USA > North Carolina > Historical and descriptive review of North Carolina, volume 1 > Part 26
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27
JOHN S. LEARY,
DEP. INTERNAL REV. CGLLECTOR AND ATTOREY AT LAW.
Was born in Fayetteville, was educated at Howard University in Washington, where he studied law, receiving the degree of L. B. from it in 1873. The same year he was ad- mitted to the Supreme Court of the State, and until 1881 when he was appointed to his present official position he conducted a suc- cessful law practice in this town. For some four years Mr. Leary has discharged the
188
TOWN OF FAYETTEVILLE.
responsible duties of his office as Collector for the 7th Division of the 4th District includ- ing the three counties of Cumberland, Robe- son and Bladen, giving satisfaction to the Government and the people. He has held several other offices. He was a member of the celebrated Legislature of 68-9 and 10, and voted with the minority against the fraud- lent bonds. He was delegate to the National Convention of '80 and '82, he has been at va- rious times town commissioner, and was four years school committeeman. He is President of the N. C. Industrial Association, and is the State Commissioner of Exhibits of the colored citizens at N. O. He is an Odd Fel- low, Past Noble Father, and belongs to St. Joseph's Episcopal Church. He is a man of influence among a large circle of people in this county and State, and is well suited to hold positions of trust.
OVERBAUCH HOUSE, A. OVERBAUGH, OWNER AND PROPRIETOR.
The above gentleman, was born in New York, Columbia county, on the Hudson river, went early to work as a carriage maker, and was 3 or 4 years at his trade in Newark, N. J. In 1855 he resolved to come into the genial South and settled in Winchester, Va., where he was 3 years engaged in the carriage busi- ness. In 1858 he came to Fayetteville, em- ployed himself at McKethan's factory, and was one of the best carriage makers that had ever wielded the tools. After the war he en- tered into the hotel business, in which he has since made a good reputation. He ran the Fayetteville Hotel a few months ; then was in his present house a year and a half when he moved back to the Fayetteville, which he ran 11 years. In 1882 he bought the building he has sinee conducted as the Overbaugh House, which has become noted for its table. The hotel is a large 3-story brick building, located near the market square. On the first floor we find the dining room, where, as already said, are served three times a day well cooked dishes, also an office supplied with a selection of newspaper reading matter, a bar, and in the basement are billiard tables. Upstairs we have a parlor and some sixteen spacious rooms with good beds. The estab- lishment enjoys a steady custom, while many Northern visitors reside here during winter. Mr. Overbaugh is well suited to conduct it to the best advantage, and merits the patronage he enjoys. He has also a fine stock of Jersey cows, from whom he supplies his guests with plenty of new milk. He married Miss Brown, of Newark, N. J., and has a family of 2 girls
--
i
and 3 boys, one of whom assists him in the hotel.
CHAS. HAICH, GROCERIES, HARDWARE, WAGON MATERIAL, &c.
This business was started in 1866 as Geo. H. Haigh & Bro., but this partnership only last- ing a year, Mr Charles has sinee continued alone. He occupies on the main street a 2-story building 42×60 fcet, and several wareliouses The stock, averaging from $6,000 to $10,000 in valuc, is comprehensive. In groceries he keeps tcas, coffees, sugars, molasses, spices, meats, provisions, canned goods, farm produce, corn and feed stuffs, &e. He also has harness, hardware, agricultural tools, wagon and buggy material. Mr. H. is also agent for Dupont's powder. He employs two hands, and has an increasing trade. He was born in this town. and in the war with the 5th N. C. cavalry served 4 years, attached to Stewart's corps in the army of Northern Va. He commanded the Fayetteville Inde- pendent Light Infantry at Philadelphia in 1876. He is a town commissioner, chairman of the finance committee, belongs to the K. and L. of H., and the Episcopal church.
Z. B. NEWTON,
LAWYER.
