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Memorial 
 
 OF 
 
 ROBAH BASCOM KERNER, Esq., 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 SOME OF HIS SPEECHES. 
 
 EDITED BY HIS WIFE, 
 
 ASSISTED BY A FRIEND. 
 
 RICHMOND, VA.: 
 
 B. F. Johnson Publishing Company. 
 
 1894, 
 
PrefatotB- 
 
 The compiler does not pretend that the follow- 
 ing work is equal to its subject, nor that the 
 best is said in the best way, in every instance; 
 but hopes that what is here hastily thrown to- 
 gether may afford some pleasure and gratifica- 
 tion to the relatives and friends of him whose 
 memory it is designed to honor and perpetuate. 
 
 It is hoped, furthermore, that these pages may 
 afford a wholesome stimulus to any others who 
 may devote themselves to their perusal. 
 
3ntro5uction. 
 
 If a man has true and noble qualities his wife 
 will be sure to find them out — the home life will 
 reveal them fully to her. If he is cruel, tyran- 
 nical, unfaithful, exacting, she cannot fail to 
 find this out also, whether she will speak of it 
 or not. Perhaps, in the latter case, it would be 
 best to let the corroding memory rankle in her 
 own breast, for it certainly could give no com- 
 fort to a true woman to parade the unpardon- 
 able frailties of a dead husband to the world, 
 nor would the world be the better off for it. 
 But when a wife has buried the husband of 
 her 3^outh, who she knows possessed the finest 
 qualities of mind and heart, who, that has felt 
 the pangs of an und^dng but lacerated love, 
 would deny her the sweet privilege of setting 
 forth those beautiful virtues in tangible form 
 for the comfort of friends and the emulation of 
 the young? I feel that I am that wife, and that 
 
 [5] 
 
Robah Bascom Kerner is that departed husband. 
 My husband was meek and unpretentious, and 
 what I say and do in reference to him, I w^ish 
 to be in keeping with the genius and spirit of 
 his life; but need I crush my love and hold in 
 subjection every emotion of my soul? No; I 
 cannot do this, but must abandon myself to 
 that service which is born of love, and here tell 
 something of his story as I feel it and know 
 it to be. But, I must be permitted to say that 
 the execution of this purpose is undertaken 
 with a peculiar combination of feelings. It 
 is with great diffidence I yield m^^self to the 
 task, and, yet, at the same time, I spring joy- 
 fully, indeed, even at the thought of paying 
 grateful and affectionate tribute to a dear and 
 honored memor}^ 
 
 [6] 
 
^t6 §omc Ciff, 
 
 The most amiable trait of his character, as 
 another elsewhere says, was his love for his 
 home and his family. It may be truly said of 
 him, that, when he was not at his business he 
 was at his home. Home was to him a perfect 
 haven of rest. Here clustered the strongest and 
 purest affections of his heart. When the toils 
 of the day were over, he at once sought the 
 bosom of his family, bearing the fragrance of 
 love, and cheering and blessing every member 
 of his household. He had the happy faculty 
 of disburdening himself of the cares and re- 
 sponsibilities of business, and devoting himself 
 to the cherished recreations of the home which 
 he had planted and ordered so well. Up to the 
 time he was elected ma^^or evening always found 
 him, after a merry chase with his little ones, 
 contentedly seated in slippers, gown and cap 
 scanning the newspapers of the day, or reading 
 
 [7] 
 
and discussing some good book. It must not 
 be understood, however, that his fondness for 
 intellectual pursuits engrossed his entire time, 
 but only a good share of it. The social festivi- 
 ties of the home were not neglected. A judi- 
 cious space of time must be allotted to cheerful 
 conversation on such topics as were refining and 
 profitable in their tendency. Bible reading and 
 devotion to God was the daily habit. 
 
 Children were always attractive to him, and, 
 as a matter of course, they were always attracted 
 by him. To see him with them one would think 
 the}^ were " High fellows well met." Conform- 
 ing himself to a level with them, he would join 
 gleefully, in their little amusements, and go 
 through them to the finish in such a pleasing, 
 jolly way, that the children would besiege him 
 for repetitions almost without end. 
 
 Affection was the reigning law of his home 
 and enforced his wishes there. It was his con- 
 stant care to give expression to his love for his 
 family in every conceivable way. His chil- 
 dren's birthdays were never forgotten, but al- 
 ways remembered with a nice present, as were 
 those of the other members of his household. 
 
 r«i 
 
Even his domestic servants, he always wanted 
 remembered with something to make them 
 cheerful and happy as each anniversary came 
 
 around. 
 
 He was always careful to give hired servants 
 no cause of complaint. True, he was strict in 
 the requirements he laid upon them, but always 
 paid them well, and in his manner toward them 
 was kind and considerate. He remarked more 
 than once, that from the world, as a rule, they re- 
 ceived too little remuneration for their services. 
 He saw this to be true, not only as to one sex, but 
 in every way possible took the stand for better 
 wages being paid to both man and woman. 
 
 His business required so much of his time 
 that he did very little promiscuous visiting 
 himself, but enjoyed largely having his friends 
 with him in his own home. On such occasions 
 he displayed the finest social qualities. Polite- 
 ness characterized his every act and word and 
 every expression of his face. He spared no 
 care or pains to show his regard for his visitor 
 and to make him feel pleasantly. He was 
 genial, responsive and hospitable to the letter. 
 Nothing that he could do was a trouble, but a 
 
 [9] 
 
pleasure. Such was R. B. Kerner at his fire- 
 side and his table. 
 
 He loved, however, to visit the home of his 
 wife's childhood and his father's home. The 
 latter he never viewed in any other light than 
 that of home. Years of dutiful toil, in other sur- 
 roundings, with all they brought and took away, 
 did not rob the old homestead of its sweetness — 
 it was still home. And at every convenient 
 season he came to the place hallowed by a 
 mother's prayers and a mother's death, if it Avas 
 but for a few hours, to greet the loved ones 
 there and to refresh himself with the scenes 
 that cheered him in the morning of life. And 
 regularly, as each old year receded into the past, 
 it was his custom to visit the old home, and 
 AVith generous Christmas gifts that gladdened 
 the hearts of both old and young he endeared 
 himself to all around him. 
 
 At Christmas it was his idea that old St. 
 Nicholas should brighten his wife's holiday with 
 a nice present, and this was carried out each 
 successive 3^ear of his married life. But he was 
 careful not to select anything that could be 
 
 paraded to the front. The selection was always 
 
 [lo] 
 
a piece of silver, of the finest and best quality, 
 which must be used back in the dining-room, 
 where it would be of special service and plea- 
 sure to the receiver. 
 
 Down in the depths of his heart he had a 
 strong aversion for pretension or an attempt 
 for mere display. This characteristic was so 
 emphatic in his nature — was so frequently 
 manifested under all circumstances — that I 
 hesitated for some time before deciding to leave 
 off colors and assume the usual habiliments of 
 the bereaved. I felt that, notwithstanding he 
 was in his grave, yet, in anything pertaining 
 even to his memory I would still like to act in 
 consistency with his wishes and preferences. 
 
 2ls a (JEljrislian 
 
 He was sincere and could be fully appreciated 
 only by those who knew him best. He accepted 
 the principles of truth as revealed in the Bible, 
 and practiced them in daily life without undue 
 show. While he loved this present life, and with 
 due restraints tasted it deeply, yet his moral 
 courage, which never forsook him, made him 
 
ready to face the inevitable at any moment with 
 an unruffled spirit. His religious faith was as 
 simple as it was profound ; it supported him in 
 ever}^ ordeal of life and sweetened every cup of 
 joy and hope he quaffed. 
 
 He was an earnest member of the Moravian 
 Church, and loved it as the church of his child- 
 hood. But he made no parade of his religion, 
 for, in this as in all things else, he was simple 
 and sincere. Ordinarily, when requested to 
 take a prominent part in a service of more pre- 
 tentious religious nature — such as making ad- 
 dresses for Christian associations — I have felt 
 worried at his sending a refusal. On such occa- 
 sions I have known him to say: "In doing my 
 daily duty, I am serving my Master best." He 
 seemed to fear that in his relationship great 
 prominence in religious movements would be 
 construed into an effort on his part to secure 
 mercenary or political effect. 
 
 ^miflbilitg. 
 
 That Mr. Kerner had his faults it must not 
 be denied, for he was human; but so perfect 
 
 [12] 
 
was his mastery of himself that it would not 
 be easy to point them out, even if an effort were 
 made to do so. Indeed, to the eye of love, at 
 least, the galaxy of his virtues so arra3'ed his 
 entire manhood that whatever defects belonged 
 to him a frail mortal might hesitate to put on 
 permanent record. 
 
 While he had his mark set high and was 
 ambitious to make his life a success in every 
 paricular, still no acquirement of money or 
 property, or bestowment of honors, seemed to 
 elevate him in his own estimation — he had the 
 philosophy of appearing the same, however his 
 circumstances might alter. 
 
 His humility was always conspicuous. He 
 had none of that bigotry and intelerance which 
 may sometimes be mistaken for courage and 
 wisdom in both religious and political circles. 
 He seemed to think that respect was a kind 
 of mutual commodity Avhich should pass from 
 man to man on equal terms. 
 
 He was not one of those sensitive characters 
 who is always looking out for insults, and hence 
 alwaj^s receiving them. He was slow to take of- 
 fense, and slower to give it. He bore malice 
 
 [13] 
 
against no one, but would leave entirely alone 
 those whom he knew to be his unrelenting ene- 
 mies. 
 
 He wished to climb himself, but not to the 
 degradation of others; he rejoiced to see them 
 also on the upward move. He dragged no 
 man down, but applied his honest efforts to 
 lift many up; hence it may be said with em- 
 phasis, he was philanthropic, broad and liberal 
 minded ; he respected the honest views and 
 principles of others, looked at things on the 
 bright side, and prophesied great possibilities 
 for his age and country. 
 
 As to the humorous side of his character but 
 little needs to be said. That he had a quiet vein 
 of humor in his mental constitution was clear 
 to the most casual observer. But this quality 
 of his mind did not descend into mere witti- 
 cism. He enjoyed a good joke, a chaste story, 
 a bright sally of wit, provided there was left no 
 sting behind it ; but often such things are as 
 depressing to one as they are exhilarating to 
 another, and to Avantonly crush the feelings of 
 even the humblest was not in his nature. It is 
 not too much to say he was amiable and cheery 
 
 [H] 
 
in all his bearing and disposition, and that it 
 was his desire to make every one feel more light- 
 hearted when he parted with him than when he 
 first met him. 
 
 <5is Hnprctcntiottsucss. 
 
 Mr. Kerner's simple modesty showed itself 
 in everything he turned his hand to. To have 
 his name appear in print, except in cases of 
 absolute necessity, or to have pictures of him- 
 self scattered promiscuously was an abhorrence. 
 It was with great reluctance that he would con- 
 sent for even his nearest and best friends to 
 have his likeness. 
 
 During his Mayoralty an enlarged portrait of 
 himself was sent as a present to the town by 
 the artist mainly to advertise his work. Through 
 thoughtlessness, it is supposed, on the part of 
 the artist, it Avas so directed as to come imme- 
 diately to Mr, Kerner's house. Finding the 
 picture there on coming in from his office, he 
 very thoughtfully said: " If the secretary or 
 President Wilson ever calls for that picture he 
 is to have it, otherwise, kindling wood can it be 
 cut into so far as I care for it." The town sec- 
 
 [15] 
 
retary, knowing nothing of its whereabouts, did 
 not send, as a matter of course, nor did Presi- 
 dent Wilson, for the same reason. The delicacy 
 of pushing a likeness of himself into promi- 
 nence he could not overcome ; and it was never 
 hung, nor was city hall ever made recipient of 
 the work intended for it until after his death, 
 when the writer felt that it but voiced the senti- 
 ments of his friends at large, and readily con- 
 sented to the request of a member of the city 
 board to place it there. 
 
 Couc for f is Itinsmen. 
 
 With such traits as above noted — such a 
 bright disposition and such engaging manners — 
 is it any wonder that he was almost the idol of 
 the family, and that his memory will ever re- 
 main sacred to them? And well may they so 
 regard him, for no one ever showed greater love 
 than he for the people bearing his own name 
 and of his own blood. The most remote of 
 them were affectionately regarded. His heart 
 was large enough to embrace them all. And 
 in all their embarrassments, it was his willing 
 
 [i6] 
 
l)art to aid and council, to stand by and protect; 
 firm in his own decisions and requirements, 
 yet always generous, kind and considerate. If, 
 from any cause, there were unfortunate ones 
 among them, he loved to help them; and more 
 than once shifted their responsibilities to his 
 own shoulder, and relieved the distressed ones 
 from the burdens that were ready to crush them. 
 And so well planned were these friendly acts of 
 his, that almost without an exception they 
 proved for the best to all concerned. In a word, 
 if trouble of any kind befell one of his relatives 
 he Avould assist him, as the case demanded, pro- 
 fessionally, financiall}', or otherwise, to the full 
 extent of his power. Even those a great deal 
 more advanced in age than himself, he has ably 
 and lovingly lifted out of financial distress, and 
 made such arrangements that they should still 
 be protected from trouble of this nature, 
 though he himself should precede them to the 
 grave. 
 
 In this connection I will mention one other 
 fact: So ardent was his love for the members of 
 his immediate family relationship that he felt 
 they had the same right to his table and fireside 
 
 [ 17] 
 
that he had himself, and again and again he 
 impressed this fact upon them. 
 
 ^n Jncibent. 
 
 But it must not be understood that this warm 
 affection for relatives was of a selfish nature, 
 and that the subject of this sketch did not pos- 
 sess that largeness of heart which went out in 
 sympathy for all others — even strangers. As 
 an illustration of his broad, liberal-hearted na- 
 ture I submit the following incident: We were 
 passing on the sidewalk of a street where lay 
 three street-car lines. The cars were running 
 frequently over the point directly in front of us 
 in order to accommodate the crowded city. Sud- 
 denly, a lady held fast by the crowd on the car 
 farthest from us lost her hat, which was car- 
 ried back a long distance by the wind, seemingly 
 unnoticed by any one save the owner and our- 
 selves. Quick as the act Mr. Kerner grasped 
 his own hat, watched carefully up and down the 
 tracks for the moving cars, sprang forward and 
 placed in the lady's possession the wayward ap- 
 pendage, which she expected never to see again, 
 to her evident gratification. 
 
 [ iS] 
 
ifirmnese. 
 
 Mr. Keener was a clear-cut, well defined 
 character. He was not one thing to-day and 
 something else to-morrow. He Avas knoiun — 
 his friends could calculate on him — they knew 
 where to find him. He sought to know the line 
 of duty, and basing his convictions on this line, 
 formulated his principles in keeping with his 
 convictions. His life was shaped in accordance 
 with his own ideas of what this life should be. 
 He believed that dut}^ is always practicable. 
 Hence, he scarcely knew what it was to fail in 
 anything he undertook. He reached the mark 
 at which he aimed, even at the expense of stren- 
 uous efi'orts. His purpose was a prophesy of 
 the accomplishment. But with all his firmness 
 and decision he was careful not to be off'ensively 
 stubborn. He was ever ready to yield grace- 
 fully when convinced, but otherwise as immova- 
 ble as adamant. 
 
 Perhaps a deeper insight into his unswerving 
 nature may be obtained by giving here an actual 
 occurrence. A man whom he had trusted as a 
 brother since their school days, at a critical pe- 
 
 r^9] 
 
riod, turned squarely against him. His feelings 
 were painfully crushed by the act. However, 
 the opportunity soon presented itself for him to 
 take a stand against or for this man. After a 
 little cool deliberation he said: " I am going to 
 stand right up for him, and I will tell him one 
 of these days I never desert my friends because 
 they have acted the traitor to me." 
 
 ^s a Man of JBnsinese, 
 
 Me. Keener was careful, painstaking and 
 thoughtful. He applied himself closely. His 
 plans were well laid and his work systemati- 
 cally arranged. The work at hand he dis- 
 patched promptly, leaving nothing for to-mor- 
 row that should be done to-day. He delighted 
 in the work peculiar to his profession, and 
 when the volume of his business accumulated 
 on his hands to that extent which excited the 
 misgivings of his friends as to his physical 
 ability to stand it, he never seemed to think 
 that he might undertake too much, but was 
 always ready for one thing more. Nor does it 
 appear that in this propensity he was indis- 
 
 [20] 
 
creet, for he never seemed to be hurried in busi- 
 ness to a degree bordering on distraction, but 
 apparently had plenty of time for the matter in 
 hand, and that, too, though the thing in itself 
 was of minor importance. He had the happy 
 art of gliding smoothly from one thing to 
 another, as occasion might require ; and what- 
 ever was under thought or discussion, of how- 
 ever small moment, absorbed his attention, for 
 the time being, just the same as the greatest 
 affairs committed to his management. To his 
 care of the details of business may be attrib- 
 uted, no doubt, much of the success he achieved. 
 When he made money he was free to spend it 
 and careful to keep it. Though generous to a 
 fault in all things where money spent would be 
 of real pleasure or benefit to his fellow-man, 
 yet, from the very beginning, he was cautious 
 not to sink his earnings in numberless ways 
 which the young of to-day are apt to do when 
 first married and starting out in life. In eco- 
 nomics his motto was : " Live so as to make the 
 interest on your means support you." He 
 would sometimes say : " It is not simply in the 
 making, but in the saving of dollars which 
 
 [21] 
 
makes a man of influence and saves him in a 
 rainy day." Or, again: " Money is necessary 
 to a man in order that he may wield an influ- 
 ence over his fellow-man or be of much service 
 to him." 
 
 Citerotnre, 
 
 He spent over one thousand dollars on his 
 miscellaneous and law library together, and, of 
 course, he highly prized it and gave due dili- 
 gence to its keeping. His system in arranging 
 and taking care of these books I have never 
 seen in any other. His plan of labeling and 
 numbering, and form of dating entry and with- 
 drawal, and when out, where at, must have been 
 entireh' original. He could always locate his 
 book, whether in or out of the library. 
 
 He was passionately fond of reading, but not 
 always books of his profession. When at home, 
 within doors he confined himself much to gen- 
 eral reading in preference to any other diver- 
 sion. He was methodical in this particular, as in 
 all others. When he took his newspaper in hand, 
 he began at the first and read thoughtfully, but 
 rapidly, scanning its pages to the last column. 
 
 [22] 
 
He also procured and read the best standard 
 literature— the purest and most elevating works 
 extant; but it was his custom when traveling 
 among strangers to secure lighter matter to 
 relieve his m'ind from idleness and entertain 
 the passing hours, once remarking: "A good 
 book is the best of company." 
 
 His advice to the young was to read a good 
 novel rather than not read at all. On one occa- 
 sion in his early boyhood he was reprimanded 
 by his sister in the presence, of their mother, 
 for reading a novel. The prudent mother said: 
 " For him to be gadding on the street, where I 
 know not, would be a worse thing." This re- 
 mark made a lasting impression on him; and 
 may we not readily suppose that this, coupled 
 with the reprimand from a pious, thoughtful 
 sister, had no little to do in shaping his entire 
 life. The one would open his young mind to the 
 danger of a corrupt literature, and the other to the 
 still greater danger of idle and vicious habits. 
 
 Mr. Kerner encouraged the young in all possi- 
 ble ways to read. Twice he presented the Sun- 
 day-school of his church with small libraries; 
 and for nine years he never allowed a Christmas 
 
 [23] 
 
to go by without gladdening the hearts of these 
 children with gifts of a literary character, and 
 that at considerable expense. These gifts were 
 always bestowed as coming from Santa Clans; 
 and pains taking for them to be left, for each 
 child, right where the kindly old visitor usually 
 deposits his presents; so that the credit for them 
 could be given no one outside the household. 
 Also, his wards, who were more nearly related 
 to him, never failed to receive from his hand, 
 annually, some costly present in connection 
 with some good book. 
 
 iHagoraits. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was not an office- 
 seeker in the sense which is often attached to 
 the term. He had a laudable ambition, was 
 aspiring but did not believe in himself or any 
 one else, clamoring for place and power. He 
 acted on the principle that when a man has the 
 parts and capacity which qualify him for office, 
 his countrymen will then call for him, and, in 
 this case it is his privilege and his duty, as a 
 good citizen, to accept the call. 
 
