North Carolina booklet : great events in North Carolina history

              Vol. XVII OCTOBER. 1917 No. 2
North Carolina Booklet
GREAT EVENTS
IN
NORTH CAROLINA
HISTORY
PUBLISHED QUARTERLY
BY
THE NORTH CAROLINA SOCIETY
DAUGHTERS OF THE REVOLUTION
RALEIGH. N. C.
CONTENTS
PAGE.
A Federalist of the Old School 61
By Aechibai,d Hendebson.
The First Secession Movement 90
John Washington Bennett, Famous North Carolinian 96
By Gen. W. A. Smith.
Biographical and Genealogical Memoranda 102
SINGLE >fUMBERS 35 CENTS $1.00 THE YEAR
Entered at the Postoffice at Raleigh. N. C, July 15. 1905, under the Act of
Congress of March 3, 1 879
The North CaroUna Booklet
Great Events in North Carolina History
Vohime XVII of The Booklet will be issued quarterly by the
North Carolina Society, Daughters of the Revolution, beginning July,
1917. The Booklet will be published in July, October, January, and
April. Price $1.00 per year, 35 cents for single copy.
Editor :
Miss Maey Hilliard Hinton.
BioGRAPHiCAi, Editor:
Mrs. E. E. Mofpitt.
VOLUME XVII.
Isaac Shelby: Revolutionary Patriot and Border Hero—Part II
—
Dr. Archibald Henderson.
Revolutionary Heroines of Mecklenburg—^Miss Violet Alexander.
Glimpses of Plantation Life in the Old South—By an Eye Witness,
History of Rowan County—Dr. Archibald Henderson.
History of Agriculture in North Carolina
—
Hospital Service in the War Between the States
—
Historic Homes, Part VIII : "Bookwood"—^Mr. William C. Ervin.
Historic Homes,' Part IX : "Creek-Side"—Mr. William C. Ervln.
Shocco and Jones' Springs: Old-fashion Resorts in Warren County —^Judge Walter A. Montgomery.
History of the Continental Line of North Carolina—Mr. Frank
Nash.
Historical Book Reviews will be contributed by Mrs. Nina Holland
Covington. These will be reviews of the latest historical works
written by North Carolinians.
The Genealogical Department will be continued, with a page de-voted
to Genealogical Queries and Answers as an aid to genealogical
research in the State.
The North Carolina Society Colonial Dames of America will fur-nish
copies of unpublished records for publication The Booklet.
Biographical Sketches will be continued under Mrs. E. E. Moffitt.
Old letters, heretofore unpublished, bearing on the Social Life of
the different periods of North Carolina History, will appear here-after
in The Booklet.
This list of subjects may be changed, as circumstances sometimes
prevent the writers from keeping their engagements.
The histories of the separate counties will in the future be a
special feature of The Booklet. When necessary, an entire issue
will be devoted to a paper on one county.
Parties who wish to renew their subscriptions to The Booklet
for Vol. XVI are requested to give notice at once.
Many numbers of Volumes I to XVI for sale.
For particulars address
Miss Mary Hilliard Hinton,
Editor North CaroUna Booklet,
"Midway Plantation," Raleigh, N. O.
Vol. XVII OCTOBER, 1917 No. 2
'(ohe
North Carolina Booklet
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Published by
THE NORTH CAROLINA SOCIETY
DAUGHTERS OF THE REVOLUTION
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editob :
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biogeaphical editob :
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OFFICERS OF THE NORTH CAROLINA SOCIETY
DAUGHTERS OF THE REVOLUTION
1914-1916
begent :
Miss MARY HILLIARD HINTON.
vice-begent :
Mes. MARSHALL WILLIAMS.
HONOEABY EEGENTS
:
Mbs. E. E. MOFFITT.
Mes. T. K. BRUNER.
becoeding secbetaby :
Mbs. GEORGE PELL.
' coebesponding secbetaby :
Mes. PAUL H. LEE.
teeasubeb :
Mes. CHAS. LEE SMITH.
eegisteae :
Miss SARAH W. ASHE.
custodian of belics :
Mbs. JOHN E. RAY.
CHAPTER REGENTS
Bloomsbury Chapter Mes. Hubeet Haywood, Regent
Penelope Barker Chapter. Mbs. Patbick Matthew, Regent,
Sir Walter Raleigh Chapter Mbs. I. M. Meekins, Regent.
General Francis Nash Chapter Miss Rebecca Camebon, Regent.
Roanoke Chapter Mbs. F. M. Allen, Regent.
Mary Slocumb Chapter Miss Geobgie Hicks, Regent.
Colonel Thomas Robeson Chapter Mrs. Annie Buie, Regent.
Tuscarora Chapter Mes. C. H. Hunter, Regent.
Foundee of the Noeth Caeolina Society and Regent 1896-1902
;
Mes. SPIER WHITAKER.*
Regent 1902:
Mbs. D. H. hill, SB.t
Regent 1902-1906:
Mbs. THOMAS K. BRUNER.
Regent 1906-1910:
Mbs. E. E. MOFFITT.
•Died November 25. 1911.
tDied Dewmber 12. 1904.
^ -^
.' ^
2 ^
5 ^
The North Carolina Booklet
Vol. XVII OCTOBER, 1917 No. 2
A Federalist of the Old School
(CONCLUDED)
By Abchibald Hendebson.
"The most perfect model of a lawyer that our bar has produced."
Archibald DeBow Mubphey.
XIV.
During the summer of 1801 there appeared a notice in
The North Carolina Mercury and Salisbury Advertiser
(August 6) announcing the recent wedding of "Archibald
Henderson, Esq., Member of Congress, to the amiable Miss
Sally Alexander, both of this town." The union of the Hen-derson
and Alexander families was doubly sealed by the mar-riage
of William Lee Alexander, a native of Mecklenburg
County, brother of Archibald Henderson's wife, with Eliza-beth
Henderson, Archibald Henderson's sister. In describ-ing
his acquaintances in Salisbury during the last decade of
the century. Dr. Charles Caldwell says : "Henderson had two
sisters, by far the most accomplished women of the place.
One of them was married (Fanny, to Spruce
Macay), and the other (Elizabeth) single. I sincerely ad-mired
both . . . and passed in their society many de-lightful
hours." Sarah and William Lee Alexander, whose
brother was Dr. IsTathaniel Alexander of Mecklenburg, a
graduate of Princeton, afterwards Member of Congress and
Governor of !N^orth Carolina, were the children of Colonel
62 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET
Moses Alexander^ first High Sheriff of Mecklenburg County
and Colonel of the County Militia until his death in 1772,
and his wife, Sarah, daughter of William and Jane Taylor
Alexander. This Jane Taylor Alexander was descended
from John Alexander, the youngest son of the first Earl of
Stirling, who married Miss Graham of Gartmore, Scotland,
and emigrated to America in 1659, settling in Stafford
County, Virginia, in 1660. Moses Alexander was of the
Caledon branch established in Ireland; and his gTandmother
was, with several sons, among the first to purchase and colo-nize
a large tract of land in Cecil County, Maryland. She
fled with others from Munster, the Earl of Stirling having
suffered attainder, together with several thousand, from, earls
to yeomen, during the Dublin Parliament of James II.* The
three brothers, Moses, Nathaniel, and Daniel Alexander,
shortly after 1750 settled on Rocky River, then in Anson
County, afterwards Mecklenburg, now Cabarrus. Nathaniel
Alexander, who held the rank of Captain in the North Carc^
lina militia, under the command of Col. Hugh Waddell, was
active in protecting the Rowan frontiers against Indian in-cursions
during the French and Indian War. William Lee
Alexander, a student at Princeton, a lieutenant in the Con-tinental
line during the Revolution, and a very distinguished
lawyer in his day, resided for some years in Salisbury; and
his sister, Sarah, was doubtless living in his home at the time
of her marriage to Archibald Henderson.
f
Three children blessed the happy union of Archibald and
Sarah Alexander. An early sorrow of their married life was
the loss in infancy of a son, named Roger Griswold for Mr.
Henderson's warm friend and colleague in Congress, the dis-tinguished
Federalist of Connecticut. Two children who
survived were Archibald and Jane Caroline. Archibald, who
was born on January 8, 1811, was educated at Yale (1826-28)
and at the University of Virginia (1828-31), from which
Johnston : History of Cecil County. The title was restored, about a century-later,
to Nathaniel Alexander, of Londonderry, Ireland, for distinguished service
in the British East Indian Army.
tJohn Steele Henderson: History of the Alexanders. "Charlotte Observer,"
May 11, 1902.
A FEDERALIST OF THE OLD SCHOOL 63
latter he was graduated in the School of Moral Philosophy,
July 16, 1831. On December 14, 1840, he was married to
Mary Steele Ferrand, a granddaughter of General John
Steele. Jane Caroline, a fascinating belle of ISTorth Carolina
society, was married in IsTovember, 1845, to the Hon. JSTa-thaniel
Boyden, a native of Massachusetts, afterwards Mem-ber
of Congress from iN'orth Carolina, and Associate Justice
of the North Carolina Supreme Court.
About eight o'clock on Monday night, October 21, 1822,
Archibald Henderson, at the age of fifty-four, died at his
home in Salisbury. In honor to his memory, the Justices of
the Supreme Court of ITorth Carolina and the members of
the bar in attendance upon the Court unanimously adopted
the following resolutions
:
Resolved, That we have heard, with' the deepest sorrow, of the
melancholy event which, since the last term, has taken from our
country its distinguished citizen and deprived us of our much
esteemed associate, Archibald Henderson, Esq.
