Tk CeifeierMe States iafy 
 
 Yard at Clarbtte, i. C 
 1862=1 865 
 
 %dJr t a 
 

1 Notes — This article appeared in the 
 ' Charlotte News; June 5th, 1910 — im- 
 mediately after the unveiling of the 
 Kavy Yard Marker. It is re-printed 
 by request of many who wish to place 
 j this date on file. Hon. Josephus Dan- 
 liels, Secretary of the Navy, visited 
 jthe site of the Charlotte Navy Yard 
 In May 1914 — and this has arroused 
 a new and wider interest in its his- 
 tory. 
 
 VIOLET G. ALEXANDER. 
 
 The great development of historic 
 activity in North Carolina during the 
 last few years has been accompanied 
 by the ripening of a taste for histori- 
 cal research a,nd for the collection of 
 matter bearing on county, as well as 
 state and national history; and with 
 this desire to preserve our county and 
 state history has come the patriotic 
 desire to mark disK-ric places within 
 our own borders^ *j,o that strangers 
 and guests in e&ca succeeding gen- 
 eration may know the patriotism, 
 
 courage, bravery and true worth 
 of North Carolina's sons and daugh- 
 ters, from the Colonial, Revolutionary 
 and Confederate periods, even down 
 to the present day. 
 
 Much of Mecklenburg's and Char- 
 lotte's splendid Colonial and Revolu- 
 tionary ristory has been preserved 
 and some of her historic places of 
 those days have been marked, but her 
 part in the Southern Confederacy, 
 when ous sons and daughters were 
 one united people in their sacrifice, 
 heroism, bravery and courage, has not 
 j received the recognition .due her,— so 
 ;the Stonewall Jackson Chapter U. D. 
 C. through the Interest of one of 
 its members, Miss Violet G. Alexander 
 has turned its attention to the history 
 of the Charlotte Navy Yard, and has 
 marked wih, an appropriate iron mark- 
 er the site of the Confederate Navy 
 Yard, which was established in Char- 
 lotte in the spring of 1862 and operat- 
 ed until 1S65. The iron marker placed 
 'by the Stonewall Jackson Chapter, 
 U. p. C, is a navy shield surrounded 
 by sea anchors .with this inscription 
 in gold letters on a black background: 
 
 "Confederate States Navy Yard, 
 Charlotte, N. C. 
 
 1862-1SG5." 
 
 This marker is placed on the corner 
 of the brick building of vhe S- A.«-L. 
 freight depot, on East Trade street as 
 this is the site of the former Navy 
 Yard. The ^tablet was designed by a 
 committee "appointed by the U. D. C. 
 composed of Miss Violet Alexander 
 and Mrs. B. D. Heath and it was cast 
 and placed by the Mecklenourg Iron 
 Works, J. Frank Wilkes, manager. 
 The tablet was unveiled by the Stone- 
 wall Jtickson U. D. C. on June 3, 1910, 
 which is President Jefferson Davis' 
 birthdaj- — a day of special veneration 
 and observance in the South — Mrs. 
 Stonewall Jackson life-president of the 
 Chapter, graced the occasion with her 
 presence, and large numbers of veter- 
 ans of the Mecklenburg Camp of Con- 
 federate veterans the Stone- 
 : wall Jackson Chapter, U. D. C 
 Chapter of Children of Confederacy, 
 the stonewall Jackson chapter U. D. C., 
 as well as many patriotic citizens 
 were present. A splendid program was 
 provided, Hon- E. R. Preston made an 
 appropriate and patriotic speech — 
 "Dixie" and other loved Southern 
 songs were sung and prayer and the 
 benediction were said. 
 
 Miss Violet Alexander, as 
 chairman of the committee appointed 
 by the U. D. C. to mark the site of 
 the Confederate Navy Yard, deemed 
 it advisable to give at this time to 
 the general public a complete account 
 of the Confedera,te Navy 'Yard at 
 Charlotte. In compiling the article, 
 she received much valuable aid from i 
 many who lived in Charlotte during; 
 tha't period, and some of whom wer.4 
 
1 
 
 associated Mith the Navy Yard during 
 its operation in Charlotte. -; 
 
 Mr. , H. Ashton Ramsay, formerly 
 officer in charge of the Navy Yard, 
 with his residence in Charlotte from 
 1862 to 1S65, now figiO") contracting 
 manager of the American Bridge 
 Company of New York, with headquar- 
 ters in Baltimore, Md., has furnished 
 the following: 
 
