r December 18, 1930.
THIRTY-ONE MEN HAVE
SERVED AS SHERIFF
r 150 Years Rutherford County Has Been Un
° usually Fortunate in Securing Men of
Ability, Honesty and Integrity in
This Important Office.
By CLARENCE GRIFFIN.
Borinjr Rutherford County's 151
„f history a total of thirty-one
! " have served the county in the
" lt '_ „f sheriff. This office has,
;logout the entire history of the
' ntv. been one of the most import-
V, of the local political offices.
While the duties of the office has
~" ie(l from 1779 to the present, in
\7 nV ways, it is notable that the
I- n who have held this office have al
v ys ha( J charge of, or been respon
se. for the major part of the coun
ty'* most important work.
Two men have held this office for
Period and then at a later date
succeeded in being chosen again.
were William Carson and Wil
,!. "n Wilkin*. The longest period any
X ma n served in this office in the
fr-tory of the county was William
f son. He was sheriff for a total
twenty-seven years, serving from
i-*B to 1801) and from 1821 to
1537. Hi? portrait now adorns the
sheriff's office. The shortest term in
j:., ii s t was that of Garland Dicker
* n , who served three months. Ho
became sheriff in October, 1820, by
virtue of his office as Coroner, and
refused to be a candidate when the
sheriff was appointed in January,
1821.
Abram Irvin was the youngest man
to ever hold this office. He was elect
ed just after his twenty-first birth
day, and served three years.
"William Carson was the first man
to he elected by popular vote of the
people. The justices appointed the
sheriffs for a period of one year un
til 1830, when the popular vote sys
tem was inaugurated.
Five "sets" of fathers and sons serv
in this office. They are Andrew
Hampton and. his son Jonathan
Hmipton; Garland Dickerson and his
M. 0. Dickerson; A. B. Long
and his son. G. W. Long; Martin
Walker and his son, Noah Walker;
John E. McFarland and his son, J.
Everything Reduced For
The Holiday Trade
i
Do your Christmas Shopping here
and save the difference.
Young's
SHELBY'S LEADING JEWELER
SHELBY, N. C.
V. McFarland, and now the grand
son of John McFarland and son of
J. V. McFarland holds the office.
Robert Irvine and Abram Irvine
were brothers, also John H. Alley
and Frederick F. Alley.
Six of these sheriffs have serv
ed their state or country in the ca
pacity as a commissioned officer in
the time of war. They are Richard
Singleton, Andrew Hampton, John
Lewis, and James Withrow, in the
Revolution; Abram Irvine Colonel in
the War of 1812, and M. 0. Dick
erson, captain in the Indian Removal
of 1838 and in the War Between the
States. Several of the other sheriffs
also served as soldiers in time of
The county has been unusually
fortunate in securing as officials men
of integi'ity, ability, and above all,
honesty. During the entire period of
the county's history there has been
only one defaulter in this office. This
defaulter became involved in unsuc
cessful speculation ventures, lost his
; property and carried six other prom
j inent Rutherford county men to
j ruin. His six bondsmen finally re
| imbursed the county for the default
er's shortage, but it broke them up.
Method of Election.
In the early days of the county
jthe office of sheriff, while a respon
sible one, did not appeal to the pub
! lie men at large. Until 1810 there
'was no standard circulating currency
tand the task of collecting taxes was
i
tno easy one. One of the sheriff's de
puties in 1785 reported that he had
j collected "above 500 bushels of In
| dian corn," a quantity of pelts,
j (and shall I tell?) three gallons of
I good West India rum as taxes in his
1 "company" during the year. Early
| cqfunty officials, including sheriffs,
i often took their pay for services
j rendered "in kind." The court rec-
J ords as late as 1810 record expense
THE FOREST CITY COURIER, FOREST CITY, N. C.
bills which were paid in produce col
lected by the sheriff in lieu of "hard
money" for taxes.
The sheriffs, until 1830, were
elected in January of every year by
the justices of the peace. One not
able instance is that until 1830, no
sheriff was ever defeated. He serv
ed until he apparently became tired
of the office and then refused to be
a candidate. During that entire per
iod there is only one or two in
stances where the incumbent had
opposition when the justices met in
January. Whether the election of
sheriff was a "cut and dried affair"
to use a popular expression, or did
not appeal to many office seekei's is
a mere matter of speculation.
In 1829, in response to public de
mand, the General Assembly passed
a public local act, under which the
sheriffs were to be elected bi-annally
by the popular vote of the people,
the election to be held at the same
time the representatives and senators
to the General Assembly were voted
on. Since that time, with the
exception of minor changes
made in 1868 and since, the sheriff's
office has not been bothered much
with legislative acts.
List of Sheriffs.
Those who have served Rutherford
County as sheriff from the formation
of the county in 1779 to the present
are as follows:
Oct. 1779-Jan. 1781 —Richard
Singleton.
Jan. 1781-Jan. 1784 —Andrew j
Hampton.