The above young and rising attorney was born in Duplin county, but moved to Cum- berland in 1859 ; he received his scholastic education at Rocky Mount High School, and soon turned his attention to law. He studied a long time by himself while still engaged in other business, finally finishing under Wm. B. Wright, of this county. He was admitted to the bar in January 1879, and immediately afterwards opened his office in Fayetteville, and ever since the sun of his prosperity has continued to shine. Mr. Newton has made himself generally popular. When the county attorneyship fell vaeant he was appointed to fill the post, and at the expiration of the term was re-elected. He has been active in many measures connected with the county's wel- fare, and mainly by his means has the Clar- endon bridge across the Cape Fear river near Fayetteville, been declared free. Mr. Newton is careful in preparing his briefs and is noted for his conscientiousness in discharging any trusts reposed in him. He is an active member of the Baptist denomination, is the only one of his profession in the county in that body
189
STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA.
E. L. PEMBERTON, REAL ESTATE AND STOCK BROKER.
Prominent among these cnergetic young men upon whose abilities rest the hope and future of this city is the above gentleman, whose family has been long influential in Cumberland county. Mr. E. L. Pemberton was born in Fayetteville, and leaving school, at once entered upon a business life to which he is eminently suited. He was in the hard- ware business with his father. and since the latters death has been engaged as a stock broker and dealer in real estate. His parent, who was one of the oldest and best known men of this county, left a large estate, the affairs of which young Pemberton is kept pretty busy attending to. This estate com- prises many valuable dwellings and vacant lots in town, numerous turpentine farms, some of the finest lumber on the continent, several fine water powers ; 2 of these 21} feet fall, are in the town of Fayetteville ; also a large corn mill. Mr. Pemberton is one of the best liked young bachelors of this aristocratic community, he is a member of the Indepen- dent Light Infantry, is the crack shot of N. C., and this year beat the prize marksman of Louisiana, at New Orleans. He keeps thor- oughly posted on the doings of the stock ex- changes of the country, and through his cor- respondents can readily purchase any stocks, bonds, or other securities which his patrons may want. He is correct in his business rela- tions. a gentleman born and bred and justly merits the high standing he holds.
HENRY McDIARMID ROBIN- SON.
ATTORNEY AT LAW.
A young, rising and popular member of the N.C. bar was born in Fayetteville on the 8th of May, 1860. His father was a physician and both his parent's families of Scotch-English extraction, have been long honorably connect- ed in this county. Mr. Robinson received his scholastic education at Binghams, the crack school of the State, and during the four years
held his place as one of the most brilliant pupils of the school, taking first honor in all his classes in that time. He left here in 1878 for the University of Virginia, where he first took courses in latin, greek, history, literature and rhetoric, supplementing this by a course of law, graduating on constitutional and inter- national law, taking a high stand in the junior and senior classes of common law.
He was admitted to the bar in June, 1881. after having further studied with a leading lawyer of this State. During his four years at the bar he has gained a prominence seldom acquired in so short time. He has been coun- sel in several capital cases where he had a marked success. Was assignee for some large firms whose business was settled most satis- factorily to both debtors and creditors, and has been administrator for some large estates. Personally he is a pleasant and accomplished gentleman and has a well furnished and com- fortable office. Attending strictly to his pro- fession he has refused to let his name be used as a candidate for political preferment. He is superintendent of Public Instruction, has a large number of social friends, is a Mason, belongs to the order of Druids. to the Fayette- ville Independent Light Infantry, is a mem- ber of the Presbyterian body, and as a young man of command, talented and thinking, is destined at no distant date to figure as one of the lights of the North Carolina bar.
HON. RALPH P. BUXTON.
Was born in Washington, Beaufort co .. September 22, 1826. He was partly edu- cated at Dr. Muhlenburg's institution of Col- lege Point, L. I., and graduated from Chapel Hill in 1845. He was a diligent student of law in the office of Hon. John H. Bryan. and was admitted in the winter of 1847-8. His father, who is an Episcopal minister, moved to Fayetteville in 1831, and the young lawyer consequently settled down to practice among his friends of this county. He soon worked
190
TOWN OF FAYETTEVILLE.
