USA > North Carolina > Biographical history of North Carolina from colonial times to the present; > Part 38
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met in Hillsboro in 1788 and delayed ratification of the Federal Constitution, being at that time employed in the Continental Con- gress, but he represented Tyrrell County in the Fayetteville Con- vention of 1789 which adopted that Constitution, and there favored the ratification of the document which two years before he had assisted in framing. On the adoption he was elected a represen- tative of North Carolina in the New Federal Congress of the Uni- ted States, where he affiliated, as he had done in the State, with the Federalist party. He took his seat March 19, 1790, being the first representative from North Carolina to qualify, and served the remainder of the first Congress and through the second, retiring March 4, 1793.
This was the end of Williamson's public career. As we have seen, he was earnest, honest, painstaking, industrious, not unmind- ful of the opinions of others, of unblemished private life, but by no means an orator. That he was highly esteemed by the execu- tives and other officials of the State whom he so faithfully served there is the most abundant evidence in their letters and in the vari- ous votes of thanks passed by the Assembly for his services in the Continental Congress. The querulous Archibald Maclaine alone sounds a discordant note when he writes to Edward Jones :
"Is the all-knowing Doctor Williamson, instead of being on the road to attend to his duty as a representative of the United States, torturing his ingenuity how to evade the laws of that body of which he has the un- deserved honor to be a member? He would have made a good pettifog- ging attorney, but nature never intended him for a legislator." (N. C. S. R., XXI, 574-5.)
Doctor Williamson had married in January, 1789, Miss Maria Apthorpe, a daughter of Honorable Charles Ward Ap- thorpe of New York. By her he had two sons, and her death fol- lowed close on the birth of the second. This event hastened his resolution to retire from public life and devote himself to study, which we have seen he did after the end of the second Congress. He settled in New York City and never again appeared in public life except in 1805, when he was a member of a medical committee
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to examine into the origin and character of the yellow fever then prevalent in that city.
His time was devoted to the preparation of his work on Climate, published in 1811, which serves as an introduction to his "History of North Carolina." The latter work appeared in two volumes in 1812 (Philadelphia). In the preparation of this work Williamson labored under many and great disadvantages. The material was inaccessible. The result was that, while the history shows evidence of honest and faithful work, it is a lamentable failure. Williamson was no more a historian than he was orator and poet. His book presents but few facts, and these are of slight importance ; it is lacking in historical perspective ; it is without imagination or the graces of style, and the blunders in mere statement of fact are innumerable, while that period of the State's history where he could have spoken with the weight of an original authority-the Revolution and after-is untouched. Never did an earnest and conscientious man miss his calling more completely than did Wil- liamson when he undertook this work, but his high standing and reputation in other fields gave his history a rank which it could not otherwise have commanded.
Besides papers published in the "Transactions" of the Ameri- can Philosophical Society and in those of the Royal Society, Doc- tor Williamson published in 1786 a series of essays against paper currency. He contributed also to the American Medical and Phil- osophical Register and to the Medical Repository, was interested in the New York Historical Society and in the organization of the New York Literary and Philosophical Society, and contributed to the growth and development of various charitable medical organi- zations. He died in New York City, May 22, 1819, leaving no descendants.
This brief sketch of the very active life of a man who served well his adopted State is based on the North Carolina State Rec- ords and on Hosack's Memoir (New York, 1820).
Stephen B. Weeks.
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BENJAMIN WILLIAMS
B ENJAMIN WILLIAMS, an officer of the American army in the war of the Revolution, and Governor of North Carolina after inde- pendence had been won, as well as a member of Congress and of both branches of the State Legislature, was born January 1, 1752. He was the son of John Williams, and his wife, .Ferebee Pugh, a daughter of Colonel Francis Pugh. John Williams was the son of William Williams, a native of Wales. Ferebee Savage, wife of Colonel Francis Pugh, was a granddaughter of Captain Thomas Savage, an early Virginia colonist, who was brought to the James- town settlement when a child.
A brother of Governor Benjamin Williams was John Pugh Williams, captain in the Fifth Continental Regiment and later colonel of militia during the Revolution, who was also elected Brigadier-General, but declined. This gentleman is often con- fused with Colonel John Williams, of Caswell, who commanded the Ninth Continental Regiment.
