USA > North Carolina > Guilford County > Greensboro > The history of the first North Carolina reunion at Greensboro, N. C., October eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth, nineteen hundred and three > Part 15
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The great Confederate General, Nathaniel B. Forrest, was another grandson. His father was born in Orange County.
The mother of the celebrated artist, Whistler, was a native of Wil- mington, N. C.
The father of General Luke E. Wright, who succeeded Secretary-of- War Taft as Governor of the Philippines, was a native of Halifax County, N. C.
Dr. Albert Shaw, the editor of the Review of Reviews, is a great- grandson of North Carolina, being a descendant of John Halstead, of Curritnek County.
Missouri is indebted to North Carolina for her newly-elected Gov- ernor, Folk, as well as for the great Thomas H. Benton, who was a native of Orange County.
Around the Ancestral
Hearthstone
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Colonel A. B. Andrews
First Vice-President of the Southern Railway Company, and the Largest Individual Contributor to Reunion
"Reunion" Changed to "Old- Home Week"
In pursuance of the original plan of the promoters of the First Reunion, to make of it a State affair, and to hold it annually, the Board of Managers, at the first meeting at the Benbow Hotel after the pronounced success of the Reunion of 1903, passed the following reso- lutions :
Whereas. It was planned in the original conception of the North Carolina Reunion that the same should be made permanent, and that there should be an annual Reunion at such time and place as the North Carolina Reunion Association Company might from year to year deter- mine: and
Whereas, it has been strongly urged by the non-residents attending the North Carolina Reunion this year at Greensboro, N. C .. and also by letters from numerous non-residents who were unable to be present, that the organization known and chartered as the North Carolina Reunion Association Company should be completed, and that the necessary steps should be taken at once for a permanent annual Reunion to be held at Greensboro, N. C .; and
Whereas, it has been further urged by visiting non-residents that Greensboro is the most central and accessible point, both for the non- resident and the resident. and that after each annual Reunion special excursion rates may be obtained each year for the various points in the State : and
Whereas, new and other additional features have been suggested and urged to make each succeeding Reunion more pleasant and more successful : therefore, be it
Resolved, by the Board of Managers of the North Carolina Reunion Association Company, that there shall be held at Greensboro. N. C., in 1904, another Reunion, under the auspices of the North Carolina Reunion Association Company, and annually thereafter: and that special or excursion rates be arranged for the remainder of the week, by which visiting non-residents will be enabled to visit the various points in the State; and that the whole of said week shall hereafter be known as the North Carolina Old-Home Week, for all non-resident North Carolinians.
F. N. C. R .- XI
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That it is the purpose of the present management to make this annual Reunion a State affair, and to this end every resident of the State is cordially invited to join in this patriotic effort by becoming a stockholder in the said North Carolina Reunion Association Company.
CHARLES D. McIVER, Chairman ; ROBERT R. KING, J. W. FRY, J. A. ODELL, CEASAR CONE, GEO. S. BRADSHAW. Board of Managers.
ROBERT D. DOUGLAS, Secretary.
Subsequent to the adoption of the foregoing resolutions, it became apparent that it would not be desirable to attempt to hold a Reunion or Old-Home Week during the year 1904. on account of the quadren- nial campaign and election, which would largely interfere with its success, by preventing the attendance of a large number of non-resi- dents who had expressed a desire to be present, and who concurred in this view of the Board of Managers.
It is also worthy of note that the decision of the Board of Managers to name the Reunion the Old-Home Week, and to devise ways and means by which visiting non-residents can visit various points in the State during said week, has met with universal approval.
HEAVEN'S
FIRST
REUNION Y
A197817
ND HER!
TARHEELS.
GREENSBO
1903
CT. 12-13.
R
ROANOKE ISLAND
GUILFORD COURT HOUSE
BETHEL, GETTYSBURG, APPOMATTOX
CARDENAS, SAN JUAN
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1
1
Reunion Souvenir
ALAMANCE, MECKLENBURG, HALIFAX
BLESSING
CAROLINA! CAROL !!
