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THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA

THE COLLECTION OF NORTH CAROLINIANA FROM THE LIBRARY OF W. Ltinsford Long UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL

00032761011

This book must be taken from Library building.

{, : r OLD HALIFAX By ABMISTEAD C. GORDON, LL.D. Litt. !>., Staunton, Virginia

Its county seat is Halifax town, In his recent book, "Sunlight on the situated on the west bank of the Roa- Southside," Mr. Landon C. Bell dis- noke; and the county and town in cusses the routes of emigrants from history are distinguished for Virginia into the Southwest, and calls their devotion to liberty and for the attention to "the tide of emigration their which flowed from Virginia into patriotism of their people. Halifax North Carolina and Tennessee, and was represented in the Newbern Con- thence into Kentucky and the west. vention of 1774 by two of its most Long before this Virginia "tide of eminent citizens, Nicholas Long and emigration" started Westward and X William Jones; and in the important Southwestward over the "Wilderness Hillsboro Convention, called to act Road" about the middle of the eight- upon the Federal Constitution adopt- the Tide- een century, people from ed at Philadelphia in 1787, Willie

sections of the i water and Southside Jones was the leader and moving Colony of Virginia had begun to j spirit who, under Mr. Jefferson's in- South and to settle in the east- move spiration, prevented its ratification ern part of North Carolina; and the at that time fcian • because it was records of those eaastern Carolina without a Bill of Rights. counties give abundant evidence of Other distinguished citizens of Hal- the settlements of early Virginians in Revolutionary period were them who participated in this move- ifax in the Davie, a prominent offic- ment. ! William R. | armies and later Not far south of the "Dividing er in the Colonial John Baptista lline" betweenn the two Colonics lay ambassador to France; brother-in-law of Willie the county of Halifax, formed in Ahse, a to the adop- 1758 from Edgecombe County; and Jones, who was opposed and Colonel William Byrd, who left a his- tion of the Federal Constitution, fa- member of Congress tory of the establishment of that later became a v < mous "Line," and who was not very and Governor of the State; and Nich complimentary to North Carolina, olas Long, a son of Gabriel Long, of said of these neighbors: Virginia, and Commissary-General of_ if "The borderers laid it to heart North Carolina. . their land was taken in Virginia; association with Willie Jones, wasL They chose much rather to belong to Connected with Halifax through his") pay no tribute Carolina, where they one of the most celebrated figures inj to God or Ceasar." Due, says Mr. Bell, to the fact the naval history of the Revolution. that this early migration of settlers Colonel Cadwallader Jones, in his from Tidewater and Southside Virgin- "Genealogical Histry," writing of the ia into North Carolina has been "in- two brothers General Allen Jones and adequately understood," and little Willie Jones, says: pains have been taken by the histo- Gen. Allen Jones resided at Mt rians and genealogists to group and Gallant in in Northampton Coun- record the facts concerning it, the ty at the head of Roanoke Falls. Carolina to specific debt of North Willie Jones lived at "The the older part of these sections of Grove," near Halifax. These old the has been little recog- Colony mansions, grand in their propor- nized. As an illustration of his state- tions, were the homes of abounding ment, he states that the Carolina his- hospitality. In this connection, I torians and genealogists "are yet ig- may ^mention that, when John Paul norant of the rate and place of birth Jones visited Halifax, then a young of one (and the same is doubtless true sailor and a stranger, he made the of others) of the mist distinguished acquaintance of those fine old pa- of men connected with the early his- triots, Allen and Willie Jones; he toryy of that Colony ond State." was a young man but an old tar This was Willie Jones, of Halifax, with a bold, frank sailor-bearing who he says "was born in Albemarle that attracted their attention. He Parish, Surry County, Virginia, May became a frequent visitor/at their 25, 1741." houiw*, where he was alwfeys wel- Halifax County, North Carolina, come. He soon grew fond of them, derives its name from the Earl of and a mark of esteem and admira- Halifax, who in 1758 was the first tion, he adopted their name, say- Lord of the Board of Trade. It is sit- ing that if he lived he would make uated in the northeastern part of the them proud of it. Thus John Paul State, and is bounded on the north became Paul Jones—it was his and east by the Roanoke River, which fancy. He named his ship the "Bon separates it from Northampton Coun- Homme Richard," in compliment to ty; on .the south by Martin, Edge- Franklin; he named himself Jones combe and Nash counties, and on the in compliment to Allen and Willie west by the county of Warren. Jones. When the first notes of war

