Category: Biographies

Lives of Distinguished North Carolinians, with Illustrations and Speeches

The publication, in a permanent form, of the most valuable sketches and speeches which have been produced in our State will aid materially in laying the foundation for a distinctive literature. In the beginning, character only is essential; art is a development, and will assum...

Chapters

30. Part 30

He said the organ of the party to which his opponent belonged had said that he had a bad political record, and it had referred to many of his votes and addresses to show that he...

37. Part 37

It is not my purpose, however, to place the slave and apprentice on the same footing. It is freely conceded that there is a great difference between the two conditions, and that...

9. Part 9

The _Life of Macon_ was written in 1840 by Edward R. Cotten; but in his book of two hundred and seventy-two pages, Cotten says comparatively little of Macon, and devotes most of...

26. Part 26

Vance put him among the distinguished men of North Carolina, and for this, if for no other reason, I could afford to put him in this book. Posterity will not lightly overrule th...

45. Part 45

Grimes drove the enemy through the woods and formed on the left of Ramseur, while I was driving the Federals before me in an open field, supported by Cook on my left. The latter...

51. Part 51

If Pollard's malignant charges, made to detract from the honor and glory of an achievement so brilliantly executed and so fruitful of benefit to the cause, were not shown by the...

21. Part 21

The honorable Senator from New York [Mr. Seward], seems to consider the admission of California as a matter beyond all price and all value, to be attained at every hazard and ev...

22. Part 22

His practice as a lawyer was a very lucrative one to have been acquired at so early an age. As an evidence of the esteem in which his abilities and learning were held, he was, a...

23. Part 23

Perhaps he was more thoroughly versed in biography than any man who has ever lived in America; certainly North Carolina never produced his equal in this respect. His wonderful m...

29. Part 29

In 1856 he was again nominated for the second term, his opponent this time being Hon. John A. Gilmer, of Guilford county. Mr. Gilmer had a high reputation both as lawyer and pol...

36. Part 36

"That the prisoner, Will, was the property of James S. Battle, and the deceased, Richard Baxter, was the overseer of said Battle, and entrusted with the management of the prison...

48. Part 48

During the forenoon a brigade, under command of Colonel ----, reported to me for duty, and was placed near the artillery in this second line of earthworks (which had been constr...

54. Part 54

In the Mexican war the commanders-in-chief on both lines were born in Virginia, one of whom became President for his exploits, and the other an unsuccessful candidate for the Pr...

34. Part 34

The effect of this speech cannot be estimated. It aroused the people from their despondency; it animated them to new efforts; it went further, it infused into them the spirit wi...

7. Part 7

General Davie's seat at Tivoli, on the Catawba, was the resort of many of the Revolutionary characters. In their journeys by private conveyance to Virginia or the North, the cus...

31. Part 31

From this academy he went to the University of the State, where he was matriculated in the summer of 1820. His course throughout his college life was admirable in every way. He...

28. Part 28

This imperfect offering is a memoir, not a panegyric. It contains not history, but _particulas historae_--scraps of history, which it is hoped may not be without their use to th...

49. Part 49

Graduating in 1842, he was still a second lieutenant when he was ordered with his command into active service in Mexico in August, 1845. During the three succeeding years he par...

25. Part 25

There has rarely convened from that day to this, even after the resignation of Haywood, an abler tribunal, on any occasion, or for any purpose, than that which tried and convict...

43. Part 43

In his report General Ransom speaks of the conspicuous gallantry of Ramseur and his men, and it was by reason of his soldierly qualities mainly, displayed upon this occasion, th...

32. Part 32

He was inaugurated on the 1st of January, 1845, the oaths of office being administered by Chief Justice Ruffin. The _Raleigh Register_ of that date remarks, that "the audience w...

41. Part 41

The Confederate army occupied about its original position near Manassas until March, 1862, when it was transferred, under the command of General Joseph E. Johnston, to the Penin...

12. Part 12

In the year 1663, Charles II. granted the soil and seigniory of Carolina to eight Lords Proprietors, who, to encourage emigration, held out favorable terms. They promised to adv...

33. Part 33

On the 7th of December Mr. Graham addressed the convention in opposition to this ordinance. The speech which he delivered on this occasion was, perhaps, the noblest effort of hi...

20. Part 20

If this was a just view of the probable--the certain--results of a separation of these States at that time, and under the then existing circumstances, I pray you, sir, upon what...

27. Part 27

In the summer of 1825, upon the resignation of Judge Badger, Mr. Ruffin again accepted the appointment of Judge of the Superior Courts. His recent successes had relieved him of...

17. Part 17

and while, with gay and hilarious nature, frank but somewhat eccentrical manners and unequaled powers of conversation, united with some infirmity of temper, his expressions and...

