■f i r r J i im..... ■ 'lii ilUiiii '«. iii: iii '■ r, ^ ttRHI^nBBulIn 1 \^V/^'V^^'\<^ ^<^ % ^a6< 0^ ■.^^^. ■>^ - / '< ^ .: -^^^0^ .^5 q^. "^-..^^ /^- \^^//-- V ,.-, .. %„ .^^' ' '-^^ "^-..^^ \ s^ ^ "^^0^ 1 2 ,4" -• :|vi ' Uf^ '■mm/ >^-^^ /^^r JUL^C,<^ GRA/NDFATHER'S TALES OF f^ORTH CAROLINA HISTORY BY RICHARD BEMDURT CREECT Look abroad throughout the land and see North Carolina's sons contending manfully for the Dalm of honor and distinction. —Gaxton. / RALEIGH Howards & BROf<;nTON, I'rinters I 9 O I (l^\' LIBRARY of CONGRESS Two Copies Received AUti 18 1904 Oooyrleht Entry CLASS a, XXe. No. COPY b' TO THE YOUTH OF NORTH CAROLINA I DEDICATE THIS VOLUME, WITH THE EARNEST HOPE THAT THEV WILL LEARN FROM ITS PAGES SOME LESSONS OF PATRIOTISM, AND WILL BE STRENGTHENED IN THEIR LOVE FOR THEIR NATIVE STATE BY THESE MEMORIALS OF THE PAST THAT I HAVE SOUGHT TO PERPETUATE FOR THEIR BENEFIT. THE ACTHOR. Copyrighted 1901, by R. B Cref.cy. ^9/ PREFACE. Gka.xdfather'.s Tales of North Carolina History was an inspiration of State love, and was at first- intended for tlie i)rivate instruction of my children and grandchil- dren. Its preparation was eonnnenced ten years ago, as a lal)or of love, in the leisure time taken from my regular editorial ^vork. As the work progressed we occasionally pul)lished specimen chapters of the work in order to ascer- tain wliother it met the public approval. It seemed to '' do .s(j, and some of our friends expressed their approval in gratifying terms of commendation. Then we thought it might be a useful offering to the public and to our schools and perhaps give a new stimulus to the State love of the rising generation and cause them to know more of their illustrious progenitors, and to emulate their virtues and their patriotic deeds. One boulder was in our pathway. It costs labor to pre- pare a book for publication. But avo were raised to hard work and ^vere never afraid of it. But, in addition (o that, tliei-e's much expense in money in getting a book be- fore the public, and we never had the gift of money-get- ting and we were largely gifted with the talent for getting rid of it, which talent, we honestly confess, we have never "liid in a napkin," but cultivated assiduously by constant practice — that is to say, when w(^ had it to get rid of. However, we have never been an Elijah that the ravens had to feed. So we looked around to accomplish by our wits what our purse refused to do. IV PREFACE. Judge Clark is tlic liead of the '"Literary and Ilistorieul Association of Xm-tli Carolina," a man of literary in- stincts, and beinii a younu- man himself, we thought he would naturally he liel])fnl to a young man who was knock- ing for admission into the gnild <>f letters, lie responded kindly and gracinnsly, anil nndri' liis dirccl ion we sent In to the nexl nuH'ting of ilic Assm-iation spiH-iniens of our work, re ])resenting its leading fcatni'es — historical, bio- graphicah legenihi ry and poetical — to l)e examined by the Association. 'Ilicy were referred to a committee of which Professor lliJl, of tlic A. and ]\r. C\)llege, was chairmar. The committee reported favoralily au- ment, avouM he inlro(luce a resolution in the ]>egislaturG ])le<1ging tlie State to take a certain uunil>ei' of copies o^ the work Avheii pnhlished and to endorse it for use in th-3 ])nhlic schools oi' North ('ai'cdina, and we, at tlic same time. requ(st(Ml Trof(\ssor Hill to hand over the manu- scripts to dndge ('onuoi', after he liail tinished witli them, which he did. On the last da\- id' the regular session of the Legislature Judge Connor introduced a resolution in the House, en- dorsing the book, recomiueuding its use in the schools of the State and ai»pi-opriatin<: two hnndred dollars ($200) to aid in its puhlication, and the resoliuion was unani- mously- and ininiediattdy passed, hoih parlio uniting in PRPZFACE. V its passage. Then we breathed easier, deeper, longe:-, broader, and every inspiration was a joy. Thanking- my friends for the kind words of enconrage- ment and the assistance tbey have given me in the prepa- ration of this work, and trusting that it may meet the approval of ray countrymen, I bid them an affectionate adieu. li. B. Creecv. Elizabeth City, N. C. Oct. 12. litOl. TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE. Ode 1 Sir Walter Raleigh 6 The Lost Colony is Beginning of a Nation _ . 1 '2 Legend of the W hite Doe 15 Legend of Batz's Grave .. 19 An Unsettled Question 22 George Durant and King Kilcokannan 24 The Story of William Drummond 27 Our Parliamentary (Jenesis ;51 Culpepper's Rebellion 33 The Edenton Tea Party 35 ^ John Harvey 10 The Resolutions of St Paul's Vestry 43 The Regulators 45 The Tusrarora Mas.sacre 47 Tiie Huguenot Blood in North Carolina 49 The Scotch-Irish Element in our History 52 Tom Browns Dog Tilden 54 Teach and Potter, Carolina's Outlaws 57 Old-time Hazing at the University 61 The Old-time Quaker - H4 Thomas Hart Benton 67 Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence 69 The Stanij) Party in Wilmington 72 Jimmy Sutton and Admiral Cockburn 77 Battle of Guilford Court House 79 John Stanly 82 Gaston at the University .. . - 84 The Last of the Romans.. --- 88 Betsy Dowdy's Ride - - - 9o What I Know About " Shocco " Jones 96 Gov John M. Morehead 101 An Evening with Gaston... 104 Interesting North Carolina History 114 TABLE OF CONTENTS. Vll PAGE. Pasquotank River - . 1 16 Gaston in the Convention of 1835 . . . 119 Gavin Hogg . - - 133 James Allen 1 25 Ethnology 127 The Convention of 1835 - 130 Joseph B Skinner 132 Judge R R. Heath 136 Gen. William Gregory 138 Anecdotes of Mr. Badger 1 42 The Pen and the Sword 146 The Giants of 1840 148 The Death of William Ga'^ton 152 Mammy Ellen . 154 Henry W. Miller 157 Judge Thomas Ruffin .. .. . 161 A Monster Snake 1 63 Battle of Moore"s Creek Bridge 1 66 The Banker Pony Ifii) Dare County . 1 72 Nags Head.. .. 174 Governor Swain . 17N Iredell, Shepard. Rayner. Smith. Shaw 182 W. W. Cherry 186 The Ministers of God U)() Union League and Ku-Klux Klan 194 Western Scenery 197 Gen. J . Johnston Pettigrew 200 Recollections of Thomas S. Ashe 208 University Reminiscences 211 Death of Dr Elislia Mitchell 213 Among the Carolina Writers 218 The Bombardment 222 Gov. William A Graiiam ,. . 225 The Mountain Grandeur of Western Carolina... 228 Flora McDonald 030 The Black Flag 234 Remnants of Lo.. . . .. .... 237 A Dread Time 239 The King of Birds and the Bravest of Beasts 242 Vlll TABLE OF CONTENTS. ^ PAGE. Gen. James Martin _ 244 Charles R. Kinney. - 246 Mrs. Rachael Caldwell 2ry2 He Loved Everything in the State 2.55 The Bureau Rule in 186G... 260 The Capture of the Maple Leaf 264 Humors of the Maple Leaf 266 William S Ashe 268 The Charge at Gettysburg . . 271 Mrs. Willie Jones 273 Raleigh 277 Among Currituck Ducks and Duckers 283 The Battle of Sawyer's Lane 286 Col. William L. Saunders 289 Winston-Salem 291 The Invasion of the Carpet-bagger 295 James C. Dobbin 297 The New Century. 300 GRANDFATHER'S TaLES, CAROLINA, THE MOTHER OF THE STATES. (AN IRREGULAR HISTORICAL ODE ) At the gateway of our history, Stands one whose fame is ours, A gallant man and noble, our father and our son ; ''A man to note right well, as one Who shot his arrows straightway at the sun. His was all the Norman's polish And sobriety of grace, All the Goth's majestic figure, All the Roman's noble face, And he stood the tall exemplar Of a grand, historic race." His fame is ours. This foster-child of fame. Who made his Queen and country His brightest, noblest aim. Who dare challenge our heritage Of Walter Raleigh's name ! His fame is ours. As he rides with knightly bearing Down the corridors of time We bow in homage to his name And claim him as our own. We weep at his misfortunes, We rejoice at his renown, And at his final ghastly doom. We place our green forget-me-not In sorrow on his tomb. As I look back through the vista Of three hundred years ago, grandfather's tales. !My heart is swelled with varying tides — Alternate joy and woe — I pause in thought and sadness at those immortal men Who perished at Koanoke ; hut how, or where, or when, Will ne'er be known while time endures to any mortal men, 'Till that great day when all shall see the secrets of the past. But this sad thought comes to cheer us, In this far-distant time — If round the brow of any land We twine the cypress leaf. It is lovely in its sadness With its coronet of grief. So, cheer up, Carolinians ! The seed, watered by your tears. Has grown to mighty greatness In all the coming years. But as I search again our ample store Of vast and misty legendary lore, And view its scenes and sights with pleasure rife, I find the old kaleidoscope of life. The thorns and rosebuds nestling side by side, The bane and antidote of life allied ; As, of ttime at the fall of some sad tear, There stands a smile to comfort and to cheer. And so the fountain of our grand old State Was not all bitter Avaters, At that time of ancient date. The purple grape, the perfume-laden air. The weird music from the mockbird's note. The willet's whistle and the gulFs wild scream Wra])pcd all their senses in a soothing dream When first they anchored in old Occam's stream. After God, theFather, Came their country and its Queen ; Then the pageant of possession. CAROLINA, THE MOTHER OF THE STATES. 3 A grand and gorgeous scene. The shout, the drum, the cannon's roar Resound from shore to shore, And witli the loud acclaim Was mingled oft the virgin Queen and great Sir Walter's name. They called the land Virginia, Through its limitless domain, From sea to sea, from jS^orth to South, From mountain top to plain. Thev builded, the.y planted, They reared a sightly town ; They named it after Raleigh, That man of high renown. They built a fort, they worshipped, They raised altars to our God. All this, and more, was done On Carolina's sod. By the law of cause and sequence. By the ordering of the Fates, C%irolina was the first-born And the mother of the States. Virginia was her first name. Her baptismal name at l)irtli. But at her confirmation And renewal of her vow, Carolina, Carolina, became her name as now. By the fiat of Omnipotence, ]S^o word or action dies, But, borne up by angels To the chancery of the skies, The recording angel. In his justice-seat on high. Records it and files it, And with a smile or sigh, 'Till that creat dav and dread grandfather's tales. When earth and sea deliver np Their living and their dead. ISTo word or action dies, 'Tis filed away in heaven, Perennial on earth, And goes on reproducing, From the moment of its birth. The acorn which was j^lanted And produced Columbia's oak. Was the acorn that was planted On the island of Roanoke. That oak, now grown to giant height, Which shadows all our land, Was from tlie acorn planted By Sir Walter Raleigh's hand. That oak that's now a giant. And of all men known and spoken, Was planted first and nourished. On the island of Wokoken. Jamestown was its first fruit, And John Smith's fame and glory Was but the early sequel Of Roanoke's saddened story. And pretty Pocahontas, Witli her romance all aglow. Is but the reproduction Of kind old Manteo. But why drop the name Virginia And give it to another ? It was the sweet baptismal name Of our dear old mother ; Her's by right of first discovery, Her's by the loud acclaim, Her's by the primal title. When tliat battle flag unfurled Proclaimed the land Virginia, CAROLINA, THE MOTHER OF THE STATES. And challenged all the world To dispute it, face to face, As the rightful, just possession Of the Anglo-Saxon race. Why drop the name Virginia And tal<:e another name ? 'Tis the same old tender tale. The old maternal love, The same, That weeps when others smile, And pours out tears like water At tJie happy bridal Of her first-born lovely daughter. It was in part her bridal dowry She gave young Virginia with, When with heart and hand united. She married Captain Smith. Virginia grew to greatness, She bore her mother's name , Who, true to all her children, Speaks no word of blame ; But sometimes with maternal pride She whispers, soft and tame, Virginia has no fault. If fault it be. But avarice of fame. But avarice, my daughter, Becomes a noxious weed When you feed on other's laurels In your avaricious greed. So lift up your heads, my countrymen. And with uncovered brow, Before the great Eternal One, Make tliis your sacred vow, "Carolina, Carolina, heaven's blessings attend her ! While wo live wo will clicrish, protect and defend her." GRANDFATHER S TALES. SIR WALTER RALEIGH. At the gateway of our history stands Walter Raleigh's name, A gem of purest lustre in our coronet of fame If you were asked the question, which one of the Uni- ted States you loved best, you would say North Carolina. You would say so because it is the home of your parents, and of your forefathers since it was first settled, and be- cause their graves are here. North Carolina is sometimes called the ''Old North State," because it was the first settled of the Carolinas, and when a part of it was taken off for convenience, that part was called South Carolina, and the old part was called North Carolina, or the ''Old North State." During the late unhappy war between the States it was sometimes called the ''Tar-heel State," because tar was made in the State, and because in battle the soldiers of North Carolina stuck to their bloodv work as if they had tar on their heels, and when General Lee said, "God bless the Tar-heel boys," they took the name. You all know something about the State; but I know you would like to know more about it, and I will try to let you know more, if you will keep still and listen to the tales I will tell you about it. The first public man whose name is connected with North Carolina history is Sir Walter Raleigh. He was an English nobleman, and hi-i life is full of interest. He lived about three hundred years ago, in the most famous period of English history, and he was the foremost man of his time. As a writer, he was the companion of Shake- speare. As a soldier, he was the companion of Howard. As a statesman, he was the companion of Bacon. As an adviser, he was the nearest to Queen Elizabeth's distin- guished company. Do you know what gave Raleigh his start in the world when he was a young man ? It was simply a little piece of politeness. He was passing down a street in London dressed in a SIR WALTER RALEIGH. SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 7 stylish scarlet cloak. The Queen, with her attendants, was walking down the same street, and when near Raleigh she stopped at a niuddj^ place in her way. Raleigh ran up, took off his scarlet cloak and threw it over the mud for the Queen to walk on. This act of politeness made him a great favorite with the Queen, and she bestowed many favors upon him. Among other favors, she gave him the right to make dis- coveries in America, and gave him the lands which he might discover which were not owned by Christian people. Raleigh sent out persons to explore the country. The land they first discovered was Roanoke Island, and they examined the country on the waters of Albemarle and Pamplico Sounds. The world is full of changes for the better and for the worse, and after Queen Elizabeth's death the good for- tune of Raleigh changed for the worse. James I, King of England, succeeded Elizabeth. He was weak-minded, credulous, and easily influenced. The flatterers that were around him did not like Raleigh be- cause he had been the favorite of the late Queen, and they determined that he shoidd not be the favorite of King James. They brought accusations against Raleigh. They made the King believe that he was not faithful to his King and country. Raleigh had been engaged in war with Spain, and they made the King believe that he loved Spain more than England, and that he had betrayed his country. King James believed these charges, and Sir Walter Raleigh was arrested, im]irisoned for twelve years, tried for treason and condemned to be beheaded, which was done in the year 1618. The judge Avas a corrupt tool of the King, and used his office against Raleigh. He died as he lived, a brave, faithful, Cliristian man, and his memory is dear to ]^orth Caroliim and to the Entism of "Lord of Koanoke." One so distinguished by title and by baptism surely awa- kened curiosity at the court of Elizabeth, to which he was carried on the return voyage of some of the colonists, and that public curiosity must have placed his face on the artist's canvas. It may yet be found. The drawings of White were unknown for nearly three hundred years. The map executed bv White has adopted the names of some localities wdiich have come down to our time. "Roanoke" is evidently our Roanoke Island, as appears from the name and the location. "Chawanoke" is evidentlv intended for our Chowan, from its location on the map high up the broad waters. "Pasquotac," lower down on the map, naist be intended for our corrupt spelling of Fas- (luotnnk. "Platlrask" is our Hatteras, "Wococon" would be our Wiccakon Creek, of Hertford County, but its local- ity in the sounds below Roanoke Island would not seem to indicate it. "Croatan" preserves its name and locality through all time. "Weapomeoc," from its locality, miglit be Yeopim, with some reach of the imagination. "Etar- retoac" and "]Srausa2;oe" and "Menteo" and "Paquippe" and "Raguiac," and some others, are prominent names on Wliite's map which have faded from the memories of men. The ma]i of White is profusely illustrated with the tinny monsters of the deep. Whales, and porpoise, and sharks, and devil-fish, and flying-fish abound. But the most curious of the drawings of White is the mode of sepulture of the magnate savages, chiefs of the tribe and dignitaries of the land. In his own description it is: "The tombe of ther Cherounes or chiefe personages. 14 grandfather's tales. their flesh clene taken of from the bones save the skjnn and heare of theirc heads, which flesh is dried and enfolded in matts Lnid at tlicire feete, their bones also being made dry ar covered with deare skins not altering- their formie or pro])ortion. With tlieire Kywash, wliich is an Image of woode keeping the deade." The descriptive drawing of the Indian mode of dis- posing of their dead, is altogether singular to ns. After arranii'ing the bodies as mentioned by White, they are placed under a canopy with their heads downward and their feet confined in mats and a wood idol placed beside them, as if in protection of the sacred deposit. The conjurer, as drawn by White, an oflicial chiu-acter anion"' lhe Indians of Roanoke Island, is a grotesque looking fellow, a dancinc:, gay, pantomimic character, altogether out of keeping with our conceptions of the grav- ity of one who deals with the mysterious and the super- natural. The conjurer, as drawn by Wliite, must have placed or broken the spell of coujui'atioii bv the aid of rhe terpsicliorean art. The priest and the doctor, the medicine man and the minister in holy offices among the Indians of the Island, as drawn bv White, is a different looking character from the lively conjurer, although their offices were kindred. His dress resembles the Roman toga, a tunic extending below the tliijihs. Grave, demure, serious, and solemn-looking, he evidentb- was fully impressed with, or affected to be impressed with, the importance of his solemn oflice. He was evidently a man of sorrows and acnuainted with grief, aud the transports of beatitude did not entci- into hi'=; concei)tions of tlie dark, mysterious unknown. Wyngino's wife, tlie King of the tribe, or oue of them, for polygamy was part of the Mormonatic faith of the Indians of Roanoke, as drawn by White, is attired in short tights that stop above the knee. She is a comely- lookiug maiden and was drawn by White, with arms folded over her shoulders, with calves crossed, with head and arms ornamented with jewels of bead work, probably obtained LEGEND OF THE WHITE DOE. 15 from the colonists, and, from appearance, is not nnadapted to awaken the King's love. The village of Secotan, which was on the Island, we believe, is also drawn by White. The houses are not the wigwams of our youthful conception, but are built in sim- ple stvle, all alike, resemljling somewhat the round -top, huge tobacco wagons of Granville County, some nestling in shade, some out, some located in pairs, some without ref- erence to order or design, not laid off in streets, built irreg- ularly. To give artistic effect, we suppose, White, in his drawing of the village Secotan, scatters Indians about, generally groupina: in pairs, one with the emblematic bow and arrow, some around a camp fire. The houses are without chimneys or smoke valves, Init seem to have abun- dant ventilation. This was the Roanoke Island of the aborigines. Men of Roanoke, you have a goodly heritage and tread consecrated ground. You are at the fountain of a great stream that has gone on widening and deepening until it has become the master work of the great Anglo-Saxon race, a race be- yond compare among the sons of men, a race without whose record the history of the world would be incomplete. LEGEND OF THE WHITE DOE. Across the twilight of the ages past A spectral figure moves vague, undefined : And where it goes a shade comes o'er the mind. As 't were some picture overcast In the earlv wart of the seventeenth century, that is, about the year 1615, or 1620, the Indian hunters who lived on Roanoke Island were greatly excited by seeing a milk-white doe among the herd of deer that were then commonly found on the island. It attracted the attention of the hunters because it was 1 6 grandfather's tales. the most beautiful one of all the herd, because it was the fleetest, and because the most skilful marksmen had never been able to kill it Avith an arrow. Okisco, a noted hunter, Avlio lived among the Chawanooke tribe, was sent for, and he drew his bow upon the beautiful white doe, but he never could do her harm. She came to be well known to the Indian hunters of Roanoke Island, and was often found on the situation of the old city of Raleigh, apart from the herd of deer, with her sad face toward the east. Again and again she was hunted, but all the arrows aimed at her life fell harmless beside her. She bounded over the sand-hills with the swiftness of the winds and always turned in the direction of Croatan. Huntine' parties of Indians were made ud to entrap lier by stationing themselves along the tracks of her flight, ^\■hich had become known to the hunters by liei" always lak- ing the same course. But all their efforts were without avail. The swift white doe seemed to have a charmed life, or to be under the protection of some Divine power. Everyone now talked of the white doe, and everyone had liis own opinion about her. The braves, the squaws, and tlie papooses talked of the milk-white doe. Some had fears of evil from the strange aDParition. Some thought she was the omen of good, and some thought it was the spirit of some sad departed. Sometimes she would be seen on the high grounds of Croatan, sometimes in the swamps of Durant's Island, sometimes upon the Cranberry bogs of East Lake, often on Roanoke Island near Raleigh City, and sometimes, tliough rarely, on the sands of Kill Devil Hills ; sometimes alone, always sad and beautiful. The news of the white doe spread far and wide, and old Winc'ina determined to call a council of chiefs to determine what to do. 'Okisco, chief of the Chawanookes ; Kuskatenew and Ivil- kokanwan, of the Yeopoms, and others, attended tlie coun- cil. They all came with their attendants, all armed with LEGEND OF THE WHITE DOE. 17 llieir war weapons, the bow and arroAv. They determined to liave a gTand hunt in the early Indian summer time, and without delay. In November, when the leaves had fallen and the earth was carpeted with its brown and russet, cov- ering of forest leaves, all the friendly eliiefs came to Roan- oke Island to join the fierce Wingina in his appointed hunt i for the milk-white doe, and each with his chosen weapon ' of the chase. ; The cliiefs, after their feast, prepared by the wife of , Wingina, agreed that they should station themselves along ' the course of the white doe when pursued by the hunters, j and either exhaust her in the chase, or slay her with their deadly arrows. Wingina, the most powerful of all, took I his place at Raleigh ( 'ity, where the doe always passed and always stopped. Old Granganimeo, the brother of Wingina, took his stand at Croatan Sound, where she crossed to Roanoke Island. Okisco took his stand upon the goodly land of Pomonik, in the low grounds of Durant's Island. Kind old Manteo went up into the shaky land Wocokon, among the prairies and cranberry liogs of East Lake. Minatonon, the fierce chief who made his home at Se- quaton, took his stand at Jockey's Ridge, by the sea, in the land of the Coristooks. Wanchese took his stand at Kill Devil, in the country of Secotan. They had all l)rought with them their best bows and arrows, and also their chosen archers. But the bow of Wanchese differed from the others. When, long ago, he had gone over the sea to England, the great Qnoen had given him an arrow-head made of solid silver, like the stone arrows-head that Amadas carried to Sir Walter Ral- eigh with his other Indian curiosities. It was made by her most expert workers in silver, and she told him it would kill the bearer of a cliarmed life that no other arrow could wound. Wanchese carried this with his other weapons, and determined to test its power upon the swift white doe. i8 grandfather'vS tales. Manteo started the doe in the shaky land of Wocokon. She started nnharmed at the twang of the bow-string. She sped Avith the swiftness of the north wind's breath. Through the tangle wood of Wocokon, through the bogs* and mo- rasses of Pomonik, across the highlands of Croatan, on, on, she went, and the twang of the bowstring was the harm- less music of her flying bounds. She plunged into the billows of Croatan Sound. She reached the sand hills of Roanoke, leaving the Indian hunters far behind her. As she came to the island, old Granganimeo drew his bo"w and sped his harmless arrow. She stood upon the top of the old fort at Raleigh City, snifl^ed the breeze and looked sadly over the sea. Wingina carefully and steadily drew upon her panting side the deadly arrow. All in vain. She bounded into Roanoke Sound and across to the sea. Mena- tonon was at Jockey's Ridge, but his' arrow, too, was harm- less. The panting while doe found time at the Fresh Poiids to slake her thirst, and then, turning to the sea that she seemed to love with an unnatural affection, sped onward, until she reached the steep hills of Kill Devil. There, alas ! was her doom. Wanchese, taking aim with his silver arrow, aimed at her heart, let fly the fated bowstring, and the sad and beautiful milk-white doe sprang into die air with the fatal arrow in her heart, and fell to the ground. Wanchese ran to the spot and found the victim writhing in the death agonv. She lifted lier dying, soft eyes to the red man and uttered her last sound, "Virginia Dare." Under her throat the w^ords "Virginia Dare" were plainly pencilled in dark hair, and on her back was pencilled in brown hair the name "Croatan." LEGEND OF BATz's GRAVE. 19 LEGEND OF BATZ'S GRAVE. i^EAE Drunimond's Point, on the upper waters of Al- bemarle Sound, lies a solitary island, now uninhabited, once the home where the goat browsed and the gull built its nest and defied the storm with its discordant scream. Its name is "Batz's Grave." Within living memory no man has dwelt thereon, but, within living memory it was the roost of myriads of migratory gulls, who held undisturbed possession of their island home. There is a legend about that desert island that furnishes food for the contemplative, a legend of love and sadness, a legend of Jesse Batz and Kickowanna, a beautiful maid- en of the Ohowanoke tribe of Indians. Batz was a hunter and trapper on the upper waters of Albemarle Sound, and was one of the earliest settlers that made a home in that paradise of the Indian hunter, where the wild game alone disputed his supremacy. Jesse Batz made his temporary home on the island that the Indians sometimes visited and called Kalola, from the innumerable flocks of sea-gulls that disturbed its soli- tude. Batz was friendly, ^and sometimes joined the In- dians in their hunting parties. He was young, comely and athletic. He became familiar to the Indians in their wigwams and the chase. There was one who was the light of the wigwam of the Chowanokes — who sometimes looked at Jesse Batz with the love-light in her eye— the pretty, nut-brown Kicko- wanna. Her eye was as a sloe, and her long and glossy hair was as a raven's wing. Her step was agile and graceful as the "down that rides upon the breeze." While Batz, the hunter, let flv the bowstring that brought down the antlered stag of the forest, a better archer aimed at Jesse's heart the fatal arrow, and he, too, fell, a victim of Cupid's unerring aim. The insidious poison rankled in his veins. H© was a changed man in everv look and tissue of his being. The chase had lost its charm. His 20 grandfather's tales. eye would droop when Kiekowanna came. She was dfiugh- ter of the old King of the Chowanokes, Kilkanoo, the jewel of his eye. Kiekowanna was a Peri of beauty. Famed she was "throughout the land. The great Pamunky chief of the Chasamonpeak tribes to the north had sought her hand, and had offered alliance to Kilkanoo, chief of the Chowanokes, but his suit was rejected and he sought to obtain by violence what he could not by courtly supplica- tion. War raged for a time between Pamunky and Kil- kanoo. Batz fought with the Chowanokes. His valor, his strategv and his success were conspicuous. He led the Indian braves. In a hand-to-hand personal encounter with Pamunky he clove him down with his claymore, and in the fierce grapple would have brained him with his In- dian club, but the prostrate Pamunky sued for mercy. Batz's ire softened, and he gave him liis life. For Batz's deeds of bravery Kilkanoo adopted him as a member of the Chowanoke tribe, under the adopted name of Secotan, Avhich, interpreted, is— "The Great White Fade." Batz orew in favor and influence with the Chowanokes. He was always present at their councils, at their harvest dances, their war dances, and when they smoked the calumet he was given the biggest pipe of peace. Batz be<'ame an adopted Indian of the Chowanoke tribe. He adopted the Indian dress and customs. Th.e pretty Indian . maiden, Kiekowanna, whom he loved, and by whom he was loved, with winning words of love distilled into his willing ears the siren voice of ambition, and whispered low that when her father, Kilkanoo, should be beckoned up to the "happy himtmg orounds," he would be his chosen successor, King of the warlike Chowanokes. Batz and Kiekowanna lived and loved together. She pencilled his eyel^rows with the Ver- million of the cochukee root. She put golden rings in iiis nose and ears. She wound long strings of priceless pearls around his neck. Slie put the moccasin shoes and lea-uins around his feet and "limbs. She folded his auburn locks in fantastic folds around the top of his head, and decked LEGEND OF BATZ'S GRAVE. 21 it witli tilt' eagle's feather, emblematic of his rank and station. And then she gave him the calnmet of peace and lo^e. And while he smoked the calnmet of peace and hapniness, eve met eye responsive in language known alone to love. He then looked the big Indian indeed, and the dream of love ei]Comi)assed them. While this dreamy delirium prevailed the stream of love ran on in its varying smooth and turbulent current. Batz, now a recognized power with the Chowanokes, made fre- ouent visits to his old island home, sometimes prolonged. While there in his solitude, the waves and the sea-gulls sane a lullaby to his weird fancies. The beauteous Indian maiden sometimes came from her home at the upper broad waters, and her visits were love's own paradise. She came from the opuosite shore of the mainland, pad- dling her liiiht canoe. Xo season knew her coming. Sometimes in the silent watches of the night, sometimes in the glare of middav. Always alone. Always aglow with love. And when she came it was love's high pas- time. The scream of the white gull was the chant of love. The ]nonotone of the waves was the lullaby of love. Tlvj sighing of the winds as they swept through the pendant mosses Avas a sigh of love, the very solitude and silence of the forest was love's chosen temple, and every nook and recess was a shrine. One night, alas ! it was a night of destiny ! the Indian maiden came, as was her wont. The angry clouds looked down, tlie storm raged, every scream of every sea-bird betokened danger niiih. The wind blew as 'twas its last, the lightnino' flashed, thunder pealed and the welkin rang wnth the echoes of the l^last. But love defies danger, and the pretty Indian maiden pushed through the storm to the lone island with the roar of thunder for her watery funeral requiem. Batz never left the island more. He remained there till he died, a broken-hearted man, sliattered in mind and body, and he rests there in his final rest till the resurrection note calls him to meet his loved ivickowanna. 