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Library of
The University of North Carolina
COLLECTION OF
NORTH CAROLINIANA
ENDOWED BY
JOHN SPRUNT HILL
of the Class of 1889
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REPORT
HISTORICAL COMMISSION
GOVERNOR CHARLES B. AYCOCK,
1903-1905.
"The roots of the present lie deep in the past, and
nothing in the past is dead to the man who would learn
HOW THE PRESENT CAME TO BE WHAT IT IS."
—
Sttibbs.
RALEIGH:
E. M. UzzELL & Co., State Printers and Binders.
1904.
Digitized by the Internet Arciiive
in 2009 witii funding from
Ensuring Democracy tiirough Digital Access (NC-LSTA)
http://www.archive.org/details/biennialreportof190305nort
REPORT
HISTORICAL COMMISSION
GOVERNOR CHARLES B. AYCOCK.
To His E.veeUeucij, Govekxok Chaules B. Aycock.
For the information of yonr Excellency, of the General
A.ssembly, and of the public, ^\e beg to submit a brief report
of the work of the Historical Commission for the past two
years and of the work outlined for the future.
The people of ]S[orth Carolina are realizing more and more
every day that it is not safe to trust the future to the control
of a people who are ignorant of their past ; and that no peo-
])le who are indifferent to their past need hope to make their
future great. But even when this lesson is fully realized it
will be valueless tmless steps are taken at the same time to
preserve the material from which that past is to be made
intelligible to the ]U'esent and to the future. To accomplish
tliis work the General Assembly of 1003, at the instance of
the State Literary and Historical Association, created a com-mission
of five members to be appointed by the Governor to
collect, edit and publish valuable documents elucidating the
history of the State. The sum of five hundred ($500) dol-lars
annually is appropriated by the act to cover the expenses
of collecting and transcribing such documents, wdiich are
then to be issued by the State printer as public printing. On
the 20th of ISTovember, 1903, a meeting was held in Warsaw
^ and the commission was organized for work by the election
O
cr
4 REPORT OF HISTORICAL COMMISSION.
of W. J. Peele as chairman and R. D. W, Connor as secre-tary.
^
Such work as the commission is to do if it be properly
done will require great care and time. As yet, therefore,
but little more than a good beginning has been made.. The
commission has now in press its initial volume, which gives
a review of the "Historical and Literary Activities in
ISTorth Carolina" during the period from 1900 to 1905. The
record produced here is one in which the State has good right
to feel a pride and will appeal forcibly to the patriotism of
all good citizens. It will be the policy of the commission to
issue such a volume at the close of every five-year period, giv-ing
in each a summary and review of the historical and lit-erary
life of the period covered. The present volume, in addi-tion
to review of the historical and literary activities of the
past five years, contains the report of the committee of the
State Literary and Historical Association appointed to reply
to the statements of Judge Christian of Virginia, regarding
ISTorth Carolina's part in the War Between the States. This
committee was assisted in its efforts by the Historical Com-mission
which defrayed the expenses of two men to visit
Appomatox battlefield to obtain necessary data for the report
of the committee. Material for this v(ilume was compiled
and edited for the commission by AV. J. Peele and Clarence
LI. Poe, secretary of the State Literary and Historical Asso-ciation.
Under the direction of Col. Fred A. Olds of Raleigh,
the commission has had made and ]fiaced in the Hall- of Llis-tory
in the State Museum, handsome photographs of DeBry's
rare and valuable engravings illustrative of early Indian life
in N^orth Carolina. These pictures are the most nearly per-fect
illustrations of Indian life before the white man colo-nized
the continent in existence, and can be utilized to great
advantage by students of our early history. Arrangements
have also been perfected for reprinting the narratives of
REPORT OF HISTORICAL COMMISSION. 5
Barlowe, Lane and Hariot of the early discoveries and set-tlements
on the ^STorth Carolina coast, and these reprints
will be illustrated with the DeBrv pictures. The value of
these narratives in elucidating that period of our history is
of course apparent to all, but on account of the extreme rare-ness
and excessive price of such copies as are in existence,
they are now practically inaccessible to all but a favored
few. To multiply copies of these interesting works in inex-pensive
but attractive editions, we believe will stimulate a
wide interest in the history of the first English settlements
in America. In addition to this work the commission will
soon issue a reprint of the ''Proceedings and Debates of the
Constitutional Convention of 1788," together with the "Jour-nals
of the Constitutional Convention of 1789." Original
copies of these valuable debates and journals are so extremely
rare and costly that it is the desire of the commission to issue
a large edition of reprints in order to afford our people an
opportunity of becoming familiar with this brilliant chapter
in our history. The editorial work has been done for the
commission by Prof. E. P. Moses of Raleigh. The manu-script
is now ready for the printer. Finally, under the super-vision
of Dr. Dillard of Edenton, the commission has had
copied and prepared for publication the parish records of
St. Paul's church of Edenton, in which is found much valua-ble
information of the early Albemarle settlements.
The reprinting of rare and valuable historical works is of
great importance, but it is not the most important work for
the commission to do. The real work lies in collecting, tran-scribing
and editing original sources. The importance of
this work is equalled only by the almost insuperable difficul-ties
in the way. Many hundreds of invaluable historical
documents and records have been lost or destroyed through
the indifference of the State and the ignorance and careless-ness
of their possessors. These are hopelessly gone, but
6 REPORT OF HISTORICAL COMMISSIOTnT.
many others remain which should be preserved. Stuffed
away in dark corners and dusty archives, in pigeon-holes,
vaults, desks and cellars, all over IsTorth Carolina, are many
documents, records, private and public letters, and other man-uscripts,
which as matters now stand are of absolutely no
value to their possessors or to the public ; but if properly col-lected,
edited and published they will be of incalculable
value in throwing light on our history.