 [24] 
 
In the year 1888 his name was mentioned for 
 mayor of the city of Winston. Realizing how 
 many duties he already had to call him from 
 home, and that his law practice kept him so 
 constantly employed, I very bitterly opposed his 
 running. In answer to my protest he replied : 
 " It certainly seems ungrateful to the good peo- 
 ple here for you to so oppose my running." I 
 had never before looked at it in this light, and 
 now felt it my duty to yield to the demand. 
 This may serve as an illustration of his view of 
 office — a kind of reciprocal good-will between 
 the man honored and the men who honor him. 
 And thus it was with him always. As his fel- 
 low citizens promoted him, the warm affections 
 of his heart went out towards them, and he 
 strove to make his every act a blessing to all 
 concerned. 
 
 His friends can never know how overflowing 
 his gratitude was to them for so many times 
 honoring him with public duties and public 
 trusts. He endeavored to prove this to them 
 by his works. He spared no efforts to avail 
 himself of opportunities to serve them ardu- 
 ously and acceptably. 
 
 [25] 
 
(S)rdeals of ^\b Administration. 
 
 The stand which he took in regard to the city 
 poor during the severe cold of January, 1893, 
 is worthy of special note. The destitution and 
 suffering of this class became alarming. The 
 cry for help came repeatedly and often — came 
 from multitudes who had to be restrained, even 
 by police force during the severest period. As 
 Chief Executive of the city, he felt the weight 
 of the responsibilit}^ and addressed himself 
 squarely to the necessity of the case. So great 
 was the demand for help that private contribu- 
 tions had to be resorted to, and this, to a large 
 extent. Mr. Kerner not only urged the benefi- 
 cent duty of the hour with persistency upon 
 others, many of whom were willing subjects, 
 but cut down into the file of his own mite to 
 such a depth that a bystander would have 
 thought it too liberal for one of his means. As 
 a result of this united effort, be it said to the 
 honor of Winston and her generous adminis- 
 tration, the sufferers were helped to a degree 
 second, in a similar donation, to that of no town 
 of its size in the State. 
 
 [26] 
 
tDinston iFiree, 
 
 In the fall of 1891 fire after fire, at short in- 
 tervals, distressed the citizens of Winston. The 
 authorities had taken many steps, in various 
 waj^s, to stop them, but all to no purpose. Public 
 opinion grew sensitive and quite suspicious of 
 criminality. For a long while Winston's ma^^or 
 would not believe that the pleasant city, over 
 which he presided, had such a vicious enem3\ 
 But at last he, too, became uneasy, and fearing 
 there was an underlying incendiary cause for so 
 man}^ fires, he procured the services of two New 
 York detectives to ferret out the perpetrators. 
 But, again the fire bells rang loud and long, and 
 again he was off for the fire with the determina- 
 tion, which alwavs characterized him, to do 
 what he could. After being at this fire for 
 some time other bells rang announcing a fire in 
 quite a different part of the town. By this time 
 he was well-nigh exhausted, but he secured a 
 carriage and pushed to the new scene of confla- 
 gration. After this was well under control he 
 drove out home to supper. But he had not 
 much more than seated himself at his table 
 
 [27] 
 
when the bells rang again, and again he was 
 gone. By this time crowds of people, wild with 
 excitement, were collecting around the court- 
 house square, near which was the raging fire. 
 All was confusion. Firemen ran, the engines 
 roared, a babel of voices rent the air, and bells 
 rang all over the city. Indignation ran high 
 against the black race. Still the excited popu- 
 lace were rapidly congregating on every corner 
 and every conceivable place. Just at this junc- 
 ture some citizen cried out: " Mavor Kerner, 
 our town is being burnt up by the negroes, what 
 shall we do?" Mr. Kerner at once felt that 
 great danger was imminent and, like a flash, 
 sprang upon the nearest goods box and, lifting 
 his voice like a trumpet, called to the multitude 
 to "Disperse at once; any remaining on the 
 streets will be immediately sent to jail." The 
 streets were cleared instantlv, and outside the 
 noise of the fire companies all was quiet. The 
 firemen could now do more effective work, and 
 in a short time the flames were subdued. 
 
 The military was now sent out, and one hun- 
 dred extra policemen deputized all of whom 
 walked the streets the rest of the night guard- 
 
 [28] 
 
ing the property and lives of the citizens who 
 were now too much alarmed to go to sleep. 
 
 R. B. Kerner was true to every cause he es- 
 poused. As mayor he studied to promote the 
 best interests of the city of Winston. As he 
 felt and saw its welfare to be so he was actuated. 
 He was proud of every shovelful of sand, or 
 planted stone, which added to its beauty or util- 
 ity. He rejoiced in its progress and growth, and 
 in all the phases of its prosperity. May it not be 
 hoped that, with so much at heart for the town, 
 together with the earnest efforts devoted to its 
 interests, that he did not fail to do it for some 
 lasting good? And it is a pleasing thought, and 
 one for gratitude, that his fellow townsmen have 
 so fully endorsed his acts and paid such high 
 tributes to his memor}^ as will be found else- 
 where in this little volume. 
 
 ^bbitional Satis €onnecteb toitl) §iQ |)ubiic (Career. 
 
 When Mr. Kerner was admitted to the bar 
 he at once entered into a good practice, and as 
 a young lawyer made a fine impression on the 
 public mind. In 1883 he was elected Solicitor 
 
 [29] 
 
of the Inferior Court, which was then in vogue 
 in Forsyth county. And not only in matters 
 pertaining to his profession was he highly 
 esteemed, but was looked upon as having the 
 qualifications and characteristics which fitted 
 him for other fields of public service. As an 
 evidence of the confidence reposed in him, he 
 soon became guardian for no less than sixteen 
 children, having entire control of their means 
 for a number of years. 
 
 Not longer than one year after he began his 
 law practice a representative to the State Legis- 
 lature was to be elected by the citizens of For- 
 syth county. In urging his name for this posi- 
 tion a friend used the following language: "The 
 wish of the people is for a young man of more 
 than ordinar}^ ability, of sound democratic prin- 
 ciples, gifted with a flow of eloquent words, but 
 not garrulous; energetic, reliable, and with 
 enough personal interest at stake to throw off 
 all suspicion of seeking the office for the mere 
 honor it may confer; a man of education, good 
 and solid, and with a knowledge of what our 
 present educational institutions need. Now, 
 has the party such a man in its ranks? It has 
 
 [30] 
 
in the person of R. B. Kerner, Esq. Being 
 raised in the county, he is familiar with the 
 wants and needs of the people. He is a young 
 man, who, by indefatigable zeal and application, 
 has lifted himself to a height in the regard of 
 many who know him which any young man 
 may well feel proud of and many an old one 
 envy. A staunch democrat, simple in his 
 habits, temperate in all things, scholarly in his 
 tastes, and rapidly rising in his profession, he 
 is undoubtedly the most suitable man for the 
 House of Commons that Forsyth county 
 holds." 
 
 He soon grew prominent in the more imme- 
 diate political circles, and made some telling 
 speeches on the party issues of the day. He 
 served as chairman of the County Democratic 
 Executive Committee for a number of years 
 and until he resigned. 
 
 But to still further show the public estimate 
 put upon him, let us for a moment return to 
 him in the capacity of a lawyer. In the early 
 stage of his practice he was engaged in a mur- 
 der case tried in the town of Winston. Of his 
 effort at the bar on this occasion the leading 
 
 [3'] 
 
county paper said : " He won for himself golden 
 opinions from all who heard his speech. He 
 undertook the defence without hope of reward 
 or the prohability of success, and in the face of 
 popular opinion, but b}^ his untiring energy, his 
 stirring appeals for sympathy, his clear and 
 comprehensive rehearsals of the evidence, and 
 his eloquent perorations in behalf of mercy, he 
 turned the current of opinion and made con- 
 viction doubtful. It was after the jury had been 
 out a part of two daj^s and a night that they 
 brought in a verdict of guilty. Mr. Kerner 
 spoke about three hours, and riveted the atten- 
 tion of all present during the entire speech. 
 The case goes to the Supreme Court, and should 
 a new trial be granted a change in the verdict 
 will in all probability be the result." 
 
 In 1885 he was elected Town Commissioner. 
 His associates in office elected him secretary of 
 their board and city treasurer, and also com- 
 missioner of the graded school. For his ser- 
 vices as secretary and treasurer he received the 
 complimentary salary of three hundred dol- 
 lars — a greater sum than that which was at the 
 time paid to the Mayor. 
 
 [32] 
 
A great deal of the upbuilding of Winston 
 and its material growth was brought about by 
 the wise action of this board. Many timely or- 
 dinances were enacted which stimulated Win- 
 ston to a degree of progress which was the pride 
 of its citizenship and a matter of comment in 
 the State at large. As a bit of history, at least 
 of local interest, a few of these acts are con- 
 cisely noted. During this administration a 
 special tax was levied on every purchaser of leaf 
 tobacco, and graduated according to the quan- 
 tity bought. The debt of the town for the La 
 France fire-engine was paid. An act was passed 
 requiring individuals to pave the sidewalks ad- 
 joining their property, to improve the public 
 roads near Winston, to lay at least three miles 
 of main and service water pipe, to release the 
 military company from poll-tax, and the im- 
 mense hill near the graded school building was 
 lowered at least ten feet, and Fourth street 
 graded. Many other important acts of this 
 board added to the material and moral well-being 
 of the city. 
 
 On February 23, 1892, Mr. Kerner was elected 
 Mayor by a flattering vote, and being just thirty- 
 i! [ 33 ] 
 
two years and six months old, was the 3^oungest 
 executive in the history of Winston. He was in- 
 augurated with a pleasing and complimentary 
 formality. From the records of this occasion 
 is taken the following extract: "He thanked the 
 aldermen for the honor conferred upon him, 
 and made a nice little speech in his usual happy 
 style, pledging his best efforts for the future ad- 
 vancement of the city, and upon taking his 
 seat declared the board ready for the transaction 
 of business." 
 
 To give minute details of the good work of 
 this administration would perhaps be of little 
 or no interest here, but to show how active and 
 progressive it was, a few extracts from the re- 
 cords are presented: The curbing and mac- 
 adamizing the principal streets, and the cutting 
 down and grading Summit street and a part of 
 Fifth street. The prohibition of opening stores 
 on the Sabbath, either for giving away or sell- 
 ing goods, except in cases of necessity. Drug- 
 stores permitted to be open all the time, but not 
 allowed on the Sabbath day to sell tobacco, ci- 
 gars, soda water, mineral water, but medicines 
 only. The interdiction of prize-fighting and 
 
 [ 34 ] 
 
sparring matches with heavy penalties. The 
 passing of thirty or more market ordinances. 
 An act to enable the corporation to own and 
 control the water-works. Various fire ordinances 
 were passed embracing an ordinance connecting 
 Winston with Salem fire-alarm system. Ordi- 
 nances resulting in the organization of fire com- 
 panies and a hook and ladder company. The 
 purchasing from Seneca Falls, N. Y., one of the 
 finest and best equipped fire-engines ever brought 
 south. But perhaps the crowning act of Mr. 
 Kerner's administration was the completion of 
 Winston's fine and magnificent City Hall and 
 market house — a building of which every citi- 
 zen of the town may well feel proud. 
 
 In all these laws an enterprises, together with 
 many other matters of moment, Mr. Kerner 
 felt the deepest interest and addressed himself 
 with his characteristic energy to their unfailing 
 enforcement and execution. 
 
 And it is a pleasure to record the harmoni- 
 ous relationship that all the time existed be- 
 tween their Mayor and the Board of Aldermen. 
 The}^ delighted to respect and honor him. 
 Their kindly and generous support is a mat- 
 
 [ .35 ] 
 
ter for lasting gratitude, and is here expressed 
 as the best return that can now be tendered 
 them. 
 
 One particular honor they bestowed on him, 
 while 3^et living, is worthy of special note just 
 here. On the above mentioned superb fire- 
 engine they had his name beautifully engraved. 
 As the matter now is this is a lasting and appre- 
 ciative tribute to his memory, and ever here- 
 after, as this powerful machine shall go forth to 
 combat the dreaded monster fire, though he can- 
 not be Avith it in person to aid, as he was always 
 so faithful to do, yet, in solid steel characters 
 his name is with it, and must there stand as a 
 testimonial both to the high esteem accorded 
 him, and of his devotion to his adopted city. 
 
 i^io Cast Sickness. 
 
 At one time during his long attack of sick- 
 ness he grew much better — his physicians pro- 
 nouncing him entirely free from fever, and, in 
 fact, several times in a sub-normal condition. 
 He got able to leave the sick chamber, to take 
 short rides, and gradually recuperated suffi- 
 
ciently to go to his office and there superintend 
 some work he wanted done. 
 
 After an elapse of about eighteen days he be- 
 came strong enough and went to the home of 
 his father, in Kernersville, hoping that the 
 change would recreate him in both body and 
 mind, little thinking that his life-work was so 
 near to its close. But here trouble came dou- 
 ble-handed. His disease soon returned with 
 great and renewed power, and in the midst of 
 it all, on September 3d, occurred the death of 
 our little one, Francis Lanier. From the effects 
 of this severe ordeal I am sure he never recov- 
 ered, although every precaution possible was 
 used asrainst excitement of anv kind. 
 
 Life was most dear to him, and to human 
 understanding there were the best of reasons it 
 should be so. Just rising into the prime of 
 manhood, with a lucrative business in hand ; 
 with a well-equipped and comfortable home in 
 a flourishing little city, where he was surrounded 
 by a host of competent friends always ready to 
 encourage and honor him; and with a young 
 family, who beyond question was the delight 
 and pride of his heart, and to whom he was 
 
 [37] 
 
attached as strongly as human love could bind 
 him, is it anj^ wonder that the prospect of an 
 immediate severance from all these precious, 
 hopeful environments should cast a shadow 
 over him, and that under it all he should seem 
 sad? But, while this is so, there is one sweet 
 thought, as a thread of gold, running through 
 it all — he was fully resigned and gave comfort- 
 ing testimony as to his future state. He spoke 
 of his sainted mother, to whom his devotion 
 was most beautiful and whose memory was so 
 sweet to him, and said: "I will soon be with 
 her." 
 
 During all this sad period he manifested 
 supreme and childlike confidence in his reli- 
 gious faith. When delicately approached on 
 the subject of prayer he promptly responded : 
 "Yes, I am praying, but I do not excite myself 
 with long prayers, for that would run my fever 
 up, but the good Lord understands me." 
 
 And even in this dark and tr^^ing hour he did 
 not forget to be himself. He had always felt 
 that it was his part to comfort and console his 
 loved ones in seasons of distress and grief. But 
 now when his dving moments were fleeting 
 
 [38] 
 
away it would seem that he himself was the one 
 to be comforted. This did not seem to be his 
 view of the situation, but, knowing that the 
 very heartstrings of her whom he was leaving 
 would be wrenched and torn with intense an- 
 guish, with deepest sympathy he said : "I did not 
 think I would bring you to this; but life is short, 
 Jennie, and we will soon be together again." 
 
 After skilled medical aid had proved unavail- 
 ing, and his grief-strickened and aged father, 
 feeling powerless to help him further, showed 
 his emotion, the dvina; son said to him: "You 
 have done the best 3^ou could ; meet me in 
 heaven. 
 
 j^is lUcatl). 
 
 It was hard for those to whom he was nearest 
 and dearest to realize that death was about to 
 sever him from them. Nor could they do this 
 until all possible efforts to restore him had been 
 made without effect. But at last they saw that 
 the worst must come, and every lingering hope 
 was crushed. 
 
 On Monday, September the 25th, 1893, as the 
 day declined, our dear one fell sweetly to rest. 
 
 [39] 
 
The silver cord was loosed, and the golden bowl 
 was broken, and his pure spirit returned to God 
 who gave it. 
 
 His death was crushing to those who loved 
 him best — too crushing and too sacred, indeed, 
 to attempt its portrayal here. A large circle of 
 friends and acquaintances regarded his death 
 as a calamity, and demonstrated their sympa- 
 thy and grief in many ways. 
 
 May I not, with becoming modesty, quote? — 
 
 " His life was gentle, and the elements 
 So mixed in him, that nature might stand up 
 And say to all the world, this was a man." 
 
 But not what he was has been lost — his past, 
 at least, is secure, for its nature is immortal. 
 The world has lost only what Robah Bascom 
 Kerner might have been, in the many unaccom- 
 plished years of a prime manhood of ordinary 
 duration. To estimate the good he might have 
 done for the world, by living long in it, is not 
 in human foresight to do. But no further bur- 
 dens or responsibilities can be laid on him now. 
 His work is done, but not done tvifh. In other 
 minds and hearts his works will bud forth and 
 blossom as the rose. 
 
 [40] 
 
"Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, 
 from henceforth saith the Spirit, that they may 
 rest from their labors; for their works follow 
 them." 
 
 Qloncerning ^is Speeches. 
 
 Upon examination you will find in this Sou- 
 venir a few of his speeches. Effort has been 
 made to secure all the literary addresses he ever 
 made, but, after a diligent search, it is found 
 that the manuscripts of several are lost, and it 
 is by mere accident that those herein published 
 have been obtained. 
 
 Speech-making, however, he never considered 
 his forte, and often shrank from it. Urgent duty, 
 also, kept him from accepting such courtesies, 
 especially away from town, as it necessarily 
 took time from his business, both to prepare and 
 to deliver them. Among those to be found 
 herein is one he never used. The request came 
 from such a complimentary source that he felt 
 it would be almost an outrage to refuse, and 
 hence, with snatches of time he prepared it, 
 but was providentially hindered from attending 
 the occasion for which it was intended. 
 
 [41] 
 
Ill compliance only with what is due him, his 
 friends and a charitable public will kindly bear in 
 mind that his speeches were hurriedly written, 
 and in the case of more than one, never rewritten, 
 owing to the fact of his having no thought of 
 them ever being exposed to printer's ink. 
 
 But with a view to the good which I hope 
 will grow out of it, especially to the young 
 among his own kinsmen, it has been to me a 
 work of pleasure, a precious toil, to gather to- 
 gether some of his manuscripts, dashed off for 
 no eye to look upon but his own, and arrange 
 them the best I could for other minds and other 
 eyes. And if in their arrangement the idea is 
 not clear or the connection is lost, or the thought 
 maimed, rest assured the fault is mine, not his. 
 
 One literary address made in the early part 
 of his law career in Stokes county, N. C, it is 
 to be regretted, cannot be inserted in this little 
 work. I can onlj^ give the comment of the 
 press, which is as follows : " Mr. R. B. Kerner's 
 address on Monday night, was a fine piece of 
 oratory, scholarly in its diction, comprehensive 
 in its scope, and flowery in its rendition. It was 
 a composition of which any one might feel 
 
 [43] 
 
proud. The commonest idea was clothed in 
 poetic beaut}'-, and every-day expressions were 
 made to glow with the warmth of true eloquence. 
 He is a speaker of rare promise, and destined 
 some da}'^ to make the welkin ring with the power 
 of his oratory." After this address was over a 
 party of sprightly young ladies assaulted him 
 with persuasive, earnest words in the attempt 
 to prevail on him to give them his manuscript, 
 but he held it fast, and slowly pulled off bits at a 
 time until it was entirely destroyed and heaped 
 up under his chair. 
 
 €ontinsion. 
 
 Now, I close this imperfect sketch by thank- 
 ing most heartily the officiating minister for 
 the memoir herein contained, and moreover, all 
 other friends who have assisted me in this work 
 of love. Also, by expressing the hope that the 
 matter here thrown together may afford some 
 interest and gratification to admiring friends 
 and loving relatives, and inspire to some degree, 
 at least, all into whose hands this souvenir may 
 fall to nobler efforts in the race for success. 
 
 [43] 
 
^^is !3oBl)ood. 
 
