USA > North Carolina > Biographical history of North Carolina from colonial times to the present; > Part 4
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JOHN BUTLER
To re-establish order in the State was a difficult task, and But- ler was charged with a part of this duty. In the Assemblies of 1784 he was chairman of the Committee on Grievances, and there were many. His name appears on nearly every page of the proceedings.
At the November session of 1784 he resigned the brigadier- generalship, and was excused from further attendance on the sessions.
Little is known of his personal traits or characteristics. He must have been a popular man, possessing the confidence and re- spect and esteem of the State, to have had the chief command in his district for seven years, especially during the troublous years of the war. He was in nearly every session of the Assembly, save when he was in the field, and he was several times a Councillor of State. While his troops did not fight well, there is nowhere any imputation of inefficiency or of a lack of courage on his part. He was too plain and simple a Democrat to indorse the Society of the Cincinnati, and one of his last measures introduced into the Assembly was to preclude any member of that order from sitting in the General Assembly of North Carolina.
E. W. Sikes.
JARVIS BUXTON
J ARVIS BUXTON was born near Washington, North Carolina, on February 20, 1820, and died at Asheville, North Carolina, March 11, 1902. He was the son of Reverend Jarvis B. Buxton, an Episcopal minister, who soon after his son's birth moved to Fayetteville, and who was a preacher of fine powers and a man of rare excellence, being greatly beloved by his congregation, and his published sermons have brought much comfort in many homes. The boyhood of Doctor Buxton was passed in Fayetteville in a community fa- mous for its culture and virtues. After his primary education, he was sent to school in Flushing, Long Island, where he studied under Doctor Muhlenberg, founder of St. Luke's Hospital, in New York City. He was prepared for college, and, returning to North Carolina for his collegiate course, entered the State University at Chapel Hill. He graduated in 1839, and then, pro- posing to enter the ministry, became a student at the General Theological Seminary in New York, where he graduated in 1842. Two years later he was ordained deacon by Bishop Ives, then bishop of the diocese of North Carolina. The early part of his ministry was spent at Valle Crucis, in what is now Watauga County, where he taught and studied in a mission organized by Bishop Ives. In 1845 he took charge of a parish at Rutherford- ton, and the following year removed to Asheville with the purpose
Jarvis Buxton
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of establishing an Episcopal Church there. At that period Ashe- ville was hardly more than a secluded hamlet in the mountains, and Doctor Buxton had at the beginning of his work but one communicant.
There being no railroads yet built in that part of the State, Doctor Buxton's trips between his two parishes in Rutherford- ton and Asheville were made on horseback, and his visits to his old home in Fayetteville were made in the same way.
On January 6, 1848, in Fayetteville, Doctor Buxton was mar- ried to Miss Anna Nash Cameron, daughter of Judge John A. Cameron, appointed United States Judge for Florida, and a brother of Judge Duncan Cameron, of Hillsboro; and this union was blessed with eight children, five of whom still survive.
After his marriage Doctor Buxton returned to his charge at Asheville, and was ordained priest by Bishop Ives, June 17, 1849, at Rutherfordton. His work all through the mountain country of western North Carolina was pressed with energy and con- tinued to grow in extent and in importance. He was the first missionary of the Episcopal Church to enter upon a field of labor west of the Blue Ridge, and he not only established the church there, but also established missions all through the country. He likewise had charge of stations at Waynesville and Burnsville. He built churches on the French Broad, on Haw Creek and Beaverdam, and it was through him that the valuable Ravens- croft property in Asheville was purchased for the diocese.
The first church which Doctor Buxton built was found too small for the growing congregation, and during the latter part of his ministry it was torn down and a new church costing some $20,000 was erected.
In 1891, after a ministry of forty-five years, Doctor Buxton resigned the rectorship in Asheville and with his family removed to Lenoir, in Caldwell County. Here he served St. James's Church in Lenoir, the Peace Chapel near Lenoir and the church in the valley of the Yadkin.
On June 30, 1896, Doctor Buxton lost his wife, and a few years later he returned to his old home in Asheville, and from that time
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until his death he was actively engaged in the ministry, especially mission work in North Asheville. Physically and mentally he was at work until the last days of his life. The devoted life of Doctor Buxton was closely connected with the spiritual and tem- poral growth of Asheville, and his loss was felt by hundreds who admired his noble qualities of mind and heart, his unselfish devo- tion and his Christian character; indeed his friendship was not confined to members of his denomination, but he was warmly beloved by all with whom he came in contact.
