■Ni^HHBaaBi HISTORY OF THE NORTH CAROLINA RAILROAD &, &* :%A THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA THE COLLECTION OF NORTH CAROLINIANA UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL Cp38£.l N87b c.2 00042093625 FOR USE ONLY IN THE NORTH CAROLINA COLLECTION T/1PERS OF THE eN'optl\ C^polirja oMistopieaa (§)o@iettj AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA. HISTORY OF THE NORTH CAROLINA RAILROAD, BY HON. RUFUS BARRINGER, OF CHARLOTTE. IRead before the Society at Chapel Hiil, May iO, 1894, RALEIGH: N'evvs and Observer Press. Ck 3> ^~. I Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hil http://www.archive.org/details/historyofnorthcaOObarr BISTORT OW TBK NORTH CARO- LINA BAlLliOAD. BT OEN. B. B1REINGEB The building of an ordinary rail- road ie now no longer a matter of special interest to the public. Of late sears, the achievements in that way h»ve bean on such a gigantic scale 98 almost to cease to attract attention. But the grant of the charter of the Worth Oarolmft Rail- road in 1848-9 with two million ol dollars of State aid, was a new de- parture amongst us, and was, in fact, the basis end the beginning of cur entire present system of in- ternal improvement, now reaching and intersecting 6very part of the State. The Cbsir of History at the State University has therefore, done well to make the building of this great "Central" line, as it was loagcallsd, one of its subjects of historic re- search and study. I have myself, too, selected it as such, because I think the changes then set in mo- tion, tend to explain better than anything else the previous leth- argy of our people, and also the causes of the wonderful ac- tivity now seen and felt in all clasaea amongst us. I likewise select this subject, partly, because I was an actor in the vital legislative changes then effected, and I happen to know that some important errors prevail in regard to the real authors of that great measure I was at that thm a member of the "House of Commons," as it was then called, from the county of Cabarrus, and £ thick I was well posted as to all matters so especially affecting the interests of my constituents. The subject has certain inherent difficulties, which have never before, so far as I know, been discussed in the spirit of true historical criticism and analytic, and I approach it with some diffidence, because it in- volves times and occasions of much sectional, political and personal an- imosity and strife, which, for vari ous reasons, our leading men have heretofore been reluctant to agitate. But the time has now fully come for impartial research for the truth, and I feel that the learned Professor of History at Chapel Hill will give credit for an honest attempt to solve the problem of the marvellous changes referred to on the simple deduction of logical results from the facts and figures I shall give. If I sometimes seem to speak in the critical tone of impatient progress, and to denounce somewhat strongly the "terrapin p&cs of onr Old Rip Van Winkleism," i am s ". Dr. Bat- tle will understand thav J j^ean nothing unkind to either the dead or the living; and that I started in public life, over fifty years ago, a "born Whig Reformer" My first public speech was in Grerrard Hall in 1841, on the "Iniquities of the English Opium Trade in China," an evil now threatening America as well. A HISTOBICAL BETE08PECT, To get at the poverty of the State in 1848, and to show the difficulties to be encountered and overcome by the friends of Internal Improve- r both the State Senators and the Commoners: the former three hundred acres, and the latter one hundred, and a free-hold of fifty acres for every voter for the Senate. They also adopted a fixed rule for the numbers of both bodies — one Senator and two Con toners from each county: with a Borough member from each of the towns of Edenton, Halifax, New Bern, Wil- mington, Hillsboro and Salisbury: all without regard to eize or popu- lation, and not providing for changes which must surely come. Still further: They made no safe or practicable provision for amending the written Constitution thus adopted, nor for correcting the possible evils sure to arise in its operation ; but, manifestly, here again, pimply following the un- written English model, and leaving all to the General Assembly, so con- stituted — as Parliament is supreme in Great Britain As most of the talent, wealth, population and cul- ture then lay in the East, it gave that section a decided preponder- ence of influence and po^er, notably so to the small counties around Albe- marle Sound. And this thing did so continue for over sixty years; while the large counties of the Middle and West increased rapidly in both numbers and wealth, and many Eastern counties not increasing at all except in slaves. Another strange provision was the singular religious test, forbidding Roman Catholics, Jews, and other non jurors from holding public office or trust ! But the adoption of this test shows the intense bigotry with which all par- ties and creeds st : 'l clung to Eng- lish supremacy, and Protestant sway, as against Spanish and French Catholics, Infidels, and all non- believers. A quaint and heroic il- lustration of the noble patriotism of the times, is the fact of the old covenanter, Ben Patton, as early as as 1774, walking all the way from Mecklenburg to the Provincial Con- gress at Newborn, to join hands with the High Churchman, John Harvey, in his sturdy struggle with Boyal Power. But it should always be borne in mind that the colonies had just a few years before come out triumphantly from the war HISTORY OF THE that drove France from North America, and that with all hnv faults, at heart, "they loved old England still". It was also the heroism of Wolfa and the msitcoless a atwem^n- ship of Chatham that gave them en- during peace; and, with all danger now removed alike from French and Spanish and Indian, Indepen- dence was a special and distinct Eentiment of very recent growth. AFTER EFFECTS The war over and ladependenee won, many minds instinctively turned to the Constitution and gov- ernment under which they lived They f?ocn began to realize the drawbacks surrounding them; and a steady emigration started for the promiticg State of