22 GRANDFATHER S TALES. AN UNSETTLED QUESTION. A LIFE OX THE OCEAN WAVE. Many events in history derive tlieir public interest from their antiquity. Some from their intrinsic importance, some from the fact that it was a matter in dispute, and men are naturally attracted to any matter of contention or conflict, from the clash of arms in battle array to a common dog fight in which Tige gnaws oif the ears of Lion in a rough-and-tumble fight. The question of where Amadas and Barlowe first landed on the coast of North Carolina, arid through what inlet on our sand-barred coast they came to Roanoke Island, is now a controverted question that antiquarians have failed to satisfactorily settle. It is of no practical importance. It interests only a few old fossils as it interested a few of tlie old departed, like Dr. Frank Plawks, of sainted mem- orv, and John IT. Wheeler, likewise sainted. But yet it interests these old men, and the younger generation are toler;int of them, and from a spirit of charity and kind- ness turn from the practical athletic tilts of life to listen to these speculations, which are of as much practical im- portance as the mediawal angry disputes as to the differ- ence between "tweedledum and Iweedledee." Nevertheless, we are in the fight, and we will venture a few surha]>s, may show ns that "all thino'S work togethfr for 2:ood." Perhaps not. But wait. The close of Dnimmond's life was an nnhappy one. His death was a cruel one. He met death with a hero's courace, without a word of supplication or complaint. TTe died for popular liherty. He fell in an uprisinc: for freedom. He shed his blood a2;ainst tyranny. He died an ignominious death at the hands of a tyrant. Tt is an honor to Morth Carolina and to the Albemarle country that her first Governor died a martyr in the cause of the people. His name^ — the name of William Hrum- mond, the first Governor of ISTorth Carolina — should have a warm place in the hearts of his coimtrymen. Would vou like to know liow and why he came to die? Listen. William Drummond was a citizen of the colony of Vir- ginia when he was appointed Governor of N^orth Carolina. When he came into the Albemarle country to be Gov- ernor of the colony, T think he settled about Edenton or in Durant's ^eck. T think so, because the Chowanook In- dians had a considerable settlement Avhere Edenton now stands. Or he may have settled in Durant.'s Ts'eck, wliere the Yeopim Indians lived, because most of the earlv white set- tlers came to Perquimans County, in Durant's >Teck. Governor Drummond was visitino; his old home in Viririnia, and while there he found the people of Viro-inia in arms ag'ainst the a'overnment. It was an armed rebellion aixainst the authority of Gov- ernor Berkley, of Yiro-inia. Berkley was a harsh, rouuh man of uuu-overned tem- per. He was an i2:norant man himself, and wanted the peo]ile under him to be more iijnoraut than he was. He des]>ised education, and in one <^f his public papers said he did not want a school or a priutino- press in Virginia. If you were not too polite -au^ i-efiued to use tlie word, vou would sav he was a "fool." THE STORY OF WILLIAM DRUMMOND. 29 When Druinniond went to Virginia the people were vio- lent against Berkley. The leader in opposition to him was a yonng lawyer named IS^icholas Bacon. Bacon was a good speaker and a popular man. He in- flamed the passions of the people. He denounced Berk- lev as a corrnpt despot. He drew his own sword and called npon the people to drive Berkley from power, Many of the people took sides with him. Drnmmond, with his liot Scotch blood, was fresh from a peo]de who loved liberty, and had left Virginia for the freedom of the Albemarle country. He natnrallv took sides with Bacon and the people. He knew Berkley ; knew him to be a selfish tyrant, an ignorant nder who used his power for his own benefit, and liad sometimes used his authority to the injury of the Albemarle settlers. Drnmmond took up arms for Bacon and the people of Virginia. He gave to the cause his wise council and his brave arm. Might and power prevailed. The popular outbreak was put down. Some fled. Some surrendered. Some were captured. Drnmmond was one of those who were captured. He was brought before the tyrant, probably in irons, who saluted him with mock courtesy. ''Good mornino-, Mr. Drnmmond, " said Berkley, making him a low bow, ''you are welcome. I had rather see you than any one else. You shall be hanged in half an hour." Then, turning: to his attendants, he ordered a trial, sen- tenced Driunmoiid to deatli, and he was executed in less Hme than Borklov had said. Drummond died a martyr to popular li])prty. He was the first noted rebel of Xorth Carolina. He was the first Governor of North Carolina that took arms agains ta ty- rant. Caswell was the second, and Ellis and Vance were later in arms against usurpation. 30 grandfather's tales. When King Charles of England heard of Drummond's death, he said, speaking of Berkley; "That old fool haa taken more lives in that naked country without offence than 1 have in all England for the murder of my father." But the King did not 2"o far enough. He ought to have ordered him to England and had him tried and punished for tyranny and murder. Such was the sad fate of our first Governor. It was a cruel fate. But he died a hero. No word of fear fell from his lips. Cherish his memory, sympathize with his misfortunes. Turn from the tyrant who caused his death. Drummond has no monument of marble or brass. But his monument is in our hearts, and we keep fresh therein the inscription of his virtues. Our good old mother State has not been generous to the memory of her dead sons. She has raised few marble monuments to their honor. It is not well. But we must love her none the less. We must make our hearts their monuments and mark their virtues there. Loving hearts are imperishable. Marble monuments moulder into dust. Your young hearts are of wax. I want you to inscribe upon their waxen tablets the name of Drummond. OUR PARLIAMENTARY GENESIS. 3 1 OUR PARLIAMENTARY GENESIS. (The hole whence we were digged. — Is.) JSTatube's work is ii]:)ward from small beji'innings, as oaks from acorns and large streams from fountains. St. Peter's at Rome is the successor of the "Groves that were God's first temples." Rome from twin brothers nurtured bv a wolf. England from the thick mists of its early his- tory. Massachusetts from wandering pilgrims in search of liberty. J^orth Carolina, the cradle of our country, started at its first attempt at settlement in an environ- ment of sorrow that crowns it with the cypress wreath of mourning. That abortive struggle was followed by the trapper and the hunter, that by the successful quest of "bottom lands," and that by organized government in its humblest forms. The earliest record of organized government in ISTorth Carolina is of a general assembly of the people of the col- ony at the house of Captain Hecklefield, which is supposed ■ to have been located at the present site of Nixonton, in Pas- quotank County, long familiarly known as "Old Town," because it was the first county-seat of government of Pas- quotank Comity, and was succeeded by Elizabeth City, on Pasquotank River, in the year 1800. But tradition is the parent of history, and, like all un- written history, is typified by the sybelline leaves of classio storv, written on leaves and scattered to the winds. We have a tradition of our early Parliamentary history that has never before, as we remember, been committed to the custody of written language; and as it came to us from an authentic source in which we have great faith, we hand it down on the wings of "Grandfather's Tales." When a lad in our formative period of life, somewhere about a dozen years, on its sunny or shady side, we were the ready boy of a large kindred family connection. We went on errands, we visited the sick ; when an old member of the family visited their children or grandchildren, we 32 grandfather's tales. were the ready l)o_v to carrv tliein around from jdaee to place. It was a convenience to them, and not without profit to. US, which profits we quickly invested in ginger cakes and beer, which, though not a very permanent in- vestment, doubtless brought us as much real happiness as if invested in real estate or government bonds. Gen. Duncan McDonald, of Edenton, was our kinsman by marriage, a good man, fond of children, indulgent and liberal with them. He was a military man by train- ing and position, and his official business often called him to distant places in his military district. On one of these occasions he was called to Elizabeth City to review the militia of Pasquotank County. The ready boy was ready to take him, and more particularly as he was companion- able with boys. On the day app(unt(>d we equi])pod ourselves witli a "double gis:" and a nice steppino- horse, and started on our day's journey. The General was kind, chatty and com- panionable. ToAvard evening we crossed "Hall's Creek" bridge in Pasquotank County, a mile from the Hecklefiehl farm at Xixonton. On rising the hill at Hall's Creek, the Gen- eral stopped the horse and said to us : "The first General Assembly of ISTorth Carolina met nudor that tree," at the same time pointing to a large oak tree on the left-hand side of the road, that towered above tlie oaks that surround- ed it. He then chuckled to himself, and said that one of the by- laws of the Assembly was that "the members should wear shoes, if not stockings, during the sessions of the body, and that they must not throw their chicken and other bones under the tree." General McDonald was a man of literary culture, and particularly fond of antiquarian lore. He was greatly amused at the humble origin of our lea'islative history, and laughed over it with great glee. Tf the oak is still standing, it might be a good speculation to have it cut up into memorial walking canes to clog the pride of our CULPEPPER'S REBELLION. 33 dandy legislators in Prince Albert coats, with kid gloves and gold-headed canes. It would serve as a lesson of hu- mility to remind them of the hole whence they were digged. CULPEPPER'S REBELLION. A land, rent with civil feuds. Drenched, it may be, in fraternal blood. — Webster. In 1677 there was a ''revolutionary time" in the Albe- marle, which section then constituted the chief settlement of Carolina. There was a dual government, or rather a dual usurpation of government. Miller and Culpepper both claimed supremacy. Miller had the best show of authority, being the representative of the duly author- ized Governor, by appointment of the Lords Proprietors, who lingered in the West Indies, allured by love, as it was supposed, but professing to be detained by sickness. Mil- ler, his secretary, was sent on ahead to hold the office of Governor by a temporary tenure. He came over to Al- bemarle with some show of authority and administered the government in an autocratic way. The people re- spected his authority and obeyed the laws which he en- acted for them. He imposed taxes, laid duties upon foreign imports, and ruled by his own free will. Culpepper, seeing that Miller was usurping power, set up a claim to the Governorship for liimself, and soon established a contraband trade witli Boston, then a preten- tious village in ISTew England. He defied the authority of Miller. He refused to pay the import duties imposed by Miller, and continued to trade with the rich planters of Albemarle Sound and its tributary waters, and was encouraged by them. There was absolute free trade, and Culpepper's profits from the government became greater than Miller's. 34 grandfather's tales. This contraband trade was carried on mainly by one Gilliam, who commanded a "skipper" vessel, engaged in the trade with Boston. He was a shrewd fellow, and found a free trade with the farmers of the Albemarle, without the burden of impost duties, was profitable both to the rich planters and to himself. Culpepper winked at this contraband traffic. Gilliam winked back and pursued his business with great diligence. (jicorge Durant, who lived on Little River, was a very wealthy man, and, while a good and upright man, was thrifty in business and successful in the accumulation of wealth. Finding authority- disputed, with two men con- tending for supremacy, and not authorized or caring to soh'c the trouble, he took sides with that in which he found most profit and favored Culpepper. Favoring Cul- pepper, he favored Gilliam, and Durant's plantation be- came (Jilliam's head(iuarters for his illicit trade. Miller had the largest following, and having gone into office l),y peaceful methods he had the support of the more conservative classes of the population. Culpepper was a usur]~»cr, and made no claim to rightful authority. He was denounced by Miller as a lawless man, and attempts were made to arrest him for treason. Miller heard that Gilliam was in Little River, pursuing his unlawful business, and that he intended to come round into Pas(]uotank River and stop at Pembrook (uoav Cobb's Point) for the purpose of trading. Later he heard that Culpepper was to come round with him in his "skipper." He thought his opportunity had come, and determined to go to Pembrook, board the skijiper when she anchored, and arrest Culpepper as a lawless traitor. Relying upon his authority as Chief Magistrate of Carolina, he went to Pembrook and awaited the coming of Culpepper and Gil- liam. He did not wait long. The skipper soon arrived and cast anchor in the stream. Miller pushed off in a boat, boarded the skipper, found Culpepper and Gilliam, and demanded tlicir surrender in the name of the Province of Carolina. THE EDEN TON TEA PARTY. 35 Culpepper and Gilliam showed iiii'ht, and instead of being' arrested by Miller, they overjjowered and arrested him, took him ashore and imprisoned him in the jail at Pembrook. Thus, havino* Carolina's questionable Governor in du- rance vile, Culpepper administered his usurped authority for eight years. What became of Miller in that lawless time, history and tradition is silent, but history tells us that Culpepper was aftei'wards arrested by order of the Lords Proprietors and taken to England for trial upon the charge of treason. He was defended by Lord Shaftesbury, the most dis- tinguislied jurist of the period, and acquitted upon the ground tliat there was no organized goveriunent in Caro- lina. THE EDENTON TEA PARTY. '• Do have a cup of tea, sir." Tea is a historic beverage. Before the dawn of civil- ization it was the national drink in the oldest Empire of the world. Before coffee l>ecame known in the social and festive Avorld, it was the solace and comfort of the aged. When coffee became its rival, it never supplanted it, and to this day tea is the favorite drink of the old, refined and luxurious. Doctor Johnson, the leviathan of English literature, astonished Mrs. Thrale by quaffing a dozen cu])S (»f his favorite tea at one sitting, at her hospitable board. It is not strange, tlicii, that tlie tax on tea by the Brit- ish I'arliament excited so much coin])laint among the patriots of the llevolution, and that the wives and moth- ers of the Revolution felt the burden of the tax on tea, and that tlie ladies of Ivh'nton felt the pressure more than 36 grandfather's talks. elsewhere in the State, because it was the social and com- mercial scat of empire in North Carolina in the colonial times. So tliej met in a body, the prominent society ladies of the town, at tlie residence of Mrs. Barco, the wife of a distinguished barrister of the town, organized by ap])oint- ing Mrs. Barco to take tlie chair as president of the body, and adopted a set of patriotic resolutions, denouncing the tea tax of the British Parliament, and pledging them- selves not to use any more tea of British manufacture after that social evening while the odious tax on their favorite beverage continued in force. That patriotic indignation meeting was held October 25, 1774. It was doubtless the sensation of the town, and gave new fuel to the fires that soon liurst into flame in the outburst of the lievolution. This was the only Tea Party that was ever held in North Carolina or the United States that became a factor in our great Revolutionary struggle. The Boston Tea Party was an Indian Masque Party. Without intending to dis- parage that famous historical event of our Boston brethren, tlie Masque Tea Party of Boston was an inspiration of com- merce rather than of patriotism. The Revolutionary Tea Party of Edenton was purely social and patriotic, and by that social and patriotic act of the Edenton dames, the ''liand that rocked the cradle" nerved the arm of the heroes that fought the battles of the Revolution from Moore's Creek to Yorktown. From that Tea Party in Edenton hangs a tale, and a tale of romance and history. Its identity is established by the local traditions of tlie period and by the enduring record of the painter's art. In the early twenties of the last century, about the year 1823 or 1824, there was brought to the town of Edenton by Captain Halspy, a worthy and intelligent sea-captain who traded froni Edenton up the ]\Iediterranean Sea, a painting on glass, headed "The Edenton Tea Party." On a vovaffe to the Mediterranean he met with William The Liilie. ul Klenton signing their Association. THE EDENTON TEA PARTY. 39 T. Muse, a lieutenant in the United States JSTavy, a native of Pasqnotanl^ County, but long a resident of Eden ton, where he had been our schoolmate at the old Edenton Acadeinv, Bill Muse (how that loved name still makes the heart-strings of our memory tingle at the touch of the "Auld Lang Syne") gave Captain Halsey the painting above mentioned, and asked him to carry it home to Eden- ton and deposit it in a place of safety. Muse stated that he had found it hanging in a barber-shop in one of the islands of the Mediterranean Sea. Captain Halsey brouglit it home and placed it on exhi- bition in old Captain Manning's tailor shop. Eor several days it was the sensation of the town. Everybody went to see it. Some of the oldest people remembered the Tea Party that the painting commemorated. Some recognized the faces of some of the ladies in the painting. Mrs. Dickerson, a society lady of Edenton at the time, was pointed out as a most striking likeness. That painting on glass was broken in pieces some years after, and the broken pieces were put in place and photo- graphed and preserved as it was when it was brought home. 40 grandfather's tales, john harvey. (THE GREAT REVOLUTIONARY LEADER ) It is one of the unsolved problems in human life wheth- er circumstances make great men or great men create the circumstances from which they spring, or whether they act and react upon each other. However that may be, John Harvey was the great leader of tlie Revolution in J^orth Carolina. The man and the circumstances met. Of illustrious descent, his ancestor John Harvey having been Governor of the Province many years before, of large wealth, of great influence, possessing that dominant will- power of which heroes are made, and with natural gifts that were formed for command, John Harvey was born with nature's signet of authority. He had long been the foremost man in the troublous times that preceded the Revolution, and had rode upon the storm of that ominous period that betokened the birth of the greatest event in the world's history. He was the central political figure in I^orth Carolina. All eyes turned to him in this crisis in the history of the Province. He rode upon its whirlwind and directed the storm. He was in the confidence of royal authority. He presided in the Assemblies convened by the order of the Governor appointed by the King of Great Britain ; but he was not the submissive tool of its authority. His heart was imbued with the spirit of independence that inspired a people who Avcre ''freest of the free." He was Speaker of the Assembly that Governor Martin prorogmed in order that the Legislature might "cool" and be more complaisant in some controversy with the GoA'ernor. The l^egislature met on the 4th of December, 1773. Meanwhile the por- tents of the Revolution had grown more inmiinent, and at a meeting of the Legislature on the 8th inst. following, a committee was appointed t£> obtain the ''earliest intel- ligence of proceedings in England relating to America, and to keep up correspondence with the other colonies." JOHN HARVEY. 4I This was the germ-seed of the devolution in North Carolina. It was a seed mainly planted by the hand of John Harvey. We will see later how that seed "fell upon good ground," and how the hand that ]ilanted it cultivated it with diligence. John Harvey was a skilled husband- man when he drove his plow in the Revolutionary furrow, and he produced fruits an hundred fold and more. Governor Martin's eyes were wide open to the impend- ing crisis, and he determined that North Carolina should not co-operate with the other colonies while he was the Governor of the Province. He recognized the spirit of independence that animated the people of the Province of North Carolina. He saw the swelling current of co- operation among the colonies, and he determined to thwart it by gubernatorial authority in North Carolina. He had the authority to convoke the Legislature, and he deter- mined that it should not meet, and that, consequently, the Province should not be represented in any Congress of the Colonies, for the purpose of co-operating in hostile declarations against Great Britain, "until matters were in better shape." Harvey was not sleeping at his post. He was informed of the designs of Governor Martin by the Governor's pri- vate secretary, probably with his approval, to intimidate Harvey. The lion-hearted hero of the Revolution held a meeting with Governor Johnston, of Edenton, and Col- onel Buncombe, of Tyrrell County, at "Buncombe Hall," the hospitable seat of the Colonel, and at their interview Harvey said, as he had declared to Martin's secretary, that if Governor Martin did not convoke the Assembly, "then the people will convene one themselves." The Governor did not convene the Assembly. Johnston, writing of that meeting at "Buncombe Hall" to William Hooper, of Wilmington, says: "Harvey was in a violent mood, and declared he was for assembling a convention independent of the Governor, and that he would lead the way and issue hand-bills over his own name." Later, leaders on the Cape Fear, acting on Har- 42 grandfather's tales. vey's suggestion, called on the people to choose their deputies. That Convention met, although the Governor forbade it by proclamation. This was the first Revolutionary pop- ular Convention that ever met in America without royal authority, and in defiance of it. That Convention, and it was a very able one, met in Xew Bern, and John Harvey was its President. It passed resolutions denouncing the claim of the Parliament tx) tax the colonies without rep- resentation, denounced the tax on tea and forbade its use in North Carolina, denounced the Boston Port Bill, de- clared an import duty upon goods of English manufacture, declared in favor of a Continental Congress of the colo- nies, and appointed delegates to that Congress in Phila- delphia ; and it authorized John Harvey, the President, to call another Convention whenever he thought it expe- dient. That shows where iS^orth Carolina stood before there was an overt act of revolution, before a gun was fired at Lexington, and before Virginia showed her Revolutionary teeth. That showed the blood that flowed through John Harvey's veins. IsTow, a word for John Harvey's memory. Blessed memory ! Heroic inheritance ! Pirst to hurl defiance at royal authority in America! First to draw authority from the people instead of the King. Before Henry first uttered the slogan of ''liberty or death" in the sacred halls of old St. John's Church in Richmond, John Har- vey had proclaimed the supremacy of the people of N^orth Carolina over kings and their representatives. In the N"ational capitol at Washington there is a hall set a])art for the statues of two of the great men of the several States. North Carolina's niche in that hall is empty. A bust of Harvey would not add an atom to his heroic fame, but it would show the world that ingratitude is a sin that does not taruisli the good name of North Caro- lina, and that John Harvey's name and fame is her price- less heritaii'e. THE RESOLUTIONS OF ST. PAUL'S VESTRY. 43 THE RESOLUTIONS OF ST. PAUL'S VESTRY. " Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God." Many memorials of the patriotism of the citizens of North Carolina clnring the Revolutionary period exist and are preserved. Some have never had recognition, and some have slept the sleep of forgetfulness. Among those that have never had sufficient recognition are the resolu- tions of the vestrymen of old St. Paul's Church, Edenton, which are now preserved in the parish register of the church, and signed by Richard Hoskins, Wm. Boyd, Da- vid Rice, Thomas Benbury, Aaron Hill, Jacob Hunter, Pelatiah Walton, John Beasley, William Hinton, Wil- liam Bennet, Thomas Bonner and" William Roberts, on the 19th day of June, 17Y5. These men are "apples of gold in pitchers of silver," and should be toasted on all our ])atriotic anniversaries, that tried men's souls in the dark days of those bloody times that bred heroes and tested the fidelity of men to home and country. Mecklenburg's pride glows with a warmer heart-beat when the names of Brevard, Avery, Polk, Alexander, Davidson, Graham, Balch, and the other immortals that made the 20th of May the day of days in Carolina's annals. Everv true son of our dear old mother State joins hands and hearts with them in the loud acclaim of gratitude and honor. But who joins us in giving due honor to the Hoskins, the Benburys, the Beasleys, the Hills, the Hunters, the Hintons, the ]3onners, and the other patriots who embalmed the 19th of June in our annals, a month after the "INIecklenburg Declaration of Indepen- dence" ? Read these imiiiortal \vor" in North Carolina's history was Bob Potter, who lived a century after Teach. He was a native of Virginia, and avo first hear of him in the town of Halifax, where he became a notorious, brawling politician, antagonized J. R. J. Daniel, and became notorious for his street brawls and personal conflicts with that celebrated public man. They both had a following of friends. Pot- ter was an attractive and brave man, and seemed to have the public sympathy. He was a ready writer, and in the printed controversies Potter's vocabulary was scathing and terrible. Bob brought over from Virginia his brother Hal, who was armed and not averse to a fight of any kind. In a street fight in Halifax, in which weapons were used on both sides, Hal came out of it with fifteen buckshot in his g]"oin. This warfare was kept up for several years, when Daniel went to Louisiana and Potter settled in Granville County. Potter was a lawyer by profession, and a mag- netic, ambitious and aggressive man. He had not been long in Granville before he was nominated for Congress and elected. Meanwhile, he had married a girl in Gran- ville of prominent family connection. He went to Congress, where he passed a gay and voluptuous life and represented himself to be an unmarried man ; and Governor Branch, who was his colleague in Congress, warned his young fe- male friends against him. He returned home after the adjournment of Congress, brought criminal charges against his wife that were without foundation, committed the crime of mayhem upon two innocent men, who were his wife's relatives, and one of them an old man. ISTotwith- standing this flagrant outrage, he announced himself a candidate for the Legislature from the county of Gran- ville and was elected. He went to Raleigh at the meeting of the Legislature, and was expelled from that body for the infamous crime of mayhem which he had committed in Granville. Soon after his expulsion from the Legislature, he left for Texas, then a Mexican province. We have heard that he 6o grandfather's tales. wont on foot, arniod with a sliot-iiim and follnwo(l l>y two bloodhonnds. In Texas, Avhere lie settled, ho led a vagrant and law- less life, and was soon involved in brawls with his neigh- bors. In one of these he was overpo^\■ered by his foes and sought safety in flight, after killing one of his antag- onists. He was hotly and closely pursued, and to escape from his pursuers he plunged into a lake and dived under the water for safety. When he came to the surface he was fired upon from the shore and his head riddled with bul- lets. Teach and Potter both came to violent deaths — fit termination of lives of crime aiiattle ol Guilford. TheiT^were 1 640 North Carolina troops in the Battle o± Guilford. These were militia and volunteers whose names are not mentioned on the muster rolls. They obeyed he orders of General Greene, discharged two volleys at the bayonet charge of the English, doing great slaughter, and then retreated as General Greene had ordered. These facts are well established, while it is as well established tiiat a militia company commanded by Lee left the field " without orders from General Greene. (See Schenck's iNorth Carolma, 17S0-81.) 82 grandfather's tales. JOHN STANLY. An eye like Mars. To threaten and command. Few men have lived iu North Carolina of more con- spicuous natural endowments than John Stanly, of New Bern, who was disabled for many years by a stroke of paralysis while speaking on the floor of the House of Commons of North Carolina. That was in 1825, and he died in 1834. In the obituary notice of Stanly, written by his great rival at the bar in North Carolina, William Gaston, gives ? graphic account of the sad close of the career of one of the most gifted men that North Carolina has ever pro- duced. He was for many years a member of the Legis- lature of North Carolina, and by his aggressive and out- spoken vehemence and sarcasm, he held the rod over that body. Mr. Stanly was es])ecially an Eastern man, and he lield a rod pickled in his sarcasm over the Western North Car- olina deleo-ation in the Legislature of North Carolina. He kept them all completely "hacked," until Bartlett Yancey, of Caswell County, a if earless, fiery _and_ impetuous speaker, came on the stage as a Eepresentative in the Leg- islature. As a lawyer, Mr. Stanly held the highest rank m the State, but he was more noted as an advocate before the jury than as a jurist, and his forte of sarcasm and invec- tive 2;ave him great power. The misfortune of his life was his killing Governor Speight in a duel. The dispute between Speight and StanTv arose from some political controversy, and Stanly was challenged by Governor Speight tx) mortal combat. The challenge was accepted and the arrangements made for the meeting. The hostile meeting took place on the suburbs of the^own of New Bern. They stood back to back at ten paces apart, and wheeled and fired when the JOHN STANLY, 83 A\oni was given. The town turned out en masse. Several meltectual sliots were exchanged. There were propositions naade ±or an amicable settlement, but Speight was obsti- nate and refused all propositions for settlement. At iength Stanlj aimed the fatal shot and Speight fell, mor- tally wounded. Speight was an old and distinguished man, and had befriended Stanly in his early manhood. Jlis death was a blow to the happiness of Stanly, from which jie never entirely recovered. Mr. Stanly was a man of great resource in emergency An incident of his readiness and adroitness in legislation IS given by his contemporaries in the Legislature. Gen- ico^ W^^''^^^ ^^i«ited the United States from France in 1820. He was the guest of the country, and the honors tiiat M'ere paid to him were an outpouring of gratitude lor his services in achieving our independence. He came to INorth Carolina during his journey, and the leading members of the Legislature were anxious for an appro- priatioulrom the State Treasury to defray the expenses Ox his visit to .^^orth Carolina. There was some opposi- lon to the appropriation from some parsimonious mem- bers. Ihe friends of the bill thought it would pass if the ayes and nays were not called. The vote on the final passage was at hand. Tlie stillness of death pervaded the Assembly. Stanly was in the chair as Speaker. When aboiit to put tlie question, a western member in homespun na^^s. The house was dumb, and an awful stillness pre- vailed. Stanly called Treclell, of Edenton, to the chair ^ "-V'^^.^r^o^' "cerulean- eye over the Assembly; .ml said: -Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his 'ITlri'-, ' ^''''' ^'^■'"''^ ^"^ P''^ ^^^''y ^^ember on record, so that ,1 any one votes against this bill he mav be gibbeted M> lip on the pillory of infamy." Every man voted 84 grandfather's tales. GASTON AT THE UNIVERSITY COMMENCE- MENT OF 1832. A proud clay. Tile address of William Gaston at the University of Xorth Carolina at the Commencement of 1832 was an event iri the literary history of i^orth Carolina. Gaston's Address at the University, Choate's Eulogy on Daniel Webster at Dartmouth College, and Grady's Address at Boston, were the three greatest rostrum addresses of the nineteenth century, so far as we have heard or read. Gas- ton's address was the grandest of them all, and no other of them would have won. from their audience a rapture that rose above demonstrative applause, as Gaston's did. When Gaston came to the University to deliver the an- nual address before tlie Dialectic and Philanthropic Socie- ties, by invitation of the latter Society, of which he was an honorary member, he was on the high middle ground of life, being 53 years old. He had won fame in Con- gress and in ithe General Assembly of North Carolina. He had a State and a National re])ntation, and when the Phi.'? were enabled by the abrogation of an agreement wliich had existed to invite only re.gular members of tlic two Socie- ties to deliver the annual address, it was reo-arded as a great triumph over the Di.'s, as it was thought that thev did not have an equal to Gaston on their roll of member ship, and he was already regarded as the Commencemen: orator. The appointment of Gaston drew a large concourse ot visitors from all parts of the State; the largest, it was said that ever attended a Commencement before, especiall; of the prominent and distinguished men of the Stat( Gaston came during the Commencement exercises, a day or two before the deliverv of the address. He was th«' suest of Dr. Caldwell, the President of the University. He became at once the cynosure of all eyes. His man ncr was "i'rave, courteous and unostentatious. He wn- GASTON AT THE UNIVERSITY COMMENCEMENT. 85 affable with dignity and companionable without familiar- ity lie visited the libraries occasionally, and sometimes walked A\-ith Dr. Caldwell to his astronomical observatory and we once saw him with the austere and dignified Pres- ident, who was a man somewhat in stature like him wlio climbed the sycamore tree to see Christ, and Gaston o± large and imposing person, and the thought flitted through our mind that "Bolus" looked smaller by the comparison. _ As the big day of the Commencement came, expecta- tion grQ^v as the time approached. The June day was auspicious. The students ^yeve arrayed in their best. All the arrangements had been uuide. Tom Ashe of Wilmington, had been selected by the Phi. Society to walk en one sicie of Gaston in the procession to Person Hall where lie Mas to speak, and Thomas L. Clingman, selected by the Ui. Society, on the other. With some difficulty we procured a scholar's black silk gown large enough for Gaston to wear. rT^/^'?