Resolved, That as a token of respect for the memory of our de-ceased
friend, we will wear crepe on the left arm for one month.*
In the Ealeigh Register of N"ovember 1, 1822, the follow-ing
obituary notice appeared
:
DIED,
At Salisbury, in this state, after a very short illness, Archibald
Henderson, Esq., Counsellor at Law. This Gentleman's death is a
public loss, for he was one of the most distinguished Members of the
Bar in the State, and a man of unblemished integrity and honour. To
his family his loss is irreparable, whether we consider the breach
in their domestic happiness, or the deprivation of his eminent talents.
On Wednesday, October 23, at a meeting of the directors
of the State Bank of North Carolina, Salisbury Branch, of
which Archibald Henderson had long been president, the fol-lowing
preamble and resolutions were introduced by Col.
Thomas G. Polk and unanimously adopted
:
The Directors of this Branch Bank, deeply penetrated with the
magnitude of the loss which the institution, in common with the
*Hillshorough Recorder, January 15, 1823.
64 THE NORTH CAKOLINA BOOKLET
State, has sustained in the death of their much respected President,
Archibald Henderson, Esquire, do hereby resolve,
—
1st. That they have ever entertained the highest veneration for
his virtues, his talents and his integrity.
2d. That, in testimony of the high regard they feel for his char-acter,
they will, together with the other officers of this Bank, wear
crape on the left arm for the space of thirty days.
3d. That the proceedings of this meeting be published in the
Western Carolinian, under the direction of the Cashier.
From the minutes.
Junius Sneed, Cashier*
At Lincolnton, on Friday, October 25, the members of the
bar in attendance on the Superior Court, held a memorial
meeting attended by John R. Donnell, the presiding judge.
At this meeting, over which the Hon, Joseph Wilson, Solicitor
General, presided, with James Graham as secretary, the fol-lowing
resolution, of several, was passed
:
Resolved, as the unanimous and deeply felt sense of this meeting,
that we consider the death of Archibald Henderson a severe afflic-tion,
not only to his professional brethren and friends, but to all who
knew him in the wide range of his usefulness. Recollecting his pure
and spotless integrity, his profound erudition in the science of the
Law, his unequalled powers as an Advocate, the distinguished
urbanity of his manners, and his frankness in imparting to others
from the vast store of his legal learning ; and remembering how
uniformly his transcendent talents and virtues have been devoted to
the best interests of our country, his death we deplore as a great
national loss.f
XV.
In all that has been said, thus far, of the man, his life,
character, and political record, no account has been given of
his career as a lawyer. Yet it was as a lawyer that he left a
profound impression upon his contemporaries and bequeathed
to posterity a repute that may well be regarded as enviable.
After the lapse of a century, it is extraordinarily difficult to
pierce the veil of the past and see the gTeat lawyer in his
habit as he lived. Had he been Supreme Court Justice, his
written opinions would serve as memorial of his legal leam-
*Western Carolinian, Salisbury, October 29, 1822.
\ Western Carolinian, November 12, 1822. For this extract, I am indebted
to Dr. Stephen B. Weeks.
A FEDERALIST OF THE OLD SCHOOL 65
ing and mental attainments. But as advocate and counsellor,
he must rely for renown solely upon the judgment of his con-temporaries.
Like the actor who (before the days of phono-graphs
and motion pictures) must rest his fame on the im-mediate
impressions created upon the hearts and minds of
his audience in the theater, the lawyer achieves high repute
almost exclusively through the opinions of his gifts as orator,
logician, scholar, and advocate, handed down through the
graphic pictures of contemporary record, vivid memory, or
constant and authentic tradition, caught in the purlieus of the
law courts or in the halls of justice. In recognition of this
immitigable limitation, the effort will here be made to give a
faithful picture of Archibald Henderson, the advocate and
legal counsellor, as mirrored in the minds and hearts of his
contemporaries.
"Who now knows anything of Archibald Henderson, famil-iarly
known as 'Baldy' Henderson fifty years ago?" once
asked the late Col. R. B. Creecy. "He was the great lawyer
of his time in ISTorth Carolina. . . . And yet, gTcat as he
undoubtedly was, interesting as was his private and personal
history, and full of useful lessons as was the whole story of
his life, we have never seen any mention of him in any en-during
record." Tortunately there has been preserved in an
"enduring record," not an account of Henderson's life and
career, which is nowhere to be found, but an estimate of his
character as lawyer, citizen, and publicist. As an analysis of
moral qualities and an appraisal of civic virtues, this essay in
character-delineation is unsurpassed in the entire range of our
ITorth Carolina literature. It is the obituary account, or
more accurately speaking, essay in psycho-analysis, published
at the time of Henderson's death by his close friend and warm
admirer, Judge Archibald D. Murphey, over the pen name of
"Philo Florian."* Four years later, the same brilliant pub-
*Sketch of the Character of Archibald Henderson as a Lawyer. Raleigh 8tar,
January 10, 1823 ; Salisbury Western Carolinian, January 14, 1823 ; Hills-borough
Recorder, January 15, 1823 ; Newbern Carolina Sentinel, February 15,
1823. This sketch is copied, with some inaccuracies, in J. H. Wheeler : His-torical
Sketches of North Carolina, II, 386-390. For an exact draft, see The
Papers of Archibald D. Murphey, edited by W. H. Hoyt, II, 312-319.
66 THE NORTH CAEOUNA. BOOKLET
licist, one of the most distinguislied scholars and broad-visioned,
forward-looking men ever born in ISTorth Carolina,
drew a gallery of admirable pen-pictures of North Carolina
characters in his justly famous oration at Chapel Hill (June
27, 1827). In this address at the University of North Caro-lina,
Judge Murphey describes Archibald Henderson as "upon
the whole, the most perfect model of a lawyer that our bar
has produced." In an interesting letter commenting upon
that address, Chief Justice John Marshall, who for thirty-odd
years presided over the Federal Circuit Court and had often
heard Archibald Henderson at the bar, pronounced him as
being "unquestionably among the ablest lawyers of his day."
Upon another occasion, Marshall pronounced Henderson "one
of the great lawyers of the Nation." At the time of Hender-son's
death, because of the universal recognition of his emi-nence
as a lawyer, Judge Murphey urged that a monument
to his memory bc' erected by the bar of the State. This monu-ment,
which bears the memorable epitaph written by Mur-phey,
was so erected, and is still standing in the old "Luth-eran
Graveyard" at Salisbury. It is believed to be the only
monument to a lawyer as such, ever erected in North Caro-lina
and by the bar of the State.
That shrewd student and astute critic of men and affairs,
David L. Swain, in describing the bar of North Carolina,
cited Archibald Henderson, Thomas Ruiiin, Archibald D.
Murphey, William Gaston, Joseph Wilson, Judge SeaweU,
Gavin Hogg, and Moses Mordecai as the greatest lawyers
of the day practising before the Supreme Court. Archibald
Henderson is characterised as "probably the most eloquent
and successful advocate in criminal offenses, who ever ap-peared
at the bar in North Carolina."* As an orator, he
has been spoken of as one who "sustained the character of
the profession for legal learning and general literature."
The Hon. Burton Craige, who had often seen and heard
Henderson at the bar, once said that "he never spoke
*D. L. Swain : Early Times in Raleigh. 1867.
A FEDERALIST OF THE OLD SCHOOL Q7
more than an hour in any case, but that every word that he
uttered was an argument, every sentence eloquence in its
true sense, the power of conviction." If his contemporaries
and the immediately succeeding generation are to be credited,
Mr. Henderson must have especially excelled as an advocate.
John W. Moore, the historian of North Carolina, says that he
was "one of the very greatest advocates North Carolina has
produced. . . . Mr. Henderson classes as an advocate
with William Hooper, Governor Davie, Judge Badger, and
Governor Bragg, and was perhaps of larger influence as a
practicing lawyer than any of them."
When a young man, Henderson incurred an injury to the
trachea, which impaired the naturally fine tone of his voice.
Despite this handicap, says Dr. Caldwell, "the strength and
compass of his mind, his sagacity and penetration, and his
power in analysis and argument, and readiness in debate were
undiminished, and they all increased with his advancement
in years and experience, until he ultimately rose to the head
of the bar in North Carolina, and retained that station to the
close of his life." Men have spoken of "the impetuous tor-rent
of his eloquence which captivated juries" ; and Judge
Murphey, whose languag'© is more nicely discriminating, thus
details his attributes as an advocate: "His style and manner
of speaking at the bar were extremely impressive.
He always came to the trial of causes well prepared ; and if
the state of his health or his want of preparation were likely
to jeopardize his reputation in the management of his client's
case he would decline the trial until a more favorable time.
The courts in which he practiced, and his brother lawyers,
understood the delicacy of his feelings upon this point so well
that they extended to him the indulgence he required, and a
knowledge of this part of his character gave confidence to his
clients and attracted crowds of people to hear his speeches.
When he rose at the bar no one expected to hear common-place
matter; no onei looked for a cold, vapid, or phlegmatic
harangue. His gTeat excellence as a speaker consisted in an
earnestness and dignity of manner and strong powers of
68 THE NOETH CAEOUNA BOOKLET
reasoning. He seized one or two strong points, and these he
illustrated and enforced. His exordium was short and ap-propriate;
he quickly marched up to the great point in con-troversy,
making no manoeuvre as if he were afraid to ap-proach
it, or was desirous of attacking it by surprise. The
confidence he exhibited of success he gradually imparted to
his hearers ; he grew more warm and earnest as he advanced
in his argument, and seizing the critical moment for enforc-ing
conviction, he brought forth his main argument, pressed
it home and sat down."