Frankland, and the "darfe and bloody ground of Kentucky", whtra Sevier, Boone, Shelby, Henderson and others of North Carolina fame were planning to "win the West" Still North Carolina held her own, and at the date of the first census 1790, as stated, she was j the third of the "Old Thirteen"; only Pennsylvania and Virginia outranking her. But now come other troubles. THE FEDERAL UNION CF 1789 - ITS EF EECTS THEN. While the Union of 1789, was of countless benefits and blessings to the country at large, the wisest men in North Carolina readily saw its tendencies to centralized power; and they, at first, promptly declined to adopt the Federal Com- pact. They had already realized this in their State Constitution. And now Will'e -Tones o* the East end Joe McDowell o* the West stood shoulder to shoulder in resisting the adoption of the National Con- stitution, until no less than eleven amendments, mainly suggested by North Carolinia, had been practi' cally assented to by the accepting States. But even these could not effectually guard against the dan- gers of implied construction; and »ow again the people of both the East and the West found their in- terests assailed in many wajs not dreamed of before OLA* S AND SE0TIONAL LEGISLATION. From the very first, the whole system of Federal bounties, subsi- dies, drawbacks, and other so call- ed protective measures by Con grsss, tended to antagonizs and in- jure like fnterestn cere. At that time, say 1790, North Carolina was largely engaged in fishing and coast trade; her numerous sounds and rivers and sffiuent streams giving her superior advantages So she had extensive foundries, many kinds of mills, tanneries, hatter and other ebops, all sorts of handicrafts and other skilled industries; and so suc- cessful were they that she not only supplied her own domestic wants, but sent a large surplus to her less enterprising neighbors of Virginia and South Carolina All at once these scattered and struggling in- dustries were brought in sharp com-' petition with those of the greater Bkiil, and with the organized capi- tal of the North and East; and ulti- mately all declined. True the whole South by clinging to simple agrr- NORTH CAROLINA RAILROAD. culture and to slave labor may Lave committed gtosa error. But recent experience shows that no sort of agriculture, and not even combined free labor, can stand up against class powsr and patronage, once protected by law And yet in this way North Carolina was doubly bound and cursed And while she Buffered along with the South in general from national legislation, certain census facts and figures show that other influences, peculiar to herself, unquestionably kept her under Compare her with Georgia for instance. That State was also one of the "original thirte3n " As tested by population from 1790 to 1840, North Carolina had not dou- bled a single time, while Georgia had nine times; and so with Ten- nessee and Kentucky, neither of them in existence as States in 1790, but both leading her in wealth aud population in 1840. Now the question is forced back upon us by these facts and figures. Why did North Carolina, with her superior climate and her attractive lands, as places for homes; with her unrivalled water power, and her endless variety of productions and industries, including valuable fruits, forests and minerals, alike in the Middle, the East and the West — why did she alone steadily de- cline ? STATE SECTIONAL STRIFE All the facts show that, while hostile national legislation may have had some effect in producing this great decline, it is equally clear that other causes had the more serious and lasting influence on the pbople. And an examination of the history of the S»ate will <3ia3lose the fact that from 1776 to 1848, the Leg- islature was one continued scene of angry wrangle and strife between whaf was known as the East and the West, Wnat was more dis- astrous, was the f*ot that the State had no overshadowing or control ling interests or high sentiment that would tend to allay the strife, or unite parties or people in any prac tioal steps of Progress, or State Reform This was iatal to true State pride and to all real develop- ment More than this: its direct effect was to discourage in her lead iag men ail thought or study of State issues, and to induce them to turn rather to the temptations of party patronage and the more at- tractive honors of National Politics. And here as a rule, they generally played a seeonoary role. In the long period of seventy two years there were no leading State issutK presented to the people of North Carolina I do not of course in- clude the Convention of 1835, be- cause that was a body of only lim- ited power or influence. Let us now turn to the historical facts, and see what were the gen- eral subjects of debate and agita- tion in that eventful formative pe- riod from 1776 to 1848 They were almost invariably of a petty, narrow or local class, though occasionally important. NEW COUNTIES. One of the first and an ever re- curring source of complaint and 8 HISTORY OF THE annoyance was the erection of new counties. This was in truth, how ever, a most serious matter to those interested. Often the citizens had to travel hundreds of miles to at- tend to the most ordinary public and private duties; either to return, or to pay taxes, to settle estates, to secure a right, or to prevent a wrong, or even to guard the peace. The average citizen of today has no conception of the extent of this grievance in 1776 and for Bixty years following Besides, it prevented the Middle and West from aoquir ing their due and proper influence in the legislature and in the govern- ment. Tney were steadily increas ing in population and wealth, and yet the East persistently denied them relief, and they were helpless to demand either right or justice at the bands of a General Assembly, virtually controlled by a dozen eastern counties. It is painful now to recall the facts of the various artifices and devices re- sorted to in order to over- come obstacles and gain special objects A. favorite plan was to touch the pride of the East and play upon the vanity of some leading member of the legislature As a result, we have in the Middle and West counties called after Eastern men of no