>-^^'"°^''^'^'°'' ''''^^ formed at the old South Building. JLhe Itichmond (."ornet Band was in front. Xext came Gaston, the orator, costumed in a black silk i^own On one_^sidc of Jiim was Tom Ashe, with the trained step of an _b.iiglis]. grenadier, with the proud and grand visage that hespake lus lineage. On the other side was Clinoman awkward and gawRy as a plowman's prentice boy, but with a brain that Webster and Cuvier might have envied jSText to them came the Trustees of the University, marchino- two and two. ISText the Faculty, then the student bodv^ anrl last the concourse of visitors. The ]u-ocession started from the "Old South," rio-ht- hauked to the "Old East," and, when opposite Pei-son Hall, wheeled on the left and faced for the Hall, the band meanwlnlo, blowing' their spirit-stirrino- airs "like mad '' The hoarl of the eolumn reached the threshhold of 1he_oJ(l clia„o], which, in a thousand vears, Avill be a Phnne for literary pil-rims. There was then and tliere a momentary pause. Then Gaston, with the beariuo- of 86 grandfather's tales. old John KcMuble, entered on the left and right of him AhIio and Clingnian ; Ashe with a military bearing that ^^•ould have done honor to the hero of a thousand battles, Clingnian throwing out his legs right and left like he was stiif-kneed, and looking for all the world like he thought all the crowd was looking at him, and that Gas- ton and Ashe were mere small kites dangling at his tail, to give i)om]i to his pageantry. But "old Billy" had the brains. They marched to tlie rostrum, and as they were taking tlieir seats near a little table on which Gaston was about placing his manuscript, Clingman, in moving his awkward logs, knocked tbe table over, and but for Ashe's readiness, the table, and perhaps Gaston himself, would liave gone sprawling on the floor below. The Trustees followed, and with the Faculty, headed by "old Bolus," took their seats on the rostrum like "potent, gTave and reverend seignors." The Seniors of the grad- uating class followed and took tluur accustomed seats, that they Avere about to vacate forever for the rosy drama of life. Thou the Juniors, tlicn the Sophs., and lastly the J'resh., ])rondest of them all, l»('cause they were incipient Sophs, and had throAvu off the Freshman's toga. The Fresh. Iiad hardly taken tlioir accustomed seats in the cha]iel when the crowd of visitors broke ranks, as if in panic, .ill pressing forward in eager haste to get seats in the clia]»v'l. Ft was a madding crowd, heaving and setting in a fi-antic mass that beu'cars description. Bea- vers were lifted above the crowd of surging,' liumanity. Beavers were crushed, ^lon wci'o lifted from their feet and borne along by tlie struG-o-lino' and compact mass. They were an hour pushing, tussling', heaving and setting to get in and get seats. Tears of pcrs]nration ran down their rugged cheeks, an door, wo. a Freshman, full of adiiiii"ati(ui for greatness, crept up to a standinu' ]ilace in the aisle near the speaker, and waited there, standino' within ten feet of him. GASTON AT THE UNIVERSITY COMMENCEMENT. 87 At length tlie mob subsided and got standing places, r>nd there was a great calm. The hall was jammed and crammed. Jack Ha ugh ton, of Tyrrell, a Senior friend, and Ave, stood near together, and gave the speech a rapt attention during the hour and twenty minutes of its de- livery. It was a grand efi'ort, the grandest that Gaston ever made, and should now be in the hands of every school boy and every man of generous aspirations in the State. Jt should go dovv'n the generations as the companion piece of liis State anthem — "The Old North State." It should be taught in onr schools. It should be committed to mem- cry in classes. It should be declaimed on our school board'*. It should be adopted as a classic in our lessons of elof^utiou. It would make us better boys, better men, bet- ter scholars, more acc^omplished gentlemen. 88 , grandfather's tales. the last of the romans. The Grand Old Man. ^Jk. J i.l•l■■KKso^" said of Nathaniel Macon that he was the last of the Romans. Jolm liandolph said in his will, he was tlic wisest man he had ever known. Mr. Benton speaks of him, in his "Thii-ty Years in the Senate," as his counsellor and friend in public life. Mr. Macon has p.issed into history as one of the purest and most incorrup- tible statesmen that has ever been on the stage of public life in these United States. He was a type of the old i\orth Carolina character in the earlier and better days of the State. He was plain, straiiihtforward and had great simplicity of character. His simplicity amounted to ec- centricity. He was morally and physically courageous. He drew his knife to defend Mr. Randolph from personal assault in a theatre in Philadelphia. Against the unani- mous sentiment of Congress and the people, he refused to vote for an appropriation in Congress to pay the traveling expenses of Geiieral Lafayette, when he visited this coun- try in 1820 as the guest of the Nation. He was simple in his manners, ways, conversation and deportment. He wished his family and grandchildren to call him ''Mee- kins,'^ insisting that Macon was called Meekins by the eld ]>eople, and they called liim so until one of his devil boys, Bob, said to liim at his table, ''Grandpa Meekins, will you have some of the beekins" (bacon). He was elected to the General Assembly of jSTortli Carolina from Warren County when he was a private in the Revolution- ary Aruiy. with a musket on his shoulder. When his elec- tion was announced to him, he told the messenger that they meant somebody else, and refused the office until its .ncceptance was ura'ed upon him bv Governor Caswell. When he came to Raleich in l.*^.^.") as a member of the Con- vention, Miss Betsy Gaddis, wlio kci^t a boardinf!,-house for members of the Assemldv, and witli whom he had boarded when a voimo- man in tlie Assemldy, called to see THE LAST OF THE ROMANS. 89 him and embraced him. Mr. Macon did not know her at first, but after awhile he said that he remembered her, that "she made the best grog he ever drank." In the (convention of lSo5, in a lull in the debate on the Catholic disability clause of the old Constitution, he called Jo Rhoullac, of Bertie, to the chair, and addressed the body on the subject. The danger of the Roman Catholic relig- ion to our secular institutions had been much mentioned. Mr. Macon favored the removal of the disability, and among other things said, with "Teat simolicity: "Gentle- men say they fear the Catholics will swallow up our lib- erties. There is some danger of it, but there's more dan- ger of a mouse SAvallowing a buffalo ;" and then he added, "I am not a member of any church, but I sometimes attend the Baptist and feel pretty sure the Baptists would swallow them before they swallowed our liberties." We are probably now the only living IvTorth Carolinian who has a distinct impression of Mr. Macon's personality, and we are often applied to for information about him. We saw him once in 1831, wdien a boy of fifteen, in War- rc-nton at a Fourth-of-Julv banquet.. Mr. Macon was then about eighty, and was evidently the "big dog in the pit" and a favorite of the people. He talked familiarly with any and everybody. He had on a chip hat and home- spun plain clothes, with a long vest that covered his abdo- men. They called him "Uncle I^Tat." Some one asked him where lie o-ot his hat froui. He replied that his over- seer's wife made it for him. We next saw him for ten consecutive days as presidino- officer of the Convention of 1835. He was then about eighty-three, apr)arently vigorous and having but little the marks of senility. His hair was short cut, not fleecy white, but a light sandy grav. He was apparently about 5 feet 8 inches in heic^ht: weight apparentlv about 16.5; complexion blonde, inclined to rosy. Dress, a browuv white suit of linen thread of apparently domestic mauu- facture. His eyes were gray, inclined to Hue. He was stocky built; his eye was not dim, and his natural force 90 GRANDFATHKk'S TALKS. \\as well preserved. He was clean shaved. He was always in his place, and did not vacate his place bnt once in the ten days we attended the Convention in the Presbyterian church, in lialeigh, and that was during the debate on the thirty-second article of tlie old Constitution, above re- feri'od to. BETSY DOWDY'S RIDE. HISTORICAL TRADITIONS OF THE BATTLE AT r ibe adjacent sections of ^'il■ginia li\- liostile raiwn. Put the fires of lil)ertv were ke])t burning. D\inmore, with a few remilnrs who lind accom]ianied him in his flight from "\Villiamsl)urn, \'a., had ravati'od Suf- folk and some olhei' idaces, and was lU'epariu'i to extend his ravages to tlie All)omarle section of Carolina. Our leading men vcre on the alert, and couriers were keeping BETSY dowdy's RIDE. 93 them in close touch. John Harvey, of Perquimans, had joined his fathers across the great divide, but his mantle had fallen upon his kinsman and connection by marriage, Gen. William Skinner, of Yeopim Creek, and he was watching every movement of Dunmore. Col. Isaac Greg- ory, of Camden, was hurrying with a small militia force to join our Col. Robert Howe and meet the enemy at Great Bridge, in Virginia. Tom Benbury, of Chowan, then Speaker of the lower house of the General Assembly., had left his luxurious home at "Benbury Hall," that overlooked Albemarle Sound, and was hurrying to join the troops under Howe, with commissary stores. Excitement ran high, and the expected invasion of the Albemarle counties, and the probable collision at Great Bridge, where Dunmore was intrenched, was the universal subject of con- versation. Howe was pushing by forced marches to the aid of Virginia with some regulars and the Hertford County militia under Colonel Wynns of that county. Public expectation was on tiptoe. Joe Dowdy and old man Sammy Jarvis lived on the "'banks" opposite to Knott's Island. They were near neighbors and intimate friends. Early in December, 1775, Jarvis went over to the "main" to hear the news of Colonel Howe's movement toward Great Bridge. \Ylien he returned home, late in the evening, he was greatly excited. He was impressed wdth the dangerous situation of the dwellers by the sea. He was constantly saying, "Dunmore and them blamed Britishers will come down the coast from Norfolk and steal all our 'banks' stock and burn our houses, dine 'em." After a short rest and a hasty bite of supper, old man Jarvis went over to Dowdy's to tell him the news. Dowdy was a wrecker for the money that was in it, and a fisher for the food that was in it. He was always watching the sea. He was a devout man, always prayed for the safet-^^ of the poor sailor who was exposed to the perils of the deep, and always closed with a silent suppli- cation that if there should be a wreck, it might be on the 94 grandfather's tales. Currituck beach. He had ^-ivosnered in the business of c wrecker^ had saved many lives and much wreckage and money. His visible stx>re of chattels was beef cattle and banker ponies. He herded them bv the hundreds. Uncle Sammy came in without ceremony and was cor- dially received. "Well, Uncle Sammv." said Dowdy, '■what are the news; tell us all." "Well, Joseph," said Jarvis, "things is fogerty. Gregory, Colonel Isaac, is hurrying up his Camden milish to join Howe, and Tom Benbury, of Chowan, is pushino- on his wagons of com- missaries. If they don't reacli Great Bridge in time to bear a hand in the fight, they'll hurry on to T^J'orfolk and drive Dunmoi'e out of the old town. But if Dumnore beats our folks at Great Bridge tlien our goose is cooked, and our property is all ffone, all the gold and goods saved in our hard life-work, and all our cattle and marsh po- nies." "You don't tell me," said Dowdy. "Yes, it's so, just as sure as 'old Tom.' The only thing that can save us is General Skinner, of Perquimans, and the militia, and he is too far away. We can't get word to him in time." As Jarvis said these words slowly and with em- phasis, Betsy Dowdy, Joe Dowdy's young and pretty daughter, who was present with the family, said : "Uncle Sammy, do you say the British will come and steal all our ponies ?" "Yes," said he. She replied : "I'd knock 'em in the head with a conch shell first." Betsy soon left the room. She went to the herding pen, and Black Bess was not there. She then went to the marsh and called aloud, "Bess ! Bessie ! Black Beauty !" The pretty pony heard the old familiar voice and came to the call. Betsy took her by her silken mane, led her to the shelter, Avent into the house, brought out a blanket and also a smnll ]iouch of coin. She placed the blanket on the round back of the pony, sprang into the soft seat and galloped over the hills and far away on her perilous journey. Down the beach she went, Black Bess doinsr her accustomed work. She reached the point opposite Church's Island, dashed into the shallow ford of Cun'itiuck Sound and reached the BETSY dowdy's ride. 95 there of the island. On they sped, Black Bess gaining new impulse from every kind and gentle worrl of Betsy. The wonderful endurance of tlie banker pony nevei failed, and Black Bess needed no spur but the cheer- ing word of her rider. "Bessie, pretty Bess; my black, sleek beauty, the British thieves shan't have you. We are going after General Skinner and his milish. They'll beat 'em oft' of you." She almost sano- to the docile pony as tliey went on their journey. Through the divide, on through Camden, the twinkling stars her only light, over Gid. Lamb's old ferry, into Pasquotank by the '■.Varrows" (now Elizabeth City), to Hartsford, up the Irjghlands of Perquimans, on to Yeopim Creek, and Gen- eral Skinner's hospitable home was reached. The morn- ing sun was gilding the tree tops when she entered the gate. She was hospitably welcomed, and when she briefly told the story of her coming, cordial kindness followed. TJie General's daughters, the toast of the Albemarle, Darty of "gay young fellows'' who were going up the same way I was, and who persuaded me to wait and join them and have a nice time altogether. The Legislature was in session. All Raleigh was aflame. Legislative combinations had been formed, and antagonis- tic elements had been moulded into a homogeneous mass to remove the capitol and rob her of her birthright. For want of something to do, I spent much of my time in the lobby of the Governor's house, then used as a temporaiw legislative hall, in consequence of the destruc- tion of the capitol by fire. It was then and there I first observed William Gaston. He was the centre of general at- tention, the cynosure of all eyes. So distinct is my recol- lection of him, I can see him now, as it were yesterday, sitting in front, a little to the left of the Speaker's chair, a grand old man, just touching the verge of venerable age, with finely chiseled, classic features, calm, contempla- tive thoughtful brow, and manly person; the scholarly stoop increasing rather than marring the effect of the iovi cnfsPmhIr. Personation of intellectual intelligence. "A combination, and a form., indeed, "Where every god did seem to set his seal. To give the world assurance of a man." io6 grandfather's tales. I heard both his speeches upon the ''appropriation bill," as it was then called ; the bill which raised the question of the removal of the seat of government from Raleigh. His second speech was a master-piece of brilliant, elaborate, finished oratory. It was the first great speech to which I had ever listened, and I was borne on the top of the tide of admiration with which it was universally received. That speech, unfortunately, is not now preserved, and its reputation rests upon the insecure traditions of those who are fast passing away. His first speech was a Tuse de guerre; what, in the language of Isaac Walton, would be "a bait for a nibbler" ; in fowling phrase, "a coy duck" ; in the language of the ''ring," a "feint," to be followed by a stunning blow. It was a good speech, not remarkable; going just far enough, and not too far, for its purpose ; sometimes leav- ing a "castle exposed," and then carrying the war barely far enough to say "check your queen." There sat his antagonist, a dangerous man, an adver- sary not to be trifled with, who, by the preconcerted ar- rangement of his party friends, was the champion who was not te expend his ammunition upon small birds, but to reserve his fire for the larger game. " His hook was baited witli a dragon's tail, He sat upon a rock and bobbed for whale." According to legislative etiquette, it was said that Gas- ton was entitled to reply to tliis keen sportsman ; why, I do not know, not being learned in parliamentary dialectics ; but it was apparent that his antagonist was determined not to move until Gaston showed his hand. After the conclusion of Gaston's first speech, the mem- ber from Fayetteville proceeded to his work with the con- summate skill of an accomplished dialectician, using with admirable dexterity all the weapons of his well-furnished armory, dissoetinc' and eviscerating his opponent, to the infinite satisfaction of himself and his friends. But Gas- AN EVENING WITH WILLIAM GASTON. IO7 ton's rejoinder gave him a Koland for his Oliver, and made Ealeigh the permanent seat of govermnent of North Carolina. 1 next saw William Gaston about a year later upon the literary rostrum, and heard his admirable address to the graduating class at the University ; an address which has become a recognized standard of its class of literature, and M'hich, apart from its wise and salutary counsel, may be studied to advantage by those who wish to acquire "an English style, familiar but not coarse, elegant but not ostentatious." I next heard him, a few years later, upon perhaps the most memorable occasion of his life. It was in the Convention of 1835, in the debate upon what is known as the "thirty-second article." That discussion enlisted not only his patriotic, but his most earnest personal sym- pathies. One of the objects for which the Convention had been called was to consider the propriety of removing this article from the Constitution of the State. Although inoperative, it was regarded as a blur upon the charter, an odious imputation, if not a political disfranchisement of a meritorious class of citizens for their religious opin- ions ; and it was pointed to by the envious detractors of Gaston, who had high office under the Constitution with that article in it, as proof that his lust of place was stronger than his sense of honor. With these considerations weighinii' u]X)n him, he arose to address an assembly distinguished for wisdom, gravity and age, and for two days bound them as with a spell by a production which, in all that can convince the under- standing, charm the senses or move the heart, is unsur- passed in the annals of uninspired eloquence. I am altogether unable to convey an idea of the im- pression made upon my mind, then just budding into ma- turity, by that great effort. "Demosthenes for the crown," "Cicero against Cataline," were familiar from recent study ; "Burke against Warren TTastings" had been the delight of my boyhood ; "Webster in reply to Hayne" was io8 grandfathp:r's tales. jet rino-ing throuii'h(>nt the length and l)readth of the land ; but they liad all failed to tell me what ''the Old Man Elo- qnent" signified. Kever till then did I know what Gray meant when he sang, " The applause of listening Senates to command." i^ot till then did I know the gift which "Touched Isaiah's hallowed lips with fire." iSTot till then the wand which genius waves over men. It is now more than a third of a century since my heart- chords 'were swept by that master-hand; and many a 1:ouch from eloquent lips since then those chords have felt, but they vibrate still with the notes of that wondrous melody, and Avill vibrate ever •' — till my last of lines are penned And life's hopes, joys and sorrows at an end." The companion of my casual visit to Raleigh, above alluded to, was the fortunate heir of one of Gaston's old friendships, and had received many proofs of his friendly regard. In one of his visits during our sojourn, he ob- served that he had a young friend with him who was a warm admirer of his, and, if agreeable, he wo\dd be glad to introduce him at some moment of leisure. "Make my respects," said Gaston politely, ''and I shall be pleased to see you both at my office this evening at 8 O'clock." Prompt to the time "as lovers to tlieir vows," we pre- sented ourselves at the appointed place, and I was formally introduced to him whose magic power haster was a ten-strike, and a word photograph of Mr. Badger. A young friend who was the greatest genius as a boy and youuo" man we ever met. could say more funny and witty and -^mart things than we ever heai'd from human lips. He had the gift of greatness in a remarkable decree. He said to us in the last conversation we ever had witli him that lie had been a failure in life, and he knew why. He made men laugh too much ; that dull men laughed at and pitied PASQUOTANK RIVER. II7 liim; that if he had his life to work over, he would put an owl on liis mantel to be an object-lesson to him to look wise and saj little; that Cowper's ''Jackdaw in a Church Steeple" did not fill the bill half as well as a big-ejed, wise-looking, far-seeing and rellective screech owl. PardoiDicz-hwi Au inouton; which means, halt; you're ofi" your head, come back to the first station. You s'^et out to tell us about the Pasquotank River, and yon wandered to George Badger and your young friend, and they never saw Pasquotank River. We have paused to consider the connection between the river and the great men marred by the frivolities of genius. We've got it. Tt all turned on familiarity, and how it belittles men and things. We have known Pasquotank River from our earliest manhood. We have bathed in its amber waters. We hiwe swallowed the nectar of its jimbrosial current. We have gazed listlessly upon the shadows of the magnificent cy])ress giants that guard its banks. We have wreathed fancy stories from the weird pictures drawn by the setting sun. But we saw it every day, went up and down it many times, until we became its valet, and the evening shadows and the glowing sunrise and the weird pictures cast by the dying sun made no more impression upon us than any every-day object of nature. ^ Once, it has now been fifteen or twentv years, we were sitting alone in our editorial sanctum, enjoying a pleas- ant surcease of toil, when a handsome boy of apparently ten or twelve summers came in and asked for a copy of the city paper. After giving him the paper, we fell 'into conversation, and he told us that his father and mother and himself were from Lexington, Ky., where his father pul^lished a magazine called the Kentucky Stock Farm, and that they were on a visit to this part of ISTorth Carolina to see the country. As he left, we sent word to his father to call in and see us. Duriuir the dav his father called. He was courtly, in- tellifijent and interestins:. He had come from Kentucky to ISTorfolk, and thence via the canal and the Pasquotank lib grandfather's tales. Kiver to Elizabeth City. He had come over the evening before, lie was enthusiastic in his admiration of Pas- quotank Kiver, its grand weird scenery, the gigantic for- est growth of cypress trees, the varied aspects of serpen- tine bends, succeeded by long sweeps of straight currents. He had traveled much, and he compared it with the his- toric rivers at home and abroad. He said that its floral beauties (it was in Mayj were unrivalled in the world. He dwelt upon its amber crested waves and its dense soli- tudes in which nature maintained its supremacy. He compared it with the famed Hudson, and gave the supe- riority to the Carolina river that was the pau-kandle and reservoir of the Great Dismal Swamp. And then we recounted to him some of the strange legends of its history. How it was the favorite rendezvous of l^each, the famous Carolina pirate, who was the terror of the Carolina and Virginia coasts in the early years of the eighteenth century^ and who made his headquarters at the head of one of those long straight stretches of the river that commanded a lengthened view and gave notice of the approach of an enemy. And when we told him of the "Old Brick House," its history, and its date of 1700 on the old bricks, and of the blood spots on the floors of tM^o rooms of tlie house, mute and ineffaceable witnesses of the tragic scenes that they commemorated, his curiosity was excited as we had not seen before, and he expressed great desire to see with his own eyes tlie scene of the dread orgies. Since then we have seen the river much and often in its varied aspects of scenery, and have thought more and more that it is distance which gives enchantment to a view, and that familiarity robs it of its gorgeous plumage. The eye that looks daily upon Niagara and hears its lion roar, thinks of it as a p'ood site for a laundry or a cotton factory, while the unfamiliar eye exclaims, "Great God Almighty !" and turns in mute adoration toward the Al- mighty Architect and Bnildcr. GASTON IN THE CONVENTION OF 1 835. II 9 GASTON IN THE CONVENTION OF 183S. When he speaks, the air, a chartered libertine, is still. — Shakespear. The name of Judge Gaston awakens in our memory a reminder of that great man, and recalls to us some events in his distinguished career. His life was an eminent success, a succession of brilliant achievements in civil life, won by genius, character and assiduous labor, without the adventitious aids of revolutions or arms. His triumphs were truly the triumphs of peace, the triumphs of in- tellectual contest, and we purpose to briefly recall one of those occasions which probably summoned all the weapons of his well-equipped intellectual armory. Judge Gaston was the central figure of the Convention of 1835, confessedly the ablest and most distinguished body of men that has ever assembled in ISTorth Carolina to deliberate upon the affairs of State. Nat. Macon was President, having retired from long and distinguished public service in the l^ational councils. Judge Daniel, of the Supreme Bench of Korth Carolina, and several Judges of the Superior Courts, were also members, and ex-members of Congress were in large number. Cru- dup, of Granville, and Sam Carson, of Burke, both of whom wore distinguished in public life. Jesse Wilson was one of the delegates from Perquimans, Joseph B. Skinner from Chowan, Judge Bailey from Pasquotank, Governor Swain from Buncombe, and indeed, the most con- spicuous men were sent from all tlie counties. The State was greatly excited over the basis of representation, the eastern part of the State holding the control of power by the property qualification, and the west complaining vio- lently that ])opulation was not made the bnsis. The Con- vention was 'a body of limited political poAvers, but there were other questions submitted to its consideration besides the basis of representation. iSTot the least attractive of these questions to which the Convention was limited, was the religious disability ques- I20 GRANDFATHER S TALES. tioii, wliicii was embraced in the tliirty-second article of the old Constitution, which was adopted in 1776. That article disqualified for office in North Carolina ''all who denied the existence of God or the truth of the Protestant religion." That article doubtless interested Judge Gas- ton more than any subject that was to be brought l)efore the Convention. The design of the article unquestionably was to disqualify Roman Catholics from holding office in North Carolina. It was to Judge Gaston a delicate personal question, a question of conscience and honor. He was a devoted Catholic in religious faith. He was a Judge of the Supreme Court of the State, and in assuming the duties of his high office had sworn to support the Constitution of North Carolina, with the thirty-second article excluding fr(im office those who "denied the truth of the Protestant religion" in it. Gaston was sensitive to honor and chi- valrous in character. He was of distinguished ancestry, and nurtured in the most cultured, refined and distin- guished circles of New Bern's elegant society. His own per- sonal honor was on trial, and was involved in the decision of the Convention. The thirty-second article must have been to him the great question before the Convention, and it was natural that he should have been, as he was, grave, thoughtful, absorbed, wrapped in the communings of his own thoughts as the deliberations of the Convention went on. For the ten days that we, then a youth just returning from the University, attended the sessions of the Conven- tion, in the Presbyterian church in Paleio-h, Judge Gas- ton always occupied the same seat, a little to the right and not far removed from the chair of the President. To our \outhful imagination, he was the embodiment of intel- lectual greatness. He seemed apart. He was courteous, but not familiar, exchanged few words with those near him, and never indulged in pleasantry. The thirty-sec- ond article was not taken up earlv in the session. The suffrage question bad been up, and Gastrm had been con- spicnons, able and conciliatory in the debate. GASTON IN THE CONVENTION OF 1835. 121 When Ave came to llaieii^'li and went to the sessions of the Convention witii our boj' friends, O. O. Battle and Henry W. ±\J.iller, both deceased, the thirty-second article was under discussion, and public interest was greatly ex- cited. The hall of the Convention was crowded with vis- itors and ladies. Distinguished men and the oi polloi were all out. J udge Sewell, Dr. Smith of Orange, Crudup of Granville, Judge Daniel, and several others, had spoken as the days wore on; Gaston sat in profound thought, head bent down, arms sometimes folded, always vigi- lant. We well remember the indignant rebuke he once launched upon Judge Sewell, who was his enemy and un- successful rival for the honor of the Supreme Court, at a personal reference to Mr. Gaston and his occupancy of a place on the Bench. Most of the speeches had been in favor of retaining the thirty-second article, and the senti- ment of the Convention was apparently the same way. When the subject had become somewhat exhausted, Gas- ton arose slowly, with great deliberation, amid breathless silence, and for two days riveted the attention of all pres- ent by a speech which is unequalled in our memory. He showed fatigue after speaking the first day, and a motion was made by Mr. Wilson, of Perquimans, for adjourn- ment, but upon some manifestation of opposition to the motion, on account of the rapt attention, Mr. Gaston com- menced to resume his speech ; but the motion was renewed when it was seen that Gaston needed rest. The next day the speech was resumed and continued to the regular ad- journment. The fate of the thirty-second article was seen before the speech was concluded ; and upon the question of amendment beina- submitted, it was carried, we think, very larg-elv. Had that speech never been made the thirty-second arti- cle would probably now be a stain upon our Constitution. The spoocli was a masterlv one, and probably the most labored effort of Gaston's life. All his powers were worker] up to their utmost energy, and every power of moviuii' men's minds by speech was brought into roqui- 122 GRANDFATHER S TALES. sition. It was powerful in argument. His position that one could disbelieve in Ir'rotestantism and yet believe the "truth of the Protestant religion," was exceedingly tine and ingenious, and also his position that the thirty-second article, when rigidly interpreted, would exclude Dunkards and Quakers as well as Catholics. His humor, in illus- trating the common ignorance of the Catholic religion, by a conversation about the meaning of a "fetheral" (a Fed- eralist) w^as inimitable, and placed him in the foremost rank of great actors. His appeal to all Christians for charity in the name of a common Christianity, was equal to any of the masterpieces of English composition. But to our mind, when the speech was delivered and now, the most captivating and stirring passages were the personal parts relating to himself, and which do not appear in the reported and published speech as taken down in shorthand by Joe Gales at the time. After adducing conclusive proof that the article under consideration was obscure, if not positively inoperative, he turned to the Convention and made a most powerful appeal to them to make the Constitution of the "good old State" clear and explicit. And then, addressing himself to the proposition that they should make the article a clear and plain disqualification of Catholics, he said, in tones that touched all liearts, that he had not deter- mined what he should do, but he could not move among his countrymen, to whom he had devoted his heart's af- fections and the best years of his life, "with an infamous brand upon his forehead" ; and as he closed the sentence he slapped his hand upon his forehead and marched with a step that was the personation of majesty a short distance among the members near him. It was a grand scene that time can never efface. GAVIN HOGG. I23 GAVIN HOGG. The Bar in the Edenton district has always held a distinguished place in the history of North Carolina. Be- fore the Kevolution Mosely had a reputation as a leading lawyer, and before and after the Revolution Governor Johnston had the name of a great jurist. Doubtless there were others whose names do not occur to us. After the Revolution came the Iredells, father and son, names long honored in our district and the State; the Blairs, the Cummings, and others. Some of these are mentioned by the first Waightstil Avery, the founder of the Avery family, in his diary, when he passed through this section of the State, from Connecticut, before the Revolution. In his diary he chronicles the fact that those members of the bar in Edenton to whom he had letters of introduction were sceptics, or free-thinkers, in religious matters ; in which respect we are glad to chronicle that our Edenton brethren of the present day are not tlieir counterpart, but contrariwise are very proper men. Later down into the post-revolutionary period, we reach the time in the early nineteenth century when Gavin Hogg commenced his career at the bar in Bertie County, then a poor and briefless barrister, afterward an acknowl- edged chief, and a formidable rival of Gaston, not in culture and acquirements, but in rugged, stalwart power as a great lawyer. It may encourage some of our younger brethren who are disposed to repine at their hard lot and to shrink from the rugged pathwav of earlv professional life, to give a little incident of IIo2;g's entrance upon the profession. It was related to us by tlie venerable Jona- than Tayloe, when over eighty years of nge. as having come under his personal observation. Hoga; was bom, we have understood, at Chapel Hill of poor parentage. He was of Irish lineage. Having his law license, he went down into the eastern part of ISTorth Carolina in search of a place to "locate." He drove up to the tavern in Windsor in a single-stick gig, after a lono- and fatiguing 124 grandfather's tales. (lay's ride, without niouey and without the acquaintance of any one in the place, lie interviewed the landlord pretty soon, told him his business, told him he had no money and no friends, showed him his license, said he meant work, and wanted board and would pay him if he got work, and if not he would not pay him. The landlord, whose name we regret that we can not recall, upon the faith of his mission and his candor, welcomed him cor- dially, gave him his board until he could pay, invited him, as was the custom of the ]jeriod, to take something, which he declined ; and Hogg commenced his life-work, which knew no step backward, until in old age he retired from the profession, the peer of the great ones, wealthy, respected and honored. Gavin Hogg was of large person, with a fine, massive head that would have made Fowler and Wells happy, and an eye like Mars. In manner he was grave, reserved, austere and forbidding, wrapped in the solitude of his own meditations. According to the testimony of our best lawyers, the ablest brief that the Supreme Court Reports of N^orth Oarolina shoAv was ])reparod by Gavin Hogg. Personally he was unpopular. But in tlio war of 1812 he raised a company in Bertie, of wliicli lio was Captain, and was at the ''Battle of Craney Island," near Xorfolk, Va., and he was a very popular officer. It is related tliat in his old age, after he had retired from tlic 1)ar and was a wealthy and honored man, he went to Windsor from Raleigh, to which place he had removed Avhen his reputa- tion was establislied and acknowledii'ed, and strove to be affable and familiar with his old friends and clients among whom he had settled when poor and briefless, but they could not be familiar M'itli him. He died in Raleigh at an advanced affe about the vear 1837. JAMES ALLKN. 