was marked by an efficient discharge of every public duty, and year by year he has grown in public favor. In particular his administration will be memorable for the great educational campaign Governor Aycock, in connection with some of the leading educators of the State, inaugurated and has for four years maintained with a zeal and a fervor never before known in North Carolina. With great power he has spoken in nearly every county, awakening an interest in the cause of education that has already produced very beneficial results, and which it is hoped will in the end remove from the State the incubus of widespread illiteracy. Under his administration the penitentiary has been placed on a paying basis ; and within the limitation of appropriations he has greatly enlarged the field of usefulness of all the State institu- tions. He has been tireless in his endeavor to restrict the manu- facture and sale of liquor to towns and cities, and the fact that success has rewarded his efforts in this direction is attested by the prevalent feeling of security to life and property throughout CHARLES B. AYCOCK 8i the State — so essential to the development of the prosperity that has come in its wake. During his administration many perplexing questions arose challenging public attention, the first of which was a large and growing deficit in the public funds. There were divided councils as to the best manner to meet this condition and provide against its recurrence, but Governor Aycock and his advisers, aided by the Finance Committee of the General Assembly of 1902, met it boldly and wisely. There was framed a revenue act to increase the assessment of railroad property and equalizing the assessment of other property, which solved the problem without increasing the rate of taxation. Enough revenue has since been collected to pay the increased appropriation for education, the pensions for the Confederate soldiers, the care of the insane, and still leave a surplus in the State treasury. Judging by its fruits, the admin- istration of Governor Aycock has been an eminent success in those departments that called for the application of wise business prin- ciples no less than in the progress of the educational movement, which has invested it with a distinctive character. Although gentle and sympathetic in his disposition. Governor Aycock, when aroused by a righteous indignation, has given ample evidence of the highest civic courage and intrepidity. Most of his battles have been won in the forum of reason and by the art of persuasion, but in the summer of 1904 he manifested a spirit as unbending as iron in dealing with those who undertook to defy the sovereign power of the State. The story of the conspiracy against the State's interests in the Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad and how Governor Aycock met it is one of the most thrilling in the annals of the commonwealth. He upheld the honor of the State and crushed the conspirators to the wall ; but at last, when their designs had been thoroughly defeated and the honor of the State and her power vindicated, the governor was not indifferent to the appeals for mercy. The fine addresses that Governor Aycock delivered throughout the State in the cause of education and the brilliant reputation he has won as an orator led to his being invited to deliver some 82 NORTH CAROLINA educational addresses in the State of Maine and elsewhere at the North; and the unusual spectacle was presented of the governor of North Carolina visiting the New England States and seeking to illuminate the minds of the New Englanders on the subject of educational advancement. His efforts in this direction were well received, and he was met by large and appreciative audiences. Also, during the campaign of 1904, he made political addresses at the instance of the managers of the national campaign in various Northern States, and alwaj's added to his high reputation as a public speaker. His friends, however, regard his last effort, being an educational address in Florida, as the most powerful and elo- quent of his life. In his private life. Governor Aycock is a man of exemplary habits, being entirely free from those weaknesses and excesses that sometimes stain the characters of public men, and it is to be observed that the influence of his mother upon him in his early years was strong and beneficial, not merely as to his moral and spiritual life, but also as to his education and intellectual pur- suits. Indeed, he is a Christian gentleman, having from youth up been a consistent member of the Baptist Church, and the prin- ciples of his Christian life — especially the injunction to do good unto others — underlie all his actions, both as an individual and as a public character. Agreeable to this trait, he has become a member of several associations whose object is to benefit mankind, for he is a Mason, an Odd Fellow and a member of the Knights of Pythias. Simple in his habits, he finds both recreation and opportunity for reflection in taking long walks, and he is never so happy as when circumstances permit him to indulge in such exercise. Governor Aycock married on May 20, 1881, Miss Varina D. Woodard, and after her death, on January 7, 1891, he married Miss Cora L. Woodard, who with seven of his nine children still survives. 5". A. Ashe. CULLEN ANDREWS BATTLE 'ENERAL CULLEN ANDREWS BATTLE, distinguished for his military service during the war and as an editor, was born at Powel- ton, in the State of Georgia, on the ist day of June, 1829. He was a descendant of Elisha Battle, the distinguished head of the noted family of Battles in North Carolina, who, among other public services, was the delegate to the constitutional convention that had under consideration the adoption of the Federal Constitution, and was chosen chairman when the convention resolved itself into a committee of the whole for. that purpose. From him was de- scended Cullen Battle, a native of Edgecombe County, a physician and planter, who married Jane Andrews Lamon, an accomplished daughter of Wake County. For a time they resided in Hancock County, Georgia, but subsequently removed to Eufaula, Alabama, where the early years of their son, the subject of this sketch, were passed. Dr. Battle was esteemed in his community for his high integrity, his industry and humble piety, and he was successful in his professional career as well as in his planting operations. The subject of this sketch received his preparatory education at Brownwood Institute, in Georgia, and then entered the University of Alabama, where he graduated in 185 1. In the same year he was happily married to Miss Georgia Florida Williams, of La Grange, Georgia, and a few months later he was admitted to the 84 NORTH CAROLINA bar, and practiced law until the breaking out of the war. In politics he was a Democrat. In i860 he was an elector on the Breckinridge and Lane ticket, and canvassed the State of Ala- bama with his colleague, Hon. William L. Yancy, and later accompanied Mr. Yancy to New York, Boston and Philadelphia in the national campaign. On the day the Southern Confederacy was formed, he enlisted as a private in the Tuskegee Light Infantry, but was soon after- ward elected major of the Third Alabama Regiment, of which, in July, 1861, he became lieutenant-colonel. At the battle of Seven Pines, June i, 1862, Colonel Lomax, the colonel of the regiment, was killed, and Lieutenant-Colonel Battle was promoted to fill the vacancy. He commanded the regiment until he was promoted brigadier-general upon the field of battle at Gettysburg. Colonel Battle, having received a severe wound at Seven Pines, was not in command of his regiment during the engagements around Richmond, but rejoined his command in time to partici- pate in the battles of Boonsboro and Sharpsburg. General Rodes, in command of his brigade, in his official report, men- tioned that "Colonel Battle, Third Alabama, deserved special mention for admirable conduct during the whole fight;" and he recommended Colonel Battle for promotion. Colonel Battle was slightly wounded at Sharpsburg, and during the second battle at Fredericksburg he was seriously injured by his horse falling upon him, but he continued to command his regiment, always displaying the same coolness and bravery and winning the com- mendation of his superiors, and having the full confidence and admiration of his soldiers. It is to be observed that in some historical articles relating to the battle of Gettysburg mention is made that "Battle's brigade, on the left of Iverson's brigade, gave way," whereas there was no Battle's brigade in existence at that time. Colonel Battle was promoted for gallant conduct on the field of Gettysburg, and was assigned to the command of Rodes's brigade, which afterward was known to history as Battle's brigade. Colonel Battle, in his report of that engagement, says : CULLEN ANDREWS BATTLE 85 "I received instructions to move with my regiment, the Third Alabama, along with General Daniel. These instructions were followed until longer observance was impracticable. I at once moved on the right of General Ramseur, then advancing to the attack, and offered him my regiment. The offer was accepted, and my command acted under that gallant officer in a charge which drove the enemy from one of its strongholds." General Ramseur in his report says : "Colonel Battle, with the Third Alabama Regiment, rendered brilliant and invaluable service. Attaching his regiment to my command on his own responsibility, he came in at the right place, at the right time and in the right way." For his gallant conduct he was promoted on the field of battle. In the fall and winter following the Gettysburg campaign, the Confederate authorities were extremely anxious to know whether the troops whose time was about to expire would re-enlist. This was the supreme question of the hour. General Rodes decided to try and ascertain, and called on General Battle to make the test. Forming his brigade in line, General Battle stood before his men, and after appealing to their patriotism, said : "Soldiers, will you stand by your colors to the end? Your general awaits your answer. All who will enlist for the war step two paces to the front ; march !" At the word, every man stepped to the front. The news was quickly carried to Richmond, and the Confederate Con- gress unanimously passed "a resolution of thanks to the Alabama troops who have re-enlisted for the war." "Whereas the Alabama troops composing the brigade commanded by Brigadier-General Cullen A. Battle in the army of Northern Virginia," etc., etc., "that the thanks of Congress are due and are hereby cordially tendered." Under its intrepid commander, his brigade won honorable men- tion on every field, and it was particularly complimented by Gen- erals Lee, Ewell and Rodes for its conduct in the battles of the Wilderness and at Spottsylvania. On the 8th of May, General Battle, who was wounded in the right foot, but continued to command the brigade until after the 86 NORTH CAROLINA battle of the Bloody Angle on the 12th, when he was sent to the hospital, where he remained until the middle of September. In the battle of Winchester, September 19th, his brigade was for a time held in reserve, but later was sent into action, with a result well described by President Davis : "Just then Battle's brigade moved forward and swept through the woods, driving the enemy before it, while Evans's brigade was rallied and co- operated. Our advance was resumed, and the enemy's attacking columns were thrown into great confusion, and fled from the field." General Early exclaimed: "It was a grand sight to see this immense mass hurled back in utter disorder by my two divisions, numbering very little over five thousand men." And after the battle General Early addressed a note to General Battle, according to him the credit of having saved the day in the enemy's first attack. General Battle led his brigade in the successful attack upon Sheridan's army at Cedar Creek, October 19th, but received a severe wound in the knee while General Ramseur was congratulating him. General John B. Gordon, in his reminiscences of the Civil War, says: "General Cullen A. Battle, of Alabama, was severely wounded while leading his men with characteristic dash and enthusiasm, but his brigade, one of the smallest and also one of the pluckiest, charged a battery supported by the Sixth Corps, the only one left, and captured in open field six additional pieces of artillery." After this engagement, General Battle was taken to Richmond and placed in Howard Grove Hospital, where he remained three months. While there he received information that his commission as major-general, dating from the battle of Win- chester, September 19, 1864, had been forwarded to the army, but he was never able to take the field again. Returning to Alabama, he entered again on the practice of the law, and in 1868 he was elected to Congress at the first general election, but was not admitted to his seat because of his inability to take the iron-clad oath. In 1870 his name was presented to the Democratic caucus in connection with the nomination for the United States senator, and he probably would have received that CULLEN ANDREWS BATTLE 87 nomination, but during the balloting the legislature was advised by Democratic senators at Washington not to elect any man who could not take his seat. In 1874 he was a delegate to the consti- tutional convention of Alabama, and rendered important service in preparing the work of that convention. General Battle had always cherished a warm affection for North Carolina, the State of which his parents were natives, and where so many of his kindred resided; and besides, the division in the army to which his brigade was attached was in large part composed of North Carolinians, and from his association with them he entertained for North Carolinians the highest admiration and regard. So in 1880 he was led to remove to North Carolina, where he was generally connected with journalism, a field in which he won laurels and contributed to the success of Democratic principles and the gen- eral good of the commonwealth. He was a very capable editor, and was greatly esteemed; so much so that he was elected by the people of New-Bern, where he was editing the Journal, mayor of the town, and he served in that capacity with great acceptability. Of his children. Rev. Henry Wilson Battle, D.D., and Miss Jennie Lamont Battle now survive. After a brief and painful illness, the spirit of this brave soldier and patriot returned unto God who gave it on the morn- ing of the 8th of April, 1905. His death, which occurred at Greensboro, North Carolina, the home of his son, was chronicled by the Southern press and universally lamented. Appropriate funeral services, attended by the Guilford Camp, United Con- federate Veterans, and the Guilford Chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy, together with a vast multitude of the citizens of Greensboro, were held at the First Baptist Church, of which his son was pastor. The Rev. Dr. Livingston Johnson delivered a discourse of great tenderness and beauty, and the body was con- veyed to Petersburg, Virginia, to rest by that of his beloved wife, and within a few paces of historic battlefields of the mighty war in which he had figured so conspicuously. At Petersburg, the funeral cortege was escorted to the First Baptist Church of that city by the A. P. Hill Camp of Confederate Veterans, of 88 NORTH CAROLINA which he was a member, and a large number of prominent citizens, where, because of the very intimate relations the deceased and his son (for eleven 3'ears pastor of the church) had sustained to the church and community, again very appropriate public exer- cises were held. The Rev. Dr. J. B. Hawthorne, of Richmond, one of the most eminent of Southern pulpit orators, concluded his eloquent oration with these beautiful words : "The best thing I can say of General Battle in this tribute to his worth is that he was a sincere and humble believer and follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. He has left to his children and grandchildren the im- perishable heritage of an unsullied name. He has left to the cause of his Master's kingdom an influence that will last till time's last thunder shakes the world below. . . . Let us turn our eyes away from this scene of sadness and weeping to the radiant hills of peace and bliss, where, to the music of golden harps by angel fingers touched, we will sing the praises of our Lord and Redeemer forever and ever. The unseen world has never been so real and so near to me as in recent days. I almost hear the breathing of disembodied spirits within the veil; I stretch out my hands to dear ones across the narrow stream of death. Verily, heaven is not a distant realm. 'The eye that shuts in the dying hour will open the next in bliss.' " 5". A. Ashe. JOHN PAUL BARRINGER OHN PAUL BARRINGER, or, as he wrote his name, Paulus Behringer, was born in the duchy of Wurtemburg, Germany, on the 4th of June, 1 72 1. He was the eldest son of a family of six children. Tradition has it that his father's name was Wilhelm and his mother's name Paulina. Nothing further is known of his family's ante- cedents beyond the tradition common in all its branches, that many of the Beringer family left France with the Huguenots about 1600, before the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, some going to England and some to Germany. John Paul Barringer, the founder of the North Carolina family, and the subject of this sketch, left home alone when just past his majority, and sailed from Rotterdam for America in the ship Phcenix, Commander William Wilson, landing at Philadelphia September 30, 1743. (See p. 164, "Rupp's Collection of 30,000 Names, etc.") Within a year after his arrival in America he married Ann Eliza Eisman, and the young couple settled in the Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania, where they remained for some years, and prospered. About 1750-55 the tide of emigration turned strongly south- ward, and the young couple, with two children (Catherine, born November 24, 1750, and John, born November 26, 1752), came 90 NORTH CAROLINA to the South. Young Barringer, on reaching North Carolina, settled in what is now Cabarrus County, on Dutch Buffalo Creek, about opposite the point where he afterward built his large home, "Poplar Grove." About the time of his arrival in North Carolina, John Paul Barringer sent to Germany for his parents and his younger brothers and sisters. Both of his parents died at sea, but we learn from "Rupp's Names of Emigrants," quoted above (p. 187), that Mathias Barringer arrived at the port of Philadelphia Sep- tember 16, 1748, in the ship Paliena, John Brown, Master, and with him probably came the daughters of the family. By a letter from Colonel John Barnhardt, who knew all the members of the farnily, written when he was eighty-five years of age to the Hon. D. M. Barringer, we learn that these children were five in number, as follows : George Henry Barringer, who settled on Little Dutch Buffalo Creek, two miles south of a place known as Gold Hill, in Rowan, now Montgomery, County. The other brother, Mathias Barringer, afterward a captain in the colonial militia, married a Miss Bushart and settled in the county of Lincoln, now Catawba County, two miles from the present town of Newton. During Rutherford's Indian campaign, in 1776, this Mathias Barringer, with five other members of his company, was ambushed and killed by the Cherokee Indians, and some years ago a monument was erected to their memory in the court-house square at Newton, where it stands to-day. Of the three daughters, Anna Maria Barringer, the oldest sister, married Christian Barn- hardt ; another sister, named Catherine, married Christian Auben- shein (Ovenshine), and another, named Dolly, married Nicholas Cook. Of the children of John Paul Barringer by his first wife, Ann Eliza Eisman, the oldest, Catherine, married November 26, 1772, Colonel John Phifer, the elder, "a conspicuous and leading man of his day," a signer of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Inde- pendence, and one of the five brothers who founded the well- known family of this name. After his death she married George Savitz (Savage). (See Rumple's "History of Rowan County," JOHN PAUL BARRINGER 91 pp. 258-260.) From the Phifer union there were two children: ( I ) Margaret, the little maid of seven, whose deed of heroism is recorded in Rumple's "History of Rowan County," p. 258, and who married John Simianer; and (2) Paul Barringer Phifer, who was the father of General John N. Phifer of Cabarrus, and the ancestor of the late General Charles W. Phifer, the youngest general of the Confederate States armies. The other child of John Paul Barringer and Ann Eliza Eisman, John Barringer, be- came a captain in the army of the Revolution and a man of prom- inence. He was the owner of the valuable farm taken from the Tory Hagar, and known as the "House Mill." Just before the Revolutionary War, John Paul Barringer's first wife died, and in 1777 he married again, this time Catherine Blackwelder, twenty-two years of age, a daughter of Caleb Black- welder (Schwartzwelder) and Polly Decker, his wife. He now moved across Dutch Buffalo Creek and built a new home, "half residence, half castle," which he named "Poplar Grove," and here were born to him ten children : 1. Paul, born September 26, 1778; afterward General Paul Bar- ranger of the War of 1812. (See sketch of his life in this work.) 2. Mathias, born December 16, 1779; married Miss Bolinger and moved west to Missouri. 3. Martin, born September 7, 1781 ; died November 21, 1801. 4. Elizabeth, born May 4, 1783; married first George Pitts, and second John Boone. 5. Sarah, born December 18, 1784; married Jacob Brem of Lincoln County, North Carolina. 6. Esther, born November 8, 1786; married Thomas Clark of Virginia and moved West. 7. Daniel L., born October i, 1788; married Miss Nancy White of Raleigh, North Carolina, a granddaughter of Governor Caswell, whose daughter Anna married William White, secretary of State for North Carolina from 1778 to 181 1. This son, Daniel L. Barringer, was a member of Congress from the Raleigh district from 1826 to 1835, and then moved to Tennessee, where he became speaker of the House of Representatives and otherwise prominent 92 NORTH CAROLINA in the political life of that State, where many of his descendants on the distaff side are still found. 8. Jacob C, born November i, 1791 ; married Miss Ury. 9. Leah, born September 16, 1792; married first David Holton, and second Jacob Smith. 10. Polly, born February 28, 1796; married Wesley Harris and moved to Trenton, Tennessee. John Paul Barringer was of medium stature, jet black hair, active and energetic in his movements. He was a man of great force of character and became prominent and influential in his portion of the State. He was a member of the legislature in 1793, when he and his relative, Caleb Phifer, represented Cabarrus County for the first time after its formation. He was a captain in the colonial militia, and tradition says that he was chief agent in causing the separation of Cabarrus from the mother county of Mecklenburg. This was said to be due to his anger at the people of Charlotte, caused by their ill-concealed merriment at his giving his military commands in German. The county was named for Stephen Cabarrus of Chowan, then speaker of the House of Com- mons, who aided him in getting the act through the legislature. In 1768 Governor Tryon tried to conciliate the people of West- ern North Carolina, and made a visit to Mecklenburg County, and among others he visited Captain Barringer at "Poplar Grove." In Governor Tryon's Journal we read (p. 825, Vol. VII., of the "North Carolina Colonial Records") as follows: "Wednesday, August 31, 1768. The governor waited on Captain Bar- ringer; a beautiful plantation and skillfully managed, particularly the meadow land, which produced excellent hay." The italics are from the records of Governor Tryon in his own handwriting. This confirms a tradition long existing in Cabarrus County regarding the visit. Bernheim, in his "History of the German Settlement and the Lutheran Church in the Carolinas" (p. 248), says of Governor Tryon: "He arrived in the settlement of Dutch Buffalo Creek and lodged with Captain Barringer, who was well known for his influence and his hospitality. JOHN PAUL BARRINGER 93 The story is that the governor appeared in full uniform, with a cocked hat and sword, drank freely of the captain's rich wine, which he always kept on hand, and he condescended to try his hand at mowing the green meadow lands on Dutch Buffalo Creek, and he left fully persuaded that he had no stauncher friend than the 'Gallant Dutchman' in all the country, but in this, of course, he was disappointed." John Paul Barringer was a man of pronounced religious views, and was extremely liberal toward the church. We find in Bern- heim's history, above referred to, the following (p. 249; also p. 761, Vol. VIII., "North Carolina Colonial Records") : "About the year 1771 the members of the Lutheran Church, at the sug- gestion of Captain John Paul Barringer, separated themselves from their German Reformed brethren, and built their own church on the site of the upper portion of the old graveyard. The work was undertaken by Daniel Jarrett, while Captain Barringer acted as building committee. The church was built chiefly at his own expense, and out of gratitude to him the con- gregation had a pew erected in the church for the special use of himself and family. It was raised somewhat above the others and located in a prominent part of the church, and was enclosed. He was a true-hearted and devoted Lutheran, thoroughly attached to his church, and seems to have been a defender of the rights of the German settlers there, and a leading man among them." As indicated above, he was an early champion of American Inde- pendence. In an effort to wean him from his allegiance to the colo- nies, he, with other magistrates of the Crown, were offered military commands by Governor Martin (see pp. 183, 184, Haywood's "His- tory of Lord Tryon"), but even this temptation did not draw him from his allegiance to the land of his adoption. During the Revolu- tionary War he was captured by Tories and carried to Camden, South Carolina, where he was thrown into prison, and was in confinement there when the battle of Camden was fought, with Gates's defeat. When he was liberated he made his way home- ward, only to catch smallpox, which he unwittingly conveyed to his family, and as a result the two older children of the family were badly marked. He accumulated a large estate, and died January i, 1807, at the advanced age of eighty-six years. He 94 NORTH CAROLINA was buried in old St. John's Churchyard, near Mount Pleasant. He left an injunction in his will enjoining his executors to edu- cate his minor children in the best schools in the country, and in the Protestant faith. He, like many of his countrymen coming to America after their majority, never acquired the use of the English language. This undoubtedly handicapped him not a little, a fact which has been commented upon by the colonial writer, Rev. G. William Welker, in his "History of the Early German Reformed Settlements of North Carolina." "Many could neither read nor speak English, or understand it when spoken by others ; . . . nevertheless, a few Germans before and during the War of the Revolution were able to make themselves felt in the events happening about them. Barringer of Mecklenburg, Forney of Lincoln and Goertner of Guilford" (p. 730, Vol. VIII., "North Carolina Colonial Records"). This, in brief, is the life of "Pioneer Paul" Barringer, a man whose name, through his descendants, has been connected with nearly every movement, State or national, that makes the history of North Carolina. Dr. Paul B. Barringer. D. M. Barringer, Jr. £r^a? JL l^S" Jxi'apps ^!^.£:\i.~ H'',/Ac.r<^ AJ3r^ //^-' ^Z-^^-^-^^-^ ^^ GENERAL PAUL BARRINGER fAUL BARRINGER, afterward General Paul Barriiiger, born September 26, 1778, at "Pop- lar Grove," was the oldest child of Captain John Paul Barringer and Catherine (Blackwelder), his wife. He was educated in early life chiefly in the German language, but at the age of eighteen was sent off to an English classical school, where he remained for three years, and as a result .he spoke and wrote both English and German fluently, facts of no mean importance in his subsequent mercantile life. When twenty-one years of age he settled at Concord, and, aided by his father, began his career as planter and merchant, which he continued with unbroken success for forty-five years. When twenty-seven years of age he married an admirable woman, subsequently widely and favorably known throughout this section, Elizabeth Brandon, born February 14, 1783, the youngest daughter of Matthew Brandon of Rowan, who was a magistrate of the Crown, a veteran of the Revolution and a man of great force of character, as is shown by the excellent account of his life by Mrs. Irwin, and especially by the "Farewell Address to my Children," quoted in this account. Matthew Brandon was the grandson of John Brandon and the son of Rich- ard Brandon and Margaret Locke, the sister of General Matthew Locke. Matthew Brandon had a younger sister, Elizabeth, the fair maiden who furnished the breakfast for General Washington, 96 NORTH CAROLINA and who afterward married Francis McCorkle. This EHzabeth Brandon was the aunt of the Elizabeth herein mentioned as the wife of Paul Barringer; Mrs. Barringer was also a near kins- woman of Colonel Francis Locke, the hero of the battle of Ramsour's Mill. (For a full history of the Brandon and Locke families, see chap. 23, Rumple's "History of Rowan County," and pp. 399 and 400 of Wheeler's "Reminiscences," and the sketch of the life of Matthew Brandon by Mrs. James P. Irwin in the Charlotte Democrat. ) After their marriage, February 21, 1805, this young couple settled in Concord, where they remained till 181 1, when they moved to the old family home, "Poplar Grove." Here they raised a family of nine children, two sons dying in childhood. These children were: I. Daniel Moreau, born July 30, 1806; died September i, 1873 (see sketch of his life in this work) ; II. Mar- garet, born February 12, 1808; died September 5, 1897. She married first John Boyd, and second Andrew Greir. She was a woman of remarkable force and character, living with unimpaired intelligence to an extreme old age, and seeing the fourth genera- tion of her descendants. III. Paul Brandon, born December 25, 1809; married Mary Pickens Carson, daughter of Richard Carson of Concord, and to them were born five children: (i) Paul, married Kate Herron, and raised two children — Pauline Brandon, born January i, 1863, and Victor C, born January 30, 1865, who married Georgia Tucker Stubbs of Monroe, Louisiana; (2) Daniel Moreau, killed accidentally at fourteen years of age; (3) William Gaston, killed at battle of Murf reesboro ; (4) Mary Alice, married first Frank Thompson, and next Dr. Byron Lemley; (5) Martha Elizabeth, married James A. Lyon. This Paul B. Barringer was one of the first settlers in the "Chickasaw Purchase" at Pontotoc, Mississippi, and was active in locating the town of Oxford, and securing for it the State University. He became a man of wealth and influence, and was at one time a member of the legislature of that State. Always strong and decided in his convictions, he never ceased to denounce the "Repudiation Party and Policy" of his adopted State. He died March 3, 1878. IV. Mary Ann, GENERAL PAUL BARRINGER 97 born November 15, 181 1 ; married Charles W. Harris; died at her home, "Mill Grove," April 17, 1845, and buried at Poplar Tent Church. V. Matthew, born September 29, 181 3; died May 3, 1817. VI. WiUiam, born February 18, 1816; died March 17, 1873; buried at the Methodist Churchyard, Greensboro, North Carolina. (See sketch of his life in this work.) VIL Elizabeth, born March 6, 1818; married Edwin Harris; died at Newton, North Carolina, August 11, 1872. Ylll. Alfred, born Feb- ruary 5, 1820; died March, 1824. IX. Rufus, born December 2, 1821 ; died February 3, 1895. (See sketch of his life in this work.) X. Catherine Jane, born August 9, 1824; married Gen- eral William C. Means December 30, 1841, and died at "Bellevue" June 4, 1874. XL Victor (Clay), born March 29, 1827; married Maria A. Massey; died May 27, 1896. (See sketch of his life in this work.) General Paul Barringer was "in stature near six feet, a little stooped, bald head, dark, curly hair, blue eyes, fair complexion, high forehead and small hands and feet." He was a man of singu- lar modesty, and preferred the simple life of the home to all else, but when aroused he was a man of power and persistence. De- spite his disinclination, he was for twelve years the representative of his county in the State Commons and Senate. Like many modest men, he seems to have been underestimated. Moore, in his "History of North Carolina" (Vol. I., p. 448), says of the new members of the legislature of 1806, "Of these, General Paul Barringer was not of shining qualities, but as the founder of a distinguished race, survives as did Rudolph of Hapsburg and Conrad of Hohenzollern." This historian seems never to have read General Barringer's letter (republished in Charlotte Demo- crat, May 20, 1892) to Hon. Charles Fisher, during the "Nullifi- cation Campaign" of 1832-33, when practically at one bold stroke of the pen he routed this doughty politician. In 1838 the multi- plicity of his interests — three plantations, two stores, a tannery and cotton mill interests — forced him to leave "Poplar Grove" and move nearer to the center of his field of operations. He therefore built a new home, "Bellevue," two and one-half miles west of 98 NORTH CAROLINA Concord, which later became by purchase the home of his son-in- law, General W. C. Means. In early political life he was a Fed- eralist, later a Whig. He thought the institution of slavery an economic failure, and upon the opening of the lands of the "Chick- asaw Purchase" in Mississippi he bought land there and sent most of his slaves to that State in care of his second son, Paul Brandon Barringer, later of Oxford, Mississippi. General Paul Barringer was a man of great public spirit; he subscribed $2000 for the construction of the Raleigh and Gaston Railroad, the first in North Carolina. He took, in 1839, $5000 in stock in the Concord Cotton Mill, one of the pioneer mills in that now great and flourishing Southern industry. Gen- eral Paul Barringer was rather opposed to the War of 1812, but so great was his influence throughout his section of the State, that when the hurried call for volunteer troops was made by Gov- ernor Hawkins, he was commissioned a brigadier-general of vol- unteers, his commission (still extant) bearing date December 23, 1812, signed by the governor, William Hawkins, and ratified by both Houses of the General Assembly. Like his father, he was a man of deep religious feeling. He was an officer in the Lutheran Church, and, without ostentation, a liberal contributor to its cause. Regarding General Paul Barringer's later days, we take the following clipping from a communication by Mrs. James P. Irwin in the Charlotte Democrat: "In 1843 his health began to fail and in 1844 he went to the Wilson Springs (now Cleveland Sulphur Springs, near Shelby, N. C), and was seemingly improved and started to return, when he was taken ill at (Burton's Hotel), Lincolnton, and died there June 20, 1844. Nearly all the family gathered at 'Bellevue' and the largest concourse of people, up to that time, ever seen in Concord, attended the funeral. In the family group was a striking figure, his aged mother, then eighty-nine years old." In passing, it is to be remembered that General Paul Barringer's mother was Catherine Blackwelder, wife of Pioneer John Paul Barringer. She lived to the advanced age of ninety- four (until GENERAL PAUL BARRINGER 99 1848), seeing her children and children's children rise to positions of honor and prominence, and having the unusual pleasure of seeing both a son and grandson on the floor of the Federal Con- gress. He was buried in new St. John's churchyard at Concord. General Barringer's death brought forth many manifestations of esteem, one of his friends and business associates, Colonel John Shimpock of Mt. Pleasant, writing (republished in the Concord Standard, May 19, 1892), "I have often remarked and have heard others remark that General Barringer did more good for the people in this county, both in church and State, than any man in it." In short, it is clear from contemporary history that General Paul Barringer was a high type of man, an unostentatious, but highly respected citizen, who was very useful in the community in which he lived ; a devoted husband and father, who was always careful by precept and example to inculcate in his children the traits so abundantly manifest in his own character, namely, Chris- tian piety, economy, absolute truthfulness, unbending honesty, fidelity to every trust assumed and a proper regard for the serious duties and responsibilities of life. The success of all his children in after years was doubtless largely due to the early training they received from their zealous father and from their no less conse- crated Christian mother. D. M. Barringer, Jr. Dr. Paul B. Barringer. DANIEL MOREAU BARRINGER 'HE subject of this sketch was the eldest child of General Paul Barringer of Cabarrus, having been born at the family home place, "Poplar Grove," near Concord, July 30, 1806. He was the most distinguished of the name in public service, to which he devoted the best years of his fife, to the pracfical exclusion of all private considerations, having doubtless been encouraged to enter political life by his father, and especially by his uncle, Hon. Daniel Locke Barringer, for whom he was named, and vi^ho for a number of years in the early part of the last century (1826-35) was a representative in Congress from the Raleigh district of North Carolina, and subsequently became speaker of State legislature in the new State of Tennessee. Daniel M. Barringer was a man of ripe knowledge and wide experience, and accomplished much during the eventful times in which he lived. Though very quiet and dignified, he possessed an unusual charm of manner, which doubtless added much to his influence among many of the leading men of his generation in this country. His comfortable private means enabled him to de- vote the best years of his life to political afifairs, and what he did was done with all the earnestness of a very earnest, very high- minded, intensely patriotic and naturally gifted man. The fact that during a long and arduous political life he was never defeated in an election, but was elected by large majorities to the various DANIEL MOREAU BARRINGER loi offices which he filled, is one of the many evidences of the confi- dence which the people of his native State reposed in him. His work in Congress along the lines of tarifif revision was particu- larly praiseworthy. In Allen Thorndike Rice's "Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln," he is referred to as one of the three or four most eloquent members of the House of Representatives at the time when Mr. Lincoln first took his seat in Congress, and it is an interesting fact that he and Mr. Lincoln subsequently became desk-mates and firm , friends. He likewise enjoyed the intimate friendship of many other great men of his time ; for example, that of Generals Lee and Johnston, Mr. Peabody, the great philan- thropist; and, as a young man, that of Henry Clay. It has seemed fitting in treating of his active and useful career to quote in its entirety, from "Biographical Sketches of Eminent Americans," a sketch of his life written shortly after he had been appointed Minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extraordinary to the Court of Spain, and to supplement this sketch, written more than half a century ago, with an account of his life from this date (1850) to the time of his death, which occurred at White Sulphur Springs, Virginia, September 1, 1873. This article, published in 1850, is, in full, as follows: "The subject of this sketch is now about forty-five years of age. He is a native of the county of Cabarrus (originally a part of the ancient and renowned county of Mecklenburgh'), in the State of North Carolina. His ancestors, both paternal and maternal, were active partisans in favor of the Revolutionary War, and suffered many privations and misfortunes, and one of them a long imprisonment, because of their ardent attachment to that holy struggle, which ended in the separation of the colonies from their mother country, and the establishment of our independence. They were among the early settlers of that patriotic portion of the then colonies, Western North Carolina. "His father, the late General Paul Barringer, was well known and dis- tinguished in his State. Though chiefly devoted to agricultural and com- mercial pursuits, and the happy quiet of retired and domestic life, Gen- eral Barringer was very often selected by the popular voice, the only public honor or office he ever accepted, to take part in the legislative councils of his native State. But his great happiness was in the moral training and liberal education of a large family of children, of whom the 102 NORTH CAROLINA subject of this notice was the eldest. Under the wise care and prudent direction of his experienced father, habits of industry were happily com- bined with the progress of thought and the acquisition of knowledge. "Having attained the rudiments of a thorough English education, this son was placed at an academy of Greek and Latin studies and the lighter branches of mathematics, in his native county, under the tuition of the Rev. John Robinson, D.D., a Presbyterian clergyman of great distin- tion in the South, in whose noble character was happily blended the gen- tlest and purest piety with the most commanding eloquence, and a dignity of grace and personal demeanor, which won the hearts of all who knew him, and had the best and most lasting influences on the manners and principles of the many young men whose education and morals were entrusted to his care. Mr. Barringer had the happiness to enjoy in the highest degree the friendship of this eminent divine to the day of his death. "Having completed his academical course, he was entered a student at the University of North Carolina, then under the presidency of the late Rev. Joseph Caldwell, D.D,, whose warmest regards he also enjoyed in an eminent degree. In the year 1826 he was graduated at this insti- tution with high honors ; and after remaining some six months as a resident-graduate of the University in the further study of history and modern languages, he commenced the study of law in the town of Hills- boro. North Carolina, in the office and under the direction of the Hon. Thomas Ruffin, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of that State. In the year 1829 he established himself and entered upon the practice of his profession in his native county. He at once, for so young a lawyer, received a large share of public patronage and favor, and reaped the rewards of a lucrative practice. "In this year, too. he was elected by a most flattering expression of public opinion to the legislature of the State. To this honorable post he was successively, and by equal and even increased manifestations of popular regard, returned for a number of years, never having suffered a defeat, and without the slightest abatement in the public confidence. "In 183s he was elected a member of the convention to revise and amend the constitution of North Carolina. [His work here was of great value to "his State.— Author]. As a member of these popular assemblies, he took an active part in public affairs, and always cheerfully performed the duties of his station. When occasion required, he always took a due share in the public debates, though avoiding the bad taste and fatal mis- take, so common among the public men of our country, of too much speaking, and of sacrificing the useful and solid to the light and orna- mental. He was earnestly devoted to the improvement of the internal and intellectual condition of his State, and the development of her rich DANIEL MOREAU BARRINGER 103 resources. As a member of the legislature, he was at different times chairman of the important committees on the judiciary and internal improvements. Ardently attached to the profession of the law, and the good results produced, and the high prinfiples inculcated by its just admin- istration, he did not permit his public duties to interfere with his prac- tice during the period of his service in the councils of the State. "In 1843 he was elected to Corigress from the Second Congressional Dis- trict of North Carolina, and was re-elected from the same district in 1845, after a most exciting contest with the late Hon. Charles Fisher, one of the most successful, active and distinguished politicians of that State. "In 1847 he was again elected to the House of Representatives by a most flattering testimonial of public confidence. It is worthy of record, that in one of the counties (Stanly) of the district, he received every vote that was given. In 1849 he declined a re-election to Congress. In that year he was appointed by the late lamented President Taylor, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States to the Court of her Catholic Majesty, the Queen of Spain, and upon the death of General Taylor was reappointed to that distinguished post by Presi- dent Fillmore. He is now abroad in the discharge of the duties of this mission, which has become so important to the Government and people of the United States, and which, during the critical period of the relation existing between these countries for the last two or three years, has been one of peculiar delicacy, difficulty and responsibility. The career of Mr. Barringer, both in Congress and as our representative abroad, is too recent and too well known to need comment." The work which he was called upon to do while in Madrid was of a particularly important character, as the relations between the two countries were at that time more or less strained. He was as successful as a diplomat as he had been as a legislator, and acquitted himself in this difiScult task with credit to himself and to his country. It is interesting to recall that during his residence in Madrid he obtained from the Spanish Government a tentative offer to cede the island of Cuba to the Government of the United States upon the payment, it is said, of $70,000,000 in gold. It was one of the great ambitions of his life to be instrumental in causing our Department of State to conclude this purchase, but unfortu- nately it was impossible to persuade the administration of the wisdom of this step. It is not known now whether or not possible complications with some of the foreign powers prevented this I04 NORTH CAROLINA purchase of the island of Cuba by the United States, but it is at least interesting to reflect how different history would have been had the island been purchased by our government at that time. After his return to his native State, he consented to represent Cabarrus County in the legislature for a single term, in order to assist in putting through some legislation that was of special importance. After that he decided to retire to private life, and although the position of foreign minister was twice afterward offered to him, he refused these offers, preferring to spend the remainder of his days in the quiet and comfort of his home. In i860, when the sectional crisis came, his eminence as a public man made him a prominent figure. Conservative by nature, and a wise and prudent statesman, he was, along with Chief Justice Ruffin, Mr. George Davis, Mr. David S. Reid and Ex-Governor Morehead, commissioned by his native State of North Carolina to be her representative in the Peace Conference held at Wash- ington on the 4th of February, 1861, which was attended by dele- gates from nearly every State in the Union. Although thoroughly in accord with the South, and anxious for a peaceful settlement of differences, he became indignant at the course of the Northern statesmen, who persisted in rejecting every offer of conciliation. On the 23d of February he telegraphed to Governor Ellis from Washington: "Crittenden's proposition, with or without Vir- ginia's amendment, will not pass. Lincoln is here unexpectedly; it is said he wants a National Convention. Uncertain when we adjourn, but I think on Monday. Delay is part of their game." He had wisely forecast the outcome, and those who had hoped for a settlement by means of the Peace Conference suffered a great disappointment. Returning home, Mr. Barringer gave his best services to the people of North Carolina. He was an able counsel- lor, and on terms of special intimacy with Governor Ellis; and on the death of Governor Ellis, in July, 1861, he became the principal adviser of Governor Henry T. Clark, and throughout the war he rendered efficient and valuable service to the State by his wisdom and his ripe experience. He was not permitted, be- DANIEL MOREAU BARRINGER 105 cause of a broken leg and other physical infirmities, to serve as a soldier on the field of battle. After the cessation of hostilities, he continued a prominent adviser in public afifairs, and earnestly co-operated in those measures that looked to an early restoration of North Carolina to the Union. In 1866 he attended the Peace Convention at Phila- delphia, and sought in vain to placate public sentiment at the North. In 1867, although the President of the United States and Chief Justice Chase regarded North Carolina as restored to the Union, the agitators in Congress were not content, and abolished the State government and placed the people of the State under the rule of a major-general. Mr. Barringer, with nearly every other gentleman of the State, opposed these proceedings. In 1868 he was a leading Democrat, supporting Governor Seymour of New York for the Presidency, and was associated with Governor Bragg and Governor Graham on the State Committee when, early in 1872, Judge Merrimon was nominated for governor, and Mr. Barringer then became the chairman of the State Committee to manage the campaign, and did most efficient work, so that at the election in August the Republican majority, which had been in 1868 many thousands, fell to a scant 1800. The Northern Republicans by that time had some dissensions among themselves, and the liberal Republicans, at a convention held in Cincinnati, nominated Horace Greeley for the Presidency. The Democratic National Convention assembled in Baltimore on July 9, 1872. The editor-in-chief of this work at that time wrote : "Hon. D. M. Barringer, the able, active and efficient con- ductor of the Conservative canvass in this State, is now in Balti- more in attendance on the National Democratic Convention. He is for Greeley and Brown. No man in the State is better ac- quainted with public sentiment than General Barringer, and we may truly say that none other of our distinguished citizens has a greater hold upon the affections of our people than this oft-tried statesman." (Although he had never held a commission, he was very generally known through North Carolina by the title of "general." — Author.) In that convention Mr. Barringer was the io6 NORTH CAROLINA chairman of the North Carolina delegation, and there was great applause when he announced that "North Carolina gives her entire vote for Horace Greeley!" Mr. Greeley had been the great apostle of the abolition of slavery, and the nomination of him for the Presidency by the. Southern white people was an evidence of how thoroughly they had accepted the legitimate results of the war, and it was a peace- offering extended by them to the Northern people, who had differed with the South on the question of slavery. Although this manifestation of Southern feeling and Southern sentiment was then without avail, its wisdom was shown in the changed attitude of the North to the South in the following years, and it is certain that Mr. Barringer's service to the people of the South, and, indeed, to the people of the entire Union, in this effort to pro- mote reconciliation, was of lasting importance. Had he aspired to the Democratic nomination for the United States Senate in 1872, it is very probable, such was the universal esteem in which he was held, that he could have received it. But he refused to allow his name to be used in this connection, and advised his friends tc vote for the Hon. Matthew W. Ransom, who was subsequently chosen for his first term in the United States Senate. Mr. Barringer married, August 15, 1848, Miss Elizabeth Wethered of Baltimore, who was born February 2, 1822, and was the daughter of Lewin and Elizabeth (Ellicott) Wethered. She was a member of one of the oldest and most highly respected families of Maryland. The five children of this happy union were (i) Lewin Wethered, born Madrid, March 3, 1850; died Philadelphia, December 15, 1900; (2) Elizabeth Brandon, born Madrid, March 24, 1851; died Raleigh, November i, 1864; (3) Paul Moreau, born New York, October 13, 1858; died Balti- more, May 12, 1859 ; (4) Daniel Moreau, born Raleigh, May 25, i860; and (5) Samuel Wethered, born Raleigh, November 28, 1861 ; died Raleigh, March 24, 1864. He was very domestic in his tastes, and was devotedly attached to his family, whom he surrounded with every comfort his means DANIEL MOREAU BARRINGER 107 would allow. There are some now living who remember his generous hospitality at his commodious and beautiful home in Raleigh, to which he returned about 1856, after his residence abroad. During the latter years of the war, and those which succeeded it, he sufifered great domestic afflictions, losing, on June 4, 1867, his dearly beloved and devoted wife, who is truth- fully described as having been "beautiful in character and in person." Not long before this he had also lost his only daughter, Elizabeth Brandon, to whom he was devotedly attached, as well as two infant sons. Having lost, in common with so many others, nearly all of his ample fortune by reason of the war, he returned, shortly after its close, to the practice of the law, which he had relinquished many years before, and, despite his great domestic sorrows, struggled bravely on, in order to properly educate and make some provision for his two remaining sons : ( i ) Lewin Wethered Barringer, who graduated at the University of Virginia, studied law under Chief Justice Pearson, practiced his profession for a few years in Raleigh, and in after years became a very successful and dis- tinguished member of the Philadelphia bar, and died, as above stated, at Jefferson Hospital, Philadelphia, on December 15, 1900; (2) Daniel Moreau Barringer, Jr., who, after graduating at Princeton and at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, has achieved notable success as a geologist and mining engineer, and is one of the authors of a standard legal work, "The Law of Mines and Mining in the United States." Upon these two sons he lavished all the love and solicitude of which so great a nature was capable, being careful to give them every advantage which he himself had possessed in the way of the best possible educationa) training. There is no doubt that his work in connection with the cam- paign of 1872, and the many speeches which he made during it, did much to undermine his health, which had never been very robust. An illness which began at this time finally resulted in his death a year later at White Sulphur Springs, Virginia. Aftei his death there appeared in the North Carolina and Virginia io8 NORTH CAROLINA papers, and especially in those of his native county of Cabarrus — the Concord papers appearing in mourning out of respect to his memory — many eulogistic accounts of this truly admirable man. It has seemed appropriate to the author of this article to select extracts from two of them, as accurately representing the man and reflecting the esteem in which he was held by all classes of the community. One from the Battleboro Advance, Septem- ber 5, 1873, as follows : "One of the best and truest men of North Carolina is no more. Hon. Daniel M. Barringer breathed his last at the Greenbrier White Sulphur Springs in Virginia, on Monday, the 1st inst. "General Barringer has filled many positions of honor and trust, and in all of them he exhibited the highest integrity, honor and patriotism. No matter whether serving his country at home, at the National Capitol, or at a foreign court, he was alike distinguished for his fidelity and zealous performance of every trust confided to his care. At the time of his death he was chairman of the Democratic Executive Committee of North Carolina. His loss is a heavy calamity to his native State, and among her long list of true and patriotic sons, she has had none truer or nobler than Daniel M. Barringer." The other, from the Charlotte Democrat, September 9, 1873, quoting in full an article which had appeared in the Raleigh News of September 2, 1873 : "A good and great man and a true North Carolinian has departed this life. ..." After enumerating the record of his life, of which his descend- ants are justly proud, this article goes on to say: "But as high and as numerous as were the honors won by this lamented gentleman on the political arena, his true eulogy is to be found in his virtues as a man and as a citizen. In his walk and conversation in private life are to be found a nobler claim to the affectionate remembrance of those whom he has left behind. As a statesman, his record is a proud one; but in his character as a Christian gentleman are to be found at- tributes of a higher and more enduring fame. Daniel Moreau Barringer is dead. He has been gathered to his fathers. Although he is gone, DANIEL MOREAU BARRINGER 109 he has left behind for our emulation a lofty character, and the memory of a useful and well-spent life." However, all is truthfully summed up in the brief epitaph written by his eldest son, who now rests beside him in Green Mount Cemetery, Baltimore, which is as follows: "A noble Christian man loved and honored by all." D. M. Batringer, Jr. WILLIAM BARRINGER ! N the genius, spirit or policy of Methodism there is something favorable to the development of strong men. Its history abundantly proves the truth of this statement. The period extending from 1825 to 1875 was especially fruitful in producing many of the noblest spirits that have been leaders of that denomination in North Carolina. Prominent among these were Numa F. Reid, William Closs, Charles F. Deems, Robert S. Moran, Braxton Craven, N. H. D. Wilson and William Barringer. All these were men of marked ability, differ- ing in type, in talent and in measure of usefulness, but all were recognized leaders. In weight of character, in soundness of judg- ment, in clearness of foresight, and in practical wisdom, none of these excelled William Barringer. In private interests, in pub- lic council, on the conference floor and in the cabinet of Bishops, his views were eagerly sought after, and, when expressed, always had great weight, and not unfrequently settled great questions and decided issues of vast import. He descended from a strong intellectual ancestry. His father was a man of great force and of wide influence. All of his brothers became distinguished citizens, and won fame in civil and military life. Had he chosen some other field than that of the ministry for the employment of his talent he might easily have obtained eminence as a financial, political or professional leader. E''^^ By £7, i?-H^/?iarnB S^ru.I\r:t^ fi. (zy~2.^6.^^z^-7^ ^ WILLIAM BARRINGER m William Barringer was the fourth son of General Paul Bar- ringer, and was born on Dutch Buffalo Creek, in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, on February i8, 1816. His childhood home was in a fine section of the Southland. It was midway between the ocean and the mountains, in the "hill country," where the lands were rolling and fertile; where the scenery was varied and in- spiring; where the air was full of oxygen and ozone, and where trees of many varieties grew in perfection, and wild game of different kinds were found in field and forest. General Barringer was a slave-owner and a large planter. His home was attractive, and all its surroundings were favorable to discipline, education and development. William, with the other children, from early life had the ad- vantages of a cultured home, the invigorating exercise of farm labor and out-door sports, and the then rare privilege of a good academic school. The result was, he developed a strong, healthy body, a vigorous mind and a laudable ambition for noble achieve- ment. After finishing his course at the academy, he continued to pursue his studies at the University of North Carolina until he became well equipped, in a general way, for any profession or business calling which he might later decide to enter upon. His father had planned for him a business career, and with this end in view opened for him a mercantile establishment in Con- cord. For several years he did business as a merchant, with great financial success. He won high esteem in the town and county because of his recognized ability, his energy and promptness in all his business relations and transactions. Up to this time he had not given serious thought to his religious interest, but was wholly absorbed in secular affairs and in worldly matters. In the year 1842 the Methodists held a large camp meeting near Concord. People from far and near attended. It continued for a week. Many leading families owned comfortable tents and lived on the ground during the meeting; others, in crowds, came and went. The singing, the prayers, the exhortations and sermons were stirring and powerful. The old-time fervor and fire pervaded 112 NORTH CAROLINA the great congregations. The Holy Spirit was present in power. It was a Pentecostal occasion. The people were greatly moved. Saints rejoiced and shouted praises to the Lord. Sinners were cut to the heart. Strong men trembled under the powerful warn- ings of the Gospel. Many wept and prayed and cried aloud for mercy. A large number was happily converted to God. Mr. Barringer, with others from Concord, attended this meeting. While there he saw and heard and felt the power of the truth. He was deeply impressed ; but not having an emotional tempera- ment, and not being much in sympathy with that way of doing things, he did not yield at once to the powerful appeals of the ministers, nor to the strong convictions of his own mind. He returned to Concord and engrossed himself in business as before. But new light had come into his mind. New forces were sweeping through his soul. Piercing and overwhelming con- viction of sin was rending his whole being. He gave himself to thought, meditation and prayer, which led in a few days to a clear, powerful and radical conversion while alone in his count- ing-room. It was a marvellous change, a wonderful and glorious experience. To him old things had passed away and all things had become new. He was a new man in Christ Jesus, and united at once with the Methodist Church. From that day he had new views of life, of humanity and of duty. He became keenly alive to the sinfulness of mankind, to the need of deep and thorough repentance on the part of the individual, and of the great necessity of a life of faith in God through the Lord Jesus Christ. He also was impressed with the fact of man's direct accountability to God for the use of whatever talents or other resources committed to him. From this time forth secular business had no charm for him, and he felt an inward call to preach the Gospel. This he resolved to do at any cost. Soon afterward he disposed of his business in Concord, prepared himself for the ministry, and entered upon his life-long work, to which he often expressed his belief as having been called in answer to the prayers of his sister, Mrs. Means, wife of General W. C. Means. "Her prayers were doubly efficacious — in their results for her brother and in leading her to the church WILLIAM BARRINGER 113 of her heart, for she Hved and died a true and earnest Methodist," she having previously been a Lutheran. These wrords in quotation are taken from the obituary of Mrs. Means, published in the North Carolina Presbyterian, June 24, 1874, as is also the fact about Mr. Barringer's "belief" in her prayers. Cabarrus County was at that time in the bounds of the South Carolina Conference, as also were Mecklenburg, Anson, Robeson, Cumberland, New Hanover and other counties along the border. He decided to join that body, and did so at its session in 1844. His first charge was Wadesboro Circuit, with the Rev. Samuel Leard, presiding elder. He proved at once to be a most efficient and useful minister. His heart was truly in the work, and he had but one mission, namely, to do faithfully the duty of a Methodist minister and to "feed the flock of Christ." It was soon evident to those in authority that he was "an all round man," who could be safely sent to any appointment and fill any position acceptably to the people and successfully to the church. Hence, as occasion demanded, he was appointed to circuits, stations, districts or agencies, and filled all equally well ; which fact proved a rare com- bination of talents. Among the more important charges were Charlotte Station, Cheraw Station, presiding elder successively of Fayetteville, Wilmington, Greensboro and Salisbury districts. Later presiding elder of the Raleigh, Trinity College and Hillsboro districts. He was also agent for Greensboro Female College and pastor of West Market Street Church, Greensboro, in 1865-68. From these appointments it will be seen that he served the church in many important relations, and covered almost the entire terri- tory of the Conference in his extended work. In 1872 the session of the Conference was held in Fayetteville, from which he was returned to the Hillsboro district. At once he entered upon his work with great hope, zeal and devotion. He completed the first round of appointments on his district and returned to his family in Greensboro, where he had resided since the year 1858. He was greatly interested in the rebuilding of Greensboro Female College, the leading educational institution of 114 NORTH CAROLINA his church. It had a few years before been destroyed by fire, and was again nearing completion. He had general oversight of the work of reconstruction. He was now in the full vigor of manhood, and was pushing forward at every point to get the college ready to reopen by the fall session. To this end he had contributed largely of his means, and was devoting much of his time. On the morning of March ii, 1873, he left his elegant home, which was near by, to investigate the progress of the work on the building. While passing out of a window of the third story of the west wing to the gangway, his foot slipped and he fell to the ground, twenty-eight feet below. His right thigh was broken in two places, his right arm and face were considerably bruised and the violence of the fall produced concussion of the brain, which caused his death. He did not suffer much pain, except occasional paroxysms. He remained conscious for four or five hours after the fall, during which time he gave ample evidence of his readiness to depart and be with Christ. His death took place at ten min- utes past seven o'clock, Monday evening, March 17, 1873. His tragic end shocked the entire State, for all who knew him realized that "a prince and a great man had fallen." His sudden departure carried grief into hundreds of homes, in which his name was a household word. To his church his loss was irreparable, for it looked in vain for one to take up his mantle and fill his place. On the 1 8th day of March, 1873, after appropriate funeral services at West Market Street Church, attended by a large crowd of sorrowing friends, his body was tenderly borne to the Metho- dist Cemetery, in South Greensboro, and laid beside that of his devoted wife and children, who had preceded him to the heavenly world. He left to his surviving relatives, a rich legacy in the pure and exalted life he had lived. Experimental religion was his favorite theme, and he exemplified its power in his daily life. In his every field of labor he was energetic, acceptable and suc- cessful. He was truly loyal to his church, loved its doctrines, its WILLIAM BARRINGER 115 policy and its people. His church loved and honored him. He was elected a delegate or a reserve to every General Conference of his church from 1842 until his death. He was prominently connected with every important interest of his Conference, and was always faithful to the trusts committed to him. On the 19th day of November, 1850, Mr. Barringer was married to Miss Lavinia M. Alston of Chatham county, a lady of beauty, culture and wealth. The fruits of this happy union were five sons and three daughters, all of whom have since died but two — Colonel John A. Barringer, a prominent lawyer of Greensboro, North Carolina, and Paul B. Barringer of Oxford, Mississippi. As a preacher William Barringer held a high place in the public esteem. He made no effort at display, rhetorical effect or merely pulpit eloquence. His mission was too high and sacred for that. He was called of God to preach the Word. His was a great soul, burdened with a great message to dying men. From the store- house of a well-filled mind, from a large acquaintance with men, from the rich treasury of a deep personal experience, and from the Bible, his favorite book, he gathered facts, illustrations and incidents into which he breathed his own spirit, fused them into logical form, and then, out of a full soul, poured them into the minds and hearts of his hearers. Often he was eloquent in thought and word, and always im- pressive. All felt his power. The high character that he bore, the great confidence imposed in him, gave added force to his utterances and enabled him to wield a mighty influence over his audiences. No one can estimate the good that he accomplished on earth, but hundreds can testify to the uplifting influence of his life upon them. Though suddenly cut down, with his life work seemingly but half done, the world was better by his labors on earth, and having been faithful over a few things, none doubt but that his Lord hath made him ruler over many things. Greensboro Female College still stands as a monument of his devotion to the education of women and the crowning glory of his laborious and useful life. Leonidas W. Crawford. RUFUS BARRINGER JMONG the distinguished Confederate generals of this State who survived the Civil War and exerted a marked influence on public afifairs after the restoration of peace was Rufus Bar- ringer, of Cabarrus County. General Rufus Bar ringer was born December 2, 1821, at Poplar Grove, in Cabarrus County. He was prepared for college by R. I. McDowell at Sugar Creek Academy, and duly entered the University of North Carolina, from which he graduated in 1842. He studied law with his eldest brother, D. M. Barringer, and then under the late Chief Justice Pearson, at his famous law school at Richmond Hill, in Yadkin County, where so many of the State's most able and distinguished jurists obtained their early legal training. He began the practice of his profession in Cabarrus and surrounding counties, where he soon acquired a large and lucrative practice, on account of his painstaking prep- aration of his cases, his tireless industry, and, above all, his intense loyalty to the cause of his clients. Like other members of his family, he was a Whig in politics, and, being of an ardent nature, he warmly espoused the prin- ciples and policies of his party, and advocated all progressive measures that tended to the upbuilding and development of the entire State, and particularly the Piedmont and western sections thereof. When young Barringer first entered the political arena. RUFUS BARRINGER 117 the sectional feeling between the west and the east was very strong; for, while some of the causes of complaint had been removed by the amendments to the constitution in 1835, yet the hardship and want of facilities from which the west suffered were very detrimental to the progress, prosperity and happiness of the inhabitants of the western and Piedmont sections of the State. The financial condition of the State was deplorable, and in 1847 a project was brought forward by some Virginia and South Carolina capitalists to build a railroad from Charlotte to Danville without asking aid from the State, and this proposition was warmly espoused by the people of the section through which it was proposed that the road should pass. Young Barringer was zealous in his advocacy of the measure, and in 1848 was elected to the House of Commons with the purpose of securing a charter for the proposed road. While the Whigs generally favored internal improvements, the Democrats were funda- mentally opposed to the State appropriating any public money for such purposes. It so happened that the parties were equally divided in both houses of the General Assembly, and, by con- cession, the Whigs were awarded the speakership of the House and the Democrats were awarded the speakership of the Senate. On the question of internal improvements, and especially of this proposed Charlotte and Danville Railroad, the east differed with the west, and the Whigs of the east did not favor it. General Barringer in 1894 wrote a history of the railroad legislation at this session of the General Assembly, from which it appears that early in the session the outlook for any practical measure was hopeless. In this emergency, William S. Ashe, Democratic senator from New Hanover, and a strong advocate of internal improvements and all other progressive measures, drew a bill to incorporate the North Carolina Railroad, to run from Golds- boro to Charlotte, and providing for an appropriation of two millions of dollars by the State as aid to the construction of said road. This measure involved what in those days was such an enormous outlay of public funds that nearly everybody except Mr. Ashe was afraid of it. When the Charlotte and Danville bill ii8 NORTH CAROLINA was before the House, Mr. Stanly, of Washington, declared that the East would not support the "Danville sale," and most bitter feeling existed among the other members concerning the measure. Finally he said that he would support anything that looked like a North Carolina system, and Mr. Barringer thereupon defied him to make an offer of any bill providing for a general North Caro- lina system likely to pass, and with sufficient State aid to insure its success. Mr. Stanly then said he would pledge himself and his Eastern friends in support of the Ashe bill if Mr. Barringer would do the same. To this the latter assented, and, by arrange- ment, another railroad bill was taken up, and Barringer moved to strike out all after the enacting clause and to insert in lieu thereof the Ashe bill, which was done, and the bill finally passed the House, and eventually the Senate. Thus was incorporated the North Carolina Railroad Company, which subsequently con- structed the North Carolina Railroad, which has been of such great and lasting benefit to the State. In this work Mr. Bar- ringer had an important share, and if it had not been for him, the North Carolina Railroad Company would in all probability not have been incorporated, at least at that time; although the same might be said of quite a number of other gentlemen, par- ticularly Mr. Ashe, Senator Murchison and Speaker Graves of the Senate. At the next election, Mr. Barringer was chosen to represent his county in the State Senate, but after the expiration of his term of service as State Senator he practically withdrew from politics and devoted himself to the successful practice of his profession until the war. Being a Whig, and strongly attached to the Union, and con- sequently opposed to the Democratic Party and all its policies, he in i860 became a Whig elector on the Bell and Everett ticket, and was so outspoken in his convictions that secession ^yould be accompanied by a war, which would prove the fiercest and bloodi- est in modern time, and would involve the institution of slavery itself, that he for a time became very unpopular on account of these views and the bold and fearless manner in which he opposed the secession movement. Being a man who always and under all RUFUS BARRINGER 119 circumstances adhered to his convictions, regardless of their popu- larity, he was not in the least perturbed or shaken in the stand he had taken on account of this temporary unpopularity. He had married Miss Eugenia Morrison, a daughter of Rev. R. H. Morrison, and a sister of Mrs. Stonewall Jackson, Mrs. General D. H. Hill and Mrs. Judge A. C. Avery; and when the war, which he had foreseen and used his most strenuous efforts to prevent, came on, he promptly raised a company of cavalry, which became Company F, First North Carolina Cavalry, and received his commission as captain of this company on the i6th of May, 1861. His regiment, under Colonel Robert Ransom, was so well drilled that it became widely known as the best cavalry regiment in the Confederate service. At first it was assigned to Hampton's brigade as the Ninth Regiment of North Carolina troops, and it served under that distinguished commander until the formation of the North Carolina Brigade of Cavalry. In 1862 General Jackson proposed to organize some light troops for offensive action, and offered Barringer the position of quarter- master of the division on his staff, which offer was refused, as he preferred to remain with his own company along the fighting lines. On August 26, 1863, Captain Barringer became major of the regiment, and three months later its lieutenant-colonel. On the 9th of September, 1863, the Ninth and three other North Carolina cavalry regiments were organized as the North Carolina Cavalry Brigade, under the command of General Lawrence S. Baker; but on the 28th of the same month Colonel James B. Gordon of the Ninth was commissioned as brigadier-general, and took command of the brigade. Colonel Barringer shared in all of the fortunes of his regiment; and at length, in June, 1864, was commissioned brigadier-general, and succeeded to the command of the brigade, in which position he continued until he was cap- tured on the 3d of April, 1865, on the retreat to Appomatox. In an old paper there is found an item headed "Won't Go to Congress." "While others are trying to get out of the army by being elected to Congress, Major Rufus Barringer refuses to go to Congress and will remain with the army. Major Barringer is I20 NORTH CAROLINA right, for the country needs all able-bodied men in the field." We copy his letter. "Orange Court House, Va., Oct. 17, 1863. "I have recently received numerous solicitations to become a candidate for Congress in the Eighth District. These solicitations I have uniformly declined. Within the last few days I have learned that many of my friends still propose voting for me, whether a candidate or not. Whilst I am deeply grateful to all who have thus manifested an interest in my behalf and propose giving me this testimonial of their confidence, I deem it due alike to them and to myself to state that for many reasons I much prefer my name should not be used. "I entered the army from a sense of duty alone, counting the cost and knowing the sacrifices. "Our great object is not yet obtained, and I do not consider it con- sistent with my obligations here to accept any civil or political office during the war. I think it better for those in service to stand by their colors, whilst those at home should all unite in a cordial and earnest support of the authorities in feeding, clothing and otherwise sustaining the gallant men (and their families) who are fighting not only for our rights, but for the safety of our homes and firesides. My chief desire is to see all party bickerings allayed. The army is not faint-hearted and will nobly perform its duty to the country. "If croakers, grumblers and growlers, who torment themselves and all around them with imaginary evils, could only lay aside their fears ; if hoarders, speculators and money makers could only be educated to forget their selfish ends for a season; if conscripts, skulkers and deserters could only be got to their commands and all come up to the work like patriots and men, the army, by the blessing of God, would soon secure us victory and peace. Oh ! that those men would reflect upon the error of their way and open their hearts to the call of their bleeding country. My prayers are that all dissensions amongst us in North Carolina may be healed, and that headed by our sworn and chosen leaders, President Davis and Governor Vance, the party, appealing alike to our duty, our honor, our interest and our safety, would now consecrate themselves to their country. "RuFus Barringer." General Barringer was in seventy-six engagements, was wounded three times, most severely at Brandy Station, and on two other occasions had his horse killed under him. He was conspicuous at the battles of Willis Church, at Brandy Station, RUFUS BARRINGER 121 Auburn Mills and at Buckland Races, where he led the charge; at Davis's Farm, where he was the sole commander, and at Reams's Station, where he commanded the division of cavalry. His brigade added to its laurels at Chamberlain Run, March 31, 1865, when it forded a stream one hundred yards wide, saddle- girth deep, under a galling fire, and drove back a division of Federal cavalry, this being the last decisive Confederate victory on Virginia soil. Three days later, at Namozine Church, while he was making efforts to extricate one of his regiments from a perilous position, he was taken prisoner by a party of scouts dis- guised as Confederates,* and was sent to City Point, along with General Ewell and General Custis Lee, who had also fallen into the hands of the enemy. President Lincoln was at City Point, and asked that General Barringer be presented to him, remarking, "You know I have never seen a real, live Rebel general in uni- form." General Barringer was detained a prisoner at Fort Dela- ware until August, 1865, at which time he was released, thus closing a most enviable and brilliant military career, which was punctuated with many acts of unsurpassed bravery and heroism, in which he was noted for uniform fidelity to his superiors and kindness and consideration for those subject to his command. Though a strict disciplinarian, he was ever mindful of the wants and necessities of his soldiers, and was tireless in his efforts to lighten their burdens and relieve them of every hardship possible. There is little wonder, therefore, that his old soldiers, who fol- lowed him through the smoke of battle in seventy-six engage- ments, when the war ended and they returned to paths of peace, continued to entertain the highest regard and warmest affection for their old commander even up to the day of his death. Having been an ardent Whig prior to the war, and imbibed the principles and policies of that party, it was not surprising, after the war *In the Pittsburg Press, February, 189s, Scout Archibald Rowland gives an interesting account of the capture (republished in the Charlotte News, February 13, 1895), and Sergeant J. E. McCabe, of the Seventeenth Pennsylvania Cavalry, also published an account in the Philadelphia Times, July, 1881 (republished in the Farmer and Mechanic, September S, 1883). 122 NORTH CAROLINA closed, that General Barringer did not take kindly to the principles and policies of the Democratic Party, his old political enemy. Besides, he was thoroughly convinced that the South, in its then crushed and impoverished condition, could no longer afford, even in the political arena, to antagonize the principles and policies of the Republican Party, believing that a conciliatory policy on the part of the Southern people was the surest means of speedily bringing about a reconciliation between the two late warring sections ; therefore, entertaining such convictions, those who knew General Barringer were not surprised when he espoused the cause of the Republican Party and advocated its reconstruction policy in the South, for he always had the courage of his convictions, irrespective of whether those convictions happened for the time being to be popular or otherwise, and it made but little difference to him, in pursuing the course he did in this respect, that his elder brtJther, General Daniel Barringer, who was chairman of the Democratic State Committee in 1872, and his other warm and lifelong friends, so widely and radically differed from him in their political views and party affiliations. On returning from the war, General Barringer moved to Charlotte, where he again took up the practice of the law, being associated with the late Judge James W. Osborne, and continued his legal pursuits until he retired from the active practice in 1884, having in the meantime, as the result of unfailing industry, energy and fidelity to his profession, acquired more than a sufficiency of this world's goods to enable him for the remainder of his life to pursue the more peaceful and quiet paths of a private citizen. In 1875 the constitutional convention was called, but the people were so apprehensive of the results of conventions that the move- ment was regarded as of doubtful propriety; and at the election so close was the vote that the two parties tied in the body. Gen- eral Barringer having been elected a member of that body as a Republican from Mecklenburg, a Democratic county. Subse- quently, in 1880, his party nominated him to the office of lieu- tenant-governor, but he shared the fate of his associates in their defeat at the polls, after which he permanently retired, and became RUFUS BARRINGER 123 more or less independent in politics, having voted in 1888 for the Cleveland electors, and at other times frequently voting the Democratic ticket, or a part thereof. General Barringer was an able, learned, pure and honorable man. In the war he had manifested a heroic spirit; no one excelled him in personal bravery or in his devotion to the Con- federate cause when once he had drawn his sword in defense of his country. When peace was declared, he returned from the war with the same intrepid spirit and lofty purpose to do that which he thought was right, and even his most bitter political opponents could not truthfully say that in his political career he was actuated by other than the most lofty patriotism and unselfish ambitions. In fact, his career as a Confederate soldier gave earnest of what might be expected of him as a private citizen, and no private or political act of his ever marred or tarnished the luster which attached to the name of General Rufus Barringer, the commander of one of the bravest and most daring cavalry brigades in the Confederate army. General Barringer, with active and acute mind, had a fondness for literature, and in 1881 wrote a series of cavalry sketches, describing the battles of Five Forks and other notable engagements, and made other valuable contri- butions to historical literature, having also written sketches known as "The Dutch Side" and "The -Battle of Ramseur's Mill." He also made most valuable contributions to the State's history in writing "The History of the Act Incorporating the North Caro- lina Railroad," and his history of the Ninth Regiment for the Regimental Histories of the State. On the death of his first wife, General Barringer married Miss Rosalie Chunn, of Asheville, and after her death he married Miss Margaret Long, of Orange County, who, together with his three sons. Dr. Paul B. Barringer (a child by his first wife), Rufus C. Barringer (a child by his second wife), and Osmond L. Bar- ringer (a child by his third wife), survive him. He died on February 3, 1895. General Barringer was an active and consistent member of the Presbyterian Church, and was always a liberal contributor to 124 NORTH CAROLINA charitable and religious causes. He had travelled much, and profited by his experience abroad. He was always favorable to progressive ideas that promised an advantage to the people of his State and immediate section. He was an early and ardent advocate of temperance reform and industrial education, and took a sincere pleasure in being a trustee of the North Carolina Cojlege of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts. And, being largely interested in his agricultural operations, he sought to promote successful and profitable farming by others. He was influential in establishing the graded schools at Charlotte, and also made valuable donations to the first library established in that city. Indeed, in every walk in life he was a useful and esteemed citizen, but his chief virtues were his faith in the God of the Bible, his love for his family and his stern belief in the rigid enforcement of the law, by the means of which he believed that peace and happiness to all the people could best be secured. He showed his deep-seated religious convictions by his always munificent and ungrudging support of his church, as well as all other worthy religious causes. He exhibited his family love by providing that his handsome residence should be kept in the Barringer family as a common home for his wife and children and their descend- ants as long as they should desire it, and his whole life was an example of his conviction that the majesty of the law should always and under all circumstances be upheld, and that those who were guilty of violating it should be surely and swiftly pun- ished, not for the mere sake of punishment, but in order that bad men should thus be made to respect it and good men thereby protected. E. T. Cansler. ^ {f. /^a/m^a^ f-> VICTOR CLAY BARRINGER ^ICTOR BARRINGER, the youngest child of General Paul Barringer and Elizabeth Brandon, his wife, was born at "Poplar Grove," the family home, March 29, 1827; he was baptized by the Rev. John Reck as Victor Barringer, and did not assume the name of "Clay" until, as a boy, he visited a brother then in Congress and heard Henry Clay speak. He was educated in Concord, but in 1843 he was sent to Gettysburg College, Pennsylvania, where he remained till 1845, when he entered the University of North Carolina, from which institution he was graduated with the class of 1848. While at "Chapel Hill" he early became the president of the Dialectic Society, and his farewell address before that body when relin- quishing the gavel was long remembered as a masterpiece of youthful oratory. In 1848, after graduation, he at once began the study of law with his oldest brother, D. M. Barringer, at that time a member of Congress. These studies were interrupted, however, by the appointment of his brother, in 1849, as American Minister to Spain. Victor Barringer was secretary of legation and private secretary to his brother in Madrid till 1854. During his stay there he wrote a most interesting series of "Letters from Spain," which were published in The Pilot of Concord, then edited by his cousin, Adolphus Miller. Returning to North Caro- lina, he took up the practice of law at Concord, but in a year or so 126 NORTH CAROLINA he was elected professor of belles-lettres in Davidson College, North Carolina. The outbreak of the Civil War soon called him from these pleasant labors, however, and he left his chair to serve as a State senator in the legislature of 1860-61, in which he urged that a State convention should be convened to deal with the great crisis. He then accepted a commission as major in the First North Carolina Cavalry, then commanded by Colonel Robert Ransom. He served with his regiment only a few weeks in the summer of 1862, in the battles around Petersburg, when failing health compelled him to return to civil life. Throughout the period of the Civil War he lived quietly at Concord practicing his profession when his feeble health allowed. That Judge Bar- ringer was not able to remain at the front was a great cross to him, as he was by no means a faint-hearted advocate of the cause of his State. This was clearly shown in his reception and hos- pitable treatment of President Jefferson Davis and his Cabinet in April, 1865. When the chief of the fast failing Confederacy left Richmond just before the evacuation and made his way silently southward, the early end of the cause was apparent to all. Under these circumstances Judge Barringer received President Davis and entertained him for a night and more ; and subsequently followed him to give useful information and counsel. In a letter written from Alexandria, Egypt, and published in the Ballot, Novem- ber 8, 1886, he describes in full the details of Mr. Davis's stay, and it is thought appropriate to quote a few extracts from this letter regarding Mr. Lincoln's assassination. ''1 had been careful to advise the citizens generally of the President's arrival, and to request them to call on him between 10 and 11 a.m. A few only — if I am not mistaken, not exceeding half a dozen, among whom I recall Mr. Allison, Colonel Long and Mr. C. Phifer — came into the house and paid their personal respects to Mr. Davis ; but on the opposite side of the street a large crowd gathered to gaze curiously at the fallen chieftain. He talked freely and genially with all comers, but maintained a solicitous silence about the future of the war. Once only, I remember, he expressed the hope that General Johnston would not surrender — an event which VICTOR CLAY BARRINGER 127 was then actually transpiring, if it had not already taken place. He alluded vaguely to the possibility of continued hostilities be- yond the Mississippi. I mentioned a rumor that Mr. Lincoln had been assassinated. He did not credit the rumor; there could be no motive, he said, for such a crime. He was entirely indisposed to bewail or blame the past, but rather looked forward to the dark and shadowy future with a manly heart. At 1 1 o'clock lunch was served. Soon after the whole party, with many expressions of thanks, took leave of us. Mr. Davis mounted his horse with a spring that is distinctly imprinted on my memory, betokening a man who, despite years, feeble health and anxieties, seemed still to have on him the dew of youth. The party rode away without a cheer, a wave of the hand or any signal of respect on the part of the crowd. I suppose none was felt, for men seldom respect the fallen. Soon confirmation came of Mr. Lincoln's assassina- tion. Viewing the altered situation which this event was likely to produce, I went immediately to Charlotte, accompanied by Dr. Logan of Charleston, an army surgeon, who was staying with me at Concord. We went in a carriage by the country road. I called, on Mr. Davis. He was lodging with a Mr. Bates, who had, he said, hospitably given him shelter. He was occupying, however, at the time of my call, a small room (at Colonel William John- son's) as a business office, near where the First National Bank now stands. I found Mr. Benjamin and Mr. Breckinridge with him. He was by no means in a melancholy humor, but easy and chatty rather. I fancy that he saw his path clearer — that the end had come and he had made up his mind to face it. This fancy became a settled conviction before I left him. Alluding to Mr. Lincoln's death, the thing uppermost in every mind, he declared it to be an unmeasured calamity in every point of view. He had become convinced that the spirit of the South was broken. Fur- ther resistance by armed force would be criminal. He touched delicately on the aloofness of the people in regard to himself, as manifested everywhere since the disaster around Richmond. But he excused it on the ground of undefined fears in the presence of a probable wreck of the cause. Yet it was proof that resistance 128 NORTH CAROLINA was no longer possible. He talked at considerable length, gently toward all, with one exception. He avowed that he had little or no faith in President Johnson." In 1868 Mr. Barringer was appointed by the governor of the State a member of the Code Commission of North Caro- lina, to adjust the laws of the State to the Code of Civil Pro- cedure under the new constitution, and was one of the three authors of the first Code of Civil Procedure for North Carolina. A few years later he was chosen one of the commissioners to reduce the United States statutes at large into the compact form of the present "Revised Statutes of the United States." Just about the time this work was completed, the Khedive of Egypt (Ismail Pasha) applied to General Grant, requesting the appoint- ment of some "justice of high standing, linguistic attainments, familiar with Continental life," to represent America at the Inter- national Court at Alexandria, Egypt. General Grant, having known Mr. Barringer during his three years' stay in Washington on the Code Commission, appointed him, in 1874, as the first American representative on this bench He served two terms of ten years each in Egypt, spending his long vacation each year in European or Oriental travel. In 1882, during the Arabi Pasha Rebellion, his house in Alex- andria was destroyed, and with it a well-chosen collection of Oriental curios and the all but finished manuscript of a work on "The Relation of the Mussulman and the Roman Law." As most of his dearly bought reference works were destroyed' with his manuscript, he never attempted to reproduce this work. He visited the United States but once during his life in Egypt, but in 1894, when nearly three score and ten, he resolved to return permanently to America, "ere too late to unite the threads of severed associations." When he left Egypt, he was awarded, for honorable and efficient service, the highest decoration given by the Khedive, the Order of the Osmanieh. He married Maria Massey, daughter of George Massey and Maria McKesson, of North Carolina. She proved a most devoted VICTOR CLAY BARRINGER 129 wife and helpmate. To the great sorrow of both, no children blessed this union. In the words of a friend (formerly United States Consul-Gen- eral in Egypt) found in a tribute to his memory, "Justice Bar- ringer lived in Egypt twenty years, and during that whole time enjoyed the confidence and had the appreciation of all those with whom he came in contact, whether officially or socially. He was a jurist of high ability, a scholar of considerable attainments, an entertaining conversationalist, and, above all, a loyal, intense American, who dignified the position he held, and his decisions were always regarded with respect." Of goodly lineage, being descended from a well-known and influ- ential family of his native State, North Carolina, Judge Barringer was throughout a long life an earnest Christian. Of great de- cision and independence of thought, he was singularly genial and affectionate in nature, and in nothing was this more strikingly manifested than in his devotion to children of all ages and his enjoyment of their love. He lived but two years after his return to the United States, and died at Washington, District of Colum- bia, May 27, 1896, and is buried in Rock Creek Cemetery, near that city. Dr. Paul B. Barringer. D. M. Barringer, Jr. JOHN ALSTON BARRINGER fOHN ALSTON BARRINGER was born on the 30th day of August, 185 1, at the old Alston homestead, in Chatham County, four miles west of Pittsboro, North Carolina. He is the first child of Rev. William Barringer and Lavinia Margaret Alston. Paul Brandon Barringer of Oxford, Mississippi, is the only other living member of this family. Full sketches of his father, his grandfather and his great-grand- father appear in this same volume. But, in addition to the splendid sketch of Rev. William Bar- ringer, by Rev. Dr. Leonidas W. Crawford, this writer is con- strained to say that Rev. William Barringer, whom he knew inti- mately and most lovingly as "Uncle Billy" for more than twenty- three years, and as his mother's best-loved brother, was one of the most powerful preachers in all respects he ever heard; he was the most lovable man he ever saw ; his great soul was full to overflowing with love for all mankind, inspired by "the great Christ-passion to redeem;'' his love for "little children" was supreme; he was a Christ man; and all the great audience who heard the funeral sermon over his dead body deeply and sadly felt the truth of the speaker's kingly tribute, "There is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel." One of the best and most attractive features of this great bio- graphical work is its genealogies. They must be verified by indis- ^^^ ^p^^ -■7? iff £" e:^ l^/^'O'iis S3ro /'T,'' Jti^ ^/^, -? ■'L T^n Ts&p/TV" ^-^iA^ JOHN ALSTON BARRINGER 131 putable records before finding a place in this work, and this for- ever establishes their accuracy, and gives to all future descendants of those named herein an absolutely truthful and unimpeachable family record, which will last when all other earthly monuments of brass or marble have fallen into decay, by their most careful preservation in the homes of illustrious North Carolinians and in all of the great libraries of our State and elsewhere. Mr. John Alston Barringer, with proper pride, traces pater- nally his genuine German lineage back to the Black Forest (Schwarzwald) Mountains of Wiirttemberg, where great men grew, and whence came the Schwarzwalders, Blackforesters or Blackwelders, of whom was his great-grandmother, a patriotic heroine of the Revolution, Catherine Blackwelder, who lies buried beside her son. General Paul Barringer, and his wife, Elizabeth Brandon, in the old Lutheran Cemetery in Concord, North Caro- lina. A splendid ancestry in its antiquity and in its "fruits" of men and women, by which an ancestry as well as a religion is best known. And this, with the English Brandons, of whom was his father's mother, makes a paternal origin of the highest and best character. The ancestry of the Alstons is unsurpassed in its antiquity and otherwise. Its history is fully given in a valuable volume entitled "The Alstons and Allstons of North and South Carolina, com- piled from English, Colonial and Family Records, by Joseph A. Groves, M.D., Selma, Alabama," 1901. John Alston Barringer's mother, Lavinia. Margaret Alston, was the fifth child of John Jones Alston (born 1792) and Adaline Williams. John Alston, the first ancestor of Mr. Barringer who came to America, was the first child of John Alston and Anne Wallis, daughter of an illustrious father, and was baptized at Flemersham, County Bedford, England, December 5, 1673 ; this John Alston was the fourth son of John Alston (1610) and Dorothy Temple. The Alstons claim, by record, their ancestry back to time of King Edward L, 1272-1307. Through Dorothy Temple, whom John Alston married at Odell Castle, Bedfordshire, England, January 4, 1634, daughter of Sir 132 NORTH CAROLINA John Temple and Dorothy Lee, the Alstons, by official English records, truthfully trace their genealogy to Leofric, Earl of Leicester (1043), and his wife, Lady Godiva (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 9th ed.. Vol. VL, p. 530), to whom Tennyson has exquisitely given "an everlasting name" for her ride through "Convent town," "clothed on with chastity," because she . . . "loved the people well, And loathed to see them overtax'd." This writer is fully and sadly aware of the existence of con- temptible people whose only worth is in their ancestry. He fully concurs in John G. Saxe's scornful satire on the false . . . "pride of birth, Among our 'fierce Democracie'!" But a great lineage well lived up to is a great heritage. To worthy men or women it is an inspiration to deeds that crown them as decorations of honor. To the unworthy it is a stigma of disgrace and shame. To be of "the house and lineage of David" was a seal of heavenly prophecy and a glorious "gift from above" to our Saviour Christ and to the Virgin Mary, whose "seed of the woman" was to bruise the head of the serpent, the soiling trail of which has stained all genealogies. They must each be of the tribe of Judah and of the house and lineage of David. None of the other great genealogies of Israel, running forty-two genera- tions back to Abraham, would do. This is God's stamp of ap- proval on good and great genealogies. John Alston Barringer has lived worthily of his "house and lineage," and thereby he honors it as it honors him. And this is the more creditable to him because his life has been, of his own choice, more private than public. He is a magnificent specimen of physical manhood; like the Alstons, tall and erect; like both families of his origin, muscular and powerful. And withal, handsome. The Alstons were among the wealthiest families of the State JOHN ALSTON BARRINGER 133 before the war, especially in lands and negroes, to whom they were always generous and kind. In all that makes up a splendid race of men and women the Alstons of North Carolina have ever been among the very best. Mr. Barringer received his primary education in Greensboro, North Carolina, to which town his father moved in 1858 ; entered Trinity College in 1868, and graduated thence in 1872 ; he studied law under Judge Dillard in Greensboro for one year, then became a student of the great Pearson Law School, under Chief Justice Pearson, at Richmond Hill, North Carolina, where he remained one year, and was licensed to practice law in 1874. He traveled considerably for two years, and began the practice of law in State and Federal courts in 1876, at Greensboro. In November, 1884, he was elected to represent Guilford County in the House of the General Assembly of 1885, in which responsible position he was active and prominent, both on committees and in the work of the House. In 1886 he was elected mayor of Greensboro, and re- elected in 1893. For many years he was chairman of the Demo- cratic Executive Committee of the Fifth Congressional District. Was a Cleveland elector in 1892, and canvassed, with great credit, this district in joint debate with Hon. W. P. Bynum, Jr., one of the best and strongest men in the Republican Party. He has, however, rather eschewed politics, except as he felt that duty to his party and State demanded his services, preferring the quiet and peaceful life of his beautiful and happy home in Greensboro and the practice of his profession to the uncertainty of success and frequent ingratitude experienced in a political career. He is a learned lawyer, an eloquent speaker, especially strong before a jury, and has amassed a handsome estate solely by hard work in the practice of law. Mr. Barringer was married on the 15th day of September, 1886, to Miss Martha Moderwell Sloan, who is the daughter of Robert Moderwell Sloan, who was born near Lexington, Virginia, March 22, 1812. His father, John Sloan, came to America in 1770, directly from Ireland, and settled near Lexington, Virginia, where he married Mary Virginia Shields. Mrs. Barringer's father came 134 NORTH CAROLINA to Greensboro when thirteen years of age, at the death of his father, and lived with his uncle, Robert Moderwell ; he married Sarah Paisley, August 31, 1836, who was the daughter of Rev. William D. Paisley, a distinguished divine, who founded the first Presbyterian Church in Greensboro, and who was the son of Major, and afterward Colonel John Paisley, a brave and valiant soldier of the American Revolution (pp. 75 and 81, Wheeler's "History of North Carolina"). Rev. W. D. Paisley married Frances, daughter of General Alexander Mebane, of the well- known Mebane family of the Revolution (pp. 364 and 365, Caruthers' "History of North Carolina," and Wheeler, p. 333). Mr. and Mrs. Barringer have only one child, an interesting and intelligent little daughter, born November 5, 1893, and named Frances Sloan Barringer. He and his wife are both Presbyterians. The influence of both his father and his mother was beautiful and beneficial on his intellectual life, and, with a sweet memory of his mother, he says, "My mother's influence was particularly strong on my moral and spiritual life," which is always the tribute of a loyal, loving son to a good mother. Now in the full vigor and strength of all his mental and physical powers, Mr. Barringer's past and present foretell a prosperous, peaceful and beautiful old age and earthly end. Paul B. Means. ; W'/V-^'"^ 3. 