 The writer of this tribute has had the good for- 
 tune to know Mr, Kerner ahnost from his in- 
 fancy. He well remembers him in his very 
 early life as a quiet, unpretentious little boy, but 
 manly and dignified in his demeanor. He was 
 not one of those headstrong, rude, reckless, bad 
 boys who we are now told make the great preach- 
 ers, law^^ers, and statesmen of our country. 
 True, he was not devoid of many of bojdiood's 
 wa3^s and traits. He loved sport, was vivacious 
 and pla3'ful, but in all games believed in " fair 
 pla3\" He was too modest to assume the lead- 
 ership in boyish sports, but performed his part 
 with energy and spirit, when the hour allotted 
 to such pastime was at hand. It was noticea- 
 ble, at such times, that he Avas not boisterous or 
 clamorous, but addressed himself to the recrea- 
 tion of the play-ground in a business-like way, 
 so much so, indeed, that a casual observer would 
 have likely thought he was not interested to 
 that extent which most boys really are, and, per- 
 haps, he was not. Other and higher aims, even 
 at this early stage, probably engaged his ^^outh- 
 
 [44] 
 
fill mind. Beyond a doubt, great power of exe- 
 cution and will were slumbering in bis young 
 soul, as bis after life demonstrated. 
 
 In bis early boybood be did not pass for wliat 
 tbere was in bim. He was regarded simply as 
 a good boy, even-tempered, cbaste in word and 
 action, dutiful to parents and teacbers, trutbful, 
 decorous everywbere, and not restless under any 
 routine of duty assigned bim. Any wbo bad 
 tbe proper autbority could command bim. 
 
 In tbe scbool-room be did not start off witb 
 tbat rapid pace wbicb many do wbo fail to reacb 
 bis ultimate standard of attainments. His enun- 
 ciation was not as distinct as tbat of most boys 
 of bis age. Tbis may bave sbaded bis parts and 
 progress to a disadvantage. It was really tbougbt 
 at tbe time tbat tbis defect in bis speecb would 
 be an impassable barrier to bis entering a pro- 
 fession, especially sucb a one as be cbose. On 
 one scbool-out occasion, wben be was about seven 
 or eigbt years old, be was put up to deliver a 
 speecb. Tbe selection be bad in band was from 
 one of tbe great masters of speecb, wbicb abrigbt, 
 cultured boy of tbe bigber teens migbt well 
 dread. In bis case it was a grand imposition. 
 
 [ 45 ] 
 
But, imposition as it was, he nobly accepted the 
 situation and stood forth with a dignity of atti- 
 tude worthy of his cause. He labored and grap- 
 pled with the polished sentences and graceful 
 periods and classic words allotted him with an 
 effort worthy of success; but, alas! leaving his 
 audience unenlighted as to the sublime thoughts 
 couched in the language he assayed but could 
 not utter. 
 
 He had, notably, one trait that the bright boy 
 does not always possess. He always accepted 
 cheerfully any task or duty assigned him. He 
 did not flinch from the undertaking of great or 
 small things. When he knew what was to be 
 done he went at it and kept at it. And this was 
 so, not only in his studies, but equallj^ so in 
 manual labor. On one occasion a new street 
 was laid in Kernersville, and to put this street 
 in proper condition it must be ploAved. The 
 father of our subject remarked: " I have a yoke 
 of oxen, and Robah can take them and plow the 
 street." The proposition was accepted by the 
 city fathers, and the youthful plowman appeared 
 promptly with his steady team, and "turned the 
 stubborn glebe " from day to day until the work 
 
 [46] 
 
was finished in a style worthy of Cincinnatus. 
 This incident is selected and recorded here to 
 show what kind of foundation stones were used 
 in the building of his character. He was not 
 brought up in idleness. When not in school his 
 time was generally otherwise usefully employed. 
 He did not loiter his time away on the streets, 
 nor hang around the stores with thoughtless, 
 rude boys, indulging in loose, mischievous tat- 
 tling. His taste or early-formed purpose in life 
 led him to higher and better things. 
 
 As a result of this course of conduct and ap- 
 plication, he soon began to show gratifying signs 
 of development, and to leave most of his com- 
 peers behind in force of character, refinement of 
 manners, and mental acquirements. And yet, 
 during all the formative period of his boyhood, 
 and even after he had stepped upon the thresh- 
 hold of youth, no one seemed to have set for him 
 a very high mark. However, his progress was 
 steady and sure. As the sheet spread out upon the 
 green sward to be bleached by the dews of heaven 
 and the alternating darkness of night and light 
 of day, we see no perceptible difference from one 
 day to another; but at last, spots and blemishes 
 
 [47] 
 
all gone, we behold it one sheen of purest white; 
 so he acquired from day to day the polish and 
 beautv of a well-rounded and exalted manhood, 
 and a purity of life and character which remains 
 a precious heritage to his friends and loved ones. 
 
 But for limited space much more might here 
 be said, but the design of this article is to give 
 a mere glance at the days of boyhood, leaving 
 the advanced stages of youth and manhood to 
 abler hands, as will be found set forth in these 
 pages. 
 
 I should do violence to my feelings, however, 
 if I did not close this imperfect sketch with a 
 reference to the sainted mother of our distin- 
 guished young friend. I cannot think this a 
 departure from propriety. How natural and easy 
 it is to associate a good boy with a good mother. 
 His mother was a lady of fine common sense, 
 with a good degree of culture, quite refined, ge- 
 nial, kind-hearted, of deep piety, and, in a word, 
 possessed of all the attributes that make up a 
 beautiful Christian life. She was the worthv 
 mother of so worthy a son. 
 
 A Friend. 
 [48] 
 
^n Jucibent anb a |Jropl)ecji. 
 
 When Mr. Kerner was a very small bo}^, too 
 small most persons would have thought for such 
 an errand, his father sent him on horseback to 
 Winston-Salem, twelve miles distant, to collect 
 some money in Salem and pay it over to the 
 clerk in Winston for recording some important 
 papers. When he arrived in Salem, he discov- 
 ered a hitching rack, to which he managed to 
 secure his horse. He then proceeded at once to 
 call on the debtor and collect the claim in hand. 
 This done, he went promptly to the court-house, 
 paid over the fees, and transacted the business 
 to the entire satisfaction of his father. His er- 
 rand accomplished, he turned to make his way 
 homeward. Arriving at his hitching place, he 
 found he could not reach the peg to which the 
 bridle rein was attached, nor could he mount 
 his horse to disengage it. His keen e3'e took 
 in the situation at once, and although there 
 were plenty of people just on the opposite side 
 of the street whom he might have called to his 
 assistance, he seemed to feel himself equal to the 
 occasion. He ascended the hitching frame, 
 c^ [ 49 ] 
 
clambered along until he reached the bridle, 
 adjusted the reins over the horse's head, 
 mounted him, and rode off in unconscious 
 heroism. 
 
 This is the simple incident, and how for the 
 prophecy. 
 
 Rev. C. L. Rights, now also of precious mem- 
 ory, happened to be so situated that he saw the 
 boy's manoeuvres, as above related, and with 
 his characteristic enthusiasm, remarked to a 
 friend: " There goes a boy of pluck; if he lives 
 long, he will make his mark." When the bo}^ 
 developed into the brilliant and successful j^oung 
 man, the reverend old gentleman, with great 
 complacency, would frequently in conversation 
 refer to the incident and the fulfilling prophecy. 
 
 A Friend. 
 ^is lUeflll)— ®oucl)iug Comments, Ut. 
 
 [From the Winston Sentinel.] 
 
 The tolling of the city bells, shortly after five 
 o'clock yesterday afternoon announced to the 
 citizens of Winston the sad news that the soul 
 of Mayor R. B. Kerner had taken its eternal 
 
 [50] 
 
departure from earth. In his death the city 
 loses a; loyal and enterprising citizen, the dem- 
 ocratic party a faithful and active worker, his 
 personal friends a staunch and congenial com- 
 panion, and his home a fond and devoted hus- 
 band and father. 
 
 A gloom enwraps the city, because of the 
 death of its esteemed chief officer, and there 
 flows from tender hearts a stream of sincere 
 sympathy for the bereaved relatives, especially 
 for the Avife and child whose hearts are wrung 
 by anguish and over whom sorrow's dark 
 clouds hang so thick and heavy. In the midst 
 of this pall may the light of heaven break and 
 bring that priceless solace which the tenderest 
 human comfort is powerless to convey. Hon- 
 ored as he was at home, Mayor Kerner's repu- 
 tation was not confined to his native county. 
 As an evidence of the esteem in which he was 
 held elsewhere, we reproduce the following testi- 
 monial from the Charlotte Observer of this morn- 
 ing: 
 
 " The Observer is pained to chronicle to-day 
 the news of the death of Mayor R. B. Kerner, 
 of Winston. Winston has suffered greatly in 
 
 [51] 
 
the past year in more than one way, and it is a 
 sad blow for her now to lose her official head, 
 who has done much to comfort and sustain his 
 people in their recent losses by fire and during 
 the period of financial depression. Mayor Ker- 
 ner was an able law3^er, and a successful man. 
 He was ambitious to the extent that through 
 his great energy and force of character, he be- 
 came the head of one of the foremost cities in 
 the State, and, had he lived, there can be no 
 doubt that even higher honors were in store for 
 him." 
 
 ^\9 Beat\) atib tlje ifuneral (Dbecquies. 
 
 [From the Winston Sentinel. 1 
 
 Winston's honored Mayor and esteemed citi- 
 zen, Robah B. Kerner, is dead! 
 
 The sad intelligence came over the telegraph 
 wires from Kernersville about 4 o'clock last 
 evening. He breathed his last at 3.30 p. m., at 
 the age of thirty-four years. 
 
 Shortly after the news was received here the 
 bell of the town clock was tolled for about fif- 
 teen minutes. Bv this means the news of his 
 death was heralded over both towns. The muni- 
 
 [52] 
 
cipal building was also draped in mourning 
 about 6 o'clock. No business of any kind for 
 the city was transacted to-day. 
 
 While his death was no surprise, nevertheless 
 it was received with deep regret by his many 
 friends in the Twin-Cit3^ He was taken ill witli 
 typhoid fever. About one month ago his condi- 
 tion was so improved that he was able to get up. 
 He came down to his office once or twice before 
 leaving for Kernersville with a view of spending 
 a few days at the home of his father. In a day 
 or two after his arrival there a relapse came. 
 His condition since then has been changeable — 
 one day he was better and the]next worse. How- 
 ever, up to a week ago it was believed that he 
 would recover. He was attended by his father, 
 Dr. E. Kerner, Dr. D. N. Dalton, and Drs. 
 Siewers and Bahnson, of Salem. 
 
 In speaking of Mr. Kerner's death last even- 
 ing, Mr. E. B. Jones, law partner of the deceased, 
 said: "He was always zealous for his friends, 
 and never forgot them. His death is a heavy 
 loss to me. During our practice together not 
 one unkind word ever passed us — not ajar oc- 
 curred in all our business relations." The fune- 
 
 [53] 
 
ral services will be conducted by Bishop Rond- 
 thaler and Pastor Edward Crosland, from the 
 Moravian church in Kernersville, of which the 
 deceased was an honored and acceptable mem- 
 ber, at 11 o'clock. 
 
 Salem Lodge, No. 36, I. O. 0. F., of which the 
 deceased was an esteemed member, will attend 
 the funeral in a body, and it is understood that 
 he will be buried with the honors of the Order. 
 
 Captain Buford has arranged for a special 
 train to be run from Winston to Kernersville 
 for the benefit of all who desire to attend the 
 funeral obsequies. It will leave at 9:30 A. M. 
 and return after the close of the services. 
 
 The special train for Kernersville, laden with 
 Winston-Salem citizens, who went down to pay 
 the last tribute of respect to the remains of our 
 lamented Mayor, R. B. Kerner, pulled out from 
 the R. and D. depot with about one hundred 
 and fifty of the Twin-City's representative citi- 
 zens. 
 
 The organizations attending in a body were 
 the Cit}' Councils of the two towns and Mayor 
 Doubthit, of Salem; the Winston police force. 
 Fire Department, and the Winston-Salem broth- 
 
 [54] 
 
erhood of Odd-Fellows. After an eighteen- 
 minutes' run the train arrived in Kernersville, 
 where these different bodies, together with pri- 
 vate citizens, formed a procession and marched 
 to the residence of Dr. E. Kerner, the father of 
 the deceased, in whose home the remains lay in 
 state. 
 
 The funeral services were commenced at 11 
 o'clock at the residence. The officiating minis- 
 ters were Rev. Edward Crosland and Bishop 
 Rondthaler, of Salem, assisted by Rev. L. G. 
 Broughton, of Winston, and Rev. Mr. Poe, of 
 Kernersville. The hymn " Jesus, Lover of My 
 Soul," was sweetly rendered, followed by a 
 Scripture reading by Rev. Mr. Crosland, pastor 
 of the Kernersville church. Bishop Rondtha- 
 ler offered an appropriate prayer, invoking God's 
 comforting spirit upon the bereaved family cir- 
 cle and friends. After singing " Nearer, My 
 God, to Thee," the remains were borne to the 
 church, followed by the orders heretofore men- 
 tioned. 
 
 The pall-bearers (all Odd-Fellows) were as 
 follows: D. H. Browder, W. T. Carter, W. H. 
 Hitt, T. E. Reynolds, Dr. D. N. Dalton and C. 
 
 [55] 
 
A. Hall, members of the Bar acting as honor- 
 ary pall-bearers. 
 
 In the church the pulpit and altar furniture 
 were tastefully draped in crape. 
 
 The service was opened by the rendering of 
 that beautiful hymn "Safe in the Arms of 
 Jesus" by the choir. 
 
 Rev. L. G. Broughton, of this city, offered a 
 prayer, invoking the comforting and guiding 
 spirit of God upon the bereaved city of which 
 the deceased was the chief officer and upon the 
 grief-stricken family. 
 
 The 39th Psalm was read as a Scripture les- 
 son by Pastor Crosland, followed by the read- 
 ing of the memoir of the deceased. " Asleep 
 in Jesus, Blessed Sleep," was sung, followed by 
 the funeral address by Bishop Rondthaler, of 
 which the following is a brief outline: 
 
 "Death is a wonderful arithmetician; he keeps 
 one last unknown figure in reserve. With it 
 he changes every figure in the sum total, sweep- 
 ing away some values and making others ten- 
 fold, so that life comes to be a very different 
 thing when estimated in the hour of death. 
 Death alters much in business, public and pri- 
 
 [56] 
 
vate life. Here lies a strong, young business 
 man, as energetic and as prospered against all 
 odds as any young man in North Carolina, but 
 now lawyer's office, court-room, and municipal 
 halls shall know him no more forever. Thus, 
 in the circle of friendship also, and most of all, 
 within the home walls, death works sorest 
 changes. Father and wife must mourn, as in 
 this case the loss of a strong, loving heart. 
 
 '' Men should take death into their calculation, 
 not despairingly, but hopefully, so conducting 
 their accounts that death will be again to them, 
 not a loss, when the Judge audits the record 
 and stamps it with the blood-red seal of a Sa- 
 viour's acceptance. Then there can be a blessed 
 hope of that heavenly meeting concerning 
 which our Brother Kerner spoke so brightly, 
 ere with his strong, vigorous, charitable, and 
 influential life he left us." 
 
 Rev. Mr. Crosland announced the hymn 
 ''Rock of Ages" as a special favorite of the 
 deceased, which was rendered with an affecting 
 influence upon the attending congregation. A 
 procession was formed and the sad march to 
 the grave was begun, the feet of the immense 
 
 [ 57 ] 
 
concourse of people keeping a measured tread 
 to the plaintive and touching notes of the horns, 
 always used by the Moravian brethren in their 
 funeral ceremonies. 
 
 After the rites of the church had been ful- 
 filled the funeral service was concluded by the 
 brotherhood of Odd-Fellows with their impres- 
 sive and appropriate ceremonies. 
 
 The train bearing the Winston-Salem delega- 
 tion returned about 2 o'clock. Immediately 
 after the striking of the hour of 12 to-day the 
 city clock was tolled for nearly half an hour in 
 honor of the funeral service of Winston's la- 
 mented Mayor. 
 
 inemoir Vieah bg ^is JPastor, Rco. ©btnarb QTroelanb. 
 
 Robah Bascom Kerner, son of Dr. Elias and 
 Partha Kerner (M. N. Dicks), was born June 3, 
 1859, in the town of Kernersville, N. C. In in- 
 fancy he was baptized into the death of Jesus 
 according to the faith of the Moravian church, 
 and at the age of fifteen years sealed his bap- 
 tismal covenant by the rite of confirmation be- 
 coming a member of Kernersville congregation, 
 
 [58] 
 
and soon afterward partook of the Lord's Sup- 
 per for the first time. 
 
 The early life of the departed was spent in 
 the town of his birth, where he was carefully 
 trained at home and at school for the activities 
 
 of life. 
 
 At the early age of fifteen years he began 
 teaching in the public school near Germantown, 
 this county. He afterward assisted in Normal 
 school work, and while thus engaged, was called 
 to the responsible position of teacher in the 
 Boys' Male Academy at Salem, which was quite 
 an honor to a young man sixteen years of age. 
 He continued his school work in Salem for two 
 years, and after an interval of one year spent 
 at the State University, he resumed his former 
 position there, at the same time beginning the 
 study of law under Judge Wilson and Lawyer 
 Watson, of Winston, and afterward under 
 Judges Dick and Dillard, of Greensboro. 
 
 In 1881 he resigned his position as teacher, 
 and in February of the following year was 
 granted license for the practice of law and 
 located in the town of Winston. The public 
 at once reco2;nized the ability and integrity of 
 
 [59] 
 
the young lawyer and gave him liberal patron- 
 age, insuring him success from the very outset. 
 
 November 6, 1884, Brother Kerner was hap- 
 pily married to Miss Jennie Donnell, of Oak 
 Ridge, N. C. Their union was blessed with 
 three children, two of whom preceded their 
 father into eternity. 
 
 In April, 1890, after practicing law alone for 
 eight years, Brother Kerner entered into copart- 
 nership with lawyer E. B. Jones for the practice 
 of law, which, in the language of the surviving 
 partner, "was both pleasant and profitable." 
 Brother Kerner was not solicitous of office, but 
 his sterling worth won him many friends whose 
 influence placed him in many important and 
 honorable positions in life. In 1883 he was 
 elected solicitor of the Inferior Court, which 
 was then in vogue in Forsj^th county. He was 
 prominent in politics, serving as chairman of 
 the County Democrat Executive Committee for 
 a number of years. 
 
 The citizens of Winston at different times 
 showed him confidence and honor. In 1885 he 
 was elected town commissioner; the board also 
 elected him secretary of the body and treasurer 
 
 [6o] 
 
of the city. He was finally elected to the highly 
 important office of Mayor, which is left vacant 
 by his death. Thus step by step he rose in 
 public favor and in public trust. 
 
 Though Brother Kerner was a thorough going 
 business man, deeply engrossed with business 
 cares, he possessed traits of character seldom 
 found in one so actively engaged. The loveliest 
 part of his character was his love for his home 
 and familv. It could be said of him when he 
 was not at his business he was at home. 
 
 He loved to visit his father's home, where he 
 spent his boyhood daj^s, and at every conve- 
 nient season repaired thither, if only for a few 
 hours, to be with those whom he still loved. 
 
 Brother Kerner, in an unpretending wa}^, did 
 a great deal of good during life. He was ever 
 ready to help by word or deed. 
 
 As a Christian Brother Kerner was fully ap- 
 preciated only by those who knew him best. 
 He loved Christ and the church, and endeavored 
 to fulfill his dut}' toward God and man. 
 
 The departed enjoyed comparativel}^ good 
 health till within a few months before his death, 
 when he was taken sick with a fever. No one 
 
 [6i] 
 
thought his end so near, but his sickness proved 
 very malignant, though at one time he seemed 
 much improved and was able to go to his old 
 home, in Kernersville, little thinking the scene 
 of his birth would ere long be the scene of his 
 death. The disease soon came with renewed 
 power, and the beloved son and husband began 
 to fade as the Autumn leaf. Though life was 
 to him most dear, he seemed perfectly resigned, 
 giving comforting testimony concerning his reli- 
 gious faith. A few days before his death he 
 said to his heart-broken father: "I will meet 
 you in Heaven." All the skilled medical atten- 
 tion proved futile. Prayer was offered in the 
 house of God and in private that he might be 
 spared, but Robah Kerner's life-work was done. 
 It was God's will that he should be Avith us no 
 longer. The call came: Come up higher; so on 
 Monday, September 25, 1893, as the day de- 
 clined, without apparent pain or struggle, the 
 loved one -fell sweetly to rest. 
 