The missionary spirit abounded in Doctor Buxton, and his labors were not limited to the bounds of his own parish. A noble priest, an humble, devoted Christian, who led among his people a most consistent, blameless life, he labored for the good of his fellow-man, to the glory of God, with the judgment of mature years and the energy, buoyancy and perseverance of youth. He thought evil of no man and never despaired of even the most reckless and wayward being brought back to the paths of right- eousness.
Though shadows crossed his path in his later years and sorrow fell upon him, yet no man ever heard him speak except in kind- ness of any one, and his trust in his Saviour was unfailing.
While loyal and devoted to the teachings of his church, he never failed to attend those in sickness and affliction, whether Jew or Gentile, to whom his ministrations could bring comfort or re- lief, and his presence was a benediction to the community in which he lived. He knew the weakness of men, but he loved them for the good there was in them.
His benevolence was limited only by his means, and despite his advanced years he continued in his Christian efforts to the last.
He passed away in the eighty-third year of his age, lamented by his church and greatly missed by the community where he had labored so unremittingly, carrying ever with him the spirit of the Saviour.
J. C. Buxton.
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1
R. P. Buxton.
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RALPH P. BUXTON
T HE subject of this sketch was born in the year 1826 in Washington, North Carolina, and was the son of the Reverend Jarvis Buxton, who, removing to Fayetteville, was the scholarly and beloved rector of St. John's Episcopal Church of that city for many years. In the east wall of this venerable and still beautiful house of worship is a memorial tablet, bearing tribute to the virtues of this consecrated man of God, who passed out from among them "carrying his full sheaves." Ralph P. Buxton received a liberal rudimentary and academic training, and graduated with distinction from the Uni- versity of North Carolina. He served with' ability in the con- servation and execution of the law as solicitor of the Fayetteville Judicial District, and in the flush of manhood married Miss Re- becca Bledsoe, a cultured and accomplished young woman, mem- ber of a prominent North Carolina family. He allied himself with the Republican Party early after the close of the Civil War, he and his brother-in-law, the late Colonel Thomas S. Lutterloh, being the acknowledged leaders of the party in the upper Cape Fear section, its most trusted advisers, who shaped its policy and directed its campaigns. It is significant that, during those days of reconstruction, an epoch of intense partisan feeling, even Judge Buxton's most bitter political foes never failed to do justice to his honesty of purpose. No antagonist, either in the debate or in
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the strenuous conflict on the stump, ever cast the stigma of self- ishness or corruption on his Republicanism : he may have been regarded wrong-headed, but not wrong-hearted. Nay, more, though he lived in a community Confederate to the backbone dur- ing the Civil War, and afterwards Democratic always to a white heat, before his jovable and irreproachable private character the social ostracism which lashed others shrank abashed before him; and about the hearthstone of his refined and hospitable home gathered the best and most notable men and women of the city --- many of the former his avowed and uncompromising enemies on the hustings.
Judge Buxton was a member of the Convention which met for the amendment of the Constitution, and few men of either party in that Assembly addressed themselves to the work before them with broader views and a more conservative spirit than he. In truth, while he abhorred the Democracy of the Southern Bourbon, it was a misnomer to call him a "Radical," as the Republicans were known thirty and thirty-five years ago.
He was the gubernatorial candidate of the Republican Party in 18So, and was defeated by Thomas J. Jarvis, the nominee of the Democratic Party. He left behind him a political record of which few men in his party in the South could boast : that he . was never an aspirant for office, or a seeker after its spoils ; that the honors which came to him were unsolicited, and were tributes to his abilities and integrity.
He was on the Superior Court bench during the first admin- istration of Governor Holden, and afterwards held the same posi- tion by election of the people, defeating the late Bartholomew Fuller, who died at Durham, but was then a member of the Fay- etteville bar. Mr. Fuller was nominated at Rockingham, and at that time the Fayetteville Judicial District was made up very largely of the territory afterwards known as the Charlotte Con- gressional "Shoestring" District. I am unable to give the dates, which are immaterial, but Judge Buxton, during the course of his public life, enjoyed the honor of securing a nomination from both the. Republican and Democratic Parties.