It is the duty of the Historical Commission to do this
work. All patriotic citizens should aid in it. Those who pos-sess
such documents, or know of their whereabouts, will ren-der
a service to the State by placing them, or copies of them,
in possession of the commission. All originals or certified
copies of valuable documents, church and court records,
manuscripts, letters, maps, old newspapers and portraits, or
of any other material of historical value, should be placed at
the disposal of the commission for the benefit of the public
and a safe repository provided for their preservation. All
material which cannot be parted with ])ermaueutly, if loaned
to the commission, will be returned after copies have been
made ; and provision will be made for copying such documents
as their owners are unwilling to part with at all. All ex-penses
connected with such work wall be met by the commis-sion.
The material after being carefully edited will be pub-lished
and due acknowledgment wall be made to all wdio aid
in this work. Those Avho have such material should not
store it away as the miser does his gold.
The history of our State can never be fully and accurately
written until this work is done. But it is a w^ork that cannot
be accomplished unless the commission meets with the earnest
support of ]3atriotic citizens who have the documents, or
information of the documents, which are desired. It is a
work which cannot be accomplished wdthin a year, nor within
two years, but is rather the work of a generation, and it is
REPORT OF HISTORICAL CO:MMISSIO:Sf. 7
earnestly to be hoped tliat no cessation will be permitted
until it is all done and thoronglil_y done, i^eed one urge
upon intelligent men the necessity for such work ? So long as
we neglect it we need not be surprised nor complain if the
"scorner shall sneer at and the witling defame us."
Respectfully submitted,
W. J. Peele^ Chairman.
R. D. W. Connor, Secretary.
j. d, hufham,
f. a. sondley,
Richard Dillard,
Commission.
THE NORTH CAROLINA
HISTORICAL COMMISSION
CREATION AND ORGANIZATION.
DUTIES AND POWERS.
PLANS AND PURPOSES.
PREPARED BY THE SECRETARY.
COMMISSIONERS
:
J. Bryan Grimes, Chairman, Raleigh.
W. J. Peele, Raleigh. Thomas W. Blount, Roper.
M. C. S. Noble. Chapel Hill. D. H. Hill, Raleigh.
R. D. W. CONNOR, Secretary, Raleigh.
A PEOPLE WHO HAVE NOT THE PRIDE TO RECORD THEIR
HISTORY, WILL NOT LONG HAVE THE VIRTUE TO MAKE
HISTORY THAT IS WORTH RECORDING.
1907.
No Man is fit to be Enteusted with Conteol op the Present
Who is Ignorant of the Past; and no People who are Indiffer-ent
TO their Past need hope to make their Future Great.
PREFATORY NOTE.
By the publication of this bulletin we hope to accomplish three
objects
:
1. To explain the organization, plans and purposes of the
North Carolina Historical Commission.
2. To interest you in our work.
3. To secure your co-operation.
Many of the States of the Union have created similar agen-cies
for the preservation and publication of their historical
soui'ces, all of which are diligently at work performing their
functions. Our State cannot afford to lag behind in this impor-tant
work. We wish, therefore, to receive the hearty co-operation
of all the people of the State who have an interest and a pride in
their splendid history. We cannot compel this very desirable
object; we can only appeal to their intelligence and patriotism.
We therefore call your attention especially to the section of
this bulletin relating to the collection and publication of our
historical sources. This section is directed as a personal appeal
to all persons who possess such documents. If you have any
such documents which you are willing to give or lend to the
Commission the Secretary will go, upon notice, to examine and
receive them, or to have copies made. If you know of the exist-ence
of such documents elsewhere, give us the information and
lend us your aid in securing them. If there is any spot of his-toric
interest and importance in your neighborhood that should
be properly marked, we will be glad to co-operate with you in
having it done. In any way in which the Commission can be of
service to encourage and stimulate interest in our history—local.
State or JSTational—among our people, we stand ready to do so.
We appeal to our people to aid us in our work, confident that
J^orth Carolina needs only to set forth her records in such form
as to be accessible to students of history to convince the world
that we have a history as interesting, as worthy and as inspiring
as an•y^ of our sister States. x t^ /-. r^i J. Beyan Grimes, Chairman,
W. J. Peele.
Thomas W. Blount,
M. C. S. Noble,
D. H. Hill,
Commissioners.
CHAPTER 767, PUBLIC LAWS OF 1903.*
AN ACT TO ESTABLISH AN HISTORICAL COMMISSION.
The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact :
Section 1. That an Historical Commission be and the same is
hereby established, whose duty it shall be to have collected from the
files of old newspapers, fr'om court records, church records and else-where
valuable documents pertaining to the history of the State.
Sec. 2. That the Commission shall consist of not more than five per-sons,
of whom three shall constitute a quorum. They shall be ap-pointed
by the Governor and shall hold office for a term of two years
from the date of their appointment. They shall serve without salary,
mileage or per diem.
Sec. 3. That the Commission shall be authorized to expend a sum
not exceeding five himdred dollars annually in the collection and
transcription of documents.
Sec. 4. That the documents collected and approved shall be pub-lished
by the State Printers as public printing, and shall be distrib-uted
by the State Librarian, under the direction of the Commission.
Sec. 5. That this act shall be in force from and after its ratifica-tion.
In the General Assembly read three times, and ratified this 9th day
of March, 1903.
* Brought forward in the Revisal of 1905 as chapter 96.
CHAPTER 714 OF PUBLIC LAWS OF 1907.
AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 96 OF THE REVISAL OF 1905,
RELATING TO THE STATE HISTORICAL COMMISSION.
