North Carolina booklet : great events in North Carolina history

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Vol. XVI JULY, 1916 No. 1
North Carolina Booklet
'mm GREAT EVENTS
IN
NORTH CAROLINA
HISTORY
PUBLISHED QUARTERLY
BY
THE NORTH CAROLINA SOCIETY
DAUGHTERS OF THE REVOLUTION
RALEIGH, N. C.
CONTENTS
PAGE.
William Alexander Graham 3
By Chief Justice Waxtee Clabk.
James Cochran Dobbin 17
By Henry Elliot Shepherd, M.A., LL.D.
Selwyn 32
By Violet G. Alexander.
An Educational Practice in Colonial North Carolina 39
By Edgar W. Knight.
Biographical and Genealogical Memoranda 52
Genealogical Department 59
SINGLE NUMBERS 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, 1879
The North GaroHna Booklet
Great Events in North Carolina History
Volume XVI of The Booklet will be issued quarterly by the North
Carolina Society, Daughters of the Revolution, beginning July, 1916.
The Booklet will be published in July, October, January, and April,
Price $1.00 per year, 35 cents for single copy.
Editor :
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Biographical Editor:
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VOLUME XVI.
Isaac Shelby : Revolutionary Patriot and Border Hero—Dr. Archi-bald
Henderson.
An Educational Practice in Colonial North Carolina—Edgar W.
Knight.
George Selwyn—Miss Violet G. Alexander.
Martha McFarlane Bell, a Revolutionary Heroine—Miss Mary Hil-liard
Hinton.
North Carolinians in the President's Cabinet, Part III : William A.
Graham—Chief Justice Walter Clark.
Historic Homes, Part VII : The Fountain, the Home of Colonel
Davenport—Colonel Edmund Jones.
North Carolinians in the President's Cabinet, Part IV : James
Cochran Dobbin—Dr. Henry Elliot Shepherd.
A History of Rowan County—Dr. Archibald Henderson.
Edgecombe County History and some of her Distinguished Sons
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Mrs. Jolin A Weddell.
Historical Book Reviews will be contributed by Mrs. Nina Holland
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Vol. XVI JULY, 1916 No. 1
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NORTH Carolina Booklet
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William A. Gkaiia-u.
The North Carolina Booklet
Vol. XVI JULY, 1916 No. 1
William Alexander Graham
By Chief Justice Walter Clark.
William Alexander Graham, Speaker of the House of
Commons, Governor of North Carolina, Secretary of the
United States ^STavj, Senator of the United States and also
of the Confederate States, nominee of the Whig Party for
the Vice Presidency, was born at Vesuvius Furnace, the
residence of his father. General Joseph Graham, in Lincoln
County, jSTorth Carolina, 5 September, 1804. He sprung
from that sturdy Scotch-Irish race which has furnished so
many prominent men to the Republic. His mother was
Isabella, daughter, of Major John Davidson, who was one of
the signers of the famous ^'Mecklenburg Declaration of In-dependence"
at Charlotte on 20 May, 1775, of which John
Adams wrote: ''The genuine sense of America at that
moment was never so well expressed before nor since."
The father of Governor Graham, General Joseph Graham,
merits more than a passing notice. At 18 years of age he
entered the Continental Army in 1778, soon became Adjutant
and was promoted to Major of 4 N"orth Carolina (Conti-nental)
Regiment. He was in many engagements and was
often wounded. At the capture of Charlotte by Cornwallis
26 September, 1780, he received nine wounds (six of them
with sabre) and was left on the ground for dead. He was a
member of the State Convention of 1788 and also of 1789,
served in several legislatures and in the war of 1814 com-manded
a brigade from this State and South Carolina sent
by President Madison to the aid of General Jackson in thf
Creek War. William A. Graham was the youngest son in a
family of seven sons and three daughters who o^ew to nia-
4 THE NOETH CAEOLINA BOOKLET
tnrity. One of liis brothers, James Graham, was a member
of Congress from this State, continuously from 1833 to 1847,
except one term. One of his sisters married Rev. Dr. R. H.
]\Iorrison, President of Davidson College, and was the mother
of the wife of Stonewall Jackson.
The subject of this sketch began his academic education
under Rev. Dr. Muchat, at Statesville, a scholar of repute.
Thence he was sent to Hillsboro, where he was prepared for
college. He entered the University of North Carolina in
1820. At school and college he envinced the characteristics
which distinguished him in later life—studious, thoughtful,
courteous, considerate of others, with great natural dignity
of manner, and marked ability. His schoolmate. Judge Bre-vard,
said of him at this early age: "He was the only boy
I ever knew who would spend his Saturdays in reviewing the
studies of the week." He graduated in 1824 with the highest
honors of his class, which he shared with Matthias E. Manly,
afterwards a Judge of the Supreme Court.
After a tour of the Western States, made on horseback,
as was then the most convenient and usual mode, he began
the study of law in the office of Judge Ruffin, at Hillsboro,
and was admitted to the bar in 1826. Though his family
connections were numerous and influential in Mecklenburg,
Cabarrus and Lincoln, he decided to locate at Hillsboro,
among whose resident lawyers then were Thomas Ruffin,
Archibald D. Murphey, Willie P. Mangum, Francis L.
Hawks, and Frederick Nash; and among the lawyers regu-larly
attending from other courts were George E. Badger,
William H. Haywood and Bartlett Yancey. At this bar of
exceptionally strong men, he quickly took first rank.
In 1833 he was elected a member of the General Assembly
from the Town of Hillsboro, one of the boroughs which up
to the Convention of 1835 retained the English custom of
choosing a member of the legislature. It is related that he
was chosen by one majority, the last vote polled being cast
by a free man of color, this class being entitled to the fran-
WILLIAM ALEXANDER GRAHAM O
chise till the Constitution of 1835. Being asked why he voted
for Mr. Graham, the colored voter, a man of reputation and
some property, replied: "I always vote for a gentleman."
His first appearance on the floor of the House of Repre-sentatives
was on a motion to send to the Senate a notice that
the House was ready to proceed to the election of a Governor
for the State, and to place in nomination for that office,
David L. Swain, who had been his college mate at the
University of ^orth Carolina. Two days later he had the
satisfaction to report his election, and was appointed first on
the committee to notify him of his election. The relations
of these two distinguished men remained singularly close
and cordial through life. In 1834 and again in 1835 he
was re-elected for the borough of Hillsboro, and at both ses-sions
he was Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, then as
now, deemed the highest position, next to the Speaker. In
1838, as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, he submitted
the report of the Commissioners who had prepared the
''Revised Statutes."
It was to him that in 1831 Judge Gaston, who was a
Roman Catholic, addressed his open letter in defence of his
acceptance of a seat upon the Supreme Court, notwithstanding
the provision in the old Constitution (repealed by the Con-vention
of 1835) which declared incapable of holding office
all those who ''deny the truths of the Protestant religion."
With all deference to the writer thereof whose name will
always command the highest respect, that letter will remain
a plausible instance of special pleading whose defective logic
has been pardoned by reason of the inherent opposition of
all generous minds to the constitutional provision which gave
rise to it, and the eminent public services, ability and popu-larity
of its author.
In 1838 and again in 1840, Mr. Graham was elected to
the General Assembly from Orange County, and was Speaker
of the House of Representatives in both. The journals, dur-ing
his legislative career, attest his great industry and his
6 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET
leadership. He introduced the first bill that was passed to
establish a system of common schools, and the bills introduced
or supported, or reported by him on the subjects of banking,
finance, education, and internal improvements, demonstrate
the broadness of his views, and that he was one of the most
progressive men of his time.
In 1840, Judge Strange and Hon. Bedford Brown, the
United States Senators from this State, resigned their seats
rather than obey instructions which had been passed by the
General Assembly. Willie P. Mangum, of Orange, was
chosen to succeed Brown, and though Mr. Graham was from
the same county and only 36 years of age, he was elected to
fill Mr. Strange's unexpired term. This was a most emphatic
testimonial to his commanding position in the Whig Party,
which held so many eminent leaders, and in the State at large.
He was among the youngest, if not the youngest member, of
the United States Senate, when he took his seat. He com-manded
the respect and attention of that body upon all occa-sions,
and we are told by a member of that Congress that
"Mr. Clay regarded him as a most superior man, socially
and intellectually."
The time of Mr. Graham's service in the Senate was a
stormy period. President Harrison, who had gone into office
upon a tidal wave, died just one month after his inauguration,
and was succeeded by the Vice-President, Mr. Tyler, who soon
placed the administration in complete opposition to the poli-cies
of the party by which he had been elected. Upon all the
most important measures which came before the Senate, Mr.
Graham impressed himself by arguments which received
general approbation and which drew forth specially com-mendatory
letters from Clay, Webster, Chancellor Kent, aiid
others.
At the expiration of his term in March, 1843, Mr. Gra-ham
resumed the practice of his profession, the Democratic
Party having secured a majority in the General Assembly
and chosen a member of that party, William H. Haywood,
WILLIAM ALEXANDEK GRAHAM i
Jr., to succeed him in the Senate. In 1844 he was nomi-nated
by the Whig Party for Governor. He had not sought
nor desired the nomination. The salary of the office was
small and its expenses great. In 1836 he had married Susan
Washington, daughter of John AVashington of New Bern, a
lady of great beauty of character and person, and a young
and growing family made demands upon his income, which
was impaired by the inroads which public life had made
upon his law practice. But true as always to the calls of
duty, he yielded to the representations of gentlemen of high
standing in all parts of the State. His Democratic competi-tor
was Hon. Michael Hoke, like himself, a native of the
county of Lincoln. Mr. Hoke was about the same age, of
fine presence, decided ability and great popularity. After
a canvass whose brilliancy has had no parallel in the history
of the State, save perhaps that between Vance and Settle in
1876, Mr. Graham was elected by a large majority. His
competitor died a few weeks after the election, his death
having been caused, it was thought, by the great ]3hysical
and mental strain of the campaign. On 1 January, 181:5,
Governor Graham was sworn in, with imposing ceremonies,
which, for brilliancy and the size of the audience, were till
then without precedent.
His inaugural address was especially noteworthy, not alone
for its purity of style and elevation of thought, but in its
recommendations. The Asylum for the Insane, and for the
Deaf, Dumb and Blind, and the Emmons Geological Survey
all had their genesis in this Inaugural, the first two being
established by laws enacted during his administration and
the latter just afterwards. Tie also laid special emphasis
upon the Common School System, then lately inaugurated,
and the first act in favor of which had been introduced by
himself when a member of the legislature. Mr. Webster in
a letter specially commended the address for its wisdom and
progressiveness, as did Prof. Olmsted for its recommenda-tion
in favor of the establishment of a Geological Survey.
8 THE NOKTH CAROLINA BOOKLET
His aid to our uew and struggling railroads built by State
aid was invaluable.
In 1849 be delivered tlie address before the Literary Socie-ties
at the University. This address remains to this day one
of the very best of the long series delivered since the incipi-ency
of the custom. Upon the success of his party in the
election of President Taylor, Senator Mangum, one of the
coniidential advisers of the new administration, wrote Gov-ernor
Graham that he could make his choice between the Mis-sion
to Russia and the Mission to Spain. Subsequently the
Mission to S|)ain was tendered him and declined.
Upon the accession of President Fillmore, Mr. Graham was
tendered the appointment of Secretary of the jSTavy in a very
complimentary letter from the President, who urged his
accejDtance. In July, 1850, he entered upon the duties of
the office. Such was his diligence that his first report, 30
Xiovember, 1850, embraced a review of the whole naval estab-lishment
with recommendations for its entire reorganization.
Even an opposition Senator, Thomas H. Benton, joined in
the commendation of his report, and wrote with special
reference to the Coast Survey service : "T consider it one
of the most perfect reports I ever read—a model of a business
report and one which should carry conviction to every candid
inquiring mind. I deem it one of the largest reforms, both
in an economical and administrative point of view, which the
state of our affairs admits of."
His administration of the iSTavy Department was marked
by one of the most remarkable enterprises, whose success has
been of world wide importance—the organization of the Perry
Expedition to Japan, which opened up that ancient empire
to modern civilization. The success of that expedition con-stitutes
one of the principal claims of Mr. Fillmore's adminis-tration
to the admiration of posterity and was, indeed, an
era in the history of the world, of which the events of the
last few years are striking results. The expedition was con-ceived
and inaugurated by Mr. Graham and was executed
WILLIAM ALEXANDER GRAHAM »
upon the lines laid down bj him, and the commander, Com-modore
Perry, was selected by him, though the expedition
did not actually set sail till after he had resigned. In 1S51
Mr. Graliam also sent out under the auspices of the Xavy
Department, an expedition under Lieutenant Herndon to
explore the valley and sources of the Amazon. The report
of this expedition was published by order of Congress in
February, 1854, and was noticed by the London "Westmin-ster
Eoview" of that year, which bestowed high praise upon
the author for his conception, and the thoroughness and wis-dom
of his instructions to the commander.
The great compromise measures of 1850, which would have
saved the country from the terrible civil war, if it could
have been saved, received strong aid and support from the
then Secretary of the I^avy, who was on terms of intimacy
and personal friendship with Clay, Yv'^ebster and other leaders
in that great movement to stay destructive tendencies, which
proved, "alas, too strong for human power.'' When the Whig
National Convention assembled in June, 1852, it i^laced in
nomination for the presidency, Winfield Scott, and William
A. Graham for Vice-President. With a delicacy which has
been rarely followed since, he resigned "to relieve the admin-istration
of any possible criticism or embarrassment on his
account in the approaching canvass," and the President
appreciating the high sense of delicacy and ]')ropriety "which
prompted the act, accepted his resignation with unfeigned
regret."