special force or great re- pute. Among others the following counties were named in honor of living public men from the East, or from sections voting with the East, largely because of slave property: Burke, Caswell, Iredell, Cabarrus, Ashe, Moore, Person, Haywood, Macon and Yanoy; and after de- ceased Eastern men, are Buncombe, Davie, Gaston and Stanly SKAT OF GOVERNMENT — RIVER NAVIGA- TION. For some years after 1776, the place of meeting for the general assembly was migratory; and annual disputes were had ovt.r New Bern, SaaithfieJd, Fayetteville and Hills- bore, the Wfst always '-lsiming Hilleboro. But about i795'this w< s settled by the removal to Baleigh. Then tor long dreary years there was no new question of importance to break the monotony of Email strife, until the West sought to open up its rivers, and build looks and dams to make them navigable. After the complete fu^cess of the Grand Eii< Canal, thta-, for a tiaoe were a peifeot rage in the Middle and West, headed c iefly by Judge A. D. (Hurpbey. The East had no need for such works and so would do nothing. The leading men of that section, had early adopted the theory of a strict construction of the Federal Constitution on this sub- ject, and now applied it to State improvement Companies were or- ganized for so improving the Ca- tawba, Yadkin, Deep and Haw riv- ers, and much private capital spent and all ultimately lost, because the State would not aid EDUCATION AND RAILROADS. A gain the Middle and West called for better educational facilities, and here again the East opposed. Some did not care for education and oth- ers sent their children North or NORTH CAROLINA RAILROAD. arrjad for culture Then it was about 1825-1826, that the West, in a body, regardless of creed, place or party, resolved to start a "West ern College," and actually located the same at Linuolnton. Tuis, too, failed, but remotely it led to Davidson College and other denomi- national colleges A little later Dr. Joseph Caldwell, president of the University at Chapel Hill, wrote his famous 'Carlton Letter*," urging a State Railroad fsom Beaufort bar bor in the East, right through the State to the mountains of the Weot. Even here the Ewt refused to move, and the scheme came to naught Though, later the Middle and the Eist themselves used the credit cf the State to build the Raleigh and Gaston, the Wilmington and Wei- • don (or Raleigh) and the Weldon and Petersburg roads, all practi- cally leading out of the State. THE CONVENTION OF 1835. But during all this time, the one irritating, all pressing question of the West was a regular demand, made year after j ear, for the legis- lature to call a convention to revise and amend the State Constitution. No argument.no appeal could reach the small olligarohy that controlled that body. At last an event oc- curred in 1834 that brought the whole subject of a revision of the organic law most forcibly before the public. In that year, there was a vacancy in the Supreme Court of the State. Ac- cording to custom, the middle East was entitled to tbe man; and he was found at Newbern in the Hon Wil Ham GastoD, too lawyer of highest repute and of most culture in the State He way, besides, personally very popular all over North Caro- lina, and of some reputation as a debater in Congress j-ist after the war of 1812, which brought oompli ments from Haury Clay and others But William Gaston was an avowed Roman Catholic Despite this he was elected; and, as there were now strong doubis as o the exact mean- ing of the famous thirty-second ar- ticle of the State Constitution- and Gaston himself thought, he was not excluded, the sentiment was uni- versal in favor of his acceptance. He did so; and took the usual oath of offioe. This, as never before, subjected the Constitution of 1776 to popular criticism The Legisla- ture yielded; and a Convention was called, and met in 1835; but with only limited powers to make certain specified amendments. These em braced substantially the abro- gation of the offensive thirty- second article, and a change in the basis of representation in both Houses; and a modification of the property qualification in cer- tain particulars; but leaving un- touched that of fifty acres of land for the State Senate Such was the convention of 1835. Its work was only half done; and what was done served only to stim- ulate further inquiry into the true causes of popular discontent and the general depression. England had already passed her great Re- form Bill three years before; and HISTORY OF THE the general agitation went on here. But soon two other events followed each other in quick suseeasioo, and with such startling results, as for the time, to override all else These ware the WILD SPECULATIONS OF 1836 AND THE PANIC CF 1837 The overthrow by Gen. Jackson of the "United States Bank", and the rapid growth of the "Pet State Banks" soon flooded the country with a "redundant depreciated cur- rency ". Everybody now ran fairly wild with speculation, especially in public lands Then came the inevi- table "Panic of 1837"— exceeding anything ever eeen in the United States before or since. So great W83 the re-action that it swept the old Hickory -VanBuren Democracy from power in the "Log Cabin, Ooon Skin, Hard Cider/' cs mpaign of 1840, and landed in the white house "Old Tip and Tyler too ." The death of Harrison in less than a month, yave the whole coun- try the "Tyler Grip" for well nigh full four years: and no people suf- fered like North Carolina during those troublous times. In the flush days of 1835 and 1836, many of the- more enterprising slave holders moved to the rich cotton lands of Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas, while thousands of the hardy, self- reliant and spirited non-slave hol- ders rushed to the inviting North- west. It was then that Oaleb B. Smith, a member of Congress from Indiana, told a member of Congress from North Carolina, that fully one- third of his constituents were North Carolinians, or of North Carolina descent THE DBuDHGHT OF 1845 AND A CHAR- LOTTE RAILROAD As if all this was not enough to depopulate and exhaust the distracted and divided old State, in 1845 occurred the most fearful drought ever experienced through tue Piedmont region. It wa» so marked