The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:
Section 1. Tbat chapter ninety-six of the Revisal of one thousand
nine hundred and Ave be amended by striking out all after the word
"quorum," in section one, line three, and inserting in lieu thereof the
following : They shall be appointed by the Governor on the first day
of April, one thousand nine hundred and seven, who shall designate
one member to serve for a term of two years, two members to serve
for a term of four years, and two members to serve for a term of six
years from the date of their appointments, and their successors shall
be appointed by the Governor and shall serve for a term of six years
and until their successors are appointed and qualified : Provided, that
in case of a vacancy in any of the above terms the person appointed '
to fill such vacancy shall be appointed only for the unexpired term.
They shall seiwe without salary, but shall be allowed their actual
expenses when attending to their oflicial duties, to be paid out of any
funds hereinafter appropriated for the maintenance of said Commis-sion
: Provided, such expenses shall not be allowed for more than four
meetings annually or for more than four days at each meeting.
Sec. 2. It shall be the duty of the Commission to have collected
from the files of old newspapers, court records, church records, pri-vate
collections, and elsewhere, historical data pertaining to the his-tory
of North Carolina and the territory included therein from the
earliest times; to have such material properly edited, published by
the State Printer as other State printing, and distributed under the
direction of the Commission ; to care for the proper marking and pres-ervation
of battle-fields, houses and other places celebrated in the
history of the State ; to diffuse knowledge in reference to the history
and resources of North Carolina; to encourage the study of North
Carolina history in the schools of the State, and to stimulate and
encourage historical investigation and research among the people of
the State ; to make a biennial report of its receipts and disbursements,
its work and needs, to the Governor, to be by him transmitted to the
General Assembly; and said Commission is especially charged with
the duty of co-operating with the Commission appointed by the Gov-ernor
to make an exhibit at the Jamestown Exposition in making at
said exposition an historical exhibit illustrating the history of North
Carolina from the earliest times.
Sec. 3. Said Commission shall have power to adopt a seal for use
and official business ; to adopt rules for its own government not incon-sistent
with the provisions of this act; to fix a reasonable price for
6
its publications and to devote the revenue arising from such sales to
extending the worlc of the Commission ; to employ a secretai-y ; to con-trol
the expenditure of such funds as may be appropriated for its
maintenance : Provided, that at least one copy of its publications sliall
be furnished free of charge to any public-school library or public
library in North Carolina, State officers and members of the General
Assembly making application for the same through its constituted
authorities.
Sec. 4. Said Commission shall have an office or offices set aside for
its use by the Board of Trustees of the State Library in the State
Library building: Provided, that until such office or offices become
available said Commission may rent an office or offices, the rent to be
paid out of its maintenance fund.
Sec. 5. Any State, comity, town or other public official in custody
of public documents is hereby authorized and empowered in his dis-cretion
to turn over to said Commission for preservation any official
books, records, documents, original papers, newspaper files, printed
books or portraits not in current use in his office, and said Commis-sion
shall provide for their permanent preservation ; and when so sur-rendered,
copies therefrom shall be made and certified under the seal
of the Commission upon application of any person, which certification
shall have the same force and effect as if made by the officer originally
in charge of them, and the Commission shall charge for such copies
the same fees as said officer is by law allowed to charge, to be col-lected
in advance.
Sec. 6. For carrying out the purposes and objects of this act the
sum of five thousand dollars, or so much thereof as shall be needed
over and above all of the funds derived from the sale of the publica-tions
of the Commission and all of the fees collected imder section
five of this act, is hereby annually appropriated out of funds in the
hands of the State Treasurer not otherwise appropriated, and upon
order of the Commission the State Auditor is hereby empowered and
directed to draw his warrant for this sum upon the State Treasurer.
Sec 7. This act shall be in force fi*om and after its ratification.
In the General Assembly read three times, and ratified this the 8th
day of March, A. D. 1907.
THE NORTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL COMMISSION.
CREATION AND ORGANIZATION.
The North Carolina Literary and Historical Association, at
the annual meeting, January 23, 1903, adopted a resolution re-questing
the Legislature to pass an act creating an Historical
Commission, charged with the duty of having collected, edited
and published the historical sources of the State. The Legisla-ture
accordingly passed an act (chapter 767 of the Public Laws
of 1903) creating a commission of five members, appointed by
the Governor, to serve for a term of two years, without salary,
per diem or mileage. The act declared it their duty "to have
collected from the files of old newspapers, from court records,
church records and elsewhere valuable documents pertaining to
the history of the State," to have such documents published by
the State Printer as public printing, and "distributed by the
State Librarian, under the direction of the Commission." The
Commission was "authorized to expend a sum not exceeding five
hundred dollars annually in the collection and transcription of
documents."
Under this act the Governor appointed "W. J. Peele, of Ea-leigh;
J. D. Hufham, of Henderson; F. A. Sondley, of Ashe-ville;
Richard Dillard, of Edenton, and R. D. W. Connor, of
Wilmington. At a meeting of the Commission, ISTovember 20,
1903, at Warsaw, iT. C, Mr. Peele was elected Chairman and
Mr. Connor Secretary. Owing to the fact that the members
lived in widely separated parts of the State and that the law
expressly forbade the payment of expenses incurred in attending
to their duties, it was extremely difficult to secure a quorum at
meetings, as shown by the fact that o^ly one meeting was held
during the two years of the first term. Efficient work under such
circumstances was impossible; and, realizing the necessity of
having members who were nearer to each other, the Governor,
in^ 1905, appointed the following: W. J. Peele, of Raleigh;
J^ Bryan Grimes, of Raleigh; Thomas W. Blount, of Roper;
C. L. Raper, of Chapel Hill, and R. D. W. Connor, of Raleigh.
The Commission held its first meeting June 8, 1905, in the office
of the Secretary of State, at Kaleigh, and re-elected Mr, Peele
Chairman and Mr. Connor Secretary. Though better work was
accomplished than before, it soon became apparent that if the
work expected of the Commission was to be done properly a dif-ferent
and more effective organization was necessary. The Leg-islature
of 1907, therefore, amended the act of 1903 (chapter
714 of the Public Laws of 1907), increasing the duties and en-larging
the powers of the Commission. The members are now
appointed for terms of two, four and six years, their successors
to serve for six years. They receive no salary or per diem, but
are allowed "actual expenses when attending to their official
duties." The appropriation was increased to $5,000 and the
Commission was authorized to employ a salaried Secretary. The
members of the present Commission are J. Bryan Grimes, W. J.