It may well l)e doubted if any of his predecessors, or suc-cessors,
either in the office of Secretary of the ISTavy or Gov-ernor
of E^orth Carolina, has shown as much progressiveness,
and as large a conception of the possibilities of his office, in
widening the opportunities for development of the country.
Certainly none have surpassed him in the wisdom and breadth
of his views, and the energy displayed in giving them suc-cessful
result. It is his highest claim to fame that he was
thoroughly imbued with a true conception of the possibilities
10 THE NOETIl CAKOLINA BOOKLET
and needs of the time and his whole career marks him as
second to none of the sons whom North Carolina has given
to fame.
In 1852, after his retirement from the Cabinet, he de-livered
before the Historical Society of New York his admir-able
and instructive address upon "The British Invasion of
the South in 1780-81." This address jDreserved and brought
into notice many historical facts, which with our usual
magnificent disregard of the praiseworthy deeds of our State
had been allowed to pass out of the memory of men and the
record proofs of which were mouldering and in danger of
being totally lost.
Mr. Graham was State Senator from Orange in 1854-55,
took, as always, a leading part, and gave earnest sup-port
to Internal Improvements, especially advocating railroad
construction. He and Governor ]\Iorehead headed the delega-tion
to the Whig Convention in 1856 at Baltimore, which
endorsed the nomination of Mr. Fillmore. He was one of
that number of distinguished men from all sections, who met
in Washington in February, 1860, and who in the vain hope
of staying the drift of events towards a disruption of the
Union and Civil War, placed before the country the platform
and the candidates of the "Constitutional Union" party.
In February, 1861, he canvassed parts of the State with
Governor Morehead, Judge Badger, Z. B. Vance, and others,
in opposition to the call of a State Convention to take the
State out of the Union, which was defeated by a narrow
margin and doubtless by their efforts. But the tide of events
was too strong. The fall of Fort Sumter 13 April, 1861,
and the call by Mr. Lincoln upon North Carolina for her
quota of 75,000 men—a call made without authority
—
changed the face of affairs. The State Convention met 20
May, 1861, and on the same day unanimously pronounced
the repeal by this State of the Ordinance of 1789 by which
North Carolina had acceded to the Federal Union under the
Constitution of the United States. Mr. Graham, Judge
WILLIAM ALEXANDER GRAHAIM 11
Badger, and others concurred in the result, after first offer-ing
a resolution (which was voted down) basing the with-drawal
of the State, not upon the alleged inherent right of
the State to withdraw from the Union at its will, but upon
the right of revolution justified by the action of the Federal
authorities.
One of Mr. Graham's most eloquent and convincing
speeches was that made before the Convention in December,
1861, in opposition to an ordinance requiring a universal
test oath, which was defeated. While giving to the Confeder-ate
Government his full support, he earnestly opposed arbi-trary
measures which indicated any forgetfulness of the
rights of the citizen, and in March, 1861, he procured action
by the Convention which caused the return to his home of a
minister of the Gospel in Orange County, who had been ille-gally
arrested by military order and confined in prison at
Richmond. His speech against the test oath was used by
Reverdy Johnson in arguing ex parte Garicmd, in the United
States Supreme Court.
In December, 1863, Mr. Graham was elected to the Senate
of the Confederate States by a vote of more than two-thirds
in the General Assembly, and took his seat in May, 1861.
It was at a troublous time and his counsel was, as usual,
earnestly sought. In January, 1865, after consultation with
General Lee, and with his full approval. Senator Graham
introduced the resolution to create the Peace Commission,
whose adoption caused the Hampton Roads Conference,
8 February, 1865, and might have saved the brave lives so
uselessly sacrificed after that date, but that President Davis
declared himself without power to come to any terms that
would put an end to the Confederacy. Thereupon Senator
Graham gave notice that to save further useless eft'usion of
blood he would introduce a resolution for negotiations looking
to a return to the Union, but the notice was unfavorably re-ceived,
and he decided that the introduction of the resolution
would be unavailing. Had it passed, we miaht not onlv have
12 THE iSTOETlI CAROLIKA BOOKLET
saved iinu'li useless bloodshed, but have avoided the unspeak-able
horrors of liecoustructioii. But blindness ruled those
in power. His course has been thought like that of North
Carolina—reluctant to leave the Union, opposed to unsurpa-tions
by the new govermnent, willing to negotiate for honor-able
lu-ace when hope was gone, but that being denied, hold-ino'
out to the end. Five of his sons, all of them who were
old enough, were in the Confederate Army to the end, and
each of them was wounded in battle.
The Confederate Senate adjourned 16 March, and on the
20th he visited Ealeigh at request of Governor Vance, and
in the conference told him that he left Richmond satisfied
that all hope for the success of the Confederacy had passed
;
that Mr. Davis had declared that he was without power to
negotiate for a return to the Union; and that each State
could only do that for itself ; but he advised Governor Vance
that should he call a meeting' of the Legislature to consider
such action, Mr. Davis should be apprised. To this Governor
Vance assented. But before further action could be taken
the approach of General Sherman made it useless. On 12
April, lS(i5, Governor Vance sent ex-Governors Graham and
Swain as Commissioners to General Sherman, then approach-ing
Raleigh, with a letter asking a suspension of arms with
a '^'iew to a return to the Union. The letter is set out in
"Xorth Carolina Regimental Histories" Vol. I, page 58.
General Sherman courteously received the Commissioners
but declined the requested truce. Of course Governor Gra-ham's
course in this trying time expressed the views of all
those who saw the hopelessness of the situation, and who felt
that the lives of the gallant men who had served their coun-try
faithfully should now be preserved for its future service
in days of jDeace. He was not wanting in this supreme hour
in the highest fidelity to the people that had honored and
trusted him.
Of especial interest, showing his wisdom and foresight are
his letters to Governor Swain, of this period, published in
WILLIAM ALEXANDEE GRAHAM. 13
Mrs. Spencer's '^Last Ninety Days of the War." He was
the trusted adviser of Governor Vance, who in his life of
Swain says : "In those troublous years of war, I consulted
him more frequently perhaps than any other man in the
State except Governor Graham," adding, that ^'in him there
was a rounded fullness of the qualities, intellectual and moral,
which constitute the excellence of manhood in a degree never
excelled by any citizen of ISTorth Carolina whom I have per-sonally
known, except by William A. Graham." Governor
Graham was also the sure reliance of Governor Worth, whose
most important State papers are from his pen.
In 1866 Mr. Graham was elected to the United States
Senate with his former classmate and competitor at college,
Hon. Matthias E. Manly as colleague, but the Republican
majority in Congress was contemplating Reconstruction and
they were refused their seats. When such legislation was
enacted, a universal gloom fell upon the entire South. In
its midst a Convention was called of all conservative citizens,
irrespective of former party affiliations to meet in Raleigh,
5 February, 1868, over which Mr. Graham was called by
common consent to preside, as our wisest citizen. His earn-est,
able and statesmanlike speech had a powerful effect, it
aroused the people from despondency and infused into them
that spirit of determination which continued to grow in
strength till the State returned to the control of its native
white population. In this speech, he was the first, in view
of the recent Act of Congress, conferring suffrage upon the
colored race, to lay down the necessity for the Whites to
stand together, and he enunciated the dectrine of "White
Supremacy" as indispensable for the preservation of civiliza-tion
in the South. While others favored efforts to obtain
control or guidance of the ISTegro, he, with a better knowl-edge
of that race, insisted upon the solidarity of the Whites
as our only hope. The event has proved the accuracy of his
foresight. This speech while the Convention was in session
was as brave as any act of the war.
14 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET
lie was prominent in asserting the right of the citizens to
the writ of habeas corpus in 1870, when Judge Pearson
declared the "judiciary exhausted'' ; and when Governor
Holden was impeached in December of that year, his was
the first named selected among the eminent counsel, who w^ere
retained to assist the managers appointed by the House of
Representatives in the prosecution. His speech was one of
great ability, but singularly free from personal denunciation
of those who had trodden under foot the Constitution and
the laws.
He was selected by the great philanthropist, George Pea-body,
as one of the board of eminent men whom he requested
to act as trustees in administering the fund donated by him
to the cause of education in the South, which had been so
sorely impoverished by the war, and attended its sessions
with great regularity.
He was also selected by Virginia to represent her upon
the Board of Arbitration appointed by that State and Mary-land
to settle the disputed boundary between the two States.
On 20 May, 1875, he delivered an address at Charlotte
upon the celebration of the Centennial Anniversary of the
Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence and arrayed in a
masterly mamier the historic evidence of its authenticity.
Among his many valuable addresses is that delivered at
Greensboro in 1860 upon the services of General ISTathanael
Greene, and memorial addresses upon the life and character
of Judges A. D. Murphey and George E. Badger and Chief
Justice Thomas Puffin. His address at the State University
and that upon the British Invasion of iSTorth Carolina in
1780-81 have already been mentioned. Xotwithstanding his
frequent public services, in the intervals he readily returned
to his professional duties and to the last was in full practice
at the bar. His argument before Judge Brooks in 1870 at
Salisbury on the habeas corpus for release of Josiah Turner
and others was a masterpiece.
WILLIAM ALEXANDER GRAHAM 15
He was nominated by acclamation in Orange County to
the State Constitutional Convention of 1S75. His declin-ing
health prevented his taking part in the canvass. He
issued a strong address to his constituents which was widely
circulated throughout the State, with great effect. His elec-tion
was a matter of course, but before he could take his
seat, he had passed beyond earthly honors. He was at Sara-toga,
X. Y., attending the session of the Virginia and Mary-land
Boundary Commission when renewed and alarming
symptoms of heart trouble appeared. The best efforts of
medical science j^roved unavailing, and he passed away early
in the morning of 11 August, 1875, being nearly 71 years
of age.
Numerous meetings of the Bar and public bodies, not
only in North Carolina, but elsewhere, expressed their sense
of the public loss, and the great journals of the country re-sponded
in articles expressive of the national bereavement.
The States of Maryland and Virginia took care that his
remains should be received with due honor and escorted
across their borders. At the borders of North Carolina they
were received by a committee appointed by the Mayor and
Common Council of Raleigh, a committee appointed
by the bar of Raleigh, and another by the authori-ties
of the town of Hillsboro, by officials and many promi-nent
citizens of the State and conveyed by special train to
Raleigh where they were escorted by a military and civic
procession to the Capitol, in whose rotunda, draped for the
occasion, they lay in state. Late in the afternoon of the
same day, attended by the Raleigh military companies and
by special guards of honor, appointed by cities and towns
of the State, and by the family of the deceased, his remains
were carried by sj^ecial train to Hillsboro, where they were
received by the whole population of the toAvn and escorted
to the family residence, where they lay in state till noon on
Sunday, August 15th. At that hour they were conveyed to
the Presbyterian Church, and after appropriate funeral serv-
16 THE XORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET
iees were interred with solemn ceremony, amid an im-mense
concourse gathered from many counties, in its historic
graveyard, where rest the ashes of William Hooper, A. D.
Murphey, Chief Justice Xash, Judge ISTorwood, and many
others, worthily prominent in the annals of the State.
Governor Graham left surviving him his widow, who sub-sequently
died 1 May, ISDO; seven sons, to wit: Dr. Joseph
Graham, of Charlotte (died August 12, 1907) ; Major John
W. Graham, of Hillsboro; Major W. A. Graham, of Lincoln;
Captain James A. Graham (died in March, 1909), and
Captain Robert D. Graham (died Jnly, 1904), both resident
in late years in Washington City; Dr. George W. Graham,
of Charlotte; Judge Augustus W. Graham, of Oxford; and
an only daughter, 3nsan Washington, \vho married the
author of this very imperfect sketch of his life and services.
She died in Raleigh 10 December, 1909.
Fortunate in his lineage and the sturdy race from which
he sprung, strikingly handsome in person, of commanding
appearance and stature, courteous in his bearing toward all,
high or low, of high mental endowments, of a personal char-acter
without spot or blemish, true to all men, and therefore
true to himself, possessed of undaunted courage, moral and
physical, with remarkable soundness of judgment, conserva-tive
in his views, l)ut progressive in his public action, abun-dant
in services to his State and to his country, holding the
entire respect of all and the hatred of no one, I^orth Caro-lina
has laid to rest in her bosom no son greater or more
worthy than William A. Graham. His fame will grow
brighter as the records are examined and weighed in the cold,
clear, impartial light of the future.
To ISTorth Carolinians, the name of William A. Graham
is the synonym of high character and true service, and in
rendering to him and his memory high honor, the people of
the State have indicated those traits of character w^hich most
strongly command their approbation.
Stat nominis umhra.
James C. Dohiux.
JAMES COCHKAIir DOBBIX IT
James Cochran Dobbin, Secretary of the Navy
in the Cabinet of President Pierce
1853-1857
By Henry Elliot Shepherd, M.A., LL.D.
Autbor "History of the English Language," "Study of Edgar Allan
Poe." "Life of Robert E. Lee," "Commentary Upon Tennyson's 'In
Memoriam,' " "Representative Authors of Maryland," Contributions
To "The Oxford Dictionary," "The American Journal of Philology,"
etc.
The Dobbin family, a branch of which was founded in
l^orth Carolina, not far from the middle of the eighteenth
century, seems to have descended from a French Huguenot
ancestry, the name, it is said, being a phonetic corruption
of its original form, Daubigiie, into Daubin or Dobbin.
The family to this day, has representatives in other States,
sprung from the same source, but these lie beyond the scope
of the researches contemplated in the present biography.