125 JAMES ALLEN. JxVMES AiiLEN^ of Windsoi'j Bertie County, has left a greater impression upon the public mind for gigantic in- tellect than any man who has been at the bar of the Edenton circuit. His head was the embodiment of in- tellect, high, massive base, rising like a dome, with au eye of remarkable brilliancy, and a person below the me- dium height, but of considerable rotundity, not unlike the celebrated Judge Douglas, of Illiuois. He was a poor boy in the town of Windsor, neglected, untrained, ]iis father following the sea and taking but little care of his son. His brightness and remarkable head attracted the attention of Thomas .V. Turner, an eccentric but in- tellectual and observant old bachelor of Windsor, who persuaded him to go to school at his expense. He proba- bly made rapid proficiency at school, for at au early age he walked to Washington City, during the administra- tion of General Jackson, to solicit an appointment as cadet at the Military Academy at West Point, having a letter to Governor Branch, wlio was then Secretary of the Navy in the Cabinet of General Jackson. Governor Branch introduced him to the President, who, it is said, looked at him, asked him some few questions, and, upon the faith of his pluck in walking to Washington and, doubtless, his intellectual head, old Hickory appointed him a cadet-at-large. He went to West Point, where he took the very highest stand, being in the class with Gen- eral I_.ee, of the Confederate service, "and graduating equal first with Henry Clay, who fell in the Mexican War, son of the illustrious Kentuckian. The on dit of the time was that Allen was a better matliematician and a better scholar than Clay but that his father's influence made him Allen's equal. Tt is said that General Lee enquired for his old classmate during the Confederate War, hut he was dead some years lief ore. After grarluatinG,-, Alh'u reuiainerl iu the army a few years, aud tliere appearing no jirospect in the profession 126 grandfather's tales. of arms but a life of inglorious ease, he resigned and re- turned to Windsor, to enter upon the legal profession. Having obtained his license, he rose at once to the front rank and acquired a good practice. He was a purely logical speaker, speaking in a plain, unostentatious man- ner, but with most convincing effect. He dealt in pure reason, but no man was more convincing to a jury. His speeches showed a powerful mind. He had in some de- gree the humorous faculty, which he sometimes indulged and wnth great effect. In the Harrison campaign of 1840, he sometimes took part as a Whig, and always spoke with convincing power. He was at a large district convention of the Whig party, at Edenton, in 1840, which was at- tended by Outlaw, Cherry, Paine and other prominent leaders, and no one spoke with more effect, or was a greater favorite with the audience, than James Allen. ETHNOLOGY. 1 27 ETHNOLOGY. For we are the same our fathers have been, We see the same sights our fathers have seen. We drink the same streams, and view the same sun. And run the same course our fathers have run. — AtiOH. Perhaps no subject in the vast range of thought pos- sesses more interest for man than the history of man. The jioet was right when he announced, "The proper study of mankind is man." Man is man's most favorite and interesting study, and mysterious as is his moral and in- tellectual nature, his physical nature and history is as much or more so. Whence he came, or how he came, whether he sprang into existence with all his faculties perfect and entire at the fiat of the Omnipotent; whether coeval with the earth which is his dwelling-place, or subsequently placed there to till and dress it and to be monarch of the vast domain ; whether starting from the lichens and the mosses, he has gone on in the slow progress of improvement until he has developed into a Caesar or Napoleon; whether one man and one woman "created He them," or whether of many types and races ; are still questions puzzling and mysterious, taxins- to their utmost power, and beyond their power, the philosophic acumen of the learned and the curious, and will ever remain mysterious, until by a new development and a higher and holier and more intelligent existence our eyes shall be opened and all things be made plain. Leaving the question of man's origin, other questions as mysterious crowd upon the imagination and tax the burdened thought. The origin of races, the migration of races, the extinction of races, the amalgamation of races ; whether the progress of the human race is the great pur- pose of God, or progress and retrocession be the law of His mysterious providence ; whether in our enlightened period we have not forgotten as well as learned ; whether the age of Pericles and the Athenians was not superior in 128 grandfather's tales. arts, in letters, in physical development and manhood to the vauntad developments of the twentieth century j w^hether the mechanical skill which reared the Pyramids in the desert as a mausoleum for the Ptolemys, thousands on thousands of years gone by, has ever been ec^ualled in the long line of ages since — these perplexing questions, full of mystery and doubt, leave us as they found us, groping blindly, bewildered and unsatisfied. Turning to our own country we hnd new and actually mysterious pages in the history of man's unlearned lesson of man. Our nursery books tell us that Christopher Columbus discovered America in the year 1492, and that he found the country peopled by an aboriginal and strange race whom he called Indians. The Indians the aboriginal race ! They were the creatures of yesterday. Ages before them there existed on this continent a race that lived in towns and cities, tliat cultivated the arts of a superior civil- ization peculiar to themselves, a race that has left no writ- ten memorials, but whose unwritten history is traced in its fortifications that show engineering skill, in its walls of masonry, and its tumuli, in which were deposited the re- mains and relics of the dead. How long this race ant&- chited the discovery of Columbus is left to conjecture to determine. They probably existed at a very remote pe- riod of history, or belonged to the pre-historic period. Their principal settlements were in the valleys of the Ohio and Mississippi and along the great lakes, where they lived in fortified towns, constructed walls and raised mounds for the sepulture of their dead. There is little doubt that numy of them dwelt in x^orth Carolina, but tlie indications are, from the absence of fortifications, that tliey did not make it their permanent dwelling place, or that the other races were subjugated to their will. The evidences of the existence of this ancient race in North (Carolina are found chiefly in the county of Mitch- ell. In the forests of this county, in the valleys, along the crests of tlic hills, arc found numerous pits, generally ETHNOLOGY. 1 29 about ten feet in diameter, now nearly filled up and upon many of them a large full-grown forest growth. These pits have been excavated, and the examinations made have given the conclusion that they were unsuccessful explora- tions in search of precious metals. Other pits of larger size are also found in the same county. One, called the Sink Hole, near the JSTorth Toe Eiver, eight miles from Bakersville, forty feet deep and about the same diameter, has been opened and worked beyond is original depth, and mica found in sufficient quantities to make the labor remu- nerative. During the excavation some of the tools used in the original excavation were found, and also a tunnel connecting with other shafts. The tunnel was only four- teen inches wide, indicating that it was worked by a diminutive race of men. A series of these pits is found in the same county on Cane Creek, and also on North Toe River, near the Turn- pike. All of these pits have been profitably worked for mica during the last few years. These are the forest records of a race of whom history or tradition has furnished us no mementoes, a race that had made some progress in the arts of civilized life< — a race that had some knowledge of engineering, who built cities, raised fortifications, waged wars, mined into the bow^els of the earth to procure the means of carrying on the peaceful traffic of commerce — a race fashioned after the same Maker and endowed with the same passions with ourselves, who mourned their dead and laid them with sepulchral honors in mounds reared to their memories, where they too were laid, and all have passed away with- out a trace to tell the story of their being, save the mys- terious record of their labors dug by their strong arms into the eternal hills. "When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers ; the moon and stars which Thou hast ordained : "What is man, that Thou art mindful of him ? and the son of man, that Thou visitost him?" 130 CxRandfather's tales. THE CONVENTION OF 1835. The earth hath bubbles as the water hath. — Banquo. The iSJorth Carolina Constitutional Convention of 1835 is generally acknowledged to have been the ablest body of men that ever met in the State. It was probably as im- portaitt a body as ever met. It was the climax of a con- troversy that had long agitated the whole State, and of the angry feeling tliat was engendered between Eastern and Western iS'orth Carolina, which at one time threat- ened civil convulsion. The subject of controversy that gave rise to the Convention was the basis of representa- tion, the west contending that population should be more largely represented, and the east that a conservative con- stitution should make property largely the basis. In 1823 and '24 the agitation was most intense. Under the old post-revolutionary constitution at Halifax, the eastern representation was largely predominant, based as it was u]ion ])roperty, and they persistently resisted all increase of western representation. The west was constantly ap- plying to the Legislature for a division of their large counties, which was as frequently refused by the eastern majority. The direct object was to make the business of the west more convenient to the people of the counties, the indirect object was to give Western North Carolina the majority in the General Assembly, and thereby call a Convention to change the basis of representation. Western 2^orth Carolina was then chiefly composed of a hardy race of rough bear hunters, without ]iroperty and without cul- ture. Their representatives generally were men like them- selves. Their applications for redress were unheeded, and their representatives were objects of derision; but they increased in numbers, and their numbers were a constant menace to their more wealthy and more cultured eastern lirethren. Joliu Stanly, of T^Tow Bern, was the champion of the east, and was unsparing: in the use of all the wea- pons of sarcasm in his W('ll-0(]nip]H'(l armory, upon the THE CONVENTION OF 1835. I3I western members who came to Ealeigh in their best cow- colored homespun clothes. But in 1S24 western Carolina issued a protest, signed by Charles Fisher, Bartlett Yan- cey and other leading western men, which thrilled the State by threats of revolutionary separation, and ulti- mately led the east to pass the act calling a Convention to amend the Constitution. That Convention was a stormy one. It made changes in the basis of representation and other articles of the old Constitution. It was composed of able men, antago- nistic in sectional interests, and it came to represent oppo- site sectional ideas. The west was armed in the justness of their claim, and their delegates were more aggressive and violent in the expression of their opinions. Some- times, while the Convention was in session, secession from the body by western men was imminent. But for the kind, moderate and fraternal words of that great Carolin- ian, William Gaston, of New Bern, we think that violent and revolutionary methods would have been resorted to. His words, heard when a youth, addressed to western men aflame with passion, yet ring in our ears — "My friends — and surely mine to you is no unfriendly voice — " and how well do we remember his rejoinder to Governor Swain, who gave Scriptural illustration to western revolution- ary sentiment. Governor Swain, in a closing burst of passionate eloquence, said: "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." The allusion was a happy one and happily applied, and appreciated, and the western delegates "rolled it," in their speeches, "under their tongues," as a "sweet morsel," always giving credit to the "distingnislicd gentleman from Buncombe." After some days, Gaston, who had been silent in the debate on the "basis," rose to speak, and after ably discussing the sub- ject at length, paused and said, substantiallv : "The dis- tinguished member from Buncombe has said that 'unless the wrono-R of our western brethren are redressed, they will rise like the strono: man in his imshorn mi^ht and 132 grandfather's tales. pull down the pillars of the political temple.' The strong man, the son of Manoah, was brought out to make sport for the enemies of his country at the impious feast of JJagon. He tugged and pulled the massive pillars of the temple and buried all in one hideous ruin. It was a great and ;i glorious docd. He fell a martyr and a hero, vic- toriotis among the slain." Gaston had read the Bible more thoughtfully than Swain. JOSEPH B. SKINNER. An all-rouud man. —Old Saw. Perhaps the most distinguished lawyer in the district after Hogg, and contemporary with him in his early profes- sional life except the younger James Iredell, whose his- tory Wheeler has already written, w^as Joseph B. Skinner, of .Edenton. There are remarkable men that float along on the tide of time that are without a pai-allel. Mr. Skinner was such a man. He was born in Perquimans County, in Harvey's Neck, and was the son of Joshua Skinner, a hard-Avorking and well-to-do farmer, who raised his sons to hard work and plain living. He gave indications at an early period of uncommon brightness, and an uncle of his determined that he should have the advantage of mental training. He had already learned the elements of edu- cation at the common schools. In a conversation that tliis uncle had with liis brother Joshua, he was heard to say : "I see in this boy the future hope of our family," Through the influence of his uncle he was, after proper preparation, sent to Princeton College, where he gradu- ated at an early age, and where he was the contemporary of Gaston. After graduation he studied law, at Hayes, the seat of Governor Johnston, and after obtaininsi: his law license, eutororl u])ou t1ie practice of liis ]u-ofopsiou with JOSEPH B. SKINNER. 133 Jiliii'ence. He was de\'oted to businesSj at all times iu his office, early and late, making his business his sole pur- suit, making all things secondary to it — the social cour- tesies of life, the demands of pleasure, the calls of wealthy or distingaiished persons. In the town of Edenton, where he practiced law, his attention to business attracted uni- versal attention. Mr. Collins, the wealthiest man in the })lace, called at his office for a social call while Mr. Skinner was engaged in business, and he did not notice Mr. Col- lins. He left unnoticed, and always after employed Skin- ner in all his business. His attention to business won the rich man. J\Ir. Skinner did a large and lucrative practice from Currituck to Chowan, and over the sound. He acquired fortune by his practice. At about fifty-five years of age he retired from practice and went on a farm one mile from Edenton, where he passed the remainder of his life in the enjoyment of all the comforts which ample fortune could give. It was said by some that the rivalry and superior attainments of the younger Iredell drove him from the bar. However this may have been, Mr. Skinner was in the full enjoyment of a large prac- tice when he retired. He was not an eloquent sjieaker, iu the jiopular sense, but no man spoke more lucidly ; in fact, that was the striking characteristic of his mind, the clearness with which he conceived any subject and his plain manner of stating any pro])Osition. His humor was also a striking charac- teristic, and he was master of the whole armor of ridi- cule. His judgment was unerring, and his confidence in it gave a boldness to liis operations in business that sur- prised every one with his success. He engaged largely in fishing on both sides of the Albemarle Sound with emi- nent success. He was probably the best and most pro- gressive farmer in the counties of Chowan and Perqui- mans, where ho owned lara:e possessions. He was an aris- tocrat, and exclusive in his social intercourse; but he Avas kind nnd liberal to the poor, aided meritorious voiuig men who needed assistance, and his knowledge of men 134 grandfather's tales. was so accurate that his judgment never failed in his esti- mate of men. Mr. Skinuer was a man of rare humor and foresight, and his humor frequently entered into his business cal- culations. On one occasion he was very anxious that the minister in charge of old "St. Paul's" Church, in Edenton, of which he was a member, should have an increase of salary. At that time tlie salary of the minister Avas made up by the renting of the pews. He attended the renting, and finding tliat the bids were low and would not realize such a salary as he wished, he commenced running up the bids on all that were put up to such a sum as be thought neces- sary to make up the salary of the clergyman. When he bad bid oif some dozen or more, some one, in surprise, ventured to ask him wbat he was bidding off so many pews for. He said he bid them off for bis negroes, and in- tended that they should attend church and occupy them. They knew that he would do it, and the white members of the churcb soon took them off his hands and bid higher on the others. He was once sitting in his parlor writing a letter of instructions to a manager of one of his farms in Perqui- mans, and his overseer, Jas. Cannon, was waiting in the room for Mr. Skinner to finish writing, when a knock was beard at the outer door. The visitor was invited into the room. It was the period of clock-peddlers, a class of men that were the persistent representatives of the book agents of our time. The visitor was a clock peddler. He came into the parlor, brin2:iu£: his clock with him. "Buy a clock tliis mornino', sir?" asked the peddler, before offer- ing the customary salutation. "Don't wish one," said Skinner, without raising his head from his writing:." Pirst-- rate time-keeper," said the peddler, setting his clock to strikinir; "Double pendulum, brass mounting, full ring, no cheat, let me put lier up for you, sir." "Don't want your clock, sir," said Skinner, continuins: to write. "Come, now, do buy, keep jjood time, all right for fifteen dollars," snifl tho peddler, the c]nok all the time ringing out. "ting. JOSEPH B. SKINNER. I35 ting, ting, ting" — "jSTo mistalce in her, sir." Mr. Skinner slowlj raised liis head from his paper, and in his slow and deliberate tones, said: "Cannon, tell Eden, and Little Jack, and Big Bob, and Peter Mike, and Slab Toot Jim, to come here." Meanwhile the peddler kept on an end- less fiisilade of recommendations, the clock all the while keeping music, ''ting, ting, ting." The order was no sooner given than obeyed. The live strapping negro fellows came in to receive the order, the clock and the peddler in full crj. "Boys," said Mr. Skinner, "take that clock peddler and put him in his wagon and send him off." No sooner was the order given than it was obeyed, to the peddler's utter astonishment and despite his violent struggles to re- lease himself. Skinner, looking at Cannon with an arch expression, said: "Cannon, d — n the fellow, how he kicks," Mr. Skinner died about the year 1850, being over sev- enty years old, of rheumatic gout. He had been a great sufferer for years. He left a large estate. He requested that the Book of Common Prayer should be placed upon his breast, and the Bible, open at the Book of Job, by his side, before his burial. 136 grandfather's tales. JUDGE R. H. HEATH. If we knew tlie woe and heartache Waiting for u.s down the road, Would we waste tlie day in wisliing For a time that ne'er can be? — Anon. There arrived in Edenton from New Hampshire, on a schooner from Boston, a young man, a stranger, without pecuniary means, slender of person, modest and retiring in demeanor, seeking employment. He was an educated man, and appeared to have graduated at Dartmouth Col- lege, The Trustees of Edenton Academy, hospitable to merit, employed him as an assistant in that institution, to Jos. H. Saunders, who was principal in the flourishing institution. That man was Robt. E. Heath, afterward a Judge of the Superior Court of North Carolina. He remained in that employment for three or four years, ex- hibiting a social and agreeable disposition and becoming a favorite in the community. During this period he was engaged, in an irregular and desultory manner, in studying law with George W. Barney, who had, some years before, come to Edenton from New Hampshire, and had acquired wealth by his law practice and by marriage, and who, later, dishonored the profession of which he was a conspicuous member. One fine morning the boys who were his pupils were startled by the news that their teacher had gone to Raleigh to be made a lawyer. They whistled aloud and put their fingers on their nose, for none of them knew that their schoolmaster was studying law. However, at that period "honors were easy," and the Supreme Court ground all the grist that M-as brought to the mill. He came back, after some days, a lawyer, and the boys, always on the lookout for knowledge, heard that all the law that he carried to the mill was stuffed into him by Barnev. who was a good lawyer, as they rode to- gether to Raleigh. After obtaining his licen!=;o, ho left the school and took JUDGE R. R. HEATH. 137 a law oltice, but was not much in it. He, however, at- tended to his business irregularly, and Thos. B. Haugh- ton, an old lawyer, whose daughter Mr, Heath subse- quently married, sometimes said, to the surprise of others, that Heath was one of the best lawyers in the town, but no one believed it. After his marriage, and while Mr. Haughton lived, he did but little, a sort of flotsam, of the profession. But when Mr. Haughton was drowned, leav- ing a very large estate, heavily involved and ultimately bankrupt, Mr. Heath waked up to the reality of his situa- tion, poor, the son-in-law of a bankrupt father, dependent upon himself, with nothing but his law books, a family looking to him for bread ; and he became a man. He removed to Eden ton from the conntrv. He w^as diligent in business. He made friends. He won clients. He gained causes. He was a plain man. Plain in his at- tire. Plain in his manners. Plain and free and simple in his intercourse. He followed the courts from Curri- tuck to Hyde, and was everywhere a favorite. In politics he was an unterrified Democrat, at a time when it was thought not to be decent to be other than a Whig. Demo- crats recognized him as an able leader in whom there was "no variableness nor shadow of turning." Pie was every- where their trusted leader, counsellor and guide. He was a thorough, well-posted politician and Democrat, not a speaker of the first class, but eminently wise in counsel. Mr. Heath was now a leader in the profession, with a leading practice in all the courts, the peer of the ablest in a bar that presented a galaxy of talent, and that numbered among its members Moore, and Kinney, and Outlaw, and Cherry, and Bras:^:, and -Tim Allen, and Tom Jones, and Jas. Jones, and Haughton, and Jesse Wilson, and Bailey, and Sheppard, and Smith, and Elliott, and Paine, and Brooks, and Martin. Amonc; this array of talent, Mr. Heath hold hieh rank, as a ready, astute and profound lawyer. His memory of authority and precedent was a marvel. At a moment's notice he would cite cases by name and page and in point. iT,S gkandfathkr's talks In Edenton, where he lived, he was the acknowledged rival of Judge Moore, and in their conventional courtesy there was too much rivalry for cordial friendship. Moore was laborious, painstaking, cautious, earnest. Heath was ready, quick, alert, surprising. Moore was earnest, and his earnestness sometimes arose to eloquence. Heath was calm, easy, placable, even-tempered. Moore was impassioned and vehement. Generally Moore was the more successful lawyer. He never trusted himself. He never "went off half-cocked." He was always thoroughly prepared. In mental characteristics he was very much like Chief Jus- tice Smith. Heath too often trusted to the chances. About the year 1850 Mr. Heath was elected to the Bench by the Legislature, without his seeking. He made an al)le Judge, and has left a reputation that is a credit to the Bench of jN'orth (Carolina. After the war Judge Heath removed to Tennessee, and resumed his profession. He was never satisfied. In letters to Bat. Moore, "who was his intimate friend, he spoke of the Albemarle country of North Carolina as the best country to live in that he had ever seen, and that he regretted his having left it. We heard the late Judge Brooks say that while in Eden- ton at the trial of the Johnston Will case, Judge Heath took a walk with him to his old house and home on Main street, and it was apparent to him that his mind w^as shadowed by a cloud of despondency. The past and its memories brooded over him as a pall. About the year 1875 Judge Heath returned to North Carolina, where he married a lady of w^ealth in the west- ern part of the State. And here we would gladly pause and cast the veil over the memory of our old school-master ; but biography, like history, must be true to itself. After living in North Carolina a few years, in a time of great mental depression and bodily sickness, in a mo- ment of despair, he shrank from the troubles of the world, which seemed of old to sit so liditly upon him. and took bv violence his useful life. GENERAL WILLIAM GREGORY. 139 Judge Heath was large in person, with a face of a most kind, benign and winning expression. He was especially kind and social with the joung members of the profession, assisting them with advice and looking, perhaps, too gently upon any of their irregularities. In religious faith he was a Roman Catholic. He died at about sixty-five years of ase. GENERAL WILLlAM GREGORY. A genius of eccentricity. OiN^E of the most remarkable men in the whole history of Elizabeth City was Gen. William Gregory^ In the pos- thumous collectiaus of old North Carolina families by J. II. Wheeler,(_General Gregory, of Elizabeth City, > is spoken of as an old citizen of JSlorth Carolina who, early in life, was known as "Beau Gregory." He was a con- spicuous figure in his town for many years. He had great courtesy and style of manner, and was a punctilious ob- server of all the ceremonials of polite society up to his death in 1846. In personal appearance he strikingly resembled General La Eayette, so famous in our Revolu- tionary history. His father was a Revolutionary officer of large wealth, whose son William was his only son ; and he gave him the advantages of educational culture and polite association, and after completing his general edu- cation, placed him under the tuition of Gen. William R. Davie, of Halifax, to be trained in the profession of the law. General Davie Avas the most eminent lawyer in IN'orth Carolina, and was distinguished for elegant ac- complishments and courteous bearing;, acquired by diplo- matic association at the Court of Erance, where he had been a representative of our Government. After completing his education and obtaining his license. General Gregory, for a time, opened a law office in Eliza- beth City, but his large expectations of wealth and fond- 140 grandfather's tales. ness for the pleasures of society interfered with his legal studies, and he was not a success at the bar. In fact, it was a long-current statement that he never appeared before a court and jury but once. It was said that he arose to address the jury, when the case was on trial, and said: ''Gentlemen of the jury, I conceive that my client." He then looked confused and sheepish, and said again, "Gen- tlemen of the jury, I conceive.'' He then paused, looked foolish and dazed, and after a little while he proceeded and said again, "Gentlemen of the jury, I conceive," and then sat down. Mr. Goodman, the leader of the bar, who appeared on the opposite side, arose and said: "Gentle- men of the jury, brother Gregory has conceived three times and brought forth nothing," and then went on to argue the case. It was Gregory's first and last effort. He always ke]it up his association with the members of the law profession, always attended the courts, and was treated with marked attention and consideration by the members of the bar. In his old age, when nearing eighty, he was a conspic- uous figure on our streets, and was a specimen of vigorous old age, erect and sturdy looking. He was companion- able with young men and old, and was a favorite with e\'ery one. He became very poor in his old age, and was kindly cared for by his relatives and friends. He dressed plainly, but with scrupulous neatness. General Gregory had a singular constitutional defect in his intellectual organization. He had no conception of tlie proper use of words or their application, and the blunders which he made were a perennial fountain of jest for the town. He was utterly unconscious of his in- accuracies. Bill Butler, the wag of the town, was never happier than when he could jjet General Gregory to ex- plain to him something relating to military matters. But- ler would listen to him with apparent earnestness, while Gregory would go throu2:h all the details of military drill and evolution, and then Butler would 2:0 through the movements with the most ludicrous blunderinc;. The GENERAL WILLIAM GREGORY. 