Peele, Thomas W. Blount, M. C. S. Noble and D. H. Hill. At
a meeting of the Commission held in the office of the Secretary
of State, at Raleigh, May 20, 1907—the first meeting since the
creation of the Commission in 1903 at which all members were
present—Mr. Grimes was elected Chairman and Mr. Connor
was re-elected Secretary. An office was set apart in the State
Capitol for the Secretary and he was authorized to purchase
such equipment as was necessary for the work of the Commis-sion.
DUTIES AND POWERS.
The duties of the Commission are best stated in section 2 of
the act of 1907
:
Sec. 2. It shall be the duty of the Commission to have collected
from the files of old newspapers, court records, church records, pri-vate
collections and elsewhere historical data pertaining to the his-tory
of North Carolina and the territory included therein from the
earliest times ; to have such material properly edited, published by
the State Printer as other State printing, and distributed under the
direction of the Commission ; to care for the proper marking and
pi'eservation of battle-fields, houses and other places celebrated in the
history of the State ; to diffuse knowledge in reference to the history
and resources of North Carolina ; to encourage the study of North
Carolina histoiy in the schools of the State, and to stimulate and
encourage historical investigation and research among the people of
the State ; to make a bieimial report of its receipts and disbursements,
its work and needs, to the Governor, to be by him transmitted to the
General Assembly ; {?nd said Commission is especially charged with
9
the dutj' of co-oi>ei'ating with the Commission appointed by the Gov-ernor
to make an exhibit at the Jamestown Exposition in malting at
said exposition an historical exhibit illustrating the history of North
Cai'olina from the earliest times.
It will tkus be seen that the Historical Commission is expected
to do for the entire history of the State what Colonel William
L. Saunders and Chief Justice Walter Clark, by their monu-mental
labors in the editing and publication of ''The Colonial
Eecords" and "The State Kecords" of North Carolina, did for
the period prior to 1790. The great value of their work has been
recognized by students of American history throughout the
United States, and because of these volumes the Colonial and
Revolutionary history of ISTorth Carolina is beginning to receive
the recognition to which it is entitled. Before the publication
of these records it was fashionable among a certain class of
''historians" to ignore the first century and a half of ISTorth
Carolina history, or to mention it only to sneer. Such an atti-tude
now would condemn any author to deserved oblivion. But
it must be remembered that these volumes relate only to the
period prior to 1790. It is, therefore, peculiarly the duty of the
Historical Commission to continue this work for subsequent
periods, though the Commission is not limited to any particular
periods in its work.
The powers of the Commission are outlined in the act, in sec-tion
3, as follows
:
Sec. 3. Said Commission shall have power to adopt a seal for use
and official business ; to adopt rules for its own government not incon-sistent
with the provisions of this act ; to fix a reasonable price for
its publications and to devote the revenue arising from such sales to
extending the work of the Commission ; to employ a secretary ; to
control the expenditure of such funds as may be appropriated for its
maintenance : Provided, that at least one copy of its publications
shall be furnished free of charge to any public-school library or public
library in North Carolina, State officers and members of the General
Assembly making application for the same through its properly con-stituted
authorities.
TO COLLECT AND PUBLISH HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS.
The most important duty imposed upon the Historical Com-mission
is the duty of having collected, edited and published
"historical data pertaining to the history of jSTorth Carolina and
10
the territory included therein from the earliest times." These
documents are to be found in the files of old newspapers, court
and church records, public and private letters of prominent men,
diaries and journals, and manuscripts of all kinds which have
historical value. The importance of this work is equaled only
by the almost insuperable difficulties in the way. Many hun-dreds
of invaluable historical documents and records have been
lost or destroyed in I^Torth Carolina, or carried away from the
State to the archives and libraries of other States,* through the
indifference of the State and the ignorance and carelessness of
their owners. Most of these are, of course, lost forever, but
many others remain, which can yet be preserved. Stuffed aAvay
in dark corners, in desks and in cellars, all over I^orth Carolina,
and in other States are innumerable manuscripts, which in the
present situation are absolutely of no use to anybody, but if col-lected,
properly edited and published or otherwise made accessi-ble
to students, would be of incalculable value to students of our
history.
History cannot be written from tradition. Documentary evi-dence
is the foundation of accurate history writing. The col-lection
of such evidence as to the history of IS^orth Carolina and
her eminent men is the duty of the ISTorth Carolina Historical
Commission. The Commission, therefore, appeals to all pa-triotic
citizens who love the State and her magnificent history
to aid in this work. Do you own letters or other documents .of
historical value? Let the Commission have them and make,
them accessible to students. Do you know of the whereabouts
of other such documents ? Lend the Commission your assistance
in procuring them. If the owners of such documents do not
wish to part with them permanently, let them be placed with
the Commission as a loan, or let the Commission have copies
made. Originals or certified copies of valuable documents,
church and court records, letters, maps, newspapers, portraits
and pamphlets should be placed at the disposal of the Conimis-
* The catalogue of the manuscript collections of the State Historical Society of Wis-consin
shows that that Society has in its library at Madison a large collection of manu-scripts
relating to North Carolina, among them being 18 volumes of King's Mountain
Mss.; 3 volumes of Mecklenburg Declaration Mss ; 3 volumes of Mecklenburg Declaration
Miscellanies: 1 volume of North Carolina Mss.; 10 volumes of Rudolp-Ney (Peter S. Ney)
Mss. ; 7 volumes of Tennessee Mss., before Tennessee was separated from North Carolina;
and hundreds of other Mss.. relating to North Carolina in various collections. These
Mss. were collected in North Carolina and other Southern States by Dr. Lyman C.