During the relentless persecutions and proscriptions, which
both preceded and succeeded the revocation of the Edict
of Xantes, October, 1865, a large Huguenot element found
refuge in England and in Ireland, in the latter country
many being established in the region which includes
Carrickfergus and Belfast. The Huguenot influences in
America, above all in the South, forms part of our national
record, and in relation to our present theme, demands neither
elaboration nor enlargement at the hands of the historian or
chronicler of the house of Dobbin. The first of whom we
have definite knowledge as associated with ISTorth Carolina,
was my great-grandfather in the maternal line, Hugh Dob-bin.
The name is not unknown in our mountain region, and
it was borne in a period not distant from the American
Revolution by at least one of the evangelists who preached
the gospel in a country then hardly rescued from the sway
IS THE XOETII CAEOLINA BOOKLET
of the primeval forests in which "the groves were God's first
teni])les." These, however, have assumed ahnost the shadowy
form of tradition. The family acquires a clearly defined
attitude in Xorth Carolina, with Hugh Dobbin, paternal
grandfather of James C. Dobbin, Hugh Dobbin was en-gaged
in commercial pursuits in both Carolinas. In addition,
he was interested in the maritime trade of that age, and in
vessels that frequented the port of Baltimore. The exact
date of his settlement in the South I have not been able to
ascertain, 1760 would constitute an approximation at least.
The time of his death, was not distant from 1790 or 1795.
About 1780 or 1782, he married Margaret Moore, of Ben-nettsville,
S. C, who was a daughter of Gully Moore, a patriot
of the Revolutionary era and a man marked by force of char-acter,
as well as vigor of intellect. From this marriage
sprang John Moore Dobbin (father of James C Dobbin),
who died in 1837. His early years were passed in Person
County; and not far from 1813 he married as his first wife,
Miss Anness Cochran, mother of James Cochran Dobbin,
whose middle name perpetuates the memory of his maternal
ancestry. Miss Cochran's father had been a conspicuous
figure in the political life of his time, having served in
Congress during the critical era which embraced the second
war with England. When in the years of dawning man-hood,
John Moore Dobbin, born in 1784, established himself
in Fayetteville, then an expanding commercial centre, its
development not yet . arrested, nor its growth paralyzed by
adverse and hostile combinations in the sphere of railway
creation and extension. He became a leading factor, a potent
element in the material growth of both Carolinas. In Fay-etteville,
James C. Dobbin was born, January 17, 1814;
when hardly beyond the age of six, his mother died, in the
white flower of early womanhood; some three years later his
father married a second time, Margaret MacQueen, of Chat-
JAMES COCIIKAN DOBBIN 19
ham County.* The natal day of Mr. Dobbin is coincident
with that of Benjamin Franklin, and two days removed from
that of Edgar Allan Poe and Eobert E. Lee. The world,
then as now, was enveloped in war, the combined hosts were
pressing out the heart of France, and the overthrow of the
first iSIapoleon was almost a foregone result.
Of Mr. Dobbin's childhood years, no definite or continu-ous
account has been preserved ; only a fragmentary reminis-cence,
or a tradition of some boyish prank, rescued from
oblivion by the loving memory of those that came after him
in his own household, or recalled from forgetfulness when
his co-mates of this dawning period contemplated with manly
pride, unmarred by touch of envy, his rapid ascent from
local celebrity to the lofty dignity of a national figure, ab-sorbed
in the complex diplomatic negotiations with Japan
(1854), the efi"ect of which has proved a potent agency in
shaping the development of all subsequent history. His in-tellect
ever normal in its attitude, was unmarked by the
spectacular episodes and moving incidents that are the charm
of the sensational biographer. If his genius "was nursed in
solitude," its perfect accord and equilibrium were maintained
to the last, as he lay on his deathbed on a serene August
morning in 1857. The routine of his early life found variety
and diversion by visits during the prolonged summer season,
to the ancestral home in Person County. His scholastic
career seems to have assumed a definite character in an
academy at Fayetteville, conducted by the Rev. Colin Mclver
*The reader will not fail to note that in the earlier phases of my
narrative, I have been compelled to depend in a measvire upon family
traditions and transmitted memories. Many invaluable records and
letters were destroyed during the sacking of our home at Fayette-ville,
March, 1865, by Sherman. Yet with these disadvantages to
overcome, I do not think that I have fallen into any serious error,
or marked variation from truth, either in reference to statements
of fact, or in cases which involve questions of chronoiogy. In regard
to the essential features of Mr. Dobbin's own life, there exists no
shadow of doubt.
20 THE NOETH CAROLINA BOOKLET
(a notable ligure in the ecclesiastical aunals of his day) in
strict conformity to the ancient classical standards prevailing
in England and in Scotland ; the fame of its instruction
had passed beyond the bounds of the State: among his asso-ciates
was Judah P. Benjamin, of Charleston, S. C, a name
linked with brilliant achievement in both Great Britain and
America. We find young Dobbin at a time not much later
than that which we now contemplate, a pupil of the Bingham
School, then having its home at Hillsboro, a point distin-guished
from an early period, as a centre of social and intel-lectual
culture. In June, 1828, a lad of fourteen, he passes
from the guardianship of Mr. Bingham and is admitted to
the University of l^orth Carolina. Among his classmates
was Thomas H. Haughton, whom in 1845, he defeated for
Congress, and Thomas L. Clingman—memorable in peace
as in war, for it was Clingman's jSTorth Carolina Brigade
which was in large measure the agency that in June,
1864, turned back the tide, and rescued Petersburg from
the premature grasp of the invader and spoiler. Mr.
Dobbin graduated in 1832, attaining scholastic distinction
of the highest order. His ideal grace was resistless ; faculty
and students alike, yielded to the magnetic influence ; to the
lover of romance he might have been regarded as some Per-cival
or Galahad, diverted from the quest of the grail and
brought from dreamland into our grim world of austere
realities. Dr. Caldwell cherished for him a genuine affec-tion,
despite the college j^rank to which young Dobbin was
a party, several lads taking possession of the Doctor's coach,
conveying it under cover of night to a distance from his
residence and leaving it concealed in a dense wood. As they
were on the point of returning to their quarters, the coach,
as they supposed, being securely disposed of, to their un-speakable
amazement, the Doctor appeared at the window
of the vehicle, and in his peculiar tone quietly observed:
"Well, young gentlemen, you have brought me down here;
now, you can carry me back." Carry him back they did,
JAMES COCIIEAN DOBBIN 21
but the story had no sequel, as the Doctor seems to have
entered heartily into the humorous phase of the incident.
During Mr. Dobbin's college career, his tastes, sympathies,
and aspirations were moulded and fashioned by his affection-ate
devotion to the sovereign masters of literary and classical
culture, not as illustrated in our native speech alone, but in
the supreme lords of the antique world as well. His ''mental
armor" as he himself described it, in his address to the liter-ary
societies of the University (delivered when I was emerg-ing
from childhood to boyhood) was bright and brilliant,
even when he was fading from us, the victim of immitigable
disease. With unabating zeal and diligence, he directed the
education of his sons and nephews; whenever he visited his
home during his official life in Washing-ton, a rigid inquiry
into their progress was a marked feature of his coming. The
academic record was thoroughly scrutinized, and the work
accomplished in Csesar, Virgil, Cicero, during the term, was
subjected to rigid, minute review. Among the treasures of
my library, I reckon, with a consciousness of increasing
pleasure, the Bible presented to him at the LTniversity in
1831, the year preceding his graduation; his edition of
Macaulay's "Miscellanies," and the account of Commodore
Perry's Expedition to Japan, edited by Eev. Francis L.
Hawks, D. D., the historian of North Carolina. Each of
these contains the autograph of Mr. Dobbin; and the last
I received as his special gift, September 10, 1856. N^ot long
after the completion of his university course, he applied him-self
to the study of the law, under the direction of Hon.
Eobert Strange, a judge of the Superior Court, and one of
the lights of the bar and the bench in the period of which
he formed a part. In 1835, he was admitted to the practice
of his profession.
Fifteen years later (November, 1850) teacher and pupil
were arrayed against each other in the trial of one of the
most notable criminal cases associated with the history of
the South: that of Mrs. Simpson, at Fayetteville, charged
22 THE NOKTll CAROLlISrA BOOKLET
with having caused the death of her hiisbaud hy means of
poison. Jndge Strange appeared for the defense, and Mr,
Dobbin assisted the State, in the conduct of the prosecution.
Two years after his admission to the bar, or in 1837, his
father died, his ilhiess being brief, as well as sudden. His
second Avife, as well as six children survived him, of whom
James C. Dobbin was the eldest. In 1838, Mr. Dobbin
married Miss Louisa Holmes, of Sampson, who died in 1848,
leaving three children, of whom one only is still living. He
nexeY again assumed the matrimonial relation. During the
earlier stages of his professional career, Mr. Dobbin was
guided by a wise and judicious conservation of mental and
physical resources. There was no gratuitous expenditure of
force, no dissipation of energy. His circuit was restricted to
the counties adjoining his home, Cumberland, Kobeson,
Sampson. The blare of trumpets, the quest of notoriety,
entered not into his life, and to him, in its intensest signifi-ance,
"fame was no plant that grows on mortal soil." With
the increasing years, he attained unchallenged rank among
the foremost advocates of an age, which numbered among its
representatives such "men of light and leading" as Toomer,
Eccles, Strange and Henry. His summary or synopsis of
the evidence in the case of Mrs. Simjjson was a masterful
illustration of ideal eloquence, "logic on fire," relentless in
its vigor, remorseless in its conclusions, resistless in its
I^ower. The coming of 1845, heralds the first period of Mr.
Dobbin's development in the sphere of politics. During the
campaign of this eventful season, he was nominated by the
Democratic party as one of its candidates for congressional
honors. He had just passed his thirtieth year, and the honor
was not only unlooked for, but absolutely unsolicited. Yet
he defeated his classmate, Mr. John H. Haughton, by a
majority of 2,000 votes, a marked advance upon the numeri-cal
results that had been attained by his successful predeces-sors
in his own party, and one which implied an emphatic
tribute to his personal charm, and his magnetism of charac-
JAMES COCHRAISr DOBBIA'" 23
ter. Despite both youth and want of parliamentary experi-ence
Mr. Dobbin speedily became a name to conjure with in
the Twenty-ninth Congress. A place was assigned him upon
some of the committees which involved delicate and critical
functions, as that upon Contested Elections, and in some of
their most complex procedures, he maintained a part as
vigorous and elective as it was manly and. honorable. In
the discussion of the Public Land Bill, in the debates upon
the Oregon Question, which had engaged us in serious com-plications
with Great Britain, we see him in the forefront
of the battle. Above all, he was the inflexible and dauntless
champion of the South, and whenever her claims were as-sailed,
or her prerogative invaded, the very gaudium cer-taminis
seemed to lighten his pale and classic features as if
a radiance from an undreamed sphere had descended upon
them. , His speech upon the repeal of the tariff of 1842,
illustrates his eloquence in its purest and noblest form. Mere
extracts or detached fragments, would tend rather to mar
its unity, artistic and dialectic, than to convey an adequate
impression of its power. Upon the expiration of his term,
Mr. Dobbin declined a re-election, which he might have se-cured
without doubt, or even without effort, and resumed
the congenial pursuit of the law at Fayetteville. Yet the
'^jealous mistress" was not suffered to absorb all his energies,
or to assume an unchallenged monopoly of his versatile
faculties. We find him in the Legislature of 1848-9, the
most responsible positions of trust being assigned to his guid-ance.
It was during this Legislature that a notable incident
in the life of Mr. Dobbin, and in the history of jSTorth Caro-lina
becomes the subject of an especial record. I refer to
the creation of the Asylum for the Insane (State Hospital),
at Raleigh, the abiding memorial of his genius, destined "to
live with the eternity of his fame." It was during this ses-sion
that Miss Dix, whose heroic labors in the sphere of
philanthropy, are familiar to two continents, memorialized
the Legislature to erect an asylum for the insane. The
24 THE NOKTII CAROLINA BOOKLET
memorial being referred to a special committee, a bill was
reported in favor of granting the prayer of the memorialist.
At this stage, however, the chairman of this committee,
whom at a later period we encounter as Governor Ellis, had
retired from the Legislature in order to accept a judicial
position, and the bill introduced by him, providing that
$100,000 be appropriated for the erection of the institution,
though advocated by Mr. Kenneth Rayner in an appeal
marked by rare fervor and earnestness, was defeated by a
vote of 44 ayes, 66 noes. Two days preceding, Mrs. Dobbin
had been consigned to the grave, and Mr. Dobbin was absent
from the sessions of the House. Miss Dix was naturally
alarmed in reference to the fate of the bill, and having abso-lute
faith in Mr. Dobbin's influence, and the power of his
oratory, recalled to his memory the urgent request of his wife
that he would advocate and champion the measure. The
appeal was one that he could not disregard, and on the next
day he was present in his place. The bill had been reconsid-ered,
upon a motion to appropriate $25,000, but Mr. Dobbin
introduced a substitute by which, in four years $85,000
could be provided by the State for the institution. The j)ro-posed
substitute he advocated with even more than his
wonted grace and appealing power, the result being that it
was adopted by an almost unanimous vote. In 1852, we
find him in the Legislature for the last time, l^ominated
in caucus for the Senate of the LTnited States, he failed of
election, it was currently reported, through the perfidy of
one of his own allies, a name long since effaced from the
political heavens, but associated with a family by no means
extinct in !North Carolina. It was in March, 1853, that Mr.