!
himself forward to the front rank among his professional brethern of this State. He has been very conspicuous in the great arena of po- litical life. In the days of the glorious Whigs he was a prominent member of the party and was a delegate to the National Convention which nominated Fillmore and Donaldson in 1856. He was Mayor of Fayetteville in 1857. From 1863 to 1865 he was Solicitor from this district. In 1865 and again in 1875 he was a member of the constitutional Convention which reconstructed the State. Judge Bux- ton sat many years on the judicial bench of our State and is generally acknowledged to have given dignity and bearing to the office. He sat on the bench of the Superior Court uninterruptedly for 16 years. In 1865 he was appointed by Gov. Holden, in the following year he was elected by the Legislature, in 1868 he was elected by the people at large and in 1874 by the voters of the Fifth District. In 1880 he was nominated by the Republican party for Governor when he resigned his po- sition on the bench and made one of the clos- est and most exciting contests for that office that our State has seen. Since then he has somewhat retired from public life and now conducts the solid and quiet practice he formerly enjoyed, acquiting himself among his books and friends to accomplish still greater feats in the legal world, and perhaps in public life also. The judge personally has that easy and graceful manner which' marks those who have seen much and many differ- ent men and things. He belongs to the Episcopal Church and married in December 1860. Miss Rebecca H. Bledsoe, of Raleigh, but has not been blessed with any family. His office is well located near the Peoples' Bank where he is always to be found.
THOMAS H. SUTTON, LAWYER,
Was born in Wilmington, on 5th January, 1845. Of a brave and daring nature, Capt. Sutton hailed the advent of the war as a grand and glorious event. At 15 he volun- teered in the 18th N. C. regiment, serving with Jackson's corps in the hard fighting it saw, in Lane's brigade for 15 months. Under the provision of the conscript law of 1862 he was discharged by reason of having served 15 months, and being under 18 years of age. Before he arrived at 18 he again enlisted, but on account of ill health was 18 months con- nected with the conscript department. but in 1863 again entered the line, serving with the 4th N. C. on the coast, till the surrender. He was engaged in the severe battles around Fort Holmes and was wounded in the left leg at Fort Anderson. With the return of peace he sought a new land to live in. and settled in Bladen county, and under John A. Richard- son diligently applied himself to the study of that science he has since become a weighty exponent of. He was licensed in 1868, and married in July 1869 Mary Ida Cromarty, of that county, by whom he lias seven children.
He practised law in Bladen, and moved to Fayetteville in 1875. He has proven a valuable acquisition to the bar, has intrinsically in- creased its strength, and to-day as an advo- cate he stands in the front rank among his confreres of the Old North State. The Cap- tain has been especially chosen by the public as counsel in criminal cases, and his victories in this direction have been astonishing. He has not lost his love of military life ; he is now an honorary member of the Fayetteville Independent Light Infantry, the second oldest company in the U. S., organized in 1793, and has never missed an anniversary. The Captain is a man, every part of him, and though wedded to his profession, has those many talents which suit one to the responsi- bility of public life.
RANSOM BURNS, LIVERY AND SALE STABLES.
Mr. Burns started in the livery and sale business about twelve years ago on a small capital but having had considerable previous experience in this line soon gained a name as one familiar with horse flesh, and conse- quently his trade rapidly grew and he now enjoys a large custom in his separate lines. In livery he keeps 10 or 12 fine saddle and harness horses and has about a dozen first- class carriages to match, which are let out to hire at reasonable rates. In horses and mules he sells annually about 400 or 500 head and has at all times a large lot of well bred light and heavy animals on hand. Mr. Burns em- ploys four or five competent hands, and also runs a wine and liquor establishment where he carries a well selected stock of imported and domestic wines, brandies, whiskies, etc.
Mr. Burns was born and raised in Randolph co. In the war he was a gallant soldier of the Confederacy, serving the cause 4} years in the 6th N. C. Fisher Regiment, and from the 19th October, 1864, till the 19th of June fol- lowing he was imprisoned in Point Look Out. After the war he settled in Fayetteville. He is an Odd Fellow. has taken all the de- grees in the subordinate lodge and encamp- ment, is a pleasant and agreeable gentleman and a visit to his establishment will amply justify what we have said about him.
191
STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA.