Draper, author of "King's Mountain and its Heroes." The State of Wisconsin has
erected a magnificent building for the preservation of these treasures.
11
sion. All expense connected with such work will be met by the
Commission. Attention is here called particularly to the fol-lowing
section of the act of 1907
:
Sec. 5. Any State, county, town or other public official iu custody of
public documents is hereby authorized and empowered in his discre-tion
to turn over to said Commission for preservation any official
books, records, documents, original papers, newspaper flies, printed
books or portraits not in current use in his office, aijd said Commis-sion
shall provide for their permanent preservation ; and when so sur-rendered,
copies therefrom shall be made and certified under the seal
of the Commission upon application of any person, which certification
shall have the same force and effect as if made by the officer origi-nally
iu charge of them, and the Commission shall charge for such
copies the same fees as said officer is by law allowed to charge, to be
collected in advance.
Though "public documents" only are mentioned in this sec-tion,
the same care will be taken of valuable private papers that
may be given or loaned to the Commission. It should be borne
in mind that such gifts or loans are not made to the members of
the Commission as individuals, but as trustees for the State, and
that they will be preserved in the State archives by the State for
the benefit of students of our history. All such material, after
being carefully edited, will be published by the Commission or
otherwise made accessible, and due acknowledgment will be
made to all who aid in the work. Those who have such material
should not hoard it as the miser does his gold
!
It is perhaps not too emphatic a statement to say that there
is in the whole State of Worth Carolina not a single private
house suitable for the care and preservation of valuable histori-cal
documents. They can never be safe from ignorance, negli-gence
or fire so long as they remain in private hands, nor can
they be accessible to students. But, placed in the keeping of the
State, they will not only be made available for students, but
will also be certain of preservation. The office of the North
Carolina Historical Commission is in the State Capitol, a struc-ture
of solid granite, with not enough wooden material in it to
make a respectable bonfire, and is accordingly absolutely fire-proof.
All documents placed in the hands of the Commission
will not only be safe from fire, but will be filed and cared for
according to the best of modern methods. If placed with the
12
Commission as loans, they will always be subject to recall by the
owners ; if placed with the Commission as gifts, certified copies
under the seal of the Commission can be had upon application.
Already the Commission has been practically assured of several
such collections of great value.* It is not too much to expect
that those men whose papers are thus made accessible to students
will in the course of a few years enjoy enhanced reputations as
the direct result of this course.
Many a man who served his country well and faithfully, who
hoped for recognition by posterity and whose memory deserves
to live, has been forgotten and the influence of his life lost to
posterity because his family have hoarded his papers and letters,
which alone would furnish the data from which the historian or
biographer could write the story of his career. Thus many a
man's ambition to live in history has been frustrated by those
whose chief care should have been to preserve his memory.
The history of North Carolina and the biographies of our
distinguished men can never be written until such work has been
properly done. It should not be a matter for pride that no
biography of a ISTorth Carolinian has yet found its way into the
American Statesmen series, or the American Men of Energy
series ; nor should we find pride in the fact that no volume on
North Carolina has yet been published in the American Com-monwealths
series. These omissions cannot be charged to the
prejudice of publishers and historians against North Carolina;
they are due to the fact that North Carolinians have, until re-cent
years, failed to collect and preserve their historical sources.
Nor can the North Carolina Historical Commission complete
this work unless those who possess such material will give their
hearty co-operation. It is a work that cannot be accomplished
in a year, nor in two years, but is rather the work of a genera-tion.
It is earnestly to be hoped that no cessation will be per-mitted
until it is done, and thoroughly done. Need one urge
upon intelligent people the importance and necessity of such
work?
*Dr. J. G. de R. Hamilton, Associate Professor of History in the University of North
Carolina, is now editing for the Commission the letters of Governor Jonathan Worth,
placed at his disposal by Governor Worth's children. These will be published by the
Commission and will be the most valuable addition to our historical literature since the
completion of the State Records by Judg-e Clark. A large part of Governor Worth's
letters and,papers was destroyed by the burning of his house in Randolph county! For-tunately,
quite a collection was saved
!
13
The Commission earnestly appeals, therefore, to all patriotic
citizens to lend their aid and give to the Commission the benefit
of such information as they may have, or such suggestions as
they may desire to make. Any communication addressed to the
Secretary will receive prompt attention.*
TO ERECT MEMORIAL TABLETS.
"It shall be the duty of the Commission * * * to care
for the proper marking and presei'vation of battle-fields, houses
and other places celebrated in the history of the State."
A visitor traveling through ISTorth Carolina will look in vain
for any statue or monument, stone, bronze or marble tablet,
with a very few striking exceptions, commemorating the services
of eminent sons of the State, or marking the sites of historic
events. It is surely a striking commentary on the development
of civic pride and spirit among our people that in all the two
hundred and fifty years of our history the State has found but
one son to whom she has been willing to pay the tribute of a
statue! In the rotunda of the State Capitol are eight niches,
designed to hold the busts of eight eminent servants of the State.