Dobbin became Secretary of the ISTavy, succeeding in that
capacity, John P. Kennedy, of Baltimore, who was chosen
to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of William
A. Graham, as soon as nominated for the Vice-Presidency
upon the same ticket with General Scott, June, 1852. The
nomination of Mr. Pierce bv the Baltimore Convention was
JAMES COCIIKAN DOBBIN 25
in large measure the outcome of Mr. Dobbin's brilliant
appeals in his behalf, and as an acknowledgment of his in-valuable
services, the Naval Bureau was tendered to him by
the incoming president upon his election in November, 1852.
The Cabinet of Mr. Pierce was especially distinguished by
its combination of varied and marked intellectual abilities
—
William L. Marcy, Jefferson Davis, Caleb Cushing, James
C. Dobbin. It may be declared with no trace of hyperbole,
that in this elect company which blended "all the talents,"
the modest and gracious gentleman from North Carolina, if
not the most richly endowed with gifts of intellect or genius
for administration, was the most attractive and fascinating
figure. As a delegate from his native State, he had accom-plished
the nomination of Mr. Pierce by the Democratic
Convention, and that he possessed the special regard and
admiration of his chief, I have ample reason to know, such
as has never been brought into the fierce light of popular
knowledge, or jjassed beyond the bounds of his domestic
circle. His administration of the Naval Department was not
merely marked by efficiency and excellence in detail ; it was
crowned by episodes and incidents whose logical influence
has tended in certain spheres of development, to direct and
control the evolution of contemporary history. Foremost
among these, stands the treaty with Japan, March, 1854;
the construction of the steam frigates, of which one was the
Merrimac, 1856, transformed at a later period, 1861-2, into
the Confederate Virginia. In view of the maritime compli-cations
which now prevail, the Martin Koszta incident, 1853,
acquires a renascent interest. The student of North Carolina
history, cannot fail to note that the Perry Expedition origi-nated
in the creative brain of Governor Graham; that the
fleet was dispatched by Mr. Kennedy, November, 1852, dur-ing
his brief official term, June, 1852, to March, 1853; and
that the treaty which represents the climax of this epoch-making
movement, assumed definite form imder the au-spicious
guidance of Mr. Dobbin. Four ''crowded vears of
26 THE Koirni cakolina booklet
glorious life" in AVasbiiigtou, the eli'ects of which are grow-ing
from more to more with the increasing ages ; and for him
the end is nigh at hand. To those who stood in intimate re-lation
to Mr. Dobbin, it was evident that death had set his
roval seal upon him not long after he had entered the Cabinet
of Mr. Pierce; the malady had probably asserted its power
in germinal form, ere he attained that stage. Five months
after the close of his administrative period, he died at his
home near Fayetteville, August 4, 1857, aged 44; his col-league,
Mr. Marcy, preceding him to the grave by a single
mouth. Of his three children, his daughter, Mary Louisa
Dobbin (who married the late Colonel John H. Anderson),
alone remains; for a series of jesivs Brooklyn, IST. Y., has
been her home. James C. Dobbin, Jr., the elder son, died
in August, 1869. Some of his father's richest gifts and
graces descended upon him like golden showers, above all,
that of eloquence, in whose mastery, his rank was in the fore-most
files. The younger son, John Holmes Dobbin, died in
18(35, a youth whose genial, lovable nature clung to him in
sunshine and in shadow, in war as in peace, and failed him
not even when he stood face to face wdth the last enemy that
shall be destroyed. Mr. Dobbin was laid to rest in the
Dobbin-Shepherd grounds, Cross Creek Cemetery, on the
6th of August. The services were held at the Presbyterian
Church, a eulogy, based upon the 37th Psalm, 37th verse,
being delivered by the pastor. Rev. Adam Gilchrist. The
tribute to the dead, was characterized by the urbanity and
lucidity of expression wdiich formed the native vesture of his
unstudied and habitual utterances. A happy accord in ideals
both of life and language, linked into harmony, the eulogist
and the subject of his eulogy.
Mr. Dobbin's affability and magnetic charm were unabated,
even when the long gra])ple with a relentless malady had re-duced
him to a mere vestige of his former self. His habitual
loveliness of expression remained with him, ]u-eluding, as it
were, ''that sweet other-world smile, which will be reflected in
JAMES COCHKAN DOBBIN 27
the spiritual body among the angels." Just as the transition
from death unto life, was reaching its final stage, a friend
and kinsman watching at his bedside, asked, "Is Jesus pre-cious
to you," to w^hich he replied in a tone not merely
audible, but distinct and emphatic, ''O yes." Consciousness,
as well as an unclouded intellect, remained with him as he
was passing into "the twilight of eternal day." When a lad
in my teens, I was wounded almost unto death at Gettysburg,
July 3, 1863. I fell into the hands of the enemy and for a
series of dreary months lay helpless in their hospitals, re-mote
from home, in ceaseless contact with the djdng and the
dead. Remembering Mr. Pierce's regard for Mr. Dobbin I
wrote to the former president, fully aware that my letter
had its origin in despair, and was not an inspiration drawn
from hope. To my astonishment there came back a prompt,
gracious, and cordial reply, containing a generous and en-thusiastic
tribute to my uncle, as well as an assurance of
sympathy for myself in the desolate situation which con-fronted
me; closing with these notable words: "You could
not commit a greater mistake than to suppose that I have
any power for good with this government." To me it seemed
incomprehensible, that this manly and defiant communication
from such a source was suffered to pass into my hands, but
it came unmarred by the shears of the censor, and I brought
the letter with me when I returned to the South, a prisoner
on parole. By a melancholy irony of fate, this historic me-morial
was lost or disappeared from our home at Fayetteville,
along with other precious household treasures associated with
the name and achievements of our peerless kinsman. The
havoc wrought by Sherman in March, 1865, accounts for
much, as his spoiling of our goods was remorseless, but it
does not resolve the mystery linked with the fate of Mr.
Pierce's letter. A gold-headed cane, marked by rare beauty
of workmanship, and presented to Mr. Dobbin during his
official residence in Washington, was one of the trophies of
Sherman's occupation of his native town. My personal recol-
28 THE ^'ORTII CAKOLIIN'A BOOKLET
lections oi iiiv uncle are clear and distinct from the earliest
period. When just five years of age, I was carried by an
aunt to the ]\Iethodist Church at Fayetteville to hear his
eulogy upon James K. Polk, who died in June, 1849. A
child of eight, I listened to his speeches during the presiden-tial
campaign of 1852, he being a candidate for elector.
Among the master lights of modern oratory, his proper rela-tion
and analogy must be sought in Fox, Hayne, Legare,
Preston, by comparison with whom, even in their moments
of supreme inspiration, his glory does not fade and his gar-lands
do not wither. His voice was like the note of a clarion,
''trumpet tongued," as was that of Shakespeare's appealing
angels. A strange and all-prevading faculty of assimilation
entered into his language; those who listened were drawn
toward him by a magnetic power w^hich took possession of in-tellect,
sensibility, will, and guided them without violence
or passion to the assured result, by the exercise of a mysteri-ous
and resistless charm. His diction was characterized by
an almost ethereal chasteness and purity ; his invective or his
appeals were bodied in words "headed and winged with
flame." The grace and ideal form of an Augustan age, were
fused into harmony with the fervor and passion of the South
which died at Appomattox in the broadening spring-tide of
1865.
"Who, but linns to hear
The rapt oration flowing free
From point to point, with power and grace
And music in the bounds of law,
To those conclusions when we saw
The God within him light his face."
The sovereign elegy of our literature, has glorified the
memory and idealized the character of Arthur Henry Hallam,
until the world adores the creation wrought by art and by
poetic fantasy. Where is the biographer or eulogist of James
C. Dobbin, in whose life and achievement were illustrated
and revealed the fadeless figure and vesture of Lancelot, while
within the mortal frame there breathed the soul of Arthur?
JAMES COCHEAX DOBBIN 29
"Wbatever record leap to light
He never shall be shamed."
Of the several portraits of Mr. Dolibiii, that in the i^avy
Department, AYashington, seems to me most accurately to re-produce
his features. There is a touch of flashiness and
gaitv in the portrait in the hall of the Philanthropic Society
at Chapel Hill, which was not characteristic of the man.
The Washington portrait reveals the placid dignity and
serenity that never failed to reflect themselves in his ex-pression.
Apart from his speeches during his single term
in Congress (1846-48), very few illustrations of his oratorical
power remain in complete or available form. I am the fortu-nate
possessor of a copy of the report of the celebrated Simp-son
trial (JSTovember, 1850), but only fragments survive of
Mr. Dobbin's numerous eulogies, orations and addresses, somie
of which have never been excelled during any period in the
history of modern eloquence. The extract that follows, is
from his speech in Congress, advocating the repeal of the
tariff of 1842. It presents a suggestive contrast to the type
of parliamentary oratory prevailing in our own day. The
diligent reader will not fail to note that an economical issue,
associated with Carlyle's "dismal science," is presented with
a charming lucidity of statement, and a range of historical
acquirement illuminating complex details, which remind us
of Macaulay, and bring back the memory of his brilliant
feats in this sphere during his career in the British parlia-ment.
I quote from the speech referred to
:
"Mr. Chairman.—It has fallen to our lot to become actors on the
theatre of public life at a most remarkable era in the history of the
world. The human mind evincing its mighty and mysterious capa-bilities
is achieving triumphs at once wonderful and sublime. The
elements of nature are playthings for it to sport with. Earth, ocean,
air, lightning, yield subservient in the hands of genius to minister
to the wants, the purposes, the pleasures of man. Science is fast
developing to the meanest capacity tlie hidden secrets of nature,
hitherto unexplored in the researches of philosophy. Education is
exerting its mild and refining influence to elevate and bless the
people. The control of electricity is astonishing the world. The
power of steam is annihilating distance, and making remote cities
30 THE XORTK CAROLINA BOOKLET
and tdwiis and stran.icei's at oiu-e lu'i.iihhors and friends. Amid these
mi,irbt.v movements in the fields of science, literature and pliilosophy.
the liberal spirit of a free government, in its steady and onward
progress, is heginnint; to accomplish much for the amelioration of
the condition of the human family, so long the hoi>e of the statesman
and philantliro])ist. The illiberal maxims of bad government, too
long supported by false reverence for their antiquity, are beginning
to give place to enlightened suggestions of experience. England,
the birth-place, is proposing to become the grave of commercial re-striction.
In that land, whose political doctrines are so often the
theme of <_!ur denunciation and satire, with all the artillery of landed
aristocracy, associated wealth, and party vindictiveuess levelled at
him. there has appeared a learned, a leading Premier, Sir Robert
Peel, who, blending in his character much of the philauthropy of
Burke, the bold and matchless eloquence of Chatham, and the patriot-
Ism of Hampden, has had the moral courage and magnanimity to
proclaim that he can no longer resist the convictions of experience
and observation, and that the system of commercial restriction and
high protection is wrong, oppressive and should be abandoned.
Already, sir, has much been done—already has the British tariff,
so long pleaded as the excuse for ours, been radically reformed
and in obedience to the persevering demand of an outraged i>eople,
we hope that the next gale that crosses the Atlantic wall come laden
with the tidings of a still greater triumph in the repeal of the corn
laws, so oppressive to Englishmen, and injurious to Americans.
"And shall we not reciprocate this liberal spirit? Shall republican
America, so boastful of her greatness and freedom, be outstripped
in her career in this cause of human rights by monarchial England?
No sir, I do not, cannot, and mil not believe it. I have an abiding,
unshaken faith in the ultimate triumph of so righteous a cause.
"Mr. Chairman, we may suri>ass the nations of the earth in
science, in arms and in arts ; the genius of our people may attract
the admiration of mankind —may cause 'beauty and symmetry to
live on canvas'—may almost make the marble from the quarry to
'breathe and si>eak'—may charm the world with elegant attainments
in poetry and learning, but much, very much, will be unaccomplished ;
the beauty of our political escutcheon will still be marred, while
commerce is trammeled, and agriculture and trade depressed by bad
legislation."
The extract which follows is taken from Mr, Dobbin's
speech to the jury during the trial of Mrs. Simpson, at
Fayetteville, jSTovember, 1850. I cannot forbear once more
to express my regret that his numerous and brilliant oratori-cal
creations, eulogies, tributes, literary addresses, exist only
in fragmentary form, or by the desolation of war, have been
JAMES COCHEAN DOBBIN ol
lost beyond recovery. Mr. Dobbin introduces his speech with
a graphic portrayal of the conditions, and the individuals
associated with this notable tragedy, unsurpassed in celebrity
in the annals of North Carolina.
"You have been told, he said (iu replying to Hon. Duncan K.
McRae, one of the counsel for the defense) of her beauty too, and
my distinguished friend has held up before you the picture of her
girlhood days—when her life glided on sweetly amid sunshine and
flowers, and gay admirers and doting parents—now darkened and
beclouded, a prisoner in the damp vaults of the dungeon with the
light of heaven only reaching her througli iron grates—with the
officers of the law now inviting you cruelly to consign her to an
ignominious grave, and to hurry her into eternity ! The pictur-e was
sketched with rare skill and beauty, and presented to you ^^tli the
finished art of one who knew that your hearts could not fail to be
touched by such an appeal. Gentlemen. I complain not of the coun-sel,
but when lie spoke of 'hurrying one into eternity' witliout warn-ing,
neitlier I, nor you, nor any one of this vast concourse, could
avoid the contemplation of another, and if possible, a sadder, more
touching iticture. A youthful stranger came among us, to seek our
generous, Southern hospitality. Troops of friends cheered him on.