3r^ A^y^ PAUL BRANDON BARRINGER TAUL BRANDON BARRINGER was born in Concord, North Carolina, on the 13th day of February, 1857. He is the only living child of General Rufus Barringer and Eugenia Mor- rison. Full sketches of his father, his grandfather, General Paul Barringer, and his great-grandfather, John Paul Barringer, appear in this same volume. His mother was a very beautiful woman in her physical appear- ance and Christian character. She was the daughter of Rev. Dr. Robert Hall Morrison, one of the most intellectual men of North Carolina, a Presbyterian minister, and the first president of David- son College. Her mother was Mary Graham, daughter of General Joseph Graham of Revolutionary fame, and a sister of William A. Graham, who was governor of North Carolina, United States senator, secretary of the navy under President Fillmore, nominee of the Whig Party for Vice-President with General Winfield Scott, trustee of the University of North Carolina, etc. Mary Graham's mother was Isabella Davidson, a kinswoman of General' William Lee Davidson, who was killed at the battle of Cowan's Ford during the Revolution, and for whom Davidson College was named. Eugenia Morrison and three of her sisters were re- markable in their marriages : one married General "Stonewall" 136 NORTH CAROLINA Jackson, one General D. H. Hill, and one Hon. A. C. Avery, justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina. When asked once "What was the first strong impulse to strive for such prizes in life as he has won?" Dr. Barringer answered, "Family pride." And with such an ancestry as he has on paternal and maternal sides, well may he have thus answered, and right well, also, has he exemplified noblesse oblige. Dr. Barringer's mother died when he was only two years of age, an immeasurable and irreparable loss to any child if the mother be, as his was, a genuine Christian woman, and filled with the right conceptions and ideals of motherhood. His father and his uncle, Victor Barringer, were both superb disciplinarians, and under their training from his earliest infancy, the boy learned and was saturated with a high, rigid sense of obedience. Thus his powers of self-control and intense application became firmly fixed in childhood, and he grew up, as such trained children always will, the master of every disturbing environment, and drilled to see and seize all opportunities for the fulfillment of what he "purposed in his heart." His ancestors on both sides were strong and full of health, and he thus inherited a powerful physique. His boyhood was spent in the homes of his father and uncle, Victor Barringer, in the then small village of Concord, and in the country homes of kinsfolk. With plenty of open-air exercise, he grew up robust and "tough as a pine knot ;" and all through life has realized the benefits and blessings of inherited health and strength. He was educated in a primary school at Concord, then in the celebrated Bingham School at Mebane, North Carolina, at the Kenmore University School in Virginia and the University of Virginia. His medical education was obtained in the Medical Department of the University of Virginia and in that of the Uni- • versity of the City of New York, being graduated from the former in 1877 and from the latter in 1878, with the degree of M.D. from both. Soon after his return from New York he located at Dallas, North Carolina, and practiced medicine some three years in that town and vicinity. PAUL BRANDON BARRINGER 137 On the 27th day of December, 1882, Dr. Barringer married Miss Nannie Irene Hannah of Charlotte County, Virginia, the daughter of George Cunningham Hannah and Ann Eliza Sprag- gins. Her father was the son of George Hannah, who was a soldier of 1812, and his wife, Lucy Morton. Lucy Morton was the daughter of Colonel William Morton of Virginia, who dis- tinguished himself at the battle of Guilford Court-house, March 15, 1781. Dr. and Mrs. Barringer have ten children : Rufus Hannah, born November 18, 1883; Anne Maria, born November 11, 1885; Paul Brandon, born August 28, 1887; George Hannah, born July I, 1889; Victor Clay, born June 17, 1891 ; Margaret Venable, born February 8, 1893; Eugenia Morrison, born March 11, 1895; Thomas Cunningham, born November 19, 1896; Alma Worth, born September 15, 1898; and John Barringer, born Septem- ber 24, 1901. "Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them." Before his marriage Dr. Barringer went abroad, and spent some time in medical study in England and on the Continent. In 1884 he located at Davidson, North Carolina, where for almost a century has stood, "as a city set on a hill," that splendid old insti- tution of learning, Davidson College, named after a Revolutionary kinsman, and of which his maternal grandfather was the first president. The writer of this sketch, when asked by the publisher to pre- pare it, requested Dr. W. J. Martin, M.D., Ph.D., professor of chemistry at Davidson College, to furnish him a paper on "Dr., Barringer's life at Davidson." Dr. Martin kindly and generously did so, and as this paper is so far superior to anything that this writer could produce, he adopts it verbatim, as follows : "On his arrival at Davidson, Dr. Barringer began at once the practice of his profession as physician to the College, professors' families, the people of the village and of the country for miles around. Of sound scholastic training and attainments, as well as thoroughly equipped in the medical profession, both by study in this country and abroad, he soon proved himself to be a master in his line. In no way was this shown in his practice more strikingly than in his resourcefulness in remedial mat- 138 NORTH CAROLINA ters. When one remedy failed him he never seemed at a loss for an- other and still others to accomplish the end desired. I have noticed this power again and again not only in Dr. Barringer's general practice, but in his treatment of members of our immediate family. Nor can one forget how, when his utrrtost skill was put to severest test in desperate cases, everything else gave way to the fight he made for the patient's life. In the practice of his profession there was no grand-stand play. To trivial or unimportant cases he hardly seemed to give the attention that the patient would sometime have liked to have been flattered with, but let a case of serious nature and threatening to life arise, and his whole soul was given to the battle. As a natural result, it was not long before he had command of nearly all the practice of the vicinity. "This did not satisfy him, however, for he felt that within there were better things calling him to the work to which his life has since been devoted, the work of a teacher. "In the fall of 1886 he opened his preparatory school of medicine with four students, and he continued to conduct it, in winter and summer terms, for the next few years, till he was called to another and a higher field of labor as a professor in the medical department of the University of Virginia, his old alma mater. During these years his classes increased till they numbered some twenty-five or more students. It was my good fortune to be all of one summer and part of another under Dr. Barringer's teaching, and I think I know whereof I speak when I say that his teach- ing was of an unusually high order. It was not his orderliness and punc- tuality, for at that time a general practitioner, he was not especially systematic in his methods nor punctual in his habits; it was not that he was a laborious student and worked with infinite care over each point presented to his class, for at that time he was not apparently a hard student, and to his students he never seemed to need hard studying. To us, as students, he only seemed to need to rapidly read a subject to be able to grasp its fundamentals and lay them before his class so plainly, 'that a wayfaring man, though a fool, could see it clearly!' I think that he was a 'born teacher,' for certainly he was a great teacher in those early days of his life work. He made things clear, he cut out all the padding and gave the student the meat in such shape that it could be readily digested and assimilated, and his students left his hand well grounded in the fundamentals of medicine. So true is this, that it is my impression that he won his call to the University of Virginia mainly on the char- acter of the preparation of his students, most of whom he sent to the University of Virginia to pursue their course. This preparatory school was the beginning of the present North Carolina Medical College at Davidson; a school now numbering nearly a hundred students. Dr. Bar- ringer left Davidson in the fall of 1889, and although he had been a PAUL BRANDON BARRINGER 139 resident of the place for only a few years, he left there, to the universal regret of the people. He had won their confidence and regard in no slight measure. Every one rejoiced in his promotion, and numerous were the strong testimonials written to the University authorities in his behalf. I am aware that I am speaking of Dr. Barringer personally, but I cannot refrain from the simple statement that the doctor's gracious and cul- tured wife had won her way, equally with her husband, to the hearts of the people and shared equally with him their sincere regrets at the parting. It was my good fortune to continue the study of medicine at the University of Virginia, and afterward to spend four years of my life as an instructor there, and it is a very indifferent expression of what I feel to say, that I can never forget the cordial way in which I was made to feel at home in their interesting household. It was my University home, and well do I remember the Sabbath afternoons and evenings spent with them and their children. "Dr. Barringer's life at Davidson was short, but in that it saw him launched in teaching work it was important. It was here that he first caught his inspiration as a teacher, it was here that he made the begin- ning of his real life work and laid the foundation for his reputation for success in that work. "Of his versatility, his wide information, remarkable memory, marked conversational powers, genial companionship, it is not my province to speak. Certainly he was gifted in all these respects. I was to write simply of his life at Davidson, and however inadequately it has been done, the writing has been a pleasure. Only one line more. It was my peculiar pleasure to be a member of the faculty who, with the con- sent of the college authorities, conferred on Dr. Barringer, while Chair- man of the University of Virginia, the well-deserved degree of LL.D." On the iSth day of June, 1889, Dr. Barringer was elected to the chair of physiology at the University of Virginia to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Dr. J. Lawrence Cabell. Of Dr. Barringer's career at this great University, Dr. William A. Lam- beth of that institution has kindly furnished the writer a concise and comprehensive paper, adopted in full as follows : "In the death of Lawrence Cabell, in 1889, the University of Virginia lost its most distinguished servant and America a renowned scholar, scientist and teacher. To aspire to fill such a vacancy required no small amount of courage. However, with a conscious faith in his own equip- ment and qualifications, supported by a strong and enduring physical strength. Dr. Barringer accepted this responsible position. Whatever I40 NORTH CAROLINA were the misgivings of his friends or the uneasiness anticipated by the friends of the University, they were quickly dispelled by the firmness of his grasp upon his duties and the power with which he developed, ex- panded and directed his department. His teaching became more and more eflfective and impressive, and his courses grew in popularity and extended in influence. "He became much interested in advancing the clinical teaching here, and was the leading spirit in engrafting this feature upon the older estab- lished didactic courses, and it was this effort that finally culminated in the splendidly equipped modern hospital which now serves the Medical Department. "Early in his teaching days his warm personality attracted young men, and the intercourse thus established soon grew into good fellowship, in which he was regarded more like an older brother, to whom each could be himself without acting a part, and all without the loss of dignity. "Dr. Barringer's connection with the University has been coincident with a period of expansion and remoulding, — a period during which the material University melted into ashes and was rebuilt ; a period when its form of government changed from a democratic faculty control to a centralized presidential control ; a period during which genius and con- structive ability of the rarest kind were indispensable. His administra- tive talent and executive abilities had early marked him for a leader here, and soon he became the leader in the Reconstruction, the Board of Visi- tors again and again making him Chairman of the Faculty and official head of the University. During these terms complicated and delicate problems were met, solved and adjusted with dispatch, accuracy and rare judgment. He has guarded and expanded all those peculiar insti- tutions which formed an organic part of the University, and particularly is this true of the "honor system," which he was so well qualified to advance. His tact and intuitive knowledge of human nature and human weakness gave him a natural advantage over most men in dealing with so delicate yet so vital an element in the life of this institution. Frank in nature, he invited confidence, and without affectation led many young men to higher and nobler ideals and conduct. "He has in many other ways left his impress upon the character of Virginia education which does not end at the University. His creative talent and power of organization largely eflfected the present co-ordinated relation existing between the public schools and the University. "The changes in the material equipment of the institution from a half million dollars to a million dollars tested Dr. Barringer's abilities as a financier, and here again he was equal to the occasion, and whatever clouds threatened they were soon brushed aside. Perhaps no one indi- PAUL BRANDON BARRINGER 141 vidua! has been called upon for effective work in so many fields, — ^teach- ing, executive, disciplinary, — all complicated by delicate relationship and rendered difficult by custom and indefinite responsibilities and authority. "North Carolina in lending one of her most gifted sons to Virginia lost his labor, but retained his unfailing loyalty, and in his brilliant achievements takes warranted pride. Full of vigor, resourcefulness and versatility, he continues to reflect great honor upon his native State and to render invaluable service to Virginia and the cause of education." Of Dr. Barringer as chairman of the University of Virginia, and of his resignation thereof in June, 1903, the Daily Progress of Charlottesville, Virginia, June 20, 1903, has the following editorial : "Seven years ago. Dr. Paul B. Barringer became Chairman of the Faculty of the University of Virginia, and from the day of his entrance upon the exacting, and often perplexing, duties of that high office until the hour of his retirement from it, he labored with his whole strength to extend the influence of our great University, to strengthen it, to expand it, and to turn to it in even stronger current than before the love of her sons scattered all over the world. "It was wise to realize as he did that these sons constituted a powerful family, whose mental, moral and physical endowments- had made them the leading figures in their communities, whether as scholars, scientists, professional men, soldiers, statesmen, and that their influence and affec- tion exerted in behalf of the University would be of inestimable value in enlarging the already vast sphere of its influence. To realize the oppor- tunity before him was to put forward every energy to tdke advantage of it, and he has filled his seven years as the executive head of the Uni- versity with work all directed to this achievement. We think that all who know what has been accomplished, who know the difference between the conditions then and the conditions now existing, will concede to him a larger measure of success than could have been expected. "In considering the condition of this institution, it must be remembered that while the child of Virginia, commanding the profound affection and admiration, and even veneration of the people of this commonwealth, the University of Virginia is, as far as the legislatures have been con- cerned, almost a disowned child. Nominally, with the State treasury behind her, money for bare necessities has had to be wrung from those controlling the State's purse, and in all the years of her life she has had no pin money, so the burden which Dr. Barringer and his confreres have had to bear has been a great one, and his and their achievements become 142 NORTH CAROLINA the more honorable when we realize under what adverse conditions they have been won. "There have been cares and responsibilities of which the public could not judge, because it could not know of them. The relation between the chairman and the students and the Faculty, between the students and the public, and the intimate association of the students with each other, give rise to delicate problems, in the wise solution of which sound sense, good feeling and tactful resource are prime and necessary factors. Perhaps no other chairman of the Faculty has so well met and disposed of these difficulties, and none of his predecessors, it may be confidently averred, has left the chairmanship possessing so large a share of the affection of the student body. "During all these years of toil as chairman, Dr. Barringer has not re- laxed his grasp upon the great subject committed to him as a professor in the medical department." And then upon all this is set the highest possible seal of ap- proval by the Board of Visitors and the faculty of the University of Virginia, in the following resolutions : "At a regular annual meeting of the Board of Visitors held at the Uni- versity, June 15th, 1903, the following resolutions were adopted: "Resolved, That this Board wishes to, and it does hereby, put on record some expression of its high and sincere appreciation of the efficient and unselfish manner in which Dr. P. B. Barringer has discharged the duties of Chairman of the Faculty during the important and trying period in which he has held this position, and to thank him in behalf of the Board and the University." And later, at a meeting of the Faculty held June 18, 1903, Pro- fessor R. H. Dabney presented the following, which was unani- mously adopted : "In view of the fact that Dr. Barringer has resigned the chairmanship of this body. Resolved, That the Faculty joins with the Board of Visitors in expressing thanks to him for the ability and faithfulness with which he has discharged the duties of his high office during a period full of peculiar and unusual difficulties." Dr. Barringer had the degree of LL.D. conferred upon him by Davidson College, North Carolina, in 1899, and by the University of South Carolina in 1904. PAUL BRANDON BARRINGER 143 While chairman of the faculty, he held and still holds the chair of physiology in the University of Virginia. He has been a member of the Board of Health of that State. He is a member of the medical societies of the States of North Carolina and Vir- ginia, of the American Medical Association, of the Southern Surgical and Gynecological Society, the Tri-State Medical Society of Virginia and the Carolinas, of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society, etc. He is the author of a brochure, "The Venomous Reptiles of the United States," which is quoted, and with defer- ence, by the curator of the National Museum at Washington; and a series of strong pamphlets on "The Race Question," two of which especially, "The American Negro : His Past and Future," and "Negro Education in the South," excited widespread interest. He is a member of the Zeta Psi (Z. ■i.), "The Raven" and Nu Sigma Nu (N. 2. N.) fraternities. He is a Presbyterian in his religious affiliations, and in politics he is an independent, having voted for Garfield, Cleveland, McKin- ley, Parker. Dr. Barringer is a teacher by profession because he loves to teach. A proper choice of a life work and intense love of it combined make the ideal worker. He is saturated with a love for teaching and the cause of education. The December number, 1902, page 800, of The School Review, edited by the "School of Education of the University of Chicago," speaking of the recent great discussion in Virginia on education, says: "There is no State in the Union that has been evincing such an interest in education during the past year as the 'Mother of Presidents.' The meeting of the Constitutional Convention made it necessary that the educational interests should be thoroughly investigated and the best parts conserved. This discussion has borne fruit, and one of the best and most statesmanlike utterances has just been made by Professor Paul B. Barringer, Chairman of the Faculty of the University of Virginia. The opening and the closing paragraphs are specially interesting, and will give our readers a fairly adequate idea of the prospects for better and higher education in Virginia. Dr. Barringer said : "I take the position regarding the public schools of Virginia that there 144 NORTH CAROLINA is but one course that can offer hope for this State, and that is a com- plete, general, non-sectarian system of education, such as was proposed by Mr. Jefferson one hundred and twenty-five years ago — a system of ele- mentary schools, a complete system of public high schools or academies, and a University. This is exactly the system which has made the States of the North and West what they are to-day in wealth and power, and it has been the lack of such an educational machine that has caused Vir- ginia to drop from her one-time position of primacy in wealth and influ- ence to the position which she now occupies — some twenty-five from the top in a total of forty-five States. "I believe in changing the University to fit the public schools, and chang- ing the public schools to fit the University. Let us have an organic con- nection throughout the whole, so that a stimulus applied at any part will be felt throughout the entire system. When this is done, Virginia will once more take her natural place in the galaxy of States, and will prosper as she has never prospered before. The spirit of Jefferson is here, and here will come the strong, the virile, and the free — the University will shine as a city that is set upon a hill, and all things will turn toward the light." Wise words well written. Their adoption will bless any State in our great Republic. This writer knows no better words than those quoted with which to close this sketch of a representative member of a most remarkable family. Paul B. Means. - d:. £' <:; ?!'7//,it^a s..Bra.j\ryr ^^y'^^ ^^^^ ^' DANIEL MOREAU BARRINGER, Jr. £HE subject of this sketch, the son of the Hon. Daniel Moreau Barringer and EUzabeth (Wethered) Barringer, was born May 25, i860, at his father's home in Raleigh, North Carolina. In this beautiful old home, near the old Governor's Mansion, at the foot of Fayette- ville Street, his early childhood was spent. The first school which he attended was that of Mr. Ryan in Raleigh. From Mr. Ryan's school he went, in 1871, to Bingham's Military Academy, then located at Mebanesville, North Carolina. At this school he enjoyed the privilege of being taught by Colonel William Bingham, one of the most remarkable and influential teachers the South has produced. While at Mebanesville, young Barringer first began to manifest, as a hunter and collector, that interest in nature and natural phenomena which afterward had so much to do with leading him to adopt the career of a geologist and consulting engineer. He remained at Bingham's school till the death of his father in 1873. In 1874 he became a student at Colonel Richard Malcolm Johnston's school, "Pen Lucy," near Baltimore. There he made such progress that in 1876 he was able to enter the sophomore class at Princeton, from which insti- tution he was graduated with the famous class of 1879. During the years which elapsed between the date of his father's death and the date of his graduation from college, he was the 146 NORTH CAROLINA object of the most devoted solicitude on the part of his elder and only surviving brother, Lewin Wethered Barringer, at that time a successful practitioner at the Philadelphia bar. This brother filled, as far as he was able, a father's place. No ward ever had a more loving and careful guardian, and out of this double and most intimate relationship there developed a lifelong attachment as striking as it was rare. Lewin Barringer's death on Decem- ber 15, 1900, brought a sad parting. After his graduation from Princeton, Mr. Barringer, at his brother's suggestion, studied law at the University of Pennsyl- vania, and graduated from the Department of Law of that insti- tution with the class of 1882. At the time of his graduation he was chosen by his classmates as the permanent president of the class. In the same year he received the degree of Master of Arts from his Alma Mater, the College of New Jersey, commonly known as Princeton College, now Princeton University. For several years he was associated with his brother in the practice of law, but his heart was never in the work of that profession. His strong attraction was toward the natural sciences. In 1889, therefore, he- decided to give up the practice of law, and took up the study of economic geology at Harvard University. He followed this up with a course in mineralogy under Dr. J. W. Mallet, F.R.S., at the University of Virginia. After serving for a few months with the Arkansas Geological Survey, he began a systematic course of travel and study among the great mining properties of the world in order the better to fit himself for the calling of consulting engineer and geologist, to which he then definitely turned. At this time, and in the years which followed, he was engaged upon the preparation, in collaboration with Mr. John Stokes Adams of the Philadelphia bar, of an important legal work en- titled "The Law of Mines and Mining in the United States." This work was published in 1897, and is one of the standard authorities on the subject of which it treats. Mr. Barringer also published at about the same time a work entitled "A Description DANIEL MOREAU BARRINGER, Jr. , 147 of Minerals of Gommercial Value," which has been extremely well received. In the course of his professional work Mr. Barringer has been fortunate enough to discover and become interested in several valuable mining properties, in the development of which he is at present actively engaged. His professional work as a consulting engineer and geologist has led him to travel very extensively, and few men have made better use of the broadening influence of travel. Possessing a sturdy, vigorous frame, great physical energy and a mind at once accurate and penetrative, his delight in what might be termed active field work — that is, in exploration and geological study as applied particularly to practical mining operations — has been very keen. His Pastes are in no sense those of the "closet naturalist," and his powers as a close and accurate observer of natural phenomena are recognized as being of a very high order. Mr. Barringer occupies many positions of trust in Philadel- phia, the city of his adoption, where he has the respect and esteem of those who know him for the same qualities that have been noted in his ancestors, the sketches of whose lives are printed in this work. He is a trustee of Jefiferson Medical College, one of the Committee of Fifty of Princeton University, a director in a number of organizations, and a member of many scientific societies. On the 20th of October, 1897, he married Margaret Bennett, daughter of Guy and Sarah (Drew) Bennett, of Phoenix, Arizona. To them have been born five children : Brandon Barringer, born June II, 1899; Daniel Moreau Barringer, Jr., born June 30, 1900; Sarah Barringer, born September 13, 1901 ; John Paul Barringer, born February 10, 1903 ; and Elizabeth Wethered Barringer, born July 20, 1904. Woodrow Wilson. DE WITT CLINTON BENBOW fN preparing a short history of the life of the late Dr. De Witt Clinton Benbow, the writer is impressed with the fact that the doctor, pre- eminently practical, had little patience with a man who used ten w rds to express an idea when five would have done as well, or the pronouncing of eulogies on a person with superlative adjectives without telling what the person was fit foi or what he did. The writer will, therefore, in order to be in harmony with this idea of brevity and precision demanded by the doctor while he lived, endeavor, so far as he is able, to leave off all superlative words and figurative expressions and confine this narrative to a plain statement of facts, and let the reader draw his own conclusions as to the ability, character and relative greatness of the man. The Benbows of North Carolina are of English ancestry, who came first to Pennsylvania and later to North Carolina. The first of the name that can now be traced was an admiral in the English navy, and notwithstanding the great honors and emolu- ments incident to the office, he retired to private life so soon as he could be honorably relieved and went into business. It has always been characteristic of the Benbows to delight in occupations that required physical as well as mental activity. They wanted elbow room. They rejoiced in great enterprises — constructing mills, cutting canals, building houses and doing busi- ^■•y. ii^£- ^ U^//,i,~!s ^^.-^ Anr^ DE WITT CLINTON BENBOW 149 ness. In the main, they had Uttle taste for law, politics, battle- fields and notoriety. The subject of this sketch was pre-eminently a Benbow, a sort of a conc-entration of the strong points of the whole family. He was born near Oak Ridge, in Guilford County, North Carolina, on the 23d day of February, 1832. His parents, Charles and Mary Benbow, were devoted Christians of the old-fashioned Quaker stock. He was the youngest of the four sons and one daughter. His uncles, as well as his father, were strong pillars in their church and weighty and useful men in their generation — men that you could depend upon for assistance to all benevolent and humane undertakings; men worthy of the sacred remembrance of their countrymen. At the age of nineteen. Dr. Benbow went to Providence, Rhode Island, to "Friends' School," where he remained for several years, completing his education and preparing for the profession of dentistry. He, with knapsack filled with cold bread buckled upon his back, walked over the hills and mountains of Vermont, en- joying the magnificent scenery and gathering in a practical knowl- edge of common life that would add useful power in after years. In 1854 he returned to Fayetteville, North Carolina, and there practiced his profession for six years, during which time he bought and operated the Cross Creek cotton factory at Fayette- ville, in which he had worked as a boy. On the 30th of November, 1857, he married Mary Elizabeth Scott, the daughter of David Scott, of Greensboro, North Caro- lina, a most excellent Christian lady, who proved to be a most suitable helpmeet for an able, honest and ambitious man. She was a woman of influence, and highly esteemed by her wide circle of friends. They had born unto them four children, three of whom yet live. Their only son, Charles D. Benbow, is at this time in Greensboro, and is counted as one of North Carolina's most prom- inent and wide-awake men. In the early sixties, Dr. Benbow located in the city of Greens- boro, and at the time of the surrender of General Johnston in 1865, while the Union army was on one side of the town and the ISO NORTH CAROLINA Confederate army on the other, both the Federal and the Con- federate officers were entertained at the home of Dr. Benbow. From 1870 until his death, in 1902, his history was pretty much the history of Greensboro. Here in Greensboro, where the doctor lived, and where this historical sketch will be read, I have a perfect assurance that my statement will be accepted; and to satisfy those who know nothing about it, I will set forth the following facts. But before doing so, I wish to say with Admiral Schley that the honor of the victory is due to the men behind the guns. In Greensboro, for twenty-five years. Dr. Benbow was not only the commander-in-chief of the gunners, but handled and fired the big gun himself. Some of our citizens went to the legislature and voted for such laws as the people demanded ; some played the part of city officers, business men and professionals, proud of themselves and proud of their city; and some posed as esquires and gentry, seeking fame by puffs in newspapers ; but Dr. Benbow stayed with his guns and cared not for public notoriety nor for public opinion, except so far as it benefited the people and de- veloped the country. He would not walk five steps out of his way to be seen, nor give two cents a year to have his picture and name in a newspaper. He remained with his guns, and what did he do? The records of our city will show. From 1872 to 1876 Dr. Benbow was chairman of our school committee, and it was during that time that he inaugurated a movement and led a campaign that ended in establishing the first graded school, not only in Greensboro, but in the State of North Carolina. In 1871 to 1872 he built a hotel in Greensboro containing seventy-four rooms. Many people shook their heads and said it would not pay. They told the doctor that not over three persons arrived in the city per day that would stop at a hotel. The doctor simply answered, "Where would they stop?" From the dav it was opened to its fifth anniversary, the average daily registration was ninety-three; and for the first ten years, amid panics and changes of railroad schedules, the average was sixty-four. At the opening of this hotel were many editors of great newspapers DE WITT CLINTON BENBOW 151 from the North, together with the governor of this State and many other prominent men. There and then our city received its first great advertisement, and was first called the "City of Flowers." In 1873, when the colored people were trying to get up their first college in this part of the State, and were without friends or money. Dr. Benbow took the matter in hand, loaned them the money and built the college himself; and that gave to Greens- boro Bennett College. When the Greensboro Female College was being built, Dr. Barringer, the superintendent of the work, fell from a scaffold and was killed. Dr. Benbow hastened to the grounds and told the laborers that the work would go on, and for every man to remain at his place. About this time one of the banks located in Greensboro, where the funds of the college were deposited, failed, and most of the college funds were lost, and it seemed at the time that the building of the college would have to be postponed. Then it was that Dr. Benbow came to the front and offered not only to manage the work, but to furnish the money to carry it on. And thus the college was built. In 1879 a message was sent by Dr. Benbow to the Teachers' Assembly at Waynesville, North Carolina, urging that some action be taken toward establishing a normal school to prepare girls for school-teachers in the State, but nothing was done at the time. In 1880 he again sent a message to the Teachers' Assembly held at Black Mountain, asking that a memorial be prepared setting forth the great need of well-trained women teachers of the public schools of the State, and that this memorial be presented by a committee of the Teachers' Assembly to the next legislature. This was done, and the North Carolina Teacher, the organ of the Teachers' Association, began a crusade that continued until every county institute and educators generally favored a normal school. An act of the legislature establishing such a school having finally been passed, bids were made by several of the larger cities of the State to locate it in their midst. Dr. Benbow prepared a note and headed a list of signers guaranteeing the State $30,000 if the 152 NORTH CAROLINA college were located in Greensboro. In the same way he took the lead in guaranteeing $ 11,000 to secure the A. and M. College for colored people. In this way Greensboro captured them both. He was the prime mover in getting up what was known as the North Carolina Steel and Iron Company, and while the enterprise was not altogether a success, it did lead to the securing of the finishing mills and to the mammoth enterprises of the Cone Brothers at White Oak, Revolution and Proximity. He was a stockholder and an influential worker in both the North Carolina and Western North Carolina Railroad Companies. There was scarcely anything of a business nature that came be- fore the people of Greensboro but that Dr. Benbow was the moving and ruling spirit. He owned more store buildings, more dwellings, more vacant lots, more mills and factories, did nicer farming and had the largest farms of any man in the county; and besides was a large stockholder in several coal and iron mines. Possibly the greatest achievement of his life, and the one that finally caused him the greatest anxiety and loss, was the associ- ating himself with a half a dozen other of North Carolina's most patriotic men to organize the North State Improvement Com- pany, and build what was known as the Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railroad ; and had it not been for the terrible money panic of 1893 to 1896, Dr. Benbow and his colleagues would not only have seen the road finished and a large section of our State developed and enriched, as -they did see, but would have added hundreds of thousands of dollars to their private fortunes. He started out in the world a poor man. His word was as good as his bond, and no one ever charged him with having done them a wrong. He was ever loyal to duty and friends. All that he ever had he made himself. Between the years of 1857 and 1892 he had amassed a fortune of over half a million of dollars. He was a member of the Quaker Church, a trustee of Guilford College, a trustee of North Carolina Yearly Meeting and a director of several patriotic and charitable institutions. He was the father of the good-roads movement in Guilford County, an absolute tee- DE WITT CLINTON BENBOW 153 totaler, used tobacco in no form, and the greatest terror to the liquor power that has ever lived in the county. He was truly a man of mark, because by himself and of himself he made his mark. If he employed a lawyer, he insisted upon telling the lawyer what to do. If he sent for a doctor, he instantly intimated that he meant for the doctor to get at his work and not talk too much. He simply looked after his own business, and in all his building he was his own architect, draughtsman, contractor and paymaster. He was quick to grasp a point, and far-seeing in business. While most men walked around the road and up and down hill, he seemed to be able to step across, arriving at his destination seem- ingly without effort and immeasurably in advance of his com- rades. Notable instances of this are his advocacy of Prohibition when Prohibition was merely a dream, but he saw it accomplished. The same is true of the no-fence law and the macadamized roads. Eminently practical, he never undertook a thing until he saw a purpose in it that would redound for good to the community, and once begun, he never thought of it in any way except as accomplished. Had he lived in New York with its vast moneyed opportunities, he would have become a multi-millionaire. Had he been absolute ruler of a State, no tobacco would have been raised or manu- factured and no intoxicating liquors would have been distilled or sold; and nicely painted schoolhouses and churches would have been built in every community; with energies and moneys of the people occupied to their limit in factories and enterprises devoted to material advancement and production. On the afternoon before his death, which occurred on Sep- tember 2, 1902, he called together his family and a few of his closest friends, and told them that he would soon be gone — that he had placed all his business and worldly affairs in the hands of his Maker, and that he was quietly and peacefully awaiting the end of this life and the awakening in the next. And before the rising of another sun, Dr. Benbow's body had been placed in the casket, and our community and the State had lost one of its most useful and progressive citizens. C. P. Frazier. THOMAS BENBURY 'T or near Edenton, in the precinct of Chowan, in the year 1736, was born Thomas Benbury, who was destined to become one of North Carolina's most noted patriots in the war of the Revolution. He was the son of John Benbury ; and the latter's father, William Benbury, was one of the earliest vestrymen of the Church of England in North Carolina, serving in that capacity on the first establishment of vestrymen in the year 1701. Prior to the Revolution, Thomas Benbury had already begun to rise before the public eye as a member of the Colonial Assembly, and from the very earliest stages of the troubles with Great Britain was an active patriot. In the course of the war, five North Carolina Provincial Congresses convened in defiance of the Royal Government, and in every one of these bodies Thomas Benbury sat as a delegate from the county of Chowan ; from the beginning of the independent State government down to the close of the Revolution were six sessions of the Assembly, and in every one of these sessions Mr. Benbury was a member of the House of Commons — for more than one term occupying the office of speaker. At the first organization of State troops for the defense of North Carolina, he entered the service as major, and finally rose to the rank of brigadier-general of his district, in which capacity he saw active service in the field. Such is a brief THOMAS BENBURY 155 summary of his war record, which we shall now give in detail. It was on the 24th day of August, in the year 1774, that North Carolina's first independent Congress convened, being called by a committee appointed at a meeting of the citizens of the Cape Fear counties. Governor Martin, the royal governor, did all in his power to prevent its meeting, without avail. In this first Revolutionary Assembly, and also in a similar one held at the same place, beginning on April 3, 1775, Mr. Benbury was an active participant, as he was also in the Congress which met at Hillsboro on the 20th of August, 1775. The body last named, in view of the fact that hostilities had already begun, proceeded to add a military feature to North Carolina, and on September 9, 177s, elected Mr. Benbury major of militia for the county of Chowan. On the same day it also elected him a member of the Committee of Safety for the Edenton district. After his return to Edenton, Major Benbury, who was one of the vestrymen of St, Paul's Church, became one of the signers of a test oath, which the vestry caused to be entered on the parish register. This oath is a copy of the one prescribed by the Congress at Hillsboro on the 23d of August, 1775, though some have believed that it originated in the vestry, and that it was practically a "Declaration of Independence." On April 4, 1776, a Provincial Congress began its proceed- ings at Halifax, and in this body Major Benbury took his seat as a delegate, also serving on a number of important committees. He was a member of the Committee on Privileges and Elections, of the committee to settle civil accounts, the committee to inquire into the conduct of those suspected of Toryism, the committee to take measures for the defence of the seacoast, the committee to expedite the emission of paper currency, and the committee to regulate the militia. In the Provincial Congress which met at Halifax on the 12th of November, 1776, Major Benbury appeared and took his seat as a delegate, and also served on several committees in this body, among them being the Committee on Privileges and Elections, 156 NORTH CAROLINA the committee to procure salt for the use of the people of the colony, and the committee to devise means for paying the officers and men in the military service of the State. In the General Assembly of North Carolina for six sessions from 1777 till 1782, inclusive, Major Benbury was a member of the House of Commons from Chowan County. At the first of these sessions. Judge John Williams, of Granville, was elected speaker, but was later chosen as delegate to the Continental Congress, and Mr. Benbury was unanimously elected speaker to succeed him on the 28th of April, 1778. He was unanimously re-elected speaker on the 3d of May, 1779. His last legislative service was in the House of Commons of April, 1782, and he was again the unanimous choice of that body for speaker. In 1783, the following year, his son Richard filled his position in the legislature as representative from Chowan. In the latter part of 1779, Major Benbury was advanced to the grade of brigadier-general, and rendered active service in the field during the year 1780 in defending the northern boundary of the State, and also the seacoast, against Tory and British incursions from Virginia. After the war. President Washington made General Benbury collector of the port of Edenton, and this post he held for a number of years. General Benbury was twice married. His first wife, to whom he was married on February 4, 1761, was Thamer Howcott, and to this union were born two sons, Samuel (who died young) and Richard. The maiden name of the second wife of General Ben- hury we are unable to ascertain, though her given name was Elizabeth ("Betty") ; to her he was married in the year 1769. The death of General Benbury occurred on the Sth of Feb- ruary, 1793. The above-mentioned Richard Benbury had a son Thomas, -who was the father of Captain John Benbury, of Company A, First North Carolina Regiment, in the Confederate army, who was mortally wounded at the battle of Malvern Hill on July I, 1862. Marshall De Lancey Haywoo'd. JOHNSTON BLAKELEY !HE most noted commander who was furnished by North Carolina to the United States Navy during the second war with Great Britain was Captain Johnston Blakeley, of Wilmington. Captain Blakeley was brought to America when an infant sixteen months old. He was born in Ireland in October, 1781. The ship upon which he was brought to America landed at Charleston, and in a few months his father, John Blakeley, came to make his home in Wilmington, North Carolina. John Blakeley's wife died either on the voyage to America or soon after landing at Charleston, and her infant son Johnston was thus left to the care of his father. The elder Blakeley became a merchant in Wilmington and amassed some wealth. His son he sent to New York, and entered him at a school in the town of Flatbush, on Long Island. In 1796 John Blakeley died. By the terms of his will, the eminent North Carolina lawyer, Edward Jones, at one time solicitor-general of the State, became guardian of his son. Mr. Jones was himself a native of Ireland, and had shown a deep interest in the Blake- leys from the time of their first arrival in Wilmington. He now became a second father to the young orphan, and took him into his own household, living part of the time in Wilmington and at other times iri Chatham County. From Chatham County, Johnston Blakeley entered the University of North Carolina in iS8 NORTH CAROLINA 1797. In the North CaroHna Booklet for January, 1902 (mis- printed 1901), is a sketch by the Hon. Kemp P. Battle, who gives some interesting anecdotes of Blakeley's career at the university. At that institution he was obedient to just authority, yet firm in maintaining his personal rights. Of his record in the Philan- thropic Society to which he belonged Dr. Battle says : "Like his father, he was of a genial, agreeable temperament, and the only exception I find to his uniform faithfulness to duty was laughing three times while the society was in session. For these offenses, which certainly were not of a very serious nature, the future autocrat of the quarter-deck was mulcted a grand total of fifteen cents." Dr. Battle also states that while at the university young Blake- ley was particularly distinguished for his proficiency in mathe- matics in its application to navigation, surveying and kindred subjects. From this it would appear that even then his future naval career had been determined upon. Owing to some financial reverses, due to loss by fire of property in Wilmington, Blakeley left the university in 1799. Declining a proffered loan by Mr. Jones to enable him to continue his studies, Blakeley entered the navy as a midshipman on the Sth of February, 1800. The date of his future promotions we may also mention here as follows: lieutenant, February 10, 1807; master commandant, July 24, 181 3; and captain, November 24, 1814. In 1800, almost immediately after his entrance into the navy. Midshipman Blakeley was ordered to the Mediterranean squadron and fought in the war with Tripoli. It was in the second war with Great Britain, 1 812-15, that his greatest fame was gained. Having been himself trained by such sailors as Dale, Preble, Decatur, Rodgers and others of like ability, Blakeley was an officer of experience and capability when called to more important commands. His first independent command was in 181 1. Later he was placed in com- mand of the Wasp, and sailed out of Portsmouth, New Hamp- shire, on a voyage to the English coast in 1814. On July 28, 1814, he encountered the Reindeer, and captured that vessel after a bloody battle, in which the English commander, Captain William JOHNSTON BLAKELEY 159 Manners, was slain. About a month later, in August, the British ship Avon also surrendered to him after a heated action. In the two months of August and September, Captain Blakeley captured a large number of British vessels. He cruised about the British Channel as boldly as if he were sailing through American waters in time of peace. His exploits created the greatest enthusiasm in America, and were a source of especial pride to North Carolina, his home State. In October, 1814, the Congress of the United States passed a joint resolution of thanks for his services. In the State Senate of North Carolina on December i, 1814, was introduced a series of resolutions (afterward concurred in by the House), from which the following is an extract: "Resolved, That this legislature feels with ardent and peculiar emotion the honor reflected upon North Carolina by the skill, courage and good conduct of one of her sons, Captain Johnston Blakeley, of the United States sloop-of-war Wasp, in destruction of two of the enemy's vessels of equal force, the Reindeer and the Avon. "Resolved, Therefore, that as a duty, no less than a pleasure, the legislature of his native State unanimously agree to present to Captain Blakeley on his return to the United States a superb sword, appropriately adorned, in the name and on behalf of his fellow-citizens." / The gallant seaman, for whose return so many honors waited, was destined never again to set foot on American soil ; and until the sea gives up its dead, his fate will never be known. On one of his captured vessels, the Atalanta, he placed a prize crew and sent it with despatches to America. The Atalanta arrived safely at Savannah, Georgia, on the 4th of November, 1814, and with it came the last communication ever received directly from Captain Blakeley. On October 9th, some days later than the date of Blakeley's despatches, the Swedish brig Adonis was overtaken and inspected by the Wasp. After that his vessel was heard of no more. Many wild rumors about the fate of Blakeley and his crew gained currency, but none could be verified. Some were to the effect that an English frigate had put into Cadiz badly crippled by a severe engagement with an unknown American ship, which disappeared so suddenly in the night that it was i6o NORTH CAROLINA believed to have sunk. This story could never be traced to an authentic source ; nor could another rumor be verified to the effect that the Wasp had been wrecked off the African coast and that its crew were prisoners among the natives. The general im- pression is that the Wasp went down during a gale, or that it may have been blown up by the accidental explosion of its powder magazine. On December i6, 1815, the Senate of North Carolina passed another resolution, in which the House concurred, directing that the sword which had been procured for Captain Blakeley should be forwarded to his widow by the governor. The Senate on December 17, 1816, passed an additional resolution that Captain Blakeley's daughter, his only child, should be educated at the expense of the State, and requesting Mrs. Blakeley to draw on the public treasurer for such sums as should be necessary for that purpose. These appropriations for the benefit of Miss Blakeley continued for more than ten years, until the session of the legis- lature of 1829-30, when we find the resolution that "it is inex- pedient to continue the annual appropriations made for the edu- cation of Miss Udney M. Blakeley, and that the same be discontinued." From the sketch of Dr. Battle, already quoted,, we learn that the maiden name of Captain Blakeley's wife was Jane Ann Hooper; that after Blakeley's death she married Dr. Abbott, of the Danish Island of St. Croix, in the West Indies; that Udney Blakeley, who had been adopted by the State of North Carolina, married Baron Joseph von Bretton, of St. Croix, and died leaving an infant, which did not long survive its mother. With the death of this infant the blood of the famous sea captain became extinct. Marshall De Lancey Haywood. READING BLOUNT ^^rt^^^^^NE of North Carolina's distinguished Revo- *-~^^^^^''^^'*^^^ tionary officers, serving as a major in the Con- tinental Line, was Reading Blount. After peace had returned, this gentleman's service in the militia troops of the State gained for him the rank of major-general. He was a native of the county of Beaufort, and was born on the 22d of February, 1757, in that part of Beaufort which was later erected into a new county and called Pitt. The latter county was established when he was a child three years old, and hence his earliest recorded services designate him as a citizen of Pitt, though he afterward removed to the town of Washington, in that part of the original county which still bore the name of Beaufort. The family of Blount, as elsewhere noted in this work, is generally regarded as having been seated in North Carolina at an earlier time than any other family whose surname is now extant. Reading Blount was a son of Captain Jacob Blount, paymaster of North Carolina troops in the Revolutionary War, by his first wife, Barbara Gray, of Bertie County. Captain Jacob Blount was a son of Thomas Blount, whose wife was Anne Reading. Thomas Blount also had a son named Reading, uncle of the subject of this sketch. Thomas the elder settled in the vicinity of what is now Beaufort County about 1673. He is thought to i62 NORTH CAROLINA have been a younger brother of James Blount, who settled in Chowan precinct in 1669. The subject of the present sketch, Reading Blount, was only nineteen years old when the Provincial Congress of North Caro- lina elected him a captain, on the i6th of April, 1776. On the day following he was mustered into the Fifth North Carolina Continental Regiment, commanded by Colonel Edward Buncombe. This regiment fought in the operations against Sir Henry Clinton in the winter of 1776-77, and in the spring of 1777 marched north- ward and joined Washington's main army. At Brandywine, on September nth, and at Germantown on October 4th, the Fifth Regiment was engaged; and in the latter battle its brigade com- mander. General Francis Nash, together with Colonel Buncombe and Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Irwin, both of the Fifth ; Captain Jacob Turner of the Third, and Lieutenant John McCann of the Sixth Regiment were all either killed on the field or mortally wounded, while many other officers were wounded less seriously. Colonel Buncombe was also taken prisoner, dying in captivity. The Fifth Regiment having lost its two principal officers, and other regiments being greatly reduced, the North Carolina troops were re-arranged shortly thereafter; and on the 12th of May, 1778, Captain Blount was promoted to the rank of major, being then assigned to the Second Continental Regiment, under the command of Colonel John Patten. Like Blount, Colonel Patten was a citizen of Beaufort County. After creditable service in the northern campaigns. Major Blount was ordered southward, and we next find him as one of the battalion commanders at the battle of Eutaw Springs, in South Carolina, on the 8th of September, 1781, where he dis- tinguished himself under the leadership of Brigadier-General Jethro Sumner. Major Blount remained in the army until mustered out at the close of the war. He was one of the original members of the North Carolina Society of the Cincinnati, as was also his father. Paymaster Jacob Blount. At the sessions of 1786 and 1787, Major Blount represented Pitt County in the North Carolina House of Commons. He later READING BLOUNT 163 removed his residence to Beaufort County. On December 12, 1800, the legislature elected him major-general of the first division of the militia of North Carolina. General Blount's wife was Lucy Harvey, daughter of Colonel Miles Harvey (son of the patriot John Harvey), and he has many descendants now living. The death of General Reading Blount occurred at Washington, in Beaufort County, North Carolina, on the 13th of October, 1807. Marshall De Lancey Haywood. WILLIAM AUGUSTUS BLOUNT 'HE Blount famil)''s earliest member in North Carolina came to the colony in 1669, and settled in the precinct of Chowan. In Wheeler's Rem- iniscences, the late Governor Henry T. Clark, who was a high authority on genealogy, is quoted as expressing the opinion that no faroily whose name now survives in the State can trace its origin back to a period so remote in the history of North Carolina. One of the best-known members of the family in more recent times was General William Augustus Blount, subject of this sketch, who was born in the town of Washington, Beaufort County, North Carolina, on the 26th of October, 1792. He was the son of General John Gray Blount, Senior, whose landed pos- sessions in acres were numbered by the hundreds of thousands, many of his possessions lying in Western North Carolina, though he himself was a citizen of Beaufort County, and represented it in the North Carolina House of Commons just prior to the close of the Revolution in 1782, and also at seven succeeding sessions, from 1783 to 1789; and he was State senator from Beaufort in 1797. The father of John Gray Blount, and grandfather of our subject, was Captain Jacob Blount, a paymaster of North Caro- lina troops in the army of the Revolution, an original member of the North Carolina Society of the Cincinnati. He was three times WILLIAM AUGUSTUS BLOUNT 165 married, and his first wife, Barbara Gray, was mother of General John Gray Blount. The subject of the present sketch, William Augustus Blount, was only twenty years old when the second war with Great Britain begun, yet volunteered at the beginning of that conflict, and was commissioned first lieutenant in the Eighteenth Infantry on May 8, 1812. On the 4th of September, 1813, he was pro- moted to the rank of captain. During a part of his service he was stationed at the defenses of Charleston, in South Carolina. At the close of the war he retired from the service, being honor- ably discharged on the 15th of June, 1815. In the preceding month his brother, Major John Gray Blount, Jr., resigned from the army, after having served through the war. Captain W. A. Blount had retired from the regular army only a few months when, on November 28, 181 5, he was elected major- general of the sixth division of North Carolina militia. When raised to this high rank he had barely reached the estate of man- hood, being only twenty-three years old. In the year 1825, General Blount represented Beaufort County in the North Carolina House of Commons, and was re-elected to serve at the sessions of 1826 and 1827. Being much interested in the cause of education, he was elected a trustee of the University of North Carolina in 1826, and filled that position up to the time of his death, more than forty years thereafter. He also served for some years as a member of the State Board of Internal Im- provements. An intense love of the South characterized his whole life, and nothing but age — he being in his seventieth year when the war began — prevented his personal participation in the con- flict of 1861-65. Being a man of wealth, however, he was a liberal contributor to the comfort of men in service. On one occasion during the war, while visiting Camp Holmes, near Raleigh, he observed a poorly-clad company of volunteers, and immediately had the whole detachment newly clothed at his own personal expense. His only surviving son, Major W. A. Blount, Jr., was an aide-de-camp on the staff of General Lawrence O'Bryan Branch, who had married General Blount's only daughter. i66 NORTH CAROLINA General Blount was twice married. His first wife was Anne Haywood, eldest daughter of Sherwood Haywood, of Raleigh, and granddaughter of Colonel Philemon Hawkins, Jr., of Warren County. The only children of this marriage (except a son, who died at the University of North Carolina) were the above-men- tioned Major Blount and Mrs. Branch. The second wife of General Blount was Anne Little John. By this lady he had no children. The downfall of the Confederate Government was a great blow to General Blount, and he did not long survive it. His death occurred at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Branch, in the city of Raleigh on June 4, 1867, and his remains are interred in the plot of the Branch family in the old cemetery. Marshall De Lancey Haywood. ^eC ~\ EDWIN BROWNRIGG BORDEN !DWIN BROWNRIGG BORDEN, the most prominent citizen of Goldsboro, was born at his father's home in Waynesboro, the old county seat of Wayne County, which upon the com- pletion of the Wilmington and Weldon Rail- road became extinct, the court-house being moved to Goldsboro, about a mile distant, and the merchants and business men also removing there. The first Borden to come to America was Richard Borden, who emigrated from Kent County, in England, to Massachusetts in 163s ; and when the new sect, the Quakers, sprang up some fifteen years later, he became a follower of the gentle Fox, and the laws of Massachusetts being very severe against the Quakers, he joined Roger Williams in Rhode Island, and made his home in that wilderness. One of his descendants, Arnold Borden, about 1825 came from Massachusetts to North Carolina and located in Waynesboro, where he became a merchant and planter. He married Maria Brownrigg, of Edgecombe County, and their son, the subject of this sketch, was born on July 5, 1831. While in youth Edwin Borden was never very robust, yet he enjoyed good health, and engaged with zest in the ordinary sports and recreations of village life. His father, being prosperous, pur- posed to give him the advantages of a good education, and after i68 NORTH CAROLINA attending the private schools of Goldsboro, he was sent as a pupil to the school at Valle Crucis, which Bishop Ives had established as a church school in the salubrious highlands of Ashe County. But unhappily the plans for his education fell through by the unfortunate death of his father in 1848, and although but seven- teen years of age, he left school and took charge of his mother's business, and for four years devoted himself to the management of her affairs. On the 13th of October, 1853, Mr. Borden was married to Miss Georgia C. Whitfield, and on the 19th of June, 1873, he was married the second time to Miss Ellen Lambert. He has had fourteen children born to him, of whom twelve survive. Shortly after coming of age in 1853, he began business on his own account as a merchant at Goldsboro, and he also engaged in farming, his energy and ability enabling him to carry on both operations with satisfactory results. For five years he continued as a merchant, and then withdrew from merchandising, and in i860 took charge of the branch bank which the Bank of North Carolina in that year established at Goldsboro. When the war came on, Mr. Borden was an ardent Southerner, and upon the organization, in April, 1862, of the Fiftieth North Carolina Regi- ment, which became a part of General Junius Daniel's brigade, he was appointed quartermaster of the regiment; but subsequently, on the transfer of the regiment to the Confederate service, he resigned, and was appointed Confederate States' commissioner, and was the Confederate States depositary at Goldsboro. He dis- charged the duties of his position in those uncertain times with strict integrity and great acceptability. After the war, he addressed himself zealously to his business interests, and he soon became known as one of the foremost and most capable men of his community. He served as chairman of the county board of commissioners of Wayne County, and under his management the financial affairs of the county were placed on a satisfactory basis ; and for nearly a half a century he has been prominently identified with all the business enterprises of his com- munity. No movement which promised any advantage to the EDWIN BROWNRIGG BORDEN 169 town or county has failed to receive his approval and practical assistance, and, indeed, his energy and good judgment have been greatly instrumental in building up the manufacturing industries of Goldsboro and promoting the prosperity of the town in every department of organized effort. In 1873 he organized the branch bank of New Hanover, giving needed financial facilities to the community, and was president and director of it as long as it continued in business. In 1891 he organized the Bank of Wayne, which bought out the former bank, and under his direction as president it has been one of the most successful financial institutions of the State. In 1883 he with others organized the Goldsboro Oil Company, and was president of it. It was managed with great success until it was bought by the Southern Oil Company in 1901. He with others organized the Wayne Agricultural Works for the manufacture of agricultural implements, and has always been active as a director in managing its affairs. With others he organized the Goldsboro Furniture Manufacturing Company, which does a large business, and he is a director in the company. He with others likewise organized the Goldsboro Ice Company, and is one of its directors. With his associates he also organized the Goldsboro Storage and Warehouse Company, of which he is the president; and with others he organized the Borden Manufacturing Company, that operates a cotton mill, and of which he is one of the managing directors. All of these enterprises are now in successful operation in Goldsboro, and they form the basis of the industrial progress and prosperity of the community. In 1876 his reputation as a financier and a business man of sound judgment and capacity was so high that he was invited by Mr. Walters and Mr. Newcomer, the virtual owners of the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad Company, to become associ- ated with them in that company as a director, and he enjoyed their confidence so largely that he was continued as a director with them until the merging of that company into the Atlantic Coast Line Railway; and he has since been constantly re-elected a director of that great organization, with its vast interests and I70 NORTH CAROLINA important relations to the industrial and commercial progress and prosperity of the Atlantic and Gulf States. The management of this corporation has for more than a quarter of a century been so able and masterly as to excite the admiration of all who are con- versant with its affairs and to reflect the greatest credit on the directors who are concerned in conducting its operations. While Mr. Borden has been so greatly engaged in business affairs, he has not been oblivious of his duties as a citizen, and he has taken great interest in local education, and has been a staunch friend of the graded schools of Goldsboro, which are so creditable to his community. His Christian character, unbending integrity and strong common sense have made a deep impression upon the people with whom he has for so many years been prominently associated, and he enjoys their thorough respect and confidence. For about fifty years he has been a member of the board of stewards of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and while devoted to the interests of his own church, he has. extended his interest and liberality beyond the bounds of his own denomina- tion, and his gifts in aid of charity, religion and education have been substantial and continuous, but without ostentation. Being asked to offer some suggestion that would tend to strengthen sound ideals in life, he says that good habits, high ideals of duty, courage and persistence in living up to them, coupled with intelligent and well-directed energy, are in his opin- ion necessary to true success. 5". A. Ashe. -a ^■^y//-4'-7s &^.~^ .Yy ^^S2^^^-r.c^ ROBERT RUFUS BRIDGERS ?HE youth of North CaroHna can turn to no worthier character to emulate, and the honest, industrious young man to no more encouraging example for his life's work, than that of Robert Rufus Bridgers. Seldom is the biographer able to point to the foundation stone of a successful life as depicted by its own architect. And yet the following extract from one of his letters to a friend may be studied with encouragement and great profit, especially by college students and by those upon the threshold of business life : "From 184s, when I went regularly to work, I did not leave the county for nearly eight years, except on business; I was always at my office during office hours, when not absent on business. Men depend more on hard work, good habits and economy for success than mere intellect. When I look back to my school days, I have found, of the several hundred whom I was with at school, that the success of the coming man was more foreshadowed by the industrious and good habits of the boy than by the boy's natural capacity. My business has caused me to employ hundreds of young men. The first question I ask is, What are his habits? The next is. How much work can he do? That is the key to success. Then I ask. What is his capacity? A young man of a fair, ordinary capacity can accomplish any usual business undertaking, if he will do enough work. Try, try, and success will sooner or later come. Of course, good integrity is a necessity in all positions in life; without it no man can have permanent success." 1/2 NORTH CAROLINA Mr. Bridgers was of English descent. The first of his paternal ancestors in America was in the British army, and superintended the building of the brick church, near Smithfield, Virginia, in 1632, being a vestryman in the church. William Bridgers, of Southampton, Virginia, married Fatha Ruffin in 1738, and one of their sons, Briton, married Margaret Rice, also of Southamp- ton, in 1761, and soon thereafter moved to Town Creek, in Edge- combe County, North Carolina. A part of the land then entered by him is now in the possession of a great-great-granddaughter, it having never been out of the family. John, a son of Briton Bridgers, married Elizabeth Kettlewells Routh in 1814, and died nine years later, leaving one daughter, Amanda, and two sons, John and the subject of this sketch, who was born at the family homestead on Town Creek, Edgecombe County, North Carolina, November 28, 18 19. Before he was five years old he was started to school to Rev. Mark Bennett, who afterward married his mother. After the first two weeks he made little or no progress for eight years. At the age of thirteen his mother put him to work, with the sug- gestion that she could make him plow if she could not make him study. He developed into a good "hand." After two years' work, he went to his mother with the statement that he was ready to study whenever she would send him to school. He had long wished to do this, but it took him nearly a year to overcome his obstinacy and false pride of yielding. In a week she had gladly prepared his clothes, and he was at Stony Hill Academy, in Nash County, owned and controlled by Martin R. Garrett, who was noted for his power of imparting instruction rather than his scholarship. The young student made excellent progress, being twice ad- vanced to higher classes, although his constitution was not then the strongest, and in November, 1836, he was about ready for college. During this time he had become quite expert in survey- ing, but his mother having prevailed upon him to study medicine, he was prepared under the direction of Dr. James J. Phillips and Dr. John J. Daniel for the usual course in a medical college, when ROBERT RUFUS BRIDGERS i73 he decided and told his mother that he would never practice medicine. She promptly sent him to Arcadia, in Person County, where boys were prepared for the University of North Carolina. In January, 1838, he was admitted to the freshman class at Chapel Hill. Although poorly prepared, he secured admission upon the endorsement of Mr. Sumner, owner of the Arcadia School, that he was of good habits, a hard worker, who would make up all deficiencies and ultimately rank among the best of his class. His first year at college was not marked by any special merits, except good behavior and the punctual discharge of college duties, and this largely to gratify his mother, whom he loved with a rare and unusual devotion. In after life he often spoke of his feelings during commencement, and how he finally resolved to apply himself closely to his text-books next session or quit college and take up the study of the law. Instead of going to the college ball, he went to his room, in full hearing of the music, and began a review of the studies of the freshman course. During the vacation he kept up his studies with such application that at the expiration of six weeks he had completed his allotted review, but somewhat at the expense of his health. He had no more than fairly entered upon his studies as a sophomore when his fellow- students noticed the change, and predicted that if he stuck to his work he would lead his class. He graduated with first distinction in the class of 1841, which furnished many distinguished men. Mr. Bridgers took the study of law extra in his senior year, his graduating speech being on "The Science of Law," and was admitted to practice by the Supreme Court the week after his graduation. The chief justice said it was not well to study law at college, because it resulted in neglect of college work or im- paired health. Young Bridgers's face proved, if it did not sug- gest, the observation, for he was little more than a living skeleton. It was frankly admitted that the court tried to reject him, with six other Chapel Hill graduates, and even went so far as to examine him four of the six hours of the first day, in a class of twenty-two, and five of the six hours the second day. He had done justice to the college course and to the study of 174 NORTH CAROLINA law, but with greatly impaired health ; and upon the advice of a physician he spent a year traveling on horseback, and for some time thereafter devoted his energies more to a complete restora- tion of health than to his life's great work. In 1844 he was sent to the legislature, being the youngest member of that body, and serving as a member of the Judiciary Committee. He then withdrew from politics and began the prac- tice of law in earnest, in Tarboro, in 1845. Meeting with early success, he became one of the leading practitioners in the circuit, especially in the Equity Court. He declined the ofRce of attorney- general and a circuit judgeship. In addition to the practice of law, he looked after his farming interests, where he plowed as a boy; and in December, 1852, he purchased 1041 acres of what afterward became his famous Stra- bane plantation of about 2500 acres, and really began his indi- vidual farming operations, which he carried on with marked success. It was often remarked that the two men of that genera- tion who did much to advance Edgecombe County and caused it to attain its very high agricultural standing were the two brothers, Robert R. and John L. Bridgers. The largest individual crop of cotton ever grown in North Carolina, and the largest per acre yield before the Civil War was grown on Strabane in the year 1858, when 509 bales were made on 500 acres. It is doubtful if this yield has ever been surpassed in the history of the State. He carried his broad and progressive views with him to his plantations. He was the largest user in his section of Peruvian guano, the only commercial fertilizer then used, and he was gen- erally liberal in the improvement of his lands. Not only was he a successful lawyer and planter, but an able financier and all-around business man. He organized and de- veloped a successful branch of the State bank at Tarboro, of which he was president until the war. Largely by his individual energy and ability was the Tarboro branch of the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad constructed. This resulted in his being made a director in that company; and thus he modestly entered the field in which he little dreamed was to be accomplished his life's great- ROBERT RUFUS BRIDGERS i75 est and most successful work. From 1858 to 1861 he again served his county in the legislature, being a recognized leader, and the chairman of the Judiciary Committee for the greater part of the time. Although he may not have been fervent for secession, especially at that time, he was nevertheless a strong State's Rights man, and believed that the action of the general government in for- bidding the slave-owners to carry their property into public terri- tories gave the South just cause to secede. He took part in the convention that determined that North Carolina should secede, and soon thereafter was elected to the Confederate Congress, where he served with great enthusiasm during the entire war. Here he exhibited to a marked degree that characteristic which the writer believes was the strongest element of business success in his makeup — a careful study of the probabilities of future development and preparation to meet new conditions rather than a dependence on the present or past for the guide-posts to direct his labors. From the beginning he advocated what now seems could have been the only practical and effectual financial policy for the Con- federate States' Government. He insisted that the South should not stop raising cotton, as it did, but on the contrary should increase the yield as much as possible; that the Confederate States being a new government, and having no gold reserve to give stability to its currency, our only remedy was to secure it in exchange for cotton, which was our one product that we could hope to use as a financial basis, and upon which we could build up and maintain a credit ; that while our currency would necessarily fluctuate, and even become debased, with the changing and un- certain conditions as the war progressed, yet England would take the cotton, which commanded the highest market price, and pay for it in gold; that with a large annual crop we could maintain a credit that would enable us to secure the means to provide for our troops and prosecute the war. At first he found but few sup- porters of this plan to finance the Confederacy, but as he dis- cussed and explained his purpose and ideas, many endorsed his 176 NORTH CAROLINA views; and finally, when it was too late to carry out the scheme, there was a widely prevailing sentiment that he should be secre- tary of the treasury ; but he candidly told his friends that he was then unwilling to undertake the burden of the position. As a member of Congress, he was a loyal supporter of President Davis, and at the same time he did much in protecting North Carolina in her rights, and in looking after the welfare of her troops. Not only did he place great faith in cotton as a basis of credit for the government, but as a director and stockholder of the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad Company he urged it in vain to buy cotton and secure a credit in England to meet its bonded debt in 1867, when the property would likely be in a greatly run- down and depreciated condition, and its credit depending largely on the success or failure of the Confederate States. The close of the Civil War found this active business man and large property-owner apparently hopelessly insolvent, principally on account of security debts; but instead of taking the benefit of the bankrupt law, he struggled along until he finally satisfied all his creditors. Disfranchised from the practice of his profession in many of the courts, with his property involved and farming conditions entireh' changed, he accepted the presidency of the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad Company in the fall of 1865, and began the work that made for him a national reputation. He seems to have given his first great concern and efforts in making provision for the bonded debt of the road to mature about two years hence. He went to England to try to arrange for a refund or extension of the debt; but failing, he returned and reported to his directors, who left it to his good judgment to do the best he could. As there was no Southern city with sufficient money at that time to finance the enterprise, he proceeded to Baltimore to consult capitalists who were Southern sympathizers. Here he secured the attention of Messrs. William T. Walters and Benjamin F. New- comer, who agreed to see that the early maturing debt was cared for and the property improved, if they and their friends could ROBERT RUFUS BRIDGERS 177 secure a controlling interest in the stock of the company, to guard against injudicious management or conduct inimical to the bond- holders. Convinced that this was for the best interests of the company and the stockholders of this impoverished property, Mr. Bridgers returned home, and after a free and candid disclosure of the plans and purposes, purchased for the Baltimore capitalists the stock which the State of North Carolina held in the company and enough additional from private institutions and individuals to secure the requisite control ; and the Messrs. Bridgers, Walters & Newcomer began the improvement and operation of the prop- erty, which has played an important part in the history of North Carolina and in the railroad development of the country. As an evidence of the physical condition of the road when he was elected president, it would warrant a schedule speed of only ten miles per hour. He was president of the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad Company from November, 1865, until his death, a period of twenty-three consecutive years. He was also president of several other roads of the Atlantic coast line system, notably the Wilmington, Columbia and Augusta. He was for years general manager of their property, including the Charlotte, Columbia and Augusta Road in South Carolina. A few years prior to his death, at his urgent request, he was permitted to retire from the general managership, and to name as his successor Mr. Harry Walters, who is now one of the foremost financiers and railroad men of this country, and is fast acquiring an inter- national reputation. Messrs. Walters, Newcomer and Bridgers became devoted and lasting friends, as well as business associates, and the three always worked most harmoniously in laying the foundation and develop- ing the great "Atlantic Coast Line." It is not proposed to follow his railroad work in detail, or even its development, but rather to refer to isolated facts and inci- dents indicative of his methods and characteristics. First of all, he studied surrounding conditions, and all men with whom he came in contact. He knew his employees, his competitors and his patrons, as well as being thoroughly familiar 178 NORTH CAROLINA with the business methods, the trade and the lands and products of his entire territory. His knowledge of his employees, their history, character and habits, was remarkable, and accounted for many unexpected pro- motions and disappointments among the men. He felt a personal interest in them, and never lost an opportunity to encourage the industrious or to urge his employees to "lay up something for a rainy day." While ever ready to aid the deserving, he despised secret vice and deceit, and shunned those whom he thought guilty. Many humble homes of employees were made comfortable, and their widows and orphans saved from poverty and charity by his timely suggestions, example and encouragement ; and he naturally enjoyed their love and esteem. After the attending physician announced to the anxious, loving watchers by his bedside, "He's gone," the next words fell from the lips of his faithful servant and porter, who spoke more eloquently than he knew when he said, "God knows the poor man on the road has lost a friend now." He studied his competitors, was always liberal in his estimate of their ability, and by fair and honorable dealing with them never failed to enjoy their confidence and esteem. He enjoyed an extensive acquaintance with and of the patrons of his roads; and when not inconsistent with his ideas of right and justice, he endeavored to conciliate and work harmoniously with them. As he often expressed it, "We are neighbors." He always tried to deal with the public according to the business methods with which they were accustomed, contending that in many things it was proper and desirable to do so, even if it made unimportant exceptions to general rules. Speaking of an able official of another system, he once expressed the opinion that he had injured his railroad reputation by his work in the South, because he insisted upon dealing with the people of Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina, without exceptions to his fixed rules or regard for the local customs and ideas of generations. Knowing the present conditions, he next forecasted the future. ROBERT RUFUS BRIDGERS 179 and really devoted his best efforts to making ready for new conditions. If called upon to characterize in one word the great- est factor in his wonderful achievements, we should promptly and unhesitatingly say, Preparation. This was demonstrated in his college course ; in building up his constitution that he might stand hard work ; in the liberal treatment of his lands for the production of enormous crops; in his financial policy for the Confederate Government and the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad Com- pany; and in many other matters. When a competing line was once spreading out, he said to Mr. Paul C. Cameron, in discussing it, "We do not propose to spread out until our property becomes valuable to its stockholders. It will be time enough to reach out when our financial condition is established on a dividend basis." But preparation means progress. He advocated, and in the early seventies the Atlantic Coast Line prepared for, through train service, which system is now so fully developed along the respective lines of speed, safety and comfort. He was one of the most prominent men in the movements for standard time, being for a long time president of the "Southern Railway Time Convention," and later first vice-president of the general time convention, the former having been organized several years before the latter. Mr. Bridgers always tried to anticipate the skilful moves and brilliant efforts of his competitors. It was along this line that portions of the road between Wilson and Florence via Fayette- ville and sections of roads in other States were built when there was no apparent necessity for the same, although self-supporting as branch roads. But the wisdom of this was evident when other lines began to compete for Florida and other Southern business, and the Atlantic Coast Line had only to build connecting links to have shorter lines. He was uniformly polite, and would not countenance dis- courtesy in the employees of the company. He once stated in the presence of a number of railroad officials, soon after resigning the office of general manager, that if called upon to name the single official act that had been most beneficial to the service in i8o NORTH CAROLINA its relation to the public, he would point to the discharge of a ticket agent who was rude and discourteous to a passenger, an elderly gentleman who applied for information about the schedule of a certain train and in the hearing of Mr. Bridgers. The dis- charge was immediate and permanent. He was scrupulously honest and intensely loyal. He once knew of some contemplated action that would greatly enhance the value of the Wilmington and Weldon stock, and stated the fact to one of his sons, who secured an option on a large block of the stock. But his father made him surrender the option, and not one of the family made a purchase until the public knew of the enhanced value. Another instance of his loyalty to the road and his Balti- more friends was his refusal to accept an office with a competing line at nearly double any salary ever paid to him by the Atlantic Coast Line ; while the offer of still another system for his services, at a salary to be fixed by himself, was likewise refused. But he had other business interests. He was prominent in the management of the Navassa Guano Company and one of the Wilmington Banks, besides owning large tracts of land in Florida and plantations on the Roanoke River. This great business man was full of charity and good deeds; but the most charming feature of this noble trait was his abhor- rence of display or publicity. The person that disclosed his generosity was not likely to be aided the second time. Mr. Bridgers married Miss Margaret Elizabeth Johnston on the I2th of December, 1849. Their family was a large and happy one, blessed as it was with a devoted husband and an indulgent, loving father. He died of apoplexy, after an illness of less than two hours, on the loth of December, 1888. He was stricken while discussing some proposed railroad legislation before a committee of the South Carolina legislature at Columbia. And thus this successful business man laid down his life's work while yet in harness. /. T. Barron. BEDFORD BROWN JEDFORD BROWN, a statesman distinguished during a long public career for his talents, integrity of character and strenuous adherence to his political principles, was born in Caswell County, according to the statement of Dr. Kemp P. Battle, in 1792, although in sketches written during his own lifetime the date is fixed as 1795. His father, Jethro Brown, was of English descent, the family having come originally to America from Bedfordshire, England. On his maternal side, Mr. Brown was likewise of English stock, his mother, who was Miss Lucy Williamson, being a member of the well-known family of that name that has so long been prom- inent in the social annals of Caswell County. In 1813 and 1814 Mr. Brown was a student at the University of North Carolina; and in August, 1815, when, according to Dr. Battle's statement, he was twenty-two years of age, he was elected a representative from Caswell County, along with Romulus M. Saunders as his colleague, and having begun public life at that early age, he served in the legislature almost continuously for fourteen years. Mr. Brown had in boyhood imbibed the spirit of the Kentucky Resolutions of 1798, and was a warm supporter of President Madison. Throughout his earlier career he was devotedly attached to the doctrine of State's Rights, and apparently shared i82 NORTH CAROLINA ,i in the views so forcibly expressed by Mr. Macon, that on that foundation alone could the liberties of the people be preserved. While in the legislature he sided with Jackson as against Clay and Adams, and contributed to the vote of North Carolina being given to General Jackson. Hon. John Branch having in March, 1829, resigned his position as United States senator to take the portfolio as secretary of the navy in Jackson's Cabinet, the legislature that fall was to fill the vacancy, and the public men of the State were active in their efforts to secure the prize. There was still but one party, but President Jackson was making fierce and relentless war on the friends of Clay and Adams. William B. Meares was a friend of Clay, and he was one of the strongest men in the State; indeed. Judge Gaston had said that he was the fittest of them all to repre- sent North Carolina in the Senate. Judge John R. Donnell, also a strong man, had been on the bench for ten years, and was not embroiled in party rancor. Montford Stokes had already once been senator, and still was so popular that the next year he was elected governor of the State. S. P. Carson, who had the highest fame for wonderful eloquence and was much beloved at the west, was a warm supporter of Jackson. These were the principal candidates, although there were many others who were in a state of anxious expectancy. Finally, after many ballots, all but the first three named withdrew, and on the twelfth ballot, at the end of one week of heated contest, Stokes withdrew ; but Charles Fisher entered the race with fair prospect of success. On the fourteenth ballot, however, both he and Judge Donnell withdrew ; and Meares alone remained of the original candidates. On the fifteenth and last ballot he received his highest vote, eighty-six, and there were seven scattering. Bedford Brown was the speaker of the senate, and on that ballot the friends of the candidates who were withdrawn supported him, and he received ninety-five votes, being one more than was necessary for an election. It has been said that no election was intended or expected on that ballot, and that one more vote was given him than was anticipated ; but how- BEDFORD BROWN 183 ever that may be, he was elected, and began a senatorial career that was highly creditable to him. In the Senate he became a personal friend of President Jackson, who knew so well how to attach men to him, and he resolutely adhered to the administration and its policies throughout all the exciting events of that period. As senator he was regarded as a strong man. "He spoke with great deliberation and emphasis, and was careful in the selection of his language. His manners were polished and dignified, and in debate he was respectful even to his opponents. He neither gave offense nor submitted to it from others. He was no orator, nor even an attractive speaker. He lacked the graces which persuade or win the confidence of others, but he was forcible in logic, earnest in speech and emphatic in manner." "I have often seen him," says Judge Schenck, "sur- rounded by distinguished men, and he was the politest among them all, and his manners the most courtly. He was a sincere man, self-confident, fearless and frank, loyal to his convictions, and using no art to enforce his views, and disdaining dissimulation or sophistry." He sustained the President, notwithstanding his State's Rights views, in his proceedings against the Nullifiers in South Carolina, and thus became alienated from those members of his party in North Carolina who supported Calhoun, but the administration, notwithstanding the defection of Henry Clay and the National Republicans and of the Calhoun men, still retained control of the State, and on the expiration of his term he was re-elected to the Senate, continuing to support President Jackson and the admin- istration of President Van Buren. After the adoption of the new constitution in 1835, and on the issue of Internal Improvements, the Whigs became the dominant power in the State, and having control of the legislature in 1840, they instructed the North Carolina senators to vote to charter a United States Bank. Both Judge Strange and Mr. Brown de- clined to obey these instructions, preferring to resign rather than to do so, and they tendered their resignations to Governor Dudley, which were accepted. Judge Mangum was elected to replace Mr. 1 84 NORTH CAROLINA Brown and Governor Graham to replace Judge Strange ; and on the expiration of Governor Graham's term Mr. Brown, who was again the senator from Caswell County in the legislature, became a candidate for the United States Senate. In that Assembly the Democrats had a considerable majority in both Houses, but the factional differences between the supporters of Calhoun and those of Van Buren's administration had not sub- sided. Mr. Brown's old colleague in the legislature, likewise from Caswell County, Judge Romulus M. Saunders, was warmly sup- ported by the Calhoun wing of the party, while Mr. Brown was the candidate of the regular administration wing. Caucus after caucus was held, and much bitterness was developed during a heated and angry contest. It has been said that factional ani- mosity ran so high that many of Brown's friends would have preferred the election of Governor Graham to that of his opponent, while Judge Saunders's supporters would not give way. As a result of this fierce conflict, both of the principal aspirants were set aside, and the Hon. William H. Haywood was elected by the combined vote of the two wings of the Democratic Party. Dis- satisfied at the course of events, Mr. Brown shortly afterward left the State and moved to Missouri, with the purpose of retiring forever from public affairs ; but he did not remain long in his Western home, and returned to North Carolina, and resided for some years near Baltimore, in Maryland, superintending the edu- cation of his children. In 1858 he was, however, again in the State Senate, and mani- fested his former interest in public matters, which then were apparently approaching a crisis. He was returned to the Senate in i860, and led the opposition to the secession movement. In this he was entirely consistent with his course in 1832 and 1833, when he sustained Jackson's measures against South Carolina ; and although he so hotly advocated the preservation of the reserved rights of the States, he proposed to contend for them within the Union and under the Constitution. But when at length the war burst on the South, "the martial spirit and proud heart of the old patriot became thoroughly aroused, and the South had no BEDFORD BROWN 185 firmer supporter than Bedford Brown." He represented his county in the convention of 1861, and "being forced into the fight, with courageous resolution he determined to bear himself so that his enemy would fear him. He spurned compromises and despised trimmers, and advocated a most vigorous prosecution of the war." Such, says Judge Schenck, was his attitude in the convention of 1861 ; and such was his attitude in the Senate of 1862 at its first session; but at the special session of 1863 he sided in some measure with the faction led by Judge Boyden in the Senate that was not in harmonious accord with the Con- federate administration, by supporting which alone was there any reasonable hope or expectation that all the bloodshed and suffer- ings endured by the Southern people would not be in vain. He was not re-elected to the legislature of 1864, but was a member of the Reconstruction Convention of 1865, and took a prominent part in the measures of that body restoring the State to the Union. After the State government then established was overthrown and effaced by act of Congress in 1867, his constituents and friends in Caswell County again elected him to the Senate in 1868, but he was not admitted as a member of that body. He received the certificate of election, but along with others whose disabilities had not been removed, he was not allowed to take his seat, but John W. Stephens, afterwards killed, was sworn in as senator in his stead. He witnessed the turmoils of the next year, and lived through the excited period of the Kirk and Holden War, when Caswell County was declared in a state of insurrection, and subjected to martial law, and he saw hundreds of the best people of his county, neighbors and friends, incarcerated by irre- sponsible military power. He survived, however, to see the assembling of the legislature of 1870, expiring on December 6, 1870, at the age of seventy-eight. S. A. Ashe. JOSEPH GILL BROWN [OSEPH GILL BROWN was born in the city of Raleigh November 5, 1854. His father, Henry Jerome Brown, was a successful busi- ness man of unswerving integrity, industry and sound common sense, and of such a respectable character as to enjoy the esteem and good will of the entire communit)-. His mother, Lydia Lane, a daughter of Nathaniel Lane, was a woman of fine judgment and power, whose lovely characteristics were an inspiration to her son, and who was most exemplary in all the relations of life. She was a granddaughter of James Lane, a brother of Joel, Jesse and Joseph Lane of Wake County, all sons of Joseph Lane of Halifax County, among whose descendants may be counted a list of distinguished men and women that can hardly be exceeded by any other family in the South. Mr. Brown is also a descendant of Colonel Needham Bryan of Johnston County, one of the leading men of the province in colonial days, member of the Provincial Congresses, and distin- guished as a sterling patriot during the Revolution. In youth the subject of this sketch was robust, studious and of an amiable and cheerful disposition. He attended the Lovejoy Academy at Raleigh, and was a pupil of Captain J. J. Fray, an equally fine preceptor. Having made fine progress in his studies, at the age of sixteen he was matriculated at Trinity College, then ChaS Z.. I^n iS/ijp/7ef7 I^ub/iahsr %^^, SfrSBi™^ ^^.-^ A 'J-" JOSEPH GILL BROWN 187 located in Randolph County. Here he spent only a year and a half, but to his great advantage ; and the influence on him of the distinguished president, Dr. Craven, and of the professors was deep and abiding. He has often expressed regret that he left college before graduation, but despite the fact that he received scarcely the half of a college education, measured by years, yet he was such a diligent student that he profited as much during his short course as many a graduate would have done in a full term of four years. Shortly after returning home from college he secured a sub- ordinate position in the Citizens' National Bank at Raleigh, under Colonel William E. Anderson, whose kindly and sympathetic assistance he remembers with gratitude and affection. Colonel Anderson was an excellent officer, and under his training Mr. Brown developed those traits and business habits which after- ward were so potent in bringing him success in his career as a bank official. Naturally, he was highly gifted. But in particular he was attentive, careful and precise. It is sometimes said that a man's handwriting is an index to the habits of his mind; and Mr. Brown was precise in his handwriting, and particularly in the formation of his figures. Everything he did was done with clearness, despatch and neatness. It was a pleasure to him to do his work; because he always did it well, and it invariably gave satisfaction and received recognition from his superiors. Step by step he was promoted until at length he became cashier, and in this position his fine business qualifications became still more apparent, and his usefulness was fully realized. Upon the death of Colonel Anderson, Dr. William J. Hawkins was made president of the bank. He was a man of unusual ability, but having no personal relations with the business men of the community. On the other hand, Mr. Brown had grown into the favor of all the active business men, and drew them closer to the bank. His manners were so agreeable, his personality so pleas- ing, and his business was so admirably conducted that year by year he took a stronger hold on the public, gaining constantly in esteem and confidence and in personal regard. Eventually, on NORTH CAROLINA the death of Dr. Hawkins, Mr. Brown, on November 5, 1894, was called by the directors to take charge of the institution as its president. As auspicious as had been the opening of his career, he now achieved a still greater measure of success. No one surpassed him in carefulness and attention to business, none ex- celled him in promptness, in courtesy and in an efficient discharge of his duties. Considerate of others, and intent on subserving the interest of his customers, he managed the affairs of the bank with such remarkable prudence that it made no losses, while the wisdom of his general course is attested by the gratifying results of his administration during the past decade. The bank had always stood well with the public, and after he became its president it entered on a career reflecting the highest credit on him as an able and wise financier. Gradually, from the beginning, the bank had enlarged its deposits, until when he was elected president they had reached the sum of $333,000; but under his administra- tion in ten years the deposits increased to $925,000. In like manner, the assets of the institution, which in 1894 were $490,000, are now $1,250,000. It has been a cardinal point with President Brown to have a surplus equal to his capital; and this he has accomplished while paying substantial dividends to the stock- holders and carrying a considerable amoimt of undivided profits, so that the value of the stock of the bank on the market is over 200. Indeed, the bank not only stands among the first in North Carolina, but it has taken its place on the roll of honor among the soundest and safest of the National Banks of the United States. Necessarily, Mr. Brown's reputation as an efiicient officer has grown and passed beyond the limits of the State, so that not only has he been elected to the presidency of the North Carolina State Bankers' Association, but he is a member of the Executive Council of the American Bankers' Association, and is justly held in the highest esteem by the most eminent bank men of the Union. It often happens that a faithful and capable official, combining administrative ability with prudence and tact and good judgment, achieves remarkable success in his work; but even something JOSEPH GILL BROWN 189 more than this is to be said of Mr. Brown. In every department where he has worked he has attained unusual prominence, and that without there being any element of immodesty or of self- seeking in his character. He is retiring and amiable and far removed from bold, forward aggressiveness. But there is a plain- ness, a frankness, a truthfulness about him that at once attracts attention and awakens confidence; and no matter in what com- pany he may be thrown, he is speedily recognized as a man of the first water. At the meeting of the American Bankers' Association, held at New Orleans in November, 1902, Mr. Brown was called on to make an address on the subject of the New South. His business in life had not led him to cultivate the arts of oratory, but even as a speaker he is captivating. The sweetness of his voice, the grace of his manner and the easy flow of his words charm those who hear him. With an attractive bearing, the association gave him a ready attention. Still, the members, drawn largely from the Northern cities of the Union, were hardly prepared for the literary repast he spread before them. Entering on the activities of life after the South had settled down to its new work, with the war period far in the past, it might have been expected that Mr. Brown would have followed in the footsteps of many others who have attributed the marvellous development of the Southern States in recent years to novel causes, and that he would ascribe the prosperity of the Southern people to a new life infused by Northern agencies. But not so. His address was entirely philo- sophical, and it is one of the most notable and admirable expo- sitions of the New South which has ever fallen from the lips of a Southern man. Indeed, it was a marvellous performance for a young bank officer on such an occasion. He described the South as she existed prior to the Civil War, and drew a picture of the devastated country at the end of those four years of arduous struggle, during which all of her resources were exhausted. "There was nothing to build upon, however," said he, "save the uncared-for land and the indomitable pluck of the people. The story that tells of their struggles and their difficulties, their fail- I90 NORTH CAROLINA ures and their victories, is one of thrilling interest, but I can undertake only to present a few figures to show results. Interest- ing, indeed, are the figures that tell of her wonderful prosperity. But before presenting these figures, let me say that the topic assigned me is a misleading one. There is no New South, except as there is a New North or East or West. Ours is the same Old South which in the early days of the Republic gave her sons to freedom, and in days of peace gave them to her country as states- men to aid in building up for her the greatest and best govern- ment the world has ever known. ... I have told you that the South had practically nothing at the close of the war. The world looked on in amazement at the ease with which the French Re- public met the installments of the enormous penalty imposed by her victorious foe at the close of the Franco-German War. The South, after enduring a war four times as long, paid in one vast lump sum a penalty five times as large, the money value of her slaves being that much greater than the amount demanded of the French. No country ever rallied from such desolation with such spirit and vigor as she displayed — a result due not more to her abounding natural resources than to the spirit and pluck of her sons and daughters. Tried in the severest furnace, she has proved to the world that she is worthy of its confidence, and that in her and in her people are to be found the real elements of moral and material wealth. Her wealth to-day equals that of the entire country in i860, and practically all this has been created since the close of the Civil War. At the beginning of this new century a thousand millions of dollars would barely tell the amount of capital the South has invested in her manufacturing enterprises alone, and she is annually putting on the markets of the world her own handiwork to the value of more than one and a half billions of dollars. The capital invested in manufacturing has increased in one decade in the South 348 per cent., against an increase of only 252 per cent, in the United States ; while in the value of products the increase in the South has been 220 per cent., against 142 per cent, in the nation. The increase in the value of farm property has been in the South 92 per cent, and in the United JOSEPH GILL BROWN 191 States only 67 per cent. Within these ten years the banking resources of the South have been increased by about three hundred milHons, aggregating now more than eight hundred millions." And thus he continued, declaring that there was no New South, but only a development under the new conditions, and that the work was the labor and achievements of Southern men, whose capacity and energy and moral worth challenged the admiration and were entitled to the confidence of the world. And Mr. Brown boldly took the position that the course of the Southern whites in respect to the colored population, limiting suffrage to those only who could read and write, was on the same wise line as Southern action had been which had brought about all this marvellous material development; and he declared, "Already the benefits are manifest in the impetus that has been given to the cause of education. And unless our wisest men are mistaken, a few years will convince the world of the wisdom of what now seems to be rather heroic action. Let criticism be withheld until results are seen. We ask your patience and we claim your confidence." This remarkable and admirable address, delivered before the assembled bankers of the Union, was pervaded by a manly spirit of high citizenship ; and Mr. Brown, in presenting the picture of the South in its various aspects, insisted that Southern achieve- ment in every field of industry and statesmanship entitled her people to the sympathy and confidence of the business men of the North ; that it was a sure guarantee of the moral worth of her sons and of their capacity, intelligence and superior wisdom. In concluding, he made a strong and earnest plea for the cessation of those sectional differences and of those misunderstandings which had arrayed the Northern people so solidly against their Southern fellow-citizens. "Away with sectionalism forever !" he exclaimed ; "let our topic be no more the North or the South, but forevermore the Union. We are brethren; let us live as such. And hence- forth in this glad land of ours let men be recognized for fitness only, and not because of their local habitation." The speech throughout abounded in flights of genuine elo- 192 NORTH CAROLINA quence, and its sentiments elicited warm praise from all who heard it and all who have had the pleasure of reading it. It bespeaks the man; earnest, sincere, capable and with a broad and liberal mind, and yet devoted to his people and true to their good fame. It awoke admiration among the Northern bankers, and from that day Mr. Brown has been honored in banking circles from Boston to San Francisco. He was placed on the Executive Council of the American Bankers' Association, and has constantly received renewed evidence of the high regard and esteem in which he is held. Again, at the meeting of the American Bankers' Association in September, 1904, he was called on to make an address, which not only sustained his reputation, but gave him a still stronger standing among the eminent bankers of the Union. His portrayal of the vast results of Southern industry and Southern capability and his expression of admiration at the achievements of Southern men in the various fields of enterprise have without doubt been of large advantage to the Southern States in inspiring confidence among the business men and capitalists of the North and assur- edly Mr. Brown's contribution in this way to the future develop- ment of Southern interests has been of inestimable value to the Southern people. In 1881 Mr. Brown was happily married to Miss Alice Burk- head, the accomplished daughter of Rev. L. S. Burkhead, D.D., an eminent minister of the M. E. Church, South ; and he has been most fortunate in his domestic relations. In his religious affiliations he is a Methodist, and has been exemplary in discharging every religious duty. He has long been the superintendent of the Sunday-school of the Edenton Street Methodist Church, which has grown from a small beginning to be the largest, with a single exception, in the city of Raleigh, and one of the largest in the State. He has been a steward in his church for many years, and is a trustee and treasurer of the Methodist Orphanage ; and is a mem- ber of the Epworth League Board of the Methodist Church South, and has been a representative twice in the General Conference, JOSEPH GILL BROWN 193 and a representative to the Missionary Ecumenical Conference in New York ; and he had the high honor of being appointed by the College of Bishops as a delegate to attend the World's Ecu- menical Council in London, England. Mr. Brown has been Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in the State and Grand Rep- resentative to the Sovereign Grand Lodge of the World. He has been treasurer of the city of Raleigh for more than twenty years. He is a trustee of the Olivia Raney Library and president of the Associated Charities of Raleigh, and is the president of the Raleigh Clearing House Association. In fact, he is one of the comparatively small group of men to be found in every city who, full of business cares and responsibilities, still manage to lend a helping hand and give a cheerful voice to every movement within the church or in the city at large which tends to help others and promote the public good. His power and capacity in managing such affairs is thoroughly recognized in his community and by those with whom he is associated, and while much is to be ascribed to his native ability, yet he feels that his success in these various fields of endeavor is largely to be attributed to the lessons learned at Trinity, and he recognizes a debt to his Alma Mater which long service on the board of trustees of the college and his per- sistent efforts to advance the interests of that institution have not yet cancelled. In reply to an invitation to offer suggestions to young men, he wrote: "Most confidential relations at home, absolute purity of life, thorough identification with some orthodox church, freedom from sectionalism, regarding the home town and the State as part and parcel of our common country." That the South's most important interests are in the hands of such men as Mr. Brown is at once the explanation of her past progress and the harbinger of her future prosperity. 5". A. Ashe. EPHRAIM BREVARD ;PHRAIM BREVARD, author of the Mecklen- burg Declaration of Independence, physician, teacher, soldier and patriot, was born in Mary- land in 1744. When about four years of age he came to North Carolina with his parents, who settled a few miles east of Mount Mourne, Iredell County. He was the son of John Brevard, and his mother was a sister of the Rev. Alexander McWhorter, president of Queen's College of Charlotte. His father, who died early in the Revolution, was a member of the Committee of Safety of Rowan County and of the convention which met at Halifax on the 17th of November, 1776, and framed the first constitution. His mother's house was burned by Tarleton on the ist of February, 1781, because she had "seven sons in the rebel army." A sister, Mary, was the wife of General William Lee Davidson, and another sister, Jane, was the wife of General Ephraim Davidson. A brother, Alexander, with General Joseph Graham, Major John Davidson and General Peter Forney, erected Vesuvius Furnace in Lincoln County. His cousin, Adlai Osborne, who was gradu- ated with him from Princeton, was clerk of the court of Rowan before and after the Revolution, and one of the first trustees of the University of North Carolina. About 1776 he married a daughter of Colonel Thomas Polk, whose brother, Ezekiel Polk, was the EPHRAIM BREVARD 195 grandfather of President James K. Polk. His wife lived only- three or fours years. In 1 76 1 he went to a grammar school in Prince Edward County, Virginia, but the following year he returned to North Carolina and entered a noted school near his father's home, conducted successively by Joseph Alexander, nephew of John McKnitt Alex- ander; David Caldwell and Joel Benedict. In 1768 he was gradu- ated at Princeton, and soon thereafter began the study of medicine under Dr. Alexander Ramsey of South Carolina, a distinguished patriot and historian as well as physician. He took an interest in the advancement of learning, and aided in the establishment of Queen's College of Charlotte, which was chartered by the colonial legislatures of 1770 and 1771 (both of which were repeated by the king) and by the General Assembly of 1777 under the name of Liberty Hall Academy. For a time he served the institution as a member of its faculty. When the first meeting of the new board of trustees was held on the 3d of June, 1778, he, Isaac Alexander and Rev. Thomas H. McCaule were appointed to frame a system of laws for the government of the institution, and a few months later he was appointed a member of the committee to elect a president. This institution was located upon the spot where the present county court-house now stands. Some of its bricks are in the present court-house and in the Y. M. C. A. building across the street. In this lot are buried Ephraim Brevard and his wife, who died a few years previous to him. On the 19th of May, 1775, two men from each captain's com- pany assembled in Charlotte upon the call of Colonel Thomas Polk to consult for the common good, and inaugurate such measures as would conduce to that desirable end. After the organization of the convention by the elections of Abraham Alex- ander as chairman and John McKnitt Alexander as secretary, there was a full and free discussion upon the exciting topics of the day, in the midst of which a messenger arrived bearing the news of the affair of a month previous at Lexington. A com- mittee consisting of Dr. Ephraim Brevard, Colonel William' 196 NORTH CAROLINA Kennon and the Rev. Hezekiah J. Balch, who had taken an active part in the proceedings, were appointed to prepare resolutions suitable to the occasion. Ephraim Brevard wrote the resolutions, and they were submitted to the convention by the committee, adopted unanimously after midnight, and read the following noon from the steps of the old court-house by Colonel Thomas Polk. These resolutions constitute the Mecklenburg Declaration of Inde- pendence. The day of their adoption has been assigned a place upon the State Flag, and in commemoration of the event the 20th of May has been made a legal holiday in North Carolina. Ephraim Brevard was secretary of the convention of the 31st of May, 1775, which adopted regulations in furtherance of the con- vention of the 20th of May previous. While engaged as a teacher in Queen's College, Ephraim Brevard raised a company from the young men of that institution to assist in putting down the Tories assembled on the Cape Fear. They marched in the direction of Cross Creek (Fayetteville), but upon hearing of the dispersion of the Tories, returned home. This was in February, after his return from the "Snow cam- paign" with General Rutherford in December, 1775. In 1776, in his professional capacity, he joined the expedition of General Rutherford during the Cherokee campaign. In 1780 he entered the Southern army under General Lincoln as assistant surgeon. He was captured at the surrender of Charleston on May 1 2th, and during his confinement there as a prisoner of war he suffered so much from impure air and unwholesome diet on the prison ship that his health gave way. On his release he turned his face homeward, but died after reaching the home of his friend and fellow-patriot, John McKnitt Alexander. In the language of Foote, "He thought clearly, felt deeply, wrote well, resisted bravely, and died a martyr to that liberty none loved better and few understood so well." W. A. Withers. EDWARD BUNCOMBE [T the bloody battle of Germantown, in the State of Pennsylvania, fought on the 4th of October, 1777, were killed and wounded many of the bravest and best soldiers sent by North Caro- lina to fight for independence. From the brigade commander, General Nash, down to no less patriotic privates, many were those who crowned honorable lives by glorious deaths and were laid to rest far from the State which sent them forth on their errand of danger. Among those mortally wounded was Colonel Edward Buncombe, of the Fifth North Carolina Continental Regiment, who survived the battle many months, and died a prisoner of war in the city of Phila- delphia in May, 1778, during the British occupation of that place. Colonel Buncombe was born of English parentage on the island of St. Christopher (otherwise St. Kitt's), in the West Indies, in the year 1742, and was educated in England. In 1768, or there- abouts, he came to North Carolina to take possession of an estate in the present county of Washington (then a part of Tyrrell), which had been bequeathed him by an uncle. Thereon he built Buncombe Hall, a hospitable mansion, which was standing as late as 1865, but was then demolished. In 1771 Colonel Buncombe was a justice of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions for the county of Tyrrell, and about the same time became colonel of provincial troops in Tyrrell County. This latter rank under the 198 NORTH CAROLINA royal government he held up to the outbreak of the Revolution. At the beginning of the war for independence, Buncombe's first service was in the militia, being appointed a colonel of that branch of the service on the 9th of September, 1775, by the Provincial Congress at Hillsboro. On the 17th of April, 1776, he was trans- ferred to the Continental Line, or regulars, and therein com- missioned as colonel of the Fifth North Carolina Regiment. This regiment was assigned to General Moore's, afterward Nash's, North Carolina Brigade of Continentals, which was organized at Wilmington in the summer of 1776. These troops left Wilming- ton in November of the year last named to join Washington, but when Halifax was reached another order came which directed their march southward to the vicinity of St. Augustine. Before reaching that point, still another countermanding order stopped them at Charleston, South Carolina. At Haddrell's Point, near Charleston, the brigade camped for the winter of 1776-77. In March, 1777, having again received orders to join the main army under Washington, Nash's brigade marched northward through South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and other intervening States, and reached general headquarters at Middle- brook, where they were joyfully greeted by their compatriots with "a salutation of thirteen cannon, each fired thirteen times." On the nth of September, 1777, Colonel Buncombe's regi- ment, with the other North Carolina troops, fought at the battle of Brandywine. At the battle of Germantown, on the 4th of October, the same command was again engaged, and this proved Colonel Buncombe's last fight. In the course of that action he was shot down and left for dead on the field. Being recognized by a British officer who had been his schoolmate in England, he was removed to Philadelphia (then occupied by the British) and paroled within the city limits. Here his condition began to im- prove; but owing to a fall while walking in his sleep (he being often given to somnambulism), his wound opened afresh and he bled to death. This was in the middle of the month of May, 1778. Colonel Buncombe was buried on the corner of Arch and Fifth streets, in the "additional churchyard" of the parish of Christ EDWARD BUNCOMBE 199 Church. The exact spot where his remains are interred is unknown. On April 10, 1776, before coming to North Carolina, Colonel Buncombe was married at St. Christopher to Elizabeth Dawson Taylor, and this lady accompanied him to his new home. She died just prior to the Revolution, leaving three children, Elizabeth Ann Buncombe, who married John Goelet, formerly of New York; Thomas Buncombe, who died unmarried; and Hester Ann Bun- combe, who married John Clark. Of these, the first mentioned, Mrs. Goelet, is the only one who has descendants now living, as the two children of Mrs. Clark died without issue. The county of Buncombe, in Western North Carolina, which was established in 1791, is named in honor of the patriot whose services have been outlined in this sketch. Marshall De Lancey Haywood. OTWAY BURNS rHEN the second war between America and Great Britain occurred, our young Republic was not a high-class sea power, and much of its naval warfare was carried on by privateers — vessels fitted up by individuals and stock com- panies — whose operations were authorized both by Congress and by international law. To this class belonged the Snap Dragon, commanded by Captain Otway Burns. Captain Burns was born in 177S, in Onslow County, North Carolina, on Queen's Creek, about two miles from the present village of Swannsboro. His father and grandfather both bore the name of Francis Burns, and the latter emigrated from Glas- gow, Scotland, in 1734. Otway Burns began his seafaring career in early life, and had command of a merchantman, which carried on its business operations along the Atlantic coast when the War of 1812-15 began. Designing to enter into privateering, he secured a fast and strong vessel in New York, which he christened the Snap Dragon. It was paid for and fitted up by a stock com- pany at New-Bern. It was well armed, and carried a crew varying in number from about 100 to 130 men. The number of his cap- tures was so exceedingly large that he soon became a terror to the British. In speaking of the war record of Burns, Chief Justice Clark said, on a public occasion: "He patrolled our ocean front and dis- OTWAY BURNS 201 played the Union Jack from Cape Farewell, the southernmost point of Greenland, to Cape San Roque, the easternmost point of Brazil. He captured the enemy's vessels under the guns of Hali- fax and pounced upon them like a hawk upon a covey of doves, off the mouth of the Orinoco. For three years he was a terror to the British merchant marine, and inflicted damage only rivalled since by the Alabama and by another son of North Carolina, the gallant Waddell of the Shenandoah." In the "Tales and Traditions of the Lower Cape Fear," by James Sprunt, when speaking of privateers in the War of 1812, there is an interesting anecdote of Burns, as follows : "Tradition reports that on one occasion two of them came in together — ^the Snap Dragon, under Captain Otway Burns, who had at that time a considerable amount of local notoriety; and the Kemp, com- manded by Captain Almida, each accompanied by a merchant vessel which they had captured. In due time the vessels and cargoes were sold ; but when the proceeds of the sale were to be divided, a dispute arose between the two officers, each claiming that the larger portion should belong to him, as he was more instrumental in securing the prize than the other. The quarrel waxed hot, and it was feared that they would come to blows at any moment, when the fiery Burns put an end to the discussion by challenging his antagonist to meet him on the sea and fight it out yardarm to yardarm. The challenge was promptly accepted; each vessel got under way immediately and sailed for the appointed place of meeting; but while manoeuvering for position, a fleet of the enemy's merchantmen, under a convoy of a ship of war, hove in sight, and effectually put an end to the contemplated duel. Adjourning their quarrel to another time (but which was never renewed), they dashed into the fleet and succeeded in capturing two or three ships with valuable cargoes, and brought them safely into port — a much better result in every way than trying to send each other to the bottom on a mere question of dollars and cents." The Snap Dragon was captured in the fall of 1814 by a British warship disguised as a merchantman. At the time of her capture 202 NORTH CAROLINA Captain Burns was not in command, being detained at home by an attack of rheumatism. Lieutenant De Cokely, second in com- mand under Burns, had charge of the ship when it was taken. After the close of the war, Captain Burns began anew his seafaring Hfe as a jnerchantman, and was often a member of the State legislature of North Carolina from Carteret County. He was in the House in 1821, 1822, 1824, 1825, 1826 and 1827. In 1828, 1829, 1831, 1833 and 1834 he was State senator. In the Senate, on January 3, 1835 (this date being a continuation of the session of 1834), his vote in favor of calling a constitutional convention decided that question in the affirmative, and the con- vention of 183 s was the result. Eastern North Carolina, from whence Burns came, was much opposed to this convention, and Burns was never again elected to office. But his disinterested action so pleased the people of the west that they named the mountain town of Burnsville, in Yancey County, after him. Captain Burns was thrice married : first to Miss Grant, daughter of Reuben Grant; secondly, in 1814, to Jane Hall; thirdly, in 1842, to Jane Smith. His only child was a son by his first wife, Owen Burns, born in 1810, who entered the United States Navy as a midshipman on December i, 1824; was commissioned lieutenant on April 8, 1834, and resigned from the service on June 30, 1840. The death of Captain Otway Burns, of the Snap Dragon, occurred on October 25, 1848, and he was buried at the town of Beaufort, in Carteret County, North Carolina, where a monu- ment was unveiled on July 27, 1901, erected by his grandsons, children of the above-mentioned Lieutenant Owen Burns, of the United States Navy. Marshall De Lancey Hayzvood. GEORGE BURRINGTON [EORGE BURRINGTON, who was twice gov- ernor of the province of North Carolina, received his first appointment from the Lords Proprietors and his second commission direct from the King after the Crown had resumed control of the colony. Burrington's family lived in the county of Devon — that great nursery of American navigators and explorers, which has been the home of Raleigh, Drake, Hawkins, Grenville and Gilbert. The family of Burrington rose in royal favor from the fact that one of its members was the first person of the rank of gentleman who joined William of Orange when that prince set foot in England in 1688. George Burrington received his appointment as governor in 1723, but it was not until early in 1724 that he reached North Carolina; and on January 15, 1724, he took the oath of office at Edenton. When Burrington became governor, the two principal factions of the colony were those who adhered to the interests of the Lords Proprietors and those more concerned in the local interests of the colony and its people. Chief Justice Christopher Gale, who was one of the deputies of the Lords Proprietors, was leader of the first-mentioned faction, while John Baptista Ashe, Edward Moseley, Maurice Moore and others were champions of the popular party. Burrington, according to his own statement, had known and been on friendly terms with members of the Ashe 204 NORTH CAROLINA family in England, and it was probably owing to this circum- stance that during his first administration he sided with the popular party, of which Ashe was one of the leaders, and it may be mentioned that he could never side with any party without giving vent to the most violent outbursts of invective or personal violence to its opponents. This disposition on the governor's part soon drew him into a violent altercation with Chief Justice Gale. He threatened to put the chief justice in irons, slit his nose, crop his ears and blow up his house with gunpowder. Gale soon went to England to prefer charges against the governor for these actions. While all of Burrington's violence was bad enough, probably the Lords Proprietors were more influenced against him by the charge that he contemplated inaugurating a revolution such as had recently occurred in South Carolina, and thereby intended to change North Carolina from a proprietary to a crown colony. It \yas not long before Burrington was removed from his office and succeeded by Sir Richard Everard, Baronet, who was sworn in by the Council at Edenton of the 17th of July, 1725. After this, the Assembly, which was dominated by Ashe, Moseley and their friends, passed resolutions endorsing Burrington's administration and denouncing those who had caused his removal. Burrington, it would seem, had as little respect for governors as for chief justices, for he went to the house of Sir Richard Everard and loudly called for satisfaction, also denouncing that gentleman as a calf's head, an ape and other such contemptuous terms. He was indicted for his violence, but left Edenton, and the indictments against him were eventually ended by nol. pros. Burrington remained on his plantation on the lower Cape Fear until in 1729 the Crown purchased Carolina, when he went to England, and probably through the influence of the Duke of New- castle, secretary of state, who had always been friendly to him, he secured a reappointment to his old post, and he was sworn in as governor at Edenton on the 25th of February, 1731. The arrival of Burrington seems to have caused general rejoicing in North Carolina, and both the grand jury for the whole province GEORGE BURRINGTON 205 and the Assembly drew up addresses thanking the King for such a mark of favor as the appointment of one so highly esteemed by the colonists. But Burrington's orders threw him in antagonism with the people, and no sooner had the Assembly met than the governor and members were again at odds, and the leaders in the Assembly were the very ones who had so strenuously upheld Burrington's first administration. Notwithstanding Burrington's turbulent disposition, he was a man of wonderful capacity for work, and would go in person to remote settlements to inspect bridges, roads, etc. Many new roads were also cut by his order. On several occasions he narrowly escaped death by starvation, and at other times came near being drowned. After an extended period of turmoil, during which he imprisoned both Ashe and Moseley, and in which the Assembly passed no act desired by him, he was displaced; but the conflict between the Crown and the people then begun continued in one form or another until the colonies became independent. His suc- cessor, Gabriel Johnston, was commissioned in the spring of 1733, but it was not until the 2d of November, •1734, that he reached Brunswick and took the oath of office. After Burrington's return to London, he became the author of several books, among which were "Seasonable Considerations on the Expediency of a War with France" (1743), and "An Answer to Dr. William Brakenridge's Letter Concerning the Number of Inhabitants within the London Bills of Mortality" (1757). In 1759, many years after his return to England, Burrington was robbed and murdered in London. His lifeless remains were found in the canal in St. James Park on the 22d of February, in the year last named. About five miles below the town of Brunswick, in the Cape Fear section, is a little stream called Governor's Creek, after Governor Burrington. Burrington's estate at Rocky Point, known as Stag Park, and also large tracts called the Hawfields, in what later became Orange County, were for many years owned by the well-known Strudwick family of North Carolina, to whom he had mortgaged them. Marshall De Lancey Haywood. DAVID CALDWELL fUT out of the life of colonial North Carolina the Presbyterian element, and the forces that made for political and religious independence between 1740 and 1775 are weakened almost to helplessness ; eliminate the same element, and the educational forces of the colony would have been wounded beyond hope of immediate recovery. From the time of their first coming, 1740, till the Revolution, no other body of colonists probably played as large a part in the forces that were making for political, religious and intellectual liberty as did the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians of the middle and piedmont sections of the colony. Among individuals, none did a nobler or more enduring work toward the greatness of the State than the Rev. David Caldwell, D.D., preacher, teacher and physician, counsellor and guide for his friends and neighbors, servant of the people in many ways. State builder and protagonist of learning in the wilderness of North Carolina. David Caldwell, the oldest of the four sons of Andrew and Martha Caldwell, was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, March 22, 1725. His parents were respectable farmers; one of his brothers removed to North Carolina, served in the American army, died in 1781 of camp fever, and left a family, who soon after migrated to Tennessee. We know little of the youth of David Caldwell, save that as a boy he was apprenticed to a house DAVID CALDWELL 207 carpenter, that he served his apprenticeship in that business till he was twenty-one, and then worked four years for himself at the same trade. It seems that when about twenty-five years old he professed religion, and conceived a desire to enter the Presbyterian ministry, and that this was the spur which brought him to seek a classical education. He agreed with his brothers that he would relinquish all claims on the paternal estate for enough money in hand to take him through college; it is thought he taught a year before going to the College of New Jersey, from which he was graduated in 1761. He was then thirty-six years old, and was just entering on a man's career, although he had been for fifteen years entered on man's estate. After graduation he taught for a year ; was tutor in the College of New Jersey, studying theology in the meantime, and was licensed by the Presbytery of New Bruns- wick in 1763. He served as supply in various places, and on May 16, 1765, was appointed "to labor at least one whole year as a missionary in North Carolina." At the same time as this appointment came a call for him from Bufifalo and Alamance settlements in North Carolina. He was ordained in July, 1765, and dismissed to join Hanover Presbytery, Virginia, the one nearest the scene of his North Carolina mission. Thus at forty years of age David Caldwell became one of the earliest Presbyterian missionaries in North Carolina, and begun his work among a people who had preceded him into North Caro- lina by only a few years, and who had also come, to a large extent, from his own section of Pennsylvania. It is believed that Caldwell first visited North Carolina in 1764, and that he came out to settle in 1765, although there is no record of his presence here before 1766. He was present at a meeting of Hanover Presbytery in June, 1766; joined that Presbytery October 11, 1767, and on March 5, 1768, was installed at Buffalo as pastor of the Buffalo and Alamance congregations in Guilford County. This pastoral relation continued until about 1820. He was then succeeded as pastor by his biographer. Rev. Eli Washing- ton Caruthers, who remained in the pastorate till 1861. These two consecrated men served these churches continuously for 2o8 NORTH CAROLINA ninety-six years, a length of pastoral service perhaps not equalled elsewhere in the history of the State. In 1766 Dr. Caldwell married Rachel Craighead, daughter of Rev. Alexander Craighead of Mecklenburg County, North Caro- lina, another Scotch-Irish leader of prominence, who did high service for the State. To this union were born eight sons and a daughter, who attained maturity, and all of whom became useful citizens; three of the sons became ministers of the gospel and one became a physician. Immediately after his settlement in North Carolina, Dr. Caldwell began to adapt himself to the wants and needs of the community in which he lived. He began about 1767 a classical school, which was continued, with two or three interruptions, well into the nine- teenth century, until he was forced to discontinue his educational labors by the infirmities of age. This school was not only one of the most efficient and most noted in the State, but was one of the best that the State has ever had. It usually had about fifty boys in attendance, and drew its patronage from many sections of the commonwealth and from all the other States south of the Potomac. It prepared for life or for the higher institutions, like the Uni- versity of North CaroHna and the College of New Jersey, and in- cluded among its pupils Judge Archibald D. Murphey, Judge McCoy, Governor John M. Morehead, Hon. Lewis Williams and others. It is said that Caldwell was instrumental in bringing more men into the learned professions than any other man of his day in the Southern States. His log cabin schoolhouse "served North Carolina for many years as an academy, a college and a theological seminary." Many of his pupils became eminent as statesmen, lawyers, judges, physicians and ministers ; some were congress- men, and five became governors of States. Seven were licensed by Orange Presbytery in one day ; there were not more than three or four members of that Presbytery who had not been his pupils, while nearly all of the young men who came into the Presbyterian ministry in North Carolina and in the States to the south and west of it for many years had been trained in his school. Because of the frontier character of the country in which he DAVID CALDWELL 209 lived, Dr. Caldwell found it desirable also to study medicine. He became a practicing physician, not in the ordinary sense, but in a more restricted one, serving a clientele located over a space of country some twenty miles in diameter, and who had no other medical service than such as he could render in the name of humanity. It is probable that with his learning and general train- ing Caldwell was not far behind, as a medical practitioner, the leading physicians of the province. He took pride and pleasure, too, in the cultivation of his farm with his own hands. He got recreation and rest not from a cessation, but from a change of labor, for his life, especially during his more mature years, was pre-eminently a life of labor rather than a life of study. During the earlier years of his ministry Caldwell came into conflict with the spirit of the Established Church, which had a legal existence in North Carolina, but while the laws against dissenters were in form unfair and tolerably severe, they were not enforced, and practically Presbyterian and other dissenters suffered little inconvenience from the Established Church other than theoretical disabilities. Caldwell, like other Presbyterians, labored assiduously to have these disabilities removed, and by the coming of the Revolution had met with a large degree of success. In 1776 he suggested to the Presbytery of Orange the propriety of asking the Provincial Congress then in session in Halifax for relief from the restrictions and oppressions to which all dissenters were still theoretically subjected in North Carolina. But the estab- lishment, with all it implied, fell in North Carolina with the fall of British power. Caldwell was a member of the Provincial Con- gress which met in Halifax in November and December, 1776, to frame a constitution for the State. It is said that he was responsible for the thirty-second clause of that constitution, which denied liberty of conscience to Roman Catholics, but this assertion has never been proven. The Regulation movement is such an important chapter in the history of North Carolina and of the section in which Dr. Caldwell labored that it cannot be ignored in any sketch of his career, however brief that sketch may be. His congregations were in 2IO NORTH CAROLINA the heart of the disaffected district, a large part of his male mem- bers took an active part in the movement, and the Alamance battle was fought not far from his home. The "War of the Regu- lation" was one of a series of efforts made by the people of North Carolina at various times to secure a redress of grievances. It began as early as 1759 with the Enfield riots, which were directed against the land officers of Earl Granville. A little later extor- tions began to grow up among the county officers in various sections of the province. Because of the lavish expenditures of Tryon's government, provincial taxes were high, and being levied on the poll, bore unduly on the poor and thinly settled com- munities of the middle section. In 1765 discontent became acute, and was manifest as far east as Pasquotank. It broke out into violence in the present counties of Granville, Orange, Alamance, Guilford, Rockingham, Surry, Chatham, Randolph, Rowan, Davidson, Anson, Cabarrus, Mecklenburg and Iredell. The dis- contented element called themselves "Regulators." Under the leadership of Husband, Howell, Hunter and others, they published numerous addresses on the condition of affairs. The organization gained headway. Its purpose was to "regulate" the grievances of which they complained; these were excessive taxes, dishonest sheriffs and extortionate fees. Their agreement, or articles of association, show that their purpose was peaceful in character, and that they were willing to pay legal taxes and legal fees. They petitioned the government often for redress. This was often promised, but never granted. This failure to receive the redress asked no doubt irritated many, and led them to commit many indefensible acts of license and violence. A rupture was narrowly averted in 1768. In 1770 the legislature passed an act against tumults and riotous assemblies. This law anticipated some of the essential features of the "five intolerable acts" of the British Parliament of 1774. It was so brutal and infamous, so tyrannical and subversive of all liberty of the subject, that it was disallowed even by the English Government as "irreconcilable with the prin- ciples of the Constitution, full of danger in its operation and unfit for any part of the British Empire." This act, more commonly DAVID CALDWELL 211 known as the "Johnston Act," from its author, was aimed at and immediately put into execution against the Regulators. It goaded them to further resistance. Tryon collected an army from the eastern counties, although in many sections the spirit of resistance was almost as pronounced as in the Regulation country. On May 16, 1771, with his army of iioo men, organized, trained and armed, Tryon came up with some 2000 Regulators at Alamance Creek, now in Alamance County. The Regulators were un- organized, without officers, untrained and in part unarmed. There was much parleying, the Regulators even to the last petitioning for redress. Dr. Caldwell was present, and acted as a sort of peace commissioner from the Regulators to the governor. He sought to prevent a battle, and failed. Tryon forced the battle, defeated the Regulators, took some prisoners, and, with more than Jeffreys' bloodthirstiness, hanged six out of the twelve con- demned. It does not appear that Dr. Caldwell suffered further personal inconvenience from the Regulation, although many of his parishioners suffered both in their persons and estates. It is usually said that the Regulators were Tories in the Revolution ; certain it is tha^rthey were not enthusiastic supporters of the Whig principles of 1776, for they, unlike Person and Caldwell, were unable to see that the principles of the Regulation and of the Revolution were the same. Caldwell's biographer, Caruthers, states that while a large part of his congregation took part in the Regulation, none of them were Tories in the Revolution. This was no doubt due to the personal influence of Caldwell, for as the difficulties between England and America became more serious, he often preached on the signs of the times ; and he denounced the corruptions and oppressions of the home government, and ex- horted his hearers to value their liberties. He continued his regu- lar work till about the summer of 1780, however, but from that time till the return of peace confusion reigned in Central North Carolina. Caldwell's house became a center of refuge for perse- cuted Whigs from other sections ; it was plundered by Tories, and he was forced to lie in the woods for safety, and was once captured by a Tory party. Cornwallis, knowing his character, offered 212 NORTH CAROLINA £200 for his arrest, and during the Guilford campaign camped on his land and destroyed his property. In mere wantonness, his library, considerable for the time and country, together with all his private papers, was also destroyed. The battle of Guil- ford Court-house occurred within a few miles of his home, and, as a medical man, Caldwell assisted in caring for the sick and wounded of both armies. When the war was over he returned to his school and his religious duties. In 1788 he was a member of the Hillsboro convention, which declined to ratify the Federal Constitution. He desired a religious test to be inserted into that instrument, and voted against its adoption. This seems to have been his last public service. Dr. Caldwell was a trustee of Liberty Hall Academy in Char- lotte in 1777. When the University was being organized, he was offered the presidency, being beyond doubt the leading educator in the State. He saw fit to decline this offer, but continued to teach till old age compelled retirement. His work in the ministry continued till about 1820. He died August 25, 1824, being then in his one hundredth year, and was buried at Buffalo Church, which he had served for nearly sixty years. The value of such a man to his day and generation is beyond human power to estimate. This sketch of Dr. Caldwell is based mainly on his Life, pub- lished by Rev. Eli W. Caruthers (Greensboro, 1842). This Life contains one of the earliest accounts of the Regulation movement, and naturally presents a favorable view. North Carolina students are much divided as to the significance of the outbreak. Some, including Colonel W. L. Saunders, in his prefatory notes to the "Colonial Records," hold that these men anticipated the spirit of 1776, while others, including Colonel A. M. Waddell, in his "A Colonial Officer," M. De L. Haywood, in his "Governor William Tryon," and Professor J. S. Bassett, in the Report of the American Historical Association for 1894, hold that it was a riotous outbreak, unconnected with later events, and support the contentions of Tryon and the Government party. Stephen B. Weeks. c?t y'^&irri^e/ JOSEPH PEARSON CALDWELL JURING every period there have been strong, capable and influential men, leaders of thought, at the head of the press in North Carolina, and among them all but few have stood higher than Joseph Pearson Caldwell, editor of the Char- lotte Observer. Mr. Caldwell is a scion of that Scotch-Irish family of Caldwells resident in the Piedmont section from its early settlement, which has made its impress on the lives of the people of that region. Among its sons were Judge David F. Caldwell, whose virtues and learning rendered him an ornament to the bench, and Joseph P. Caldwell, the father of the subject of this sketch, a lawyer of ability, whose social excellence gained for him wide influence, and who represented his district in Congress in 1849 and 1851, and whose lamented death cut short a public service that promised great usefulness as well as personal distinction. Through the female lines, Mr. Caldwell, whose mother was Miss Amanda McCullough, descends from Thomas Polk, the distinguished patriot of Mecklenburg, and from Captain William Sharpe, who came to Rowan about 1764, and being a lawyer and taking an active stand for the liberties of the people, exercised a strong influence in that section. The journal of the Committee of Safety of Rowan County attests the activity of Captain Sharpe, as well as his sagacity and influence. He was one of the ruling 214 NORTH CAROLINA spirits of that region ; was a member of the Provincial Congresses in 1776; was in the expedition against the Cherokees in 1776, as an aide to General Rutherford; and the next year he was one of the commissioners to make a treaty of peace with the Indians. In 1779 he was selected to be one of the delegates to represent the State in the Continental Congress, and he continued at heavy expense on that patriotic duty until the war closed in 1782. Captain Sharpe married a daughter of David Reese, a patriot of Mecklenburg County, and a member of its Committee of Safety, who participated in all the bold and resolute actions that so dis- tinguished the people of that county; and their daughter Ruth became the wife of Andrew Caldwell of Iredell County, from whom the subject of this sketch is descended. Sprung from an ancestry whose characteristics were so replete with energy, intelligence and manhood, and who had by their patriotism and public service wielded a commanding influence, Mr. Caldwell naturally inherited high purposes in life. Born on the 1 6th day of June, 1853, 1^^ was still a boy when the State emerged from the trials and tribulations that afflicted her people; and having been taught somewhat at home, at the age of fifteen he entered the printing office of the Statesville American, with the hope of perfecting his education in such work ; and later he became the local editor of the Statesville Intelligencer. When about nineteen years of age he succeeded in obtaining employment on the staff of the Charlotte Observer, and entering in this larger field, he began that career which he has since so successfully followed. After four years of practice in that position, which proved very beneficial in making him familiar with all the phases of journalism, he connected himself with the Daily News at Raleigh, and passed a year at the State capital, with the profitable results of extending his acquaintance not only with the public men of the State, but with public matters. His proficiency as a writer had now become recognized by the press and the public, and he secured a place as an assistant to the editor of the Charlotte Observer, and continued in that editorial work until 1880, when JOSEPH PEARSON CALDWELL 215 he was able to purchase the Statesville Landmark, and he returned to his boyhood home at Statesville admirably equipped for his profession. It was not long before his capacity as an editor became evident. Under his management the Landmark rapidly rose in public estimation; the typography was excellent and the presswork of the best; so that the Landmark became a pattern for the other papers of the State to follow. Its selections showed care and intelligence; its editorials, while solid and clear, were very bright and admirable in thought as well as forcible in lan- guage. It was conducted on a high plane, free from the evils of misguided efforts to follow the popular lead or pander to local prejudices. Indeed, the native texture of Mr. Caldwell's inherited characteristics was here displayed to great advantage. In warp and woof he was gifted with manly attributes, and the more he was brought under the test of public scrutiny, the more was his substantial work recognized by an appreciative clientage. The Landmark soon became a valuable property financially, while it exerted a strong influence all through the Piedmont country. Among his editorial brethren Mr. Caldwell ranked deservedly high. The North Carolina Press Association received him as a member with great satisfaction, and in token of their admiration he was at once chosen president of the body. In 1885 he was appointed a director of the State Hospital at Morganton, and became president of the board directing the work of that great institution; and in its construction, and later in its management, he was ever a leading spirit. Recognizing his personal worth, and anxious to do him honor, in 1886 the people of Statesville desired him to be their mayor, and for four years he continued to be the chief magistrate of his community. In 1890 an oppor- tunity offered for him to become interested in the Charlotte Observer, and he moved to Charlotte and edited that paper, while continuing to own a half interest in the Landmark. The intelli- gence and clearness of views, which had made the Landmark the most influential weekly paper now being transferred to the Observer, soon brought that journal up to the front rank in North Carolina journalism. Changes and alterations followed as fast as 2i6 NORTH CAROLINA circumstances permitted until at length the Observer attained the unique distinction of being not only the best edited, but the best printed and the most progressive newspaper in the State, a dis- tinction which for a long period it enjoyed without a rival. The growth of the manufacturing interests in the vicinity of Charlotte gave an enlarged field to the Observer. Unlike the other papers of the State, its patrons were in large part interested in manu- facturing rather than in agricultural pursuits, and the Observer has sympathized with the new and progressive ideas of those engaged in manufactures, though losing none of its interest in its agricultural clientele. When, therefore, the agricultural South was clamoring for the silver side of the money issue, Mr. Caldwell, adhering to what he regarded the true Democratic principle, boldly stood forward as a champion of Mr. Cleveland's views, which found large acceptance among the manufacturers of the State. And Mr. Caldwell differed so strongly with Mr. Bryan, the nominee of the Democratic Party for the Presidency, that he declined to support him. Mr. Caldwell has not sought political preferment, the honor of being mayor of his community at Statesville, and the position of director of the Morganton Hospital, like that of president of the Press Association and president of the Commercial Club at Char- lotte, being mere public testimonials of the esteem in which he has ever been held. He has felt that the high calling of journalism is sufficient to fill a reasonable measure of ambition, and he is con- tent with the appreciation his admirable work in his journalistic career has won for him. Under his control the Observer has long been a powerful instrument to advance a good cause or to defeat a bad one, and he realizes the great power that his newspaper wields. Seeking no display, he has systematically pursued his daily work and held the even tenor of his way through the diffi- culties that beset journalism, conscious of the rectitude of his purposes and secure in the high esteem of the best men in his section. From a small paper on an insecure basis, he has made the Observer a great journal — strong, wealthy and influential. It is a monument of his success, a success that has been attained JOSEPH PEARSON CALDWELL 217 through indomitable industry and by persistently adhering to high ideals and disregarding vagaries and popular notions. On the 14th of June, 1877, Mr. Caldwell was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Lowrie Spratt, whom, however, he had the misfortune to lose some ten years ago, and he has since remained a widower. He has three living children. In speaking of his life, Mr. Caldwell says that home influence was strong in its effect on his career, and he was greatly aided by association with older and intellectual and cultivated men ; and he suggests as being beneficial to young men a sturdy adherence to principle under all circumstances ; good reading, good associa- tions and correct living. S. A. Ashe. DAVID YOUNG COOPER 'BOUT the middle of the eighteenth century a tide of emigration from Virginia was turned toward Granville County, in North Carolina. Near Grassy Creek, in the northern part of the county, some sixteen miles from the present county seat, the Baptists and Presbyterians located churches in close proximity, each called Grassy Creek. Around these were formed settlements of thrifty, intelligent. God- fearing tillers of the soil, who have maintained a good report for a century and a half. Here, near the close of the century, came James Cooper from Glasgow, Scotland, and gladly found in the near neighborhood the Venables, Hamiltons, Steeds and others, men of tartan and bag-pipe ancestry, followers of Calvin and Knox. And here his son Alexander was born and spent his days. He was the father of our subject. An elder in Little Grassy Creek Presbyterian Church, a justice of the peace, a successful farmer and slave-owner, honest and just, he was respected by his neighbors and noted for doing well whatever he undertook. The wife of Alexander Cooper was Harriet J. Young, daughter of David J. Young, who came to Granville County from Virginia. This family was prominent and influential. Many of its members have won deserved recognition outside of their social circles. Among such may be named William Hamilton Young, lawyer and accomplished scholar; Colonel John D. Young, a gallant DAVID YOUNG COOPER 219 soldier in the Confederate army ; Dr. Wesley Young, the Oxford physician ; Colonel I. J. Young, a prominent politician during the period following the Civil War ; and James R. Young, insurance commissioner of North Carolina, and author of the North Caro- lina Insurance Law. In this community, and of such stock, David Young Cooper was born April 21, 1847. During his childhood he attended the country schools near his home, and when not so engaged was required with his brothers to cultivate parcels of land allotted to them, that they might learn industry and respect for labor. On Sundays he was required to attend church. These early habits of industry and church attendance have continued and greatly contributed to his usefulness and success. From 1858 to 1863 he attended Horner School at Oxford, North Carolina, after which he served a year in the Confederate army. In 1867, when twenty years of age, Mr. Cooper began farming on his own account at his old home; and five years later moved to Henderson and entered upon that course of commercial enter- prise which has brought him both wealth and reputation, and where during the past twenty years he has influenced the life of the community in a measure not attained by any other. In co- operation with his uncle, the late J. Crawford Cooper of Oxford, he inaugurated the tobacco warehouse business, since known as Cooper's warehouse. He understood men, and possessed in un- usual measure the elements of success. A cordial and hearty friendliness, untiring energy, industry that kept him early and late about his business, close attention to details, large comprehension, sound judgment, an indomitable will and a liberal and enterprising spirit characterized his life and brought him phenomenal success. He takes a natural pride in the fact that, although he began busi- ness with small means, he has kept his affairs so well in hand that he has never given a note. Cooper's warehouse has been twice driven into larger quarters. Mr. Cooper built the present large brick warehouse, well equipped for every demand of the trade, in 1886. At that time he bought 220 NORTH CAROLINA out the interest of his uncle in the business, and continued it in his own name until 1902. From 1875 to 1895, Mr. Cooper was probably the largest seller of fine tobacco in the world. By his marriage on February 24, 1876, with Leah Hilliard Perry, daughter of Dr. Sydney Perry of Franklin County, Mr. Cooper added to his connection a group of the most prominent families in Franklin, Nash and Warren counties, embracing such well-known names as Alston, Boddie, Carr, Crudup, Hilliard and Williams. The Perrys were most likely settled in old Granville before the erection of Bute County. It is certain that they were well known in Bute during the Revolutionary period, and were long distinguished for wealth, refinement, culture and an elegant but simple old-time hospitality. Mrs. Cooper brought to her new relation the traditional characteristics of her family, and, we may add, of her county, and quickly created one of the most delight- ful homes in Henderson. Her death in 1897 bereaved the whole community, and the blessings of the poor followed her to the grave. Four sons and a daughter survive this marriage. Soon after entering business in Henderson, Mr. Cooper recog- nized the need of a new county, of which Henderson should be the capital, and he entered heartily into plans to secure its creation. After several failures, an act was finally obtained from the Gen- eral Assembly establishing Vance County from portions of the old counties of Franklin, Granville and Warren, subject to the approval of the qualified voters of the new county. The campaign which ensued was one of great warmth, even bitterness. The traditions of these old counties were treasured as a part of the life history of many old families, which they were loath to lose. Their attachments and associations centered around Louisburg, Oxford and Warrenton, and they fought to preserve them. The younger men of vigor and industry, who saw better opportunities for youth and enterprise in a new county, warmly supported the movement. It was before the day of the constitutional amend- ment, and the leaning of the colored vote, then in the majority, added to the complications of the situation. Among the leaders DAVID YOUNG COOPER 221 of the movement were Mr. Cooper, Colonel I. J. Young, Dr. W. T. Cheatham, Harrison Lassiter, James H. Lassiter, Colonel Harvie Harris and James R. Young. The vote resulted in favor of the new county, and Henderson entered upon a course of great prosperity. With the rapid increase of his own business and wealth, Mr. Cooper developed fine capacity for large enterprises, which during the past 'few years has led to many demands for his services, the most important of which have been in connection with financial and industrial enterprises at his own home. The Henderson Storage Warehouse was the first of these enter- prises. Its significance was not at first apparent to casual observ- ers. Indeed, members of the company scarcely realized its full import. For years it had been customary to store tobacco in Richmond and Petersburg, obtain advances on warehouse certifi- cates in those cities, and sell upon the samples certified by their warehouse inspectors. The storage company largely transferred this business to Henderson. It erected a large warehouse for storage, and appointed Wyndham E. Gary, a well-known tobacco expert, as inspector. His certificates and samples were accepted without question for advances and sales at home and elsewhere. A double purpose was accomplished — a new and profitable line of business was inaugurated, and the financial interests of the community were co-ordinated for the first time, opening the way for co-operation in larger undertakings. The Citizens' Bank fol- lowed in January, 1889. Mr. J. B. Owen, a young gentleman of high character and large fortune, came to Henderson from Meck- lenburg County, Virginia, and proposed the organization of a bank with a capital of $45,000. The only bank previous to that time was the uncapitalized private Bank of Henderson. This was soon absorbed by the Citizens' Bank, which, until the recent opening of the First National Bank, furnished the entire banking facilities of the community. It has been an eminently successful institution, and has now a capital and surplus of $125,000, with $450,000 deposits, $385,000 loans and discounts, and $587,000 of total re- sources. Mr. Cooper has been a director from its organization. 222 NORTH CAROLINA But Mr. Cooper's greatest work outside of his tobacco business has been in the creation of the cotton manufacturing interests of Henderson. The Henderson Cotton Mill was organized in 1895, with a capital of $90,000, which was increased- to $125,000 before operations were begun, and subsequently to $240,000. The mill has been enlarged from time to time from its earnings. It con- sumed one thousand bales of cotton the first year of its operation, and its capacity has now increased to ten thousand bales. The stock is largely held in Henderson, and has steadily realized an annual dividend of 8 per cent. Upon the increase in stock, there were offers for more than twice the amount of the issue in a very short time. Mr. Cooper has been president of the company from the beginning. The Harriet Cotton Mill, named in honor of Mr. Cooper's mother, was organized in 1898, with a capital of $240,000, which was increased to $300,000 in 1900. This mill has also been greatly enlarged from its earnings, while steadily paying its annual divi- dends, and consumes about 10,000 bales of cotton annually. It also largely represents local capital, and Mr. Cooper has been its only president. He has conducted the operations of these mills with such signal ability that he has never had occasion to leave Henderson to secure a dollar for the use of either enterprise. The two plants are worth nearly or quite a million dollars now, and do an annual business of some million and a half dollars. Mr. Cooper claims these mills to be the largest producers and sellers of hosiery yarns in the South. One important result of their location has been to greatly enhance the position of Henderson as a cotton market. Mr. Cooper would resent any claim that he alone has accom- plished these things. It is doubtful if there are combined in any enterprise in the State an abler or more efficient body of men than are associated in these Henderson ventures. They have accorded Mr. Cooper a leading position, and he has justified their confidence. It is not unfitting in this connection to mention Mr. Cooper's relations with those in his employ. He takes a deep personal interest in their welfare. This is particularly noticeable in respect DAVID YOUNG COOPER 223 to young men who prove themselves capable and deserving. In nearly every instance when he has advanced them as far as he can in his own business, he goes outside and secures them pro- motion elsewhere commensurate with their deserts. His interest in the operatives of his mills is almost paternal. He has secured the location of branches of the Henderson graded school near each mill. He has been the largest contributor to their churches and Sunday-schools. The fact that he is an Episcopalian and they almost entirely Baptists and Methodists seems forgotten on both sides. He is as much interested in getting reports of the Sunday- school work as members of their own denominations. On a recent occasion, when a prominent minister of a leading denomination discredited the religious and moral influence thrown around mill settlements, Mr. Cooper drew from his pocket a report of the Sunday-school of the South Henderson Baptist Church (Harriet Mills), and challenged comparison with any school of that min- ister's denomination in the State. Naturally, he is held in high esteem by his employees. While exerting his best efforts for the development of home interests, Mr. Cooper has not been insensible to the demands and opportunities outside. In 1892 he was a delegate from North Carolina to the Nicaragua Canal Convention at New Orleans. Under the Hoffman administration, he was a director in the Durham and Northern Railway Company, a director in the Sea- board Air Line Railway Company, and a member of the Finance Committee of the latter. He has been for some years a director of the Commercial and Farmers' Bank, Raleigh, North Carolina, and is interested in the Wachovia Loan and Trust Company, and many other financial and industrial enterprises both in and out of the State. In 1902, upon the coming of age of his two elder sons, Sydney P. and Alexander, he partly relieved himself of the burdens of his warehouse business by converting it into a corporation and shift- ing much of the labor upon their younger shoulders. Aside from the large enterprises that have been noted, Mr. Cooper is concerned in nearly all the public enterprises of Hender- 224 NORTH CAROLINA son. He may justly be called the founder of the Henderson graded schools. In 1899 he joined with a few other gentlemen of the town in organizing the central school without legislative charter or provision of law for its support. They undertook its support, the people of the community making such contributions as they pleased. Professor J. T. Alderman, formerly of this State, but then connected with the public schools of Columbus, Georgia, was secured as superintendent, and the movement was a success from the beginning. In 1901 the General Assembly passed an act establishing the school upon a legal basis and providing for its support. Mr. Cooper was one of the original trustees, and upon the retirement of Dr. J. D. Huffham, D.D., succeeded him as president of the board. The school has outgrown its present facilities, and a splendid lot, well located, has been purchased, upon which a new building will be erected during the present or coming year at a cost of $20,000 or $25,000. He has also served the town as a member of its Board of Internal Improve- ments, but otherwise he has not sought or held any public office. But in common with most representative men of Henderson, it is his home that most engages his affections. In 1898 he was joined in marriage with Mrs. Florence M. Davis, a daughter of Mr. Nicholas H. Chavasse of Henderson, granddaughter of Sir Thomas Chavasse, an eminent English surgeon; niece of the present Bishop of Liverpool, England, and kinswoman of George Eliot, the novelist. It is a most congenial and sympathetic union, and their home is a center of social life and hospitality. Both are deeply interested in their church, the Episcopal, of which he has been a vestryman and treasurer for many years, and concern themselves actively in its various enterprises. He was one of the moving spirits in acquiring St. Mary's School for the church, and has been one of its trustees from the time of its acquisition. Negative qualities are wanting in Mr. Cooper. To be positive and aggressive is his ideal of a business man. In his personal relations he is of a friendly disposition, both approachable and accessible. He recognizes an obligation to the community grow- ing out of his wealth, and is one of the first men approached for DAVID YOUNG COOPER 2,2- aid to any object that appeals to public or private beneficence. He is democratic by instinct as well as conviction, because he is inter- ested in his fellow-men. His early purpose in life, as stated by himself, was "to become a first-class business man, to surpass my competitors by doing things better than they can, and to be of real service to my community and fellow-men." How far this has been accomplished may be judged in a measure from the record here given. Thomas M. Pittman. WILLIAM RUFFIN COX lENERAL WILLIAM RUFFIN COX, distin- guished alike for his military and civil services, is a resident of Edgecombe County. His grand- father on his father's side, John Cox, whose baptism is recorded in St. Paul's Cathedral at London, was early in life an officer of the British Navy, but coming to America, he engaged during the period of the War of 1812 in the American merchant service, a perilous undertaking, as the American coast was closely blockaded by British cruisers, which his fleet vessel on one occasion failed to elude, and he was captured and held a prisoner. He settled in Edenton, North Carolina, where he married Miss Cheshire, and left three children, two sons and a daughter. The eldest son, Thomas Cox, was born in Chowan County, but re- moving to Washington County, became a prominent merchant at Plymouth, where he was a member of the firm of Clark, Deve- reux & Cox. This firm was engaged in the West India trade, owning many vessels and importing and exporting large quantities of merchandise, a trade carried on extensively for a great many years by the enterprising merchants of Eastern North Carolina, but which has now long been discontinued. Mr. Cox was also a. member of the firm of Maitland, Cox & Company of Phila- delphia, which likewise had large trade connections. He represented his county in the State Senate in 1823. In 1825 WILLIAM RUFFIN COX 227 he moved his residence to Halifax County, where some years before he married Miss Olivia Norfleet, a daughter of Marmaduke Norfleet, an extensive planter in that portion of North Carolina. Mr. Cox now became chiefly engaged in agricultural pursuits, but with a fine appreciation of the advantages which would attend the introduction of railroads, then first beginning to be built at the North, he became a leading advocate of the construction of railroad lines in North Carolina, and otherwise exerted his influence for the progressive measures that were agitated at that period in the State. He did not, however, long survive, but died in 1836, leaving four sons and three daughters. After his death his widow, in order to be with her eldest daughter, who had married Dr. L. B. Powell, removed to Nashville, Tennessee, where her family grew up and became prominently connected with various enterprises in that progressive State. General Cox, the subject of this sketch, was the youngest son of their union, being born on March 11, 1832, at his father's home in Scotland Neck. Bereft of his father's care at such an early age. General Cox owes his early training solely to his mother, a lady of rare intellectual gifts and fine culture. She first placed him at the Vine Hill Academy, Scotland Neck, and he was prepared for college at an academy near Nashville. When fifteen years of age he entered Franklin College, where he graduated with dis- tinction, and then, proposing to study law, he attended the law school of Lebanon College along with other students who have since attained high distinction, such as United States Senator Bate and Judges McHenry and East of the Supreme Court of Tennessee. Coming to the bar in 1852, he formed a partnership at Nashville with Hon. John G. Ferguson, a lawyer of distinction, which con- tinued until 1857, when, having married Miss Penelope B. Battle, a daughter of James Battle of Edgecombe County, North Caro- lina, and having no longer any close family ties in Tennessee, he abandoned his law practice and returned to North Carolina, and, locating in Edgecombe County, he entered on the life of a planter. 