ADIVIOJA:
Beautiful Souvenir
A beautiful and unique badge was designed and made as a souvenir of the occasion." More than eight thousand of these were distributed in and out of the State. On the top of the outer margin of the face of the badge was this inscription: "Carolina ! Carolina ! Heaven's Blessings Attend Her!" At the bottom: "Greens- boro, October 12-13." On the face of the badge were both the National and the State flags. In the center of the face was inscribed: "First Reunion of Tarheels, 1903", while above this were the words "Indi- vidual Liberty". Attached to the badge proper were two slips of rib- bon, one of which was white. and on which was printed in gilded letters : "Roanoke Island, Alamance, Mecklenburg, Halifax, Guilford Court- house, Bethel, Gettysburg, Appomattox, Cardenas, San Juan"; and one of which was red. and on which was printed in gilded letters : "Educa- tion, Good Roads, Manufactures."
This is strikingly suggestive-suggestive of what we are, what we have done, and what we are now doing. In short, it is an epitome of the State's history.
* See illustration fronting this page.
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States Represented
The following is a list of the States represented at the Reunion :
Alabama, Arizona, California. Colorado. Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia. Indiana. Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi. Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia. Total, 30 States: also District of Columbia and Canada.
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Mr. Josephus Daniels One of the Leading Editors of North Carolina
North Carolina Mecca By Josephus Daniels -
Every boy born in Massachusetts, or born of Massachusetts parents, is religiously taken. as the Jewish children went up to the holy city to the holy feasts. to Bunker Hill, to see where the New England patriots won immortal glory. Too few of the sons of North Carolina, residing in the State, have pressed the sacred sod where Southern men won imperishable fame, almost in sight of the present magnificent Guilford Courthouse, the county seat of Guilford county.
Indeed. a hundred years passed before the children of this State knew the significance of the battle of Guilford Courthouse. They had all learned the story of Bunker Hill in the public schools: but few. ont- side of the immediate descendants of the heroes of that battle, knew that the battle of Guilford Courthouse made Yorktown possible. North Carolinians in every decade have made glorious history, but they have not written it. It remained for the late Judge David Schenck (peace to his ashies !) to write the true story of the battle of Guilford Court- house, and to rescue from the tomb of forgetfulness the name and fame of men who had done as much to secure their country's liberty as any of the soldiers of the ages immortalized in song and story. It remained for the progressive citizens of Greensboro to organize the Guilford Battle Ground Association. which rescued that battlefield of glory from neglect, and to make it the historic rallying ground of Piedmont North Carolina. For a dozen years the chief celebration of the natal day of the Republic has been fittingly observed on the battlefield of Guilford Courthouse, and thousands and tens of thousands of North Carolinians have come to make a sacred pilgrimage on every recurring Fourth of July to this battlefield. But comparatively few of the 327,070 native- born North Carolinians now residing in other States have ever turned their faces to this North Carolina Mecca.
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Guilford Courthouse Battlefield By President Joseph M. Morehead, of the Guilford Battle Ground Company
The Guilford Battle Ground Company was organized May 16, 1887. at Greensboro, N. C. It has redeemed from waste the battlefield of Guilford Courthouse, adorned it as a park, and erected monuments thereon. The company owns one hundred acres of this battlefield, which is laid off in walks. drives, and avenues. There are upon it twenty-one monuments, already completed. Two, voted by the last Congress to the memory of Generals Francis Nash and William Lee Davidson, are soon to be erected by the National government. The monuments and their inscriptions set forth the honorable record of North Carolina during both the Colonial and Revolutionary periods, with the exception, greatly to be regretted, for the present, of the noble deeds of the North Carolina sons of Liberty at Wilmington in 1765-66. Five delightful springs are fitted up. Lake Wilfong, on the grounds, is a lovely sheet of water. Ten thousand people attend the Fourth of July celebration every year. and the addresses all rise to the dignity of history. The Museum of Relies is a most valuable and interesting feature. The battle was fought between General Nathaniel Greene and Lord Cornwallis, March 15, 1781, and the British were driven from the State.
Here was struck the blow which drove Cornwallis from the State. and broke the power of Great Britain in the Southern Department, at that moment a consummation essential to American independence.
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2.
بد
Major Joseph M. Morehead President of the Guilford Battle Ground Company
Guilford Battlefield-Two Facts Emphasized Extract from an address by G. S. Bradshaw, Esq.
There are two facts above all others entitled to emphasis.