re- ' in person. Mrs. Ashe sounded he obtained letters from ungainly "Colonel Tarleton, you would these brothers to Joseph Hewes, plied: had that pleasure, if you had member of Congress from North have behind you at the battle of the Carolina, and through his influence looked ^ Cowpens!" 1 received his first commission in the 'Tarleton, enraged, involuntarily I navy. I am now the oldest living his sabre. General /descendant of Gen. Allen Jones. I grasped the hilt of entered the ' remember my aunt, Mrs. Willie Leslie at this moment the anger of the Jones, who survived her husband room, and observing the sudden agitation of many years, and when a boy I have officer and cause. She re- heard these facts spoken of in both the lady, inquired the conversation, and families." peated the brief "Say what In her "Women of the Revolution," Leslie said, with a smile: Mrs. Ashe, Colonel Tarle- ^J.Mrs. Ellett speaks of Mrs. Willie you please, than to insult a Jones ,and Mrs. Nicholas Long as ex- ton knows better hibiting a patriotic zeal, a noble lady in my presence." spirit and a devoton to ther country Colonel William R. Davie was long wheh llustrated the attachment of a resident of Halifax County. He was the women to the cause of the Revo- born in England and came to Ameri- luton. ca at the age of five years. He was a which he left Mrs. Willie Jones was a daughter student at Princeton, Continental Army of Colonel Joseph Montford, a strong in 1776 to enter the and returned to patriot, a prominent citizen of Hali- serving in the North, campaign, where hej fax, and a colonel of the Halifax college after the first honors of Militia before the outbreak of the graduated with the joining the army, war. He was distinguished as a Ma- the college. Again captain and was severely son; and died in 1776, just as the he became Stono, which Revolution was beginning. wounded in the battle of temporarily incapisitated him for Another of his daughters, as stated military service. Again, in 1780, he married John Baptista Ashe. answered the call to arms, and rais- Mrs. Willie Jones was famous for ed a troop of cavalry and two com- her personal beauty, her brilliant wit panies of infantry, equipping them and her sauvity of manners. She is out of his own private funds. He took said to have been "devotedly and an active part in the battle of Hang- enthusiastically loved by every hu- ing Rock, of which he wrote a vivid man being who knew her." account that is. published in Wheeler's It was her individual charm, even "History of North Carolina." more than the admiration which the He served successively as captain, young Scotch sailor, John Paul, had major, and colonel, and was at the for her as well as for her husband, battles of Guilford Court House and that caused at the evacuation him to add Jones to his i Hobkirk's Hill, and name, when he left Halifax and went of Camden and the seige of Ninety I into the American Navy. Six. in 1781, he became commissary When Cornwallis, in 1781, led his general of North Carolina; and at the army north from Wilmington to its the close of the war resumed anal surrender at Yorktown, he re- practice of law at Halifax, and mar- mained several days in Halifax, where ried Sarah Jones, daughter of General Jon es. > some of his officers were quartered Allen Jones, and niece of Willie among the families of the town. They; law- |hc was a brilliant and successful were treated courteously but coldly* at Iyer ,and was in his fifteen years by their reluctant hosts; and more* the bar employed in many of the has come down of the than one story most important criminal cases in the scars inflicted^ on the vanity of some State. ,f them by the wit of these patriotic He held many political offices. In women. Colonel Banastre Tarleton, 1787, he was a delegate to the Fed- Jornwallis' leader of cavalry, had eral Convention at Philadelphia, upon been wounded in the hand by a sabre which, though but thirty-one years cut in a personal encounter on the old, he made a decided impression by field with Colonel William Washing- his' knowledge and eloquence. He was ton. One day at "The Grove," during called away from the convention a his stay in Halifax, the Englishman, few days before its adjournment by Jones in sneering terms spoke to Mrs. an important law case, and his name of his recent opponent, saying that he does not appear among the signers. understood that Colonel Washington He was a member of the State Con- an ignorant and illiterate boor, was vention at Hillsboro in 1788, and af- hardly able to write his own name. ter the later ratification of the Fed- "Ah, Colonel," said Mrs. Jones to eral Constitution at Fayetteville he you should know better Tarleton, was offered by President Washington than that, for you carry on your per- a district judgeship, which he declin- son the proof that he can at least ied. He served in the General Assem- make his mark!" bly for a number of terms, and was The English general, Leslie, with one of the founders of the State Uni- some of his officers, was quartered lversity at Chapel Hill. In 1798, Con- at the house of Mrs. Jones' sister, gress having provided a provisional Mrs. Ashe, during the stay of the in- men, Colonel Davie I army of 10,000 vading army in Halifax; and here ' was appointed by President Adams vituperation Tarleton continued his brigadier-general and was confirmed of Colonel Washington, saying to In by the Senate July 1 of that year. Mrs. Ashe that he would like to see I year be was elected Gover- i the same

. the officer, he under- American who [nor and inaugurated December 27. I stood was insignificant looking and