From the beginning of the troubles with Great Britain, Benjamin Williams sided with the colonies, and rendered services to the State both of a civil and military nature. On August 25, 1774, the first North Carolina Provincial Congress to meet in defiance of the Royal government assembled at New-Bern. In that body Benjamin Williams appeared as a delegate from the
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county of Johnston. He was also Johnston's representative in the Provincial Congress which met at Hillsboro on August 20, 1775, and continued its session until September 10th. On September 9th he was elected a member of the Committee of Safety for the dis- trict of New-Bern.
The military career of Benjamin Williams began on September 1, 1775, when the Provincial Congress at Hillsboro elected him Lieutenant in the Second North Carolina Continental Regiment. Less than a year later, on July 19, 1776, he was pro- moted to the rank of captain in the same regiment. The three successive colonels of the Second Regiment were Robert Howe, Alexander Martin and John Patten. Under these officers Wil- liams served throughout the campaigns against Lord Dunmore in Virginia and Sir Henry Clinton in South Carolina, as well as under Washington in the Northern States, and bore a part in the many battles of that period wherein the Second Regiment participated. He resigned his commission as a captain of Continentals on January 1, 1779. In 1779 he represented Craven County in the North Carolina House of Commons.
During the British invasions of 1780-81 Captain Williams was promoted to the rank of colonel (July 12, 1781) and placed in command of a regiment of North Carolina State Troops. Prior to this he had fought as a volunteer officer at the battle of Guilford Court House, and rendered valuable services elsewhere. Toward the close of the war, and for some years thereafter, he was often in the Legislature-representing at different times the counties of Craven, Johnston and Moore. He was State senator from Johnston in 1781, 1784 and 1786; from Craven in 1785 and 1789; and from Moore in 1807 and 1809. In 1788 he also represented Craven in the North Carolina House of Commons.
In 1793 Colonel Williams was elected a member of the 3d Con- gress of the United States, his service therein extending from December 2, 1793, till March 3, 1795. He was four times elected Governor of North Carolina, but was in office only four years, as the term of a chief magistrate was then one year. The time he filled that high station was from November 24, 1799, till
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December 6, 1802; and from November 24, 1807, till December 12, 1808. He was first elected on November 22, 1799; and, as above stated, was inducted into office on the day following. His annual term having expired, he was re-elected on November 26, 1800. On being officially informed of his re-election, he accepted with an expression of dissatisfaction which would be quite amusing if used at the present day. Said he :
"While I beg you to be assured, gentlemen, that I receive with due sensibility this added proof of the confidence of my country, and of your continued regard, I trust it will not be thought a departure from the re- spect I feel and wish on every occasion to manifest for the representatives of the people, to observe that the value of the distinguished appointment you have thought proper to confer on me would have been much enhanced in my estimation had the vote which called me to it been more unani- mous."
During the time when Governor Williams occupied the execu- tive chair, the most noted duel in the history of North Carolina occurred in New-Bern on Sunday, September 5, 1802, between the Honorable John Stanly and ex-Governor Richard Dobbs Spaight (father of Governor Richard Dobbs Spaight, Jr.). Spaight was mortally wounded and died on the following day.
There had been some controversy between Stanly and Spaight, who were antagonists politically, and both resided at New-Bern. Stanly had made an explanation with which Spaight had expressed himself satisfied, and their difference was thought arranged. But on September 4th Spaight published a handbill, denouncing Stanly as a "liar and a scoundrel," and saying that if Stanly should ask for satisfaction, it would not have to be asked a second time." Stanly immediately asked satisfaction. They met the next day, Sunday, in the outskirts of New-Bern, in the presence of a large concourse of citizens, and Spaight fell mortally wounded. A week later Stanly presented all the papers and correspondence to Governor Williams with a petition for pardon. He declared that he had not sought the duel until it was forced upon him and there was no escape from it. Governor Williams granted the pardon. The Legislature met on October 15th, a month after the duel, and
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while the entire State was excited over the shock of this termina- tion of a politica! controversy between two such distinguished men. Wheeler says that Stanly applied to the General Assembly for a pardon, and that body declined to take action because the pardoning power was vested in the Governor. Nevertheless, it appears that the application was first made to Governor Williams, who, however, may not have acted on it until after the Legisla- ture in October had refused to consider a similar petition. Be- cause of this duel the Legislature at that session passed a stringent act against the practice of duelling. By that act all persons who should carry a challenge were rendered ineligible to hold any office in the State; and the act made it a capital offense as to the principals, and declared that all aiders and abettors should be held accessories before the fact, should either of the parties be killed.