 "Early in May 1862. it was deter- 
 mined to evacuate Norfolk and in or- 
 der to save some of the tools and 
 machinery and to continue to manu- 
 facture ordinance for the navy, a 
 numbet of the machines, tools, such as 
 lathes, plaining machines and one 
 small steam hammer, were hurriedly 
 shipped to Charlotte, N. C. and Com- 
 mander John M- Brooke, who was 
 at that time chief of the ordinance 
 bureau in Richmond (afterwards trans- 
 ferred to the army with rank of colo- 
 nel, and after the war was a professor 
 at the Virginia Military Institute at 
 Lexington, Va., where he died) had 
 asigned to him the United States mint 
 property on West Trade street, and 
 a lot located on and bounded by the 
 railroad tracks of what was then 
 known as the North Carolina Central 
 Railroad and close to the station used, 
 by the S.C. Railroad; this latter 
 lot extended about 3,000 feet on the 
 line of the railroad and faced on a side 
 street parallel with the railroad about 
 1,000 feet. On tills lot, there was a 
 small building, which had been occu- 
 pied as k machine shop, and my rec- 
 ollection is, that the property was pur- 
 chased from Capt. John Wilkes. 
 
 Capt. R. L. Page, afterward General 
 Page, was placed in command of the 
 works, and had his headquarters, and 
 also his residence, at the U. S. Mint 
 on West Trade street, where his fam- 
 ily lived during his administration of 
 the affairs of the Navy Yard. 
 
 "Shortly after the machinery refer- 
 der to had been forwarded to Char- 
 lotte, N. C, the 'Meirimac-Vlrginia,' 
 which had been guarding the ap- 
 proaches to Norfolk, Va., had to be 
 distroyed, together with other Con- 
 federate property at Norfolk, and Capt. 
 Catesby, Caipt R. Jones and the writer, 
 (H. Ashton Ramsay) who was chief 
 engineer of the "Virginia" were order- 
 ed to Charlotte, N. C, in connection' 
 with constructing the ordinance works. ■ 
 
 Subsequently General Page was trans- 
 ferred to the army and ordered-^to the 
 .command of Fort Morgan, near Mo- 
 bile, Ala., and Capt. Jones was ordered 
 to ordnance works at Selma, Ala., leav- 
 ing the writer (H. Ashton Ramsay) in 
 command of the naval station at Char- 
 lotte, N. C. 
 
 A number of large, frame structures 
 were erected on the property acquir- 
 : ed, including a' gun-carriage shop, a 
 laboratory and a torpedo shop, and 
 a large forge shop, where the largest 
 steam hammer in the South was built, 
 and where propeller shafting was 
 forged lor all the Confederate iron- 
 clads; "The Virginia No. 11" at Rich- 
 mond. 'The Albemarle," which suc- 
 cesfully rammed and distroyed sev- 
 |eral United States gun boats in the 
 ; Roanoke river; the gun boats built 
 in Charleston and Savannah; the 
 iron dads, "Tennessee," "Mobile" and 
 -other iron dads built at New Orleans; 
 in fact none of the vessels could have 
 been constructed had it not been for 
 I the works at Charlotte. Rifles, solid I 
 I shot, shell and torpedoes were manu- 
 ifactured at these works in Charlotte! 
 |a-nd supplied the batteries of all the' 
 [Vessds and shore batteries manned 
 by the Confederate navy. 
 
 In the last six months of the war 
 when General Stoneman burnt Salis- 
 bury, N. C, and was expected to ad- 
 vance on Charlotte, the writer (Ram- 
 sa.^ ), then in command was furnished 
 with 300 muskets and directed to form 
 a batalion of three (3) comnanies from 
 the employes of the naval works and 
 !to ship as many of the naval stores 
 and smaller tools as posible on rail- 
 road cars to Lincolnton, N. C, and 
 to hold the batallion in readiness to 
 receive orders froni General Beaure- 
 gard, to whom this batallion had been 
 asigned. 
 