·
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RALPH P. BUXTON
On the bench Judge Buxton was a safe rather than a brilliant jurist, Like the junior counsel, Lynx, of the Yatton trial in War- ren's "Ten Thousand a Year," he crept rather than ran over a case-not that he was mentally slow and plodding, but he was constitutionally careful and accurate. The late William B. Wright was a man of gigantic frame, more than six and a half feet in height, with a stalwart build in proportion, though the time was to come when old age "clawed him in its clutch," and bowed and broke the once herculean form. He had a leonine head and grizzled mane, which he shook in the thunders of juridi- cal polemics at bench, jury and bar, and the other lawyers af- fectionately called him "Father Magnus." Mr. Wright had a high opinion of the intellectuality and legal acumen of Ralph Buxton, and often wondered especially at his mastery of all the minute details of a case. "Buxton," he once said, in his deep, burning voice, as the two were sitting in Mr. Wright's office on Green Street, "the ordinary eye can hardly follow a fly on the wall, but I believe that you could pick out a red bug in a saw- pit !"
His personal qualities eminently fitted him to be an interpreter and executor of the law. He was patient ; not easily provoked to anger, though like the Laird of Dumbiedikes, in Scott's "Mid- lothian," something dangerous when fully aroused; tolerant of the weaknesses of human nature, affable and courteous to the bar, sympathetic and indulgent to the masses of the people who, as spectators or litigants, sought the interior of the court-room.
Reverend Jarvis Buxton passed away when his son Ralph was in his early youth, but the boy retained through life much of the fortiter in re of his learned and distinguished father in matters of moral principle and even of important concerns of daily life, while he had still more of the suaviter in modo which made the women of his family so charming, and especially marked the char- acter of his sister, Mrs. T. S. Lutterloh, who for many years was an admired leader of Fayetteville society.
Judge Buxton was gifted with a delicate and exquisite sense of humor. He delighted in his hours of relaxation and ease to
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meet with his friends at his home or at the houses of his neigh- bors in the enjoyment of an evening's reading or recital. He could always be depended on for "flashes of merriment to set the table in a roar," and he was no mean elocutionist in didactic selections. His rendition of Cowper's "John Gilpin's Ride" was inimitable. The joke at his own expense seemed to intensify his enjoyment, and his mirth was no whit checked because it was "one on him." He used to tell with much gusto of one of his early experiences, when he had procured his license, hung out his "shingle," was "raking the woods" for a client, and was at- tending court over in Richmond County. In those days, during the régime of the County Court, before the County Commissioner system of government, it was the time-honored custom for the Judge on the Superior Court bench to call on the newest-fledged lawyer to charge the grand jury, or to assign to him the task of defending the toughest minor criminal under the frown of the solicitor. This last duty fell to Buxton; and the case of his client, a negro charged with larceny, looked "blue"-in fact, the evidence was dead against him. But the young lawyer did his best; and much to his gratification, and perhaps still more to his · surprise, the jury brought in a verdict of not guilty. It was a feather in his cap, and in spite of his modesty there was a little strut in his walk as he crossed the Court House green at the noon recess until two or three of the jury met him, and one of them said : "Buxton, we all thought your client guilty, but we didn't want to discourage you at the very outset of your career."
On one occasion, while Judge Buxton was holding a term of Cumberland Superior Court in Fayetteville, looking up from his notes while a witness was being examined on the stand, a look of surprise came over his face, succeeded by an indignant frown. "Get down off that chair!" he said to the witness. The man, a bright mulatto, looked astonished and bewildered, and turned his eyes helplessly towards the sheriff. "Get down off that chair!" called the Judge still more sharply. "Why, Judge," said the sheriff, while his face reddened and his eyes watered in the effort to keep back a guffaw, "he is not standing on a chair; he is just
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about the tallest man in North Carolina, nearly seven feet high !" Judge Buxton slowly raised himself and leaned forward until he could see the feet of the witness squarely planted on the floor, and · sank back in his chair, while a peal of laughter rang through the court room, in which the bench joined without recourse to the gavel.
The last few years of Judge Buxton's life were passed in re- tirement from the cares and burdens of public life. In his office on Donaldson Street he attended industriously as of yore to the concerns of his profession, his counsel ever eagerly sought by the other members of the bar. Never a man of robust physique, his health visibly declined; and every day, as he rode in the early afternoon on a large sorrel horse to his home over Haymount, his friends could see the mysterious beckoning hand not far away.
The summons came as doubtless his brave soul would have it come, when the harness was loosed and ready to be laid by, when he closed'his brief, made up his case ready for the verdict. He passed away, sitting in his chair at his home, the "Buxton Oaks," known also as the "Dobbin Homestead," where lived for many years before the war James C. Dobbin, Secretary of the Navy in the administration of President Pierce.
