Volume XII
Number 40
March 3
1945
THE STATE
A Weekly Survey of North Carolina
Entered a* second-class matter. June 1. J933. at the Postofllcc at Halelgh. North Carolina, under the Act of March 3. 1879.
Ten
Most Fai
I I
©us Carolinians
As Mr. Lawrence explains, this list is a mat¬
ter of personal opinion, and the ehanees
are that you would probably substitute
some other names for those that he
mentions.
I AM giving below a list of the
ten men whose names appear to
to me to be the most illustrious
in a State which is distinguished
for the large number of famous men
and women it has produced. I am
not venturing to indulge the hope
that ANYONE will agree with me,
but am suggesting that my readers
make up a list of their own and
then compare it with mine. With
the exception of the first two, the
order in which the names appear
has no significance. It should also
be noted that with one exception
I have confined my list to those
whose entire lives have been spent
within our borders, and for this
reason our three Carolina born
Presidents, and such national
characters as Dolly Madison (wife
of the President), Speaker Joseph
G. Cannon, Ambassadors Page.
Bingham and Dodd, vice president
William R. King, Senators Thomas
II. Benton, Jesse Speight and other
famous United States Senators.
Rev. Dr. George W. Truett and
other internationally known figures
have been excluded from consid¬
eration. With these limitations
borne in mind, in my judgment the
Carolina list should be as follows:
ZEBULON BAIRD VANCE:
Greatest political leader in our
history: Confederate Colonel; fa-
mousCivil War Governor; redeemer
of our state from the reign of the
carpetbaggers; again Governor fol¬
lowing Reconstruction, the only
instance in our history where a
man has been thus honored; for a
full generation an outstanding
United States Senator, regarded as
the South’s leading representative
in that body; by far our most illus-
By II. C. LAWRENCE
trious name and the State’s first
representative in the National Hall
of Fame at Washington. Vance
County bears his name.
CHARLES BRANTLEY AY-
COCK: Eminent lawyer, eloquent
orator; redeemer of his state to
Democracy; great Governor and
the father of our educational ren¬
aissance: the second most famous
name in our annals, and the com¬
panion of Vance in the National
Hall of Fame. I would that some
Carolina county bore his name,
not that this is necessary to per¬
petuate his name, for his name is
graven deep upon the hearts of
Carolinians, but to the end that
in this respect also he may stand
beside Vance.
JOSEPHUS DANIELS: States
most distinguished editor; potent
political leader for sixty years;
outstanding author and publicist,
famous Secretary of the Navy in
the first World War, and intimate
friend of Woodrow Wilson; Am¬
bassador to Mexico, and adviser of
President Roosevelt: a senior of
the Nation's “elder statesmen"; and
the outstanding Carolinian of the
present generation. An inter¬
nationally known figure.
GEN. WILLIAM R. DAVIE:
Eminent lawyer; distinguished
leader in the legislature and the
Continental Congress; outstanding
Soldier in the Revolution; a framer
of the State Constitution; member
of the Convention which adopted
the Federal Constitution: father and
founder of our State University,
and pioneer friend of higher educa¬
tion; Grand Master of Masons;
easily the foremost figure of his
day. Davie County bears his name.
THOMAS RUFFIN: Carolina’s
most famous jurist and Chief
Justice; graced the bench for forty
years; nationally known and cited
jurist; only Carolina judge ever
cited by the English courts at
Westminster Hall. His son of the
same name was also a Supreme
Court Justice.
JAMES BUCHANAN DUKE:
Our foremost industrialist; founder
of the American Tobacco Company;
internationally known financial
tycoon; foremost developer of
hydro-electric power in the Caro¬
lines and founder of the Duke
Power Company; South’s greatest
philanthropist, endower of Duke
University with around one hun¬
dred million dollars; generous
benefactor of other colleges, hos¬
pitals, orphanages, aged ministers
and other charities. In a class by
himself as a Southern philanthro-
ist. Duke University constitutes
is monument.
JOHN MOTLEY MOREHEAD:
Father of a State system of in¬
ternal improvements; greatest
builder of his Commonwealth; dis¬
tinguished Governor and states¬
man: father and builder of the
North Carolina and Atlantic and
North Carolina Railroads; advo¬
cate of a State supported system
of transportation linking the moun-
( Continued on page 17)
