John Joseph Bruner
Editor And Publisher
BY L. S. MOORE
John Joseph Bruner, the subject of
this sketch, was born in Rowan Coun
ty on the Yadkin River about seven
miles from Salisbury. He was the only
son of Henry Bruner, a gunsmith by
trade, and the third generation of the
name—the first Heruich having im
migrated to America in 1731 with|
John Jacob Bruner, "presumably his
father, as he was then a mere lad of
less than siaifeen years of age. Wheth
er or not the trade of gunsmith was
handed down from father to son is
not positively known, but a few of the
Bruner flint lock rifles are still in ex
istence and are evidently the work of
Henry, the father of the Henry nam
ed above. From wills dated 1769 and
1803 respectively, it is known howev
er, that they were landowners and men,
of substance.
On September 29th, 1814, Henry
Bruner married Edith, youngest daugh
ter of Col. West Harris of Montgom
ery County and his wife, Edith Led
better of Anson. Col. Harris was a
native North Carolinian, but his fath
er, West Harris, Sr., came from Isle
of Wight County, Virginia, and was
first a citizen of Granville County,
North Carolina, "serving there as
vestryman of St. John’s Parish in
1746, and in 1756 he is one who long
refused to qualify as a Justice of the
peace.’’ Subsequently he settled with
his family in that section now known
as Montgomery County. The history
of this family is of interest, as it cov
ers a period of more than two hun
dred and seventy-five years, going
back to the first settlement of the
country. The ancestor of the North
Carolina branch was one Thomas Har
ris, the date of whose will, as record
ed in Isle of Wight County, Virginia,
is October ye 9th, 1688, and that of
his son, Edward, dated March 25th,
1734. Both father and son leave land
granted them by Patent to their pos
terity. West Harris, Sr., was the son
of Edward' and father of Col. West
Harris, who "on the breaking out of
hostilities with the mother country,
enlisted in the North Carolina Line of
the Continental Amry—9th Regiment ,
—as ^Lieutenant, and notwithstanding
his youth, by patriotism, zeal and in- p
trepidity was advanced before the end
of tbe war to the rank of Colonel. ,
After tbe peace be represented his fel- <
low citizens for a number of years in
the General Asesmbly of the State.
And such was the confidence of the
people iii his probity and intelligence,
■ that any office in their gift was at his
command. In the private walks of life
he was equally esteemed: he was be
nevolent to the poor, and honorable in
all his dealings with the world.”
(Western Carolinian August 7 th,
1826). He died July 19th, 1826, aged
sixty-nine years and was laid to rest
in the private burial grounds on his
estate near the mouth of Beaverdam
Creek.
Here for more than a century had
rested the bodies of members of the
Harris families, but owing to the fact
that when the big dam on the Yadkin
’ near Badin, then under construction
_1916—was finished and the waters
turned on, practically submerging ten
thousand acres of land, this among
others, would become the bed of a
l 1 C T „ /'nncomiprw’P
Vital UKjyi y v/jl ~-x
thereof, steps were at once taken by
descendants to exhume the remains.
During his life Mr. Bruner had seen
personally to the care of this sacred
spot and had made provisions for its
upkeep after his demise, hence it was
deemed but fitting that the ahes of his
beloved dead should lie with his in the
old English Cemetery, there to await
the Resurrection Morn.
The exhuming of these remains, of
which seven in number were brought
.to Salisbury, goes back into the his
tory of the family in North Carolina
nearly two hundred years, the eldest
being West Harris, Sr., born August
13th, 1715, died May 14th, 1795.
To Henry Bruner and Edith, his
wife, two children were born, Salina
Williamson, first and only daughter,
August 4th, 1815, and John Joseph,
March 12th, 1817. When the latter
was a little over two years old, his
father died and his mother with her
two children returned to her father’s
residence in Montgomery.
In 182 5 John Joseph came to Sal
isbury, under the care of his uncle,
the Hon- Charles Fisher, father of Col.
Chas. F. Fisher who fell at the Battle
of Bull Run. His first year in Salis
bury was s.pent in attending the school
taught by Henry Allemand and was
about all the schooling of a regular
style he ever received, the remainder
of his education being of a practical
kind, gleaned at the case and press of
a printing office.
