USA > North Carolina > Western North Carolina; a history, 1730-1913 > Part 58
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COLONEL JAMES THOMAS WEAVER. He was the youngest son of Jacob Weaver and Elizabeth Siler Weaver. He was
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born near Weaverville, Buncombe county, North Carolina, on November 30th, 1828. He received such education as the schools of that section would then afford. Later he attended the Burnsville Academy in Yancey county and prepared him- self for civil engineering. May 24, 1855, he married Hester Ann Trotter, a daughter of William Trotter of Person county, N. C., but prior to the marriage of Hester Ann, William Trot- ter with his family moved to Macon county in the year 1846. During the seven years after his marriage, and prior to his enlistment in the army of the Confederacy, James Thomas Weaver was actively engaged in farming and as a surveyor of lands. During this interval he acquired a comfortable com- petency, consisting of lands, etc., and was considered a thrifty and progressive man in his community. He enlisted in the army early in 1862 as captain of Company A, which he organized, and this company was assigned to the Sixtieth North Carolina regiment. In 1864 he was made lieutenant colonel of this regiment. He served in the Army of Tennessee throughout the war, or until his death. He was in command of the Sixtieth regiment in the second battle near Murfrees- boro, Tennessee, occurring between the armies of Hood and Thomas. He was killed in this engagement on December 7th, 1864.
COLONEL EDWARD F. LOVILL. He was born in Surry county, February 10, 1842, married Miss Josephine Marion of the same county February 15, 1866, and moved to Boone in 1874. He was admitted to the bar in February 1885, and was commis- sioner to the Chippewa Indians from 1893 to 1897. He was captain of Company A of the 28th North Carolina Infantry, and on the second day of Chancellorsville commanded that regiment in the absence of Col. Samuel D. Low. Of this incident Col. Lowe reported: "While absent, Gen. Stuart again commanded the line forward, and my regiment charged through the same terrible artillery firing the third time, led by Captain (Edward F.) Lovill of Company A, to the support of our batteries which I had just got into position on the hill from which those of the enemy had been driven."29 Captain Lovill had commanded the same regiment during the mid- night attack of the night before. Upon the death of Col. Asbury Speer at Reems Station and the resignation of Major Samuel Stowe, Captain Lovill was senior officer of the 28th
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till the surrender at Appomattox; and commanded the regi- ment at the battle of Jones' farm near Petersburg in the fall of 1864, where he was severely wounded. He returned to duty in March, 1865, and was recommended for promotion to the colonelcy of his regiment at the time that James Line- berger was recommended for the lieutenant - colonelcy and George McCauley for the majority, but the end came before these appointments were published. He was wounded in the right arm at Gettysburg. At Fredericksburg "Captain Lovill, of Company A, the right company of the regiment, stood on the railroad track all the time, waving his hat and cheering his men; and neither he nor Martin (who had just shot down the Federal color bearer) was struck.""' Soon after the battle of Jericho Ford, in September, 1864, Natt Nixon, a seven- teen-year-old boy of Mitchell's river, Surry, was desperately wounded, and at night Captain Lovill and Private M. H. Freeman, a cobbler of Dobson, went to get him, as he had been left within the enemy's lines. They called him and he answered, saying the Federals were between him and them, but had been to him and given him water. Freeman put down his gun and accoutrements and shouting in a loud voice "Natt, I'm coming after you. I am coming unarmed, and any man who shoots me is a damned coward," started. It was night, but no one fired at him, and he brought his stricken comrade back to Captain Lovill; but the poor boy died near a farm house to which he had been borne before daylight. Colonel Lovill is a director of the Oxford Orphanage, having been appointed by Gov. Aycock. He is chairman of board of trustees of the Appalachian Training School and a lawyer of ability.
