Newspapers / The State’s Voice (Dunn, … / Sept. 1, 1934, edition 1 / Page 2
Part of The State’s Voice (Dunn, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
glimpses ■ HILLSBORO H^TQIliC (Continued From Page One) citizens of the town, as lawyers, and teachers. William A. Graham, who next to Governor Bra iiSia more offices of distinction than any other North Carolinian, was a native of Mnooln county, sided most of his life at *** whole gamut of official service from that of a North Carolina legislator- to. govenor, U. S. Senator^ ^ secretary of the g^vy, one, q£ the f-?u- - . Carolinians to hold m WW* ^ the others being* Governor Branch, J; C. Bobbin, and J°Go^Sojr Qtflpm seem?, to.haye held, his county estate, and thither returned his, son W. A. Graham, from vjhich he was chosen, commissioner of Agriculture to be followed by his son, the present commissioner. The father of our present genial and capable lieutenant governor, “Sandy” Graham, re mained- in Hillsboro, where the son now resides. Judge Thomas Ruffin. Judge Ruffin wqq 4, Virginian by Djrwi* graduating, ai Princeton, he located at ^iilsboro. Tljp wagin’ 13p8; Re iftanjied a hgs? Kir^lapd of tRe Hiiisboro community. Judge Ruffin r°se to b,e North Cqrolipg’s. mos^ distinguished chief j»8#c* h£ opipipns ate quoted in, courts throughput. Ameri ca1^anR England. He h/s latter years on his, plantation, \yhicb.. was in what is nqy[ Alamance, county, earlier Orange Mr- E’ranR Nash of, Raleigh^ historian of his native tp.wft, thu? chargcteri^s North Carolina’s distinguished judge: “He was great as a lawyer, great as a judge, great a» a finan cier, great a3 a farmer—a, rugged, indomitable soul in a frame of iron, made to conquer and conquering every difficulty on every side*” Rrederiek Ngsh^spn.of Gpyernor Nasl)L, ro$e to, the superior court benphl 4, H, Mprphey’s career hftS been frequently recounted in North, Carolina,, par ticularly because of his influence on the educational policies of the state.. He. wgs 4. natiye ot Caswpll county, born in 1777: He was educated at the infant university and taught- there three years-, studying law. during the tune-and later under William Duffy, a notable- Hillsboro lawyer of that day* He became a superior • court judge. His- three- ambitions for North- Carolina—were-: better transportation facili ties, better educational opportunities- and* more-in dustrial enterprises, - He died in 1-832. North Caro lina* has had?ifew abler-or more-useful citizens. ;' Dr. Edward Strudwick was the first president of the* State Medical Society. He was a descendant of the Strudwick, family which had its beginning in North Carolina down on the great Stag Park planta tion between Burgaw and Rocky Point. It will -be recalled by readers, of. the voice that Capt. Ashe was qupted a few months ago on the. coming and rise of the Strudwick family, One of the early Strud wieks married one of the several lovely Shepperd daughters, if you remember. Dr. Strudwick’s son, Mf, Shepperd Strudwick, is the recent Democratic appointee as postmaster1 at Hillsboro. The late So licitor Fred Strudwick was another son, Mrs. T. W. ArrowSmith is a daughter. But time and space fail to give a full account of the many distinguished citi zens \yho have resided in the old “borough” town.. The Churches Hillsboro. 'My tarrying in Hillsboro was too short to visit all the points of interest. When I go again I shall es pecially look for the old clock, which lay in the wa ters of Eno River during the Revolutionary war and was afterward fished out and put to work and is pre sumably still working. That famous clock was a gift of King George III in. 1766. It was first located in the church tower; next in the market house. Before it was hidden in the river, the Tories had already taken the weights for the manufacturing bullets. But whence a church to place the clock in? Orange’s First Church of England Minister. Just about the time George III gave Hillsboro its bell; Rev. George Mieklejohn (Littlejohn) arrived from England to serve in St. Matthews parish, which embraced Qrance county. Already the Baptists and the Quakers were on the field. Old Sandy Creek Baptist church, in Randolph county, was then flour ishing, Iii 1771, we know that one of the Regulator leaders was a Quaker. Mr. Littlejohn had arrived rather late to make headway against the strong tide ^ Baptist doctrine. Mr. Mieklejohn, with his form al service* was no match for Shubal Stearnes at Sandy Greek and the fiery Baptist lieutenants spreading the branch organizations of that mother church in every direction. Whatever organization the Episcopalian established died out, for the pres-’ «nt Episcopal church of Hillsboro dates back to only, 1824, 110 years ago. The Presbyterian church daises hack to about 1816. Rev. John Witherspoon was fts first pastor. The first Presbyterian minister in the section was Rev. Henry Patiilo. While tllft Baptists weue. sweeping # . they were do* in NoEth- Carolina. tOgairKfoothnld* in the old towns in which the “°” It tured members. <?