Volume XIV THE STATE
Number 10
д
Survey of North Carolina
August 3
1946
Entered as second-class matter. June 1. 1933. at the Postofflce at Raleigh. North Carolina, under the Act of March 3. 1879.
A Political Rally of 1900
They were nll-<l».Y affairs in (hose days, and
people attended from a wide radius. En¬
thusiasm among the people present was
much more noticeable than it is today.
THE summer of 1900 was hot,
and so was the political situa¬
tion. When announcement was
made that a big political rally was
to be staged at Lumberton, county¬
wide interest was aroused and
people from a wide area made plans
to attend the event.
In that year Lumberton, the
county seat of Robeson, was a town
of unpaved streets. The majority
of the church buildings were
wooden structures, and there was
a red brick courthouse that had
grown old with age before it was
replaced by a modern structure.
Among the lawyers of the town
with a wide reputation was Neal
Arch McLean. One of the leading
businessmen was C. Manly Fuller,
a dealer in live stock. There were
two county papers, The Robesonian
and The 'Argue. The latter was
published by a young man, John
Charles McNeill, who later became
poet-laureate of North Carolina.
These people were seen by the
writer on the occasion described
in this article. Some of them were
prominent figures in the celebra¬
tion.
Highways leading to the county
seat were dirt roads, and in many
spots the progress of the traveler
was hindered by deep sand.
Our rural home was eighteen
miles from the county seat, which
seemed a great distance to the
mind of a farm-boy in those days.
It took more than three hours to
make the journey.
Great Expectations
When our father promised to
take a number of us to the political
meeting, we looked forward for
more than two weeks to the im¬
portant day. I remember that a
THE STATE. August 3. 1946
By LACY T. EDENS
member of our household said to
me: "Just think, Lacy: you’re
going to see the Governor of North
Carolina! That’s something you can
brag about for many years to
come."
We rose early on the morning
of the big day and were on our way
in a wagon before sunrise. Two
events which occurred on the jour¬
ney remain vividly in my memory.
One was seeing the men in their
buggies pass us on the highways.
Because their vehicles were lighter
than ours, they were able to make
much faster time. Most of these
men were dressed in red shirts,
with the letters W. S. (White
Supremacy) on the flaps of their
collars. The other event happened
a few miles before reaching Lum¬
berton. A man in a road-cart was
seen fastening his horse to a tree
while a drunken woman, who was
with him, gave vent to her feelings
with loud exclamations of "Hurrah
for the Democrat Party!"
The town of Lumberton was
finally reached shortly before ten
o’clock. The red-shirt marshals
were getting on the job when we
arrived, with Neal Arch McLean
acting as chief. In addition to his
red shirt, he had on trousers, shoes
and cap, all of which were white
in color. Some of us boys, in dis¬
cussing his costume, expressed the
opinion that he resembled a soldier.
Special Carriages
He rode up and down the princi¬
pal street, urging to people to go
down to the depot so that a large
crowd would be there upon the
arrival of the train. A double-
seated phaeton, drawn by four
black horses from the sales stables
of Mr. Fuller, had been provided
for the main speaker — Governor-
nominee Charles B. Aycock, of
Goldsboro. A smaller conveyance,
with two black horses, was in readi¬
ness for the other speaker. Robert
B. Glenn, prominent lawyer of
Winston-Salem.
Mr. McLean told the band to
start playing when the train came
to a stop. "And everybody cheer
just as loudly as you can!" he called
out.
Two chairs had been provided
for carrying the speakers from the
train steps to the waiting vehicles.
These were borne by a number .of
men.
In a few minutes the train pulled
in, the bell ringing and the whistle
blowing. Most of the people in
the crowd shouted the name of
"Aycock!" A few called out the
name, "Glenn!"
A long procession followed the
carriages of the speakers to the
courthouse square where a speak¬
ers’ stand had been erected. Ar¬
rangements had been made to seat
quite a large number of people on
the platform, but I am inclined to
believe that the persons who made
the arrangements didn’t know very
much about how much strain a
platform can stand. At any rate,
part of the platform collapsed and
the program had to be delayed
several minutes. I do not recall
that anyone was hurt.
The invocation was offered by
the Rev. Mr. Pate, pastor of the
Methodist Church. Robert B. Glenn
was the speaker on the morning's
program. He was a very eloquent
(Continued on page 19)
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