First. It is the only battlefield of the Revolution which has been reclaimed, adorned. and preserved in its entirety. Its history, its heritage, and its glory are. therefore, the common property of the whole country. This historic spot is hallowed scarcely more by the memories of the brave deeds of dead heroes than by the self-sacrificing efforts of the few who have been dutifully engaged in the patriotic work of preserving it. Across its sacred acres the line of Mason and Dixon never ran. New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia. South Carolina. and the other States whose heroes fought and perished. may here meet on common ground and cover with tear and flower the sacred dust of the fathers. These one hundred acres were reserved when the fateful line aforesaid was run. They belonged then-they are tendered now-to the Government for which they drank the lifeblood of patriotic heroes. It is now a magnificent Battle Park, with its charming groves of stately oaks. its beautiful flowers, its lovely lake, its cool springs, and its acres of hill and vale covered with beauti- ful memorial stones and splendid monuments. And strange as it may sound in the materialistic ear of this age. the work so far has been done by individual effort. Less than twenty years ago that great lawyer and prince of Carolinians. Honorable David Schenck. in the midst of the exacting duties of a busy professional life, conceived the idea of the redemption and preservation of this great battlefield. The enthusiasm of his great soul reached high tide in its execution. He secured a char- ter, and organized a company, of which he was president and leader. Its capital stock was taken by a few patriotic citizens. The company now owns this Battle Park. The purchase money for the same, together with all of the incidental and necessary expenses of the company, was thus paid by private individuals. In the same way many of the monu- ments have been secured. For the past ten years the State's legislature has supplemented individual effort with an annual appropriation of five hundred dollars. This sum is a mere pittance in the support of
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the great burden of maintaining and preserving it. The Stars and Stripes float not over another historie spot which has levied and exacted so great a tax upon the patriotism of the individual. -
The late Judge Schenck is succeeded by Major Joseph M. Morehead, the present president. who is not less zealous in all efforts for the pro- motion of the great object of the company.
Second. This battle was the critical, the pivotal, and the turning point in the stupendous struggle. From its bloody and terrible blow Cornwallis reeled, staggered, and fell seven months thereafter at York- town. If not the greatest and bloodiest struggle of the Revolution in daring, reckless valor, and in priceless sacrifice, it was the greatest in its effect and in its result. It was the one fatal wound from which the British forces never rallied. The more one studies it the more it grows in greatness-in its stupendous results, and the more clearly one is convinced that history has done scant justice to that lustrous and glori- ous day. Surely this great government can afford to maintain and preserve in its entirety one great battlefield of the Revolution, and where is there in all that bloody drama one that appeals more strongly to the pride and patriotism of this Republice? The National Govern- ment for more than three decades, in the natural and pious duty of preserving the memories that throng and cluster about the glorious battlefields of the war between the States, has seemed to ignore the earlier but no-less-glorious struggle of the fathers. This should not be. From a national standpoint the father fought to establish it. The son fought to preserve it. Each was a great war, and each was without a parallel in the annals of time in the awful sacrifice of blood and life. Both father and son were victorious. The Government still lives and still grows and is still expanding-in resources boundless, and in strength ample and inexhaustible.
Let the glorious memories that attach to the scenes of the struggles of each live and be preserved.
"One crowded hour of glorious life Is worth an age without a name."
One needs to recur to the lessons taught by the history of the early struggles of his ancestry to appreciate the wondrous fabrie over which the old flag floats today. It is fit, therefore, that one of the two days of the first great Reunion of the non-resident natives of North Carolina should be devoted to the old battlefield of Guilford Court- house, where we may all read and study again its glorious history in the beautiful tablets and splendid monuments with which it has been adorned by the munificence of patriotic and public-spirited individuals.
Honorable A. M. Aiken, of Virginia Judge of Corporation Court
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The home-coming non-resident will repair there on the second day of the great Reunion to rekindle at its altat the flame of love for his old mother State, and to renew his allegiance to the fadeless memories of his patriotic sires, whose valor there wrote in crimson letters "the purple testament of bleeding war". And whilst they linger, both non- resident and resident will strike hands in the patriotic effort to induce the national Government to extend its fostering hand of help in the permanent preservation of this great battlefield.
North Carolina's Contribution to American Citizenship
North Carolina has given her lifeblood most freely to the building up of other States. Today 236,037 native-born North Carolinians reside in other Commonwealths. She has contributed to American citizenship the best that the nation has to show. In the colonial period. her people stood boldly for liberty, self-government, freedom from excessive taxation and official tyranny. In adopting the Constitution, she stood for all the amendments, which were afterwards accepted, and which now form the constitutional basis of our liberties.
