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J. J. Alderman
HISTORY
OF
NORTH CAROLINA
VOLUME IV NORTH CAROLINA BIOGRAPHY BY SPECIAL STAFF OF WRITERS
9. 7. Dedeman
ILLUSTRATED
THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY CHICAGO AND NEW YORK
1919
COPYRIGHT, 1919 BY THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
Paul Smith 1 95,00 -
1357288
Thathan Broyden
HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
HON. NATHANIEL BOYDEN. A concise summary of the life and distinguished services of Hon. Na- thaniel Boyden was given recently by Chief Justice Clark upon the acceptance of a portrait of the former justice. Said Judge Clark:
"He was a soldier in the War of 1812 and the son of a soldier of the Revolution, and his son served the South with distinction in the War of of 1861-65. He came to this state in 1822 and was several times a member of the Legislature. In 1847 he was a member of Congress, and again in 1868.' He was appointed to the Supreme Court in May, 1871, and served two and a half years till his death in November, 1873.
"Admitted to the bar in 1823, he served in his profession with great distinction for nearly half a century. During that time it was his custom to attend forty-eight courts each year, and he practiced regularly in twelve counties.
"When appointed to the Supreme Court Bench, Judge Boyden was in his 75th year, being the oldest man ever appointed to this bench. Judge Boyden brought to this court the accumulated learning and experience of nearly fifty years at the bar and the intesity of energy and love of labor which had gained him success and fortune in that forum, and commanded for him a well earned reputation here."
Nathaniel Boyden was born at Conway, Mass- achusetts, August 16, 1796. The Boyden family was long established in England, where the name is found in records covering three centuries. It was from ancestors of wealth and distinction that Nathaniel Boyden derived many qualities that enabled him to adorn the positions he held in life.
The ancestor of all the earlier members of the family was Thomas Boyden, who left Ipswich, Suffolk County, England, in April, 1635, and on the ship Francis came to Massachusetts. There is extended genealogical work entitled "Thomas Boyden and his descendants." His son, Thomas Boyden, Jr., born at Watertown, Mass- achusetts, September 26, 1639, married Martha Holden, daughter of Richard Holden, who came to America in the ship Francis in 1634. From Watertowu they moved to Groton. Their son, Jonathan Boyden, was born September 27, 1675, lived and died in Groton. The family names of neither of his wives have been preserved. His son, Josiah Boyden, born at Groton September 21, 1701, moved to Deerfield about 1762, and in 1767 was one of those who signed the petition asking for a division of the township. The answer to that petition was the Town of Conway. Josiah Boyden first married Eunice Parker.
Their son John Boyden, father of Judge Boyden, was born at Conway, Massachusetts, January 29, 1764, and was the first male child of European par-
ents born in that township. He died October 2, 1857, at the great age of ninety-three. As a soldier in the Revolution he stood on guard at one end of the cable stretched across the Hudson River to prevent the passing of the sloop of war Vulture when Benedict Arnold was plotting to betray West Point, and he often reverentially spoke of seeing Washington when he made his unex- pected visit to West Point after Arnold's flight. John Boyden enlisted several times during the Revolution. His first enlistment was for three months at Ticonderoga. Aside from his military service he spent his life as a farmer at Conway.
Judge Boyden's mother, Eunice Hayden, was the daughter of Dr. Moses Hayden, a learned phy- sician of Conway. Eunice Hayden was a sister of Hon. Moses Hayden, a member of Congress from New York. On this side of the family William Hayden came to America in 1630. The Haydens long held legal appointment in England from the king and Nathaniel Boyden probably derived his brilliant talents as a lawyer from his mother's family.
Nathaniel Boyden displayed the martial spirit of his ancestors and at the age of fifteen enlisted in the War of 1812. For his services he was granted a land warrant for 160 acres. He was liberally educated, preparing for college at Deer- field Academy, and attending in succession Wil- liams College, and Union College in New York, whence he was graduated in July, 1821. He studied law while in college, and also under his uncle Hon. Moses Hayden.
In 1822 Nathaniel Boyden came south for the purpose of teaching school. In the fall of that year he and his companion, a clock-maker's agent, named Sidney Porter-grandfather of the late "O. Henry"-alighted from the stage coach near King's Crossroads in Guilford County, North Caro- lina; and after breakfast, having surveyed the scene, they determined on the spur of the moment to remain, rather than continue to their destination further south.