228 NORTH CAROLINA Two years later he removed to Raleigh, not, however, abandoning his interests as a planter. The portentous events of the following year aroused his patriotic zeal in behalf of the South, and, in view of possible war, he joined others in equipping a light battery; and, upon the outbreak of hostilities, he recruited a company of infantry, which he expected to command, but Governor Ellis, dis- cerning his capabilities, on May 8, 1861, appointed him major of the Second North Carolina troops, the colonel being C. C. Tew, an accomplished military officer, who had made a tour of Europe studying the military methods of the Continent, and who had been the efficient principal of the military academy near Hills- boro; and with this regiment Major Cox at once entered upon active service. For the next six months the regiment was on picket duty on the southern bank of the Potomac, and during that period it was thoroughly drilled and instructed by its ad- mirable commander. At that time Major Cox was put in com- mand of a battery of heavy artillery at Pratt's Point, on the Potomac River. On June 26, 1862, the Second North Carolina was the first regiment to cross Meadow Bridge at Mechanicsville under a terrific shelling. The next day, as all of the field officers of the First Regiment had fallen, Major Cox was assigned to lead that regiment into the battle; and he participated with great gallantry and intrepidity in all the desperate fighting, running through seven days, that resulted in hurling back McClellan's "finest army on the planet," defeated and disorganized and cower- ing under protection of the Federal gunboats at Harrison's land- ing. At Malvern Hill Major Cox was severely wounded, and, being on furlough, did not join his regiment until after the battle of South Mountain. Then followed Sharpsburg, where, at the end of the "Bloody Lane," stands the enduring monument to the fame of the brigade of which the Second Regiment formed a part, reciting "that there, after a bloody and desperate encounter at thirty paces, Anderson's North Carolina Brigade drove back Meagher's New York Brigade with great slaughter," but the North Carolinians suffered heavily also. Among others, Colonel Tew fell; but for months his fate was unknown, and some time WILLIAM RUFFIN COX 229 elapsed before Lieutenant-Colonel Bynum was promoted to the vacancy and- Major Cox became lieutenant-colonel; and after the battle of Fredericksburg, Colonel Bynum having resigned, Colonel Cox succeeded to the command of the regiment, and bore a dis- tinguished part in all the battles in which Stonewall Jackson's Corps participated. At Chancellorsville, on Friday evening. Colonel Cox moved up and drove in Hooker's outposts, the regiment lying that night so near to the enemy that all orders were given in whispers ; and the next morning Cox's regiment was one of the sixteen North Carolina regiments that Jackson led in his memorable march across Hooker's front, reaching the rear of Siegel's troops about sunset. The men were in line, stooping like athletes, when Ramseur, their brigade commander, ordered "forward at once," and Cox, lead- ing his regiment, drove the enemy from their works; but his troops were subjected to a terrific enfilading artillery fire at only 200 yards distance, and in fifteen minutes he lost 300 of the 400 men he had carried in with him. The gallant colonel himself re- ceived five wounds, but continued on the field until exhausted. Of him the lamented Ramseur said in his report: '"The manly and chivalrous Cox of the Second North Carolina, the accomplished gentleman, splendid soldier and warm friend, who, though wounded five times, remained with his regiment until exhausted. In common with the entire command, I regret his temporary absence from the field, where he loves to be." The brigade re- ceived, through General Lee, a message of praise from the dying lips of General Jackson. Again at Spottsylvania the brigade won imperishable fame. Hancock, at early dawn, under cover of a fog, broke the Con- federate line held by General Edward Johnson, and the Second, Fourth, Fourteenth and Thirtieth North Carolina regiments with great vigor drove the enemy back out of the Bloody Angle through every line, regaining all of the lost ground ; and Lee, filled with admiration and gratification, bade General Ramseur to assemble the officers of those regiments, among whom was Colonel Cox, and formally, in his behalf, thank them for their splendid 230 NORTH CAROLINA conduct, and to say to them "that they had saved that part of the line;" and their gallant feat brought Ramseur his commission as a major-general, and after that General Cox led the brigade that under Anderson and Ramseur had been so distinguished in all the fields of blood and carnage in which the army of Northern Virginia had won such glory. The brigade, augmented by such portions of the First and Second regiments as had escaped capture with Johnson's Division, had, on the formation of Ewell's Corps, been assigned to that corps, and it accompanied General Early in the Valley campaign, and in his movement on Washington City ; and it was the fortune of General Cox with his brigade to occupy Silver Springs, the beautiful residence of the Blairs, within sight of Washington City, the nearest approach of any Confederate troops to Mr. Lincoln's pleasant quarters in the White House. General Cox rendered most efficient service with General Early, and was at length re- called to Lee's aid at Petersburg, where he and his command shared all the hardships and vicissitudes of Lee's beleaguered forces toward the end of that memorable siege. During this time he was detached and placed in command of two miles of the front, under orders of General R. E. Lee, to whose headquarters his reports were made. Once more it was General Cox's fortune to draw from General Lee an expression of high commendation. It was during the retreat from Petersburg, at Sailor's Creek, just after Lee's retiring army had been overwhelmed and the utmost confusion prevailed, the soldiers straggling along hopelessly, many leaving deliber- ately for their homes, and the demoralization increasing every moment, while the enemy, in overwhelming numbers, pressed on so closely that a stand had to be made to save the trains, upon which all depended. Lee sent his staff to rally the stragglers, but they met with indifferent success. All seemed mixed in hopeless, inextricable confusion, and the greatest disorder prevailed, when presently an orderly column approached, a small but entire bri- gade, its commander at its head, and colors flying, and it filed promptly and with precision into its appointed position. A smile WILLIAM RUFFIN COX 231 of momentary joy passed over the distressed features of General Lee, as he called out to an' aide, "What troops are those?" "Cox's North Carolina Brigade," was the reply. Taking off his hat and bowing his head with courtesy and kindly feeling. General Lee exclaimed, "God bless gallant old North Carolina !" This occasion has been graphically described in a public address made by Gov- ernor Vance after the war. Nor was this the end of the brilliant feats of historic interest interwoven with the story of Cox and his brigade. It was his fortune to play the last act in the drama of the war in which Lee's famous army participated. General Cox had the distinction and the honor of leading his command in the last charge against the enemy before the sur- render of the army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox. In the temporary absence of General Grimes on duty in other parts of the field — his command having been enlarged as Appo- mattox was approached — General John B. Gordon directed Gen- eral Cox to throw forward the division at a given signal, viz., the discharge of a piece of artillery. This order he carried into effect, and fought the division until nearly surrounded by the enemy, when he received an order through a courier from Grimes to withdraw. To extricate the division. Cox charged the enemy, and amidst the surprise and confusion, withdrew his command in safety. This was the last organized charge made by the army of Northern Virginia. It was not the first time that General Cox had practiced such a ruse-de- guerre in the presence of an advancing foe. After the battle of Fisher's Hill, as Early's army was in retreat, pressed by the Federals near nightfall. Cox suddenly threw his brigade for- ward, engaged the advancing Federals, and after a sharp and brief encounter, so delayed the pursuit that under cover of night Early sustained no further loss. Of General Cox it may be said that no one was more gallant during the war than this distinguished Carolinian, and that he bears on his person the marks of eleven wounds received in battle. After the close of the war, General Cox established himself in 232 NORTH CAROLINA Raleigh, and commenced the practice of law. Soon thereafter, under a proclamation of the President; a provisional government was established for our State, and in an election which was shortly held, Hon. K. P. Battle, then president of the Chatham Coal Fields Railway, was elected state treasurer and resigned his position with the railway company. General Cox was elected by the Board of Directors to succeed him, and entered upon the duties of president. The Provincial Government was supplanted in December, 1865, when Governor Worth was elected Governor, but in 1867 the Reconstruction Acts were passed, setting aside the State gov- ernment, and a convention was ordered for the purpose of drafting a new constitution. Under the provisions of these military orders the leadmg citizens of the State were disfranchised, and the reign of the "carpet bagger" was inaugurated. They formed a constitution the purpose of which was still to exclude the most experienced and competent citizens of the State. Wishing to establish himself in the practice of law instead of pursuing the work he then was engaged in, for the purpose of making it known that he had resumed the practice of his profession rather than with the expectation of securing the office, General Cox announced himself as a candidate for solicitor of the district, which was overwhelmingly Republican. To the honor of the legal profession be it said that there was not a member of the bar in this judicial district to the manor born who would co-operate with the Re- publican Party. Indeed, the candidate for judge was taken from one of the eastern counties. The Democratic Executive Com- mittee, of which General Ransom was chairman, endorsed General Cox as the Democratic candidate, whereupon he was awaited upon by several Republicans and informed that if he would run as an independent candidate he should be elected without opposition. He declined their offer, stating that he preferred to stand with his people rather than secure an election which would be a quasi- endorsement of their policy. After much difficulty, near the time of election, they brought out a candidate for the office who resided in Wilmington. General Canby was then commander of the department, with headquarters at Charleston, South Carolina, and WILLIAM RUFFIN COX 233 after the election the returns were made to him. To the surprise of himself and friends, General Cox was declared elected by twenty-seven votes. This office he continued to hold for six years, to the general satisfaction of the people. In the meantime he had been chosen chairman of the State Democratic Executive Com- mittee, and was again informed by leading Republicans that, as his administration had been so generally acceptable, if he would not accept the chairmanship of the Democratic Committee, there would be no opposition to his re-election as solicitor. This he again declined to do, knowing that the best interests of his people required that he use his energies and his capacity in overthrow- ing a party which had brought such general discredit and distress on our people. While the position of solicitor was very re- munerative, the labors and responsibilities were very great, and he was the only Democrat of any prominence who at that time held an office in the State. He early became an influential member of the State Democratic Committee, and in 1874 was chairman when the State was re- deemed and a Democratic majority of some twelve or fifteen thou- sand was obtained. The next year, when the State convention was being voted for and was in doubt, he sent a dispatch from his headquarters to Robeson County, "As you love your State, hold Robeson," the result of which was to save the State. This achieve- ment gained for him the hearts of the conservative people of North Carolina generally, and made General Cox a political hero, and because of his fine and successful management of political cam- paigns, he became a great favorite in the State. In 1876 he was a favorite candidate throughout the State for governor, but shortly before the convention met Governor Vance was brought forward by his friends, and General Cox declined to stand in opposition to Vance for that nomination, the result of which secured Vance's unanimous nomination; and General Cox, as chairman of the Democratic State Committee, conducted the greatest campaign that year that has ever been waged in the history of the State. In 1877 General Cox was appointed judge of the Sixth District of North Carolina, which position he held 234 NORTH CAROLINA for several years, when he resigned to canvass for a nomination for Congress. As solicitor he had been able and efficient, and had won the respect, esteem and confidence of the people of his State, who admired him for his manly characteristics and the high plane on which he acted in discharging the duties of his office. Wise in counsel and manly and true in his action, he became greatly admired, and stood deservedly high in the estimation of the people. As a judge, his dignity and urbanity, and his fine culture, no less than his efficient discharge of his judicial functions, and the fairness and impartiality with which he tried the cases brought before him, gained for him an enviable reputation. In particular, reference may be made to his decision in a case that was of national importance, but which he decided against the views of his party friends. It involved the right of the Federal courts to remove to their jurisdiction cases against revenue officers charged with criminal offences by the State ; and Judge Cox fearlessly declared what he believed to be the law, that the Federal courts had the right to protect Federal officers, and to examine into the alleged criminality of their conduct in the discharge of their official duties. Although that decision was at that time repugnant to the views and inclinations of his political associates, its propriety has' now been recognized, and it is conceded to be the law. Elected to the Forty-seventh Congress, General Cox took high rank among his party associates from the South, who were generally termed at the North the "Confederate Brigadiers." His fine person, his admirable bearing, his carriage, bespeaking the cultured gentle- man no less than the courageous soldier, at once attracted atten- tion, while his conservatism, his moderate counsels and his wise action established him in the confidence of his political friends and in the esteem of his political opponents. Re-elected three times with increasing majorities, he served on many important com- mittees, especially on the Committee on Foreign Aflfairs, and during Mr. Cleveland's administration, as chairman of the Com- mittee on Civil Service Reform. He took a firm stand in favor of the extension of the Civil Service rules and the maintenance WILLIAM RUFFIN COX 235 of wliat then was hardly more than an experiment in our Gov- ernment that had been so long conducted on the spoils system. In his speech on Civil Service, in June, 1886, he declared that "Civil Service reform was the very essence and genius of Democracy." "It brings the offices within the reach of the people and says to the tenant of the humblest hamlet, 'Qualify yourself to serve your country, and if you have merit, you shall be re- warded without respect to influence or power.' " Among many of the strong and able speeches made by General Cox in Congress, we can only refer here to those on American labor, on Chinese immigration, on inter-State commerce and on the tariff. About the close of his Congressional career President Cleveland offered him an important appointment in connection with the land office. As, however, its rewards were simply pecuniary, and would take him away from his family and his business at home, General Cox declined the position. In 1892, General Cox was elected Secretary of the Senate of the United States, a position which brought him on terms of personal intimacy with the different senators, and he enjoyed their esteem and confidence to a rare degree, and he executed the duties of that high office with efficiency and great capability. During his long and eventful career General Cox has ever been a statesman with progressive ideas and high standards. In 1873 he was chairman of the Executive Committee that established the North Carolina Journal of Education in the cause of the common schools, and he has ever exerted himself for the amelioration of the condition of the people and the elevation of their social con- dition. His address at the Centennial of the Mecklenburg Dec- laration was remarkable for its broad and lofty patriotism, and, in fact, in all of the many important addresses which he has de- livered he has sought to enforce the most enlightened public action and to instill a love of country and an abiding faith in humanity. One of his principal addresses was on the Life and Character of General Ramseur, delivered at Raleigh May 10, 1891, in which he paid a just but eloquent tribute to that heroic son of North Carolina, with whom he had shared the fortunes of war. 236 NORTH CAROLINA Long engaged in agriculture, he for many years was a member of the Executive Committee of the State Agricultural Society, and he has often sought to promote agricultural interests by thoughtful addresses on special subjects, and he has been presi- dent of the North Carolina Agricultural Society. Since his return from Washington he has resided on his plantation at Penelo, in Edgecombe County, which he cultivates with the same care and attention that he bestowed on his brigade during his four years of glorious warfare. In 1880 General Cox lost his wife, and three years later he was married a second time to Miss Fannie Augusta Lyman, daughter of the Rt. Rev. T. B. Lyman, bishop of North Carolina, but after two years of happy married life she also died, leaving two sons surviving her. General Cox has always been prominent in every field of activity in which he has been engaged, and in his church relations he has been esteemed by his co-laborers as a zealous and efficient layman of the Protestant Episcopal Church, of which he has always been a member. He has been an attendant at many of the diocesan conventions, and he has likewise been an active trustee of the University of the South at Suwanee. General Cox has long been closely identified with Masonic inter- ests in North Carolina, and at its hands has received the highest honors, being Past Grand Master, and now chairman of the Masonic Temple Building Association, having introduced in the Grand Lodge a resolution which led to this project. In June, 1905, General Cox was married to Mrs. Herbert A. Claiborne, daughter of Colonel Henry Coalter Cabell of Richmond, Virginia, and Jane Alston of South Carolina, his wife. 5". A. Ashe. TPX^ FRANKLIN COXE , HE marvellous industrial development which has wrought such great changes in the upland section of the Southern States during the past quarter of a century has been chiefly due to the courage, sagacity and labor of her own sons. Welcoming all newcomers with hospitality that no adverse circumstances have ever chilled, yet the South has relied for her upbuilding upon the work of her native people. In the olden days the only pathways to enduring fame led through the fields of political success or military achievement. To-day there can be no surer honor and reputation than await the successful man of affairs. Many of these have been truly the creators of their own fortunes, without the advantages of birth or fortune ; but others, and those among the most successful, have been members of representative American families, whose honored ancestors are classed among the patriots of colonial and revo- lutionary history. Among such men stands out pre-eminently the name of Franklin Coxe. In the early settlement and colonization of North America the ancestors of Colonel Coxe bore an important part, and certain facts in connection with the early history of North America are not generally known, except to the student of colonial records. Dr. Daniel Coxe of London, England, was the largest landed proprietor in the American colonies. Born about 1640, he lived 238 NORTH CAROLINA nearly ninety years, and attained distinction as an author and physician (Philosophical Transactions, 1674). He was one of the physicians of Charles H., and also of Queen Anne, and was an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in London ; also a member of the Royal Society, elected in 1664. Early in life he became interested in the colonization of East and West New Jersey, and in 1687 bought large proprietary rights from the estate of Governor Byllinge, including the right of government. He administered the government of West New Jersey through a deputy for several years, and afterward disposed of his holdings to a company of London merchants. In 1698 he purchased the province of Carolina, originally granted Sir Robert Heath by Charles I., and in 1699 his title to the province of Carolina was reported by the lords of trade to the king as valid. While the patent covered nearly the whole of North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and westward to the Mississippi, Dr. Coxe claimed only the unsettled parts, south and west of North and South Carolina. The patent remained in the Coxe family until 1769, when it was surrendered to the British Government by the heirs, who received in compensation a grant in the colony of New York. The petition of Daniel Coxe, great-grandson of Dr. Coxe, in this proceeding is shown in the records of the lords of plantations, under date of July 14, 1768. Dr. Coxe was an ardent member of the Church of England, and was greatly interested in the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. He died in 1730. His eldest son, Colonel Daniel Coxe, came to America in 1702 to look after his father's interests, and after a return trip to England, came back and was prominent in the colonial history of New Jersey, being speaker of the Assembly, justice of the Supreme Court, and Grand Master of Masons for New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He married the daughter of Hon. John Eckley. He was the author of "A Description of the Province of Carolina," in which the first suggestion of a political union FRANKLIN COXE 239 of the colonies appears. For all the historical statements given above the authorities are ample and unquestioned from sources of undoubted reliability and the public records. His son, William Coxe, was a prominent citizen of Philadelphia, a merchant of large business, and often tendered important office. He married Mary, daughter of Tench Francis, attorney-general of Pennsylvania from 1 74 1 to 1754. Tench Coxe, his son, was born in Philadelphia in 1755, and died in that city in 1824. He was a man of great prominence, especially active in promoting domestic manufactures, being styled the "Father of the American Cotton Industry" (Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography) . He was appointed by Wash- ington assistant secretary of the treasury, and by Jefferson pur- veyor of public supplies. He was a delegate to Congress in 1789 from Pennsylvania, filling an unexpired term. The son of Tench Coxe, Francis Sidney Coxe, came to Ruther- ford County, North Carolina, in the early part of the century and married Jane McBee Alexander, the granddaughter of Colonel Elias Alexander of Revolutionary fame. The necessary limita- tions of this article do not permit a sketch of this upright man and honored citizen. Among his children was Franklin Coxe, the subject of this sketch. He was born at Rutherfordton, North Carolina, on Novem- ber 2, 1839. His education began in the local school of Ruther- fordton and was continued for a short while at Greenville, South Carolina. In his sixteenth year he entered the sophomore class of the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia, and was gradu- ated as a member of the class of 1857. His inclination led him to active work rather than to a professional career, and having inherited large interests in the anthracite coal fields of Pennsyl- vania, he became a civil engineer. The Coxe family were the founders of the firm of Coxe Brothers & Company, which afterward developed into the largest individual coal operators in America. At the outbreak of the war, Franklin Coxe enlisted as a private in Company B, Kershaw's Brigade of South Carolina Volunteers, 240 NORTH CAROLINA which was included in Bonham's Brigade, and he did faithful and efficient service during the first Bull Run campaign. While serving in the Confederate army, he received notice from his kinsmen and partners in Pennsylvania, who were joint owners with him in his coal lands, that the Government of the United States had learned that he was serving in the Confederate army, and that proceedings were about to be inaugurated to confiscate not only his individual interests, but those of the entire family. If his own interests alone had been involved, the question of individual sacrifice might have been a perplexing one, but he felt that he had no right to cause so great a loss to the relatives and partners who had always been true to him. Mr. Coxe went to Richmond and frankly laid the whole matter before President Davis and the Confederate authorities, and agreed to abide by their decision. They told him that he need not longer remain in the Confederate service. He furnished a substitute, and was given a safe conduct through the lines. Colonel Coxe went to Philadelphia, arranged his business affairs so as to protect the interests committed to his charge, and then went abroad. Before leaving, he placed in the hands of his Philadelphia agent a con- siderable sum of money to be expended for the benefit of prisoners of war from the Carolinas and Virginia. At the close of the war, Colonel Coxe returned to the South, and lived first in Greenville, South Carolina, and then in Ruther- fordton. North Carolina. In 1877 he removed to Charlotte, North Carolina, where he lived for five years, being president of the Commercial National Bank, of which institution he remained a director until his death. In 1882 he left Charlotte, and took a residence in Philadelphia, in which city he spent a part of each year. He selected as his home his handsome country residence, beautifully situated between Green and Broad rivers in Polk and Rutherford counties. North Carolina. In this ideal home he dispensed a lavish hospitality. In later years much of his time was spent in Asheville, North Carolina, where he had large interests. Colonel Coxe was associated with Colonel A. B. Andrews in FRANKLIN COXE 241 the building of the Western North Carolina Railroad, being vice- president of the company for some years, and in a time of great financial depression aiding it by loans from his private means. He became greatly impressed with the advantages of Asheville as a health resort, believing it to be adapted not only to the require- ments of residents of the Southern States during the heat of summer, but also for Northern tourists, who, while seeking to escape the rigors of a Northern winter, preferred a bracing climate to the warmer latitude of Florida. He bought in the center of the little mountain village — for such was Asheville twenty-five years ago — the beautiful hill called "Battery Porter," and erected on its summit the "Battery Park Hotel." This was considered by almost every one a very doubtful investment, and none of those who were asked to unite in the venture cared to incur the risk. It was the first modern hotel in the State (almost the first resort hotel with modern improvements in the South), and it became the most important factor in bringing about the growth and development of Western North Carolina. It attracted the patronage of wealthy tourists, the completion of the Western North Carolina Railroad having made it accessible, and it was the means of introducing the invigorating climate and scenic beauties of the North Caro- lina mountains to the citizens of the United States generally. It demonstrated also the business possibilities of the "Land of the Sky." In many other ways Colonel Coxe, by his influence with his Northern friends, his investments and his wise counsel, was of the greatest help in the advancement of the country which he loved so well. It is hardly too much to say that to Colonel A. B. Andrews, the builder of the Western North Carolina Railroad, and to Franklin Coxe more than to any other men the progress and development of Western North Carolina are due. Colonel Coxe was the first president of the Charleston, Cincinnati and Chicago Railroad (known as the "Three C's"), which extended from South Carolina through Shelby and Rutherfordton to Marion, North Carolina, and forms part of the Southern Railway. Colonel Coxe founded the Battery Park Bank, the most success- 242 NORTH CAROLINA ful financial institution in Western North Carolina, and he was a stockholder in many enterprises in Rutherford County, Ashe- ville and elsewhere. He was greatly interested in and largely promoted cotton manufacturing in many localities. While his interests were too varied for him to give much per- sonal attention to farming, his beautiful and extensive farm on Green River bore testimony to his intelligent comprehension of the demands of improved agriculture in the South. He was a lover of horses, interested in good roads, building at his own expense many miles in Polk and Rutherford counties. He aided with his means the authorities of several counties when financially pressed, and was always applied to for assistance by the citizens of Rutherford and Polk, and in fact of many counties of Western North Carolina. Colonel Coxe was always affiliated with the Democratic Party, and although not yielding his conservative views upon financial questions, and not giving adherence to all of the planks of the National Democratic platforms of 1896 and 1900, he did not change his political faith. While often mentioned as a candidate for political preferment, he always declined to enter public life, though he sometimes attended as a delegate Democratic national conventions. Colonel Coxe was especially well read in American history, and an unquestioned authority upon the local history and tra- ditions of Western North Carolina. His fund of incident and anecdote relating to the older people of Rutherford, Polk and Burke was marvellously extensive and exact, and was a great delight to his friends when he indulged in reminiscence and tra- dition. At his country seat. Green River, he was seen at his best, and the hospitality there dispensed will forever remain green in the memories of his friends. Of commanding presence, 6 feet 4 inches in height, erect, graceful, courteous in manner and charming in conversation, he was widely known in every part of the South and in Pennsylvania. In 1 86 1, at Green River, North Carolina, he married Mary Matilda Mills, sister of Colonel Joseph Mills of Burke County, FRANKLIN COXE 243 and a lineal descendant of Colonel Joseph McDowell, the dis- tinguished Revolutionary patriot. His widow, together with his five children — Otis Mills, Francis S., Daisy, who married Mr. William T. Wright of Philadelphia; Maude and Tench C. — yet survive him. His health began to fail some years ago, but his strong consti- tution long withstood the assaults of disease. The end came finally at his beloved home on Green River on the 2d of June, 1903. In 1895 Colonel Coxe erected in memory of his mother a beauti- ful memorial Episcopal Church, of native granite, in the town of Rutherfordton, his birthplace, and within its shadow his mortal remains await the resurrection. Fabius H. Busbee BURTON CRAIGE [he county of Rowan has furnished her full share of the leading men of the State of North Carolina, and prominent among these eminent men for more than forty years stood the subject of this sketch. Mr. Craige was the youngest son of David Craige and his wife, Mary Foster, who was his cousin. He was born March 13, 181 1, at the family residence on the south fork of the Yadkin River, a few miles above "The Point," where that stream flows into the main Yadkin, and about five miles from the town of Salisbury. The traditions of the Craige family relate that their ancestors came direct to Rowan County from Scotland. They had been the adherents of Prince Charles, the Pretender, in his unsuccessful efforts to regain the throne of his fathers, and soon after the fatal battle of CuUoden in 1746, they, with others, deemed it expedient to seek safety in America. While others found homes on the lower Cape Fear, the Craiges sought a refuge farther in the interior. The name "Craig" in the Scottish dialect signifies a sharp, high rock, or crag, and was probably assumed by them because their hall or castle was built on some high rock for safety in the days of ancient violence and lawlessness. In the sixteenth century John Craig was one of the Scottish '7^1^ /^. BURTON CRAIGE 245 Reformers, a coadjutor of John Knox, and it was he who pro- claimed the banns of marriage between Queen Mary and James Bothwell, while at the same time he openly denounced the union. Sir Thomas Craige of Aberdeenshire was a distinguished judge in the latter half of the sixteenth century, and through his son, Sir Lewis Craige, left descendants, among whom were several names in the list of leading Scottish lawyers. It is impossible, after the lapse of three hundred years, to connect with absolute certainty the Rowan family with that of the Reformer and jurist, but it is probable that they are all of the same stock. The Rowan family were adherents of the Church of England, as evidenced by an old prayer book, edition of 1766, still in the possession of the family, with family records on its fly-leaves. Four years after the battle of CuUoden, Archibald Craige and Mary, his wife, settled in Rowan County about two miles from Trading Foard, on the Yadkin. In 1756 Archibald Craige bought certain lots in the new town of Salisbury. He died in 1758, leaving two sons, James and David Craige. David married Polly Foster in 1776, and there were born to this couple three sons and two daughters, James, David, Lucy, Mary and Thomas. David, the second son, married his cousin, Mary Foster, and settled on a farm on the south fork of the Yadkin. The children of this couple were Robert Newton, Samuel, John and Burton Craige, the last mentioned being the subject of this sketch. Burton Craige's early days were spent on the farm and in attending such schools as the country afforded. About 1823-25 he attended a classical school in Salisbury conducted by Rev. Jonathan Otis Freeman, M.D., and from this school he went to the University of North Carolina, from which he was graduated in the class of 1829. Active, energetic and industrious in his natural temperament, he immediately began work as editor of the Western Carolinian, and as a student of law under David F. Caldwell, Esq., and was licensed as a lawyer in 1832, when barely twenty-one years old. The same year of his licensure he was elected as a member of the legislature from the borough of Salis- bury. The borough embraced nearly the same territory com- 246 NORTH CAROLINA prised in the present Salisbury Township, and was a relic of the old Colonial times, when New-Bern, Edenton, Wilmington, Bath, Halifax and Salisbury were each entitled to a representative in the General Assembly of North Carolina. The convention of June 4, 1835, called to amend the constitution, abolished borough representation, and thenceforth the counties were represented according to population. In the old borough system the free negroes were allowed by sufferance, without specific legal right, to vote at elections, but under the revised constitution this was forbidden. Mr. Craige was wont to describe with much zest how the different political parties under the old system were in the habit of herding and penning the free negroes, and low white voters also, in the "Round Bottom" and elsewhere, guarding, feeding and "treating" them for several days before the election, and then marching them into town and "voting" them en masse. Sometimes the opposite party would make a raid upon one of these corrals at the last moment and capture and carry off their voters in triumph. These abuses, among other things, led to the abolition of the borough system. In the year 1836 Mr. Craige was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Phifer Erwin, daughter of Colonel James Erwin of Burke County, and granddaughter of General Matthew Locke of Rowan, of Revolutionary fame. In this union with this most excellent lady, so well and widely connected, Mr. Craige not only added to the circle of his influence, but secured a companion and helpmeet that adorned his home with the gifts and graces of a wife and mother, who made it the abode of love and peace for forty years. The children trained by her gentle heart and hand rise up and call her blessed, and their voices still tremble with love and admiration when they mention her name. About this time Mr. Craige's health became somewhat impaired, and at the advice of his physicians he visited Europe, sailing from New Orleans in a merchant ship. The long sea voyage was a great benefit to him, and returning home, he devoted himself for some years to the practice of his profession. In these years he gathered a host of friends around him, and his practice in the courts of BURTON CRAIGE 247 Rowan and neighboring counties became extensive and lucrative. He possessed those quaHties of mind and manner that endeared him to the people — plainness of speech, simplicity of life, familiar- ity in intercourse, without the semblance of condescension. He remembered the names and faces of people, and the humblest man whom he had ever known could approach him with perfect assurance of recognition and cordial greeting. It is not certain that Mr. Craige was peculiarly successful as a farmer himself, though he always had a farm, but he could talk of farming and all of its various interests with more intelligence, fluency and accuracy than the farmer could himself. He was as perfectly at ease in the home of the humblest citizen as he was polite and courteous in the parlors of the rich and fashionable. He was thus eminently qualified for the career of a successful politician, and when in 1853 he received the nomination for Congress, he was triumphantly elected, as he was also in 1855, 1857 and 1859, ^"^ he was a member of Congress in 1861, when the war between the States began. When the convention of North Carolina was called in 1861 to determine what course the State should pursue in the disturbed condition of affairs, Mr. Craige was sent as a member of the convention from Rowan County, and on the 20th of May he offered the Ordinance of Secession in the form in which it was adopted, which placed his native State along with her sister States of the South in the great struggle against the Federal Govern- ment. By this convention he was chosen to be a member of the Confederate Congress, along with W. N. H. Smith, Thomas Ruffin, T. D. McDonell, A. W. Venable, J. M. Morehead, R. C. Puryear and A. T. Davidson. In this Congress he served out the extraordinary term, taking part in the proceedings of those stirring times. After his term was concluded, he retired to private life, though watching with eager interest the mighty struggle in which his country was embarked. Though too old to march in the rank and file of the army, and without that special military taste or training that would fit him to command regiments and brigades on the march and battlefield, yet was he well repre- 248 NORTH CAROLINA sented in the Southern army by his three brave and stalwart sons, who rushed to the front when the clarion notes of war sounded through the land. His eldest son, James, was a cadet at West Point Military Academy at the opening of the war, but returned home in haste, entered the Confederate army, gave the benefit of his acquired knowledge and experience to the training of recruits, and then in service on the field rose to the rank of major of infantry, and served with credit until the close of the war. His second son, Kerr, was in the University of North Carolina when the war opened, but laid down his books at once and entered the cavalry service in General Rufus Barringer's brigade, where he served with credit till the close of the war. When peace returned, he studied law, and practiced his profession until his death in 1904. Mr. Craige's youngest son, Frank, a mere schoolboy, also entered the army and served to the end of the war. He moved to Tennessee many years ago, where he now resides, a useful and honored citizen. Mr. Craige had two daughters. The oldest is the wife of Mr. Alfred B. Young, long a citizen of Concord, now of Davidson College, North Carolina. The youngest daughter is the wife of Mr. John P. Allison of Concord, North Carolina. While his sons were in the field, Mr. Craige devoted himself to the care of his family at home, and was always ready with heart and hand to help along the cause which he so much loved. Though retired to private life, he watched with eager interest the progress of events, and when the news of some signal victory was reported, he rejoiced with the anxious ones at home, and when the news of defeat was received, his heart was sad, as were the hearts of all. And when at last the flag that bore the blazonry of the "Stars and Bars" was furled at Appomattox, he declined to take any further part in public affairs, nor would he apply for the "removal of his disabilities." He still practiced his profession, studied history and recounted the deeds of other days, and sought repose from the strife of public affairs in the bosom of his family. It was during a visit to the family of his daughter and son-in- law, Mr. and Mrs. A. B. Young of Concord, and in attendance BURTON CRAIGE 249 upon the Cabarrus County Superior Court, that the last Messen- ger called for him, and he passed away from earth December 30, 1875. His remains were laid to rest in the Oak Grove Cemetery in Salisbury. In stature Mr. Craige was herculean, 6 feet and 6 inches in height, and otherwise of corresponding physical proportions. Seen standing or walking alone he did not seem larger than the average man, so well proportioned was his frame, but when seen in a crowd he towered like a giant, head and shoulders above his fellow-men. Fearless, positive and outspoken in the assertion of his convictions, and with a mien and physical form that might have awakened the envy and excited the fear of the bravest knight in the days of chivalry, he instinctively commanded the respect of his associates, and at the same time he charmed them with his frank and jovial disposition. He was easily, and as of right, the center of any informal company with which he might associate. His home life was full of love and gentleness. A kind and provident husband, an indulgent father, his children instinctively rendered a cheerful obedience to his wishes, and though more than a quarter of a century has elapsed since his removal, those children cherish in their hearts a worthy admiration for his strength and a tender recollection of his kindness and love. Jethro Rumple, D.D. KERR CRAIGE 'ERR CRAIGE was one of North Carolina's noblest sons, distinguished no less by his private worth than by his superior excellence as a pub- lic man. He was a Christian gentleman with- out blemish, a man of fine intellectual powers, an able, sound and successful lawyer and a true statesman. He had a warm heart, lofty bearing and polished manners. In appearance he was of massive frame, with clear-cut features and handsome form and face, agreeable, companionable and kind. He had a fund of wit and humor in his make-up, and his life was a model for young men. Mr. Craige was descended from old and influential families on both sides. The Craiges came direct to this country from Scotland in 1750, and settled near Salisbury. Lieutenant David Craige, the great-grandfather of Mr. Craige, was distinguished for bravery and patriotic daring in the war of the Revolution. Hon. Burton Craige, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Rowan County in 181 1, and graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1829. He was one of the leading public men of the State in his day, a member of the legislature in 1835, and was elected to Congress in 1853, re-elected in 1855, 1857 and 1859. He was a member of the convention of 1861. He was the author and introducer of the Ordinance of Secession, which was adopted. KERR CRAIGE 251 By that body he was appointed a member of the Confederate Congress. He was always a promoter of all measures tending to the success of the Confederate cause. No son of North Carolina ever left a more honorable or a more consistent record, or performed public services which will better bear a close inspection. A sketch of Burton Craige will be found elsewhere in this volume. Mr. Craige's mother was Miss Elizabeth Phifer Erwin, a daughter of Colonel James Erwin of Burke County, a grand- daughter of Colonel Martin Phifer of Revolutionary fame and a great-granddaughter of Hon. Matthew Locke. She was a woman of rare beauty and sterling qualities. Kerr Craige was born in Catawba County, near Newton, March 14, 1843, where his early life was passed until his father removed to Salisbury in 1851. After a good preparatory educa- tion at Catawba College, where he always took a high stand, he entered the University of North Carolina when sixteen years of age, but when he had been two years at that institution, the war between the States breaking out, he abandoned his studies, and in May, 1861, volunteered as a private in the First North Caro- lina Cavalry, being the Ninth Regiment, commanded originally by Colonel Robert Ransom, and assigned to Hampton's Brigade, afterward Gordon's and then Barringer's Brigade, and was re- garded as one of the finest cavalry regiments in the service. It was almost constantly in action, and was noted in the army for its dash and daring. In the fall of that year Sergeant Craige received merited promotion, and shared in all of the enterprises and hard- ships of his regiment. In the engagement of the 8th of May, 1864, at Ground Squirrel Church; he had two horses killed under him. When his first, a splendid gray, was shot, he borrowed a fine bay from one of the men, telling him if he would let him have his horse he could go to the rear. The soldier accepted the offer, and soon the bay was killed also. Lieutenant Craige here fortunately escaped serious injury, as on many other occasions of great danger, for he ever sought to lead when his comrades were engaged in warm work on the battlefield. When Colonel 252 NORTH CAROLINA Gordon was promoted to the command of the brigade, he selected Lieutenant Craige as aide-de-camp on his staff. In his sketch of the First North CaroHna Cavalry Regiment, at top of page 477 of first volume of "North Carolina Regiments, 1861-65," Colonel Cheek writes : "When Beale's men came up and I com- manded 'First North Carolina, forward!' the first man I saw spring out into the open field was Captain Craige of Company I." This is a glorious tribute to Captain Craige for his courage in one of the bloodiest fights of the war. After General Gordon was killed. Lieutenant Craige became captain of his company in First North Carolina Cavalry, and continued to render valiant service until captured at Namozine Church, April 3, 1865. He was held a prisoner at Johnston's Island until the following July. As soon as practicable after peace was restored. Captain Craige studied law, attending the celebrated law school of Chief Justice Pearson, and he entered on the practice with his father in 1867, at Salisbury. In 1870, the Democrats having secured a majority in the legislature, Mr. Craige was elected reading clerk of the House of Representatives, and at the next election represented Rowan County in that body, his fine qualities and superior intel- lectual powers winning for him many friends among the public men of the State with whom he was brought in contact. The following year he was happily united in marriage to Miss Josephine Lawrence Branch, the youngest daughter of the dis- tinguished General L. O'B. Branch and Mrs. Nannie Blount Branch. Mrs. Craige's beauty was equalled only by the loveliness of her character. Seven children were born to them — Nannie, Burton, Branch, Josephine, Elizabeth, Kerr and William, the last mentioned dying in infancy. Mrs. Craige died in 1885, and the children were most carefully brought up by Mr. Craige's cousin. Miss Bettie Craige, an estimable, lovely Christian woman. Mr. Craige succeeded by inheritance to the high social and influential position which his father, one of the most magnificent of North Carolinians, had long enjoyed, and his career, both in private and public life, only augmented the respect and esteem in KERR CRAIGE 253 which he was held by his fellow-citizens. While not ambitious of public station, he, however, served as director of the North Caro- lina Railroad for ten years, resigning the position in 1889, and he was also a trustee of the University. In 1884 he was nominated for Congress, but his health not being robust at that time, he declined the honor ; three years later he reluctantly accepted the office of collector of internal revenue for the western district of North Carolina, and administered the duties of that office acceptably, both to the Government and to the people. On Mr. Cleveland's election as President in 1892, Mr. Craige was offered the position of third assistant postmaster- general, and for four years he performed the duties of that high office with distinguished ability. While continuing his practice as a lawyer, he was made the president of the First National Bank of Salisbury, and because of his sterling worth and high integrity, as well as his frank, affable manners, he continued to grow in the esteem of his com- munity and in the personal regard of his friends. Mr. Craige was a most tender, loving father, and made com- panions of his children, who idolized him. He was a great reader, and loved his books and his home, which was a most hospitable, cultured and delightful one. Mr. Craige died September i, 1894, survived by five of his children. "His death was a lamentable event. His integrity was a proverb, and he was conspicuous for his great dignity and for a modesty which would become a woman. His great soul hid from nothing. "He wrought well, set an example for others to live by and left the incense of a good name." Paul B. Means. WILLIAM DRUMMOND 'S soon as practicable after the Lords Proprietors received their grant for Carolina, they com- missioned William Drummond to be governor of Albemarle. Without doubt this appointment was made at the instance of Governor Berkeley, who was one of the proprietors and was on the spot and knew best about the details of management. Under the plan of government devised by the proprietors, the governor was to hold office for three years and then was to return to private citizenship. At first all the citizens were to meet together to compose a Grand Assembly for the purpose of making laws. The colonists were few in number and much scattered in the wilder- ness in those first days, and but little government was necessary. Drummond was probably selected as the governor with the view of his promoting a settlement. He is described as a man of prudence and abilities, and is said to have been a Scotchman and a Presbyterian. One of the main features of the colony was absolute freedom of conscience in religious worship, and the fact that for the first fifty years the Church of England made no effort to have regular services in Albemarle would indicate that the bulk of the inhabitants were not of that denomination, while Edmund- son in 1672 mentions that he found but one Quaker in the colony. Of Drummond's administration no record exists showing any dissensions among the inhabitants, and it may be assumed that WILLIAM DRUMMOND 255 all the settlers were too much engaged in making their new homes in the wilderness to need much oversight. That the amount of tobacco they raised was important is shown by the general agree- ment between Maryland and Virginia and "the new plantations" for a cessation of tobacco growing, which was not to become effective without the concurrence of the "new plantations." At the expiration of Drummond's term in 1667, he returned to his home in Virginia, which perhaps he had never abandoned, and for some years passed out of public view. Some eight years later many of the people of Virginia, following the leadership of Bacon, rebelled against Berkeley's administration, among them being Governor Drummond, ahd it is said that his wife, Mrs. Sarah Drummond, was an enthusiastic promoter of the rebellion. She passed about the country encouraging the doubtful and cheering the hopeful, her constant exclamation being, "We shall do well enough," and "The child that is unborn shall have cause to rejoice at this rising of the country." But although at first Bacon had the large advantage, finally Berkeley succeeded in regaining power; and upon Bacon's unfortunate death, the rising was speedily suppressed. Drummond realized that he had nothing to hope from the moderation of Berkeley, and knew that for him- self the issue was one of life or death. He bore himself with resolution, but at length fell into the hands of the irate governor. When Berkeley beheld Drummond before him, he gave full ex- pression to his heartless and vindictive spirit. With an insulting bow of feigned respect, he said: "Mr. Drummond, you are very welcome. I am more glad to see you than any man in Virginia. Mr. Drummond, you shall be hanged in half an hour." With great resolution, Drummond replied, "What your honor pleases." In two hours Drummond had suffered the penalty, and Berkeley declared his lands forfeited and reduced his wife and children to penury. Berkeley's course, indeed, was so bloody that when relieved of government and he went to England the king declared "that old fool has put more people to death in that naked country than I did for the murder of my father," and the king refused to see him, which so mortified Berkeley that he soon died of a 256 NORTH CAROLINA broken heart. Berkeley had married the widow of Samuel Stephens, the second governor of Albemarle, and she subsequently became the wife of Philip Ludwell, who in 1689 was appointed governor of Albemarle, or rather, "of that part of our province of Carolina that lies north and east of Cape Fear,'' which was the first official description of North Carolina, that name being after that applied to the northern half of the province. Before Lady Berkeley's marriage with Governor Ludwell, Mrs. Drummond brought suit against her for some of the lands and goods which had been seized as the property of her husband, and recovered a verdict in the courts. Mrs. Drummond's daughter Sarah afterward became the wife of Colonel Sam Swann, who afterward moved to Albemarle and married for a second wife a daughter of Major Alexander Lillington. Colonel Thomas Swann of Albemarle was a descendant of Governor Drummond, but Speaker Sam Swann, of the next generation, was a grandson of Major Lillington. The name of Albemarle's first governor, the unfortunate martyr to the cause of liberty, has been perpetuated by calling the lovely lake in the heart of the great Dismal Swamp Lake Drummond. 5". A. Ashe. GEORGE DURANT ?N his "Curiosities of Literature," D'Israeli says : "There was a most bloody-minded 'maker of washing balls,' as one John Durant is described, appointed a lecturer by the House of Com- mons — the Long Parliament — who always left out of the Lord's Prayer, 'as we forgive them that trespass against us,' and substituted, 'Lord, since Thou hast now drawn out Thy sword, let it not be sheathed again till it be glutted in the blood of the malignants ;' the malignants being the Cavaliers." George Durant, one of those who laid the foundations of the North Carolina settlement, was born October i, 1632, and had a brother, John Durant of London, but the "bloody-minded" parson to the Parliament was probably his father rather than brother. Of his early life nothing has yet been ascertained. On Janu- ary 4, 1659, he was married to Ann Marwood by Rev. David Lindsey, in Northumberland County, Virginia; and on Decem- ber 24th of that year his son George was born, and on Febru- ary 15, 1661, his daughter Elizabeth, and on December 26, 1662, his son John. These children were probably born in his Virginia home, but whether he lived on the waters of the Chesapeake in Northumberland County or in Nansemond County, near Albe- marle, is unknown. Other children were born in North Carolina. About the time of his marriage, Durant apparently formed the 2S8 NORTH CAROLINA purpose of making a new home for himself in some more favored spot, and in the same year joined the party composed of John Battle, Dr. Thomas Relfe, Roger Williams, Thomas Jarvis, John Harvey, John Jenkins and others to explore and settle the wilder- ness of the Albemarle, which was then understood to be beyond the limits of the province of Virginia. The others bought land from the Indians and speedily located; but Durant passed two years in exploring before determining on the best spot for his new home, and finally, on March 13, 1661 (perhaps under the new style 1662), he purchased Durant's Neck from the Indian king, Kilcocanen; and he selected a tract adjoining his own for his friend, ''George Catchmaid of Treslick, Gentleman." A year later the governor of Virginia having required all those who had seated themselves on the Albemarle under deeds from the Indians to take out grants from Virginia, Durant requested Catchmaid to procure a grant for him, but that gentleman took title to the whole tract, including Durant's and his own, in his own name, how- ever, giving a written obligation to make a conveyance to Durant at some future time. Of Catchmaid it may be said that he became speaker of the first Assembly of Albemarle, and dying before he had settled with Durant, a controversy subsequently arose between Timothy Biggs, a wealthy Quaker, who had married his widow, and Durant con- cerning these unsettled matters; but as important as Catchmaid was in the colony, Durant himself exerted a still greater influence among the inhabitants. Some fifteen years after the first settle- ment, and when a considerable number of planters had opened lands on the Albemarle, and the crop of tobacco was important, the Crown officers first attempted to collect duties on tobacco shipped from Albemarle to the ports of New England, and this proceeding aroused great opposition in the colony. Eastchurch was the speaker of the Assembly, and being in England, where he had an influential connection, being related to Lord Treasurer Clifford, the Lords Proprietors appointed him governor, thinking that since the Assembly had chosen him speaker he would have influence enough to compose the differences in the colony and GEORGE DURANT 259 secure an enforcement of the navigation laws and the collection of the export duties on tobacco. At the same time Miller was appointed a customs officer, Timothy Biggs being another. Durant was in London shortly after these appointments were made, and he resolutely told the Lords Proprietors that Eastchurch should never be governor, and that he would revolt before he would allow it. This defiant assertion of power, face to face with the Lords Proprietors in London, bespoke the man, and attests his thorough conviction that he would be able to control the action of the people, even to the point of overthrowing the established government. When returning to Albemarle, East- church stopped at the Isle of Nevis and deputed Miller as presi- dent of the Council to conduct the administration until his own arrival. On reaching Albemarle, Miller assumed authority, but discovering signs of disaffection, in order to secure an Assembly that would sustain him, he imposed some new regulations in the election of members and called a new Assembly. When Durant arrived, he at once organized opposition, and through his agents collected a considerable armed force, overthrew the government, called a new Assembly, seized Miller and imprisoned him, and also Timothy Biggs, the customs officers. Eastchurch eventually reached Virginia, but died before appearing in Albemarle. For two years the popular government established by Durant con- tinued. Acting with him were Jenkins, whom he declared gov- ernor ; Alexander Lillington, Thomas Collen, who was the speaker of the Assembly; James Blount, Henry Bonner, Thomas Jarvis and nearly all of the leading planters. Biggs being a Quaker, and wealthy and influential, the few Quakers who were at that time in Albemarle did not co-operate with Durant; and being harshly treated because of their want of sympathy with the leaders in the popular movement, they made a petition to the Lords Pro- prietors to redress the grievances sufifered at the hands of Durant and "the rebels." For several years Durant and his friends controlled Albemarle without regard to the commissions issued either by the Crown or the Lords Proprietors. Still, the chief purpose in the revolt 26o NORTH CAROLINA appears to have been only to prevent the collection of certain taxes or custom duties which they thought illegal, oppressive and destructive of the interests of the settlement. A century later the principles contended for by Durant, Lillington and the other rebels of Albemarle were reasserted by the rebels of all the colonies. But at that time Albemarle could not contend with the British Empire, and when the Crown demanded that the Lords Proprietors should maintain established government in Carolina or forfeit their charter, matters were accommodated, and Jenkins became governor, with Durant as attorney-general, and Durant virtually continued the directing influence in the colony ; nor did he restrain himself in punishing his enemies, in particular the Quakers com- plaining grievously of the oppression to which they were sub- jected by the administration. Some years later, it being considered best that one of the pro- prietors should have the administration, Seth Sothel was appointed governor and came to Albemarle ; but he developed into a tyrant, and was guilty of many excesses. One of the allegations made against him was his propensity for possessing himself of the prop- erty of other men. At length, because of some difference between himself and Durant, who had roundly denounced him, he seized and imprisoned Durant, and later took possession of some of Durant's property. This was the straw that broke the camel's back. Durant led a movement that resulted in seizing the gov- ernor, incarcerating him in a log-house ten feet square, as had been done in the case of Miller on a former occasion, and con- vening an Assembly, which determined to send him to England for trial. Sothel was so alarmed at these proceedings that he compromised with the people, and accepted instead a trial by the Assembly, and was sentenced to banishment from the colony. In these two episodes, which have usually been regarded as the out- break of a turbulent disposition on the part of the people, Durant's power as a popular leader was evidenced, and the circumstances seem to justify a claim to patriotism as well as wisdom and resolu- tion. That he was a man of unusual strength of character is GEORGE DURANT 261 apparent, and his actions on the mimic stage of Albemarle would, had they been on a larger scale, doubtless entitle him to a high place among the patriot leaders of the world. He continued to exert a strong influence among the inhabitants of Albemarle until his death, his will being admitted to probate on February 6, 1694, some thirty-five years after his first arrival in Albemarle. During his life there were no church buildings in Albemarle, except alone those in which the Quakers held their services ; and, indeed, as far as known, there were no religious services held in Albemarle during that period, except by the Quakers; so that whatever were the religious convictions of Durant, no record of them is now . preserved. There was entire religious freedom in Virginia in 1659, except as to the Quakers, and there does not appear to be any foundation for a surmise that the company of first settlers locating on the Albemarle were associated together in any particular religious communion. As Durant was prominent in the colony during his life, so his children and grandchildren intermarried with families of conse- quence in 'that community; and there are still many of his descend- ants living in the State of North Carolina, and in every generation they have contributed notably to the social and industrial life of the State. S. A. Ashe. CHARLES EDEN • HEN Edward Hyde passed away in 1712, and it became necessary to appoint his successor as governor of North Carohna, the person chosen to fill that post was Charles Eden, who received his appointment in the spring of 1713, but did not actively begin his administration until May 28, 1714, when he was sworn in at a meeting of the Pro- vincial Council in North Carolina. Governor Eden was born in 1673, and was a little over forty }'ears of age when he reached North Carolina. He belonged to an ancient family seated in the County Palatine of Durham, in the north of England. To this family also belonged Sir Robert Eden, last colonial governor of Maryland, and many other men of note, including, peers, bishops and statesmen. Governor Eden was appointed during the reign of Queen Anne, but soon news of her death was brought across the Atlantic, and George I. was officially proclaimed her successor by the governor and Council in North Carolina on November 6, 1714. In the spring of 1715, Governor Eden sent forces to aid South Carolina in her Indian War, thus repaying the generous assistance rendered by that colony to North Carolina during similar troubles in 171 1. At the end of that war a large part of the Tuscaroras went to join the Five Nations in New York, that Indian con- federacy being thereafter known as the Six Nations. The CHARLES EDEN 263 power of the Indians in North CaroHna was much broken, and they gave bvit little trouble afterward. By the constitution, or "Grand Model," which the English philosopher, John Locke, and Shaftesbury drew up for the gov- ernor of Carolina, provision was made for an order of Colonial Nobility, whose members were to bear the title of Landgrave. Governor Eden was made a landgrave on February 19, 1718, and was the last person who ever received that honor. In 1 718 another one of the numerous efforts to settle the boundary between Virginia and North Carolina was made; but, as had been the case during Governor Hyde's administration, the plan was abandoned owing to a disagreement among the com- missioners. Like nearly all of the early governors, Eden belonged to the Church of England, and was elected a vestryman of Chowan precinct on the 3d of January, 1715. During the administration of Governor Eden, the noted pirate, Edward Teach, usually known as "Blackbeard," was actively en- gaged in operations on the coast of North Carolina, and Eden has been charged with being on terms of too great intimacy with him. But the only circumstances to give color to this charge are the fact that when Teach was slain on November 22, 1718, there was found on his body a letter from Tobias Knight saying that he thought the governor would be glad to see Teach before the latter left America, and the governor's protection of Knight when charged with complicity with Teach. At that time there was much feeling among the better people of the colony against Eden and Knight, and Edward Moseley and Maurice Moore broke into the public office to examine the records, for which Eden caused them to be punished, and Moseley was debarred from holding office for three years. Eden, however, was generally respected, and stood well with the people in succeeding years, and was esteemed as a man of character. The wife of Governor Eden was a widow, Mrs. Penelope Golland. This lady had no children by her marriage with Gov- ernor Eden, but one of her two children by her former marriage, 264 NORTH CAROLINA named Penelope Golland, was four times married, her last husband being Governor Gabriel Johnston. The death of Governor Eden occurred in his fiftieth year, on the 26th of March, 1722, and he was buried at Eden House, in Bertie County. More than one hundred and fifty years later, in July, 1889, his remains were exhumed and carried to Edenton, where they now rest with those of other colonial governors in the burial ground of St. Paul's Church. After the death of Governor Eden, Thomas Pollock again be- came acting governor. In a few months he also died. Then President William Reed administered the affairs of state until the arrival of George Burrington, who was regularly commis- sioned by the Lords Proprietors. North Carolina's ancient colonial capital, the town of Edenton, is so called in honor of Governor Eden, and worthily preserves his memory. Marshall De Lancey Haywood. WELDON N. EDWARDS fELDON N. EDWARDS, distinguished as a statesman and agriculturist, was born in North- ampton County, two miles from Gaston, in 1788. The Edwards family came to this State from Virginia, John Edwards of Brunswick County, Virginia, having died there in 1713. One of his sons, Benjamin, was the ancestor of the subject of this sketch, whose father was also named Benjamin Edwards. Of the same family was Isaac Edwards, who was a member of the first Provincial Congress in August, 1774, representing Craven County. After obtaining his license to practice law, Weldon Edwards settled in Warren County, he having been educated ,at the cele- brated academy at Warrenton, and having read law with Judge Hall in that county. He was a kinsman of Nathaniel Macon, and was intimate with that statesman, who then was at the head of the Democratic Party in North Carolina, and himself affiliated with those who held the same political opinions. At the time of his entrance into public life, however, and for many years after- ward, there was practically but one party in the United States, although there were shades of differences in political action. His first appearance in public life was in 1814 as a representative of Warren County in the House of Commons, to which position he was re-elected the following year. In 181 5 Mr. Macon, who had 266 NORTH CAROLINA long been a member of the House of Representatives, being elected to the Senate, resigned, and Mr. Edwards, at the early age of twenty-eight, became his successor in the House of Representa- tives, and continued to represent his district in that body for eleven years, when he voluntarily retired, declining to become a candidate again. In 1823 Mr. Edwards had married Miss Lucy Norfleet of Hali- fax County, and he now sought 'the pleasures of domestic life on his fine farm, enjoying the society of a charming circle of friends, which was much more in consonance with his gentle nature than the turmoil of a political career. His leading characteristics were charity, benevolence and sym- pathy, and of him it has been said : "His life was gentle; and the elements So mixed in him that Nature might stand up And say to all the world, 'This was a man.' " After nearl}' a decade of retirement, Mr. Edwards again entered public life, and in 1833 became senator from Warren County, and continued to serve as such until 1844. That term of service em- braced a period of unusual interest in political action. General Jackson's administration was undergoing a trying lOrdeal. He was at enmity with Henry Clay, the old leader of the Democratic Party, and with Calhoun, who had been elected Vice-President along with him; his Force Bill against South Carolina had alienated many friends at the South, while his warfare on the national bank had driven off many others of great influence in every section of the Union ; the Whig Party in opposition to his administration was taking shape ; and in North Carolina the west- ern counties were clamoring for a revision of the constitution, being more earnest and eager now that the western people of Virginia had been successful in having the constitution of that State reformed in their interest; and the movement for internal improvements had been intensified by- the great convention held in 1833. By a single vote a constitutional convention was called in 1835 ; and Mr. Edwards, along with Mr. Macon, represented WELDON N. EDWARDS 267 Warren County in that body. Mr. Macon presided over its delib- eration, while Mr. Edwards took a prominent part on the floor. Particularly was he pronounced in regard to the question of elim- inating from the constitution all religious tests as a qualification for office. He said that in private life he never expressed his religious views, but he deemed it incumbent on him to seek to engraft on the constitution the most liberal provisions in regard to this subject. He submitted an amendment in effect allowing freedom of worship and of speech in all matters of religion, and forbidding acts of licentiousness and practices inconsistent with the peace and safety of the State. He spoke of the agitated state of the public mind, in some counties the excitement bordering almost on frenzy, but he declared it was the duty of gentlemen to throw themselves into the breach and stem this mighty current of popular delusion. No one prized more highly than he did the approbation of his constituents — to receive that approbation he regarded, as his highest reward ; to deserve it the highest praise. But on a subject like this he would not exchange the privilege of speaking his own sentiments freely and independently for the plaudits of the world. His view, however, did not prevail, and the only change made in the constitution at that time was to substitute the Christian religion for the Protestant religion, admitting Roman Catholics to office. The work of the convention was of particular interest in allowing increased political power to the western counties, and it did not receive the vote of either Mr. Macon or Judge Ruffin or Mr. Edwards. At the polls the people divided so sharply on sectional lines that in some of the eastern counties no vote was cast for the adoption of the amendments, while in some of the western counties the vote was unanimous in favor of them. North Carolina at that period could boast of a galaxy of public men never before equalled in her history, and Mr. Edwards, while not one of the greatest, exercised a strong influence because of the purity of his life and the excellence of his character. He remained for a decade a prominent figure in the State Senate, and then again retired and addressed himself exclusively to his agricultural 268 NORTH CAROLINA pursuits. He is described as a princely gentleman. "Nature made ' him a nobleman, though in faith and practice he was a devoted Democrat ; a prince among Democrats, a Democrat among princes. He was a scientific farmer, and loved his grasses and grain, his horses and cattle, his sheep and hogs, and it was delightful to listen to his discourses about farming and stock raising. His reading was extensive, and he was well informed on political sub- jects, and his judgment was sound and clear. He was grave and thoughtful, but his social nature relaxed at every grasp of the hand and his benignant smile warmed the hearts of his friends. He was delightfully companionable, and could delude every guest with the idea that he was conferring pleasure instead of receiving hospitality. Courtly in his manners, he was yet genial, cordial, jocose and exceedingly fond of young people, although his domestic felicity had been in some measure marred by his being denied any children." In 1850, when there was great political agitation, he again re- appeared in the Senate Chamber, and presided over that body; and when in May, 1861, the momentous questions then arising demanded the services of the most experienced public men, he was again called from his retirement, and was elected a delegate from Warren County to the State convention. At that time he was about seventy-three years of age. He was a leader of the ardent and restless men who had been impatient at the tardy movements in North Carolina, and like them he hailed with delight the prospect of separation from the Northern people, whom he despised, and a government which no longer respected the com- pact between the States to which it owed its being. When the convention met on the 20th of May, he was elected the presiding officer, his competitor for that distinguished position being Hon. William A. Graham of Orange. As a presiding officer it is said he had no superior. His experience as speaker of the State Senate, and his entire familiarity with parliamentary rules, made it an easy task for him to govern a deliberate body composed of so many distinguished delegates. Not learned or classical as Mr. Badger or Governor Graham or Judge Ruffin, and perhaps some WELDON N. EDWARDS 269 other members of the body, he was their equal in comprehension, in experience and integrity. He possessed almost every virtue and many talents to an extraordinary degree, and he sustained himself admirably in every position in which he was placed. The convention held four sessions, and finally adjourned in May, 1862. Relieved of his public functions, Mr. Edwards employed himself in preparing a memoir of his kinsman, Hon. Nathaniel Macon, which was published in July, 1862. Mr. Macon had been his political mentor, and he had followed his precepts as a public man throughout his life. Indeed, there was much similarity of thought and action between them. Both had an abiding confidence in the capacity of man for self-government, and favored the largest measure of public liberty; both were close to nature, and found their chief happiness in agricultural pursuits. Equally with both the practice of severe virtue was the foundation of their admirable characters. After the war, although his large estate had been greatly im- paired, Mr. Edwards still retained a handsome sufficiency. He was born when the State of North Carolina was an independent sovereignty not connected with any other American State except by bonds of amity. He lived through the whole period of her existence as a member of the American Union, and presided over the convention that had declared her again a separate and sov- ereign commonwealth, and he passed through the period of the great Civil War, and beheld all the horrors of reconstruction; but he lived to see the white people of the State once more in control of the legislative department, with high hopes of re- establishing peace, contentment, prosperity and happiness in the land. And for more than two generations he had been a prom- inent actor in matters of public concern. He passed away on December 18, 1873, at the age of eighty-five years. 5". A. Ashe. RICHARD EVERARD [HOUGH all of the colonial governors of North Carolina were of gentle blood, and one (Ed- ward Hyde) was closely related to the royal family, none held any hereditary rank save the subject of this sketch, Sir Richard Everard, Baronet. Governor Everard was born in England, and was the head of an ancient family which had been seated at Much Waltham, in the County of Essex, since the reign of Henry HI. It was on the 17th of July, 1725, that Everard was sworn in as governor of North Carolina at Edenton. His predecessor as governor, and also his successor in that office, was George Burrington, who was governor for two separate terms. Though a man of great energy and some ability, Burrington was fierce and relentless in his enmities, and he was particularly hostile to Everard, by whom he had been displaced, and who was allied with those who had caused his dismissal as governor. On one occasion Burrington went to Everard's house demanding satisfaction, and hurled a torrent of profanity at him, and threatened to burn his house over his head. In Everard's time the province made very rapid progress to the westward and to the southward, and while he was governor, in 1729, the boundary between Virginia and North Carolina was finally established. It was in the same year that the Lords Pro- prietors, with the exception of the Earl of Granville, sold the RICHARD EVERARD 271 province of Carolina to the Crown, after which the king appointed the governors of North Carolina. There had been two factions or parties in the province for many years. Burrington had acted with the leading inhabitants, and was opposed by the chief justice and other officials who repre- sented the interests of the Lords Proprietors ; and when Everard came he naturally was influenced by those who had secured Bur- rington's dismissal, and he was at enmity with the other faction. This continued until the sale to the Crown became known, and then Everard completely changed his course, and denouncing his former associates, allied himself with the Popular Party. He assented to the passage of an act providing for the issue of a large amount of paper currency, and otherwise aided the measures of the Popular leaders, so that the Assembly made him a present of £500, the only present they ever made to any governor. When Burrington heard rumors of the sale of the province, he left his home on Governor's Creek, on the lower Cape Fear, and hastened to England, and secured the appointment of governor from the Crown, and returning, was sworn in on the 25th of Febru- ary, 1 73 1. Shortly after this, Sir Richard Everard left North Carolina, going to England by way of Nansemond, Virginia. At Nanse- mond his daughter Susannah married David Meade, and from them is descended the noted Meade family of Virginia, among whose members were Colonel Richard Kidder Meade and Major Everard Meade of Revolutionary fame, and Bishop William Meade of Virginia. Governor Everard's wife was Susannah Kidder, daughter and co-heiress of Richard Kidder, Lord Bishop of Bath and Wells. Governor Everard died on the 17th of Febru- ary, 1733, in London, and his remains were interred at his old home in Essex. His eldest son. Sir Richard, continued to live in North Carolina, and was a prominent member of the Assembly ; on his death the baronetcy descended to his younger brother. Sir Hugh, upon whose death it became extinct. Marshall De Lancey Haywood. EDMUND FANNING [T is not fit that the history of a person should appear till the prejudice both of his antagonists and adherents be softened and subdued," wrote the kindly and philosophic Addison. The immediate chroniclers of a stirring period always envelop its heroes in such a halo of glory that it is difficult to discover their true dimensions ; and, on the other hand, they paint an active and energetic enemy in colors so dark that the outline of his person and character is wholly obscured. The historian, however, must have clear insight. He must be neither dazzled by the light nor blinded by the shadows. He must be just and yet not justify the sinner. In short, he must give us the portraits of men and not fanciful pictures of demi- gods or demons. This is an attempt to paint Edmund Fanning, obnoxious official and ardent Tory as he was — not all defects, but a compound of defects and virtues. Son of Colonel James Fanning and Hannah Smith, he was born on Long Island in 1737. The Fannings were of the middle class, and though English, came from Ireland to this country. Edmund graduated from Yale College in 1757, studied law in New York, came to North Carolina in 1761, and located at Hillsboro. He soon acquired a very large practice in the county and superior courts. He represented Orange County in the EDMUND FANNING 273 colonial Assemblies of 1762, 1766, 1767 and 1768, and the bor- ough of Hillsboro in 1770 and 1771 ; qualified as register of deeds of that county in May, 1763, and continued such until his resig- nation October, 1768; was a judge of the Superior Court in 1766 and colonel of militia for several years before he returned to New York in 1 77 1. In that colony, both before and after his return, he was surveyor-general. In 1777 he enlisted a regiment of Tories and commanded it during the remainder of the war. In 1783 he retired to Nova Scotia, and was appointed lieutenant-governor of that province in September of that year. Later he was trans- ferred to Prince Edward Island as governor, and continued such for nearly nineteen years. In 1793 he was made a major-general in the British army. He was promoted to lieutenant-general in 1799, and to general in 1808. He died in London February 28, 1818, leaving a widow and three daughters. He was an A.M. of Yale in 1764, of King's College, New York, in 1772; a D.C.L. of Oxford University in 1774 and an LL.D. of Yale and Dart- mouth colleges in 1803. (See 8 Colonial Records, p. 41, and Haywood's Tryon, 83.) Surely a man who had so many honors from such varied sources bestowed upon him must have been of distinguished merit. He was a young fellow when he came to North Carolina — only twenty-four — and no doubt he looked to the future with the self- confidence and assurance of youth, yet in a few years such a storm burst about him that he was glad to escape with his life, leaving his property and reputation to the vengeance of his foes. A brief statement of the conditions that made him so obnoxious is necessary. A populace free and independent then inhabited the hills and valleys of the middle section of North Carolina. They were bold in demanding and bold in defending what they deemed their rights. Unfortunately, a large, very large, element among them was wholly illiterate and filled with all the prejudices and passions of the unlearned. As a whole, then, it was a free but unenlightened democracy, vaguely conscious of its power, peculiarly sensitive to the appeal of the artful demagogue, and when aroused, very dangerous to its foes. Over against this 274 NORTH CAROLINA democracy was the smaller but more influential privileged classes — the landed gentry, members of the professions, mer- chants, etc., including all who did not live by the labor of their hands. From this class all or nearly all of the county officials were selected by a central authority, so they were not at all re- sponsible to the people. In many instances these office-holders were adventurers, men who had their fortunes to make, and were not very scrupulous in the means used to acquire their fortunes. Of this class was Edmund Fanning, already an aristocrat in culture and intelligence, and anxious to become one in wealth, in influence and in power. To a man so well equipped and so am- bitious, a stay in the "back country" was but a stepping-stone to a higher and better and broader sphere of action. He must attach himself, then, to Governor Tryon, the "source of honor" in the province, and not to the people, and strive to make the attachment mutual. In a few years this indefatigable, earnest gentleman, a fair embodiment of the social amenities of the time, had accom- plished his purpose, and no one had more influence with Governor Tryon and none was more respected by the aristocracy of the province than he. His relations with Governor Tryon were particularly close, and he was indeed in such full accord with him that when the governor displaced Maurice Moore from his judge- ship because of his revolutionary action in the Stamp Act times, he appointed Fanning to the vacancy. To the people of Orange County he at first assumed and in- tended to maintain the patronizing air of a lord of the manor. They, however, were too independent to bend the pregnant hinges of their knees to any self-constituted master, however benevolent and kind he might be. This was the raw spot in the situation at the beginning of the Regulator troubles. The special irritants were these : Fanning was fast acquiring wealth as a speculator in lands and as a lawyer with a large practice. He liked to make a show of his wealth in fine raiment and handsome surroundings. Mean- time, the people themselves were struggling with the difficulties that arose from an insufficient circulating medium and no market EDMUND FANNING 275 for their surplus farm products. It was discovered that while the fee bill provided "For registering a conveyance or other writing, 2 shillings 8 pence," Fanning, as register of Orange County, was charging 6 shillings for each deed. This to plain people was extortion and robbery, and in it, said Husbands and others of their leaders, is the source of all this wealth so flauntingly displayed. So much was made of the situation, indeed, that to most of the country people Fanning became a mere common robber. This, however, was not true. A simple computation, based upon the records in Hillsboro, shows that the average income from the register's office, allowing 6 shillings for each deed, was a little less than £70 sterling. In this office James Watson was the deputy and did all the work, so his compensation, whatever it might have been, must be deducted from the £70 sterling. Fanning was register from May, 1763, to October, 1768. It seems, too, that Fanning honestly believed that in law he had a right to charge 6 shillings (75 cents in our money. 7 Colonial Records, 491) for each deed — "conveyance or other writing." A conveyance, he argued, is complete in itself when executed and delivered, therefore the certificates of examination of a feme coverte, and that those examining are justices of the peace, are each, though endorsed on the same parchment, distinct writings, and entitle the register to charge 2 shillings 8 pence each addi- tional for their record. The whole charge, then, for such a paper would be 8 shillings, but acting under advice of the County Court, and out of abundance of caution, he charged only 6 shillings in each case. In this view he was sustained by Mr. John Morgan of London, the attorney-general of the province, and the attorney- general of England, De Grey. (8 Col. Records, 27, 33. See also 322, Haywood's Tryon, 79 seq.) This seems to acquit Mr. Fanning of positive dishonesty, and makes his life in North Caro- lina better accord with his subsequent upright and distinguished career. The persistent hatred of him by the Regulators is well known — their constant pursuit of iiim, their lying in wait to kill him, their firing into his house during his absence, their brutal maltreatment 276 NORTH CAROLINA of him at the breaking up of the Hillsboro Superior Court in 1770, and their destruction of his house and household goods at the same time. Smarting with his recent disgrace, not atoned for by the bloodshed of Alamance or the executions at Hillsboro, he left the province in 1771, never to return, except for a short time in the spring of 1775. In person he was about medium height, compactly built, strong, active, energetic, untiring. In his social relations he was kind, thoughtful and considerate, endearing himself to his associates in college and in his subsequent life. He was very hospitable, but free from the vices of drunkenness and gaming. He was very public spirited, being instrumental in providing the town of Hills- boro with a parson, a schoolmaster, a market house and a clock. On the other hand, he was, at best, patronizing and super- cilious to his inferiors, and when they thwarted him, haughty and overbearing. He had no sympathy for the masses. On the con- trary, on every occasion, he showed his contempt for them. He was high-spirited, bold and determined, and when aroused, pug- nacious and vengeful, and his personal pride amounted to egotism. In temperament, then, he was a reactionary, and his treatment in North Carolina, co-operating with this, made him an active and malign foe to the liberties of the people. Tradition heaps all manner of infamy upon him, but it must be remembered that tra- dition is largely thousand-tongued rumor transferred from the past to the present; and there is no record of, no contemporary allusion to, this infamy. In truth, he was a scapegoat for his brother officials, and for many of their sins his reputation suffers to-day. So, though he was not an angel of light, he was very far from being the demon that tradition, handed down by his enemies, makes him. Frank Nash. - ■:;' l^/A^^-i £^r^ yV3^ : ^c-^^x^^ THOMAS C. FULLER 'NE of the most forceful men who Hved in North Carolina during the eventful period of Recon- struction and of the upbuilding of the State under the new conditions was Thomas C. Fuller of Raleigh. The paternal grandfather of Judge Fuller was Bartholomew Fuller of Franklin County, who, coming of age at the opening of the Revo- lutionary War, was a patriot soldier "in the times that tried men's souls." On the restoration of peace he settled down as a Baptist minister, becoming from his walk in life, strong characteristics and fine abilities a preacher of more than local reputation, and exerting a wide influence not only in his own denomination, but among all the people of the county. He married Miss Sarah Cooke, of the well-known family of that name, which has so long been prominent in the affairs of that county, and noted for its sterling worth. His son Thomas was a merchant, and engaged in extensive mercantile operations at Fayetteville. He married Catherine Raboteau, a lady of Huguenotic descent, of fine educa- tion "and gentle disposition; but he died young, and his widow, with three small children largely dependent upon her efforts for support, returned to Franklin County, where their kindred lived. Their eldest child was a daughter, Sarah, who subsequently became the wife of Mr. R. H. J. Blount, originally of Washington, North Carolina, but after the war a resident of Durham. The 278 NORTH CAROLINA second child was Bartholomew ; he graduated with high dis- tinction at the University, read law and settled at Fayetteville. He was, however, employed in positions of honor and trust at Washington City until the breaking out of the war between the States, and then he held similar positions under the Confederate Government. After the war he resumed the practice of his pro- fession at Fayetteville, and later at Durham. He was a gentle- man well skilled in business, of fine culture, agreeable address and admirable characteristics, and he was greatly esteemed and be- loved. The youngest child of his parents, the subject of this sketch, was born at Fayetteville in February, 1832. Accompany- ing his mother to Franklin County, his early days were spent in that county, chiefly at the home of his kinsman. Captain Jones Cooke, and he was prepared for college by Mr. John B. Bobbitt at Louisburg. His surroundings during boyhood were fortunate. He was allied with the most respected persons in his community, and he grew to man's estate encouraged by his kinsmen to strive for the high prizes of life. He entered the University and was an apt scholar; but in June, 1851, he accepted a favorable offer to engage in mercantile business at Fayetteville, and began a business career. He, however, found that pursuit distasteful. His disposition led to a more intellectual life, for which, indeed, he was well fitted by his natural endowments ; and in 1855 he began the preparation for a professional career by entering the law school of Judge Pearson, at Richmond Hill, and the next year, having obtained his license, be began the practice at Fayetteville, meeting with good success from his first entrance into the bar. In politics he was an ardent Whig, and was strongly attached to the Union and bitterly opposed to what he considered the wild scheme of Secession. His judgment was that the South could not withstand the superior force of the North, and it waS not desirable to resort to a dissolution of the American Union for the sectional causes that then inflamed the Southern mind, and which seemed to sweep Southern statesmen off their feet. In i860 he was an active supporter of the Constitutional Union Ticket, Bell of Tennessee and Everett of Massachusetts being the candidates THOMAS C. FULLER 279 for President and Vice-President, and he cast what influence he possessed in favor of Union and peace. But he was a Southerner and a man of courageous spirit. He was for the Union as long as the Union was possible, and for peace as long as there was no war. But when war came he was among the first to shoulder his musket and hasten to the front in defense of the South. In April, 1861, he joined the La Fayette Light Infantry of Fayette- ville, of which Joseph B. Starr was captain, and which became Company F of the First North Carolina Regiment, known to history as the "Bethel Regiment ;" and he began his war experi- ence in the first battle of the contest, at Bethel, Virginia. On the expiration of the six months for which that regiment was organized, he united with Captain Starr in raising a light artillery company, in which nearly all their old companions in arms re-enlisted, Starr becoming the captain and Fuller the first lieutenant, and he immediately again entered on active service. Toward the end of January, 1862, Starr's Battery was stationed at Fort Fisher, where it remained on duty defending the lower Cape Fear until September, when it was ordered to Kinston. It participated in the battle of December 17th at the Neuse River Bridge, a short distance below Goldsboro, and Lieutenant Fuller on that occasion was conspicuous for his conduct. The historian of the Thirteenth Battalion, describing that affair, says : "While the infantry was attacking on the left, Lieutenant Thomas C. Fuller brought one piece of Starr's battery into position just where the county road crosses the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad, and went into action under the heavy fire of the enemy's eight guns. The fight at this point was short, but bloody. Indeed, so great were the casualties in this engagement to the small detachment about this one devoted piece of artillery, that Lieutenant Fuller himself served the gun, bringing ammuni- tion, cutting fuse, etc. "Around him lay the bodies of his fallen comrades, the dead, the wounded, but the young lieutenant, with coolness and intrepidity, served his piece himself, and heroically persisted in making a brave defense, notwithstanding the heavy and deadly fire of the enemy. At sunset the fight was over, the enemy's fire slackened and finally ceased, but Colonel Shaw's Eighth Regiment and Lieutenant Fuller's piece of artillery held the position until a late hour in the night, when orders were given to 28o NORTH CAROLINA fall back to the county bridge. During this time General Thomas L. Clingman passed down the line and warmly complimented Lieutenant Fuller and his men for the excellent work which they had performed in sustaining a fight against odds so tremendous.'' A year later Lieutenant Fuller was elected to represent the Fayetteville district in the Confederate Congress, and the same historian in the regimental histories of North Carolina adverts to his departure from the command, and incidentally pays him a merited tribute: "Lieutenant Fuller continued with his company until in 1863 he was elected a representative in Congress from his district, and he left the military service and entered upon that public career which his matchless abilities rendered a succession of brilliant triumphs. He loved danger for danger's sake ; he was a friend and confidant of his men, while he strictly enforced discip- line ; and though the soldiers crowded about the ballot-box to vote his political preferment eagerly, they bade him farewell from the mess table and the tent with sorrow." He had enlisted as a private with these men in April, 1861, and had served as a soldier with them ; and they had at the reorganization elected him their first lieutenant to command them; and the longer their intercourse, the more they valued him. His fine, manly bearing won their admiration, while his courage and sympathetic spirit endeared him to all, both rank and file. "He was a good private and a better officer, and he loved danger for danger's sake." Such is the testimony of a stalwart veteran who served with him and shared with him the vicissitudes of the arduous service of the great war. During the subsequent period of the conflict between the States he remained in the Confederate Congress, and although the youngest member of the body, he was far from being the least influential or the least useful. His experience in the field gave him a position among his associates, who sought his counsel as know- ing the needs, spirit and desires of the men at the front. His sympathies were always for the soldier boys. He knew their hardships and their sufferings, and he sought to promote all measures that tended for their relief. When the war THOMAS C. FULLER 281 closed he returned home and entered upon the practice of his profession. A State convention having made the necessary changes in the constitution, President Johnson declared the State restored to the Union; and in conformity with his views, an election for repre- sentatives in Congress was held in the fall of 1865, at which Colonel Fuller was elected the member from his district. But the House of Representatives refused to admit the State to repre- sentation, and he was not allowed to take his seat. In 1868, when the next election was held for Congressman, he was again a candi- date, but his opponent was awarded the certificate of election by the military officers at Charleston, under whose supervision the election was held. In the Presidential election of 1872 Colonel Fuller, as a district Presidential elector, made an extensive canvass, and warmly urged the election of Horace Greeley. As a peace offering on the part of the South, and as indicating the purpose of Confederate soldiers to fully accept the results of the war and acquiesce in the abolition of slavery, of which Horace Greeley had been the great apostle, he urged his election as the first President of the reunited country. Hardly had Colonel Fuller begun to practice when an incident occurred that brought him into great prominence. A negro was arrested at Fayetteville for attempted assault on a white girl. As he was being conveyed to the court-house a great crowd gathered, and some one fired a shot that killed the negro. A young man named Toler was arrested for the murder. He was tried by a military court that was convened at Raleigh. Colonel Fuller appeared to defend him. The judge advocate. Colonel Avery of the United States Army, employed Colonel E. G. Hay- wood, a very great advocate, to aid in the prosecution. Toler was a simple citizen. But such was the condition of affairs that he was tried by a military tribunal, a proceeding repugnant to the genius of a free people. The circumstance amply illustrates the fearful conditions of that epoch of terror. It was a period of great anxiety, and the people were deeply interested in the action of the military court. Colonel Fuller bore himself well. He 282 NORTH CAROLINA managed the case admirably, and saved the life of his client. Toler was acquitted, to the great satisfaction of the people, and Colonel Fuller at once became famous as an attorney, and upon the opening of the Federal courts he was employed in many cases where the parties were charged with infractions of the Federal laws, new laws to the people and odious and oppressive. Multi- tudes of suitors from distant counties attended these courts, and Colonel Fuller's wide acquaintance and fine reputation gained for him a lucrative business. In 1870 he appeared for the defend- ants in the Ku Klux cases, parties charged with violating the Enforcement Act ; and when Chief Justice Pearson apprehended that he himself was to be impeached for his action as chief justice in 1870, he retained Colonel Fuller to defend him. Indeed, his practice, especially in the Federal Court, had become so large and important that he found it desirable to move to Raleigh as a more central location. Accordingly, in March, 1873, he changed his residence to Raleigh, becoming a member of a law firm then established, Merrimon, Fuller & Ashe, his associates being United States Senator Merrimon and Captain S. A. Ashe. From the organization of this partnership it became the leading law firm in North Carolina. It was employed in most of the great litigation of that period, both in the Federal and State courts. It was lead- ing counsel in establishing the validity of the lease of the North Carolina Railroad to the Richmond and Danville, and in defend- ing that company for changing the gauge, and it won the great fight that has proved of such advantage to the State and benefit to the people in the results that subsequently attended and sprang out of these matters. Judge Merrimon, being at the time in the United States Senate, was necessarily much absent, and the busi- ness of the firm devolved largely on Colonel Fuller, who attended the courts and tried the cases, the labor of preparing which fell chiefly to Captain Ashe. Colonel Fuller was a man of distinguished presence and fine address, affable in his manners and unusually courteous. He was a delightful conversationalist, and excelled in anecdote, of which he had an inexhaustible fund always ready for the entertainment THOMAS C. FULLER 283 of his companions, and whether in the drawing-room or with his legal brethren at some fireside, he was ever the center of the group. In person he was of medium height, but rotund and with fine features that bespoke the benevolence which was a prominent trait of his character. He was always bland and gracious, thoughtful for the feelings of others, temperate in all things, never profane, calm and philosophical, and seeking to enjoy the blessings of life even as he enjoyed the morning sunshine, which seemed so har- monious with his disposition. His talents, his pleasantries and his kindliness made him a general favorite, and his friends were numerous. Indeed, no man drew his friends to him with a warmer attachment, for he was himself true and constant in his friendship ; and devoid of selfishness, he was never happier than when serving his friends. In religious faith he was a Presbyterian, and his walk in life was that of a Christian gentleman ; a man of the nicest sense of honor, generous, easily moved by the sufferings of others and tender with regard to the frailties of others. He was a thought- ful man, much given to reflection, fond of his home, where he invariably passed his evenings either in the company of friends or enjoying an entertaining author. He seldom delivered addresses on literary subjects; but the few he prepared were gems of thought. His style was clear and precise, ornate and elegant. No one excelled him in the choice selection of words or in the flow of his sentences as they expanded, bearing ennobling and elevating thoughts. Indeed, as an orator he was eloquent and captivating, and he ever carried the audience along with him to the conclusion he would reach. In politics he took a general interest, heightened at times by his purpose to aid some friend in achieving the object of his ambition ; but for himself he sought no political preferment. Still, he entered somewhat into the State canvasses, and usually delivered a few political addresses in each campaign, and he exerted a strong influence in the councils of the Democratic Party, both as to the adoption of measures and policies, on its legislation and on the selection of those who were to win political honors. A 284 NORTH CAROLINA strong, forceful and tactful man, full of resources, and a great manager, he was ever a factor to be reckoned with, and generally he enjoyed the satisfaction of having his views to prevail. He was an unquestioned leader at the bar, and besides being a well-rounded lawyer, he was conspicuously superior in the trial of causes. With a logical as well as brilliant mind, few of his asso- ciates possessed the capacity of developing a case before the jury equally as well. Those who knew him best and practised longest with him declared that in this respect he manifested his greatest ability. But as an advocate he was superb, and laymen regarded him as greatest in this role. He played upon the human passions and human feelings with remarkable effect and unusual skill. With a few caustic sentences he would arouse indignation to the highest pitch against a cause or person that deserved it, and his excoriations and torrent of invective against a false witness were rarely equalled. And yet when the occasion required it he could melt his audience into tears by his tender pathos and the beauties of rhetoric. In examining a witness who was deviating from the truth, he was sometimes terrific, and he often put per- jurers on a veritable rack of torture. But as severe as he was in the examination, in his argument he was still more powerful; bold, aggressive and fearless in the conduct of his cases, he used all the powers of his brilliant mind to achieve success, and when it became necessary to denounce either party or witness, he was terrific in his denunciation. But in particular he was skillful in the management of the details of his case. It was one of his peculiarities that he made but few notes on the trial, no matter how protracted it became. A master of the principles of the law and conversant with the latest de- cisions, he knew well the merits and the weak points in his cases, and he seized on the leading points and presented what he called "the big equities" to the jury with a clearness and a force that was not excelled by any of his contemporaries. While employed in all the great civil litigation of his day, his reputation was greatest as a criminal lawyer. He never prosecuted a capital case. Money could not purchase his services to place life in jeopardy; THOMAS C. FULLER 285 but he defended many, and threw his whole soul into the work of defense, and he was unusually successful. The partnership he formed at Raleigh was a delightful asso- ciation. It continued for some six years, and never was there a hasty or an impatient word uttered by either partner, and never was there any accounting of fees. As there was no apportion- ment of labor, so there was no strict apportionment of the common fund, to which all contributed by their best endeavors. In July, 1879, however. Captain Ashe withdrew to enter the field of journalism, and Colonel Fuller and Judge Merrimon continued the business until later Judge Merrimon was appointed to the Supreme Bench, when Colonel Fuller associated himself with George H. Snow, under the name of Fuller & Snow. Congress having established the Court of Private Land Claims to pass upon titles based on Mexican grants in the territory acquired from Mexico, President Harrison in 1891 appointed Judge Fuller a justice of that court, whose jurisdiction was so high that appeals from it lay only to the Supreme Court of the United States. In this position Judge Fuller added to the fine reputation he had long enjoyed and took rank as one of the first jurists of the Union. His associates recognized his great ability, and his opin- ion had an influence not inferior to that of any other member of the court. The sessions were generally held at Santa Fe, and much of Judge Fuller's time was passed from home. But in the recess he had ample leisure, which he passed chiefly at the homes of his married children. He had the gratification of seeing his eldest son, Mr. W. W. Fuller, who had entered the profession, attain a high position as a lawyer, and his second son, Frank, was also fast following in his own footsteps, while his daughters were happily married, and he found the utmost satisfaction in the lives of his children. Eventually, after ten years of judicial experience. Judge Fuller fell into bad health, and passed away at Raleigh, greatly lamented throughout the entire State. On the Sth of November, 1857, he had married Miss Caroline Douglas Whitehead of Fayetteville, a lady of the sweetest char- acter, whose tenderness was in fine accord with the devotion and 286 NORTH CAROLINA affectionate disposition of her distinguished husband. Their married Hfe was blessed by the birth of eleven children, of whom six arrived at maturit)^ among them being the distinguished Williamson W. Fuller of New York and Frank L. Fuller and Jones Fuller of Durham, who worthily perpetuate the name of their honored father. 