The Hon. William A. Graham, who wrote excellent bio-graphical
studies of Archibald D. Murphey, George E. Bad-ger,
and Thomas Ruffin, and was eminently qualified to pro-nounce
judgment upon the merits of ITorth Carolina's lead-ing
lawyers, places Archibald Henderson, William Gaston,
and George E. Badger at the head of the list. Of Thomas
RufBn, he says that for the period from 1818 to 1825, "he
had hardly a rival in the bar of the Supreme Court of the
State or the Circuit Court of the United States, except Archi-bald
Henderson and Gaston." Of George E. Badger, he
says : "At the bar of the State he wore the mantle of Gaston
and Archibald Henderson for a much longer period than
either, worthily and well, with no diminution of its honors."*
The late Judge R. R. Heath, who was familiar with Hender-son's
history and personal characteristics, described him as
"the greatest lawyer the State had produced before Mr. Gas-ton's
time" ; and the late Captain Charles Price, a lawyer of
eminence, described him as "in his day the greatest lawyer of
the State."
Certain distinctive qualities marked his career as a lawyer,
and characterized his advocacy at the bar. "The sublime
idea that he lived under a government of laws was forever
uppermost in his mind," says Judge Murphey, "and seemed
to give a coloring to all his actions." Respect for the court
and its officers, reverence for and obedience to the laws ; deli-
*Cf. W. J. Peele : Lives of Distinguished North Carolinians, 113, 206, 290,
293.
A FEDERALIST OF THE OLD SCHOOL 69
cate conscientiousness in always endeavoring to live up to the
highest ideals of the legal profession, in no matter how slight
a case; intellectual and emotional sympathy with the men-tality
and sentiments of the average man—these were con-spicuous
attributes of his character. Perhaps nothing en-deared
him so much to the common people or so effectually
won their hearty commendation as the oft-expressed convic-tion
that "the laws were made for the people, and they should
be interpreted and administered by rules which they under-stood,
whenever it was practicable: that common sense be^
longed to the people in a higher degree than to learned men,
and to interpret laws by rules which were at variance with
the rules of common sense, necessarily lessened the respect of
the people for the laws, and induced them to believe that
courts and lawyers contrived mysteries in the science merely
for the purpose of supporting the profession of lawyers." He
was the inveterate foe of legal pedantry; and in his own
practice he translated with rare clarity the mysteries of the
law into the simple and expressive language of daily life.
XVI.
The fatal defect of much biographical literature, espe-cially
of the briefer sort, is the pointlessness of its panegyric.
The subject furnishes the text for a cold catalogue of formal
virtues; and the result is that the differentiating qualities,
the distingTiishing traits, of the individual character are
wholly lost sight of. Replace the name of the person bio-graphed
by that of another character in the same sphere of
activity, and, save for a few dates, the colorless virtues and
glittering generalities associated with the original remain
equally applicable to the substitute. In order to escape even
a semblance of this singular, yet patent, defect of brief
biography, a number of personal incidents descriptive of
character, loosely called "anecdotes" by an earlier genera-tion,
may serve to give some conception of the deeper instincts
and larger emotions of Archibald Henderson, the man.
To THE NOETH CAROLINA BOOKLET
Genuine insight into the character of an individual may be
gained through a knowledge of the persons and characters
who incarnate that individual's highest ideals. ISTo man who
ever lived in ITorth Carolina, William Hooper not excepted,
surpassed Archibald Henderson in exalted admiration for
George Washing-ton and profound veneration of his memory.
Doubtless his first view of Washington at Salisbury in 1791,
when he himself was in his early twenties, left upon him an
impression so deep and moving as to tinge the whole fabric
of his life and thinking.
When Fisher Ames, the distinguished Federalist, was given
the congenial task of penning the answer of Congress to
Washington's last message in December, 1797, he gave free
play to his ardent Federalism and flowing rhetoric, lauding
Washington's administration and pronouncing an eloquent
eulogy of his life and services. The carping and bitter Vir-ginian,
William Branch Giles, supported by Nathaniel Ma-con,
Andrew Jackson, and nine others, voted nay on the
answer. Among other things, Giles ungraciously said that if
others regretted the retirement of the Father of his Country,
he for his part wished him to retire at once ; and furthermore,
that he thought the country would not suffer, as many men
could fill the office of President with credit and advantage.
The story is still told in Granville County that, when the news
of Branch's speech against Ames's answer reached Williams-boro,
Archibald Henderson, deeply incensed, declared that
Giles's vote and sentiments "sprang from the oscillation of a
wicked heart."
An incident which occurred at Salisbury testifies with
equal vividness to Archibald Henderson's reverential esti-mate
of the greatness of Washington. In preparing a series
of toasts for the very elaborate July 4th celebration at Salis-bury
in 1803, General John Steele gave to the fourth toast
the following form: "To our illustrious fellow citizen
George Washing-ton and the long list of Statesmen and Heroes
who cooperated with him in the establishment of American
independence." The toast was altered to read, simply, "To
A FEDERALIST OF THE OLD SCHOOL 71
the Memory of Greneral Washington"—in deference to the
earnest representations of Archibald Henderson, who urged
that "to connect with that name any other name or descrip-tion
of characters would derogate from the respect due to it."
Archibald Henderson was a great lover of learning, a dili-gent
reader of the classics, and a profound student of law in
its wider bearing upon the course of human history. In his
richly stored library, teeming with works of history and the
classics, were scores of volumes by the greatest legal authori-ties
of Great Britain.* At the age of twenty-seven, along
with General William R. Davie and Mr. James Hogg, the
two men chiefly instrumental in the founding and location of
the University of ISTorth Carolina, Archibald Henderson was
elected a member of the Dialectic Society upon its organiza-tion
in 1795. Throughout his life he remained a warm ad-herent
of the University of I^orth Carolina—although his own
son studied at Yale and at the University of Virginia. When
the General Assembly of 1800, as the result of the great hos-tility
to the University aroused by the litigation under the act
of 1794 to recover unsold confiscated lands, repealed this act
and also the act of 1789, gTanting escheated property, Archi-bald
Henderson was deeply distressed, and wrote to Walter
Alves (Jan. 2, 1801) : "Alas! alas! the Legislature of Ho.
Carolina to wage war against the arts and sciences ! I blush
for my native State. My dear sir, this Phrenzy must be
checked or our Country will be lost for ever. That spirit
which agitated Europe for ten years and continues to con-vulse
it seems to be exercising its all powerful energy in the
U. States and particularly in ISTo. C."f
During his lifetime, Archibald Henderson was not only
held in popular esteem as a "philanthropic and worthy citi-zen,"
but was revered as being "remarkable for his benevo-lent
qualities." The late Dr. Theodore Bryant Kingsbury,
the author of an unpublished sketch of Granville County,
*An appreciable portion of this library, the books bearing Archibald Hender-son's
book-plate, is still preserved.
tin 1809 Archibald and Leonard Henderson each subscribed one hundred
dollars to aid in the completion of the South Building at the University.
72 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET
says of him : "But few of the many able lawyers of our State
ever so impressed their fellow men for uncommon powers as
did this illustrious and admirable man. He was amiable
and true and noble. . . ." Moore, the historian of ISTorth
Carolina, says : "He was one of the very ablest lawyers ever
seen in the State and possessed virtues to match his intelli-gence."*
Many instances are recorded of his kindly and
humane disposition, and his ready sympathy for those in
sorrow and distress. Especially was this true in the case of
the downtrodden, the afflicted, and the oppressed, whose
heritage and environment cooperated in gTeat measure to
make of them lawbreakers and criminals.
Upon one occasion he was summoned to make the long
journey from Salisbury to Smithiield, to prosecute a man for
murder; and he was offered an extraordinarily large fee for
his legal services. When he arrived at the court house, the
prisoner's wife, ,who was dressed in black, saw and immedi-ately
recognized him. Knowing by reputation his almost
uncanny skill as a criminal lawyer, the poor woman gave a
shriek of horror, and throwing up her hands, exclaimed
:
"My God, Mr. Henderson, have you come all this long way
to convict my poor husband of murder ?"
So touched and affected was he by this moving plea that
he bowed his head, and abandoning the case, immediately left
the court room. Mounting his sulky, he drove, in silent medi-tation,
all the way back to Salisbury.
f
Archibald Henderson was vigorously opposed to slavery,
and believed that the intellectual, economic, and social prog-ress
of the South would continue to be seriously retarded so
long as the negro remained enslaved. The sentiments in re-gard
to slavery voiced by his friend, William Gaston, at the
University of North Carolina in 1832, might well have been
uttered by himself: "It stifles industry and represses enter-prise;
it is fatal to economy and providence; it discourages
History of North Carolina, I, 428, footnote.
tThis Incident is erroneously associated, by Judge W. H. Battle, with the
name of Leonard Henderson.
A FEDERALIST OF THE OLD SCHOOL 73
skill, impairs our strength as a community, and poisons
morals at the fountain head." He heartily endorsed the prin-ciples
of the American Colonization Society, the fundamental
purposes of which were to encourage emancipation and to aid
the emigration of the emancipated to Africa. It was be^
lieved that, as soon as an asylum should be found for the freed
negroes, emancipation would steadily increase. The society
began to establish branches in North Carolina in 1819, the
work being under the direction of the Rev. William Meade, of
Virginia, afterwards famous as Bishop. In Raleigh, accord-ing
to the Rev. Mr. Meade's report to the society, he found
"the same unanimity of sentiment (as at Fayetteville) . The
Supreme Court being in session, many of the judges and
lawyers were collected from the different parts of the State,
who cordially joined in the society and testified to the gen-eral
prevalence of good will to it throughout the State. At a
meeting for forming a constitution, the highest talents, au-thorities
and wealth of the State were present, and unani-mously
sanctioned the measure."* Both Archibald and Leon-ard
Henderson were vice-presidents of the Raleigh Society
(1819), of which Governor Branch was president ; and Major
Pleasant Henderson was a vice-president of the Chapel Hill
Society (1820), of which the Rev. Joseph Caldwell, Presi-dent
of the University of North Carolina, was president.
f
So successful was Archibald Henderson in the pleading of
a cause that at times he seemed to throw over his hearers an
almost hypnotic spell, causing a temporary remission of judg-ment
almost compelling conviction. A well-authenticated
anecdote is related in connection with a case, in which he
secured a verdict of acquittal for the defendant who was
accused of stealing a pig. After the successful termination
of the trial, Mr. Henderson asked his client
:
"Well, sir, what is the truth about stealing this pig ?"
