Governor Jesse Franklin
Not only (lid tlie |i<‘0|il(‘ liouor him by
о
loci -
in« him lo l lie (iov crnorsliip. bill llicy also
soul him lo Ihe l’. S. Senate* on (no soparalo
occasions. He held oilier positions of Irusl
and responsibility.
Til
К
average North Carolinian
known littlo of tlu> early history
of our state, or the distinguished
sons of the Revolutionary ]*oriod. Ask
the average seluml-leneher who Jesse
Franklin was, and you will bn greet¬
ed with a vacant look and a shake of
the head. Vet for an (Ml tin* generation,
in both war and
рейсе,
this man’s
name was a power in the land, and he
was one of the out .lauding men of his
generation.
He came of distinguished ancestry,
his mother being Mary Cleveland, a
sister of Colonel Benjamin Cleveland,
famous Revolutionary soldier, hero of
King's Mountain and other sangui¬
nary battles, whose name and memory
are preserved in our eoniity of Cleve¬
land.
Леям*
Franklin was horn in
Orange County, Virginia, in IT»’*”, hut
while yet in his 'teens, the family
move*] to North Carolina and settled
in Surry County on the headwaters
of Mitchell's River, and if is with
that county that the name and fame of
Franklin are associated.
Ardent Whigs
It may he that there i- something
in a name after all. for the Knglish
derivation of the word franklin means
"a free man,'* and as the Revolution
drew on, the entire Franklin family
were ardent Whigs and supporters of
the eauiie of Ameriean liberty. Rut
they lived in a neighborhood whieh
was infested by hands of Tories, who
harried ami harassed the W bigs when¬
ever it was possible to do so. They had
a particular antipathy toward Frank¬
lin because of the fuel that be was a
nephew of Colonel Cleveland, the
Wliig leader. On one occasion a band
of Tories captured young Franklin
ami were about to bang him, the noose
being actually about his neck, when a
band of Whig, providentially rescued
him just in the nick of time.
I" |*on the outbreak of the Revolu¬
tion. young Franklin Itccauie adjutant
of the regiment commanded by his
uncle. Colonel Cleveland, and he acted
in this capacity during the fiercely-
fought battle of King's Mountain,
where he conducted himself with con¬
spicuous gallantry and bravery, per-
II. C. LAWRENCE
sonally receiving the surrender of sev¬
eral British "Hirer-, lie participated
in other buttles of the Revolution, «lur¬
ing the course of which he was pro¬
moted to Major, lie held this rank
when lie was a participant in tln> bat¬
tle of Guilford Court House, another
sanguinary contest, where he again
displayed great |>or»onal bravery.
The late Governor Thomas M. Holt
dedicated an elaborate monument on
Guilford battlefield, on which are in¬
scribed three name, names selected
by the Governor because of the part
taken by the three in this battle, the
three ls>iiig Major .loseph Winston
(in whose honor "nr city of Winston
was named); Major de.se Franklin;
and Richard Tn Ilia 1'i-rro. I do not
know what rank the hist iiiiim-d held,
but lie was evidently a lichl ollicor.
Following the Revolution, Franklin
and bis brother. Mc-dinw, l*egan their
civil public career» which, in the case
of Jesse, extended to the time <*f his
death. His brother Meshaw was also
u man of <li.tiiigui.licd attainments,
representing hi. county in both
branches <*f the General A--eiubly.
ami being elected a* a tiicniln-r of
( ongress.
Jesse's public service» began as
early as 1
7!»Я.
when he became a mem¬
ber of the House of Common», which
service was followed by his election
as a member of • ’ongre»». where he
served one term. I mmcdiatrly upon
the completion of his Congressional
term, he was again elected a» a .
не
J*r of the House of Common*: and
ill 17!*N he had heroine such a promi¬
nent figure in the political life of the
state that he wa. «dec fed by the Gen¬
eral Assembly a- I'nited States Sena¬
tor. succeeding Governor Alexander
Martin of Guilford.
In the early day. of the Republic—
in fact up to the time John C. Cal¬
houn became vice president it was
not the custom of the vice president t<*
preside over the Semite, but that Itody
elected one of it» liiemlicr» to serve as
president pro lew. Franklin was now
honored by such an election in I KIM,
At that time our stale's most distin¬
guished son. Nathaniel Macon, was
serving a- Speaker of the House of
Representatives,
.»«>
both I Ik- Senate
and the House Were presided over by
North Carolinian, an honor which
I doubt can
1и«
matched hv any other
state.
As soon ns Franklin’, term a- Sena¬
tor expired, he was again elected as a
member of the State Senate; but in
ISO* be wa* oner more elected
n«c
Я
■..«'...Ur ..f >1... r„;.„ I
lie wa« a . . of that hn.lv
britaiu in 1S1*; ami 1
dent advocate of th<- i
_ _ r. i
again»! • treat
ic wa* an ar-
iroMKMitiou of
lllill nfll HI
«1 к||ГП>««11||
nHK'lIhlDll.
Dealings with the Indians
At the end <>l hi. .ecoiid term as
I'nited Stales Senator, Franklin wa-
11 lilmllltctl :t
иГ
1 ( Vtiittiiu.iiiti
which had
1мч*п
appoint*
eminent to sell the hinds
pari <*f the state whieh
quired by the treaty
I’nited States and the
dial... These Indian» rt*
••linn lauds hack to tin
and receiving ill lien tin
the West. There were n
• - t'lMIMI '('Ml
•d hv the gov-
ill till* western
h.-nl been ac-
1к»
tween the
Cherokee In-
led their Car-
•reof land- in
earlv 700.000
acres of this laud a
priio-.lv «lo-
main — and it wa» imw opened up t<<
settlement bv the while... After the
completion of tlii- «crvicc, Franklin
was appointed a» a member of a
Commission to make a treat \ with
the Chieasnw Indian-, one of hi> m|-
lengUes being \ndre« .lai'k-i«li, wlm
later became »ueh a di»tiugni»lied fig¬
ure in the political life of the country.
The third meml*er was General Mer-
riweather.
In I N20. Franklin wa. elected as
Governor of the state, and served until
December 1.4*1 «|,en lie .leelincl a re-
election, no doubt lieeaitM* of |»-.i
health, as he died in Augti.l l-s»3.
Roth n* a politician and ill hi.
Erivate life. Franklin |*o>»c.»cd |»-r-
S|*S a* large a share of the public
confidence ami private esteem of the
citizens of the state a. any <«f hi»
contemporaries. for no man of his
generation wa» more -ignallv honored
hv the people of hi.» stale.