6". A. Ashe. ^.Br^- Aryr- DAVID MOFFATT FURCHES I HE subject of this sketch is one of the best- known and most highly respected of the State's citizens. But recently he has vacated the chief justice's seat on the Supreme Court after an official tenure marked by incidents beyond the common, but characterized throughout by un- flinching devotion to conviction, unbending integrity and a digni- fied bearing worthy the best traditions of the court. His has been distinctly a lawyer's life, varied at times by political struggles, in which, more from call than choice, he has been chosen to lead, as, for instance, in his canvass for Congress against Major Robbins and for governor in 1892. Since the day of his license, with the exception of his years upon the bench, he has been and yet continues in active practice. Never a brilliant advocate, yet always an impressive one, a careful student of his case, conservative as a counsellor, yet per- sistent in purpose when once committed to the fray, he enjoys in the sunset of life an ample competence as the result of industri- ous years, and what is far more valuable to a well-instructed ambition, the universal respect of his community and of his large acquaintance. Judge Furches is a native of that fine little county, unappreci- ated, we have sometimes thought, in the State's esteem, which bears the name of our greatest Revolutionary soldier, William 288 NORTH CAROLINA Richardson Davie. He was bom April 21, 1832. His ancestry were of the sturdy farmer stock of Americans, from which have sprung a majority, perhaps, of the nation's governors in state and church. Stephen Lewis Furches, his father, occupied no higher official position than that of a county justice of the peace; but was a man of unbounded heart, going security for every friend and cheerfully sustaining the consequent embarrassment. His grandfather, Tobias Furches, was a Baptist preacher, a descendant of John Furches of Kent County, Delaware, the earliest known man of the name on this side of the water. The mother of Judge Furches was Polly Howell, a good country woman of uneventful life, given to the duties that lay right at hand, and finding in such, doubtless, a pleasure of more lasting nature than fashion affords its most loyal worshippers. The Union Academy in Davie County, then conducted by Major James H. Foote and Samuel O. Tatum, gave the future chief justice all the educational training he ever received at the hands of others. He was denied the advantages of the State's university, which many years later remembered him with the degree of LL.D. But his law training was of higher grade, that wonderful wizard in reasoning. Chief Justice Pearson, being his preceptor, and licensing him in the years 1856 and 1857. His earliest practice was at Mocksville, his county seat, where he became county attorney in the opening year, and where He con- tinued to live till 1866, when Statesville, Iredell County, became and has since continued his home. He was a member of the Andrew Johnston Constitutional Convention in 1865, and pro- visional district attorney in the same year. A Whig before the war, a consistent Republican since, Judge Furches has frequently been called on to lend his name to forlorn political hopes. Such was his canvass for Congress in 1872 and for governor in 1892. His party was a minority party, and desirous only of putting its best foot foremost. Yet he was ever loyal to the organization, and at one time was honored by it when success, after many years of adversity, perched on its banner. Unsuccessful along with Judge Buxton and Major W. A. DAVID MOFFATT FURCHES 289 Guthrie when nominated for the Supreme Court in 1888, he was triumphantly elected to the same seat in 1894, having seen three years' service on the Superior Court as successor to Judge Mitchell by appointment of Governor Brogden. Judge Furches's opinions while on the Supreme Court are in general clear, simple and to the point, free from hedging and evasion and distinctly learned in what may be called "land law," a branch of practice in which he has had a large experience. They do not rise to the level of his great "Master," Pearson, for whom he entertains not alone respect, but deep and abiding affection as having been his earliest inspiration to a successful career, nor have they that incisive severance of Gordian knots which belonged to Reade's pen alone; but they are in every way meritorious, and some of them were rendered in the face of strong political bias clamoring in vain for a hearing from his honest pen. This is no fit place to enter upon the injustice, as his friends will ever regard it, of the celebrated impeachment of Chief Justice Furches and Associate Justice Douglas by the legislature of 1901. The gentlemen in question felt themselves to be victims of political persecution; but their ample vindication at the hands of a large majority of their political opponents should cause them and their friends to throw the mantle of charity over much that was said and done in that eventful winter. Suffice it in this connection to say that both these judges had concurred in rulings which gave offices to hold-over Democrats in the teeth of Republican legis- lation attempting their removal, and these rulings were in line with a long train of decisions almost historical in dignity so far as our State had made history in the matter. When at length "the boot was on the other leg," and a Republi- can official received the benefit of the ruling against the Demo- cratic legislation to oust him from a place on the Shell Com- mission, a partisan cry for vengeance on the judges arose, which resulted in the presentation of articles of impeachment. The basis of the action was of course somewhat altered from this state- ment, though its truth was conceded. It was presented to the 290 NORTH CAROLINA public from this viewpoint, that the keepers of the State's purse had been distinctly commanded not to pay a certain salary, and that the court had awarded payment of this salary, and more- over enforced their decree by their process. The reply was simple — that if a man could not be divested of an office by legis- lation he could not be divested of its conceded earnings by the same legislation, and that when one asked for the rind the fruit went along with it — the nut with the shell, the incident with the grant, the milk with the cocoanut. Lieutenant Governor Turner, a townsman of the chief justice, presided over the trial with marked fairness and unruffled temper ; the Senate approached and handled the subject with that respect for personal rights which the average North Carolinian is careful in general to observe, and the end, plain from the time when outside public opinion made itself heard within the walls, was a complete and triumphant acquittal of the accused. Even the stoutest advocates of the impeachment, admitting that the essence of all crime is found in the intent, were puzzled to find any evi- dence of intent to do wrong on the part of these distinguished citizens, however great their error. The impeachment trial has been published in book form at the expense of the State, and a full summary of the eloquent speeches of counsel is therein preserved for the use of future historians, whose judgment upon the proceeding we will not venture to fore- stall. During the progress of the trial the townsmen of Judge Furches and his old friends of the bar, scattered throughout the State, gave such manifestations of their confidence in his judicial uprightness, both personally to him and also through the press, as tended greatly to the final vote of acquittal. Sorely smitten as he must have been by the original attack, this fact came as a great consolation, and is doubtless among the most pleasant memories of a long and active life. Judge Furches served as chief of the court from January S. 1901, to January i, 1903, succeeding Chief Justice William T. Faircloth by appointment of Governor Daniel L. Russell. He has been twice married, first to Miss Eliza Bingham of DAVID MOFFATT FURCHES 291 Davie County, while the present Mrs. Furches was Miss Lula Corpening of Statesville, North Carolina. By neither has be been blessed with children. Though his parents belonged to the Baptist Church, the judge is an attendant of the Episcopal Church. No secret order claims him as a member. In person the judge is of medium height and weight, of open and engaging counte- nance, and possessed of a vigorous constitution. His habits through life have been consistently temperate, and the sure re- ward has come in a healthful old age. At present he is the senior of the law firm of Furches, Coble & Nicholson at Statesville, a firm deservedly high in public favor and enjoying fine practice in that section of the State. A short biography of the subject of this sketch has appeared in the third volume of the Cyclopaedia of American Biographies ; but his has been a life affording little of startling incident to the reporter. Possessed of strict integrity and constant industry, with some special object in view; stimulated by contact with the gifted men of the Piedmont bar — those departed giants of the forum. Arm- field, Folk, Clement and others — he has steadily wended his way up from county attorney to the highest honor of his profession. In private life the Judge is fine company, delighting in reminis- cence and enjoying a good story. He is fond of his pipe and the daily paper, and gives to public events close attention, storing even the smallest facts in a most retentive memory. Residing in a community noted no less for its thrift than its culture, having the apparent prospect of useful years still un- counted, happy in his family relations, he almost realizes the picture Ben Jonson drew of Bacon entering upon his sixtieth year of age and first year as lord chancellor : "Whose even threads the Fates spin round and full Out of their choicest and their whitest wool." W. S. Pearson. CHRISTOPHER GALE fN a work by the English herald and gene- alogist, John Burke, entitled "History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland," published in 1836, we find an account of the ancient Yorkshire family of Gale of Scruton Hall, and in this account is mentioned Chris- topher Gale, attorney-general and chief justice of the colony of North Carolina. Chief Justice Gale was born at York in 1680, and came to North Carolina about the year 1700. In 1703, or possibly earlier, he was made a judge of the General Court of the colony. Apparently he was in England in 1710, and returned with Lawson and the Palatines in that year. He sat in the Council as a deputy for one of the Lords Proprietors, and was also attorney-general. On the breaking out of the Indian War he was sent to Charleston for aid, and having the promise of help, he hurried back, but was captured by the French on the way, and it was several months before he returned to Carolina. On his return he was made colonel of the militia of Bath County, and later, the office of chief justice was conferred upon him. This office he held until 1717, and then went to England, where he remained about five years. Upon returning to the colony, he resumed his office, being also collector of the "Port of Roanoke." In 1725, because of enmity with Governor Burrington, he again went to England to CHRISTOPHER GALE 293 prefer charges against Governor Burrington, who had attacked his house and threatened his hfe. During this latter absence Burrington's Council declared that the office of chief justice had been vacated by Gale, and Thomas Pollock (son of President Thomas Pollock, then recently deceased) was made chief justice. His effort to have Burrington removed was successful, and Gale returned to Carolina, bringing an order for his reinstatement as chief justice, and he remained chief justice until Burrington again became governor in 173 1, when he was succeeded by William Smith. While chief justice in 1729, he was one of the commissioners appointed to run the boundary between Vir- ginia and North Carolina. This was the expedition commem- orated by Colonel William Byrd of Westover in his "History of the Dividing Line." In a religious way the chief justice also exercised a good influence. Being the son of a clergyman of the Church of England, he was brought up in that communion. He and his brother Edmund were vestrymen in North Carolina, and the Rev. Thomas Gale, another brother, was in holy orders. After Gale's employment as chief justice terminated in 1731, he continued collector of customs at Edenton, and held that office at the time of his death in the early spring of 1734. He married Mrs. Sarah Catherine Harvey, widow of Governor Harvey, and daughter of Benjamin Laker, a judge of the General Court in North Carolina. Among the children of Chief Justice Gale were Miles, Penelope (who married Chief Justice William Little) and Elizabeth (who married Henry Clayton, provost marshal of the province). Gale was an educated gentleman, and although fiercely de- nounced by the leaders of the Popular Party, whom he antago- nized, and afterward by Governor Everard, yet the passions of that era must be considered, and his friends declare that no man ever lived in the colony of North Carolina with a character more irreproachable than that of Chief Justice Gale. It has indeed been said that he "left a name that is never mentioned but with respect and admiration." Marshall De Lancey Haywood. JOHN HARVEY, Sr. [he origin of distinguished families is ever of interest, and this is particularly the case when the founder of the family is associated with the first beginning of the State. The early records of the Albemarle settlement have not been pre- served, and the story of the people who made the settlement in the wilderness is obscure. But among those who first cleared the forests of Albemarle was apparently John Harvey, that name a century later shining with great effulgence at the opening of the Revolutionary period. It was about 1658 when a party of adventurous spirits came from Virginia to the waters of Carolina, and understanding that that territory was beyond the limits of Virginia, they bought lands from the Indians and determined to make their homes in that summer land. The names of all are not preserved; but among them evidently were Dr. Thomas Relfe, Captain John Jenkins, Thomas Jarvis, Robert Peel, John Battle, Roger Williams, John Varnham and "Mr. John Harvey." George Durant was also of the company, and a little later George Catchmaid of Treslick, Gentleman, joined the settlers in their new home. But although they had bought land from the Indians, on the occasion of the visit of Governor Berkeley of Virginia to England in 1662, the king instructed him to require these settlers to take out grants for their lands from the government of Virginia, and certain of JOHN HARVEY, Sr. 295 these grants have been preserved. From them it appears that George Catchmaid brought into the colony 30 persons; that Dr. Relfe brought in 15 persons; that Captain. John Jenkins brought in 14 persons, and that "Mr. John Harvey" brought in 17 per- sons; and in the grant to him Governor Berkeley dignifies him as "Mr. John Harvey." The location of one of the grants to Harvey, "lying on the river of Carolina," has ever since been known as "Harvey's Neck." There had been a family of the same name in Virginia at an earlier date; indeed, some twenty years before. Sir John Harvey was immediate predecessor of Sir William Berkeley as governor of Virginia. There is on record in Perquimans County a state- ment that "John Harvey, son of John Harvey and Mary, his wife, living at the Heath in Snitherfield Parish, Norwickshire, England, and Joanah Jenkins, relict of Hon. John Jenkins, were married by Hon. Anthony Sloccomb, April 13, 1682." This John was evidently not the son of the subject of this sketch; but it indicates that the Harveys were of Norwickshire, England. Speaking of Albemarle, Lawson says, "The settlement was made by several substantial planters from Virginia and other plantations ;" and "the fame of this new-discovered summer coun- try spread through the neighboring colonies, and in a few years drew a considerable number of families thereto." Of life in the colony there are but few glimpses to be obtained. A little light is thrown on the mode of living and habits of the settlers by the journals of Edmundson and Fox, the Quaker apostles, the former of whom mentions that he found only one Quaker in the settlement in 1672. During the disturbances that arose when the British Govern- ment first attempted to collect the export tax on tobacco shipped to the Northern colonies, Harvey seems to have been quiet and to have maintained himself free from entanglements. During that period Jenkins became governor, and to succeed him Sothel was sent from England; but on his voyage Sothel was captured by the Algerine pirates, and the Lords Proprietors selected as the best man to compose the dififerences among the factions of Albe- 296 NORTH CAROLINA marie John Harvey, and commissioned him in 1679 president of the Council to conduct the administration until the arrival of Sothel. Harvey died, however, within a few months after re- ceiving his commission, and although his administration was suc- cessfully begun, it was cut short by his untimely death. In 1680 Thomas Harvey was a member of the grand jury, and in 1684 Thomas Harvey applied for an appraisal of the property of the estate of Hon. John Jenkins, whose widow John Harvey, doubtless his kinsman, had married two years earlier. This Thomas Harvey mentions in his will that he was executor of Governor John Harvey, and from this circumstance one may sur- mise that he was his son. He himself in 1694 was appointed deputy governor of the colony, and wisely administered its affairs, with some slight interruptions, until his death in 1699. Governor Thomas Harvey married Sarah Laker, daughter of Benjamin Laker of Perquimans County. After the death of her husband, Mrs. Harvey married Christopher Gale, who appeared in the colony about that time. Governor Thomas Harvey and Sarah Laker had, among others, a son Thomas, who became the ancestor of the patriot, John Harvey, of the Revolution. For many of the facts contained in this sketch, as well as many other statements in other sketches, the editor makes his acknowledgment to the very valuable publication of J. R. B. Hathaway, known as "The North Carolina Historical and Genealogical Register." 5. A. Ashe. RICHARD HENDERSON ?HOUGH the colony of Transylvania disap- peared from the map and passed into the realm of history a few years after its birth, the name of its founder and president, Judge Richard Henderson, should not be forgotten, and so we begin this sketch by telling something of his earlier life and services in North Carolina. Judge Henderson was a native of Hanover County, Virginia, born April 20, 1735; and when a child under ten years of age, was brought to Granville County, North Carolina, by his father, Samuel Henderson, a gentleman of Scotch ancestry, but a native of Virginia, where he was born on the 17th of March, 1700. The mother of Judge Henderson was Elizabeth Williams, who came of Welsh ancestry. After Samuel Henderson's removal to North Carolina, he became high sheriff of the county of Granville, and his son Rich- ard served as one of his deputies. Later studying law, the younger Henderson became king's deputy attorney for his county. On the 1st of March, 1769, Richard Henderson was appointed associate judge of the Superior Court (then the supreme legal tribunal of the colony) by Governor Tryon. In mentioning this appointment to the authorities in England, Tryon refers to Henderson as "a gentleman of candor and ability, born in Virginia and living in Hillsboro, where he is highly esteemed." During the insurrection of the Regulators, Judge Henderson 298 NORTH CAROLINA was driven from the bench when holding court at Hillsboro in September, 1770, and his home in Granville County was burned by the insurgents in November of the same year. After the Regulators had been defeated and dispersed by Tryon's army at the battle of Alamance, on May 16, 1771, quiet and order were in some degree restored, and though the records of the trial have been lost, it is probable that Judge Henderson presided with his associates. Chief Justice jMartin Howard and Judge Maurice Moore, when the Regulators were tried for treason. At this trial 12 were condemned to death and 6 executed, the other 6 being pardoned. About the time of the beginning of the Revolution (in which he became an active patriot), Judge Henderson and some adventurous associates conceived the idea of founding a new commonwealth, and shortly thereafter there came into existence the short-lived colony of Transylvania. This land was purchased by a treaty with the Indians on March 17, 1775, which treaty was afterward annulled by the authorities of Virginia and North Carolina. Transylvania lay chiefly in what is now Kentucky, and part was in the present bounds of Tennessee. The former was claimed by Virginia and the latter by North Carolina. Judge Henderson was elected president of the new colony on Septem- ber 25, 177s, and a government was duly organized, which at once petitioned to be allowed representation in the Continental Congress at Philadelphia, James Hogg being delegated to present the petition. While sounding the members of Congress on the subject of recognition, Mr. Hogg interviewed the New England leaders, John and Samuel Adams. To these statesmen the action of Transylvania was too forward a step toward independence, and they expressed unwillingness to retard reconciliation with Great Britain by Congress "taking under its protection a body of people who had acted in defiance of the king's proclamations." They added: "This will be looked on as a confirmation of that independent spirit with which we are daily reproached." Though Hogg assured the Messrs. Adams that the "Transylvanians in- tended to acknowledge the king's sovereignty whenever he should think them worthy of his regard," recognition was not accorded RICHARD HENDERSON 299 the new colony, and it passed out of existence in a few years ; but during its brief existence no part of America was more true to the cause of the colonies. The gentlemen who were proprietors of the Transylvania colony were at a later date given an immense grant of land to repay them for the trouble and expense they had incurred in making the new settlement. In 1778 Judge Henderson was elected a member of the North Carolina Council of State, and was again elected to the same office in 1782. On August 14, 1778, the independent government elected him to the old office of judge, which he had held before the war, but this honor he declined. In 1779 he served as one of the com- missioners to settle the disputed boundary between Virginia and North Carolina. At its session of 1781 he represented Granville County in the North Carolina House of Commons, and this was probably his last public service. He died in what is now Vance, then a part of Granville County, on January 30, 1785. Judge Henderson and members of his family have both counties and towns in the three States of North Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky named in their honor. The wife of Judge Henderson was Elizabeth Keeling, a step-daughter of Judge Williams. From this union have sprung many men of note in North Carolina. Chief Justice Leonard Henderson and his no less gifted brother, Archibald Henderson, were children of Judge Henderson. Marshall De Lancey Haywood. JOHN STEELE HENDERSON ^2^i^^)^^i^M0NG all those in North Carolina who can vSj JKVV/'^g i ^ ^t contemplate with satisfaction the public services of their ancestors, there are but few so favored by fortune that they can find more pleasure in yi«^^^^^5^aV such a review than John Steele Henderson of p^^^^^^^^fii^ Salisbury. Every line through which he is de- scended is remarkable for public virtue and private worth. Thomas Henderson, the first of the name to come to America, was one of the earliest colonists who settled Jamestown. One of his descendants, Samuel Henderson, for many years high sheriff for Granville County, was a pioneer farmer in Granville County in 1743; one of his sons, Major Pleasant Henderson, attained the great age of eighty-six years, and for three-quarters of a century he was held in high esteem by all who knew him ; another was Richard Henderson, who was a judge during the colonial period; and later, being a man of great enterprise, he organized the Transylvania Company, that purchased from the Indians a large part of the present States of Kentucky and Ten- nessee, and as president of it made the first settlement in Kentucky, Daniel Boone being one of his employees to explore the terri- tory. Another son, William, commanded the South Carolina troops at the battle of Eutaw Springs, and served in the Revo- lutionary War with great ability and with conspicuous gallantry. J 6:,E' G T-1^'//:^-r,^ 3 ^r^ .Vh^ Vy'M^X^-^ /L^ JOHN STEELE HENDERSON 301 Leonard Henderson, the distinguished chief justice, was one of Richard Henderson's sons, and Archibald Henderson another. The latter was a member of the sixth and seventh Congresses of the United States, and ranked among the ablest lawyers in those bodies. Judge Murphey, in the eulogy he pronounced upon him after his death, declared that he was the most perfect model of a lawyer the bar of North Carolina ever produced. His son Archi- bald, the second of that name, who married Miss Mary Steele Ferrand, and who was the father of the subject of this sketch, was a member of the Council of State during the administration of Governor Reid and of Governor Bragg. He was a man of fine intelligence, well versed in literature, a cultivated gentleman, and one of the best informed and most influential public men of the State. As illustrious as was Mr. Henderson's descent on the side of his father, his mother's family was no less distinguished for patriotism and superior excellence. He is a descendant of Moses Alexander and grandson of Sarah Alexander, a sister of Nathaniel Alexander, a soldier of the Revolution and patriot, member of Congress and governor of the State ; and a great-grandson of William Ferrand and Maiy Williams, whose brother, Benjamin Williams, was a Revolutionary hero, member of Congress, who, having served three terms as governor, after the constitutional period had expired, was again called from his retirement to that high position. He is also a descendant of General John Steele, a member of the first and second Congresses, a personal friend of Washington and Jefferson, and likewise a descendant of Mrs. Elizabeth Steele, who, when General Greene, in command of the Continental army, hard pressed by Cornwallis, was at Salisbury in sore straits for money, presented him with two bags of specie — all she had. Never could relief have come at a more opportune moment, and never was a woman's heart more delighted at being able to make such a sacrifice for her suffering country. And among Mr. Henderson's ancestors also were Dr. Stephen Lee Ferrand and his wife, Margaret Steele — names treasured for intelligence and virtue among their posterity. 302 NORTH CAROLINA All these streams of greatness and of high characteristics and noble purposes unite in the person of John Steele Henderson, whose exemplary course in life has been worthy of his inheritance. Raised in an atmosphere of patriotism, and in a circle distin- guished for its cultivation, he has won his own laurels and wears them admirably. Born at his father's home in Salisbury on the 6th day of Janu- ary, 1846, his boyhood days were passed measurably on the farm, where he picked cotton and planted corn and did other light farm work, for which his father allowed him proper compensa- tion ; and habits of order, method and industry were inculcated from his early years. He was a pupil of Dr. Alexander Wilson's famous school at Melville, Alamance County, for more than three years, and when sixteen years of age entered the University of North Carolina. The demand for recruits to fill Lee's depleted ranks, however, led to the interruption of his studies. His elder brother. Captain Leonard Alexander Henderson, fell at Cold Harbor on June i, 1864, while in command of the Eighth Regi- ment, leading a desperate charge; and five months later the younger brother, at the age of eighteen, enlisted as a private in Company B, Tenth Regiment, North Carolina troops, and hurried to the field. After the army was disbanded he returned home, and in January, 1866, began the study of the law at Judge Pearson's Law School. Five months later he obtained his first license, and although not of age, opened a law office, but was soon elected register of deeds for Rowan County, an office he held until Sep- tember, 1868, when he declined a nomination in order to devote himself to his profession. In 1867 he had obtained his license to practice in the Superior Courts, and he now devoted himself to his professional work. In 1871, at an election for members of a constitutional convention, he was chosen a delegate for Rowan County, but the people of the State voted against the proposed convention, and it was not held. He declined nominations to the General Assembly in 1872 and in 1874, but in 1875 he was elected a delegate to the constitutional convention, and became a very active, prudent and sagacious member of that body. He was a JOHN STEELE HENDERSON 303 member of the next General Assembly that put into operation the changes made in the constitution ; and the next session he was returned to the State Senate, and established himself as a superior man in the councils of his party. In 1880 he was elected by the State convention a delegate at large to the national convention, and later he participated extensively in the Presidential cam- paign. As distinguished as Mr. Henderson is for ability and learning, he is still more noted in public life for his laborious application. He masters the smallest details of every question he is called on to explore. Whether in the profession of the law or in the domain of politics, he is learned and thorough. In this regard he has long enjoyed a reputation that few lawyers and politicians ever attain. So when the laws of the State were to be codified in 1881, he was naturally selected as one of the Code Com- mission, along with the eminent W. T. Dortch and the learned John Manning, professor of law at the University. The satis- factory execution of that important work is largely to be attributed to the industry and zeal of Mr. Henderson, and so well was it done that twenty years elapsed before a revisal was ordered by the legislature. Shortly after the completion of that work, Mr. Henderson entered on a Congressional career that lasted for five terms, during which he became the most capable, active and useful representa- tive the State has had in Congress since the war. He was selected as a member of the Judiciary Committee and chairman of the Committee on Post-offices and Post-roads ; and but few members more thoroughly commanded the esteem and respect of the House. His speeches always attracted attention ; and those on tariff reform and the internal revenue system were largely circulated as cam- paign documents throughout the State. He was a member of the State Senate in 1901 and 1903. Mr. Henderson worked so faith- fully and successfully during these two sessions of the Senate, and his skill and capacity as a legislator were so notable, that one of the most distinguished representatives who was serving in the other branch of the General Assembly during the session of 1903 frequently remarked that Mr. Henderson was such an 304 NORTH CAROLINA excellent legislator that he should be required to serve the State in a legislative capacity as long as he lived. Mr. Henderson is peculiarly gifted as a legislator. He has been prominent as a leader in every legislative body of which he has been a member. He has a genius for legislation, and is thoroughly familiar with parliamentary law, and his courtesy and tact are such that he rarely ever fails to secure approval for measures which he advocates. He is an able, skilful and trained parlia- mentarian and debater ; and his knowledge of public affairs is not excelled by any one of his generation; and he has rendered his country conspicuous and excellent service. As a public speaker he has never failed to be equal to any and every occasion, and no political adversary ever got the better of him in debate. His political speeches are so ably and thoroughly prepared, and the proper subjects for discussion are so logically and exhaustively treated, that they are always looked forward to as sounding the keynote of every campaign ; and there are some of the most eloquent and distinguished campaigners in the State who have made it a rule to hear Mr. Henderson on the stump as early as possible in a campaign in order to note down for use by themselves in the same campaign the varied, luminous and in- structive information contained in his speeches. Mr. Henderson is not particularly noted for his eloquence or oratory, but no public man in the State speaks to the people more clearly or efifectively, and none uses language more chaste, convincing and impressive. The people are glad and anxious to hear him, and everything he says makes a deep impression upon them. They know he is telling them what he believes to be true, even when he fails to convince them. In 1894, when it was running against the popular current to say it, he told the people from every stump in his Congressional district that there was no person then born who would ever live to see a law passed by Congress for the free and unlimited coinage of silver. These words made a lasting impression upon all who heard him, and are now remembered to his credit, although at the time they were not received with favor by at least half of his hearers. JOHN STEELE HENDERSON 305 In June, 1890, the degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred on him by Trinity College of this State. Able, accurate, learned and laborious, Mr. Henderson would in any event have made his impression on the public mind; but he has exerted an influence beyond this, because of the purity of his character and the candor with which he has ever avowed his convictions. In 1890, when the Farmers' Alliance had perme- ated itself through the warp and woof of the Democratic Party, and controlled that organization thoroughly, and had established the advocacy of what is called the sub-treasury measure as a tegt of fealty to popular interests, there were but a few of the old guard who had the hardihood to withstand it. Nearly every man in public life in the State gave in his adherence ; but Mr. Henderson boldly declared the measure unconstitutional as well as inexpedi- ent and impracticable, and entered into a campaign for re-election on that platform. As strong as the Alliance opposition to him was, the respect and confidence of his people were stronger. He beat down all opposition and won the victory by a majority of more than 4000. His success was an inspiration, and largely strengthened the hands of those who were seeking to hold the Democratic Party to its old landmarks. His strict adherence to his personal convictions and correspond- ing disinclination to curry popular favor by an abdication of his own sense of right, justice and propriety have perhaps interfered with his being called to fill still higher positions resting on popular favor ; but his life has been one of great usefulness and influence, and his career entitles him to rank as one of the most capable and interesting of the public men of the State. Mr. Henderson has been very influential in bringing capital to the State and in building up the city in which he lives. Through his personal influence and assistance the Southern Railway Com- pany was enabled to establish its shops at Spencer. He secured the lands required by the company for that purpose in 1896 before the public was aware of what was in contemplation. Now Spencer is a large and flourishing town, and seems destined to become quite a city. Every acre of land, amounting to some 12,000 acres, 3o6 NORTH CAROLINA was purchased by him for the proposed development of the water- power of the Yadkin River, near "The Narrows," and for gold mining and manufacturing purposes. The lands so purchased are situated in the counties of Rowan, Cabarrus, Stanly, Mont- gomery and Davidson. The Whitney Company, which now owns these lands, is also interesed in gold mining, and has already spent some millions of dollars in efforts to develop its properties, and expects to spend many millions more. If the plans of those who control this company are carried forward to completion, the twin cities of Salisbury and Spencer will be before many years a large and flourishing metropolis, and the counties above named and many others adjoining will vastly increase in population and wealth. Mr. Henderson has been made the attorney of this com- pany and of the one which preceded it ever since the year 1898, when the great project first began to assume shape. The capital- ists who are entitled to the credit for this great work are Messrs. George I. Whitney, Francis L. Stephenson and H. L. W. Hyde of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and Egbert B. C. Hambley of Salisbury. Mr. Henderson has been a member of the Board of Aldermen of the city of Salisbury, chairman of the Rowan County Board of Education, and a member of the Salisbury Graded Schools Committee. He takes great interest in education, and for many years, as one of the Committee of Graded Schools, has helped to make the Salisbury public schools the equal of those of any other town or city in the State. At this time he is both a member of the County Board of Education and of said School Committee. He also served for three years on the Board of Water Commissioners for the city of Salisbury, and during that period aided in giving to Salisbury one of the best water and sewerage systems in the State. In 1877 Mr. Henderson was elected director of the Western North Carolina Railroad Company, and served as such until 1880, when the road was sold by the State. He co-operated in the com- pletion of that great railroad, and favored its sale. In June, 1884, he was elected presiding justice of the Inferior Court of Rowan JOHN STEELE HENDERSON 307 County. He has been for twenty years a director of the Yadkin Railroad Company. A man largely immersed in business, Mr. Henderson has no special fondness for sports, but contents himself with such exer- cise as walking to and from his office, an average of three miles a day, which he has found beneficial to his health. On the 30th of September, 1874, Mr. Henderson married Miss Elizabeth Brownrigg Cain, granddaughter of Hon. John L. Bailey of Asheville, by whom he has had seven children, four of whom still survive. These are Elizabeth Brownrigg Henderson, Archi- bald Henderson, now associate professor of mathematics at the University of North Carolina ; John Steele Henderson, Jr., who is an electrical engineer, and is in the employ of the Westinghouse Company of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania ; and Mary Ferrand Hender- son. Archibald Henderson is married to Miss Mary Curtis Bynum, daughter of Rev. William Shipp Bynum, deceased, and granddaughter of Hon. William P. Bynum, late a member of the Supreme Court of North Carolina, and also granddaughter of the late Rev. Moses A. Curtis of Hillsboro. Archibald and his wife have one daughter, named Mary Curtis. Mr. Henderson's chil- dren are all highly intellectual and literary. The church relations of his family are with the Protestant Episcopal Church, of which Mr. Henderson has long been an earnest member; and in 1880 and 1883 he was a deputy to the general triennial convention of that church. The salutary influ- ences of his church relations have been manifested throughout his career, for he has sought to live up to the teaching of his early catechism — to do his full duty in the station of life in which it has pleased his Maker to place him, and then to let the result take care of itself. He has not been anxious about what was to take place, but having done his best in the way of work and duty, he has abided the issue with a calm philosophy. To such a one the influences of home and home life have been of the first importance ; and this, reinforced by the companionship of good men and the study of good books and of contact with active men of business, developed those characteristics that have 3o8 NORTH CAROLINA led to his success. Reviewing his own career, he has stated that the best advice he can give to a young man is to be careful to form correct opinions and to strive to have a right judgment in all things; and that when the plans and opinions of a young man have been deliberately chosen, he must adhere to them with a determination and resolution that will not recognize failure to be possible ; and the rule of his life should always be to be faithful to his conscientious convictions and to the principles of honor, uprightness and truth. S. A. Ashe. £:'r,j bj, £•. a W'f/'^.a-Tis s3j-^ /\fy ROBERT FREDERICK HOKE [HE most distinguished soldier of North Caro- Hna, Robert Frederick Hoke, is a native of Lincolnton, wliere he was born on the 27th day of May, 1837. His ancestry was such as has been most productive of men with those char- acteristics that have led to intelligent, persistent and courageous action, resulting in distinction in the various walks of life. The first of his name to come to America was a Lutheran minister, William Hoke, of Alsace or Lorraine, who was among the first settlers of York, Pennsylvania, from whom has sprung many descendants of highly respectable character, among them a considerable number who have attained prominence in their re- spective communities. Some years before the Revolution, Mrs. Hoke, a widow, with a family consisting of several sons, came from Pennsylvania and settled in what is now Lincoln County. There her son, John Hoke, associated with a neighbor, Mr. Michael Schenck, erected the first cotton mill built south of the Potomac, and operated it very successfully, and it was continued in operation by the family until the Civil War. He married Miss Quickie of Lincoln County, and their son Michael, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in 1810. He was a man of fine attainments and captivating address, and he was so power- ful in public debate that his oratorical powers were regarded by his contemporaries as extraordinary. He was educated at 310 NORTH CAROLINA Captain Partridge's Military Academy in Connecticut, then in high repute; studied law under Judge Tucker in Virginia, and completed his course with Hon. R. H. Burton of Lincolnton, whose daughter Frances he married. His ease of manner, bril- liancy of oratory and professional acquirements early brought him an extensive practice, and won for him high rank among the foremost men of the State. From 1834 to 1842 he represented his county in the legislature, and in 1844, at a meeting of his Democratic friends at the State capital, he was selected to make the canvass of the State for governor. Governor Morehead, a Whig, had at the previous election been chosen governor by a large majority, and the distinguished and masterful William A. Graham was then the Whig candidate, and the selection of Colonel Hoke to make the contest with Governor Graham attests the high opinion entertained of his abilities by his contemporaries. He made one of the most remarkable campaigns ever known in North Carolina, and reduced the Whig majority from about 15,000 to some 2000. But his unremitting efforts were disastrous to his health. On September 9, 1844, within a month after the election, he died in Charlotte from fever and prostration, and the termi- nation of his brilliant career was universally lamented by the citizens of the State without regard to party affiliations. His wife, Frances Burton, was a daughter of Colonel Robert H. Burton, a distinguished lawyer and son of Colonel Robert Burton of Granville County, who had married Miss Williams, a daughter of Judge John Williams. Judge Williams was, at the session of April, 1778, unanimously chosen speaker of the House of Commons, and at the same session he was elected a member of the Continental Congress ; but a vacancy occurring on the bench, he was at the next session elected Supreme Court judge, and was one of the three judges who, in May, 1786, first held an act of the legislature unconstitutional, setting an important prece- dent, which has since been followed in all the States in the Union. Robert H. Burton and his brother Alfred, sons of Colonel Robert Burton, were educated at the University of North Carolina, and moved from Granville County to Lincoln, where they practiced ROBERT FREDERICK HOKE 311 law, and there they married sisters, daughters of Mr. John Fulen- wider. Mr. Fulenwider was an educated mining engineer, who came to North CaroHna from Wales, and, having married Miss Ellis, an aunt of Governor Ellis, he located in Lincoln County, and there began the development of the iron industry, erecting furnaces and rolling mills, the first built at the South, which sup- plied iron not only to that section, but also to Tennessee and other distant communities. He made and operated the first nail ma- chine ever used in America, and at his foundries, during the War of 1812, cannon-balls were cast for the use of the Gov- ernment. It was from such an ancestry that General Hoke sprung ; men of high intelHgence, well educated ; men of wealth, trained to affairs ; practical men, building and operating cotton factories and iron mills and managing successfully large properties. At the time of the death of Colonel Michael Hoke, his son, Robert Frederick, the subject of this sketch, was only seven years of age, but the father's place was well supplied by the mother, who was a woman of strong character, inheriting intellect from both her parents and singularly gifted in mental endowments. Under her direction the education of her children was admirably conducted; and after a preparatory course at Lincolnton, the subject of this sketch was entered by her at the Kentucky Mili- tary Academy, near Frankfort, an institution of high grade, whose professors were all graduates of West Point, and where the dis- cipline and course of study were similar to those at West Point. Here particular attention was paid to mathematics and engineer- ing, for which young Hoke had a fondness, and in which he excelled. But he did not remain to graduate, for, leaving the institution in 1853, at the age of seventeen, he returned home, and, being the oldest son of his mother, he conducted her business, and eventually occupied the position as head of the family. He entered into business in connection with the manufactures with which his family interests were identified, including a cotton mill, paper mill, the manufacture of iron and of linseed oil and cotton- seed oil, the cotton-seed oil mill being the first ever established; 312 NORTH CAROLINA and he continued industriously employed in these operations until the war began in 1861. He then entered upon a career for which he was peculiarly fitted both by education, talent and character. He connected himself with a Lincoln company, the Southern Stars, which became Company K of the Bethel Regiment ; and, as second lieutenant, he participated in the baptism of blood at Bethel, and Colonel D. H. Hill, in his official report of that battle, commended him "for his great zeal, energy and judgment as an engineer officer on various occasions." On September 3d, upon the pro- motion of Colonel Hill to be brigadier-general, Lieutenant Hoke was elected to be major of the regiment, and when the regiment was disbanded he was appointed major of the Thirty-third Regi- ment, of which Colonel Branch was the colonel ; and upon Branch's promotion in January, 1862, Avery became colonel and Hoke lieutenant-colonel of the regiment, which was then stationed near New-Bern, to aid in the defence of that city. On the 14th of March, 1862, General Burnside's forces made the expected attack, and, breaking through the line of defense, struck the Thirty-third Regiment on its left, taking Colonel Avery prisoner, while Lieutenant-Colonel Hoke, on the right of the regiment, succeeded in extricating it, and saved it from capture, and, by making a great detour, brought it safely to Kinston, thus beginning his military career as regimental commander with an exploit that redounded to his high credit. Colonel Avery being captured. Colonel Hoke commanded the regiment in the battles around Richmond, and participated in the battles of Hanover Court-house, Mechanicsville, Gaines's Mills, Frazier's Farm and Malvern Hill, and later at Cedar Run and Second Manassas, where the Thirty-third, under Colonel Hoke, fought with great bravery and desperation, and gained particular encomiums, as well as at Sharpsburg. After the battle of Sharps- burg, Colonel Avery returned to the command, and Colonel Hoke, who had been commissioned as full colonel early in August, was assigned to the command of the Twenty-first North Carolina Regiment, then in Trimble's Brigade; and on the 13th of Decem- ber, at the battle of Fredericksburg, he was in command of the ROBERT FREDERICK HOKE 313 brigade, which was posted in the second Hne. Gregg's Brigade, which was stationed on the first Hne in Hoke's front, was over- whelmed by the Federal assault, General Gregg himself being killed, the works taken and the brigade captured. Without hesi- tation, and without waiting for orders, Colonel Hoke moved his brigade forward, restored the line and recaptured Gregg's Bri- gade, and captured the Federal force who occupied the works, Jackson's Pennsylvania troops. General Jackson himself being killed — a brilliant feat, that at once won him promotion, and a brigade was formed for him, consisting of the Sixth, Twenty- first, Fifty-seventh and Fifty-fourth North Carolina regiments, and with this brigade he served with General Lee during the winters of 1862 and 1863. It was at this time that an incident occurred which well illustrates General Hoke's care for his men, his thoughtfulness and capacity. The supply of soap was limited, and but little could be had for the army. General Hoke detailed some men, and sent them to Lincoln County to obtain the neces- sary pots and utensils ; and he converted the dead animals in the vicinity of his camp into soap, making even more of that desirable article than his brigade needed. One day a Texas general, observ- ing the quantity of soap at Hoke's camp, complained to General Lee of the partiality of the authorities, and insisted that his men should be supplied ; whereupon General Lee sent for General Hoke to inquire about the matter. General Hoke merely requested General Lee to ride over with him to his camp, and, getting there, told him that he not only had plenty of soap for his own command, but could send him wagon loads for other brigades, and showed him where and how he got it. General Lee was delighted, and, returning to his tent, sent for the complaining general and directed him to go to Hoke's headquarters and ascertain where the soap came from. General Hoke early gained in a pre-eminent degree the confidence of his men, and was trusted and idolized by them, and they knew that he in turn trusted them. His appearance in battle always inspired the greatest confidence and enthusiasm. Under his leadership his men felt that they could never fail. At the battle of Chancellorsville, Hoke was placed near the same 314 NORTH CAROLINA position where he won his stars the year before, and Sedgwick having advanced and captured Marye's Heights, where there had been such terrible carnage the previous December, Hoke moved from his position below Deep Run, and, after a desperate conflict, the Federal forces were hurled back, and the next morning they retired across the Rappahannock ; but in that engagement General Hoke unfortunately received a severe wound in the shoulder, which for some months incapacitated him for active service. It thus happened that he was not with General Lee in the Pennsyl- vania campaign, but he was able to resume command of his brigade soon after its return to Virginia. The condition of political affairs in North Carolina, where the disaffected were loud in their complaints, made it particularly desirable that endeavors should be made to drive the enemy from the eastern part of the State, and in January, 1864, Hoke's Brigade and other troops were sent to North Carolina, where General Pickett was in command, for the purpose of capturing New-Bern. In conformity with a part of the plan of General Pickett, Hoke, with his brigade, after a brisk skirmish on February ist, drove in the enemy's outpost at Batchelder's Creek, crossed the creek and advanced upon the town, reaching its immediate vicinity. General Pickett was present in command, and although the batteries of the Federal works opened hotly upon him, no assault was ordered. General Pickett in his report says : "There was unfortunately no co-operation, the other parties having failed to attack, and I found we were making the fight single-handed." After waiting a day for the co-operating forces to gain the position they were to have reached. General Pickett, much dis- appointed, withdrew General Hoke's Brigade, and the movement failed. Colonel John Taylor Wood, a grandson of General Zachary Taylor, the distinguished and intrepid navy officer on the President's staff, to whom had been assigned the duty of attacking the gunboats, was largely successful; and upon his return to Richmond he reported to the President that had the expedition been under the command of General Hoke it would have succeeded. ROBERT FREDERICK HOKE 315 Hoke's approach had been so rapid that as he and a bevy of officers were in advance on the road, a Federal courier galloped unsuspectingly right up to them, and, when he saw his error, he hastily put a piece of paper in his mouth. Hoke's aide instantly put a pistol at his head, saying: "If you swallow that I will kill you." The courier spat it out. Smoothing the despatch out and reading it, information was gained that a regiment and four pieces of artillery were being sent to a certain point. Hoke at once despatched a force and captured the entire Federal detachment. The regiment proved to be composed of deserters from the Con- federate ranks, and when that fact was discovered at Kinston, by direction of General Pickett, they were tried by court martial and many of them were executed. The desirability of striking a blow in Eastern Carolina still continuing, a month later the President proposed to make another effort in that direction, and he selected General Hoke for the com- mand, because he knew his "energy and activity." His command, consisting of Kemper's Brigade, Ransom's Brigade and his own, assisted by the ram Albemarle, then fortunately about completed, assailed the Federal troops at Plymouth and gained a brilliant victory, capturing the entire Federal force at that point. So im- portant was this achievement that President Davis telegraphed to General Hoke his promotion to major-general, the only pro- motion made directly by President Davis on the field of battle during the war; and the State legislature and Congress, then in session, passed resolutions tendering thanks to General Hoke and the officers and men under him for the brilliant and important victory. Hurrying from Plymouth, General Hoke speedily cap- tured Washington, where he waited several days, expecting to be joined by the ram Albemarle, preparatory to making an attack on New-Bern. But as the Albemarle steamed out on her way to the Pamlico, the Federal flotilla surrounded her, and although they did not damage her hull, they so riddled the smokestack as to destroy the draft of her furnace and prevent her from proceeding. Disappointed at the delay of the ram, but determined to wait no longer, Hoke crossed the Tar at Greenville and the Trent at 3i6 NORTH CAROLINA Trenton, and, passing to the south of New-Bern, he approached the town from the east, and was on the point of making an attack when he received orders peremptorily calhng him to desist and return without dela}- to the defense of Richmond, which was then threatened by General Butler. Indeed, although unknown to the Confederate authorities. General Grant had formed the plan for simultaneous movements on the part of Butler, and by Burnside upon Weldon, while he pressed General Lee in front ; and General Hoke's expedition, resulting in the capture of Plymouth and of Washington and his attack on New-Bern, entirely unsettled that plan; and it was thought by the Federal authorities that General Hoke's movement was devised with that very view. The conse- quences of his exploit, therefore, were the more important because it prevented the operation planned by General Grant, which would have been extremely dangerous to Richmond and to General Lee's army. In obedience to his peremptory orders, General Hoke with- drew his forces from the position he had gained before New-Bern, and, hurrying to Kinston, found transportation awaiting him, and on the loth of May reached Petersburg, having made the most rapid movement of the war. Butler had advanced on Richmond with 32,000 men, and had reached Drewry's Bluff, and General Hoke was just in time to interpose his brigade between General Butler and the Confederate capital. "General Hoke," wrote Gen- eral Beauregard, "handled his command with that resolution and judgment for which he was conspicuous." The enemy attacked him with fierceness, but failed, and Hoke pursuing, Butler with- drew his forces, and, as Grant felicitously expressed it, he, with his 32,000 men, were "bottled up." A permanent division, composed of Martin's and Clingman's North Carolina brigades and Colquitt's Georgia and Hagood's South Carolina, had been assigned to General Hoke, and after the battle of Drewry's Blufif he was transferred to the north bank of the James and hastened to Cold Harbor, reaching there simul- taneously with the advance of Grant's army at that point. Lee's infantry not having arrived, Hoke and the cavalry received the first shock of the encounter, and for three days his division bore ROBERT FREDERICK HOKE 317 the brunt of the conflict. His position was on the Confederate right, and not having been attached to any army corps, he reported to General Lee directly himself. On the ist of June, Grant ordered his Sixth Corps and most of the Eighteenth Corps to move on the position held by General Hoke and General Kershaw. The attack was repeatedly and signally repulsed with great loss to the enemy. On the morning of the 3d, General Grant directed an assault by his entire army, and the Federals advanced in many lines. "The time of actual advance was not over eight minutes ; in that little period more men fell bleeding as they advanced than at any other like period throughout the war." "The carnage on the Federal side was fearful. The ground in Hoke's entire front, over which the enemy charged, was literally covered with their dead and wounded. No wonder that when the command was given to renew the assault the Federal soldiers sullenly and silently de- clined. The order was issued through their officers to their sub- ordinate commanders, and from them through the wonted chan- nels, but no man stirred, the immobile lines thus pronouncing the verdict, silent yet emphatic, against further slaughter." At that time General Lee was ill in his tent, and as Hoke's Division had not been with him in the great encounters through which his army had recently passed, he was nervous, as he knew they would have to stand the brunt of Grant's fierce onset; so he sent Colonel Venable to ask General Hoke to come and see him about it. General Hoke, however, replied that he was expecting an attack momentarily and could not then leave, but that General Lee need be under no apprehension, for his division would hold that line against the expected assault. After the attack had been made and repulsed. General Hoke repaired to the tent of General Lee, and found him on his cot sitting up, and, despite his illness, "bold and with the spirit of a gamecock." In that last battle between the armies of Grant and Lee, on the line that Grant had boastfully taken to capture Richmond, for he declared "he would fight it out on that line if it took all summer," the Federal army in the space of a few moments lost near 10,000 men, and although three times ordered to renew the assault, did 3i8 NORTH CAROLINA not move again into action. It was the end of Grant's active campaign to take Richmond, according to his plan, a total failure in the line of his operations ; and in that great and decisive action General Hoke and his division played a conspicuous part. Grant then began to entrench and approach Lee's line by parallels; but in a few^ days the contest with Lee's army was abandoned and a new movement against Petersburg was developed. To meet that. General Hoke's division was hurried to Petersburg, reaching there on the i6th of June, in time to resist the Federal approach and save the city ; and for ninety days it held the line from the Appomattox to near the Crater without losing a particle of ground. Later, when the Federals captured Fort Harrison on the other side of the James, General Hoke, with his division, was, on the 29th of September, thrown in their front, and General Lee planned an assault to retake that work. General Hoke suggested to Gen- eral Lee that the attempt ought not to be made, as it was im- practicable, and would result only in loss of life without accomplishing any good end. General Lee, however, had full confidence in the ability of his troops to accomplish any under- taking, and pressed for the execution of his purpose; but as General Hoke had feared, the result was disastrous, and at last his former suggestion was adopted, and he constructed a line of earthworks where he had previously indicated, doing so by throw- ing up the earth from the front and making no excavation in the rear where water might collect, interfering with the comfort and rapid movement of his soldiers. The line so made he continued to hold for sixty days, and it never was broken. On one occasion, toward the end of October, it being evident that a large force was to assail it. General Lee was very anxious and apprehensive, and, coming to the New Market Road, he found General Hoke, who had been in the saddle at that point all night preparing to meet the assault, and who told him that the attack would certainly be at that point, and that he was ready for it, and it would be successfully resisted. General Lee's uneasiness was apparent until he himself became satisfied of the correctness of General Hoke's judgment, and soon the assault was made as Hoke had anticipated, ROBERT FREDERICK HOKE 319 and resulted in a crushing defeat of the attacking column. Toward the end of December, 1864, General Hoke was ordered with his command to repair to Wilmington and sustain General Bragg in the anticipated attack on Fort Fisher. He reached Wilmington just after the failure of Butler's expedition and the withdrawal of the Federal fleet; and believing that a second attempt would be immediately made, he urged General Bragg to permit him to throw up earthworks from the head of the sound to Fort Fisher, commanding the beach. This had been the plan of Captain J. C. Winder, the engineer for the defense of Confederate Point in 1 86 1, but the authorities subsequently discarded it. The practical conclusion of General Hoke led him to the same conclusion that Captain Winder had reached; but General Bragg did not think that there would be another attack, and he had in expectation operations about New-Bern. So he held General Hoke's com- mand in camp near Wilmington. Suddenly, however, the Federal fleet reappeared before Fisher, Federal troops were landed on the beach, and the guns of the fleet prevented any infantry opposition to their movements. Fort Fisher fell, and General Hoke, en- trenched at Sugar Loaf, held his position for a month, when, the Federal forces having ascended the river on the south side, he retired, and, under orders, proceeded to Kinston, where he im- mediately engaged Cox's corps, and checked their advance on Goldsboro. Sherman's army was then approaching from Fayette- ville, and Hoke hastened to join the forces under General Joseph E. Johnston at Smithfield, and moved to the attack of that army. The battle of Bentonsville ensued, Hoke's division bear- ing the brunt of it. On the 19th of March he attacked Davis's and Slocumb's corps and drove them back, taking about a thou- sand prisoners. On the next day, Sherman's whole force being up, the Federals attacked, the main assault being on Hoke's Division, but were repulsed. General Johnston then withdrew to Smithfield, and as Sherman advanced retired to the west until Hoke's division rested at High Point and Bush Hill, where it remained until the surrender by Johnston on the 26th of April. On May ist, General Hoke bade farewell to his troops, whom he 320 NORTH CAROLINA had so often led to victory. In his address he said : "You are parolled prisoners, not slaves. The love of liberty which led you into the contest burns as brightly in your hearts as ever. Cherish it. Associate it with the history of your past. Transmit it to your children. Teach them the rights of freemen and teach them to maintain them. Teach them the proudest day in all your proud career was that on which you enlisted as Southern soldiers." The intimate intercourse between General Lee and General Hoke led to their mutual admiration and affection, and General Lee had learned to lean on him as one of his best generals, and year by year General Hoke had established himself more firmly in the confidence of his superiors and in the love of his soldiers. Indeed, toward the close of the war he had come to be regarded as Lee's best general. As brilliant as his career had been, the spirit and brave heart he exhibited at the trying moment of irre- trievable disaster and subjugation were as creditable to him as his proud bearing on any field of glorious victory. Returning home, he at once began the life of a peaceful citizen, and setting a fine example, he took his war horse and plowed in his fields and made his crop. The following incident is worth repeating: One hot day that summer, as he was plowing in his field, a man rode by and hailed him, saying, "Ain't you General Hoke?" The general stopped and replied, "Yes." The man asked, "Ain't that thar the horse you rode in the army?" The general said "Yes." The man looked at him a moment, and wildly throwing his arms up, cried out: "God Almighty," and then bending over and hiding his face within his arms, started his horse off and moved on. Somewhat later. General Hoke was employed in washing for gold in the mountains of North Carolina, when his mother came to him in her carriage, bringing the news that at Governor Holden's instance, a Court of Inquiry was ordered to meet at Raleigh, to investigate the execution of the Federal soldiers taken near New-Bern in 1864; and offering him money, she urged him to leave the country. He, however, assured her that he had done nothing wrong, and instead of getting out of the way, he hastened ROBERT FREDERICK HOKE 321 to Raleigh, where he found the Court in session. From there he went to Washington to see General Grant, whom he told that while he did not fear any investigation, yet as his health was bad, he did fear the ill consequences of a protracted incarceration, and he desired to know if his parole protected him. General Grant replied that he knew all about the execution of the men at Kinston and that General Hoke had nothing to fear; that his parole would protect him, and "if any one molests you, let me know." That was the end of the matter. Since the war, General Hoke has been engaged chiefly in devel- oping iron mines, being interested in the Cranberry Mines and in the mines near Chapel Hill, and he has also been largely engaged in real estate transactions. He has led the life of a quiet, private gentleman, declining all political or public employment. In 1877, however, at Governor Vance's solicitation, he became a State director in the North Carolina Railroad with the view of pro- tecting the State's interests in that great work, which had then been recently leased to the Richmond and Danville Railroad Com- pany, and he continued to represent the State's interests as a director until 1893, when he was elected a director on the part of the private stockholders. From boyhood. General Hoke has always been occupied, seek- ing constant and steady employment. He has never been dis- posed to indulge in recreation, but has been an earnest man of business, each day bringing its duties, which he has sought faith- fully to perform. His reading has been largely confined to mili- tary histories ; even before the war, he being a student of Napoleon's campaigns and of similar works. Being asked what suggestion he would offer to young people, he replies : "Strict attention to all duties of life." On the 7th of January, 1869, General Hoke was happily mar- ried to Miss Lydia A. Van Wyck, and they have had six children, of whom four survive. 5". A. Ashe. ASHLEY HORNE 'HAKESPEARE wrote, "Some men are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them." Ashley Home of Clayton, North Carolina, belongs with those who have achieved greatness. His heredity was fine, his environment was poor, and his will-power was great, and equal to the task of making him a man of mark among his fellows. By descent he belongs to the sturdy and thrifty Scotch race, his grandfather, William Henry Home, speaking the native tongue. His father, Benajah Home, was a remarkable man in his day and generation. For about forty years he was a magistrate, writing the wills and deeds of his neighbors, and being the general business man of his whole section. In character he was charitable, honest, social, industrious and proud. Such was his kindness of heart that he lost much money standing security, and during the war kept his horse and buggy standing at the depot to carry home the sick and wounded soldiers. The mother, Elizabeth Tarboro, was one of nature's noble- women, refined, courtly, dignified, independent almost to a fault, asking no favors, with a strong disposition to save and accumu- late, losing no time from her household duties, taking no risks, and exerting a strong moral and spiritual influence over six boys and three girls. ASHLEY HORNE 323 Ashley was reared a country boy, healthy, strong and robust. Farming was his main work, at which he was rigidly overseered by his father. The winter days he would spend in clearing new ground, getting shingles and staves at night. He was poorly dressed in homespun clothes, with a Stinson wool hat, while one pair of country-made shoes a year was his allowance. He was raised to work all the week, even on Saturday afternoons, when many other boys would be going to church. Fishing and hunting were unknown, except on Sundays. This rigorous out-of-door life developed great physical strength and the habit of continuous application to work, both to prove of greiat importance for his future success. Though farming occupied the most of his attention, he was also a natural boy trader. He had an instinct for business, and drove bargains from childhood. Without money, but with in- tegrity, he would buy cattle on his father's credit, drive them to Raleigh, sell, return home, settle his account, and have a margin left for his trouble. Peas, peaches, chickens and farm produce were his stock in trade. Whatever later interests might occupy him, he was sure to be from early habit a farmer and a trader. Like many another youth born in the South in the forties, his early education was cut short by the war between the States. The policy of his father was to educate his boys. Ashley was the fourth of the six. His turn had not come when he volunteered in his country's service. His whole schooling would not exceed two years, about half of which was received at irregular intervals in the fall of the year. During these two years his progress was rapid, and included the three R's, with a touch of Latin. Educa- tion was not cheap in those days, and fortunate was the boy whom the farm could spare to learn the sacred secrets of knowledge and understanding. His one memorable teacher was the famous William B. Jones, holding the torch of knowledge to light many a boy's way.- This lack of a broad education was to prove the chief handicap in the career of the future man. But many things that he did not learn in the school-room he did learn by the camp-fires of the most educative war in human history. 