—
to which his admiring client, with naive earnestness, replied
:
*Mss. minutes, Board of Managers American Colonization Society. Report of
Meade, June 21, 1819.
tS. B. Weeks : Anti-Slavery Sentiment in the South. "Publications of the
Southern History Association," II, 2 ; April, 1898.
74 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET
"To tell jou the truth, Mr. Henderson, before I heard you
speak in my defense, I thought I had stolen that pig. But,
sir, I frankly acknowledge now that you have fully convinced
me of my own innocence."
The reputation he bore as a repository of legal lore some-times
had amusing consequences. An interesting character
in Stokes County was the Lutheran-Moravian divine, Gottlieb
Schober, a shrewd old German, who enjoyed considerable
local repute as a rough-and-ready lawyer, and twice repre-sented
his county as Senator in the State Legislature. Upon
one occasion a prospective client came to Schober and solicited
his legal advice.
"The fee, mine friend," said Schober, "is five dollars."
On receiving the fee, the thrifty old German stuffed the
money into his purse, snapped the clasp, dropped the purse
into his pocket, and then leaning eagerly forward, said with
great earnestness:
"You haf paid me for my legal advice, mine friend, and
now I gif it to you. Go out of here, get on your horse, and
ride as fast as you can to Salisbury. You go to see old Paldy
Henderson. My legal advice to you, mine friend, is: What-ever
old Paldy Henderson tells you to do
—
you do."
About the year 1815 a wide-spread network of crime, in
the way of counterfeiting money and altering bank bills,
spread over Western ISTorth Carolina. The center of this ne-farious
industry was in Rutherford County; and citizens of
some prominence were said to have been implicated in the
conspiracy. The terror of the counterfeiters was the gTeat
solicitor, Joseph Wilson, a man of "iron will, determined
purpose, and massive intellectuality." For some years the
counterfeiters flourished to an extent which baffles modern
comprehension, and public opinion in condemnation of their
practices was exceedingly difficult to arouse. "Early in 1822
indictments came thick and fast against the leaders of the
band for 'deceit' and 'fora:erv,' and they employed Baldy
Henderson, the astute criminal lawyer and peerless advocate,
A FEDEEALIST OF THE OLD SCHOOL 75
to defend tliem. He seized upon every pretext for continu-ance,
and urged removal of the cases to different counties
from those where the presentments originated. When their
friend and counsellor, Mr, Henderson, died in October of the
same year, before having secured their acquittal, these strong
desperate men wept like children, declaring that 'Baldy Hen-derson
was their only hope of escape from the ha ads of Joe
Wilson, the prosecutor.' "*
Archibald Henderson had an immense legal practice, be-fore
the Federal Circuit Court, presided over by John Mar-shall,
before the Supreme Court of the State, and in the Su-perior
Courts. In important cases, men of the stamp of
Waightstill Avery, William Duffy, Archibald D. Murphey,
Frederick Nash, William Gaston, Henry Seawell, Thomas
Euffin, and Gavin Hogg were associated with him; and he
and Gaston crossed swords upon more than one memorable
occasion in the halls of the Supreme Court. Henderson's
greatest legal victories, it is believed, were made without the
assistance of counsel, and his power in clearing some des-perate
criminal from the clutches of the law seemed to be
almost akin to wizardry. One of his best remembered
achievements is the clearing of the infamous desperado,
Nixon Curry, a notorious thief and murderer. In the eyes
of his friends, Curry, who was utterly fearless, appeared as
a hero; and the case, when it finally came up for trial at
Morganton at the Spring term of the court in 1821, filled the
court room with a dense and excited throng.
"Baldy Henderson conducted the defence in a forensic effort of
great adroitness and power. He commenced by frankly admitting
that the prisoner's character was blackened by every crime known to
the law, but reminded the jurors that they were under the sanctity
of an oath to try him for the particular offence of which he was
accused, and no other. He also appealed to them to divest them-selves
of prejudice and dismiss preconceived opinions. As a slave
was not allowed to testify in a court of justice the evidence of the
negro who had seen Curry just previous to the killing of (Ben)
*F. B. McDowell : Some Types of Early Days. "Charlotte Dally Observer,"
December 12, 1897.
Y6 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET
Wilson, was excluded ; and Curry while in jail or in hiding, having
married Dovey Caldwell, effectually silenced her as a witness, the
wife being debarred by law from giving testimony against her hus-band.
Without these two important witnesses, the State could not
make out a very strong case, and the jury returned a Scotch verdict,
of guilty, but not proven.
"After the termination of the trial, the sheriff accompanied Curry
to the room of the attorney who had secured his acquittal, and in
order to show liis appreciation Curry emptied a pocket full of gold
upon the table and begged his advocate to help himself. Without any
ceremony, Mr. Henderson swept the whole amount into the drawer
;
and when Curry mildly suggested that the charge was pretty steep,
'Old Baldy' is reported to have emphatically answered : 'No, it will
take every dollar to wash my hands clean of your infernal ras-cality.'
"*
Archibald Henderson had unbounded reverence for the
law, and implicit faith in the essential virtue and justice of
the courts. He always carried a cane with ivory head upon
which was a silver plate, bearing the inscription which h©
held as his mottp: Fiat Justitia Ruat Coelum^—"Let justice
be done, though the heavens fall." His son was astonished to
learn one day that, although he was esteemed a great lawyer,
he had never taken the precaution to make a will. When the
matter came up for discussion, Mr. Henderson summarily
disposed of the question with the quiet assurance
:
"My son^ the law makes the best will."
XVII.
Two pen-pictures from the same hand, the one gTavely
formal, the other intimate and personal, will survive as vital
contemporary estimates, sincere in feeling, classic in expres-sion.
The one is the inscription upon the beautiful monu-ment
over his gTave in Salisbury
:
In Memory of
Archibald Henderson
to whom his associates at the Bar have erected
this Monument
to mark their veneration for the character of a Lawyer
who illustrated their profession by the extent of his learning,
and the
"F. B. McDowell : 8o7ne Types of Early Days, ibid.
A FEDERALIST OF THE OLD SCHOOL T7
unblench'd integrity of his life:
of a Man
who sustained and embellished all the relations
of Social Life
with rectitude and benevolence:
of a Citizen
who, elevated by the native dignity of his mind above the
atmosphere of selfishness and party, pursued
calmly, yet zealously, the true interest of his country.
His loss was felt with a sincere, general and
unmixed Sorrow.
Decessit XXI Die Octobris
Anno Domini MDCCCXXII, ^.t. suae LIV.
The other portrait is the opening paragraph of the essay of
"Philo Florian"
:
"I became acquainted with Archibald Henderson in the year 1803,
and from that time to the time of his death, I looked to him as a
model of that perfect character in the profession of the law which
all his brethren should be ambitious to imitate. From him, judges
might learn wisdom and discretion, and lawyers the dignity of their
profession and the high duties which it imposes. I here speak only
of his professional character ; that which he exhibited to his country
for more than twenty years, with a force and effect that ought to be
remembered as long as a reverence for our civil institutions shall be
cherished. No man could look upon him without pronouncing him
one of the great men of the age. The impress of greatness was upon
his countenance ; not that greatness which is the offspring of any
single talent, or moral quality ; but a greatness which is made up by
blending the faculties of a fine intellect with exalted moral feelings.
Although he was at all times accessible, and entirely free from
austerity, he seemed to live and move in an atmosphere of dignity.
He exacted nothing by his manner ; yet all approached him with
reverence, and left him with respect. The little quarrels and con-tests
of men were beneath him : their bickerings, their envyings, their
slanderings, and all the workings of their little passions kept at a
distance from him : and I have often seen him discomfited at the
bar, when contending for his clients, in cases where the little pas-sions
only had play. His was the region of high sentiment ; and
there he occupied a standing that was preeminent in North Carolina.
He contributed more than any man since the time of General Davie
and Alfred Moore, to give character to the bar of the state, and to
impress upon the people a reverence for their courts of justice. His
career at the bar has become identified with the history of North
Carolina, and his life and his example furnish themes for instruc-tion
both to gentlemen of the bench and to his brethren of the bar.
May they study his life and profit by his example !"
78 THE ]SrORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET
APPENDIX.
Speech of Archibald Henderson, of jSTorth Carolina,
Opening the Debate on the Judiciary Bill in the
House of Representatives.*
On Monday, February 15, 1802, Mr. Davis called for the
order of the day, on the Judiciary Bill from the Senate. On
this day, several motions for postponement or adjournment
were lost.
On Tuesday, February 16, the great debate was opened by
the speech of Mr. Archibald Henderson, of ]!»[orth Carolina,
as follows:
Mr. Henderson. I should not rise to offer my opinion
on the great question now before the committee, were I not
placed in a situation different from that in which I have been
since I have had the honor of a seat in this House. The
legislature of the State of Horth Carolina, one of whose rep-resentatives
I am on this floor, have seen proper to instruct
their Senators, and to recommend to their representatives in
Congress, to use their exertions to procure a repeal of the law
passed the last session of CongTess, for the more convenient
organization of the courts of the United States ; and as the
bill on your table has for its object the repeal of this law, and
as / shall probably vote against its passage, a decent respect
for the opinions of those who have framed and sent forward
those resolutions, demand that I should give the reasons
which influence my conduct.