It was her sons, Andrew Jackson and Thomas H. Benton. who wiped out all traditions and tendencies of monarchy and aristocracy. and planted deep in American soil the tree of democracy.
It was her son, James K. Polk, who annexed Texas, and extended the American Republic from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
It was her son, William A. Graham, who opened the doors of Japan to civilization, and thus made a beginning of final settlement of the Asiatic question.
It was her son, Andrew Johnson, who had the North Carolina grit to jeopardize his great office, by opposing the coercive measures of Reconstruction directed against an integral part of the Union.
It was her son, Richard J. Gatling, who promoted peace by invent- ing the death-dealing Gatling gun.
Her sons have done great deeds and thought great thoughts wher- ever they have gone. No statesmen have surpassed them in integrity. purity, and patriotism. No soldiers have equaled them in steadfast- ness, endurance, and fortitude. They were born North Carolinians, and trained in North Carolina virtues. They loved the family fireside, and all that the family fireside means. They still love it, and, though they dwell now in cities or on plains, they long to go to the State of their birth, and see again the people who live as they lived in their youth; to see again the Old North State, where people do not grow old before their time; where youth is buoyant and virile: manhood is strong and sturdy ; and old age is full of dignity, honor, and self- respect.
All hail to the sons of North Carolina who will come to this our first Reunion ! May they live to come again and again ; and may the Reunion, this year inaugurated, endure and grow greater forever!
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Marvelous Record of North Carolina from 1890 to 1900 By C. H. Poe
In 1890 North Carolina was sixteenth in rank in population; in 1900 she was fifteenth.
In 1890 North Carolina ranked twenty-third in gross value of agri- cultural products; in 1900 she was twentieth.
In 1890 North Carolina ranked thirty-first in gross value of agri- cultural products ; in 1900 she was twenty-eighth.
In other words, during the decade we forged forward one point in population, three points in agriculture, and three points in manufac- tures-a total net gain of seven points in rank among the States.
No other Southern State made such a record. In fact, if we are to accept the criterion of progress with which we started out-that of gain in rank among the States in population, gross value of agricul- tural products, and gross value of manufactured products-it appears that North Carolina is not only the most progressive Southern State, but the most progressive old State, North or South.
In proof of this, I have gone over the census reports to get a rating in progressiveness of each Commonwealth, and have been as much pleased as astonished to find that North Carolina's net gain of seven points in rank was equaled by no old State, North, South, or West, and by but one new State, Montana (with a net gain of eleven points), and that wonderful new territory, Oklahoma (with a net gain of thirty- two points).
Relative Rank of States and Territories
Let us see ; considering together the three divisions-population, manufactures, and agriculture-and giving each State credit for the number of points gained in one or more divisions less the number of
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points lost, if any, in any division, it develops that the following States ranked higher in 1900 than in 1890, by the number of points men- tioned :
Arizona, 4: Colorado, 2: Indiana. 3; Iowa, 2: Louisiana, 3: Minne- sota, 4; Missouri, 1; Montana, 11: Nebraska, 6: North Carolina, 7: North Dakota, 6; Ohio, 1: Oklahoma, 32: South Carolina, 1; South Dakota, 1; Texas, 3: Virginia, 2: Washington. 3: West Virginia, 5; Wisconsin, 4.
The following States held exactly the same general rank in 1900 as in 1890: Kansas, Kentucky, Tennessee.
The following States declined in population, agriculture, or manu- factures during the decade, so that their general rank was lower in 1900 than in 1890, by the number of points given. I will indicate by letter P, A, and M, in what division the decline occurred: Alabama, P, A, M, 6; Arkansas, P, A, M, 3; California, A, 3: Connecticut, A, 6; Delaware, P, A, M, 14; District of Columbia, P. A. M, 8: Florida, A, M, 5; Georgia, A, M, 4; Idaho, P, M, 6 : Illinois, A, 1: Maine, A, M, 7: Indiana, A, 1; Massachusetts, P, M, 6; Michigan, A, MI. 4: Mississippi, A, M, 5; Nevada, P, A, M, 13; New Hampshire, P. A, M, 11: New Jer- sey, P, A, 3; New Mexico, P, M, 4; New York, A, 2: Oregon, M, 6: Pennsylvania, A, 3; Rhode Island, A, 7; Utah, P, A, M, 9: Vermont, P, A, 6; Wyoming, P, M, 7.