324 NORTH CAROLINA It was as a stripling youth of twenty summers that as a vol- unteer, in 1861, he answered the call of his country. He was first assigned to Company C, Fiftieth North Carolina Regiment, stationed at Camp Holmes, but he was afterward transferred to the Fifty-third Regiment, of which his older brother, Sam, was lieutenant, in Grimes's Brigade, Rhodes's Division. Except for a short period in Eastern North Carolina, his service was with General Lee in the army of Northern Virginia, around Richmond, and included such notable events as the evacuation of Richmond, the charge at Fort Stedman, or Hare's Hill, the retreat from Rich- mond to Appomattox, and the surrender, the momentous news of which, with authentic parole, he, as orderly sergeant, with nine men, was the first to bring to Johnston's army at Greensboro and Sherman's at Durham. Such was the heroic training of hard labor, self-sacrifice and devoted loyalty to a noble cause with which he began life after the war. His character was his only capital when he left the army and its lost cause behind him and faced homeward. What did he find? A portion of Sherman's army was still occupying his father's plantation when he arrived there about the middle of April, 1865. B)- May ist the Yankees had gone, leaving the land bare of stock, produce and fences. He was as yet the only one of the six brothers to return, three of them tenting on the other side of the river, and two, Sam and Hardee, detained in Union prisons. It was late for a crop, and of animals there was none to draw the plow. The blight of war had reduced plenty to poverty. Here a less determined man might have lost time in bewailing his misfortune. But taught the art of resourcefulness by four years of army life, he took a colored boy, went in the night to the Yankee camp at Raleigh, where Sherman had accumulated a great quantity of stock taken from the people, cunningly took away two horses without being detected by the guards, brought them home, and having nothing with which to feed them, grazed one while he plowed with the other, and thus made for his parents a small crop of corn and melons. ASHLEY HORNE 325 But this was not a money crop. So when it was done he began to split cord-wood, and thus earned his first money after the war. He would start from home Monday morning to go two miles away, work till ten o'clock at night by torchlight, sleeping on pine-straw for bedding, under a pine-brush shelter, remaining with his wood night and day, and then go home Saturday night to his parents. The wood was sold under contract to the railroad. At length an engineer on the road, becoming delighted with his energy and social qualities, secured for him a position as hotel clerk in Goldsboro. In this position he saved $300, with which he traded in tobacco, buying in Virginia and jobbing it off by the box to merchants in Florida. His earnings mounted up to $600. But on account of growing competition, and at the earnest solicitation of his mother, saddened at the loss of her three sons, he came back home to remain with her the rest of her natural life. But what was he to do? This decision was the crisis in his career. His parents wanted him to farm. His personal inclina- tion was for business. He saw, and was among the first to see, that the South was at a turning-point in its history; that its development must now be commercial as well as agricultural, and he put his boat in the current of the times. Under parental pro- test, he entered business with his small capital. Henceforth com- mercial and industrial interests were to divide his time with agri- culture. He did not entirely forsake farming, but kept it as his diversion and relaxation. It still occupies half of the day's work, and affords that mental pleasure so necessary to relieve the strain of strenuous and momentous matters. From these small beginnings many enterprises of great pith and moment have grown, until to-day Mr. Home is one of the busiest, largest and wealthiest farmers, merchants and manu- facturers in the State. Among the more important of his positions as industrial leader are the presidencies of the Clayton Banking Company, since 1899; the Clayton Cotton Mill, since 1900; the North Carolina Agricultural Society, since October, 1903; the Cap- udine Chemical Company, since February, 1904. He is also vice- 326 NORTH CAROLINA president and director of the Caraleigh Phosphate and Fertilizer Mills, since its organization in 1890 ; and is director in a long list of industries, including the Raleigh Standard Oil Mill, since 1885 ; the Raleigh Commercial and Farmers' Bank, the Caraleigh Cotton Mill Company, the Wilson Farmers' Oil Mill, the Goldsboro and Seven Springs Securities Company, and the Eastern Life Insur- ance Company. Many such positions he has declined, and in a position once accepted he has never been succeeded. "How are you able, Mr. Home, to conduct so large a business?" he was asked. "By taking each thing as it arises," he said, "and finishing it; and by systematizing each industry so as to make it run by specific organization." In politics Mr. Home is a Democrat, having never scratched a ticket from the day when, as a soldier in the army of Northern Virginia, he voted for Zebulon B. Vance for governor. Because of his great executive ability, his sound and unvarying Democratic principles and personal popularity, he has naturally been often sought for political preferment. These offers he has usually put aside, though he did consent to serve as State senator in 1884-85. Among other committees during this session, he was a member of the Finance Committee, and as such helped to establish the Agricultural and Mechanical College. His protest is to-day entered on the Senate Journal in the Capitol against the free use of convict labor in extending the Western North Carolina Railroad to the Nantehala River. Politics has not proved attractive to Mr. Home, because it would mean the surrendering of his business interests and because also of a natural distaste for the trickery often resorted to by politicians for success. To hold aloft his standard would mean defeat, to lower it would sacrific self-respect. With Henry Clay, he would rather be right than be President. In character Mr. Home exemplifies personal integrity, wonder- ful industry, steadfastness in righteousness and charity. He has been a wise counsellor for the betterment of mankind, and an asylum of refuge to the weak, the widows in their affliction, and the fatherless. With every step in life he was striving for personal character and the improvement of mankind. He coveted relia- ASHLEY HORNE 327 bility as men love jewels ; and as a borrower and lender of money in a great volume of business he has never given security or put up collateral. These qualities have always elicited the highest esteem and warmest admiration from his fellow-men. Having served for many years, he but recently resigned the chairmanship of the local school board. Since 1901 he has been colonel of the Walter Moore Camp of the United Confederate Veterans, being the only man who ever held it more than one year. He is also major on General Carr's staff of the State Association of Confederate Veterans. He has never belonged to a secret society of any kind, reads history but not fiction as a diversion, is a careful student of contemporary affairs, is in full sympathy with the cause of temperance, the work of religion and the influence of the church in human life. To what influences is such a life due? Mr. Home inherited his ambition to succeed, to which he had only to be true. His heredity and early life influenced him most; then came in order the great schooling of the army, the opportunity afforded by the change in social conditions wrought by the war, and his close application to all duties never permitting him to "flounder around." His uncompleted early education has been his severest handicap in life's race, but for which he would have run yet more swiftly. "What advice would you give to young people starting out in life?" Mr. Home was asked. "Cultivate integrity and industry," he said; "seek expert advice, avoid all habits of dissipation, and utilize every hour and day for personal and social improvement. Work is the greatest word in the English language. Make to yourselves friends of the homely virtues. Decide on your busi- ness, stick to your job, and love your work. Success is a problem with many obstacles in the way ; these suggestions are the guides to its solution. Be honest, be temperate, and work, and the great- est of these is work." Mr. Home was born March 27, 1841. He has been twice married : first to the beautiful Miss Cornelia Frances Lee, a union that was blessed with three lovely children; and again to the 328 NORTH CAROLINA accomplished Miss Rena Hasseltine Beckwith, who has blessed him with a rare and radiant daughter. "My chief object in life from now out," says Mr. Home, "is to give all information possible for the advancement of agriculture." Under such a president, the North Carolina Agricultural Society will apply scientific knowledge to practical farming, correcting and enlightening the agricultural interests of the State. The lesson of this life, easy to read and simple to follow, is that of labor and honesty, work according to righteous principle. These attainments are the virtues worthy the seeking, that insure material, moral and spiritual successes, and that crown character as the noblest possession of mankind. Herman H. Home. EDWARD HYDE ^^[Vj^^f^^Jl^y^ N the settlement of Albemarle, a governor was *-^*^^^^"'^*^»* appointed for that county by the Lords Pro- prietors in England until 1689, when Philip Ludwell was appointed governor of North Carolina, and three years later authority was given to the governor of Carolina, at Charles- ton, to appoint a deputy governor for North Carolina, and that practice continued until 1710. In 1709 the Lords Proprietors designated Colonel Edward Hyde to be deputy governor of North Carolina, and he was to receive his commission from Governor Edward Tynte, at Charleston. Edward Hyde was a grandson of the great Earl of Clarendon, whose name he bore. His father, also named Edward (son of Clarendon), died in 1675, and is buried in Westminster Abbey. One of Clarendon's daughters, Anne Hyde, was the wife of James, Duke of York, afterward James II., but died before that monarch's accession. She was the mother of Queen Mary (wife of Wil- liam HL) and Queen Anne. Hence, Governor Hyde of North Carolina was the first cousin of the reigning queen, Anne, dur- ing his entire administration. It was in the summer of 1710 that Hyde reached America. Governor Tynte (from whom he was to receive his commission as deputy governor) died before his arrival, and he was without a commission; but he did have some 330 NORTH CAROLINA letters proving that he had been designated for the appointment. These being shown, he was by general consent made president of the Council (acting governor) until a commission could be procured. In the meantime, the Lords Proprietors decided to make Hyde full governor of North Carolina. Though they made this appointment in December, 1710, it was not until May 9, 1712, that he was sworn in at a meeting of the Council in North Carolina, and he became the first governor of the colony under the new plan of administration; after that the governors of North Caro- lina were appointed in England. When Hyde reached North Carolina, the colony was torn by a civil commotion known as Cary's Rebellion. The leader of this insurrection was Colonel Thomas Cary, formerly deputy governor under Sir Nathaniel Johnson. Though Cary at first consented to Hyde's becoming president of the Council, he later denied his authority in that station, and also refused obedience to laws passed by an Assembly which Hyde called. That Assembly then ordered Cary into custody, but he escaped, and gathered many followers, and fortified his house near Bath with artillery, so that he could not be taken. Afterward he fitted up an armed brigantine, with the avowed purpose of capturing Hyde and his Council, who then applied to Governor Spottswood of Virginia for help, and Spottswood sent a party of marines to their aid, but before the marines arrived, Cary's party made their attack, that ended dis- astrously. Their armed vessel was abandoned and captured, and Cary fled. Later, some of the leaders of the rebellion were taken and sent to England for trial, but were not punished. Cary him- self has been charged with stirring up the Indian War, presently to be mentioned. In 1710, about the time of Hyde's arrival in North Carolina, commissioners were af work endeavoring to ascertain and settle the correct boundary between Virginia and North Carolina. These commissioners, however, failed to agree, and it was some years later, in 1729, before the boundary was run. The greatest disaster in the history of North Carolina occurred during Governor Hyde's administration, in 171 1, when the lower EDWARD HYDE 331 Tuscaroras and other Indians on the Pamlico and Neuse attacked the settlements on those rivers and massacred more than 130 men, women and children. Governor Hyde was a man of good parts and good character. In religious matters Governor Hyde was an adherent of the Church of England, and served as one of the vestry of Chowan precinct. He died of a malady supposed to have been yellow fever on September 8, 1712, and was succeeded by Thomas Pollock, presi- dent of the Council, who was acting governor until the arrival of Governor Charles Eden. One of the oldest counties (formerly called precincts) in North Carolina was named Hyde, as a compliment to Governor Hyde. Marshall De Lancey Haywood. THOMAS JORDAN JARVIS IITH the first little band of adventurous planters who made their homes on the Albemarle was Thomas Jarvis, who bought from the Indians a tract of land on the neck between the Per- quimans River and the "Carolina Sound," as the Albemarle was then called, just west of the swamp dividing it from Colonel Jenkins's place; and on the ap- pointment of Colonel Ludwell in 1691 as governor of both Carolinas, acting under his powers, he appointed as deputy gov- ernor of North Carolina Thomas Jarvis, who for several years filled the position of governor of the colony ; and from that period to the present the name has been a familiar one to the people of the Albemarle section. In Revolutionary times. General Samuel Jarvis led the Albe- marle militia to the rendezvous on Deep River to cover expected operations from South Carolina. A century later, Thomas Jordan Jarvis, who was born at Jarvisburg, Currituck County, on the i8th of January, 1836, animated by a like spirit of patriotism, became a soldier in the cause of Southern Independence. His father was Bannister Hardy Jarvis, a minister of the Gospel and a farmer, a man of strong convictions, positive in his conclusions and steadfast in his devotion to all the duties of life, who sought rather the rewards of the world to come than the accumulation of fortune and earthly substance. Ol/Kh y ■'^;;hjr-zj^i^ THOMAS JORDAN JARVIS 333 Full of vigor and health in youth, the subject of this sketch passed his boyhood on the farm, happy in the love of home and devoted to his mother, Elizabeth Daly Jarvis, whose influence on his moral and spiritual life has remained a potent force with him throughout his eventful career. His father's circumstances being straitened, the subject of this sketch did not enjoy the advantages of an early education, but after attending the country schools in boyhood, being determined to improve himself, when nineteen years of age he entered Randolph-Macon College, then located near Boyton, Virginia, and with money earned by teach- ing at intervals, and through the assistance furnished by Mr. John Sanderson, he finally completed his course there in i860, receiving the degree of A.M. from his Alma Mater the next year. On graduating, he opened a school in Pasquotank County, where he was engaged in teaching in the spring of 1861, when the Civil War came on. Zealous in the cause of the South, he enlisted first in the Seven- teenth North Carolina Regiment, but on May 16, 1861, he was commissioned first lieutenant of Company B, Eighth North Caro- lina Regiment, of which the lamented Henry M. Shaw was colonel ; and on April 22, 1863, he was promoted to be captain of his company. He was an excellent soldier, cool, resolute and unflinching in the presence of danger, and he displayed a heroism, fortitude and endurance not surpassed by any of his comrades in arms. After other services. Captain Jarvis was one of those engaged upon the severe duty of defending Battery Wagner, and with his companions went through that terrible ordeal with great credit to himself and to North Carolina. His regiment was a part of Clingman's Brigade, and later it was assigned to Hoke's Division. Under General Hoke it participated in the capture of Plymouth in April, 1864, and stormed Fort Williams successfully, losing 154 men killed and wounded, one-third of its number. At the battle of Drewry's Bluff, in May, 1864, the Eighth Regiment moved forward to the charge with a steadiness characteristic of North Carolina soldiers, and as the enemy made stubborn resist- ance, the regiment suffered heavily. Among those wounded on 334 NORTH CAROLINA that day was Captain Jarvis, who received a wound in his right arm, necessitating a resection of a part of the bone, from which his arm has never fully recovered, being in a measure useless to him. He was never able to rejoin his command. He was con- fined in hospital at Richmond and at hospital tent at Petersburg until October, 1864. He was on sick leave with his wounded arm in a sling when the surrender took place, and he was paroled in May, 1865. When the war was over, and while the future was still involved in doubt and obscurity, Captain Jarvis, with the same courage he had displayed on the fields of Virginia, looked the circumstances of his life resolutely in the face, and applying himself to business, opened a small store in Tyrrell County, at the same time studying law and taking part in public affairs. And it may be well to state here that such was his character for personal honesty and integrity that he was able to buy his entire stock of goods on credit and to borrow money enough to pay the freight on them from Norfolk, Virginia, to Columbia, North Carolina. He has ever maintained this reputation. Tall and commanding in person, and with a vigorous mind and an indomitable spirit, he did not despair because of the heavy strokes of adverse fortune, but applied himself to rendering such public service as was possible under the conditions of that eventful period. In the fall of 1865, President Johnson having declared North Carolina again restored to the Union, a State convention was called, and the friends of Captain Jarvis in Currituck brought him forward as a candidate for election to that body. Fortunately, he was elected, and then began a public career alike honorable to himself and useful to the people of North Carolina, and from that time onward his name has been closely connected with the history of this State. Obtain- ing his license in June, 1867, he began to practice law, but his intelligent appreciation of the grave questions then pressing on public attention led him to take a deep interest in political move- ments. The State government was overthrown under the Recon- struction Acts of 1867, and in the spring of 1868 a new consti- tution was adopted, and at the same election Captain Jarvis was THOMAS JORDAN JARVIS 335 chosen to represent the people of Tyrrell County in the House of Representatives ; and in the fall of that year he made an extensive canvass as an elector on the Seymour and Blair ticket. When the legislature met, he allied himself with John W. Graham, Plato Durham, James L. Robinson and the few other Democrats of that body in strenuous opposition to the financial and partisan measures of the Republican majority. They were but a handful, but most gallantly did they throw themselves into the breach, and stood steadfast, unmovable in their adherence to the best interests of the white people of the State; and as the session grew, with it grew the fame of these young men, whose positions gave them leader- ship in the Democratic Party, and whose wisdom, prudence and courageous action won them the plaudits of the people. Their triumph in establishing the Bragg-Phillips Investigating Com- mittee and in repealing the special tax laws was complete, and was perhaps without an equal in the whole history of American commonwealths, and the people loved to do them honor. To their action was largely due those events which culminated in the defeat of the Republicans in 1870, the restoration of dominion to the white people of the State, the disband- ment of Kirk's army, the re-establishment of civil law, the im- peachment of Governor Holden, and the pacification of the State at that early date, and the subsequent era of quiet, harmony and prosperity. When the new Assembly met. Captain Jarvis, being again a member, was tendered the speaker's chair, and he became the chief director of State legislation, and exerted a controlling influence on the destiny of the people of North Carolina. The Democratic Conservative Party was then in a formative state, and Captain Jarvis exercised great influence in welding the discordant elements of opposition to the radicalism of the Republican Party into a solid and enduring organization. And his wisdom and prudence were no less notable than his boldness and courageous action had been at the previous session. At the close of the legislature, he moved to the county of Pitt and formed a partnership with David M. Carter, one of the strongest intellects 336 NORTH CAROLINA of the State, and that fall he canvassed the State as an elector on the Greeley ticket. During the next three years he devoted him- self to his professional work ; but in 1875 he was elected a member of the constitutional convention, and to his prudent management was chiefly due the power of the Democrats to organize and con- trol that body, which was evenly divided between the two parties. He was largely instrumental in procuring the adoption of the constitutional amendment giving power to the legislature to alter the system of county government, which secured the white people of the eastern part of the State from the domination of large negro majorities. In 1876, when Vance was nominated for governor. Captain Jarvis was chosen by the convention as its candidate for lieutenant governor, and he again made an extensive canvass throughout the western counties ; and upon Vance's election as United States senator, in February, 1879, he succeeded to the executive chair, to which he was re-elected in 1880 for a full term. During the six years in which he was governor, he impressed himself more on the active industries of the State than any other governor has ever done. He was wise and prudent in council and bold and progressive in action. He deemed it a function of the executive office to give direction to public measures, and he met the responsi- bilities of his position with zeal and patriotism and a high order of ability. He believed that the people looked to the governor for a detailed account of his stewardship, and he participated largely in every campaign, and challenged the most thorough scrutiny into every act of his administration, whose cleanness and integrity commended it to public confidence. He sought to be governor of the entire State and to advance the welfare of every section. Particularly was he strenuous in his efforts to promote public education, and he won the cordial good will of the blacks as well as the confidence and esteem of the whites. He used every means to advance the construction of the Western North Carolina Railroad, and eventually, when it became necessary for him to do so, he convened the legislature in special session, and disposed of that road, in order that it might be speedily finished. Under his THOMAS JORDAN JARVIS 337 aggressive industrial leadership the legislature also authorized the sale of the State's interest in a dilapidated railroad in operation from Fayetteville to the gulf in Chatham County. This sale was followed by the speedy extension of the road west to Mount Airy and south and east to Bennettsville, South Carolina, and to Wil- mington, under the name of the Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railroad. It was under his administration, also, that the Western Asylum at Morganton, the Eastern Asylum at Goldsboro, and the Governor's Mansion at Raleigh were built; and without legis- lative authority, he acquired for the Agricultural Department the property which has since become its home, and on which the Supreme Court Building and State Library have been erected. Under his wise administration, peace and order prevailed, the industries of the State were greatly advanced and party bitter- ness largely disappeared, and race antagonism was allayed. As its crowning glory, just before his retirement, a State Exposition was held at Raleigh, which lasted for six weeks, which showed marvellous progress in the industries and general prosperity of the people. Indeed, it may be asserted that no State can boast a more splendid administration than that of Governor Jarvis, one during which, considering the impoverished condition of the in- habitants, so much was accomplished for the advancement of education, for the promotion of beneficent public purposes and the establishment of industrial prosperity and of contentment in the homes of the people. Upon the retirement of Governor Jarvis from the executive chair, he was appointed by President Cleveland United States Minister to Brazil, a position which he filled as a worthy repre- sentative of his country, maintaining a high position at the Court to which he was accredited. After the election of President Harrison, he returned to North Carolina and resumed the practice of the law at Greenville. In 1892 he presided over the State Democratic Convention, at which Elias Carr was nominated for governor, and Governor Jarvis entered largely into that campaign, and contributed much to the election of the Democratic ticket. In April, 1894, on the death of Senator Vance, Governor Carr 338 NORTH CAROLINA tendered Governor Jarvis the vacant senatorship, which he accepted, and being a fine parliamentarian and thoroughly ac- quainted with all public measures, he was at once accorded a high position in the Senate. In the election in the fall of 1894 for members of the General Assembly, the Republicans and Populists fused, and as a result of this fusion Mr. Pritchard and Mr. Butler were elected to the Senate. At the end of his term. Senator Jarvis returned to the practice of his profession, and he has continued to perform his duties as a public man and a private citizen with his customary patriotism. In the several campaigns since 1894 he has contributed his best exertions for party success, and in con- siderable measure the victories since achieved have been due to his endeavors. He has ever been an industrious and laborious worker, and in these campaigns he worked most effectively. He has a mind capable of comprehending the details of the most intricate subjects, and he fully masters whatever engages his attention. As a speaker he is clear, bold and forcible; plain in language and convincing in argument. His speeches never tire his audience, and although they do not abound in high flights of oratory, they please, interest and convince, and it has been often said that he is the most masterly man in public debate that North Carolina has produced in recent years, except alone that popular favorite. Senator Vance. Senator Jarvis has appeared in many of the most important legal cases in the State. He was of counsel for the justices of the Supreme Court when they were impeached in 1902, and he was employed for the State in the litigation concerning the Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad. He was the leading counsel of Mr. Josephus Daniels when that gentleman was arrested on the order of Judge Purnell for contempt of court in making some publication concerning that judge and his action with reference to the Atlantic. and North Carolina Railroad; and Senator Jarvis hastened to Washington, and applying to the chief justice of the United States Supreme Court, and to Judge Pritchard of the Circuit Court, succeeded in short order in having the orders of Judge Purnell that were complained of rendered harmless, and in THOMAS JORDAN JARVIS 339 the latter case, Judge Pritchard, on the hearing, promptly dis- charged Mr. Daniels from arrest. Governor Jarvis is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he has represented his church in the general con- ference, and has long been a trustee of Trinity College. He thinks that his early experience as a teacher and his home influ- ence and the example of his godly father and mother had great effect in moulding his character and determining his course in life. He is a member of the Odd Fellows and of the Knights of Pythias, and he is noted for his benevolence of character. During the course of his long public career. Senator Jarvis has made many important addresses and written many State papers of a high order of merit. In particular did his address at the opening of the Exposition in Boston in 1883 bring him great reputation as an orator, winning him commendation and fame throughout Massachusetts. His articles in the several Democratic handbooks are models for clearness of statement and excellent English, and they have been very effective in influencing public opinion and determining public action. In 1883 the Uni- versity of North Carolina conferred upon him the degree of LL.D, and he has always been a warm friend of the University, although also seeking to promote the other colleges of the State. It is probable, however, that his greatest and best work in the cause of education was his active work for the common schools of the State. In his messages to the General Assembly, he pleaded for longer terms and better schools, and while in office he delivered many addresses in different sections of the State in advocacy of a better system of popular education, and as a private citizen he has continued the work. He has taken an active part in establish- ing a system of graded schools for his own town, and is chairman of the Board of Trustees of this system of schools in Greenville. In 1874 Governor Jarvis was happily married to Miss Mary Woodson, the accomplished daughter of John Woodson, Esq., of Virginia, a lady of fine literary attainments, who has made some notable contributions to North Carolina literature, and who is greatly admired and esteemed by a large circle of friends 340 NORTH CAROLINA throughout North Carolina. It is probable that no two persons were ever more happily united. They live largely in the com- panionship of each other, and it is well known that the governor gladly credits his wife with a large share of his popularity and success. Being asked to give some suggestion that would be helpful to young people, Governor Jarvis replied : "Avoid feverish anxiety to become rich or great in a day. Let success be the result of steady growth. Strive to serve the country and humanity. In the end this will be the best service to self." i'. A. Ashe. -Ch^^z-^ W^^ ^Ctrx^i^ WILLIAM JOHNSTON ?T the ancestral home of the Johnstons, in a portion of Lincoln County, afterward included in the formation of Gaston County, there was born March 5, 1817, a child who was destined to become a conspicuous figure and an impor- tant factor in the history of the two Carolinas and Georgia, where his life work was accomplished. He did con- structive work, and left his impress on the annals of his country. The boy was named William, and his parents were Robert Johnston and Mary (Reid) Johnston. In a reminiscent mood, after he had attained manhood, he said of his parents : "When my father sought the consent of Dr. John Reid to the marriage of his daughter, he gave it with this injunction, 'You make the money and Mary will take care of it.' " The prediction was fully verified in the fact that the couple raised upon their planta- tion a family of twelve children, all of whom became finely edu- cated, and attained the highest social distinction in the com- munities where they settled. The early career of WilHam Johnston was similar to that of the average boy of his environment. His parents, who were of Scotch-Irish origin, imbued him with the habits of early rising and activity upon the farm, while he enjoyed such diversions and sports as the barnyard, the forests and the streams afforded. He was prepared for college by Robert G. Allison, a noted high 342 NORTH CAROLINA school instructor, at an academy a few miles from the Johnston homestead. After graduating from the University of North Carolina in 1840, he, Alexander Lillington and John H. Burton composed the first law class that received licenses from the since famous law school of Chief Justice Richmond M. Pearson, at Richmond Hill. He located in Charlotte in 1842 for the practice of his profession, and was soon afterward chosen president of the Charlotte and Taylorsville Plank Road, and he completed a large part of the road at a smallness of outlay that was the astonish- ment of the stockholders and projectors. Plank roads at that day were the principal inland highways for transportation and commerce worthy of such a name, and it required management of a high order to make them self-supporting. On March 18, 1846, he was married to Annie Eliza, the only child of Dr. George Franklin Graham and his wife, Martha A. Harris of Memphis, Tennessee. During the same -year he was elected president of the Charlotte and South Carolina Railroad from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Columbia, South Carolina. His duties rapidly became so exacting in his new field that he was forced to abandon the pursuit of the law. He rose steadily in public estimation as a safe and prudent business executive head, and though quite a young man when he had attained the highest prominence, his success is not sur- prising, for heredity must be reckoned in a measure with his achievements. One grandparent, James Johnston, was a colonel, and Dr. John Reid, another ancestor, was a captain in the Revo- lutionary War. William Johnston was then a bough from the oak, not the willow. Circumstances do not make men ; they discover them, and he rose above his surroundings by dint of merit alone, his contemporaries being the reverse of weaklings, and his competitors the strongest characters of their generation. It could be said of him as it was of Hampden, that "he had a head to contrive, a tongue to persuade and a hand to execute." In addition to the natural qualities named, being gentle-blooded and well educated, he had every advantage that striking individual characteristics, vigorous health and high station commanded. He WILLIAM JOHNSTON 343 was endowed with a magnetic presence, plausible voice and polished manners ; yet within the velvet glove dwelt an iron hand that made itself felt in every encounter. Being a winner himself, his attitude was that of a winner. To venture like a pioneer, to fight like a soldier and to do a man's work — these were the things that appealed to him and gripped hold of him as no other things could. Those who served under him as heads of departments admit that he possessed that great secret of administration, which is to give the fullest confidence to those under him, and to leave to each one the fullest responsibility for all that comes within his province. "Despatch is the soul of business" was his motto, and success being a guiding star, he early recognized the law that the unfit must either stand aside or go down in inglorious defeat. With his temperament and creed of self-help and self-responsi- bility, he had not the patience to dally with the dastard nor time to plead with the sluggard. A character of such determination and aggressiveness naturally made its possessor a storm center of militant opposition, even while it attracted loyal followers and lasting friendships. In 1859, as president, he began the building of the Atlantic, Tennessee and Ohio Railroad from Charlotte toward its western terminus. Only forty-six miles, the distance between Charlotte and Statesville, was completed and operated when the oncoming war of 1 86 1 prevented further extension. By common consent, it is conceded that this short line was one of the most economically constructed roads in the United States. When President Lincoln called upon North Carolina for her quota of the 75,000 troops for the purpose of subjugating the seceding States, William Johnston and James W. Osborne of Charlotte were elected delegates from Mecklenburg County to the State convention, and the two were signers of the Ordinance of Secession, May 20, 1861. While en route to the convention at Raleigh, William Johnston noted eleven Jews enlisted in one military company from Charlotte, and dwelling upon the manifest injustice of a class being debarred by law from holding office in a State, while its members were volunteering for the State's de- 344 NORTH CAROLINA fense, he introduced and had passed an ordinance removing the disabiHties of the Hebrew citizens throughout North Carolina. He took a prominent stand in the dehberations of the con- vention, and Governor ElUs, being favorably impressed with his executive ability, appointed him commissary general of the State, with the rank of colonel. Colonel Johnston resigned his seat in the convention and performed his new duties until September, 1 86 1, when he gave up office, feeling that he could render better service to his State and the Confederacy by devoting his undivided attention to the management of the Charlotte and South Carolina and the Atlantic, Tennessee and Ohio railroads. His fitness for managing public affairs was recognized to such an extent that he was persuaded to become a candidate for governor in 1862. There were no State political conventions held during that year, nor, indeed, during the war, but there was a gathering of Demo- crats from the neighboring counties at Charlotte, who presented the name of Colonel Johnston as a candidate, while some county meetings in various parts of the State brought out Colonel Z. B. Vance. Colonel Johnston made no canvass, nor did Colonel Vance. There was some feeling that old party differences should be forgotten ; that the party lines which divided the people while citizens of the United States should not be recognized among Confederates struggling for Southern independence; and that inasmuch as the Confederate administration was largely in the hands of former Democrats, State affairs should be entrusted to the former Whigs ; and besides, the soldiers generally were drawn to support Colonel Vance, who was very popular in the army, and at that time more than one-half of the voters of the State were in the army. Colonel Vance was elected. In 1864 President Jefferson Davis urged Colonel Johnston to accept the position of commissary general of the Confederacy, but he declined, as his trained hand was upon the throttle- valve, and his heart was in the work of transporting soldiers and supplies to prolong the life of the Confederate cause — a position equal in merit and importance to that of a general in the forefront of battle. In February, 1865, Sherman's army destroyed 60 of the no WILLIAM JOHNSTON 345 miles of track of the Charlotte and South Carolina Railroad, burning the bridges, shops, depots, much of the rolling stock and more than 1000 bales of cotton belonging to the railroad company. When the war ended, the people were pauperized and business was paralyzed. Along the public highways lay the charred and smouldering ruins of homes, while homeless women and children eked out a wretched sustenance from the corn grains left in the wake of a hostile army. Out of the wreck the Charlotte and South Caro- lina Railroad saved about $168,000 worth of cotton, and this was virtually the only available asset that had escaped the torch. This sum was a nucleus with which the president undertook to rehabili- tate the road, but the public and the outside financial world con- fided in him, and he made the venture a glorious success. By 1866 he was operating the road from Charlotte to Columbia, and in the same year he began the Columbia and Augusta Railroad, 85 miles in length, the two merging as one into the Charlotte, Columbia and Augusta Railroad. The equipment and extension of this important road under such adverse circumstances was a stupendous undertaking; the task was Titanic; the accomplishment was a crowning glory in an eventful industrial career, and marks the leading spirit as a man of tireless energy, indomitable will and well-nigh matchless, prophetic insight. The road, as it ran along the soil of three Southern States, was typical of its projector and builder, whose ideas were broad-gauged, like the road, and whose conceptions were continental in their magnitude. The incident reminds one of the words of the first Napoleon to his marshal on the eve of a campaign into Italy. When the officer saw the giant intervening mountains loom miles into the clouds, he said that they were impassable and could not be crossed. "Sir," was the reply of the great commander, "there shall be no Alps." His entire life as a railroad official was full of excitement and adventure, for, as we have said, being a positive character, and having complete confidence in his own plans, he aroused and kept alive a most formidable opposition, but in all public meetings of 346 NORTH CAROLINA stockholders and interested parties he led his forces in person, neither asking nor granting quarter. In 1873 his connection with railroads as president was given up, and he occupied his time with the care of his large private and personal business interests. He was one of the charter members of the Commercial National Bank of Charlotte, and became at various times adviser and director in a number of other important and industrial enterprises. He was repeatedly elected mayor of Charlotte, and generally made his canvasses independent of party caucuses or political con- ventions. Being thus untrammelled by partisan exactions, he proved a safe and excellent official, managing the city's finances with the same prudence as his own affairs, ignoring the clamors of place-hunters, and applying the revenues arising from taxation strictly to needed improvements and public betterments. He was neither Puritan nor libertine in his judgment of public offenders, and if he exhibited partiality, it was in the form of leniency toward the low-born, ignorant and poor. For the beasts of burden and the entire brute creation entrusted to man's care he had also a keen sympathy, and he did much officially to lighten their loads and protect them from unnecessary abuse. His figure was tall and commanding, and being faultless in his attire, his personal appearance was so striking that he would have attracted attention in the most distinguished assemblage. His arguments upon the political and financial issues of the day were those of a broad-minded, well-posted statesman. His public utterances on all subjects were clear, concise, free from rhetorical flourishes, and spoken in pure English, the musical cadence of his voice making the delivery very attractive. He dealt too much, however, in cold facts and figures to appeal to the senses and emotions of popular political gatherings, and he lacked the revivalist's art of oratory that raises, to satisfy, the cravings for excitement and temporary amusement. Those who have light in themselves never revolve as satellites ; Johnston, being a leader, could not be led. His inborn dignity and pride pro- tected him from the elbow touch of manipulators of conventions, and prevented contact with those who made politics a trade. WILLIAM JOHNSTON 347 Besides, there were many party tenets which he considered mere prejudices, and so he openly proclaimed them, holding with Disraeli that neither free trade nor protection was a principle, but an expedient — an independence of thought strongly resented by party leaders. He was a strong candidate for Congress in his county and dis- trict for a number of years, and once missed the prize only by the narrowest margin. Had he been elected, no one cognizant of his equipment doubted that he would have made a national reputation among his peers. His home became him. He was gracious as a host, entertaining handsomely, and appeared happiest when surrounded by choice friends and congenial associates. On his brow wrinkles were written, but his spirit never grew old, and his sympathies were wide and catholic. He was fond of a good story, a good dinner, a fine picture, was affected by the swell of music, enjoyed an intellectual sermon and a new scientific fact. A conversation with him was an instruction, for he had been thrown intimately with many of the leading actors of a dramatic era, and as his knowledge ripened and his observation mellowed by experience, his talk grew rare indeed in quality. He could make the most commonplace subjects and customs interesting by showing their direct bearing upon the welfare of society. He wisely attributed most of the prevailing ailments and much of intemperance to the result of clinging to primitive and unsanitary methods of cooking. In the span of a few decades he had seen the country girdled by rails, and he thought there should be an advance along the entire line, but especially in domestic affairs, which was the foundation stone of happiness and health. He could not understand, he maintained, why people would not assert their intelligence in properly pre- paring the food which nature had so bountifully provided. It was inspiring to hear him reason upon the problems of man- kind, and the things which pertained to the future life, calmly, with an earnestness devoid of passion and free from antecedent bias. He sought to change no man's faith nor to shake any one's belief, but only wanted to satisfy his own conscience. He ex- 348 NORTH CAROLINA claimed with Carlyle, "How to paint to the sensual eye what passes in the Holy of Holies of man's soul?" God only requires the religion of the heart. In spiritual matters Colonel Johnston's maxim was, "That conscience was a sacred sanctuary, where God alone had a right to enter as judge." There was no orthodoxy in inhumanity, and in charity and kindness there was no heresy. An honest doubt had precedence over dogma, and his conception of the Creator was that of a merciful, not a vengeful being. He never paltered with conscience for the sake of temporary vogue, and believing that religion was man's consciousness of God, and theology man's theory of God, it mattered little with him what compass was studied so that it pointed with reasonable certainty toward the pole. His wife died October 13, 1881, four children surviving: Mrs. Julia M., wife of Colonel A. B. Andrews of Raleigh, one of the foremost railroad officials in America; Frank G. of Charlotte; Cora M., wife of Adjutant-General T. R. Robertson; and William R. of Richmond, Virginia. Mrs. Robertson died November, 1901. Colonel Johnston had been happily married, and remained a widower the balance of his life. His closing years were spent in the quietude of home among his children and grandchildren and in placing his large estates in such a shape as to give the least trouble to the inheritors under his will. He fell asleep in the full possession of his mental faculties May 20, 1896, in the city of Charlotte, where for more than fifty years he had been one of the leading, wealthiest and most public- spirited citizens. The sunrise of his existence was auspicious ; the sunset was behind a cloudless sky. To live in the affections of those left behind is not to die. "There is no death ; what seems so is transition ; This life of mortal breath Is but a suburb of the life Elysian, Whose portals we call death." F. D. McDowell. JOHN CARLISLE KILGO 'HE Methodist Church since the Civil War has furnished a full share of the notable men of the South. Without disparaging other churches, one may say that this body has made in the new time a most remarkable advance in the general social condition of its membership. Formerly it was composed chiefly of the middle classes; to-day there is hardly a center of industry and thought in which it has not its due proportion of the leading men. Its democracy, its devotion, its willingness and sacrifice, its freedom from preju- dices, all have combined to make the post-bellum period of our history a day of prosperity for that group of people who are embraced within its fold. On the flood-tide of this era of prosperity is the figure of John Carlisle Kilgo. In a peculiar sense he is a child of the ancient and militant type of Methodism ; in a sense equally as significant he stands as an exponent of the newer type. If one painted the life out of which his career sprung, he would speak of pioneer Methodism; if one described the conditions in which he moves as a leader of his church, he would describe the Methodism of the present. It is not often that we find a man who unites in his own career the best feature of his associations in the two halves of an entire century. Rev. James T. Kilgo was a Methodist minister of the pioneer 350 NORTH CAROLINA type. His grandfather, Isaac Kilgo, and his father, William Kilgo, were born in Wake County, North Carolina. About 1809 they moved to South Carolina, and here, in Chester County, James T. Kilgo was born, February 16, 1820. As the name indi- cated, they were descended from the Scotch-Irish stock, which was so widely distributed in the middle and western parts of North Carolina. In early life James T. Kilgo became a Metho- dist minister. His early education had not been good. With characteristic resolution he set out to remedy the defect, which had been due to poor school facilities. He became his own teacher while following his daily tasks. He did this so well that when he became a minister he was known among his colleagues as a preacher of exceedingly logical and sound methods. Catherine Mason, to whom, in 1855, he was to link his life, was born in Fairfield County, South Carolina. Her father was related to the prominent Mason family of Virginia; her mother was of a Dutch family named Wyrick. From this union of Virginia gentleness and Dutch persistence she inherited a remarkable dis- position. Her mother, who had been left a widow early in life, was in good circumstances, and managed her plantation with the ability of an experienced person of business. She was a pillar of the small Methodist Church in the community. It was July 22, 1861, when John Carlisle Kilgo, the second son of this union, was born. The place was the little brick parsonage in Laurens, South Carolina; the day was the day after that on which the first battle of Bull Run was fought. The struggle which was then inaugurated pulled down a great social fabric and brought dismay to many innocent hearts ; but the boy whose life began on the following day was destined to go far toward rebuild- ing the fragments into a more attractive structure than that which was destroyed. The early life of John Carlisle Kilgo was not different from that of most Southern boys of the present generation. He was of a jovial disposition, keen at a retort, fond of sports, strong of body, and a good teller of a story. He went to the local schools which the itinerant life of the Methodist preacher brought within JOHN CARLISLE KILGO 351 his reach. He came in his father's house into contact with a vital and pervading type of piety, which made a strong impression on his nature. Among the strongest impressions of his earliest youth was the conviction that it was his duty to enter the ministry. Like many young men who have felt such a conviction, he began by resisting it ; but at length it mastered him, and he surrendered his life to the cause in which his father had striven so well. It is a tribute to the faithfulness of that father, that of his three sons who reached maturity, all became ministers. In October, 1880, John Carlisle Kilgo entered the sophomore class at Wofford College, Spartanburg, South Carolina. But at the end of the year he was overtaken with a disease of the eyes, which made it necessary for him to suspend a life of close studious- ness. He turned to school-teaching for a year; and it was while thus employed that he resolved all his doubts of his profession in life by deciding to become a minister. In May, 1882, he was licensed to preach, and in December of the same year he joined the South Carolina Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. His first charge was junior preacher on the Bennettsville circuit. Before he took up his work in his new station, he made a trip to Gaffney, South Carolina. Here he had lived before he entered college. Here he had given his heart to Miss Fannie N. Turner, daughter of a substantial citizen, and here, on December 20, 1882, he took her for his life's companion. Not many junior preachers are willing to marry before they have prospects of promotion to charges which pay considerable salaries. But it was character- istic of this one that he was willing to trust his fate and that of her whom he loved best to the Providence which he taught others to believe to be sufficient in all things. Out of this very faith was born the quality which gave success to its assumptions. Dr. Kilgo is a man of striking originality. His mind goes straight to the center of truth. No opinions of the masters have ever dazzled him into accepting what his own penetration does not show him to be true. He is deeply religious without being 352 NORTH CAROLINA dogmatic, and practical without being mechanical. He has a sincere appreciation of good literature without being caught by the rricks of literary style. He had in him from the hand of nature a mind which was destined to master other minds, both by its wider insight into truth and by its compelling influence over the wills of those with whom it came into touch. The task of a young preacher is to master his work. He must be preacher and pastor, instructor of his flock in religious thought, and friend and leader in the difficulties of life. In both of these Dr. Kilgo has ever been pre-eminent. But he was not satisfied to fill the mere measure of the demands of the situation in which he was placed. He was a studious preacher. He ran into the realms of literature. By his own efforts he was able to remedy the loss which he had suffered from his interrupted college course. This success fixed him for a career outside of the pastorate. His pastoral charges were : Bennettsville circuit, 1882-84 ; Timmons- ville circuit, 1884-86; Rock Hill circuit, 1886-87; and Little Rock circuit, 1887-88. It was at this time that his life became connected with the cause of education. In 1888 he was appointed financial agent at Wofford College. His new duties were to raise an endowment fund for the college out of the vast body of Methodists in the conference. At the end of two years $50,000 had been raised. Then there was a vacancy in the college faculty in the chair of philosophy and political economy, and he was invited to fill it. The chair had been previously filled by Dr. A. Coke Smith, a man of such extraordinary capacity that he has since been made a Metho- dist bishop. The duties of this position were discharged by the new incumbent with eminent success. In 1892 he was given by Wofford the degree of Master of Arts in token of his attainments in scholar- ship. On the affections of the whole college community he fastened himself with that peculiar personal loyalty which has ever characterized his relation with his friends. While he was a professor at Wofford, the presiding elder of the Spartanburg district was overtaken by death. Dr. Kilgo filled out the rest of the year in his stead, and gave most of his salary to the widow JOHN CARLISLE KILGO 353 of the dead man. This work he did in addition to his duties at the college. In 1894 he was invited to become president of Trinity College, at Durham, North Carolina. There was much in the position to make it undesirable. The college had recently been the scene of certain difficulties, which had left it torn asunder with strife and discouragement. To Dr. Kilgo, however, the offer came as a call of duty, and he accepted it. Into his new task he put all of himself, so that it is possible to say that from that day to this the story of Trinity College has been the story of his own life. Also, the achievement of Trinity in that period is the mark of his own achievement. He found the college with 9 men in its faculty, 153 students in its class-rooms, and with a plant worth $135,000. To-day, when he has served out ten years of his presidency, the faculty contains 30 members, the students number 415, and a fair estimate of the value of the plant is $1,100,000. Without question, no other college in the South has made so great an advance. But Dr. Kilgo's greatest service at Trinity has been in his educational policy. This policy may be summed up in four principles : 1. Christian Education. — By this he means an education pene- trated with the spirit of Christianity, an education in which the purpose of the student is first of all brought into subjection to the principles of Christianity, in which the methods employed by Christ himself are the standards of pedagogy, in which rever- ence for God underlies all search for truth, and in which teacher and student should be filled with the spirit of service. He believes that this kind of education is likely to be given in those institutions only in which the churches exercise oversight. 2. Honest Standards of Instruction. — He believes that a col- lege is immoral which employs tricks of advertising to give the public a false impression as to its curriculum; that standards of admission ought to be high and honestly enforced ; that students ought not to be told that they are educated until they are edu- cated, and that the craze for attendance which has seized some 354 NORTH CAROLINA institutions is demoralizing the educational world. All these he has taught and enforced at Trinity, regardless of criticisms from the outside world. 3. Breadth of Mind. — He has taught that education should not be provincial; that patriotism should not be sectional; that re- ligion should not be sectarian, and that truth should be sought, whatever her guise. An illustration of his spirit is seen in an incident which marked its culmination. One of the recent gifts of a graduating class to the college was a flag-pole, with an American flag at the top, and at the bottom an illustration which reads, "God bless our country." 4. Freedom of Thought. — He has always taught that men should not be forbidden to speak what they think ; that the bow- ing before adverse opinion shrivels the soul; that the tyranny of conservation crushes the spirit of a people, and that not to think is to die. In one notable crisis he asserted these principles in actual affairs, and won a victory for academic freedom which received the applause of every college in America. In Dr. Kilgo's career at Trinity he has been the object of some fierce criticism. Announcing a program so distinctive, it was natural that he should have opposition. But in all of it he has kept steadily at his plans. He has retained the support of those who knew most clearly what he was doing. His administra- tion has been crowned with the success of Trinity. It has recom- mended itself to the minds of thoughtful business men and edu- cators. One of the first great gifts the college received during his presidency was accompanied with the statement that the gift was made chiefly because the donor had confidence in the policy of the administration. Dr. Kilgo has had many tokens of the esteem in which he is held by his church. Thrice — in 1894, in 1898 and in 1902 — he has been a delegate to the general conference of his church. In 1901 he was sent by his church as a delegate to the GEcumenical Con- ference of Methodists in London. In 1904 he was sent by the same body as their fraternal delegate to the General Conference of the Northern Methodists at Los Angeles, California, and his JOHN CARLISLE KILGO 355 address there was received with unusual applause. In 1895 he received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from both Wofford and Randolph-Macon colleges. As an orator, Dr. Kilgo has few equals in the South. He speaks with fluent and powerful manner, and with great personal magnetism. But he is always surest to please by the fearlessness and clear-cut truthfulness of his ideas. He has the elements of the prophet in his attitude to social problems. He compels by his mastery of all the world of moral truth. In all of his success, he is still a simple Methodist preacher, true to the vows of his early manhood. He has often been mentioned as a person who is likely to be made a bishop, and in two general conferences he has received votes for that office. To all such overtures he has continually replied that his work is that of education, and that he prefers to remain in that field. Those who know him well know that this is the simple truth. In his family life Dr. Kilgo is happily situated. Five children have been born to him, four of whom still survive : Walter Bissell, who died at the age of six; Edna Clyde, James Luther, Fannie, and John Carlisle, Jr. In his home he is studious, courteous and unstintedly hospitable. With his friends he is widely popular for his companionable qualities. He is devoted to reading, confining himself to the books written by the strongest and most serious persons. With frivolous literature he has no patience. In politics he is an independent, and as a citizen he has a serious sense of his obligation to serve the State in the manner which seems to him the best. He is singularly free from party bitterness. Those who know him well believe him to be one of the strongest forces for moral and social uplift in North Carolina. /. 5. Bassett. THEODORE BRYANT KINGSBURY [R. THEODORE BRYANT KINGSBURY, distinguished as a writer and literary critic, and the most accompHshed hterateur of the State, was born in Raleigh on the 29th of August, 1828. The Kingsbury family is one of the oldest of this country. Henry Kings- bury came from England with Governor Winthrop in 1630, and he and his wife were of the twenty-six members of the first church organized at Boston. They were Puritans, and that settle- ment is not to be confounded with the Plymouth Rock adventurers, from whom they widely differed in principle and moral practice ; and the Kingsbury family has furnished from among its members many excellent citizens, who have adorned the bench and filled with credit high positions in the military service of their country. Dr. Kingsbury's father, Mr. Russell Kingsbury, was a merchant and farmer, who lived in Granville County, and was highly esteemed for his probity and excellence of character. He was a man of remarkable judgment, and was energetic and successful in his business. Public life had no attractions for him, and he did not seek political preferment, but he served as town com- missioner at Oxford, and was trustee of the Oxford male and female academies, and generally manifested an interest in what- ever concerned the welfare of his community. He was a close reader of books, including some of the best authors. His wife, THEODORE BRYANT KINGSBURY 357 Mary Sumner Bryant, was a native of Scotland Neck, of English descent, a lady of rare loveliness of character, but she died in 1836, when Dr. Kingsbury was just eight years of age, and he was deprived of her motherly care during that period of his life when her influence would have been most beneficial to him. She was a most consecrated member of the Episcopal Church, and died in great peace and resignation. In his early youth Dr. Kingsbury was somewhat delicate, his constitution not being very robust. His inclination was for books rather than for the sports that engaged the attention of his young companions, and from the age of nine years he became a habitual reader, his books being selected ordinarily with care, and of such an interesting character as to stimulate a desire for solid reading. He was a pupil at the Oxford Male Academy and at the Lovejoy Military Academy at Raleigh, where he was the captain of the corps of cadets, the commandant at the school being at that time Mr. W. F. Disbrow of New York, who was a roommate of General Grant at West Point. Being prepared for college, he entered the University of North Carolina, but did not remain to gradu- ate. His father desired that he should read law, and wished that upon leaving the University he should attend the Harvard Law School, and as an inducement for him to pursue that vocation, offered to bestow on him an ample annuity until he should have gained a lucrative practice ; but Dr. Kingsbury did not have con- fidence in his own ability, and thinking that he would not attain distinction in that profession, and being disinclined to become a mere pettifogger, he preferred to cast his life on other lines. He therefore turned his attention to merchandising, which he fol- lowed for seven years, but in the meantime literature wooed him, and he published a literary weekly at Oxford, North Carolina, under the name of The Leisure Hour, that attracted much atten- tion and drew high commendation from John R. Thompson, editor of the Southern Literary Messenger, then the most meritorious literary magazine published in the South, and from Paul H. Hayne, the poet, then editing Russell's Magazine, a large monthly of genuine merit published in Charleston, South Carolina, and 358 NORTH CAROLINA other gifted editors. In June of 1859 he was elected to the chair of literature in Trinity College, but his thoughts and religious fervor led him into another field, and he entered into the ministry, and continued in that calling until July, 1869. It was about that time, in March, 1869, that he was employed as an associate editor of the Raleigh Sentinel, then conducted by Hon. Josiah Turner, and for two years and more he continued in that capacity. While on the Sentinel, a momentous crisis in public affairs was precipi- tated by the Republican administration of the State, and Josiah Turner, with unequalled boldness, made the Sentinel the champion of free government and of the traditional liberties of the people. No greater service was ever performed by any press than that rendered to the people of North Carolina by the Sentinel. In those exciting and perilous times Dr. Kingsbury wrote much, and with strength and patriotic fervor, for the editorial columns of the paper, and he deserves to share in the great fame that is so justly awarded to Josiah Turner for his bold and resolute editorial work. On three occasions Dr. Kingsbury declined the editorship of the North Carolina Christian Advocate, but he edited Our Living and Our Dead for several years, a publication of a high order of merit, begun by Colonel S. D. Pool, and he also edited the Educational Journal in 1874 and 1875, doing much to advance the cause of public education at that time in North Carolina. His contributions to Our Living and Our Dead were noteworthy, especially his literary criticisms. Then in the vigor of manhood, with a fine imagination and excellent taste, he discussed literary subjects admirably, his dissertations on Tennyson and Sainte Beuve being of especial excellence. For a year or two he was unemployed, and proposed to write the history of the State, for which he was well fitted by his habits of industry and his literary attainments. Circumstances prevented the important undertaking, and about that time he was offered a position as editorial writer on the Wilmington Star, and, accepting it, he began a long career of journalism that gave great satisfaction to his friends and the patrons of that paper. He continued with the Star for nearly thirteen years, when he became editor of the Wilmington THEODORE BRYANT KINGSBURY 359 Messenger, with which he remained for about as long a period, having had an experience in journalism at Wilmington of more than a quarter of a century. As an editor, Dr. Kingsbury brought to the discussion of his subjects a large store of varied learning, and his productions were read with great avidity by a host of admirers, and received the warm commendation of many of the ablest men and best thinkers of the State. In particular were his literary articles valued by the most cultured among the readers of his papers. The teachers and the professors of the various colleges and the lawyers and ministers of every denomination were generous and unstinted in their praise, while his work was not without the appreciation of the editorial fraternity. His style was clear and perspicuous, elegant in diction and remarkably forceful, and there ran through all of his editorials a strain of patriotism, a love of North Carolina, an appreciation of the ex- cellence of her great men, that was a distinctive characteristic of his work. It had been his fortune to have known many of the most important persons of the previous generation, and with pride and pleasure he pointed out time and again their respective merits, and spread on the record their great deeds, which entitled them to fame and to the admiration of their countrymen. In particular was he as an editor at pains to perpetuate the memory of the great feats performed by the North Carolina soldiers in the Civil War, and to instil into the minds of the present genera- tion a correct understanding of the causes that led to the bloody contest. Indeed, no other editor of the State has been more patriotic than Dr. Kingsbury, and none has excelled him in ele- gance of diction, in a large vocabulary and literary merit. He retired from the Messenger in May, 1902, and since that time he has contributed weekly articles of great merit on a large variety of subjects to the Sunday's issue of the News and Observer. Distinctly, Dr. Kingsbury has been a literary man of high polish and capacity, rather than a business man or politician. In his early days he was a Henry Clay Whig, all of his connections being members of that party, but he cared very little for the dis- cussion of political questions until the great matters that agi- 36o NORTH CAROLINA tated the public mind in i860 challenged his earnest attention, and he then began to study the underlying principles of our Constitution, and became a Democrat, and has never wavered in his devotion to the principles of that party. But while rejoicing in the success of his party and the people of the State, he has never desired to share in party spoils. He had no ambition outside of his chosen field of work, and he declined to seek the office of superintendent of public instruction in 1876, when many of the newspapers brought his name forward in connection with that position ; and later, when all of the North Carolina Congressmen offered to secure his appointment to a desirable consulate in Eng- land, he again preferred to remain at his editorial desk. In his religious affiliations Dr. Kingsbury is a Methodist of the old Wesleyan kind, and he is not inclined to any additions to the simple forms and doctrines of the early church or any imitations borrowed from other denominations, although he pre- fers the Presbyterian polity as a system of church government. While his reading has been in a wide and varied field, he has never omitted his study of the New Testament, having during the last sixteen and one-half years read the New Testament through eighty-four times. For some years in his boyhood he kept a memorandum of what reading he had done, and in one month he read 3300 pages. When a lad he read Plutarch's Lives, Hume, continued by Smollett and Miller, portions of Josephus, Rollin and Shakespeare, and parts of Sparks's American Biogra- phy, in over twenty volumes, and many other solid books. Indeed, but few men have read with more avidity the great books of the English language. In his seventy-sixth year he was read- ing Shakespeare, Froude's Caesar, Macaulay's Essays, Wilson's "Story of France," containing 1800 pages, and similar standard works, and he still finds time to read some of the best current literature, and especially is he interested in criticisms of the books that attain wide reputation and have large editions, as they illus- trate the prevailing tendencies among the reading people of the country. Indeed, in familiarity with books, in acquaintance with the best thoughts of the great English masters, and in literary THEODORE BRYANT KINGSBURY 361 excellence, Dr. Kingsbury has a unique position among North Carolinians, which is the more noteworthy, as during his long editorial career his daily labor has been not only exacting, but immense. Although Dr. Kingsbury has written so much that if compiled his writings would fill a hundred volumes perhaps, yet he has never appeared in the role of an author, except in 1867 he pub- lished a volume of about 300 pages on the subject of Baptism, and in 1876 he wrote a small guide-book to the Philadelphia Cen- tennial containing about 100 pages. He has also delivered some addresses, one of which was published in 1882, on the Life and Character of Rev. Thomas G. Lowe, which was an oration masterful at many points, and while an exquisite tribute to that eloquent preacher, is itself a speaking witness bearing testimony to the taste and oratory of Dr. Kingsbury. Dr. Kingsbury, in reply to a question if he could offer any suggestions that might be helpful to young men, says : "I advise all young men to avoid drink, the use of tobacco, and to cultivate habits of economy; to avoid debts ; to study the fundamentals of the American Gov- ernment, and to have nothing to do with agrarians, demagogues and centralizers, men who favor a government of the rich and aristocrats." On May i, 1851, Dr. Kingsbury was happily married to Miss Sallie Jones Atkinson, a daughter of General Roger P. Atkinson of Virginia and of one of the loveliest of North Carolina ladies. Miss Margaret M. Littlejohn of Oxford. His beautiful wife bore him nine children, of whom five now survive, and his home life presents an example of affection rarely found with those devoted to literature. In 1868 Wake Forest conferred the degree of D.D. upon him, which he never used after retiring from the ministry, and he was honored by the University of North Carolina, his Alma Mater, with the degree of LL.D. in 1888. He was three times tendered invitations to deliver addresses before the students of the Uni- versity of North Carolina, but declined for reasons that were paramount. He wrote four articles for the Wake Forest Student 362 NORTH CAROLINA some six or seven years ago, but never contributed to any other monthly save the two edited by himself. While a daily reader of the best poetry — Homer, ^schylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Dante and Goethe, including much of the English poetry from Chaucer to Swinburne — he could never write a line of poetry himself. In the last ten years he has confined him- self chiefly to Shakespeare, Milton and Tennyson, his supreme favorites; but he has also read Byron, Wordsworth, Matthew Arnold, Swinburne, Robert Browning in parts. Burns, Scott, Goethe, Dante, parts of Chaucer, Spencer, and some others. In that time he has read Shakespeare, including the sonnets, four times, and Tennyson as often. In the "Bibliographical Contributions of Harvard University," edited by Justin Winsor, librarian, there are in No. 48 twelve contributions by Dr. Kingsbury, all produced in 1875, and all to be found in the "Bibliography of the Historical Literature of North Carolina," prepared by Stephen B. Weeks, published in 1895. The selections are all historical. There is also a "Con-: tribution" added of an oration on Rev. Thomas G. Lowe, delivered in 1882. These constitute really but a fraction of the historic and biographic productions by Dr. Kingsbury in the last forty years. 5. A. Ashe. ALEXANDER LILLINGTON ' ITHOUT doubt, among the earlier settlers of Albemarle were many men of considerable means, high standing and excellent capabilities. Lawson, who wrote some fifty years later than the original settlement, says that there came to Albemarle at first several substantial planters from Virginia and other plantations, and that the fame of this new-discovered summer country drew a considerable number of families thereto ; and that there was an early trade with New England men and Bermudians. At that time New England had the carrying trade of the Southern colonies and of Bermuda. Whether the Lillingtons came direct from New England or from Bermuda is unknown. There are some statements that favor the latter surmise. It is stated that three brothers of that name came to Massachusetts, and were men of enterprise and means, and went thence to the Barbadoes. Of the subject of this sketch it is said that he was born in 1643; ^hat on June 11, 1668, he was married to EHzabeth Cooper by the Rev. Mr. Taylor, by whom he had two sons. It appears that on June 13, 1675, he was married again to Sara James, a daughter of Thomas James, by Rev. John Wood. In the Genealogical Register of Massachusetts there is a deed, dated 3d of August, 1675, beginning as follows: "I, Alexander Lillington, of Albemarle County, in the province of Carolina, planter, and now present in Salem, in New England, 364 NORTH CAROLINA being the husband of Sara James, the daughter of Thomas James, deceased," etc. By the second marriage Major LiHington had daughters, who married Colonel Sam Swann, Hon. Henderson Walker, Hon. Edward Moseley, John Porter; and a son, John, who married Sara Porter; and Mrs. Swann married Colonel Maurice Moore; and the descendants of Major LiHington and Sara James have in every generation been among the foremost North Carolinians. On March 19, 1695, Major LiHington was married for the third time to Ann Steward, by whom, however, he had no issue. He died in September, 1697. It seems that he came to Albemarle prior to his first marriage in 1668. At first it is said he engaged in shipbuilding. In the troubles known as the Culpeper Rebellion, when George Durant and his associates undertook to prevent the collection of the tax on tobacco exported to New England, Major LiHington was an active participant. He was a member of the "free parliament" then elected, and otherwise threw his influence on the side of the rebels. When John Harvey was appointed governor in 1679, he commissioned LiHington as a jtistice of the peace; and from that time until his death he appears to have presided over the Precinct Court of Perquimans Precinct. Hawks in his History states that he was deputy governor in 1693, and Hathaway, in the "North Carolina Historical and Gene- alogical Register," presumably quoting from the unpublished records stored at Edenton, says that he was deputy governor 1693-95, ^"d president of the governor's CouncH in 1697. Chal- mers's Annals also states that he was deputy governor in 1693, and that his administration was very beneficial to the settlement. The writer, however, has not been able to find any official record of Major LiHington ever being deputy governor or president of the Council. That he was an important factor in the life and history of Albemarle in his generation is nevertheless very evi- dent, and he exerted an admirable influence, and deservedly ranks among the most influential and important of the early colonial characters. 5". A. Ashe. M' PAUL BARRINGER MEANS ■ AUL BARRINGER MEANS was born at the home of his parents, called Bellevue, two and a half miles west of Concord, in the county of Cabarrus, on April 7, 1845. Bellevue was a nota- ble plantation, the nucleus of which once be- longed to his mother's father. Her husband. Gen- eral William C. Means, was a man of energy and determination, a most enlightened and progressive farmer, who bought the orig- inal plantation and added to it by purchase until he owned about 3000 acres. Although he had overseers, yet constantly from earli- est morning light, he was personally watchful over every detail of crop cultivation. He introduced in the early fifties the first grain mower and reaper in that section of the country, and it was interesting to see the swarms of spectators from farms far and near admiringly watching the golden grain and grasses falling before them. He was a warm friend to internal improvements, subscribed liberally to the stock of the North Carolina Railroad, was one of the charter commissioners for creating the capital stock, was a member of the first Board of Directors and took a prominent part in the management of its affairs during the long term of his service as a director. He was, with General Paul Barringer and other progressive men, a large stockholder in the Concord cotton factory, one .of the first in the South, which was built of brick in 1839, and began work in 1840. It was not a 366 NORTH CAROLINA financial success then, but a great blessing during the War of Secession. And this identical factory is to-day "Mill No. i" of the great and prosperous plant in Concord, of the Odell Manu- facturing Company. The stockholders and builders of this fac- tory in 1839 were fifty years or more ahead of their age; which, for financial success, is quite as unfortunate as to be behind "the spirit of the age." He was decidedly a warm friend of educa- tion. He gave his six sons and one daughter the best education our State afforded. At the first election held in Concord, in the early seventies, on the subject of schools, he and his son Paul gave the only affirmative votes given by members of the Demo- cratic Party. When the Lutheran Synod, about 1850, was raising funds for the establishment of a college, he advised to locate it in Concord rather than at Mount Pleasant, and offered, if his advice should be accepted, to donate as much as all the others combined. An Old Line Whig, he clung to the Union until Lincoln's call for troops. When a meeting was held in Concord to raise funds for the equipment of the very first volunteers, he attended, and inquiring what was the largest subscription, doubled it amid great applause. His title of general came from a major-generalship of militia before the war. He was a devoted lover of wife and children; indeed, when his boys left home for school and college they were supplied with pocket money too liberally to afford prac- tical lessons in economic habits. Paul remembered the contrast, when, in Lee's army, he fared on a diet of a few wild strawberries and a cold potato, and on a piece of beef roasted on the end of a ramrod and eaten without salt or bread, as he did the night following the afternoon he was wounded at Kennon's Landing on James River. General Means's grandfather, John Means, came to America in 1772, when his son William, the grandfather of our subject, born October 27, 1769, was three years old. The mother of General Means was Isabella Work of Iredell County, the daughter of Robert Work. General Means was born September 12, 1801, and died September S, 1880. PAUL BARRINGER MEANS 367 The mother of Paul Barringer Means was Catherine Jane, daughter of General Paul Barringer and Elizabeth Brandon. And her son Paul was named for her father. She was born August 9, 1824, and died at Bellevue, June 4, 1874. In her obituary, published in the North Carolina Presbyterian, June 24, 1874, it is said: "Her father's immediate family were all characterized by the true virtues of Christianity and intelligence; and though her brothers have all obtained eminence in the Church and State, and though her sisters, adorned by all the virtues of their sex, were highly esteemed and respected by all who knew them, as an intelligent Christian, as a wife, as a mother, as a woman in woman's sphere, she was the peer of them all." The biographies of her father and of her grandfather and of four of her brothers appear in this same volume. Besides Paul, the children of General and Mrs. Means who arrived at maturity were, in the order of their birth, the follow- ing: James Moreau, born November 3, 1846, married Miss Bettie Wilson Nibbs, Houston, Texas, December 26, 1882 ; Robert Work, born May 24, 1848, died January 29, 1876 ; William Gaston, born February 23, 1850, married Miss Corallie Bullock of Mississippi, December 16, 1874; Mary Elizabeth, born May 25, 1851, married Rev. Thomas Chalmers Johnson of Mississippi, December 24, 1872, and died September i, 1877; George Washington, born June 25, 1858, married Miss Lulu Kate Bikle, December 23, 1879; and Victor Clay Barringer, born May 18, i860. Mrs. Means managed her household wisely, firmly and tenderly, and her children look back to her as the chief formative influence of their characters. The early years of Paul Barringer Means were spent in rural pursuits. His father was of eminently practical temperament, and although he owned many slaves, required his sons to lend a hand in farm and home work when needed. Paul, therefore, grew up healthy and athletic and abhorring indolence. He was always fond of books and peculiarly devoted to the society of his mother, revering her rare virtues and intelligence. His home was a happy one, free from care and the perplexities of poverty. He 368 NORTH CAROLINA learned the rudiments at a neighboring school, went up higher at the Concord Academy and higher still at the excellent preparatory school of Rev. Dr. Alexander Wilson at Melville, in Alamance County, an institution on the same lofty plane as that of William J. Bingham at the Oaks. He then, in 1862, along with Julian S. Carr, Eugene Morehead, and twenty-one others, became a member of the Freshman Class of the University. Although, like most Southern youths, he ardently longed to be in the blaze of battle, on the urgency and requirement of his parents, he continued in the pursuit of collegiate studies. For many months President Davis exempted college boys from the conscription law, but the necessity for troops put an end to this favor. Nearly all liable to the law preferred to be volunteers, be- cause privileges were allowed them in the selection of regiments. Paul Means, on October i, 1863, entered the army, in the Sixty- third Regiment (Fifth North Carolina Cavalry), in order to be with his friend, Shakespeare Harris, and at his earnest request. His nearsightedness entitled him to an exemption, but he declined to avail himself of this. It, however, prevented his attaining the object of his desires, which was to becom.e, with Harris, a mem- ber of Shadburne's famous scouts. After about a year's experi- ence as a private of Company F, Fifth North Carolina Cavalry, he was selected as courier at General Barringer's headquarters, in September, 1864. He was a gallant and conspicuous participant in most of the engagements and movements of that eventful period, sharing in the hardships and trials, victories and defeats of the famous North Carolina Cavalry Brigade until the end of his war career at Namozine Church, April 3, 1865. He did not escape unscathed. He was shot through the left shoulder in a terrible and bloody charge on a fort at Kennon's Landing or Wilson's Wharf, on May 24, 1864, and was unable to rejoin his command until September. He had a slight wound in the arm, and his horse was shot in the awful fight at Chamber- lain's Run, March 31, 1865, the furiousness of which is indicated by the great number killed and wounded, and the fact that 172 balls of the enemy struck a tree of moderate size within seven PAUL BARRINGER MEANS 369 feet upward from its base, right where Means was wounded and his horse shot, as certified, from actual count, by D. B. Cohrane of his regiment, now cashier of the Concord National Bank. He received wounds in the left foot and in the right thigh at Namo- zine Church, and was furloughed for thirty days from the hospital at Danville, Virginia. Before the expiration of the furlough the army of Northern Virginia was surrendered. On the restoration of peace, in 1865, he determined to finish his education at the University. He entered the Sophomore Class. He was especially active as a debater in the Dialectic Society, and began here to display the characteristic which has distin- guished him through life, enthusiastic advocacy of the side which he thought right of every question before that body. He made no special effort to attain the highest honor in the curriculum studies, as his military life had given him a taste for more practical read- ing. Still, he shared the first distinction in Latin with F. H. Busbee, and graduated with honor at the Commencement of 1868, last under the old regime, and the last over which President Swain presided. His graduating speech was on Poland, and the woes of that unhappy country were feelingly depicted. He was fortunate in the association and rivalry of strong men. With him on the stage were Colonel W. H. S. Burgwyn, Fabius H. Busbee, Eugene L. Morehead, James W. Harper, William S. Pearson, Augustus W. Graham, Charles Fetter, William D. Horner, Ike R. Strayhorn and Judge Thomas A. McNeill, all of whom attained prominence in life. The faculty declared in their report that in years, maturity of intellect and extent of attainments, the class was above the average of their predecessors. Having his A.B. diploma in hand, Paul determined, at the request of his father, to adopt the profession of the law. He accordingly, in the fall of 1868, went to the famous law school of Chief Justice Pearson at Richmond Hill, in Yadkin County. He obtained his license to practice in January, 1870, and on the 17th of that month opened an office at Concord, where he has since lived. For a time he engaged in general practice, but since 1876 his 370 NORTH CAROLINA chief work has been in corporation law. From that date he has been continuously counsel for the Richmond & Danville, the West Point Terminal and the Southern Railway Companies, except when he was a member of the State Senate of 1885 and of 1889. He thought it possible that the interests of those roads might be a matter of legislation, and hence gave up his employment during the sessions of 1885 and 1889. As a politican and legislator Colonel Means, while always a Democrat, has been singularly bold and aggressive, never swerv- ing from his convictions because of threatened unpoularity. When he was outvoted he nevertheless sustained the ticket nominated by his party, for the reason that, in his opinion, it was better on the whole than the opposite. For example, he strongly main- tained the gold standard when our State Democratic conventions and all the other members, except himself, of the State Demo- cratic Executive Committee, of which he has been continuously a member for twenty-nine years, followed Bryan in his advocacy of the double standard; and yet he cast his ballot for Bryan, because Bryan was nominated as a Democrat, and in his opinion the other principles of the Democratic Party were wiser than those of the Republican. He refused, however, to vote for the Populist electors on the Bryan ticket of 1896. He served as legislator in the House of Representatives in 1874-75, and in the Senate in 1885 and 1889. In this capacity he aided actively and effectively in the passage of measures which have been of lasting benefit to the State. One was the act (p. 202, Laws of 1874-75) to compromise, commute and settle the State debt, substantially re-enacted in 1879, whereby the pub- lic credit was so restored that our four per cent, bonds are above par. The wisdom of these measures is justified by the fact that the very great majority of creditors accepted the offer as fair, considering the losses of the State. At the time Colonel Means worked and voted for this law his father was owner of thou- sands of dollars in the bonds so largely scaled by this act of 1874-75- The call of the convention of 1875, with the view of rescuing PAUL BARRINGER MEANS 371 certain counties from the control of majorities of a few white and many negro voters as they were in that day, under the Recon- struction Acts of Congress, and for effecting other needed amend- ments to the Constitution, was advocated and urged, pubhcly and privately by Colonel Means, although an overwhelming majority of the voters of his county did not agree with him. Time has justified his daring and independent course. He likewise ran counter to the wishes of a large majority of his immediate constituents and others in advocating for Cabarrus and other counties the repeal of the laws requiring fences around fields. The movement, at first violently opposed, has gained favor everywhere except in the mountain and swamp land counties. Much labor is saved for making crops, valuable trees rescued for lumber, and the breed of cattle improved. The Fence Law (Chapter 80, Acts 1874-75), drawn by him without, any precedent, and enacted by his energetic labors, is the identical law brought forward in the Code of 1883 and the present Revisal of 1905 of North Carolina. In September, 1885, an animated discussion arose between the Greensboro Patriot and the Daily Charlotte Observer as to who originated the "No Fence Law." The Patriot finally settled the question in favor of Colonel Means by publishing for the first time, more than five years after it was written, the following certificate : "Concord, N. C, January 27, 1880. "We, the undersigned, do hereby certify that Paul B. Means was the first man in Cabarrus County to advance the idea of the present Stock or Fence Law system; and that he was the first person to publicly advocate the Fence Law in this county, which he zealously did in the year 1870 against a powerful opposition. And we do further certify that Paul B. Means has done more to secure the Fence Law system than any man in Cabarrus." The original of this certificate is now in the possession of Colonel Means, signed by many of the best-known living and dead men of Cabarrus. Some of the dead are N. G. White, W. H. Orchard, C. Mills, George W. Patterson, P. M. Morris, J. S. Fi.sher, D. S. Caldwell, and N. Slough, sheriff. Some of the 372 NORTH CAROLINA living are R. S. Harris, M. M. Gillon, J. A. Rankin, P. B. Fetzer, M. L. Brown, and M. E. Castor. He, with others, is also entitled to the gratitude of the people from Buncombe to Murphy for successful exertions in procur- ing the passage of the Act of 1885 for the completion of the "Murphy branch of the Western North Carolina Railroad." But for that act, this important line would have been left unfinished on the hands of the State. At that time the Eastern counties had given unmistakable evidence that they were weary of paying taxes for its completion. It is not too much to say that the act prevented a break in party allegiance between the East and the mountain section. To no one legislator is the revival of the University and its present prosperity more due than to Colonel Means. In 1867 the "Landscrip" received from the United States for the pur- pose of establishing an institution in which the leading object should be, without excluding the classics and other scientific studies, to teach the branches relating to agriculture and the mechanic arts, was given to the University, with the injunction to carry out the Act of Congress. The fund derived from the sale of the scrip had been invested in old and special tax State bonds and virtually lost entirely. After the University had been closed for over four years, the General Assembly, as allowed by an amendment to the Constitution, elected a new Board of Trustees, who petitioned the General Assembly to pay to the University annually a sum equal to the interest on the original amount of the investment. After spirited debate the bill passed the House by one majority and the Senate by nearly a two- thirds vote, and thus, with donations from friends of higher education added, the doors were opened in 1875. Colonel Means was a representative at this time and prompted by love for his Alma Mater, and the conviction that the interest of his State required the extension of higher education, he threw into the struggle all the ardor for which he is conspicuous. By his active private persuasion and speeches on the floor, together with others equally interested and zealous, the victory was gained. PAUL BARRINGER MEANS 373 In 1885 was another successful struggle for the institution. The income was far too small for a creditable University. New professorships, apparatus and books were needed. The trustees asked for $15,000 more. The proposition was vehemently op- posed. At one time it seemed utterly hopeless. Colonel Means, then in the Senate, procured a meeting of Governor Scales, the president of the University, and some broad-minded members of the General Assembly at his rooms in the Yarborough House, the difficulties and dangers were discussed, and a plan of action for- mulated, which was carried into effect exactly as agreed on. Much argument and persuasive work were essential, in which his extraordinary energy and pluck were, as usual, in the fore- front. In this, as in the measures already mentioned, without a thought of the effect on his future career, he chose what was then the unpopular side, but has since met with general approval. He did not stop here. Having been elected a trustee of the University, a position he has held since 1873, he has, at his own ex- pense, attended during thirty-two years every meeting of the board, except two unavoidably missed, and aided in the deliberations, as well as by liberal subscriptions to its treasury. He has, besides making speeches in its behalf, repeatedly procured opportunities for its president to address the people for its benefit. No one has been more ready and zealous in pushing it to the front as the educational fountain of the State. And in the legislature of 1885 he was a strong advocate of the establishment of the present Agricultural and Mechanical Col- lege, and he has also always championed the Normal College at Greensboro. For many years he has been an ardent advocate and zealous worker for "Good Roads." In the Senate of 1885 he had enacted for Cabarrus County a road law, page 447, Acts 1885, which was long used in his county, and generally known as "The Means Road Law." And he is now, and has been ever since its organization, an active member of the "Good Roads Association for North Carolina." In addition to his service in both branches of the General As- sembly, Colonel Means was in 1872 delegate, with Senator Vance 374 NORTH CAROLINA as colleague, to the National Democratic Convention at Balti- more, which nominated Greeley, and to the convention at Cin- cinnati in 1880 ; a delegate from the State at large to the National Convention at St. Louis in 1888; district delegate to the conven- tion at Chicago in 1892, which nominated Cleveland a third time, and lastly to the convention at St. Louis in 1904. In 1889 he was a delegate from this State at the centennial anniversary of the inauguration of Washington as President of the United States. His military title was obtained by being appointed aide- de-camp to Governor Vance and his successor. Governor Jarvis. As an author Colonel Means wields a clear and vigorous pen. His history of the Sixty-third Regiment of North Carolina State Troops, also called the Fifth North Carolina Cavalry, written for the collection of regimental histories published under the direc- tion of Chief Justice Clark, possesses great merit as a truthful narrative of one of the most daring regiments in our army. It met with the commendation and admiration of many of the officers of the great "North Carolina Cavalry Brigade," especially also of the living officers and men of the Fifth North Carolina Cavalry and other veterans of the war. He has also published in the Charlotte Observer of May 23, 1895, and August 9, 1896, strong papers against the course of the Democratic Party on free silver. He has, moreover, ventured into the field of metaphysics, having contributed to the same paper an essay on Soul Science, or the True Psychology, August 23, 1903, which is an argument that the soul is the mind and that Satan's spirit is the "carnal mind." Colonel Means was late in entering the matrimonial state. On November 27, 1894, he led to the altar a distant relative, the great- great-granddaughter of his own great-grandfather, John Paul Barringer and his first wife, Ann Elizabeth Iseman of Phila- delphia. Their daughter Catherine had two husbands, John Phifer and George Savitz (or Savage), Jr. Thus Mrs. Paul Barringer Means, who was Moselle Partee Foard, daughter of Major Robert Wyatt Foard of Concord, North Carolina, reunited the two branches of this family after more than a century of separation. The family record of Mrs. Means is this : John Paul PAUL BARRINGER MEANS 375 Barringer's daughter Catherine, by first wife, Iseman, married George Savitz, Jr. ; their daughter Catherine married Noah Partee; their daughter Maria Emeline married Major Foard, and their daughter Moselle married Colonel Means. Mrs. Means first married John Francis Ross. To this marriage were born four children : John Lindsay, Frederick Powell, Robert Gallaway and Minnie Foard Ross. Four Foards, originally written Ford, came to America early in the eighteenth century. Wyatt Foard mar- ried Elizatbeth Pearson, aunt of Chief Justice Pearson. Their son Frederick married Eunice Bradshaw. Their son Robert Wyatt married Maria Emeline Partee, and Mrs. Moselle Means was their daughter. Major Foard was a successful farmer, pros- perous merchant, and a Christian gentleman. Colonel Means's maternal ancestry was this : John Brandon early in the eighteenth century had a son Richard, who married Margaret Locke, sister of General Matthew Locke. Their son Matthew Brandon married Jane Armstrong, who was such a heroine that .she saw the Tories and British burn down her home because she would not tell where her hu.sband was. Their daugh- ter, Elizabeth Brandon married General Paul Barringer, whose daughter Catherine Jane was the mother of Colonel Means. "The Brandons originally came from England, where for many cen- turies they played a conspicuous part in public affairs, as every reader of English history knows." (Rev. Dr. Jethro Rumple's "History of Rowan County," page 251.) Colonel Means' early preference was for the medical profes- sion, but he turned to the law at the request of his father. His success as a lawyer was impeded by his discursions into the field of politics, in which for a season his impetuous temperament en- grossed him utterly. While he gave his whole soul to pushing the aspirations of his friends for office, sometimes giving offense by his urgency, he does not care to make similar exertions for himself. The colonel has had his full share of vigorous health. He did not shirk when a boy joining in with his father's many slaves in farm labors, varied by fox hunting and partridge shooting, 376 NORTH CAROLINA which latter is his present favorite amusement at sixty years of age. This kind of Hfe has been so beneficial to him in procur- ing a strong and active frame, that he thinks it preferable to the present fashionable devotion to ball games. He still prefers to execute with his own hands what further north are called chores or home work about his own premises, such as chopping all his fire wood, etc. He counsels young men : "To do all the work pos- sible about home, beginning before breakfast, so as to be real beneficial factors in home life. Never to use home, as an animal, only as a place for eating and sleeping. And above all that they should 'seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.' Not the pseudo-righteousness of men ; for, the most contemptible creature on earth is a hypocrite." He also urges all to take a conscientious and intelligent interest in public affairs. Because only thus can the despicable dema- gogue be eliminated. He has no patience with woman suffrage. He thinks their noble qualities have full scope in the family and in society. But he has long, in trustee meetings and elsewhere, been an ardent advocate of opening wide the doors of our University to women just as to men. Kemp P. Battle. ,, „„^ ^ ,-»;/',_—, 5,Br,N^ ^^_^ ^ z-;^ — c^-^^^-A , JOHN FULENWIDER MILLER 'HE Scotch-Irish element of our population has been one of the strongest strains of blood that has been introduced into our life. It has pro- duced men of action, men of high character, and men of forcefulness in all kinds of activity. It came to America with well-formulated ideals of frontier life; it transplanted to the Western forest regions a society which came fairly well organized, and it began from the moment of its arrival to develop a generation of strong men. In those parts of the colonies to which immigrants came from all parts of the world it took some time to integrate the discordant elements, and society was, therefore, slower in taking up the line of its development. Of all the Scotch-Irish who came to North Carolina, no man was superior in pluck and effectiveness to David Miller, who, about the year 1764, came with his wife and five children to what was then Tryon County. He found land to suit him near Moun- tain Creek and Main Broad River, in what is now Rutherford County. He built his pioneer home one mile from Twitty's Ford, on Broad River, and four miles from the present town of Ruther- fordton. He was appointed entry-taker, a position in which it was possible to discover the best land, and he soon had large pos- sessions. He was a Whig in the Revolution, although in his community there were many Tories. He was an elder in the 378 NORTH CAROLINA Presbyterian Church, and long before his death, in 1803, he was regarded as one of the most considerable men in the county. David Miller's eldest son was John Miller, who married Susan Twitty, a step-daughter of Colonel William Graham. Of this pioneer woman the following story is told : Just before the battle at King's Mountain the Tories became so active that it was thought best for the Whigs to take refuge in fortified places. A number were collected at Colonel Graham's, when a body of about sixty Tories attacked the place. During the affair an adventurous Tory got up to a window, and was about to shoot a brother of Susan Twitty when she pulled his body suddenly out of range of the gun. Immediately she made her brother fire at the man who had tried to kill him, and the Tory fell dead. Then the brave girl, who was no more than fifteen years old, opened the door, in full view of the beseiging party, took the gun and shot pouch of the dead man and regained the house in safety. Such a woman could not but give marked characteristics to her off- spring. In one respect she gave a significant turn to her husband's family history. She was Methodist, and her strong character wrought the religious ideals of her Presbyterian husband so well that from that time this particular branch of the Miller family was Methodist, and actively Methodist. John Miller had six children, the youngest of whom was William J. T. Miller. He became a physician in Cleveland County, as well as a planter. He was a man of much influence, several times a member of the State legislature, and a member of the conventions of 1861 and 1868. He married Elizabeth Fulenwider of Lincoln County, and had ten children. Of these the eldest was John Fulenwider Miller, the subject of this sketch, who was born December 25, 1834. The early influences in the life of this boy were those of a refined and wholesome Southern home of the old regime, in which religion and duty were the inspiring ideals. For the physi- cal part of a boy's rearing there was proper work on the plantation, enough to develop industry and the faculty of managing aflFairs; and for his intellect, a wide comprehension of nature. His earliest JOHN FULENWIDER MILLER 379 schooling was obtained at Shelby. From that place he went to Cokesbury High School in South Carolina. Next he was sent to the University of North Carolina, but he did not finish the course, having left that institution to attend the Charleston Medical Col- lege, and from that place to the Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. At the last-named place he received the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1858. Back from his professional studies, the young man came to settle down to practice medicine with his father. For three years the partnership existed, and then it gave way to the war fever, which swept in its course many an arrangement of longer stand- ing than the association of Miller & Son. He enlisted in the Cleveland Guards as a private, and on April 24, 1861, marched away to the war. A month later he was made assistant surgeon, and assigned to duty with the Twelfth North Carolina Regiment. In June, 1862, he was promoted to the rank of surgeon, and attached to the Thirty-fourth North Carolina Regiment. In August, 1864, he was appointed one of a commission to inspect hospitals for the army of Northern Virginia. Dr. R. T. Coleman, afterward a professor in the Virginia Medical College, and Dr. George T. Harrison, who became a prominent New York physician after the war, were other members of the commission. The work of this body was accomplished in a few months, and in December, 1864, Dr. Miller was appointed chief surgeon of the department of Eastern North Carolina and Southern Virginia, and attached to General L. H. Baker's staff. In this capacity he was serving when Sherman, in 1865, turned from his northward march at Goldsboro, North Carolina, and moved off to the west- ward to intercept the supposed retreat of Lee's army. At Louis- burg, North Carolina, his column, under the command of General O. O. Howard, came upon the young surgeon-in-chief, who would not leavt the post to which he was assigned, but chose to sur- render with the wounded intrusted to him. And thus it happened that for the subject of this sketch the war came to an end. It is noteworthy that it was a complete end. As he doffed his gray coat and became a simple citizen again, he surrendered all the 38o NORTH CAROLINA sectionalism and all the bitterness which a narrower nature might have nursed out of the disappointments of the time. During the war Dr. Miller had come to Goldsboro, North Caro- lina. There he met Miss Sarah L. Borden. She was the daughter of Arnold Borden of Fall River, Massachusetts, an enterprising New Englander, who had settled at old Waynesboro as a merchant, and who owned much of the land on which the town of Goldsboro was later located. She was a woman of fine Christian character, a superior mind, and many graces of person and temper. This happy and helpful marriage decided the place in which Dr. Miller's future residence was thrown. It resulted in the birth of eight children, all of whom reached maturity. They are John C. Miller, a pro- fessor in the school for the deaf and dumb at Morganton, North Carolina ; Charles B. Miller, a prosperous druggist of Goldsboro, North Carolina; Mrs. Loulie Michaux, of the same place; Hugh L. Miller, deceased ; Mrs. Mary B. Southerland, Frank M. Miller, assistant superintendent of the Borden Manufacturing Company, and Dr. Robert B. Miller, all of Goldsboro; and Mrs. Bessie W. Hill of Danville, Virginia. Mrs. Miller, whose faithful training, aided by her husband's efforts, brought all these children to an honorable and useful manhood or womanhood, was taken to the reward of the faithful on August 8, 1901. No one who knew her will be able to refrain from speaking of her splendid womanly qualities. In Goldsboro Dr. Miller resumed the practice of medicine. At once his practice became large. Till he gave it up for his present position, he was at the head of his profession in the town. The importance of Goldsboro was due, in the first place, to the fact that it was a railroad center. Established not many years before the war, it had all the advantages of new and enterprising blood ; and when to this was added the impetus which local trade received on the restoration of peace, it then took a fast pace, which has since been continued through the enterprise of her citizens. It was the first town in North Carolina to establish graded schools of the modern kind ; it was noted for its genial and refined society ; few North Carolina towns have sent out more sons who have JOHN FULENWIDER MILLER 381 taken position in the country than it, and few have stood for a cleaner type of town spirit. In the making of all this Dr. Miller took a prominent part. His calm and fair spirit has ever been for the best kind of civic life. He has been concerned in every movement for town progress which came into his way. In all respects he has been the ideal citizen. On January i, 1888, he became superintendent of the State Hospital at Goldsboro. This is a State-supported institution for insane colored people. It is not a work which will attract the attention of many people. It is a work in which one who directs it might do his official duty and still do less than humanity dic- tated. But to Dr. Miller it was more than an official position. It was a responsibility to a weak and dependent people, and he has discharged it out of the goodness of a benevolent soul. How much of care and anxiety he has given to the poor, friendless ones under his charge the world will never know. In business man- agement his administration has been very successful. To this day he remains in charge of the hospital. Although past the middle period of life, he is vigorous and accurate as in the days of young manhood. His recent election for fourth term as superintendent, embracing a period of twenty-four years, evidences the continued confidence of the Board of Directors in the ability and faithfulness of his management. Next to the death of his wife, the greatest sorrow that has come into the life of this strong man was the death of his third son, Hugh L. Miller, in 1902. This young man united in himself the rarest qualities of mind and heart. Handsome in person, intelligent and faithful in duty, he had begun a career which prom- ised to make him a man of mark in whatever community he resided. He contracted disease as a naval volunteer in the war with Spain, and from the eflfects of it no medical skill could save him. His death was a crushing blow to his family, and to many a friend who had come to love him. Dr. Miller has been a member of the Methodist Church since his youth. He has ever been one of the chief stays of its strength in Goldsboro. He has frequently been a delegate to the annual 382 NORTH CAROLINA conference, and several years ago he was made president of the Advocate Publishing Company, which publishes the weekly organ of the North Carolina Conference. As a physician he illustrates the best traits of his profession. A large and prepossessing man, with an air of firmness and self- command, he has ever carried hope and confidence with him into the sick-room. Many a sick one has drawn virtue from the light of his countenance. With all he has been a man of deep piety, a man of truth, and a trustworthy man. He was formed in the mold of the old-fashioned Southern gentleman, a kind of man which our present life seems rarely to make. He stands for a type of individuality the want of which must make the modern harum-scarum graduate of a medical school a failure, let him know never so much of the lore of books. He refers to himself as "the fortunate man who never wrote a book." But he has been the pioneer writer on the insanity of the negro. He presented a paper before the meeting of the Medico-Psychological Association at Asheville in 1896 on the Effects of Emancipation upon the Mental and Physical Health of the Negro in the South. It was largely noticed by a number of scientific writers, both North and South. In 1902 he presented a paper on the same subject before a meeting of the Tri-State Medical Society in Charleston, South Carolina. His long and conscientious study of the conditions of negro insanity makes him an authority on the subject. It is doubt- ful if there is another man in the country who has had so good an opportunity to observe and draw conclusions in regard to it. A marked characteristic of Dr. Miller's nature is his loyalty to his friends. No man could be truer. He himself attributes the best influences of the formative period of his life to his home life and early companionships. In his own home he has repro- duced all of the strong qualities which made for the development of his own character. He is also noted for his business ability. This is shown in the many kinds of business he has carried on in connection with his professional labors. It is also shown in his excellent business management of the Eastern Hospital. A recent legislative committee, which had investigated this institution, said JOHN FULENWIDER MILLER 383 that, considering the character of its inmates, the economic basis upon which the hospital was run, and the pecuHar needs of such an institution, they considered this one of the best managed of all the public institutions of the State. Dr. Miller would be the last person to desire to set himself up in rivalry with any other super- intendent of an asylum or other State institution; but the testi- mony of this utterance is due him to show his ability and faith- fulness. /. 