JAMES RICHARD DOKE
An Interesting Personality, Who Once Resided In
Wilkesboro.
By HENRY REYNOLDS
One of the attorneys to locate
in Wtlkeeboro, in the early days,
for the purpose of practicing law,
*M James R. Dodge. That was in
1186. and on Mav 24th, of that
year, he was married "to Miss 8nsan
Williams, daughter of Ma J.
Joseph William*, Clerk of the
Superior Court of 8urry county.
It would seem, then, as a natural
inference, that Mr. and Mrs.
Dodge arrived there as a newly
married couple. Just why Wllkesboro
was chosen by them as a
place of reaidence is, of course,
not known, hut it evidently held
oat the prospect and promise of
being a good location, at which
an ambitions and diligent young
attorney might make satisfactory
progress lh getting' ahead.
The Dodges occupied the home
recently removed from the lot
southwest of Jthe Court House, in
Wllkesboro, known to many as
the Calloway place, but in later
years owned and occupied by the
late Isaac Chapley Wellborn. The
property now belongs to Dr. Calloway's
grandson, Dr. Fred C.
Hubbard. It is not certain that
the Dodges ever owned the home,
for there seems to be no recorded
deed to them to the property.
While the Dodges lived in Wilkesboro,
four children were born
to them. They were Richard Irv.
ing, born May 19, 1827; Susan
■Taylor,, born April 20, 1829;
Anne Sarah, born Mar. 31, 1831;
and Mary Helen, born March 15,
1833. On January 25, 1838, triplet
ts were born to them, christened
John, Joseph and James, but
the tiiree died before they were
six months old. It is doubtful,
however, that the Dodges were
living in Wllkesboro at that time.
When Saint Paul's Episcopal
church, of Wllkesboro, celebrated
its centennial, on September
13, 1936, it' was recalled and recited
then that that date marked
the 100th anniversary of a bapitlsmal
service conducted by the
Rt. Rev. Levi Silliman Ives, then
Bishop of .the Diocese of North
Carolina, In the home of James
R. Dodge. At that service, three
of the Dodge children were baptized.
It was also stated then
that, shortly thereafter, the
Dodges moved to Lincolnton. It
wonld seem, then, - that twelve
years marked the duration of the
Dodge residence in Wilkesboro.
The Rev. W. L. Sherrill, In his
published Annals of Lincoln
County, asserts, however, that
the Dodges were residents of
Lincolnton from 1834 to 1945.
In this connection it might be
stated that those of the Episcopal
faith, in Wilkes county,' had
no permanent place of worship
until the present church was completed
and consecrated, on July
8, 1849, just one hundred years
ago, this Summer. Among the
charter members of the church
w«re Dr. and Mrs. Calloway, Miss
Fannie Williams and Mrs. Mary
Taylor Williams Peden. The last
two were sisters of Mrs. Dodge.
Among the first to be confirmed
in the church were the Dodge
children.
Mr. Dodge was siyiea uotuutu
by many of his friends, though
he never acquired that title
through military promotion, yet
we find it> easy and distinctive to
refer to him in that manner. He
was, by all the standards of his
time, considered by his contem
poraries as a skilled and success
ful practicioner. He rode the cir- ,
cult and engaged-in a wide and
general practice. He early established
a sound reputation for uprightness
and integrity. Among
his clients was William P.
Waugh, the leading merchant of
Wllkesboro, in his day, and a
co-owner of a chain of mercantile
establishments, located at strategic
trading points through the
Northwestern section of the
State, a precedent followed, at a
later date, by another of Wilkesboro's
leading and enterprising
merchants.
In 1835, J. J. Bryan, then
sheriff of Wilkes county, sold
100 acres of land, 'belonging to
Conrad Eller, to satisfy an execution
in favor of Waugh, at which
sale Col. Dodge became the last
and best bidder, for the fabulous
sum of $26.50. While the title 1
to the land may have been acquired
for a nominal sum, even
by the monetary standards that
day, it clung with unusual tenacity,
for it took three distinct
recorded deeds to transfer title
to the property to Gen. William
Lenoir.
During Col. Dodge's stay in
Wilkesboro, his law practice experienced
two important interruptions.
The first was his appointment
as Clerk of the Court
for Wilkes county. This appointment
was made by the Hon.
Thomas Settle, Judge of Law and
EVjuity, then presiding over a
term of court in Wilkes county.
Col. Dodge gave bond In the sum
of $10,000.00 for the faithful
performance of his duty in that
office, wtyh his -wife's father,
Maj. Joseph Williams, and her
ancle, Nicholas Lanier Williams,
as sureties. This and subsequent
bonds are recorded in Book N, in
the Register of Deeds office. The
second and more important interruption,
though it only limited
bis law practice to civil matters,
was his election as Solicitor for
his district. This office necessitated
his being away from home
% good portion of his time, and
may have been the compelling
reason why the family decided to
move their residence to Lincolnton.
In Lincolnton, aa in Wilkesboro,
Col. Dodge took an active
Interest and part in all community
affairs. He was a member of
the school board there and was
always an enthusiastic and derout
churchman. After' concluding1
their residence in Lincolnton,
the Dodges removed to their farm
In Yadkin county, which some
ane, probably a member of the
family,- infelicitously dubbed
"Log Town.'* This farm is on the
jouth side of the Yadkin river,
near the Lime Quarry, and adloins
Richmond Hill, where Chief
Justice Pearson conducted his
well-known law school.
Col. Dodge's term of public office
was not exhausted by the
two positions already recited. He
was later to be a clerk in the
Legislature, for a period of
twelve years, and was, for a long
time, clerk of the Supreme Court,
sitting at Morganton, as, in those
days, during a portion of the
year, it was accustomed to do.
During much of this time the
family continued to reside on the
farm, which, in the absence of
the husband, as Col. Dodge was
later to acknowledge, was operated
by Mrs. Dodge with rare skill
and success. Even after the removal
to the farm the Dodges
seem to have maintained their
church membership in Wilkesboro.
We find that, in 1858, Col.
Dodge, D r. Calloway, James
Gwyn and Ransom Hlckerson
were delegates from Saint Paul's
to a Diocesan convention at Edenton.
james n. uougu *m uui u m ■
Jamestown, New York, October
27, 1795. He could trace his ancestry
back to Trlston Dodge,
who was a citizen • of Salem,
Mass., in 1660. His father, Richard
Dodge, who had Joined Washington's
army, in 1778, as a fifer,
for the duration, rose to be a
Brigadier General in the war of
1812. Young Dodge, at the age of
seventeen, became his father's aid
and saw service at Sacketts Harbour
and other engagements.
After the war, he got further
military training as a member ot
a company at Albany. Cel.
Dodge's mother was Anne Sarah
Irving, th'e only slater of the celebrated
author and distinguished
diplomat, Washington ilrrlng.
The author presented his nephew
with a full set of his literary
works, which during his whole
life remained a prise possession,
lit Is still in the possession of one
of Col. Dodge's descendants.
Young Dodge received a substantial
academic education. He d»
... .— — ■ "
clined his father'* otter to send
him to Union College, preferring
to accept the prospect, of getting
(Continued on page seven)
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