When nine years of age, he entered
the printing office of the "Western
Carolinian,” then under the editorial
control of the Hon. Philo White, late
of Whitestown, N. Y. In 1830, the
"Carolinian” passed into the hands oi
the Hon. Burton Craige, and then in
to the hands of Maj. John Beard, late
of Florida, Mr. Bruner continuing in
the office until 1836. In 1839, M. G
Pendleton of Salisbury and Mr. Brun
er purchased the "Watchman," a Whig
and anti-nullification paper, establish
ed in July, 1832, by Hamilton C.
Jones, Esq., to support Gen. Andrew
Jackson and combat the nullification
movement of that time, started in
jouth Carolina under the inspiration
of John C. Calhoun and other dis
tinguished statesmen of the Common
wealth. Under the above firm name
the paper was continued for three
years, at the end of which time the
junior partner withdrew for the pur
pose of collecting a considerable
amount due the firm and paying off
accumulated debts. This was accomp
*ished in the course of eighteen
months, during which time the paper
was continued under the management
jf Mr. Pendleton as editor and pro
prietor.
In 1843 Mr. Bruner was married to
Miss Mary Ann Kincaid, a daughter
to Thomas Kincaid, Esq. The mother
of Mrs. Bruner was Clarisa Harlowe
Brandon, daughter of Col. James
Brandon of Revolutionary fame, close
kinsman of Matthew Brandon and the
Lockes. Col. Brandon was the son of
Wm. Brandon who settled in Thya
-ira as early as 1752,'and whose wife
was miss cvnn barney oi tnat region,
then known as Cathey’s Settlement.
For nearly a century the name of
Brandon was noted all through the
fadkin and Catawba Valleys.
It has been conspicuous in the fights
jf Ramsour’s Mill, Charlotte, King’s
Mountain, Cowpens and Cowan’s
ord. It is said that in some emergency
luring the Revolution, Col. Fran
cis Locke raised a strong company of
minute men, composed mainly of
Brandons and Lockes. They came orig
inally from England, settled in Penn
sylvania, are found early in Virginia
tnd are among the first immigrants
o this section, one date going back
o 1730.
Having married, Mr. Bruner pre
ared for-his. life work by re-purcbas
lg the ^Watchman” in partnership
mh Sam’l W. James in 1844. After
ix successful years this partnership
vas disolved and Mr. Bruner, becom
ng sole owner and editor, c.ontinued
:o publish it until the spring of 1865,
when Stoneman’s raiders took posses
sion while here on'the 12 th and 13 th j
af April, and after printing an army
sheet, turned the office upside down,
wrecked the principal press and de
stroyed all they could. Upon the ar
rival of the Federal Army after the
surrender, the commander took pos
session of it, detailed printers from the
army to gather up type enough to
print a daily news slip and held pos
session until about the 4th of July,
when they turned over the shattered
establishment to the owner.
Three years later, Lewis FJanes,
Esq., of Lexington, purchased an in
terest in the paper and it was called
the "Watchman and the Old North
State.” Ill health caused Mr. Bruner to
retire from business for a couple of
years, but his mission was to conduct
a paper, so in 1871 he re-purchased it,
and thereafter it made its regular ap
pearance weekly until his death. At
this date the "Watchman” was the
oldest newspaper and Mr. Bruner the
oldest editor in North Carolina. He
was one of the few remaining links
binding the ante-bellum journalist
with those of the present day. The
history of Mr. Bruner’s editorial life
is a history of the progress of the state.
He was contemporary with Edward
J. Hale, Ex-Governor Holden, Wm. J.
Yates and others of the old editors.
When he began the publication of the
"Watchman”, there was not a daily
newspaper or a railroad in the State.
In 1849 the "Watchman” advertised
the "Great Western Stage Line” which
left Salisbury at 5 o’clock A. M. one
day and arrived at Asheville at 8 P
M. on the following day. The adver
tisement under the cut of an old
fashioned stage coach read: "For speec
could not be surpassed.” At the time
of his death no one living in Salisbury
and few elsewhere in the State hac
such an extensive personal acquaint
ance and knowledge of men and event!
in the early years of the last century
He sat under the preaching of every
pastor of the Presbyterian Churcl
since its organization—Dr. Freeman
Mr. Rankin, Mr. Espy, Dr. Spafrow
Mr. Frontis (by whom he was mar
ried), Mr. Baker, and Rev. Dr. Rum
pie, who was his pastor and frienc
for more than_thirty years. He was
scholar in the Sunday School under it
first superintendent and was after
wards a teacher and superintenden
himself. The Hon. Philo White, hi
early guardian and kinsman was ;
high-toned gentleman of the Presby
terian faith and so impressed himseli
upon his youthful ward that he choss
him as his model, emulated his exam
ple and held his memory in cherished
veneration to the end of his life. At
seventeen years of age Mr. Brunet
joined the Presbyterian Church of Sal
isbury, and in 1846 he was ordained a
ruling elder and continued to serve in
that capacity through the remainder
of his life. Ever active and useful in
its ecclesiastical courts his opinions
were often sought and always receiv
ed with deference and repect. The
family altar was established in his
household and he reared his children in
the nurture and admonition of the
Lord. His marriage was abundantly
blessed by a faithful, diligent and af
fectionate wife, who bore him twelve
children, seven of whom preceded him
to rest.