And here, Sir, I cannot forbear lamenting extremely that
I should unfortunately be placed in a situation where the
highest obligations of duty compel me to act in opposition to
the wishes of that community to which I immediately belong.
It is certainly of great importance that as public function-
The text of Archibald Henderson's speech, as here given, Is reproduced from
a rare volume, entitled : DEBATES In the Congress of the United States on the
BILL for repealing the LAW "for the more convenient organization of the
courts of the United States," During the First Session of the Seventh Congress,
and a List of the Yeas and Nays on that Interesting Subject. Albany. Printed
for Collier and Stockwell. 1802.
A FEDERALIST OF THE OLD SCHOOL 79
aries we should not only discliarge those trusts committed to
us with fidelity, and for the general good, but in such a man-ner
as to give satisfaction to those for whom we are acting.
And if I know the feelings of my own heart, I declare,
that next to the consciousness of having performed my duty
with uprightness, my highest satisfaction is the knowledge
that in the discharge of this duty I meet the approbation of
my fellow men. But, Sir, if this approbation is only to be
obtained by the unconditional surrender of my understanding,
and the violation of my oath, I hope I shall be excused if I
do not make this sacrifice at the altar of public opinion. In-deed,
Sir, were I disposed to forego my own opinion, and
adopt that of the legislature of my own state, were I inclined
to say, thy will be done and not mine, I should first demand
of them an absolution from the oath which I have taken to
support the constitution of the United States. As long as
that oath is binding on me, I see an insuperable objection to
my acting in conformity to their wishes.
I will further remark. Sir, that I am not a little surprised
that that augTist body should have undertaken to decide on a
question not necessarily before them, without having an op-portunity
of hearing the arguments which may be used here
either on one side or the other. I will not permit myself for
a moment to believe the measure originated in a want of con-fidence
in those who represent the State and the people in this
assembly. And yet, if that confidence exists, the reasons for
this procedure do not immediately present themselves to the
mind.
I hope. Sir, it will not be understood that I mean to cast the
most distant shade of disrespect on that body. I feel too
great respect for the legislature of my native State to be
gaiilty of such an attempt. ISTo doubt but they were influenced
by the purest and most correct understanding. It does not
follow, by any means, that because my weak and feeble mind
cannot discover perfect propriety in the conduct of men, that
therefore it does not exist.
Having premised thus much, Mr. Chairman, I will pro-
80 THE NORTH CAEOLHSTA BOOKLET
ceed to an examination of the question under consideration.
It has been usual to divide it into two parts ; first^ the expedi-ency
; and secondly, the authority of Congress to pass the law
on the table. This is a natural and correct division; but I
shall invert the order of considering the question, and first
examine our power to act, before we consider the expediency
of acting. And if, after a calm and candid review of the con-stitution,
it should be found that we are prohibited from pass-ing
the bill, there will be no necessity for inquiring into the
expediency of repealing the law passed last session of Con-gress
for organizing our courts of justice. The relative merits
of the old and new judiciary system will be entirely out of
view. For I am confident that there is not a member of this
body who would wish to pass the bill on your table, if in doing
it we must violate the sacred charter under which we are now
assembled.
The people o^ Aknerica have obtained and established,
that the powers of government shall be vested in three
great departments; the Legislative, the Executive and the
Judicial. They have said, that there shall be a House
of Representatives, the members of which shall be chosen
by the people of the several states every second year. Though
this House is composed of members chosen by the people
immediately; though they can have no other interest than
the great community from which they were sent; though
they must return to the common mass in the short period
of two years; yet enlightened America did not see proper to
entrust the power of making laws to this body alone; they
knew that the history of man, and the experience of ag'es,
bore testimony against the safety of committing this high
power to any one assembly not checked by some other body.
They have therefore erected another branch of the legis-lature,
called the Senate, the members of which are not to
be elected by the people immediately, but by the sov-ereigtities
of the several states ; they are to be chosen for six
years, and not for two; and the qualifications requisite to
entitle those to a seat, is different from that of a member
A FEDERALIST OF THE OLD SCHOOL 81
of this House. To these bodies are given the power of
initiating all laws; but after a bill has passed both of these
Houses, before it becomes of binding obligation on the nation,
it must be approved of by the President ; it is a dead letter,
until life is given by the executive. The President is elected
not by the people, but by the legislatures of the several states,
not by either House of Congress, but by electors chosen by
the people. He is to hold his office during four years. This
is the second gTeat department of the government. It will be
easily discovered from this cursory view of our constitution,
the caution and jealousy with which the people have con-ferred
the power of making laws, of commanding what is
right, and prohibiting what is wrong. But, Sir, after this
law was made, after its authoritative mandate was acknowl-edged
by the nation, it became necessary to establish some
tribunal to judge of the extent and obligation of this law.
The people did not see proper to entrust this power of
judging of the meaning of their laws either to the legis-lative,
or to the executive; because they all participated in
the making of these laws; and experience had shown, that it
is essential for the preservation of liberty, that the judicial
and legislative authorities should be kept separate and dis-tinct.
They therefore enacted a third department, called
the Judicial, and said that "the judicial power of the United
States shall be vested in one supreme court, and in such
inferior courts as Congress may from time to time ordain and
establish. The judges both of the supreme and inferior
courts shall hold their offices during good behavior, and shall
at stated times receive for their services a compensation
which shall not be diminished during their continuance in
office." It is admitted, I understand, by all parties, by every
description of persons, that these words, shall hold their
offices during good behavior, are intended as a limitation of
power. The question is, what power is thus to be limited
and checked? I answer, that all and every power which
would have had the authority of impairing the tenure by
which the judges hold their offices, (if these words were not
82 THE NORTH CAEOLINA BOOKLET
inserted) is checked and limited by these words; whether
that power should be found to reside in Congress, or in the
executive. The words are broad and extensive in their
signification, and can only be satisfied by being construed
to control the legislative as well as the executive power.
But gentlemen contend that they must be confined to limit-ing
the power of the President. I ask gentlemen, what is
there in the constitution to prove their signification to this
end alone? When you erect a court and fill it with a judge,
and tell him, in plain simple language, that he shall hold
his ofiice during good behavior, or as long as he shall behave
well; what, I beseech you. Sir, will any man, whose mind
is not bewildered in the mazes of modem metaphysics, infer
from the declaration ? Certainly that the office will not
be taken from him until he misbehaves ; nor that he will be
taken from the office during his good behavior. Under this
impression he enters upon his duty, performing it with the
most perfect satisfaction to all persons who have business
before him; and the legislature, without whispering a com-plaint,
abolishes the office and thereby turns out the judge.
The judge is told : this is no violation of the compact, al-though
you have behaved well, although we have promised
that as long as you did behave well you should continue in
office; yet, there is now no further necessity for your ser-vices,
and you may retire. These words, "during good be-havior,"
are intended to prevent the President from dis-missing
you from office, and not the legislature from de-stroying
your office. Do you suppose, Sir, that there is a
man of common understanding in the nation, whose mind
is not alive to the influence of party spirit, that would yield
his assent to this reasoning? I hope and believe there is
not. But, Sir, how is it proved that the President would
have had the power of removing the judges from their office,
if these words, "during good behavior," had not been in-serted
in the constitution ? Are there any words in that
instrument which give the President expressly the power of
removing any officer at pleasure? If there are, I call upon
A FEDERALIST OF THE OLD SCHOOL 83
gentlemen to point them out; it does not result from the
fashionable axiom^ that the power which can create, can
destroy. The President can nominate, but he can appoint
to office only by the advice and consent of the Sena^te.
Therefore, it would follow, if the power of displacing re-sults
from that of creating, that the Senate should participate
in displacing as well as creating officers. But however this
may be, it is certainly a mere constructive power which he
has exercised, because the legislature have, from motives of
expediency, acknowledged that he had it. If the constitu-tion
does not necessarily give the President the right of re-moving
officers at pleasure, and if that right depend upon
legislative acts or constructions, where would have been the
necessity for inserting these emphatic words as a check and
limitation of executive power, when without them the Presi-dent
has no such power ? You are taking great pains to con-trol
a power which does not exist. The persons who framed
our constitution knew that a power of removal in ordinary
cases must exist somewhere. They took care, therefore,
that in whatever hands it might fall, the language of the
constitution respecting the tenure of the office of a judge
should be co-extensive with the whole power of removal,
whether it should reside in one or in more hands.
But, Sir, these words, during good behavior, are familiar
to the American people. When the political bands which
united us with Great Britain were burst asunder, and we
assumed among the nations of the earth an independent
station, most, if not all the states introduced these words
into their constitutions. They were deemed essential, and
a meaning has been stamped upon them which it is not in
the power of this House to change. Let us for a moment
examine some of the state constitutions, and see what sig-nification
must of necessity be given to these words. I will
first advert to the constitution of ISTorth Carolina, as being
one with which I am best acquainted. In that instrument
it is said, "that the General Assembly shall, by joint ballot
of both Houses, appoint judges of the supreme court of law
84 THE NORTH CAEOUNA BOOKLET
and equity, judges of admiralty and an attorney-general,
who shall be commissioned by the Governor, and hold their
offices during good behavior." I ask gentlemen what power
is intended here to be limited and checked by the words
"shall hold their offices during good behavior." Not the
executive, for it is well known that the Governor of that
state cannot appoint even a constable. It could not be the
meaning of that constitution to check his power of removal,
for that of appointment is not anywhere given to him. Then
these words must mean, that the legislature should not have
the power of removing the judges from office as long as they
behaved well. If you do not give this signification to the
words, they are of no importance, and might as well have
been left out of the instrument. I hope the feelings of the
people of North Carolina will not be hurt, and their under-standings
insulted, by telling us that the meaning of the
words may be satisfied by construing them to extend to a
prohibition of the legislature displacing the judges, and pro-ceeding
to the election of others^ without those displaced
being giiilty of mishehavior. If this is correct, what se-curity.