Judge Buxton was a member and vestryman of St. John's Epis- copal Church. He left no children, but is survived by his widow.
J. H. Myrover.
JOHN CAMERON BUXTON
E often hear the expression, "Tell me where a man was born, and who his parents were, and W I will tell you what kind of man he is." If that test were applied to the subject of this sketch, the expression would indeed be a tru- ism, for John Cameron Buxton was born in Asheville, Buncombe County, North Carolina, on September 30, . 1852, and was the son of Doctor Jarvis Buxton and Anna Bux- ton (née Cameron), and is just the type of man we would ex- . pect to find reared in that vigorous mountain section and by such persons as were his parents. Doctor Buxton was an Episcopal clergyman of broad views, strong common sense, and deep piety, while Mrs. Buxton reminded one of the Biblical description of a Mother in Israel, who was loving and gentle, and yet "ruled her household well." Mr. Buxton's life was spent as was the usual life of such boys, except that, living during the period of the Civil War, it had more of privation and less of indulgence than fall to those who lived in a different time. He was prepared for college at St. Clement's Hall, Ellicott City, Md., where, on account of his love of fun and generous disposition, he was a great favorite, especially among the smaller boys, whose champion he always was. He despised all tyranny, and himself strong, was always the protector of the weak against the insults and domineer- ing of "school bullies.", Leaving St. Clement's, he entered Trinity College, Hartford, Conn., where he remained three years. Not
R. C. Breftone
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JOHN CAMERON BUXTON
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having the money to continue his studies, he showed his pluck and determination to acquire a good education by teaching one year at Edenton, North Carolina, this enabling him to enter the senior class at Hobart College, Geneva, New York, where he graduated in 1874 as salutatorian of his class-thus, in spite of obstacles, standing in the very front rank of a college in which he had spent only one year, and had no help from friends or from favoritism.
Mr. Buxton studied law in Asheville, North Carolina, under Judge John L. Bailey, and was admitted to the bar of the State in January, 1875. He immediately moved to Winston, North Carolina, then a very small place, just commencing its marvellous growth, and with it has grown up until both he and the city have reached their present success. His first coming to Winston was both pathetic and amusing. He had no friends in his newly adopted home, was a perfect stranger to all, was utterly ignorant of the practice of his profession, and his worldly goods could have been summed up in these words, "his sheep-skin, a new suit of clothes, a change of underwear, and twenty-five cents in money." His energy, cordial manner, and determination to succeed soon, however, won him many friends. At first he was associated with Colonel J. W. Alspaugh, who was then a newspaper editor, law- yer, and the general business man of Winston. Very soon, how- ever, he started out for himself, and by his faithful devotion to his clients' interests commenced to win a good practice. At this time Watson and Glenn, two of the very foremost lawyers in western North Carolina, Colonel Joseph Masten, and Judges T. J. Wilson and D. H. Starbuck had the entire practice of Forsythe County. The last three named gentlemen soon practically retired on account of age, leaving the field to Mr. Buxton and Messrs. Watson and Glenn. Single-handed, Mr. Buxton continued his practice, each day establishing himself more firmly in the hearts of the people, and winning for himself a splendid reputation both as a counsellor and a trier of causes in the Court House. On October 16, 1877, Mr. Buxton was united in marriage to Miss Agnes C. Belo, of Salem, North Carolina, daughter of the late
p or maldentemoish bre
i on las bris sser ann ving mnoge berl od
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Edward Belo and Amanda Fries Belo, Mr. Belo being the first president and prime mover in the building of the N. W. N. C. R. R. (now part of the Southern System), which proved the source and cause of the present wealth and growth of Winston-Salem and that vicinity. In his marriage Mr. Buxton was as wise as he had proved himself to be in other matters, for he chose well, hav- ing in his wife an estimable, true, strong Christian woman, who has added not a little to her husband's power and strength. In 1883 Mr. Buxton was elected Mayor of Winston, and by his en- thusiasm and push gave a new impetus to city affairs, many new and beneficial changes being made in its municipal management: In 1884 without any solicitation on his part he was nominated and elected by the people of the 32nd senatorial district to rep- resent them in the State Senate, and so in January, 1885, he re- signed his place as Mayor to become State Senator. As a rep- resentative of the people's interests in the Senate Mr. Buxton was always vigilant and alert. He exposed everything he felt was wrong, and stood for all that tended towards the elevation of the State. On one occasion he found some bill with an innocent title covering a vast amount of legislation that was very hurtful, and with his accustomed zeal exposed the efforts of its author-who was secretly trying to get it through-until he accomplished its defeat, the author exclaiming, as he saw the end of his pet scheme, "That great big man has sat down on my little bill and killed it."