MAJOR HARVEY BINGHAM. In the winter of 1864-65, the Home Guard battalion of Watauga was camped on Cove creek near what is now Sugar Grove, the name of their camp having been Camp Mast. Harvey Bingham was the major, and Geo. McGuire, who had been absent from the county for a long while before his return and election, was captain of Company A. Jordan Cook was captain of Company B, of which Col. W. L. Bryan of Boone was first lieutenant. Major Bingham and his adjutant, J. P. Mathewson, left camp to go to Ashe to confer with Captain McMillan, who commanded a cavalry company there, about cooperating with his battal- ion in a raid he then contemplated. During his absence
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Company B, under command of Lieut. Bryan, was camped at Boone; and Captain McGuire sent him word about dark that he expected an attack on Camp Mast that night. Lieut. Bryan, however, did not start for that place till the following morning, and when he got near it, discovered the cabins in smoking ruins and all of Company A absent. McGuire had surrendered them to Col. Champion of the Federal Army the night before. They were taken to Camp Chace and kept till the close of the war. It is said, however, that McGuire was not treated as a prisoner, but was allowed a horse and rode away with the officers to whom he had surrendered his men. It was thought at the time that McGuire had betrayed his men to the enemy, and he certainly had surrendered them under the protest of many of his subordinate officers; one of whom, Paul Farthing, told him that if the company was sur- rendered Farthing's life would be surrendered, meaning that he would not survive captivity. He, and a nephew who was surrendered with him, shortly afterwards died in Camp Chace. After the war Major Bingham was a candidate for the State senate before a democratic convention held at Lenoir, and the late W. B. Farthing stated that Bingham was suspected of complicity with McGuire in the surrender of the troops at Camp Mast, and that if he was nominated the people of Wa- tauga would not support him. This led to his defeat and there was talk of a duel between these two; but both decided it was best to leave the issue to the future rather than to two leaden bullets, and the matter was dropped. But feeling still ran high against Major Bingham, and he and his wife, a daughter of John B. Miller of Wilkes, left Watauga together and rode on horseback to one of the western counties, where they taught school till a better feeling pervaded their home county, when they returned. He soon removed to States- ville, where he studied law and practiced law. He died there, a respected citizen and able lawyer, and time has fully , vindicated his memory of the unjust suspicion that once drove him from his home; and no one now doubts his entire loyalty to the cause of the Southern Confederacy.
POST-BELLUM TROUBLES. Soon after the surrender de- serters from both armies committed depredations in and near Jefferson. The citizens of Jefferson sent a delegation to Salisbury for protection, and returned soon afterward with
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Captain Wills of New York, who organized a home guard in every voting precinct. Union and Confederate soldiers who had served honorably were admitted, but their ranks were closed to deserters from each army. Jonathan Osborne was made captain of the North Fork company. Order was soon restored but not before 40 or 50 of these deserters had started into Jefferson, the leader of whom carried a United States flag. They came up Helton street, but when opposite the jail they were met by Joshua Baker, who had been sheriff. Single-handed and alone, he seized the flag, and and swore that no such gang of horse-thieves should disgrace it by carry- ing it. His brother, Zack Baker, stood near and told him to hold on to the flag. These two intrepid men cowed the band of outlaws and the flag was yielded up and given into the keeping of a Union man. Zach Baker was equally brave, and no deserter ever entered his dwelling near Creston till negro soldiers belonging to the regular United States army came at the close of hostilities and did some pilfering. Mr. Baker had sent word to these white marauders that he was waiting for them with a welcome they would not soon forget. They tried to take some of his horses once, but he defied them to do so; and on another occasion, after they had secretly stolen a few horses, he followed them to Tennessee, identified the horses as his property, and took them back with him in spite of the threats of the robbers to kill him.
NOTES.
1See Vol. I, "Literary and Historical Activities in N. C., 1900-1905," pp. 427 to 484. "From The Morning Post, Raleigh, May 11, 1904.
"Co. A of this regiment went from Ashe county, and the "Wilkes Volunteers" from Wilkes. Z. B. Vance was its first colonel, but was soon elected governor of the State. "From "Asheville's Centenary."
"The New Legal Building, the finest office building in the city, stands there now.
"See Governor Vance's Correspondence, 1863.
"Statements of Gen. James M. Ray and Judge J. C. Pritchard.
"Literary and Historical Activities in N. C., Vol. I, p. 485.
"Series 1, Vol. LIII, p. 326, Rebellion Records.
"Condensed from Rebellion Records, Series 1, Vol. XXXIX, p. 232. The guide, J. V. Franklin, says Kirk had only 130 men; but J. C. Chappell, who was with Kirk also, says he had 300 whites and 26 Indians. Wm. Blalock, who saw them at Strawberry Plains, says Kirk had 200 men. The official report says the number was 130. It was supposed by the people of Burke that Kirk intended to take an engine and car and go to Morganton and release and arm the Federal prisoners there.
10According to Wm. Blalock, Kirk's men passed through Crab Orchard, and went up Chucky river, passing through Limestone cove, and crossing the mountain at Miller's gap, two miles from Montezuma, then called Bull Scrape. They then got to the Clark settle- ment, two and one-half miles from Montezuma, and camped there in a pine thicket. Next day they passed through the Barrier Settlement on Jonas's Ridge.