Nathaniel Boyden found a school to teach at King's Cross Roads and at the same time ac- quainted himself with the North Carolina Legal Code and Procedure. Later he taught school in Madison, Rockingham County, where he met Ruth, great-niece of Governor Alexander Martin. She became his wife January 20, 1825. In December, 1823, he was licensed to practice and settled near Germanton in Stokes County, where he resided until his removal to Surrey County in 1832. In 1842 he moved to Salisbury which was his home until his death, November 30, 1873.
Aside from these facts it is possible to obtain something approaching a better estimate and char- acterization of Judge Boyden from the words of Dr. Archibald Henderson of the University of
Vol. IV-1
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HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
North Carolina, in his address on presenting the portrait of Judge Boyden to the Supreme Court.
In appreciation of Nathaniel Boyden's powers as a lawyer, Dr. Henderson said: "Brought into competition, at the outset of his legal career with men of the stamp of Ruffin, Murphey, Nash, Settle, Yancey and the Moreheads, he met every emergency through the extraordinary gifts with which nature and study had endowed him-vigor- ous intellect, perception quick as light, and an ability in mental reasoning well-nigh phenomenal. A later contemporary thus characterizes him: 'He delighted in the practice of the noble profession which he so much adorned and in which he reached so high an cminence. The fine intellectual conflicts to which it gave rise had for him in- describable charms. They were meat and drink to his nature. Self reliance never forsook him for a moment. His moral courage was sublime. He never shrank from the performance of any duty nor hesitated to take any responsibility. His fidel- ity to his chiefs was never doubted. With all these high qualities, being well grounded in the law and thoroughly understanding its great cardi- nal principles, success was inevitable.'
"From his time of retirement from Congress until his elevation to the Bench he was actively engaged in the practice of his profession over a circuit of twelve counties. For more than thirty years he regularly attended the sessions of the Supreme Court of the State. Endowed with an eminently practical mind and extraordinary in- dustry, he attained to great repute and achieved a handsome competency. As Associate Justice of this Court during the two and a half years of his incumbency, Judge Boyden delivered opinions, which, for practical wisdom, broad knowledge, and cogency in reasoning may uniformly be cited with profit. The present distinguished head of this court has written of Judge Boyden: . 'While on the Bench he was said to have been especially use- ful on questions of practice. He possessed a strong and cultivated mind, and was endowed with an extraordinary memory. A fair specimen of his style and his practical turn of mind will be found in Horton v. Green, 66 N. C., 596, an action for deceit and false warranty.' "'
Of especial interest are his attitude and position in the political life and thought of his time as portrayed by Dr. Henderson. "In all the political changes, through periods of great stress and fer- ment, in state and nation, Judge Boyden was allied with more than one political party. But as an old line Whig he stood consistently for the doctrines in which he had early learned to believe. In the earlier years of his life he was a Madisonian republican, and when the old republican party dis- solved he joined the national republicans and sup- ported John Quincy Adams for the presidency in 1825 and 1829. Upon its formation he became a member of the whig party and stood steadfastly by its fortunes to the last. And when that party ceased to exist he continued to cling to the funda- mental doctrines which it had taught. * * * From the very beginning of the war between the States he never expected any other result than the final surrender of the Confederate forces to the Federal army. Yet, notwithstanding what he regarded as their great political errors, he mani- fested the profoundest sympathy with the Southern people, lamented the stern penalties of war, and lent his aid to the citizens of his adopted State. * *
* Judge Boyden was identified with the South by family ties, by interest, and by all the
memories of his balmy days; and he was not, at heart, untrue to the South in opposing that which his sagacious mind considered baneful to her wel- fare, prosperity and peace. He looked upon seces- sion as disastrous to the South. But once the die was cast, he went with the State. One may read today in The Carolina Watchman of 24th of Aug- ust, 1861, the list of subscriptions to the Confeder- ate Loan-a list headed by the name of Nathaniel Boyden in the sum of $1,500, accompanied by the statement that his tobacco, as well, would be freely subscribed. He bore the sternest test of all-he gave his beloved youngest son, Archibald Hender- son, to fight for the cause of the Confederacy.
