Pag* 2-KINGS MOUNTAIN HERAU>-Tu*MlaY. Octobw 14. 19M
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GARLAND ATKINS GARY STEWART UB STEWART
Publishar Co-Editor Co-Editor
MEMBER OF NORTH CAROLINA PRESS ASSOCIATION
Tho Horald U publUhod by Horold Publishing Houss. P.O. Box 7S2, Kings Moun
tain. N.C. 28086. Business and oditorial oHicos are located at Canterbury Road-
East King Street. Phone 739-7496. Second doss postage paid at Kings Mountain.
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eDnORINS&OPMOW
City is 106 years old
The city of Kings Mountain was 106 years of age
on February 24. Organized on that day in 1874, the
town was operated for more than two years before
the voters successfully exercised the right of the
ballot and duly elected their officials.
It wasn’t because no election was held. The first
election on May 1, 1874 found R.S. Suggs elected
mayor, but in August the results of the election and
board action during the three-months period were
removed from the records. The minutes merely
stated that it had been found that the May election
was illegal. The result was that the town’s first of
ficers appointed at the February 24 town meeting
resumed their seats. These were WA. Mauney,
Mayor, Dr. J.W. Tracy, D.C. Beam, W.T. Falls and
F. billing. All had been initially sworn in by A.F.
Weir, justice of the peace.
The town’s first constable was Emmanuel Patter
son; the first secretary of the board, Joe W. Garrett;
and R.H. Garrett, the first town treasurer.
At its May 1, 1876 election, WA. Mauney re
mained as Mayor and R.S. Suggs became a t^rd
member. Others elected were F. Dilling, R.P.
Roberts and J.W. Garrett.
A The first town ordinances were adopted on
^bruary 25, 1874 and the initial one declared
drunkenness a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of
$1-$10, or a term in jail of 12-24 hours. Later, (in
dicated by a marginal vote) the fine was changed to
$5 and costs with imprisonment at the discretion of
the judge. Other ordinances passed at this time
listed as illegal;
(2) Profanity in public, particularly in presence of
women and children;
(3) shooting of firearms within the city limits;
(4) selling of any article of merchandise on Sun-
■tm
Everyone should give blootl
The true nature of the Red Cross Blood Program
lies in what blood and blood products do, not only
in saving lives of the ill and injured but in helping to
prevent illness and in contributing to the steady ad
vance of medical science in blood therapy .
The Cleveland County Chapter Blood Services is
the largest single program of the Red Cross activity
in this county. More than 6,000 volunteers are used
in this program which includes the active volunteers
who help with bloodmobiles, such as the one held in
Kings Mountain last Friday, and the volunteer
blood donors who come and give.
Another blood collecting visit is set for Wed.,
Oct. 15th in Cleveland County, from 10:30 a.m. un
til 4 p.m. at Ora and D&O Clubhouse at 14 W. Ran
dolph Rd., Shelby.
Blood can only be given in Cleveland County at
Red Cross Bloo^obiles and not at hospitals or
blood banks. Donors may give every 56 days follow
ing last donation, must be in good health at time of
donation, weigh at least 110 pounds, and be 17
years of age with proof of identification, (driver’s
license) through 65 years of age.
All citizens are reminded of the upcoming visit.
ATTEND FLORAL FAIR TOMORROW
The Woman’s Club nor2il fair and Community
Festival annually attracts crowds to the Kings
Mountain Woman’s Club for lunch, dinner, and a
showing of Fall flowers, exhibits, and crafts by hun
dreds of local citizens. This year’s fair is no excep
tion and will feature the Bicentennial theme. Doors
open at 10 a.m. tomorrow (Wednesday) and is wor
thy of support from the entire community.
Letters to the editors
Thank you
An Open Letter to Kings Mountain Citizens:
The Kings Mountain Rotary Run Committee
would like to take this opportunity to thank the
many Kings Mountain Area citizens and businesses
who contributed to the success of our Second An
nual Rotary Run that was held on Saturday, Oc
tober 4, 1980.