 After the burning of Columbia, S. C, 
 by General Sherman, he advnced to- 
 ward Charlotte as far as Chester, S. 
 C, but m the meantime, the remnant 
 of General Hood's army crossed over 
 the country and came into Charlotte 
 over the railroad bridge across the 
 Catawba river, which we were in- 
 structed to plank over so the wagon 
 trains could cross. General Johnston 
 then assumed command of all the 
 forces concentrated at Charlotte and 
 immediately transported his troops 
 eastward and confronted General 
 
3 
 
 Sherman at Bentonville, where the 
 last battle was fought and the enemy 
 checked for the first time since the 
 capture of Atlanta, Ga. Soon after tbis, 
 President Jefferson Davis and-; his 
 cabinet came to Charlotte. N. C, and 
 for a few days Charlotte was the cap- i 
 ital of the Confederacy. 
 
 Mr. Davis and h-is cabinet started 
 from Charlotte soon after the sur- 
 render of General Lee, towards Wash- 
 ington, Ga., under the escort of Gen- 
 eral Wheeler's cavalry and one com- 
 pany of the navy yard batallion under 
 Capt. Tabb the other companies re- 
 maining to garrison Charlotte, and 
 were surrendered together with the 
 rest of General Johnston's army when 
 the army capitulated at Greensboro 
 N. C, April, 1865. 
 
 You will note by above, that Char- 
 lotte, although several times menaced 
 by hostile forces, and at one time the 
 central focus of the Confederacy, was 
 never actually captured by the enemy, 
 their forces not coming into Charlotte 
 until after the surrender at Greens- 
 boro." » 
 
 ' (Signed) H. Ashton RAMSEY, 
 Late Chief Engineer, C. S. N. and 
 
 Lieut.-Colonel C. S. A. 
 Baltimore, Md-, March 1910, 
 
 Miss Alexander vvas unable to ob- 
 tain data concerning Commander John 
 M. Brooke referred to by Capt. Ram- 
 sey. Mrs. John Wilkes, one of Char- 
 lotte's most patriotic and beloved 
 women at Miss Alexander's request, 
 prepared the . following sketch 
 of the Charlotte Navy Yard 
 This article was read bv Mrs. Wilkes 
 before the U. D. C, of which she was 
 one time historian, in April 1910— a 
 manuscript copy, is filed with the U. 
 
 i' D. C. Chapter and it appeared in the 
 Charlotte Obsehver and The Charlotte 
 News, April 3rd, 1910. 
 t Mrs. Wilkes' article reads as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 The Confederate Navy Yard | 
 in Charlotte, N- C, 
 1862 1865.' 
 
 "As the existence of a navy yard in 
 Charlotte, N. C, has been doubted and 
 derided, it is well to tell its story 
 while there are some persons surviv 
 ing who know of it and worked in 
 it. I have found a number of work- 
 men and persons, whose memory, has 
 aided mine, and here give a true his- 
 tory of the Charlotte Navy Yard. 
 
 "Soon after the fight between "the 
 Monitor' and 'The Merimas,' it became 
 apparent to the Confederate govern- 
 ment that it would not be possible to 
 hold Norfolk, Va., and the United 
 States navy would soon take posses- 
 sion of the fort and navy yard. So 
 naval officers were sent to the interior 
 in the spring of 1862 to select a 
 site to which all the valuable movable 
 property in the navy yard would be 
 taken. They came along the only rail- 
 road then far enough inland to be 
 safe, and reached Charlotte, N. C, on 
 their mission. Both the officers, Capt. 
 W. D. Murdaugh and, I think, CaptWm. 
 Parker, were aid friends of my hus- 
 band, Capt. John Wilkes, during his 
 fourteen year's service in the United 
 States navy (1841-1854) and of course, 
 he met and welcomed them. 
 
 "On talking about their request he 
 showed them a place he rad recently 
 purchased, lying about 600 feet along 
 the railroad with 100 feet frontage on 
 East Trade street. This they thought 
 exactly suited to the purpose, far 
 enough inland to be safe from attack 
 by sea and lying on the only rail- 
 road which connected Richmond with 
 the Southern states of the Confeder- 
 acy. So the Confederate government 
 bought the property, on promise to pav 
 for it. 
 