"One who knew him intimately has written that 'no man was more opposed to the plan of Con- gressional reconstruction than Judge Boyden, and none labored harder to prevent it.' But at the same time none realized more clearly than he the exigency, as well as the intrinsic justice, of mak- ing some sort of concession in the form of political privileges to the negro race. Nathaniel Boyden was appointed by Governor Worth in 1866 on a Commission, the main function of which was to investigate the condition of affairs and mature a rational and humane policy. * * * The plan proposed, known as the 'North Carolina Plan, ' in the formulation of which Judge Boyden had a large share, had for its basis impartial suffrage and universal amnesty. * * * In all probability, the North Carolina Plan would have been accepted by the State Legislature but for the conviction that it would be only the prelude to the imposition of deeper humiliations. Foreseeing the direful consequences to North Carolina in case of its fail- ure, Mr. Boyden had its success deeply at heart. Upon learning of the failure of the plan, after all his arduous and sincerely patriotic efforts, the anguished man vented his deep grief in bitter tears. * * * It was related in writing by the late John A. Boyden, and is believed to be an historic fact, though never hitherto given to the public, that President Lincoln had selected Nathaniel Boyden for the post of Provisional Governor of North Carolina. The proclamation had been prepared by President Lincoln, who was assassinated on the night before it was to be published.
"In the Convention of 1865 he played one of the leading roles and introduced the ordinance which declared that the ordinance of May 20, 1861, 'is now and has been at all times null and void.' In the impeachment trial of Governor Holden he was one of the brilliant array of legal talent composing the Governor's counsel; and his speech on March 17, 1871, with its imposing mar- shalling of legal authorities, is memorable as an argument on the impossibility of holding the Gov- ernor responsible for his execution of an uncon- stitutional law.
"Lastly Mr. Boyden was consistent with his own principles, long tenaciously maintained, in trans- ferring his allegiance in 1868, to the republican party. * * * Apart from the policy of the re- publican party in reference to reconstruction he had always held to some of its great cardinal principles."
The following tribute to Judge Boyden was writ- ten at the time of his death by Dr. Henderson's father. "In all his intercourse with his fellowmen Judge Boyden was straightforward, honest, dircct. He was a pattern of perfect sincerity in all that he said or did. He was manly in everything. Flat- tery he detested. The arts of the demagogue he despised. No man ever lived who was farther
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away from corruption. His integrity was never doubted by any man who came near him. His manly and straightforward courage, accompanied by a certain brusqueness of manner, may have led some to suppose that he was deficient in some of the qualities of the heart. If so, it was a great mistake. With as much of true manhood as be- longs to the greatest and most powerful characters, he yet possessed all the tenderness that character- izes the gentlest of the gentler sex. None who knew him well can deny that his was a character that deserves to be held long in remembrance, espe- cially as a bright example to the young men of the country. Let them take courage from that re- markable example, and emulate his many virtues and noble qualities, and success in whatever they undertake is within their reach."
Reference has already been made to his first marriage. This wife died August 20, 1844, leav- ing four children, Nathaniel, John Augustus, Sarah Ann and Ruth. In November, 1845, he was mar- ried to Mrs. Jane (Henderson) Mitchell, widow of Dr. Lueco Mitchell, and niece of Chief Justice Leonard Henderson and daughter of Archibald Henderson. Of this union there was one son, Archibald H. Boyden, whose career is subject for a separate sketch on other pages.
COL. ARCHIBALD HENDERSON BOYDEN. A broad- minded, public-spirited citizen of Salisbury, Rowan County, Col. Archibald H. Boyden, now serving as postmaster, has long been associated with the higher and better interests of city and county, advocating and working for those ideas and measures that will be of lasting good to the com- munity, being more especially interested in the mental, moral, and physical development of the children of this generation, in whom he sees the future guardians of the public welfare. Coming from honored New England ancestry, he was born in Salisbury, North Carolina, January 29, 1847, a son of Hon. Nathaniel and Jane Mitchell (Hen- derson) Boyden, and maternal grandson of Hon. Archibald and Sarah (Alexander) Henderson, families of prominence and influence. The house in which his birth occurred, and which he now owns and occupies, was built by his grandfather, Hon. Archibald Henderson, in 1800. It is a large commodious, frame building, colonial in style, and sits back some distance from the street, the lo- cation being ideal. It is surrounded by a beautiful . lawn, ornamented with trees, plants and shrubs, rendering the place pleasant and attractive. On this lot stood the building occupied as a law office by Andrew Jackson during the year he practiced law in Salisbury. In 1876 Mr. Boyden sold the building, which was taken first to Philadelphia, and later to Chicago.