Many contributed either time, talents, or finan
cial support to this event which enabled The Kings
Mountain Rotary Club to ftirther support the
Rotary Scholarship Foundation and to provide a
day of enjoyment for the many participants and
spectators alike. We would like to list below the
groups who were so generous and supportive in this
civic project.
First Federal Savings & Loan, of Kings Moun
tain, for co-sponsoring this event.
The employees of First Federal Savings & Loan
for their help on Race Day.
The Kings Mountain Senior High School for use
of the stadium for this event.
Chief Jackie D. Barrett and the Kings Mountain
Police Department for traffic control assistance.
Kings Mountain REACT Unit.
Kings Mountain Rescue Squad.
Kings Mountain Emergency Services, Inc.
Cleveland County Sheriffs Department Reserve
Unit.
Kings Mountain Police Department Reserve
Unit for traffic control on Race Day.
Mauney Hosiery Mills and its office employees
for financial and manpower assistance.
Burlington Industries, Phoenix Plant,' ffy fts
financial assistance.
Kings Mountain Herald for advertising support.
Thomas L. Trott and John Mitchell for donation
of Rotary Run sign.
Coca-Cola Bottling Company, of Gastonia, for
donation of concessions.
Bethlehem Volunteer Fire Department.
Ware’s Mountain View Orchard for donation of
apples.
Bridges Hardware Company and Butler
Refrigeration Company for their donation of
materials.
Kings Mountain High School Band for providing
musk.
Holiday Inn and Shelby Printing for donation of
registration forms.
In addition to those listed above, we thank each
member of the Kings Mountain Rotary Club for
their efforts during this event. Our appreciation
goes also to the many other volunteers who helped
during registration on Saturday morning, to those
who manned the aid stations ^ong the race route,
and to all who freely gave of their assistance on
Race Day.
Finally, we thank and congratulate each of the
304 participants in the actual race itself. These run
ners enjoy going from place to place to compete in
events of this nature for their own self-satisfaction.
In turn, they upgrade their own physical fitness
through a disciplined program of exercise. The
Kin^ Mountain Rot^ Qub takes great pride in
helping to promote this wholesome new way of fun.
ROTARY RUN COMMITTEE
ChorlM Mounay, Doa Grady. Co-Chairman
Congratulations
Dear Editor,
Congratulations on that anniversary. I saw earlier
today that a stamp is being issued to commemorate
the event.
A Y ou live in a very beautiful part of the country. I
can think of no finer place than North Carolina.
DAVID LAWRENCE
ExacuUva Editor, Datroit Fraa Praw
Ed. Note - This letter was written to Everette
Pearson of Kings Mountain and reprinted by per
mission.
You needed program
to tell the players
day except in case of death or sickness; (this first
“blue” law punishable by a fine ranging from $25 to
$50)
(5) gambling labeled a $5 to $20 evil.
The remaining three ordinances related to
privilege license taxes. Liquor retailers were to pay
$25, circuses $25 and theatrical companies doing
business in town $20. The liquor tax was shortly
stricken from the record, it being inferred that the
board wanted no liquor sold within the town limits.
A subsequent request for a license by Carpenter &
Bros, caused the board to order referendum, even
tually set for October 15, 1874, and the vote was
unanimously dry -13-0.
The first town fathers were not easy on
themselves. On March 2, 1875 they voted on
themselves a fine of $ 1 should they fail to attend a
board meeting without good and sufficient cause.
Other items of business transacted by this first
board were - appointment of first policemen, R.J.
Kennedy, R.P. Roberts and Jacob McGinnis; first
property listings showing taxable property of
$24,195 (Dr. Tracy, owning 115 acres had highest
individual valuation of $2,500); tax vote fixed at 25
cents per $100 valuation; Poll tax set at 75 cents.
A year and two days later, the town board api-
pointed Frank Falls the first official cotton weigher.
As the organization progressed other matters ap
peared on the board agenda - the building of a guard
house, the laying out of streets, and specifying the
size of a city block to be 550 feet square.
It was 1930 before Kings Mountain graduated
from “town” to “city” status. In that year the census
topped 5,000.
Today, in 1980, the population is 8,941, based on
recent census figures.