 "A large quantity of material and 
 coke ovens, foundry and machine . 
 shops erected. A wooden landing stage 
 was built from the yard to the railroad 
 for convenience in loading and un- 
 loading. This was carried as far as 
 the back of the brick building on East 
 Trade street, near College street to 
 facilitate the movement of naval 
 stores and was then and for many 
 years afterward called 'The Navy 
 Yard wharf." Subsequently it gave 
 the name to all the cotton districts 
 
f 
 
 about College street., ' which has al- 
 ways been known even to this day as- 
 'The Wharf.' an enduring reminder of 
 the navy yard in Charlotte. 7 , 
 
 "No large guns were cast' there,] 
 acording to the testimony of Capt 
 Aohton Ramsey, who now lives in 
 Baltimore and who has given us much 
 information on the subject. He told 
 of a large trip-hammer, which was 
 part of the machinery brought from 
 Norfolk and which was a great curi- 
 osity here. I well member Capt. Wilkes 
 taking me to see it work. With one 
 blow it flattened a mass of iron and 
 the next the pinderous mass came 
 down so gently as only to crack an 
 eg-g, placed under it. 
 
 "Many workmen came with the ma- 
 chinery from Norfolk and their fami- 
 lies are still with us. Some of -"the ; 
 names I recall: — ' 
 
 "B. N. Presscn, R. Culpepper, R. W. 
 Grimes, H. W. Tatum and many others 
 Other men of this vicinity entered the 
 yard, Martin Frazier, Thomas Roberts, 
 John Garibaldi, John Abernathy, John 
 Rigler and many more. 
 
 "When the navy became a thing of 
 the, past, many of these staunch and 
 good men entered Capt. Wilkes' serv- 
 ice in the Mecklenburg Iron Works, 
 where they remained until death, or 
 forty (40) years afterward. in7890$. . 
 infirmity terminated their labors forty 
 subject of great gratification to Capt. 
 Wilkes that his workmen were so 
 long in his service. Many of the above 
 list, as well as some excellent colored 
 men. v/ere with him until their death, 
 and no strikes of discontent ever dis- 
 turbed their cordial relations. 
 
 "One small gun was brought 
 from Norfolk and passed with other 
 material to the Mecklenburg Iron 
 Works. For many years it was used in 
 the celebrations and parades, but fear- 
 ing it might burst and injure some 
 one, Captain Wilkes ha4 it broken 
 up. 
 
 When Richmond was taken by the 
 Federal army Mrs. Jefferson Davis 
 and her family were in Charlotte, the 
 house on North Brevard street (north- 
 east corner) and East Fifth street, 
 having been rented for her use. When 
 the news reached here the authorities 
 prepared to remove the specie from 
 the treasury and other valuables sent 
 here for safe keeping. Mrs. Davis in- 
 
 sisted on accompanying the train with 
 her children and her niece. The men 
 at the navy yard were formed into i,. 
 company as marines, armed / ' and 
 equipped as well as could be and 
 ordered out to guard the treasure train. 
 Capt. Wri- Parker was in command. 
 Just before they left he brought his 
 old sword to me, asking me to keep 
 it for him, and it still hangs in my 
 hall. . 
 
 The train went by rail to Chester, 
 S. C, and then took up the march for 
 the West. Forty-two (42) wagons with 
 fifty-five (.^5) men on guard, carried 
 the specie. Mrs. Davis and family 
 and the government officials were in 
 carriages and on horseback. They 
 marched as far as Cokesville a village, 
 beyond Augusta, Ga., and then were 
 ordered back to Newberry. S. C, where 
 the iron-bound boxes of specie were 
 put in bank. It was a cold, rainy night 
 and Mr. W. S. Culpepper recalls with 
 pleasure a gracious act of Mrs. Davis. 
 .,He, a young fellow of 17 or 18 years, 
 was detailed as guard at the door of 
 a little church wlMfe her family was 
 spending the night.J^s. Davis came to 
 the door, bringing him a glass of wine, 
 saying he must be cold and wet, and 
 this was all she could do for him. 
 
 The next day the officials wanted to 
 pay off the 55 men of the guard with 
 pennies, but, remembering the weary 
 tramp back to Charlotte the men de- 
 clined the offer and nevei- received any 
 pay for their labor. i 
 
 A few days later, in April, 1865, Pres- 1 
 ident Davis and his cabinet came to 
 Charlotte and for a few days this 
 was the capital of the Confederate 
 States. One of the last declarations 
 and cabinet meeting was held iu 
 the building now occupied by the Char- 
 lotte Observer — then the bank, and 
 some of their last acts were sealed and 
 signed there. 
 