In 1863 Mr. Boyden left the preparatory school in which he was being fitted for college to enter the Confederate Army. Going to Virginia, he was detailed as a courier to Gen. Robert F. Hoke, and served in that capacity until the close of the con- flict. Returning home with health badly shattered by the many hardships and privations of life in camp and field, Colonel Boyden was for nearly five years incapacitated for work. Regaining his for- mer physical vigor, he engaged in the buying and selling of cotton, a substantial business with which he has since been actively identified, being presi- dent of Boyden, Oranan & Co. and vice president of Oranan & Co., wholesale dealers and jobbers, also interested in various other enterprises of a commercial or financial nature.
Taking a genuine interest in everything con- nected with the advancement of the public welfare, Colonel Boyden has served with credit to himself, and to the honor and satisfaction of his constitu- ents in numerous offices of trust and responsibility. He was for ten years mayor of Salisbury. When he was first nominated to that position, he prom- ised, if elected, to give the city the much-needed sidewalks, good roads, and better schools, and under his efficient administration all of these prom- ises were fulfilled to the letter, sidewalks being built, streets being paved, and the schools placed among the best in the state. A new railroad sta- tion, which Salisbury had long needed, was erected through the colonel's influence with the railroad officials, it being the best station on the road be- tween Washington and Atlanta.
In 1911 Colonel Boyden was elected to the State Senate, and was renominated in 1913, but refused to accept the nomination. While a member of the Senate he secured the passage of a bill for the state inspection of schools, but it was defeated in the House. He continued to advocate the measure, however, and the Legislature of 1916 enacted such a law. For a full quarter of a century the colonel has served as a member of the school board, and for twelve years has been postmaster.
Actively interested not only in the welfare of the children, but in that of the Confederate soldier, Colonel Boyden is serving as chairman of the board of managers of the Soldiers' Home at Ra- leigh, where the 175 inmates are well cared for, and is also chairman of the pension board of Rowan County. He is commander of the First Brigade, North Carolina Veterans. He is likewise chairman of the Salisbury Board of Charities; a member of the board of managers of the Thompson Episcopal Orphanage at Charlotte; and a director of the Children's Home at Greensboro.
On July 7, 1880, Colonel Boyden was united in marriage with May Wheat, a daughter of Hon. Francis E. and May ( Wheat) Shober, and grand- daughter of Rev. John Thomas Wheat, whose brother, Major Rob Wheat, commanded the Louisi- ana Tigers in the Civil War. Mrs. Boyden's great. grandfather on the paternal side, Gottlieb Shober, was a leader in the Moravian Colony, located at . Salem, Forsyth County. Her father was prominent in public affairs, serving as a representative to Congress, and later as secretary of the Senate. Colonel and Mrs. Boyden have two daughters, namely : May Wheat, who married Dr. Vance R. Brawley, and has two children, Robert V. Jr., and Boyden; and Jane Henderson, wife of Burton Craige, has three children, Burton, Jr., Jane Hen- derson and an infant. Colonel Boyden and his wife are members of the Episcopal Church, in which he has served as vestryman for several years.
HON. ARCHIBALD HENDERSON. who was born in Granville County, North Carolina, August 7, 1768, and died at Salisbury October 21, 1822, had a career replete with the finest successes and dig- mities of the law, citizenship and manhood. All of this is perhaps best expressed in the inscription placed on his monnment by the North Carolina bar, in these words:
"In Memory of Archibald Henderson, to whom his associates at the Bar have erected this Monu- ment to mark their veneration for the character of a Lawyer who illustrated their profession by the extent of his learning, and the unblemished integ- rity of his life; of a Man who sustained and cm- bellished all the relations of Social Life with rect-
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HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
itude and benevolence of a Citizen; who elevated by the native dignity of his mind above the atmos- phere of selfishness and party, pursued calmly, yet zealously, the true interest of his country."