Jan. 1784-Jan. 1787—John Lewis, j
Jan. 1787-Jan,. 1788 —Jonathan
Hampton. \
Jan. 1788-Jan. 1789—William Ne
ville.
Jan. 1789-Jan. 1790 —James With
row.
Jan. 1790-Jan. 1792—Robert Ir
vine.
Jan. 1792-Jan. 1795 —Abram Ir
vine.
Jan. 1795-Jan. 1796—Daniel Camp
Jan. 1796-Jan. 1798 —James Boyle
Jan. 1798-Jan. 1809 —William
Carson. •
Jan. 1809-Jan. 1814—John Alley.
Jan. 1814-Oct. 1820—Frederick
F. Alley.
Oct. 1820-Jan. 1821—Garland
Dickerson (Sheriff by virtue of his
office as Coroner)
Jan.. 1821-1837—William Carson.
1837-1839—William Wilkins.
1839-1843—James W. Carson.
1843-1846—William Wilkins.
1846-1848—M. O. Dickerson.
1848-1856 —Mat H. Kilpatrick.
1856-1860—A. B. Long.
1860-1872—Martin Walker.
1872-1878—John E. McFarland.
1878-1884 —Noah Walker.
1884-1888 J. B. Blanton.
1888-1892 G. W. Long.
1892-1894—Ed Beam.
1894-1898—James V. McFarland.
1898-1908—Elijah A. Martin.
I 1908-1918—C. E». Tanner,
j 1918-1924 J. W. Beason.
; 1924-1930 W. C. Hardin.
1930 J. Ed McFarland.
Several of these men took other
! parts in the political life of the
| county. James Withrow, Richard
; Singleton, John H. Alley and Wil
liam Wilkins served as representa
« tives in the General Assembly from
! Rutherford county. Richard Single
' ton, Martin Walker and Jonathan
' Hampton served as members of the
■ state senate from Rutherford coun
ty. Garland Dickerson was for a
1 number of years coroner of the
county and M. O. Dickerson served
in the State senate. William Wilkins
was clerk of the county court of
i pleas and quarter sessions and M.
jO. Dickerson was for several years
[clerk of the Superior court. A
ber of minor offices were held at]
various times by the above list of j
men. ;
i
Political Affiliations.
Politics were of small considera-!
tion in the early days in picking a
sheriff. Indeed, it was for many
years after the county was formed
Uefore political parties came into
existence. A few years before the
War Between the States the sheriffs
were invariably Whigs, Rutherford
county being one of the leading
Whig counties of the west. Since
1860 eight Democrats and five Re-1
publicans have held the office. The
The Democrats were A. B. Long, J.
B. Blanton, G. W. Long, Ed Beam,
Elijah Martin, C. E. Tanner, J. W.
Beason and W. C. Hardin. The Re-;
publican sheriffs have been Martin
Walker, John E. McFarland, Noah J
Walker, J. V. McFarland and the
present sheriff, J. E. McFarland.
Rutherford county now has six
living ex-sheriffs: G. W. Long, of
Rutherfordton, R-4; Ed Beam, of
Marion; James V. McFarland, C. E.
> Tanner, J. W. Beason and W. C.
Hardin, all of Rutherfordton.
DEATH CLAIMS I
R. E. L FREEMAN!
Well Known Citizen and Poul-;
tryman Dies—Funeral Was j
Held Last Thursday.
I
Rutherfordton, R-l, Dec. 15
The county was shocked last week
to learn that Mr. R. E. L. Freeman,
well known citizen and poultryman,
who lived about three miles South
of town had died Tuesday night,
Dec. 9 at 10:50 o'clock after an ill
ness of about three weeks. He suf
fered a stroke of paralysis about
twenty days ago and never recover
ed. He was one of the county's best I
known and mo& highly respected!
citizens. )
He leaves a widow and one ad-j
opted son and two brothers, John
A. Freeman of Jacksonville, Fla.,
and Jud Freeman of Oklahoma.
Funeral services and burial were
held Thursday noon at Bear Wal
low church in Henderson county.
Mr. Freeman was 55 years of age j
and formerly lived in Henderson
county. He has made Rutherford |
his home for the past 10 years orj
more. I
He was a candidate for county
commissioner in the Democratic 1
primary two years ago.
MAGAZINE IS
PAL OF BOYS
Those boyhood years between the
ages of ten and twenty are the im
pressionable years—the foi*mativs
| years when the fundamental charac
| ter of a boy is molded into the pat
tern it will maintain throughout the
remainder of his life.
That is why so much importance is
placed on the factors that govern
the lives of adolescent boys—their
companions, their environment, their
reading, the food they eat, etc. At
this age is determined whether
boy will develop into a cheerful or
surely man, generous or selfish, in
telligent or dull, ambitious or indo
lent..
School teachers, librarians, Scout
leaders and others engaged in boy
SOMETHING NEW IN SHELBY
A GIFT SHOP
AT THE PARAGON FURNITURE CO.
