EVterfd according to' the Act of 'Congress in the year 1S75,; by R. T. Fclgiium, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. -
VOL. I.-KO. ;1.
RALEIGH, C, AUGUST 14, lS7o.
Pities 10 Cents
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TV:
f-
r-
....
CURTIS HOOKS Jj BOG DEN.
. urtis Hooks Brogden, the subject
of this sketch, was horn in the
- ccinty .'of Vayne,, North-Carolina, on
the old-homestead, about ten miles
southwest of Goldsbor ough . He is
the son of Pierce and Amy BrOgden.
The old homestead, now the property:
of Governor ' BrOgden, descended
from his paternal grandfather, Thos.
Brogdfcii, who was " a soldier in the
' revolutionary warj He was of En
glish and Scotch' origin, and was
noted for his physical strength and
' activity. He was full of good humor,
and generous aJnd kind to his friends
'and neighbors. He caine from Mary
land, and settled in. Wayne county a
: short time before the (- revolutibnaiy
V war. The maiden name of his wife
was Pierce,1' and his son, Pierce Brog
deh, '.was'.the father ; of Governor
Brogden." Pierce Brogden was .an
. industrious, hard-working farmer, and
of unblemished character :" through
life. The mother gi, Governor Brog
den wae the daughter of John Beard,
mi Irishman, who possessed many of
the ncblest traits of the Irish charac-
' ter, rnd who never turned his back:
to a friend r a foe. She was a most
excellent christian woman, and to her
example add teachings may be traced
that high moral character,, and, that
: reverence if or the "Holy Scriptures
for which her oh has yalways been
distinguishjed. Deeply xlevoted to her
son, Curtis Hooks, she1-' taught him
the Lord's DPrayer ag .sooD.as he?lwas
old enough to lisp the words, and she
assiduously cultivated! in his heart
' and mind.from his-ehrliest infancy
the principles , of tnftb, honesty and
"virtue. The father and the mother,
, who were thus devoted to the son,
and who, iii their lninible : sphere, in-r
j cuired sacrifices, and ' labors to fit.
' him for future usefulness, did not live
to witness hi exaltation to the first
tfticio irv tio giit of iAio -people of tVie
State, but they were rendered happy
, . before the cjose ot. their: f"earthlyi ca-
reer by seeing -hinl respected by all
for his talents and integrity, an hon
. ored member, of the .State Legisla
ture, and the most popular man ' in
Ins native county. 1 V
From a very early age Governor
Brogden manifested a lave of books
and a desire to learn Every mo
mente could spafe from the labors
of the fain was ('foted to the acqui
sition of knowledge. By the blazing
. lightwood knot at . night Jio pored
over his books, committing Inueli of
, the English classics ; in prose and
- poetry to memory, and turning them
over in his niind and digesting them
day by day -as he followed the plow.
Ho had neither' timer-nor inclination
Tor. the usual dfv;ersions of - many.
young t men - in he countiy, but he
devqted himself '. his work in the
field amdt to books, aid -as promptly
at xreaching on. Sunday, (being for
; many years a Sunday School teacher,)
: thus escaping the taint even of a' frivo-4
ions and dissipated life. These severe
habits, this devotion to duty, this
-rigid abstinence from everything sa
voring of dissipation, and this love
: of knowledge, "joined jj to hiS" candor
and honesty of v disposition, have"
made him what he is; and will place,
his name in the; history of the State
.side by side with' the names of Al
' rivED I3ockk5hIt,' C overnor Jesse Frank
lin and' Xatk ax lzl IYIacox. ,
i Curtis was put bhis father, to
, following the plow at the early age of
twelve years. ::He ployed.and worked,
on the . farm .every summer, and at
tended a littlc subscription "old field
school'' -after- the crop was laid , by,
But, vvhether at school or at home,
he' never neglected his books: All
.the. books he had werta tjie Bible, the
Columbian " Orator tlip American
Preceptor; Murray's (Grammar and
. Header, the lives pi Tfehlngton "and
Jacksouanu; Pile's Aidthitietic. In
!tnis
way iieJcontinuGd woi4kihL' and
studying un ! il at the ago of ciHitocn,
he
had
ootanicd
j -i
sufficient education
to enable hhh to te'acli an "old field
school," whrch lie did 'with Jmueh: ac
ceptance to il.'e neighbors) until he
entered public life ; V
The manner of .Governor
Bros:-
uuu s entrance into public lile was
extraordinjary, and shows what indus
try and perseverance dn well-doing
may accomplish. 1 . He had never been
to a militia muster until he was eigh
teen, and was required to muster
himself. The second time he attend
ed he was elected Captain and lie
afterwards rapidly rose, through reg
ular gradations, to berMajor-General
of the militia. . He had .never seen a.
