USA > North Carolina > Biographical history of North Carolina from colonial times to the present; > Part 33
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Indeed Colonel Alexander Martin, when at the head of the Board of War, had so employed some Continental officers; but for some reason General Caswell, who was now at the head of the Council-Extraordinary as well as in command of the militia, did not utilize these experienced soldiers in the hour of the State's great need. There was apparently some friction between Caswell and Sumner.
After Cornwallis had marched from Wilmington to Virginia Sumner continued to make extraordinary exertions to form new Continental battalions, his camp being at the site of Oxford; and at one time he had orders to lead what forces he had collected to the aid of Baron Steuben in Virginia; but later these orders were countermanded and about the middle of July, having re- ceived a supply of arms from Baron Steuben, among them 250 excellent muskets with bayonets, he marched with a brigade of 1000 men, formed into three battalions, commanded by Colonel Ashe and Majors Armstrong and Blount, to reinforce Greene in South Carolina. At that time and for several months before
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the entire region from Guilford Court House to the ocean was the scene of a fierce warfare between the Tories and the patriots. Major Craig was in possession of Wilmington, and the Tory bands were often more powerful than the State forces combating them. Early in June Governor Nash had asked General Sumner to send some of his Continentals into that region, but his orders from General Greene to hasten to his aid he considered too per- emptory for that, and he did not comply with the request.
General Sumner having joined Greene towards the end of August, General Greene prepared for a conflict with the enemy, which occurred on the 8th of September at Eutaw Springs. This was one of the bloodiest battles of the war, and the North Caro- linians behaved nobly and suffered severely. General Sumner, his officers and men, indeed won great glory. Shortly after that battle General Sumner himself was directed to return to North Carolina and send forward to General Greene all the twelve months' men that could be raised and secure clothing and supplies for Greene's army, and he continued actively employed until peace was declared and the army disbanded. On the 23d of April, 1783, furloughs were granted to the North Carolina sol- diers and they returned to their homes, and General Sumner re- tired to his plantation in Warren County, near old Bute Court House. It was about that time apparently that he suffered a severe bereavement in the loss of his wife. Only once did he afterwards leave his privacy. On April 13, 1784, he presided over the North Carolina division of the Society of the Cincinnati.
He died March 18, 1785, leaving three children, all minors. One of them, Jacky Sullivan, married Thomas Blount, a brother of Major Reading Blount, and eventually changed her name to Mary Sumner Blount. He left two sons, who died without issue. General Howe, General Sumner and General Rutherford were the three most useful military men furnished by North Carolina in the struggle for independence.
S. A. Ashe.
JOHN LOUIS TAYLOR
HE Supreme Court of North Carolina was or- ganized in its present form in the year 1818, T and the first chief-justice of that tribunal was John Louis Taylor. This eminent jurist was horn of Irish parentage in the city of London on March 1, 1769. His father dying during his childhood, he remained under the care of his mother until he reached the age of twelve, when he came to America with James Taylor, an elder brother. In the same ship came Pierce Manning (whose daughter was afterward adopted by Taylor) and John Devereux, an ancestor of a well-known North Carolina family.
With the assistance of his brother, young Taylor entered Wil- liam and Mary College in the State of Virginia, but left that insti- tution before graduating. Later coming to North Carolina, he en- tered upon the study of law without any instruction ; yet, despite this disadvantage, he had made such progress that he was licensed to practice before he became of age. He was sworn in before the County Court of Guilford in 1788, and before the Superior Court of Hillsboro District on April 11, 1789. He took up his residence in the town of Fayetteville ; and while still a very young man he was elected to represent that borough in the North Carolina House of Commons at the sessions of 1792, 1793 and 1794. At a subse-
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quent period (late in 1796 or early in 1797) Mr. Taylor removed to New-Bern.