He was of Scotch ancestry. His grandfather, Samuel Henderson, came from Hanover County, Virginia, and settled in Granville County, North Carolina, about 1742, and subsequently served as sheriff of that county. Richard Henderson, father of the subject of this article, was born in Hanover County, Virginia, April 20, 1735. He read law with his cousin, Judge Williams, for twelve months. When he applied for a license to the chief justice of the colony, whose duty it was to examine ap- plicants and on his certificate request that a li- cense be issued by the governor, young Henderson was asked how long he had read law and what books. When the limited time was stated with the number of books read, the judge remarked that it was useless to go into any examination as no liv- ing man, in so short a time, could have read and digested the works he had named. With great promptness and firmness young Henderson replied that it was his privilege to apply for a license and the judge's duty to examine him, and if he was not qualified to reject him. The judge, struck with his sensible and spirited reply, proceeded tu a most searching examination. So well did the applicant sustain himself that not only was the cer- tificate granted but with it went encomiums on his industry, acquirements and talents.
The brilliant qualities of mind thus exemplified were sustained throughout his mature career. He soon rose to the highest rank in his profession, and honors and wealth followed. A vacancy oc- curring on the bench, he was appointed by the governor a judge of the Superior Court, the high- est court in the colony. He discharged the duties of this dignified position with fidelity and credit during an exciting and interesting period of North Carolina history. On one occasion lie was forced to leave Hillsboro by the disturbances of the regu- lators. In 1779 he headed the commission which extended westward the dividing line between Vil- ginia and North Carolina.
His name has an interesting association with the progress of opening up the country west of the Alleghenies. In 1774, on the advice of Daniel Boone, who had carefully explored the country, Judge Henderson formed a company, comprising John Williams and Leonard H. Bullock of Gran- ville, and others from Orange County, and bought from the Cherokee Indians for a fair considera- tion all their lands south of the Kentucky River beginning at the junction of that river with the Ohio River and thence south into Tennessee and including a large portion of the present states of Kentucky and Tennessee. The company, known to history as the Transylvania Company, took possession under their title April 20, 1775, and on May 25, Judge Henderson, as president of the Transylvania Company, convened the first Legisla- tive assembly ever held west of the Alleghenies. In 1780 Judge Henderson encouraged the settle- ment at the French Lick, now Nashville, and opened an office there for the sale of the lands. Not long after his return to North Carolina Rich- ard Henderson died at his home in Granville, Jan- uary 30, 1785. The maiden name of his wife was Elizabeth Keeling. He was survived by six children, Fanny, Richard, Archibald, Elizabeth, Leonard and John Lawson. The son, Leonard, afterward rose to distinction and became chief justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina.
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Archibald Henderson studied law with Judge Williams and was admitted to the bar, locating soon afterward at Salisbury. He soon became prominent in public life and from 1799 to 1803 represented his district in Congress. He also repre- sented Salisbury in the State Legislature in 1807, 1808, 1809, 1814, 1819 and 1820. About the year 1800 he built a commodious frame house in colonial style, located on South Church street, and it is now owned and occupied by his grandson, Colonel Archibald Henderson Boyden. It was in this dignified old home that Archibald Henderson died. He married Sarah Alexander, daughter of Colonel Moses Alexander, and sister of William Lee Alexander and of Governor Nathaniel Alex- ander. They reared two children, Archibald and Jane, the latter becoming the wife of Dr. Lueco Mitchell and later of Judge Nathaniel Boyden.
JOSEPH GILL BROWN. A few of his old-time friends and associates have distinct recollections of Joseph Gill Brown in the capacity of bank clerk at Raleigh. Well informed people of the entire state and in fact the entire South hardly need to be reminded of his important relationships with the financial affairs of North Carolina and the nation at large. Joseph Gill Brown is without doubt one of the foremost bankers of the South, and his range of influence and activities has ex- tended to many other affairs.
He was born at Raleigh November 5, 1854, a son of Henry Jerome and Lydia (Lane) Brown. His people have always been fairly well to do and highly respected families. Some of his ancestors were prominent. His great-grandfather on the maternal side was James Lane, a brother of Joel Lane, who was the original owner of the site of Raleigh. Mr. Brown's mother was born on the farm on which Raleigh now stands. Mr. Lane's house in Bloomsbury, now included in the city, was the place of meeting for the Revolutionary Legis- lature in 1781. Another ancestor of Mr. Brown was Col. Needham Bryan of Johnston County. Colonel Bryan was a representative in the Provin- cial Congress and was an active supporter of the Patriot cause during the Revolution.
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