Early Attempts to
Put Liquor Down
II«W llio Hr vs ill .\orlli Carolina or¬
ganized lo eonilial IUmiioii
Киш
1 .10
years ago.
By Fit EH IIAISIHSTY
and I turn my head, for the pride and
love revealed Ihere is too sacred to be
shared by anyone. He switches off the
engine and the car coasts to its rest
beneath the pecan tree. The old rope
for the plank swing spanks the tree
trunk with each gentle breeze, beckon¬
ing the children to hurry out to play.
Forgetting our weariness, we scram¬
ble from the car and up the back porch
steps, scaring away Clyde, the calico
Persian, and her five kitties. None seem
anxious to he petted by the intruders.
“Pa! Grandmama! Surprise!" But it
isn't really a surprise for they look for
us every day, all the while knowing
that only one, perhaps two. days a year
will bring us to them.
Two bent farm-wearv forms shuffle
to the door to be smothered with ardent
hugs and kisses, saved for half a sear
or more. Then the five children scurry
off to explore again the treasures of
Pa's farm.
Watch (JoiM buiqimqpJ....
MEDICALLY SPEAKING
Harvey Miller's home address.
Relief. N. C. takes its name from a
patent medicine. Hart's Relief, which
was sold at the store of a John
Peterson in the late 19th Century. It
was said to be a mixture distinguished
by its high alcoholic content, which
possibly explains its popularity. The
small community is located on the Toe
River, in the western part of Mitchell
County.
FICKLE
Then, there's the story of how Tomb¬
stone Point, on Albemarle Sound, got
its name. A Colonial Bertie woman,
grieving for her dead husband, ordered
a tombstone in England for his grave.
It was months in arriving, and in the
meantime the widow remarried. When
the tombstone finally arrived, the wom¬
an. happy in her new love, had lost
interest in remembering or honoring
her former mate, and refused to ac¬
cept delivery of the monument.
The ship captain, disgusted, heaved
the stone overboard as he passed the
headland, which ever after was known
as Tombstone Point.
Recent successes of
Гаг
Heels
against the sale of liquor by the drink
arc a reminder that organized North
Carolina opposition to the cup that
cheers will soon mark its 150th anni¬
versary.
The state's first known temperance
society was founded in Guilford Coun¬
ty in I S 2 2 . On June 12 of that year the
Hillsborough Recorder reported:
"A number of citizens of Guilford
County have formed themselves into a
society for the suppression of in¬
temperance occasioned by the immod¬
erate use of spiritous liquors."
The story said Horace McCain had
been named chairman of a correspond¬
ing committee "to invite the friends of
morality in the neighboring counties to
form similar societies."
Four years later the Presbyterian
churches of Orange County organized
the Society for the Suppression ol In¬
temperance. In reporting this action.
Fayetteville's Carolina Observer said:
"Several eminent divines and some
of the most respectable gentlemen of
the state are members of the Orange
County organization."
A Secret Societv
In 1842 a fraternal order known as
the Sons of Temperance was founded
in New York. The following year one
of its organizers launched a branch
chapter in Raleigh.
The Sons of Temperance was a
secret society with special handshakes,
signs, and symbols. Every member
pledged himself to total abstinence
from liquor.
The order boasted that it followed
every member to the grave, contribu¬
ting SI 5 toward his burial expenses.
It also contributed $10 toward the fun¬
eral costs of a member's wife or
brother. In return for these benefits,
each member paid dues of not less than
20 cents a month.
At first the Sons of Temperance had
rough going in North Carolina. After
three years of operation there were
only four Tar Heel chapters, with a
combined membership of 139.
In 1851 the order staged a member¬
ship drive in the state, hiring Philip S.
White, a noted temperance lecturer,
as chief speaker. The campaign was
highly successful. By the end of the
year the North Carolina Sons of Tem¬
perance numbered 12.000 in 281 chap¬
ters.
By the following year the order felt
it was powerful enough to get North
Carolina to pass a prohibition law. Its
attempt to do so sounded its death
knell.
Not only did the order become in¬
volved in the highly controversial pro¬
hibition issue but in other political is¬
sues as well. Many members disap¬
proved of these actions and canceled
their membership. Chapters throughout
the state disbanded.
The young people of North Carolina
were not overlooked in early temper¬
ance movements. In 1849 the Cadets
for Temperance was organized for boys
and young men. In that same year a
chapter of the Daughters of Temper¬
ance was organized in the state, and
the following year delegates from three
2
THE STATE. JUNE t5. 1970