 His age was 34 years, 3 months, 22 days. 
 
 It is hard to understand why one so young, 
 so noble, so useful, should be taken from us; 
 but God knows best. 
 
 [62] 
 
Bcsoltttions pasaci Bg tlje Coari> of 'Albermen. 
 
 Whereas the sad intelligence reaches us of the 
 death of the chief officer of the city of Winston, 
 Mayor Robah B. Kerner, which sorrowful event 
 occurred j^esterday afternoon at Kernersville, 
 N. C; be it 
 
 Resolved, That while we deeply deplore the 
 departure from the scenes of life of this effi- 
 cient and faithful officer and valuable citizen, 
 we humbly bow to the decree of the Ruler of 
 the Universe in this dispensation which has 
 shrouded our community with the mantle of 
 gloom. 
 
 Resolved, That the wise counsel of the de- 
 ceased in the administration of the affairs of the 
 city that he loved so well, his high personal 
 character, his courteous demeanor and his genial 
 companionship, will ever serve to perpetuate 
 his memory, and are high testimonials of the 
 great loss which we and the community at large 
 have sustained. 
 
 Resolved, That to the deeply-bereaved wife 
 and child and other relatives we extend sincere 
 svmpathy, and pray that the balm of the Great 
 
 [ 63 ] 
 
Physician may be aj^plied to their wounded 
 hearts. 
 
 Resolved, That these resolutions be spread 
 upon the City Record, that a copy be sent to 
 the family, and that copies be furnished the 
 press of Winston, Salem and Kernersville, with 
 the request that they publish the same. 
 
 J. H. Pierce, 
 
 D. H. King, 
 
 E. H. Wilson, 
 
 Committee. 
 
 fJroccebings of t\]e ttlinston i3or. 
 
 Judge Winston announced this afternoon, at 
 the opening of court, that it would adjourn in 
 honor of the lamented Robah B. Kerner, late 
 member of the bar and mayor of the city of 
 Winston. 
 
 On motion of C. B. Watson, Judge Winston 
 was elected chairman of the meeting and E. E. 
 Gray secretary. 
 
 On taking the chair. Judge Winston made a 
 few appropriate and feeling remarks upon the 
 life of Mr. Kerner. He knew him at college 
 and as a lawyer. 
 
 [64] 
 
Mr. E,. B. Glen offered the following resolu- 
 tions, which were unanimously adopted: 
 
 Whereas it has pleased the Creator of Man 
 to call from amongst us to his eternal 
 home Robah Bascom Kerner, our friend and 
 brother — 
 
 Be it resolved by the Bar Association of Win- 
 ston, N. C, 1st, That in the death of Mr. Ker- 
 ner the members of the Winston bar have lost 
 a friend whom they greatly admired for his 
 many estimable and manly qualities, and who 
 had, during an association of eleven years, be- 
 come endeared to them by reason of his gentle 
 demeanor and engaging manners; that in his 
 death the profession has lost an able, a faithful, 
 and a painstaking lawyer, and the community, 
 by which he was so many times honored, a ser- 
 vant untiring in his devotion to the public wel- 
 fare and unceasing in accomplishing his patri- 
 otic purposes. 
 
 2d. That the success he attained by his inde- 
 fatigable industry, his unflagging zeal, and his 
 fidelity to duty is without a parallel in the his- 
 tory of this bar, and that his example is one 
 that will ever remain with us as an inspiration 
 
 [ 65 ] 
 
to higher endeavor, and one that the young men 
 of all professions may emulate. 
 
 3d. That we extend to her, from whom death 
 has taken an affectionate husband, and to his 
 father and his family, our deep sympathy. 
 
 R. B. Glen, 
 E. B. Jones, 
 Lindsay Patterson, 
 
 Committee. 
 
 E. B. Jones, law partner of the deceased, de- 
 livered the memorial address. It was an able 
 effort, well worthy of its subject and its author. 
 Short addresses were also made by Messrs. Glen 
 and Watson. Both of these gentlemen were elo- 
 quent in their portrayal of the many admirable 
 qualities possessed by Mr. Kerner. 
 
 Tears glistened in the eyes of many in the 
 audience when Mr. Jones closed his beautiful 
 tribute to the ability and constant fidelity of 
 Mr. Kerner. 
 
 i^on. (K. B. Soues's tribute to his Ctt:i)aracter. 
 
 It is with reluctance, Mr. Chairman, that I 
 shall endeavor to discharge the duty assigned 
 
 [66] 
 
me by my brethren of the bar, because I feel 
 my inability to do justice to the life of our es- 
 teemed and departed brother, which was so 
 short and yet so full. 
 
 It has been only a few years since R. B. Ker- 
 ner crossed the threshold of manhood and stood 
 a beardless youth upon the floor of this court- 
 room and was made a member of that profes- 
 sion which honored him, which he honored, and 
 to which he died devoted. 
 
 Full of vitality, energy, and pluck, without 
 rank and without wealth, the future then was 
 as bright as the stars that dot the blue-vaulted 
 heavens. Before he had reached two-score 
 years — in less than one generation — he had 
 climbed past the middle post of his profession, 
 gained the admiration of his brethren and the 
 confidence of his fellow-citizens as a business 
 man and as a leader in public thought. 
 
 He filled positions of trust and honor from 
 the time he was sixteen years old till his death, 
 and at his death was chief magistrate of the 
 most prosperous city in the limits of our State. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, though he died young, he 
 lived long enough to realize one great aim of his 
 
 [67] 
 
life, and that was to leave a suitable and com- 
 fortable maintenance for those whom he loved 
 so devotedly. 
 
 There was, however, one great secret ambition 
 of his life, the consummation of which nothing 
 but death and political intrigue could have pre- 
 vented — that was, Mr. Chairman, to wear the 
 judicial ermine. 
 
 How well and nobly he would have borne 
 this position of trust and honor none but those 
 who knew him best can say. 
 
 That executive ability, sparkling intellect, 
 methodical habits; that energy and perseverance 
 which characterized his life and brought 
 honors with profits in lower positions and 
 walks of life, would have found here a rich 
 harvest that would have brightened these 
 faculties and cast lustre upon the great mind 
 which he possessed. 
 
 His early life developed those characteristics 
 which insured success. At the age of sixteen 
 years he commenced as a teacher in the public 
 schools and from that time till he was admitted to 
 the bar his life shifted from student to teacher 
 and teacher to student, thereby cultivating execu- 
 
 [68] 
 
tive ability, accuracy, and method, so material in 
 giving success in after years. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, it is not hard for me to realize 
 the loss of one who, day after day, side by side, 
 for more than three years trod the same path of 
 life, shared in each other's triumphs, and sym- 
 pathized in each other's failures, drawn together 
 by friendship and common interests — three 
 years of unbroken pleasant business relations — 
 only served to hermetically seal a bond, mutual 
 admiration, and friendship which ended only in 
 death. In the office, in the library, around the 
 desk (where he clung so diligently), in the con- 
 sultation-room, where his quick and active mind 
 flashed its darts of wisdom, I miss and shall 
 miss him. 
 
 Principle was his guiding star — the spring 
 that moved him to action. He hated deception, 
 he loved truth, and he never betrayed or de- 
 serted a friend. 
 
 Though devoted to the welfare and prosperity 
 of his adopted city, he never forgot the place of 
 his birth, and with each returning Christmas- 
 tide his heart turned back to the old homestead 
 where so many fond recollections cluster and 
 
 [69] 
 
brighten as time bears us on that tide that wafts 
 us into eternity. As each old year faded into 
 the past, it was his custom to visit this cher- 
 ished spot, where he breathed his last, and with 
 sweet gifts that gladdened the hearts of old and 
 young he brightened that life to which he 
 clung. 
 
 His life, Mr. Chairman, was only a span from 
 the cradle to the grave; full of devotion to wife 
 and child, full of devotion to principle and 
 truth, full of success embellished with earthly 
 honors, it has flashed like a meteor across our 
 paths and he is no more. 
 
 Loyal to his friends as the needle to the pole, 
 as chaste and pure in his conversation as a wo- 
 man, he lived, and envied no man; he lived and 
 slandered no enemy, and he died without a 
 stain upon his character. The world is better 
 that he lived in it. His character is worthy of 
 emulation, and deserves the admiration of his 
 fellow-men. 
 
 3n iWemoriam. 
 
 The Twin City Club desires that the estimate 
 which its members have placed upon the 
 
 [70] 
 
character of Robah B. Kerner, late mayor of 
 tlie city of Winston, be entered upon its rolls 
 and that mention of the same be made to the 
 public and to his family. His death leaves a 
 noble memory in lieu of a useful life, one too 
 sacred to his friends and too valuable to all to 
 be lost to the world. With him life was real, 
 life was earnest, and he accomplished in youth 
 the task of a long life. A fine scholar, an able 
 lawyer, a distinguished and useful public citi- 
 zen, a successful business man, a gentleman, a 
 Christian; strong and true in these and in all 
 the complex relations of society. The mem- 
 bers of our club are sensible of their great loss, 
 and they beg to extend their tenderest sympa- 
 thies to the family, whose loss is the largest and 
 whose grief is the greatest, thankful that their 
 pathway through life has been made more bright 
 and clear by an example which will live on and 
 shine across the grave. 
 
 We are, with much respect, 
 
 A. H. Eller, 
 
 H. L. RiGGINS, 
 
 T. W. Hensk, 
 
 Committee. 
 [7^] 
 
Uesolntions of iDinston Qlliamber of QTommerce. 
 
 The Chamber of Commerce, Winston, N. C, 
 passed resolutions as follows: 
 
 Whereas, since the last meeting of this body, 
 death has claimed from our midst a valuable 
 member, and from our town a prominent citi- 
 zen; and 
 
 Whereas he was contributing his full share to- 
 ward the upbuilding of our towns, and was ac- 
 tively engaged in his chosen pursuit when the 
 summons came: therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That as we bow to the will of an 
 All-Wise Providence, we feel that our Chamber 
 of Commerce and the community have lost a 
 valuable, energetic and enterprising member, 
 and we can but acknowledge the loss we have 
 sustained as we extend to the bereaved family 
 our heart-felt sympathy. 
 
 Proceedings Salem Cobge, 3. (JD. (!D. £. 
 
 Whereas it has pleased our Heavenly Father, 
 in his wise providence to remove from this 
 earthly life the soul of our brother, Robah B. Ker- 
 ner, whose devotion to this Lodge was conspic- 
 
 [72] 
 
uoiis, thereby greatly endearing himself to us 
 as an active member: 
 
 Resolved, That we hereby desire to express the 
 deep sorrow and sense of loss which we feel in 
 the death of our friend and associate, and our 
 sincere sympathy with the members of his af- 
 flicted family, especially with her who has been 
 his constant companion in all times of health 
 and sickness. 
 
 Resolved further, That in the death of Brother 
 Kerner this Lodge has lost one of its strongest 
 friends, and one whose interest in our organiza- 
 tion continued unabated to the time of his death. 
 Ever faithful, constant and efficient in all the 
 walks of life, he revealed a virtue so earnest in 
 its character as to preclude the possibility of any 
 motive other than the sincerest love and perfect 
 trust in his blessed Master, whom he so de- 
 lighted to honor; and although now called by 
 the Master to higher duties, the memory of his 
 labors in this Lodge, which he ever held dear to 
 his heart, and in whose behalf he worked so 
 faithfully and so well, will be a constant aid to us. 
 
 Resolved further. That a copy of these resolu- 
 tions be sent to his family with the assurance 
 J [73] 
 
that we tenderly condole with them and devoutly 
 
 commend them to the keeping of Him who ever 
 
 looks with pitying eye on the widowed and 
 
 fatherless. ^ -n /-i 
 
 John 1^. Griffith, 
 
 T. E. Reynolds, 
 
 J. C. Buxton, 
 
 Committee. 
 
 Proceedings of Encampment No. 20, 3 ®. (B>. J^. 
 
 Whereas the hand of death has removed 
 from our midst Past Grand Patriarch and Past 
 Grand Representative R. B. Kerner, who was 
 greatly beloved in all the positions of honor 
 of the subordinate Lodge and the Encampment 
 of this city; and 
 
 Whereas we humbly feel the loss of one whose 
 counsel and conduct tended to the elevation of 
 our brotherhood: therefore, be it 
 
 Resolved, That the members of this Encamp- 
 ment, while deeply deploring the death of our 
 fellow-Patriarch, in the prime of life, do humbly 
 acquiesce in the providence of Him who has 
 seen fit to lay this affliction upon us and our 
 Order; that we recognize in his wisdom a mo- 
 
 [74] 
 
tive bej^ond what our dim eyes can discern, in 
 that our fellow-Patriarch will l)e with us no 
 more on earth. 
 
 Resolved, That we will ever cherish a remem- 
 brance of Patriarch Kerner's nobility of char- 
 acter, his keen insight into the affairs of men, 
 his devotion to duty, his friendliness to this and 
 other Encampments, his foresight and prac- 
 tical judgment of what was best for the Order. 
 
 Resolved, That to his bereaved family we ex- 
 tend our warmest sympathy; that their loss is 
 our loss; that their grief is our grief; that in us 
 they will ever find friends of true and tried sta- 
 bility ; that their welfare will to us always be of 
 greatest interest; that we ask for them a contin- 
 uation of Divine blessing in their hour of dark- 
 est and deepest sadness. 
 
 Resolved, That the Patriarchs of this Encamp- 
 ment wear the usual badge of mourning for 
 thirty days; that a copy of these resolutions be 
 sent to the family of our deceased Patriarch. 
 
 C. E. Ckist, 
 W. F. Keith, 
 C. A. Hall, 
 
 ^e^^. 28th, 1893. Committee. 
 
 [75] 
 
iHemorial CSranb Cobgc, J. ®. (S). if. 
 
 The following is taken from the proceedings 
 of the Grand Lodge of I. 0. 0. F., held in 
 Goldsboro', N. C, in May, 1894: 
 
 Robah Bascom Kerner, son of Dr. Elias and 
 Partha Kerner, was born June 3d, 1859, in the 
 town of Kernersville, N. C. 
 
 At the age of fifteen years he was confirmed a 
 member of the Moravian church, and led such a 
 life to the end as commended the esteem and af- 
 fection of his brethren and Christians of all per- 
 suasions. His early life was spent at home, in 
 school and in such manual labor as the home 
 and farm demanded. At the age of fifteen he 
 taught a public school in the town of German- 
 ton. Soon after this he was called to assist in 
 normal work, and at the age of sixteen he en- 
 tered the Boy's Male Academy of Salem as a 
 teacher. This was regarded a high honor for 
 one of his age. After two years' work in this 
 school, he spent a year at the University of 
 North Carolina. Here, in connection with other 
 studies, he addressed himself to a preparation 
 for his earlv chosen profession — the law. At the 
 
 [76] 
 
close of his term at the University, he re-entered 
 the Salem school, and devoted a part of his time 
 to the study of law under Judge Wilson and 
 Hon. C. B. Watson. After a short interval thus 
 spent he retired and attended the law school of 
 Judges Dick and Dillard in Greensboro', N. C. 
 In February, 1882, he was granted license to 
 practice law. His industry, integrity and abil- 
 ity were at once recognized, and he immediately 
 entered upon a lucrative and successful prac- 
 tice. 
 
 On November 6th, 1884, he married Miss Jen- 
 nie, the accomplished daughter of W. 0. and 
 M. F. Donnell, of Oak Ridge, N. C. Immedi- 
 ately after this happy union his career kindled 
 into a brilliancy that astonished his most inti- 
 mate friends. 
 
 He did not seek office, but positions of honor 
 and trust sought him. These he accepted from 
 considerations of duty and not from unsancti- 
 fied schemes of ambition. In 1883 he was 
 elected Solicitor of the Inferior Court, and filled 
 the office with honor to himself and to the ad- 
 miration of friends. For years he was Chair- 
 man of the County Executive Committee of his 
 
 [77] 
 
party. In 1885 the city of Winston elected him 
 one of the Board of Aldermen, and he was made 
 Secretary and City Treasurer. After serving 
 for some years in this capacity, he was called by 
 the suffrage of his fellow-citizens to fill the of- 
 fice of Mayor of the city, and was the incum- 
 bent of this office at his death. During his 
 administration as Mayor many important mea- 
 sures were inaugurated and executed for Win- 
 ston's improvement and progress. The city also 
 passed some critical and trying ordeals, but 
 with an energy and will he met these emergen- 
 cies with a success that few could equal, and, 
 perhaps, none could excel. 
 
 September 25th, 1882, he was initiated into 
 Salem Lodge, No. 36, Independent Order of Odd- 
 Fellows. June 26, 1883, he was elected Vice- 
 Grand, and December 18th of same vear, Noble 
 Grand. His geniality and enthusiasm in the 
 work gained for him a rapid promotion to all 
 the stations in his Lodge. In the year 1885 
 and 1886 he was Representative to the Grand 
 Lodge. He at once became prominent in the 
 Grand body, and was appointed District Dep- 
 uty Grand Master by the Grand Masters of 1887 
 
 [78] 
 
and 1888. At Goldsboro', May 11, 1886, he re- 
 ceived the Grand Encampment Degree, and the 
 next day was elected Junior Warden. In 1887 
 he was elected Grand High Priest; in 1888 
 Grand Patriarch; in 1889 Grand Representa- 
 tive to fill the unexpired term of Grand Repre- 
 sentative C. M. Busbee, who had been elected 
 Deputy Grand Sire, and performed the duty of 
 this high station by attending the meeting of 
 the Sovereign Grand Lodge at Columbus, Ohio, 
 in the year 1889. 
 
 On his death, which occurred September 25th, 
 1893, suitable and touching resolutions were 
 passed by Lodge No. 36 and Encampment No. 
 
 20. 
 
 His private and social life was one of beauty 
 and geniality. His labors were immense, but 
 his system and industry were such that business 
 was dispatched with a rapidity which afforded 
 him much time with his family at home and in 
 the social festivities of life. His chief delight 
 was in his home and the association of loved 
 ones there. Tokens of love to them was a study 
 with him. Often with well chosen and useful 
 presents — even domestics being remembered — 
 
 [79] 
 
he made his family feel how absolutely they 
 reigned in the purest and best affections of his 
 heart. His hospitality was of the most hearty 
 and generous character. As a friend, a citizen, a 
 Christian, he was noble and magnanimous. A 
 friend might rely on him in the hour of trial and 
 need — an enemy might expect to be forgiven. 
 
 After a long illness of typhoid fever, lasting 
 from June to September, he fell gently to rest 
 at the age of 34 years. 
 
 Well may the grass grow green on his grave, 
 and the birds sing around it their sweetest 
 carols. Though he died young, in active ac- 
 complishments, he lived to be old, and the sod 
 lies light and thin over the place of his peace- 
 ful sojourn. 
 
 IPrcss Comment. 
 
 [From the Oak Leaf.] 
 
 Prof. J. Allen Holt, of Oak Ridge Institute, 
 in Oak Leaf, writes: 
 
 " The community has been saddened by the 
 
 death of this promising and talented young 
 
 North Carolinian, which occurred at the home 
 
 of his father, in Kernersville, on the 25th. 
 
 [80] 
 
Anxiously bad his many friends been waiting 
 on the change which it Avas hoped would come 
 for thel)etter; but, abas! his days were number- 
 ed, and his life went out before he had reached 
 the zenith of his usefulness and success. 
 
 '' School teacher, lawyer, county solicitor, 
 city treasurer, and, last but not least, mayor 
 of the bustling and thriving city of Winston, 
 every step of this gradation was marked by a 
 prudence and a conservatism, by wisdom and 
 integrity of the highest order. So when they 
 assembled to pay the last tribute of respect to 
 his memory, strong men wept, and all who knew 
 him felt the loss, and felt it keenly, of a fellow- 
 citizen whose place could not be easily filled. 
 In other walks of life — in the church and in all 
 moral reforms — he was also a leader of men. 
 
