Governor Thomas J. Jarvis
His reeoril of service to tlie state an<l to the
nation as a whole was an outstanding one.
. . . Senator. Governor. Minister to Brazil
and other high positions.
I CAN recall the stately figure of
this elder statesman who so ably
served his state in so many capac¬
ities; who was a Captain of the Con¬
federacy; and who was so cruelly
maimed in such service that he carried
a withered right arm ; and who served
his country both as United States
Senator and as Minister to Brazil. In
each of these capacities his leadership
was characterized by its sanity, its
conservatism and its program for the
rogress of his state. His name is, and
eserves to be, linked with those of
Vance and Ransom whose contempo¬
raries he was.
Jarvis was an ancient name in the
Albemarle, where Thomas Jarvis was
Deputy Governor of North Carolina
in 1601 ; and in the days of the Rev¬
olution General Samuel Jarvis led
the militia of that section into battle.
Their descendant. Governor Thomas
Jordon Jarvis was bom at Jarvis-
lmrg in Currituck County in 1836,
the son of a country preacher. His
father's financial resources being lim¬
ited, young Jarvis was largely self-
educated, but with money earned by
teaching the neighborhood schools,
supplemented by that which he was
able to borrow, he was able to grad¬
uate from Randolph-Macon College
in 1861.
Served During the War
The ink upon his diploma was
scarcely dry before the Civil War
came on, and he promptly volunteered
for service in the Southern army,
being elected as Lieutenant of the 8th
North Carolina, and promoted to
Captain in 1863.
Пе
participated in
the heavy fighting in defending Bat¬
tery Wagner; he was with Hoke’s
troops when Plymouth was captured,
and where his regiment lost one-third
of its numbers. Hie regiment was
heavily engaged at the battle of
Drewry’s Bluff in May 1864, and in
this engagement Captain Jarvis re¬
ceived a severe wound in his right
arm which necessitated a resection of
six inches of the bone, from the effects
of which he never recovered, the arm
remaining useless. He was unable to
rejoin his command, as he was still
confined to the hospital from hia
By
К.
C. LAWRENCE
wound when the Confederacy col¬
lapsed.
In the Fall of 1865, Captain Jarvis
first entered public life, in which he
continued until his death. His char¬
acter and qualities of leadership were
so pronounced, and such confidence
did his people have in his ability, that
he was brought forward as a candidate
for the convention which had been
called to meet in 1865. He was elected,
but the convention was never held, as
the military authorities held that our
state was still out of the Union and
incapable of holding a legal conven¬
tion. Captain Jarvis was now de¬
termined to become a lawyer, and.
resolutely applying his vigorous mind
to study, was admitted to the Bar in
1867.
In the Legislature
By 1868, however, the necessary
action had been taken to readmit the
state into the Union, and Captain
Jarvis was elected to the legislature
from Tyrrell County. There he joined
with John W. Graham. Plato Durham
and that small but gallant band of
Democrats who endeavored to stay the
hands of the Reconstruction legis¬
lature. To their action in this memo¬
rable legislature was largely due the
restoration of government to the re¬
sponsible people of the state, the re¬
establishment of the civil authority
and the pacification of the people.
When the legislature next met.
Captain Jarvis was tendered the
Speakership. He became one of the
leading directors of state legislation
and exerted a controlling influence on
the destiny of his state. Thereafter
he moved his residence to Greenville,
which thenceforth became his home.
Although a newcomer to the county of
Pitt, its people were so impressed with
his large ability that they elected him
as a member of the Constitutional
Convention of 1875. In this Conven¬
tion the two major political parties
were evenly balanced in numbers, the
balance of power being in the hands
of three independents. To the skillful
handling of this delicate situation by
Captain Jarvis was due much of
what could be accomplished under
such circumstances. He was largely
responsible for securing the adoption
of an amendment concerning the sys¬
tem of county government which se¬
cured the white people of the state
from the domination of large Negro
majorities.
In 1876 when Vance was nominated
as Governor, Captain Jarvis was
nominated as Lieutenant Governor,
and joined in his great campaign of
that memorable political year. When
Vance was elected to the Senate in
1879, and resigned as Governor, Cap¬
tain Jarvis succeeded to that position;
and in the next election was elected
ns Governor in his own right. His ad¬
ministration
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one of the most im¬
portant in the history of the state. He
made strenuous efforts to complete
the construction of the Western North
Carolina Railroad (Salisbury to
Asheville) but when he found this
would be impossible without in¬
curring a burdensome debt upon the
state, he arranged with a responsible
private syndicate for a sale upon
terms most favorable to the state;
after which ho called the legislature
into special session and secured its
ratification of his proposal. He also
succeeded in securing authority from
the General Assembly to dispose of the
state's interest in the rundown and
dilapidated railroad running from
Fayetteville to the coal fields in
Chatham County. This sale was made
to responsible financial interests with
the understanding that the road
should be extended northward to
Mount Airy and southward to Wil¬
mington, which was done, naturally
proving of great value to those sections
of the state.
Built Present Mansion
It was during the Jarvis adminis¬
tration and under his leadership that
the Western Asylum for the Insane
at Morganton. and the Eastern
Asylum for Negroes at Goldsboro
were constructed and put into opera¬
tion. During his administration the
present executive mansion was built
( Continued on page thirty-eight )
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