Newspapers / The State’s Voice (Dunn, … / June 1, 1935, edition 1 / Page 6
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GENERAL THOMHS OVERTON Claude H. Moore, Turkey, N. C. The Overton family has been traced back to Robert Overton, who was born in Holderness, Yorkshire, England, about 1609. He was the son of Tohn Overton. .Robert Overton was one ol Cromwell’s generals in the Parliamentary wars. In 1650, he accompanied Cromwell to Scotland and was made Governor of Edinburgh It was of Robert Overton that the great poet, John Mil ton, was speaking when he wrote: “Bound to me these many years past in a friendship of more than brotherly closeness and affection, both by the similarity of our tastes and the sweetness of your manners. Robert Overton’s son, William, was born in England in 1638 and came, in 1669, to New Kent County, Virginia, where he was granted 4600 acres of land. He married Mary Elizabeth 'Waters of Saint Sepulcher’s Parish, London. William Overton’s son, Captain James Overton, married Elizabeth Garland, and had a son, James, who married Mary Waller and lived in Louisa County, Virginia. . . Janies Overton’s son, General Thomas Over ton. was born on .August 15, 1753. Thomas Overton served throughout the Revolution; sec ond lieutenant, Ninth Virginia Regiment, August 14 1776, first lieutenant, 1778; trasferred to Tir-t Virginia on March 14, 1778; lieutenant adjutant, Fourth Continental Dragons^ July 1, 1779; and was made Captain on April 24, 1781. Thomas Overton moved to Moore County, North Carolina, in 1787, and was made Colonel of Cavalry for the district of Fayette by the General Assembly. He represented Moore County in the N. C. State Senate during the years from 1787 to 1790. The Colonial Records show that he was granted a large tract of land ill Moore County. In 1787, Thomas' Overton was married to Sarah Woodson of Louisa County, Virginia, who is said to have been a great fiiend of Martha Washington. They had the following children: 1. fane Overton, married James Moore, the son of James Moore and Ann (Thomson) Moore, and lived at ineyard Hill” plantation near Clinton, North Carolina. They had the following children: " Thomas (Governor of Louisiana, 1860-1864) ' -Maria, Jane, Walter, Sa rah, Henry, Anne, John, James, Hardy, and Harriet. 2. Maria Overton, married Captain Isaac (Butler of-North Carolina and lived in Ruther ford Countv, Tennessee. 3. Walter Hampden Overton, was born in Moore County, N.'C.pin 1778* He entered the army in 1808 as lieutenant in the Seventh In fantry and was promoted to higher ranks until the War of 1812. "At the Battle of New Or leans, he commanded" the forts Jackson and St. Phillip. He was made Major-General by the Louisiana Legislature for his gallant conduct in this battle. In 1815, General Walter Overton retired from the army and engaged in planting in iRapides Parish near Alexandria, Louisiana. In 1828, he was elected ‘ as a Democrat' to the Twenty-first Congress. General Overton mar ried Harriet F. Winter of Louisiana and had several children (names of descendants un known to writer). 'Second Wife a Sister of Governor Holmes of Clinton. After the death 6! Sarah Woodson Overton, Thomas Overton was married (1795) to Pene lope Holmes, the daughter of Gabriel and .Mary Carson Holmes of Clinton, Sampson uounty, •North Carolina and a sister of Governor Gabriel Holmes. They had the following children: 1. John Holmes Overton, was born in Fay etteville, N. C., on March 28, 1797. He moved to Opelousas, Louisiana and in 1828 was mar ried to Emily M. 'King. They had one son, (Thomas, who married Laura Waddill and had two children : John-Holmes Overton, who is now a United States Senator from Louisiana, and Winston Overton who was an Associate Justice of the" Louisiana State Supreme Court until his death in 1934. John H. Overton, Sr., died in.Jse\v York"City on March 25, 1883. 2. ^Patrick" Henry Overton, was born in North Carolina in 1801. He married Rebecca Phillips of Tennessee and moved to Louisiana where he died in ~1866. ■'> 3. Harriet Bf'Overton, was born in Tennes see in 1803. * “ She'married Robert C. Hynson in 1828 and moved to Louisiana. They had sev eral children but their names are unknown. 4. .William? SA£©terton died at the United States Military^Academy at West Point, N. Y. , 5. 