These niches were completed nearly three-quarters of a century
ago, yet they are as empty to-day as on the day the Capitol was
finished. Is it possible that no son of JSTorth Carolina, in all
these years, has rendered such service to the State as to merit
from the State the tribute of such a bust? The North Carolina
Historical Commission, at least, will not admit it, and one of
the objects to which its attention will be directed will be to fill
these eight niches with handsome marble busts and to place on
the walls of the Capitol memorial tablets commemorating the
services of our forefathers. The Commission further desires to
•The history of the records of the meeting at Charlotte in May, 1775, which has given
rise to the great controversy over the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence is surely
a warning sufficiently pointed to sustain the appeal the Historical Commission makes for
the proper care and preservation of valuable private collections. The story, as told by
Tompkins in his History of Mecklenburg County, runs somewhat as follows: "The
official papers [of the 20th of May meeting] were burned in the fire which destroyed
John McKnitt Alexander's house, in 1800."
"A copy of the original was sent before the burning of the house to the historian
Williamson, in New York, and it, together with the other sources of his history, were
[sic] destroyed by a fire in that city."
"The papers from which [Francis Xavier] Martin compiled his history [of North
Carolina] were sent to France and have disappeared."
"The data for Garden's anecdotes [containing a copy] has [sic] been lost."
"No copy of the Cape Fear Mercury of June, 1775, [which contained an account of the
proceedings at Charlotte] has ever come to light, except the copy which Governor Martin
sent to London, and which Mr. Stevenson, of Virginia, borrowed and did not return."
14
co-operate with any local or State organization or with any per-son
in setting up on historic sites in any part of North Carolina
suitable commemorative stones, with suitable ceremonies.
TO ENCOURAGE THE STUDY OF NORTH CAROLINA HISTORY
IN THE SCHOOLS.
The law also charges the Historical Commission "to encour-age
the study of IS'orth Carolina history in the schools of the
State." Surely it would be difficult to find a more important or
a more inspiring work than to teach the children of ISTorth Caro-lina
to know their State and to develop in them a desire to serve
the State, based upon knowledge of her Past and Present, and
an intelligent forecast of her Future. It is perhaps not going
too far to say that such knowledge is absolutely essential to
intelligent public service. 'No man is fit to be entrusted with
control of the Present who is ignorant of the Past ; and no peo-ple
who are indifferent to their Past need hope to make their
Future great. The proper study of history will keep us in mind
of the continuous development of civilization and warn us of the
danger of living in the Present without regard to the Past.
The Present is born of the Past and is the parent of the Future.
No people can long endure who continually neglect the lessons
of the Past. We have been accustomed to boast in ISTorth Caro-lina
that we have made history and other people have written it.
It marks a distinct advance in our intellectual life that this
boast is now heard less frequently than formerly. A people who
have not the pride to record their history will not long have the
virtue to make history that is worth recording. We are begin-ning
to see the importance of writing our history. More work
of this sort is now being done in the State than at any former
period. This work will make it possible to teach the history of
North Carolina to our children.
The history of North Carolina will soon be taught in every
school in the State. Text-books should be used, but pupils,
especially in the high schools, should be led to extend their
studies beyond the narrow covers of the text-book. The North
Carolina Historical Commission desires to co-operate with the
teachers of the State in this work, furnishing such material as
will enable them to do it intelligently. To meet this need the
15
Commission will issue leaflets giving contemporary accounts of
important events, and reprints of important historical docu-ments,
such as may be used in the class-room. These leaflets will
he distributed among the schools of the State, to those teachers
who apply to the Secretary of the Commission for them. It is
hoped that they will develop interest in the history of the State
and stimulate students to continue their investigations into
larger fields.
TO ENCOURAGE HISTORICAL RESEARCH AND
INVESTIGATION.
The Historical Commission is to seek to stimulate and encour-age
historical research and investigation among the people of
the State. The only practical method by which this can be done
is through local and county associations and patriotic societies.
Such organizations can do much to stimulate interest in the his-tory
of the State, in the care and preservation of local archives,
in the collection of documents illustrating social, industrial and
educational conditions, in the preservation of church and family
records, in the marking of historic sites and the celebration of
anniversaries of historic events, and by general co-operation with
the work of the Historical Commission.
How much such work is needed was revealed by an investiga-tion
made by Mr. Clarence H. Poe, Secretary of the North
Carolina Literary and Historical Association, in 1904. Mr. Poe
sent to every comity superintendent of public schools in the
State a postal card, with return card attached, asking these ques-tions
:
1. Has the history of your county ever been written?
2. Are there any organizations for the study of local and State
history in your county?
There were ninety-seven superintendents in the State. Thirty-two
of them did not feel enough interest in the matter to reply.
Of the sixty-five who replied, seven answered the first question
affirmatively; fifty-eight in the negative. To the second ques-tion
one replied in the affirmative ; sixty-four in the negative.
There is not a county in North Carolina that does not have a
history well worth recording. There is not a county in North
Carolina in which there are not documents of historical impor-
16
tance and interest. There is not a county in North Carolina in
which these documents are not being destroyed by the dozens
annually for want of some efficient county historical association
to preserve them. The Historical Commission will gladly co-operate
with any persons who desire to form such associations or
to develop those already in existence.
WHAT THE COMMISSION HAS DONE.
Though considerably handicapped by inadequate powei'S and funds
under the act of 1903. the Commii--sion was not altogether idle, as
the following results show
:
The Commission has printed the fcjilowing:
Report of the North Carolina Historical Commission to Governor
Charles B. Aycock, 1903-1905.
Advanced Sheets of Literary and Historical Activities in North
Carolina, 1900-1905, Part I. relating to the Work of the State Literary
and Historical Association. Compiled and edited by W. J. Peele and
Clarence H. Foe.