 " His wife was Miss Jennie Donnell, daugh- 
 ter of Mr. W. 0. Donnell, of this place. To 
 her and her relatives, in their sore bereave- 
 ment, we tender our warmest sympathy." 
 
 [From the Raleigh North Carolinian.] 
 
 " The deceased was a member of the law firm of 
 Jones & Kerner. He was one of the brightest 
 
men in the State, and few men had more friends. 
 He was a conservative, but successful business 
 
 man." 
 
 [The Durham Sun.] 
 
 Mr. J. A. RoBERsoN, a former Winstonian and 
 an intimate friend of the deceased, writes in the 
 Durham Sun: " Our pen has a touch of sadness 
 about it as we trace these lines and record the 
 death of Robah B. Kerner, the talented young 
 Mayor of the city of Winston. He was young 
 in years — only thirty-four — a lawyer of marked 
 ability, and he moved among his people peace- 
 fully and kindly, and in every relation and all 
 circumstances he proved steadfast to principle, 
 and was governed in all things by a sense of 
 honor and duty. And thus he won for himself 
 the love of those nearest him in life, and the 
 respect and confidence of all who knew him. 
 Of him it can in truth be said that the world is 
 better for the honorable life he lived, and for 
 the good example he has left behind him. He 
 leaves a young wife and one child. We mingle 
 our sorrow with his loved ones and friends. A 
 bright and useful life has been extinguished by 
 death. May it so be that our friend who is 
 
 [82] 
 
gone has entered upon those immortal joys 
 which he believed awaited him, and which he 
 so dutifully devoted his life here to deserve; and 
 let us trust that, reunited with loved ones gone 
 before, he walks to-day forever safe from care 
 and sorrow." 
 
 [From the Moravian of Bethlehem, Pa.] 
 
 " In the death of Brother Robah B. Kerner, 
 Mayor of Winston, the Moravian Church has 
 lost a very valuable member. He was a man of 
 growing influence, and had attained a remarka- 
 ble success in a very short time. He was par- 
 ticularly interested in the Kernersville congre- 
 gation, which could always rely on his council 
 and aid. His early departure has been a sore 
 loss to the Church and to us all." 
 
 Personal Cetters. 
 
 FROM THE PEN OF AN ESTEEMED FRIEND, MR, GEO. 
 
 RIGHTS. 
 
 ''In the death of Mayor Kerner, Winston 
 mourns, and justly, for he was a loyal and pro- 
 gressive citizen, a leading lawyer, a true friend, 
 
 [83] 
 
and was faithful to every trust imposed upon 
 him, filling at the same time of his demise, with 
 honor and credit, the office of Chief Executive 
 of our local government, and due respect to his 
 memory was observed in all the departments 
 thereof on Tuesday and Wednesday. His death 
 is the first, in the history of either Winston or 
 Salem, of a mayor while actively filling the 
 duties of that office. 
 
 " Our friendship was formed years ago and fre- 
 quently strengthened as time and opportunity 
 permitted in the hurry and bustle of two busy 
 lives. Of him we shall always think kindly 
 and tenderly, and ever hope to meet again be- 
 yond this brief span called time, where partings 
 are no more, and sickness and death never 
 
 come." 
 
 The compiler is indebted to 
 
 MR. E. H. WILSON 
 
 for the following extracts from his letter of 
 April 19, 1894: "Replying to your late favor 
 will say that I but echo the sentiments of the 
 whole community when I say that Mr. Kerner's 
 record as Mayor of this citv has never been ex- 
 
 [84]" 
 
celled He was a fine judge of human nature, 
 and all of his rulings were fair and impartial. 
 When death ended his cares on earth, the uni- 
 versal verdict of his fellow-citizens was: '* Well 
 done, good and faithful servant." He filled with 
 honor and credit every position in life that was 
 assigned him. He was for a number of years 
 (until he declined re-election) chairman of the 
 County Democratic Executive Committee, and 
 his law ofiice for the past eight or ten years 
 during each campaign was Democratic head- 
 quarters. The Democracy of the county has 
 indeed lost its leader, 
 
 "It was largely through his labors that the 
 county went Democratic at the last election. In 
 the Third Ward he caused another door to be 
 opened through which the white people could 
 pass and vote, the negroes having monopolized 
 the other entrance to the ballot-box." 
 
 The following extract is from a letter written 
 by 
 
 -^ ME". J. H. LINDSAY, 
 
 editor of the Charlottesville (Va.) Daily Progress: 
 
 " I cannot begin to express in words the grief 
 and sympathy I felt at Robah's death. So bright 
 
 [85] 
 
and promising, and with such a brilliant future 
 before him, it is one of the mysteries of Provi- 
 dence that he should have been taken while 
 many, who could have been so much better 
 spared, were left. There was everything which 
 ambition, friendship, and the love and devotion 
 of family could inspire to make life sweet to 
 him and parting sad to you. Words at such a 
 time are so empty and meaningless. They can- 
 not check or stem the torrent of grief that 
 surges through the soul and shuts out every ray 
 of sunlight. With you there should be some 
 little pleasure now in considering how brilliant 
 was the star that set so soon — how worthy the 
 example so brief a life has left behind. No one's 
 death, outside of m}^ own family, caused me 
 such sorrow and surprise as Robah's. My love 
 and admiration of him was stronger than is 
 often found among those of kindred blood. I 
 watched his rapid rise to fame and fortune with 
 unbounded delight, and when his death came 
 I grieved as for a brother, and could not believe 
 that he was reall}^ dead. 
 
 " Time is a great healer, and it is well that God 
 has so ordained it. ' His grave will come at 
 
 [86] 
 
last to be a place of rest and peace, almost of 
 jo}^' His own jo3'ous life was an argument 
 against nursing grief instead of overcoming it.' " 
 
 MR. CHARLES D. m'iVOR. 
 
 The following highly appreciated letter was 
 received from President Charles D. Mclvor in 
 reply to being requested to reproduce the words 
 he used in a literary address made in Kerners- 
 ville, N. C, April 7, 1894: 
 
 My Dear Sir, — Absence from home has pre- 
 vented an earlier reply to your letter of April 
 24tli. I am not able to reproduce what I said 
 in regard to Mr. Kerner. It was said on the 
 spur of the moment, and as nearl}^ as I can re- 
 member, it was something like this: In giving 
 the reasons why I was glad to make an address 
 in Forsyth county and in Kernersville, particu- 
 larly, I stated that it was the birthplace and 
 home of a man who was the friend of m}' boy- 
 hood and my manhood, and who, on account of 
 his integrity and energy, achieved the highest 
 success, and that in those respects he was a 
 model for every boy in the audience. You 
 quoted almost m^^ exact language in the sen- 
 
 [«7] 
 
tences: "His perseverance never waned, and if 
 the word surrender was in his dictionary, he 
 never saw it." 
 
 It is impossible for me to reproduce what I 
 said, and I feel that it is impossible for me to 
 express my own personal loss in the death of 
 the man who was, in many respects, my best 
 and honored friend. I am not able to say to 
 you how deep my sympathy has been for Mrs. 
 Kerner and little May, but I have never written 
 to them because, somehow, I felt that I could 
 not. 
 
 It is a pleasure to me to know that she has 
 found out indirectly, and has appreciated my 
 reference to her husband and my friend on 
 the occasion to which you refer. 
 
 If I had the time now I should be glad to 
 write my estimate of his character and work. 
 I shall not be able to do it now, but mav do so 
 hereafter. 
 
 Personal iUcKtion. 
 
 In a lecture at Winston on " People We Meet, 
 
 [lade 1 
 
 [88] 
 
 J? 
 
 Rev. Dr. Broughton made the following remark: 
 
"I cannot close without mentioning the name 
 of your beloved deceased IMayor, R. B. Kerner. 
 May God bless him, I love the memory of that 
 man, because he was my friend." 
 
 ^Apologetic. 
 
 As heretofore said, the following speeches 
 were never intended by the speaker for publica- 
 tion. They are given, in a great degree, as 
 gathered froin fragmentary manuscripts with- 
 out revision or modification. If they should 
 seem lacking in that elegance of diction, which 
 the more critical expect of a printed address, 
 let it be borne in mind that they appear hon- 
 estly, in the abandoned, impetuous style which 
 the busy young lawyer would be apt to employ 
 on the rostrum, as in the forum, more for the 
 masses than for the erudite. It is believed, 
 nevertheless, that the young may find clearly 
 set forth in these speeches the true philosoph}- 
 of that success in the battle of life of which 
 the author himself was an eminent living 
 example. 
 
 [ 89 ] 
 
SPEECH DELIVERED BEFORE MRS. RIGHT's SCHOOL 
 
 FOR CHILDREN. 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen : I simply make nn^ 
 bow to you and give you notice now that I 
 shall have no more to say to you, nor, as for 
 that matter, will I have an3^thing to say for you 
 to hear. I am going to talk to the children. 
 They are nearer my element,* and, besides, they 
 must have some attention. 
 
 " Ah ! what would the world be to us 
 If the children were no more? 
 We should dread the desert behind us 
 Worse than the dark before." 
 
 Well, children, wherever you are — there is a 
 good sprinkling of you all over the house, I 
 suppose, I know it is so of the town, because 
 Kernersville is famous for having more chil- 
 dren in it than any town of its size in the 
 world. I am going to read you a little speech, 
 if it deserves a name so grand, because I was 
 just too busy to get it by heart. My business! 
 Aunt Rights would call it laziness if she were 
 
 * He was medium size and young. 
 [90] 
 
talking to you. Little folks, when j^our Com- 
 mittee of Gentlemen had asked me to come 
 down and deliver an address for you, I puzzled 
 and puzzled my brain, and sat down and 
 thought and thought, and stood up and walked 
 around with my hands crossed behind my back 
 and thought, and run my fingers through my 
 hair, and scratched my head and thought again, 
 what shall I talk to those children about? I 
 did just like you have done, or will do, when 
 you come to write compositions. I thought, 
 like you have done or will do, about the cow — 
 that would not do to make a literary address 
 upon. I thought about spring, the happiest of 
 the year — the soft springtime, the season of 
 flowers and green leav^es and whispering winds — 
 that wouldn't do. Then about the horse, the 
 noblest animal; then about country life, the 
 sweetest life of all. And I thought all about 
 squirrels and rabbit-gums, and dogs and part- 
 ridge-traps, and fish-hooks, and robbing birds' 
 nests, and stealing watermelons, and running 
 away and going a-swimming. Well, none of 
 those would do, and the first thing I knew my 
 mind was on soda-water, and oysters, and ice- 
 
 [91] 
 
cream, and butter and bread, and candy. Well, 
 that would not do. My mind turned to politics, 
 education, sewing-machines, velocipedes, print- 
 ine-presses, telegraph strikes, riots, lynching, 
 mob law, Wall-street gambling, banks breaking, 
 nominating conventions; and I thought of the 
 " dear people," railroads, steam-engines, bal- 
 loons, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, and 
 flying horses, and by this time my mind was all 
 in an electric shiver. In a minute I thought of 
 a thousand topics upon which to address you. 
 My lamp, pen, inkstand, paper, books, tables, 
 chairs, desks, carpet, stoves, barber-shops, banks, 
 churches, overskirts, Mother-Hubbard dresses, 
 sea-shell hats, frizzled hair and bangs, and balk}^ 
 horses, and drunken men and crazy women, 
 jumping sheep, and female suffrage, law^^ers, 
 doctors, preachers, farmers, merchants, snakes, 
 girls, babies. All at once my brain cooled and 
 I thought of the boys, and determined that The 
 Boy should be my subject, because 
 
 " The boys are better than all the ballads 
 That were ever sung or said ; 
 For they are living poems, 
 And all the rest are dead." 
 
 [92] 
 
I feel I have a broad, unplowed field before 
 me, because nobody ever cultivated the boy. 
 Everybod}^ shuns him. And, little folks, I'll 
 leave it to the old ones to say if it isn't mighty 
 nigh true, when everybody does a thing they 
 are about two-thirds right in it. So I shall ad- 
 vise no one to shun my subject. There are two 
 kinds of horses, the white horse and the black 
 horse. I believe 1 am trying to shun my own 
 subject. I should have said there are two kinds 
 of boys, the white boy and the l)hick boy. Then 
 there are many other kinds of boj^s — the good 
 bo3% who goes to Sunday school, and the bad 
 boy, who don't go to Sunday school; tlie lying 
 boy, who don't tell the truth, and then there 
 goes the curly-headed truthful boy, who never 
 told a lie — a hatchet kind of George Washing- 
 ton bo3\ Children, I don't know whether that 
 story about George Washington never having 
 told a falsehood is true or not. As to the cut- 
 ting of that cherry tree, I am informed that he 
 did tell a story. There was a little negro boy 
 on the plantation where George lived named 
 Ike, and when George's father got after him for 
 cutting the tree which he had cut, George 
 
 [93] 
 
promptly replied, like you or I would have 
 done, that Ike did it. His father understood 
 him to say I did it; and because of this little 
 misunderstanding between George and his 
 father, his father was imposed upon, and a 
 credulous public has ever since been imposed 
 upon. At any rate, that is what the latest 
 books across Mason & Dixon's line say about 
 the Father of his Country. Then there is your 
 mammy-boy, that is tied hand and foot by her 
 apron strings. When he grows up and gets mar- 
 ried he'll be known as a hen-pecked husband. 
 Then there's the cry-baby boy. [ always feel 
 sorry for him. He looks up and he looks 
 down, and then he looks around, and everv 
 way so appealingly, his mouth quivers pite- 
 ously, and finally he bursts out into tears. He 
 feels better then, and I do too. Then there's 
 the big boy, full of young life and careless hope. 
 The little boy, whose life is one continual round 
 of sorrow, fear, and dread, because of the big 
 boy — a kind of shorn Samson among the little 
 ones, who is liable at anv moment to knock off 
 his hat or tread on his toes, and his stumped one 
 at that. The only pleasure of his life is in 
 
 [94] 
 
showing that sore toe to another little boy. 
 Sometimes he puts on an air of self-denial and 
 melancholy grandeur and won't show it unless 
 the other little boy pays him a stick of chewing 
 gum. There's the romantic boy, that wants to 
 hunt " Injuns." His imagination is distorted. 
 He has got a wild longing and a maddening 
 desire to do something. You can always tell 
 him by the rolling of his eyes, the twitching of 
 his fingers, the stiffness of his hair as it stands 
 on end "like the quills of the fretful porcu- 
 pine," and by his general restlessness. He reads 
 dime novels. Another kind of boy is the good- 
 natured, good-hearted boy, that would go home 
 with the Old Boy if he were only to invite him, 
 for fear of hurting his feelings by refusing. 
 Such a boy need not churn; butter won't come 
 for him. There's the cross boy, that has been 
 raised on vinegar and ten-penny nails and rail- 
 road spikes. The tone of his voice is cold 
 enough to freeze his own ears, and nothing but 
 sickly smiles come over his ever drawn-up-to- 
 cry face. All the home he will ever have or 
 ought to have will be an umbrella and a stump. 
 The laughing, gay boy, who smiles away all 
 
 [95] 
 
sadness, and across whose memory nothing flits 
 but soft dreams. True, he drowns kittens, but 
 hens lay eggs for him. Then there's the lazy, 
 sleepy-headed boy ! You had better mow a five- 
 acre lot in dog days than try to get anything out 
 of him. His wife will have to cut the wood and 
 build the fires, and make soap and hang out 
 the clothes, cord the wood and kill the hogs. 
 
 " But little he'll wreck if they let him sleep on 
 In the bed where his laziness has lain him." 
 
 There's the tard}' boy, that is never at school 
 in time — always comes late. I won't say any- 
 thing about him. I might get on too many toes 
 at once. Then there is the sugar boy; nobody 
 ever got acquainted with him but his mother. 
 The dreaming boy, who is always sketching in 
 his imagination legends of the past, pictures of 
 the present, and air castles for the future. 
 
 The brave boy, who would stand in the fore- 
 front of battle and never quail. The trul}^ brave 
 boy, that dares to say and do the right, regard- 
 less of results. There's the high-cheek boy and 
 the low-cheek boy, the pale-cheek boy and the 
 rosy-cheek bo}^, the shame-cheek boy and the 
 cheek-of-a-mule bo}^ who is made out of brass, 
 
 [96] 
 
There's the polite boy, who raises his hat when- 
 ever he sees a piece of calico, even if it don't 
 wrap up more than one pound of smoking to- 
 bacco. Oh! there are as many different kinds 
 of these bipeds as there are boys in the world. 
 There's the black-haired bo}', and the blue-e3^ed 
 boy, and the white-headed boy, and the two- 
 headed boy, and the hard-headed boy, the 
 climb-over-the-back-fence kind of boy, run-. 
 3^ou-crazy kind of boy, fidgety can't-be-still kind 
 of boy. 
 
 Some folks say that a boy is like a mule, be- 
 cause a mule will be a mule and a boy will be a 
 bo}^; but that's a mistake, for a boy will be a 
 man, or, perhaps, a dude. Well, boys, they say 
 that the boy is father to the man; that what 
 the bo}^ is that the man will be. Then it will 
 be well for you to look to it and see which of 
 these kind of boj^s 3^ou are. And I might say 
 to the girls to look to their laurels, for with 
 them there are little girls, and big girls, and 
 sour girls, and sweet girls, and pretty girls, and 
 ugl}^ girls — all the same as the boys, only there 
 is no such thing on the face of this broad earth 
 as an old girl. 
 
 M [ 97 ] 
 
The boy's page is tlie brightest page any e3^es 
 ever scanned in tlie blotted vokime of life. But 
 there are too many queer rollicking, funny, se- 
 rious, pleasant pictures upon it to note them all. 
 We could, but we must not stop to think and 
 look upon, for a great while, that picture of a 
 well-natured boy, brave and gentle, warm- 
 hearted and loving, looking the world in the 
 face, with kind, honest eyes. But the boy, him- 
 self, looks out from his heart upon the world 
 and life, as they lay before him, and hastens to 
 turn the leaf, and we must, too. In after days 
 he will reflect back upon it, and muse what 
 bright colors it wore then, and how he enjo3^ed 
 them. A man has not many years of such time. 
 He does not know them while they are with 
 him. It is onl}^ when they are passed along 
 and away that he remembers how dear and 
 happy they were. 'Tis well for the boy who en- 
 ters the arena of life willingly; for, willingly or 
 unwillingly, sooner or later, time will force him 
 into the conflict. 
 
 Now, bo3^s, while you have a predisposition 
 and a natural propensity for climbing trees, 
 robbing birds' nests and breaking your necks — 
 
 [98] 
 
still you may put yourself to better purposes. 
 The Great God, your Creator, intended j^ou 
 should. You are the hope of the world. With- 
 out the boys what will have become of the State 
 and country fifty years hence? Then the boj^s 
 will be ruling, who are, to-day, too shortlegged 
 to reach from the bench to the floor. And the 
 name of some boy may blaze a star, or a meteor, 
 in the front of troubled nations, and at whose 
 words blood may flow in torrents, and cities 
 flame in blazes, as he stays the tide that is about 
 to sweep away the last remnant of his country's 
 liberty. 
 
 If there is such a great responsibility resting 
 upon the boy — then is there not a greater re- 
 sponsibility resting upon those who have them 
 to bring up? I am inclined to think that grown 
 up people are prone to consider us boys with too 
 little regard — though the scliools and the Sunday 
 schools, throughout the land, prove that the 
 people are waking up to the importance of a 
 correct training for the young; yet, in the pov- 
 erty and wretchedness of our great cities, how 
 many bo3^s there are like Dickens' Oliver Twist, 
 who are cuff'ed and buffeted — despised by all 
 
 [99] 
 
and pitied by none. Like Oliver, as a sense of 
 his loneliness in the great wide world, would 
 sink into heart, he would often wish as he crept 
 into his narrow bed that that were his coffin, 
 and that he could be lain in a calm and lasting 
 sleep in the church yard ground, with the tall 
 grass waving gently above his head, and the 
 sound of the old deep bell to soothe him in his 
 sleep. 
 