11Letter of J. V. Franklin to J. P. A., March 2, 1912.
1$From Judge A. C. Avery's account in Vol. IV, N. C. Regiments.
18J. V. Franklin's letter before quoted.
14Hack Norton of Madison county, N. C., was his name, according to same letter.
"'Judge Avery's account, before quoted.
1'Statement of Col. George Anderson Loven to J. P. A. at Cold Spring tavern, near Jonas's Ridge postoffice, N. C., June, 1910.
17J. V. Franklin's letter before quoted.
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1ªCol. G. A. Loven's statement before quoted.
1ªCol. George W. Kirk was born in Greene county, Tenn., June 25, 1837, and died at Gilroy, Calit., February 15, 1905.
10J. V. Franklin's letter before quoted.
"Captain James W. Terrell in The Commonwealth, Asheville, June 1, 1893.
"From an account written by Mrs. Margaret Jane Walker, wife of Wm. Walker. She was born March 15, 1826. Married October 15, 1844. "Ibid.
""From the "Woman's Edition" of the Asheville Citisen, Nov. 28, 1895, by Mise Fanny
L. Patton.
"Related by Judge G. A. Shuford. "Ibid.
"By S. F. Thompson, clerk of the court, Sparta, N. C. "Series I, Vol. XXV, Part 1, Rebellion Records. "Vol. II, N. C. Regiments, 1861-65, p. 475.
CHAPTER XXVIII
POLITICAL
IN THE DAYS OF GOOD "QUEEN BESS." On the 16th day of July, 1584, Sir Walter Raleigh's colony landed on Roanoke Island, and took formal possession of the country in the name of the Queen. No day more prophetic of the love of individual liberty, and no more gallant leader could have been found for the beginning of a people who afterwards fought at Alamance, drafted the Mecklenburg "Resolves," and "framed the first written compact that, west of the mountains, was writ for the guidance of liberty's feet."1 The first colony was lost; but others followed, and on the 18th day of August, 1585, Virginia Dare became the first of that sweet and gentle galaxy of beautiful and exemplary women who have made North Carolina what it is today. In 1663, by a grant from King Charles II, all the country lying be- tween the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, and included within the 31st and 36th parallels of north latitude, was given to cer- tain men, and William Drummond was appointed governor of the colony of Carolina. North Carolina, the State, was modest, therefore, when, after the Revolutionary War, she claimed all territory west of the mountains to the Missis- sippi only. "In 1690 that portion of the province lying north of the Santee river was styled North Carolina, and the four southern counties were called South Carolina. From this pe- riod began that long series of oppressions and grievances which finally culminated in the overthrow of the British and the establishment of the independence of the colony.
CLARENDON. "In 1729 this territory would have been em- braced in the county of Clarendon .? At this time the county of New Hanover, with indefinite western boundaries which seem to have extended to the Pacific Ocean, then called the South Seas, was formed, and the name of Clarendon as a county disappears. From New Hanover county in 1738 was cut off and erected the county of Bladen, whose western limits were left undefined. Again from the county of Bladen was formed in 1749 the county of Anson, still with undefined western limits. Here Buncombe's genealogy divides into two
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branches, to be united again in her own creation. That por- tion of her territory which was taken from Burke may be traced from this point as follows. In 1758 Rowan county was formed from a part of Anson county, and up to the be- ginning of the Revolutionary War continued in its entirety. In 1777 was formed from its western portion a new county called Burke.
BUNCOMBE'S ANCESTRY. "That portion of Buncombe county which was taken from Rutherford may be traced as follows : In 1762 was formed from the western part of the county of Anson a new county called in honor of the new queen of England, Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg, by the name of Macklenburg county. In 1768 the western part of Mecklen- burg county was erected into a new county, and named in honor of North Carolina's notorious Colonial governor, Tryon county, but during the struggle for independence the North Carolinians were but little disposed to honor the name of their former oppressor, and when in 1779 this county had be- come inconveniently large, it was formed into two new coun- ties, and the name of Tryon dropped, and the eastern part called Lincoln, while the western portion received the name of Rutherford county, in honor of Gen. Griffith Rutherford."