 I After the news of President Lincoln's 
 
 j assassination was received the govern- 
 
 ment broke u-p and the officers dispcrs- 
 
 • ed. President Davis set out to over- 
 
'take his family and the sequel is his- 
 toric. 
 
 The navy yard was abandoned and 
 when the Federal forces marched into 
 Charlotte, it Mas taken possession of 
 by the United States government as 
 was the mint and all the stores of the 
 Confederacy. i 
 
 Later, Captain Wilkes was permitted ' 
 to repurchase his own property (the. 
 Confederacy never having paid him for 
 Its use) at a reasonable rate. There 
 he established the Mecklenburg Iron; 
 Works which occupied the site for! 
 10^ years, from April, 1865 to April, I 
 1S75. The last > castings were made 
 there on the day of our big fire April 
 12th, 1875 
 
 (Signed) 
 
 JANE RENWICK WILKES. 
 
 March 1910. (Mrs. Jolin Wilkes.) 
 
 Mr. P. P. Zimmerman of the Meek- 1 
 lenburg Iron Works, a "life-time resi., 
 dent of Charlotte, and one of her mostf 
 honored citizens, gave Miss Alexander! 
 invaluable aid in her researches for 
 data and furnished her with the fol-| 
 lowing list of men who came to Char- 1 
 lotte with the removal of the naval 
 works from Norfolk. Mrs. Wilkes has 
 made mention of some of them and 
 paid a fine tribute to their sterling 
 worth and fine loyalty. The list of 
 names given by Mr. Zimmerman is as 
 follows : I 
 
 Ruben Culpepper. i 
 
 W. E. Culpepper. i 
 
 Henry W. Tatum. 
 
 Joshua Sykes. 
 
 Cornelius Myers. 
 
 William Myers. 
 
 William Myers. 
 
 Washington Bright. 
 
 Cope Smith. 
 
 Edward Lewis. 
 
 Isaac Sumner. 
 
 John Davis. 
 
 James Lloyd. 
 
 Clay Guy. ' 
 
 Augustus Tabb. 
 
 Andrew Hoffennagle. 
 
 James Recketts. i 
 
 George W. Thompson, sr. 
 
 Thomas Winfields. 
 
 Charles L. Walker. 
 
 Michael Holey. 
 
 George W. Gleason, jr. 
 
 Thomas Peed. 
 
 Willoughby Butt. 
 
 A. Ei'fwer. 
 T. J. Roake jr. 
 Robert Culpepper. 
 R. M. Grimes. 
 
 B. M. Presson. 
 Thomas Dwyer. 
 George Dougherty. 
 Jerry Nic'aolson. 
 Hugh Smith. 
 Henry Brown. 
 Henry Tucker, 
 Henry Goodwin. 
 Elias Guy. 
 Henry Tabb. 
 John Thomas. 
 John W. Owens. 
 Augustus Recketts. 
 George W. Thomas, jr 
 Columbus Walker. 
 Joshua Hopkins. 
 George W. Gleason, or. 
 James Peed. 
 
 .John Howards. 
 
 Marcellus Thurma. 
 
 G. J. Rooke, sr. 
 
 Unfortunately, it has been impos-. 
 sible to secure a complete roster of I 
 the men who came to Charlotte with' 
 the naval works, and who served | 
 here from 1862 to 1865 part of that 
 time as members of the three compa- 
 nies of marines. Mr. Zimmerman re- 1 
 calls the names of 51 men, all skilled! 
 workmen, who came to Charlotte from' 
 Norfolk in 1862. There were many! 
 others of whom we have no record, 
 who either died, returned to Norfolk 
 after the war, or moved elsewhere; 
 as We learn from Capt. H. Ashton Ram ' 
 sey that he was in command of three 
 (3) companies organized from the meni 
 of this navy yard. j 
 
