State

Attorney for the South George» l)«ivis was one of North Carolina's truly great citizens, lit» served as Attorney General of the Confederacy, railroad coun¬ sel. and held other important positions. Wilmington erected a statue in his honor. IN the chronicles of Cape Fear there is no name more illustrious than that of George Davis, attor¬ ney for the South. Horn March 1. 1820. he entered the University when only fourteen, graduating with the class of 1838. He read law under his brother Thomas F.. who later abandoned the law for the ministry, and became the Episcopal Bishop of South Carolina. Most of the «real Carolinians of his ape, such as Governor John M. Morehead and I'llited States Sena¬ tors William A. Graham and Willie I*. Mangnnt, were Constitutional Whips, and so was Mr. Davis. In the Whip convention of ISIS, with¬ out his knowledge, he came within one vote of receiving the nomination for Governor. At the "Peace Conference” When the ‘‘irrepressible conflict " loomed in 1861, he sought to cling to the Cnion. Marly that year Vir¬ ginia called a convention of South¬ erners to consider such measures a* would secure to the States their con¬ stitutional rights, and to this con¬ vention North Carolina sent her ablest sons; Chief -lust ice Thomas Ruffin; Governor John W. More- head. General David M. Barringer; Governor David S. Reid, and Mr. Davis. Ex-President Tyler presided over this convention. Among those who then sought to save North Caro¬ lina to the Union were: Congress¬ man Joint A. Gilmer (tendered a cabinet appointment hv President Lincoln); Governor William A. Graham; and Zebulon B. Vance, then a member of Congress. But when the efforts of the “Peace Con¬ ference" failed, and it was seen that war was inevitable, the people of the State enthusiastically endorsed the response of Governor Ellis to Lincoln's demand п]юп him for troops wherewith to put down the rebellion: “ F can be no party to this wicked violation of the laws of the country, and to this war upon the By It. C. LAWRENCE liberties of a free people. You eon get no troops from North Carolina." The Ordinance of Sivession was in¬ troduced by former Senator and Secretary of the Navy. George E. Badger, and was supported by John A. Gilmer. Governor Graham. Dr. Kemp P. Battle, and other former Union men. The Convention having ratified the Provisional Constitution of the Confederacy. Mr. Davis and W. W. Avery were elected as delegates at large to represent the State in the Provincial Congress. W. N. II. Smith (afterward Chief Justice); Thomas Ruffin (supreme court jus¬ tice I, and Governor John M. More- head. were among his asso nates. I’pon the formation of the per¬ manent Constitution. Air. Davis ami the able William T. Dortch of Wayne were elected as Senators of tile Confederacy. The records of that body were secret ; its debates never reported: but he evidently made a profound impression upon that 1им|у of Southern brains, for on January •I, 1861. lie was nominated by Presi¬ dent Jefferson Davis as Attorney General, a nomination promptly confirmed by the Senate. Upon the fall of the Confederacy, the records of that office were de¬ stroyed. but the high estimation in which Mr. Davis was held by Presi¬ dent Davis is recorded ill two let¬ ters: “It will be sweet to remember how we have suffered together ill the time of her sorest trouble." . . . “Allow me to thank you for the im¬ portant assistance you have rend¬ ered me and for the patriotic zeal and acknowledged ability with which you have discharged your trust." With other incinliers of the funn¬ er Confederate Cabinet. Mr. Davis was arrested at the end of the war and confined for several months at Fort Hamilton, hilt nothing having been found in his conduct incon¬ sistent with the conduct of honor¬ able warfare, he was released on parole and later received amnesty from President Johnson. Following the war. Mr. Davis set himself heroically t" the task of mending his personal shattered fur- tunes, and rebuilding the social and political structure of the State, lie again entered the practice of law at Wilmington, finding among his as¬ sociates at that Bar such men as William A. Wright. Judge Samuel •I. Person, Col. Robert Strange. Col. Alfred M Waddell, Fred D. Puis- son. Marsdcn Bellamy. DeBrut/ Cutler. Major Charles M. Stedman. judge (later Governor ». Daniel L. Russell, Eugene S. Martin. Col. Duncan K. MaeRae. and other no¬ table men. In the campaign of 1868. Mr. Davis joined with Col. Alfred M. Waddell in urging the people to vote against ratification of the new State Constitution, and in 1*7»» he made numerous |»oliticul addresses. Declined High Honor In 1878. upon the death of Chief Justice Pearson. Governor Vance tendered Mr. Davis the appointment to that high office, and in his let¬ ter stated that he did so because personal fitness and popular de¬ mand concurred in dictating it. The salary was so small, however, that Mr. Davis did not feel that he could accept in view of his obligations to his family. He became general counsel of the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad, parent line of the great Atlantic Coast Line system, and it was under his legal guidance that the Coast Line was organized. After the death of Mr. Davis, his brilliant son, Jun¬ ius Davis, succeeded him as general counsel for that line; and his grand¬ son. Thomas W, Davis, of Wilming¬ ton, carries on the tradition of his famous elders by serving as general solicitor for the same line. When (Continued on /юде eight i-.n)