State

Senator Ti I I othy Bloodworth He was one off tlie founders of our common¬ wealth and the only ineelianic who ever was elected to the lofty position Senator from this state. MEN sometimes so obscure their real vocation by emi¬ nent service upon other fields that it is often quite difficult to de¬ termine what a man’s real occupa¬ tion and calling is. Thus, our “Uncle Joe" has masqueraded so long as an editor and as a states¬ man. that but few people realize that he is, in fact, a lawyer! The infamous Hitler, dictator of the Third German Reich is, by occupa¬ tion. a paper-hanger; and his erst¬ while ally and associate “me-too" Mussolini was the editor of a country newspaper before his famous march on Rome. Clcmen- ceau, Tiger of France, who was the real winner of the First World War for the Allied Cause, was. in private life, a physician. Oliver Wendell Holmes became so famous as an author and as a poet that men passed an office bearing the legend “O. W. Holmes: Physician and Surgeon,” without realizing that here was the office of the famous humorist. Other Versatile Individuals Here at home, Ephraim Brevard, author of the famous “Mecklen¬ burg Declaration" of May 20, 1775, was in private life a physician; and perhaps the most versatile man who has appeared in the public life of our State was Hugh William¬ son of Chowan, for he was. at different stages of his career, a minister of the Gospel, a professor of mathematics, a physician and surgeon, a Congressman, a signer of the Federal Constitution; a botanist and an authoritative his¬ torian, to say nothing of other and minor activities. Some may recall the case of the pioneer Asheville editor who ad¬ vertised in the columns of his own paper that as his editorial duties did not occupy all his time, he was at the service of the public in his capacity as a sign-painter! In our own day Thomas Dixon has been at different times a legis¬ lator, a pulpiteer, a lecturer, a famous author, a playwright, a dealer in real estate and clerk of the Federal court; and there have been many other illustrations of By It. C. LAWRENCE the universality of genius, illustrat¬ ing the truth of the lines of the poet: “That men may rise on stepping stones, Of their dead selves to higher things.” But none of these men had any¬ thing on Senator Timothy Blood- worth, who was at different times during his long career, a farmer, a blacksmith (and a good one!) a physician, a wheelwright, a legis¬ lator, a collector of customs; with yet other occupations in reserve which he brought into play as oc¬ casion demanded. A Pioneer Statesman Timothy Bloodworth was one of the pioneer patriots and statesmen whose career has never been ade¬ quately preserved for posterity, and to whom the public records have done but partial and limited justice. He was born in New Hanover in 1736, and on account of the poverty of his family he pos¬ sessed but limited education. Yet, as was the case with Abraham Lin¬ coln and our own Andrew Johnson, he possessed those innate and in¬ herent gifts and qualities of leader¬ ship which carried him to the heights independent of the limita¬ tions of his immediate environ¬ ment; for he had been furnished by nature with those qualities without which no man can succeed no matter how highly educated he may become. The very word edu¬ cation comes from the Latin "e duco.” meaning to “draw forth” — something which is already there. For, as we all know, many gradu¬ ates of our leading universities sink into the obscurity of medi¬ ocrity; whereas other men, to whom an education has been denied, often rise to the summit in our political, financial and in¬ dustrial life. Governor Hoey never saw the inside of college walls; Dr. Clarence Poe had but an elemen¬ of U. S. tary education; both Reynolds and Duke began life by peddling their product through the Carolina countryside. In fact examine into the career of almost any man at the top of any great corporation, and you will find that he began his career on the mudsills at the very bottom. Bloodworth’s talents were such that he was called into the public service when he was but twenty- two. becoming a member of the House of Commons, of which he continued as a member continu¬ ously for thirty years, establishing a record for continuous legislative experience possessed by but few Carolinians, rivalling that of Joseph Reddick of Perquimans and his kinsman of Gates; and of that of Governor Rufus A. Dough- ton and Walter Murphy in our own generation. It was during his long legislative service that he estab¬ lished his power and prestige on the field of the political life of the people. There was no more power¬ ful or influential legislator of his day than he — for he was a moulder and shaper of public thought and of public opinion. Career in Congress He extended his public service from the state to the national life; and the year 1786 found him an in¬ fluential member of the Conti¬ nental Congress. After our State had sent William R Davie. Alex¬ ander Martin. Richard Dobbs Spaight, William Blount and Hugh Williamson as delegates to the Convention which framed the Fed¬ eral Constitution, and when, after long hesitation and bitter strife, our State had reluctantly entered the Federal Union, and the time came to elect representatives to the first Congress held under the new Constitution. Timothy Blood¬ worth was one of those elected as a member thereof. So large had his figure become on the political arena of the state, that upon the second election for United States Senators in 1795. Bloodworth was one of those elected to that high office, being ( Continued on page 20)