Just How North Carolina Gained
The reader may wish to know by this time just how far North Caro- lina exceeded not only her 1890 rank, but her 1890 record. Here are the figures :
In 1890 our population was 1,617,947: in 1900 it was 1,893,810.
In 1890 the gross value of our agricultural products was $50,070,- 530; in 1900 it was $89,309,638-nearly doubled in ten years.
In 1890 the gross value of our manufactured products was $40,375,- 450; in 1900 it was $94.919,663 -- more than doubled in ten years.
In 1890 the per capita value of our agricultural products was $31: in 1900, $47.
In 1890 the per capita value of our manufactured products was $25; in 1900, $50.
What It All Means
Let us not overlook the plain teaching of these figures. They indi- cate unmistakably that North Carolina is forging more rapidly to the
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Group of Prominent North Carolina Educators
President George T. Winston, of A. & M. College President Charles L. Taylor, of Wake Forest College President John C. Kilgo, of Trinity College President F. P. Venable, of the University of North Carolina
President Lyndon L. Hobbs, of Guilford College
President W. W. Staley, of Elon College
President Henry Louis Smith, of Davidson College
The State's Song-The Old North State Gaston
Carolina, Carolina! Heaven's blessings attend her ! While we live we will cherish, protect, and defend her : Though the scorner may sneer at and witlings defame her, Our hearts swell with gladness whenever we name her.
Hurrah! Hurrah! the Old North State forever ! Hurrah! Hurrah! The good Old North State.
Though she envies not others their merited glory, Say, whose name stands foremost in Liberty's story ? Though too true to herself e'er to crouch to oppression, Who can yield to just rule a more loyal submission ? Hurrah. etc.
Plain and artless her sons, but whose doors open faster At the knock of a stranger, or the tale of disaster? How like to the rudeness of their dear native mountains. With rich ore in their bosoms, and life in their fountains. Hurrah, etc.
And her daughters. the Queen of the Forest resembling. So graceful, so constant, yet to gentlest breath trembling. And true lightwood at heart, let the match be applied them, How they kindle and dame! Oh ! none know but who've tried them. Hurrah, etc.
Then let all those who love us, love the land that we live in (As happy a region as on this side of Heaven), Where Plenty and Freedom, Love and Peace smile before us. Raise aloud, raise together, the heart-thrilling chorus. Hurrah. etc.
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Greensboro's Phenomenal Growth Since 1890
Population in 1890, 3,317.
. Population in 1900, 10,035.
Including the mill villages and other suburban settlements, the pop- ulation in 1903 is 22,000.
Elevation above sea level, 843 feet.
Greensboro's Location
In the center of North Carolina.
In the midst of the world's finest bright-tobacco belt.
In the center of one of the largest and most prosperous cotton-mill sections in the South.
In the heart of the furniture-manufacturing district in the South.
In the midst of a fine grain region, and on the edge of the cotton- fields.
In the center of the finest fruit-growing section in the entire South. Within a radius of sixty miles there are 600,000 people.
Eighty-three cotton mills, with over $10,000.000 capital, 28,000 looms, and 700,000 spindles.
Sixty-four furniture and chair factories.
Twelve hosiery mills.
One carpet mill.
Dozens of all kinds of lumber manufacturing plants, tobacco fac- tories, and other industries.
Some of the Things Greensboro Has
1. Railroad facilities equal to those of any town of like popula- tion in the United States. Seven lines extend from the city in as many different directions, giving unrivaled freight and passenger service.
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Forty-two passenger and dozens of freight trains leave Greensboro every day. The city is on the main trunk line of the great Southern Railway, and is one of that system's most important points.
2. Forty-two separate and distinct diversified manufacturing plants, embracing cotton. tobacco, shoes, pants and overalls, carpets, shirts, furniture, bobbins, shuttles. cornice work, wagons and carriages, exhaust- and blow-pipes, dust-fans and dust-collectors, sash, doors. and blinds, mantels and tables, brooms, sawmills, cane-mills, plows, cast-
CHICACOO
400 MILE SCALE
.PITTSBURG PA.
OHARRISBURG
CPHILADELPHIA
413 Mi,
BALTIMORE
+
313 MI.
CINCINNATI
WASHINGTON 281Mi
200 MILE SCALE
RICHMOND 189 Miles
ROANOKEO
OLYNCHBURG 114 MJ.
NORFOLK @ 217 MI
1
DANVILLE AONI
MIDOLES BORDO
MABISONO
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