5". Bassett. ELISHA MITCHELL THE name of Elisha Mitchell, the subject of this sketch, has appropriately been bestowed on the highest peak east of the Rocky Mountains, which will perpetuate to the end of recorded time the memory of this distinguished scientist, _ to whom North Carolina is so much indebted. Dr. Mitchell was sprung from early colonial parentage. In 163 1 an ancestor of his, John Eliot, then twenty-six years of age, and a Puritan minister of Roxboro, England, came to Connecticut, and became famous as an author of valuable works. In particu- lar is he remembered as the "Apostle to the Indians," to whom he carried the Gospel. Among his publications was an Indian Primer and his translation of the Bible into the Indian language. His son. Rev. Jared Eliot, M.D. and D.D., was for many years a minister at Killingworth, Connecticut, and he was equally as distinguished as his father. He had an extensive knowledge of history, natural philosophy, botany and mineralogy, while being a sound theologian. Among his correspondents were Dr. Frank- lin and the celebrated Bishop Berkeley, and in 1762 he was hon- ored by the Royal Society of London with a gold medal for a valuable discovery in the manufacture of iron. He was the great- grandfather of Dr. Mitchell, who was born in Washington, Con- necticut, on the 19th of August, 1793, and who in many respects strongly resembled this ancestor. ELISHA MITCHELL 385 With a descent from a highly intellectual parentage, Dr. Mitchell was remarkably precocious. When only four years of age he acted a spirited part in a school exhibition, to the delight of his fellow-pupils and of his friends. He was prepared for college by Rev. Azel Backus, a famous scholar of that day. Enter- ing Yale College, Dr. Mitchell graduated at that institution in 1813, along with Hon. George E. Badger, Thomas P. Devereux and Dr. Olmsted, and others who became famous in the various walks of life, among whom he was accounted as one of the best in scholastic attainments, being particularly distinguished for his knowledge of English literature. His first employment was as an assistant in a school for boys at Jamaica, in Long Island, and in the spring of 1815 he took charge of a school for girls in New London. In 1816 Dr. Mitchell became a tutor in Yale College, but hardly had he done so before a more inviting field of labor was opened to him. Judge Gaston was about that time one of the dis- tinguished members of Congress, ranking with Webster and Clay, all then being comparatively young men, but of acknowledged superior ability ; and Rev. Sereno E. Dwight, the chaplain to the Senate of the United States, recommended to Judge Gaston the appointment of Dr. Mitchell to the chair of mathematics and of Dr. Olmsted to the chair of chemistry, then first established at the University of North Carolina, and in 18 17 these appointments were made. Accepting the employment, Dr. Mitchell spent a short time at the Theological Seminary at Andover, and received his license to preach the Gospel from an Orthodox Congregational Association in Connecticut. On the last day of January, 1818, he reached the University, and entered at once on his duties as professor of mathematics and natural philosophy, studies that had previously been taught by Dr. Caldwell, who was at that time appointed president of the University. There were then 120 stu- dents in the institution, and the faculty consisted of Dr. Cald- well, the president; and Dr. Hooper, professor of ancient lan- guages ; Governor Morehead and Priestly H. Mangum as tutors. In the senior class were Bishop Green, H. C. Jones, Rev. Dr. 386 NORTH CAROLINA Morrison, President Polk, Hugh Waddell and other distinguished men; while in the junior class were Judge Anderson of Florida, Senator William H. Haywood and Hon. James T. Morehead. Among the sophomores were Judge William H. Battle, Hon. B. F. Moore and Bishop Otey; while in the freshman class were many who subsequently attained distinction. Soon after his arrival Dr. Mitchell preached his first sermon in the college chapel, and three years later he was ordained as a full minister by the Pres- bytery of Orange, and he continued to preach at Chapel Hill dur- ing his entire life. He was devoted to his profession as an instructor, and in dis- charge of his duties he exhibited an energy, an intelligence, a self- denial and an attention to minute particulars seldom equalled and never surpassed. He gave great satisfaction in every sphere of life, and at once established himself in the esteem, confidence and affection of those with whom he was associated. When teaching in New London, he had formed the acquaintance of Miss Maria S. North, a daughter of an eminent physician of that place, and an attachment having sprung up between them, in 1 819 he married her; and during the remainder of his life her loving association was the greatest blessing vouchsafed him. For seven years he continued to preside over his original depart- ment, but in 1825, when Dr. Olmsted accepted a position with Yale College, Dr. Mitchell was transferred to the vacated chair, and Dr. Phillips became professor of mathematics. In the mean- while, however, Dr. Mitchell had extended the course of mathe- matics so as to embrace calculus, and the other branches of mathematics were enlarged, requiring a higher degree of attain- ment. Dr. Olmsted had been employed by the State of North Carolina to make a geological survey of the State, and he had awakened no little interest in the study of natural science. This study had ever been particularly inviting to Dr. Mitchell, whose tastes led him to employ himself in such pursuits. Even while a professor of mathematics, he made many pedestrian excursions through the country studying botany, and when he began his ELISHA MITCHELL 387 instruction in mineralogy and geology he multiplied these ex- cursions, and formed an intimate acquaintance with the botany and geology of the State. Always remarkable for great bodily activity, he conducted expeditions into every part of North Caro- lina, looking for flowers and mosses and trees, and for rocks and strata and deposits, so that he became thoroughly conversant with the physical geography of the entire State. While the informa- tion he gathered was arranged chiefly for the instruction of his pupils, yet he furnished many articles for publication ; among them the earliest being one on the Low Country of North Carolina, in 1828; on the Geology of the Gold Regions of North Carolina, in 1829; on the Causes of Winds and Storms, in 1831 ; and Notices of High Mountains in North Carolina, in 1839. He continued the publication of similar articles throughout his life. To facilitate his labors in the class-room, he prepared for his own classes a "Manual of Chemistry," a "Manual of Geology," illustrated by a geological map of North Carolina ; a "Manual of Natural History," and a "Collection of Facts and Dates" respect- ing the history, geography, etc., of the Holy Land, a minute acquaintance with which he was always very desirous of pro- moting among his students. In June, 1830, he accompanied Governor Owen and the other members of the Board of Internal Improvements and Governor Swain on a trip from Haywood down the Cape Fear to Fayette- ville, and availed himself of the opportunity of obtaining more particular knowledge of the geology of that interesting part of the country. When those distinguished naturalists, the Michaux, were in Western North Carolina, toward the close of the previous century, they had believed that the peaks of Black Mountain were the highest east of the Rocky Mountains, that conclusion being reached because the plants found there are not met with again until Canada is reached. Vice-President Calhoun had suggested in 1825 to Governor Swain the same view, based on the water- courses, and Dr. Mitchell also entertained the same opinion. In the summer of 1835 Dr. Mitchell made his first attempt to verify by barometrical measurement the accuracy of these views. 388 NORTH CAROLINA His exploration was laborious, careful and patient. To climb the Black Mountain and carry up the instruments to determine its height in 1835 required courage and scientific ardor to an unusual degree. The country, naturally savage, was at that time very little known. It was much more inaccessible than it has since become by reason of the progress of settlements around its base; but Dr. Mitchell overcame all difSculties, and he found the height of one of the peaks to be 6476 feet, while Mount Washington in New Hampshire, long considered the highest point of the Alle- ghanies, is only 6428 feet high. Dr. Mitchell's account of this exploration was published, and attracted wide attention. It was the first authoritative announcement that Black Mountain was higher than the White Mountains, and, indeed, the highest in the United States east of the Rockies. Dr. Mitchell visited the mountain again in 1844, and after sur- veying its line of peaks, he selected what seemed the highest peak, and obtaining the assistance of some mountaineers, he attempted to climb it. He succeeded in getting on the mountain, and, as he thought, on the peak he had selected. In recognition of his discovery, his name was attached to a peak of the mountain on the maps and geographies of that period; but about 1855 Gen- eral Clingman claimed that Dr. Mitchell had never been on and had never measured the very highest peak ; while he himself in that year had done so, and it was proposed to confer the name of Clingman on the highest peak. Dr. Mitchell, on the other hand, contended that he was the first to measure and ascertain its superior height, and that he was on that very peak and had measured it in 1844. Several letters passed on the subject through the newspapers, and Dr. Mitchell announced his purpose of visit- ing the mountains again and remeasuring the peak and taking the statements of those who had acted as his guides on his former visit. About the middle of June, 1857, he therefore went to the mountains, accompanied by his son, Charles A. Mitchell, one of his daughters and a servant boy, and establishing headquarters at Jesse Stepps's, at the foot of the mountain, began the laborious task of ascertaining the height of the highest peak by an instru- ELISHA MITCHELL 389 mental survey. He had proceeded with his work near two weeks, and had reached a quarter of a mile above William Patton's mountain-house about 2.30 o'clock in the afternoon of Saturday', the 27th of June, when he quit work, proposing to cross the mountain to the settlement on Caney River for the purpose of seeing Mr. Wilson and others who had guided him to the top on a former visit. He promised to return on Monday at noon. This was the last time he was ever seen alive. Not having returned by Wednesday, Mr. Stepp started on Thursday morning to Caney River in search of him. On arriving at Mr. Wilson's, he learned that Dr. Mitchell had not reached that settlement. The alarm was at once given, and before sundown on Friday evening companies of hardy mountaineers were on their way up the mountain. As the alarm spread, many citizens of Asheville and other parts of the country flocked to the mountains to assist in the search for one so universally beloved and respected. On the night of the following Tuesday his remains were found. Mr. Wilson surmised that Dr. Mitchell had attempted to follow the same route that he had taken in 1844, but had strayed from it. They traced him down the precipices of the mountain until they reached a stream, found his traces going down it a hundred yards or so, when they came to a rushing cataract some forty feet high. Here they saw his footprints trying to climb around the edge of the yawning precipice, and then the moss torn up as he had grasped in vain. Descending hastily to the bottom of the roaring abyss, they found a basin fourteen feet deep filled with clear and crystal waters, and at the bottom, quietly reposing with out- stretched arms, lay the mortal remains of Dr. Mitchell, the great, the good, the wise, the simple-minded, the pure of heart, in- structor of youth, disciple of knowledge and the preacher of Christianity. The highest peak of the Black Mountains is in Yancey County, and about fifty citizens of that county soon assembled at the spot, and having enveloped the body in a sheet securely fastened upon a long pole borne on the shoulders of ten men, brought the remains up the mountain. The body was carried to Asheville and there interred. Memorial meetings of citizens 390 • NORTH CAROLINA were held throughout the State amid many manifestations of pub- lic grief. It having been determined that Dr. Mitchell's remains should finally rest on the highest peak of the Black Mountains, on the 14th of June, 1858, they were exhumed, and, attended by a large concourse of citizens, by the venerable bishop of the diocese of Tennessee, the president of the University and members of his family, the body was borne to the summit of the mountain, and Bishop Otey read the impressive burial service of the Episcopal Church; and since that time a substantial monument has been erected over the spot; the altitude by more recent measurements being determined to be 6717 feet high. The untimely end of Dr. Mitchell was greatly deplored, and excited the profoundest sympathy and interest throughout the State. As a man, he was greatly esteemed, filling many functions most acceptably. He was the college bursar; he was the justice of the peace, a farmer, a commissioner for the village of Chapel Hill, and at times its magistrate of police; and he was a regular preacher in the college chapel and in the village church. In the pulpit he often gave evidence of the vast extent of his learning, while his blameless life, his humble faith, drew him near to the hearts of all. As a teacher. Dr. Mitchell took great pains in incul- cating the first principles of science and unfolding those natural truths of which he was so fond. His acquirements extended into every field of learning, and so accurate and vast was his informa- tion that he was often referred to as the "College Encyclopaedia." Under his training, such interest was awakened in natural science among the students that in this respect a great benefit was con- ferred on the State. As a discipHnarian, he was vigilant, consci- entious, long-suffering, firm and mild. When offenses were com- mitted, to the offender he set forth his conduct in its true light; but when punishment was to be inflicted, he generally proposed some measure which appealed to the culprit's better feelings. In his home he was venerated as well as beloved. Besides his work in the college, and other duties of a public nature, he edu- cated his own children, and especially were his daughters educated ELISHA MITCHELL 391 to a degree not often attempted. Indeed, somewhat in line with his own precocity, it is recalled that one of his daughters was studying Greek before she was four years of age. He left five children, four daughters and one son, Dr. Charles A. Mitchell, who became a surgeon in the Confederate army, and, surviving the war, died in 1868. General Vance has sweetly sung of Dr. Mitchell's fate and resting place : "On the highest peak of a mighty chain Of hill and mountain fastness, Where Nature doth her primal rule maintain Amid their solemn vastness, There's a lonely grave that the mountains gave, Which the sorrowing moonbeams gently lave. The tremulous trills of the mother bird, As she sings her songs so lowly, Though a sweeter tone the ear never heard. Touch not a rest so holy; For God keeps him there in the upper air, Sleeping and waiting for the morning fair. But a morn shall come, O glorious morn ! When the trumpet's shrill sounding Shall reach every soul that ever was born, And life anew be bounding; And God in His might, from the mountain height. Shall wake His servant to the wondrous sight." 5". A. Ashe. DAVID REID MURCHISON iHERE is a region of country in North Carolina, extending from the headwaters of the Cape Fear River in Cumberland and Harnett counties to the inlet through which that stream pours its waters into the ocean, known as the Cape Fear section. It is the land of the grape, of the honeysuckle and the jasmine. No one who has ever made the trip in the springtime from Fayetteville to Wilmington on one of the steamers which in the olden time plied between those places on the Cape Fear River will soon forget it. The banks, festooned with wild and luxuriant vines, white with the bloom of the dogwood and bay flower, the air fragrant with perfume, enchanted the senses and captured the heart. It is a land of industry and free- dom, of ardent zeal, dauntless energy and great aspiration. Its people lived in a style of elegance and profusion not inferior to the barons of England, and dispensed a generous and delightful hospitality, which is never forgotten by those who have enjoyed it. They have ever been animated by the glories of a chivalrous descent. Their ideas are elevated, and there is a majestic char- acter to their thoughts. They have been distinguished by their uniform and enthusiastic love of liberty, and their character has been illustrated in every age by their heroic exploits. In no part of the world will a stranger meet with a more courteous reception, with a more generous hospitality, or can he trust with more per- ; T^47/',i-'^s ^-^^^.A-ar' /it^^ ^.^ '^'^' ^'''liiii L, '-S-' /\/'o/7fi/sn J^iA^'/'^^er. DAVID REID MURCHISON 393 feet security the honesty and fidelity of the inhabitants. He ever leaves this people with regret, and wonders that they have not become accustomed to the frauds of trade or the vices of luxury. His remembrance of them is as a sweet aroma, which he will carry with him in the years to come. Amid such a people the subject of this sketch was born and reared. The life of David Reid Murchison illustrated two truths which have long been recognized — the power of heredity and the influence of environment on character. In his life were repro- duced the virtues of an ancestry renowned in the early history of our country, and he exhibited to an eminent degree those traits of character which have made the people of the Cape Fear region of North Carolina loved by all whose good fortune it has been to have known them. His grandfather, Kenneth McKenzie Murchison, and Dr. Thomas Reid were among his earliest known ancestors in America. They both emigrated from Scotland and settled in this country, the former in 1773 and the latter in the early part of the eighteenth century. John Ramsay, his maternal great father, with his brother, Ambrose Ramsay, were active and uncompromising patriots in the Revolutionary War for our independence. Am- brose Ramsay was a member of the Provincial Congress which met at Halifax, North Carolina, the 4th of April, 1776, and was also a delegate to the Provincial Congress which was appointed to assemble at the same place on the 12th of November, 1776, which was "not only to make laws, but also to form a constitution, which was to be the cornerstone of all law, and, as it was well or ill ordered, would tend to the happiness or misery of the State." David Reid Murchison was born at "Holly Hill," Manchester, in the county of Cumberland, on the 5th day of December, 1837. His father, Duncan Murchison, was born at Manchester, Cumber- land County, the 20th of May, 1801. He was a merchant and manufacturer of cotton goods, and dealt largely in naval stores. His integrity and capacity for commercial affairs gave him a widely extended influence. His mother, Fannie Reid, was an accomplished lady, greatly beloved in the community in which she 394 NORTH CAROLINA lived. The family of Duncan Murchison were devotedly attached to the cause of the South during the Civil War. John R. Murchi- son, the eldest son, was universally loved by all his associates. He achieved high reputation as a soldier. He was killed at Cold Harbor on the ist of June, 1864, whilst in command of the Eighth North Carolina Regiment, of which he was colonel. Kenneth M. Murchison, the second son, was also conspicuous for his services. For good conduct on many fields he was promoted in May, 1863, to be colonel of the Fifty-fourth North Carolina Regiment, which he commanded until taken prisoner the 7th of November, 1863. He was so held until July, 1865. David Reid Murchison spent his early days in the upper part of Cumberland County, on Little River, in a Scotch settlement, whose people were honest, thrifty, prosperous and brave. Here he received the rudiments of his education, which was finished at the University of Virginia. Although as a youth he was not strong physically, he was fond of athletic sports. He had a passion for fishing and hunting, and when his business interests and duties would permit, he would often carry a number of friends as his guests and spend days upon the splendid preserves owned or controlled by him. In i860 he commenced his business career as a member of the firm of Eli Murray & Company of Wilmington, North Carolina, which was interrupted in 1861 by the commencement of the Civil War. He enlisted at once in the Seventh North Carolina Regiment, and remained with that command one year, when he was trans- ferred to the Fifty-fourth North Carolina Regiment and assigned to duty with the rank of captain. With this regiment he saw active service, and his conduct always reflected honor and credit upon him as a brave and efficient officer. He was taken from the Fifty-fourth North Carolina Regiment and made inspector- general of the Commissary Department of North Carolina, having been appointed to this position by President Davis on account of his executive ability, which was at his then early age recognized as of a very high order. The change from active service to his new duties was very distasteful to him and against his wishes. Brave DAVID REID MURCHISON 395 himself, and born of heroic blood, with a firmness and fortitude which faltered in no crisis, he had an aptitude for war, and doubt- less would have risen high in the profession of arms had he been allowed to have seen active service in the field to the close of the war, as was his wish and desire. One of his chief characteristics, however, was a high sense of duty, which always prompted him to do whatever work was before him as best he knew how. He filled the position to which he was assigned until the close of the war with great credit to himself and benefit to the soldiers of North Carolina. In 1866 he resumed his business life, which had been interrupted by the Civil War, and became a member of the mercantile firm of which the New York branch was known as Murchison & Company, the Wilmington branch as Williams & Murchison and the Fayetteville branch as John D. Williams & Company. It was composed of John D. Williams, George W. Williams, Kenneth M. Murchison and D. R. Murchison. This firm established an im- mense business. It had unlimited credit at home and abroad with uninterrupted success, to which the energy, enterprise and sagacity of D. R. Murchison largely contributed. Such was the judgment of his co-partners and the commercial world. In 1880 he was appointed receiver of the Carolina Central Railroad Company. He so managed its affairs as to win the approval of all who were financially or otherwise interested in its success. He soon there- after purchased a controlling interest in the road, and continued to conduct its affairs with high success until, warned by his failing health that the days of his active energies would soon be brought to a close, he sold his interest in the road to John M. Robinson of Baltimore. He was one of the founders of the Bank of New Hanover, and from its organization one of its most useful direct- ors. During his life that bank had wonderful success, and stood in the front rank of the great financial institutions of the South. He was connected with many of the most important business enterprises in Eastern North Carolina, and in the management of all he was an influential factor. He was married on January 11, 1872, to Miss Lucy Wooster 396 NORTH CAROLINA Wright, a beautiful woman, who to a gentle and refined nature united a charm of manner and tenderness of heart which made her an attractive personality in every circle in which she moved. Their home was the abode of a generous and elegant hospitality, which both husband and wife cherished not only as a pleasure, but a virtue. She was the daughter of Joshua Grainger Wright of Wilmington, a lawyer of high attainments and distinguished as an orator and scholar. She was the granddaughter of Judge Joshua Grainger Wright, whose family gave its name to Wrights- ville Sound, so well known to all people in North Carolina who seek the pleasures of social life in its most attractive garb. Her mother was Mary Ann Walker, a lady whose life and Christian virtues elevated and adorned society. She was the daughter of Julius Henry Walker and Mary Wright McNeill. There was born of the marriage of David R. Murchison and Lucy Wooster Wright one child — Lucile Wright Murchison — who was the joy and de- light of both father and mother. Captain Murchison's character and nature would have won the respect and love of any community. His qualities endeared him to the brave and chivalrous people amongst whom he lived, and from his boyhood until his death.he had their confidence and warm regard. In his daily intercourse with men he was reserved of manner, with a dignity and courtesy which always commanded respect. He was a pure man in thought and act. Not one of his most intimate associates ever heard fall from his lips an expression which was coarse or low. Like most pure men and women, he loved the beauties of nature. As a boy he would wander for hours amidst the dense forests of pine in upper Cumberland and listen with delight to the soft and strange melody which came from their boughs as they were stirred by the breeze. It was a music which ever Hngered in his memory. In later years, after he had, with his brother, Colonel K. M. Murchison, purchased the splendid game preserve in Yancey County, which lies at the foot of Black Mountain, and extends for many miles on both banks of Cane River, which sings and ripples and dashes through it, he was supremely happy as he looked down from the wild and DAVID REID MURCHISON 397 rugged heights of the mountain, which he often cHmbed, upon the enchanting scenery which greeted his vision. It was here, and amid such scenes, and by his fireside at home, that his friends and companions reahzed and knew that the man of iron will had a pathos and tenderness of feeling and a poetry of thought unknown to the world at large. He was a singularly brave man, devoid of fear. Cool and self- reliant under all circumstances, he gave confidence and strength to the weak and timid. He was a generous man, full of sympathy and kindness for the poor and needy, to whom he gave with an open and liberal hand. He was a sincere man. He had an abhor- rence of deception and hypocrisy, and looked with scorn upon all that was base and mean. He died in the city of New York, where he had gone for medical treatment, on the 22d of February, 1882. He was in the full meridian of his intellectual power, and his nobility of mind and heart was never more clearly manifested than in his last days. He went to his rest, his fortitude unshaken by severe and long- continued suffering, his chief desire to give the least possible pain and trouble to others ; solicitous not for himself, but for the happiness of those he loved. His gentleness and self-abnegation were as beautiful as his iron nerve was firm and unyielding. North Carolina has furnished to the world a race of men who by their great qualities have shed luster upon the State which gave them birth. In the elements of character which constitute true greatness, courage, honor, truth, fidelity, unselfish love of country and humanity, Captain David Reid Murchison will rank with the best and most noble of her citizens. Charles M. Stedman. KENNETH McKENZIE MURCHISON 3ENNETH McKENZIE MURCHISON was born near Fayetteville, North Carolina, Febru- ary 1 8, 1831 ; the son of Duncan Murchison, who was born in Manchester, Cumberland County, North Carolina, May 20, 1801, and the grandson of Kenneth McKenzie Murchison, for whom he was named, who came to this country from Scotland in 1773. Duncan Murchison became prominent in the planting and manufacture of cotton. The eldest son, John R., enlisted early in the war in the Eighth Regiment, won promotion to colonel, and was killed in the battle of Cold Harbor, June i, 1864. A younger son, David Reid, served in the Seventeenth and Fifty- fourth Regiment, and was later inspector-general of the Com- missary Department of the State. Colonel Murchison, the second son of Duncan, was graduated at Chapel Hill in 1853, after which he engaged in business pur- suits in New York City and Wilmington until the spring of 1861, when he disposed of his business in the North, assisted in the organization of a company at Fayetteville, and entered the service as second lieutenant. He commanded Company C of the Eighth Regiment, which was captured at Roanoke Island, a disaster which Lieutenant Murchison escaped by his fortunate absence on military detail. He then organized another company in Cumber- land County, which was assigned to the Fifty-fourth Regiment, iO^S Z,. /-S/1 A/hp/r^n J=>i.i,ra''i^ /Z C^4//i^^s <5 Byi. KENNETH McKENZIE MURCHISON 399 with himself as captain. Upon the organization of the regiment he was elected major, was soon promoted to lieutenant-colonel, and after the death of Colonel J. C. S. McDowell, at Fredericks- burg, became the colonel of the regiment. He was especially com- mended for gallant service at Fredericksburg by General E. M. Law, commander of his brigade. He commanded his regiment at Chancellorsville and in the battle of Winchester against Milroy. Subsequently he was ordered to convey the prisoners taken on that occasion to Richmond, after which he returned to Winchester and served in guarding the wagon trains of Lee's army. On July 6th, in command of his regiment, he gallantly repulsed the enemy's advance on Williamsport. He served in Hoke's Brigade during subsequent operations in Virginia, and when the brigade was cut oiif by the enemy at Rappahannock Station, November 7, 1863, he was among those captured. He was held a prisoner of war at Johnson's Island, Lake Erie, from that time until July, 1865, an imprisonment of twenty months. Upon his release he resumed business in New York, and formed a brief partnership under the firm name of Murray & Murchison, but dissolved it in June, 1866, and established the firm of Murchison & Company, the members of the firm being himself, his brother, David R. Murchison, George W. Williams of Wilmington and John D. Williams of Fayetteville. This firm did a very large and profitable business for some years, the New York house having been managed by Colonel Murchison, under the name of Murchison & Company; the Wilmington house was known as Williams & Murchison, and the Fayetteville connection was known as John D. Williams & Company. His brother, David R. Murchison, of the Wilmington house, who had served throughout the war, was a man of extra- ordinary business sagacity, which was made manifest about the year 1880, when, after being appointed receiver of the Carolina Central Railway, he startled the community by buying out the whole road, and conducted it successfully until his health began to fail, when he sold it at a profit, and not long afterward died. Colonel Murchison lived in New York after the war, but gen- 400 NORTH CAROLINA erally spent the winter in North Carolina. In the year 1880 he bought the old historic plantation called "Orton," the family seat of King Roger Moore, situated about sixteen miles below Wil- mington, on the west side of the Cape Fear River, and the southernmost of all the old rice plantations on that river, and he expended a large amount of money in restoring it to its former condition, and improving it in various ways to gratify his tastes. Within its boundary was the colonial parish church and church- yard of St. Phillips's, and this interesting ruin with its conse- crated ground was conveyed in fee simple by Colonel Murchison and his brother. Captain David R. Murchison, to the Diocese of North Carolina. It is now carefully preserved by the North Carolina Society of Colonial Dames of America. "Orton" has always been a paradise for sportsmen, and the colonel was very fond of hunting. It was his custom to bring some of his friends down from the North every winter ; and give them the oppor- tunity to enjoy the old-time hospitality, which he dispensed with a lavish hand. It was here that those who loved him best and who were loved of him spent their happiest days in the full manhood and evening of his successful life. The restful seclusion of this grandest of all colonial homes, with its broad acres and primeval forests, was most grateful to him and to his intimate associates after the storm and stress of war and the subsequent struggle of business life. It was here that the austerity of worldly contact was relaxed and the manifold humanities of a gentle, kindly life unfolded. He never spoke of his own exploits, nor did he willingly recall the horrors of the four years' war. He loved to roam the woods with his faithful dogs, to linger for hours in the secluded sanctuary of the game he sought so eagerly, and the sight of his triumphant return from an exciting chase, with Reynard at the saddle-how, surrounded by his yelping pack of English hounds, would rouse the dullest of his guests to exclamations of delight. Colonel Murchison was also the joint owner with his brother David of the celebrated Caney River hunting preserves, in the wildest parts of the mountains of North Carolina, where they KENNETH McKENZIE MURCHISON 401 spent the summers of several happy years upon the fourteen miles of trout streams of icy waters. Within this splendid domain is some of the most picturesque of American mountain scenery, in- cluding Mount Mitchell and the neighboring peaks. It is the scene of big Tom Wilson's hunting and trapping exploits, who still survives as the custodian of the magnificent forest and stream, to tell the curious stranger in his own peculiar way how he found the body of the great naturalist whose name Mount Mitchell bears. Colonel Murchison's striking personality was likened by those who knew him to that of the great German chancellor, Prince Bismarck, in his younger years. His commanding figure and uncompromising expression, which charactertized his outward life, suggested a military training beyond that of his war experi- ence, and this was in strange contrast to his inner life, a knowledge of which disclosed a sympathetic tenderness for all suffering or afflicted humanity. He preferred and practised the simple life; his wants were few and easily supplied. A notable characteristic was his exceeding devotion to his five surviving children ; he was proud of them and of their loyal love to him, and he made them his constant companions. He gave to worthy charities with a liberal and unostentatious hand. His patriotic spirit responded quickly to every public emergency, and his local pride was manifested in the building and equipment, at a great expense, of "The Orton" when a good hotel was needed in Wilmington, and when no one else would venture the investment. During the last fifteen years of his honored life. Colonel Murchi- son gradually withdrew from the activities of strenuous business cares, and with the first frosts of autumn resumed control at "Orton Plantation." He left it in June of 1904 in the vigor and spirits of abounding health, to meet a few days later the sudden call of theMessenger of Death, whom he had never feared. So lived and died a man of whom it may be said, "We ne'er shall see his like again." He was an example of splendid physical manhood, of broad experience, of unyielding integrity, pure in heart and in speech, with the native modesty of a woman and the courage of 402 NORTH CAROLINA a lion. He was especially sympathetic and generous to his negro servitors, who regarded him with loving veneration. Another one of the long line of proprietors from the days of King Roger Moore has crossed "over the river to rest under the shade of the trees," and the soft South breezes which brought from their island home the first Barbadian settlers, bring to the listening ear the murmured miserere of the sea. Alfred Moore Waddell. ABNER NASH [BNER NASH, third son of John and Ann Owen Nash, was born at Templeton Manor, the residence of his father, in Prince Edward County, Virginia, about 1740. His father, John Nash, married Ann Owen, daughter of Sir Hugh Owen of Tenby, Pem- brokeshire, Wales, and soon after, about 1730, emigrated to Vir- ginia, purchased a large estate in the fork of Bush and Appo- mattox rivers, and settled there, calling his new home Templeton Manor. He soon became prominent in the colonial history of that province; was justice of the peace, high sheriff, member of the Plouse of Burgesses, lieutenant governor of the county, captain in the Indian War, etc. He was also one of the earliest of the Revolutionary patriots, was chairman of the County Committee of Safety and member of the convention of 1775. He was one of the founders of Hampden-Sydney College, and was made per- manent chairman of the Board of Trustees. He died early in 1776. Abner Nash, who was a brother of General Francis Nash, first made his appearance in North Carolina at Hillsboro in 1763. He seemed to be prospecting, however, and did not remain there long, for he represented Halifax County in the Colonial Assembly dur- ing 1764 and 1765 and again in 1770 and 1771. He was a delegate from New-Bern in the four Revolutionary Congresses, and, except 404 NORTH CAROLINA in the Hillsboro Convention of 1775, took a prominent part in all the great measures pending before them. He was a member of the first Council of Safety; speaker of the first House of Commons under the Constitution; was elected a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1778, but declined ; was speaker of the Senate in 1779 ; was elected governor of the State b)' a large majority in April, 1780, and was continued governor of the State by an act of legis- lature until June 25, 1781. Then he declined to stand for re- election. In May, 1782, he was again elected a delegate to the Continental Congress, and by subsequent elections was continued a delegate until his death, December 5, 1786. This is the record in epitome of a long, consistent and efficient public service. His term of office as governor extended through the darkest period of the State's Revolutionary history, and his own usefulness was seriously impaired by the creation of the Board of War and its interference with his constitutional pre- rogatives. Besides, his health had at that period begun to decline. Notwithstanding these hindrances, however, his record as found in the public archives of the State entitles him to rank as a patriot with Caswell, Harnett and Burke. He was noted for his urbane manners, ready hospitality and public spirit ; and he was a man of undoubted ability and real power as a lawyer and orator. He was twice married : first to Justina Dobbs, nee Davis ; secondly to Mary Jones. He has now many descendants, to be found in nearly every State from Maine to Texas. Many of them have been or are still distinguished in their sections. He died in New York while in attendance upon the Continental Congress, and was accorded a public funeral at St. Paul's Church. Congress attended as a body, accompanied by all the public digni- taries, and the remains were interred in the yard of that church temporarily, but were afterward brought home and placed in the vault prepared for them at Pembroke, his country seat on the Trent River, near New-Bern. Thus, like most of the public men of that period in North Carolina, he died in the prime of life. Frank Nash. FREDERICK NASH [HE subject of this sketch may not have been so thorough a lawyer as Ruffin, so correct a reasoner as Pearson or so great a man as Gaston, yet he had quaUties of mind and heart which well fitted him for the eminent judicial position that he attained. Frederick Nash, second son and third child of Abner and Mary Jones Nash, was born in Tryon's Palace, at New-Bern, during his father's incumbency of the gubernatorial office, February 19, 1781. The Nash family had been a substantial English family for many years. Abner Nash himself was a lawyer of some culture and very decided ability ; had been in public life in the province and State of North Carolina from his first coming in 1763, hold- ing, indeed, the highest offices in the gift of the State. Mary Jones was the great-granddaughter of Frederick Jones, a large land- owner, and one of the early chief justices of the colony, and through a line of Puritan preachers and public men in Massa- chusetts and Connecticut, a direct descendant of Governor Will- iam Bradford of the Plymouth colony. At the end of Governor Nash's term of office, in June, 1781, the family returned to their country seat, Pembroke, on the Trent River, near New-Bern. Governor Nash died in New York, December 5, 1786, while in attendance on the Continental Congress. The young boy, left 4o6 NORTH CAROLINA thus early without a father's care, owed much of his future success to the guidance and control of a wise but tender mother. From his youth, the older children having died, the younger members of the family were taught to look upon him as the head of their family. This early sense of responsibility, while it made him more manly, more sensitive to the demands of duty, tended as it steadied him to give a serious cast to his thoughts and amuse- ments. As a result, though he had little humor in his compo- sition, he had no bad habits, and he was a model son and a model brother. His mother, lying upon her deathbed in October, 1799, placed her hand upon his head as he knelt by her bedside and said to Dr. McClure, the attending physician, "Doctor, here is a son who has never given me one moment's pain." His devotion to his sisters was tempered by a most beautiful courtesy, while with their love for him was mingled admiration and respect. In later years the education of their sons, in some instances their grandsons, was not deemed complete until they had spent some time with "Uncle Nash." Three of these, who studied law in his office, became judges of the Supreme Court of a Southern State, one of them its chief justice; while others occupied positions almost, if not quite, as prominent. Another incident in his boyhood was only less sacred to him than that narrated above. When President Washington was in New-Bern in 1791, his mother presented the boy to him. The venerated Father of his Country lifted him to his knee, placed his hand upon his head and spoke words of kindness and encourage- ment to him. He reminded him of his gallant uncle, General Francis Nash, and urged him to emulate the courage and patriot- ism of that uncle. It was a consecration of the boy by the high priest of patriotism to the service of God and his country — and such he always regarded it. His education was obtained at the school of the Rev. Henry Patillo at Williamsboro, in Granville County; the academy of Rev. Thomas P. Irving in New-Bern and at Princeton College. He graduated with the second distinction at the latter institution in 1799. FREDERICK NASH 407 Returning home, he studied law in the office of Edward Harris, afterward a Superior Court judge, and his brother-in-law. He was admitted to the bar in 1801, and commenced the practice of the law in New-Bern in competition with Francis X. Martin, John Stanly, William Gaston and others but little less distinguished. September i, 1803, he married Miss Mary G. Kollock of Eliza- bethtown. New Jersey, and for over fifty-five years found in her a complete realization of his ideals of a helpmeet. In 1807, on account of the health of their family, the oldest child having died, and in response to the urging of his kinsman. Judge Duncan Cameron, they removed to Hillsboro, and con- tinued to reside there until their deaths. Mr. Nash represented New-Bern in the House of Commons in 1804 and 1805, the county of Orange in 1814, 1815, 1816 and 1817, and the town of Hillsboro in 1828 and 1829. During the period of his service, the best and ablest men in the State thought it an honor to be a member of the House. Even among such associates, Mr. Nash's career as a legislator was distinguished. Three of the speeches made by him in the House are preserved — one against duelling, in 1815; one in favor of a penitentiary for the State, in 1817, and republished in 1820; and the last in oppo- sition to the Potter movement against the banks, in 1829. In all of these one may mark the apt words, the terse but lucid state- ment, the convincing logic and earnest appeal so characteristic of the speaker. Chief Justice Taylor thought the speech against duelling worthy of a place in the second volume of his Law Re- pository. The speech for a penitentiary, though short — not more than 1200 words — is a model of clear statement and convincing reasoning. That in the bank discussion is much more elaborate, and, though following long and very able speeches by judges Gaston and Swain, is said to have been very efifective. His long judicial career — "a kind of intermediate state between the bustle of temporal and the calm of eternal existence," as Judge Gaston happily called it — caused the public to some extent to forget the ease and grace of his manner, the melody of his voice, the aptness and beauty of his phrases and the elevated sentiments 4o8 NORTH CAROLINA in his public speeches, and to-day he is remembered only as a judge, though as an orator he is entitled to high rank. He was speaker of the House of Commons in 1814. "In that difficult post," says Mr. K. P. Battle, 103 North Carolina Re- ports, 501, "he distinguished himself for his readiness, courtesy and strictest impartiality. In all respects he was a wise and well- balanced man." As a lawyer, Mr. Nash attained a high position, enjoying a lucrative practice that extended from Burke County at the west to Granville on the east, and in the Supreme Court at Raleigh. Mr. John H. Bryan, father of Judge Henry R. Bryan, said : "He was distinguished for his upright and honorable conduct. While serving his clients with fidelity, he disdained to use any unworthy artifice or trick to insure success, and abhorred all chicanery and ambidextrous dealing. To the younger brethren of the profession he was kind and considerate, and while by his example he fur- nished a model for their guidance, by his advice and encourage- ment he cheered them on their sometimes dreary way." Hon. A. W. Venable describes him as "the elegant, polished and accomplished Christian gentleman, the sound lawyer, the just and upright man, whose merits as an advocate were equalled by few and surpassed by none." Without his knowledge he was elected a Superior Court judge in 1818. He accepted the office, and performed the duties thereof for eight years. In 1826 he resigned to resume the practice of law. In 1836 he was again elected, however, and the salary of a Superior Court judge having in the meantime been increased to $1950, he accepted, and continued to act in that capacity until he was transferred to the Supreme Court in 1844. It is said that he was "patient in hearing, even of temper and kind of heart." These qualities in him, united with moral courage, the urbane manners of a gentleman and competent learning, formed a character of rare judicial excellence. After Judge Gaston's death in 1844, Governor Morehead nom- inated Judge George E. Badger to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court bench, but perhaps because it was thought that the Demo- FREDERICK NASH 409 crats in the legislature would not elect Judge Badger, the Council rejected the nomination. He then presented the name of Judge Nash, and he was unanimously confirmed. In the December fol- lowing, the governor's appointment being merely ad interim, the legislature elected him as Judge Gaston's successor. The vote in the Senate was unanimous. In the House there were nineteen scattering votes. This election was greeted with much satisfaction by the people and jurors of the State, regardless of party affiliation. "He proved himself," says Dr. K. P. Battle, 103 North Carolina Reports, 501, "a sound and able judge, and his lofty character, in which all the virtues were harmoniously blended, his great popu- larity, gained by his unfailing courtesy and kindly heart, con- tinued and strengthened the public confidence in the court." As Mr. F. H. Busbee well said in an address presenting his portrait to the court, "Clear in his conception of the law, well versed in the precedents, of singular felicity of language and chasteness of expression, with a simplicity and terseness that would have hon- ored Westminster Hall, he has left opinions that may well bear comparison with those of his great co-laborers." In 1852, at the resignation of Judge Ruffin, he became chief justice of the court, and continued as such, with unimpaired faculties, though his health was failing, until his death, Decem- ber 4, 1858. In 1807 Judge Nash was elected a trustee of the University, and he continued an active friend of that institution until his death. For many years he was an elder in the Presbyterian Church, frequently attending its courts and taking part in their delib- erations. Personally, he was profoundly impressed with the imminence of Providence in all the afifairs of life. Consequently, he was a man of much prayer, and the controlling motive of his conduct was a sense of accountability to God. His religion was a very real thing to him, but he was too charitable, too loving, too broad- minded ever to have been a bigot, earnest churchman though he 4IO NORTH CAROLINA certainly was. Into the scheme of life of a man so deeply, so spiritually religious, self-seeking could never enter. He was in- deed in public and in private affairs as unselfish as General Lee. Throughout his life he had the respect and confidence of the people of all parties, the love of many friends, the ardent devotion of his family and the hatred of no one ; and at his death he received from the Master, whom he had served so faithfully, the plaudit, "Well done." The children of Chief Justice Nash who survived him were Mrs. Isaac Read of Charlotte Court House, Virginia; Mrs. Ed- mund Strudwick of Hillsboro, North Carolina; Miss Sally K. Nash, principal of the Nash & KoUock School at Hillsboro ; Rev. Francis K. Nash, a Presbyterian minister of Floral College, North Carolina ; Henry K. Nash, a lawyer of Hillsboro ; and Miss Maria Nash of Hillsboro, who still lives, aged eighty-six years. Frank Nash. THOMAS POLLOCK CHEN North Carolina was a British dependency, the president of the Council in the colony ranked next to the governor, and became gov- ernor pro tempore when the chief magistrate died or absented himself from the colony. It is doubtful if any president of the Council exer- cised so great an influence on the life of the province as Thomas Pollock, who was acting governor for two terms. He was born in Scotland, at Glasgow, May 6, 1654. His father was Thomas Pollock of Balgray, in County Renfrew, and James Pollock of Balgray was an elder brother. It was on June 27, 1683, that he came to North Carolina. About the earliest record we have of his name is in 1691, when the charge was made against Governor Sothel that he imprisoned Mr. Pollock because that gentleman was preparing to go to England to lodge a complaint against the governor. Later, Governor Sothel was captured by Pollock and his friends and "clapt into a logg house," where he was kept unfil he renounced the government. In 1694 Mr. Pollock was a member of Governor Harvey's Council, which exer- cised the functions of a court of justice, and he was also a prac- ticing attorney. During the Cary Rebellion, Pollock sided against Cary, and temporarily removed to Virginia rather than live in the colony while dominated by the Cary faction. The arrival of Deputy Governor Edward Hyde was a source of much satisfaction 412 NORTH CAROLINA to Pollock. Hyde arrived in the spring of 1710. At first he was president of the Council, and then governor, May 9, 1712. He died the same year, on September 8th, and "the Honorable Major- General Thomas Pollock" became acting governor on Septem- ber I2th, and wisely conducted the Indian War to a successful issue. He served as chief magistrate until May 28, 1714, when Charles Eden took the oath of office as governor. Before he became governor he was also instrumental in the settlement of the Swiss and German colony at New-Bern. For thirty years he was in the Council as deputy for one or another of the Lords Proprietors. On March 26, 1722, Eden died, and four days later, on March 30th, Pollock again became governor. This adminis- tration, however, was of short duration, for he was now an old man, and died in a few months, on August 30, 1722. Then William Reed, next in Council, became governor pro tempore until the arrival of Governor Burrington. For many years Mr. Pollock was a vestryman of Chowan Pre- cinct, and was also elected church warden, but chose to pay a fine, which the law required, rather than serve in the latter capacity. During President Pollock's residence in North Carolina he accumulated one of the largest fortunes ever held in the colony, and was the owner of immense tracts of land. He was twice married. His first wife, who was the mother of all his children, was Martha Cullen, who died in 1701. He married secondly Mrs. Esther Wilkinson, widow of Colonel William Wilkinson. Mr. Pollock had quite a number of children. One of his sons, Thomas Pollock, Jr., was chief justice of the colony. Though he now has many descendants. President Pollock has no descendants living who bear the name of Pollock. The late Thomas Pollock Devereux, an eminent lawyer, who was United States district attorney for North Carolina under President John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson, and also reporter of the State Supreme Court, was a lineal descendant of President Pollock. Marshall De Lancey Haywood. ■;,^tf-^^- £ 3.-^ /■n-' JETER CONLEY PRITCHARD I HE career of Honorable Jeter C. Pritchard, United States Circuit Judge for the Fourth District, presents a fine illustration of the beneficent results of our American system, which opens to the meritorious a pathway to fame and fosters a noble ambition even among those who would seem to have but small opportunities to achieve distinction. Judge Pritchard's beginning in life was by no means hopeful, he being without money and without friends, and his early man- hood being passed in a mountain region secluded from public observation and remote from the busy marts of the world ; yet step by step by the native powers of his mind and by close ad- herence to an honorable course of action, he has risen to an exalted judicial station and may well indulge the expectation of attaining to even higher eminence. His father, William H. Pritchard, whose ancestors were Welsh, the name being sometimes written Pritchett, was a carpenter and builder, living at Jonesboro, Tennessee, where he married Eliza- beth Brown, whose ancestors were Irish, and where the subject of this sketch was born on the 12th day of July, 1857. Mr. Pritchard was an earnest, hard-working man and pursued his vocation with such vigor and determination that he had only little leisure, but being fond of reading, he devoted what time he could spare to 414 NORTH CAROLINA his favorite books. During the war between the States, the people of that section of Tennessee were much divided in sentiment, but Mr. Pritchard's resolute and determined character led him to actively espouse the side of the South ; and he enlisted in Colonel John H. Crawford's regiment of East Tennesseans, being the Sixtieth Tennessee Regiment, which at the siege of Vicksburg won repeated encomiums for its bravery and resolute conduct; and after the surrender of Vicksburg, Mr. Pritchard fell a victim to disease, dying in Mobile, Alabama. During those times of distress, when the subject of this sketch was still a little child, his mother was subjected to all the privations which the impoverished widows of unfortunate soldiers had to experience. He was but eight years of age when peace came, and although his mother nurtured him to the best of a scant abil- ity, she could afford him neither an education nor a comfortable maintenance. Still she happily exerted a strong influence on his moral life, and instilled into his youthful mind those sound pre- cepts of morality which have been the basis of his character. At the age of twelve, having had so little training at school that he was unable to write, he was apprenticed to learn the printer's trade, that being deemed a desirable method of securing a prac- tical education, while it afforded a better opening to future ad- vancement than labor on a farm. Nor was his mother disap- pointed in her hopes. The young apprentice was responsive to her impulses, and animated by a purpose to improve his condi- tion, he made the best of his opportunities, and overcoming his early deficiencies, made such rapid progress at his trade that at the end of his apprenticeship he was employed as foreman of the Union Flag office at Jonesboro. In the spring of 1874, when not yet seventeen years of age, he left Jonesboro to take the position of foreman on the Bakers- ville Independent, at Bakersville, North Carolina. His circum- stances, however, were still so poor that he was compelled to make thirty-five miles of the journey on foot, and he arrived at his destination with only ten cents in his pocket and no more clothing than he carried on his back. JETER CONLEY PRITCHARD 415 Here his talents and capacity found gratifying reward, and stimulated by an invincible resolution to succeed, he overcame all difficulties, and later became the joint owner and associate editor of the Independent. And he also found himself able to perfect his education by attending the Odd Fellows' Institute and Martin's Creek Acad- emy in Tennessee. Eventually circumstances induced him to remove to Madison County, North Carolina, and in 1885, being then well known as an active Republican leader, he represented that county in the Assembly, and again in 1887; and in the Assembly he made his mark and attained prominence by reason of the clearness of his views and the intellectual vigor with which he maintained them. Living on a farm, he not only performed the manual labor re- quired in his work, but applied himself to the study of the law. This was necessarily accomplished at great disadvantage. In the absence of an instructor, it was his habit after reading a chapter to frame questions and answer them, and then to com- pare the result with the text-book, thus correcting his inaccuracies and impressing the subject on his memory. He obtained his license in 1887, and entered at once on a practice that soon became lucrative. In the Assembly he had been chief among the Republican lead- ers, and his course had attracted the attention of his party friends throughout the State, so that in 1888 he was nominated as the Republican candidate for lieutenant-governor, and the extended campaign he then made enhanced his reputation. He again repre- sented his county in the Assembly in 1891, and being now re- garded as one of the strongest of the Republican leaders, he received the honor of being the caucus nominee of his party for the Senate of the United States. At the next election he was brought forward for Congress from the ninth district, where the Republican strength had been weakened by placing Mitchell County in another district; and although Mr. Pritchard made gains in many of the counties, he was unable to defeat his Demo- cratic opponent. That was a disastrous campaign to the Repub- 4i6 NORTH CAROLINA lican Party generally throughout the Union, but Mr. Pritchard had the satisfaction of knowing that he had made gains for his party, of which but few other districts in the Union could boast. The political situation in the State was now greatly changed by the growth of the Farmers' Alliance, and its separation from the old parties and the establishment of the Populist Party, as well as by the disorganization of the Democratic Party incident to the Cleveland administration, which had become excessively unpopular among the people of North Carolina. It was apparent that by consolidating the strength of the Republican and Populist parties into a single organized opposition, the Democratic Party would be defeated in the State. With that end in view Mr. Pritchard began negotiations with the PopuHst leaders for a co- operative campaign by which in counties where the Populists were numerous the Republicans would support their candidates, and in counties where the Republicans were numerous the PopuHsts would support their nominees. The co-operation was entirely suc- cessful and the legislature was strongly anti-Democratic. Because of the death of Senator Vance and the expiration of Senator Ransom's term, two senators were to be chosen by that Assembly; and Mr. Pritchard was elected to Vance's unexpired term, while Honorable Marion Butler was chosen for the long term. At the next election a yet closer alliance was made between the Republican and Populist parties, and a State ticket headed by Honorable D. L. Russell was agreed on, and again was the co-operative movement successful, resulting in the defeat of the Democratic State ticket and in the election of an opposition legis- lature, which in January, 1897, re-elected Senator Pritchard to the Senate for a term of six years. In addition to his position as United States senator, Mr. Pritchard also served as chairman of his party in the State and as national committeeman, and he entered largely into the successive campaigns in North Carolina, developing a resourcefulness as a public speaker and making masterly addresses that established his reputation as being the best-equipped and the strongest Republican leader that had ap- peared in the State in many vears. JETER CONLEY PRITCHARD 417 In the Senate, Mr. Pritchard was the only representative his party had from the Southern States, and he soon found himself freely consulted by the President and his Republican colleagues in the Senate, touching all matters that related to Southern affairs. In this position of adviser to the administration about Southern matters. Senator Pritchard sustained himself so v^^ell as to win increasing confidence. His careful recommendations tended to strengthen his influence and bring him still greater prominence in the administration of public matters, while his speeches in the Senate gained him reputation and won him favor, because of their superior merit and being on the same plane as the best addresses of the experienced Republican senators from the North- ern States. In the campaign of 1900, the Democrats were again restored to power; and in 1903, Senator Overman was chosen to succe'ed Senator Pritchard, whose term was to expire in March, 1903. On leaving the Senate Mr. Pritchard was employed by the South- ern Railroad as assistant division counsel, with headquarters at Asheville; but on the first day of April, a vacanc)^ having oc- curred. President Roosevelt appointed him Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, and he entered on a judicial career that speedily won for him great reputation and gave the highest satisfaction to his friends. But few jurists have ever gained such substantial reputation in so short a period as Judge Pritchard did while in this position ; and upon the death of Judge Simonton, the President, on the 28th of April, 1904, ap- pointed him Judge of the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and he qualified on June ist. One of the celebrated cases in modern criminal annals was the case of Machem and others, tried by Judge Pritchard while a member of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia. This trial lasted seven weeks and involved many new points of law and was fought on each side with great bitterness and astuteness. During its progress a multitude of exceptions were taken to the rulings of the court, but notwithstanding the judge was sitting in a strange jurisdiction and many novel questions were raised 4i8 NORTH CAROLINA for the first time in that jurisdiction, yet on appeal to the Court of Appeals and to the Supreme Court, all of his rulings were affirmed. In his new judicial capacity, he has manifested equal capabilities and his superior excellence as a judge. Immediately after his appointment as United States Circuit Judge, he granted a writ of Habeas Corpus in re Josephus Daniels, who had been adjudged guilty of contempt of court by the district judge at Raleigh, and on the return of the writ two days later, he discharged Mr. Daniels. The Judge wrote a lengthy and exhaustive opinion in this case, stating the reasons for his action in the premises as well as the general law of contempt applicable to the courts of the United States. This opinion has been quoted generally by the American press throughout the Union, as well as by all the lead- ing papers in foreign countries, and their comments have ex- pressed the most favorable opinion of this decision. Another case which has attracted much attention is the cele- brated one of Folsom v. Ninety-Six Township from South Caro- lina. The legislature of South Carolina by the adoption of an amendment to the constitution of the State abolished the cor- porate entity of certain townships which had issued bonds in aid of the construction of a railroad ; and also by legislative enact- ment the territory originally embraced in this township was trans- ferred to a new county known as Greenwood for the purpose of invalidating the securities issued. Judge Pritchard sustained the validity of the securities. Another important and far-reaching decision rendered by the judge was in the case of Folsom et al. vs. Greenwood County from South Carolina. Novel principles of law as well as im- portant interests were involved in these decisions, which were made by the judge without any direct precedent to guide him. But his adjudications have been esteemed by the profession as sound and based on the foundation principles of the law. On the bench, he is fair and impartial and courteous as he has ever been in his deportment. When his term as United States senator expired, his friends, irrespective of party affiliations, pre- sented him with a beautiful silver service and a chest of silver, JETER CONLEY PRITCHARD 419 the presentation speech being made by Honorable Richmond Pearson; and when he resigned the position of Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, the members of the bar of the city held a meeting, at which resolutions were unanimously adopted expressing appreciation of his course as a jurist, and through its chairman. Honorable Henry Davis, he was presented with a beautiful punch bowl. During his term as judge of the Supreme Court of the district, Judge Pritchard also served as a member of the Faculty of Georgetown University, as law lecturer, in which capacity he gave general satisfaction. While Judge Pritchard has not formally connected himself with any religious denomination, he believes in the doctrine of the Bap- tist Church. Outside of his law books he has devoted most time in reading the Bible, Shakespeare, and other classics, while he has found particular pleasure in the writings of Scott and Dickens. It was in reading the life of Henry Clay that he received his strongest impulse to strive for the higher honors of a public career, and he considers that the influences which were most effective in bringing him success were the training he received at Sunday-school, his contact with active men, and his observations and reflections on the lives of distinguished characters. In his opinion, the young men of our country would be bene- fited if they would practice the following precepts: Be diligent and prompt. Do not use any intoxicating liquors whatever; and in all matters be entirely frank and honest. On the i8th day of September, 1887, Senator Pritchard was married to Miss Augusta L. Ray, by whom he had four boys and one daughter, the latter afterward becoming the wife of Mr. Thomas L. Rollins of Asheville ; and on the 14th day of Novem- ber, 1903, he married Miss Lillian E. Saum of Washington City. .S". A. Ashe. MATT WHITAKER RANSOM ENERAL MATT WHITAKER RANSOM, distinguished as a soldier, statesman, scholar, and orator, and by his public services and influence upon the people of North Carolina the most illustrious citizen of the State, was born in Warren County on October 8, 1826. Both in the paternal and maternal lines he was connected with large and influential families. His father, Robert Ransom, was a man of superior intelligence, the son of Seymour Ransom, who was a half brother of Honorable Nathaniel Macon; while his mother, Priscilla Whitaker, was a member of a family that had long been distinguished in Halifax County. In his youth General Ransom was a handsome boy, whose fea- tures beamed with intelligence and whose manners were very prepossessing. He mingled freely with older persons and had a dignified but agreeable carriage. From boyhood he was ambi- tious of acquiring knowledge and attaining distinction, and at the Warrenton Academy, where he obtained his preparatory educa- tion, he gave evidence of such remarkable ability as to attract particular attention. In 1843 he entered the State University, where he graduated with high credit, having divided the first honors with James Johnston Pettigrew, who was regarded as a prodigy in scholarship, especially in mathematics. While at the University he took as a part of his collegiate course the study /^ ^^€iM7e. (iZ-^ '?T_ MATT WHTfAKER RANSOM 421 of law, being instructed by the late Honorable William H. Battle, and he was prepared to take his place at the bar before attaining the age of twenty-one. Among the other young men of his day he was already distinguished when he entered life, and his debut at the bar was brilliant, and attracted the attention not only of the friends of his family, but of the public men of the State gener- ally. His father was a zealous Whig, and raised under Whig influences, he naturally became an adherent of that party. In addition to his fine person, captivating manners and superior talents, he was gifted with eloquence and with high oratorical powers, and soon becoming famous as an orator, he was pressed forward by his party friends. In 1852 he was nominated as a Presidential elector. General Scott and Honorable William A. Graham of Orange County be- ing the Whig Presidential candidates, and he made a memorable campaign in their advocacy. A few months later, on the meet- ing of the Assembly, although a majority of that body was Demo- cratic, he was at the age of twenty-six elected attorney-general of the State, in competition with Honorable William Eaton, a Democrat and lawyer of the highest reputation both as to learn- ing and character. The peculiar traits which led to this political achievement at that early age have been discernible throughout his entire career; his fine address, his knowledge of men and his capacity to interest them in his advancement and the promotion of his purposes, have been distinguishing features throughout his public life. After three years of service as attorney-general, dur- ing which he administered that ofHce with great credit, he deemed it proper to resign, for new political issues having arisen, he was constrained to separate himself from the Whig Party, to whom he chiefly owed his election. He could not follow them in their new attitude toward the Roman Catholics and foreign- born citizens, nor sympathize with Know-Nothingism ; and he thus naturally drifted into association with his former antago- nists. Having married Miss Exum, a daughter of Joseph Exum, Esq., of Northampton County, a lady of rare loveliness of char- acter, and of fine feminine accomplishments, he moved his resi- 422 NORTH CAROLINA dence to that county, and in 1858 he was elected to represent Northampton in the legislature as a Democrat, and again in i860. At that time portentous events were casting their shad- ows over the land, and lawyer and planter and public man as he was, he deprecated violent measures that tended to unrest and to the disorganization of established government; and from a deep- seated conviction that the welfare of the South would not be pro- moted by secession, he declared himself a pronounced Union man, and he was selected along with Governor Swain and John L. Bridgers of Edgecombe County, as a commissioner to visit the State of Alabama with the hope of averting the calamities of civil war. But when in April, 1861, Mr. Lincoln called on the South to furnish troops to coerce the seceding States he did not hesitate to espouse the cause of Southern independence. On the organization of the First Regiment of State troops, on the 1st of May, 1861, Governor Ellis appointed him lieutenant- colonel of that regiment, and he served with it in Virginia until, upon the reorganization of the Thirty-fifth Regiment, he was, on April 12, 1862, elected colonel of the Thirty-fifth, with which he continued to be associated during the remainder of the war. After some preliminary service his regiment participated in the battles around Richmond, where Colonel Ransom displayed great gallantry and won a fine reputation, and at Malvern Hill, while leading a charge, he was twice wounded, once through the right arm, and again by a shell, which struck him on the side. His regiment had been assigned to a brigade commanded by his brother. General Robert Ransom, which remained in the defenses before Richmond when General Lee made his campaign against General Pope; but being ordered to rejoin General Lee, on the 7th of September, it reached the Potomac and participated in the battle of Sharpsburg. General J. G. Walker, the commander of the division, in his report of that battle, says : "During this time, in the temporary absence of General Robert Ransom to post the Twenty-fourth Regiment, which had gone too much to the left, the enemy made a furious attack with heavy masses of infantry upon the position occupied by General Ransom. Colonel MATT WHITAKER RANSOM 423 Ransom of the Thirty-fifth North Carolina, in temporary com- mand of the brigade, not only repulsed the enemy, but pursued him across the field as far as the post and rail fences, inflicting upon him so severe a punishment that no other attempt with infantry was made on the position during the day." In the his- tory of the Thirty-fifth Regiment, Colonel Burgwyn says : "Fear- ing his men were wavering. Colonel Ransom, who was on horse- back, with his right arm in a sling, spurred to the color-bearer and called for the flag. This was seized by one of the young officers of the regiment and handed to the colonel, who, calling upon the men to be firm and follow him, went forwards. With- out hesitation the regiment advanced and drove the enemy from its front with great loss." But Colonel Ransom's wounds re- ceived at Malvern Hill had not sufficiently healed, and' on October 14th, after the army had retired to Virginia, he felt obliged to return home for treatment, and for a period he was separated from his command. On the 3d of January, 1863, the brigade was ordered to North Carolina, and it remained on duty confronting the enemy on our seacoast until the following June. On the 15th of that month. General Robert Ransom was promoted to be major-general; and the officers of the several regiments in the brigade unanimously recommended that Colonel Ransom should be appointed to succeed him, and he received the appoint- ment of brigadier-general over the three senior colonels in the brigade. His brigade was again assigned to the defense of Rich- mond, where it remained during the month of July, 1863, when it was ordered to return and protect Eastern North Carolina. Arriving at Weldon, General Ransom, whose brigade consisted of the Twenty-fourth, Twenty-fifth, Thirty-fifth and Forty-ninth North Carolina regiments, at once engaged the enemy and drove them from that vicinity, saving the corps, and restoring quiet to that region, which was the richest portion of the State, and the storehouse from which the Confederate Government obtained large supplies. That winter his brigade remained in the department of North Carolina, then under Major-General Pickett, and on March 9, 1864, General Ransom, with his brigade and a cavalry 424 NORTH CAROLINA force, drove the Federals from Suffolk, Virginia, capturing stores of much value. A month later General Hoke was detailed to cap- ture Plymouth, Ransom's brigade being a part of the force as- signed to his command. On the 29th of April, 1864, General Ransom, under General Hoke's directions, stormed the Federal works, losing 87 killed and more than 500 wounded. He drove the enemy from their position, capturing some 2000 prisoners, the remainder taking refuge in their main fortification. Fort Williams, and after dis- positions had been made to storm that fort, they raised the white flag and surrendered. This was one of the most brilHant victories of the war, and Brigadier-General Hoke was telegraphed by Pres- ident Davis his promotion to be major-general, and the legisla- ture of North Carolina, then in session, by formal resolution, ten- dered the thanks of the State to Generals Hoke and Ransom, and Commander J. W. Cooke, of the ram Albemarle, and the officers and men under their command ; and the Confederate Congress passed similar resolutions. General Hoke, accompanied by General Ransom, with his brigade, now moved rapidly on to Washington, North Carolina, which the Federal force hastily evacuated, and then they pushed on to New-Bern, and at once invested that city, capturing its outer works, and were in readi- ness for the final assault, when General Hoke received peremptory orders, requiring him to withdraw his command in order to pro- tect Richmond. Making one of the most rapid marches on record, Ransom's brigade reached Petersburg on May loth, just in time to aid in the defense of Drewry's Bluff, the brigade being attacked by Butler's advance with overwhelming force. On the next day, while rallying his line of sharpshooters, General Ran- som was badly wounded in the left arm, both the bones of the forearm being shattered, which again led to his temporary sepa- ration from his command. He returned to it, however, during the siege of Petersburg, and on the 25th of March, 1865, he com- manded Wallace's South Carolina Brigade and his own in the assault of Fort Steadman. Of this brilliant but disastrous affair, General Lee says in his report: "The two brigades commanded MATT WHITAKER RANSOM 425 by General Ransom behaved most handsomely." At Five Forks, a week later, General Ransom had two horses killed under him, and with his woimded left arm in a sling, he was about to be crushed under the struggles of his dying horse, when Captain Johnston and Captain Sherrill rushed forward and extricated him from his perilous situation and saved him from capture. He con- tinued with General Lee until the end, and was parolled on the field of Appomattox. On the return of peace and during the period of reconstruc- tion, General Ransom, realizing that the cause of the South was lost, believed that it was the better part for the Southern men to submit to the inevitable consequences of their defeat without unmanly repining. He desired as far as he could to have the people adapt themselves to the changed conditions in their affairs, and at Henderson, in 1869, he delivered an eloquent address to the thousands who were assembled at the agricultural fair, and pre- sented his views strongly and clearly. It was in this spirit that in a memorial address at the dedication of the Confederate Sol- diers' Cemetery, at Raleigh, he said : "I thank God that there are flowers enough in this beautiful land of the South to strew alike upon the graves of those who fell in the gray and in the blue ; and that there are hearts large enough arid hands gentle and generous enough to perform this holy duty." But General Ransom took no prominent part in political matters in that period of unrest and political disorganization. He, however, performed a great service to the State and to society in the summer of 1870, when civil war was settling over the State, and Chief Justice Pearson declined to require obedience to his writ of Habeas Corpus, and declared that the powers of the judiciary were exhausted, offer- ing no relief to the hundreds of citizens who were unlawfully detained by Colonel Kirk in his military camp. In this emergency General Ransom hastened to Elizabeth City, and on his urgent appeal Federal Judge George W. Brooks issued his writ of Habeas Corpus, requiring that the detained citizens should be brought before him for examination into the cause of their detention, which led to their immediate liberation. This prompt action on 426 NORTH CAROLINA the part of General Ransom and Judge Brooks cleared the atmos- phere and removed conditions that threatened a resort to arms by the people of the State. The legislature elected in 1870 was Conservative, and it had to choose a United States senator. It was considered by many that General Ransom was the most fit man to represent North Carolina in the Senate at that time, because, having been a fighting general and a devoted Confederate, he yet had the traits and characteristics that in per- sonal intercourse with the radical leaders in the Senate chamber would tend to disarm their animosities and secure the South from hostile legislation. For twenty-five ballots there was a tie, and no nomination in the caucus ; but at length, by one vote. Governor Vance was nominated, with the understanding that if his dis- abilities should not be removed, he would resign in time for that legislature to elect another senator in his stead. This he did in the spring of 1872, and General Ransom was at once elected senator and took his seat, and by re-election, from time to time, continued to serve until March, 1895, having been elected four times to the United States Senate. In 1892 the Farmers' Alliance became very strong in North Carolina, and in the fall of that year formed a new poHtical party, called the People's Party, or Populists. Unfortunately, Mr. Cleveland, who was elected President in that year, differed widely from the Democrats on the silver question and on financial mat- ters, and his administration became very unpopular in the State. Senator Vance did not follow the lead of the President, and was in sympathy with the North Carolina Democrats ; he died, and to fill the vacancy caused by his death. Governor Jarvis was ap- pointed to the Senate. When the election of 1894 came on, the legislature then to be chosen had to fill both senatorships, and Senator Jarvis, not desiring to stand for the Western term, an- nounced that he sought a re-election to the Senate as an Eastern senator, which necessarily threw him into antagonism with Sen- ator Ransom. Senator Ransom had stood by the President, and sought to sustain the administration, and he made a bold and thorough canvass of the State in the defense of his position and MATT WHITAKER RANSOM 427 urging the people not to repudiate the national Democratic admin- istration. The campaign that year in North Carolina, because of the importance of the issues, and of the dissatisfaction of the people, and of the fortunes of the men and parties involved, was one of the most memorable in the history of the State. The Populist Party, by adroitly fusing with the Republicans in the several counties, secured a majority in the legislature opposed to the Democrats, with the result of controlling both Houses and electing two senators. Judge Pritchard and Senator Butler, to succeed Senators Ransom and Jarvis. This political disaster turned the State over to the opponents of the Democratic Party, and resulted in the retirement of Senator Ransom as a representa- tive of the State in the Senate ; otherwise, he probably would have remained in the Senate during his entire life. However, shortly afterward. President Cleveland conferred upon him the position of Minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extraordinary to Mexico, a post of high honor which General Ransom filled with distin- guished ability, until his successor was appointed by President McKinley ; and since that time he has remained at his home in Northampton attending to his agricultural interests, he being one of the largest landed proprietors and most successful planters in the State. During his twenty-three years of service in the Senate, Gen- eral Ransom was of great use to the people of North Carolina, to the South and to his country. In a large measure he answered the expectations of those who hoped that he would be instru- mental in assuaging the animosities of Northern senators, and he declared his sentiments fearlessly and faithfully. In his great speech of February 15, 1875, on "The South Faithful to Her Duties," he uttered the keynote of his conduct as a Southern senator: "I came from the true State of North Carolina to the Senate of the United States with a sacred purpose to reconcile the once divided people of my country, to harmonize all sectional diflferences and disputes, to bury in oblivion every bitter recol- lection of war, and to convince the people of the North that our people of the South sincerely desired to live with them in concord 428 NORTH CAROLINA under the common protection of a constitutional and united gov- ernment. Before this greatest and best desire of my life, the desire of having a part in restoring the union of the States firmly in the hearts of all our people, all other passions sank into insig- nificance. This vifas the great object of my political existence. To accomplish it, no sacrifice seemed too dear, except the dis- honor of my State and the South." If he failed at first, it was because of the fierce fanaticism and narrow prejudices of his Northern associates; certainly he did his part, and did it well ; and he lived to see the almost total oblit- eration of the hatred which the war had caused between the sec- tions. But his chief value in the Senate was because of his wisdom in party councils. Often by his wise advice he rendered inestimable service to the Democratic Party and to the South and his country; and he attained great influence that was potent for good throughout all administrations. His action on the Cloiture Resolution to secure the passage of the Force Bill was of supreme importance. Senator Morgan, after detailing the circumstances under which Senator Ransom defeated the effect of an outrage, that the Vice-president as pre- siding officer of the Senate, had perpetrated to bring the Force Bill up, said : "You see from this incident that I do not over- value the sagacity, courage, and usefulness of General Ransom on that occasion." Indeed, to Senator Ransom is chiefly to be ascribed the great patriotic service of saving the country from that atrocious measure. During his long service in the Senate he was high in party councils, and wielded a strong influence on all measures affecting the South and the fortunes of the Democratic Party. As an illustration of his character, a single anecdote must suf- fice : In 1892 the Farmers' Alliance permeated and controlled the Democratic Party in North Carolina, and its leaders were seek- ing with great adroitness to undermine the fealty and attachment of their followers to that party, preparing for the event which happened a few months later in the same year, the formation of a new political organization. Their power and control inside of MATT WHITAKER RANSOM 429 the Democratic organization was so great that but few public men chose to antagonize them, and the laboring oar fell exclu- sively on the editor of the Nezvs and Observer, who almost alone combated their designs, with the view of preserving the integrity of the Democratic Party. At that time Senator Ransom ap- proached the editor of the News and Observer, and narrated the following incident : He said that when he was a young man, there being several of his associates at his home, they began to discuss what virtue was most to be desired in life. One said Roman for- titude ; another, purity in life ; some one thing and some another. Not being able to agree, they concluded to submit the matter to his grandfather, an old gentleman who was very much revered and respected. When they approached him with their question and he heard them all in turn, he answered : "The most desirable of all virtues is courage; courage without which no other virtue can be fully exercised, and with which every other virtue can easily be fostered." That was the keynote to the life of General Ransom, — courage. He was courageous in action, whether on the battlefield or in the equally important contests of civil life. As an orator. General Ransom was superb, his powers being of the highest order. Some of his campaign speeches were master- ful, so eloquent, so powerful that well-informed men have declared that they could not be equaled by any other living American. After retiring from public life, he resided on his farm in North- ampton County, surrounded by his children, and interested in his agricultural operations, and always attending the annual reunions of the Confederate soldiers, for whom he treasured the warmest affection, until suddenly on the 8th day of October, 1904, he passed away almost without premonition, from heart failure. In closing a sketch of his life, Mr. Caldwell, the editor of the Charlotte Observer, says: "He was our fullest scholar; our most accomplished diplomat ; the handsomest man among us ; the ablest man ; the man who did us most credit in the eyes of the country. He is indeed the last of the Romans." S. A. Ashe. WILLIAM McKENDREE ROBBINS 'AJOR WILLIAM McKENDREE ROBBINS, distinguished as a soldier and a civilian, and for a quarter of a century the most prominent citizen of Statesville, is a native of Randolph County. His ancestor, William Robbins, coming from Gloucester County, Virginia, in 1763, settled in that part of Rowan which afterward became a portion of Randolph, and there the family continued to reside in the full enjoyment of the respect and esteem of the people of that county. The father of Major Robbins, Ahi Robbins, was a planter, whose marked char- acteristics were piety and industry ; and he also realized the material advantage of literary culture, and determined that his children should receive such an education as would fit them to succeed in the battle of life. He married Mary Brown, one of the best of women, whose tenderness and affection in her family circle exerted a potent influence upon the character of her chil- dren. The eldest son, the subject of this sketch, was born Octo- ber 26, 1828, and growing up on his father's farm, passed the winters at school, and was occupied during the summers helping at such work as a boy could do. His physical condition was ex- cellent, and being robust and of a bright mind, he was not only fond of the country pastimes, but early fell into the habit of reading with avidity the books that were selected for his perusal. - G ^-fZ-'/iJ-TV.- ^_^-~<. /.