'None knew him but to love him.' Perhaps the sun never shone on
a kindlier youth. Captivated by the charms of one who seemed the
lovely woman, he blended liis destiny witli hers. Ann K. Simpson
became his bride. For a season, his pathway was checkered over
with sunshine and clovid ; and then there was seated on his brow,
care and gloom and anxiety ; and in a moment, umvarned, the grim
tyrant lays his ley liands upon him. Poor Alexander C. Simpson
is in his gra^'e. and his widow is the prisoner at the bar. And
while I, too, warn you, not rashly and impetuously, to consign her
to an untimely end, but to acquit her, if. in the language of the law,
you have 'a reasonable doubt,' I also warn you, that if the testi-mony
has convinced your minds, and points you to the hapless pris-oner,
as the one wlio did the dreadful deed, in a moment when poor
human nature yielded to the tempter, then—in the face of your
countrymen—in the siglit of liigh heaven, you cannot, will not, dare
not shrink from pronouncing the odvful doom. God forbid that /
should, in a moment of ardor. api>eal to your passions. God forbid
that you, in a moment of feeling, should forget your duty ! Let us,
then, gentlemen of the jury, proceed in this investigation calmly and
dispassionately, in tlie fear of God—not man."
32 THE ^OETII CAEOLIA'A BOOKLET
Selwyn
By Violet G. Alexander.
The English name of Sehri/}i holds an interest today for
the students of North Carolina's Colonial history, because as
early as 1737, the British Crown granted to Colonel John
Selwyn large tracts of land in Piedmont Carolina, and upon
the death of Colonel Joh)) Selwyn and his oldest son in the
year 1751, his younger son, George Augustus Selwyn in-herited
the vast estates in America.
In the Colonial Records of Xorth Carolina, Vol. V, page
32, we read the following regarding the early land transac-tions
in Carolina: '']\rcCulloh obtained enormous grants for
land in North Carolina." . . . Dobb was one of the part-ners
or associates of ]\rcCulloh in the venture. . . . On May
9, 1737, the Cro^vn granted to Murray Cr^anble and James
Huey, two merchants of London, warrants for 1,200,000
acres of land in North Carolina, upon condition that they
settled thereupon (3,000 Protestants and paid as Quit Rents
four shillings (about $1) per 100 acres. These parties, how-ever,
as they subsequently formally declared, were ^'trustees"
for one Henry McCulloh, another London merchant, and his
"'associates." The Surveyor-General of North Carolina in
1744, in pursuance of an order in Council, surveyed and
located the warrants on the head-waters of the Pee Dee, Cape
Fear and Neuse rivei's ; the "associates" being allowed to
take out separate grants, provided no grant should contain
less than 12,000 acres. These lands it seems were laid out
into tracts of 100,000 acres each, as follows: Tracts num-bered
1, 2, 3 and 5 on the waters of the Yadkin and Catawba.
These tracts were subdivided into smaller parcels,
containing 12,500 acres each. Tracts No. 1 and No. 3 were
assigned to John Selwyn." . . . Vol. V, page 22. "The
grants for these lands are recorded in Rook 10 of the Records
SELWYN 33
of Grants in the office of the Secretary of State." . . .
''Colonel Nathaniel Alexander, of Mecklenburg County, and
John Frohock, Esq., of Eowan County, were appointed com-missioners
to ascertain the number of white persons, male and
female, young and old, who were, without fraud, resident upon
each grant on the 25th of March, 1760, and make return of
the same under oath to the Governor and Council, (iilso
see Records of Rowan County.) It was further agreed that
upon such returns being made, McCulloh and his 'associates'
should formally surrender the unsettled lands to the Crown
and be released from payment of back rents due thereon."
Hunter in his sketches of Western jSTorth Carolina, pages
19, 20, tells us that: "In 1766, George Augustus Selwyn,
having obtained by some means, large grants of land from
the British Crown, 2)roceeded to have them surveyed through
his agent, Henry Eustace McChilloli and located. On some of
these grants, the first settlers, by their own stalwart arms and
persevering industry had made considerable improvements.
For this reason, not putting much faith in the validity of
Selwyn's claims, they seized John Frohock, the surveyor, and
compelled him to desist from his work or fare worse."
. . . "The original conveyance of the tract of land, upon
which the city of Charlotte now stands, contained 360 acres
and was made on the 15th day of January, 1767, by Henry
E. McCulloh, agent for George Augustus Selwyn, to Abra-ham
Alexander (Chairman of the Convention and Signer of
the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, May 20,
1775), Thomas Polk, (Colonel of Mecklenburg Militia and
Signer of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, May
20, 1775), and John Frohock, as Trustees and Directors
and their successors. The consideration was 'ninety pounds'
lawful money. The conveyance was witnessed by Matthew
McLure (Signer of Mecklenburg Declaration of Independ-ence,
May 20, 1775) and John Sample."
34: THE NOKTII CAROLINA BOOKLET
The historian, Wheeler, in his History of North Carolina,
})a<iv .jO, states: ''That soon after his (Governor Tryon)
accession to ottice, the people of Mecklenburg County op-posed
Ileiirv E. McCulloh, who was the agent of George A.
Selwyn. Selwyn had obtained, b}^ some means, large grants
from the English Crown. John Frohock was employed to
locate these grants and survey them. The people in arms,
seized the surveyor and compelled him to desist.''
We lind this statement in D. A. Tompkin's History of
Mecklenburg County, page 16. "In 1757, the Selwyn tracts
of land, one of which (No. 3) is now partly occupied by
the city of Charlotte, contained something less than 400
souls" (page 32). ''In the latter part of 1765, Henry E.
McCulloh donated a tract of 360 acres of land to John Fro-hock,
Abraham Alexander and Thomas Polk, as Commission-ers,
to hold in trust for the County of Mecklenburg, on which
to erect a Court House, prison and stocks. McCtilloh was
the agent for George Augustus Selwyn who owned several
immense tracts of land on a grant from the king; making it
obligatoi'v upon him to settle one person to every 200 acres
of land. He foresaw that the interests of his employer would
be advanced l)y the locating of the county seat on his lands."
The city of Charlotte was thus located on a portion of tract
Xo. 3, of the "Selwyn Grant." ]\lecklenburg County, of which
Charlotte is the capital, is located in tract No. 3, of the
"Selwyn grant," and was created by act of the Colonial Legis-lature
of 1762 ; it then included what are now the counties
of ]\Ieckl('iilnirg and Caliarrus, and ]>arts of Union and Ire-dell
counties. Henry Eustace McCulloh, so frequently men-tioned,
w^as of Rowan County, a son of Henry McCulloh,
the London merchant, and the agent and "attorney-in-fact"
for George A. Selwyn in Carolina.
Xcithoi- Colonel John Selwyn nor his son, George Augus-tus,
('\-er visited their vast possessions in the New World,
but they evidenced some interest in them as is shown in
their crirresp(»u(lence and through the activity of their agents.
SELWYN 35
In George A. Selwyn's letters, there is frequent mention of
Lord Cornwallis (whom he knew personally) and his move-ments
in Carolina and, it is certain, he watched the military
events of the Revolution as closely as was possible, considering
the times and great distance.
The home of the Selwyn family was a charming country
estate near Matson, a small village on the spur of the Cots-wold
hills overlooking the Severn Valley. Colonel John
Selwyn was a man of education and ability, of large influence,
ample means, and well known in the courts of the Georges.
He was aide-de-camp to the Duke of Marlborough at the
Battle of Blenheim and served his country in other official
capacities. Sir Robert Walpole was one of his intimate
friends, as well as other men of note, and yoimg Horace
Walpole was a frequent visitor in his home. Colonel Selwyn
married Mary, a daughter of General FarTington, of Kent;
she was a woman of unusual beauty, vivacity and wit, and
as a ''Woman of the Bed Chamber of Queen Caroline" was
well known and much admired in court circles. Horace
Walpole wrote of her as "Mrs. Selwyn, mother of the famous
George, and herself of much vivacity and very pretty." It
is said that George inherited his wit, for which he was
famous, from his clever mother. Colonel Selwyn and his
oldest son, died the same year, 1751, and through this double
bereavement George Augustus, the younger son, inherited
the large landed interests in Carolina, as well as the family
estate in England. George Augustus was born at his father's
country home, August 11, 1719. His early school days were
spent at Eton, where among his classmates were Gray, the
poet, and Horace Walpole. He went from Eton to Hart
College, Oxford, but made no record as a student at either
place. In 1745, he was forced to withdraw from Oxford
without taking his degree, to escape expulsion for desecrating
a chalice, using it for a drinking cup at a students' party.
36 THE ^'OKTlI CAROLINA BOOKLET
He entered ]>arliaiiieiit in 1747, where be remained nntil
1780, a silent and inactive member, never giving himself
seriously to affairs of State. He had fallen heir to the family
es^tates in 17.")!, and bad sufficient income to support him
handsomely, so never exerted himself over his business or
landed interests, delegating this irksome work to agents.
Selwyn obtained several sinecures, one of which was Regis-ter
of the Court of Chancery at Barbadoes, and Surveyor-
General of the works. He early became a member of the
leading London clubs, where he was familiarly known as
''Bosky." George Selwyn's fame seems to rest on his un-usual
wit and humor, for which he was widely known and
frequently quoted ; he filled a conspicuous place in the fash-ionable
life of his day and was intimate with statesmen,
politicians and literary men, as well as the court circle, and
his wit and ho)i mots were enjoyed in the most exclusive and
fashionable drawing-rooms of London, He frequently visited
Paris and spent much time there. When the Duke of Bed-ford,
with his large suite, spent some months in Paris while
the Duke negotiated the treaty kno^vn as the "Peace of
Paris," Selw^Ti was of the party and was such a close friend
that the Duke presented him with the pen with which the
treaty was signed.
Horace Walpole, from their Eton school days, was a de-voted
friend, their intimacy being life-long and to him we
are much indebted for our knowledge of Selwyn.
In his later years, Selwyn almost abandoned his country
estate and spent much time in London, at Castle Howard,
or visited some of the great houses which were always o]:»en
to him, and where he met many of England's most brilliant
men and women.
Selwyn's life was in a sense lonely, for he never married
and in his last years he had no near relatives. Some biogra-phers
tell of a romance and of an unnamed child who filled
his thoughts and life in his last years, but that peculiar story
has no place in this Ijrief sketch of his life.
SELWYN 37
One unusual trait of Selwjn was his strange passion for
attending the executions of criminals, all of which were
public in England at that time. He seldom missed an execu-tion,
but in this gruesome pastime he was not alone, for Bos-w^
ell, Walpole and other great men kept him company.
Selwyn was a prolific letter writer, his most famous corre-spondence
being preserved in what is known as the ''Castle
Howard Collection." His spelling is not always above re-proach,
nor is his mode of expression elegant, but he gives
an interesting glimpse of that period of English life. Two
interesting books have been published about George Selwyn
;
one in four volumes is entitled, "George Selwyn and His Con-temporaries;"
the other is entitled "George Selwyn, His
Life and Letters."
Selwyn has been called "the first wit and humorist of his
day" ; many witticisms have been credited to him, but many
of them appear flat and stale at this distant date, as the man,
circumstances and time, gave them buoyancy and pith. One
is quoted here as an example of his wit, and it will still bring
a laugh. When Lord Farley crossed over the Channel to
escape his many creditors, Selwyn remarked that "it was a
passover not much relished by the Jews !"
There are several portraits of Selwyn still to be seen in
England, probably the most famous one is at Castle Howard.
It was painted about 1770 by his friend, Sir Joshua Rey-nolds,
and includes another friend of theirs, Frederic, Fifth
Earl of Carlisle, and, also, Selwyn's much beloved dog, Raton.
Once when it was rumored that Sir Joshua was a candidate
for a political ofiice, Selwyn remarked: "He might very
well succeed, for he is the ablest man I know o)i canvass!"
The Reynold's portrait shows Selwyn a handsome man, with
periwig, and dressed in the elegant and expensive style of
that day, with velvet suit, silk hose, real lace frills and fine
stock buckle.
Several years before his death, Selwyn's health became
impaired and he spent much time "taking cures" and con-
38 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET
suiting medical men. lie gradually grew worse and re-turned
to London for the last time shortly before Christmas
in ITUO, where he died at his home, Cleveland Row, St.
James, on January 25, 1791. He was sincerely mourned
h\ many warm friends, one of whom (Storr) wrote to Lord
Aukland, "The loss is not only a private one to his friends,
but really a public one to Society in general."
The name of the large landowner, Selwyn, has disappeared
from his former possessions in Carolina, except in Charlotte,
where one of her finest hostelries and one of her most beauti-ful
boulevards bears the name of ''Selwyn" in memory of
the first recognized landowner in Charlotte and Mecklenburg
County.
AN EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE 39
An Educational Practice in Colonial
North Carolina
By Edgar W. Knight.
Although ]!*^ovth Carolina developed before i860 the most
creditable system of public education to be found in any of
the states which seceded from the I^nion, her intellectual and
educational growth was very slow during the colonial period.
This tardy development was due to conditions under which
the colony was settled and to others which lent themselves
very sparingly to the encouragement of educational enter-prises.
Especially was this true of the period from 1663,
when settlements first began to be made in the region around
Albemarle Sound, to 1728, when the transfer from proprie-tary
to royal control of the colony was made.
One of the conditions which retarded educational develop-ment
was the slow growth of population. The earliest set-tlers
in ^orth Carolina migrated from the northern colony
of Virginia between 1650 and 1675, not as religious refugees,
as has been supposed, but for economic advantage. After
1663, however, when the intolerant and illegal government
of Berkeley in Virginia was resisted, others came for politi-cal
reasons, and the colony soon found itself accommodating
"rogues, runaways and rebels" who refused to tolerate Ber-keley
and his tyranny. In 1670 immigrants were encour-aged
by the promise of the assembly of exemption from
taxation for one year and protection for five years from
suits for debts made before coming into the colony. But
these attractions induced but few. When Drummond was
appointed the first governor of Albemarle in 1663 his com-mission
extended over 1600 square miles of territory which
contained perhaps not more than fifteen hundred people.