While he remained at the bar, Taylor easily ranked with the first lawyers of North Carolina. Talents of a high order, which he possessed, were improved by education and self-culture; and as a forceful and convincing speaker he was equalled by few. He was also well versed in the classics as well as in the polite litera- ture of more modern times. All this, added to a handsome per- sonality, attractive and engaging manners, and a generous nature, made him one of the most popular men of his time. It was in 1798 that he was elevated to the bench of Superior Court (then the supreme judicial tribunal of the State), and this post he oc- cupied until 1818, when a still higher honor fell to his lot. In 1810, prior to the establishment of the present Supreme Court, it was deemed advisable to have a tribunal to fulfill the functions of a Court of Appeals. The Legislature, therefore, enacted that the Superior Court judges should meet in a body-should sit in banc, to use the old English phrase-and should have power to select one of their number as presiding justice. By common con- sent the latter honor was assigned to Judge Taylor. As already mentioned, the present Supreme Court of North Carolina was established in 1818. The first members of that tribunal were John Louis Taylor, chief justice; and Leonard Henderson and John Hall, associate justices. This court was first opened on January 1, 1819.
Chief Justice Taylor remained at the head of the Supreme Court until his death more than ten years later. Judge Taylor became a citizen of Raleigh about the year ISII. His home was on Hills- boro Street in the house now occupied by Captain Samuel A. Ashe. This was built by him and afterward owned by Judge Gaston, who conveyed it to Judge Romulus M. Saunders.
While Andrew Jackson was a practicing lawyer in North Caro- lina, prior to his removal to Tennessee, a strong friendship sprang up between him and Judge Taylor. In after years, when Jackson was a candidate for the office of President of the United States, Taylor voted for him, though perhaps not fully in accord with his
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political principles. After his elevation to the office of chief jus- tice, Mr. Taylor paid a visit to relatives in England; and while there a handsome miniature of him was painted. Both the Su- preme Court of the State and the Masonic Grand Lodge own oil portraits copied from this miniature.
In April, 1828, Georgetown University. in the city of Washing- ton, honored Chief Justice Taylor with the degree of Doctor of Laws.
Few men have ever lived in North Carolina who were more prominently identified with the Masonic fraternity than was Judge Taylor. He was deputy grand master from December 4, 1799, till December 12, 1802; grand master from December 12, 1802, till December 12, 1805; and again grand master from November 26, 1814, till December 7, 1817. He was not a Mason merely in name, but was an active worker up to the time of his death ; and when his earthly career came to an end, Hiram Lodge, No. 40, in the city of Raleigh, laid his remains to rest with Masonic honors. In 1805 François Xavier Martin, of New-Bern, compiled a work entitled "Ahiman Rezon and Masonic Ritual," which he dedi- cated to Grand Master Taylor "as a tribute of esteem for his amia- ble virtues, respect for his learning and talents, and fraternal grati- tude for the zeal and fidelity with which he presides in the chair." In this work is published (among other matter) a Masonic ad- dress which Grand Master Taylor delivered before the Grand Lodge of North Carolina at Raleigh in 1804. In the course of that address Taylor said :
"The purest system of ethics does not recommend any virtues which are not inculcated by the principles of Masonry. If. unfortunately, its lessons have failed to produce their proper effect with some men; if a few unhappy Brethren continue to abandon themselves to vice and in- temperance, notwithstanding the instruction and correctives they have re- ceived, such examples are sincerely deplored by all real Masons. For they ardently desire that every Brother should exemplify in his conduct the tenets of his science, and they utterly disown all those in whom a long course of immorality has extinguished the hope of reformation."
In the first volume of Devereux's Equity ( 16th North Caro- lina Supreme Court Reports), page 309, is a memoir of Chief Jus-
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tice Taylor, written shortly after his death, which has this to say of his career on the bench :
"How he discharged his duties during the twenty years he administered justice on the circuit, it is impossible that the bar or the community can have forgotten. He was pre-eminently a safe judge. It was difficult to present a question for his determination upon which his reading had not stored up, and his memory did not present, some analogous case in which it had been settled by the sages of the law. And with him it was a re- ligious principle to abide by the landmarks, 'stare decisis' Uniting in an extraordinary degree suavity of manners with firmness of purpose, a heart tremblingly alive to every impulse of humanity with a deep-seated and reverential love of justice, the best feelings with an enlightened judg- ment, he made the law amiable in the sight of the people, inspired re- spect and affection for its institutions, and gained for its sentences a prompt and cheerful obedience.