Mr. Bruner died after a lingering
illness, March 23rd, 1890. His end was
peace. As he gently passed away—so
gently that it was difficult to tell
when life ended and immortality be
gan—a brother elder by his bedside re
peated the lines,
"How blest the righteous when
he dies!
When sinks a weary soul to
rest; -
How mildly beam the closing eye,
How gently leaves the expir
ing breath!"
His memory must ever shine out as
one of the purest, sweetest, best ele
ments of the past. His character was
singularly beautiful and upright, and
his life an unwritten sermon.
He was emphatically a self-made
man. His learning he acquired by his
own unaided efforts, his property he
earned by the sweat of his brow and
his reputation he achieved by prud
' ence, wisdom and faithfulness in all
the duties of life. By his paper he
helped thousands of men to honorable
and lucrative office, but he never
helped himself.
After the war he adhered with un
wavering fidelity to the Democratic
party which he believed was the only
hope and refuge of the true friends of
liberty anywhere in America; and he
never faltered in his allegiance to those
principles which he believed every true
Southern man should adhere to. Up
to the very last he was.unflinching
and unwavering in his love for the
South and in his adherence to the best
ideals and traditions of the land of his
nativity. At no time during his life
did he ever "crook the pregnant hing
nr Irnan flaif ri-f ♦" tniollf ffll
low fawning.” In the very best sense
of the word, he was a Southern gentle
man of the Old School. The old South
and the new. was all one to him—the
same old land, the same old people,
the same old traditions—the land of
Washington, of Jefferson, of Calhoun
and Jackson, of Pettigrew and Fish
er, of Graham and Craige, of Stone
wall Jackson, of Robert E. Lee and
Jefferson Davis.
He was honest and economical, al
ways living within his means. He was
not only honorable in financial mat
ters, but the soul of candor and hon
esty in the expression of his opinions.
He "did not needlessly parade his con
victions of men and things, but when
he did express a judgment, it was an
honest one. It is probable that he nev
er consciously flattered a man in his
life.
A man of great moral courage, he
did not fear to face and oppose able
and distinguished men if he thought
they were wrong. Though never a
neutral in politics, morals or religion,
but having strong party affinities, he
would still upon accasion throw off
the tramels of party and speak forth
his independent convictions. He did
not obtrude himself upon public not
ice and was willing to take the lowest
seat unless there was a call for his ap
pearance. He dared more to satisfy his
own conscience and please God, than
to have honor among men.
The following from the pen of the
late John S. Henderon is characteristic
—''Now that he is gone, he will b
appreciated at his true worth, as on
of this world’s true noblemen. I kneM
Mr. Bruner all my life and I alway
admired and revered him. Sometime
I disagreed with him in opinion, bu
, in doing so I always felt that possibh
f might be wrong, knowing as I di<
that while he was slow in coming t<
a conclusion, when once his opiniot
was formed, he adhered to it with ar
undeviating and inflexible fixedness oJ
purpose. He was a just man in all hii
dealings and conscientious and truth
ful always. In politics, he was always
true to his convictions and to his par
ty principals—but he was anything
but a time-server. He had a perfect
horror of duplicity. As an instance
of this, I remember once, when 1
was in the Legislature, a petition had
been forwarded to the Governor re
questing the appointment of a certain
man to an important public position.
Mr. Bruner was importuned to sign
the petition, and did so reluctantly,
but being convinced that he had made
a mistake and that the man was un
worthy, he would not be satisfied un
til he had cleared his skirts of all re
sponsibility in the matter. -He noti
fied the friends of the candidate that
he wished to withdraw his signature
from the petition. The reply was that
it was too late, the petition had been
sent to the Governor. He then wrote
to me to call upon the Governor and
ask him to erase his name from the
list of petitioners. I complied with the
request, and I now remember that the
Governor was very courteous and
made the erasure instantly with his
own hand.”
ror more cnan nair a century Mr.