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On June 1, he was appointed by intolerance, prevented the President Adams Ambassador to, ed and France and resigned the Governor- ratification of the Constitution in the ship to accept that office. He was: first State Convenion because of the one of the three men to draw up the> absence of a Bill of Rights. There he treaty with the French Government exerted a subtile influence that was which was ratified by Congress Sep- not conspicious on the floor. If he tember 10, 1890. He is said to have was neither orator nor debater, he| been the handsomest and most dis- was a strategist, disciplinarian, dip- tinguished looking man of the trio; j lomat, who fought with velvet gloves and the story is told that an eyewit- ness of their meeting with Napoleon —with iron within. A characteristic said: "I could but remark that Bon- portrait would show him puffing at, aparte, in addressing the American his pipe in the midst of his farmer Legation, seemed to forget that Gov- followers, suggesting, insinuating, in- x ernor Davie was second in the mis- terspersing his political conversation sion, his attention being more par- with discussions of the crops, farm- ticularly to him." ing implements, hunting dogs, horses. After his return from France he An Anthony in arousing the passions was appointed, in 1802, by President by subtle hints, he was an Iago in I Jefferson, commissioner for the set- awakening suspicions. Here was the , tlement between North Carolina an 1 stuff that Jefferson re- * the Tuscarora Indians, and under the man with the treaty between the State and In- quired, generous and lovable in social j he chiefs, ; dian the remnant of the Tus- relations, in politics relentless, hard caroras removed to New York. as iron. He was the Jefferson of In November, 1805, General Davie — North Carolina "A man . . . the ob- left Halifax to live in South Caro- ject of more hatred and more ador- lina. During the War of 1812 he was ation than has ever lived in that appointed by President Madison mi- State." jor-general in the United States ar- my, and was confirmed by the Sen- His home was "The Grove", situa- ate, but declined the appointment. He ted in the southern end of the town died in' 1820, and was buried at Wax- of Halifax, near Quanky Creek, built haw Churchyard, just across the riv- in the year 1765. The house was seat- er from his plantation. ed amid beautiful grounds, and near- Willie (Pronounced Wiley) Jones, a by its owner maintained a race track, Virginian by birth, was one of the which was used extensively by the most important and distinguished fig- residents .of .the town and by those urea of the State in the Revolution- who came from elsewhere to witness ary period, and in some respects one or take part in the races; and he of the most remarkable men of his kept a stable of pedigreed horses and time. is said to have kept a barge on the Mr. Claude G. Bowers, in his book: Roanoke River that was rowed by "Jefferson and Hamilton; The strug- his liveried negro servants, like gle for Democracy in America," Washington's on the Potomac. draws a graphic and accurate por- At the clo$e of the War Between 1 trait of this notable North Carolina the States the house was unoccupied,

j lieutenant of Thomas Jefferson in and was taken possession of by the' his formation of the Republican Federal soldiers. Later, it was own-' party: ed and dwelt in by the families and' la North Carolina Jefferson found children of Willie Jones' daughters,! a leader cut from his own pattern, Mrs. Eppes and Mrs. Burton. It is an aristocratic democrat, a radical now in ruins. rich man, a consummate politician The Jones family came to Virginia who made the history that lesser from Wales about the middle of the' men wrote without mentioning his seventeenth century. Robert Jones, name—Willie Jones, of Halifax. His grandson of the immigrant, moved broad acres, his wealth, his high soc- to North Carolina, and was tho agent ial standing were the objects of his of Lord Granville. He was educated pride, and he lived in luxury and at Eton in England, and was ap- wore fine linen while the trusted pointed Attorney-General for the leader of the masses, mingling famil- Colony in 1761. As attorney for the iarly with the most uncouth back- Crown and agent of Granville's ex- woodsmen, inviting however, only the tensive domain, he ' became wealthy select to partake of the hospitality and was perhaps the largest land- 1 of his home. There was more than owner on the Roanoke River. a touch of the Virginia aristocrat of Willie Jones' earliest appearance in the time in his habits—he raced, politics was in the Provincial Con- j gambled, hunted like a gentleman. gress that met in Newbern in 1774, I Like Jefferson,- he was a master of and he was a member of the succeed- j the art of insinuation, political and ing Colonial a l conventions of 1775 and social reformer. He loved liberty, hat- 1776. He was a member of the com- i tjmittee in 1776 which prepared a Bill of Rights, modeled on that of George Mason in Virginia, and is believed to have been the j chief author of the doc-

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! ument. He was president of the Com- j aniel Macon, who John Randolph of mittee of Safety, and Acting Gover- Roanoke, said was "the most honest nor until the" election of the first man he ever knew." Governor after the establishment of Mrs. Ellett, in hed "Women of the the State. Revolution," says of Colonel Nicho- In 1787 he was elected to the Phila- las Long's second wife, Mary Mc- which delphia Convention made the Kinnie: but Federal Constitution, Ike Pat- Colonel Long was commissary-gen- rick Henry in /Virginia, who "smelled eral of all the forces raised in North he serve. a rat," declined to He was Carolina, and superintended the pre- of the Continental Con- j a member paration in workshops, erected on gress in 1780; and, as stated by Mr. his own premises, of implements of [ Bowers, the leader in defeating was "war and clothing for the soldiers. His. of Constitution the adoption the by wife was a most efficient cooperator the llsboro Convention on account H in this business. She possessed great of its lacking a Bill of Rights. energy and firmness, with mental