By ED SMITH
In the southern phase of the American Revolu
tion it was sometimes difficult to tell the players
without a program.
Joseph McDowell, who fought against the British
and their Tory allies at Ramsour’s Mill, Kings
Mountain and Cowpens, would marvel in later
years at the way some citizens of the piedmont
Carolinas had switched their allegiances back and
forth during that troubled, threatening time. Many
of the participants in those and similar battles were
well-known by each other, friends, neighbors and
even kinfolk serving on opposite - and often chang
ing - sides.
“In my detachment at Kings Mountain,”
McDowell said, “Were a number of men whom I
knew had been in the Tory camp at Ramsour’s Mill
that previous summer, but who had escaped cap
ture. Also at Kings Mountain, when the fighting
was done, we discovered among the Tory ranks, as
our prisoners, several who had fought alongside me
with honor and distinction on previous occasions!
They, and others like them, were attracted by Ma
jor Ferguson’s promises of food, money and protec
tion for their families, and one could only pity them
in their present plight ... At the Cowpens, as well,
were to be seen among our prisoners former
comrades-in-arms from that glorious day at Kings
Mountain, in three short months having been
seduced from former loyalties. Less to be wondered
at, perhaps, was the presence in our own company
of some of those former Tories from Ferguson’s
corps, who had joined us to avoid imprisonment!”
Though there were probably more neutrals than
we now imagine, and a number who did change
sides with the ebb and flow of the war, an over
whelming majority stuck by their convictions -Whig
or Tory - and risked death, suffering, financial ruin
and banishment for them.
Victory in the war brought ruin to many on the
American (Whig) side: homes and businesses
destroyed, families broken and scattered, years of
service in the military repaid by worthless paper
money. Many veterans received bonuses in the
form of land grants on the frontier. Many others,
already settled there, lost even the lands they had
cleared and fought for to newcomers with “better”
Oegal) titles.
Most Tories had their property confiscated at the
end of the war. Others - those who had conducted
themselves with honor, even amid guerrilla warfare
and atrocity - were able to return home and live out
their lives among their former enemies.
Colonel Anbrose Mills, whose home was in what
is now Polk County, was one of the frontkr’s mou
respected leaderst'TlibUgit $n^ncainiiit<wiki&^u^
• ••
porter of the King’s cause, he had never participated
in nor condoned the acts of terrorism against
civilians practiced by other, less honorable men. Yet
he was hanged by the victors at Kings Mountain, an
act many later regretted. Even the earliest, violently
pro-American historians of this area regarded Mills’
treatment as an injustice. Yet his son, William,
wounded and left on the field to die at Kings Moun
tain, was nursed back to health by neighbors. Mills
returned home and lived to a ripe old age, leaving
many descendants in Cleveland County.
Captain William Green, captured among the
Tories in the battle, had served honorably in the
Lincoln (bounty militia in campaigns against the
British forces until that summer. (Actually, there
were probably as many local men in Ferguson’s
ranks as there were serving against them under
Chronicle and Hambright, probably as many as fif
ty or sixty on each side.) Green not only escaped
hanging as a turncoat, he was allowed to reinlist in
the American ranks, and served the rest of the war.
Green performed the comeback miracle for former
Tories by being elected by Rutherford County to
serve in the state legislature fifteen terms. His suc
cess rankled at least one of his former enemies,
however, a Whig, named James Alexander, who
had been wounded at Kings Mountain. After
brooding about the matter for some years, Alex
ander got his son to contest Green in a race for the
State Senate in 1823. As an early historian later
wrote: "To gain votes Green joined the Baptist
Church. Alexander went to see Green baptized in
Broad River. When Major Green rose out of the
water, wet as a rat and gasping for breath, Alex
ander drew himself to his full height of six foot three
inches and, towering over the people around him,
sang out the following verse: There stands old Ma
jor Green all neat and clean. Though formerly a
Tory, the damndest rascal ever seen ... Now he’s on
his way to Glory.’
The verse became a campaign song and was
Green’s defeat. Kings Mountain had claimed its last
victim. Unfortunately, it quickly happened again.
