Reminiscences of Raleigh
Mr. hiuronco cl«*s€*rilM*«l Raleigh ns he knt»u
il ns a b«.v,
1оцс»11м»г
uitli sonic» facts con¬
cerning other interc»stin{>' eras.
WAKE was erected in 1770
and named in honor of the
wife of the royal Governor
Tryon. whose maiden name was
Wake. In 1789 the convention at
Hillsboro, after refusing to ratify
the Constitution of the United
States, passed an ordinance fixing
the state capital at a point within
ten miles of the plantation of Isaac
Hunter in Wake County and ap¬
pointed a commission to select the
exact site. In 1792 this commission
fixed the site on the plantation of
Joel Lane, and on this site the
capital was built.
In January 1831 a disastrous fire
laid the principal part of the town
in ashes, and this catastrophe was
followed in June of that year by
another which totally destroyed
the State capitol, including the
marble statue of Washington by
the famous Italian sculptor Canova.
which cost the State $10.000. A
full length copy of Sully’s portrait
of Washington was saved, and still
adorns the walls of the House of
Representatives.
The present building cost over
half a million and is one of the
finest specimens of Doric architec¬
ture in the country. The first rail¬
road in North Carolina, the Experi¬
mental Railroad, was used to haul
the stone out of which the building
was constructed from the quarry
near the present Federal cemetery.
The capitol was completed in 1840
and John M. Morehead was the
first Governor to occupy it.
The Governor's Mansion
A Governor's Mansion was also
built about 1816 at the foot of
Fayetteville Street, its first occu¬
pant being Governor Miller. Here
the mansion remained until the
erection of the present building. It
was built with prison labor, during
the administration of Governor
Jarvis.
A glance at a few leading men
of ante-bellum Raleigh will be of
interest. Here was born Andrew
Johnson, President of the United
States, whose father was porter at
Casso’s tavern which stood at the
head of Fayetteville Street, on the
right as you face the capitol. Here
lived Charles Manly, elected Gover-
THE STATE. March 22. 1947
tty R.C. LAWRENCE
nor in 1845. Here also was Col.
William Polk, banker, and father
of Leonidas Polk. Bishop of Louisi¬
ana and Lieutenant General of the
Confederacy, killed on Pine Moun¬
tain in the Civil War. Henry Sea-
well and Duncan Cameron were
both noted jurists of the ante-bel¬
lum period.
Joseph Gales, pioneer editor,
published the Register for over
forty years. His son and grandson
succeeded him. the grandson
Seaton establishing the first daily
newspaper ever published in the
State — the Bulletin. Other noted
editors were: William W. Holden,
editor of the Standard, who became
provisional and reconstruction
Governor: and the vigorous, virile
and vitriolic Josiah Turner of the
Sentinel — one of the South's lead¬
ing editors.
Banks in the City
There was George W. Mordecai.
president of the Bank of North
Carolina, and of the Raleigh and
Gaston Railroad, Chain banking
is not new, as it nourished even
in these early days. The principal
office of the Raleigh bank was in
the building which has been, for
many years, occupied as the rectory
of Christ Church. The rival Bank
of Cape Fear also had numerous
branches, the one at Raleigh being
located on Fayetteville Street
where the municipal offices of Ra¬
leigh now are.
There was William H. Haywood.
Jr.. United States Senator, who
disproved the adage that "few die
and none resign" for he resigned
in 1846. after disagreement with
his party over the issue of the
tariff.
Here was George E. Badger. Sec¬
retary of the Navy under president
Harrison, thereafter United States
Senator. Judge Badger was nomi¬
nated as a justice of the Supreme
Court of the United States by Presi¬
dent Fillmore shortly before the
expiration of his term, but the
Senate by a majority of one vote
postponed consideration of his nom¬
ination Accordingly the appoint¬
ment fell to President Pierce who
named someone else.
In April 1865. just after the sur¬
render of Lee's army, the forces
of General William T. Sherman
occupied the city, after receiving
its surrender at the hands of former
Governor David L. Swain. Gover¬
nor Vance undertook to carry on
the State government from a point
further in the interior, but the
Cenfcderacy soon collapsed, and his
arrest followed.
When I was a boy in the '80's, the
city was not one of magnificent dis¬
tances or of metropolitan appear¬
ance. and its boundaries (streets
known as North. East. South and
West i were sufficient to contain
it. But the capitol had overflowed,
and a wooden building formerly
the National Hotel, at Edenton and
Halifax streets, housed the odds
and ends.
No Paved Streets
There were no paved streets, and
after a season of rain Negro porters
could be found on the corners of
Fayetteville Street to carry mer¬
chants and business men across
the street on their shoulders, at so
much per trip. I remember well
the sensation when that street was
paved with cobblestones.
When the State Fair came along
and it rained, the wise took the
shuttle train which ran every half
hour and which landed you within
the grounds.
Transportation was primitive.
There was no Union Depot, the
engines were covered with polished
brass, had bell-shaped stacks and
burned wood. In the city, the first
urban transportation consisted of
street cars drawn by horses, and
I can never forget the excitement
caused by the first electric cars.
The streets were illuminated by
gas. and when electric lights finally
came in. how the arc lights did
splutter and hiss. They burned
long sticks of carbon which had to
be renewed each morning.
But the town had two halls. One
was Tucker Hall over the leading
store of W. H. and R. S. Tucker.
In this hall I heard Zebulon
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