' This was his last appearance in power of no common order. Her i public life. He died June 1801 at his praises were the theme of conversa- summer home "Welcome" near Ra- tion among the old officers of the| leigh and was buried by the side of army as long as any were left who I his little daughter in the cemetery had known her. She died at about 80 his home. The chapel of St. near ! years of age, leaving a numerous College the j P Augustine now stands on I offspring. site of this graveyard, and the grave Mary, a daughter of Colonel Nicho- \of Willie Jones is said to be beneath- las Long and his wife, Mary McKin- the altar. nie, was one of the most famous

| Colonel Nicholas Long, of Halifax, beauties and belles of her day in X was another citizen of Virginia ex- North Carolina. McCree, in his "Life • traction and probably of Virginia ,of Judge Iredell," gives a description

j birth. He was a son of Gabriel Long, written by his brother, Thomas Ire-! of Virginia. His son, Nicholas, was a dell, of the festivities which followed gallant soldier in the Revolution, and 'the marriage of Mary Long to Col- was in the battles of Camden, Cow- onel Basset Stith, of Virginia, in, pens, and Yorktown. He and Major 1790: Hogg had the celebrated race after Thomas Iredell visited Halifax, Tarleton at the Cowpens. It is relat- July 1790. A letter j from'him gives a ed of the younger Long that in the characteristic account of the gay and battle two British cavalrymen pursu- opulent borough. "The divine ed him. He wheeled and safe- Miss , sought f- Polly Long" had .iust^been marred ' ty in flight: they opened fire and in to Bassett Stith, a Virginia beau. The their hot pursuit became separated. nuptials were celebrated b^ twenty- Observing this, he suddenly turned two consecutive dinner parties in and killed each of them successively as many different' I Souses; the dinners with his sabre. being regularly succeeded by danc-s * Colonel Nicholas Long's home was and all terminated by a grand ball. X "Quanky", in the southern end of Among the children of Colonel Bas- Halifax town, on Quanky Creak, op- sett Stith and Mary Long positeposite "The Grove." were: He was a Maria Stith, who married Jud"-e wealthy planter, much given to hos- Joseph J. Daniel, one of the three! pitality: and his house was frequent- judges of the Supreme Court of' ed by the many prominent men who North Carolina, whose other mem- visited Halifax. When President bers at the time were Judges Ruffin Washington made his tour of the. and Gaston; andMarthia Stith who South, he is said to have stopped mar"ed Hon. J. r. j. DanleI> . I attor with Colonel Long for several days ney-general i of , the State and at "Quanky." many for years member of Congress A His first wife was Mary Reynolds, son of j. R . fc DanieI and Martha and his second was Mary McKinnie, Stith was General Juntas ( Daniel, C. daughter of John McK nnie, and S. A., a gallant and distinguished' granddaughter of Barnaby McKinnie, of- i icer, who fell in the battle of Spott- who represented Edgecombe County sylvania^Court House, May 13, 1864. in the Colonial Assembly of 1734.

By his first marriage Colonel Long t had two children: Gabriel Long, and Anne Long, who married William M^-tin, of Halifax. Among the de- scendants of William and Anne Mar- tin were: William H. Battle, of the.

i Supreme Court of North Carolina, and Kemp Plummer Battle, president of the University of North Carolina. William Martin, 2d, a son of William ^ and Anne Martin, married Betsey Macoa» slaughter of the Hon. Nath-