Of his opinions on the Supreme Bench the same writer says :
"While all may be read with profit and are entitled to respect, there are many-very many-which may be regarded as models of legal investigation and judicial eloquence. There is, indeed, a charm in all his compositions, seldom to be found elsewhere, which has induced not a few to regret that the Chief Justice had not devoted himself entirely to a literary life. He would probably have proved one of the most elegant writers of his day. He who could render legal truth attractive could not fail to have recommended moral excellence in strains that would have found an echo in every heart."
Chief Justice Taylor was author of a short biographical sketch of Associate Justice Alfred Moore, of the United States Supreme Court. This was re-published many years after Taylor's death in the North Carolina University Magasine for October, 1844. In the same periodical for March, 1860, is a sketch of the life of Tay- lor himself, written by Judge William H. Battle. Another notice of Taylor will be found in the North Carolina Supreme Court Re- ports, volume 107, page 985.
In the Green Bag Magasine for October, 1892, Chief Justice Clark of the Supreme Court of North Carolina gives the follow- ing synopsis of the legal writings, etc., of Chief Justice Taylor :
"In 1802 he published Taylor's Reports, which now form a part of the first volume of 'North Carolina Reports.' In 1814 he published the first
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volume of the 'North Carolina Law Repository,' and in 1816 the second volume of the same, and in 1818 Tavior's 'Term Reports.' These three volumes are now united in one, known as '4 North Carolina Reports.' As originally printed, the 'Repository' contained much interesting matter (other than decisions of the court) which has now been omitted in the re- print. In 1817 he was appointed by the General Assembly jointly with Judge Henry Potter, of the United States District Court for North Caro- lina, to publish a revision of the statute law of the State. This revisal, known as 'Potter's Revisal.' came out in 1821. In 1825 Judge Taylor published a continuation of this work, including the Acts of 1825. This is known as 'Taylor's Revisal' He also published a treatise on executors and administrators. He possessed a singular aptitude for literature, and would have excelled in composition if his 'jealous mistress,' the law, had given him opportunity. His elocution was the admiration of all who heard him. His style of writing is preserved to us in his opinions, and in beauty of diction they are not surpassed, if equalled, by any of his successors. Chief-Justice Taylor came to his post at forty-nine years of . age, and during the ten years he presided in the new court his opinions form at once his judicial record and his lasting eulogy. His charge to the Grand Jury of Edgecombe in 1817 is a model of style and subject mat- ter. It was published by request of the Grand Jury."
Chief Justice Taylor was twice married. His first wife was - Julia Rowan, and by her he had an only daughter, Julia Rowan Taylor, who married Major Junius Sneed, and was mother of Associate Justice John Louis Taylor Sneed, of the Supreme Court of Tennessee. The second wife of Chief Justice Taylor was Jane Gaston. By her he had an only son and namesake, who died unmarried, and an only daughter who became the wife of David E. Sumner, and left descendants. The second Mrs. Taylor was a sister of Judge William Gaston, and a daughter of Doctor Alex- ander Gaston, who was killed in the Revolution. Sketches of both of these gentlemen will be found elsewhere in the present work.
The death of Chief Justice Taylor occurred on January 29, 1829. His remains were interred on his premises in Raleigh, but later removed to the State plot in Oakwood Cemetery, where they now repose hy the side of those of Chief Justice Pearson and other public .servants, who now, after duty well done, rest from their labors.
Marshall De Lancey Haywood.