candidate for the Legislature until
1 the day he declared himself a candi
date, to wit : the 4th day of J uly,
1838. On that day he plowed until
about eight o'clock in the , morning,
and then rode ten miles to the Court
House,, and after mustering three
.hours, he marched with his brother
officers to the Court House, where
the candidates for ' the Legislature
announced themselves. After the
candidates for the Senate had spo
ken, he handed his gun to a brother
officer to hold, and, at the request of
his friends, stepped;; forward and an
nounced himself for the House of
Commons, in a speech which thrilled
the aridien6, and won fprihini jthe
title of the eloquent Plow Boy of
Wayne county. He canvassed the
county, and was elected to the House
by the1' largest, majority , ever -given to 'den1 warmly endorsed this Sp'roposi
ftny candidate in Wayne. The name tion. i 'It''-w: stubbornly opposed by
and fame of this poor and obscure the Whigs,--and' they, lost theSate in
Plow Boy spread rapidly, and he was 1S50 jby their bpwbition to ift ; jior
politically the child of many .fathers..;
But petted as . he was, and popular as I
he was from the yery start, he; never
lost his balance, was,, never pud up
as a lnail ot f 'nn snf tn ( i v ' m t w i vc
himself, modestly as one of the peo
ple, lroni wno.se ioms he had "sprung.
This was. before he had voted, or waB
old enough to vote. It so happened
that our: friend, the,70vei"hor: 'w3in
lie handed that gun flo his ffieiid .to
hold, and inacfc that speech in old
nTn -i:' t.c
liyilVUVl OUgll, LOUlx
i 1 t 1 1 . ; i
the
i
1 53
iiU LIU lit..
been lidinc:
ever sh:
lions of
Thro
. oU
? parti;
e that ti:;t-,;l.:i.-:
tinprcceclented
- JL.
popularity; m iiisna -
tive connty hriG
1 -.
in a single
instance!: V,nen be hrst
td
i . .
ok his sp:it 1b. -the. ' House ot Com-
nions no .was die vQiinfrest member
of that
bpdv, but kl d House eoiitaic-
in- si
?cn as .'William -A: Grahrrinj
iVl;cliael l-rokoJtoneth Ravnei-. Wil-'
Hdm Eaton, Robert B. Gilliam, rfevid
Rid, Hamilton Jones, Spier "Whit
fiker and others, he soon made his
mark, and was known as "Bough and
Ready" in debate; . ' '
' Governor 'BrOgden was -elected t&
one House or the other qf the Gene
ral Assembly; at ten regular biennial
elections in succession, which would
have made a. continuous service, of
twenty 3'ears in that: body,1 if he had
served out. the; last term in the Senate
for whicl he was elected. While' in
the Legislature he was' djit, all the
most important committees, andwas
for a long time Chairman of the
Committee; on; Claims and the Comi.
mittee on Fiuance, two of the lead
ing . Connnittees. He was thus, as
Chairman of these Committees, a
faithful guardian of the Public Treas
ury.' r ;v V - ".. ; ' ' :
Governor Brogden was a member
of the House of . Commons in 1848,
soon? after Ex-G6vernor, Reid had
broached the once famous issue of
Free SuHage. Free' Suftrage was a
proposition to amend the Constitu
tion 1 by legislative enactment, so as
to confer ; on all the voters J of the
State the right to vote for Senators as
well as Commoners. " Governor Brog-
I CrBflSIIOOKS BROGDEN.