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Judge Joseph J. Daniel was a Soon after his entrance na- upon his 1 tive of Halifax, second a grandson of William term as Senator, he was tend- Daniel, of Virginia, |ered by who was descend- President Jackson the port- ed from folio the Daniel family of the . of Secretary of the Navy, which "Northern Neck" of Virginia, hi which i } accepted. John H. Eaton, at that numbered among ' its members Judge it) me living in Tennessee, but a na- Peter V. Daniel, of the Supreme |t Ive of Halifax County, was made Court of the United States, and Hon /Secretary of War. Thus there was John Warwick Daniel, for many the singular years [ coincidence of two nati- United States Senator from ives of Virginia Halifax County being in the One of Judge Joseph J. Daniels I President Cabine^atjthe same time. I grandsons is Hon. George I Gordon None of the other citiWof Battle, the eminent New York Hali-' lawyer County ^er held so I many Judge Daniel lived J" honor- in the town of able positions as John Halifax, and Branch hc had a country place was at different "Burncourt," times member'of the, in the county I Genera He a- (Assembly, Governor chieved great distinction of he in his early p en ta «ve manhood, and was one in Congress, of the most UnitedUnit'd ^States^ Senator, bnlhant lawyers Secretary of of the State. He was the Navy, and a Governor of Florida. member of the House of Commons | Hf was a man for a number of years, of incoruptible in- was appointed tegrity judge of the Superior .and a high order of Court in 1816 with ability 1 and in an indomitable 1832 was elevated to the wM-paw*r and su- ' preme great urbanity. • bench, which position he held He died at until his death in 1848. Enfield, January 4 1863 He bUriedintheCemet ne- was a man of great simplicity rtTown ^ and many stories are told of his art- °ne Who Another Virginia-born citizen of !???.!!• knew him we" said inat the Governor Hutchings G. most ordinary details of his Halifax was farm were place of whose nativity Dutch to him," and that Burton, the he could not Mecklenburg County in South- even plant a row of was corn." His father, John Bur- Another said that he was kind side, Virginia. and charitable a soldier in the Revolution- and was accustomed to ton, was send around son was educated at his servants with meal ary War. The and and the meat to his indigent neighbors. the Williamsboro Academy to his and time it was no reflection University of North Carolina, » upon a Man to studied law under Judge Henderson. take a drink" with a friend; elected Attorney- and whenever he did Judge In 1810, he was Daniel always General of the State, and held the of- insisted on paying for ids own drink. fice until 181G, when heresigned. Af- Mecklenburg Coun- Chief Justice ter representing Ruffin said of him at ty, North Carolina, for two terms in the time of his death: the Legislature, on a visit to a former "Judge Dainel served his country schoolmate, Willie Jones, Jr., he met through, a period of nearly thirty-two Sarah, the youngest daughter of Wil-1 years acceptably, ably and faithfully. lie Jones, of "The Grove," and sister He had a love of learning, an inquir- of his friend, and married her. He im- ing mind and a memory uncommonly mediately became a resident of Hali- tenacious; and he had acquired and fax, where he continued t& practice retained a stock of varied and exten- law. He lived at "The Grove," and sive in the North Car- knowledge, and especially be- represented Halifax came well versed in the history and olina Legislature in 1817. In 1819, he principle* of the law. He was without was elected to Congress, and eoryed arrogance or ostentation, even of his two terms. learning, had the most unaffected In 1825, he was elected Governor and charming simplicity and mildness cf the fJtate, and was instrumental of manner, and no other purpose in in tne ultimate establishment C .i office than to 'execute justice and F/3tem of public schools. In 1826, he maintain truth'; and, therefore, he was nominated by President John was patient in hearing argument la- Quincy Adams as Governor of the borious and calm in investigation Territory of Arkansas, but the nom- candid and instructive in consultation' ination was never confirmed by the ' and impartial and firm in Senate. Among decision." the earlier notable citizens Governor Burton was an eloquent of Halifax was John Branch, who was orator and an able debator. He had educated at the State University a summer home in the western part where he was a fellow-tudent and as- of Halifax County, known as "Rocky sociate of Thomas H. Benton, who Hill," near Ringwood and 20 miles was i._, in the United States Senate from Halifax. It is now owned when Branch was Secretary the estate of the late George Kant Navy of the in President Jackson's Cabinet man, the Kodak magnate. Here hc During oi hi.: Branch's incumbency of this was residing at the time office occurred the famous episode death, which occurred on a journey of the proper- disruption of Jackson's Cabi- to Texas, where he owned net over Mrs. Eaton. ty. On his way to Texas he visited a cousin in Lincoln County, and stopping at the "Wayside Inn" to sp°nd the night, suddenly became ill and died in a few hours on April 21, 1836. He was buried in Unity churchyard in that county.

1 A prominent citizen of Mali tax and president of the j Weldon & Ports- was John B. Ashe, who has been do- | mouth R. R., which scribed as "a determined son of li- afterwards be-

I came the Seaboard; berty." He was a captain in the his second wife' as the widow Revolutionary Army at the early age > of Governor Ilutch-

' in «' ; <: of nineteen, fought under General - "tfneral l.awren<«» O'Bryan Greene, and was lieutenant-colonel BPhnch, brigadier-gen^rST in the at the battle of Eutaw. He was Confederate States Army ' president of elected a member of the Continental the Raleigh and Gaston Railroad, Congress in 17n7 and served irtiGH member of Congress from the Raleigh District, serving 1788. wa.s again n mcmln i until He ( 18G1, when Congress from 1790 to 1703, and he resigned at the pros- pect of was elected Governor of the State North Carolina's secession,, in 1S02, but died before his quali- receiving upon his retirement from fication for the office. Congress the tender from President Willis Alston, Jr., an ardent fol- Buchanan of the Secretaryship of » lower of Thomas Jefferson, was a the Treasury, which he declined; : Halifax Coun-'j -native and resident of and falling in battle at Sharpsburg: elected a member of ,.ty. He was Colonel Francis M. Parker, gallant the of- : Congress in 1709, and held soldier of the Confederacy, who after fice until 1815, when he retired. He | participating in many battles of the again elected in 1815, and served ;iwas War Between the States was desper- until 1831. many years he was For ately wounded at Spottsylvania and

. a member of the North Carolina Log- incapacitated for further service; Spier j I islature, where he occupied a com- Whitaker, lather and son - the father manding position and greatly in- f an Attorney-General of the State, who , 'I fluenced legislation. removed before the war to Iowa — John Haywood was a resident of the son a Confederate soldier, who Halifax. He was a distinguished | served in the ranks of the Confede- lawyer and was Attorney-General of rate Army, participated in many ot the State and a judge of the Superior its battles, and remained steadfast Court. He was the earliest reporter and faithful until the end at Appo- of the State and the author of a mattox, becoming after the war chair- "Manual of the Laws of North Caro- man of the State Democratic Execu- lina" and Haywood's "Justice." He tive Committee, and Superior Court subsequently moved to Tennessee, Judge; Walter N. Allen, who after and wrote "A History of Tennessee." practicing law in Halifax, removed