 Some people never see any difference in 
 boys. They only know two sorts — mealy boys 
 and beef-faced boys. They only see their round 
 heads, red faces, glaring eyes and wolfish appe- 
 tites. They see no changing expressions of 
 sweetness and good humor — the smiles, the 
 cheerful, happy smiles, the thousand lights that 
 play about the face and leave no shadow there 
 — they are not. By their blindness they succeed 
 in shifting from their conscience the duties they 
 owe themselves, their boys, their country and 
 their God. 
 
 Boys, the greatest and most essential thing to 
 your peace and comfort here and happiness 
 hereafter is character. Strive for that! Little 
 things and every day duties make the man and 
 
 [ loo ] 
 
his character. Don't forget that character 
 grows; that it is not something to pat on, ready 
 made with manhood; but, day by day, here a 
 little and there a little, it grows with the growth, 
 and strengthens with the strength, until, good 
 or bad, it becomes almost a coat of mail. Look 
 at a man of business, prompt, reliable, con- 
 scientious, yet clear headed and energetic. 
 When do you suppose he developed all those 
 admirable qualities? When he was a boy. Let 
 us see the way in which a boy often gets up in the 
 morning, works, plays, studies, and we will tell 
 you just what kind of a man he will make. 'Tis 
 little things that grow every boy into that which 
 is good or into that which is bad. Little things 
 will plant in your heart seeds that will spring 
 up and redound to your everlasting welfare; 
 while little things will instill into your soul a poi- 
 son which will blacken and change it here and 
 forever. 
 
 Little things have gradually built men up 
 to enable them to perform the grandest of 
 achievements; while little things have brought 
 man to the lowest level with the blackest of 
 black hearts, and caused him to commit the 
 
 [ loi] 
 
most cruel and unnatural deeds that have ever 
 been committed under cover of darkness since 
 night hung over the world. Boys, look to these 
 little things that creep into your characters. 
 Be honest — not because honesty is the best pol- 
 icy — but because it is right, because it is noble, 
 because it is manly. 
 
 Bo3^s, cultivate a cheerful disposition! What 
 but youth can echo back the soul of youth all 
 the music of its wild vanities and romantic fol- 
 lies? Let the sunshine of the summer morning 
 shine cloudless over your pathway of life. 
 Boys, be energetic. Be alive and wide-awake. 
 Attention, application, accuracy, method, punc- 
 tuality and dispatch will crown your efforts 
 with success. 
 
 Know that labor of any kind — the blister of 
 the hand or the blister of the brain — is the high- 
 est virtue. Despise not the day of small things, 
 but that which your hand finds to do, do it with 
 your might. There is a grand opening for the 
 boys in this country who have the brain for 
 conceiving and the muscle for execution — boys 
 who are to grow into men with sound senses 
 and open eyes. The cry is no longer heard 
 
 [ I02 ] 
 
throughout the hand: "Young man, go West." 
 He wlio moves his arm to do and dare — he who 
 puts his shoulder blades to the wheel, will have 
 no lines in after-life to rub out; and When he 
 sits down, in his old age, and his thoughts go 
 far back, and are busy with the past — the past 
 of his boyhood days, his memories will be sweet 
 and pleasant. 
 
 " He can tell you what he's done for right and truth, 
 For God and man, 
 From the golden hours of bright-eyed youth 
 To life's mid-span." 
 
 Be stout-hearted and remember that your for- 
 tune depends upon your own efforts and deserts. 
 Remember that when you fall into the river and 
 struggle of life, "Its good night, sink or swim, 
 little buttercups." " There shall be no Alps," 
 exclaimed Napoleon Bonaparte, as his young 
 ambition was fired. Every boy feels his pulses 
 quicken and his eye flash at the sound of that 
 name. Not even the dreary banishment to St. 
 Helena can quite eclipse, in his mind, that me- 
 teor-like splendor of his advance from an ob- 
 scure military position to the throne of an em- 
 pire. While all cannot climb to some lofty 
 
 [ ^03 ] 
 
niche in the temple of fame, still no truer, no 
 more inspiring and encouraging sentiment to 
 the 3^outh of our land was ever uttered than 
 that ^' every man is tlie architect of his own for- 
 tune." Wise men and profound philosophers 
 all tell us that thonghts once awakened can never 
 slumber again. If I can impress that thought, 
 that idea, that truth, that reality, that every man 
 is the architect of his own fortune — that you 
 have your mind given you, not that it may cavil 
 and argue, but that it may see into something 
 whereon you are to proceed and act — that you 
 will be what 3^ou make ^^ourself — that the 
 blessed sun shines for all — that the cunning of 
 your ten fingers, the strength of your right 
 arm — that your stern integrity of character and 
 sincerity of purpose, that your industry, your 
 perseverance, your self-culture, that your will, 
 your uprightness, your honesty, qualities which 
 are the true glory of human character, all, all 
 are the measures by which success will be meted 
 out to you; that they will fill your soul with 
 noble ardors, affections and aspirations; that 
 they will work out your life task — that they will 
 
 be stars for you to follow which will lead you to 
 
 [ 104 ] 
 
a glorious haven, I will feel content and abund- 
 antly repaid for what I have said to-night. 
 
 " If what shone afar so grand, 
 Turn to nothing in thy hand, 
 On again, the virtue lies, 
 In the struggle, not the prize." 
 
 June 6th, 1884. 
 
 iTulurc of |)ieDmont, N, QE. 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen, — B}^ request 1 am here 
 to-day to deliver an address, if I may be par- 
 doned for using a phrase so high-sounding, be- 
 fore this Literary and Musical School. I deem 
 myself remarkably fortunate to have the honor 
 of speaking to you who are interested in these 
 subjects — Literature and Music — which I know 
 and feel we hold so thoroughly in common. I 
 need not tell you of the immense delight that I 
 have experienced in the abundant fields of 
 Literature — of the many dear, long nights I 
 have spent in sweet converse with the grand 
 old masters — Shakspeare, Scott, Byron, Mil- 
 ton, Bunyan, Burke, and it will be enough for 
 you to know of the inestimable amount of music 
 that there is in my soul. It is tliere in abund- 
 
 [ 105 ] 
 
ance; or, at least, it ought to be, for I have not 
 been able to get any of it out since my days of 
 bibs and cradles, when it came out in bawls. 
 The greatest delineator of human character has 
 said, " He that hath no music in his soul, is fit 
 for treason, strategems, and spoils! " For this 
 reason I would never make a draw on the music 
 that is in me for fear I might draw too heavy. 
 From the wa}^ some of these folks have been 
 singing here to-day, if there is such a thing as 
 pumping all the music out a man's soul it's my 
 opinion that Yadkin county is destined to turn 
 out some full fledged traitors. Guess some of 
 them will be trying for spoils, too. I am a good 
 ways from home, and am rather spoilt m^^self. 
 I am kind of uneasy — but then I shall not care 
 for that — ^just so the sweetest singer gets me — I 
 know it won't be a man. 
 
 But, seriously ! I trust we are here to-day for 
 some purpose ! If I am fortunate enough to let 
 one word drop from m}^ lips to-day to encourage 
 and inspire a single man or woman, a single 
 boy or girl, to press onward in the faithful dis- 
 charge of duties owing to themselves and their 
 neighbors, to their State and their country, I 
 
 [ ^06 ] 
 
shall feel abundantly repaid for my visit from 
 Winston lo Yadkin county. 
 
 I come to speak to you to-day upon the fu- 
 ture of Western North Carolina. Of its possi- 
 bilities more than its probabilities. I am a great 
 believer — I have a wonderful confidence in the 
 future glory and prosperity of the Old North 
 State ; and' for fear my speech should grow too 
 strongly tinctured with enthusiasm, for fear I 
 dip my pen too deeply into my imagination/ 
 thereby causing some very matter-of-fact people 
 to go away and say that it was all visionary; he 
 didn't know what he was talking about— he said 
 some most ridiculously absurd things; he as- 
 serted this, and he asserted that— I say out of 
 abundance of caution to protect myself, I will 
 now announce that I reserve the privilege^ to 
 deny anything that I may be accused of having 
 said. If any one goes away and tells that I 
 said that, I'h proceed to deny it flatly. I just now 
 told you that I propose to talk about the future. 
 Welf, a man who talks about the future should 
 be a prophet. But I am not a prophet, neither 
 am I the son of a prophet. But I am willing 
 to risk my reputation as one in prophesying for 
 
 [ 107 ] 
 
North Carolina to-day, reserving the privilege 
 of denying having said anything that I may 
 say. In Old Testament times the Jewish 
 prophets, when preparing for a public career, 
 used to retire to solitary places — to the caves of 
 the rock or the hollow bosom of the hills, or 
 the depths of the wilderness — there gazing upon 
 the grand movements of the universe and mus- 
 ing upon the history of the human race, they 
 became acquainted with the ways of God in 
 nature and in providence — inspirations — 
 
 "Inspirations unfathomed and untrod, 
 Save by even and morn and the angels of God." 
 
 came upon them. They felt themselves filled— 
 possessed with a divine message, and returning 
 to the haunts of men, they proclaimed their 
 message to the nation with a voice like a trum- 
 pet. Such inspirations, with the grand old 
 men of God, have passed away and vanished 
 forever. But to-da}^ man, mingling with his 
 fellow-man and profiting and judging by the 
 lessons taught by the history of the past, may 
 in his cool, calculating way, foretell the peace, 
 prosperity, and glory that are about to be show- 
 
 [.08] 
 
ered down upon a people. I feel no hesitancy 
 to-day in saying to you that I can now seethe 
 long black lines of the clouds of peace; that 
 great thunder heads of prosperity are showing 
 themselves along the western horizon, and that 
 the lightning of future glory is playing around 
 our heads as a people. All the requisite signs 
 of a refreshing shower are now making them- 
 selves plainly visible. The final coming of that 
 much-to-be-desired rain depends upon our ef- 
 forts and deserts. It is to be a general rain, 
 extending over the whole of this continent of 
 fifty million people, but it will not come alike 
 upon the just and the unjust— alike upon the 
 energetic and the slothful. The energy and 
 the effort put forth by each and every individ- 
 ual will aid in swelling the deep flood that is 
 to sweep over the land. 
 
 North Carolina has been called the Rip Van 
 Winkle of the States of the Union. The ques- 
 tion is, Shall she awake; shall she arouse and 
 shake oflP her lethargy? I do not hesitate to 
 pledge my word for Western North Carolina. 
 Already is she disclaiming her caterpillar exist- 
 ence and putting on the beautiful colors of the 
 
 [ 109 ] 
 
butterfly. The frost of age is thawing out. Al- 
 ready has she awakened. Ah-eady has she 
 aroused and shaken off her slothfuhiess, and 
 is now surely, if not rapidly, advancing in the 
 line of civilization, education, and progress. 
 Lights of morning in the golden east stream 
 along and across her horizon. To-day she is 
 flushed with success and sanguine in hopes. I 
 for one have no regrets, but cannot lift unflinch- 
 ingly the pall from the bier of her dead past. 
 I for one have no fear for her future. The 
 burdens that she has in times gone by groaned 
 under, my heart sickens to think of and my 
 tongue falters to utter. But whatever mistakes 
 may have been made, into whatever lap of a 
 false destiny she may have fallen, whether the 
 memory of her history as a State is unsullied 
 or not, although many within the sound of my 
 voice remember well when her roadway was 
 hung in funeral blackness, how excited passions 
 and embittered prejudices blotted and blurred 
 every feeling of humanity; how the foundations 
 of society were upheaved by father being set 
 against son and son against father; well do you 
 remember the terrible conflict of arms and the 
 
bloody scenes of battle. Although the young 
 man of to-day never knew any other lullaby in 
 the gloomy dawn of his childhood than the din 
 and roar of the fight and the trampling of 
 iiorses' hoofs, still Western North Carolina is 
 catching fresh zeal and new fire, and from no 
 ray of hope, but from amidst the deepest dark- 
 ne'ss in which a nation was ever Avrapped, the 
 prospect of peace, concord, liberty and justice 
 is breaking forth ; for all which let us shout notes 
 of praise and infinite gratitude to Him who 
 shapes the fortunes of men and rules the desti- 
 nies of nations. Let us forget the past. Let 
 the poet sing of the future, and all of us grow 
 visionary and enthusiastic over the Utopia that 
 may be founded here. Why should this section 
 of country in which we live not become a rich, 
 educated, prosperous, and happy part of the 
 Union, excelled by no spot in these United 
 States or on the face of the green earth? I 
 know no reason why it should not. Why 
 should it become rich, educated, prosperous, 
 and happy, and to a degree equaling and excell- 
 ing other portions of our common country? I 
 know many reasons why it should. 
 
 [ I" ] 
 
The greatest of all lands depends upon the 
 wealth of its soil. England, with all her maritime 
 greatness, would be unable to maintain her do- 
 minion on land and sea but for the inexhausti- 
 ble resources of her agricultural and mineral 
 wealth. These products of a countr3^'s soil are 
 either imbedded by nature in the bowels of the 
 earth in mineral form or are the result of hus- 
 bandry, when they appear in the shape of cot- 
 ton, wheat and tobacco, or a spontaneous out- 
 growth of magnificent timber. Added to these 
 natural resources are the water powers of the 
 countr}^ and its climate. Any people who can 
 grow wheat and raise beef are capable of be- 
 coming a great race. Here, in Western North 
 Carolina, are all the advantages which I have 
 enumerated. Our streams run in a thousand di- 
 rections. Our mountain forests are to supply 
 the world with timber, while iron, the ultimate 
 source of all progress, is imbedded in inexhaus- 
 tible supply beneath our feet. One hundred 
 years from to-day this country around about 
 us will be then in the infancy of a career un- 
 surpassed. Our soil can be rendered by cul- 
 tivation as fertile as can be found anywhere; 
 
our climate is tlie very best, adapted to the 
 growth of an}^ and ever^'thing from the grand, 
 mighty, gigantic, eloquent oaks down to the red 
 lips of the roses; the healtli of our people is as 
 fine as good water and pure mountain air can 
 make it; our territory is as large as England, 
 the most powerful nation on the globe; our 
 mineral resources are inexhaustible; enough 
 water runs idly away from the single rivei' — 
 3^our own Yadkin — to turn all the spindles and 
 looms in Yankeedom; our mountains are as 
 high; our sky is as blue; our valleys are as 
 broad; our rivers are as deep; our men are as 
 brave; our women as fair, and our babies are 
 as fat and as sweet as any the sun ever shone 
 upon. 
 
 Then what is it we lack to make us a great 
 people? The only thing lacking is to put in 
 motion and to use the many and great things 
 that God has placed at our disposal. Apply the 
 strength of our hands and the courage of our 
 hearts, tempered with good sense and sound 
 policy, and the task is completed. Now, are 
 these facts all — is it simply the hand of hope 
 beckoning youth to the golden land of air-cas- 
 o [113] 
 
ties? These natural advantages, aided by a 
 quickness to conceive and an energy to execute, 
 can make this a great land. It must be done! 
 /know not how! Like half-comprehended no- 
 tions that flit dimly through children's brains, 
 but strangely impressive, I feel, and I tell you, 
 that it will be done! With us, I am inclined 
 to think, that politics has always played too 
 important a part in the thoughts of our people. 
 Not that I would have them forget that "Eter- 
 nal vigilance is the price of liberty "; not but that 
 the great bulwarks of English freedom must be 
 closely and keenly watched ; not but that the peo- 
 ple must from time to time boldly, fearlessly and 
 eflPectively interfere with public affairs, for they 
 must see to it they are properly burdened with 
 taxes; the}^ must hold the authorities directly 
 responsible to themselves. They must see to it 
 that the personal liberty of no individual, how- 
 ever humble, is violated by any power, however 
 great. The old and sacred right — trial by jury 
 — must be maintained at the expense of every 
 drop of blood throughout the land. The free- 
 dom, purity and eternity of the ballot-box must 
 be defended now and forever if we are to live 
 
 [ "4] 
 
in a free country and live freemen. Here it 
 was the first seeds of American liberty were 
 sown; here lived the men who headed the In- 
 surrection, drew the Mecklenburg Declaration 
 of Independence; and while the world stood 
 amazed at their fearlessness and audacity, the 
 neighboring colonies caught on fire with their 
 spirit of freedom, and to-day in our land parlia- 
 ments are not called together by the stroke of 
 the pen of one man or scattered by the breath of 
 his mouth. Here this precious spark of liberty 
 was kindled, and here may it be eternally pre- 
 served. Then surely it is not meet that it should 
 be extinguished here. For the world, I would not 
 have the people give up tlie reins of government 
 which they have so effectually and signally 
 snatched from the hands of kings, tyrants and 
 despots. They must continue to hold those reins 
 if the horses of liberty are to draw the chariot of 
 freedom in which this nation to-day rides, and, I 
 trust, that they will continue to hold them until 
 eternity rolls her wave against the millenial 
 strand. I only mean to say to you to he ener- 
 getic, to be wide-awake in other things than poli- 
 tics. If the people of this country had seasoned 
 
 ["5] 
 
their thoughts and conversations upon politics 
 with education and agriculture in their rightful 
 and legitimate proportion, North Carolina would 
 be to-day what she will be some time — the fore- 
 most State of all this Union. Let our people, 
 when they come together on occasions like these, 
 learn to talk of something else than politics. 
 Politics deserve a high seat in the minds of all 
 men; but let them not usurp the positions that 
 other things require and demand. Agriculture, 
 minerals, education, machinery, railroads and 
 other topics that must inevitably lead to the 
 development of this great country, ask a mo- 
 ment's consideration at your hands. I am 
 happy to say, and know, that these are engaging 
 the attention of the leading minds among us. 
 Slowl}^ and surely the methods and results of 
 agriculture are being made greater and better. 
 All the improved machinery is being more and 
 more, day by da}', resorted to. The mineral 
 wealth whose veins are almost bursting with 
 anxiety, arrogance and pride, to show their vast 
 fertility, richness and splendor, is being dug 
 from its deep, dark cavern home. Almost every 
 county in the State has its railroad and the 
 
 [ 1^6] 
 
whistle of the iron-horse tells the time of day 
 for nearly every household in North Carolina. 
 Our people have never shown more zeal and 
 attachment; have never been more terribly in 
 earnest and more keenly alive to that greatest 
 of all motive powers — Education — in making a 
 community prosperous and great. Education 
 is rearing its head high above the filth and scum 
 of ignorance, in which it has so long been buried, 
 and bids fair to weild the influence for. good 
 with us; that it, and it alone, can weild. An edu- 
 cated people are the freest people. An educated 
 people are the richest people. When a fair 
 standard of education has been fixed and ever}^ 
 man aspires to it as near as he can, then, and 
 not till then, will our country be truly great. It 
 may before then become rich and powerful, but 
 not truly great. It is too true that this is the 
 time and reign of money. Crafty avarice has 
 transplanted the brilliant chivalry of the by- 
 gone age. One hundred and more years ago 
 Edmund Burke, in the following words, pro- 
 nounced the death-knell and funeral oration of 
 the decline and decay of that brightest of all 
 time: "I thought ten thousand swords must 
 
 [117] 
 
have leaped from their scabbards to avenge even 
 a look that threatened her with insult. But 
 the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, 
 economists, and calculators has succeeded; and 
 the glory of Europe is extinguished forever. 
 Never, never more shall we behold that generous 
 royalty to rank and sex, that proud submission, 
 that dignified obedience, that subordination of 
 the heart, which kept alive even in servitude 
 itself the spirit of an exalted freedom. The 
 unbought grace of life, the cheap defense of na- 
 tions, the nurse of manly sentiment and heroic 
 enterprise, is gone! It is gone, that sensibility 
 of principle, that chastity of honor, which felt 
 a stain like a wound, which inspired courage 
 while it mitigated ferocity, which ennobled 
 whatever it touched, and under which vice 
 itself lost half its evil, by losing all its gross- 
 ness." Yes, that's all gone, and we can do noth- 
 ing but make the best we can of this our day of 
 money and corruption. I like to see a man in 
 the lead, let his cause be good or bad. So I 
 want to see my country grow the richest of them 
 all, even if it is at the expense of becoming the 
 most corrupt. That's bad morals, but the ten- 
 
 [ii8] 
 
dencv of our day and time makes it truthful 
 and indisputable logic. Money, the trash of 
 other men and other times, is the God of ours. 
 Money we can make here and have our country 
 blossom like the rose, if we only put forth the 
 proper effort and energy. Massachusetts, one 
 of the richest States in the Union, has made 
 her wealth off of nothing but patent churns and 
 the double back-action rotary cut and come 
 again self-adjusting pumps and self-acting rock- 
 ing cradles, patent medicines, and wooden nut- 
 megs, and they had to get the wood of us. We, 
 in natural resources, are the richest. We've got 
 soil, we've got territory, we've got climate, we've 
 got water-power, we've got muscle, we've got 
 brain to do anything that man has ever done. 
 The only question is have we the energy and 
 riianhood to take advantage of these things that 
 lay within our grasp? We need pluck, perse- 
 verance, determination, the " never-say-die " 
 spirit. We need men to make this whole coun- 
 try rich as our garden-spots. Around every 
 man's house we find at least one rich truck- 
 patch that pays him ten times better than any 
 other land he owns. If one place on the plan- 
 
 [ "9] 
 
tation can be made so rich and fertile, why 
 can't the whole plantation, and the plantations 
 throughout Western North Carolina be turned 
 into what our country should be, with its advan- 
 tages — the garden-spot of the world? We need 
 men to plow deep. We need men to build us 
 houses. We need men to grade us better high- 
 ways. We need railroads. We want to see every 
 stream that pours down from our mountain- 
 sides turning machinery. We want to see every 
 boy and girl able to read and write and pos- 
 sessed of a fair education to enable them to 
 wage successfully the battles of this life. We 
 want to see every hillside waiving with grain. 
 We want to see the land dotted with school- 
 houses and churches. We want to see each one 
 of our farms cut up into fifty acres. We want 
 to see one hundred men where there is now one. 
 We don't want to see any more emigration from 
 the State. We want to see a love for North 
 Carolina written upon the tablets of the hearts 
 of all her sons and daughters. We want to see 
 more railroads — not too many — no, not too 
 many, because we want to be masters of this 
 country. We want to see better dirt-roads. We 
 
 [ I20] 
 
want to hear the clack of the shuttle, and the 
 hum of the spindle mingling in sweet unison 
 with every drop of water as it runs murmuring 
 to the sea. We want to see every man with his 
 wife and little ones sit down under his own vine 
 and fig tree, and worship God after the dictates 
 of his own conscience. We want to see every 
 man, woman and child in Western North Caro- 
 lina happy. We want her to grow in such a 
 direction and manner that all of her citizens 
 from the humblest to the highest may become 
 so. We would like to see North Carolina grow 
 greater, abound in wealth, advance in education 
 and civilization until she shall become the great- 
 est State of the many great States of the grand- 
 est nation that has ever been written upon the 
 scroll of history. 
 June 27, 1883. 
 
