State

Роде Six THE STATE February 1, 1936 GOVERNORS OF NORTH CAROLINA - No.— 50 DAVID S. REID - - By W. J. Sadler - nib olcc'lion of Itaviel S. Iteid. an able main of Rockingiiaiin County, inairkoil tlie ascendancy of the Dcmocrafic party in \orlh Cairo- lina. Reid sorvcil a full two-year term in the eairly 1850's, and was elected for the second time, but re¬ signed after serving a year to be¬ come a United Staites Senator. ТПЕ elections >*f 1850 marked the etui <>f the power of the Whig political party in North Carolina, nn<l resulted in the selection of David S. Reid, a Democrat of Rock¬ ingham County — making his second successive race for the office — to the gover¬ norship of the state. The Democrats not only elected their choice for governor; they also gained a majority of eight in the state senate and of seventeen in the house. Reid’s majority over Charles Manly, Whig incumbent, was almost 3,000 votes, considerably того than the few hun¬ dred by which he had lost to Manly in the previous election two years before. War Rumblings Heard Reid assumed the gul>eriiatorial chair on January 1. 1851, and his first mes¬ sage to the General Assembly there were faint rumblings of what later was to result in the tragic War Between the States, known ns one of the most bit¬ terly fought contests in the history of the world. “Ardently devoted to the perpetuity of our Union — to the Constitution — ‘a* it is,’ " he told the assembled legis¬ lators, “and at the same time knowing and daring to maintain and defend its rights, as guaranteed by this national compact, no state rejoiced with more Unalloyed satisfaction at the amicable settlement of this distracting contro¬ versy.*' Reid apparently was referring to the (lurry of abolition sentiment which was l>eing disseminated throughout the country, particularly in the Northern states. Continuing, he said: Takes Strong Stand “But let us not be misunderstood: let it not be supposed that our deep and abiding devotion to ibis Union is such as to render us insensible to the just appreciation of our right-, nr callous !<• the stain of dishonor. We have rights which are ours by the Constitution, ours by compromise, and by the su¬ premo laws that govern us. These will never he surrendered. Wo take our stand in the ranks of Southern destiny.” Three additional counties in the western section of the state were cre¬ ated during Reid's tenure of office. They were Yadkin, Jackson and Madi- '"II. increasing the number of North Carolina counties to 70 — 44 in the we.t and 80 in the east. The population was divided rather unequally, with the western counties holding the margin by 330,000 to 215.000. This gave the en¬ tire state a total population of approxi¬ mately 551.000, showing that it lias grown 000 percent in a little more than three-quarters of a century. Many Advances Made Reid’s administration also saw con¬ siderable advancement in education, with quite a number of additional schools and academies being established throughout, the state. Manufacturing concerns of various types were formed, new roads, many of them of the plank variety, were constructed, additional transportation companies, both on land ami water, sprang into being, ami in general industrial and other interests took forward stops. Eleven mining cor¬ porations. a number of them formed for the purpose of prospecting for gold, also were granted rights. Tt probably is nor generally known to North Carolinians, but this state fur¬ nished a large number of the granite blocks which went into the construction of the Washington monument, that huge tribute to the memory of General George Wash¬ ington. These blocks were donated by various organi¬ zations and societies, the principal one Itoing donat¬ ed bv citizen* of Lincoln County to the Governor. The legislature accepted the block in his behalf, and ordered that it be suitably inscribed in commemoration of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independ¬ ence, signed in Charlotte during May, 1 775. State Fair Organized One of the momentous acts passed by the first legislature to serve under Governor Reid provided for the establishment of the North Carolina State Fair. The measure provided that this exhibition should Ik* held annually during the month of October in Ra¬ leigh, the Capital City. This tradition still is being carried out. Governor Reid's first administration canto to a close on December 22, 1852. Previously he had Iteen nominated by • he Democrats in their state convention of the preceding fall again to represent them in the gubernatorial contest. This time, Reid’s opponent selected by the Whigs was John Kerr, of Caswell County. Kerr, described as a man “with many lovable characteristics, but very human, extravagant in his language and thoughts, and full of ardor and im¬ petuosity." was given a decisive beating at the polls by Reid, whose majority was increased by 3,500 over that with which lie had been swept into office two years previously. Reid didn’t have such an easy time during his second term, of which lie served only one year. The Whigs,hnd sent enough members to the legislature to impede favorable action on many of the measures which he advocated. Governor Reid was elected to the United States Senate early in Decem¬ ber. 1854, resigning the Governorship on December 7. He was succeeded by Warron Winslow, of Cumberland, a* acting Governor. Winslow served less than a month, later being elected a United States Congressman.