He was a leading . lawyer of Tennes- in 1857 to Kansas, where he achieved see and became a judge of the Su- great reputation as a stalwart Demo- preme Court of that State, holding crat, and as editor of the "Topeka the office at the time of his death Democrat"; Edward Comgland, born in 1826. in Ireland, an able and prominent law- John R. J. Daniel was a native of yer, and counsel for Governor Holden Halifax, where he spent the larger in his impeachment trial; and Thomas. part of his Lie. He was an able law- N. Hill, of State-wide reputation as yer and was a member of the State a lawyer, with an extensive practice Legislature for several terms, and in the State and Federal courts, whose Attorney-General from 1834 to 1841, daughter of Col. Nicholas McKinnie when he was ..elected to Congress, .second wife was Mary Amis Long, serving until 1851. He was a vigor- Long, of Weldon. ous and fearless speaker and debat- Eoth of the two brigadier-generals •r; and Thomas H. Benton, in his from Halifax, General Lawrence O'- Thirty Years," quotes from several Bryan Branch and General Junius >li his speeches and accords him Daniel, were killed in battle in the raise for his forensic powers. Af- War Between the States. Ler his first lerm in Congress, he General Daniel was the youngest of nought a plantation in Caddo Parish, the three sons of Hon. J. R. J. Daniel.

: .ouisiana, on the Red River, some His two elder brothers died in early twenty miles above Shreveport, where manhood. His mother was Martha he spent much of his later life, and Stith, daughter of Col. Bassett Stith, died there in 1868. He was a cousin of Halifax, and his wife, Mary Long. of Judge Joseph J. Daniel, and mar- He was a lineal descendant of John ried successively two of the sisters Stith, the immigrant to Virginia, who of Judge Daniel's wife, Maria Stith, espoused the cause of Nathaniel Ba- ./ho were daughters of Colonel Bas- con, the" younger, in his famous "Re-

. ett Stith and his wife, "the divine bellion" in Virginia in 1676; and his I'olly Long." He was the father oi earliest ancestor on the distaff side

< ieneral Junius Daniel, C. S. A., who was Mary Randolph, daughter of Wil- killed in the was battle of Spottsyi- liam Randolph, of Turkey Island, Vir- vania Court House. ginia, who was the progenitor of Ed- There are many other names of dis- mund Randolph, Thomas Jefferson, .inguished residents and citizens oi John Marshall and Robert E. Lee. the county and tqwn of Halifax, General Daniel's descent on the Ran- ./hose careers adorn the history o. dolph and Stith side was also through heir locality and of the State the Burvells and Bassetts, of Vir-

Among Eheni irthoioruew i ginia, who were ancestors of the Moore-, able lawyer and All. .n.-. two Harrison Presidents of the General; ColoneJgiAndrcw .loyne, United States. prominent in the pontics of the coun- General Junius Daniel was appoint- ty for many years, a soldier in the ed, in 1846, to the cadetship in the War of 1812, a business man of dis- Military Academy at West Point, tinction, president of the Roanoke from which he graduated in 1852, and Navig-ation Company, which operated was stationed for five years at Fort the first ateamboat on the Roanoke, Albuquerque, New Mexico. Resigning

: commission in the army at his 1861 to 1865, no part of Halifax lather's solicitation, he became a County was occupied by Federal planter, taking charge of his father's troops, memories still linger there of plantation on Red River. He married, the story of its navy yard in a corn- m October, 1860, Eden, daughter of ncl.l and of the construction from Colonel John J. Long, of Northamp- i agre materials of the Confederate ton County, North Carolina, and up- ram, "Albemarle," which was built on tne beginning of hostilities be- tnd launched on the Roanoke River tween the North and South, returned in 1801 for service against the Fed- to his native State and entered the eral forces and ships in and about service of the Confederacy. He was Albemarle and Pamlico sounds. successively colonel of the Fourth, The builder of the "Albemarle" was (fourteenth and Forty-fifth regiments Peter Evans Smith of Scotland Neck- ind was commissioned finally a brig-, Wdliam II. Smith, his brother, of ' lier-general in 1S62. After partici- 'Scotland Neck, was in charge of sup- pation in various battles, th > troops plies and material ,and Gilbert Elliott .inder his command took part in the of Elizabeth City, ag-d 19, was the tattle of Gettysburg, where General contractor and in charge of finances. .<(• accorded him the high praise of The utmost ingenuity was required tying: "General Daniel, your troops of the builder, for he was called upon shaved aJmirably and they were a