Not being eligible for a fourth consecutive term, Governor Wil- liams retired from office on December 6, 1802, when Governor James Turner was inaugurated as his successor. Colonel John Baptista Ashe had at first been elected Governor to succeed Wil- liams, but died before being inaugurated.
In a brief farewell message to the General Assembly, under date of November 19, 1802, Governor Williams said: "The feel- ings which necessarily grow out of my present situation, when on the eve of bidding adieu to a body of men by whom I have been so highly favored and distinguished, are more easily con- ceived than expressed. I have not language to describe them; but would beg you, however, gentlemen, to be assured that a grateful remembrance of your indulgence and support, and the warmest wishes for your prosperity and happiness shall not only be retained by me in private life, but shall be among the last senti- ments which die with me." To this message the Assembly re- turned a polite and appreciative reply on the day following.
When first clected Governor, Colonel Williams seems to have been a citizen of Raleigh, as the Raleigh Register, in noting his first inauguration, refers to him as "Colonel Benjamin Williams of this city." After his retirement from the office of Governor in 1802, he removed to Moore County, and was sent from his new
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home to the North Carolina State Senate in 1807. At the same session (November 24, 1807) he was again elected Governor, and inaugurated six days later, on December Ist. He served until December 12, 1808, when his successor, Governor David Stone, ยท was inducted into office.
In 1809, the year after his final retirement from the executive chair, Governor Williams was again elected State Senator from the county of Moore.
At his home in Moore County, on July 20, 1814, Governor Wil- liams died. Copies of the monumental inscriptions over himself and wife will be found in the North Carolina University Magazine for 1889 (New Series, volume 8, page 158). In noting the death of Governor Williams, the Raleigh Register of July 29, 1814, said :
"Died: At his seat in Moore County on the 20th inst. Colonel Benjamin Williams, a native of North Carolina, somewhat upward of sixty years of age. He embarked at an early period of his life and in the beginning of the Revolutionary War in the service of his country as a captain in the regular army. He was subsequently appointed to the com- mand of the State troops, ordered to be raised by North Carolina, with the rank of colonel ; and was at the battle fought at Guilford Court House, where a command was given him.
"Colonel Williams closed his military career with reputation, and has occasionally since been called to the first appointments in the power of his fellow citizens to bestow, or in the gift of the State-having been long a member of the General Assembly. for some years a member of Congress, and subsequently the Chief Magistrate of the State.
"He died, as he had lived, much respected and highly esteemed by those who knew him; and, from his general demeanor and devout professions as well previously to as during his last illness, has left to his relations and more intimate friends the cheering consolation that he died a be- liever, resigned and happy, in the hope of mercy, through the atonements and merits of the Redeemer."
The wife of Governor Williams (to whom he was married on August 10, 1781) was Elizabeth Jones. This lady (born August 31, 1762) was a half sister of the great Revolutionary patriots Willie and Allen Jones, and a daughter of Robert or "Robin" Jones, who was attorney-general of the colony of North Carolina under Governors Dobbs and Tryon. Her mother, whose
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maiden name was Mary Eaton, was the second wife of Attorney- General Jones. Mrs. Williams died on November 24, 1817, at New-Bern, but her remains were afterward carried to Moore County and buried by the grave of her husband. The epitaph on her tomb contains (in part ) these words: "Reader! Under this marble are the mortal remains of an affectionate wife, a tender mother, and one whose memory is now embalmed in the hearts of the poor of this extensive neighborhood."