In the summer of 18844 J. C. Buxton was chosen one of the delegates to the Democratic Convention that met in Chicago, and was largely instrumental in turning the votes of the North Caro- lina delegation, among whom were Senators Vance and Ransom, from Mr. Bayard, of Delaware, to Grover Cleveland, of New York-a favor which Mr. Cleveland has never forgotten, as · shown by his subsequent acts.
In 1884 the firm of Watson and Glenn by mutual consent dis- continued their partnership for the practice of law, Mr. C. B. Watson forming a partnership with Mr. Buxton, which partner- ship has continued unchanged ever since, except to admit to the firm in 1896 Mr. T. W. Watson, son of the senior member.
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This firm has been and is now justly considered one of the very strongest in the State, and has always enjoyed a most extensive and lucrative practice. During a period of twenty-one years the author of this sketch has been intimately associated with the firm, and can say of them, individually and as a firm, that in all that time he never knew them to do in their practice a questionable or censurable act. They always tried their cases openly and fairly, using no uncertain methods to influence either judge or jury, proving themselves under all circumstances high-minded, able, honest lawyers, who won their victories by merit and knowl- edge, and lost cases by no dereliction of their duty, but because the law or facts were against their clients. In matters requiring exposure, or the unearthing of littleness, Mr. Buxton was par- ticularly strong, and in all cases where the responsibility was thrown upon him he measured up to the responsibility, and proved himself equal to every emergency. Twice in my life I have heard judges of the Superior Court say, after listening to his powerful, logical presentation of his case, "That was the strongest speech I ever heard in the Court House."
Mr. Buxton has always taken a great interest in the material and educational development of Winston-Salem. For years he has been president of the Graded School Commissioners, and * much of the credit for Winston's splendid city schools is due to him. Continuing his zeal in behalf of education, he induced Mr. Carnegie to give $15,000 for the erection of a public library in Winston, which is not only an ornament but a blessing to the entire community.
In 1890 he was elected president of the First National Bank of Winston, having a capital of $200,000, holding this position until January, 1893, when he resigned to attend to his pressing law business. In July, 1893, when on account of the panic pre- vailing everywhere this bank failed, he was appointed by Comp- troller Eccles to re-organize the bank, which he successfully did until it later consolidated with the People's Bank of Winston. Fifteen years ago he was elected president of the Winston-Salem Building and Loan Association, one of the most successful and
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helpful institutions of the Twin-City, and has held it ever since. Thus we see that Mr. Buxton, as well as being an able lawyer, is likewise a successful man and educator.
Mr. Buxton has always been a loyal, sterling Democrat, ever ready to aid his party, even when not himself a candidate, thus not showing the selfish spirit that sometimes marks our political brethren. In addition to being senator and delegate to the Na- tional Convention, he was also chairman of the Democratic State Convention that met in Raleigh in July, 1887, his address to the Convention being considered of unusual power and force. In 1900 Mr. Buxton was nominated by the Democrats of the Eighth Congressional District to represent them in Congress, and though he was defeated, the majority against him was 1600 less than against the Democratic nominee for president, thus showing it was no want of popularity on his part, but the unfortunate politi- cal complexion of the district. His defeat was a great loss, for North Carolina has few sons that could and would have made a truer and stronger member of the House of Representatives than Mr. Buxton. In religion Mr. Buxton, inheriting his creed from his dear old father, whom he loved most tenderly, has al- ways been an ardent and influential Episcopalian. He loves his church and the name Protestant Episcopal, and when at the Gen- eral Convention of his church that met in San Francisco in 1901, to which he was a delegate, an effort was made to change the name of the church, he introduced a resolution against such change, and through the influence of himself and other conserva- tive members who loved the old name the move was lost. He has been senior warden of his church for many years, and one of its most liberal supporters. He also takes a great interest in the Brotherhood of St. Andrew, having made several strong speeches in its behalf. To show Mr. Buxton's strong character, as well as his zeal for his church, at the Convention in Boston in 1904, be- ing dissatisfied with the part a certain bishop of the church had taken in establishing a subway tavern where intoxicating liquors could be bought, he introduced a ringing resolution deploring and condemning the action of said bishop; and though the chairman
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