LOCKE'S CONSTITUTION. It is frequently forgotten that for several years the colony of Carolina was governed by Locke's "grand model" constitution; and but a few lawyers know that it is set forth in full in the second volume of the revised Statutes (1837) North Carolina, where can also be found that much vaunted but little known "palladium" of our lib- erties, "Magna Carta." Locke's plan provided that these backwoodsmen were to have "two kinds of nobles put over them : greater nobles, who were called landgraves; and lesser nobles, who were named casiques. The head of the nobles was to be called Palatine." 3
THE EDENTON TEA PARTY. In Edenton on October 25, 1774, fifty-one ladies crowded into the home of Mrs. Eliza- beth King and signed an agreement to do all in their power to carry out the wishes of the New Bern convention, and de- clined to allow any more English tea to be served on their tables. 4
THE REVOLUTION. In 1773, John Harvey, Speaker, laid before the House of Commons appeals from several other
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colonies for its concurrence in the appointment of a committee to enquire into the wrongs imposed by England on the colo- nists. In August, 1774, the Assembly or Congress met at New Bern, in defiance of the proclamation and denunciation of royal authority. It endorsed the plan for a general congress in Philadelphia in September following. In February, 1775, John Harvey issued a call for the Assembly to meet at New Bern on the 4th of the following April, and a notice to the people to send delegates to a convention to be held at the same time and place. On the 20th of May, 1775, the people of Mecklenburg adopted a declaration of independence, a copy of which was sent to the Continental Congress at Philadelphia. Governor Martin, the royal governor, fled and the provi- sional congress met at Hillsboro on the 20th of August, 1775, and adopted measures for offensive and defensive warfare. On the 4th of April, 1776, the provincial congress met at Halifax, and on the 12th of that month expressed the readiness of the people to declare their independence of the Crown, appoint- ing a committee of safety, with Cornelius Harnett as chair- man. On the 12th of November, 1776, a convention of the people adopted a constitution, which provided for a legisla- ture, judiciary, etc., and the election of the governor by the Legislature. " 5
SEEDS OF SECTIONALISM. Most of the population was in the east and this constitution provided that each county should have two members of the House of Commons, as the popular branch was called, and one Senator. But, with the rapid settlement of the western part of the State, dissatis- faction arose, and as early as 1790 efforts were made to rem- edy this uneven representation. By 1818 the feeling had grown so intense that there was talk of a separation into two States. " The western members wanted the members from each county to correspond to the number of inhabitants, and demanded that the governor be elected by the people direct. Largely through the efforts of David L. Swain, then governor, the question of calling a State convention was left to a vote of the people and adopted by 5,856 majority. 6
EARLY LEGISLATION. In the "Laws of North Carolina," as revised by Henry Potter, J. L. Taylor and Bart. Yancey, Esqs., in two volumes, published in 1821, is found provision for entry takers and surveyors, establishing courts (1777) and
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regulating proceedings therein, directing methods of electing members of the legislature, to encourage the building of pub- lic mills (ch. 122); making parts of Surry county and of "the District of Washington, now a part of Tennessee, into Wilkes county (ch. 127); while chapter 154, laws of 1779, prohibits hunting deer in night time with guns and fire-light;7 chapter 212, laws of 1784, pro- hibits killing deer in woods on the east side of the Ap- palachians between the 20th of February and 15th of August, but permitting the slaughter to continue to the west. Chapter 227, laws of 1784, empowers the county courts of pleas and quarter sessions to order the laying out of public roads. Chapter 201 of the laws of 1784 describes the lands granted to General Nathanael Greene (acts of 1782) to be laid off by Ab- salom Tatum, Isaac Shelby and Anthony Bledsoe, beginning on the south bank of the Duck river. That is now a part of Maury county, Tenn. Chapter 123, laws of 1777, provides a penalty for burning or setting fire to woods. Haywood's Manual, p. 377, provides for the enrollment (with certain excepted classes) of all males between 18 and 45 years of age, fixes penalties for failing to attend musters, gives such members of the militia free passage over all ferries, and exempts them from working roads on muster days. The confiscation of lands belong- ing to all who took up arms against the United States is pro- vided for (ch. 17, laws of 1777), while chapter 2, laws of 1779, gives a list of those whose lands have been forfeited (Haywood's Manual, p. 123). Military land warrants were provided for in ch. 18, laws of 1741 (Haywood's Manual, p. 448), and on page 450 is found the requirement that prisons shall contain a criminals' room, a debtors' room, a female prisoners' room and a negroes' room.