R. S. HUSKE, LAWYER,
Was born at Myrtle Hill. the county seat of his grandfather Judge R. Strange, and re- ceived his first education at Donaldson Academy here. His father being an Episcopal minister, and knowing well the value of a fine education, he was sent to Trinity College, Hartford Conn., then the leading one in the country of that body. In 1872 he graduated from here, studied law with Col. Broadfoot, and received his license in 1874. He has since practiced in Fayetteville. His office is romantically located on the rocky banks of the Crosscreek river, of whose sparkling
waters as they gurgle on towards the sea, from his piazza he commands a comprehen- sive view, in enjoying which the mind is raised above the petty cares of world and self. Mr. Huske was chairman of the town Demo- cratic committee in the campaigns of '80 and '82, he was a member of the Fayetteville In- dependent Light Infantry, Adj. 2d Reg. N. C State troops under Col. Worth ; he is actively engaged in improving his various real estate interests in the town and county, is a director of the Manchester Mills, of which T. P. Bald- win, of Baltimore, is President. He is a member of the Episcopal body, and is per- sonally still in the state of so-called single blessedness.
Does it Pay to Raise Cotton ?
There is no disguising the fact that a very great many farmers think it does not pay to raise cotton. They come to this conclusion generally at the end of each season after the crop has been marketed, the expenses paid, or discharged as far as possible, and the general balance struck. Whatever that balance may be, or on whichever side it may be, it is charged or cred- ited to cotton.
Therein lies the error. It depends a great deal upon the fact whether a farmer has or has not common sense how the general balance comes out, as it may very easily come out on the wrong side even when his cotton has done well and has paid well.
It is not what cotton produces and what the product brings in the market that determine the final outcome, but what burden it has to bear, or more properly what proportion of the burden it has to bear. It is therefore of primary importance to the farmer that he first inquire of himself what it is that he expects his cotton crop to do.
1st. He usually depends upon it wholly, thereby destroying his patent of nobility. His calling is naturally the most independent one in all the world, as it is the basis of all living, for it is from what is raised by the farmer that all must be fed. Hence he who owns and tills the land has within his possession what compels all of other occupations to come and buy of him, so far, at least, as their living is concerned. So long as the farmer maintains this posi- tion panics cannot ruin him, and can only measurably affect him. This is so true that it is a fact beyond dispute that failures and assignments are very much less numerous among the farming class. taken as a whole, than in any other. Now, a man's independence is in direct accordance with his wants. A farmer who has raised enough wheat, pork, beef, vegetables, milk, eggs, and the like, to feed his family, and corn, oats, forage and hay, to feed his stock and working animals, is independent in all, except his small groceries and clothing. If he has thus diversified his crops so that whatever is absolutely needed in supporting life for him- self, his working force, and his stock, is raised upon his own acres, he is not only as nearly independent as any man can be, but is in a position to give his cotton a fair show in striking the balance. In determining, therefore, whether his cotton crop has paid, he must not require it to pay cost and freight from distant points, with two or three, or perhaps a half dozen profits, on bacon, corn and hay, that Le could have at the prime cost of labor from his own tarm. Of one fact the cotton farmer can rest assured-his crop of cotton always pays, whether it pays him or not ; and it rests with himself whether it shall by diversity of crops pay him, or by making an all-cotton crop have it pay the railroads and the middlemen what should remain in his own pocket when he has brought his cotton to market. It is not so much what cotton sells for that makes it a profitable or unprofitable crop, but what it has to pay for after it is sold. For that reason some farmers cannot make money when their cotton sells for twelve cents, while others find a profit in it at five cents. The true position of a cotton crop is that of a surplus crop. The farmer must make his living out of his farm, and when he wants cash he should turn to his cotton crop, as that always brings it. The farmer whose buildings look best, whose acres bear the most striking signs of thrift, is the one who does not have to send for what he eats, but raises it himself ; whose wagons go heavily laden from the farm and return light burdened to it, who pays the lowest possible price for his bacon and and beef and corn, and doesn't have to pay for it in cash either, for he raises it himself, and has simply bartered for it so much labor and so much acreage, and has thereby not only saved the profits that the railroads and middlemen would have drawn from him, but the time and labor of himself, his men, and his teams.