Sam - a notoriously short-tempered man - rushed in
to the middle of the battle and began fighting his
former friends for all he was worth. “Ferguson,” it
was later said, “Had no stronger supporter on the
hill than Sam Abney.”
Wounded a total of seven times, Sam was one of
those left behind to die. Somehow he survived,
however, nursed by those merciful settlers who liv
ed nearby (who cared for the wounded of both
sides). Sam Abney returned home and for years
u laugted^d told ai^tme who woujd listen - former
i. WSffacJbnffo^isaMbottke^at Mngs Mountain.
Need 25 years to rest up,..
There probably won’t be another big celebration
of the Battle of Kings Mountain for 25 years. It
may take us that long to recuperate from the 200th
event Tuesday.
During the long 18 hours of activities Tuesday, I
think the only thing the Herald staff didn’t par
ticipate in were the train rides on “Best Friend of
Charleston,” which I was sorry to miss. We couldn’t
get from the West side of town to the Depot to
make the rides when they got underway at 1 p.m.
and by the time the Park program was over in late
afternoon, the train had packed up and gone home.
The train ride attracted several thousand people,
young and old, who toured the exhibit car of
Southern Railway. We were among the scores of
people who climbed to the mountaintop of Kings
Mountain and completed the day by attending the
outdoor drama.
Celebration Chairman John Moss said that the
200th Celebration attracted visitors from 34 states
and four foreign countries and estimated the parade
crowds as the biggest in several years. Park crowds
were estimated at about 3,000.
Because of the delay of several platform guests
for the luncheon, including Secretary Cecil Andrus
of Washington, Q.C., the parade was held up while
an overflow of luncheon guests munched on fried
chicken, potato salad, and pecan pie at the KMSHS
Cafeteria. ■ -
It’s no easy task to be chairman of a committee
BATTLE OF KINGS MOUNTAIN
General Ferguson and his “Redcoats” were
camping on top of Kings Mountain.
Ferguson bragged that he planned to bum all homes
and kill all the leaders in the south.
When the mountain men heard that, they gathered
together to fight.
Final plans were made at Cowpens.
On ^turday, October 7, 1980 ...
about three o’clock in the afternoon
The mountain men surrounded the mountain ...
When a musket was fired, the battle began.
In about an hour, the battle was over.
It was an important victory for our country.
We became a free nation!
Fifth Gradan - Mn. Simpion's Raading Clean
WmI School
Lisa Blonton. Wondy Burton. Dana DoUingor,
Michaol Itnison, Alnanda Moss,
Condy Slayton, Larry Woothors. Shono Wood.
Edword Whittington. Grog Young
BATTLE OF KINGS MOUNTAIN
On October 7, 1780
In South Carolina, on top of Kings Mountain
General Ferguson and his “Redcoats”
were camping.
Mountain men surrounded the mountain
And surprised the “Redcoats.”
When a musket sounded.
Lib
Stewart
but to be chairman of a five state committee which
included 1,500 people was a hefty job indeed.
Mayor Moss had been keeping his fingers crossed all
week that the weatherman would smile on the ac
tivities and sweating out program speakers, with
calls back and forth to political leaders to see if a
member of the First Family planned to attend,
which they did not.
With the general election a few weeks off, we can
understand why the Carters and Ronald Reagan did
not attend the Celebration, but we hope U.S. In
terior Secretary Andrus reports to the President
that he missed a lot. The spirit of awareness of our
place in history was rekindled with color and
pageantry. Good crowds attended most all events
and the Celebration will be regarded as one of the
most significant in the city’s and National Military
Park’s history.
The Herald scutes all those who had a role in the
200th Celebration
Poets
Corner
they started up the mountain
Rushing and shouting, they took deadly aim.
Less thm an llqgr l^erthe “Redcoats” surrendered.
Twas a .gregt>victory for our country!
Fourth Gradora Mn. Simpaon'a Raading riw.
Woat School
Corrlo Dilling. lohnny Biddix. Kim Failo,
Lori Houaw, Donnio Roynolda, Ricky Rippy,
Dobro Sloyton, ShoUa Stampw.
Bornard Thompson. Cathy Wooror
Hill
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