PRISONS IN TOWNS AND COUNTRY. But in the year of our Lord, one thousand nine hundred and twelve there appeared in an Asheville daily newspaper the following: 8
"'I have been visiting these places for five years,' said Mr. Crab- tree. 'I have been urging that North Carolina do away with the chains and establish the merit system. The convicts need help. The work needs evangelists, chaplains. The prisoners have no encouragement.'
"One of the Buncombe road camps, that in lower Hominy, was vis- ited. The officials were found to be kindly and courteous. The objec- tionable double bunk system is used. White and negro prisoners are kept together, 22 men packed in a 30 by eight feet iron cage. Sanitary conditions are very poor as to bed clothing."
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There are also laws concerning runaways, slaves, free negroes and mulattoes.
CONFISCATION. The act of 1779 (ch. 153, p. 384, Potter's Revisal) refers to an act of 1777 for the confiscation of the property of all persons inimical to "this or the United States," and provides methods for carrying that act into effect. A list of those whose property is declared forfeited, comprising almost an entire page, is given.
FINANCIAL LEGISLATION. In 1783 (ch. 185, p. 435) the legislature declared that "the opening of the land office and the granting of lands within the State would not only redeem the specie and other certificates due from (doubtless meaning 'to') the public, but greatly enhance the credit thereof (sic)." In 1783 (ch. 187) a table was given showing the scale by which to determine the value of the depreciation of paper currency, estimated in specie; and a "table of coins," giving the value in North Carolina currency of a guinea, a half-guinea, a French guinea, a moidore, a four pistole piece, a pistole, a double Johannes, French and English crowns, a dollar, a pistareen and a shilling.
WASHINGTON DISTRICT AND COUNTY. In 1777 (ch. 126, p. 349) the State recognized the "late district of Wash- ington," the old Watauga Settlements, by erecting it into a new and distinct county by the name of Washing- ton county. It was to begin at the most northwesterly part of Wilkes, on the Virginia line, and run south 36 miles; then west to the ridge of the Great Iron mountains; thence southwestwardly to the Unicoy mountain where the trading path crosses, and then south to the South Carolina line, and then due west to the "great river Mississippi, then up the river to a point due west from the beginning." Thus, Washington county embraced what is now Tennessee.
FOR THE RELIEF OF MORAVIANS, QUAKERS, MENNONITES AND DUNKARDS. In 1780 (ch. 166, p. 406) an act was passed which recited that as an act had been already passed which required all persons to take an oath of allegiance to the State or be sent out of it, and deprived of civil rights therein, which oath certain persons "pretended " the Mennonites, Quakers, etc., etc., had not taken, and had, under this pretext, entered upon and were then claiming the lands of those sects, it was enacted that all such entries and proceedings thereon should be null and void.
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FORMATION OF FIRST COUNTIES. In 1791 Buncombe was formed from Burke and Rutherford counties; in 1799 (Laws of N. C., p. 98) Ashe was formed, and it is the shortest act of the kind on record: "all that part of the county of Wilkes lying west of the extreme height of the Appalachian moun- tains shall be, and the same is hereby erected into a separate and distinct county by the name of Ashe." In 1808 Hay- wood was formed out of the western part of Buncombe, and it extended to the Tennessee line. The formation of these three counties required an interval of about ten years between each. Then followed the dead-lock of twenty years, extend- ing to 1828, when Macon was allowed to become a county, it having been taken from Haywood. Yancey was formed in 1833, out of Burke and Buncombe. It had thus taken forty-two years to get five counties west of the Blue Ridge. But the leaven of discontent was working, and the convention of 1835 was called by a vote of the entire people of the State.
CONVENTION OF 1835. The convention met at Raleigh in January, 1835, and the demands of the west for the election of representatives and governor by the direct vote of the peo- ple were granted; the right of suffrage which hitherto had been enjoyed by certain "free persons of color"" was abrogated. Catholics were relieved of political disability, the governor's term was extended to two years, and biennial, instead of annual sessions of the legislature provided for. But some- thing had been held back, and that was
"FREE AND EQUAL SUFFRAGE." The first Democratic governor chosen by the people was David S. Reid, in 1850, who favored what was called "free and equal suffrage." To understand this phrase it will be necessary to understand that, under the constitution of 1835, white males, 21 years old, who had paid their taxes could vote for members of the house of commons; but they could not vote for senators unless they owned fifty acres of land. "Free Suffrage" meant to allow any free white man to vote for a senator, whether the voter owned land or not. 10
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