14I General woukl repeat it, saying '" — ■ — d — u it, Butler (he would cuss sometimes j, why don't you do like 1 show you !" While they enjoyed the joke, our old people were always respectful to the General. He was a militia Gen- eral, and knew no more about military matters than a militia muster captain with a cornstalk sword. General Gregory was utterly without business capacity, not for want of general intelligence, but for an impatience of the details of business, because he was dandled in the lap of luxury in his early days and could never bring himself down to the drudgery of labor. lie was postmaster of the town, and soon the business got awry, and his administration of post-office affairs was examined by an expert examiner of the office, who found a shortage in his accounts. His bondsmen promptly set- tled the delinquency and there was no attempt at con- cealment. After the matter w^as settled and the post- office had passed out of his hands, one of his bondsmen, an old and confidential friend, said to him — ''Gregory, what did you do with all the money that came into your hands ?" ^'What did T do with it? Why, I spent it like a gentle- man, sir," said the General. While he was postmaster a weekly mail came tlirough the Dismal Swamp Canal from j^orfolk, and generally arrived at night. Its arrival was announced by firing an old cannon on the wharf where the mail boat landed. One very dark night the cannon was fired some time before the arrival of the mail, and the postmaster, the landlord of the hotel, old Billy Albertson, and several citizens went down to the wharf to get the mail and the passenffors, and some from mere curiosity. Dr. Mathews, then in his prime anrl ever on the alert for a practical joke, had stretched a rope across lower Main street on the route to the mail- boat landing. The rope was about the heiijht of a man's knees from the ground. Grefyorv hurried down for his mail, and was the first to he tripped heels over head by the ropp. While he was lying prostrate on the ground, Al- bertson came hurrying down to meet his passengers, and 142 grandfather's tales. was tripped and fell, and he gave vent to his ire by cursing and threatening. Gregory spoke out in the darkness — "Billy, don't cuss ; I am down, too. It's that damn Sam. Mathews." ANECDOTES OF MR. BADGER. Still the wonder grew, *" That one big head Could carry all he knew. — Goldsmith. Let lis place upon the grave of Mr. Badger some few otferings ilhistrative of his eccentricities and of his won- derful versatility of talent, for, after all, his versatility of talent and acquirements were the most distinguished features of his character. We once heard Chief Justice Smith say that if Mr. Bad- ger talked about a horse one would suppose he had devoted his whole life to the study of horses, and so if he talked of anything else, one would think he had made that sub- ject a special study. He seemed to have an intuitive knowledge of things foreign to his pursuits, and he had a fondness for displa_ying it that was almost a weakness. We once heard Colonel Ferebee say that in the Secession Convention, Mr. Badger discoursed to Wm. Pettigrew and himself, who were members of that Convention, about the relative merits of different kinds of liquor at a length and learning that was wonderful ; concluding with a tribute to the value of whiskey over all other liquors. Mr. Badger was in this toAvn to argue a case of usury, in which the State Bank of Nortli Carolina was plaintiff and TToratio Williams was defendant, at the Sprinc' Term of the Superior Court of 1844, Judo-e W. H. Battle pre- sidino-. He was in the full vii^or of his faculties and man- hood. He was exuberant of health and spirits. He was full and running over with playfulness and vivacity. And he was lookinc anxiously forward to a place in the Hni- ANECDOTES OF MR. BADGER. 1 43 ted States Senate, which was depending on his individ- ual ])ersonal popnUirity and upon the success of the Whig Party in ]Si"orth Carolina during that canvass. We had heard of Judge Badger as an austere man, haughty, super- cilious, proud, inconsiderate. We had heard him, when a boy, speak with contempt of popular government. We had heard of his contemptuous reference to the Legis- lature of North Carolina, of his contemptuous reference to the voters of Wake County, when he was an indifferent candidate for their suffrages in opposition to Wm. H. Haywood. We had observed when a boy that he never attended the sessions of the Convention of 1835. We took this as an expression of his contempt for that distin- guished body. We had therefore concluded that the same inte7"course would be shown here. How greatly we were mistaken. He was introduced to his professional breth- ren by Colonel Outlaw. He was courteous, kind and familiar. He became easy and playful with all the young members of the profession. The ink on our license was hardly dry, but we can remember with what happiness we felt the pressure of his great hand upon our youthful shoulders. He was familiar with all the people of the towm. Tom, Richard and Harry, he would hail acres'? the street by their familiar names and go tripping across to talk familiarly with them. He was at the time the most accomplished demagogue that we ever saw. His speech was a masterly effort. He was assisted by Wm. B. Shepard and General Ehringhaus ; the defence was supported by Chas. II. Kinney and Augustus Moore. The principal arguments were made by Mr. Badger and Mr. Kinney. Each foeman worthy of the other's steel. Mr. Kinney was in declining health, but the knowdedge of the foeman brought out the full measure of his strength. He overtaxed his physical power, and the next day he was prostrated by a hemorrhage. Mr. Bafl2:er came to the conrt thronG:li tlio country, in an elegant turn-ont Avith a pair of beautiful bays, whicli was every^ day at the door of the hotel at the service of iUc ladies who were boardinc at the hotel. 144 grandfather's tales. llie day before Air. Uadger was to leave in tiie evening, lie was standing on the corner opposite the hotel, the gay centre of an admiring crowd of listeners, when Mr. Jihringhaus, the cashier of tlie bank, a venerable man of nearly seventy years, a great admirer of Mr. Bad- ger, and especially pleased with attentions from the dis- tinguished man, was passing on the other side. Mr. Bad- ger hailed him aloud, familiarly: "House (as he called him) come over here." Mr. Ehringhaus came over, and after a few words of pleasant conversation, said to Mr. Badger, pointing to his handsome carriage and horses standing before the door of the hotel: "Badger, I wish you would leave that pair of horses down here for me when you go away to-morrow !" Mr. Badger looked at him for a moment, and, assuming a most grave manner, said: "House, 1 like you. I have another pair of fine horses at home, and I. would like to give you that pair of horses. 1 would like very much to do so. But, House, suppose I was to give you that carriage and horses, how shall I carry away that nice lunch you will put up for me to-mor- row to carry with me ? How should I carrj^ that old French brandy, that two or three bottles of old Port, that oyster sauce and pickles, that nice turkey and chicken salad, that cold lemon pudding, and the other nice and appetizing delicacies that you are going to fix up so kindly for me ?" House put on the dry grins. Mr. Bad- ger extemporized a thirty-dollar lunch in a few minutes. The morning Mr. Badger left to speak in Perquimans, he was invited to breakfast with Mr. Ehringhaus, and ordered his carriage to leave from there. He was accom- panied by Thos. F. Jones, of Perquimans, and it is from Mr. Jones' narrative that we take the account of that visit. Mr. Ehringliaus' family were society people, and Mr. Bad- ger was received with marked and ceremonious courtesy. !N'otliing was omitted that was due to one so distinguished. All the ceremonial observances were strictly followed. The servants were trained to the observance of the most minute etiquette of fashion. ANECDOTES OF MR. BADGER. 1 45 Wlu'ii breakfast was announced, Mr. Badger was ush- ered in with ev^ery mark of respect and deference. The guests were assigned to their several phiccs ; and as the dis- tinguished guest was about being seated, the servant girl, as bv direction, removed the chair to replace it when seated. When lo I Mr. Badger, not observing that the chair had been removed, attempted to take his seat be- fore it was replaced, and fell sprawling upon the lloor in a most mortifying manner. The whole family were in a condition of utter bewilderment. The servant girl was frightened and mortified, and things presented a most pitiable sight. Mr. Badger laid there till the tempest had subsided, and then, raising himself up on his elbows and looking at Mrs. Ehringhaus, said, with the most satisfied expression, "Well, Madam, what comes next?" as if it were a part (d" the ceremony for him to be tripped up and tlirowu u])on the floor. lO 146 grandfather's tales. THE PEN AND THE SWORD. Beneath the rule of man entirely great. The pen is mightier than the sword. — Richelieu. The question is often asked, Who was the greater, Na- poleon Bonaparte or Sir Walter Scott? Scott wrote the life of jN apoleon, and it was the hrst elaborate biogi-aphy of that man of destiny. Who was the greater, Homer, author of the great epic poem, or Achilles, the hero of the o-reat drama of history upon which that epic was founded ? Who was the greater, Patrick Henry, the orator and tri- bune of the llevolution, or Wirt, who crystalized that oratory into biographical history? Unquestionably, the pen of the historian is mightier than the sword of the warrior. So likewise, a fortiori (as lawyers say) the pen is mightier than the ''root of all evil" To illustrate these propositions: North Carolina has made enough history to make a large-sized library. It has furnislied enough orators to fill all the mausoleums of history. Wm. R. Davie was the orator, statesman and diplomatist of the Revolution. He was the Patrick Henry of North Carolina. Why was not Henry the Wm. R. Davie of Virginia ? Davie was a superior man to Henry. Davie was a courtly gentleman of the old school, a good lawver, an able debater, a representative of our govern- ment at the polished Court of France, and wore a gentle- man's queue, manufactured in Paris. Henry was a bar- keeper, a hook-and-line fisherman, a fox hunter, and, as Mr. Jefferson told Mr. Webster at Monticello in 1820, associated with rowdies in intimate companionship. Why then, is it, that Henry rides down tbe lines of history as the "silver-tongued orator" of the Revolution, and Davie is hardly known to our school children ? Simply because Wirt's pen was mi^itior than Davie's tongue or sword. All along the line from Davie down, orators have been in- digenouiTto North Carolina soil, and at every period of her liistorv. Wbv do avo not knmv tliat history by heart? THE PEN AND THE SWORD. 147 Simply because our pens have been silent amid the clash of .arms and the progress of great events. JSTow, this is all wrong. He that raises his arm on the ramnarts of his- tory should ride like a panoplied knight down its lines. If iiorth Carolina has made history, as she doubtless has, then it is right and just that the laurels of history should be twined around her brow. How can the wrong be right- ed ? How can it be condoned before the august tribunal of history? Let "I^'orth Carolina Day" be set apart in all our schools in the State as sacred to our history. Let each pupil select some event in our annals and write a historical essay upon the event, or some one be assigned to him for study and composition. Let the teacher select the best essay and preserve it, and the next generation of 2^orth Carolina's sons will know more and be prouder of the grand old State of their birth and its achievements in the role of historv. 148 grandfather's tales. THE GIANTS OF 1840. Green be the turf above thee, Fnendfs of my better days. —Drake. TiiK year 1n-I() wa?; the most iiieiiiorablc date in the ]»<.- litieal history of the I'uited Slates. It was a great crisis in our party contests. The W'hii;- Tarty had been maintaining an unequal contest with the Democratic party for several years, sonietinies gaining a victory in sporadic cases, and always maintaining its inteHectual ascendency in the ^Xational Congress, and alwavs an overmatcli for the great leaders of Democracy. The Whig Xational Convention iiu-t in ilarrishnrg, and after a tnmultuous session nominated a man who liad been much of his life in the public service, had made no dis- tinguished name as a statesman, but liad made some repu- tatmn as a military man and bad won one battle — the battle of Tippecanoe. That convention at Uarrisburg adopted no phitfnrni of principles. Its candidate^ was unknown, but he wa^ her- abb'd as a good old man resentative in the lower house of Con- gress, ' (diaries R. Kinney, leadin- lawyer of Klizabeth City, and William W. Cherrv. ,.f r.ertie (^.unty. Idiere nuiv have beei\ some others. The iioiiiinat ioii was re- ceived with derision by the Democrats and by some lu-oni- inent Whigs, with coldness. AVm. V>. Sliepard, of Eli/a- betb Citv, who had been in Congress with Harrison f<»r several vears, said he couhl not vot(^ fm- him. that he was THE GIANTS OF 184O. 1 49 an *N>1(1 granny," and while in the Senate of the United States liad l)een conspicuous for his stu]ndit_v. JMr. Shep- ard made no conccalnieur of his opinions, and his influ- ence was creating a local ]tuhlic sentiment against the Whig nominee for Presi(h'nt. Tjiarh's I\. Kinney, l)rim- full of enthusiasm for the chief whom he had helped to })ut in nomination, assaile(I the opinicnis of Mr. Shepard in the local newspapers and hr was re]ilie(l to hy Mr. Slie})- iird through the same newspaper medium. The contro- versy was ke|)t u]) for some time with ahility and acri- mony that was leading to ])er8onal coutlict. The matter was tinally adjusted hy mutual friends, and Mr. She]xir(l gradually fell into tlu- surging TTarrison tide and did yeoman service with ringing speeches, from Bertie to (hir- rituck. h'enucth Raynei' was tlien the AVhig lender of the First District, an earnest, and)itious and ])o])ular idol of the par- ty, lie came home from Ilarrisburg some days after the ad joiirnm( nt of the Conveiition, at which time the Harrison tide was i-ising and swee|)iug the ])eo]de before it, and log cabins and hard cider were becoming the object lessons of the campaign. The people of the town of Edenton had erected a capa- cious cabin on the green, in front of the c(mrt-lionse, and they would have Kayner to speak in it first. He seemed unusually thoughtful. When he rose to speak he was tlionghtfnl to austerity. During his speech he nsed these words : "We must drive the Democrats from power, peace- ablv, if we can, if not, forcibly." The words were nttered with a deep-toned earnestness that thrilled the audience. There was no applause, l)ut the solemn silence that attend- ed it showed the dee]) thouii'hts that choked their utterance. While Rayner was syx^king there came into the cabin a little man of ratlier uncainly appearance, and whose attire and bearin'j; indicated his indifference to those im- portant objects. Some of his friends crowded around him with cordial greetino-. We had never seen him be- fort\ He was invited and taken to the platform with 150 grandfather's tales. Kayner. lie and Rayuer met with the cordialty of inti- mate friendship. The little man's size and appearance was against him. His bearing was wanting in dignity. An intellectual smile played between his eyes and his broad mouth. When examined carefully his physiogno- my represented two qualities. His chin and lower jaw stood for kindliness, humor, amiability and good fellow- ship. His upper head was a capacious dome, enlarging from base to summit. It was a symmetrical dome of tliought, the domicile of a brain power that made a great master among men. It was William W. Cherry — one of the most genial, gifted, eloquent, forceful speakers that the Albemarle section has ever given to North Carolina, perhaps the most so. He was the soul of wit, humor and eonvivinlity. His powers of repartee were as sharp as a "two- edged sword," but left no wound. As a raconteur he was the superior of Ham Jones. His benevolence was broad as humanit}', and he was as pure as a Vestal Virgin, with an exquisite geniality that was never stained by a bad habit. When Rayncr liuislied speaking, "Cherry! Cherry !" was vociferously called for. He came in response to the cor- dial call. He had scarce uttered a few sentences before everybody recognized a great orator. With electric argu- ment that convinced, words that thrilled fell from him as seldom before had fallen from human lips. O, the ironies of fate ! Cherry died young; scarce turned forty. Fate had emptied its cornucopia of honors in his lap, and his future was a sun-o-ilt prospect. He had not an enemy in the world, and his friends were lovino- and true. He fell before the relentless reaper, all unexpected, when the peo- ple were casting their honors, all unsoua'ht by him, at his feet. When we were in the court-house at Edenton where the Wliig convention met that unanimously nominated him for Conc;re?s to succeed Tvenneth Ravner, who had re- sigmed the place, we were assio-ned the place of secretary THE GIANTS OF 184O. I5I of the conveution, over which Augustus Moore^ Sr., of Edenton, presided. It was an easy task to nominate Cherry. It was prearranged. A committee was appoint- ed to notify him, and they soon came in with him. His speech of acceptance was in his usual style. We took it down stenographically as he spoke. When the convention adjourned, toward night, we went out and in the early night wrote it out and then looked for Mr. Cherry to submit it to him for revision. After some search, we found him in the old Club House at the Eden- ton Hotel, in his stocking feet and shirt sleeves, sitting in a chair with his feet doubled up under him, and cracking jokes with a crowd of admiring friends. He was re- counting to them a story of a Western county, North Car- olina constable who went to Charleston, S. C, on horse- back to purchase a piece of land in North Carolina from a rich nabob who was a titled colonel, which we had heard Ham elones tell in Raleigh some years before. He beat glorious old Ham, far away. After he had finished, we submitted our report to him. He pronounced it good, and with thanks gave every word his approval. We sent the proceedings and speech to the Baleigh Bcqister, and the same number of the paper con- tained his death. The touching obituary by Weston R. Gales had under the headlines Burke's famous apothegm: "What shadows we are, and wliat shadows we pursue!" 152 GRANDFATKKk'S TALES. THE DEATH OF WILLIAM GASTON. O death ! where is thy .sting. Wiiiix Jud^iix' (iasioii (Icpiii-iiMl this life in Raleigh, Jan- uary 23, 1844, at 65 years, a great man left us, and Caro- lina was in mourning for her most distinguished son. Distinguished as his life had been, rounded, patriotic and useful, when he departed this lif(^ nothing became him like the leaving of it. He was a grand old man, and was beck- oned away at the green old age of sixty-five years, full of honoi-, distinction, usefulness and the love and gratitude of his countrymen. While the Supreme Court of North Carolina, of which he was one of the Justices, was in session in the morning, he was attacked with gi(Miness in the head, with syni])- toius of a])oplexy. The Court adjourned immediately, and he was taken in a cai'riagc to his oHice at Mrs. Tay- lor's. He rallied from tlie attack during the evening, and at night several distinguishe(l friends called in to see him. He talked with them, nwA the coux'crsatioii tuiMied naturally uj)on the uncertainty of life and kiudrcil rcliu^ ions sidijects. As he became inlci'cste(l in ilic sul>i('ct. Judge Gaston rose up on his elbow and tlien sat up in bed. He spoke lUi infidelity and its iutluencc- u]H)n chai'aclcr. and i'(d"err('d to Tobias Watkins. a distimiuislicd ))nblic otlicer, who was an avowed infidel, and whom he had known while a member of ("^ongress in Washinutou. IFe saironouuced this last word, he raised hims(df u]) in bed and fell back a lifeless c(u-])se. A cTand and dramatic close of an illustrious life. ^^r. Gaston was a oroat favorite in Xew "Rem, where DEATH OF WILLIAM GASTON. 153 he had lived all his life, lie was beloved for hi» cour- tesy, his kindness, his benevolence, and for his great abil- ity and usefulness in public and private. He was the central hgure in the group of distinguished men that illus- trated the history of Xew Bern as no town in the State had been. It seemed at one time that every big num in North Carolina had been born or lived at some time in that ''Athens" of the State, as the noble old town used to be lovingly called. Stanly, Gaston, Taylor, Shepard, Hawks, Daves, Badger, Manly, Graham, Henry, Nash, Speight, Backus, Bryan and a crowd of other great men, were all born or lived there. The negroes joined in the general distress at Judge Gaston's deatli. He was always their friend. He always deplored the existence of slavery in North Carolina, and regarded it as "the worst evil that atilicted the Southern portion of our Confederacy," and in his famous address at the University in 18?>^, asked if it was too much "to ]io])e for its ultimate extirpation in jSTorth Carolina." When he was a candidate for the J^egislature, when the old "State House" in Raleigh was burned, and he was elected over Charles She])ard by one nuijority, all the free negroes voted for him. His memory is yet green iu the lienrts of Ids coTintry- meu, and the ])atriotic ode written by him in a moment of ins]>iratiou — " Carolina I (^irolina! Heaven's bless- ings attend her" — yet wakens the love of our ]ieo]de fVu- the dear old State we love so well. 154 grandfather's tales. MAMMY ELLEN. Full many hearts in lowly bosoms dwell Tlie worltl knows not of, or cares not to tell. We tell the story of the heroism of the lowly. There are heroes of domestic life that have found but little space in history. It is a picture of Southern life, and we hope it will not be out of place to rescue it from oblivion, with- out drawing on the imagination for its simple "annals of the poor." It is the picture of the old black mammy of Southern society before that cruel "war between the States," that, whatever may have been its benefits (and there are doubtless many) developed some of the most fiend- ish traits of our poor human nature and ruthlessly sun- dered ties that were heaven-born, earth-blessed, and nur- tured in love. It is the story of Mammy Ellen, a faithful old black mammy, to whose pure and loving memory we would now like to raise a monument of pure black marble to commem- orate the virtues of a black slave who had been the foster- mother of the children, had nursed them in childhood, had followed them in manhood with kindly words of counsel when the world's gilded temptations lured them from duty. But that coveted work has been denied us by an inexorable necessity that has dogged the heels of our res avgm^fa domi. Mammy Ellen's is a plain picture, true to life. She had her home by day and a lowly cot at night in a loving household. She was always with the family and the chil- dren that she loved with unselfish devotion ; intelligent, M'ntchful, patient and forbearing. From a little girl she had been an intimate associate of the family. As she grew to womanhood she became their loved counsellor and friend. Her patience and good humor was a marvel of loveliness. She always kept her temper, even when it was subjected to the innocent provocations of childhood's love of fun. Sometimes "tired nature," wearied with MAMMY ELLEN. 1 55 watching at night, would seek relief in a short ''cat-nap" by day, and healthy and bright children, always watchful for ] obs in the held of fun, would poke straws into Manmiy Ellen's closed eyelids, and she would always come to con- sciousness with a happy smile and a kindly word of chiding. A little incident occurs of Mammy Ellen's faithful watching, mixed a little with the supernatural. A sick chamber, a little boy, of that interesting age when "sweet is the voice of childhood and its earliest words," is sick unto death. His mother, worn with watching, broken with grief, had left him in despair, to commune with God. His father and Mammy Ellen watched by his dying bed, both weeping. Death, with its inverted torch, we both thought had come to beckon him away. Every childish prattle of his was crowded into a moment. The critical moment, we thought, had come. At length the father gave way, and telling Mammy Ellen to close his eyes after death, sought the anguished mother. She ^vas in an upper chamber, night clothed, pacing up and down the floor, sad but silent. The agonized father said : "My dear, we've got to give up our little boy. He can not live half an hour." She turned to the half -crazed father and said, as if in words of inspiration, "No, no; he will not die. I have been in prayerful communion with our Heav- enly Father, and he has given me assurance that our dear little boy would be spared to us." We went back below. Faithful Mammv Ellen was watching over him. The little fellow roused for a moment from a comatose slee]3. Mammy Ellen leaned over him and said, "How do you feel now ?" He answered quickly, "I'm better, do you know, now." He turned over, went to sleep, recovered rapidly and was restored to his parents. And now let us turn to the dark side of this shield. Tn the fall of 18G3 there came to Elizabeth City a one-armed General, who wore and dishonored the epaulettes of the TJnited vStates Army, and occupied the toAvn. He brought with him five thousand ne2:ro soldiers. He established 156 GRANDFATHERS TALES. a reign of horror here tor ;il)i>iit ;i mouth. lie iin])i'is- oned innoceut and delicate \V(unen, phit-cd tliciii un(h'i' ;i guard of negro sohliers, who watched all rhcir movenieiils by day and night, lie threatened old men and noii-coni- hatants with tire and (h^ath. He had imt one instinct — cruelty — an«l he gratiiied his thiist for desolation. lie swe])t away vvrvv \-estige oi' iiroperty and made 11s ;i land (d' wi'etclied ))an|iei's. When he was lea\'ing, he sent a squad of negi'o soldiei-s |o take away all the negroes that were left. Some !>ii1faloes wiili whom he consorted, di- rected him to homes where some vet i'(anaine(|. 'Idiey came to the home where Mammy Fdlen lived. She did not want to go. They tried to ])ersuade her away, and called her "sissy." She still refused to go. At length they told her she niitst go and made a show of force ; the children came to them and, weepinu', l)egged them noi to take away Mammy Ellen. Their hearts of steel did not relent hefore the supplications of cliildhood in tears. .\t length Mannny Kllen, wee^nng, took from her ])ocket an old ]nii'se, and takinu' some silvc^r coin, distril)uted it among them, and emhracing then) and callinii- them"lier children," took her depart\n'e with the s(ddiers,an(l her hody now rests .somewhere among the sand dunes of Tioanoke Islaml, and her blessed spirit still hovers over and follows the children that sh(» loved and watched over in life. HENRY W. MILLER. 1 57 HENRY W. MILLER. Where every god did seem to t^et his seal. To give the world assurance of a man. — Hamlet. X(»KT!i (\vK()j.iXA has had many men in its citizenship that iUnstrate the touching lines in "Grey's Elegy in a ('ountry Churchyard" — "Some mute inglorious Milton Here may rest, Some Cromwell, guiltless of his country's blood."' They sleep iinhonored because no pen has made record (if their deeds — that handmaid of immortality, mightier than the sword, most potent of all the agencies in the pre- servation of glorious and inglorious deeds, the index finger of the (trt preservative, that marks the sign-hoards in the ])ath\vay of time. Among those ''mute inglorious Miltons," whose grand marcli to greatness, witnessed hy his wonderiup' contem])()- rarics, and whose magic words of elo(]uence and wisdom are fast fading from the memories of men, was Henry Watkins Miller, of Raleigh. He bore upon his augnst brow natiire's guinea stam]i of nobility. He was born to greatness, and the shadow of his wonderful intellectual gifts was ciist before him before his entrance upon the jircna of life. He was our school friend. We for two years o<'cui»ied adjacent rooms in tlie old historic "South Building" of tlu:^ r'niversity of Xortli Carolina, se])arated only In* a narrow- passage way. That ])assage way was the dividing line between tb(^ Di. and Phi. brotherhoods, but it did not di- vide oui' friendship, whicli was of a somewliat intimate character. Much is said of the masterv of men, and Milh-r's nias- tei-v at the T"''ni versify was tlie mastery of men. His in- telh'ctnality as a hoy was a marvel. His personality was cliai-iniuii'. His eye was like a sloe; but tlu' as)iect of 158 grandfather's tales. Mars was softened by a glance of kindness that won all hearts by its sincerity and benevolence. Seldom he laughed, but when he did it was a musical ripple of a placid river on a pebbly bottom. One word more and we will dispose of his boyhood. He was at the head of his class as an intellectual man, but he was not a "first-mite" man. His genius was too univer- sal to be "cribbed, cabined and confined," to be bound around by the technicalities of the scholar. He was an all-round intellectual prodigy. His field of triimiph was too broad for the struggles of logarithms, hydrostatics and optics, and he gave all his strength to the struggles of man- kind. Another word, and we give up his boyhood and turn to the graver and sadder period of his life. Miller graduated in 1834. He spoke the third speech in the order of distinction. It was a grand effort, full of the afflatus of oratory in its grandest t^q^e. His father, a plain old man, in the sixties, homespun clothed, a Vir- ginian, of Buckingham County, came to the University at the Commencement of ISSi, to see his son graduate. We stood by the old man in the aisle of Gerrard Hall. Young Henry Miller carried the audience alons; \vith liim by the magic thrill of his eloquence. The old man wept like a child as young Henry swe])t the heart-strings of the audience, and when he sat down the old man, with stream- ing eyes, went upon the rostrum, took his gifted son in his arms, and wept aloud. All college distinctions paled before the grand triumph of that proud day. While at the University he was a model of every pro- priety. He had no excesses, was a member of the Presby- terian Church, and was in all respects moderate, circum- spect and exemplary. But let him who stands and of whom "all speak well," beware lest he fall ! He returned to his home in Ttaleigh after irraduation. His fame of greatness had preceded him. Friends on every side met him with open arms and were profuse of compliment and congratulation. George E. Bado-er, the head of the law profession in Raleigh, and a leader in its HENRY W. MILLER. I59 distinguished social life, took him by the hand, took him up as "his boy," took him in his otiice as a law student, flattered him, praised him, and predicted his future dis- tinction, Weston R. Gales received him and made him a pet in his charmed circle of social life, with its brilliant baits of temptation and uleasure. His head was turned, the proprieties of his past life were thrown to the winds, he fell before the tempter and his life is now the best temperance lecture in the whole history of ISTorth Carolina. His life afterward was a fall, and a staggering, repentant recovery. Sometimes, yea often, the fire of his old-time brilliancy would flame out with unwonted fervor. In the Harrison storm of 1840, he was a power, and the cam- paign newspaper articles — "A Plain Man and One of the People" — were read throughout the State and had great influence. He acquired the reputation of a great but un- certain lawyer. He had a leading practice in important cases, and at his best was regarded as an unrivalled ad- vocate. x\bout 1858 he was appointed b_y the "Ladies of the Blount Vernon Association," with Edward Everett, the li'reat Massachusetts orator, to deliver lectures through- '>ut the United States for the purpose of purchasing ]\Iount ^'c^non and dedicating it to the memory of Washington. It was a distinguished honor, and much appreciated by Carolina's talented son. For a time it exercised a salu- tary influence over his life, and he entered the service assigned him with an earnestness and ability that eclipsed the fame of Everett. Miller's lecture was never published, but we had the pleasure of reading the manuscript some years after, and it was strikingly elegant, original and forceful. As a graceful orator and elocutionist, he could not have been excelled by Everett; for Miller was the equal of Daniel Webster in magisterial face and bearing, and his superior in person and in the sweet musical cadence of his tones. Once, in 1862, we were on a railroad bound for Ra- i6o gkandfather's tales. l(Mi>li. \Vc were sittinti, l)v a friend, and wliilc in comcr- sation with him, \vc heard a voice full of melody and sweetness coniini;' from Ix'hind us far down in the car. We said to the friend neai" us, ''Surely we've heard that voice before. It sounds like Henry Miller's." lie re- plied, ''Mr. Miller is on the train." We had not met ]\Iiller for thirty years. We turned and looked over the dense ci-owd. Far down we recognized the majestic brow and eye of "Old Coal" of the T^^niversity. I went at once to him. lie met me as I him, with the old-time heartiness, known only lo school-day friendship.. We turned to the |)ast, and iiave some space to the present. IFe lamented the war then raging-; and tlie stoppage of his work in the lecture field with Kdward Kverett adde<| to his |)ersoiud regi-ets. We suggested tiiat he devote some part of his life to preparing an (dahorate l)iogra])hy of William (iraston. lie said no num a])])reciated the character of the great ( 'aro- linian more than he did, but he was poor, and the demands of his family took all his time. He then passed his hand through our hair and made some comment upon the foot- prints of time with both of us. He got off at tlie next station, and we ])arted never to meet again. JUDGE THOMAS RUFFIN. i6l JUDGE THOMAS RUFFIN. "A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches." It o-jves weigiit to reproof, force to counsel and point to example. — Grier. As T.ONG as magistracy exists, the name of Thomas Ivuffin, of 'EoYth Carolina, will be conspicuons among her great sons. He was specially a great lawyer, and the monnmont that he reared to his memory was acqnired by long and laborions service in her legal ranks. From the ranks, amid difficnltics, withont family in- ilnence, without patronage, with the encumbrance of constitutional diffidence, in the face of eminent legal prac- titioners and rivals at the bar, he rose to be the acknowl- edged leader on his circuit of courts, and in the progress of his career came to be tlie chief minister at its altars. His distingiiished life and character is full of practical lessons to the young as])irant for forensic distinction who longs to inscrilK^ his name upon the ])illars of the legal temple. '"" It is a lesson of struggle under difficulties, of intense labor, ^ of indefatigable perseverance, of resolute deter- mination, of patience, of self-reliance, of triumph. _ When J:)emostlienes, the great Grecian orator, and as- signed the highest place in the Pantheon of oratory, was asked wliat was tlie main c(mstituent of oratorv, lie said action ; and wlien asked for the next element, he rejieated— action; and when asked for the third constituent, lie re- peated the same answer. Tlie lesson of Thouias iluffin's lite was that labor, thrice rei)eated, was tlie orand ele- \ nient m the life of a successfu], great hiwver.' He was I no oratu;uii/c(l Ixxly to (lc!il)ci';itc on the inystery of the snake and tlic ciiu-. Aai'ccd. .lolin (1. Wood, of Hayes, was called I0 ilic cliaii', and Closes Blaekstock, of Bertie, was calli tl oil to express his sentiments. He kindly re- sponded. "This," said he, "is a venomous species of the anguhis dioscii/o.s. It is an amphibious animal, and is always found near the sea. It has a thousand legs, which are used as ])addles in the sea and propellers on land. It can outi'un tlu- swiftest race-horse, and can jump twentv feet al a bound. As to tlie ecg-, it is the property of some thrifty