in its effects as to somewhat prepare the public all over the State for a fair discussion of our sectional differences, and also the absolute necessity of some sys- tem of railroad connection between the E ist and the West In the win- ter of 1845-46 corn rose in many partB of West North Carolina from fifty cents to one dollar and a half a bushel. Much stock perished for want of food, and hardly could bread or meat be had at any price. At the same time, all through the East, corn was rotting in the field, and fish was used to manure land. About this same time, during these scarce years of 1845-'46, the leading men of Charlotte began to agitate a connection with the rail- road system of South Carolina, then approaching this section through both Camden and Columbia. Steps were taken for a convention to or- ganize a company for that purpose, and this was done in the summer fo 1847, ultimately selecting Columbia as the point. Also Richmond, Ya. was extend- ing her railroad system so as to reach our border counties on the North. NORTH CAROLINA RAILROAD. THE RIP VAN WINKLE OF THE SOUTH But in all this, there was no hope for the redemption of North Caro- lina herself There was no railroad west cf Raleigh AH the roads east of Raleigh had become embar- rassed *nd seemed to have no f u- ture. The amend 6d 4 Gon*>titution of 1835 had not operated to quiet ag- itation, or to inspire hope. On the contrary, the very abJe debates of 1834-5 had rather tended to in crease the discontent by fully ex- posing the inequalities of our whole State government It was not a free and equal government in the American tense. The State was lag- gard in every thing. An eminent aouth Carolina Senator had openly twitted her as the "Rip Van Win- kle of the South," and her devoted Gaston had written "The Old North State Forever," virtually admitting the justice of the taunt. 1848 — FREE BUFFBAGE A STATE CAM- PAIGN, This year, 1848, was an epoch in the Nineteenth Century. On Feb- ruary 22nd, 1848, a tmall outbreak at a banquet in Paris had brought on a conflict that made France a Republic, and shook half the thrones of Europe. The Mexican war had made new issues in America, and the whole civilized world seemed to awake to the mighty impulses of the age. But here in North Carolina an artful politician was laying his plans to draw his people from the whirlpool of national politics, and plunge them into one of local sec- tional strife, so much dreaded by all classes of citizens; and be stirred up an agitation wonderful in itB re- sults In 1844, James Knox Polk had beaten Henry Clay »nd so restored the Democracy to Federal power. But North Carolina remained true to the WhiRs, and in 1847 Gov. Wm. A. Graham had carried the State against Jsmes B Shep- ard an Eastern man, by a largely increased majority Pros- pects looked so bad for the Democrats that no one cared to make a canvass that was attended with so much personal labor and exposure; such as had already cauB- ed the death of two of their best leaders— one of them in 1844, the lamented Michael Hoke, in the very prime of life; In this emer- gency the Hon. David S. Reid, an numble member of Congress from the Rockingham District, appeared in the field on a distinatly new State issue, dubbed, "Free Suffrage:" and which, it was charged at the time, the Editor o? the famous Dem- ocratic organ in Raleigh, the North Carolina Standard, had managed to get into the party platform, much against the wishes of the party lea- ders. Nor is it clear how the Hon. Mr. Reidcame to adopt such a side- issue, in a great national cam- paign, as that then pending, with a united party, and an acceptable candidate— Gen. Case, at its head. But certain it is, that it proved a master stroke of bold political wis- dom, and soon changed the party character of the State — finally made Reid Governor HISTORY OF THE and then United States Senator, and gave the State permanently to the Democracy. As a master of fact, nwing to tbe local sectional trou- bles between the East and the Weft., the leaders of both parties had long sought to avoid State issues and trust rather to National to pica for popular discussion. But the story is, that after the great « Popular Sovereignty Leater," Judge Douglas, began paying at tentioo to Miss Martin, of Rocking- ham, N , and making occasional visit' here, he was amezed to find ho much of both Old England and New England ' fogyism" still per- vading our organic law, and that he singled out the "fifty acre qualifica- tion" for voters for the Senate, as a text on which a proper leader could carry all before him. His kinsman and friend adopted exactly this course Reid was not a popular orator; the Whig candidate, Charles Manly, was vary sprightly and attractive; and at first seemed to oarry all before him. He ridi ouled the '-hobby," and he often was cheered alike by Eastern Dem- ocrats and Whigs, many of whom still clung with tenacity to the work of the Fathers of 1776 But when the votes were counted out on the first Thursday in August, as was then the law in State elections, the Whig majority had fallen from many thousand to a few hundred. In the next race for Governor, 1850, the same candidates were nominat- ed, and again made the canvass. But Manly now changed his tone, treated the questions seriously, and even triV'i to go further than the "Radical David " He advocated the election of Magistrates, Judges, and all State orficials by the people But the latter saw the dodgy, and stuck to Reid And so Reid and "Free Suffrage" triumphed together. The constitution was changed by Legis- lative enactment, ' and at the ballot box, at least, all white men stood equal before the law LIGHT BREAKING MIS? DIX AND HER MISSION In all the canvass of 1848 and in all the discussions of that memora ble year, here in North Carolina scarcely anything was said about schemes of internal improvement; and least of all, about a great Cen- tral Railroad The Whigs honestly wanted something of the kind; but they were half hearted, and feared party lose. The Democrats, as a rule, did not favor State aid, and hated all talk about "State Reform " And as the Historian Moore, him- self an Eastern Democrat, well puts it: They said, "If the West want Railroads, let them build