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Seo. 18. Thompson
GEORGE WARREN THOMPSON
G JEORGE WARREN THOMPSON was born in Wake County, North Carolina, in the part now. known as Barton Creek Township, and lived all his useful life of nearly eighty-seven years within five miles of his birthplace. He was born December 31, 1804, and died December 7, 1891. His ancestors were among the first white settlers of Wake County, and were a sturdy family of people. His father was Solomon Thompson and his mother Sarah Russ Thompson. Through his mother he was closely related to the late J. P. H. Russ, legislator, Secretary of State of North Carolina, who was the father of William M. Russ, some time mayor of the city of Raleigh and clerk of the Superior Court of Wake. He was one of four- teen children who lived to maturity. He was educated partly in the schools of his neighborhood, but they being of inferior char- acter, he may be said to have been self-educated. He began to support himself by teaching school before he was of age, and was preparing himself for a course in the State University, but his father having become involved on account of a security debt, he voluntarily used the money he had saved in relieving his father. This was an early evidence of his sense of duty, which was ever one of his marked characteristics. After teaching for a few years longer, he devoted himself to farming and merchandising ; and by thrift and economy he became by the time he reached middle
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age one of the substantial and influential men of the county-so much so that in 1844 he was arged by the people to become a candidate for the State Senate. This was before nominating conventions were heid by either the Democratic or Whig Party, being the parties in which the voters of the State were then di- vided ; though the Whigs often called the Democrats Loco-focos. Candidates announced their candidacy in the most effective way they could, and the following paragraph is to be found in the Raleigh Register, a Whig paper, of May 28, 1844:
"We learn that several of the candidates for seats in the Legislature pre- sented themselves before the Grand Jury of this county last week, it being that of our County Court, and declared themselves as such. The gentle- men composing the tickets are: Charles Manly (Whig) and George W. Thompson (Loco) for the Senate. For the House of Commons, Henry W. Miller, Samuel P. Norris and Charles L. Hinton (Whigs) ; James B. Morgan, Gaston H. Wilder and James B. Shepard (Locos) .... "
At that time Charles Manly, a man of decided ability, and after- ward governor of the State, was, with the probable exception of Weston R. Gales, then editor of the Register, the most popular Whig in the county, and the parties were not far from evenly di- vided, but Mr. Thompson was elected by a safe majority. He was re-elected by increasing majorities in 1846 and 1848, his opponents being respectively Samuel P. Norris and Edward Hall, both good men and with influential connections in the county. At that time one of the qualifications of a. senator was that he should own 300 acres of land, and of a voter for the Senate that he should own 50 acres of land. During the campaign of 1848 there was pro- posed an amendment to the Constitution by the legislative mode, to provide for "free suffrage" for the Senate and Mr. Thompson announced himself as favoring it ; though the amendment was not perfected until nearly ten years later. He was a Jeffersonian Democrat, while his father had been a Federalist and was a Whig. It is said that when he first became a candidate, the trend of affairs and his study of the constitutional history of the country having convinced him that it was his duty to ally himself with the Demo- cratic Party, he told his father and a brother that he wished them
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to vote for their principles, and they did so, casting their ballots for his opponent.
After his third term of service in the Senate, Mr. Thomp- son retired from public life and devoted himself to his in- creasing business. In or about 1854 the Democratic Party in the district nominated him for a seat in the national House of Representatives ; but he declined and suggested for the nomination the name of L. O'B. Branch, who had recently moved back to North Carolina fron Florida and afterward became a dis- tinguished Confederate general and was killed at Sharpsburg. He would have been elected, as Mr. Branch was, but he preferred life at home and among his neighbors to that in Washington City.
In 1858 the late Major William A. Bledsoe, a popular Democrat, led a revolt from his party, and was supported by the Whigs and members of the New American Party on an issue of ad valorem taxation. The Democratic Convention called Mr. Thompson from his retirement by nominating him as Major Bledsoe's opponent. Able and active men were nominated for the House on both sides. There was a very spirited campaign, and Mr. Thompson was de- feated by a very close vote. He could not be induced again to enter public life. In 1871 he was nominated by the Conservative Democratic Party with ex-Governor Thomas Bragg and Honorable Daniel M. Barringer for a seat in a Constitutional Con- vention, the vote upon the calling of which was to be taken on April 30, 1871 ; but he declined the nomination. To the last, how- ever, he took an interest in public affairs, and exerted a wholesome influence for Democracy in his section of the county. During the war between the States he gave a cordial support to the cause of the South, and all three of his sons were volunteers in the Con- federate army. His conduct and counsel during the war and the period of reconstruction after it were dignified and conservative. He never lost courage or hope that things would come out right in the end. Especially was his counsel deemed invaluable in the uncertain period which followed the overthrow of the Confederacy, when because of new conditions never before experienced, all public affairs and private matters were involved in the utmost con-
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fusion. At that time Mr. Thompson's advice was sought by lead- ing men even in distant parts of the State, and his influence was exerted to the benefit and advantage of the people of the State. His integrity and prudence in business and his kindness as a neigh- bor caused his services to be sought before and during the war as executor, guardian, etc., and these fiduciary relations during the "chaotic times" which followed gave him much concern. Dur- ing the last year of the war, when the value of Confederate money had sunk to 25 or 50 to 1, while he never refused to take the de- preciated currency in payment of his own debts, he took and fol- lowed the advice of counsel about declining to accept it in dis- charge of claims he held as executor or guardian. Nor did the de- nunciation of some extreme Confederates move him to violate his duty. His settlement of complicated estates, after the ma- chinery of the courts was running smoothly, was satisfactory to all concerned.