Sir, have the people then for the independence of
their judges? The constitution has told them that they
should be judged by men who, during the time they behaved
well, should continue in office, or what is the same thing,
should hold them during good behavior'. But they are now
informed that this was intended to operate as a check upon
the legislature's displacing them by selecting others to fill
their offices when they had not misbehaved, but not to pre-vent
their passing a law repealing that act by which the ap-pointment
to office was made; or in other words, our as-sembly
are expressly forbidden to impair the tenure by
which our judges hold their, offices, as long as they behave
well; but they can repeal the law, and the judges are out
of office, though they may be the most virtuous, upright and
able men in the country, and have discharged their duties
faithfully. Are the gentlemen on this floor from North
Carolina prepared to give this construction to that constitu-
A FEDERALIST OF THE OLD SCHOOL 85
tion ? Are they prepared to tell their constituents that the
provisions of their constitution may be thus evaded, and the
whole power of government, legislative, executive and ju-dicial,
be concentrated in the general assembly, and absolute
despotism imposed upon them? If they are not, I conjure
them to pause before they give their vote for the passage
of the bill on the table. I will further observe, Mr. Chair-man,
that words of the same import with those I have quoted
from the constitution of ]S[orth Carolina, are to be found in
the Virginia and South Carolina constitutions, in neither of
which states hath the Governor the right of appointing
judges.
In Virginia, Sir, the judges of the supreme court, in 1Y92,
declared that the assembly of that state had not the power
of imposing chancery duties on the district judge, and in de^
livering their opinions discanted at large on the independence
of the judiciary, and said that the assembly could not an-nihilate
the office of a judge, which was secured to him by the
constitution. If this is a true exposition of the constitution
of that state, I ask gentlemen by what authority they now
attempt to impose a different meaning on the same words,
when found in the constitution of the United States? Are
we to suppose that the whole people of America were less
regardful for their rights, less solicitous for independent
judges, than the people of a particular state? And unless
this is conceded, the doctrine of gentlemen who advocate
the passage of this bill must be incorrect.
But it has been said that the powers of each Congress are
equal, and that a subsequent legislature can repeal the acts
of a former ; and as this law was passed by the last Congress,
we have the same power to repeal it which they had to enact
it. This objection is more plausible than solid. It is not
contended by us that legislatures who are not limited in their
powers, have not the same authority. The question is not
what omnipotent assemblies can do, but what we can do,
under a constitution defining and limiting, with accuracy,
the extent and boundaries of our authority. The very sec-
86 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET
tion in the constitution (sect, 3, art. 1), which I have
read, is a proof against the power of every Congress to repeal
the acts of their predecessors. In the latter part of the 8th
section it is proposed, that the judges shall receive for their
services a compensation, which shall not be diminished
during their continuance in office; and yet the salary was
fixed and ascertained by a former CongTess, The same
observations may be made with respect to compensation for
President, which can neither be decreased nor diminished
during the period for which he shall have been elected. It
is not competent for this Congress to vary the compensation
to him, which has been fixed by a prior legislature. It is
clearly seen, upon a little investigation, that the position
which gentlemen take is too extensive, and leads immediately
to a destruction of the constitution. It does away all check,
and makes the legislature omnipotent. It has been asked,
that if a corrupt and unprincipled Congress should make an
army of judges, have not a subsequent CongTess the right of
repealing the law establishing this monstrous judicial sys-tem
? I answer, that they have not ; the same mode of reason-ing
which attempts to prove this right from an abuse of
power, will also prove that you may lessen the compensa-tion
of your judges. May not equal oppression be imposed
upon the people, by giving your judges exorbitant salaries,
as by increasing their numbers ? May not the same corrupt
and unprincipled motive which would lead men to the raising
of an army of judges, lead them to squander the public
money ? And may they not, instead of giving their judges
2000 dollars a year, give them 200,000 ? And yet, Sir, if
these were to take place, I know of no authority under the
constitution to lessen this exorbitant compensation. The gov-ernment
of our country is predicated upon a reasonable con-fidence
in those who administer our public ailairs. They
must have the power of acting for the public welfare, and
this would never have been given them if the possible abuse
of this power were a sufficient reason for withholding it.
I will take the liberty of observing further, that this part
A FEDERALIST OF THE OLD SCHOOL 8Y
of the constitution, which forbids lessening the compensation
to the judges during their continuance in office, furnishes a
strong argument that it was the intention of the people to
place their judges out of the control of the legislature as long
as they behaved well; that they did mean to render them
independent of the legislature to a certain extent, is obvious
;
inasmuch as they inhibit the power of reducing their sala-ries.
For it is evident, that if they could take from them
their compensation, they might drive them from office; and
the consequence would have been, that our judges would have
felt all the dependence which results from a consciousness
that another body has the power of diminishing their com-forts.
I ask gentlemen if the framers of this constitution
intended to give Congress) the power of abolishing the office
of a judge, by repealing the law which created the office,
and thereby displace the judge? Where could have been
the propriety of forbidding his salary to be diminished
during his continuance in office ?
Is it possible to suppose that they were more anxious to
secure that independence which results from permanency
of compensation, than that which results from permanency
of the office itself? That they should have been altogether
regardless of the power which Congress was to have over
the office, but limit with the utmost strictness their power
of diminishing the salary, when the office itself, upon which
the salary depends, was to be at the mercy of CongTCss ? I
believe that such folly cannot, with justice, be attributed to
these gTeat men who gave existence to this instrument.
Again, Sir, the construction which gentlemen on the other
side of the House would contend for, tends to the concentra-tion
of legislative and executive powers in the same hands.
If Congress, who have the power of making laws, can also
displace their judges by repealing that which creates the
offices they fill, the irresistible consequence is, that whatever
law is passed the judges must carry into execution, or they
will be turned out of office. It is of little importance to the
people of this country whether Congress sits in judgment
»0 THE ISrORTH CAKOLINA BOOKLET
upon their laws themselves, or whether they sit in judgment
upon those who are appointed for that purpose. It amounts
to the same despotism; they in fact judge the extent and
obligations of their own statutes by having those in their
power who are placed on the sacred seat of justice. What-ever
the legislature declares to be law must be obeyed. The
constitutional check which the judges were to be on the legis-lature
is completely done away. They may pass ex post
facto laws, bills of attainder, suspend the vn-it of habeas
corpus in time of peace; and the judge who dares to ques-tion
their authority is to be hurled from his seat. All the
ramparts which the constitution has erected around the liber-ties
of the people, are prostrated at one blow by the passage
of this law. The monstrous and unheard of doctrine which
has been lately advanced, that the judges have not the right
of declaring unconstitutional laws void, will be put into
practice by the .adoption of this measure, l^ew offences
may be created by law. Associations and combinations may
be declared treason, and the affrighted and appalled citizen
may in vain seek refuge in the independence of your courts.
In vain may he hold out the constitution and deny the au-thority
of Congress to pass a law of such undefined signifi-cation,
and call upon the judges to protect him; he will be
told that the opinion of Congress now is, that we have no
right to judge of their authority ; this will be the consequence
of concentrating judicial and legislative power in the same
hands. It is the very definition of tyranny, and wherever
you find it, the people are slaves, whether they call their
government a monarchy, republic or democracy.
Mr. Chairman, I see, or think I see, in this attempt, that
spirit of innovation which has prostrated before it a great
part of the old world. Every institution which the wisdom
and experience of ages had reared up for the benefit of man.
A spirit which has rode in the whirlwind and directed the
storm, to the destruction of the fairest portion of Europe;
which has swept before it every vestige of law, religion, mor-ality,
and rational government; which has brought twenty
A FEDERALIST OF THE OLD SCHOOL 89
millions of people at the feet of one man, and compelled them
to seek refuge from their complicated miseries, in the calm
of despotism. It is against the influence of this tremendous
spirit, that I wish to raise my voice, and exert my powers,
weak and feeble as they are. I fear, Sir, on the 7th of
December, it made its appearance within these walls, clothed
in a gigantic body, impatient for action. I fear it has al-ready
begun to exert its all-devouring energy. Have you a
judiciary system extending over this immense country, ma-tured
by the wisdom of your ablest and best men ? It must
be destroyed. Have you taxes which have been laid since
the commencement of the government? And is the irrita-tion
consequent upon the laying of taxes worn off ? Are they
paid exclusively by the wealthy and the luxurious part of
the community? And are they pledged for the payment of
the public debt ? They must be abolished. Have you a mint
establishment, which is not only essentially necessary to pro-tect
the country against the influx of base foreign metals, but
is a splendid attribute of sovereignty ? It must be abolished.
Have you laws which require foreigners coming to your
country to go through a probationary state, by which their
habits, their morals and propensities may be known, before
they are admitted to all the rights of native Americans?
They must be repealed, and our shores crowded with the out-casts
of society, lest oppressed humanity then should find no
asylum on this globe!
Mr. Chairman, if the doctrine contended for by gentlemen
on the other side of the House should become the settled
construction of the constitution, and enlightened America
acquiesce with that construction, I declare for myself, and for
myself alone, I would not heave a sigh nor shed a tear over
its total desolation. The wound you are about to give it
will be mortal; it may languish out a miserable existence
for a few years, but it will surely die. It will neither serve
to protect its friends, nor defend itself from the omnipotent
energies of its enemies. Better at once to bury it with all
our hopes.