were jail (the -democrats at first: in
favor of it Some of 'the aristocratical
j portion of t3ie iattoi- party opposed
I it, and noiie oi the leaders1 .of that
S i m n mil;l nol- f i! !v
i . Hi
ryii
the
session oi
188 -'It) but
vt'tihad no etef on Curti H.: -og-j
d(n, save-to stimulpte him as iin ad--i
vocate of popular rights. He deliy
! cred a 'well-consitlered; alid : kblo
aver oi j. :.-ee uiiras-e, tliat
tlit.v,' and published it
toiiieonstitiients ::d to the
people
tweiitv
1
of
md
j
in
;i808j-;
:s 'aiterwiire s o loilowed . tne
j :;r.;i:c' priueipli vc,f jii.vtice and ecinaliK'
'Co,'
! in sustaining the recoiistructon acts,
V.'Hl(-'ii,-
iik Ajoverikor v rieia s i:
ree
age, conii iTc.' "jutirnire upon ail.
e
; '; M thersesni of ltoG -'57j while a
member ' of the Senate, Governor
BFglen; waselected Compt poller of
Stato, ! to wlxiclf b:lice ho was regu
larly : re-elected eveiv two' vears for
ten ydnr receiving; the support of
all parties, and discharging the du
ties of said office to the Entire satis-
factibn of the people. The Legisla
ture at each session examined his ac
counts, and invariably complimented
him for the . system, accuracy and
neatness with which his accounts
were kept. U
Governor Brogden therefore served
twenty years hi the Legislature and
ten years as Comptroller,, thus mak
ing thirty years of continuous public
service. Governor Brogden has
never sought or accepted office except
from the people or the Legislature.
In 1869, on account of his well-known
character for honesty and .integrity,
he was appointed by President Grant,
Collector of Internal Revenue for the
Second District of this State, but he
declined the appointment., This of
fice: was a lucrative liie, and not
soughttby him.f Indeed, he has never
pushed himself for office of any kind,
but has. been content to leave himself
in this respect' in the hands of the
people. , - v :t . ,
. In 1868, when the Reconstruction
Acts were put in operation and our
present Constitution adopted, Gov
ernor Broken was again elected to
the State Senate from the counties of
Wayne and Greene This was the
opening bf a new era in the history
of our State.
;he
Le;is?ature
met
in Raleigh on the. 4th day of Jury,
1868. . Ciovemor Brogden -adain took
the lead in the Senatb iii opposition
toVmonopolics and extravagant ap
propriations. He was reic'lected to
the, Senate in 1870, and served in that
body until 1872, when he was nonii
nated l,)y the Republican party for
the office of Lieutenant-Governor.
H, was elected oh the ticket with
i g overnor Aaiaweli, alter an active
f canvass, by, about two thousand ma-
iofitv, and in Januarv, 1873, he oual -
itied as-Irieutenant-Governor'aiid as-
snmed his duties as President of the
Senate. .In this position i he bore
himself with dignity, ability and im
partiality, and he was inyariiably sus
tained in his decisions by the Senate,
not one of themA having-IJn over
ruled. This makes for the Goverfror
tweiity-feur years service in theTieg
islature, crowned at, last with the
tf::ce of President of the Senate.
On the 14th day of July, 1874, on
the death of Governor Caldwell,
Governor Brogden repaired to Ral-
eigh and assumed the duties bf Gov
ernor. His Inaugural on this occa
sion strengthened .the coiifidfchce ;)f
his friends, and won for him; the ie-
spect of men of all parties. . He has 1
steadilymaintained in his adminis--.
tration the pledges which he made in
his Inaugural ; and while he has
been and still. is a riecided Republi-
can in ms convictions ana principles,
his devotion to his native State,. his '
honesty of disposition, his simplicity ;
or manner and character, rnd his .
sense of justice as exhibited in his
official conduct, have secured for him
tne contidence ana esteem ot all.