In 1675 there were probably 4,000 people in the colony, less
40 THE A'OKTIl CAKOLIKA BOOKLET
than three to the square mile, and in 1728 the entire white
popuhitiou probably numbered less than 13,000
Fntm the beginning of the settlement the tendency was
towards rural rather than urban communities, the mild cli-mate
and the fertile soil both contributing to a stimulation
of rural life. The earliest settlers took up large tracts of
land on the watercourses, which furnished practically the
only means of communication, and agriculture soon became
the most promising pursuit of the colonists. The dangerous
coasts and poor harbors made the colony ditficult of access
and the commercial interests of the people were thus retarded.
Moreover, there were frequent complaints against the unsatis-factory
government and conflicts between the inhabitants and
the proprietors or their representatives "who reckoned the
lives of the colonists only in quit rents and taxes." Occa-sional
religious dissensions were also unfavorable to educa-tional
and intellectual activities, and the need for schools
was not keenly felt by those in authority. The educational
philosophy of Seventeenth century England, "that the great
body of the people were to obey and not to govern, and
that the social status of unborn generations was already
fixed," was now and later widespread and persistent. Be-sides,
the re-enactment for the colony of the English Schism
Act of 1714, after it had been repealed in England, was
unduly exasperating and added to other ecclesiastical evils
which followed the establishment of the English Church in
Xorth Carolina.
In spite of these unfavorable conditions, however, there is
occasional evidence of local effort to foster education, though
there were but few early attempts to ]:»romote formal intel-lectual
and literary training. The poor law and apprentice-ship
system, which was so popular in Virginia where it was
directly inherited from England, was in use in ISTorth Caro-lina
also. In the latter colony, however, this system seems
not to have been so extensive as in Virginia which was more
nearly like the mother country. In Virginia it was so widely
AN EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE 41
extended and such a popular practice that the ante hellimi
educational system of that state seems a gradual evolution
from it. This poor law practice and apprenticeship system
form a unique educational scheme ; but in order to understand
the popular mental attitude to the class of dependents en-trusted
to its care—an attitude which the system itself re-flects-—
it is necessary to consider that education is a term
of varying meaning. The term now generally means an
expansion of the mental faculties through a specific organ-ized
course of a more or less literary nature. For the more
prosperous part of society a "certain tincture of letters" has,
in the popular mind, always been regarded as essential, but
this particular form of training has not been held in high
esteem for the poorer classes. The popular view has been
that formal literary training was not requisite to the poor
youth of the community, and parents or guardians of such
youth appeared more concerned about a practical training
iof their children or wards in those occupations and crafts
through which they were later to maintain themselves than
they were interested in "book learning."
It is through the apprenticeship system that one form of
local educational effort may be seen in N^orth Carolina in
colonial times. That the system was in operation very early
may be seen from the following records of February, 1695,
and of April, 1698 :
"Upon ye Peticon of Honell Thomas Harvey esqr Ordered
yt Wm ye son of Timothy Pead late of the County of Albe-marle
Deed being left destitute be bound unto ye sd Thomas
Harvey esqr and Sarah his wife untill he be at ye age of
twenty one years and the said Thomas Harvey to teach him
to read." Three years later the records of Perquimans pre-cinct
court show that Elizabeth Gardner, "ye Rellock Wil-liam
Gardner desesed presented his selfe before ye Court to
bind hir Son William Gardner to ye Honbl Govener Thomas
Harvi or his Heires Thay Ingagen to Learn him to Reed
Which In or to Was doon till he conies to ye Age of Twentv
42 THE A'OKTII CAEOLINA BOOKLET
on yeares he being live years oukl now a fortnite before
Cristmas/*^
Four years later, at the January, 1G5)1>, term of the same
court, we tind the following orders:
"Jonathan Taylor And William Taylor Orfens Being Left
destressed ordered that they be Bound to William Long And
Sarah His Wife Till they Ck)me of Age."
"Thomas Tailer Orfen being Left destresed ordered that
He be bound to John Lawrence And Hannah his Wife till
he Comes of age."
"Mare Tayler Orfen being Left destresed ordered that
Shee be bound to Mr Caleb Calleway And Elisabeth his
Wife till Shee Comes of Age."
"Thomas Hallom Orfen being Left destresed ordered that
he be bound to Ifrancis tfoster And Hannah his Wife till he
Conies of Age.""
These four examples are the bare court orders and noth-ing
is said about the maintenance and education of the chil-dren
bound. Indentures covering each case were likely signed
later by the guardian and the court which appointed him.
Ordinarily these indentures called for the education and
maintenance, according to his ''rank and degree," of the
orphan bound or apprenticed. This meant to feed, clothe,
lodge, and to provide "accommodations fit and necessary"
for the child, and to teach or cause him to be taught to read
and write, as well as a suitable trade. This was the custom-ary
agreement required by the C(uirt. The absence in the
cases above of these features is hardly ]n'oof that they were
here neglected. The indentures were likely formally signed
later, as appears to have been the case in the following agree-ment
made in March, 1 703, in the same court
:
''T'pon a petition of Gabriell ISTewby for two orphants left
him by ]\Iary Hancock the late wife of Thorns Hancocke and
proveing the same by the oathes of Eliz. Steward and her
1 Col. Rec, I. pp. 44S, 4m.
2 Ibid., p. 522.
AN EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE 43
daughter the Court doe agree to bind them unto him he
Ingagen & promising before the Court to doe his endeavours
to learne the boy the trade of a wheelwright and likewise
give him at the expiration of his time one ear pld heifer and
to ye girle at her freedome one Cow and Calfe besides the
Custome of the Country and has promised at ye next orphans
Court to Signe Indentures for that effect."^
At the October, 1704, term of the same court Xathan
Sutton petitioned to be appointed guardian for Richard Sut-ton,
the orphan son of George Sutton, who was probably
Nathan's relative, but the petition was rejected. A year
later, however, he was appointed guardian for the boy. The
same court which apiDointed him guardian heard complaints
made by the "orphans of George Sutton deced That Abyham
Warren their Guardian hath given Imoderate Correccon &
deprived them of Competent Sustenance." The result was
that the court appointed Dennis Macclendon the guardian of
Elizabeth and Deborah Sutton, and Xathan Sutton guardian
for Richard.'*
A few more examples of the system will throw additional
light on its operation in North Carolina :
"Upon petition of George Bell setting forth that he had
two servts bound to him by the precinct Court of Craven in
ye month of July 17, 12/13 namely Charles Coggdaile and
George Coggdaile as by Indenture may Appeare. And fur-ther
that ye Court afsd have pretended to sett ye said Servt
at Liberty as he is informed by reason that they could not
perfectly read and write when as the time of their servitude
is not half expired And he further claimes that during the
time they were with him they were well used and much time
allowed them to perfect them in their reading and writeing
and that he intended to instruct them in ye building of Ves-sells
Therefore prays that in regard there is no other alle-gation
made appeare agt him they may remain with him
3 Ibid., p. 577.
4 Ibid., pp. 61.3, 626.
44 THE ^OKTll CAIJOLIA'A BOOKLET
till ye time of the Iiuleiituve Specifyed be expired «&c.
. . ." Jt was ordered that the servants remain with their
master in accordance with their former indentures.^
The records of Chowan precinct for August, 1716, show
the following:
"I'pon Petition of John Avery Shewing that sometime in
August ITlo ye said Avery being in Prince George's County
in Virginia met with one John Fox aged abt fifteen years
who being Dcsireous to live in ISTorth Carolina to learn to
be a Ship C^arpenter bound himselfe an apprentice to ye said
John Avery for Six years before one Stith Boiling Gent one
of her Majties Justices of ye said County as is practicable in
ye Governmt of Virginia whereupon ye said Avery brought
ye said Fox into Xorth Carolina with him and Caused the
sd John his said Apprentice to be Taught and Instructed to
read and write and was at other Charges and Expenses con-cerning
him and haveing now made him serviceable and use-full
to him in ye Occupation of Shipp Carpenter to ye Great
Content and Seeming Satisfaction of the said Foxes Mother
and Father in Law one Cary Godby of Chowan Precinct But
ye Said Cary intending to profitt and advantage himselfe by
the Labour and usefulness of ye said John Fox hath advised
the said Fox to withdraw himselfe from yor petitionrs ser-vice
and to bring along his Indentures of apprenticeship &
is now Entertained and harboured by the said Cary Godby
and therefore prayes that the sd Fox may be apprehended
and brought before this Board their to be dealt with accord-ing
to law." Fox was ordered to return to his master.^
A record of Xovember, 1716, in Chowan precinct court,
shows that the practice applied to girls as well as to boys
:
"Upon the Peticon of John Swain praying that Elizabeth
Swain his sister an Orphane Girle bound by the Precinct
Court of Chowan to John Worley Esqr may in the time of
5 Ibid., II, p- !'-•
6Ibi<l., II, p. 241.
AN EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE 45
her service be taught to read by her said Master Ordered,
that she be taught to read."^
These examples are sufScient to show the principal features
of the system as it operated in the colony of North Carolina.
If the records were complete earlier and more representative
examples would doubtless be in evidence. By the practice in
North Carolina poor children were bound to masters and
guardians were appointed by the court for orphans, the mas-ters
and guardians agreeing with the court, which had gen-eral
care of this dependent class, to teach the wards a trade
or occupation and also to read and write. When an orphan
jDOSsessed an estate the guardian was entitled to remuneration
for administering it, but if the estate yielded no profit the
master agreed to maintain and educate him for his services.
Under these conditions the child probably took his place in
the household on an equality with the other children, and
perhaps received similar educational advantages.
Although the practice of apprenticing and binding orphans
and poor children under the conditions described was more
or less extensive in the colony at an early date, no legislation
seems to have been enacted on the subject until 1715. In
that year a law was passed by which no children w^ere allowed
to be bound, except by the precinct court which was empow-ered
to "grant letters of tuition or guardianship to such per-sons
as they shall think proper" for caring for the "education
of all orphans & for taking care of their estates . . ."
The law required that "all Orphans shall be Educated & pro-vided
for according to their Kank & degree out of the Income
or Interest of their Estate & Stock if the same will be suffi-cient
Otherwise such Orphans shall be bound Apprentice to
some Handycraft Trade (the Master or Mistress of such
Orphan not being of the Profession called Quakers) till they
shall come of Age unless some of kin to such Orphan will
undertake to maintain & Educate him or them for the in-
7 Ibid., p. 266.
4(> THE xonTir cakolina booklet
tere-st nr iiu-Miuc of his or her Estate without Diminution
of the Prineipal whether the same he e;reat or small . .
.'"*
The iirineijjal features of this legislation are similar to
the features of a law on the same suhjeet in Virginia. Close
contact with that colouy, from which many of the early set-tlers
of North Carolina came and in which the poor and
api)renticeshi}) laws formed practically the only educational
system for the ])oorer classes, may have influenced the gradual
introduction <^f ai)prenticeship practices into Xorth Carolina.
In Virginia one of the lirst pieces of apprenticeship legisla-tion
which has a public educational as})ect was that of March,
1G48, when the county courts enjoined the overseers of the
poor and guardians of orphans "to educate and instruct them
according to their best endeavors in Christian religion and in
the rudiuients of learning and to provide for them neces-saries
according to the competence of their estates . . ."^
By an act of 1705, it was ordered that when the estate of
any orphan was so small "that no person will maintain him
for the profits thereof, then such orphan shall be bound
apprentice to some handicraft trade, or mariner, until he
shall attain to the age of one and twenty. And the master
of each such orphan shall be obliged to teach him to read and
write ; and at the expiration of his servitude, to pay and
allow him in like manner as is appointed for servants, by
indenture or custom. "^"^
Another example will serve to make clearer the similarity
of legislation on this subject in the two colonies and the
probable influence of the law of Virginia on the law in North
Caroliua. In 174^ it was enacted in the former colony that
whenever the profits of an orphan's estate were insufficient to
maintain him, such an orphan was to be bound apprentice,
"every male to some tradesuiau, merchant, mariner, or other
person a])]>i'oved by the court, until he shall attain the age
8 Ibid., XXIII. iMi. 70-71.
» 18 Charles I. Heiiiiij;. Stututes. I. p. 261.
10 4 Aline. Heuing, Statutes. Ill, p. .575.
AN EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE 4:7
of one and twenty years, and every female to some suitable
trade or employment, 'till her age of eighteen years ; and the
master or mistress of every such servant shall find and pro-vide
for him or her, diet, clothes, lodgings and accommoda-tions
fit and necessary, and shall teach, or cause him or her
to be taught to read and write, and at the expiration of his
or her apprenticeship, shall pay every such, servant, the like
allowance as is by law appointed for servants by indenture or
custom . . ."^^
Seven years later, in September, 1755, there was enacted
in North Carolina a law regulating the estates of orphans and
their guardians. The preamble of the law explained the need
for further legislation on this subject: "Whereas, for want
of proper laws for regulating guardians, and the manage-ment
of orphans, their interests and estates have been greatly
abused and their education very much neglected, for preven-tion
whereof for the future, be it enacted . . ." By this
law the churchwardens of every parish w^ere to furnish to
the justices of the orphans' court, at its annual session, the
names of all children without guardians. Failure to perforin
this duty was punishable by a fine of "ten pounds proclama-tion
money each." The court was to appoint guardians for
all such children and these guardians were to make reports
to the court of their w^ards and apprentices. When the court
"shall know or l)e informed that any guardian or guardians
by them respectfully appointed, do waste or convert the money
or estate of any orphan to his or her OAvn use, or do in any
manner mismanage the same . . . or neglects to educate
or maintain any orphan according to his or her degree and
circumstances," the court was then empowered to establish
other rules and regulations for the better management of
such estate and "for the better educating and maintaining
such orphans." When the profits of any orphan's estate
"shall be more than sufficient to maintain and educate him,''
the surplus was to be invested on good and sufficient security.