90 THE NORTH CAROLHSTA BOOKLET
The First Secession Movement
The late Dr. W. E. Wood, Superintendent of the Asylum,
some years ago sent me tlie enclosed letter, with the proceed-ings
of the first meeting declaring secession (in imitation
of the Mecklenburg Declaration) ever held. This Declara-tion
antedated the South Carolina Declaration more than
two months. This was on 14 October, 1860, and that of
South Carolina was on 20 December of that year.
This is a valuable historical document, and, being from
that section, I know the statements therein are entirely ac-curate.
Walter Clark.
Hon. Walter Clark_,
Kaleigh, ^. C.
My Dear Judge :—I herewith confide to your especial
care
—
In Memoriam of a past age and a lost cause—the
Minutes of the first declaration of secession ever formu-lated
and promulgated in the Southern States.
The history of this first declaration of secession principles
have never been written, and therefore has never been gener-ally
known. Mecklenburg with her declaration of 1775 has
been oft and oft recorded in letters of living light, high on
the pages of fame's immortal scroll in the New World's his-tory.
Therefore, and wherefore should not this second
movement in behalf of constitutional liberty and the sov-ereign
rights of a chivalrous people, by the sages of old
Halifax, in the startling era of the sixties, be handed down
to our posterity in the history of American martyrs and
Southern heroism.
Perhaps in the remote future, amid the changes wrought
by time in the destinies of States, it may come to pass, that
the actors in the opening drama of 1860, who, thus launched
forth this first declaration of secession in defiance of a
THE FIKST SECESSION MOVEMENT 91
World in Arms, will be considered sometliing more tlian
irrational impulsive visionaries or impetuous fire eaters.
With sentiments of distinguished consideration and es-teem,
I am, Very truly your friend,
William R. Wood.
Scotland Neck, Oct. 14, 1888.
A CHAPTER OF HISTORY.
TeANSACTIONS of the FIKST SECESSION MOVEMENT AND
DECLARATIONS OF THE FIKST SECESSION EESOLUTIONS EVER
HELD IN THE SOUTHEKN StATES^ AT PaLMYRA^ HaLIFAX
County^ North Carolina, October 14th, 1860.
Pursuant to previous notice issued for the purpose of
eliciting an expression of opinion relative to the action of
the people of North Carolina in the event of the certain elec-tion
of a sectional President, the citizens of Halifax and
adjoining counties of Edgecombe, Martin and Bertie asr
sembled ''en masse" at Palmyra on the 14th inst. The
meeting was largely composed of men of character, of influ-ence
and standing in their separate communities. General
David Clark, Thos. Jones, Samuel Hyman, A. P. Hyman,
L. L. Savage, Henry B. Whitmore, Kenneth Thigpen, Dr.
William R. Wood, W. R. Cherry and other kindred spirits
were early on hand voicing the sentiments of our people in no
uncertain words. Crowds of men, of all conditions and
walks of life, from the great slave holders of the Roanoke
Valley to the humblest, poorest man in the neighborhood,
thronged the village and adjacent groves, manifesting deep
and serious interest in the great m,omentous questions of
the times. The meeting was called to order by the Hon.
Kenneth Thigpen of Edgecombe. Thos. Jones, Esq., of
Martin was nominated to the Chair and A. P. Hyman of
Palmyra appointed Secretary.
The Chairman in a brief incisive speech pointed out the
—3
92 THE IN^ORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET
evils of the hour, and with a master's hand portrayed in
gloomy colors the threatening troubles hanging like a dark
funeral pall over the institutions and destinies of the South-ern
people. After Mr. Jones had explained the object and
interest of the meeting, Gen'l David Clark of Halifax v^as
called on to give his views of the situation. The general
was peculiarly happy in the manner and delivery of his re-marks,
and in a spirited, stirring talk of a few moments
completely captured the audience, creating quite a sensation
and electrifying his hearers by exclaiming in language most
prophetic: "Gentlemen, Lincoln will be elected, all you hold
dear, your wives, your children, your property and your
sacred honors, are at stake. The hour has struck, the enemy
is upon us. The time for action, decisive action, is at hand.
The powers of evil have all combined against us to rob us of
our substances and dishonor us in our manhood. We must
act, act in the living present with all the sublime courage of
heroes and martyrs. There is nothing stands between us
now and our deadliest foes. The abolitionists and disunion-ists
of the 'New England States, for the Democrats have
played the devil and the Whigs have gone to hell." This
brought down the house and the General retired amid a
storm of applause. General Clark was followed by the
young, impassioned and uncompromising advocate of seces-sion,
Dr. William R. Wood of Scotland ISTeck, in a political
argument on the right of secession, beginning with the Hart-ford
Convention and closing in an eloquent and scathing
phillipic against Northern abolitionists, and in concluding,
declared it the imperative duty of North Carolina to at once
withdraw from the Federal Compact and joining her South-ern
sisters, seek, with them an alliance, offensive and defen-sive
with the powers of Great Britain. And if necessary to
preserve and protect her people from Northern aggression
and domination renew her allegiance to the British Crown.
This open defiance of Northern supremacy again brought
down the house, but also brought our Chairman, Mr. Jones,
to the floor. Requesting the venerable Samuel Hyman to
THE FIEST SECESSION MOVEMENT 93
take the chair, Mr. Jones made a ringing speech against
an alliance with England, advocating with force and effect
his "pet idea," an alliance, offensive and defensive, with the
Emperor of France. The debate waxed fast and furious for
a few moments on these two propositions of Dr. Wood and
Mr, Jones, and for awhile considerable merriment and con-fusion
ensued, but debate was cut short and order restored by
the ever ready, gallant Kenneth Thig-pen^ who in a few
stirring, startling words impressed the importance of the oc-casion
upon the convention and demanded the appointment
of a committee to formulate a platform of resolutions giving
emphatic expression to the views of the people. Upon that
committee, the following gentlemen were appointed by the
^^^^^' Hon. Kenneth Thigpen,
Gen'l. David Clark,
Thos. Jones, Esq.,
Dr. William R. Wood,
Lem. L. Savage, Esq.
As a guest of Mr. Jones, Mr. Whitmel Kearney of Warren,
who was present and whose people were known to be in
sympathy with the movement, was by unanimous consent
added to the committee. These gentlemen retired, and after
considerable time and much consultation, reappeared and an-nounced
the following preamble and resolutions
:
1st. Whereas, The people of the ISTorthern section of our
common country are forcing through the legislatures of their
several States, with all the elements of implacable hatred, so
called personal liberty bills, abrogating in its entirety, the
fugitive slave laws, subverting the constitution of our fathers,
and openly threatening the most sacred interests and institu-tions
of the Southern States by declaring that instrument
which binds this Union together as coequal sovereigns a
covenant with death and a league with hell.
And, Whereas, The Republican party has proclaimed itself
a sectional party, pledged to wage relentless war against the
institutions of the South
:
94 THE NORTH CAROUNA BOOKLET
Therefore, Resolved, That whereas' the Eepublican States
of JSTew England were the first to proclaim the right of seces-sion,
we will profit by their example, and their language of
the Hartford Convention. Declare, That "when emergencies
occur which are either beyond the reach of the Judicial
tribunals, or too pressing to admit of the delay incident to
their forms. States which have no common umpire, must be
their own judges and execute their own decisions."
Resolved, 2nd. That henceforth we renounce all alle-giance
to the United States Government, and appeal to our
Legislature to call a convention for the purpose of withdraw-ing
North Carolina from the Federal Compact and negotia-ting
with other Southern States in forming alliances offen-sive
and defensive with the Emperor Napoleon the III. of
France.
Before a vote was taken on the committee's report, Dr.
Wood, though a member of the committee, appealed to the
convention to vote down Mr. Jones' French resolutions, and
offered the following as a substitute
:
Resolved, That as North Carolinians, we disown, disavow
and utterly repudiate all allegiance to the so called Federal
Government, and demand the unconditional withdrawal of
North Carolina from the Federal Compact, and for the better
preservation of her sovereignty as a free and independent
State, unite with her Southern sister States in forming
an alliance offensive and defensive with the powers of Great
Britain, and if necessary to protect her people from North-ern
aggression and domination, renew her allegiance to the
British Crown.
After considerable debate between the parties advocating
the French and English propositions. Dr. Wood's resolution
was voted down. The preamble and resolutions as they came
from the committee were unanimously adopted and the con-vention
adjourned.
A. P. Hyman, Samuel Hyman, Sr.,
Secretary. Chairman.
THE FIRST SECESSION MOVEMENT 95
Dr. W. K. Wood, Scotland ISTeck.
My Dear Doctor:—Tlie above is but a rough sketch, in
pencil of our great Secession Convention in 1860. Try and
copy them off as best you can and preserve it in memory of
old friends and a lost cause. Your friend,
Palmyra, A. D. 1866. A. P. Htman.
The above is a truthful transcription of the rough notes
referred to by my late father, A. P. Hyman, Secretary of the
meeting at the time, as copied out in full by the undersigned
at the request of Dr. Wood. A. P. Hyman, Jr.
Scotland Neck, August 25th, 1888.
96 THE NORTH CAEOLINA BOOKLET
John Washington Bennett, Famous
North CaroUnian
By Gen. W. A. Smith.
(Written by request of the Anson County Daughters
of the Confederacy.)
One William Bennett many long years ago married a Miss
Huckston and begat William Bennett, Jr. ; William Bennett,
Jr., married Susanna Dimn, thus uniting the famous Duim
family with the probably more famous Bennett family. Wil-liam
Bennett's father was a captain in the Revolution and his
great-uncle was a general, commanding a division in Crom-well's
world renowned Ironsides. Isaac Dunn, who was a
younger son, and brother to Sir Daniel Dunn, married Miss
Mary Sheffield and begat Susanna Dunn, who was the only
fruit of this marriage. There was born to William Bennett,
Jr., and Susanna Dunn, Lemuel Dunn Bennett, who mar-ried
Jane Little, daughter of William Little of Marlsgate,
England. To L. D. Bennett and Jane Little was born the
subject of this sketch—John Washington Bennett.