them themselves " But the moment men got to think- ing, and were allowed free debate, the scales fell from their eyes. And then the true leaders began to see the long night of "Rip- Van-Winkle- ism," already illumed with the hope of a coming dawn. But as yet no one man had spoken out, and there was no plan of action. On the contrary, the appearances were all exceedingly unfavorable to any con- certed plan of action. NORTH CAROLINA RAILROAD. T :s But during the Fall of 1818 Miss Dorothea L Dix came South on her wonderful work in behalf of the iDsane. There was then no Bail- road in all the rich Piedmont seo tioo, West of the line extending from Richmond, Virginia, to Au- gusta, Georgia, and she had to make her way in lumbering stage ooaohes as best she oould from point to point and then from oounty to county in hired vehicles, over rough dirt roads, in order to exam ine the jails and poor houses, where the destitute insane were then kept. Her object, of course, was to get plain facts, and so lay the truth be- fore the several legislatures, she was here in Charlotte at one of our fall courts, when John W. Eliis, the young Democratic leader from Rowan, myself and other members- elect to the General Assembly called on her. She received like attentions all through the State, and when she finally reached Raleigh, and began to give out the facts, good people were simply horrified at the report she stood prepared to make. The helpless beings were not only often confined, on slight charges, and frequently loaded with clanking chains, all on the idea then com- monly prevailing here, of there being no other practicable mode of treatment; but the jails and poor- houses themselves were horrid to look upon— almost invariably filled with filth and stench, and the occu- pants often indiscriminately crowd- ed together. This was with Miss Dix no mere sentiment, and she seemed to de spise affectation in any call to high Christian duty. Every thought was based on sound sense and direct business methods Her name was already world wide — her fame ri valing that of Howard and Romilly. She touched incidentally, and with- out the least offense, the general backwardness of the State, a State at once so desirable to live in, and so in need of development. The papers had little to say, but intelli- gent men and women of all classes and all seotions saw a crisis was upon us. If the work of Progress and Reform was onoe entered upon, there was no limit to the demands upon the cash and credit of the State, not then what it now is, nor what it soon became under the im- pulse of the bold legislation of the memorable session then near at hand. Still there was no intimation of any given line of movement, or even a chance of departure from the traditional "doigingdo-nothing polioy." Worse still, there was no money in the treasury, and the treasurer's report then showed the whole State revenue for general pur- poses was only the pitiful sum of of $96,000; a less sum by half than Charlotte and Mecklenburg oounty now annually collect and pay out. But here was this heroic woman asking, at one swoop, fully $100,000! And now to the battle. THE LEGISLATIVE SESSION OF 1848-'9. The two Houses met November 20th, 1848 Party feeling ran high. Taylor had been elected President, H HISTORY OF THE and Manly had carried the State; but che latter by so small a majority as to point to the ultimate triumph of "Little Davia" and the "Free Suffrage Democracy", if only the party harness could be kept in or- der, and well in place But here again was a singular coincident: Each house was just evenly tied; and each had several contested seats; and the famous one of Wad- dell against Berry, from Orange, actually extending through six weeks. What chance for Railroads and Lunatic Asylums in such a bodj! After a few days' balloting the Whigs got the Commons, with the generous, conciliating Robert B. Gilliam, of the strong slave county of Granville, for Speaker; and the Democrats secured the Senate, with the unyielding, unfaltering, ever re- liable Oalvin Graves from the no less negro county of Oaswell, as their Speaker and leader. Gov. Wm. A. Graham was the re- tiring Executive, and in his last message, he g&ve account of the deplorable condition of both the State and the people. He frankly admitted that -'the transportation facilities were the worst of any State in the Union " The Raleigh and Gaston Railroad had utterly broken down, and was near a stand-still; the Wilmington and Weldon was threatened with default; and the State in the lurch for both ! He cordially commended Miss Dix and her mission to the earnest consider- ation of the members; but even he could not yet recommend State aid. Still Gov. Graham did advise a sort of prospective line of railroad from Raleigh to Salisbury, and then to be extended on to Charlotte, and ultimately connect with the road ap- proaching that point from Charles- ton and Columbia For this pro- posed line he advised a limited State aid, but it was mainly to serve and save the dilapidated Raleigh and Gaston Hue, acd eo protect the State from expected loss Aud it was pointedly objected that the first and immediate effect of such a line would only be to build up towns and cities out of the State, with a mere chance of an Eastern exten- sion, thereafter, as suggested by the Governor William A. Graham, however, was the one man that then and at all times repre- sented the beat conservative pro- gress of the State; and if this was all he and his followers had to offer, the prospects were gloomy enough. THE 'DANVILLE CONNECTION:" A LION IN THE WAY. But it also speedily turned out that, in anticipation of the City of Richmond extending one of its nu- merous railroad lines on to Dan- ville, upon our Northern border, the Charlotte and South Carolina Railroad Company would carry their Road right on through the State; and would do this without a dollar of public money — State or County. They asked only a "naked charter." Then, what made matters doubly complicated was the fact that NORTH CAROLINA RAILROAD. every member along this pro- posed "Danville Connection" from Mecklenburg to Rockingham, stood prepared to fight to the very end for thid "Naked Charter." Mr Ellis, cf Rowan, had charge of the