Mr. Thompson was a great sufferer from facial neuralgia for many years before his death, and he could frequently be seen driv- ing to town, in inclement weather, twelve or fifteen miles, with a thick green veil over his face; and the writer whom he honored with his friendship could not but admire the patience with which he bore his suffering. Never did a complaint or murmur escape his lips.
He was a member of the Missionary Baptist Church for over sixty years before his death, and his consistent conduct during all these years was testimony of his faithfulness to his religion.
Firm in his own faith, he was ever tolerant of the religious opin- ions of others. In manners, while approachable to all, he was dignified and courteous, ever a gentleman of the old school. As a conversationalist he was, as the result of reading, experience and accurate observation, interesting and instructive. As a public speaker he was easy, self-possessed, logical and accurate and edify- ing in his statement of facts and principles. The arts of the dema- gogue he was too honest and true to practice.
He was a member of the first Board of Trustees of Wake Forest College.and was the last survivor but one of that board. He con-
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tinued to be a member, and always a regular attendant at its meet- ings until the last.
Mr. Thompson married Miss Frances Crenshaw, daughter of William Crenshaw and a sister of the venerable Major John M. Crenshaw of Wake County. She was ever a helpmeet to him and survived him a few years. They had three sons and a daughter, who lived to maturity. Their son William Marcellus was killed at Malvern Hill, having gone into the army as a lieutenant of the Oak City Guards. Their son Henry A. died a few years after the war from disease contracted by exposure in the war. Theit son A. Judson became a physician, and died a few years since in Moore County, respected by the community in which he lived for his skill in his profession and his urbanity, in which he followed the example of his father. The only daughter, Sarah Frances, is the wife of Mr. Samuel T. Morgan, who was raised her neigh- bor in Wake County, but is now the president of the Virginia- Carolina Chemical Company and resides in Richmond, Virginia.
Among the brothers of Mr. Thompson was Michael Thompson, Esquire, near his own age, who lived in his immediate vicinity, and between them there was always a most affectionate and brotherly sympathy and association. Michael Thompson was one of the most esteemed citizens of the county, a magistrate, and long a member of the Special Court of the county. He was the father of John W. Thompson, Esquire, once clerk of the Su- perior Court of Wake County, and of Doctor S. W. Thompson, who also enjoyed the esteem of all who knew him.
The influence of the life of George W. Thompson was potent for good, and for good not only in his generation; and it is well that his memory should be preserved in a biography of leading North Carolinians. He truly was worthy of imitation.
Alf Afronden R. H. Battle.
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LEONARD CHARLES VAN NOPPEN
T HE people of Holland, the true Dutch, are of peculiar interest to us; not only because they are our nearest kinsmen, but also because of their part in the development of American in- stitutions. The race that produced William the Silent, Thomas a Kempis, Grotius, Erasmus, Vondel and Rembrandt stands secure in the annals of fame. To be of such descent is a birthright of which one may well be proud. The subject of this biography was born in Zeeland, the most southern province of the Netherlands, January 8, 1868. His Dutch lineage was distinctly colored by that French Huguenot stream which, after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, poured like a flood into that freedom-loving land. Only here, in that age of persecution, was refuge from oppression, only here was security and justice. Holland had become the guardian of the world's conscience.
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