Descended from a long line of illustrious ancestry on both
sides, he inherited extraordinary capacity—a sound mind in
a sound body. In the old field schools, in the academy, in
the university, his character developed and was marked by
mental ability and moral courage of a supreme order and
type.
When a youth in his teens his sturdy manhood sought out-let
in the existing development of the States on the banks of
the Mississippi. While with his cousin, Charles Bennett, he
was stricken with that fell disease, typhoid fever. For
weeks he daily grew worse till his life was despaired of
and his death confidently expected. Treatment of that day
denied the patient water or other cooling drink. He lay for
JOHN WASHINGTON BENNETT 97
days in weltering heat; his breath hot, his tongue swollen;
aye! cracked and parched with the scorching fever. l^o
soothing touch of a dear woman's hand was laid on his burn-ing
brow. His bachelor cousin Charles was his only compan-ion
and nurse. He begged so piteously and so continuously
for water that, manlike, his cousin Charles' patience became
exhausted. He brought a bucket of fresh water from the cis-tern,
set it near the bedside and said, "Drink, drink ye all you
want, and—and die." Believing the water would kill him, he
would not hand it and become his murderer.
By a supreme effort he succeeded in getting the gourd to
his mouth and quaffed it off. The cold water revived his
strength. Again and again he drank freely of the elixir of
life. His overloaded stomach rejected the excessive potations,
which had fortunately absorbed, in some measure, the heat of
his feverish body. From that moment a turn in the tide set
in and he rapidly convalesced to normal health. He returned
to his native heath, determined to complete his education and
went to the University of Virginia. After graduating, he
chose the profession of medicine.
With his sheepskin properly signed by the president and
other professors of the Jefferson Medical College of Phila-delphia,
attesting his proficient qualifications in the science
of medicine, he returned to Anson County and located in the
new and thriving village of Carolina Female College, since
known as Ansonville. Courteous manners, kindly interest,
friendly deeds, assiduous application, conjoined with natural
ability, soon won him a large, lucrative patronage.
His success was assured and he took unto himself a help-mate,
marrying the beautiful, stately, and attractive Miss
Rosa Boggan, of the city of Wadesboro, his social equal. It
is usually conducive to happiness—mating in the same social
circle. Only a few short, fleeting, happy montha were granted
to them when she winged her flight to Elysian fields.
Soon afterwards the tocsin of war sounded throughout the
land and we find our doctor of medicine marchina; in the
98 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET
ranks, keeping step to the quivering throbbings of the drum
and the martial symphonies of the fife.
On arrival of his company in Richmiond his fame as a
physician had preceded him—he was taken from the ranks,
raised to the rank of captain and appointed assistant surgeon
of Chimborazo Hospital. Here his skill as a physician had
ample opportunity to develop and display the strong mental
capacity and resourceful man behind the energetic surgeon.
We have no access to the records, if in existence, and can not
know the many successful operationsi performed upon the
hundreds or thousands of wounded carried to the hospital.
His retiring disposition shrank froim notoriety, and he told
not even to his most intimate friends the many serious surgi-cal
operations performed. We do know his fame as a surgeon
and physician increased with the months of service and ex-perience,
because when it became necessary for the govern-ment
of the Confederacy to establish another hospital in the
city of Richmond, known as the Soldiers' Home, Dr. John W.
Bennett was selected from the many aspirants, and was ap-pointed
chief surgeon with the rank of major in the Confed-erate
army. This position he worthily filled till after Appo-mattox,
remaining with commendable faithfulness at his post
until the last patient was discharged.
Returning to his native heath, whose sacred soil had been
trod by the vandal hordes of Sherman's army—home laid
waste and devastated by fire and sword—his courage equaled
the calamity and with renewed energy he sought to repair his
fallen fortunes.
Zeal, guided by wisdom and experience, soon made him the
loved physician of the section, success crowned his efforts
without oppressing the poor (and we were all poor), and all
never failing to find in him a man of warm sympathetic
heart, ever ready to respond to their call for relief. He gave
to every patient the needed attention and did not neglect the
insignificant and destitute. Hi® one object in life was to re-
JOHN WASHINGTON BENNETT 99
lieve suffering humanity and his zest equaled his physical en-durance.
To the mind of the writer one characteristic of his great-ness
was displayed and exemplified by his disbelief in miuch
dosing. I have heard him say that to exacting patients he
had often prescribed and administered bread pills. It was
his firm conviction, exemplified in his practice, to sustain the
physical being till nature could rectify the malady and re-store
the body to its normal condition. One day Doctor Ben-nett
and the vtrriter were driving along the lane some three
hundred yards north of Mr. Perde Richardson'si residence.
At that time the old rail fence was the only protection of culti-vated
fields from stock that ran at large. The better the fence
the better the farmer, and planters vied one with another in
having the best fence. This fence was laid with rails ten
feet long, zigzag like the track made by a crawling snake,
hence the name "snake fence."
The rails laid on the ground, or worm as it was called,
were placed with great care and precision, sighted by stakes,
that each corner should be perfectly in line and straight as
the famous "bee line." After the worm was laid, then one
rail was placed exactly over another to the number of ten.
At the comers, where the rails locked, were planted in the
ground two rails, one on either side of the fence, leaning
against the corners, acting as a brace to the fence. These two
rails formed a lock above the panel and another rail was laid
in the locks of each panel—^making a very high, strong and
substantial fence, proof against raging winds and mean stock
—as General Atlas Dargan used to say, "Horse high, pig
tight, and bull strong." Such a fence bordered either side
of the road—usually termed a lane. Riding along this lane,
as above stated, Doctor Bennett becanue reminiscent, and re-lated
the following incident ; as near as possible, I quote his
awn words
:
"Riding along here one dark night on a professional call, I
heard horsemen approaching at a rapid, flying gait. Fearing
100 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET
danger, I reined my horse to one side near tlie fence to escape
being run over. To my aistonishment I saw neither horses nor
horsemen, but the sound of flying feet of race horses cleav-ing
the wind passed obliquely across the road, over the
fence and off through the field. Pondering upon this strange
occurrence as I rode along, about on© hundred yards I over-took
Aunt Dicey, an old darky belonging to Mr. Perde Rich-ardson.
I asked her if she met or saw any men on horses
riding rapidly. She replied : 'Oh, Marse John, dat's dem
old race horses ; dey rides ever now and den of er night.'
"On investigating the matter I learned that in the Revo-lutionary
days there was a straight level stretch of road here
running obliquely across the present road which was used as
a race track, and that in one of the races a man was killed."
Doctor Bennett, relating the above, looked straight to the
front. He did not even smile and spoke the words of truth
and soberness.
Experiencing the desolateness of the empty house and fire-less
hearth, he again sought and obtained the gTeat boon of
the love of another fair daughter of one of Anson's nobility
and wedded the lovely maid, Mary Richardson. He bought
the commodious residence of the LeGrands, about two miles
from Wadesboro, at the beginning of what was then known as
Longtown, embracing a section of highway leading from
Wadesboro to Cheraw. Said section was decked at conve-nient,
neighborly intervals with the residences of the Mar-ishalls,
the Smiths, the Richardsons, the Littles, and the Ben-netts.
Here allow a digression for a moment to say the name
"Longtown" was evidently imported from England, as there
is still a similar section so designated, lying in Cumberland
County, near the border of Scotland, contiguous to the origi-nal
and famous "Gretna Green" and adjacent to Marlsgate,
the ancient seat of the Little family.
Doctor Bennett's practice was extensive, embracing not
only the section of country adjoining, but Wadesboro, Liles-ville
.and adjacent sections. Because of the exposure of his
JOHN WASHINGTON BENNETT 101
faonily in the country to the lawless miscreants of Recon-struction
days and afterwards, during his necessary absence
in pursuit of his profession, he sold his elegant home and
purchased in the limits of the corporation of the town of
Wadesboro.
Bom among rugged hills, his cradle rocked amid the ever-lasting
foundations of granite cliffs overhanging Jones Creek,
his lullabies the singing waters, made him a very child of Na-ture.
Roaming the hills, gun in hand, and resting his weary
head on the rocks for a pillow, no wonder he took cognizance
of the flora and herbs of health-restoring qualities and turned
his attentive genius to the art of healing—the greatest boon of
suffering humanity.
A living and live member of the Methodist Church, he died
May 6, 1899, in the odor of sanctity, leaving a priceless heri-tage
of a noble life to his wife, two sons and two daughters,
and—and to a host of friends. Another brave soldier an-swered
to the last roll call when the Master ordered the angel
to beat taps to the loyal soul of John Washington Bennett
—
chief surgeon of the Confederate Hospital, "The Soldiers'
Home."
102 THE NORTH CAEOLINA BOOKLET
Biographical and Genealogical Memoranda
Compiled and Edited by Mrs. E. E. Moffitt.
Sketches of Dr. Archibald Henderson appeared in The
Booklet, Vol. XVI., l^o. 2, and Vol. XIV, ]^o. 3.
Genealogical Department Queries.
Mrs. J. L. Kline, 480 Claybrooke, Memphis, Tennessee.
Gillespie—John Gillespie, of North Carolina, married
Misis Craig, and their son John married "Ella Dickey." I
want his birth, death, children, and Revolutionary service.
John Gillespie and Ella Dickey Gillespie had a son, James,
born October 10, 1809.
Thanking you for your trouble.