bill, and the same was intro- duce! the very day after the organ- ization of the Assembly. Tae most determined, ever ready, outspoken opponent of the "Dan- ville Connection" was the Hon. Ed- ward Stanly, member of the House from the couaty of Beaufort, in the extreme East. He was an ex-mem- ber of Congress — of some repute, and easily led the Whigs. He was an intense partisan, but was always a generous foe. Ha indulged in no demagogism; did not make set speeches; rarely published one, and never "spoke for Buncombe " His position was a peculiar one. No railroad talked of or contemplated was likely to reacn his home of "Lit- tle Washington;" nor did he have any scheme of his own to embarrass him. He therefore stood forth as a bold and really honest advocate for any really good North Carolina sys- tem that would likely build up our own State. This attitude gave great weight to all he said. He boldly avowed his purpose to fight, in every conceivable way, what he called the "Danville Sale " "But," he would often say, "the friends of this South Carolina and Virginia bondage were not to blame, so long as the North Carolina Assembly failed to give her people a real North Carolina system." '"This failing," he said, "I, too, go for Danville " Meantime, a bill embodying Gov. Graham's plan had been intro- duced, but had no strength. And yet all agreed "that something must be done," and there was a general demand for an advance movement all along the line of modern pro- gress. In the midst of all this doubt and despondency, the Hon. James 0. Dobbin, of Cumberland, the leader of the Liberal Democracy, appeared in the House from the death bed of his wife, and in the spirit of her last request made the speech of the ses- sion in favor of a State Asylum President Swain too had come down from Chapel Hill, and asked in the name of the young men of the State soma hope of progress. Miss Dix herself consented to appear before the House She entered, lean- ing on the arm of the President of the noble State University, then just rallying from a painful struggle of over fifty years. All this waB more than even the "Hard Shell Democrats" could stand. The Dix Bill passed by 101 to 10 in the House. This measure, of course, had no connection with Railroads, and yet the friends of the railroad all brea- thed freer. At last, one advance step had been taken, and at last, a breach had been made in the solid, eerried ranks of an Old Fogy, State Sectionalism, and a narrow-mis* called Jeffersonian Democracy. Miss Dix alludes to this in letters at the time. i6 HISTORY OF THE Immediately every body went to work to get up bills for some new measure; Short Line Railroads, Canals, Turnpikes, water-waye,PJank Roads, Law Reform?, Bights of Mar- ried Women, and hundreds of other bills poured in. Bat no one dared to tackle a regular Railroad System, requiting millions cf State money. At ,last the Hon. W. 8. Ashe, the Democratic Senator from New Han- over, later a member of Congress, and in after years President of the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad, Si urged to formulate a plan. Ir. Ashe came from a town that t did not have faith in Beaufort Harbor. Her keen-witted W. B. Meares had hit a commercial Bnag long before, when he said, "It storms at Beaufort 365 day a in the year" Mr Ashe's bill was a plain business Bcheme. It proposed the begin- ning of a sort of North Garolina system. This called for two mil- lions ol Slate money to build a rail- road from Charlotte to Goldsboro, two hundred and twenty five miles, provided one million of stock was otherwise taken. It left out for the present the Baleigh and Gaston re- lief idea; and all '•Buncombe 9 ' about both Beaufort Harbor and the Duck Town copper mines of Cherokee. This, of course, tended at first to weaken the bill; but the wisest men easily saw that the line was a good one; that it would gain strength on its own merit; and more, by not at tempting too much. Still no one attempted to lead off for the Ashe bill. So, at last, the friends of the "Danville Connec- tion" resolved to renew , the fight, for their "naked charter.? But Mr. EIHb, wbo had charge of the "Danville Bill." had been made a Judge., and things were all at sea and our councils much divided On the^fifteenth of January, 1849, we go!; our Danville Bill up; and Mr. Stanly, as usual, was baffling every effort to get a vote. I chanced to get the floor, and resolved to hold it till a vote was reached in some form. Mr. Stanly interfered with his regular taunts about selling out to Virginia and South Carolina, and referred to Richmond as only a "Great Slave Mart," and to Charles- ton aB "surviving solely on pas pretentions." This I resented and defied him to make us an offer of any Bill providing for a general North Carolina System, likely to pass, and with sufficient State »id to secure its completion, and I, for one, would vote for it; and that I believed a large majority of my "Danville" comrades would do the same. This was received with some applause by the main body of my "Danville" friends. But the Meck- lenburg and Rockingham members loudly protested. I now felt bold to repeat the pledge of the Danville Charter people to any fair and feasible North Carolina System. Ihis was answered by applause from all parts of the House, Mr.Stanly then sprung to his feet and, holding up the Ashe bill, said be would pledge himself and his Eastern friends to that bill, if I would do the same. I assented, and Mr. Stanly was about to pre- NORTH CAROLINA RAILROAD. t7 sent the Ashe bill to the House, when a question arose as to its probable place on the calendar. The session was now nearly two months gone, and there was danger in delay. Therefore Mr Williams, of New Hanover, suggested that the "Danville Bill" be laid upon the table, to enable some one to take up the Gov. Graham scheme; also known as the "North Carolina Rail- road Bill", and which was well up on the calendar J This was all done; and I, still holding the floor, the Journal shows — page 672 —that 'Mr. Barringer moved to strike out all after the enacting clause and to insert in lieu thereof a substitute." This substitute was the "Ashe Bill" The next day Mr. H. 0. Jones, Sr., who had now arrived, as the suc- cessor of