11 22 George II. Hening. Statutes, V, pp. 499 ft".
48 THE ^•ORTli CAT^OLINA BOOKLET
But if till' est art' '\^liall he of so small value that no person
Avill edncaU' or maintain him or her for the profits thereof,
sueh orphan shall by the direction of the eonrt be bound ap-prentice,
every male to some tradesman, merchant, mariner,
or other person apitroved by the court, until he shall attain the
ace of twenty-one years, and e>'ery female to some suitable
employment till her age of eighteen years, and the master or
mistress of every such servant shall find and provide for
him or her diet, clothes, lodging, and accommodations fit and
necessary, and shall teach, or cause him or her to be taught,
to read and write, and at the expiration of his or her appren-ticeship
shall pay every such servant the like allowance as
is by law^ a])pointed for servants by indenture or custom,
and on refusal shall be compelled thereto in like manner
. . ." The act was to renuiin in force for five years from
passage.
In xVpril, ITGO, a law similar to the law of 1755 was
enacted, and two years later we find further legislation on
the subject of the maintenance and education of orphans.
Additional legislation was justified, according to the pre-amble,
by the ''experience that the court of each respective
county, exercising the power of regulating the education of
orphans, and the management of their estates, have proved
of singular service to them." This law differed from pre-vious
legislation in one essential point. Formerly the
churchwardens of every parish were required to report to
the court the names of orphans and poor children without
guardians and masters. By this act that duty w^as trans-ferred
to the grand jury of every county. Provision was
further made for an orphans' court to be held by the justices
of every inferior court of pleas and quarter sessions. This
court was to be held once a year when accounts of guardians
were to be exhibited and complaints heard.
The educational features of the act have a certain interest.
The guardian of any orphan whose estate furnished the or-j)
han an economic competency was to supervise his education
AN EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE 49
and maintenance. When the estate was of such small value
that ''no person will educate and maintain him or her for
the profits thereof" the orphan was to be bound apprentice
by the court, ''every male to some tradesman, merchant,
mariner, or other person ajDproved by the court, until he shall
attain to the age of twenty-one years; and every female to
some suitable employment, 'till her age of eighteen years
;
and also such court may, in like manner, bind apprentice all
free base born children ; and every such female child being
a mulatto or mestee, until she shall attain the age of twenty-one
years ; and the master or mistress of every such appren-tice,
shall find and provide for him or her diet, clothes, lodg-ing,
accommodations, fit and necessary ; and shall teach or
cause him or her to be taught to read and write ; and at the
expiration of his or her apprenticeship, shall pay every such
apprentice the like allowance as is by law appointed, for serv-ants
by indenture of custom; and on refusal, shall be com-pelled
thereto, in like manner; and if on comi)]aint made to
the inferior court of pleas and quarter sessions, it shall appear
that any such apprentice is ill-used, or not taught the trade,
profession or employment to which he or she is bound, it
shall be lawful for such court to remove and bind him or
her to such other person or jDcrsons as they shall think fit."
With the exception of certain vestry acts this remained
until the national period practically the only legislation gov-erning
apprentices and the poor in the colony of ISTorth Caro-lina.
The chief of these acts was passed in January, 1764,
and described the duties of vestrymen in making provision
for the clergy and the poor. By this act the vestrymen of
each parish were "directed and required" annually between
Easter and IN'ovember "to lay a poll tax on the taxable per-sons
in their parish, not exceeding ten shillings, for building
churches and chapels, paying the ministers' salary, purchas-ing
a glebe . . . encouraging schools, maintaining the
poor, paying clerks and readers, etc."^- 'No important
12 Col. Rec., XXIII, p. 601.
—4
50 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET
fhano-es were made in this legislatiou until 1777 when an
act was ]iass('(l transferring to "overseers of the poor" certain
powers and diilics Avhich hitherto had devolved on the vestry-men.^"'
Here may he seen an important change in the conception
of cdncational C(mtrol. By the act of 1702, already described,
till' duly of reporting to the justices of the local court the
luunes of or})hans and poor children without guardians or
masters was transferred from the churchwardens to the county
grand jury. I>y the vestry act of 1777 similar authority was
transferred from the vestrymen to the "overseers of the poor."
The educational significance of these changes is important
;
now the authority for controlling the maintenance and educa-tinn
of the poor is transferred from the church to the state.
From this change is gradually developed the idea that caring
for and ''educating" the poor of the community is a state
function. This general change is also clearly marked in the
legislation dealing with the poor in Virginia.-^'*
In the main the foregoing describes the practice in Xorth
Carolina of apprenticing poor children and orphans whose
economic competency was insufficient to maintain and educate
them. The custom was not so extensive and popular as in
Virginia which was more directly influenced by conditions
and practices in England. Scarcity of evidence on the sub-ject
in Xorth Carolina may be accounted for by the fact that
children a]i]irenticed by the court probably took their places
in the homes of their guardians or masters on conditions of
maintenance and education usually allowed other nunnbers
of the household. The master was ]U'ol)ably required to give
his a]»prentic(> ])racrically the same care and attenticm given
his own childi-en; for when it a])])eared that the ap])rentice
was ill-nsed, not ))ro])erly ])i'ovided with "accommodations fit
i'; ihid.. XXIV. ].. !).-;.
14 Sec Kiiij;ht. The Evolution of I'ublic Education iu Virgiuia—
Colonial Theory ;nKl PiMcticc. in The Sewanee Review for January,
191G.
AN" EDUCATIONAL PKACTICE 51
and necessary," or not properly taught as agreed to in the
indentures, he was removed and re-apprenticed to some other
master approved by the court. This important feature of
the apprenticeship practice seems to have been a regular
requirement.
A study of the system in North Carolina is not only sug-gestive
but leads to certain interesting conclusions. From
it we may see that as early as 1695 the practice required
j^rovision for teaching the apprentice to read and write, and
that the court released apprentices when "they could not per-fectly
read and write." It is probable that this requirement
was universal in the colony, though abundant evidence on the
extent of the custom of apprenticing is unfortunately not
accessible. We have also seen that the apprenticeship legisla-tion
in the colony of Virginia influenced similar legislation
in North Carolina, as the act of 1748 in the former, and of
1755 in the latter colony are evidence. It also appeared
that the practice in North Carolina applied to orphans, poor
children, free illegitimate children, to girls as well as to boys,
and to illegitimate female mulattoes and mestees. Moreover,
by act of 1715, requiring that "all Orphans shall be Educated
& provided for according to their Rank and degree," the
existence of schools or other means of intellectual training is
implied. The language of the law of 1755, "neglects to
educate or maintain any orphan according to his or her de-gree
and circumstance," and that of the law of 1762, "regu-lating
the education of orphans, and the management of their
estates, have proved of singular service to them," and "edu-cate
and maintain," may be considered additional evidence
that certain educational facilities, however meager they may
have been, were available for this dependent class. It is
hoped that future study of the local court records of the
period will add to the evidence already gathered.
52 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET
Biographical and Genealogical Memoranda
Compiled and Edited by Mrs. E. E. Moffitt.
CHIEF JUSTICE WALTER CLARK.
A sketch of Judge Clark is to be found in The Booklet^
Vol. IX, No. 3.
DR. HENRY ELLIOT SHEPHERD.
Dr. Shepherd's article in this number of The Booklet is
most opportune and serves to keep in mind the part played
by North Carolina in the President's Cabinet. Among the
five who have filled that important position the name and
fame of James Cochran Dobbin will be memorable, as it
was during his administration in 1854 that the treaty be-tween
the American Government and Japan was consum-mated.
Dr. Shepherd hails from one of the oldest settlements in
North Carolina, born at Fayetteville, N. C, the head of
navigation on the Cape Fear, January 27, 1844. Llis father
was the late Jesse George Shepherd, one of the most accom-plished
lawyers, jurists and gentlemen that North Carolina
has given to the world, who died in the flower of his man-hood
in January, 1869, at the early age of forty-eight.
His mother was Catherine Isabella Dobbin, sister of
James C. Dobbin, Secretary of the Navy in the Cabinet of
Mr. Pierce, 1853-1857, whose crowded years of glorious life
have scarcely a parallel in the annals of our Southern civili-zation.
j\Ir. Dobbin died August 4, 1857 at the age of forty-four.
Besides the lines of Dobbin and Shepherd, other lines
represented in the family of our subject are the McQueens
of Chatham, the Elliots and Smiths of Cumberland and
Harnett; the Whitfields, the Bryans and the Camerons, all
BIOGRAPHICAL 53
of whom trace their origin to the Colonial period of our Caro-lina
story.
Mr. Shepherd spent his early days in Fayetteville under
the care of most competent instructors, added to this
his daily contact with father and uncle. Each of these gentle-men
embodied in his life and character the purest ideals,
the tenderest graces of a day that is dead. He was sent to
Davidson College, from there to the Military Academy at
Charlotte, which was established by Major D. H. Hill in
the year 1859. At both of these institutions he was brought
into relation with this strong, heroic soul, under whom he
was to serve in more than one campaign during the great
war drama of 1861-1865.
In October, I860, he was admitted into the University of
Virginia. Here he devoted his energies to the literary, classi-cal
and historical courses, and in several of these he attained
honorable and distinguished rank.
When the image of grim-visaged war loomed upon the
South in 1861, he was found in the field, though hardly
seventeen. He served under his former teacher, General
D. H. Hill, at Yorktown, in the Fall of 1861. He served as
drill-master of raw recruits at Raleigh and other points. In
the Spring of 1862 he was advanced to rank of first lieu-tenant
of infantry in the Forty-third IS^orth Carolina Troops.
He was probably at the time of his appointment the youngest
commissioned officer in the armies of the Confederacy.
The encouragement and commendation as soldier and
scholar received from his great instructor and commander,
General D. H. Hill, is held in sacred memory by Dr. Shep-herd.
He was dangerously wounded at Gettysburg, July 3, 1863,
and upon the retreat of Lee's army fell into the hands of
the enemy. A long and cruel captivity followed. At last
he found his way to his desolate home after Sherman's
carnival of ruin had swept over Fayetteville.
54 THE >"ORTn CAROLINA BOOKLET
After the war ]\lr. Shepherd taught for one year a school
at Louisbnr«r, N. C, iu connection with Mr. Matthew S.
Davis, the honored head of this classical Academy.
In the next year, 18GS, he made his way to Baltimore
and in a short time was elected to the Chair of History and
English in the City College, an institution that represented
the highest or iinal stage of the public school system of
Baltimore.
In 1875 he was made Superintendent of Instruction, an
executive position involving far-reaching care and responsi-bility.
He resigned this trust in 1882 to assume the presi-dency
of the College of Charleston, South Carolina, to which
he had been called without the slightest solicitation on his
part. He restored the College of Charleston to vigorous life
at a time when it had fallen into absolute extinction and
left it in a flourishing condition. He withdrew from this
latter position in 1897 and returning to Baltimore engaged
more earnestly than ever in intellectual pursuits—author-ship
criticism, lecturing, original research in literary and
historical spheres.
As a College Professor, College President and Superintend-ent
of Instruction his work has been marked from its earliest
stages by the vital power of ceaseless progTess in all the higher
phases of intellectual development. Dr. Shepherd has con-tribute
to the literature of his vocation at least five or six
volumes, several of which have won distinction, not in Amer-ica
alone, but in countries beyond the sea. The History of
the English Language ; Historical Reader ; Advanced Gram-mar
of the English Language; Educational Reports and Ive-views
; "A Study of Edgar Allen Poe" ; Contributions to the
American Journal of Philology ; Contributions to the N^ew
English Dictionary, Oxford; A Commentary Upon Tenny-son's
''In ]\remoriam" ; Essays on Modern Language Notes;
Life of Robert E. Lee.
This enumeration by no means represents the total of Mr.
Shepherd's creative work in history, literature and educa-
BIOGEAPHICAL 55
tion. He has now in contemplation a life of Sir Walter
Raleigh, designed especially to portray the intellectual and
literary characteristics of his brilliant and versatile genius.
(The above extracts from Ashe's Biographical History of
ISTorth Carolina).
"The Life of Robert E. Lee," one of the largest works of
Dr. Shepherd, deserved especial emphasis, and in which the
whole South must be interested. Having served honorably
in the Confederate Army, and having known General Lee
personally. Dr. Shepherd was in every way fitted to do this
work, which is a notable contribution to the fast growing Lee
literature.
ISTorth Carolina has reason to be proud of her son. Though
transplanted to another State his love for the land of his
nativity remains strong and loyal. We may predict that his
work on Sir Walter Raleigh will awaken to greater activity
the project of erecting in Raleigh a monument to this valiant
knight and great colonizer.
Dr. Shepherd is vigorous and robust in health, still pur-suing,
still achieving, and whose work has been most cordi-ally
recognized in both Europe and America. Shall not
North Carolina hold fast to one whose supreme ambition has
ever been to contribute to the glory of the South and especi-ally
to his native State ?
MISS VIOLET GRAHAM ALEXANDER.
One will not be surprised to find the great-granddaughter
of John McKnitt Alexander, playing the roll of patriot ; in-terested
as she is, in research work, concerning the early his-tory
of North Carolina. Her article on George Selwyn, that
first disturber of the "Hornets Nest," the sting from which
gave warning to the invader to our country's liberties, finds
a welcome in the columns of The Booklet, the object of
which is to preserve important facts in North Carolina his-tory
not widely known.