50. Part 50

The popular impression that the bridges across the Chickahominy had already been swept away when the fight at Seven Pines began on the 30th of May, 1861, is totally unfounded. T...

24. Part 24

The convention met at Hillsborough in August, 1788, and resolved that "this convention will not fix the seat of government at one particular point, but that it shall be left to...

13. Part 13

In all free States eloquence has preceded poetry, history, and philosophy. By opening the road to wealth and fame it subserves the purposes of avarice and ambition; society is l...

18. Part 18

To his hospitality and kind intercourse with gentlemen of the profession, his liberality and assistance to its junior members (whom his gracious demeanor and familiar manners wo...

16. Part 16

"O how wretched," exclaimed the Poet of Nature, "is that poor man that hangs on princes' favors." Miserable is the condition of every being who hangs on the favors of creatures...

14. Part 14

After completing his collegiate course he selected the law as his profession, and immediately commenced his studies in the office of François Xavier Martin, then a practicing la...

38. Part 38

It is not possible that there can be found, anywhere, a plainer manifestation of a decided intent to raise the consideration and standing of the slave than is expressed in these...

6. Part 6

Colonel Davie continued with the army and was present at Hobkirk's Hill on April 25th, and also at the evacuation of Camden and the siege of Ninety-Six. While the army lay befor...

5. Part 5

And it must not be forgotten, too, that Calhoun, for the South, accepted the slavery issue as the gage of battle, though he knew for what purpose it was manufactured. Unity of t...

1. Part 1

The publication, in a permanent form, of the most valuable sketches and speeches which have been produced in our State will aid materially in laying the foundation for a distinc...

11. Part 11

His greatest and most persevering exertions, however, were devoted to the subject of internal improvement. His reports and memoir on that and kindred topics were examined with h...

53. Part 53

This was a frank confession from a Northern scholar and thinker, that Northern politicians sought office with an eye to property and subsistence, while ambitious Southerners sou...

3. Part 3

Why it was that the bombardment, on April 12, 1861, of a Federal _fort_ about to be reenforced "fired the Northern heart" more than the bombardment, on January 9, 1861, of a Fed...

8. Part 8

And the event has proved that his judgment, as always, committed no mistake when it bestowed that confidence. He had his peculiarities--idiosyncrasies, if any one pleases--but t...

4. Part 4

A summary of Lincoln's conduct, while there was yet peace in the land, brings out in startling relief the facts: that he dared at the behest of pampered privilege greedy for rev...

52. Part 52

Hill cherished no unkind feeling toward Bragg, and at the time reluctantly reached the conclusion that it was his duty to join his comrades in urging his removal, hoping that it...

35. Part 35

A great lawyer, a cherished and distinguished citizen having fallen in our midst, in obedience to an honored custom, we turn aside from the ordinary pursuits and ambitions to pa...

19. Part 19

These observations on the professional and public life of the subject of our sketch have been so prolonged that the occasion will permit but a few further remarks upon his gener...

39. Part 39

It was a matter of great gratification to North Carolina when this son, after an absence of a few years, gladly returned to her service. She views his career in arms with a just...

47. Part 47

Immediately upon assuming command of the division, General Grimes actively set about removing all effects of the recent defeats it had sustained. He was busily engaged in reorga...

46. Part 46

General Ramseur was a superb horseman, and on the day of the battle he appeared upon the field well mounted and dressed with unusual care in his handsome general's uniform. He w...

55. Part 55

Cox, William R., his sketch of Stephen D. Ramseur, 456-494; Cox, W. R., see also 464, 465, 466, 467, 473, 475, 503, 508, 513, 516, 517, 518, 520, 521, 530, 561.

42. Part 42

In Major Engelhard's official report of this we find this account: "Late in the afternoon, during the attack of Longstreet and a part of Anderson's Division, General Pender havi...

10. Part 10

Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia have been mentioned by Senators in this debate, and it has frequently been said that the two first had emancipated their slaves; from w...

44. Part 44

On the morning of May 5th, 1864, over one hundred thousand of Grant's troops had crossed the Rapidan, and thence followed that series of battles on the overland route to Richmon...

2. Part 2

The war was about taxation--the usual cause of revolution. A century ago it was taxation without representation; a generation ago it was unequal, discriminating, sectional, and...

15. Part 15

The authority of Shakespeare is often invoked for the position that "there is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune." Without venturing to...

40. Part 40

The beauty of Spanish women has ever been a subject of admiration to all who are endowed with a perception of the lovely. Yet, while acknowledging its irresistible power, there...

56. Part 56

Murphy, Archibald De Bow, sketch of, by William A. Graham, 111-125; Murphy's address at the University of North Carolina, 128-147; letter from Chief Justice Marshall to Murphy,...