Judge Ellis, from Rowan, moved to insert in the Ashe bill the several sections of the Graham bill to revive the Raleigh & Gaston road; and Mr. Wadsworth, of Graven, moved to insert like pro* visions for opening the Neuse river from Goldsboro to New Bern So the North Carolina Railroad bill, thus amended.came up on its second reading and was rejected by a vote of forty -nine to fifty- six But to those familiar with the actual feel- ing of the House, the result was not discouraging The usual motion was made to reconsider, and on the 17th it passed its second reading — sixty to forty -nine I Now came an- other scramble for amendments, some to make the bill mora accept- able in certain particulars, others to get in local improvements for which particular members were now anx- ious; and still others, to so load it down with State aid as to defeat it either here or in the Senate. These were generally voted down, and thus lost us a few weak supporters. And finally the third reading was set for the 18th, when it passed — sixty to fifty-two; the Mecklen- burg and Rockingham delegates still voting solid against it; D. W. Courts and T. W. K9en from the latter, and N. J. Harrison, J N. Davis and J. J. Williams from Meck- lenburg. THE BILL IN THE SENATE A TIE 3PEAKEB GRAVES. The chances in the Senate were all in doubt. That body was Damo- oratio: and up to this time, no special effort had been made to draw the old ship from its Jeffer sonian moorings. And such men as Henry W. Cannon, John H Drake, A. B. Hawkins, John Berry, George Bower, W. D. Bethel, George W Thompson, and John Walker were hard to lead and could not be driven. And above them all sat Speaker Calvin Graves, a recognized force from a county just under the nose of Danville, and devoted to Richmond. The speaker was tall, angular, and singularly ugly in feature: but his character was high; he was strictly inpartial, and with all courtesy in bearing. From first to lest no one could divine a lean- ing either way. But now a mighty effort was made to teach these born men of the plow and of the people a new tenet of Republican faith, a l8 HISTORY OP THE to what the State owed the public. Judge Romalus M Sanders and W. W. Holden both stepped forward and made strong appeals for the new departure. But all to no pur- pose And then some of the Whigs, left out by the Ashe Bill, stood aloof. From t^ese and other oauses^it was seen from day to day, that in all the preliminary skirmishes, as also in the final strug- gle, the result would be vezy close, and that all might hang on the "Baptist Enigma," Calvin Graves. By consent, the first and second readings were chiefly formal, to get the measure in shape, and to secure all sides and parties a just showing. This was after the old style, quiet, North Carolina way, when, as a hundred years before, Dissenters and Churchman were alike honoring King, Queen and Boyal Governor by naming towns, counties and mountain peaks after them, but at the same time, solemnly resolved to hurl them instantly from power "if they did not do exactly the fair thing" So, here, every courtesy was shown opposing parties and in- terests until January 25 th, when the bill came regularly up, after full debate, and w»s put on its third and final reading The Senate chamber was packed with visitors and strangers from all quarters to see the fate of the momentous struggle, now so full of weal or woe to the dear "Old North State," and which might settle here once for all the mighty ef- fort to awake North Carolina from the long sleep of her death-like "Rip-Van Winfeleism" Speaker Graves calmly announc- ed: "The Bill to charter the North Carolina Railroad Company and for other purposes is now upon its third reading. Is the Senate ready for the question?" Feeble responses said, 'Question." The roll call began ; and as feared, nearly every Demo- crat voted "No." The tally was kept by hundreds, and when the clerk announced twenty-two yeas and twenty- two nays, there was an awful silence The slender form of Speaker Graves stood up, and lean- ing slightly forward, with gavel in hand; he said: "The vote on the Bill being equal, 22 yeas and 22 nays, the Chair votes Yea. The Bill has passed its third and l^sfc read- ing. I have seen and read of many memorable and famous contests, and have witnessed many out breaks of popular applause; but never any- thing like that then following Even the granite Capitol seemed to shake for joy But this wbb not all There was teen no electric telegraph in North Carolina; no express lines; no mail delivery; but immediately, every man and woman, every boy and girl, became a sort of message bearer. News was hastened in every possible way to every nook and corner of the Old Common- wealth, and the one phrase was : "Speaker Graves has saved the State — the Railroad bill has passed." AFTEB CONTESTS AND INCIDENTS. Here really ends the "Historic Struggle" for the North Carolina- NORTH CAROLINA RAILROAD. i i Railroad All tubstquent events were mere incidents in the develop- ment of a modern transportation system. And some of these were : The peculiar canvas* for raising the million of private stock; the efforts to repeal the charter at the nest session of 1850-1 ;the grant of an other million of State aid; the spread of the spirit for improvement all over the State; the extensions both East and West; the renewal of the application for a charter for the "Danville Connection;" its refusal in 1858, sad its grant and building 1861-4; th-a effect of the Richmond and Danville System; and the Lease to that System - these were all important features, and invoked sharp contests. But they are all common p' ace, compared with the long sectional struggle that kepb North Carolina poor and purssless for nearly thre3- fourtha of a century, and then sud- denly came to an end in the Historic Epoch of 1848, by the grant of the Charter of the "Great Forth Caro- lina Railroad", and which has had the effect of making us one people, and started us, at last, on the sure ground of Industrial Progress and Commercial Success. The extension of the lease of our great central line may now be an open question, to stand on its own merits. 