State

The Tar Heel Who Won America’s Heart Farmer Bob's forty-two years in Congress revealed him as one of the great Southern statesmen of all times; a reporter who knew him well iligs up some rare aneedotcs. tty ROBT. A. ERIVIA’ To North Carolina and to the Ninth Congressional District, the retirement of 88-year-old Robert L. Doughton, more affectionately known as Farmer Bob or Uncle Bob, will mark the end of an era. Few men become living legends or walking traditions in public life, but you have one in Farmer Bob. Remem¬ ber the kindly, friendly iron man of Congress who carried a terrible bur¬ den of responsibility as chief tax writer in the dark days of the depres¬ sion, in World War II, and in the post¬ war days? Remember the man who worked 12 hours a day and a few1 hours every Sunday, on into his seven¬ ties and then into his eighties, and always kept his sense of humor? Re¬ member the ageless man with the springy step, the clear blue eyes, the bald head, the crinkling forehead, and the plain-spoken words? The answer to those questions is yes, and it is remarkable to note that Uncle Bob still carries on so ably, hardly ever ill a day, and never com¬ plaining of his load. In the last 15 years, a pattern had developed in Farmer Bob's career. Ev¬ ery two years, he decided to retire from Congress and go home to his farm at Laurel Springs high in the beautiful mountains of Alleghany County. And. just as sure as shootin', his Ninth Dis- I trict constituents, leaders of the state in politics and business, and business leaders from all over the country, de¬ manded he stay on. Because of his usual good health and vigor, the Farm- • cr agreed. The same thing happened this year, but doctors made the negative answer this time. Now, let's turn back the years on this tall, erect, firm character whose name has been outstanding in two generations of North Carolina politics. Therein is a story as typically Ameri¬ can as that of Abraham Lincoln, the story of the stalwart mountaineer who in Congress — like Ole Man River — just keeps rollin’ along. Mountain Man The Doughton farm home at Laurel Springs is a short distance from the Virginia line, and only one county re¬ moved from Tennessee. Its people arc noted for the traits Farmer Bob typi¬ fies — honesty, integrity, industry, and in general, a homespun brand of Americanism. The Congressman's father was John Horton Doughton, a farmer who sur¬ veyed land and built roads and school- houses as sidelines. He died in 1903 at the age of 74, which seems rather young when compared with other members of his family. The Congress¬ man’s mother, Rebecca Jones Dough¬ ton, became a state-wide institution. She died at 96, famous locally as the mother of Farmer Bob and of the late Rufus A. (Governor) Doughton. eight years Bob's senior. Lieutenant Governor from 1893 to 1897, later, in the I920's and early 30’s Chairman of the Highway Commission and Com¬ missioner of Revenue and intermit¬ tently a veteran member of the General Assembly. A WEEKLY SURVEY OF NORTH CAROLINA NOTE: The author. Boh Erwin, is a widely known North Carolina newspaperman, and now is head of a news syndicate in the national capital. John Horton Doughton and Rebec¬ ca Jones Doughton raised a large fam¬ ily and sent their children to school, first in an old log cabin with split log benches Mr. Doughton made, and later to a high school that he had built. The high school was called "the academy" in those days. Schools were community affairs. The county paid the teachers for about two months of teaching a year, and when that money was exhausted, the parents of the pu¬ pils kept on paying out of pocket if they wanted their children to get an education. Hickory Treatment "The teachers used some hickory treatment in those days,” Farmer Bob recalls. "What they really used to enforce discipline was a graywilh — a switch the diameter of a lead pencil, pulled off a bush. Our father paid one dollar a month for each child for ad¬ ditional schooling when the public money gave out." The county schools gave Robert Doughton all the schooling he ever had. He was graduated from the acad¬ emy at Sparta and went to work on his father's farm. Farming and raising and herding cattle helped him to develop a powerful physique. In his youth, he formed living habits that never changed — no drinking, no smoking, no cussing. By the time he had reached his majority, Bob Doughton was branch¬ ing out on his own — buying land for livestock raising, opening a country store, becoming interested in banking. In those years, there arose some of the legends of Doughton's physical prowess. He was always an imposing figure astride a riding-horse. Then, as now, he wore broad-brimmed black hats, small versions of the ten-gallon hats of Texas fame. "When Farmer Bob drove his cattle to market years ago, down through the THE STATE, Vol. XIX: No. «4. entered at tec-oiid-clats mailer, June I. 19 JJ, al the Postofllce at Ralelcb. North Carolina, under the act of March i. 1879. Published by Sharpe PublUhlnc Co.. Inc., Lawyers Bid*., Raleigh, N. C. Copyright, 1952. by the Sharpe PublUhlng Co., Inc.