; Churchyard at Halifax by the side of ton Roads. her husband. I Peter Evans Smith and Gilbert Elliott married Many interesting and rqmantic leg- j sisters of Thomas N. ends and stories are connected with Hill, of Halifax. the early history of Halifax, among Elliott said in his report to the them being that of the Crowdls. Xwt authorities, subsequently published in Vol. members of the family of Oliver . V. of the "North Carolina Regi- Cromwell emigrated from England to mental Histories" New Jersey after the restoration, of During the spring of 1863, having the Stuarts, and thence to Halifax been previously r engaged in unsuccess- where they settled. Wheeler, in his ful efforts to construct war vessels "History of North Carolina," says: of one sort or another, for the Con- They fled from England, from the federate Gove-nment, at one point or political storms that impended over another in Eastern North Carolina the name and house of the late Pro- and Virginia, I undertook a contract tector. with the Navy Department to build While on the voyage, fearing that an iron-clad gunboat, intended | if ever persecution would follow from the i,completed, to operate on the waters adherents of Charles II, then on the of Albemarle and Pamlico sounds. English throne, they resolved to Edwards Ferry on the Roanoke i River, change the name. This was done with in Halifax County, North Carolina, solemn ceremony, and by writing about t 30 miles below the town of their names each on paper and each iWeldon, was fixed upon as the most cutting from the paper the "m" and suitable for the purpose. The river casting it in the sea. rises and falls as is well known, and The family pedigree on vellum, re- it was necessary to locate the yard cording these facts, was with the on ground free from overflow to ad- family in North Carolina in an orna- mit of uninterrupted work for at mental chest with other valuables, least twelve months. No vessel was when by a party of Tarleton's Legion, ever constructed under more adverse in 1781, this chest was seized and circumstances. The shipyard was es- taken off. These facts are undoubted. tablished in j a cornfield, where the The record was again made up from ground had already been marked out the recollections of the family, and and planted for the coming crop; but is still preserved among them. From the owner of the land, W. R. Smith, one of them these interesting and Esq., was in hearty sympathy with urious facts are derived. the eiHerpri.se ,and aided me then and Here ,in the quiet retreats of North afterwards in a thousand ways to ac- Carolina, the aspiring blood of Crom- complish the end I had in view. It well found repose, and in the peace- was next to impossible to obtain the ful precincts of Halifax, the exquisite machinery suitable for the work in poetry of Gray was fully realized: hand. Here and there, scattered Some a- village Hampden, who with ;bout the surrounding county, a port- dauntless breast Sole sawmill, blacksmith's forge or The petty tyrant of his fields [Other apparatus was found, however, withstood, and the citizens of the neighborhoods Some j mute inglorious Milton here Ion both sides of the river were not may rest, slow to render me assistance, | but co- Some Cromwell guiltless of his operated cordially in the completion country's of blood. the iron-clad, and at the end of

. Although, during the four years of about a year from the laying oi the the War Between keel, the States from during which innumerable dif-

' by (constant (the downward pressure was fiercely .ipplica effort and m- pursuing the enemy, who wore- finally cessanl ind night, sun ess driven out of the river. crowne ta>rts of those engaged The next day the Confederate forces in the undertak under General Hoke carried Seizing an opportunity offered by the Federal defences of Plymouth by :omparatively high water., the boat storm, captured the own, andt took j was launched^ not without misgivings storm, captured the town, and took \ is to the result, lor the yard being Tho iron-clad, built in the cornfield m a bluff, she hat! to .take a jump, of Halifax County, had performed a! ind a; a matter of fact was "hog- prominent part in the sanguinary j attempt; but to our great and brilliant capture of Plymouth. ged" in th j "ratification did not thereby spring Some months later, after various **&" .. l^alv The diti.iulu. of the iron-clad othoi ments with the Federal j • reached the [vessels, the river. Commander I the near the mouth of the Roanoke an She was still . is in charge. enemy fleet of seven vessels. -he.i. Having obtained two ^a terrific battle of four hours, in auns and twenty men, and y/hich bar smokestack was riddled .laced on bqard ten portable forges and she was otherwise crippled at

Cook ' ,-ilh n amn.ers (the cost of great losses to the darted on his lown the river als, she put back to Plymouth, and "Naval his- lay is a floating workshop. j almost a wreck until the night .a, "affords no of October 27, 18G4, when she was larkable evidence of patriotic torpedoed and sunk by the intrepid zeal and individual perseverance." Lieutenant William B. Cushing, of the 'Captain, .John N. Matfitt. of the Con- United States Navy. av ' llic con " federate >* iP Mr. James C. Hill, aged 18, was !