 HJelioerB of iHebals— JUcims School. 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen : If there is one trait in 
 the character of man that tends more than any 
 other to distinguish him from the other mem- 
 bers of the animal kingdom, it is his ambition. 
 
his desire to excel. And if there be one thing 
 above all others that is especially and peculiarly 
 delightful to the average American, it is a con- 
 test. The hue and cry of the American is the 
 man who has beat some other man doing some- 
 thing. But be it also said, to the everlasting 
 praise of the American people, that the}^ have 
 nothing but praise and admiration for the man 
 that "goes down with his colors flying." From 
 time immemorial — long before Homer wrote 
 songs or Plato taught metaphysics — it has been 
 customary, among the more enlightened and 
 highly-cultured people of the earth, to engage 
 in contests wherein prowess, skill, and ability 
 shower upon their fortunate possessor laurels of 
 praise, glory, and renown. 
 
 While these medals should be appreciated for 
 their intrinsic worth and beauty, they are chiefly 
 valuable for the lessons of perseverance, energy, 
 and determination that they teach. I desire to 
 impress upon every young man present the fact 
 that success in every undertaking depends upon 
 individual exertion. Every medal that I shall 
 have the pleasure and honor of delivering here 
 to-day will have been won by the exertion of 
 
 [ 122 ] 
 
the individual who receives it. It was the 
 ambition which welled up from his own soul 
 that now places the coveted medal into his 
 hands and the crown of triumph upon his 
 forehead. 
 
 Soon, young men, you will be engaged in the 
 actual contest of life; and let me tell you, that 
 the man that lives in this, the latter part of the 
 nineteenth century, and in this section of these 
 United States, stands badly in need of all the 
 forces of his nature and mind that contests like 
 these develop and mature. 
 
 History has no parallel to the generation upon 
 whose final decade we have now entered; nor 
 have the centuries a duplicate to ours, now so 
 near its wane. This is largely due to the free- 
 dom that the individual has enjoyed in this 
 country under our form of government, and the 
 spirit of competition, contesting, rivaling, and 
 excelling, that naturally and necessarily exists. 
 It is this spirit that has sharpened man's wits 
 and made him smarter than ever before. In 
 time gone by, if man had a purpose to accom- 
 plish and encountered opposition, he met that 
 opposition by force and won his victory by blows 
 
 [ 123 ] 
 
and a fight. To-da}^ opposition is encountered, 
 and it is met by smiles, and compliments are 
 bestowed, and you are literally covered with lit- 
 tle acts of consideration — all of which simply 
 means that your head is being greased that you 
 may the more easily be swallowed. 
 
 Many social and political questions are arising 
 that the educated and intelligent .young men of 
 this country will have to solve. For more than 
 twenty-five years we of the South have sit sad 
 and desolateamid the ashes of our ruins, in storm 
 and darkness, amid the deep execration of a large 
 section of our common country, but all the 
 while with apologies for nobody; without capital 
 and without credit, enforced bankrupts, beset 
 on every hand by prejudices and animosities, 
 the people of the South have been and are build- 
 ing their waste places, and now, to the most 
 casual observer, it is apparent that a high and 
 mighty tide of prosperity is about to sweep over 
 this great and glorious Southland. If you are 
 to ride upon the billows of this great prosperity, 
 you will need all the powers that have been 
 brought into action to make it possible for you 
 to win these medals. 
 
 r 124] 
 
If this government of the individual is to be 
 maintained in all its strength and grandeur; if 
 the gulf between the rich and poor is not to grow 
 deeper and deeper and wider and wider; if we 
 are not to worship mammon and the golden calf; 
 if we are not to submit to a condition of things 
 which give to one set of men and women purple 
 and fine linen, and to the other wretchedness and 
 poverty; if the monopolists and the capitalists 
 are not to seat themselves upon the thrones from 
 which our forefathers tore kings and emperors; 
 if we are to remain that which has always been 
 our pride and glory, a nation of men free and 
 equal, then every young man who is about to 
 enter upon the contest of life will greatly need 
 all the elements of character, pluck and deter- 
 mination that have been displayed here to-day. 
 May Davis School and all other institutions of 
 learning throughout the land continue to instill 
 and develop such characteristics as make the 
 sturdiest manhood. In the contest of life may 
 you be as successful as in the one just closed. I 
 can wish you no greater success. 
 
 To the successful contestants I tender my 
 hearty congratulations. You have a right to feel 
 
proud, and I know you do, of your success. I 
 hazard nothing in saying to you, that you have 
 the congratulations of all the people within the 
 sound of my voice. To the less fortunate, I 
 take pleasure in saying, that it were a thousand 
 times better to have tried and failed, than to 
 have never tried at all. 
 
 0un5a2-9cl)ool <3lbbrcss. 
 
 One hundred years ago, during the season 
 that birds sing and twigs shoot, when the sun 
 shines and the flowers swing their censor and 
 waft their odors, there was seen in that part of 
 the quaint old town Gloucester, England, known 
 as St. Catherine's Meadow, a man and woman 
 in deep and earnest conversation. As the man 
 turned and wended his way through the filth 
 common to manufacturing districts, to the more 
 respectable and cleanly portion of the commu- 
 nity, high and mighty thoughts were turning 
 themselves over in his mind — thoughts which, 
 if they could be performed, would humanize 
 and Christianize millions of souls. These 
 thoughts had been inspired by the sight of lit- 
 
 [126] 
 
tie rag-amufflns playing and running wild in 
 the streets, and by a visit that had just been 
 made by the man to the county prison, where, 
 from observation and by conversing with the 
 wretched inmates, who were starving for the 
 want of bread, and dying from infectious dis- 
 eases, he found that ignorance was the link 
 that connected and fastened crime to its victim. 
 The woman had just told him that a week day 
 was no comparison in idleness and wickedness 
 to the Sabbath; that on Sunday the streets were 
 filled with a multitude of wretches, who, having 
 no employment on that day, spent their time in 
 noise and riot, playing at chuck, and cursing 
 and swearing. As he contemplated the short 
 step, how many of their children would be taken 
 from the street to the ancient walls of that dis- 
 mal prison, which stood upon the banks of the 
 mournful Severn; how some would enter never 
 to come out again — only to sicken and die — 
 suffering all the pangs that can be inflicted on 
 both body and soul ; how others of them would 
 in time be turned out upon a cold and ruthless 
 w^orld, with their lives blackened and blasted 
 forever; how they might be trained and brought 
 
 [ 127] 
 
up to make useful citizens, a credit to themselves 
 and an ornament to society — as he contemplated 
 this contrast, what they promised to be and what 
 they might be, his heart sank with pity and love, 
 two of the noblest passions that has ever been 
 planted by God in the breast of man ; such pity 
 and love for those children, those predestined 
 felons, as aroused the noblest instincts, the 
 truest qualities, and the best energies of the 
 man, and made Gloucester the birthplace and 
 cradle, and Robert Raikes the founder, of Sun- 
 day-schools — the grandest institution, the most 
 productive of good of any that has ever been 
 devised and established by the brain and genius 
 of man. This great and mighty conception has 
 been equaled only by the results that have flowed 
 and are to-day flowing from it. The least has 
 felt its care, and the greatest have acknowledged 
 its power. It has become world-great, not be- 
 cause it is world-wide, but because it is world- 
 deep: it seized down upon the roots — the chil- 
 dren, the future men of all mankind. 
 
 Raikes himself styled it a plan for the reform 
 of the rising generation, and its mission is the 
 
 same to-day. He began his work by hiring four 
 
 [128] 
 
female teachers at one shilling per Sunday. All 
 that was requisite to entitle a boy to scholarship 
 was clean hands, clean face, and hair combed. 
 They were taught to be kind and good-natured 
 to each other, not to provoke one another; to be 
 dutiful to their parents, not to oflPend God by 
 cursing and swearing— such little, plain precepts 
 which all may understand. They were told of 
 the Creation and Deluge; of the Tower of Babel 
 and the Confusion of Tongues; of the wicked- 
 ness and destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, 
 and the Avrath of God; of Abraham and Isaac; 
 of the deceit of Jacob, and the rise of Joseph 
 in Pharaoh's land; of the boldness of Daniel 
 Godliness of Samuel; of the love of David and 
 Jonathan, and the wisdom of Solomon, and the 
 magnificence of his Temple; and the " old, old 
 story of Jesus and his love." 
 
 Such was the beginning of the Sunday 
 school — an institution which has been and 
 which will continue to be fraught with future 
 good and mercy to generations yet unborn. 
 
 " Once by the river side 
 
 A little fountain rose : 
 Now like the Severn's seaward tide 
 Round the broad world it flows." 
 Q [ ^29 ] 
 
As soon as Charles Wesley heard of the work, 
 he exclaimed: "Who knows but some of these 
 schools may become nurseries of the church." 
 How literally have his expectations been ful- 
 filled. The Sunday-school is to the Church of 
 God what a chapel is to a meeting-house. 
 Through the door of the Sunday-school thou- 
 sands upon thousands of souls have entered the 
 church. It is almost incredible with what ra- 
 pidity this little grain of " mustard seed " — 
 this teaching of precept and telling of Bible 
 stories by four women — spread itself over Eng- 
 land. In less than five years there were three 
 hundred thousand scholars in attendance upon 
 these schools, and to-day there are five millions 
 in the British Kingdom. One town had a school 
 of four hundred pupils, when, a half-dozen years 
 before, there could not be found in the whole 
 parish but one Bible, and that was used to prop 
 a flower-pot. In the same school there was a 
 class at which every man wore spectacles. 
 
 Adam Smith, the great economist, said at the 
 time: " No plan has promised to effect a change 
 of manners with equal ease and simplicity since 
 the days of the Apostles." It passed along — 
 
 [ 130 ] 
 
from land to land, from nation to nation, from 
 people to people — with rapid speed, like unto 
 the lightning leaping from mountain peak to 
 peak. It was the sudden bursting of a secret 
 fountain. It was simply a fulfillment of the 
 commands of the Bible, as given in Deute- 
 ronomy ages ago: "Gather the people together, 
 men and women and children, and thy stranger 
 that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and 
 that they may learn and fear the Lord your 
 God, and observe to do all the works of this 
 law." Robt. Raikes was sent to do this work — 
 " a soul on highest mission sent." 
 
 In performing this task, we are not to suppose 
 he met with no difficulties and no opposition 
 simply because of its success. He did meet 
 opposers and great opposition, but he overcame 
 it. They even went so far as to threaten him 
 with arrest. He was accused of breaking the 
 the fourth commandment and desecrating the 
 Sabbath. As then, so now, those who opposed 
 him and his work, did so for the want of en- 
 lightenment and knowledge, the lack of percep- 
 tion, and the need of the spirit of God, or for 
 a superabundance of the devil in their hearts. 
 
But he outlived the storm, and rode upon the 
 waves of triumph, beneath which his drowned 
 opposers lay. His resisters have gone down to 
 the bottom of the sea of a world-wide contempt 
 and malediction, and, in spite of all their en- 
 vious efforts, the whole of Christendom heard 
 of Robert Raikes and sounded his praises. 
 
 Were I disposed to pronounce an eulogy up- 
 on any one. I could not select a more appro- 
 priate person than this noble-hearted philan- 
 thropist, this lover of humanity, this founder 
 of Sunda3^-schools. He Avas an instructor of 
 the ignorant and a father to the poor. He was 
 possessed of an unequaled, inspiring, moving, 
 and directing power. He cast sunlight into the 
 shadow of many a life. He cast and forged the 
 well-being and destiny of whole nations and 
 generations by delivering them from their bonds 
 of ignorance and wickedness, and an acknow- 
 ledgment of gratitude to his memory fills the 
 breast of all Christian people. 
 
 He went down to his grave amid the tears of 
 his own people and age, where he peacefully 
 lies to-day with the benedictions of posterity 
 resting upon him. That grave is filled by one 
 
 [ 132 ] 
 
who cannot die. . His light is destined to flame 
 as a beacon over long centuries and many 
 epochs in the history of mankind, and in the 
 slowly rising monument of a world redeemed 
 to goodness, no name should be emblazoned in 
 larger characters or grander letters than that of 
 Robert Raikes. 
 
 The work has been commenced and the peo- 
 ple of every age must do their part in its con- 
 tinuance. Everybody should attend the Sun- 
 day-school, either as teacher or pupil, from the 
 time the cradle is left till the tomb is entered. 
 I know the responsibility of the Sunday-school 
 instructors to be great. Of them it may be said 
 with almost literal truth: "There is no speech 
 nor language where their voice is not heard. 
 Their line is gone out through all the earth, and 
 their words to the end of the world." But, great 
 as is the responsibility, they will find, if they 
 have done their duty, when they have wiped 
 the sweat from their foreheads and the tears 
 from their eves, that their reward is even greater 
 than the responsibility. Just what is their duty is 
 somewhat difficult to say. There are many 
 things, both spiritual and temporal, that they 
 
 [ 133 1 
 
should look after and teach; while the prime 
 object should tend to the salvation of souls, 
 there are other matters which would not be 
 amiss — matters which must be attended to be- 
 fore the Spirit can become as " pure as waters 
 welling from the rock." 
 
 The Sunday-school must be a nursery where 
 youth's love of truth and purity — its bright 
 hopes and precious innocence — must be grown 
 and ripened into true and noble manhood and 
 womanhood. In this free land of ours our young 
 people generally have their own way to make, 
 and nothing to make it with, but their own head 
 and hands. I, of course, except the girls; they 
 have an addition — their pretty faces. Natu- 
 rally they are early thrown upon their own re- 
 sources. Now I take it that at the Sunday- 
 school more is done towards the shaping of 
 character, fitting it for the duties of society 
 and business life than anywhere else. I main- 
 tain that the success and existence of our self- 
 ruling government depends upon the efficiency 
 of this work. Individuals make nations, and 
 unless the individuals of the whole people be 
 brought up in the path of intelligence and mo- 
 
 [ 134 ] 
 
rality such a form of government as ours cannot 
 endure. Already a malaria of infidelity has 
 floated across the Atlantic and begins to infect 
 the pure air of the Western continent. 
 
 I know that it has become fashionable with 
 some people to treat God as a mythical Being, 
 to sneer at patriotism as a worn out prejudice 
 and to contemn philanthropy as a sentimental 
 catchword. Such erroneous invasions and damn- 
 ing ideas as these the Sabbath-school worker 
 of to-day has to combat. Sunday-school work- 
 ers teach the children to fear and love the God 
 that made them, and to stand on the Bible — His 
 holy truth — though they, like Luther, stand 
 solitary and friendless. Teach them honor, for 
 with honor comes self-respect and honesty. Teach 
 them bravery, for with true bravery comes hum- 
 bleness and peacefulness. Teach them patriot- 
 ism, a love for their country, a care for its posi- 
 tion among the nations, an anxiety for its honor, 
 a pride in its renown, and to glory in its exalta- 
 tion. Brush the cobwebs of ignorance and pre- 
 judice from their eyes and let them grow up to 
 be free men and women; for people immersed 
 in ignorance and prejudice are less free than 
 
 ['35] 
 
wise men locked in dungeons and loaded with 
 chains. Point them to the road that leads 
 to peace and comfort here, and happiness and 
 heaven hereafter. Encourage them to make 
 their lives blessed, their actions noble, their 
 souls pure, and their death peaceful. You have 
 the formation of their character, enlarge and 
 ennoble it. Persuade them to be men in every 
 sense of the word. In the Sunday-school more 
 than in any other place, a boy is to be encour- 
 aged. Nothing inspires him so much as a kind 
 word or compliment from his teacher. Let it 
 be instilled into them to do that which they 
 know to be their duty, not in the hope of ease, 
 worldly pleasures, or sugar plums of any 
 kind, but because it is right, noble, and manly; 
 and to show themselves to be God-made men. 
 Such inspirations expand and exalt the soul. 
 In them all Christianity is emblemed. Inspire 
 the children of your land with such ideas, hopes, 
 and aims, and your memory in this world will 
 be honored with tears, and when you stand be- 
 fore high heaven, you will rejoice to have your 
 deeds ranked among the most glorious achieve- 
 ments wrought by man. A rarer gem than 
 
 [^36] 
 
that which will encircle your brow will not be 
 found in that day when " the Lord of Hosts 
 shall make up His jewels." 
 
 On next Sunday, not less than ten million 
 souls will meet in the Sunday-school cause. 
 What a number! The mind of man cannot 
 grasp and realize its vastness. They will meet 
 in every land of Christendom— in the tropics 
 and in the Arctic regions; amid the snow- 
 capped peaks of Newfoundland and among the 
 orange bowers of Florida; within the civiliza- 
 tion of Europe and on the plains of America; 
 in every country, amid every people, and withni 
 all nations where the true God is known and 
 worshipped. And these millions of young peo- 
 ple will carry with them the prayers of as many 
 older ones. Some one has said, "There is no 
 greater link between this life and the next than 
 God's blessing on the young breathed from the 
 lips of the old." Truly these meetings of the 
 young and prayers of the old, over the face of 
 the whole world, form a scene which causes an- 
 gels to draw aside the curtain of the sky and 
 look down upon it with wonder, joy, and amaze- 
 ment. 
 
Such is the influence that the Sunday-school 
 has exerted and exerts to-day over mankind; 
 and its future career will be no less brilliant 
 and powerful than its past. It has raised mil- 
 lions from the scum and filth of society to re- 
 spectability, and there it will sustain them. It 
 must and will keep the masses of our Ameri- 
 can people pure; and, with this assurance, well 
 may the beat of our pulse and heart grow quicker 
 when we think upon the glorious destiny that 
 awaits us as individuals and as a nation. Upon 
 the intelligence and purity of the individuals 
 of the masses depend our success and happi- 
 ness, and it is the lot of this institution — the 
 Sunday-school — to preserve and nurture them. 
 It will not fail us! It cannot fail us! With 
 the Saviour of man to direct its course, it will 
 continue on its march of conquest, and will at 
 last be crowned with success in the redemption 
 of a fallen world. 
 
