State

Tar Heel History By Billy Arthur Checkmate, Mr. President In the chess match of his life. Concord’s Paul Barringer defeated Jefferson Davis at the age of 8. A 8-year-old boy a good chess player? Yes, and he surprisingly and quickly defeated the president. Dr. Paul Barringer (1857-1941). a Concord native, was the lad who became one of the medical pioneers of the New South. Son of Confederate General Rufus Bai ringer. Paul obtained his med¬ ical degree at the University of Virginia, pursued his studies in New York and Europe, practiced medicine in Gaston County and Charlotte, taught at David¬ son College and the University of Vir¬ ginia. and served for six years as presi¬ dent of Virginia Polytechnic Institute. At age 56. he retired but was called into ser¬ vice in World War 1 for use of his medi¬ cal skills in battling influenza and typhoid fever. In April 1865. young Paul was living with bis uncle, Victor Clay Barringer, in Concord. General Robert E. Lee had just surrendered, and Federal forces in North Carolina were trying to capture the escaping Confederate States of America President Jefferson Davis, who had fled with his cabinet to Danville. Vir¬ ginia, and then to Greensboro. In his memoirs. The Natural Beni. Dr. Barringer records that one aftei noon he "saw a group of bedraggled old wrecks walking up through the garden from the bam. They were a sorry-looking lot. «lust- covered. travel-stained and none of them very young. The older men wore talmas (long, gray woolen capes popular as protection against rain). They stuck pretty close to the house, and I had almost !«>rgotten them when supper lime came. Then, from my side table. I heard somebody say 'Mr. President.’ and I saw that it was directed toward perhaps the most striking-looking man in the party. After supper I learned that I had been moved out of my room and told to *'4 4' Jefferson Davis go to a neighbor's to spend the night. The next morning I knew they were still there. I recause I received repeated injunctions not to make a noise. So. to ease the strain. I got out the chess board." Mis Uncle Victor was a great chess player with many friends in Concord who often dropped by for a game. When they couldn't come, instead of playing by himself, reaching over and playing both sides of the board, he taught young Paul the game-, and the two often played. Paul learned a number of the opening gambits and became so fond of chess he often wanted to play when l ncle Victor was not around; so he taught little Ellen, the Negro cook's 8-year-old daughter. On this particular morning, the two chil¬ dren were on the back porch with du¬ chess board between them, having a good time. "For God's sake!" Dr. Barringer remembered hearing a voice say. “Mr. President, come here!" Out came President Jefferson Davis and Confederate Secretary of the Navy S.R. Malloy. This time, they were “<lis- tinguished-looking elderly men, very unlike the weary riders ol the evening before." Dr. Barringer recalled that, after gaz¬ ing at him and Ellen fora moment, the "Mr. President” said: “Do you suppose they can really play?" Paul looked up at him and issued a natural childlike challenge. "I can beat you." be said. "So. Mr. President' took Ellen's place," the memoirs continued, "and I finished him off in three or four moves with a ‘fool's mate.’ "By this time the whole crowd had come out. and I was talking to them, explaining how to open a game with the proper gambit for a fool's mate.'” Then. Uncle Victor’s wife ap¬ peared and explained how it came about that Paul ha«l become a chess player, and she suggested they autograph a book he had received for his birthday. They did. as follows: "Jeffr. Davis, 19 April 1865 . . . F.R. I.ubbock. Ex.Goc. of Texas. Col. and A.D.C. to the President . . . Mr. Preston Johnston. Co. and A.D.C. to the President . . . J. Taylor Wood . . . Burton II. Harrison . . . C.F.. Thor nburg. Guest of the* President . . . S.R. Mallory. Sec. Navy." The president talked with young Paul for a while, but spent much of bis time with his secretary as the others "loafed” around the house. They did not “parade" their presence, but some of the leading Concord residents called on them. “No doubt my uncle knew perfectly well that lie might be called upon to pay with bis life for harboring these men." Dr. Barringer wrote. “I'm not sure whether the)' remained 24 or 48 hours, but I know they left one evening; their horses were brought around to the front, where they mounted and rode away.” i1 Hilly Arthur is a veteran uniter for The Stale. Пи*> count.) Ы N C bi.iuon ol Anhivr, <fO Нод*) The Statc/Jomiaiy 1995 13