January 12, 1935
THE STATE
Page Seven
Chas. B. Ay cock— A Real Leader
By H. E. C. BRYANT
★
THE political pot never boiled to
greater purpose in North Caro¬
lina than it did in 1898, when
the Red Shirts were in the saddle, and
riding hard. That campaign devel-
| oped several real leaders of men.
Furnifold M. Simmons, who several
years before had been defeated for
Congress by a Negro, was devoting his
! time to the practice of law, and doing
well, and it was with reluctance he
consented to become chairman of the
Democratic state committee, and di¬
rect the battle for “white supremacy.”
But, once he took hold, the state com¬
menced to feel his force. He pressed
■ into service Charles B. Aycock, Robert
B. Glenn, James H. Pou, and scores
i of others, well equipped for the stump.
ri But of all the army of workers in the
1 field Mr. Aycock was the most effec-
\\ tive. While his speeches were serious,
r vigorous and partisan he never offend-
!; ed voters of other faiths. His pleas
I for Democracy were powerful, elo-
f; quent and convincing, and he drove
f them home with appropriate stories.
I I covered 32 of his speaking engage-
f ments, and wrote from a column and
; a half to four columns a day. For
j days I traveled with him, sometimes
I in freight-train cabooses, and in bug¬
gies, as well as in passenger cars. He
was delightful company; a gentleman,
and a scholar.
Aycock’s Speeches
Until Mr. Aycock came to the west-
j)j ern part of the state in that campaign
ij I had not seen him. My first assign-
si ment resulted in a full-page story, cov-
| ering his speech, and his anecdotes. I
j did not know up to that time that he
i disliked for any one to print his little
5 yarns, used to lighten and give point
to his argument. He generally pre-
j pared a speech, giving close attention
to details, and then spoke it, not from
j paper but from memory. As time
j passed he improved it but seldom
s changed the substance. He was liter¬
ally shocked when he saw my account
of his initial appearance in our sec-
I tion of the state, for he had many
other dates there. The second day I
showed up at Shelby, where he was
addressing a large crowd of Cleveland,
Gaston and Lincoln county people.
I I arrived after he had started his ap-
q peal, slipped down the aisle, with a
SOME intimate anecdotes concerning North Caro¬
lina’s great educational leader. Mr. Bryant was
closely associated with him for several years and
you’ll enjoy the things he tells you in this article.
CHARLES B. AYCOCK
small chair in my hand, squatted and
commenced to make notes. He was
on a high rostrum, five or six feet
above me, making the welkin ring. As
he approached a climax, in a recital
of conditions in the state, he lifted
his hands over his head, and looked
down. On seeing me he halted a min¬
ute, stared at my tablet, and then pro¬
ceeded. I realized I had caused some
commotion in his mind. After the
meeting was over he sent a runner to
locate me, and summons me to his
room.
“Young fellow,” said he, “you came
near making me loose my speech to¬
day. You ruined me by printing my
jokes. If you do that again I cannot
proceed.”
The Soup Gave Out
Mr. Aycock was in earnest, but as
long as he lived I never again offended.
We became intimate friends. When he
reached Charlotte Mrs. Barringer,
widow of General Rufus Barringer, in¬
vited him to dinner, to meet Daniel
A. Tompkins, James W. Osborne, then
a prominent attorney in New York,
and others. I was fortunate enough
to be one of the party. Mr. Osborne,
as usual, was late, and the soup boiled
down. William, the negro who waited
on the table, left Mr. Aycock until the
last, and the soup gave out. Some
good Woman, who had an eye for such
things, noticed that something was
wrong. She whispered to the hostess
that Mr. Aycock had no soup.
“William, bring in a plate of soup
for the gentleman,” said Mrs. Bar¬
ringer.
“Dere ain’t no m$’,” said William.
Mr. Tompkins proposed to sell his
to Mr. Aycock for a quarter. Mrs.
Barringer was embarrassed, as every¬
body had started to eating. There was
no solution. The soup had just dried
up while we waited for Mr. Osborne.
Mr. Aycock did not mind but Mrs.
Barringer was hurt to the heart.
An Impressive Orator
Mr. Aycock could always draw his
crowd closer and closer as he spoke. In¬
stead of tiring people he stimulated
them. I have seen audiences stand or sit
on the ground for hours to listen to
him. He had a carrying, tenor voice,
and he never was at a loss for a word
or an argument. For years he had been
a student of human nature, and he did
not speak over the heads of hearers.
No matter what his subject he preached
education — education for every living
thing. He said it was good for men
of all races, and lower animals of all
sorts. In his great campaigns in the
state he urged better schools for the
negroes. He thought they should be
disfranchised until they were properly
tutored for the ballot.
In speaking of the advantages of
education he used the common fox¬
hound to illustrate. He said he went
out once with an old hunter who knew
his business and his dogs. Early in
the morning, mounted on their horses,
the hunter tapped his horn, and the
trained hounds came to it. On the way
to the field a young dog opened in a
nearby thicket, and he (Mr. Aycock)
said to the older man : “There’s a dog,
giving tongue 1”
“Yes,” explained the hunter, riding
on, “that is Jeff, a young fellow, on
{Continued on page twenty-two )