'James Gs Overtop died mthont mariy-i AN INTERESTING REVIEW OF THE MINUTES OF SPRING HILL TEMPERANCE SOCIETY 1855-1872 By ARNOLD A. McKOY. “Tins which you now behold is sparkling water, a beverage prescribed by God himself to nourish and invigorate his creatures and to beau tify his footstool. As you thus see its countless drops unite and blend into one, so may we blend together in one unruffled stream whose purity shall wash away the stains of Black Intemper anoe. As one stain would suffice to discolor the whole element of purity, so would one unworthy member disgrace our whole society ...” Spring Hill a Breeding Ground of Real Men. • The foregoing is a part of the ritual of the Richmond Temperance and Literary Society founded at Spring Hill on September 2d, 18o5. Spring Hill and the Riverton community, sit uated about five miles above Laurinburg in Scot land county, has long had a cultural and spir itual background. Here it was that John Charles ■McNeill, the finest poetic genius yet born within the State's borders, saw dawn, grew to stature,, met the sunset. Archibald Johnson, militant edi tor, and his preacher-brother Livingston John son.; the Shaws, the Livingstons, the Mcivimans and others—ministers,'lawyers, farmers, good citizens all—-grew up in the shadow of old Rich mond Academy and the Spring Hill Baptist church. “Father” Monroe was pastor at Spring Hill for more than fifty years; and many are the legends that have grown about his memory. They' like to tell, for instance, of the time the com munity was suffering from a terrible drought. At.. Sunday worship members of his flock importuned him to offer up a prayer for rain. Of course the man of God obliged. Before Father Monroe had concluded his one-hour sermon, however, so many bridges and roads'had been washed away that most of the congregation did not get back home until the middle of the following week. •Ever after, though the most pious were a little backward in asking their good man for prayers, nobody doubted at all how1 he rated with celes tial forces. But I digress. Back to our Society. The Society’9 Minute Book. The minutes book of the Society is still pre served. The following facts and impressions'are gathered from the yellowed old record. It cost 25 cents to join the Society; all proceedings were secret; and no unworthy name could be! offered for membership. Everybody upon joining took the following pledge: “I will neither make (un derscored heavily)^ buy, sell, nor use as a bever ing. General Overton Moves to Tennessee. About 1801, General Thomas Overton moved to Davidson County, Tennessee, He became a great friend of Andrew Jackson and was Jack son’s second in the famous Dickinson duel of 1805. Thomas Overton died in 1825 and was buried a few miles west of Nashville, near the “Hermitage.” Another prominent member of the Overton family was Thomas Overton’s younger brother, John Overton, who was born in Louisa County, Virginia, in 1766. John Overton studied law and moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1789. He was elected to the Superior Court in 1804, and served until 1809. In 1811, he was elected to Tennessee Supreme Court and served until J1816. In 1794, John Overton and General Andrew Jackson purchased -the land on which the city of Memphis now stands. “Judge Overton was mentally and morally a sound and strong man.. All his qualities appear to have been substantial rather than brilliant. He was liberal in temperament, and while earnest in advancing his fortune, was a progressive and public-spirited citizen. Probably no man of his time contributed more to the material growth of the State. He is with propriety accorded a high place in the history of Tennessee, and his descendants may'justly be proud of the good and honorable name that he has left them.” Overton died on April 12, 1833. “One of the largest and strongest families in Tennessee is descended from John Overton. It is connected with the leading families in all parts of the state, and is especially strong at Nash ville, Memphis, and Knoxville.” ^Editorial Note: An error here. His par ents came to Moore County in 1887. The. next date 1808 would be too early for the third child of a marriage of 1887 to enter the army. How ever, the error may be in the year of the mar riage and the arrival, which is indicated by the Unlikelihood that a Virginian would be chosen a North Carolina senator the very y$ar of- his . coming t* this state* age any intoxicating drink whatever; and I will regard this obligation binding as J regard my honor