- Title
- Our state
-
-
- Date
- October 1998
-
-
- Place
- ["North Carolina, United States"]
-
Our state
Hits:
(0)
























tar heel towns
story and photography by Ede Dunn Baldridge
Princeville
This unpretentious Edgecombe County town has an unusual claim to fame:
Princeville is the first African-American community incorporated in North Carolina.Today, the many
voices here tell one of the most remarkable stories in the state.
Contrary to the biblical pronounce¬
ment. pride has not gone nor is it
going liefore destruction in
Princeville. It is pride, in the very Ix-st
sense of the word, that has brought
Princeville through all the troubled and
troublesome times in its dramatic 1 13-
year history.
This unpretentious Edgccomlx?
Count)’ town of more than I. (KM) has one
of the most remarkable stories in the
state. It is the oldest city chartered by
blacks in .America, incorporated
February 20. 1885. In c elebration of its
1 00th anniversary in 1995, Princeville
published a booklet about its life and
times. Hie mayor at that time. Jesse
Matthcwson Baker, wrote on the
1хюк-
let's introduction page. "Tire Greek his¬
torian Thucydides, in his account ol the
Peloponnesian War. wrote. ‘We arc lovers
of beauty without extravagance, and
lovers of wisdom without unmanliness.
Wealth to us Is not mere material for vain
glory but an opportunity for achieve¬
ment; and poverty we think it no dis¬
grace to acknowledge but a real degrada¬
tion to make no effort to overcome.’ In
my mind this quotation sums up what
Princeville is all about.” The quotations
of both Thucydides and the former
mayor hold tnic for Princeville today.
Civil rights and civilities
In 1865. at the close of the Civil War.
newly freed slaves settled in the low.
swampy land south of Tarboro. across
from the Tar River. They named the
settlement Freedom Mill, also known
as liberty Mill, in acknowledgment of
the knoll from which the Union sol¬
diers announced the victory that ren¬
7 he Mount Zion Primitive Baptist Church 1 1 871) remains the town's prize landmark.
dered the slaves free.
living conditions were grinding,
uncompromising. To take care of them¬
selves and their families, many worked in
nearby Tarboro as farm hands, laborers,
and household help. Others less fortu¬
nate relied on food, clothing, and stt|>-
plies given bv the Freedman’s Bureau.
Flooding In' the far River caused unfor¬
giving problems such as poor sanitation,
illness, and disease. Often death and the
destruction of homes forced some to
leave, never to return. Still, in spite of the
problems. Freedom Mill became a haven
for blacks. The men instrumental in the
town's incorporation — William Mabson,
a mcinlxT of the state legislature and the
State
О
institutional Convention; Robert
S. Taylor, editor of the F.dgceombe
Watchman and member of the N.C.
Senate; and Turner Prince, a coinmuniiv
leader — had misgivings alxmt the
town’s survival. (On its incorporation the
town adopted the name Princeville in
honor ol Turner Prince.)
The N.C. Constitution of 1868 granted
blacks voting and legal rights; the recent¬
ly elected slate legislature ratified the
14th Amendment to die U.S. Consti¬
tution, guaranteeing federal protection
for blacks' civil tights, file citizens ol
Freedom Mill resided in the Second
Congressional District known as the
Black Second and t«x»k their new voting
opportunitv and obligation seriouslv,
helping to elect lour blacks to ( .ongiess
and two. Malison and Taylor, into state
|x>litics.
October 1998 Our State 13