 Capt. Wm. B. Taylor formerly city 
 tax collector, and one of Charlotte's' 
 best known veterans, a member of 
 the Mecklenburg Camp of Confederate 
 Veterans, tells us that Thomas Dwyer, 
 who came to Charlotte from Norfolk 
 with the navy yard men, invented a 
 machine for turning a [:erfect sphere, 
 a cannon ball or shell. It was the 
 first successful invention of its kind 
 and was used in the Charlotte navy 
 yard. This valuable invention was 
 confiscated by the United States gov-| 
 ernmeni and put into use in the Unit-j 
 ed States navy yards, no credit or' 
 remuneration ever being given to the 
 S outh'^rn Inventor. j 
 
e 
 
 CapCH. Ashton Ramsey was the offi. 
 cer in charge of the navy yard and Mr. 
 Peters was in charge of the naval 
 store located at the corner of East 
 Trade street and South College street, 
 convenient to the navy yard. Captain 
 Richard L. Page was the commandant 
 in charge of the entire station, with his 
 official residence at the United States 
 mint, on W^t Trade street, the latter, 
 building having been seized by the 
 Confederate forces and was heldhy| 
 them until the and of the war. Here 
 resid-ed with Captain Page his neice,' 
 Miss Edmonia Neilsou who is still i 
 living, at present a resident of Norfolk.' 
 Miss Alexander had much correspond-, 
 ence with Miss Neilson regarding her' 
 residence in Charlotte, and she recall- 
 ed those stormy days most distinctly, 
 and gave many interesting and'fexcit- 
 ing episodes. She is indebted to iMss 
 Neilson for the fololwing valuable quo- 
 tation from "The Confederate States 
 Naval History," by Prof. J. Thomas 
 Scharf, A. M., L. L. D., who says: 
 
 "General Page entered the United 
 States navy as a midshipman in 1824. 
 He served the United States ' navy 
 until 1861, then a Virginian by birth, 
 he. cast his lot with the Confederacy, 
 arid entered the Confederate States 
 navy, June 10th, 1S61, with commission 
 ;jpf commander, acting as ordnance offi- 
 iier of the Norfolk navy yard until the 
 evacuation of that place by the Con- 
 federates. After the evacuation ' of 
 Norfolk Commander Page was promot- 
 ed to the rank of captain, and with 
 ;;the machinery and men removed from 
 the' Norfolk' sbops, established the 
 ordnance and construction depot at 
 Charlotte, N. C, which, under his ad- 
 ministration became of inestimable val 
 ue to the Confederacy." 
 
 Miss Alexander has in her possession 
 a wooden anchor and also a wooden 
 cup, which were turned in the wood- 
 working department of Charlotte navy 
 yard and presented by Captain Page 
 to her aunt Miss M. Sophie Alexau 
 der, on one occasion when he was 
 showing a party of ladies through thu 
 navy yard. The naval officers station- 
 ed in in Charlotte from 1862-1865 were 
 highly educated and cultured men and 
 i they, Nvith their families, received 
 ' much social attention from the resi- 
 (ients of the town. 
 
 The present owners ' of this historic 
 naval site, the S. A. L. railroad' .\Ver'-; 
 ccmmunicated with and permission 
 was asked by the Stonewall Jackson 
 Chapter, U. D. C. to place the marker. 
 The following reply was received: 
 
 "I have no objection to the Stone- 
 wall Jackson Chapter, U. D. C. erect- 
 ing an iron tablet either at our freight 
 depot building, at Charlotte, N. C. or 
 in the yard near, the siilewlak referred 
 to in your letter, the understanding be- 
 ing that should the property ever pass 
 cut of the hands of the Seaboard Air 
 Line railway, that your chapter have 
 the privilege of removing the marker, 
 if so desired. 
 
 "Before putting it i:p I would sug- 
 gest that you tak^ the matter up with 
 our Charlotte agent, Mr. W. S. Bradley. 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 (Signed) "C. H. HIX, 
 
 "V.-P. & G. M:, S. A. L. Ry. 
 ''Portsmouth, Va. March 24, 1910." 
 
 Mr. W. S. Bradley, Charlotte agent 
 of the S. A. L. railway, kindly ac- 
 fjuiesced and assisted ihe U. D. C. in 
 ;ocating the marker on the northwest 
 Lorner of the large brick building of 
 the S. A. L, freight depot, facing East 
 Trade street. It is frequently visited 
 by strangers in our city who for the 
 first time have heard of the Charlotte 
 navy yard — thus the marker is serv- 
 ing its purpose of preserving history 
 and instructing our youth and visi- 
 tors in the remarkable fact, which is 
 strangely unique_ that our inland 
 •Queen City'' had a navy yard from 
 1862-1865. 
 
 Compiled and written by 
 
 » VIOLET G. ALEXANDER. 
 Charlotte, N. C, June 3, 1910.