Bruner was at the head of the "Watch
man”. A bold and fearless advocate
of the rights of the people, he wrote
with great force and fidelity of ex
pression, and always with conserva
tism and great good sense. The high
mindedness, the inflexible and uni
versally recognized integrity of the
man, added to his prudence and fine
judgmlit, gave weight to his coun
sels and rendered him always an in
dividual and an editor of influence.
>Of pronounced views and great deci
sion of character, he was yet the most
amiable, genial and kindly of men, at
all times characterized by a degree of
iberality and cinservatism that won
him respect and friendship even from
those who might differ with him in
matters of Church or State. With but
one hope or purpose—to serve his peo
ple and State, faithfully and honest
ly-he steered his journal from year
to year, from decade to decade, froen
the morning of one century almost
to the morning of another, until he
made himself and his paper honored
landmarks not only of his own town,
but throughout North Carolina. The
editor of the "Manufacturers’ Rec
ord” has said—"No other North Car
olina journalist of earlier days had the
prescience to see apd the ability to set
forth what the future of that State
might be made because of its im
mense and varied natural resources.
Living in the center of a natural dis
trict surrounded by vast forests and
by fertile lands, Mr. Bruner saw that
the State had within itself every need
ed natural material for the creation
and continuance of diversified indus
tries, and while a young editor he be
gan to study these intelligently, and to
give such publicity to them as his cir
culation permitted. Scrupulously hon
t est, he never permitted any statement
e to be made that he did not believi
r to be true, and so, in the course ol
i years, the "Carolina Watchman” cam<
i* to be widely recognized as a safe and
: accurate authority on all such sub
■ jects. Among all the Southern news
1 paper men whose acquaintance it has
' been my good fortune to make, none
i has seemed to me so near perfection in
all that constitutes a true journalist
and a true man as John Joseph Brun
er.” He recorded truthfully and with
out envy or prejudice the birth and
downfall of political parties. He—in
spired by a united effort to American
ize and weld together every section of
this great union—grew eloquent in
praise of wise and sagacious leaders,
and he blotted with a tear the paper
on which he wrote of sectional strife
and discord. He chronicled with sober
earnestness the birth of a new republic,
and like other loyal sons of the South,
raised his arm and pen in its defense.
He watched with unfeigned interest
its short and stormy career, and then
wrote dispassionately of the furling
of its blood stained banner. He was
ever found fighting for what he be
nevea to De tne Dest interests or his
people, and advocating such men and
measures as seemed to him just and
right. An old time Whig before the
war, he aspired not to political pre
ferment or position, but. only to an
honored stand in the ranks of a loyal
and beneficient citizenship. Joining
with the rank and file of the white
men of the conquered South he was
content to lend all his talent and en
ergy in aiding them in the upbuild
ing of an impoverished section.
The greater portion of his composi
tions were editorials upon political or
| practical themes of a public nature.
They were plain, pointed and intelli
gible. He did not pretend to the graces
of rhetoric, though from constant
reading his taste had developed in the
line of transparent, simple' style. He
could distinguish bombast and fustian
from pure English at a glance.
But aside from his editorials, Mr.
Bruner sometimes in leisure moments
indulged in writing graceful little po
ems and essays which he did not pub
lish but put into his drawer, there to
lie for years. These were_evidently jot
ted down at a sitting and have not had
the advantage of critical filing and
resetting—and yet they indicate the
possession of an imagination, which,
had it been cultivated might have won
him distinction in the world of letters.
Blameless and exemplary in all the
relations of life, a Christian gentle
man, he met all the requirements of
the highest citizenship, and what
higher eulogy can any one hope to
merit?
"The great work laid upon his
three score years
Is done, and well done. If we drop
our tears
We niourn no blighted hope or
broken plan
With him, whose life stands
rounded and approved
In the full growth and stature of
a man".
GRANDI MADE AMBESSADOR
i Within 24 hours after displacment
in a cabinet shakeup, Dino Grandi,
for several years Itlay’s foreign min
ister, was appointed as Italian am
bassador to Great Britian.
AVOID EYE STRAIN
Scientific tests have proved the vast
difference between performance of
tasks of individuals with or with
out properly fitted glasses.
Let me assist you to health and ef
ficient work.
DR. N. C. LITTLE
Optometrist
107J/2 South Main
(next to Ketchie’s Barber Shop)
PHONE 1571-W
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I PHONE 108 DAY OR NIGHT
318 S. MAIN ST. SALISBURY, N. C.