9. The seconds were to be armed.
10. The seconds were to have
the right to examine the person
and clothing of the opposite princi¬
pal.
Under these rules the principals
agreed to fight it out near Belts-
ville on the Washington-Baltimore
turnpike on January 13, 1843. Of
course all this duelling was strictly
against the law, and the police had
evidently been tipped off by some
of the friends of the principals, for
as the unarmed friends of the
principals neared the scene, they
were bagged by the police, who
also searched in vain for the princi¬
pals. The principals evaded the
net spread for them; they reached
the scene and exchanged one fire,
which resulted in no injury to
either party. Thereupon the
Honorable Kenneth Rayner, mem¬
ber of Congress from the first
North Carolina District, suggested
that each of the principals with¬
draw any and all remarks con¬
sidered as a reflection by the other.
This was done — and so the claims
of honor were satisfied!
In the Senate
Clingman remained as a mem¬
ber of the House until 1857 when
there was a vacancy in a United
States Senatorship from North
Carolina, due to the resignation
of Judge Asa Biggs, who retired
from the Senate to accept a Fed¬
eral judgeship. Clingman was ap¬
pointed by Governor Bragg to fill
this vacancy, and at the next ses¬
sion of the legislature his choice
was unanimously ratified. In 1861
Clingman was elected for a full
term of six years, but as our State
shortly thereafter seceded. Cling¬
man served but little of this last
named term.
When the Civil War broke out.
although Clingman was then nearly
fifty years old and therefore exempt
from war duty, he promptly volun¬
teered and was commissioned as
Colonel of the 25th North Carolina
Vance becoming the Colonel of
the 26th. After a service in this
capacity of eight months, Cling¬
man was commissioned as Briga¬
dier General. In this capacity he
served at Sullivan's Island and at
Battery Wagner at the siege of
Charleston. He defended New
Bern in 1864, and was in the thick
of the fighting at Cold Harbor,
< Continued on page 21)
HOW A SLAVE PRESERVED THE RECORDS
OF NEW HANOVER COUNTY
THE loyalty and devotion of
many of the Southern slaves to
their masters during the era
of conflict between the North and
South is well illustrated in this
story of Jeff Norment of the Cape
Fear section.
Jeff was a slave: the property
of Michael Cronly, a prominent
merchant of Wilmington. It was
due to his individual effort that
the invaluable records of New
Hanover County, involving prop¬
erty titles and court adjudications
were saved.
The time was during the dark
and troublous days of 1864-65.
General Sherman was proceeding
northward from Georgia on his
march of destruction. The people
of Wilmington were apprehensive
that he might swing toward the
coast in order to join up with the
Federal forces that were attacking
Fort Fisher. Because of this, many
Wilmington families left their
homes and proceeded to Laurin-
burg, Maxton and other points in
the interior to refugee until con¬
ditions became better.
R. B. Wood, Jr., was assistant
clerk of the court for New Han¬
over County. For safety’s sake he
had sent to Lumberton a great
quantity of the court records and
papers, not only from his office
but also from the office of register
of deeds. These combined docu¬
ments represented the greater part
By LOUIS T. MOOIKE
of the contents of both offices.
Their preservation was imperative
for the future operation of the
official property and court sections
of the county government. Mr.
Wood was fearful that the Federal
soldiers would destroy the court¬
house and its contents. So he care¬
fully boxed all of the important
records and had them forwarded
to Lumberton, where they were
stored in the railroad station.
The family of Mr. Michael
Cronly had taken refuge in Laurin-
burg. Mr. Cronly owned a num¬
ber of slaves, and among these was
Jeff Norment, a middle-aged Negro
of proven loyalty. Jeff had been
born in Robeson County, of which
Lumberton is the county seat. He
was thoroughly acquainted with
all of the territory thereabouts.
Mr. Cronly knew about the New
Hanover County records stored in
the railroad station. When news
of the approach of Sherman’s army
spread throughout the area, the
Wilmington man realized that the
station probably would be burned
by the invaders. This would mean
the loss of the records.
He summoned Jeff and told him
to proceed to Lumberton imme¬
diately and report to Mr. Wood.
“There are some mighty valuable
papers in that railroad station," he
told the Negro. “They mean a lot
to me and everybody else in New
Hanover County. You know all
of the land in that section and I’m
sure that you can find a safe hiding
place for the documents. Tell Mr.
Wood I sent you, and tell him to
turn all the papers over to you."
So Jeff set out for Lumberton.
Mr. Wood probably was somewhat
dubious about letting Jeff have the
papers, but he decided that it was
the only chance of saving them.
Sherman was said to be less than
fifty miles away. Within two or
three days, the Fedcrals might
reach the town.
The boxes, containing the papers,
were loaded on a wagon, pulled
by a team of mules. Jeff then drove
off with his valuable load.
That same evening he returned
to Lumberton. “They’s hid,” he
told Mr. Wood, “and nobody is
goin’ to find 'em."
And, sure enough, nobody did.
Jeff had concealed the boxes in a
small cave in a dense swamp. For
a number of weeks they remained
there, and he was the only living
person who knew where they were.
When the danger of invasion had
passed, he drove off in the wagon
a second time and shortly returned
with all of the boxes. They were
returned to Wilmington, and not
a single paper was missing.
7
