Great
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of Lincoln
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unusually large* number of citizens from
this county have had outstanding careers
as statesmen. soldic*rs and business and pro¬
fessional men.
SOME of the counties of our
state are conspicuous for the
large number of distinguished
men who were cither born, or who
rose to prominence within their
borders, such as Chowan, New
Hanover, C r a v e n. Cumberland,
Orange and others. Hut all things
considered, 1 do not believe any of
these counties have produced a
larger number of eminent men
than the ancient county of Lincoln.
There was once a princely coun¬
ty in Carolina named in honor of
Royal Governor William Tryon. but
when His Excellency fell from
grace in the public estimation and
his name became anathema to
Carolinians, the county bearing his
name was abolished in 1770, and
two counties were created out of
its territory Rutherford, named
in honor of the Revolutionary
hero, General Griffith Rutherford;
and Lincoln, named in honor of
General Benjamin Lincoln, who
was forced to surrender his
army to the British at the siege
of Charleston, but who neverthe¬
less had his revenge, for when
Lord Cornwallis in his turn was
compelled to surrender at York-
town and tendered the arms of his
captured army to General Wash¬
ington, that General declined to
receive them, but designated Gen¬
eral Lincoln to accept them.
Cabinet Offices
From this ancient county of Lin¬
coln has come a long procession of
cabinet officers, United States sena¬
tors, governors, congressmen,
judges, generals, and others high
in the ranks of public life; and a
glimpse into the history of some of
these men should be interesting to
a Carolina audience.
No man ever had a more pic¬
turesque career than General
James Pinckney Henderson, who
was born in Lincolnton in 1808,
where he was educated and ad¬
mitted to the bar. He removed his
residence to Mississippi in 1835.
but in the following year when
the Texan Revolution broke out.
he organized a company to serve
in the cause of Texan independ¬
ence, and went with his company
THE STATE. Fkoruary 2. 1940
By R. C. LAWRENCE
to Austin where he was commis¬
sioned as Brigadier General. When
Texas had won her freedom and
the republic was organized, Presi¬
dent Samuel Houston appointed
General Henderson as Attorney
General in his cabinet, and a year
later transferred him to the post
of Secretary of State. In 1838 he
was appointed as Minister from
Texas to France and England,
where, after protracted negotia¬
tions, he secured the recognition
by these nations of Texas as an
independent country. Upon his re¬
turn, he was sent to Washington
to conduct the negotiations neces¬
sary to admit Texas as a state in
the American union, and when that
was accomplished he took an im¬
portant part in the convention
which framed the constitution of
that infant state. In the election of
officers for the new government,
he was elected as the first Gov¬
ernor of Texas. During the Mexi¬
can War, he served as Major Gen¬
eral and was voted a sword by
Congress in recognition of his gal¬
lant conduct during that war. In
1857 he was appointed as United
States Senator, and died while
holding that office.
William A. Graham
Most distinguished son of Lin¬
coln whose career was spent wholly
within this State was William A.
Graham I, born in 1804. He was
often in the legislature, serving as
Speaker of the House; he was elect¬
ed as United States Senator in 1841
and was twice elected as Governor.
When Graham made his first cam¬
paign for Governor as the nominee
of the Whig party, his Democratic
opponent was also a distinguished
son of Lincoln, Col. Michael Hoke.
President Taylor tendered Gov¬
ernor Graham the appointment as
Minister to Spain which he de¬
clined. When the Fillmore ad¬
ministration came in, he was ap¬
pointed as Secretary of the Navy,
and it was due to his efforts that
the expedition under Admiral
Peary first opened the ports of
Japan to the commerce of the
world. In 1852, Graham was the
Whig candidate for vice president.
He was also elected to the Confed¬
erate Senate but did not present
his credentials. After the war he
served for a number of years as one
of the trustees of the Peabody fund
and as chairman of the University
trustees. It was largely due to his
efforts that the University was re¬
opened after the war.
Hoke Smith's mother was a na¬
tive of Lincoln as would be indi¬
cated from his name “Hoke." The
Smith family moved to Georgia in
1872 where Hoke Smith rose rap¬
idly to prominence and where he
passed a distinguished career as a
lawyer, editor, orator and states¬
man. Under his editorship, the
Atlanta Journal became a paper of
national influence. He was Secre¬
tary of the Interior in Cleveland's
cabinet in 1893, where his Chief
Clerk was none other than our own
Ambassador Josephus Daniels.
Smith was twice elected as Gov¬
ernor of Georgia; and later he was
elected to the United States Senate
where he served for a decade.
The mother of William L Hill
was also a native of Lincoln. He
was born in Florida, where he rose
to political prominence, eventually
becoming private secretary to
United States Senator Fletcher,
and upon the death of Senator
Fletcher was appointed as his suc¬
cessor in the United States Senate.
Other Famous Individuals
Joseph Forney Johnston was a
native of Lincoln, but moved to
Alabama from which state he en¬
tered the Confederate service. He
served as an officer upon the staff
of his brother. General Robert D.
Johnston, and was wounded four
times. After the war he was elected
as Governor of Alabama; and later
as United States Senator from that
State, dying while in office.
Hiram R. Revels, a quadroon,
passed most of his career as a bar¬
ber in Lincolnton; but after the
Civil War he followed the Union
(Continued on page 25)
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