£ ■ boro, and then with only 15 members. TheMethod ists, of couree,. had,a l&tg. start,.-3&. i^^L. the MeiiSjtats *• d*P°Wi,1^,\ date of the Hillsboro organization seems to have been lost. The present church building dates back t<? 165^ | Holden’s, and. iurnei^s AppBeBfthesWps* One Dennis Heart* arrived, on tps syeu* iu, from Philadelphia and set up Hillsboro’s first news paper. That paper and its editor assume great im-, portance in the history of North Carolina, not for its superior quality but as that which furnished W. W. Holden his newspaper apprenticeship,, while, if not the same paper, another in Hillsboro trained^ Jo siah Turner; who was to become the inveterate fo§ of Governor Holden in the sixties ah/l ser^nthjs. But- the careers of Holden and Turner, would, alone furnish copy for a booklet. They placed their chief roles as editors and statesmen ij^ Raleiglj,. Turner’s Almanac still' survives as a memorial, of. Turner was one of: those Kuklujt leaders arrested, by, troops sent by Governor Holden. He. hayd. l^ejt^a; captain in the" war and in the seventies as. editor of, a paper was outspokep against thq rpcalifies of t^jg. Carpetbag gang. The klue^ers. ^rre&ted were free,by a Federal judge. , Others who had been officers in the war were Ma jor Johm Ws Graham, “Sandy’s’* father, who until re cently has been prominently carrying on- the Grar ham- tradition' of- goofi- citizenship, Frederick Nash, in whose-old home our lieutenant governor now lives, Coioneb J. C. Webb, Captain Steve Dixon, and Capt. W: Gameron-, also the Strayhorns. Collin’s, Lock harts, Wilsons-, and Allisons—a goodly company. Governor- Graham was living and had opposed se cession and was. one of the three- ex-governors who when. Jqffersqp David pasted* in. carrying on a los? ing. fight tp, the^ sorrow of tb«t families furnishing the soldiers, visited? Go^emnii Yance at Raleigh and.: strongly advised, him to. makp, peace, for North Car olina—a,. most se.nflR>le suggestion, a& North, Carolina hadr gone, into,, the wan opts, because she had* refused* 2 to, tight against her. neighbor states whieh had been «led: into. Secession by^ToambS; Davift, and other hot. ' heads, a®| t%p j^vidin^ the most of the sold. iers and the .3$at^pl%9f wa% while the administra* ; tion stilh^^d a^in^all sqpjje to win against the immense odds existing after Gettysburg and Vicks. burg, and even after the fall of Fort Fisher. Those three ex*governpr& spoke some very plain truths to '"'6ovei5br"Y^n<»,r,1*®, it was not altogether of contrary views about the continuance of the war Those” biff Whigs who had s0 steadfastly resisted se cession deserve everlasting praise for the loyalty with- which they- supported^ the cause after their 'Mo^er^ lllHsboRO. It was a tradition, a standing joke, fifty years ago, th$ti Hj^bqrq, a in,w$<% nP- qne-beard tl»e sound oi a <V ^ towjj. Yet, d^s^ite th^risgf^nd.^i^ijeri^ of. Durham only 12. ipilqs aBrd °$ the clty lil^ BfOporU^ni of^^e^Q^ th&lqst carter of a ceotury, ^^en^Hill^pKP QJjUfc a manufac turjje& t*nyn, ^V$.<h^n»«pl 4P& will the, cW,ef my^n^aeforiqs. ft^ni^ employment for mik 4, t&op^d, \ regret that I failed, to m^t th£ p^g.tfirt. of tftpfig, ojft, churches, the pri,i<?ipM of the. fine sgl^<$,;a^ 94&ewL yyhom l shall nqjt ba q$£ tp, mf^tipjkifl. thp, appojwf of, IJillsboro's Present-Dqy qiti^n^^fftHM-. °»& % f&w- hours in town and it a bi& C.oj#f d^ wbe& n}9#y were con fined to the court room where Judge Cranmer was , bearing a- murder- cash; necessarily limited my ac quaintance* But it' is a toe* oi* town, rick in history and tra dition* I* wish I- could' recall-- the authoress of a novel I* read* a few years ago in: which a Miss Ches hire was- the* heroine an* the beautiful little Eno River was so effectively utilize# in the; setting. fit ith®' School Inrit I* have depended for name? and dates largely upon a booklet-got up in 1927 by the- sixth grade of the Hillsboro sefaoeh under the direction of their teacher Mrs. fea&a. Those boys and* gtfrls qre now college students, but they should* bejilf the better ones and 'ever better: citi*ena,_for. their study of- thoir town’s history* Tb$y- based* their- workfr- largely, I presume, upon the history; of-' HiRaboeo published by Assistant Attorney. General Frank Nash* That* work I could not get hold; oft Those* who- have copies appreciate thorn as the apples- of their* eyes* But'Mr* T. M. Ar rowsmith promised to- jot* down- some of the loading fanta and. send tp me, but they hqye