Down Through the Years
If you are interested in chronology, you'll
enjoy this listing by Mr. Lawrence of im¬
portant events which have happened in the
state capital since the coming of the first
white man.
IN 1 70S the first white man visit**-!
what is now Wake County in the
person of John Inwsnn, Surveyor-
( H'liornl to the Lords Proprietors, who
wrote the first history of our State.
an<l who passed through the section of
northern Wake at the Falls of the
Xensc. Lawson later lost his life in
the great war with the Tuwaroras
in 1711: and in 1741 the earliest
settlers moved into the section.
In 1771 the Koval Governor Wil¬
liam Tryon. with the provincial
militia, passed through Wake and
'topped at Isaac Hunter’s tavern near
tlm >ile of the present city while on
their way to suppress the disturbance
of the Regulators which reached its
eliinux in the battle of Alamance
Greek; and that same year the Gov¬
ernor signed the act creating the
county, which was named in honor of
Ksthcr Wake, the Governor’s sister-
indaw. That summer its first court
was held at “Wakefield," the home
of Joel Lane, and it was at his rcsi-
denee that the Assembly first met in
1781 under military protection, and
elected Thomas Burke as Governor,
our first and only Governor of the
Catholic religious faith.
Selection of Capitol Site
In 1784 the Assembly voted to fix
tin- - lit "f the State Government, and
Tnrhoro. Southfield, Fayetteville,
Salem. Hillsboro and Ahernnthie’s
in Wake County were placed in nomi¬
nation. Tn 1788 the Convention
which met at Hillsboro and which re¬
fused to ratify the Federal Constitu¬
tion. fixed the site of the capital at
such place as the Assembly might
determine within ten miles of the
tavern of Isaac Hunter. tlii« being
the site which is now occupied by the
residence of Judge
Л.
Crawford
Bigg*, two miles north of the city.
In 1792 the Assembly named nine
Commissioners to determine the exact
site of the capital; and five commis¬
sioners to supervise the erection of a
Stale House. On March .40 of that
year a tract of land owned by Joel
Ijiiic was selected for the capital, and
the following December the Assembly
By II. C. LAWRENCE
approved the plan of the Commission¬
ers for the newly-established town, and
decreed that it should Ik* named in
honor of Sir Walter Kaleigh. under
whose auspices the first English ex-
|4>dition had reached our coast in
1584. The cornerstone of the first
State House was laid by Governor
Richard Dobbs Spnight, whose name
was signed to the Federal Constitu¬
tion and who was later to be killed in
fighting a duel with John Stanly. The
State House was completed in 1794,
and the Assembly met therein for the
first time, and the year was also
marked bv the establishment of the
State Medical Society.
In 179S the Assembly decreed that
the city should bo made the “common
residence” of the Governor; and in
1799 the town burgeoned into bloom
and boasted a population of nearly
seven hundred, with two newspapers,
the Raleigh Advertiser and the
Raleigh Register. 1800 was sig-
nnllized by a visit from the great
Methodist Bishop Francis Asbury,
who preached in the State House. In
1804, Matilda Berkley, the first novel
to he written by a native of the State,
authored by Winifred Gules, was pub¬
lished from the press of her husband,
the editor of the Register. Freedom
of religion eaine to the capital in
1Я0Г1,
as evidenced by the erection by Wil¬
liam Glendenning of a non-denomina-
tional church on South Blount Street.
In 1807 the town could l*oast of a
bank, for the Bank of Cape Fear
opened a branch there.
State Bank Is Chartered
The year 1 80S was marked by the
establishment of a school by the fa¬
mous Negro, John Chavis, who taught
the children of many prominent
whites. 1809 brought the now fami¬
liar cry of “hard times.” and due hills
issue*! by the Trustees of the Kaleigh
Academy became virtually the only
medium of exchange. Tn 1810 the
State Bank of North Carolina was
chartered, with branches at New Bern.
Kdcnton and Wilmington, and soon
thereafter the ancient building which
now constitutes the Rectory of
Chri«t Church was erected as general
headquarters for this bank.
In 1811 Bishop Asbury again
visited the city and presided over
the first Methodist Conference, which
held its sessions in the capitol: and
the same year saw the erection of the
first Methodist church, followed a
year later by the organization of a
Baptist church which, for lack of a
meeting house, held its services in the
capitol. The first Presbyterian
church was established ns early ns
1816.
During the War with England, the
people of the State, depressed by the
reverses to American arms, observed a
day of fasting and prayer; and 1816
was marked by a disastrou« fire which
destroyed many of the town's princi¬
pal buildings, including Cnsso's
Tavern where the father of President
Johnson bad served as a porter. The
first Pence Society was organized in
1819, and the following year William
Nichols undertook a commission from
the Legislature to remodel the capitol.
In 1821 the State purchased the fa-
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