ill Jones, an exotic banker; that Bill was a funny man, and when in his funny mood lie couhl not tell his right leg from a ])owder-horn ; but set two cocktails before him with a straw in each, and let him draw, and in ten min- utes he would tell you more of the past, present and future than all flic wise lucn from (^ipe Ilatteras to Colliniiton Bay. Two cocktails of John Ward's best were (U-dcred, and a committee^ a])i)ointed to invite Bill Jones's ]u-esence at the coiudavc. Tie soon came, and, lookinu' around, saw two cocktails staring bini in his face, that was beaming with liai)piucss. Tic addressed himself to them, and for tive iiiiuules discussed first one and then the other. Then, turning to the crowd, he said, "Gents, for what want yc me r' The chairituin answered: "We want your learning as to this snake and this OiX'^.''' He bowed liis best bow, and then, pointing to the monster reptile, said: "That snake i)eloniis to the niir/ddiisti family — venomous, destruc- liv<' and rabid. Its jaws turn u])on a ]iivot and hinae, and it can take in a hog, a jtossum, oi' a ]>up])v, and some- times swallows a baby, without distinction of color, race (u- ]U'evious condition. Tliis one is well known here. Tie A MONSTER SNAKK. 1 65 was t\w Icrror of these banks. He ate Betsy Barker's baby at OIK- gulp. He ran ott" with JS'ancy Dowdy's two twins, and has eaten various and sundry others. From exami- nation of his fangs, he is thirty years old. The boys were fortunate in shooting him as quick as they did, for when his liead was thrust through that hole he was preparing for a s]U'ing, and would have wrapped his head around one of the boy's neck and stuck his tail in his nostrils, strangled him in less time than a minute, and devoured ]iim at his next meal.'' Turniuii- to the e<>'i»;, Bill J. eved it from every stand- point and said : ''Tliis is an ossified egg of the Great Auk, a mammoth bird of tlie torrid regions that existed in pre- liistoric ages, just ])rior to the death of Abel. There is onlv one Auk 02:2: in the Avorld. It is preserved in the British !^Iuseum and a million dollars has been refused for it." i66 grandfather's tales. BATTLE OF MOORE'S CREEK BRIDGE. I have no words : i My voice is in my sword. —Macbeth. Pekiiaps no battle of the Revolution had greater effect in rousing the Patriots of the Revolution in its earlier stages and inspiring their hearts with the enthusiasm of independence than the battle of Moore's Creek Bridge. It was the first regailar pitched battle of the Revolution in any of the States. It was fought by the regular colon- ial troops of North Carolina, in Cumberland County, on a branch of Cape Fear River, on the 27th of February, 1776. The forces engaged in the campaign were the North Carolina troops, commanded by Col. James Moore, Colonels Lillington, Caswell, Martin and Ashe; and, on the other side, the Scotch Highlanders, commanded by Gen. Donald MacDonald, who was a Tory, and had been commissioned as General of North Carolina troops by the Colonial Governor. The Patriots consisted of about 1,100, being Colonel Moore's Continentals, and the min- ute men from New Bern and New Hanover and militia from the counties of Duplin, Craven, Dobbs and Bladen, under Colonel Caswell ; a hundred "volunteer independent yagers" frorh Wilmington, commanded by Colonel Ashe, and a hundred and fifty minute men from Wilmington under Colonel lillington. The opposing force of Tory Highlanders, under the command of General MacDonald, consisted of about 1,500 men, chiefly Scotch Highlanders. As soon as the Loyalists began to embody at Campbel- ton. Colonel Moore took position at Rockfish Creek, seven miles down the river, and was watching the movement of the force under General MacDonald, and had determined to attack them at the first suitable opportunity. But the enemy, whose object was to get to Wilmington and join the British fleet in tbe harbor, evaded him bv crossing the river and passing to the eastward +o another road. Moore, BATTLE OF MOORE'S CREEK BRIDGE. 167 however, directed Lillington and Caswell to concentrate their forces on that road near the widow Moore's bridge, on a creek that emptied into Black River, about thirty miles from Wilmington, while he hurried down to close in on the Highlanders. During the day and night of the 26th of February, Colonel Lillington, who was the first to reach the bridge, had thrown up a breastwork com- manding the crossing, while the Highlanders were rapidly approaching from the opposite side. Colonel Caswell came just in time, and during the night Lillington also destroyed part of the bridge, removing the planks so as to impede the attacking party if they attempted to- cross the bridge. On the early morning of the 2Yth of February, the Highlanders, seeing an embankment apparently unoccu- pied, and supposing that the Americans had abandoned or were about abandoning their position, determined to at- tack them. They fired a mornins; gun and then charged furiously over the bridge, not knowing the impediment of its partial destruction. The patriots attacked them with great impetuosity while on the bridge, and totally disor- ganized them. Then Captain Slocumb's company crossed the creek lower down and attacked them in the flank, and the Highlanders broke and retreated. The Patriots killed about seventy of the enemy and took many prisoners, among whom was General MacDonald himself. It was a complete victory for the Patriots and broke the formid- able Tory outbreak among the Scotch Highlanders, who had fled from Scotland after the disastrous battle of Cul- loden in their home country, and made their new home in the Cape Fear region of ISTorth Carolina. Tn this first pitched battle of the Revolution, that is hardly known to our own people, the Patriots, under Gen- eral Moore, had two wounded, one of whom died. The Tories, under General MacDonald, lost seventy. Captain McLcod and Captain Campbell, of tlie Highlanders, were killed early in the fight on the bridge, the former of whom recei\'ed upwards of twenty bullets through his body. A 1 68 grandfather's talks. very few miinitcs after rlio fall of tliese leadcivs the whole aniiy wa.s in lligiit. J\iany were drowned and many pris- oners were taken, General MacDonald being taken tlie next day. lie was commissioned as Brigadier-General and Oommander-in-Chi(>f in Xortli Carolina. There w-ere twenty-six prisoners taken, all of whom were sent on to the American General Congress in PhiladeliDhia. The importance of this signial victory of the Americans is f)illy recognized in the scant contemporary letters and ]mblications. They speak of the great joy that it had (liifnsed in the Province, and liow great a disappointment it Avas to Clinton and Lord William Campbell, who were in Caj)e Fear Kiver in British ships of war, "in sanguine expectation of being joined by the defeated and routed Tory troops." If the fight at Moore's Creek Bridge had been won by the Tories under General MacDonald, all Kast (\irolina would have been overrun and ]U*obably t])(' whole Sonth wouM have been subdu('(l. And yet, when Senator Butler introduced a resolution in the I'nited States Senate proposing an appro])riation to aid in raising a uionument at the site of this first pitched battle of the Ke\-olution, some Senator asked, with lament- able sim])licity, wIk re the battle of Moore's ( 'reck IJridge was fought. Alas I alas! the schoolmastei- is abroad, but whc^re are the ])ens that are "mightier than tlie sword." It is sometimes asked why the Ilighhiiiders. wlio liad sustained so signal a defeat in a contest with the British Government at the disastrous battle of Culloden in 1745, should liaA'c taken u]) arms for the British Government against the citizens of their new home in Xorth Carolina. It is the old storv of the "burnt child." They liad felt the fire of the British arm in their old honu\ and with the true instinct of a cannv Scot they feared a repetition of Culloden. But time has redeenie(l their mistake in the struggle for independence, and the State of Xorth Carolina now points with pride to the descendants of the ^NFacs who fell at ]\roore''s Creek Brid<>T', who have since brouii'ht and em])tie(l into hei' loving' la)t laurels won in field and formu. THE BANKER PONY. l6g THE BANKER PONY. " The War Horse Snitfeth the Battle from afar."' TiiK horse is man's best friend. In peace he is man's best agent in snbduing tlie forest to the plow. He is the great agent of transportation and interconununication. He Avas a factor in the progress of the hnman race from the earliest period of time. He is as prominent as man in the chronicles of Holy Writ. Why, then, should he not have a place in history '( He has won battles. He has subdued forests. He has been the faithful companion of man in all his enterprises. He has been the inspiration of song and story and art. The artist has made him the emblem of death, and "Death on the Pale Horse" has immortalized the easel of West. The Arab loveth his steed. C^ivilized man cherishes his horse, gives ear to his intuitive knowledge of past, present and future events. Had the Great Creator denied man the power of speech, as he has the horse, the horse would have been his su])erior. Without speech man's reasoning would have been inferior to the horse's instinct. He has more strength, more sagacity Avithout speech, more valuable in- stincts and forecasts iliaii man, and in the outset of the race of life he starts in the race far ahead. His self-reli- aiic(\ tliat great factor in human ])rogress, is earlier de- A'elo]>od and is more tenacious. But he is denied the vocal ])OWor, hence he takes rank next to head in the roll of cr(^ati()ii. Why, then, deny him a ])lac(^ in history to which he lias coiitri1)nted so much in sacre(l and profane records? Why close tlie doors, of fame to liiiii wlio has ofttimes turned the tide of l)attle and chaniicd the pathway of nations ? From Job to T^liaraoli tlie horse is a cons])ieuous sub- ject. Tlie earliest horse known in N^orth ^^^•o^ina is probably the bankei- ]iony, and in nil tlu^ crossings of breeds and 170 grandfather's tales. the training of tlioronghbrecls, he has retained and never been surpassed in his peculiar characteristics of endu- rance and docility. When Amadas and Barlowe came to Roanoke Island in 1584 the pony was probably here on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, and was sometimes used by the Indians in the chase and for transportation purposes. He was self-supporting on the salt marshes, and was sometimes subjugated by the aborigines for the purposes of the chase. How" he came there, whence he came, and how long he had been there are still unsolved problems in the specula- tions of naturalists and philosophers. Some claim that he was brought over to America in the migrations of the "Lost Tribes" of Israel after their escape from the horsemen and chariots of the Egyptians in the flood-tide of the Red Sea ; and that our banker ponies were the remnants of the Egyptian hosts who perished in the Red Sea. This remnant of wild horses escaped the general de- struction and were taken by the Israelites and preserved by them as memorials of their preservation. When the lost tribes were lost in the forty years of wandering in the wilderness and found a home in iSTorth Carolina, long before Sir Walter Raleigh conceived tlie idea of trans- atlantic exploration, they brought the Egyptian ponies with them, and ever after preserved them as memorials of a beneficent Providence. Others claim that the banker pony is a development of the sand fiddler from the long evolution of the ages. They trace the marks of a remote lineage in their resem- blances and characteristics, as the remote ancestry of the blooded liorse can be traced by white spots reappearing among his descendants at intervals in the genealogy of the blood. The "fiddler," they say, is tenacious of his habi- tat and combatative in its defence. So is the banker pony. The "fiddler" is remarkable for the strength of his spinal column. So the banker pony. The spinal column of the "fiddler" is as tous;h and sinewv as a "razor-back" THE BANKER PONY. I7I porker. The spinal column of the banker pony is phe- nomenally tough and strong. He will pull with ease a burden attached to his tail that he could not move when attached to his shoulders. The "'fiddler" is a burrower in the sand, and makes his hole an asylum of refuge and a castle of defence. The pony will paw the sand until it will make a hole as deep as his body. But we discard all these theories as philosophical vaga- ries of a diseased fancy, and adopt another which has less imagination but more wisdom. When Ponce de Leon, the Spanish explorer, came back to America, after accompanying Columbus on his first voyage, he came in small ships ; and to economize storage he brought with him a few small Spanish mustang horses. His object was to use them in his search for that marvel- ous "Fountain of Youth," which was to transmute the dull and wasted materials of age into the vital principle of youth, and enable old age to put on the vigor of youth and retain the experience of age. De Leon landed on the coast of Florida in the early years of the sixteenth cen- tury, to accomplish his original and glorious mission, but he found much mosquitoes, tarantulas and alligators, but no Fountain of Youth ; and he went back to Spain and left the little mustangs to shift for themselves. They, having the instinct of wisdom, and not liking the sunny land in which insects abounded and only man was dwarfed, sought a more salubrious clime, migrated slowlv northward, until they came to the coast of Carolina, where food was abun- dant and insects scarce, and there, with a wisdom supe- rior to man's they have ever since remained, docile when domesticated and helpful to his human eolaborer. (.;KANiM-A'riii:K s talks. DA HE COUNTY. Ayo, I'all it holy j;ioiiiul. The soil wIuto tirst tlu\v tiinl. — Mrs. Ift-nuins. V\\\ roiiniy ol Ihirc was t'oniu'd liy a slier or ril> lakcii from lln' sidi's of ilio comities o\' ( "iirriliiek. Tx rrell aiul llvde. It lie.s eliietly alonii tlie si>at'oasi,aiul its inhabitants |>artake of that vitalilv. lieartin»'ss,\vliolesoiiKMlness. liealtli iiiess, eonlialiiN ami open liamleil liosi>iialil v wliieh alwavs (listinii'uislied die dwellers l>v the st>a. Manleo, its eonntv town, is siiualed on the liisiorie island o( jvoanoke, at tlu' ln>ad o( Shallow Uai; Hav, ami thoiiijii at present a town o\' small ]M-etensiims, nniv, in iho fntnn\ heeome the si-at ami eiMUi-e o\' the tishinii' iutlnstrv. .V few \cars \\i\\c wonderfnlly (h'velopi>d that hnsiness.^ and furnished a rieh treastirv to tln> )>eoph' yy\' Pare. Al>ont twenty years ai^o sonu' hoys playinu hy the sea shore m>ar ("apt' llatteras ai-eithMitaliy eatiiilit a t\wv laviiv tish nnknown Ind'tM-i-. Thi'y W(>ri' the tirst known ol' the lisli, now st> hiiilily ju't/ed, eaUed l>lm' Fish. Siwen teen years ago Chatmeey Meekins, a eiti/on iA' Koanoke Islaml. esteenuul for his enti riM-isim;- an*l exeelK-nt char- acter, and who t^xtinithnl honntinms hos]>itality \o his 1'riends, and t\specially \o his friends y\[' \\\v h>iial profes- sii>n, set the tirst Idm^tish net in the ocean onpositt> lvt>an- «>ko Island. Since th(Mi Mr. .MtHd\itis has continni^l the htisiness, and has maih* the hariii>si catch ol' h\\\c tisii at owe settitiii" o( wliich mention has been maile to ns. l-'rom om> .settinu' lie filled and .saved :k[M)0 hine tish. The idno tish is om> id" tlu' nutrveis of the sea, and the tales o\' his hahits and pt cnliarities, nnqmvsfioneil \\o\\\ wonid, in otluM- lantls. )>e ('lasstnl as fahnlons tish stm-ies. lh> makes his aj^pi^ir ance oit the .Vlhemarle ct>ast tiwxard the last iA' No\(Mnhcr. lie strikes tlu i-oast oi ^'ir•:■inia aluMtt Cam^ llenr\. and f(dlows ir down to (^a)>o llatteras; tlu-re he follows tin' cnrnnit setfinc oni to sea, and then sirikinu' northwartl i>Aui': oiu'Nrv l'('|H';il^ llic rii'cuil irom (':i|H' I I ;il li'i';is. I'lu'V aw llic UT- vov (if llii' sc;i. riir luill (loi^s ol llic onnii. An raxciious ,1 ■ Mil :m;u'liraim .\lockiiis, of Koaiioko UlaiuL has furiiishod iis wilh soiiu> facts ahoni llicst> fal Inu-ks so marvelous ihat wi- should he (jisposeil lo (|Ueslioii [hem hm lor llu' fact, llial our frieii'l i''|>liraiiii, iu a iie\\spa|ter coiUro\-ersv last vear. ahi'iii a i>liu> lisli roe, ;iiiiieil aloiie with his praclical know It dm', eiicoiiutered one who simlies pli\sical plit*- nomeiia hv ihe li^lii o( science; and when iliai coniro vers\ ended, w a\ ed his \'ictt>rioiis l>aiim'r o\ er a \ aii(piishe»| scieiil isl. h'al hacks ha\e a fniiiiv wav of assninini;' ji new alia.^^ in e\erv new loi*alilv iliiv \ isit. Far North ihev arci known as '".Mossv Uiinkcrs." .\s tJiev i^tM alon^- lhe\ pass as "■ INu'iiies." ".\ le \\'i\ is" and "i >ld W i\es," and when llicv I't ai'h llic Alhemarle comnI ihev are reeom\i/.ed as "hal itacks," and welcomed wilh l>lood\ leelh lo liospilahlo ihroais hv ihe insatiate hliie li^^h. riiev come in imnuMiso shoals. Soiiulinies, friidneiied almost lo dealli liv iheir pursuers, ihe\ rush upon ihe -hore in C()iinlless millions and seek dealli h\ iheir own \-a-.\\ acl. Sduietimes as man\ as liflv shoals can he seen al once, \ar\iiii^' in si/.e from a tiflh lo a ipiarlcr acre, reaching down live feel helow llu^ surface i^\ ihe sea .iiid risiu in a dense hodv a fool ahove it : iind the hltie lish \ isihie under lliem, peuiiinu' awav and rip)um; them lo pieces, ami hloodv iui; ihe oct an all around. Somelimes ihe mass of fal hacks is so compaci that tisher men have unshipped theii- rudders, placid il upon ihe i'al hacks, and siudd upon il iu the open sea. And somehmlv said that soinehod\ "did,"' ^^^■ "could," ^^v "iniuiil." or "hatr'stuck his oar up in ihe mass of ihe lish, and, climh inu up lo lilt' top o|' ihe oar. waved his hal around his 174 grandfather's tales. licad, with three cheers for Tilden, Hendricks and Vance. Al] ].)are, now, is on the rampage for the blue-fish fray, and though the terror of the sea, when they meet the daring men of Dare they'll meet an enemy they can not conquer. NAGS HEAD. "The Land of the Blest. '\ We write amid historic associations. Our eye takes in at a glance the scenes and places where the first white men landed in America of whom history has preserved an authentic narrative. The now closed inlet through which Sir Walter Raleigh's colonists, under the command of Amadas and Barlowe, entered Roanoke Sound ; ''Ballast Point," where they cast anchor, where the white man and the red man first met face to face, with that strange and mysterious color line of race that hath not and can not be blended in harmonious unity ; the waters where they chaf- fered and traded with the Indians; the spot where was born Virginia Dare, the first white child of American birth, and where was first administered the rite of Chris- tian baptism uDon American soil : the rude fort or embank- ment thrown up by the ill-fated colonists as a protection against the attacks of hostile Indians; Croatan to which they went when they abandoned the fort, never to return or be heard of more ; Roanoke Island with its old and re- cent saTiguinary historical memories ; and the new town of Manteo, consecrated by name and locality to the memory of him who through all the vicissitudes of adverse fortune was the true and steadfast friend of the pale-faced colo- nists — another illustration that " Little deeds of kindness, Little words of love." graven by humanity upon the tablet of the heart outlive the proudest memorials blazoned by ambition upon th® NAGS HEAD. I75 records of fame — all these lie spread out before us as a vast panorama. Nags Head has also a history, not gray with age and "rich with the spoils of time," but attractive in its social ^nd domestic aspects, and in its more public character, connecting itself with events which have shaped the desti- nies of peoples, and to which time will give the enchant- ment that distance imparts. It was here, in the war of 1812, that troops under the command of Captain Bell, of Currituck, were stationed to guard the coasi and prevent the landing of the British forces. And here, too, in the war of 1812 lived some of a class of men incident to all wars, who were typified by that animal to which nature has denied the natural weap- ons with v^^hich it has armed its kind, which never "locks horns" with an enemy. It was here, in the war of 1861- 1865, that Gen. II. A. Wise, of Virginia, had his head- quarters while in command of the troops stationed on Roan- oke Island, in the Spring of 1862, holding, when the disas- trous battle ended, the post of safety, if not of danger, and illustrating in his safe and precipitate personal retreat by the light of buildings and stores himself had fired, that discretion is an important element in the estimate of valor. But it is in its social and hygienic aspects that Nags Head is chiefly known and has become identified with the local history of this part of Eastern North Carolina. From that time when "the memory of man runneth not to the contrary" it has been the resort for health of persons and families living in the adjacent section. From time immemorial it has been the nursery of the Albemarle coun- try. For many years families came down and passed much of the months from June to October, living in rude and primitive style, with such accommodations as could be obtained among the dwellers along the coast, a plain and peculiar people who obtained a precarious support from the su])ply of fish which the waters afforded and from the \vrecks cast by the dangerous tempests upon the coast. From its accessibility and from its being a narrow part of 176 grandfather's tales. the sand bank separating the sonnd from the ocean, Xags ITead became the resort most frecjuented by the visitors, and ;d)()nt tlie year 1830 some advance was made in its snni- iiuT comforts bv some of tlie visitors ]mtting n]) small one- story bouses near the sound, u])on tlie sand hills which dotted tbe shore in every direction. These sim]de shanty structures added greatly to the number and comfort of vis-" itors. They ])osses8ed an oxj)ansive elasticity without limit, and by the addition of curtains were infinitesimally sulxlivided for the accommodation of friends. The erection of a hotel building ca])able of accommoda- ting some 200 persons in 1838, by a com])any composed of citizens of Elizabetli Clity, constitutes an epoch in the histoi'v of ISTags Head. This event gave it a new charac- ter and a new departure. TLitherto it liad been the resort of families and their friends, occupying isolated rude ten- ements, with no common centre of union, but now fashion and gayety were tp^ttract with their enchantment a new class of visitors. .Youth and ])eauty, belles and beaux, with the romance of love and flirtatirm, added a new fea- ture, and every season bad its talc of nuitches made or bi-oken. "E ngagem ent LUIL, " about this time, derived its name from circumstances that its name suggests, and its tradition and history excel those of "KTll Diiiiil ITills" or "I^gs Ilead riill" in romantic and tender incidents-^ The career of Xags Head was an \inbroken progress of piv>sperity until the war of 1S(;1, which desolated the place. Ek'gaiit siructnrcs. the scats of social refinement and ha]i- piness, were gixcn o\-cr to tb< rulldcss hands of half-sav- fiixo negroes and a fanatic soldiery. Tlic private resi- dences were torn down, 'idic little cdiurcii, ai'ound which (dust(red so manv sacred associations, shared the same fate at the hands of the spoilers, and when iieace came with its healing wings, scenes once bright with the mingled hap- piness of childhood, manhood and age were naught but a mournful desolation, with tlie wild winds chanting the reuuieni of the dead i)asr anii. Swain that helped much to give us Zeb. Vance and iiinkc tluit iii(»st loved Carolinian the great man that he Avas. It was President Swain's bountv that enabled Vanco to secure an education at the GOVERNOR SWAIN. 1 79 University of JSTortli Carolina, where he laid the founda- tion of his future greatness. When the bee of the University first buzzed in Gov- eft'nor Swain's bonnet, so to speak, he was himself in doubt as to his fitness for the Presidency of the Univer- sity. He had been prominent in politics, had acquired some distinction as a lawyer, had been a leading member ' >f the Legislature, and was sometimes spoken of as a popu- lar speaker and parliamentarian. He had been elected Governor of the State, and when Dr. Caldwell, President of tlie University, died in 1835, Swain's administration of the State Government was about expirinsf. One fine fall evening the Governor was sitting alone in his ofiicial office on the capitol grounds in Raleigh. Judge ISiash passed through the grounds, and seeing Gov- ernor Swain sitting alone in the door of his office stopped in to talk with him. The Governor was in a confiding mood and explained to the kind Judge his situation. He said his term of office as Governor of the State was draw- ing to a close, and he was puzzled to know what he was going to do for a living; that it would take a long time for him to reestablish himself in his law practice; that he was never fond of la,w ■nractice • that there was nO' vacancy in the United States Senate from ISTorth C^arolinn. and would not be for several years, and that he thought of being a candidate for the Presidency of the University. He asked Judge I^ash, who was a man of literary accomplish- ments and legal learning, what he thought of it. The Judge did not reply promptlv and it was evident he did not think well of it. Before Judge ISTash replied the Governor said to him : "Well, Judge ISTash, if you will mention the matter to Jud"'^ Dnncan Cameron, who loves the University, and he disapproves of it, I will say no more about it." Jud^e JTash replied that he was then on his wav to Jiidco Cameron's to tea, and would men- tion the subject to him. Judge I^ash during the evening at Judffe Cameron's said to him that Governor Swain wnntofl fho appointment of President of the TTniversity, and asked him what he thouo'ht of it. l8o grandfather's TALKi:". Judge Cameron, after a moiuent's retlectioii, said: •'Well, 1 never tlioiiglit of it, but Swain is the very man for the place ; a man who has proven himself such a great manager of men would make a good manager of boys." The Governor was told tliis oftinion of Judge Cameron, and fortln\itli announced himself as a candidate for the place. When the intelligence of Governor Swain's candidacy for President of the University reached Cha])cl Hill the faculty was astounded. Dr. Mitchell, familiarly called ''Old Mike," who A\as a pushing man, anxious for the place, and had an unbridled tongue, ridiculed the subject. Dr. Hooper, familiarly called "Old Billy," also hankered after the place. He was a proud man, of exquisite wit and liumor, and his ])ride of ancestry was sharpened by the (Mirr(nit of his blood that ran through nobles ever since the Hood. He was quiet, but in an unguarded moment let dro]) the remark that ''^the people of North Carolina had done everything they could for their ignorant Governor and now they wanted to send him to tlie University to be edu- cated." We had seen Governor Swain twice before he became President of the University. Once when ho was Gov- ernor, and once avIu'u he was a member of the Convention of is.")."), rc]iresenting Jjuncombe County. In that Convention, which was torn 1)y antagonistic factions in the State on tlie basis of representation in tlie (icneral Assembly, Swain was the leader of the forces of Wcle." The subject was under discussion in the Convention for several days, and every Western member that spoke re- ferred to the Scriptural quotation of the "eloquent gentle- man from Buncombe." At length, Mr. Gaston addressed tlie Convention on the same subject. After spealving about an hour, he turned round and said: "The gentleman from Buncombe has said that if the East does not grant the peaceful demands of the West, they will rise like the strong man in his unshorn might and pidl down the pillars of the political temple. The strong man, the son of Ma- noah, was brought out from his prison to make sport for the enemies of his country, and do honor to the impious feast of Dagon. lie tugged and heaved at the massive pil- lars of the temple, and all were crushed in one hideous ruin. It was a great and a glorious deed. lie fell a mar- tyr and a hero, victorious among the slain." Xo more was heard of the eloquent gentleman's Scrip- tural (flotation. Gaston had spiked Swain's Scriptural gun. 152 GRANDFATIIKR S TALES. JAMES IREDELL— W. B. SHEPARD — K EN N ETH RAYNER— W. N. H. SMITH— COL. HENRY M. SHAW. " Like the mother of the Grachi, when asked for her jeweLs. she pointed to her sons.'" TiTE First District of North Carolina has always been proud of her Representatives in the National councils. Looking to the Senate of the United States first, she has had but one member of that august body during the exist- ence of the Government — James Iredell, Jr. Mr. Iredell was the son of Justice James Iredell, of the Supreme Court of the United States, under the adminis- tration of Washington. Descended from an intellectual ancestry, born to distinction, and being endowed by nature with great genius and abilitv, he reached manhood with much promise of distinction in his legal profession. He soon acquired distinction and popularity with his fellow citizens, and public life sought him as a Representative in the General Assembly. He took high rank in debate in the General Assembly, and was the peer of Gaston, Drew, Cameron and Alfred Moore, and the other great men who adorned our State councils at that time. He was at the head of the law pro- fession in the First Judicial District, and at an early age was transferred to the Circuit Bench. Some years after, he was elected Governor of North Carolina by the Legislature. At the expiration of his term as Governor, he was elected to the United States Senate, to succeed Nat. Macon : and in that body he main- tained a high position. It is said that he was selected to reply to Mr. Webster, in tlie celebrated debate on nulli- fication, and his place was, in consequence of Iredell's sick- ness, supplied by Hayne, of South Carolina. He died at the age of sixty-five, when attending the Courts of the First District. William B. Shepard was a native of New Bern, N. C. After coming of age, he removed to Camden County, where SHEPARD — RAYNER. 1 83 he had large landed estates, and after obtaining his law license he practiced his jDrofession in that county with great success for several years. After living some time in Camden, he made his home in Elizabeth City. Always interested in public affairs, study- ing politics from its highest standpoint, he took part in public discussions and became known to the people of the District as an able and accomplished man. Lemuel Sawyer then represented the District in Con- gress, and had been in Congress for several years. Shep- ard was put in nomination by his friends as an opponent of Sawyer, and was elected over him in 1829, and con- tinued in office for eight years ; and while a member of Congress for eight years he became the undisputed leader of tlie North Carolina delegation in Congi*ess. He was gifted as an orator, conservative as a statesman, and a gen- tleman in all his instincts and intercourse. He volunta- rily retired from Congress. He then, witli ample means and leisure, led the life of a gentleman of leisure, attending the Courts of the local bar, and often elected to the Legislature as Senator and Representative. He was often spoken of for United States Senator from North Carolina, and aspired to the position, and was fitted for it. In 1845 he was the competing candidate before the Legislature with George E. Badger, and his friends al- ways thought that he would have been chosen if his speech accepting the situation had been made before his defeat. After that, his interest in public affairs diminished, and n seemed to be looked at by him from afar. He occasionally was elected to the Legislature, and some time in the fifties his health gave way, after the deatb of his second wife, and he departed for the "undiscovered country" with the love and admiration of his countrymen. Kenneth Kayner was a lion in his early manhood. In its maturity his "vaulting ambition o'erleaped itself," and he fell, and in age he was poor and disappointed, forgotteii bv his old friends, havino" deserted them for new friends 1 84 grandfathkk's talks. that he liad always despised. At his death, his life became the burden of a moral and a tale. His memory is full of sadness, and recalls tlu,' words of the preacher, ''Vanity of vanities! vanity of vanities! all is vanitv !" Alas! once the popular idol, honored, loved, flattered and ca- ressed. A great leader, bold, daring, unflinching. True to his friends, deliant to his enemies, loving A'orth Caro- lina with his heart's devotion. ''Cromwell, I charge thee, fling away and>i*^'' ■"■'-'. By that sin fell the angels." By that sin fell Kenneth Ray- ner. ^'Oh ! what a fall was there, my countrymen !'"' William N. H. Smith, of Murfreesboro, was a good and a great lawyer. He stood at the head of his profession. He rose to the (_^hief .Justiceship of North Carolina. He took high rank in social position. In private life he was without ]'e])roach. In ]3ublic and official life he was with- out a superior. He died in liarness, in advanced age, Avith honors thick upon him, and left a memory that was without spot or blemisli. Col. Henry ]\I. Shaw was a native of Khode Island, but a citizen of iSTorth Carolina all of his mature life. At an early age he became an imnate of the family of Dr. Gid- eon Merchant, of Currituck County, and from tluit Gama- liel of Democracy he imbibed those politicnl ])i'inci|ilos wit'i wliicli he was always identified. 