50 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET
Miss Violet Alexauder was born in Charlotte, Xorth Caro-lina.
She is the daughter of Sydenham B. Alexander; an
A. 1>., of the University of Xorth Carolina, 1860, also a
gallant Confederate who served in Company K, First Bethel
Regiment, that noted aggregation of men of Mecklenburg
and six other western counties. He was promoted several
times in the army, was State Senator 1879, '83, '85, '87 and
1001. He was the first advocate of road improvement in
Xorth Carolina ; member of the Fifty-second and Fifty-third
Congresses (1891-1895) ; President of State Grange and of
Xorth Carolina Farmers' Alliance and Industrial Union
;
prominent in agricultural advancement, results in evidence
all over the State.
Miss Alexander is a descendant of many of the early set-tlers
of Mecklenburg, and patriots who figured so largely in
the War of the Bevolution, viz. : the Caldwells, Brevards,
Davidsons, Osbornes, Grahams and Wilsons, whose names are
recorded in history. She is the great-granddaughter of
Samuel Wilson, who came to l^orth Carolina in 1740; a
delegate to the Provincial Congress from Mecklenburg, 1773
;
delegate to the Convention of Mecklenburg, May 20, 1775,
and a "signer" of that document which has made that county
famous.
Miss Alexander was educated at the Mary Baldwin School,
Staunton, Va., where she made a special study of History,
Literature and French; she has traveled much in Europe,
and in our own country. Western States, Old Mexico, Canada
and Cuba. She is a frequent contributor to the "Charlotte
Observer;" has compiled a "History of Spratt Burying
Ground" (which dates back to 1765), published in Xorth
Carolina Booklet, January, 1916. She has written the fol-lowing:
"Confederate Kavy Yard, Charlotte, North Caro-lina,
1862-1865," published by Southern Historical Society,
Vol. XL, Richmond, Va. ; "First Court in MeeMenhiirg
County, North Carolina," published by Xorth Carolina So-ciety
of Colonial Dames, 1914; "The Old Cemetery—A
BIOGKAPHICAL 57
Revolutionary Grave Yard," published in Charlotte Observer,
Jime, 1916; besides many other historical articles in news-papers.
Miss Alexander is a member of several patriotic organiza-tions,
viz. : Charlotte Museum Association ; Korth Carolina
Literary and Historical Association, Raleigh, IST. C. ; Colonial
Dames of JSTorth Carolina ; Mecklenburg Chapter D. A. R.
;
Signers Chapter (one of its organizers), charter member
Stonewall Jackson Chapter IJ. D. C, and has held office in
last three organizations.
As will be seen Miss Alexander is not only interested in
the Old Time, but in the ISTew. She was instrumental in
placing a tablet on the site of the Confederate Navy Yard,
Charlotte; and in placing tablet in Capitol at Raleigh, me-morializing
the patriots of Mecklenburg; and chairman of
both committees, and assisted in designing both tablets. She
designed the pin of the "Signers Chapter," and it is proudly
worn by its loyal daughters.
Miss Alexander is a notable example of a continuity of
qualities possessed by a noble ancestry, and as an exemplar of
those timid but capable scions of a like nol)le race, who, con-tent
with the achievements of their ancestors, are apathetic
and timid in recording and transmitting to posterity, undis-puted
traditions that would reflect on the glory of the State.
May the pace set by Miss Alexander have many followers
and thus aid the Daughters of the Revolution in its effort
to preserve authentic ITorth Carolina History through its
organ. The IvTorth Carolina Booklet, which so far has
struggled through fifteen years without compensation to its
editors, but upheld by the most intelligent, reliable, painstak-ing
historians of this period. Through these The Booklet
is encouraged and inspired to continue its valuable work now
entering its sixteenth vear.
58 TllK XOKTll CAKOLliNxV BOOKLET
EDGAK WALLACE KNIGHT.
Horn near Woodland, Northampton (\mnty, Xortb Caro-lina,
April '.», ISSti; attended the public schools of Xorthau'}.-
tou County and Trinity Park School (Durham, N, C);
A. B., Trinity Colleoe, 11)00; A. ]\L, Trinity College, 1911;
master in history and English, Trinity Park School from
1901) to 1911; instructor in history in the East Carolina
Teachers' Training School, summer 1910; Graduate Scholar
Columbia University, 1911-1912; Fellow in Columbia Uni-versity,
1912-18; Ph. 1). Columbia, 1913; professor in the
department of education in Trinity College since 1913.
Author
:
"The Influence of Reconstruction on Education in the
South,"' (jSTew York, 1913) ; "Some Principles of Teaching,"
(Boston, 1915).
Frequent contributor to magazines on educational and his-torical
subjects. Among his most recent articles which have
attracted attention are
:
"Some Fallacies Concerning the History of Public Educa-tion
in the South," "Reconstruction and Education in Vir-ginia"
; "The Evolution of Public Education in Virginia"
;
"The Peabody Fund and Its Early Operation in North
Carolina." These articles appeared in the South Atlantic
Quarterly, and in the Sewanee Review\
The above recital of Prof. Knight's achievements is indeed
remarkable for one not yet thirty years of age, and may we
l>e allowed to ]n-edict even gTeater, as the years roll by. North
Carolina may well reckon on this scholarly writer, who, so
far, is I'eflectiui;' credit on his native State,
GENEALOGICAL 59
Genealogical Department
Compiled by Miss Sybil Hyatt.
LENOIK COUNTY PAEKERS.
In 1736 or 37, John Parker moved to Craven County,
probably to a place near the section, that is now Woodington,
Lenoir County. The similarity of family names indicates
that he came from the Chov^^au section.
The Colonial Records mention two grants of land, one on
September 10, 1737; the other February 20, 1739.
All the records covering the name Parker in this section
of the State have been examined. The most pertinent records,
those of Lenoir Coimty, have been destroyed by fire.
The following abstracts are from records of deeds in
Craven County
:
December 25, 1756.—Jacob Blount to Joseph Parker,
Between Little and Great Contentnea creeks. Test: John
Benson, Jonas Griffin,
July 26, 1757.—John Stanaland to Zenas Parker, ]^orth
side of Trent River, Test : John Frank, Martin Worsley.
December 2, 1758.—John Parker to Zenas Parker, North
side of Trent, next John Parker's line. Part of patent sur-veyed
for John Parker, November 26, 1736. Test: John
Frank, Thomas Wood.
February 10, 1759.—Zenas Parker to John Hudler.
North Side of Trent River, near George Carnegee's land.
Test : Samuel Colvel, John Parker.
January 29, 1773.—John Parker, Planter to John
Koonce. Part of a parcel of land, granted unto a certain
60 THE XOKTII CAROLINA BOOKLET
John Parker on Fcbruarv 21, 1738. iS'ortli side of Trent
Eiver.
Jannary 2o, 1790.—Martha Parker to James Meeks.
West side of Xorth West Creek.
The follDwiiiii' abstracts are from deeds in Duplin Conuty:
Fehriiary 1(5, 17<)<\—]Mary Parker to Isaac Huggins.
Grant to her, September 27, 1756, near John Yarborough's
line. Test: John Yarborongh, Joseph Eason, James Snell.
Clerk of the C(i.nrt : John Dickson.
December 30, 1768.—William Roberts, of Duplin, to Ga-briel
Parker, of Johnston County. East side of Great Co-heary.
Test: Matthew Parker, Robert Parker, Providence
Parker.
February 17, 1770.—Amos Parker and wife Elizabeth to
William Jones. East side of Muddy Creek.
September 27, 1771.—Jeremiah Simmons to John Parker.
Joins Parker's own land, west side of Little Coharie. Test:
John Owens, John Davis.
January 17, 1772.—Gabriel Parker, of Johnston County,
to son, Matthew Parker. Deed of gift. East side of Great
Coheary Swamp. Bought December 30, 1768. Test: David
Holliman, Hubbard Parker.
November 28, 1772.—Henry Fountain, planter to John
Parker, planter. East side of North East River, north side
of Muddy Creek. Test: Richard Williams, Stephen
Williams.
GENEALOGICAL 61
July 14, 1774.—Amos Parker to Solomon Parker. East
side of northeast branch of Cape Fear, north side of Muddy
Creek. Test: James Hollingsworth, Charity Goff, Stephen
Hollingsworth.
July 29, 1775.—Matthew Parker to Armager Hall. East
side of Great Coharie. Deed of gift from father. Test:
Jesse McEndon, Joseph Harris.
1775.—John Parker to Ezekiel Allen. South side of
Muddy Creek. Test: John Williams, Benjamin Brown,
William Southerland.
October 20, 1778.—Jonathan Parker to Matthew Powell.
West side of Six Runs. Test : Joseph Register, Thomas
Goff.
There are several deeds recorded in Johnston County,
which mention Gabriel Parker of Johnston,
A will of John Parker filed at Wilmington devises land on
main road from Wilmington to Raleigh, through Duplin and
Sampson to sons, Owen and Robert Parker, to daughter,
Julia Parker, and to second wife, Ann Maria. He states he
leaves this to the second wife's children, as the first's had been
provided for.
Vol. XXII, page 318, of the Colonial Records, December
10, 1754, Returns for Craven 1756, "The List of Gentlemen
Solgers" gives the names John Parker, Tenes Parker. Vol.
VII, page 263. A copy of Captain Richard Pierce's list
from the General Muster on October 7, 1766, gives the names,
Gabriel Parker, Martha Parker.
(>2 THE NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET
There can be little doubt of Gabriel Parker's being the son
of the John Parker, first mentioned. It is thought he lived
near the line of Duplin and Lenoir. He was a slaveholder
and was considered very prosperous. He made silk hats, and
even at a recent date, there were some of his hat molds i't
the home of his granddaughter, Mary Parker Miller. He
served in the War of the Revolution. The records, which
should give his services have been destroyed. He was
wounded in the thigh in an engagement with the British at
Burn Coat Bridge, near Sarecta, Duplin County. He was
dead in 1790, as his name does not appear on the census of
ITIH).
The census of 1790, of Dobbs County (now Lenoir) names
the following heads of families: John Parker, Sr., John
Parker, Jr., Joseph Parker, Lydia Parker, and Sarah Par-ker.
In the family of Sarah there are herself and one slave.
In the family of Lydia, there are herself, one other *'frcc
white female," and four "free white males of sixteen years
and upwards."
Gabriel Parker is known to have had three children : John,
Gabriel and a daughter. Gabriel and the daughter died with-out
issue.
Gabriel Parker (son) died intestate in Lee County,
Georgia, May 14, 1834. His inventory taken by Owen Jen-kins,
James Gay, William Tyson and Michael King amounrs
to $30,744. His entire estate was heired by his brother John.
John Parker (son of Gabriel Parker) was born in 1767,
and died December 22, 1843. He lived on a farm, now
owned by Joshua Dawson, about two and a half miles from
the Wooding-ton Church. He owned a mill, was very well
off and is said to have been a very kind, high-toned man.
He married Angelina Loftin, daughter of Elkanah Loftin.
Jr., and Ann Lovick. Her pedigree holds three "rights" to
membershi]^ in the Society of Colonial Dames. She was born
in f7f;0 ami die] Jidy 1, 1840.
Members of the familv sav that John Parker and Ane-elina
GENEALOGICAL 63
Loftin had children named IvTancy, Catherine, John and
William, but if thej did, they were dead in 1840, because
John Parker died intestate and his property was divided
into six portions, one each to Winnafred, Letitla (wife of
John Davis), Julia, Mary, Rachel, and the five children of
Zenas.
A member of the family has a legal paper, which was
drawn up but never filed, "The Bill of Complaint of Daniel
Miller and Winifred, his wife; John Davis and Letitia, his
wife; Inila N. Miller and Mary, his wife; against Rachel
Cox, Julia Loftin, William A. Cox, executor of Owen B.
Cox, deceased ; Stephen Gooding and Louisa, his wife
;
jN^athan Parker, Xancy Parker, John Parker, and William L.
Parker, the four last named infants, by their guardian,
Joseph R. Croom." In this paper John Parker is called
Senior, and it is a petition to the court of Lenoir County
and states that the surviving administrators, John Davis and
Imla J^unn Miller (Owen B. Cox, being deceased) are ready
to settle the estate and are put off by part of the heirs.
I. Zenas Parker died in Lee County, Georgia. He married
Mary Davis, daughter of Benjamin Davis. She was born in
1800 and died July 6, 1892, Their children were as follows
:
1. Mary Louiza Parker, born October 15, 1825; married
Stephen Gooding ; lived near Woodington. 2. ISTathan Zenas
Parker, born iSTovember 5, 1827. 3. John Gabriel Parker,
born February 17, 1830 ; died in Wa\aie County, jSJ^orth Caro-lina.
4. ISTancy Ann Elizabeth Parker, born February 21,
1832 ; died in Onslow County, ISTorth Carolina. 5. William
Loftin Parker, born January 5, 1834; died in Lee County,
Georgia. 6. Zachariah Davis Parker, born March 3, 1836
;
died in Georgia. 7. William Loftin Parker, bom September
15, 1839, now living near Ambrose, Georgia.
II. Winnafred Parker; born January 3, 1795; died Sep-tember
9, 1851; married March 11, 1813, Daniel Miller;
died September 9, 1851, lived in Lenoir County.
64 THE ^ORTIl CAROLIIS'A BOOKLET
III. Eaehel Parker; born May 22, 1800; married Janu-ary
2, 1817, Owen Bryant Cox, bom November 2, 1796.
They lived near Tuckahoe, Jones Connty. Their children
were as follows: 1. Elany A