Governor Worth’s Letter Book
Ills services during and following the Civil
War w'ere outstanding, and the notes that
he kept reveal an interesting story concern¬
ing that period of our history.
NO man rendered the State
finer service than did Gov¬
ernor Jonathan Worth dur¬
ing the parlous days of the Civil
War and the years immediately
following. This article is not in¬
tended as an adequate sketch of
his career, but is principally for
the purpose of giving extracts
from his letter book which throw
not only interesting lights on his
own character, but on business,
social and economic conditions
here in Carolina during the great
conflict.
Governor Worth was of Quaker
ancestry, the family coming from
Nantucket and settling in Guilford
County, where the Governor was
born in 1802. He was educated
in the academies of the neigh¬
borhood, and read law at the pri¬
vate law school of the celebrated
Judge Archibald D. Murphy. After
coming to the Bar he settled at
Asheboro for the practice of his
profession, and his name and fame
are associated with that county.
He was not an orator, neither was
he a great trial lawyer; but he
had a large and lucrative office
practice and he was also a man of
means and interested in numerous
business enterprises. He took a
prominent part in the movement
to build a railroad from Fayette¬
ville to the coal fields in Chatham
County; and he was a large stock¬
holder in the plank road from
Fayetteville to Winston. He also
owned a large acreage of farm
lands, the cultivation of which he
looked after in person; and he
owned a number of slaves.
University Trustee for 30 Years
For many years he was Clerk
and Master in Equity in Randolph;
and he was a trustee of the Uni¬
versity for nearly thirty years. He
served in both branches of the
Legislature, where he was chair¬
man of the Committee on Edu¬
cation.
While the war was in progress,
he was elected as State Treasurer,
a difficult office made doubly so by
the troubled condition of the coun¬
try and the desperate financial
plight of the State. During the in-
THE STATE. November 22. 1947
By 1C. C. LAWRENCE
cumbcncy of Governor William W.
Holden as Provisional Governor,
at his request Mr. Worth served as
Provisional Treasurer and also as
Fiscal Agent for the State. His
excellent business judgment is
shown from the fact that as Fis¬
cal Agent he tracked down and
recovered for the benefit of the
State over §150,000.00 in property
belonging to the State which had
been quietly taken possession of
by certain persons to whom it did
not belong.
Elected Governor
In 1865 he was elected as Pro¬
visional Governor and was re¬
elected in 1866. He had to contend
with and struggle against the Fed¬
eral Military authorities then in
control of the State. When Gen¬
eral Sickles was in command of
the Military Department of North
Carolina, Governor Worth com¬
manded his confidence and he re¬
lied largely on his judgment in
administering affairs within his
jurisdiction; but when the notori¬
ous General Canby took charge, a
different situation prevailed, as
Canby looked entirely to Governor
William W. Holden for advice,
and naturally his views were
divergent from those of Governor
Worth. But through all the strife
and struggle with the Federal Mili¬
tary authorities. Governor Worth
trod the boards with quiet dignity
and his every official act reflected
credit not only upon him but upon
the civil authority of the State.
Finally a new Constitution was
adopted, and with the aid of the
newly enfranchised blacks, Wil¬
liam W. Holden was elected as Gov¬
ernor. Long before he was to take
office under the provisions of that
Constitution, General Canby was
so anxious to get rid of Governor
Worth that he issued a military or¬
der removing Governor Worth
from office “to facilitate the proc¬
ess of restoration of the State" and
appointing William W. Holden, as
Governor. Of course as this order
was backed up by the military pow¬
er of the Federal government, the
Governor had no way to resist, and
so after making a strong and a dig¬
nified protest against the unconsti¬
tutionality of their action, he sur¬
rendered possession of the Gover¬
nor’s office. He did not long survive
the hardships through which he
had passed, as he died in 1869.
Limits of space preclude the pub¬
lication of anything like a complete
picture of conditions which exist¬
ed during the war, but I think the
following extracts from his letter
book will give some conception of
the manner of man the Governor
was, of the keenness of his percep¬
tion, the accuracy of his political
views, and will serve to show a
glimpse of business and social con¬
ditions during the great war. The
views he entertained when the war
began, proved to be correct when
it ended.
Extracts From His Letter Book
1859. Among the papers I read,
the Fayetteville Observer is the
most efficient.
1860. Among that portion of our
people with whom I have inter¬
course. ninety per cent are calm
and talk only of Union and not of
disunion.
1860. (There was a law in force
which provided that any person
found guilty of circulating Hinton
Rowan Helper’s book. “The Im¬
pending Crisis," should be publicly
whipped. Rev. Daniel Worth had
been found guilty under this stat¬
ute and had been so sentenced.)
Daniel Worth is as fit a case for the
execution of the law as could well
be prosecuted if he were not an old
man and a minister of the Gospel,
of exemplary character save in the
particular of Abolitionism. Now I
think he ought not to be whipped
if he will leave the State. (He did
leave, forfeiting his bond of $3,-
000.00 and went North, as Helper
himself had done.)
1860. Slavery is doomed if the
South sets up a Southern Confed¬
eracy. With Canada in effect for
her Northern border from the At¬
lantic to the Pacific, all hating us,
it is madness to think of anything
9