not arrived as this, tide is* written* <r. The writer’s first visit* to Hillsboro antedated the beginning of* the publication of; the State’s Voice* It was several weeks, before the first issue, yet a num ber of* good names were put upon the subcrisption list. Among them was that fine genetleman since promoted to the collectorship of Federal revenues iiy North Carolina,. Mr. G. H. Robertson. In Raleigh, it was easy to See ]V|r. Robertson, but now, he is. over at Greensboro, along with, many of the former group located in Raleigh. I hadn’t been back since that 1932 visit. It was gratifying to find our readers not only willing fo renew but some of them enthusiastic in expressions of appreciation of the Voice. Among the latter, I particularly mention Mr. T. M. Arrowsmith, former mayor of the old town. As Mr. Arrowsmith’s health is not good, he has time to discover the full contents of the State’s Voice, If subscribers read it from end to end, they surely get their dollar’s worth. An Interesting Career. Mr. Arrowsmith has had an interesting and. varied career. Born in Kentucky, in the bluegrass country, famed for its horses, he became breeder and trainer for the late General Carr at his Occonneecbee plan tation and stock farm. Oceonneechee boasted seven departments in the charge of seven expert me^ as managers. Mr. Arrowsmith was manager of the race horse department. He had already spent two or three years in California, for the benefit of his health before coming to Oceonneechee. He has traveled in almost every state. During the Occon neechee days, he trained the horeses in Lexington, Ky. After General Carr, upon his advice, disposed of the stables, Mr. Arrowsmith spent a few years’ in Tennessee, several in Greensboro, but finally came back to Hillsboro in 1908. Twelve of the intervening years he served as mayor of the town. He married Miss Mary Nash Strudwick, and the couple have reared; two sons, the one a surgeon in the navy and the other a succesful architect in Louisville, Ky. Probably Mr. Arrowsmith had a more intimate knowledge of General Carr than any other man in the state had; The Present Mayor; ■> The present mayor, in contrast to the former, is a young inan, Ben <5. Johnson, native. olLAtomance. He operate® the. EpHstyoro., cedart mills. I confess that it w&S news, tp me that Smiths Iglandj near South port, was, pn£ Oft cPursp i?,.a great red cedar area. Mr, Johnston, relates, that hp helped- harvest the ceda,r, crop a; few yearh ago. As: in the case of the piedmont, ceda^, I- am, dispose^! to, think the Smith’s, island progenitors, cam? with, the white settlers. The winds- down, there would- serve to spread the seeds, from the parent- trees. In. the ccaMal belt cedar spreads slowly because, oft the level land. One tree i,h the bill, country will sppn aeed a large area lying below, its level. At- the old, farm home in Sampson a; large cedar, full, of berries each year, scattered only a few seedlings within a few yards of it. Mas Johnson is. serving his second term as mayor. He has. been a citizen of Hillsboro for eleven years. Mr, Bt H. Claytor, superintendent of the Orange Schools, is a home-grown product, and a graduate of the University, situated- in, his native county. Yet he began his career as a teacher over here in Wayne, at the Eureka school. He also taught in Granville and Iredell. He became superintendent of the Orange schools in-1917“ and is. likely to continue as Such for. quite a season. The writer is under obli gation to Mr. Claytor for • the loan of the booklet which made it easier for him to give Voice readers a fair account of the-history and traditions of old Hillsboro. Asked as. to the effect of. the low salaries upon the morale, of the Orange teachers, Mr. Claytor express ed-the belief that-no teacher in. the schools was the less, zealous or. energetic- He thought the chief loss to . the school force* from the public standpoint, was due to. their inability to buy- professional books and to, attendt summer schools. The era. of-low salaries has been a-real test of t'ie metal- of North- Carolina teachers. It has been the opinion off the writer that any teacher who failed to do- his-.or herd^sfe because of.- the necessary lowering oP salaries is not worthy oft a place in the school room. North Carolina teachers have proven that they are of the- right, sort—aft least, the most of them Apjj, whom ohp of- them, qjpits. the.- ptPfes<Mon f0r the sake Oft rno^e mqnPy. in, another vacation, we aC" copht tire doftectiop a real, gain to- the schools. W- Bay. hits, been cPwitftf. iwcountant an(1 (Continued on Five),.
The State’s Voice (Dunn, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Sept. 1, 1934, edition 1
2
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75