ol the stl ' tinuatior. I a midshipman on the "Albemarle." On thr turtle-back ih# wrote in In the enterprise Cushing's own his "Reminiscences",), numerous boat was swamped by the rush of the stages w'erc suspended, thFonged with water, and of his thirteen officers violdin sailors v S' huge sled, and men all but himself and one mers. t/Pon the pilot-house stood other were either shot, drowned or

oo] ^ - ivm directions. made prisoners. Capt. C £ S' Some- The "Albemarle" of the c«rew were being exercis was raised by the 2 bi Federals in April, one of th* & &uns - "Drive in Spike 1865, and an Ad- " saa 8" .°ut miralty Court No. 10! - the commander.' appraised her value at below and screw up! Invert $282,856, of which $79,954 was dis- , "On nut 'and sponge. Load with cartridge!" tributed among the men who de- 'was the nexC. command. "Drive in stroyed her. '— " The battle-battered No. 11, port-SK le so! "°n nut and smokesack of | the "Albemarle" is 'screw up hard! - L^1 with shells— now in the v of ! museum the prime!" And in'\ thi s seeming babel Historical Commission monster at Raleigh. ! of words the floating glided Albemarle by. Tablet at Edward's Ferry Bridge unveiled After an active '".drill at the guns, Wednesday April 20, 1927. Twin an aide was dispatched to sound the granddaughters n of the late Peter Evans Smith, Build- : obstructions placed J the river by er of the Confederate the enemy. return?** at midnight Ram "Albe- | He marle" drew aside the cords holding and reported f avorab1y,v t'pon which a Confederate Flag, displaying the all hands were called and soon the tablet to the view of steamer was under way. the assembled crowd. Soon that dull leaden ,'concussion Authorities which to practiced ears .<4enotes a County Records of Halifax heavy bombardment broke upon the County. Wheeler's "History of North Caro- ear, and ere long by the dawn's early lina" (1851). light the spires of Plymouth greeted Col. Cadwallader Jones' the sight. "A Gen- ealogical History" (1900). It was at 3 A. M. on the 19th of W. C. Allen's "History of Halifax April, 1864, when the "Albemarle" i County" (1918). passed in safety over the river ob- Thomas H. Benton's "Thirty structions, and received without reply Years in the United States Senate." a furious storm of shot from the Landon C. Bell's "Sunlight on fort at Warren's Neck. Instantly the Southside" (1931). grasping the situation, amid the Claude G. Bowers' "Jefferson and cheers of his crew, Cooke made for I Hamilton: The Struggle for Democ- the Federal gunboat; that were racy in America" (1925). j chained together in tl-.e rear of Fort "North Carolina Regimental His- Willitrms, it.i flank, guarding and ' ; tories," Vol. V.

! dashed nine feet of hs prow i:do the J. T. Scharf's "History of the j Con- ! "Southfield," delivering at tr same federate States Navy" (1887). time a broadside into the "Miami", J John N. Maffitt's "Reminiscences killing and wounding many of her of the ! Confederate States Navv" crew. Among the killed was number- ;U887). ed her the brilliant commander, * THE END Flussor. In ten minutes the "South- a series of historical field" was at the bottom, the prow I sketches of Halifax County, writ- of the ram still clinging to her and ten by the late Dr. Armistead C. exciting for a few moments serious Gordon and reprinted through apprehensions for the safety of the arrangement with the American "Albemarle." However, she was soon Historical society, original pub- disentangled, and being released from lishers.

OLD WELDON At Grace church, this place, on Wednesday evening, the 1 1 th insi the Rev. Happenings 33 Years Ago W. L. Mellichampe, rec- tor, officiating, In Weldon And Vicinity. Mr. Andrew J Campbell was united in marriage to Miss Lucy, June 12, 1890.-Mr. J. H. daughter of Gavin H. Clark, Esq. McG;e lost a fine horse one day The last week. He had been tied oui attendants entered as fol- lows, to graze and became entangled in preceeded by the ushers Messrs. the rope and broke his neck. W. M. Cohen and O. W.' Pierce: Miss Mary Long Green, have been elected The following flower girl; S. B. Pierce and Miss Lodge No. officers of Roanoke (-Jennie Capell; Ernest L. Hay ward A. M. for the ensu- amd 203, A.- F. & Miss Annie Lou Stainback; C. ing year: R. Emry and Miss Kate Gary; C. T. Whitfield— W. M. G. W. Evans and Miss Mabel Zolli- W. H. Brown- S. W. coffer; James W. Howard and E. Clark-J. W. Miss Ellen Faucett; John J. Long H. S. S. Cooper— Secretary. and Miss Fannie Clark. J. T. Evans— Treasurer. „~ Mr. W. E Daniel and the Rev. W. B. Morion left this week 10 attend the commencement exer- cises of Wake Forest College.

Misses Susie and Mamie Tim berlake, of Raleigh, are visiting relatives in town.

Miss Kate Taylor Prescott, who

has been attending schuol at Lynch- burg, Va., returned home Monday to the delight of her many friends.

Miss Laura Powers, who has been visiting friends in Richmond and Petersburg, returned home Monday.

Major T. L. Emry is attending a meeting of the Board of Peniten- tiars Directors at Raleigh. mail On Thursday last a party of cap italists visited this place to exam ine into the feasibility of building a second canal about three miles above town on the Moore farm. They rode out to the locality and were out there several hours. The party returned to town and were

handsomely erueriai el at dinner After dinner a bu-inc.-.s meeting was held and nothing that took place has been given out for publi cation.

Miss Mabel Zollicoffer left Friday for a visit to Miss Arrington in Warrenton.