1^'rom tlic time when lie commenced tlie ]u-;i('tice of med- icine, he rose rapidly in ]U'actice and became very success- ful. But he was always an ardent y)oliticiau. and soon be- came a leader in the Democratic councils and a public s])eaker in ])olitica] campaigns. He had great readiness as a public s])eaker, and was tlie most loo-ical, forceful and (hdiberate that we ever lis- tened to. He was thorouahlv posted upon political and general subjects. He l)ecaiiic pi-ominent for Consjressional honors, and was put in iKiininatinn as the candidate of the Democratic party. His election followcil liis nomimition, and he made a most excellent, obliging' and abb' Tfepresentative. He went HENRY M. SHAW. 1 85 to Coiig-ress in a stoniiy period. The clond-burst that drenched onr country in blood was already portentous with forked liglitning and rumbling thunder. Soon after, he left (congress to cast his lot with his troubled countrymen. At the outbreak of the war, Colonel Shaw was tendered the command of the 8tli Regiment of iN^orth Carolina Troops, which he promptly accepted. He entered the held at once. He was captured in the defence of Roanoke Island, where, after a gallant defence in a fight with over- powering numbers, he surrendered to a hopeless fate, after being flanked on both sides. After his parol was out, he returned to his post of duty and danger, and at the battle of Bachelor's Creek, near New Bern, on the 1st of February, 1864, Colonel Shaw sealed his devotion to his country with his life. He was killed by a rifle ball while reconnoitering the enemy. 1 86 grandfather's tales. WILLIAM W. CHERRY. " Friend of my youth, Great mind of wondrous gifts " Cherry was distingniislied at the University more for his rollicking disposition and for making the ''Old South" ring with the echo of his voice, than for his studious habits. He was seldom on time at the beginning of a session, and once, on his way to the University, at the beginning of a session, he fell in with a party of companionable friends, not students, and went down to Fayetteville with them, reaching the University to join his class when the session was well advanced. But he managed by his genius and good nature to keep up with the class until his graduation. Leaving the University, he returned to his home in Windsor, Bertie County, and after some delay entered upon the legal profession, of which he became a leading member. He was a great advocate, remarkable for his readiness, his admirable presentation of the facts of a case, and had a most magnetic influence with a jury. He was not a great lawyer, a profound lawyer, with a thorough and accurate and comprehensive knowledge of precedent and authority, versed in the deep subtleties of the law, its intricacies and discriminations, and capable of dividing a hair " 'twixt north and northwest side," but he was a thorough master of the facts of a case. He could turn and twist them, presenting them in every shade and complexion and aspect, and making them luminous to the plainest understanding. His language, the vehicle of his thought, was wonderful, and the play of his ch a naming expression of countenance gave great force to it. His manner was natural and easy, his action perfectly unaffected and suited to the word, and his voice was charminc; to listen to, not the mellow deep-toned voice of the trained elocutionist, but one that won by its sympathetic and kindly tones. It was a voice that drew his hearers to him and made them kin. When he was about to use a pleasantry, his face was lighted from WILLIAM W. CHERRY. 1 8/ ai'ar, and his voice chanjO'ed and his audience was led along and prepared for it. Mr. Cherry was an active politician of the Whi^ school. He was a partisan without bitterness. When the Whig party was first known by that name, the Democratic, Jack- son party, was largely in the ascendant in Bertie. Cherry took his fiddle, on which he was an expert, and canvassed tlie county in all the highways and by-ways, and by his pleasantry and honhommie won them largely over into the Whig ranks. In tlie Harrison campaign of 1840, he was a great power. He attended the Wiiig National Convention at Harrisburg that nominated General Harrison, and it is believed that he first turned to account for General Har- rison the "hard-cider and coon-skin" jeer, upon which the campaign so lare-elv turuerl '^ that politic'"! storm. He certainly was the first that used it in Eastern N"orth Carolina, stating in a log-cabin speech in Edenton, soon after his return from Harrisburg, that he had first seen the taunt in Baltimore on his return from the ISTational Convention, and used it in tlie campaign. In that cam- paign Cherry was the great bulwark of Whiggery in the First District. He spoke everywhere to large crowds, and gained votes. Shepard, and Rayner, and Outlaw, and Speed, and Allen, and Tom Jones w^ere his compeers and supporters. He was elected from the county of Ber- tie to the Legislature of IN^orth Carolina for the first time in tlie public service in that 3^ear. He was then but little known out of the District, but we lieard Judge Moore say, about that time, that Cherry would be a thorn in the side of the Democrats in the Legislature. A little incident may be mentioned illustrating; his readi- ness. He went to Kaleigh to the Legislature by way of Warrenton. Arriving in Warrenton at nis^ht, a stranger, he joined a group of Warrentonians around the fire of the public room of the hotel and soon joined them in a polit- ical talk, they beinc; all Democrats of the Warren County type, he taking the Whig side. The stranger, plainly l88 GKANDFATHKk'S TALES. clad, and not imposing in person, aot tlic l)est of the argu- ment, and the Warrentonians looked at him with some astonishment. Failing in argiinieiit, they fell back on an anthority which settled all (piestions in Warren County. They (pioted Kat. Macon in confirmation of their opinions, supposing that no one would dare gainsay what Mr. Ma- con had said. Cherry dissented from Mr. Macon's opin- ion, and, to the surprise of others, spoke lightly of jthat great man. The Warrentonians i)romptly retorted that John Randolph, in his will, had said that "]S^at. Macon was the wisest man he had ever known." At that time a suit Avas pending in the Court of Appeals, at Richmond, contesting Mr. Randol]ih's will, chiefly upon the groiuid of insanity. Cherry, in reply to the quoted opinion of the eminent Virginian, said : "Mr. Randolph's Avill is contested in Richmond now, upon the ground of insanity, and T think the strongest proof of his insanity is that he said that ^at. Macon was a wdse man." ^Ir. Cherry was once in a public meeting at Gatesville, in the court-house, and there was some difficulty with the chairman in determining a question that was submitted to vote. The ayes and noes were called. 'Not satisfactory. Divide. N^ot satisfactory. The ayes Avill go to one side of the house and the noes to the other. Cherry called out to the ayes, of which he was one, to seize the noes and carrv them over to their side of the house. It was a scuffling vote that was some hours in the determination. Finally, the pantin"- ayes "a])peared to have it, the aves had it." This illustrates Cherry's pleasantry. Tn 1844, Cherry was the Clay Presidential elector op- ]iosed by an able champion of Democracv, Thomas Bragg, afterward Governor. Tt was the battle of the giants. Cherry stood his cTound and maintained his uosition with iireat abilitv. "Braga' was a battle-axe. Cherry was a scimeter. He carried the District. Tn 184fi, Mr. Cherrv was uomiiiated for Concress by th(^ Whiff C*onvention that met in Edenton. Tie Avas nom- innter beinc introduced, de- WILLIAM W. CHERRY. 1 89 livered a speech of great power and interest. We, tlien a yonng- man with a fresh license, being Secretary of the Convention, reported, in brief, Mr. Cherry's speech. After writing" it out from oiir notes, we submitted it to him, and, after his approval, sent the proceedings of the Convention, ^^'ith tlie speech reported in full, to the Raleigh Eegister for puldication. The same paper which contained the proceedings of the Convention, contained the notice of his death. He died while attending Northampton Court, the week after his nomination, at the early age of forty- three years. " What hhadows we are and what shadows we pursue." Ml". Cherry Avas small in person, with a rather large head and a winning expression of face that won all hearts. Nature had not been kind to him in his personal make-up, of which he frequently jested. His face was angular, his hair coarse and stiff, and he was negligent of his dress. To be plain, he was unmistakably ugly. But he had all the virtues that we love and admire, with no counteracting \'ices. He was a most charming and attractive com^ian- ion, and the District sustained a great loss in his untimely death. 190 grandfather's tale:s. THE MINISTERS OF GOD. '• Pointing up to Heaven, They led the way." The pulpit of North Carolina has furnished saintly men who were the leaders of public thought in matters relating to godliness, and who hj wise counsel and burning words have made the world the better for their living. Among these great men no one has been more con- spicuous than Rev. Thomas Atkinson, Bishop of the Dio- cese of North Carolina of the Protestant Episcopal Church. He was a native of Virginia, and was elected to the Epis- copate of North Carolina after the apostacy of Bishop Ives. He was elected in the early fifties. It was a most fortunate selection, and God's wise guidance was manifest in it. He was a comparative stranger to the Convention that made the selection. He was elected after many bal- lotings, over men who had a large following and who ranked among the most distinguished theologians, and were n great force in the sacred desk. The time when he came was inauspicious. The blow given to the Church by an apostate Bishop was not yet healed. But his coming was a benediction. It soothed and cemented factions, and every one became satisfied. He was soon recognized as one of the princes of the pulpit, a godly man, Avithout guile or selfishness, of kindly social instincts, firm without dogmatism, and learned without ostentation ; imposing in person, graceful in action, effective in oratory, simple and natural in every act. His sermons were models of every eloquence ; masterful in argument, forceful in logic, touch- ing in pathos. Every subject he touclied, he invested with a new and sacred interest. His sermon on "Necessity and Free Will" was the clearest and most profound exposition of that most intricate^ religious puzzle we ever listened to. Turnina: from this brief refercnice to this eminent ser- vant of God, wo select Dr. Thomas H. Pritchard, the dis- tinguished Baptist minister, as a star of brightest lustre in the firmament of the clergy. THE MINISTERS OF GOD. I9I Dr. Pritchard was a Henderson on the maternal side of liis lineage, and that means strength in intellectuality, pro- fundity in thought, taste and elegance in diction, and the most charming gifts of social intercourse. Scratch the soil in "North Carolina where great men grow, wherever you will, and you will find a Henderson there. The stock is indigenous to North Carolina, and it has illustrated every department of its intellectual life. Dr. Pritchard was no exception to this unvarying rule. We first met Thomas Pritchard when he was a stu- dent of the Baptist ministry and a private tutor in the family of Richard Felton, a wealthy planter in the county of Perquimans. We spent a week with him, and had frequent conversations with him. To us he then gave little promise of the great factor he was afterwards to heeome in the pulpit and councils of the Baptist Church in North Carolina. He was modest, retiring and diffident. ^Ve thought him too much so. He seemed deficient in strength of conviction, and too ready to acquiesce in sug- gestions on religious and other subjects before he had suf- ficiently examined them. Forty years from that time, we were in attendance at a Baptist Association, sitting in the far-end of the church, near the pulpit, in which its annual session was held. Way down at the lower door of the church a portly man came in, and he was soon greeted by friends who came up and shook hands with him. His step to the end of the church, where we sat, was an ovation. We saw at once that a big man's shadow was over the crowd. His person and manner were imposing and in admirable taste. He had a kind "word for this and that brother as he approached us. As he came near, the word "brother," as it came from his lungs in deep sonorous tones, fell on our ear. We scanned him closely as he came. That man must be a Henderson, thought we; we can see our old Aleck all over him. Then Ave looked at him through the glasses of forty years, and we could see glimmering through the darkness the modest Tom Pritdiard that we had 192 GRANDFATHKR S TALES. passed a week with at Kicliard Felton's forty years before. When he reached onr place, he swung around in a seat just in advance of us. iVfter he had rested awhile, we rose, stood before him, and extended our hand ; and he, not recognizing us, we asked if he knew us. lie said not, and then said enquir- ingly, ''Who is the brother ?" We replied, "jSTot a brother, a lirst cousin, perhaps." We then gave him our name, and he said with much heartiness, ^'God bless me I Dr. Tom Martin and I w-ere talking about you last week, when we went fishing," We saw much of Dr. Pritchard afterwards, and heard his admirable addresses on education after he became President of Wake Forest College. His public speeches were models of excellence. His voice was a bugle call, his elocution was graceful and tasteful, and every sen- tence he uttered was the exjiression of a great truth. Among the pioneers of Wesleyan Methodism no one's memorv is held in higher estimation for his usefulness, his exemplary Christian character, and his efficient labors as a faithful minister of God than Louis Skidmore. He was emfiliatically a good man, a good and influential preacher, and his mellow voice wdth its sweet intonations melted hearts to tenderness and won them to the paths of a Chris- li'aii life. Wlien a siuall ]n)\\ liardly in onr teens,, it was our good fortune, when away at School, to board with a pious Meth- odist family in the town of Oxford. Their house was the hospitable home of all Methodist preachers. ]^one was more welcome than Louis Skidmore, and no one contributed more to the happiness of the household. His voice was an Eolian harp, with a bugle attachment. The old Methodist hymns of eighty years ago he had at his tongue's end. lie often preached in ihe village church, and lie would brini>,- an audience to its feet when he uttered the sweet notes of the ''Old Ship of Zion," or some other rally hymn of tlu> (^Iden time. He conld wake a shouting revi\'al at any time by his powers of song. THE MINISTERS OF GOD. 1 93 Other names of great pulpit power in North Carolina I -rowd upon us. Dr. Hawks was a born orator, and a man of genius without the nose of a historian. Quentin Trot- man was a great master among men. President Wingate, of Wake Forest College, was a pulpit orator of superior uifts and an unequalled executive officer. Rev. Thomas Lowe, of Halifax, whom we never met, is pronounced by competent judges a paragon of oratory; ;ind Dr. Closs, the greatest and best of men. '3 194 GRANDFATHER S TALES. UNION LEAGUE AND KU KLUX KLAN. Gorgons, Hydras and Chimeras dire. TifE history of North Carolina is full of civil and mil- itary revolutions, social convulsions and upheavals that threatened at times her existence as an organized govern- ment ; but there has been no civil and social convulsion in her history that equals in horror and atrocity tlie sad scenes that threatened the peace and happiness of our people in the time of reconstruction and Freedman's Bureau that followed as a sequel to the unhappy "War between the States." After the war, with the passions and bitterness of the sanguinary conflict still burning with unabated fury, the more unrelenting elements of the North seemed to turn their swords, yet reeking with slaughter, into reaping liooks of gain, gleaners in the desolated harvest fields of a conquered enemy. The South was overrun with JSTorth- ern emissaries, some animated by a feeling of sincere ])]iilanthro])y, stimulated by the ardor of a fanatic crusader, and with a charitable desire to elevate a race whom they had been trained Iw romance and song to believe had been Vept in subjugation by long oppression and torture, and who needed only a helping hand to be lifted to a plane of (■(|uality with the best Caucasian blood of the South. Some came to spy out tlie nakedness of a land overrun by the for- times of war ; but generally from a desire of gain and to gather u|) tlie fi-agments that were left of a luxury that liad once adonu d n laud tliaf bloomed witli wealth and ]ia])])incss. They found a race, hilcly ('iiiancijjatedjiajtin-, credulous, iguoraut ami easily deceived. They becauie their leaders, and iu many cases inflamed the passions of the late slaves against their old masters. They established secret orders or lodges, which fitted the nature of the late slaves, ad- mitt.(>d them to membershi)) and inspired them with wicked and diabolical purposes. UNION LEAGUE AND KU KLUX KLAN. 1 95 The L'nion Leai>iie was the first fruits of this invasion of tlie South after its desolation and sorrow of an unsuc- cessful four years' war. It combined various elements of our much-mixed population — philanthropists, carpet-bag adventurers, some native Union men, negroes, and others led by sheer curiosity. It soon produced legitimate fruits. Southern men of high character were objects of vengeance. Barns were burned ; their owners were sometimes shot in llie (Uirkness as they ran out to extinguish the flaanes ; ne- groes were urged to pillage and plunder ; and there was a reioii of ap]>rehension and terror. This condition of disorder ])roduced its natural results. Proud, intelligent and patriotic men, crushed to earth by combinations that they were powerless to resist, deter- mined to accouiplisli by artifice what they could not do by o])en resistance. The\' knew the negro character better than the new comers, of wliom they were the dupes. They knew their caution, theii- su]K-rstition, and their timidity. A new ]U"otective secret organization had been started in Pulaski, Tenn., and had acquired a local Celebris}', and had sought an extension in North Carolina. It was c'alled the order of the "Ku Tvlux Klan." It was consid- ered ])y onr wisest, most fearless and patriotic leaders. A l)rancli of the order was soon established in some of our western counties, and its ritual, regalia, masks and pass- words were ado]:)ted. Its o])erations were by night, and its visitations and equipment struck terror into the super- stitious minds of the negro race. It acted well for some time and had a sahitary influence in the counties where the outlawry prevailed. But excess followed the succ3ss of the order, and these excesses were greatly exaggerated. Govcu'nor Tlolden, of Raleigh, then held the office of Governor of NTorth Carolina. Either influenced by fear of his own safety or bv love of display and authority, he issued a proclamation, putting the counties in which the Xu Ivlux were operatinq; under martial law and suppress- ino' all civil law, intending to break up tlie order by the Tiile of his OAvn autocratic will. 196 grandfather's tales. In the central counties lie arrested some of the most distinguished citizens of the State, imprisoned tliem with- out trial, and tortured them in the most cruel manner, to extort confessions that might implicate others as members of the Ku Klux order. He called to his aid outlaws and desperadoes from East Tennessee, invested one Kirk, from Tennessee, who had been a bufl'aloe in the Confederate war, with autocratic authority to arrest and punish as he might please any persons that he should suspect of being in any way connected with the Ku Klux organization. Kirk was a willing and a ready agent of Holden. He imprisoned old men, gray-headed, distinguished for long and patriotic service to the State, such men as Judges Roane and Carr, and subjected them to inhuman treat iiient. Tlic whole State was nronsed. The Supreme Court was appealed to to issue a writ of habeas corpus and have the persons brought before the State Courts. The writ was issued, but Holden refused to "five heed to it. The (^liief Justice was appealed to to enforce its execution, Init he declined to enforce it. At lengtli Judge Georo-e W. Brooks, of Elizabeth City, a Federal Judge of great firmness and integrity of char- acter, finding his authority in a Federal statute, issued a writ of liabeas corpus for the imprisoned citizens : and he served the State with a courageous fidelity which, though appreciated at the time, has never yet been duly honored by the State of ISTorth Carolina. The Democratic Legislature of 1870, early in the ses- sion, properly passed a bill of impeachment against Gov- ernor Holden, and impeached him for high crimes and misdemeanors for his conduct in the Ku Klux matters : and after a long judicial examination, convicted him, expelled him from his high ofiice, and made him incapable of holding office thereafter in the State. He lived to advnuced age, a pitiable old mnu, an object-lesson in Care Una histoiT of the punishment that awaits an evil-doer. WEvSTERN SCENERY. 1 97 Vv'ESTERN SCENERY. Pelioii })iled on Os.sa. Were you ever among the moiintains of Madison Coun- ty, North Carolina 'i If not, go ; and you will see old nature in her grand majesty, and if not pompous and proud, you will feel the littleness and humility of humanity. You will feel like a pigmy among giants and will involun- tarily breathe the Scripture — ''Oh, God ! what is man, tliat Thou art mindful of him : or the son, of man that Thou regardest him ?" You look around, see nature in her august majesty; you feel your own littleness and your kinship to the worm tliat crawleth on the earth. Look around you and wonder ! You are in the "Land of the Skies," six thou- sand feet above sea-level, with mountains piled on moun- tains all around you, and tinkling rills dancing to the monotone of their melody in the valleys below ; a sight lovely, picturesque and grand beyond description to the dwellers in the alluvial plains. Put yourself in Waynesville, look around at the moun- tain peaks piled on mountain peaks, and cast youi' glance on Pigeon River below, as it goes gur- gling and singing to the sea. We once stood among those scenes, and a half-tone photograph of them still lingers fresh and undimmed upon our memory. It read us a sermon in rocky mountain cliffs that we have never forgotten. While there, we went, with an old bear hunter of the mountains for a guide, to the mountain peaks near by. His name was Wid Medford. He was guide, pilot and yarner of Lickstone Mountain. We saw the eagle in his eyrie, and saw our ISTational l)ird in his domestic sur- roundin2;s, with his eye like Mars commanding the sun below him. Every glance of the eye from that land that kissed the skies was an anthem and a poem. But amid all that grandeur of nature that gave us foretaste of 198 grandfathkr's tales. the grandonr of that higher destiny id which we aspire, there was a grotesque piquancy in the stories related to us by our guide, of "hair-breadth escapes" by flood and liehl, of deadly grapple with the beasts of the forest in their lioiues in the mountain gorge and jungle, and other inci- dents of sixty-five years of a wild hunter's life of peril that brought us back to the realities of this mundane S])]iere. The fluency with which Wid reeled off his stories re- called the aphorism of the "twice-told tale." Some of them we can never forget. Pardon one of them. Wid had been wandering for some days among the mountain ])oaks and canyons of Lickstone in a vain search fVir a ])anther whose unaccustomed scream he had heard some nights before. While pursuing this lead, he saw, by signs well knoA\'n to a mountain hunter's prac- ticed eye, that he was near the canij^ing grounds of several large bears, lie followed the trail slowly and carefully. The siffns a-rew more and more numerous. Here would be seen a broken lim1\ ther(^ the berries Avere lapped, and again tliei-e was a ))ansc at a jxxd to take a "wallow" bath. He saw l)y studyino' the hunter's al]ihabet that tliere were three liears in the herd — an old dam and two well-grown cubs. He soon scented them, and approached them on the leeward side and saw three bears lapping chestnuts in the top of a large cliestnut tree. His anununition had been exhausted to two charges in the l)arrels of ''Old Betsy." They lapped apart, and he could not hope to bring down three bears with two loads. He manoeuvered dexterously for some time, but could never get them in range. At length lie determined to secure two of them with his two loads, discharged in quick succession. "Bang! went 'Old Betsy,' " said he, "and down tumbled one. Bang I she re]-»eat('d, and down came another." The tliird one staid up the tree, at first in wild anuizement. At length he climbed down slowly. Wid secreted him- self at the bottom of the tree, drew liis Imtcher knife, and when bonr number tliivM' canio witliin reach of him he WESTERN SCENERY. ' 1 99 clasped him in his arms and cut his thruat, and then se- cured him. Some one in our party, bolder than the rest, said : ''Wid, you know that's a lie." To which Wid re- ]>lied, with g-reat earnestness and fervor, " 'Fore God, it's a living- truth, and if the bear was here he'd tell you so." While we remained and wandered among the wondec- ful scenes of the mountains, that wondrous ''Land of the Skies," where the devout man may d^vell in contemplation of heavenly scenes, we saw many things which yet we love To linger on. We were much pleased with a little church, we saw — ''Grace Church in the Mountains." It is a me- morial church for a little grandchild of Bishop Atkinson, :) daughter of Dr. Buell. It is built of black walnut, curled black walnut, poplar, ash and oak, and is a gem. The furniture of the church was made of black walnut and manufactured in Waynesville. It will seat about two hundred persons. One of the windows, a memorial A\'indow, was presented by the good Bishop. We did not see, but heard of a Presbyterian church in the near vicinity of Waynesville that was built entirely of one poplar tree, and enough timber was left o\ er 01 tlu^ tree to fence in the yard. The tree was teii feet across the stump. This may seem to savor of ]\[unchausen, but we heard the fact frequently mentioned, and it was vouched for by ]iersons of unquestioned veracity. 200 ' GRANDFATHKR S TALES. GENERAL J. J. PETTIGREW. Twine a few sad cypress leaves around the brow of any land, and it becomes lovely in its consecrated c^oronet of sorrow. —Father Ryan. DuRiisrcT his absence in Europe, Pettigrew had devoted mnch study to military science. The conviction upon his mind before his last visit to Europe and during his ab- sence, was strong and decided that a bloody crisis im- pended over his own country, and that the muttering thun- ders of war which had so long threatened its peace, which several times had been averted by the patriotic and earnest efforts of those to whom the country turned with confi- dence in times of difficulty and listened with reliance and trust to their peaceful counsels, could be calmed no longer. While they lived, while the venerable patriots whose life- long service had been given to their country and whose patriotism and devotion to the whole and every part of it, none could question, the storm of sectional strife had been often allayed ; so often, indeed, that the conviction became general of a special good providence which held the favored land in the hollow of its hand and would bear it safely on over the surging billows of domestic discord. But the trusted hands that had so long held the helm and guided the ship when tossed by the tempest of political strife were cold in death, the voices so potent to calm the angry waves of sectional commotion were hushed, and the calm and peaceful counsels, left as a legacy to their eountr^Tnen, were forgotten, or really unheeded by the maddened and reckless zealots of party, urged on by desperate partisans who, unmindful of the perils that threatened, sought the triumph of sectional success oven nt the price of fraternal blood and a mined country. With the conviction firmly impressed upon him tliat the slumbering fires of long years of angi'y contention could not be much longer suppressed, and that, studied by the ordinary manifestations of our nature and the lights fur- GEN. J. J. PETTIGREW. 20I nislied bj the lessons of history, the theatre of contention must soon be transferred from legislative halls to tented fields, and political questions, to which the statesman- ship and patriotism of the times were unequal, must be determined by armed battalions amid the realities of war, Pettigrew began his work of preparation for the anticipated conliiet of arms. While in Paris he had op23ortunities of military study and obsei*vation in that metropolis of war, of which he Avas not unmindful. He had been favorably introduced to those who had become distinguished in the art of war, and the chief purpose of his visit being well understood, he had such advantages of acquiring knowledge of the science of war and its practical details as are sel- dom afforded. Upon his return to Charleston, he was elected captain of a ritle company, which he organized and formed after the plan of the French Zouave model, with the efficiency of which mode of drill he had been much pleased in France. The company soon attracted much attention. Its novelty, and the spirit with which it was animated, won the commendation of the city of Charleston. It became a model military organization, and was regarded as the best of the volunteer companies in South Carolina. Nor was it a mere mimic pageant of war. It was the serious and earnest offspring of Petti- grew's conviction of the necessity of preparation. Th? portents were all ominous of the dreadful future, and a prudent forecast dictated preparation for coming events of serious and alarming magnitude. For this purpose the rifle company was formed. It was soon joined by other volunteer organizations, formed after the same model, and Pettigrew was elected Colonel of the First Rifle Regi- ment. And now the time, so long deferred, had come. So lono- deferred that many thouc:ht a special providence iruarded the destiny of the country, to bear it safely through all political perils, and avert the dire calamity of war. Deferred by the earnest exertions of patriotic licarts, by the eloquent appeals of trusted statesmen, by the sin- 202 GRANDKATHKR'S TALES. cere prayers of the faithful, l)j the proud memory of the past and the bright hopes of the future of our country. But it cuuld he deferred no longer. The fiat of the Om- nipotent luid been uttered in the wrath of God and the decree was to be sealed with the lives of martyred heroes and patriots, and the record made eternal in the inex- tinguishable baptism of blood. Where the fault, or upon whose shoulders rests the burden of the great sin and its grievous sequences, this is not the occasion to encpiire. l^et it be buried, so far as feeble mortals may, until nations, as individuals, shall stand around the throne and at the judgment bar of the Great Eternal God, and answer for all the deeds done while in the body. I"])on the se<'ession of South Carolina, Pettigrew imme- diately oiTered his regiment for military service. Upon the occujiatiou of Fort Sumter bv Major Anderson, Petti- grew was assigned the command of Castle Pinckney, and \vas afterward transferred to Morris Island, in order to ju'event the reinforcement of Fort Sumter by the Gov- (^rnment of the United States. The unexpected occuimrion of Fort Sumter by Major Anderson, under cover of nigbt. proci])itatod events. Pettigrew was ordered by Gov- ernor Pickens to deuuiud of Anderson the evacuation of tlie I-'oi't, as its occupation was in violation of an agree- ment tiiat the situation of Charleston harbor should re- main uuelianged and await the efforts to avert the impend- ing troubles. Tlie result of that demand we liive in Pet- tigrew's own words, in a letter to Governor Pickens: "To F. 11 '. Firl-cns. Govern 07', etc. '^Siit :- — T lia\t^ the honor to report that ])ursuant to the instructions of your Excellency, T proceeded this morning to Fort Sumter in company with ^laj. Ellison (\a]iers, Actinc .'\ously recei\-eil by ^Fajor Anderson, the commanding oiTicer. 'T stated to him in the presence of all of his ofiicers that you had been astonished at the reception of the news of gp:n. j. j. phttigrew. 203 his liavinij,' transferrt'd his garrison to Fort Sumter, that hv the nndc-rstandiiiti' bcrwepn the State of South Caro- lina and the President of the Ignited States, the property of tlie United States was to be resj^ected, and on the ■.."itliev side the military posts should remain in an unchanged condition, in a word that the question was to be consid- ered a ])olitical, and not a military one. I enforced upon him strongly tlu^ fact that we had ]mnctiliously performed "'He declined acceding to my demand. re]iressed every attempt to precipitate the ])eople upon the property of the United States, and I demanded in yt.ur name that affairs shonld be restored to their preyious con- dition. "He replied that he was a Southern man in his feelings u]')on the questions at issue, and had so informed the de- partment when appointed ; that he knew nothing of the agi'eement mentioned ; that he was the Military Com- raander of all the forts in the harbor and did not consider tliat he had re-enforcod them in merely transferring his garrison from one to another ; that he had been informed from yarious sources that he would probably be attacke 1 in case the report of the Commissioners was unf ayorable ; that Fort Moidtrie was indefensible against an ordinarily skilful attack; that he had acted entirely upon his own re- sy)onsibility. "Tie declined a('C('(liii<>- to my (Icman*!. "Very res]iectfully, "T. JoHNSTOx Pettigrew.