2d. He too generally lays too heavy a burden of interest upon it. Neither cotton, nor any other crop not purely speculative in its character, can pay the rate of interest prevalent in the cotton States: and if a planter has two hundred acres and needs a thousand dollars to work it he can, with vastly greater profit, sell enough acres to raise the money. farming on a smaller scale, than he can pay the eight, twelve, eighteen or twenty-four per cent. that is so frequently demanded. Indeed, he should not pay even six per cent. If he cuts down his interest charge by selling acres until he works clear of debt, he no longer enriches the third and fourth classes into whose hands so much of his profits go as the railroads and middlemen have left, viz., the bankers and lien merchants. If the farmer does nothing more than save this interest
193
STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA.
he lays the foundation of a fortune for himself or his heirs. Very few farmers estimate the drain that interest makes upon them. A single dollar loaned at 6 per cent. with its interest added each year, will produce at the end of one hundred years $340, but at 8 per cent. which is the legal rate in North Carolina, it would amount to $2,203. Some farmers pay twelve per cent. They probably do not think it more than half as much more than eight, and yet the single dollar, with its interest added and loaned each year, will produce at the end of the century $84,675, or 246 times as much as if it were loaned at 6 per cent. But in some quarters even twenty-four per cent. is paid. How ruinous that rate is can be judged from the fact that the single dollar that at 6 per cent. as above, produced $340, would at twenty-four per cent. produce more than the value of the cotton crop of the South.
3d. The cotton plant is not given a fair chance as to cultivation. As to details in this we refer to the Furman and Dickson plans, as shown in other articles, contenting ourselves with the general statement that a " little farm well tilled " is the secret of success in cotton raising as in everything else.
4th. The cotton farmer does not get so large a net result from his cotton in its sale as he could if the great cotton producing class were to combine and reap the advantage it is entitled to as the natural co-operative sharer in the profits of the manufacturer. As for the purchase of supplies from distant points the cotton farmer has to pay out just as many dollars more as the supplies travel miles to reach him, so in marketing his cotton he puts into his pocket just so many dollars less in proportion as the cotton has to travel before it enters the mill. The farmer who sells his cotton in Columbia, S. C., or Augusta, Ga., gets more than the farmer who sells it in Raleigh, N. C., for the reason that mills are located at these points. So if the great cotton planting interest were to take a co-operative interest in manufacturing by the in- vestment of a small share of its capital, it would get double profit, for it would get more for its cotton than it now does, while the mills would pay less for the raw material than they now do. But this is matter for consideration by the cotton producers as a great class of the com- munity.
To sum up-the farmer that diversifies his crops, and raises his own living upon his own acres without paying a profit for it to others, or transportation charges upon it: saves himself the enormous and exhaustive drain of interest ; who tills his land thoroughly ; and helps es- tablish a market near by; can make money on cotton.
How to raise Cotton. David Dickson, of Sparta, Ga., who took the premium at the State Fair in Georgia, 1869, for eighteen bales of cotton on six acres, who before the war made $500,000 in fifteen years by farming. having begun with a capital of only $25,000, and was equally successful after the war, thus laid down before his death the rules by which he was governed in the cultivation of cotton :
Lay off rows four feet apart with shovel plow, double furrow and put fertilizers eight inches deep.
Ridge with a log scooter, five inches wide. Make the beds with a turning plow, and sub- soil the turn plow furrows ; split out the middle with a shovel plow. Plant with a cotton seed sower and cover with a board or harrow. First plowing run twenty-two inch sweep witli right wing turned down, hoe out to two or three every nine inches ten days after plowing. Second plowing, use the same sweep with the right wing turned down a little more. Third plowing the same way; run a third furrow in the middle to level.
Cotton standing thick in the drill will be much more forward in its maturity.
Cotton only requires distance one way.
On level land run the furrows north and south.
A cotton plant for two weeks' drought must have four inches soil and six inches subsoil; three weeks, six inches soil and same subsoil.
To improve the cotton plant, select seed every year after the first picking, up to the mid- dle of October, taking the best stalks and the best bolls on the stalks.
From April 10 to 20 is the best time to plant cotton.
Plow every three weeks, and let the hoes come ten days behind, cleaning cotton per- fectly.
Continue plowing till the 15th or 20th of August. Once or twice during the season shove out the land to a level.
The plowing of cotton requires one and a fourth days to the acre.
Cotton plants commence when young to take on and mature bolls, and continue until they exhaust the soluble matter or reach the full capacity of the land. Two stalks will do that much sooner than one and will avoid a late drought, caterpillar, etc.
How to foretell weather. The Farmers' Club of the American Institute has issued the follow- ing rules for foretelling the weather. If farmers and others whose business is out of doors and depend upon the weather, will study them closely, they will be able to guess the weather more accurately than Wiggins or Vennor :
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.