1 But its clear effect, originally, was to give North Carolina a leading North and South through line; and now we have no less than four North and South through lines; and vir- tually three East and West lines, snaking a real net- work of roads; and reaching almost every corner of the State. ; In my judgment, the begin- ning of all this wonderful life and activity had its hope and start in the singular, striking "Free Suf frage Campaign" of 1848; but it would all have been lost, and prob- ably for years to come, had it not been for the high patriotism, for the wonderful force of charac- ter of that plain North Carolina gentleman and Christian statesman, Calvin Graves, of G&sweU I hap- pen to know that Mr. Graves was appealed to on every side to follow Party tradition, even to rosentiag the personal hits of Mr. Stanly, al- ways at heart an anti slavery man. But Mr. Graves stood nobly for Duty ESROBS AHD CORRECTIONS. I might here close; but I find many popular errors afloat in regard to this great North Carolina work, and I tnink that most of them ca.n be traced to loosely-written Sforth Carolina History. In Moore's North Carolina School History, page 206, it i< stated that in 1848 —"Ex-Gov- ernor Morehead and others besought the Legislature for State aid in a great line from Charlotte to Golds - boro — two hundred and forty miles long:" And Cameron, in his North Carolina Handbook, page 284, con- founds the North Carolina Railroad with the Atlantic and North Caro- lina Railroad, and speaks of the former as "undertaken in 1853." Now the truth is that in 1848, Gov. Morehead was, body and soul, for the Danville Connection, Nor did he ever give up his first love for that HISTORY OF THE line, and es Hie as 1858 was elected to the Legislature mainly to secure the Danville Charter The speech of his life was made in reply to W. T. Dart oh and others, who still clung to the old-time sectional prejudices The charter was refused, bus the war soon opened the eyes of Mr. Dsrtoh and his friends But it is also true that, in due time, when it was feared that the million of private stock might not be raisad, and so save the charter, Gov. Morehead came forward as the one man to rally the masses to the work He did it, and was made the first President of the company. Then he also went to work to build the Eastern Extension to Beaufort Harbor; for long years a sad failure, but of late even "the Mullet Road" begins to pay. Such is the remark- able effect of this "Great. Backbone," the North Carolina Railroad, in bringing together all the diverse and diversified mioresfcs of our thriving North Carolina population. SOBia EElXIKISOJiNOES AND A PREDICTION. At once, after the charter was granted, the people took hope. They organized companies to begin the numerous works provided for by the legislature, as opening up rivers, digging canals, building turnpikes, plank roads, &c, &c. Emigration from the State was meas- urably stopped, and a large body of Bmali slave holders— our most enter- prising class — soon sprang up in all parts of the State. Better still, the mechanic arts were once more re- vived under the ad valorem Walker tariff of 1846 An old uncle of mine had about a dczen slaves, and nearly all were trained mechanics, choice cooks, etc. But wilh all this there was as yet no surplus money in North Carolina, nor was there any such device as a "Cons ruction Com- pany" in those primitive timee in North Carolina Up to January 1, 1850, the million of private stock had not been secured, and there was talk o( 'repeal" as a campaign ory in the coaiing election. Gertaiu liberal gentlemen agreed to resume the remaining stock, and called a meeting for organization at Salis- bury July 11, 1850, and trust to the immense assembly then gathered to relieve them Moreheacs and many other eloquent speakers were heard. But &.11 without real eff act. At last, old Ms. William Boyian, of Raleigh mounted the stand and said: "This morning I happened to recall that when I was a boy, the "spelling books' and 'Geographies' all said that the main staples of North Carolina were "tar, pitch and turpentine," and 1 asked to see one of the new books to find if there was any change They brought it to me, and there were the same old pic- tures ! My friends, I want to see this changed; and that, too, before this feeble frame goes to its grave. Do you say so? Shall it be done?" This brought the stock As instance of noble response, Dr. John Fink, of Concord, worth probably $4,000, took stock for $8,000, and made it good; two maiden ladies of Cabarrus, Betsey and Katy Burns, worth probably NORTH CAROLINA RAILROAD. $2,000 eacb, took $1000 each And thus the stock was at last taken; the company was then or gsniz^d; the surveys were duly made; the line wae laid out into four main divisions; and it was arranged to work on all at the same time. Then on July 11th 1851, the cere- mony of "breaking ground" was performed at Greensboro by Speaker Oalvin Graves, in the pres ence of &n immense assemblage. It wus then agreed that the entire work should be completed, Jan, 1st 1856. This would bave be„n done, but for the scourge of Yellow Fe- ver at Norfolk, preventing the de Lvery of the iron. But the last spike was driven Jan 29;h 1866; and on Jan. 30th 1856, the first train of cars ran through the whole length from Goidaboro to Charlotte, 223 miles, making about eight years after the charter was granted. To be sure this was slow work, oompared to later trans continental achievements. But the results have been simply marvellous. Clou Id the spirit of my exeellent friend Billy Boylan now return to his native State, he would see on the trade list of the day a greater variety of articles from North Carolina than from any other State in the Union, and he would find here more mills and factories thau in any other Southern State And he would see the products of the East and the Weat now daily interchanged from Wilmington, Moraheal City and Nag's Head in the East, to tne Cherokee and Tennessee line in the West People may well differ as to the authors of this great North Caro lina Railroad measure; but to one fact all assent: Had it not been for the casting vote of Calvin Graves, we would probably be "Old Rip" still. And now I predict : That in ten years she will be the Empire State of the South Atlantic slope m Vf .-•