-^ fS'^.j-S L f-^t //aii/,^-, /^ui WILLIAM McKENDREE ROBBINS 431 At first he attended the "old field" schools, that were then common in North Carolina, and afterward a neighboring academy, and when well prepared, he entered Randolph-Macon College, where he graduated in 185 1 with the first distinction. At college he was an apt pupil, and being ambitious to excel, and endowed with fine mental powers, he became very proficient in his studies ; and indeed, since his graduation he has been a close student, con- tinuing to acquire learning beyond most men after they engage in the activities of life. For a year or two after graduating, he was employed as Pro- fessor of Mathematics at Trinity College, then in operation near High Point, where he also taught some classes in the languages ; but the sedentary life of a teacher did not agree with him, and having determined on a new career, he studied law, and in 1855 moved to Alabama and entered on the practice in that State. Ardent in his love for the South, strong in his convictions and with the courage to maintain them, when Alabama called her sons to arms, he joined the Marion Rifles, and on the 12th day of January, 1861, proceeded with that company, which then took pos- session of Fort Morgan, at the mouth of Mobile Bay, and there remained until March, when he, aiding in organizing the Fourth Alabama Regiment, and as first lieutenant of Company G of that regiment, on the 24th of April accompanied it to Harper's Ferry, then held by General Joe Johnston. He continued with that regi- ment all through the war, sharing its vicissitudes, and after attain- ing the rank of major, at times leading it into battle. At first Manassas he was standing in the presence of General Bee, when that intrepid officer said, "Look, yonder stands Jackson like a stone wall, and we will go to his assistance," and the Fourth Ala- bama did rush to his assistance, and the lamented Bee fell while leading that regiment to the aid of Jackson, ever since then known to fame as "Stonewall." Major Robbins was with his regiment in the hottest fire at Seven Pines, and in the seven days' battle around Richmond ; and after the formation of Longstreet's corps, his regiment was assigned to that command, and he was under that stubborn 432 NORTH CAROLINA fighter at second Manassas, South Mountain, Sharpsburg, Fred- ericksburg, and Gettysburg. And along with his regiment, he accompanied General Longstreet to the West, and fought in the desperate battle of Chickamauga, and at Knoxville. Returning to the army of Northern Virginia in time to join in the battle of the Wilderness, he was desperately wounded in that hard-fought engagement. After his wounds had healed, he rejoined his regi- ment at Petersburg, and continued with General Lee until the flag was furled at Appomattox. During the whole bloody contest. Major Robbiiis was distinguished for his courage and powers of endurance, undergoing the hardships of the camp, the trying marches and fearful experiences of the battlefield, with a gallantry that was natural to his brave and manly heart, and always pos- sessing the confidence of his soldiers, and receiving the warm commendation of his superiors. In the course of his eventful career he was subjected to innumerable perils, but while receiving several scratches, he had the good fortune to escape with but one serious wound, the eiifect of which, however, has remained with him through life. The condition of affairs in Alabama in 1865 was not hopeful, while in North Carolina President Johnson had quickly inter- vened, and greater progress had been made toward the restora- tion of the State to the Union; and his neighbor in Randolph, Jonathan Worth, had been elected governor of the State. So in December of 1865, Major Robbins abandoned his home in Alabama, and returning to North Carolina, opened his law office in Salisbury. But the malignant Republicans in Congress were not content, and having the power, they annulled the government of North Carolina, threw the State under the dominion of a major-general, and investing the negroes with right of suffrage, instituted a new government for the State. In the meantime. Major Robbins had taken a bold stand as a Southern white man, and his powers as a public speaker becoming known, he was brought forward for the legislature, and in April, 1868, was elected to the Senate for the district composed of Rowan and Davie counties. The WILLIAM McKENDREE ROBBINS 433 Republicans had a great majority in both Houses, and while some were reckless in their disregard of the people's interest, others who assumed the leadership were freeboooters, engaged in looting the treasury and the public institutions of the State, and the pro- tests of the few Conservatives of the body, under the leadership of Thomas J. Jarvis, Plato Durham, John Graham, and Major Rob- bins, were given no consideration. But at length, after $24,000,000 of State bonds had been issued, and so rapidly thrown on the market that they fell to a mere nominal value, the frauds of the bond manipulators became so apparent that the strenuous efforts of the little band of Conservatives, including Major Robbins, took quick effect, and all the bonds unsold were directed to be returned to the Treasury, and the further spoliation of the State was averted. Those were trying times in North Carolina, the period of the Kirk War, the suspension of the writ of Habeas Corpus, the abdication of judicial power by the Supreme Court, and amid all of the experiences of that day. Major Robbins performed his whole duty as a brave man, battling for the rights and liberties of the people. At the next election, in 1870, he was returned to the Senate, but the excesses and tyrannies of the Republican administration had turned the people away from its support, and both Houses were now under the control of the Conservatives. The House of Representatives at once preferred articles of impeachment against Governor Holden, which were tried by the Senate, of which Major Robbins was a member, and he voted for the conviction of the governor and his deposition from office. In the legislature Major Robbins took a prominent part, and was a leading mem- ber. He gave to public matters a calm consideration and brought to their discussion a lofty patriotism. At the next election, in 1872, so great was his reputation and the confidence reposed in him, that he was nominated for Congress, and elected by a majority of 1600 over Judge Furches, and again in 1874 and in 1876, his majorities in both of these elections being over 4000. During his six years' service in Congress, he was a painstak- ing and intelligent representative, and was regarded on the floor 434 NORTH CAROLINA of the House as well-informed, trustworthy and able. His atten- tion to business was remarkable, for he was never absent from his place and never failed to have his vote recorded. His views were clear and well defined, and he was strong in presenting them to the attention of his fellow-members. In particular were his speeches on the Civil Rights Bill, the Internal Revenue and the Tariff considered able, comprehensive and vigorous, and they won him great applause throughout the State. Indeed, he achieved such a high position of influence and usefulness in Congress, that, notwithstanding he was a Southern member, the second place on the Committee of Ways and Means was accorded him during his last session in Congress. Resuming his professional work in 1879, he prosecuted it with such zeal and energy that, together with his partner. Judge Long, he built up a large and lucrative business. Although deeply en- gaged in his practice, he took a lively interest in all the questions of the day, social, educational and industrial, as well as political, and sought to perform his duties as a man and citizen upon the highest plane of intellectual action. His profound concern in everything tending to improve the condition of the people con- tributed to give him great weight and influence. It was his habit to attend the State convention, and his opinions and judgment were measurably a controlling influence in the councils of the Democratic Party. A man of wide reading and of clear judg- ment, he excels in the variety and accuracy of his information, and while conservative, he has favored progress, especially on those industrial lines which have proved so highly beneficial to the people of the State. In April, 1894, Alajor Robbins was appointed as the Confed- erate Commissioner of the Gettysburg National Park, being asso- ciated with two other commissioners representing the Federal Army, and since that time, while his place of residence has re- mained unchanged, most of his time has been passed at Gettys- burg. In the performance of the interesting work which has been committed to him in connection with that great battlefield, he has given entire satisfaction not only to the Confederates, but WILLIAM McKENDREE ROBBINS 435 to the Federal authorities as well, and he has deported himself so as to have won the entire respectj confidence and esteem of those concerned with him in the discharge of his duties, while as a representative of the Confederate element he has borne him- self with honor and has reflected credit on his Southern friends. Major Robbins for over fifty years was a zealous member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, but when the Nashville agent obtained an appropriation from Congress for war losses, by means and under circumstances that Major Robbins could not approve, he withdrew from that denomination, and joined the Presbyterian Church. In his opinion, the book which has been most helpful to him in life has been the Bible, and he seeks to hold fast to the old teachings about Revelation and Christianity, and he does not accept the new doctrine of Evolution, and has no faith in the theological and so-called scientific speculations, which he deems the basis of the modern isms that find lodgment in the minds of the. thoughtless, seeking only for food for agitation. He attributes his success in life to the sacred influences of his boyhood home, where the evening and morning family prayer was never omitted by his Christian father and sainted mother, and he regards that whatever of usefulness has been vouchsafed to him had its origin in that source. Especially was he impressed, and helped all through life, by the maxim which often fell from the lips of his grandmother : "Be industrious and tell the truth," and that, he would suggest, might be of service to young people entering upon the struggles of life. Major Robbins has been twice married; and his four living children — three daughters and one son — are all happily wedded, highly esteemed, and doing well in the world. On the 3d day of May, 1905, after a brief illness, he was sum- moned by the final messenger to that higher abode, mourned by the entire State. .S". A. Ashe. HUGH REID SCOTT [UGH R. SCOTT, attorney-at-law and banker of Reidsville, North Carolina, on being re- quested to furnish material for his sketch, and to designate some one to prepare his biography, kindly put the information into a running narrative, which the editor thinks cannot be improved on, so it is given as he wrote it : "Having been informed by the Advisory Board of this History that I have been selected as one whose name is fit to adorn its pages, certainly I am flattered by the announcement; for to be mentioned among those who have helped to 'fashion and im- prove mankind' in a great State like North Carolina, and to seem to merit the mention, is a compliment worthy of the best ; but if I do not misconceive the exalted character of the work con- templated, and the excellence of its purpose, I am constrained to doubt the propriety of encumbering the pages of your history with the mention of men no more worthy of remark than myself. "On my next birthday I shall pass the fiftieth mile-post of my life's journey, and, pausing a moment amid the din and bustle of the busy world, I find myself on my native heath, where the ancestors of both sides of my family have lived and toiled and died, my head crowned with the frosts of cares as well as of years, without enmity toward the world, communing daily in business with the men of a large community, who are my friends v^^ HUGH REID SCOTT 437 in business; and yet I am absolutely without a friend intimate enough socially to be expected to relish the request to prepare my sketch for publication. For I may as well confess that throughout life I have found the least possible pleasure in associa- tion with my fellow-men, and have tolerated it only so far and so often as has been necessary by reason of business relations — not that I dislike people, not that I have been entirely without confi- dence in men, not that I consider them inferior to myself; but somehow, when business affairs have been ended, I have found most pleasure in retirement, in seclusion, 'far from the madding world's ignoble strife,' lavishing whatever esteem I may have had upon dogs, horses — delighted most to linger among the 'sweetly blooming, gay, green birk' and 'the rich hawthorn's blossom' of the wildwood. I no doubt could name upon less than half my fingers of one hand the really intimate friends I have had during my entire life. Therefore, as I know no man who would consider the writing of the sketch desired a labor of love, I have deter- mined to jot these memoranda myself. "In 1877, just after receiving my license from the Supreme Court in North Carolina to practice law, I presumed to write to my late preceptor, stating that I contemplated going to some of the new States or Territories to locate, and asking him for a word of introduction, as I would be among^people wholly strangers to me. He answered me at once that the mere fact that a young man had spent two years at his law school gave him no right to expect the letter I asked for. I was deeply humiliated and mortified, as well as astonished. I did not go West, but the episode was not without profit to me, for I made up my mind to steer clear of dependence upon others as far as possible; and as much as could be without aid, except such as is vouchsafed by Heaven to those who help themselves, to tote my own skillet. Largely to this letter from this distinguished man I attribute the exclusion and seclusion which have characterized my life in a social way, and the consequent absence at this important crisis of any 'generous friend or pitying foe' to dress me up for the march of this pro- cession down the corridors of time. 438 NORTH CAROLINA "I was born in this (Rockingham) county, in its southwestern portion, on January 9, 1855, the fourth of a family of six children. My father was William Scott, a native of this county, who was born and reared four miles west of Reidsville, near the old Speed- well Church of Revolutionary fame. He came of sturdy stock — what the French call bourgeoisie. My mother's maiden name was Rhoda Reid, one of the children of Reuben and Elizabeth Reid. Her birthplace and home was a house, still standing, in what is now the town of Reidsville, which town received its name from the fact that her father resided there and owned the lands upon which the town is now situated years gone by before it was even a village or had a name. Her ancestors were people of more than average refinement, celebrated for their personal pride, industry, integrity and native intelligence. She was a sister of David S. Reid, whose career was a distinguished one, having held the office of governor of North Carolina, United States senator, a member of the Great Peace Congress and other positions of honor and trust, all of which were filled with marked ability and unquestioned integrity. His home all his life was in Rockingham County. Another brother of my mother was Hugh K. Reid, who died a few years ago, at an advanced age, at Reidsville, a man of con- siderable wealth, justly esteemed for his integrity, benevolence and business sagacity. My grandfather, Reuben Reid, was a son of Hugh Reid, who came to this county some time after the Revolution from Pennsylvania. "My mother's mother before she married Reuben Reid was Elizabeth Settle, a native of this county, one of a family of children remarkable for their distinctive graces, both of mind and body. In the same household was a brother, Thomas Settle, long a distinguished judge of the Superior Court of North Carolina, who was the father of Judge Thomas Settle of the United States Circuit Court, a man generally conceded to have been without a superior and with few equals in the State so far as pertained to his distinguished personal address, his brilliancy of intellect and his personal magnetism and charm as an orator; and the last- named Thomas Settle was the father of Congressman Thomas HUGH REID SCOTT 439 Settle of our day. Of the same family with my grandmother Reid was a sister Mary, who became the wife of Robert Martin of this county, the mother of Martha Martin (who intermarried with the celebrated Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois, the climax of whose distinguished career was his candidacy for President in i860 against Abraham Lincoln), and who was the mother of Judge Robert M. Douglas of Greensboro. "All these branches of my family and ancestry have resided here in Rockingham County. I am, therefore, strictly to the manor born. "Rockingham County, let me say here, has furnished to her State and country, from among her sturdy, conservative, unosten- tatious families, many men of merit in every vocation of life — at the bar, on the bench, in the pulpit and in commercial life. Even before the recent election of Governor Glenn, she received the sobriquet of 'The Nursery of governors,' and he makes the fifth she has contributed ; and no doubt all that kept another of her distinguished sons from being elected to the same high office was the cause advocated by his antagonist when in the great cam- paign of 1876 Judge Settle was defeated as candidate for governor against the peerless Vance. But I am digressing. "My father was personally attractive, bright, mirthful and ener- getic, especially cautious in his business affairs and particularly affectionate to his children. He died in 1884 at the age of seventy- one. My mother, who still lives, in full retention of her health and mental faculties at the age of eighty-three years, has lived a life of devotion to her children, in prayer to God for His guidance in their lives, a boundless 'faith that floweth like a river, making life's desert places bloom and smile ;' noted always for her piety, her charity, her integrity, her devotion to justice and right and her lofty aspirations for her children. In the modest home of this father and mother, on a farm in New Bethel Township, my boyhood was spent. In our household the Bible was regularly read by the children, if for no other reason, certainly as a duty. The Sabbath was strictly observed. All coarseness in the associa- tions of home was avoided. A few interesting and instructive 440 NORTH CAROLINA books were at our command. We were required to work, and yet we had time for recreation, and were encouraged to participate in innocent amusements. Next to hanging around my mother, my own chief pleasure was found in the deep wildwood. To me there has always been 'a pleasure in the pathless wood, a rapture on the lonely shore,' even of a spring branch. I cared little for traffic. I seldom sought companionship of other boys. I read a good deal, partial always to biography and poetry. In 1871, after a careful preparation under the tutorage of Professor F. P. Hobgood, who then conducted a flourishing academy at Reidsville, I went to Wake Forest College. No youth has ever been more thoroughly impressed with the importance of an education, and few, I dare say, had ever entered college with a more determined purpose to make good use of the time and opportunities afforded, because I recognized the fact that it was as important to my sisters that they should be educated by my father as it was to me that I should be educated, and that it would be a severe tax to him, even though he had recuperated some from the disasters of the war, to educate us all. Besides my class duties at college, I gave special attention to the work of my literary society. I graduated in 1875, having won the degree of Master of Arts in four years, a thing until then never before done, I believe, in less than six years at that insti- tution. I achieved one of the two honors of my class, and had the gratification of having been promoted by my literary society to the position of debater in my sophomore year, a place usually given a junior or a senior, and winning the position of anniversary orator in my junior year, a distinction almost invariably con- ferred upon a senior. After the completion of my college course I spent the next two years at the law school of Chief Justice Pearson on the Yadkin, and obtained license to practice law in June, 1877, the last class examined by him in the Supreme Court. "At last my school days were over. I had for eight years lived in an atmosphere of books and libraries. I had in the beginning little predisposition for the world, and during these formative years of my life I sought no companionship with men, but only with books ; and really I had become a dreamer. No young man, HUGH REID SCOTT 441 I venture to say, ever stood on the threshold of practical life with as many and as strong misgivings as I had. I do not know how it is with other young men at this period, but with me the ordeal was painful indeed. I had not been accustomed to the rebuffs of a heartless world. In childhood my playmates had been my sisters; my confidential friend, my gentle mother. At school I had found or took no time for games or amusements; the walls of my room I adorned or defaced with such mottoes as 'Diem Perdidi,' 'Dum Loquimur, tempus fugit,' etc. I literally burned the midnight oil. I often felt the need of rest, but I knew not how in peace to take it with the tasks before me, the unlearned things still ahead of me. I had learned to live among my books — my school-books first, and then for recreation, not rest, among biogra- phies, essays, romances and poems. And now suddenly, without having ever heard a drum beat for battle in practical life, I was thrust to the front with orders to go forward and to see that my banner did not stagger or trail. I shall never forget the feeling. To me the world seemed so cold and unsympathetic, so indiffer- ent and cruel. How I longed to abandon the fight before it begun, and, with my head upon my mother's bosom, 'weep my sad bosom empty.' I felt, somehow, that I had neither the sense nor the capacity to face the world and fight for a living, and horrors ! I had the impression that the world knew this. But the time had come when dreaming imist end, and the stern realities of life be met face to face ; the fight must be made even if it ended in a fall. Burdened with misgivings like these, and with a Bible, the gift of a favorite sister, and from my mother a parting, tearful blessing and injunction, 'God bless you, my boy; don't forget to pray,' and from my father the laconic admonition, the only one he ever gave me, to be careful about liquor and women, I dried my tears, caught my breath, set my teeth and stepped into the line to fight the battle of life with the world's toiling millions. "I located at Wentworth in September, 1877. Of course I got little to do for several years. This was painfully discouraging then, because my father gave me nothing after I obtained my license ; but it was best for me. Whenever I got a case, no matter 442 NORTH CAROLINA how trivial, I undertook to inform myself thoroughly upon the law involved and to diagnose the facts intelligently and practically. Then I had ample time for general reading, and I sought to dili- gently use it in that way. '"In 1878 I was elected solicitor of the Inferior Court of Rock- ingham County, and in 1880 the people of my senatorial district were kind enough to nominate and elect me on the Democratic ticket as senator to the legislature of 1881, and likewise, in 1882, to the Senate of 1883. I was flattered at this manifestation of confidence, though I then had no predisposition to politics; but it gave me an opportunity to meet the people of my district, among whom I had made up my mind to live. But I was never happy moving among a miscellaneous throng, and at the salary paid I found no profit in the position. Indeed, the whole thing was most unsatisfactory to me. In my doings there is a sort of directness and candor which I cannot well avoid ; indeed, some people some- times think it abruptness. And I found it wholly distasteful to me, and have ever since then not hesitated to push aside every tempta- tion and decline every invitation, however flattering, to enter the political arena. Now I congratulate myself on the resolution formed and so strictly adhered to. "I continued to reside at Went worth, closely applying myself to my profession, until December, 1884, when I moved to Reids- ville, in the same county, where I have ever since continued to reside. In January, 1885, with a few friends, it was decided to establish a new bank in the town. I at once drew the charter, and upon its adoption b}' the legislature then in session, the Citizens' Bank of Reidsville was organized and at once begun business. I was elected its president, and have ever since held the position, a class of business most congenial to my taste. With the assistance of carefully selected and efficient employees, the success of the bank has been phenomenal. Its affairs are con- ducted in the most methodic business manner. Its administration has always been conservative and prudent. Its losses have been nominal, its profits flattering and its career a subject of just pride. The duties incident to the conduct of the bank have been in addi- HUGH REID SCOTT 443 tion to the duties of the practice of the law with me, and in no way in abandonment of my profession. Indeed, I conceive they have mutually helped each other. "In the beginning, my purpose was to cultivate the accomplish- ments of an advocate, and for a while I did so diligently, and, friends were generous enough to say, with considerable success. But I was ambitious to make money, and I found while fame came to the successful advocate, the money came mostly to the patient, attentive, methodic business lawyer, competent to aid men in their business afifairs, in the formation and construction of contracts, correct settlement of estates, negotiations of trade, etc. And I have tried to direct my course accordingly ; and I am by no means dissatisfied with the results. My business as a lawyer and banker has, of course, thrown me in contact with a large percent- age of the citizenship of my town and surrounding country, and has identified me in one way or another with very many of the enterprises that have been built up here. It will be readily under- stood that under the circumstances, to make some personal enemies, especially among the narrow-minded, has been unavoid- able ; but I trust that upon the whole the community has profited by my presence. "In my own afifairs, and in my advice, and in the conduct of the business of others, I have sought to keep aloof from the speculative element, and have avoided being led by prospect of flattering profits into hazardous ventures. Safety first, and as far as con- sistent with safety, profits, has been my business motto. In the conduct of trials I have never gone out of the way to attack any man, but when the facts justified it, and seemed to make it neces- sary to do so in the establishment of my client's rights, to fail to make the attack with vigor for fear I might hurt somebody's feelings or incur somebody's ill-will would, I consider, brand me as a disgrace to my profession and unworthy to retain my license to practice law. "Prudence and caution I deem among my highest virtues, and I have tried to cultivate and consult both. My purpose in busi- ness matters is as far as possible to examine and investigate before 444 NORTH CAROLINA embarking, and alwaj's to prefer safe investments with small profits rather than uncertain ones with doubtful, flattering results. This rule has enabled me to make some profit in almost all invest- ments, and has protected from loss. "I suppose I must be a thorough Anglo-Saxon, because I am always inclined to the acquisition of lands. I own considerable real estate, both in town and in the country, and while attended with lots of petty vexations, these possessions aflford me real pleasure and recreation. I love to build houses, arrange yards, fence fields, cut ditches, plant orchards, raise cattle and hogs, sow and cultivate and reap, walk and ride over open fields and woods and plan their reclamation and development. I own a large place just a few miles from town, upon which is an old mill and a large old country residence. I find much pleasure and recreation here in fishing, hunting, etc. "I surround myself in a modest way with such personal com- forts as I desire; and I certainly do not like to be imposed upon. I have thought the philosophy good which teaches to avoid a conflict as long as possible, but, being involved in one, to so con- duct yourself that your adversary will ever after avoid you. Indeed, I consider that man who is not willing to stake his prop- erty and, in fact, his liberty rather than to submit to wrong and imposition forfeits his right to both in the economy of God's creation. "I realize that in not marrying I have made a mistake — that is, I mean, if I had been happily married years ago, it would have been better for me, and I would now be more comfortable. But I have always been apprehensive that 'temperamental incompati- bility' or something else might make the condition intolerable and life burdensome, and so have always been lacking in the courage needed to take the risk. "In my reading, which has been largely of books and little of newspapers, I have always been fond of poetry, Milton, Byron, Shakespeare and Burns being my favorites, but have largely directed my reading to prose, essays such as Emerson's and Macaulay's, biographies of such men as Walter Scott, S. S. HUGH REID SCOTT 445 Prentiss, William Wirt and Samuel Johnson, and the better class of fiction, such as 'Ten Thousand a Year,' 'Les Miserables,' etc. A book I would especially recommend to the young is 'Todd's Students' Manual.' I found it quite interesting and helpful in my youth. I have one of the best law libraries in the State, no doubt, and a literary library quite as choice. It has long been a fad with me to gather up all material I could pertaining to North Carolina — anything written about her and her people, or by any of her sons or daughters. I have quite an interesting collection of books, magazines and newspaper material of this character, which I col- lect and preserve, not that I ever expect to utilize it for the purpose myself, but somehow I have thought that in years to come some historian of our State might find it of value. "I have in a general way, as fancy prompted, responded to the demands of charity and benevolence, the good of some of which promises to live after me ; others seem to have been wasted, little less than misappropriated. "My strongest incentive to accomplish anything in the world has been to gratify my parents, to keep from getting behind the other fellow in the march along the highway, and for the glorious privilege of being independent. These may not have been the most exalted principles of action, but they candidly have been the most active principles with me. While he lived, my greatest delight in being able to score progress in the world was the pleasure afforded my father ; and to-day I have no higher ambition and no sweeter pleasure than the delight I know it brings my mother for her to believe that I am in good health and have thriven in a measure. She has been my sweetest comfort in life, and in the providence of God I hope will be spared to me for many years to come ; for whatever I have been, whatever I am, or whatever I may be, for good to myself or to others, I owe in a large measure to her. "If my life stands for anything, it is for comfortable accumula- tion acquired gradually by prudent, industrious, attentive, punctual application to business, without extravagance ; the deter- mination to avoid the feverish anxiety and disastrous results of 446 NORTH CAROLINA the morbid desire to 'get rich quick,' which is the secret of the dismal failure of many men, and the heartless motive power that has made tyrants of others; to assume no obligation lightly, to meet all obligations faithfully, to give due consideration to busi- ness investments before entering into contract, and to seek mod- erate profits on safe securities in preference to flattering gains on doubtful protection. "No man should pander to public caprice merely for the sake of moving with the rabble. Men of thought and position should lead and mold public sentiment, not be molded always by it, other- wise they become demagogues. Certainly either extreme is a fault, but my own inclination has been to give too little rather than too much heed to the opinion of others. "Hugh Reid Scott." '-m j::SX 01:^'^-^' y.y DAVID LOWRY SWAIN ; AVID LOWRY SWAIN, who would have been known as a jurist and as a statesman were it not that his eminent services to the State as president of the University gave him a higher title to the remembrance of posterity, was born on the 4th day of January, 1801, near Asheville. He was the second son of George and Caroline Swain. His father was of English descent, and was born in Roxboro, Massachusetts, in 1763. When of age he came South and settled in what is now Oglethorpe County, in the State of Georgia, and soon became prominent in that community. He served in the legislature of that State five years, and was a member of the convention that revised the constitution of Georgia. His health failing, in 1795 he removed to Buncombe County, being among the early settlers of that region. He married shortly afterward Caroline Lowry, the widow of Captain Lowry, who had fallen a victim in an Indian massacre, and a sister of Joel Lane of the city of Raleigh and of Jesse Lane, the father of General Joe Lane of Oregon, who was the Democratic candidate for Vice-President in i860. The fruits of this union were seven children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the second. By trade George Swain was a hatter, but combined farming with that business, excelling in both, for his hats were famous throughout all that region. He was a man 448 NORTH CAROLINA of some learning and much intelligence, and struggled to secure a good education for his children. After being well taught at home, at the age of fifteen young David was placed at school at Newton Academy, near Asheville, where he was instructed by Rev. George Newton, a Presbyterian clergyman, along with B. F. Perry, afterward governor of South Carolina; Waddy Thompson, still more distinguished in public life; M. Patton, R. B. Vance, James Erwin and other classmates who attained prominence in their generation. He was a good scholar, and was so proficient that he was employed for some time in teaching Latin at that school. In 1821 he entered the junior class at the University, but for some reason remained at that institution only four months, when, designing to study law, he came to Raleigh and became a law student under Chief Justice Taylor, obtaining his license to practice in December, 1822. At Raleigh he seems to have met his fate, and on the 12th of Janu- ary, 1823, he married Miss Eleanor H. White of that city. Carry- ing his bride to his mountain home, he entered immediately upon a lucrative practice ; and two years later he began a distinguished public career as a member of the House of Commons from Bun- combe, in which position he was continued by his constituents until he was elected judge of the Superior Court of the Edenton district in 1830. He was a sagacious, thoughtful, enterprising man, ardent in his disposition and bold in conception, industrious and attentive to details, especially with regard to statistics and taxation, and he soon became an important member of the legis- lature. He was prominent in securing the passage of the bill for the construction of the French Broad Turnpike, which brought an immense stream of emigration, travel and trade through West- ern North Carolina, and otherwise he contributed to the material improvement of the State. In the Assembly of 1827 a bitter contest sprang up between two candidates for the position of solicitor in the Edenton district, and as the friends of neither would give way, they compromised by agreeing to elect Mr. Swain, although his residence was in the extreme western part of the State. He served, however, but one DAVID LOWRY SWAIN 449 term, and then resigned, and in 1830 he was elected judge of the Superior Court over Judge Seawell, an eminent practitioner of the Raleigh bar. After two years' service on the bench, during which he gained much in the esteem and confidence and good will of the people, he was called to the higher office of chief executive, and was inaugurated as governor of the State on January i, 1833. No man had attained these high honors at such an early period of his life, and his career had been most successful, although he was not accounted the equal in intellect or in great powers of many of the distinguished characters who at that time adorned the annals of the State. Up to this time parties had not been well defined as organiza- tions, for, indeed, for twenty years there had been but one party, that known as the Republican ; but there were factions led by favorite statesmen, each of whom was aspiring to the Presidency. Henry Clay, who had long been the most prominent leader of that party, from his advocacy of internal improvements and what he called the American system of tariff protection, was at the head of a faction known as the National Republicans, and he was in violent opposition to Andrew Jackson, the President, who assumed such high prerogatives in removing the deposits from the bank that Clay stigmatized Jackson's followers as Tories, and likened his own position to that of the Whigs in England. These antag- onisms resulted in crystallizing two separate parties, and while Mr. Macon, Judge Ruffin, Senator Haywood, Judge Saunders, Mr. Edwards, Judge Seawell and others sustained the adminis- tration. Judge Gaston, Judge Mangum, Judge Badger, Governor Graham and others, among whom was Governor Swain, followed the lead of Henry Clay in regard to national issues. As violent as national antagonisms had become on Jackson's course in regard to South Carolina, in State matters there was, however, a still more exciting and interesting issue upon which the people divided. The west had long complained of the unequal operation of the constitution of the State, and urged a constitutional conven- tion to remedy the evils under which the people of that section suffered. The east had, however, always been able to defeat every 450 NORTH CAROLINA proposition for calling a convention. At length, in Virginia, where the same sectional differences existed. Western Virginia in 1828 secured a convention and obtained the desired constitutional changes ; and in 1834, by a single vote, a convention was called for North Carolina with limited powers. Feeling ran high. Gov- ernor Swain was a member of the body, as was indeed nearly every other important leader of the State. In the course of some remarks in the convention Governor Swain, as reported in the published debates, said : "But be assured, gentlemen, that if by any arrangement of larger counties in both sections of the State, or if, from any cause growing out of the peculiar principle upon which the convention is constituted, injustice shall be done to any large portion of the community, the struggles in which we are involved will not terminate with the existence of this body. The general sense of injury will impel the people as one man to rend asunder the cords which bind the body politic and stand forth here in unshorn might and majesty." As quoted by the venerable Mr. Creecy, Governor Swain said in a closing burst of passionate eloquence : "Unless our demands are granted, unless our wrongs are righted, we will rise like the strong man in his unshorn might and pull down the pillars of the political temple." And, indeed, there had been in previous years several movements threatening the separation of the western counties from the eastern part of the State. Happily, however, differences in the convention were composed and the issues were determined favorably to western sentiment, and the constitution was reformed to meet western views,, as far as the limited powers of the convention permitted. On the sub- mission of the amendments to the people, the east voted almost solidly against the adoption, while the west voted with equal zeal for the ratification of the proposed amendments, and carried the measure by a majority of 5000 votes. Governor Swain by re-election continued in the office of gov- ernor until January, 1836, when he was succeeded by Governor Spaight, the last governor elected by the legislature. During his administration as governor the foundations were laid of the new DAVID LOWRY SWAIN 45 1 Capitol building to replace the one which had been destroyed by fire on the 2 1st of June, 1831. He had been a helpless spectator when that noble edifice, adorned by the statue of Washington, was destroyed, and it was his lot on the ■ 4th of July, 1833, to lay the cornerstone of the present edifice, which was considered at the time of its completion to be the most magnificent structure of the kind in the Union. On the 27th of January, 1835, Dr. Joseph Caldwell, the presi- dent of the University of North Carolina, died. He had been appointed professor of mathematics at the University in 1796, and ten years later became president of the institution, and remained in that position until his death. When a successor was to be elected, as Governor Swain's public employment was about to terminate, he suggested to Judge Nash that he would like to be made president of the University. Judge Cameron thought that he was the very man for the place, and at the meeting of the Board of Trustees Judge Cameron nominated him and secured his elec- tion ; and for more than a generation Governor Swain remained at the head of that institution. As a legislator he had been intelligent, progressive, efficient and active in promoting not merely the interests of his constituents, but of the State itself. As a lawyer he had been esteemed for his abilities, learning and capacity to master the details of the most intricate cases. Indeed, at the age of twenty-seven he was retained as counsel for the State along with Mr. Badger in a complicated mass of litigation, involving more land than was ever sued for under one title in our State, except alone the claim of Lord Granville's heirs ; and when the case was finally gained in the Supreme Court of the United States, where Mr. Webster was associate counsel, Judge Badger frankly acknowledged that the cause was won mainly by the careful preparation of Mr. Swain. As a judge he was admirable ; not only was he very popular and highly esteemed, but he was so accurate in his rulings that of the eighteen appeals that came up from him while on the bench, in only five did the Supreme Court reverse his decisions. As a governor he was patriotic, and his letter-book shows that his time 452 NORTH CAROLINA and labors were principally devoted to the questions of constitu- tional reform, the coast defences in North Carolina, the claims of the State against the general government, the removal and settle- ment of the Cherokee Indians, the adjustment of land titles in the West and other matters of domestic concern. In 1830 he was an active member of the Board of Internal Improvements, and he was thoroughly aroused to the necessity of improved facilities for domestic intercourse, commerce and trade; and his administra- tion was signalized by the holding of a great Internal Improve- ment Convention, at which the policy of the State was laid down as requiring the construction of east and west lines of railroads as the North Carolina system. Later, when the North Carolina Railroad was incorporated, he was one of the foremost friends of that great work, and ofifered to be one of a number to take the whole stock at once and secure the building of the road. As interesting and useful as Governor Swain's public career had been, that on which he now entered as president of the Uni- versity was still more to the advantage of the State and a still more enduring basis of his fame. Although not distinguished for scholastic learning, and unfamiliar with the methods pursued at the great educational institutions of this country and abroad, yet in many particulars he was excellently fitted for the duties de- volving upon him. At that time the number of students at Chapel Hill was only 90, and the faculty was measurably weak and the institution unimportant. Under his direction and active manage- ment the student body yearly increased until at the outbreak of the war there were nearly 500 young men at the institution. And in equal measure the efficiency of the University in its various departments had been enlarged and strengthened. His influence was felt at every point. His religious affiliations were with the Presbyterian Church, but his Christian character was marked by a catholicity of feeling toward all good men of every denomination, and, as he expressed it, "I love all those who show that they are Christians." He was a praying man, and introduced the practice of opening the regular meetings of the faculty with prayer. The night before he died he said of the Lord's Prayer : DAVID LOWRY SWAIN 453 "The oftener I use it, the more precious it is to me; it contains a whole body of divinity." A descendant of the Lanes of Wake, he was still further identi- fied with people of historic interest by having married Miss Eleanor H. White, daughter of William White, who had been secretary of State, and the granddaughter of Governor Caswell; and the union proved most fortunate and happy, for Governor Swain by his nature and his life of unsullied purity thoroughly appreciated the ties of home, and lived in the love of his wife and children ; and he was fond of entertaining his friends. He was an excellent financier, and amassed a handsome estate, which permitted him to indulge his taste for hospitality and kindly social intercourse. In conversation he was delightfully interesting and instructive, replete with anecdote, genial humor, historical incidents and literary quotations. Particularly was he enabled by the aid of a remarkable memory to trace the genealogy of the students under him. He knew of them at their homes, and he sought to stand in the attitude of a father to them. His policy was to forbear with the hot blood of youth and seek to develop the better nature of erring students, and many a one could in after years remember a turning point in his career when he was won by the kindness of President Swain to paths of honor, acknowledging the great debt he owed to the wise head of the retired politician, who, having managed men in his younger days, was so adept in managing boys in his maturer years. At the University, while his prudence and cautious policy were marked, his constructive ability was of great benefit to the insti- tution. He was eminently a progressive man. He loved to sug- gest and see his suggestions carried into operation. Under his management many improvements were inaugurated at the Uni- versity — the excellent system of street draining in the village, the planting of elms, the improvement and ornamentation of the grounds; while within doors he founded the State Historical Society and established and largely assisted in supporting the University magazine. He first introduced the study of the Bible in college, and himself taught constitutional and international 454 NORTH CAROLINA law, moral science and political economy. A student all his life, with great capacity, he became an adept in his department, and had no superior as an instructor in the branches that he taught. The University had had a struggling existence until he became its president, and then it went forward on a glorious career of usefulness. During the war between the States, Governor Swain devoted his best efforts to keeping the college alive, for such was the impetuosity with which the call to arms was obeyed that of the 80 members of which the freshman class consisted in i860, only one remained to pursue his studies, and he continued at the University because his health was too delicate for him to go into the army. Of the senior class, all enlisted as soldiers, and fully one-fourth of them fell in battle. Seven members of the faculty volunteered, and of them five returned no more. At the time of Lee's surrender there were about a dozen students at the Uni- versity. But even while the University and village were occupied by 4000 Michigan cavalry, the old bell was rung daily, prayers were held and the University was kept going. Chief among the characteristics of Governor Swain was his fondness for historical research. Raised in the mountains, and penetrated with a great love for the State, connected with families of renown, he took a deep interest in whatever reflected honor on the people or adorned the annals of the commonwealth. During his long career he was without doubt the foremost citizen of the State in rescuing from oblivion historical incidents that had escaped publicity. His collection of manuscripts was large and important, and he sought to inspire others with the same spirit by which he himself was animated. He contributed many papers of historical interest to the "University Magazine" and to other publications, and he delivered several addresses of rare value. He aided Caruthers, Wiley, Colonel Wheeler and other writers of history; and at his instance the legislature appropriated $5000 for the collection and publication of historical records, to be ex- pended under the direction of Dr. Hawks and himself, which enabled Dr. Hawks to make the compilation embraced in his DAVID LOWRY SWAIN 455 invaluable history of North Carolina. And although the prepa- ration of that interesting work was by the hand of Dr. Hawks, yet before the publication the manuscript was read by Governor Swain, and it bears his imprimatur. Moreover, even in the retired shades of Chapel Hill Governor Swain exerted an influence on public affairs. Not only was he felt through the hundreds of young men who constantly emerged from the University into active life, but the annual gatherings of the representative men of the State at the University com- mencements were always occasions for the dissemination of ideas and the discussion of new measures. And Governor Swain had the habit of freely expressing himself on matters of public concern, and exercised a beneficial influence in promoting measures calcu- lated to advance the progress of the State. In particular, at the memorable session of the legislature of 1848, it is narrated that Miss Dix, when urging the erection of the insane asylum, entered the hall of the House of Commons leaning on Governor Swain's arm, and he was a leading figure when that great effort was made to rescue the State from the slough of despond and start her on a new career of progressive prosperity. That he exercised a large influence in securing the passage of the bill incorporating the North Carolina Railroad cannot be doubted ; and so, from administration to administration, he exerted an influence highly beneficial to the best interests of North Carolina. His relations with Governor Vance, who, like himself, was a native of Buncombe and was a student at the University under Governor Swain, were especially cordial, and Governor Vance conferred with him freely during his administration as governor of the State. At the end of the war, when General Sherman was approaching Raleigh, Governor Vance appointed him and Gov- ernor Graham and Dr. Edward Warren as intermediaries, and sent them on an embassy to meet the Federal commander and obtain what terms were possible for the surrender of the capital of the State, Governor Swain being particularly solicitous that the University should not be destroyed. Their mission was sub- 456 NORTH CAROLINA stantially successful, and but little devastation was committed by Federal marauders after their visit to General Sherman. President Johnson was by birth a North Carolinian, and desir- ing the early restoration of North Carolina to the Union, immedi- ately on Johnston's surrender invited Governor Swain, along with Hon. B. F. Moore of Raleigh and William Eaton of Warren to consult with him in regard "to the reconstruction of the Union." These gentlemen, conformably with the President's request, reached Washington on the 20th of May, 1865, and two days later had a conference with the President at the White House, at which the President mentioned that he proposed to issue an amnesty proclamation and to appoint a military governor of the State, who would call a State convention that could restore the State to the Union. Governor Swain, Mr. Moore and Mr. Eaton all objected to that course, and on the 25th of May a second con- ference was held, there being present in addition W. W. Holden, R. P. Dick, Richard Mason, J. P. H. Russ, Rev. Mr. Skinner, Dr. Robert J. Powell and Colonel Jones. On the President insisting on the plan he had proposed. Governor Swain and his two associates urged that the then speakers of the Assembly should be allowed to call the legislature together, and that the legislature should call a convention of the people. As this would have been a recognition of the Confederate legislature and authorities, the President would not assent to that proposition, and, insisting on his course, requested the gentlemen present to nominate some one for military governor, saying that he would appoint whomever they would suggest. Not being able to approve of that step, Governor Swain, Mr. Moore and Mr. Eaton withdrew, and the other North Carolinians present held a meeting, and, at the instance of Mr. Russ, nominated Mr. Holden for governor, and the President made the appointment. On the same day that Governor Swain reached Washington, Governor Vance, who had been arrested in North Carolina, was brought to Washington and incarcerated in the Carroll Prison, and Governor Swain and his friend, Colonel Wheeler, the his- torian, with whom he was staying, went out to see Governor DAVID LOWRY SWAIN 457 Vance. Governor Swain's course in these matters was manly and patriotic, and President Johnson manifested his high regard for him by appointing him a member of the Board of Visitors of the MiHtary Academy at West Point, then about to inspect that insti- tution, and in June, 1865, Governor Swain performed that func- tion; and upon his return to Washington he again sought per- mission to visit Governor Vance, who was still incarcerated in the Carroll Prison. Governor Swain resumed his connection with the State Uni- versity, but in the summer of 1868 the State passed under the new constitution, and the University fell into the hands of new trustees, whose first action was to request the resignation of the president and faculty; and a guard of negroes was sent to take possession, and the halls were then closed. On the nth of August, while driving in the neighborhood of Chapel Hill, Governor Swain was thrown from his buggy and brought home painfully injured, and on the morning of the 27th of August, 1868, he suddenly fainted and expired without pain. Hon. Weldon N. Edwards has written: "I have heard many of the friends of Governor Swain state that he became melancholy and began to droop away on the termination of his duties as president of the University, and they believed a broken heart was as much the real cause of his death as the fall from his carriage. He felt the last link was broken that united his heart and hopes to all earthly objects. The whole manner of the man was changed. His step was tottering and slow; his massive frame was bowed down in grief. His countenance, so wonted to be lifted up in smiles and playful wit, had already settled into the stern reality of the impending gloom and of perpetual silence." Governor Swain had several children, but all died unmarried, except a daughter, who married General S. D. Atkins of Freeport, Illinois ; and there is no representative of the name surviving. 5". A. Ashe. CHARLES ELISHA TAYLOR CR. CHARLES E. TAYLOR, president of Wake Forest College, was born in Richmond, Virginia, on the 28th of October, 1842. Through both father and mother he is de- scended from distinguished ancestors. His father. Rev. J. B. Taylor, D.D., was born in England in the early part of the nineteenth century. While he was yet an infant his parents came to America and settfed among the hospitable people of the Old Dominion. Converted when young, he was licensed to preach at twenty years of age, being called to fill important pulpits in Richmond and Baltimore from the beginning of his ministry. His most important and far-reaching work, however, was done not in the active pastorate, for the duties of which he possessed peculiar gifts, but in the secretaryship of the Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. This responsible position he filled for twenty-seven years, covering the stormful period of the Civil War, and showed in the performance of its delicate and difficult duties ability and tact of the highest order coupled with a spirit of unselfish consecration. On his mother's side. Dr. Taylor's ancestors were no less dis- tinguished. His mother, nee Miss Mary Williams, was the daughter of Rev. Elisha Williams of Beverly, Massachusetts, who, after active service as an officer in the Revolution, became (S,^.$^.:^c^^ CHARLES ELISHA TAYLOR 459 a Congregational minister. One of her ancestors, Dr. Elisha Williams, was president of Yale College from 1725 to 1739, and raised in England the first funds for Princeton. She was an ideal helpmeet for her distinguished husband — tactful, patient, earnest, unselfish, consecrated, devoted to the high tasks of the preacher's wife. From these parents Dr. Taylor inherited strong, manly and at the same time deeply spiritual traits of character. The beauti- fully blended influence of both his parents vividly impressed upon him in early childhood was a controlling force in molding his character in his young manhood and in shaping his strikingly successful career. As a boy he delighted in all kinds of outdoor games and sports^ but not to the neglect of books. These were his constant com- panions. The reading habit formed in boyhood has lingered with him ever since as a potent factor in shaping his character and career. He reads with great rapidity, but never at the expense of accuracy, and when he has finished a book he is master of its contents. When a boy, he spent his summers on his grandfather's farm in the country, where, in the performance of light tasks under wise supervision, he acquired a thorough knowledge of agri- cultural subjects. Few men in professional life are more familiar with the laws and forms of plant life or more enamored of the charm of the woods. Grown to young manhood, he was prepared for Richmond Col- lege in one of the excellent academies in the Old Dominion's capital city, and entered that institution in the autumn of 1858, intending to graduate in 1862. But not so. Like many another brave Southern youth, he was not permitted to finish his college course without interruption. In April, 1861, on the very day of the passage of Ordinance of Secession by the Virginia convention, he left college and joined Company F of the First Virginia Regi- ment. After spending several months in helping to drill new recruits in camp near Richmond and at Acquia Creek, he was assigned to the Twenty-first Virginia Regiment, and ordered, in 46o NORTH CAROLINA July, 1 86 1, under command of General R. E. Lee, to share the toils and perils of a most trying campaign in West Virginia. In December of the same year his brigade was sent to join the command of Stonewall Jackson in the lower valley. Under this great leader he engaged in several expeditions of far-reaching consequences, and bore a brave soldier's part in some of the most important battles of the war. At the battle of Kernstown, March 23, 1862, he received a very painful wound, from some of the effects of which he still suffers. After several weeks spent at home under expert surgical care, he was transferred to the Signal and Secret Service Corps with the cavalry of General J. E. B. Stuart. In 1863 he was made acting adjutant of the Signal and Secret Service Bureau in Richmond, in which respon- sible position he remained until the close of the war. In the development and administration of this important branch of the service he was a very efficient agent, being one of three officers chosen on one occasion to decipher a difficult message for President Jefferson Davis. Dr. Taylor closes a recently written, interesting magazine article on the signal and secret service of the Confederate States thus: "The signal and secret service of the Confederate States and its work are now only memories. But out of the experience gained by the signal men of both armies has arisen a beneficent, peaceful institution. Signal men now receive their despatches from the winds and the clouds. Their flags are signs of coming meteorological changes. Torches have given place to barometers, and the world-wide cipher codes are now in the daily use of commercial interests. "Here also "Peace hath her victories no less renowned than war." At the close of the war our young soldier, like his immortal leader, Lee, turned from the storm of battle to the quiet but fruit- ful tasks of the teacher, and opened a school in Hanover County, Virginia. With the reopening of the University of Virginia in the autumn of 1865, he entered this honored institution, taking the entire academic course and graduating with the class of 1870. CHARLES ELISHA TAYLOR 461 His friends at the University included many men who have since achieved distinguished careers, among them being Senator J. W. Daniel, the talented orator and statesman, who has so ably repre- sented the Old Dominion for several terms in the United States Senate; the brilliant orator and author, John S. Wise; the suc- cessful and resourceful Southern Railway president, Samuel Spencer, and Hon. J. Taylor EUyson, several times mayor of Richmond. Following his graduation, he spent several months in Europe, visiting England, France, Italy and other countries of interest to American scholars, and on his return assumed the duties of the professorship of Latin in Wake Forest College, to which he had been elected. Here began the real constructive work of his life. He was an ideal college professor. Courteous, affable, easy of approach, but withal dignified and preserving at all times a cautious self-reserve, he won and retained the esteem and respect of every student who entered his classes. Painstaking accuracy and thoroughness he required of students in the class-room, and futile indeed was every attempt to elude his vigilance or to pass surface pretence for substantial attainment. He used Gilder- sleeve's Grammar, and was so careful in enforcing conformity to its rules that the terra "Aorist," a word frequently found in this grammar, was lovingly applied to him in student parlance, and still lingers in the memory of those who were fortunate enough to enjoy his instruction. His favorite author was Juvenal, always read in his senior class, and right well did he blend in his inim- itable method a thorough knowledge of the principles of syntax with a sympathetic appreciation of the moral excellence and charm of the great Roman satirist. Soon after coming to Wake Forest he decided to preach, and we find the following record in the diary of his distinguished father : "April 22, 1871. On my way to Wake Forest College to assist in the ordination of my youngest son, Charles E. Taylor. April 23d. A large congregation assembled. Brother Wingate preached an excellent sermon. Subject, 'The Successful Preacher.' A solemn time." 462 NORTH CAROLINA Dr. Taylor's preaching is characterized by clearness, simplicity, earnestness and a deeply spiritual tone. His treatment of a theme is both suggestive and exhaustive. On the nth of September, 1873, ^r. Taylor married Miss Mary Hinton Prichard, the accomplished daughter of Dr. John L. Prichard, the great Baptist divine. Of this happy marriage seven children have been born, six daughters and one son, Charles E. Taylor, Jr., a prosperous banker in Wilmington, North Carolina. Two of the daughters have married professors in Wake Forest College — Dr. J. Hendren Gorrell of the modern languages depart- ment and the late lamented Professor C. C. Crittenden of the chair of pedagogy. A third daughter has recently married Mr. W. D. Duke, the popular and talented general manager of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad. Dr. Taylor's home life is peculiarly beautiful. At perfect ease before great assemblages as a speaker, the central figure in any group of cultured people in conversation, he is always at his best in the charmed circle of his own household, where, freed from all restraint, he discloses the treasures of a well-stored mind and a gentle and refined spirit. His greatest work, and the one that will live longest, has been wrought in the administration of the affairs of Wake Forest College. He was elected president of this institution in Decem- ber, 1883. Wake Forest had already done a great work in North Carolina, training for lives of honor and usefulness many men whose influ- ence and reputation transcended the bounds of their native State. Founded as a manual training school in 1835 by Dr. Samuel Waitt, a man of rare executive ability, it passed through a great variety of experiences, growing stronger all the while, and probably reached its period of greatest usefulness and influence under the administration of Dr. W. M. Wingate, a great preacher and a man of the deepest spiritual insight. Dr. Wingate was succeeded by the great preacher. Dr. T. H. Prichard, who soon found the duties of the presidency uncongenial, and returned to his first love, the pulpit. A short interval followed, during which the CHARLES ELISHA TAYLOR 463 afifairs of the college were well administered by Dr. W. B. Royall, as chairman of the faculty. Meanwhile, Professor Taylor, as secretary of the Board of Education, and as special agent in an effort to raise endowment, had been canvassing the State. His success was so marked that the trustees, at a special meeting in Raleigh in December, 1883, elected him to preside over the insti- tution, to which he had rendered such noble service for thirteen years. He found a college with seven faithful professors, three substantial brick buildings, a loyal body of alumni, about $100,000 of endowment and a student enrollment of 150 — the Wake Forest of 1883. It is not the Wake Forest of 1905. The college of to-day, with its 328 students, with live buildings in use and two others in process of erection, with seventeen professors giving instruction in fourteen schools, with its well-equipped laboratories and library — all supported by endowment funds valued at more than $300,000. This college of to-day, it is not too much to say, is largely the product of the constructive genius of President Taylor. He is a man of large outlook, building for the future. To him culture is simply a means to an end to be realized in lofty, sym- metrical. Christlike character. To him the student is not a thinly veiled culprit to be watched and hedged about with rules and penalties, but an embryo man to be restrained, helped and de- veloped. He is a man of boundless tact and patience, never losing faith in the possibilities of college boys, and ever resourceful in bringing these possibilities into fulfilment. He has received three honorary degrees — Doctor of Divinity, from Richmond College; Bachelor of Literature, from the Uni- versity of North Carolina, and Doctor of Laws, recently con- ferred by Mercer University, Georgia. His best known and most popular work in the field of author- ship is the "Story of Gates, the Missionary," a charming biographi- cal sketch of the great North Carolina missionary, who spent his life in China. He has now in process of preparation a treatise on Ethics, which will be issued in the near future. His style is simple, pleasing, clear, holding the attention, convincing the judg- 464 NORTH CAROLINA ment and impressing the reason. Earnestness of purpose is the keynote of all his thinking, writing, speaking and acting. Such is a brief and inadequate sketch of Dr. Charles Elisha Taylor, the brave soldier, the profound scholar, the earnest preacher, the lucid writer, the wise and progressive college presi- dent ; above all, the faithful, consecrated Christian. /. B. Carlyle. O- i^'If/'a-i^ 3,Br^ AO-' DANIEL A. TOMPKINS 'N the evolution of the industrial South no man has ever been more useful than Daniel A. Tompkins of Charlotte. Time and circum- stances presented the opportunity, and Mr. Tompkins, having the ability, and being well prepared, seized it, and pressed the work of industrial development with great force, and with substantial results. He is by birth a representative Southern man ; one of his early ancestors, Stephen Tompkins, having located in Virginia as far back as 1750, and while not seeking prominence in political careers, many of his kin were professional men of great merit, and were successful in their vocations. His father was Dr. De Witt Clinton Tompkins of Edgefield County, South Carolina, whose bright, cheerful disposition and genial temperament and agreeable manners attracted to him all who came within the sphere of his influence, while his learning and skill, and his intel- lectual qualities and character made him an ornament of his profession. As usual with the country practitioner, he united with the pro- fession the business of a planter, reaping the fruits of his intelli- gent direction and methodical habits. Dr. Tompkins married Hannah Virginia Smyly, and on the I2th day of October, 1852, their son, the subject of this sketch, was born at their home near Meeting Street Post-ofHce, nine 466 NORTH CAROLINA miles north of Edgefield, South Carolina, where he was raised beneath the eye of his mother, whose influence upon him was strong in developing his moral characteristics, as well as that intellectuality which has since so distinguished him. His early bent was for mechanics and construction ; and on the plantation there was some play for the exercise of his faculties in those directions. There were no tasks set for him on the plantation, but never idle, he was often engaged in farm work and farm duties, but more about the smith and wood-working shops than in the fields. At first he was sent to the neighboring country schools, and then to a higher school at Edgefield village. He then entered the College of South Carolina at Columbia, where he graduated. His bent all through life had been for mechanics, and he chose to follow the natural inclination of his disposition, and became a student at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Troy, New York, where he graduated as engineer in 1873. However, he felt that his training was not yet complete, and he served an ap- prenticeship at the machinists' trade in the manufacturing estab- lishment of John A. Griswold & Company at Troy. He then worked as a draftsman with A. L. Holley at New York, and later as a journeyman machinist and draftsman at the Bethlehem Iron Works of Pennsylvania. In 1880 he became master mechanic of the Crystal Plate Glass Works in Missouri, and doubled the capacity of that plant while he was there. In 1882 he made an engagement with the Westinghouse people, which took him South, and out of that engagement developed his business in engineering and contracting on his own account. Familiarity with the theoretical learning of his business was now united to a mastery of the practical details, and coming home, he entered upon a career that has been no less successful in its pecuniary reward than creditable to his intellectual force and business aptitude. The Piedmont section of the South Atlantic slope had during a decade, from 1874 to 1884, enjoyed a period of great prosperity, and the people had emerged from the slough of despond and from the misfortunes of the previous years, and an enterprising spirit DANIEL A. TOMPKINS 467 was beginning to manifest itself. The ground was ready, the season propitious, and Mr. Tompkins threw himself into the work of establishing new industries with great vigor, and with an intellectual force that secured a fine harvest. He was practically the original founder of the engineering and contracting business in Charlotte, which to-day gives that city a distinctive character as a center for engineering, machinery and factory construction, and further than this, many of the leading firms in these lines emanated from this parent school, as it were, either as co-worker or em- ployee of Mr. Tompkins, while many others are scattered over different States following similar pursuits. A man possessed of strong reasoning faculties, zealous, even enthusiastic, in the advocacy of his views, but cold and dispassion- ate in considering the facts and figures that enter into any subject, his opinion soon became esteemed, and his judgment carried great weight. But few men in the South were so well equipped by education and still fewer by natural gifts for the important work he had undertaken, and he rapidly rose to prominence in his pro- fession, and was regarded as a potent factor in developing the quickened industrial life of the Southern States. In this field of usefulness Mr. Tompkins has had few compeers of equal merit, for few, if any, have been so instrumental in developing the re- sources of the South and in opening up new occupations and employments for the people. He has assigned as a leading cause for the fact that the South was agricultural and that many of the whites of the South Atlantic States sought the fertile farms at the West, the tendencies and operations of the institution of slavery, and he thinks that when the result of his life work is summed up it will be found that his best usefulness has been not merely in promoting the development of the material resources of his section, but in aiding the Southern people to recover from mental attitudes made by the institution of slavery, and bringing back to the South the occupations which were driven out by that institution. As auxiliary to this, he has sought to be useful in helping to reconstruct the educational system so that it will fit the new conditions of the Southern States. 468 NORTH CAROLINA He thinks that the institution of slavery broke down the manu- facturing and commercial interests of the South, and drove out the free white labor. To remedy that, he has urged the estab- lishment of various kinds of manufacturing, and especially has he done a great deal in developing the cotton-seed oil industry in the South, and has built many cotton-seed oil mills, possibly as many as two hundred. He has built more than one hundred cotton mills, a number of sulphuric acid chambers and fertilizer works, many electric-light plants, many improved ginneries, and has done a vast amount of other engineering work. He has founded and developed a machine shop for the construction of cotton oil and cotton machinery and for doing other machine work, and he has built textile school buildings, and has assisted in the organization of textile schools for North Carolina, South Carolina and Mississippi. In the matter of education for industrial pursuits he is strong in the conviction that every youth ought to serve an apprentice- ship at some trade for two or three years, at some time between the ages of fourteen and eighteen. He thinks it is easy to perceive that the boy brought up on a farm finds education more valuable and advantageous than the city boy who has done no work. In the education of the young he would substitute an apprenticeship to give the same benefits that the farm training gives. He con- siders the usual work on a farm as being as good an apprentice- ship as any other. The boy in the city would naturally have to take an apprenticeship in a machine shop or pattern shop or foundry or in some other standard manufacturing pursuit. Two or three years in a cotton mill would be as good an apprentice- ship as any other. He thinks this apprenticeship should be taken before any college education, and after the common school education. Mr. Tompkins has always had a strong altruistic interest in the development of the natural resources of the South and of the country at large, and in particular has he been attentive to the needs of that section of the country of which he is a resident. He has for some years devoted much time to the A. and M. Col- DANIEL A. TOMPKINS 469 lege at Raleigh, of which he is a director, and the establishment of the Textile Department at that institution has been almost wholly due to his efforts and influence. The subject of this sketch has made two distinctive initiative movements, which have been of great value in the development of the industrial resources of the South. The first of these was the putting of the cotton-seed oil business on an engineering basis, and for a long time building most of the cotton-seed oil mills which were built in the South. The present development is on lines of engineering which he introduced and which has become standard throughout the South. The second most important initiative movement was the estab- lishment of works in the South for the construction of cotton mill machinery. He is president of the Manufacturers' Club at Charlotte, which organization he largely promoted ; and a member of the Engineers' Club at New York; and because of his prominence, he was ap- pointed by the President a member of the Industrial Commission, and served as such for about two years and a half. He is presi- dent of the D. A. Tompkins Company, of the Atherton Cotton Mills, of the High Shoals Cotton Mills and of the Edgefield Manu- facturing Company. In connection with the work which has enlisted Mr. Tompkins's most thorough interest, he has delivered addresses and written many articles of great value ; and he has published several books that are standard and are highly valued by those interested in their subjects. Among them are noted "American Commerce : Its Expansion," "Cotton Mill : Processes and Calculations," "Cotton Mill Commercial Features," "Cotton and Cotton Oil," "Cotton Values in Textile Fabrics." And he has also published a "History of Mecklenburg County." A mind so active has naturally addressed itself to all the im- portant subjects that have a bearing on the industrial life of the people ; and Mr. Tompkins has reached his conclusions on political questions because of considerations that appeal to his intelligence, without regard to the views of others. / / 470 NORTH CAROLINA Always identified with the Democratic Party, he has differed with the leaders of that party as to the desirability of Free Trade, believing that it is to the best interest of the South, as well as of the entire Union, to preserve the protective system. Indeed, he regards that the South, with its nascent industrial development, is more interested in the protection of manufactures than Northern States can be, and he advocates that policy as a matter of local patriotism. And in like manner he is a firm supporter of all measures tending to advance and promote manufacturing at the South ; and for the advantage of the country, he urges the desir- ability of an education comprising equally practical training with scholastic and technical knowledge, or an apprenticeship along with a high school or college education. The high position that Mr. Tompkins has attained among influ- ential men is illustrated by his selection as a director of the Equitable Life Insurance Company. In 1905 the affairs of that company, which is the greatest insurance company in the world, became involved through maladministration, and the effect threat- ened a loss of public confidence in the administration of all the great corporations. Under these serious circumstances, several new directors were appointed to straighten the affairs of the Equitable and to re-establish public confidence. The selection of these directors was left with Ex-President Cleveland, and among them he chose Mr. Tompkins. No higher public testimony could be given of the esteem in which he is held. 5". A. Ashe. WILLIAM TRYON ^OWEVER much opinions may differ as to the personal character and disposition, it is gen- erally conceded that William Tryon was the ablest of all the royal governors of North Caro- lina. Governor Tryon was a native of England, born at Norbury Park, in the county of Surrey, in 1729. He was the son of Charles Tryon of Bulwick, North- amptonshire, and a grandson of Robert Shirley, first Earl of Ferrers. Governor Tryon was a soldier by profession. He first came to North Carolina as lieutenant governor under the aged Governor Dobbs, and arrived at Brunswick, on the Cape Fear, October 10, 1764. While lieutenant governor he drew up a plan for improving the postal system, and was making a personal tour of inspection through the province when news came that Governor Dobbs had died on March 28, 1765. Tryon took the oath of office as governor pro tempore at Wilmington on the 3d of April, 1765. He was regularly sworn in as governor at Wilmington on December 20, 1765. Tryon's first serious trouble with the colonists was in 1766, when the enforcement of the Stamp Act at the town of Brunswick met with forcible resistance. During these troubles, Tryon, by a series of prorogations, prevented the Assembly of the province from meeting, and so prevented dele- gates from being sent by the Assembly to represent North Caro- lina in the "Stamp Act Congress" at New York on October 7, 472 NORTH CAROLINA 1765. The Cherokee boundary was run during Tryon's adminis- tration, and by his order, in the spring of 1767. When Tryon came to North Carolina he lived in the house formerly occupied by Governor Dobbs at Brunswick, there being no fixed capital. One of the subjects of controversy had been in regard to the location of the capital, the king claiming it as his prerogative to locate the capital, which the Assembly would not assent to. But when the Stamp Act was repealed, a wave of intense loyalty swept the people off their feet, and as a manifesta- tion of their love and affection they prayed the king to locate the capital at New-Bern, and made a large appropriation for building the Government House, and entrusted the money to Governor Tryon himself. The mansion he erected, known as the Tryon Palace, was said to be the finest house in America. This building was begun on August 26, 1767, and it was finished in 1770, the official records being moved into it in January, 1771. The governor lived there in almost regal style, and it was also the home of his successor, Governor Josiah Martin. After the Revo- lution, on February 27, 1798, it was accidentally burned. From 1766 until 1771 immeasurable trouble was caused in North Caro- lina by a local insurrection composed of men calling themselves Regulators. While no one can question the fact that these men had some valid grievances, very few have attempted to justify their lawless riots, indulgence in personal violence and attacks on the courts of the province. Early in 1771, when the Regulation movement was extending even to the seashore, and the whole fabric of government was threatened with overthrow, Governor Tryon organized a military force to restore order. The Regu- lators about Salisbury agreed on a peaceful settlement with their local officials by arbitration, and the whole movement might have been arrested by similar means in other counties, but Governor Tryon declared that an unconstitutional way of settling the trouble, and calling out the militia, he met the Regulators and routed them at the battle of Alamance on May 16, 1771. One of those who had been outlawed, being captured, was executed next day, and at a special session of the Superior Court held at WILLIAM TRYON 473 Hillsboro others were tried and convicted. Twelve of these were sentenced to death and six were hanged, the governor commuting the sentence of the others, who were eventually pardoned. While Governor Tryon was in North Carolina, he used his strongest efforts to advance the educational interests of the colony, and quite a number of schools were established. The attempt to obtain a charter for Queen's College at Charlotte failed through no fault of his. He was also the friend of all religious denomina- tions, and even his enemies concede that he was the most tolerant of all the colonial governors. It was while he was returning from the Alamance campaign that Tryon received notice that he had been appointed governor of New York. Thereupon he left directions for disbanding the army, and pushed ahead of his troops to New-Bern. There on July i, 1771, he turned over the govern- ment to James Hasell, president of the Council, who acted as governor until the arrival of Tryon's successor. Governor Josiah Martin. Tryon reached New York on July 7, 1771 ; and on the 9th was sworn in as governor of that colony. It is not within the scope of the present work to treat of his career as governor of New York, nor of his military record in the Revolution as a major-general of Loyalists, when (as Grady said of Sherman) he "was a little too careless with fire." Governor Tryon returned to England in 1780, and afterward rose to the rank of lieutenant-general in the army. He died on the 27th of January, 1788, and was interred in the burial ground of St. Mary's Church at Twickenham. Governor Tryon, when a young man, married Miss Margaret Wake, and several children were born to this marriage, but no descendants are now living. The county of Wake was named for Mrs. Tryon. There was also a county in North Carolina named for the governor, but this was expunged from the map, and Tryon County, New York, shared the same fate. Marshall De Lancey Haywood. GEORGE WASHINGTON WATTS pORGE WASHINGTON WATTS, who has long been one of the foremost men of Durham, was born in the town of Cumberland, State of Maryland, on August i8, 1851. He is the son of Gerard S. Watts and his wife, Annie E. Watts, of Baltimore. He received his prepara- tory education in the public schools of that city, and having been well prepared for college at a private school, in 1868 he entered the University of Virginia, graduating in 1871. In boyhood his physical condition was somewhat delicate, while his earnest nature led to studious habits and a rapid intellectual development. At the University he took the engineering course, which accorded well with his talents, and brought into play his creative faculties as well as his reasoning powers, and familiarized him early in life with the relative value of causes in producing effects, and tended to give him confidence in his opinions, which has been a distinguishing feature in his subsequent business career. His father at that time was a wholesale dealer in tobaccos at Baltimore, and upon his return from college he became a salesman for his father's firm, G. S. Watts & Company. Earnest, intelligent, active and of untiring industry, Mr. Watts applied himself to mastering every detail of the tobacco trade, and for seven vears remained with his father, to their mutual benefit -_"'^a='Z Z^n 7\/%<7s-^ ^t.^/'J''.---- . £-tf£:^^. i'l'^/--^"--. .s B'/.-A'y^' GEORGE WASHINGTON WATTS 475 and advantage. Chief among the characteristics of his father was a downright honesty, not merely in money matters, but in every affair that entered into his life. He was impulsive, easily stirred, quick in thought and in action; high-tempered, but just and punctilious with respect to every responsibility and obligation. In particular was he scrupulous in regard to the performance of his moral and religious duties, and so estimable as to enjoy the un- bounded confidence and esteem of all his friends. Daily associa- tion with such a parent ripened the character of Mr. Watts, and under its training he became a practiced business man, in whom were combined the most admirable qualities. He was led to soften his own demeanor without abating a scintilla of his natural firm- ness, and he gained strength by practicing self-possession, while he learned to abhor duplicity and to admire frankness, openness and honesty in purpose and action. In the course of their busi- ness the firm dealt largely in smoking tobacco manufactured in Durham, and became somewhat familiar with the affairs of the several firms engaged in manufacturing at that place, and with the relative merits of their products. Mr. G. S. Watts, with his large experience, felt assured that the goods made by W. Duke & Son were very superior, and could be pushed with a certainty of success. Understanding that their operations were restricted because they had only a limited capital, he determined to seek a connection with them and put some money into their business, if they should be willing to sell an interest. He at once went to Durham and made a proposition to the Dukes to buy an interest for his son, offering to pay cash for it. His proposition was accepted, and Mr. G. W. Watts became the owner of one-fifth of the property and business of W. Duke & Sons, and, moving to Durham, he entered at once on his new duties as an active mem- ber of that firm. The cash paid in by Mr. Watts, although but a few thousand .dollars, gave new life to the business, while his assistance in managing the financial affairs of the firm was of inestimable advantage, and the operations were largely expanded. By 1885 the business had grown to such an extent that it became desirable to incorporate a company to conduct it, the corporate 476 NORTH CAROLINA name being W. Duke, Sons & Company. Mr. Watts, whose efficiency as a financial manager and aptitude for that department of the work had brought most gratifying results, was chosen secretary and treasurer of the new company. Under his capable management the business continued to grow by leaps and bounds, and while much of its phenomenal success was due to the skill and experience of Mr. Duke and of his sons, who were men of fine abilities as manufacturers, yet in large measure the great burden of the financial administration fell on the shoulders of Mr. Watts, and under the joint and persistent efforts of the several members of the company the small plant of 1878 continued to expand beyond their most sanguine expectations; and, with tre- mendous strides, it passed from its original territory and estab- lished a foothold in every State of the Union, and then extended into every civilized country that had commercial dealings with the United States. And not only was the business great in its development, but it has brought with it great wealth. There has been no parallel to it in the history of North Carolina, and but few within the United States. The magnitude of its operations, its tremendous struc- tures, the vast capital it employs and the large number of families it supports invest it with a national importance, and that it has been measurably the work of North Carolinians, and remains largely under their direction, is a matter that appeals to the State pride of large numbers of North Carolinians. With the great wealth arising from the tobacco business, Mr. Watts, as well as the various other members of the original firm of W. Duke & Sons, has engaged in other enterprises of large importance. Having made Durham his home, he has been active in promoting many industries that have in large measure contributed to the growth and prosperity of that town, and he has sought to obtain for it needed commercial facilities. In 1884 the Commonwealth Club was organized to advance these interests, and Mr. Watts became president of it, and during his administration there were built the Lynchburg and Durham Railroad, the Oxford and Clarksville and the Durham and Northern, thus making Durham quite a GEORGE WASHINGTON WATTS 477 railroad center and giving her easy access to the marts of trade. During the same period waterworks and an electric-light plant , were established, adding to the comfort and convenience of the citizens. Of these and many other enterprises that tended to the advantage of the town Mr. Watts was either the originator or the active coadjutor, and he has zealously co-operated in accom- plishing all the improvements that have marked the progress of the place. His latest work in this respect is the erection of the splendid ofifice building on Main Street, known as the Loan and Trust Building, which is complete in every appointment, and would be an ornament to any city of the Union. In devising and developing industrial interests, Mr. Watts has ever been a constant and important factor in the prosperity of the town. He is interested in many of its factories, being president of the Pearl Cotton Mills, vice-president of the Erwin Mills and of the Golden Belt Manufacturing Company, and he is interested in the Durham Cotton Manufacturing Company. He is also inter- ested in the Mayo Cotton Mills at Mayodan, in the Cooleemee Cotton Mills, in the Kerr Bag Manufacturing Company, Durham Loan and Trust Company, and many other such enterprises. He is likewise a stockholder of and director in the Fidelity Bank, in the Farmers' and Commercial Bank at Raleigh and International Trust Company of Baltimore, and president of the Home Savings Bank, Durham. Of many of these companies he is a director, and he has been a director in the Seaboard Air Line Railway Company, and in the other railroads with which he is connected. Probably no other man in the State has such large and varied interests in North Carolina or has contributed more than Mr. Watts has done to promote the industrial welfare of the State and advance its pros- perity. But notwithstanding the claims which this great mass of business makes on his time and attention, he has continued as the managing director of the American Tobacco Company, which was formed in 1890 by a consolidation of the corporation of W. Duke, Sons & Company with most of the other leading tobacco concerns in the United States, by which the small Durham firm 478 NORTH CAROLINA has become one of the greatest bttsiness concerns known to modern times. Not ostentatious in his deeds of charity, Mr. Watts is liberal in works of benevolence. He erected the Watts Hospital, which cost, with endowment, $50,000. He presented it to the city of Durham, his object being to provide an institution where afflicted persons can be treated with the best medical skill and attended by trained nurses free of charge ; and he has made large contribu- tions for the support of the Orphan Asylum at Barium, which is imder Presbyterian direction. He likewise has contributed lib- erally toward equipping and sustaining Elizabeth College for young ladies at Charlotte, and he has made handsome donations to the Union Theological Seminary, of which, indeed, he has been the greatest benefactor. The president of the seminary, in speak- ing of Mr. Watts's donation, said: "It was his unprecedented liberality that made possible the removal of the seminary from its former isolated and disadvantageous location to its present admirable site in the suburbs of Richmond, where it has experi- enced a large increase of attendance and an improvement in facilities so great that it has now an equipment second to that of no other institution of its class. The main building of the sem- inary was erected through the munificence of Mr. Watts, and, by action of the Board of Directors, is to bear his name through all the future." Of. Mr. Watts's home in Durham it may be said that it is one of the handsomest private residences in the State, in which taste and elegance are combined with rare discrimination and judgment. Despite his pressing business, Mr. Watts takes his holidays, and is particularly fond of playing golf, a game in which he excels. He is a zealous member of the Presbyterian Church, of which he has long been an elder ; and his consistent walk in life has gained him the respect and regard of a large circle of friends. Mr. Watts was elected superintendent of the Sunday-school of the First Presbyterian Church of Durham, North Carolina, in 1885, and has held the position uninterruptedly to the present date; he has ever been faithful and prompt in the discharge of the duties GEORGE WASHINGTON WATTS 479 incident to this position, and enjoys not only tiie respect, but tlie affection of the school; he is enthusiastic in Sunday-school work, resourceful and progressive, a close Bible student, tactful apd cheerful. Mr. Watts has been for many years an attendant upon Sunday- school conventions, and a close observer of methods and Sunday- school literature ; he is, therefore, well equipped with ideas helpful to the work, and does not hesitate to introduce new and pro- gressive methods for the advancement of teachers and pupils. To say that he has done a good work during the past nineteen years does not express the proper estimate of his efforts, but to say that he has accomplished an immeasurable amount of good will possibly suffice to indicate that he is held in high regard by all the members of his Sunday-school and church and very many outsiders who have experienced his helpfulness in deed and counsel. He is a Democrat in his political affiliations, but voted against that party in 1896 and 1900 on the financial issue, being opposed to its policy with regard to free silver. On the 19th of October, 1875, Mr. Watts was happily united in marriage to Miss Laura Valinda Beall, and they have one child, who is now the wife of Mr. John Sprunt Hill of Durham. 5". A. Ashe. CORNELL UNIVERSITY OEPT. OF PRES & CONSERVATION Treated by /rt /•■' Date I '/fC- TrAatm«nt done / ■ -' jmb9