By his marriage with Elizabeth Jones, Governor Williams left an only son, Benjamin William Williams, who was born on February 28, 1797, and died on February 8, 1828. His middle name was not always used by him. Referring to his death in its issue of February 22, 1828, the Raleigh Register said :
Dicd: In Moore County on Thursday last [sic] Colonel Benjamin Williams, deceased. He was highly esteemed, and his death is regretted by a large circle of relatives and friends."
Colonel Benjamin Williams, last named, was twice married : first (October 9, 1820) to Mary Chalmers; secondly (January 2, 1823) to Mary McBride. By his first wife, nce Chalmers, he had a son, Benjamin C. Williams, M.D., born on December 20, 1821, and married (April 20, 1858) to Catherine McDougal. The gen- tleman just mentioned was the last of his line, and hence Governor Williams has no descendants now living.
Marshall De Lancey Haywood.
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JOHN WILKES
J JOHN WILKES was of English descent. His great-grandfather, Israel Wilkes, the first of the family in America, was the brother of John Wilkes, the celebrated English politician and Liberal, whose sympathy with the colonies in their struggle with Great Britain, caused his name to be given to counties in Georgia and North Carolina. Israel Wilkes, with his sons John and Charles, arrived in New York about 1773. When General Washington and his army took possession of the city, they, like other loyal subjects of King George, went to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and remained there until the declaration of peace in 1783, when they returned to New York, and became equally loyal to the United States.
The younger son, Charles, married Miss Dey of New York, and had three sons and three daughters. Two sons and two daughters married, but left no sons
The eldest son, John, married Miss Mary Seton, a descendant of the famous Scottish family of that name. He had four sons and one daughter. Three sons and his daughter married, but only the youngest son, Charles, left sons and grandsons to bear the family name.
Charles Wilkes, grandson of Israel, entered the United States Navy in 1817. In 1826 he married Jane Renwick of New York. On March 31, 1827, John Wilkes, the subject of this sketch, was
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born in Warren Street, New York. In 1833 Lieutenant Charles Wilkes removed to Washington, District of Columbia, to establish and take charge of the First United States Naval Observatory. In August, 1838, he sailed in command of the first exploring ex- pedition sent out by the United States and was absent four years. The expedition discovered, surveyed and chartered many islands and reefs in the Pacific Ocean and was the first to discover the Antarctic continent, sailing for many hundreds of miles along its northern coast, making drawings and surveys. These charts of the Pacific and other oceans, made by this expedition, are still in use, and are considered the most reliable in existence. In 1858, under the direction of the secretary of the navy, Admiral Wilkes made an exhaustive and valuable examination of the coal and iron deposits in the Deep River region of North Carolina.
While his father was absent on his exploration in 1841, John Wilkes received his appointment as Midshipman in the navy, and according to the usage of that period was sent to sea im- mediately. His first voyage, as a boy of fourteen to sixteen, was in the United States Ship Delaware, under Commodore Charles Morris, to the South Atlantic and then to the Mediterranean. Thus being so early thrown upon his own resources while hard upon a boy fresh from home developed his character and taught him many things quite as needful as seamanship.
The control of men-the personal responsibility; the neatness and particularity in small things, and the many occurrences which form character and self-reliance, all tended to strengthen and per- . fect his natural ability
He was afterward on duty on board the United States ship Mississippi in the Gulf Squadron, during the Mexican War, and participated in the attacks on Brazos, and Vera Cruz, and other services performed by the navy in support of the army under Gen- erals Taylor and Scott.
In 1846 he was ordered to Annapolis, where the Naval Academy had just been established, for a year's study and examinations. In 1847 Mr. Wilkes graduated No. I in a class of 135, which com-
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prised some of the brightest intellects that have adorned the naval service.
He is now ( 1906) the oldest living alumnus of the Academy, and is president of the Alumni Association, and is still known as "No I of the '41 date." At that time classes were known by the date of their appointment, and not, as now, by the date of gradu- ation.
He afterward served in the United States Ship Albany as master, in the Gulf of Mexico. His last sea duty was in the sloop of war Marion as lieutenant, on board of which he spent nearly three years on the China station, at Hong Kong and Canton, and visiting many ports of the far East, including Manila. He re- turned to the United States in June, 1852.