 ^biiress of tiJclcome. 
 
 Patriarchs of the Grand Encainpment of the 
 State of North Carolina : In the name of our 
 people, and in the name of the Patriarchs of 
 
 r 138] 
 
Salem Encampment, it affords me great plea- 
 sure to extend to you a kindly greeting and 
 most cordial welcome to the city of Winston. 
 She feels herself honored by being permitted 
 to welcome the representatives of an order 
 which, although less than a century old, to-day 
 stands second to no other association of a similar 
 character in the world, embracing in its member- 
 ship some of the best types of American man- 
 hood, and with a record of having given in bene- 
 fits and charity millions upon millions of dollars. 
 Our people know that Odd Fellowship is rear- 
 ing a grand and magnificent temple upon an 
 indestructible foundation of true friendship and 
 brotherly love; they know that victorious ban- 
 ners of war and conquest will never hang upon 
 its walls; they know that the tread of the rich 
 and powerful will never fall upon its fioors; but 
 they know that in every nook and corner and 
 crevice of this temple, from turret to dome, will 
 be found a power to protect and a courage to 
 defend the friendless and helpless, the widow 
 and the orphan. The sun will refuse to shine 
 before good old motherly, steady Salem, and 
 3'oung, generous, and enthusiatic Winston fail 
 
 [ ^39 J 
 
to give a hearty welcome to men enlisted in a 
 cause so noble and unselfish. 
 
 When I say that you are sincerely welcomed 
 within the walls of this Encampment, I but re- 
 echo the sentiment and express the fraternal 
 love that throbs within the heart of every Pa- 
 triarch in our midst. We have all looked for- 
 ward to this meeting with pleasant anticipa- 
 tions, expecting new life to be inspired into us 
 and expecting to learn more and more of the 
 value of our principles. We want to be en- 
 couraged to live up to the principles of our or- 
 der. By every bed of sickness, at every grave, 
 in every home made desolate by death in this 
 city of Winston-Salem, we want an Odd Fellow 
 to be found doing the noble work of Odd Fel- 
 lowship. 
 
 Trusting that your sojourn among us will be 
 agreeable to yourselves and profitable to us, in 
 the name of Winston-Salem, and in the name 
 of every Odd Fellow and Patriarch in our com- 
 munity, I again bid you welcome, and when the 
 time comes to say farewell, we hope that only 
 pleasant memories of your visit may accompany 
 you to your homes. 
 
 Umo ] 
 
a piea for (Kqualitg of OTontest. 
 
 It is said of the eloquent and lamented Henry 
 Grady that it was not his practice to prepare 
 and commit to writing his speeches, but that he 
 depended solely upon the inspiration of the mo- 
 ment and the occasion. I would give the mil- 
 lions of Jay Gould, were they mine to give, for 
 the ability to express, in the eloquent words and 
 terms of Henry Grady, the thoughts with which 
 I have been inspired since sitting upon this ros- 
 trum. I am made to long the more for such 
 gifts since I am to attempt to speak after the 
 delivery of the magnificent orations that have 
 been pronounced in your hearing to-day. 
 
 But, alas! such gifts are vouchsafed to but 
 few individuals; and whatever sentiments I may 
 have to utter must be such as come to me, as it 
 were, in cold blood. For the possession of these 
 two medals there has been a spirited and heated 
 contest waged, and the greatest compliment 
 that can be paid the successful contestants is 
 to point to the contestants over whom they have 
 won their victory. From such contests many 
 useful and valuable lessons may be drawn, for, 
 
 [141] 
 
from this time forth, those of you who are leav- 
 ing the school-room, forever more, will find that 
 life is a contest. 
 
 I desire to direct your attention to the fact 
 that in the contest just closed, all the con- 
 testants, in so far as human power could control, 
 stood upon an equality. This was positively 
 necessar}^, or you would have rebelled. 
 
 Now, I make the point, that in the contest of 
 life, it is infinitely essential that all people, in 
 so far as it is humanly possible, shall stand 
 upon an absolute equality; and, with 3^our kind 
 permission and indulgence, I will offer a few 
 thoughts along this line that may, and, I hope, 
 will, prove a source of reflection for you here- 
 after, and help you to fill your place in the 
 world, which you are about to take, with profit 
 and pleasure to youself and those among whom 
 your lot may be cast. 
 
 One hundred years ago Thomas Jefferson 
 wrote in the great Declaration of Independence 
 that " all men are created equal." That thought 
 flashed like a streak of lightning over, above, 
 across, and into all Christendom. Kings, 
 Queens and Emperors were smitten and para- 
 
 [ 142] 
 
lyzed, many of them, even unto death; thrones 
 trembled, tottered and fell. It was genius to 
 create such a thought; and for a century civi- 
 lized man has been content with the simple as- 
 sertion. But the time is fast coming when the 
 people shall not only declare that men are 
 created equal, but they will demand that men 
 be kept equal. The generation that has just 
 passed declared men equal. It is the lot of this 
 generation to devise ways and means to keep 
 men equal. In so far as it is possible and prac- 
 tical, it is a "consummation devoutly to be 
 hoped for." Though the grasp of the tyrant 
 and ruler has been torn, during the last century, 
 from the necks of the people by Jefferson and 
 his compatriots, they have not abolished pov- 
 erty and want. In the past century, as in no 
 other, monstrous wealth has been piled mountain 
 hidi, but its division and distribution has been 
 sadly at fault. While in principle it is admitted 
 that men are created equal, in practice they are 
 not kept equal. Among the masses, everywhere, 
 there is said to be a feeling of unrest, and that 
 is attributable to the unequal distribution of 
 wealth. The vast gulf between the rich and 
 
 [ 143 ] 
 
the poor is deepening every day. It is alleged 
 that the whole agricultural and industrial world 
 is enslaved by legislation in favor of gigantic 
 private trusts and monopolies. But, whatever 
 condition of affairs may exist in other countries, 
 it is safe to say that the people of this coun- 
 try — the great middle class, in whose veins run 
 not Anglo-Saxon blood, not French blood, not 
 German blood, not Italian blood, nor the blood 
 of the Scandinavian, but that new, distinct and 
 incomparable blood — the American blood — are 
 not ready to submit to that condition of things 
 which gives to one set of men and women pur- 
 ple and fine linen, lace and silken skirts, and to 
 the other wretchedness and poverty. How to 
 keep men equal? That is the question of the 
 day. The United States has had an existence of 
 little more than one hundred years. They have 
 had no tyrannical forms of government. The 
 nation when but an infant shook from the head 
 of the King of England his crown, and tram- 
 pled it under foot. We have not been taxed to 
 support royalty. In all our governmental af- 
 fairs the voice of the people has been heard and 
 heeded and has controlled, as in no other gov- 
 
 [ 144 ] 
 
ernment, from the beginning of time; and never 
 has a nation so grown. We have broadened, 
 widened and deepened; accumulated, gathered 
 together and piled up as no people ever did be- 
 fore. We have gone through and experienced 
 the dangers and horrors of civil war, the most 
 terrible and fearful of modern times. Instead 
 of its being a check to the great North and 
 Northwest, it seemed to be a powerful incentive 
 to their growth. But to the South it was a hard 
 blow — a blow from which she has not yet re- 
 covered. 
 
 For thirty years the South has sat sad and 
 disconsolate amid the ashes of her ruin in storm 
 and darkness, under the deep execration of many 
 of the Northern brethren. Thirty years ago 
 there were young men upon these grounds oc- 
 cupying the same positions you occupy; they 
 had the same aspirations and the same hopes 
 that you to-day have. But their country called 
 them away from their friends, their relatives, 
 their homes, their sweethearts — from their 
 hopes and their ambitions — to the battlefield. 
 Many of them went never to return, and long, 
 long ago the last of their bones bleached and 
 
 [ H5 ] 
 
mouldered away into dust in the valleys and 
 among the hills of Virginia. After four long 
 and weary years others returned to their homes 
 to find father and mother impoverished and 
 broken-hearted; friends gone; homes empty; 
 fields uncultivated; poverty on every hand. 
 The State, under military rule, destined to soon 
 pass into even worse hands — the hands of 
 the carpet-bagger. Fire and sword had done 
 their work. But depressing as the times were 
 the rebel soldiers, and the old men who had 
 stayed at home and provided them with suste- 
 nances while they fought their countr3^'s battles, 
 manfully set to work to rebuild the waste places, 
 with apologies for nobody, without capital and 
 without credit, enforced bankrupts, beset on 
 every hand by the prejudices and animosities 
 of the people of the North. For twenty-five 
 years the South has been fighting to gain and 
 maintain the position among the States of these 
 United States, and among the nations of the 
 world, that her natural advantages and the 
 character of her people entitle her to. I am 
 here to-day to tell you that though defeated in 
 war, she has won the nobler victory of peace. 
 
 [ 146 ] 
 
The tide of prosperity is upon us. Every rill 
 is swelling into a branch, every branch into a 
 stream, every stream into a river, and we are 
 rapidly sailing into the great sea of industrial 
 development. The whole South is awakening and 
 is destined to become in no great while, the abode 
 of vast populations of people and of great wealth, 
 because of its climate, soils, minerals, coal, 
 and wood. Northwestern North Carolina and 
 Southwestern Virginia are destined to be the 
 garden spots. It is certain that we have borne 
 all the hardships of poverty, and the signs of 
 the time beyond question point to the fact that 
 this very section of country in which we live 
 will become immensely wealthy. Then the 
 question must naturally present itself to every 
 thoughtful mind, how shall we grow? Some 
 growth is worse than no growth at all. If we 
 are wise we will learn the history of other people 
 and of other portions of these United States 
 and profit by their experience. Though history 
 has no parallel to the generation upon whose 
 final decade we have now entered, nor have the 
 centuries a duplicate to ours, now so near its 
 wane. Walk into a city church to-day, and 
 
 [ 147] 
 
hear the minister discourse on politics and the 
 general topics of the day, or listen to the music 
 of trained voices chanting the glories of God in 
 operatic splendor, and you will see and hear 
 much that eloquently bespeaks the difference 
 between the worship of the Creator to-day, and 
 that taught in the old log meeting-house, in the 
 simple rules of the circuit-rider fifty years ago. 
 If there is to come upon us that flood of popu- 
 lation and wealth that is so confidently expected, 
 are we prepared or are we going to prepare our- 
 selves to give them a proper reception? There 
 are many old things which we will have to give 
 up: and many new things which we will have 
 to accept. But, in the meantime, it behooves us 
 to consider the old things that we will part with, 
 and the new matter we will accept. Then we 
 are to consider whether we are to assimilate or 
 be assimilated. Whether we are to receive the 
 newcomers, or the new comers to crowd us out 
 of doors. Whether our ideas of policy and gov- 
 ernment, morals and religion, are to continue, 
 or if they must give way to ideas, prevailing in 
 other portions of the country, which we believe 
 to be harmful and erroneous. Shall we swallow 
 
 [ h8 ] 
 
the golden calf or allow the golden calf to swal- 
 low us? In New England, it is said, that not one- 
 half of the operatives of the factories speak the 
 English language. It was not until after the 
 native New Englander had been driven from 
 his work by having his place filled by the pau- 
 per of the old world, that Horace Greeley gave 
 the advice ''young man, go West." The advice 
 to-day is being changed to " young man, go 
 South." In the great State of Pennsylvania the 
 farmers and their sons used to come down from 
 the mountain-sides, and up from the valleys, 
 and work the coal and iron mines; but that is 
 so no more. Great corporations have been 
 formed, the mines have passed into the hands 
 of immense monopolies, who work them with 
 the poorest classes of Italians, Hungarians, and 
 Scandinavians upon starvation wages, and when- 
 ever these poor ignorant foreigners strike for 
 better pay, they are shot down by hireling sol- 
 diers. Not soldiers of the State, but of private 
 corporations. That is a piece of tyranny that a 
 heartless king would not allow. 
 
 If these statements be true, then these States 
 have failed to keep men equal, and they have 
 
 [ 149] 
 
fallen into a grievous error. Now, is it not our 
 duty, as North Carolina is about to enter upon 
 an era of industrial development — about to 
 change from an agricultural to a manufacturing 
 people — to avoid the pitfalls into which other 
 Commonwealths have fallen — to prevent, as far 
 as in us lies, the aggregation of immense wealth 
 in the hands of the few, but to keep wealth as 
 evenly distributed as possible. Our form of gov- 
 ernment is founded on the individual, and the 
 individual has to contend with other individuals 
 for the very ground on which he stands and the 
 very air which he breathes. We want it to re- 
 main so. When an individual, by force of will, 
 solidity of character, steadiness of purpose, 
 sincerity of aim, by economy, perseverance, en- 
 ergy, by using the talents with which the great 
 God has endowed him, wrests a fortune from 
 the world, the true and genuine American is 
 ready to stand up and applaud that man. It 
 is the fact that the individual is given full and 
 free scope for all his faculties, that has made us 
 the greatest people and the greatest nation upon 
 the face of the earth. It is because of the un- 
 restricted privileges given the individual that 
 
 [150I 
 
all the elements of nature have been gathered 
 together and made to subserve the purposes of 
 man. It is the taming of the elements of na- 
 ture that has driven us so far ahead of all men 
 and all times. It has made us the moderns. 
 All others behind this century are the ancients. 
 In base-ball parlance, "we are the people," and 
 we are the nation of the future. Here our great- 
 est danger lies: it is in the suppression of the 
 indvidual. The tendency of the times is toward 
 corporations, combines, trusts, combinations — 
 all this means death to the indvidual. When- 
 ever any set of men combine and conspire to- 
 gether for the purpose of giving themselves an 
 undue and an unfair advantage over their 
 neighbors and their fellow-men, it is wrong, 
 and I do not care by what name you call it or 
 where it exists. Corporation is one thing, con- 
 spiration is another. In the social and political 
 warfare that is surely coming upon us, North 
 Carolina must look to the young men who are 
 being educated in her schools of learning, and 
 she needs to have every one of them educated. 
 Man to-day is smarter than ever before. His 
 mentality is more vigorous and trulv magnifi- 
 
 [151] 
 
cent. In times gone by, if a man had a pur- 
 pose to accomplish and encountered opposition 
 he met that opposition by force and won his vic- 
 tory by blows and a fight. To-day opposition is 
 encountered, and it is met by smiles, compli- 
 ments are lavished profusely upon you, all of 
 which only means that your head isbeing greased 
 that you ma}^ the more easily be swallowed. 
 
 The educated, thinking young men of the 
 State must hold the balance of power. On one 
 side we shall have the ranting demagogue de- 
 claiming about the tyranny of capitalists, and 
 on the other side we shall have the oily lobb3dst 
 grasping after the rights and franchises of the 
 people, that he may coin them into gold to 
 satisfy his insatiate greed. 
 
 Our 3'onng men need to be possessed of a 
 genuine and patriotic Americanism. They 
 should be politicians, but not office-seekers. 
 They should know how to stand between these 
 opposing factions, and how to cope with them. 
 They should know that nothing but the eternal 
 principles of truth and right, founded upon the 
 rock bed of justice, and imbedded in the hearts 
 and minds and consciences of the whole people, 
 
 [152] 
 
can maintain our system of government. They 
 should know that the finest talents, the great- 
 est executive abilities, are always and continu- 
 ousl}^ with ingenuity, cunningness, ability, ex- 
 perience, and unscrupulousness, reaching out 
 and after means by which the people may be 
 made to fill the coffers of the great corporations 
 of the country. They should be taught to dis- 
 tinguish and discriminate between the senseless 
 and indiscriminate clamor against corporations 
 that have souls and those that have them not. 
 
 There are men in this county and men in my 
 own county of Forsyth that staked their private 
 fortunes in corporations for the public good. 
 The men who built the Cape Fear and Yadkin 
 Valley railroad, and those who are now building 
 the Roanoke and Southern, are public benefac- 
 tors and deserve the commendation and grati- 
 tude of the people. What we need is wise men 
 and not fools — men of equal minds and not 
 middle-headed partisans — men who can, and 
 will, discriminate, and not condemn all alike 
 without rhyme or reason. 
 
 It will be the part of the rising generation to 
 counsel patience, to have respect for vested 
 
 [153] 
 
rights, law and order, always keeping in view 
 the grand and glorious truth, that all men are 
 created equal, and should be kept equal. 
 
 In the contest for these medals you demanded 
 that the contest should be equal ; surely, in the 
 contest of life, to your fellow-man, you will ac- 
 cede as much and exact as much. 
 
 [154] 
 
CHloaiug ISeflections. 
 
 What is well, itself well done, is always well, 
 
 And 'tis well with him, forever well who did it. 
 
 His body may in silence lie beneath the sod ; 
 
 The passive hands may mold, the feet to dust resolve, 
 
 The brains subside in clay, the tissued bones decay. 
 
 The heart no pulse produce, nor warmth of love display, 
 
 The listless ear, the frozen tongue, beyond response; 
 
 Ambition, hope, desire, love, beauty, strength, all gone. 
 
 To utter death and darkness gone — in semblance lost; — 
 
 But nay ! there's nothing lost, but all well stored and kept — 
 
 A treasure worthy of the golden key of heav'n ; 
 
 Nor war, nor fire, nor flood, nor storm, nor quaking earth 
 
 Can e'er disturb, or mar, or wreck the rich estate. 
 
 A noble life enduring stands eternal. 
 
 Its rising fabic cannot be o'erthrown. 
 
 But in majestic order, its lofty spire. 
 
 Baptized with flame divine, and decked in heav'nly grace, 
 
 Ascends beyond the sun, and resplendent shines, 
 
 Unwaning as the spheres which light the Throne of God. 
 
 A Friend. 
 
 [■55] 
 
 sour* ,>LiKOiECT 
 
PAGE. 
 
 Prefatory ^ 
 
 Introduction ^ 
 
 His Home Life ' 
 
 As a Christian 11 
 
 Amiability 12 
 
 His Unpretentiousness 15 
 
 Love for His Kinsmen 16 
 
 An Incident 1^ 
 
 Firmness 1^ 
 
 As a Man of Business 20 
 
 Literature 22 
 
 Mayoralty 24 
 
 Ordeals of His Administration 26 
 
 Winston Fires 27 
 
 Additional Facts Connected with His Public Career ... 29 
 
 His Last Sickness 36 
 
 His Death 39 
 
 Concerning His Speeches 41 
 
 Conclusion 43 
 
 His Boyhood 44 
 
 An Incident and a Prophecy 49 
 
 His Death — Touching Comments, &c 60 
 
 [157] 
 
PAGE. 
 
 His Death and the Funeral Obsequies 52 
 
 Memoir Read by His Pastor, Rev. Edward Crosland ... 58 
 
 Resolutions Passed By the Board of Aldermen 63 
 
 Proceedings of the Winston Bar 64 
 
 Hon E. B. Jones's Tribute to his Character 66 
 
 In Memoriam 70 
 
 Resolutions of Winston Chamber of Commerce 72 
 
 Proceedings Salem Lodge, I. 0. 0. F 72 
 
 Proceedings of Encampment No. 20, 1. O. 0. F 74 
 
 Memorial Grand Lodge, I. O. 0. F 76 
 
 Press Comment— Oak Leaf 80 
 
 Raleigh North Carolinian 81 
 
 Durham Sun 82 
 
 The Moravian 83 
 
 Personal Letters — Mr. George Rights 83 
 
 Mr. E. H. Wilson 84 
 
 Mr. J. H. Lindsay 85 
 
 Mr. Charles D. Mclvor 87 
 
 Personal Mention 88 
 
 Apologetic 89 
 
 The Boy— Speech Delivered Before Mrs. Right's School 
 
 for Children 90 
 
 Future of Piedmont, N. C 105 
 
 Delivery of Medals— Davis School 121 
 
 Sunday-School Address 126 
 
 Address of Welcome 138 
 
 A Plea for Equality of Contest 141 
 
 Closing Reflections 154 
 
 [ 158 ] 
 
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