Advanced Sheets of Literary and Historical Activities in North
Carolina. 1900-1905, Part II, relating to the Reports of Historical
Organizations in North Carolina. Compiled and edited by W. J.
Peele and Clarence H. Poe.
Five Points in the Record of North Carolina in the Gi'eat War of
1SG1-1865. The Report of the Committee appointed by the State Lite-rary
and Historical Association, 1904, to reply to the Charges of
Judge George L. Christian, of Virginia.
A State Library Building and Department of Archives and Records.
An address delivered by R.' D. W. Connor before the State Literary
and Historical Association at Raleigh, November 15, 190G. Reprinted
from "The North Carolina Booklet.''
Some Notes on Colonial North Carolina, 1700-1750, by J. Bryaii
Grimes. Reprinted from "The North Carolina Booklet."
The Beginnings of English-America : Sir Walter Raleigh's Efforts
to Plant an English Colony on Roanoke Island, 1584-1587. By
R. D. W. Connor. Prepared for distribution at the Jamestown Expo-sition.
The Commission has the following in press:
Literary and Historical Activities in North Carolina, 1900-1905.
Compiled and edited by W. J. Peele and Clarence H. Poe.
Documentary History of Public Education in North Carolina,
1800-1840. Compiled and edited by Charles L. Coon.
The Commission has had copied for publication :
Records of St. Paul's Vestry, Edenton, N. C, from January 3,
1714-1715, to October 15, 1776. Copied under the direction of Dr.
Richard Dillard.
The Private Letter-books of Governor Jonathan Worth. Compiled
and etlited by Dr. J. G. de R. Hamilton.
The Official Letters from the ExecutiAe Letter-liooks of:
18
Governor Richard Dobbs Spaight, 1792-1795.
Governor Samuel Ashe, 1795-1799.
Governor William Richardson Davie, 1799.
Governor Benjamin Williams, 1800-1802.
Governor David Stone, 1808-1810.
The Commission has had placed in the Hall of History, under the
direction of Colonel Fred A. Olds, Director, the following pictures
illustrating the histo_ry of North Carolina
:
Three pictures of treaty with Tuscarora Indians.
Ten pictures illustrating colonial Edenton.
Three pictures illustrating colonial Wilmington.
Two pictures illustrating colonial Bath.
Two pictures of Hayes.
Seven pictures illustrating War of the Regulators.
One picture of General Robert F. Hoke.
One picture of Andrew Johnson's birth-place.
One picture of "The New Bern Gazette," containing the Mecklen-burg
Resolves of May 31, 1775.
One picture of Richard Cogdell's letter relating to the above copy
of "The New Bern Gazette."
Twenty-six pictures illustrating Indian life in North Carolina.
Painted by John White in 1586 and photographed from the engrav-ings
of Theodore DeBry, 1590.
The Commission has had painted by Mr. Jacques Busbee pictures
of the site of Sir Walter Raleigh's Roanoke Colonies as they appear
to-day. These pictures are on exhibition- at the Jamestown Exposi-tion.
The Commission appropriated one hundred dollars (.$100) to aid
the History Committee of the North Carolina Conmiission of the
Jamestown Exposition in making an historical exhibit at the James-town
Exposition.
17
SeAen pictures of the site of Sir Walter Raleigli's Roauolie Colonies
as they appear to-day, painted by Mr. Jacques Busbee. These pictures
were exhibited at the Jamestown Exposition, and are now on exhibi-tion
in the Hall of History.
Respectfully submitted,
J. Bkyan Grimes,
Chairman.
W. J. Peele,
M. C. S. Noble,
Thomas W. Blount,
D. H. Hill.
R. D. W. Connor, Raleigh, N. C,
Secreary.
December 1, 1908.
18
RECEIPTS AND DISBURSEMENTS.
RECEIPTS.
Annual appropriation, 1906-1907 $ 5,000.00
Annual appropriation, 1907-1908 5,000.00
Refunded by Smith-Premier Typewriter Company 10.25
.$ 10,010.25
1907. DISBURSEMENTS.
Aug. 1. R. D. W. Connor, July salary $ 166.00
Capital City Telephone Company, telephone rent, 2.00
3. W. G. Briggs, postmaster, postage 10.00
6. C. L. Coon, copying 175.00
Royal & Borden Furniture Company, office fur-niture
42.75
8. J. G. deR. Hamilton, copying 35.00
12. Miss Mary Hilliard Hinton, Jamestown appro-priation
40.00
Alfred Williams & Co., office supplies 4.10
21. Smith-Premier Typewriter Company, one type-writer
102.50
Mrs. M. S. Calvert, copying 98.78
22. Jacques Busbee, expenses to Jamestown 27.50
28. Thomas W. Blount, expenses attending meeting, 17.90
R. D. W. Connor, expenses attending meeting. .
.
23.55
29. Capital City Telephone Company, telephone rent, 4.00
W. .1. Peele, expenses attending meeting 12.00
31. William WeaA'er, wages July 27 to September 1, 11.07
R. D. W. Connor, August salary 166.66
Sept. 2. Weathers & Perry, picture frames 5.50
9. Wharton & Tyree, prints of John White pictures, 6.50
Alfred AVilllams & Co., office supplies 12.10
J. G. deR. Hamilton, copying .50.00
Fred A. Olds, placards and pictures 1.75
R. D. W. Connor, expenses to Washington City.
.
33.70
20. Dobbin & Ferrall Company, carpet 39.63
Fred A. Olds, frames for pictures at Jamestown. 72.47
24. North Carolina Booklet 10.00
Capital City Telephone Company, telephone rent, 12.00
Oct. 1. R. D. W. Connor, September salary 166.66
William Weaver, September wages 10.00
2. Southern Express Company, express charges... 1.35
7. Mrs. M. S. Calvert, copying 79..56
24. W. G. Briggs, postmaster, postage 10.00
Nov. 1. R. D. W. Connor, October salary 166.66
19
1907.