»You will find that a f/ .
trip to Shelby and to the ggr
Paragon gift shop will be
both pleasant and profit- y* i-V -
A very large selection of
useful items for the home , i
are on display at one dol- " J
tables, desks, magazine
racks, etc. Priced very SMOKERS
CHAIRS low. SI.OO up
of every description. Re- I\AI if in
asonably priced. DOLLLAK
Items in our gift
Cake Covers
With Maple boards. U T}
Boudoir Lamps Combination
Colonial Desks * SMOKERS
534 95 UD $1.95 and up
3M4.95 up NUT SETS
SI.OO Cedar chests
Magazine Racks
Colonial Clocks BED LAMPS
To close out SI.OO Telephone Sets
about half price. nh.min.ted $7.95 and $11.95
We've bought them right PL^9y ES Many, many useful
and selling them at very SI.OO ltems here f °f the . h°me
low prices. J ver - v reasonably priced.
SHELBY THE PARAGON shelby
| activities have found that THE
| AMERICAN BOY—YOUTH'S COM-
I PANION magazine is one of the most
| favorable influences a boy between
| ten and twenty can have. Its stories
and articles are a force for good
wholesome, alive, inspiring.
The million or so boys who read
this magazine every month consider
H their closest friend. In it they find
the keenest entertainment, adventure,
mystery, athletics, aviation, humor,
everything that delights a livewire
American boy. Its sports articles by
famous coaches and athletes help
boys win places on their school teams.
Its professional articles and biogra
phical sketches aid them in selecting
their life's work. Its keenly analytical
editorials guide them in their daily
problems.
That boy or young man in whom
you are interested would have a
world of pleasure reading THE
AMERICAN BOY—YOUTH'S COM
PANION. Make a subscription to this
magazine your gift to him. Subscrip
tion prices are only $2.00 for one
year or $3.00 for three years. Mail
your order direct to THE AMERI
CAN BOY—YOUTH'S COMPANION
550 W. Lafayette Blvd., Detroit,
Michigan.
TRUSTERS SALT
OF LAND
By virtue of the power of sale
| contained in a certain Deed of
| Trust made by John N. McMurry
' and Ora McMurray, his wife, to the
| undersigned Trustee, dated April
15th, 1929, and duly recorded in the
office of the Register of Deeds for
Rutherford County, State of North
Carolina, in the Record of Mortgages
and Deeds of Trust No. 5, page 239.
to which reference is hereby made
and default having been made in
j the payment of the indebtedness se
j cured by the said Deed of Trust,
! whereby the power of sale contained
j therein has become operative, said
Trustee will on
SATURDAY, JANUARY 10 r 1931.
jat 12:00 o'clock noon, sell for cash
jto the highest bidder, at public auc
j tion, at the Court House door, ir
I the town of Rutherfordton, Norti
j Carolina, all of the following des-
J cribed real estate, situate in the
! County of Rutherford, State of
North Carolina, to-wit:A certain lot
or parcel of land in the County of
■ Rutherford, City of Forest City, State
jof North Carolina, and more parti
cularly described as follows:
Beginning on a stake on the
Southwesterly side of West Main
( street which stake is located at a
point >so feet South 60 degrees and
30 minutes East from the corner
jof the Southeasterly intersection of
I West Main street and a street not
( named, the same being W. H. Pay
.ne s Northeasterly corner, and run
ning thence with W. H. Payne's
I lines South 37 degrees and 30 min
jutes West 146 feet to a stake, J.
jN. McMurry's corner; thence with
J. N. McMurray's line South 60 de
grees East 100 feet to a stake on
.C. S. Hemphill's line; thence with
jC. S. Hemphill's line North 37 de-
I grees and 30 minutes East 148 feet
j to a stake on the Southwesterly side
of West Main street; thence with
the Southwesterly side of West Main
street North 60 degrees and 30
minutes West 100 feet to the place
of beginning.
This property is sold subject to a
prior Deed of Trust executed by
John N. McMurry and wife, Ora Mc-
Murry, to the Commercial Nation
, J al Bank of High Point, North Caro
lina, Trustee, dated April 15, 1920,
{and recorded in Book A-5, of Mort
■ J gages and Deeds of Trust, at page
: j 301, in the office of the Register of
''.Deeds for Rutherford County, exe
cuted to secure the sum of $5,852.-
1|77, the payment of which Deed of
Trust the purchaser will assume.
\ This, the Bth clay of December,
111930.
; THE COMMERCIAL NATIONAL
j BANK OF HIGH POINT, NORTH
j CAROLINA, TRUSTEE.
I j 10-4t. By R. R. BLANTON, Att'y.
, I If the Federal Farm Board loses
II the five hundred million dollars au
thorized for its use by Congress, the
! farmers of the Nation would not
[get more than a fair share of public
: money.—W. M. Schilling. Federal
■Farm Board.
I i ~
«
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PAGE ELEVEN