^' In tbe interval nntil the bombardment and surrender of Fort Suintei", Pettigrew was at Morris Island, perfect- ing his regiment in drill and discipline and training them to the rigorous hardships of military service. His com- mand, from the nature of its organization, did not take ]">art in the bond)ardment of Fort Sumter. Early in ISfJl he received a stand of colors foi* his regi- ment, which he acknowledged in these tonching words: "The flag of the old Republic is ours no more. That noble standard which has so often waved over victorious 204 grandfather's tales. lields ; which has so often carried hope to the atiiicted and struggling hearts of Europe; which has so often protected us in distant climes, afar from home and kindred, now threatens us with destruction. In all its former renown we participated. Southern valor bore it to its proudest triumphs, and oceans of Southern blood have watered the ground beneath it. Let us lower it with honor, and lay i t reverently upon the earth." With the fall of Smnter, all hope of reconciliation or peace was abandoned, if indeed all hope of peace had not flown before, and each section of the country confronted the other in the grim-visaged antagonism of war. The position of Adjutant-General of the State was tendered to Colonel Pettigrew by the Legislature of South ( 'arolina. This position, requiring great administrative ability and of eminent usefulness in organizing the State forces, the acceptance of which was urged upon him in consideration of greater usefulness than when restricted to the duties of a single regiment, Pettigrew declined. He sought the active duties of the field as more congenial to his tempera- ment, and at the request of General Beauregard he pro- ceeded to organize a rifle regiment for service during the war, of which he w^as to be Colonel. The regiment was soon made up, and companies exceeding the number re- quired had to be refused. Staff and field officers were agreed on and a junior officer dispatched to Montgomery, then the seat of the Confederate Government, to offer the regiment to the Secretary of War, and obtain authority to muster it into service. But the plan of the Confed- erate Secretary of War, at the time, was to receive com- panies, and not organize regiments, reserving to himself tlie organization into regiments, and the selection and ap- pointjnent of field officers. This arrangement of the Sec- retary of War met with mucli opposition from the com- panies that composed the regiment, and their efforts to retain the selection of officers to themselves being unsuc- cessful, they, many of them, sought admission to other regiments, which were being formed in the State, under authority of the Department of War. GEN. J. J. PETTIGREW. 205 Colonel PettigTew was thus without command, but his ardent spirit was not long at rest. The State of jSTorth Carolina, his cherished mother, shortly afterward tendered him the command of the Twelfth ]^Jorth Carolina Regi- ment, which he accepted as Colonel, and proceeded at once to Kaleig'h to assume the command. During tlie winter of 1861-'62 he was in camp at Kvansport on the Potomac. He discharged all tlie duties pertaining to his situation with such eminent ability and skill, and with such satisfaction to his superior officers, that entirely without his knowledge, he was recommended for promotion to the rank of Brigadier General. This appointment was tendered him by the President, but with rare modesty the appointment was declined by Colonel Pettigrew on the ground that he had not seen sufficient active service for so important a command; that he had )iever been under fire and had never commanded troops when in action. This rare case of modesty surprised the President, who remarked that it was the first case in which an officer had refused promotion to an office becaiise lie had not ]iroved his fitness for the place by an actual discharge of its duties. This reluctance to assume a liigher command was, however, overcome by Major Gen- <'ral Holmes, who, upon General French (Pettigrew's brigade commander) being ordered to report to Wilming- ton for duty, insisted that Colonel Pettigrew should recall his refusal of promotion and succeed General French in rommand of the brigade. This request of General Plolmes being urged Avitli earnestness, as a patriotic duty, over- ruled his judgment, and he wrote to the War Department revoking his refusal. He was then at Fredericksburg. Soon after, General Pettigrew was ordered to Yorktown and with Whiting's division, was engaged in the hotly- contested battle of the Seven Pines. In this battle he was wounded in the neck and shoulder and fell into the hands of the enemy. On the 31st of May, while the battle was raging, he was instructed to drive the enemy from a posi Tion in the woods where they were strongly posted. The 2o6 grandfather's tales. attempt had been made before by a regiment of the divis- ion and had failed. The position held by the enemy was a strong one, and in making tlie attack the regiment was exposed to the lire of a battery of artillery on the tlank. Pettigrew, leading one of his regiments, was attempting to carry the position by assault when he was wounded. An attempt was made to remove him from the held, while ex- hausted from the loss of blood, by a captain of one of his companies, but inquiring how the day was going, and being told it was against us, and hearing some of the offi- cei's rallying their men, he insisted that the officer and men who were assisting him, should leave him on the field and join their company. For some time he was thought to be mortally wounded, and he was mourned by his kin- dred and his country as one who had passed from earthly scenes. But it was afterward ascertained that he had l^oen sent to Fort Delaware as a prisoner of war. Upon returning from Fort Delaware, still suffering from his wounds, he look command of his brigade, near Petersburg. The necessities of the service had transfer- red his old regiment to another coniiiiaml, but he soon per- fec'ted the discipline of tlie new organization, and his repu- tation for military skill and the rare attractiveness of his personal character filled his ranks wirh North Carolina's most sterling sons. With liis brigade tilled and (Hsci])line(l anew, lie joined llie iirniy of the Potomac, under Lee, and entered upon the Pennsylvania campaign. When the Confederate Army entered Pennsylvania, the orders of General Lee were uKtst positive in regard to the conduct of the troops. Whatever niiulit be tlu^ir sense of wrong, he ordered that no acts of retaliation should be allowed. This order, so consonant with his own sentiments, was carried out by (Jeneral Pettigrew with tlie most can ful and rigid enforce- ment of disci])line, nor did lie alone maintain the most per- fect discijdine in his own inunediate command, but he was also prominent in bringing to the notice of his division com- numder any lapse in the discipline enjoined by General GEN. J. J. PETTIGREW. 207 Lee, and which Pettigrew regarded as essential tx3 the pres- ervation of the army. Gettysburg and its sanguinary slaughter came. In tlie first day's fight Pettigrew and his brave command were in the thickest of the fight and bore their proud banners j)ressing the retreating foe. His more than decimated troops bore witness, with the testimony of blood, to their gallantry and daring. Pettigrew's personal bravery and coolness were everywhere conspicuous. "Look, boys," said a young lieutenant, while shot and shell were singing the carnival of death. "Look, boys ; did you ever see a nobler num. Hurrah for General Pettigrew^ !" "I never real- ized before," said Capt. Jo. Davis, of Franklin, "I never realized before, how much one man was worth. Llis pres- ence and cheering command nerves the arms of thousands." On the second day, Pettigrew was held in reserve, but victory still followed the Confederate banners. On the third day, Pettigrew was placed in charge of Hetirs division, and in that fatal and gallant charge on Oemeterv Hill, he was in a line on the left of Picket's commaufl. His was not a supporting column. Both were r(^pulsed l)y su])erior numbers, occupying a strong and im- ]n'egnable ])osition. Pettigrew was T3ainfully wounded, and Burgwyn, Marshall, McOrea and Iredell — all North Oaroliun's dead jewels — wrote with their blood the dying declaration, that i^orth Carolina had followed the Con- federate l)aiiners to the farthest point that Lee had planted tliem. Oil the iirst day of -luly Pettigrew's brigade went into rlie iiiiht witli 3,000 as i^'allant men as ever answered tlic l)iiglo-('ail to liattle. On the morniui;: of the 4th it uimil)crc(1 bill S8.'5. Lbc Confederate aTin\' fell liack upon Hagerstown and the Potomac, crossing tlie river at Williamsport and Fall- ing: Waters. After a nighl's marcli, the troops were rest- iuu- oil the morning of the 14th of Luly, near the bridge, at Falliii.o' Waters. General PettiaTcw, with other officers, was walking to the left of the division, when their atten- tion was attracted bv a small bodv of cavalrv issuino- from 2o8 grandfather's tales. the woods near by. The small number caused them to be mistaken for Confederates. There was an irregular skir- mish, a scattering- fire, and General Pettigrew was mor- tally wounded. He was removed with the army, was taken to the house of Mr. Boyd, near Winchester, Va,, where, on the 17th of July, his noble spirit, with all of its rich endowments and splendid culture passed peacefully away to its bounteous Creator. THOMAS S. ASHE. See what grace was seated on his brow. — Hamlet. Thomas S. Ashe graduated at the University of North (^arolina in the class of 1832, several members of which afterward became men of rank in the country. Thomas L. Clingman was the best scholar in the class, and gradu- ated with its highest honor, distinguished for his genius, his ability, his awkwardness, and his endurance as a bandy-player. He spoke the "Latin Salutatory" speech at graduation, which, at that period, was the speech of highest honor. J. H. Parker, of Tarboro, spoke the "Vale- dictory," second in honor, and Thomas S. Ashe the third s]")eech. The other members of tJie class who became dis- tinguished were Jas. C. Dobbin, Secretary of the Navy uudcr President Pierce, and R. H. Smith, of Halifax, always prominent as an able and public-spirited citizen in Xortli Carolina. Thomas W. Harris was the handsomest member of the class, and Tom Ashe the best looking and most commanding. -lauies C. Dobbin was the most popu- lar man in the class. Tom Ashe commanded the most re- spect, Clingman was the most wondered at, and Dick Smith wns tbe most beloved. Tliroughout tlieir respeeti^■(' careers in life tlie charac- teristics these men developcMl at college seemed to adhere to them. Clingman in ])ublic life was a very strong man. He wa» RECOLLECTIONS OF JUDGE ASHE. 209 chairnuin of the Coiumittee on Foreign Relations in the House of Representatives, and gi-eatly prided himself oii some of his speeches on foreign affairs and on his insight into world-wide politics. But he still found time to study philosophy and science, and he measured mountains, and explained in minute detail the track through the heavens of a great meteor, whose course he traced from Alabama over into Kentucky, calculating to a nicety how high it was above the surface of the earth. And lie was likewise a great authority on water-spouts. When the war came on, he was animated by a great am- bition to attain military renown. In battle he was cool, collected and philosophical ; and in personal bravery no soldier excelled hiui. 1\) crdwn his work, he, after ])eace, collected his principal writings and speeches and pub- lished a book of them — setting a pace for other Carolinians who have been too remiss in matters of authorship. Tom Ashe, in many respects, was just the opposite of Clingnuiu. Clingman was a pushing politician; Asho was of a modest, retiring nature; but withal as manly a man as was ever born on our soil. He was hardly known outside of his judicial district as a lawyer, but when put on the Supreme Court Bench, his opinions were recog- nized by the profession as models of rare excellence. Without solicitation, he was elected Confederate States Senator ; and, indeed, whatever public honors came to him, they came because of the respc^et his course in life inspired. We recall a little incident in regard to him: In 1868, by military order, the negroes were to vote upon the question of adopting the proposed Constitution. The Conservatives, who Avere opposed to all tlies(>, pi-oe.eod- ings, met in Convention at Raleigh. Governoi- Graham ad- dressed them in a speech of great power, urging that the white people should make a party to themselves. At tho same election, a governor and other officers provided for in that Constitution were to be voted for. If the Consti- tution were rejected by the people, the officers elected would not be installed. 2IO grandfather's tales. N'anct' was noniiiuitcd hv tlic Consorvativcs, and Holdcn 1)_Y the Radicals. It looked like it was to be the same old contest of 1864 over again. l)Ut Vance, after thinking over it, declined. The executive committee then tendered the nomination to Judge Merrimon ; he, too, declined. Other names were brought forward — but all the politicians declined. The executive committee was thus confrontel liy a serious situation. Finallv, Colonel Bob Cowan said that he could name a man who would not decline to lead .\(H'tli Carolinians in any struggle for their rights and happiness — no matter if it was a forlorn hope. ''Name ibc man/' th(^ others said. "It is Tom .Vshe. He will not decline to l)e the leader of our jveoplc. I pledge niy- self to that." And so Colonel Cowan was commissioned to see Tom Ashe about it. And Bob Cowan was justified. Ashe came out and made a memoi-able canvass, with no expectation of any personal :id\:iiilagc ; for if the Conserv- atives defeated the Constitution, the election of the officers was a luillitv; and if the Radicals succeeded in carrying the Constitution, thev would also certainlv elect his op- ))onent, Ilolden, Governor. Well, that was a cam])aigu in which el)ony shins and "forty acres and a mule" ])hi\"<'i| ;i leading part. If th»^ venerated George Wasliington liad been our candidate, the sable cohorts would have (IowikmI liim. 'j'hc darkey's wouldn't have known the Constitution from an ele})liaiit had they met a travelling circus in the roae Dnnean Cameron, wliilo Thomas L. Clinoman was delivering his senior speech on the rostrum in Gerrard Hall : "Judge, that boy ha^ got a mind as big as my arm," at the same time stretch- ing out liis muscular arm to its full length. We once heard Dr. Mitchell and Rev. W. M. Green (afterwards Bishop Green) discussing the subject of the rmmortality of the Soul. The good ]]ishoi),with instinctive kindness, was contending for the universality of the im- mortality of all animals ; and he illustrated his position by the life of the weary stage-coach wheel-horse. "He," said the good Bishop, "is one of God's creatures ; chained to a wheel with a burden behind it, and lashed through life by a merciless driver. It has always seemed to me that such a fate should have its compensations in green fields and shady pastures, to find happiness in an im- mortal life." "That is all well," said the erudite doctor of laws and letters, "but when you conu> to an oyster it don't apply." In 1857, after the Commencement of the University in June, Dr. Mitchell felt the old imi)ulse of his geological tastes, and determined to gratify a long-cherisheii wish to explore the mountain peaks of Western North Ciirolina, and taking w'ith him the implements of his favorite science, he set out, unattended by his staff of explorers, to commune with science in that Wonderland of iSTature- — the '^'Lnnd of the Skies" — the invalid's hope and the pilgrim's shrine. He went. It was his last journey to the undiscovered country ; went alone into the vast solitudes of the Black ^fountains of Western Carolina. He had for some days ex])lor(Ml the lower niouutains of the rano'c, staying at night with .some of his ])lain friends in their humble cab- ins among the mountains. On the 57th of June he ascended its peaks. It was a perilou.s and an arduous journey, but he was in robust health, on tlie high ])lateau of middle life, ardent, enthu- DEATH OF DR. MITCHELL- 217 siastic, and hopeful of discovering in North Cai-oliaij the liio-hest nKwntain peak east of the Rockies. He did not return to his friends at night, but it excited no ahirui,, be- cause he was brave and adventurous in his scientilic pur- suits, and it was naturally supposed that he was hired on in his researches in the laboratory of nature. Time wore on and he did not return. There was sas- picion, then fear, tlien, with some, came assurance tiiat something of evil had befallen the great and good scientist. Alarm came on, and searching parties were fori.iou to solve the mystery. Their search was vam. No tiamgs of the missing came. At length an old mountain bear hunter, long familiarly known as'' ''Big Tom Wilson," who was trapping by lught in the o'orges of the Black Mountains, discovered what he supposed to be a human body. He staid by it imlii the morning sun lighted up the mountain hollows, and there, to his horror, he saw the lifeless body of the good man he had known in life, lying half hidden in a pool of wa:cr. He looked around to see how harm had come to ttie body All alono' the mountain steeps he saw broken limb.'? and other evidences of a struggle to arrest disaster, io his practiced eye the sad story of the tragedy was written in obiect-lessons along the mountain sides. He had lost his footliold and had taken the fatal i)lunge to death, into the o-oro-e below. A sad plunge into the unknowR ; but could any death be more fitting to the great Carolinian whom it befell ? , , . , . Loving friends bore his body to the highest mountain peak of the Black Mountains, 6,717 feet above tidewater, the highest mountain peak east of the Rockies, whvb now bears the honored name of Mt. Mitchell. 2i8 grandfather's tales. AMONG THE CAROLINA WRITERS. Suit the action to the word. The word to the action. — Hamlet. North (^viioi.ix.v lias not been prolifie in writers of her majestic historv. Hut slie has s(nne bright stars tliat shine in the Hnnanient and gixc lustre to the name of their mitivity, that \V(; wonhi not willingly let (lie. lie who stands at the gateway of our history was consecrated bv the com])anionship of Shakespeare, Bacon and Hen Johnson, and left his mark u[)on the lettered glory of the Elizabethan period of English history. Durinj; the twelve 3'ears of his dreary imprisonment under t^ie charge of treason, after the death of his patron Queen, his ])en was his comfort and his companion, and while there he wrote a "History of the Woidd," on whose stage he had been so potent an actoi'. Tlial name was Sir Walter Kaleigh — statesnnm, historian, poet, warrior. As a writer, he was followed by Ilackluyt, the distinguished scientist who was sent over by Raleigh with Amadas and Barlowc to write an account of tlu^ir discoveries in the land of the setting sun. Ilackluyt's style is of the antiipie. His work is now a rare gem of early American literature, and was written of and on Roanoke Island. These are the early pioneers of literature associated wiih ibc name anurt of the United States, was the recognized best writer of our Revolutionary times. He did not write a continuous history of the State, but as a letter-writer, in which he chronicled contemporary events, he was incom- ])arable. Griffith McRee, of Wilmington, rendered the State a great service when, at the suggestion of James C. Johnston, of Hays, near Edenton, he prepared a Life of Judge Iredell, and left the State his debtor in gratitude. James Iredell, Jr., inherited the literary tastes of his distiuguished father, and if his life had been given to literary pursuits instead of the law, its jealous rival, he would have reached an e(]ually high, if not higher, dis- tinction on the round of ambition's ladder. His Address at the University of J^orth Carolina at the Commence- ment of 1834 was a masterpiece of literary excellence, but it was too short for so grave an occasion. I^loatiug down the tide of our history to a later jXM'iod we come to Dr. William Hooper, of the TTniversity, con- fessedly th(^ finest writer of his period. A web of sorrow was woven in his mental constitution, but wit and humor l)id)l)hM] up through its interstices whenever lie touched 220 GRANDFATHER S TALES. pen to paper. His Address at the University in 1834, upon tlie defects of primary education in North Carolina, was inimitable in humor, and convulsed a large and cul- tured audience as we liavo never seen before or since. His address at a later period, "Fifty Years Ago/' was l)ut a step behind it in moving men to merriment. The press has played its part in our prose literature. The blood of the Hales of Fayetteville runs in editorial channels. The elder Edward J. Hale, the veteran editor of the Fayetteville Observer, was for forty years identified with the press of J^orthCarolina,and long exercised through the Fayetteville Observer an influence for good that is yet felt in the State. When the war of the States was in progress, he continued the publication of the Observer until Shennan and his bummers came to Fayetteville and deso- lated the town. After the war, j\Ir. Hale removed to New York and established himself, with his son, as a publisiier of books. The change of scene produced no change of heart with him, and while he lived in New York, the old love of his nativity seemed to glow with a wanner and more intense flame. He was greatly beloved in his old liome, and travellers from North Carolina generally j"o- garded Edward J. Hale as an interesting object of their Southern t(mr. After a brief illness, he passed away, leav- ing the odor of a sweet and saintly memory which, we trust, will be long cherished among us in North Carolina. Weston R. Gales, of the old Ralcigk Register, was a greatly gifted man, and handled a gifted ])en. He wis a charming social companion, an unsurpassed post-praiidl-il orator, and but for convivial excess would have been a model man. The line of heredity shows plainly, too, in the Gales blood. Father, son, brotlior and grandson, all handled pens mightier than the sword. Col. W. L. Saunders was prol)ably the best writer the State has ever produced. In force, clearness, directness, in power of illustration and in unflinching tenacity he was without a parallel. If there was any defect, it was in the humor that gives sparkle to composition. AMONG THP: CAROLINA WRITERS. 221 Gaston, as a penman, was as .pure and pellucid as Addi- son. Badger's force was marred by his infinite drollery. His sense of ridicule vvas so dominant, even on the gravest subjects, that it impaired his sincerity. Gen. J. J. Pettigrew was distinguished as a writer as well as a military commander. Had he lived out his nat- ural life, no Carolinian would have lived, greater than he. The two Camerons, John W. and John D., were both gifted penmen. George Davis, our gifted school-boy friend, was a gifted uian, and the law, though it gave us a good lawyer, deprived us of a prince of letters. Engelhard, Price and Fulton, Holden, the Camerons, the old Asheville Citizen and Joe Turner's Raleigh iSen- 'inel shine in the array of able writers. Others we would gladly mention. Thej^ multiply as time rolls on, but they are on this side the line of historic chronicles, and w^e deal witli the books that are made up, balanced and closed. 22 2 grandfather's TALES. THE BOMBARDMENT. Stand not upon the order of your going. — Macbeth. Pekhai's iIk' most memorable day in the annals of Eliztv- beth City was t\\o day of the bombardment, early in Feb- rnary, 18G2, after the fall of Roanoke Island. After the tight and Confederate defeat at llatteras, tlie year before, the sound and river towns of the Albemarle section were in a condition of i)er]jetual trepidation in fear of the inva- sion of the Fe(U'ral troops who bad taken possession of ilatt(M-as, and the ap])rehension of injury was conjurc'd into a thousand fancies of outrage and destruction of life and ])roperty. 13ut Burnside, who was in command ar llatteras, was in no hurry to ]iush his advantage, and the next step for him was to capture Roanoke Island, which was occupied by various troo])s, under the connnand of Col. TIenry M. Sbaw. Roanoke Island was attacked and captured early in l'\'bruary. and tbe peo])le of Elizabeth City were first to hear the sad news. There seemed to be a sort of mental telegraphy between Roanoke^ Ishind and that town, an 1 the news of Roanoke and its fall was soon followed by tlie news that the Fedei'al gunboats were preparing for a hostile visit to the water towns in N^orth Carolina. Wt, :is nearest to the stragc^tic point, were in a state of tremu- lous buzziness. On the streets tlu> en(]uirv every day from man to man was, "Are tliey coming ( When are they com- ing^ Will they shell the town? Shall we fight, or what shall wo do f ' S on Pascpiotank River in the country, THE BOMBARDMENT. 223 nine miles from town, but were in town every day to keep up with current events. Returning from town one day, we heard when in town that the Yankees were gettiiig their gunboats ready to come to town. The rumor had greatly excited the town, and the people Avere much dis- turbed what to do when they came. We got home late, communicated the startling news to our disturbed house- hold, and retired. About midnight a messenger I'roai Elizalieth City roused us from sleep and delivered a mes- sage from Rev. E. M. Forbes, Rector of Christ Charch, saying that a statement had reached town that the Yankee gunV)oats were preparing to leave Roanoke Island for Eliz- nl)eth C^ity, and requesting that we would send up wagons to remove his books and valuables to our home in the coun- try for safety. We hurried Isaac off immediately wiili a farm wagon, a three-mule-cart with driver, and little Peter wixh a single box wagon. We rose early next morn- ing, in fact we didn't go to sleep any more that uigh^. While at breakfast, a servant ran into the room from up- stairs, saying with great alarm that the river was full of stc^aniboats going up towards town, like a wedge, that there was more'n forty of 'em. We ran upstairs, looked out of ;ni u])])er window, and there they were, moving like a pliaJanx, to disturb our peace and happiness. When we went down, Isaac had returned with the debris of Mr. Forbes' goods, wares and chattels. Great drops of bead sweat were rolling down his ebony cheeks, and his emo- tions overcame his utterance. To our enquiry wiiere Mr. Forbes was, he said, ''Mr. Forbes was ilusterated." "I an' he was a talkin', you know. Master Richard, when he was a pilin in his books and pictures and sich, a big 'bung' tiew over our heads, un he said to me, said he, 'Isaac,' and I returned 'Yeth, thir,' ; and again he said to nn, said he, 'Isaac, you better get away quick as you can.' I said again, 'Yeth, thir, Mr. Forbes, sir, I will, for it looks like judgment,' and then I jumped on my seat and 'Ohl Buck' (Old Bu(^k was gamy and the off-horse) let out like Satan was atter him. Wlieu I came to the Cobb's Point road de 224 grandfather's tales hiingis was a ilyiu" all round, and Buck and Bill, who allers minded nie when 1 sot behin' 'em, didn't ker no :.n )re for nie den a born-bline torn kitten." ''Where's Mr. Forbes?" "Dunno. When 1 seed him he was lookin' like he was gwine to run." ''What did he say?" "Well, Master Richard, he was sayin' some words he hadn't ought to sed. 'J'earcd to mo like euss words." ''Well, Isaac, where's Mr. Forbes' things?" "'Lord o' massy. Master liichard, 1 tell you how dat is. Uey's scattered all along the road from here to 'Lizabeth.'" Finishing our hasty breakfast, we mounted our horse and set out for town, and our eyes opened on a sigiit we hope never to see again. x\ll the people of tlie lovvu were on the road, most of them were afooot, shoe-tops deep In mud and slush, muddy, bedraggled, unhappy, wr-jlched. They were looking for an asyluui of safety among country friends. We met scores of our town friends, for- lorn and miserable. We asked for others, and they told us the town was on fire and was deserted, and that a juival engagement was raging in the harbor ; thai, two Confederates were killed and three Yankees. Wc soon met General Ileningsen ou the road. Hying before an nn- seen en(>my, from tlie fort at Cobb's Point, and "'minding not the order of his going." We met some ladies afoot, unhappy, looking for an asylum. We met the Picmonts in "Little Billy's" three-mnle cart, looking for oni' hcnse. They told us of the distress. That it was a deal town. That it was dead as a graveyard, that all had left, some never to return. We asked after our friends. rhoy t^aid that some had set fire to their houses and nuide tracks for (^irrituck, that others had done the same, and that the whole town was then on fire, to spite the Yankees; that the Elliots had started on foot for Oxford, tliat the Mar- tins were in a buggy, flying for Oxford, that Rev. E. M. Forbes was staying in town to meet the Yankeea when they landed on the wharf, surrender them the town and ask protection; that Mr. Forbes, when thej' left, AAas put- GOVERNOR WILLIAM A. GRAHAM. 225 ting Oil his ecclesiastical vestments, in order tlar they might respect his sacred office. It was a grand, gloomy and peculiar time, sucn as tliis town had never seen before, has never seen since, and we trust may never see again. GOVERNOR WILLIAM A. GRAHAM. And like the down that rides upon the breeze. His form was grace and every action ease. — Anon. If we were called on to designate the most disciiigiiished and influential Governor of jSTorth Carolina in its long roll of Chief Magistrates in all its history up to the "war between the States," we should answer without hesitation, William A. Graham. His life had not fallen ra thi; try- ing times that confronted Governor Vance, but, had it been his lot, he would have met them with the samo heroic and unflinching spirit that distinguished our grea>: War Governor. But, unlike him, he would not have found grains of merriment in every pound of sorrow, for Governor Gra- ham was wrapped by nature in an environment of dignity that shrouded mirth and rebelled familiarity. There has been no man, perhaps, in JSTorth Carolina that '.las been endowed with such graces of manner and address that marked him as a great master among men. lie wa-^ grave and dignified without austerity, easy without familiarity, and ho always had a courtliness of personal bearing that commanded every one's respect and offended no one's self love. Mr. Graham's life forms a conspicuous feature in the drama of North Carolina's history while he lived. With its political history he was identified from the early outset of his life. He entered life with the prestige of ancestral di-:tinc- 15 2 26 grandfather's tales. tion, descended from that Scotch-Irish race whicli has illustrated our annals, he added new honors to its illus- trious lineage. Soon after his entrance upon the legal profession ho was elected to the Legislature from the county of Orange, lie made his mark in that body soon after he became a mem- ber, and retained a prominent position in the councils of the State ever afterwards, and added National honors to his subsequent career. In the Harrison Presidential storm of 1840, Mr. Gra- liam bore a conspicuous part in the Whig phalanx of can- vassers, and the subsequent Legislature had to elect two United States Senators for iS^orth Carolina, in the place of Senator Strange, who had resigned, and Senator Mangum, whose term had expired. Mr. Graham was elected co till the unexpired term of Senator Strange, and Senator Man- gum to succeed himself. It was a high compliment to Hr. Graham, considering his age and his residence in the same county Avith Senator Mangnim. In this exalted po- sition Senator Graham soon gave evidence that the St-it9 had acted wisely in selecting him as Senator to suprdv the place of Senator Strange. He took part in the leading^ subjects of debate, was always heard with attention and interest, and his speeches were commended by the ablest statesmen throughout tlie country. In IS-li he was nominated as the Whig candidate for Governor of j^orth Carolina, which nomination he wai? reluctant to accept, but he was urged to accept it by his ])olitical friends of the Whig Party, and finally accepiod it. His opponent of the Democratic Party, Mike Tlokj, of Lincoln County, was a foeman every way worthy of his steel. Young, accomplished, well educated, rminently magnetic, the Democrats of that day confidently calculxted on his success. Of a warmer temperament than Graham, more gifted as an orator, not less gifted in personal attrac- tiveness, they were AVell matched in the canvass. But before the canvass was ended Hoke was beckoned away br the pale messenger, and Graliam was elected by a large GOVERNOR WILLIAM A. GRAHAM. 2 27 majority. He served as Governor for two terms with sig- nal usefulness and satisfaction to the people of the State. He left the office of Governor with a ISTational reputation that gave him the appointment of Secretary of the Navy in President Fillmore's Cabinet, the duties of which office were discharged with an administrative ability that crowned the administration of the Department with great eclat. He established intercourse with Japan which o])ened its ports to tlie world, and placed that gem oi t]ie Orient into the family of nations. Under the auspices of the ISTavy Department the region of the Amazon River, in South America, was successfully explored, and a new market was opened to our commerce. Subsequently, he was nominated for the Vice-rresi-