The most startling event of this cruise was the explosion of a magazine on the Portuguese ship of war Dona Isabella Segunda, lying in the harbor of Macao close by the Marion. Three hundred of the crew and officers were killed, and only two saved. In charge of the Marion at the time of the explosion, Lieutenant Wilkes showed his courage, coolness and promptness in going with the boats of his ship to the rescue, but those taken off the burning ship all died save two.
When Commodore Perry was preparing for his Japanese ex- pedition, he asked for John Wilkes as one of his officers, and the appointment was tendered to him while at Hong Kong. But he was eager to return home, and declined the flattering offer. On his return to the United States he was assigned to shore duty for a year, and then given a year's leave of absence. In December, 1853, he came to Charlotte to supervise some mining and milling property and has made that city his home ever since.
In April, 1854, he married Jane Renwick Smedberg of New York. This lady was the daughter of Charles Gustave Smedberg, a Swedish gentleman, and the second son of a wealthy iron mer- chant of Stockholm and Gothenberg, interested also largely in mining and manufacturing iron. At an early age the son was sent to the East Indies as supercargo in one of his father's ships. Later he resided in England, entering the employ of Irving and
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Company, bankers. In 1812, he, being a neutral, was sent by the firm to New York as their confidential agent to manage their American business during the war between Great Britain and America. There he met Miss Isabella Renwick, the eldest sister of Mrs. Charles Wilkes, to whom he was married in December, 1815. He then settled permanently in New York, where his daughter, Mrs. John Wilkes, was born.
In the October following his marriage Lieutenant Wilkes re- signed from the navy. He took up his abode for four years, about two miles from Charlotte, at what was called St. Catherine's Mills. The flour mill here was of ante-revolution date, and romance and superstition wove many tales about it.
In 1858, in conjunction with the late William R. Myers, he bought the Mecklenburg Flour Mills, erected by Leroy Springs on the railroad between East Trade and East Fifth streets. For several years he devoted all his energy and ability to this business and made it a success. Much wheat was then raised in South and North Carolina, and the mill was chiefly supplied from these States.
The flour bore a high reputation and brought good prices in Charleston and New York, competing successfully with the famous Richmond Mills.
When the unsettled state of affairs in 1860 and 1861 began to affect the country, John Wilkes bore his part as a public-spirited citizen of Charlotte, in the vigilance committee at first, and then in the Home Guards, feeding the troops as they passed and help- ing the destitute who were left at home The mill was one of the sources for supplying the army in Virginia.
As the war went on, the great need of railroad communication was more and more felt. The Atlantic Coast Line was the only railroad from North to South, and it was early threatened by Northern troops, so that great inconvenience and danger resulted. A railroad from Greensboro, North Caolina, to Danville, Vir- ginia, to join the North Carolina road from the South to the Vir- ginia roads was a military necessity, and John Wilkes and his brother Edmund undertook the part fromn Greensboro to Danville
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under direction of the engineer of the Confederate Government, Captain A. S. Myers.
In the latter part of 1861 the work began, and was pushed with all the energy of both brothers, under many difficulties and dis- couragements. Incompetent labor, want of tools, trouble in feed- ing the large force employed, etc. It was completed in 1864 in time to aid the Confederate Government in transporting men and supplies, and then to serve as the line of sorrowful retreat.
The brothers then began building the railroad from Raleigh to Lockville and were so employed when Sherman occupied that sec- tion and stopped their work.
In 1859 Mr. Wilkes established the foundry since known as the Mecklenburg Iron Works. In 1861 the Confederate Government moved the machinery and men from the Gosport Navy Yard, and took possession of the foundry. It was a large factor in supplying the Confederate navy with shells and machinery, and with repairs for its vessels from Richmond to Mobile. In 1865 it came again into Mr. Wilkes's possession.
Immediately after the close of the war Mr. Wilkes set about some work to support his family, a wife and five little children. He found the situation appalling. The country had no money, no credit, no means of starting necessary enterprises. He went to Washington in 1865 and obtained a pardon from the Government (a precious scrap of paper still in his possession). In August, 1865, he procured a charter for the First National Bank of Charlotte, the first national bank chartered south of the Poto- mac.
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