The* death of Colonel Alfred Moore
Waddell, of Wilmington, which oc
curved on Sunday, rehioved from thi.
HtnU> u man who
н.и
n North (*nro-
Mna Sir Galahad. If any man in thi:
Hjre In North Carolina de»r\c<l Ih
title of a Knight of the Hound Tain,
he was Alfred Moore Waddeil. and in
his going the Stale is a loser, though
It is the richer 'because he has lived in
it. Amongst all who love the gallant
and the brave there will be sorrow
1
«
e.iuse Ilia courageous soul has been
called Into the Beyond.
The most conspicuous and most
militant leader in the Cape Fear coun¬
try in the two greatest political crises
In the State was Alfred Moore Wad¬
dell. During t'he year when the Re¬
construction forces were dominant
from Anson to the ocean, and when
the bottom rail was everywhere on
to?» in i he South; when the men in
control and the election officers were
the pimps of the carpetbaggers, it
seemed that the real people of North
Carolina were doomed, at least for a
generation, to live with the heels of
interlopers and their allies upon their
hecks, there wore plenty who were
ready to follow, even though they
saw little hope of victory. The need
In the Cape Fear district was for an
eloquent and fearless man, who would
do as righteous a work m driving out
the carpetbaggers as the Master did
when he took the whipcords and
clean sod the temple. In 1870 this
leader was found in Alfred Moore
Waddell, ami he was found equal to
the great task which came to him. He
was the chieftain in a great cause that
brought aid to the State that he loved.
For ten years Colonel Waddell rep¬
resented his district in Congress and
held the important position of chair-
i *un of the committee on the postof¬
fice, a leader in constructive work.
There has not lived in North Carolina
in half a century a more eloquent man
than Alfred Moore Waddell, and he
used his great power to tongue-lash
the forces which were battening on
the South, back of him being a cordon
>f men who were ready to give him
full support. He was a very quiet
nan. with no political astuteness for
llmsclf, but a magnificent leader of
campaigns for the betterment of the
State.
After the Reconstruction forces had
i»een driven from the State Colonel
Waddell gave much of his time to
writing history and in magazine work,
■pending the quiet life of a scholar
*nd
и
writer. Though ho was fre-
(Uvuily
л
iUI«*kiU« to Democratic na-
lonal conventions, with other party
lionors given him, he did not press his
>wn claims. But again there came a
leed for -his virile leadership and in
181*8 in the Goldsboro convention his
doquent words roused to action in
he White Supremacy campaign. In
hat convention * he made a speech
vhich for brilliancy audacity and
nilitant courage has never been sur¬
passed. It was his voice that led to
teflon and once again the State was
•e deemed.
Except when the State was in dan¬
ger Colonel Waddell led a quiet life.
Jis history of New Hanover county
s a model and If such histories were
written of other counties they would
>rove of great value*, for his history is
>f literary and historical excellence.
Courageous in politics, a student
ind a thinker, he showed his ‘high
i.anhood and exercised his courage
ind wisdom in the practice of his pro-
pssion. No one who heard his speech
j. the State Asylum matter when he
prosecuted Kugene Grissom will ever
or get It. There were men of eminence I
»f both sides. Governor Jarvis, Colonel
rhoma* C. Kulk-r and Judge Charles!
d. Cooke, for Grissom; Judge Spier
Whitaker and Colonel Waddell for the
irosecutlon. The speech of Colonel
Vaddell In that cast was his .master-
>le< e. and. while the prosecution lost
n i he verdict by thw directors, the.
ipeech of Colonel Waddell, which was
videly published, aroused the people,
ind the final result was victory for
he prosecution. *
A great man has fallen in North
.’arollna in the death of Colonel Wad-
lell. Seventy-eight years of ago, a
latlve of Hillsboro, he has taken high
dace in the history of the State. In
he three years’ course at the Unl-
ersity of North Carolina he secured
he A. M. and the Lb. J
».
degrees. He
>ructieed law with ability and at times
vas un editor, holding this .position
vith The Wilmington Herald in I860
md with The Charlotte Jouriml-Ob-
terved In 1881-82. In I860 he was a
legate to the Democratic convention
vhich nominated John Bell for I’resi-
lent, and to the Democratic eonven-
ioiis in 1880 and 1S96. In 1888 he
vas eloctor-at-liu gv on the DctIio-
Tatlr ticket. He was a gallant Con-
ederate officer, Lieutenant-Colonel of
he Third North Carolina Cavalry. He
mis the author of ‘Colonial Officers
md Times." as well as the History
>t New llnnover County. For three
erms he was mayor of Wilmington,
ionored In his homo, honored in the
hate, he was a North Carolinian of
he highest type, and in his death the
hate loses one whose life Will prove
hi example in patriotism, high-mind-