sacred.’' Breaking the pledge cost $5 for the first offense; expulsion came with the second descent from the water wagon. Alas, the records show that many good members backslid from time to time! Exercises consisted of debates on current questions; a musical or reading number sometimes an oration or declamation; an open forum, or a public address by a visiting big shot. Women were as active as men in all meetings. Let us now see from the old minutes book what was on the minds of these simple seekers after truth. Society Opposed the South’s Going to War. By 1860 war was. in the air. Should the South Go To War? was debated. No, was the decision of the judges. (Suppose the1 doings of me oucietjf iiau nut uccu aiiu some 01 tile professionally patriotic organizations like tlie Legion, D. A. R., and such had learned of the decision: there would have been war locally, any way). , One year later, however, the same ques tion was argued. Even when the decision was put to the house there was no reversal—there came back again a thunderous No! Other mat ters which were dialectically disposed of af these weekly, afternoon meetings were such questions as these: If You Do Not Like a Person Is It Prudent To Let Him Know It? Yes. Should One Make a Will ? Yes. _ Is a College Graduate a Better Citizen? Emphatically decided in the negative. Should Women Be Educated Like Men? Fifty-fifty on this question. Once de cided negatively, but the women—or the femi nine question, at any rate—had the last word be cause in debating the issue a few years later the affirmative won. As it always does too, war brought its tragic and terrific problems. Should Bushwhacking Be Resorted To By Southern Forces? Should a Confederate Officer Known To Touch a Drop of Liquor Be Deprived of His Command? Should Our Property Be Destroyed Ruthlessly to Prevent Capture by the Enemy? And so on. One can sense instinctively from the old minutes book that things a»re not so well with the little band who have joined together to be temperate in. habits and cultural in aim. Society Hall Ravaged by Yankees. _ Then on April 26, 1865, comes this entry: “After a considerable interval caused by an un welcome visit from Sherman’s thieves, the So ciety meets again. And, of course, when God’s own house is outraged by the Yankee brutes temples of morality and science will not be re spected. We find ornaments of our little temple shattered and ruined. Our book-shelves are empty (underscored), the graves strewn with fragments of valuable volumes, the speeches and productions of members who are sleeping in tneir silent graves trampled and torn in the mire like pearls before swine. Ye illiterate beasts! Ye children of vice! Ye have not demoralized ns! Oh, but they had. Despair began to settle over the Society. Economic matters are debated while Demon Rum is quite forgotten. During Deconstruction, members spend their time with such questions as a Southern protective tariff, the need of agricultural clubs, the most useful profession (teaching, came first, printing second, blacksmithing thirds farming fourth, moulding fifth, and tailoring a poor sixth), repudiation of war debts, and other dull, necessary problems oi living. Only once dqes the old-time fierceness and logic display return. This was in the meet ing, so we are informed, that “Greek .met Greek in solid phalanx of argument” over the question. Resolved, that there was more ic admire than to condemn in the career of Oliver Cromwell, verra, verra deeficuP question for some Scots to decide, if you ask me for an opinion. The sec retary wrote that the “debate lasted until dar and was finally decided in the negative by t e President with “a good deal of reluctance. A Fit Motto for These Days. In 1871 the records end abruptly. Somebo y read the popular poeiri, “Southrons, Yield To Despair” clipped from a Southern PaPe.‘ Written in large capitals in the minutes boo ^ the pass-word now at all meetings: BE CH EUL! That’s aU. Passing, through anotner similar Gethsemane in 1935, Southrons a Northrons could do, worse than adopt the s ^ old pass-word writing, it bravely in the same chirograph^: BE GSESREUL ! The State’*'Voice is only $1.00 per yeal"'^|(j one edition is well worth the price if you all it contains^ sead fe. your dollar,
The State’s Voice (Dunn, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
June 1, 1935, edition 1
6
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