Nov. 1. William Weaver, October wages $ 10.00
2. M. C. S. Noble, expenses attending meeting. ... 4.90
9. R. D. W. Connor, expenses to Charleston, etc . .
.
56.90
J. G. deR. Hamilton, copying 50.00
14. W. G. Briggs, postmaster, postage 10.00
Mrs. M. S. Calvert, copying 49.86
19. Miss Mary Hilliard Hinton, Jamestown appro-priation
50.00
24. Historical Commission, bust of William A. Gra-ham
1,000.00
Historical Commission, office equipment 1,500.00
Alfred Williams & Co., office furniture 120.40
30. Historical Commission, appropriation for copy-
• ing 365.33
R. D. W. Connor, November salary 166.66
William Weaver, November wages 10.00
J. G. deR. Hamilton, copying 102.80
Mrs. M. S. Calvert, copying 100.80
W. G. Briggs, postmaster, postage 10.00
T. H. Briggs & Sons, office supplies 2.00
Capital City Telephone Company, telephone rent, 12.00
Dec.
20
1908.
Mch. 24. A. R. Andrews, copying $ 7.50
30. Miss Mabel L. Webber, copying 32.60
April 1. J. M. Porter, copying 57.00
Alfred Williams & Co., office supplies 21.40
Mrs. M. S. Calvert, March salary 75.00
William Weaver, March wages 10.00
R. D. W. Connor, March salary 16G.G6
Miss Carrie Strong, copying 37.26
22. E. H. Baker, copying 28.44
23. Capital City Telephone Company, telephone rent, 8.00
29. Historical Commission, express charges 1.10
Sherwood Brockwell, boxing two typewriters... 1.25
May ]. R. D. W. Connor, April salary 166.66
Mrs. M. S. Calvert, April salary
^
75.00
William Weaver, April wages 10.00
7. Miss Carrie Strong, copying 45.00
16. R. D. W. Connor, expenses to Edenton, etc 40.00
28. Miss Mabel L. Webber, copying 20.00
Capital City Telephone Company, telephone rent, 15.00
June ]. R. D. W. Connor, May salary 166.66
Mrs. M. S. Calvert, May salary 75.00
Miss Carrie Strong, copying 45.00
William Weaver, May wages 10.00
6. Alfred Williams & Co., office supplies 65.10
W. G. Briggs, postmaster, postage 25.00
July 1. R. D. W. Connor, June salary 166.66
Mrs. M. S. Calvert. June salary 75.00
William Weaver, June wages 10.00
2. Jacques Busbee, appropriation for Roanoke
paintings 200.00
Miss Carrie Strong, copying 60.12
16. Alfred Williams & Co., office supplies 2.15
North Carolina Booklet 10.00
E. M. Uzzell & Co., printing 7.75
18. Miss Julia Royster, photographs 2.00
25. Commercial National Bank, B. F. Stevens &
Brown 9.68
Aug. 1. R. D. W. Connor, .July salary 166.66
Mrs. M. S. Calvert, July salary 75.00
AVilliam Weaver, July wages 10.00
.Jacob Merritt, drayage 1.00
Miss Mabel L. Webber, copying .32.00
4. W. G. Briggs, postmaster, postage 25.00
10. Commercial National Bank, Art Metal Construc-tion
Company 128.50
William A. McKoy. copying 3.00
21
An:-'. 17. William A. McKoy. eopyins; $ 1.00
IS. Cjipital City Telephone Company, telephone rent. lu.OO
Miss Duncan C. Winston, copying : 11.80
!.'(). 1{. D. W. Connor, expenses to Ashl)oi'o 0.50
Sept. 1. .Mi-s. M. S. Calvert, August salary 7.1.00
R. I). W. Connor. Au.gust salary l()O.G(i
William Wt\iver. August wages 10.00
Miss .Julia Hoyster, photograph 1.00
Southern E.vpress Company, express charges. . . . .lO.iO
1'. Alfred Williams iV: Co., othce supplies 7.40
]!>. Virginia State Lihrary. copying 0.1.'.")
News and Ohservei- rnhlishing Company, copy
of Year Book 1.00
2S. II. I). W. Connor, expenses to Greenshoro 0.80
Oct. 1. :Mrs. ,^I. S. Calvert, Septemher salary 7.'i.00
K. I). W. Connor. Sei)teml)er salary KiO.OO
William Weaver, September wages lO.OO
Southern Express Comp.-my. express charges... 7.30
14. Miss Carrie Strong, copying 10.20
Wharton & Tyree, photographs 8..jO
Commercial National P»ank. 13. F. Stevens iV:
Brown 0.00
r.t. W. (J. Briggs, jiostmaster, i)ostage ^.j.OV)
Connnercial National Bank. B. F. Stevens iV:
Brown :!4.10
Nov. 4. -Afrs. M. S. Calvert, October salary 7.'i.lH)
William Weaver, October wages 10.00
It. I). W. Connor, October salary l(;(].(i()
Alfred Williams & Co.. otiice supplies 3.40
1 1 . Copyright fee 1.00
10. Connnercial National Bank. B. F. Stevens &
Brown 22.10
.30. Mrs. M. S. Calvert. November salary 7."'>.00
William Weaver, November wages 10.00
11. I). W. Connor, November salary 10<).00
Miss Mabel L. Webber, copying 11.00
Alfred Williams & Co.. office supplies 20.4.1
Total disbursements .$ 10,000.00
.^^^^.^<^