In 1868 Governor Brogden-'was an
Elector on- the Grant and! Colfax
ticket." Ho made a full canvass of his
District, was chosen i President of the
Electoral College when it met in Raj-
eigh, in December, to cast - the vote,
and on taking the Chair, delivered ai
able and eloquent address. Ho was
also, in 1869, a State Director on the
vYilmington and AVeldon Railroad .
In 1868 he was a'ppointed a Tnistee
of the University; He, also presided
forseveral years as Justice of Wayne
County Courts with credit to himself
and usefulness to his county. Having
read law, and made himself acquaint
ed with its great principles, statutory
ana common, ne was, peculiarly qual
ified to preside as a 'Justice ;: and
though he obtained license, yet - he
was so constantly in the public ser-
vice, at tno cauoi tno people tnat lie
had but little time to devote to the "
practice.
e have thus traced the life of the
Waynef Coihitij Plow Boy from his en
trance on pub
ic lte m to tlie
I'. H?s life presents a
m n - s-. , ii
present timev
bright example foi the imitation -of
the poor boys of our State. It should
encourage them t6 be diligent and
faithful workers with head and hand,
hs. he has beqh ; to be truthful, pa- .:
tient, honest, 'careful, econciniical ; to -
avoid frivolity and! dissipation of all
kinda; to cultivates and irnproro tbeii- J
minds -and hearts jby study and ined
itation, and thus make themselves, as
they grow tip t and enter oil m'anly
life, respectable citizens, .ornaments .
to society,. and .useful public men.
"Lives jj$ eat-.rn'er all remind u. :
We can make our lives suitM-me,.. '
And, deiarfiuiri -leave behind ifs
Footprint?, on the sands ot time v I .
' Governor Brogdbn commenced
public life asj ' ah ingrained Un ion
.Tacktottl, ' Demicrat. He has 'always.
maintained, as be understands them,"
"the great principles of Jefljsrson and
Jacksonrj He has always' believed 1
that the government beioifgs to the
people;; and . that they have a right, '
under just and equal laws, to manage
their affairs in their own way. Equal;
rights to all, special favors to nne is'
his' motto. His sympathies' hate al- -r
ways, been; vijLli the masses' of the
people: - Hence his advocacy .of Free
or Manhood Suffrage- in 18-iS and in ' :
1808. Hence his oppositioii to mT "
prisonment for debt, except for faui
and his support of homesteads ankl .
exemptions fi'oni execution foi-$fc;.'
unfortunate. jAlid he loves the honor '
of his native State so well, and fs so V
honest -himself as a man,' that he has
uniformly itnd warmly opposed every i
tiling that sak)red of repudiation of .;
just debts. His messages and State I
papers his s beeches at the Charlotte '.
celebratiOjii and Msewhere, show that '
the Wayne C 'tnhly P'un ': h,y r is not
the inferior- in mental power of 4 -an v
ot his predecessors; : If helias' nOjt
been trained in all the karninfoof tlib
schools; he is nevertheless a well-i-cad
mail in law, literature and Q-encral.his-
tqry,.
and possesses a ai ge i raid of
knowledge, and, has that-
strong common sense which bridged ,
every-chasm in the pa'ilrof duty, and 1
cbnditcts hiii to fortunate results. In- -1
1 dustry and devotion
1 devotion to dutv are his i
j characteristic s. He never actsinmat- !
J ters large or small, except after due 1
reileetion; and the public mav. there
fore,;kirow that whatever he dees or
omits to do;d j the jresult . of careful,
Xains-taking thought, and proceed
tfrom a disposition to, do right,! '
. In pei ion Governor Brogden ' is
about the , medium jh eight, ; strongly
built, with b me ey!es, rather florid
complexion, and with brownish or au
burn hai Ie is now inthe kiino1
of life.- Inheriting from his ancestors
a robust constitution,' early and con-'
-
i