This Day in North Carolina History is a production of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. For more about North Carolina’s history, arts, nature and culture, visit DNCR online at www.ncdcr.gov.
Fort Macon Overlooked During Spanish-American War Buildup
On February 15, 1898, Charles L. Abernathy, editor of the Beaufort Herald-Dispatch, wrote to U.S. Senator Marion Butler to point out that North Carolina’s Fort Macon was “in a dilapidated condition with a lone sentry in charge of it.”
Attempts to establish the North Carolina Confederate Home Association began in 1884 when veterans, led by Senator Zebulon B. Vance, met in Charlotte. The effort did not gain momentum until 1889 when the Confederate Veterans Association of North Carolina was incorporated by the General Assembly.
This Day in NC History: Robert Ransom, Like Brother Matt a Confederate General
On February 12, 1828, Confederate General Robert Ransom Jr. was born in Warren County.
Ransom was appointed to West Point where he graduated in 1850. The young officer was assigned to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Ransom returned to West Point as a cavalry instructor in 1854, and again was posted to the Kansas frontier in 1856.
This Day in NC History: Sen. Lee Overman and the Red Scare of 1919
On February 11, 1919, a subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee opened hearings on the influence of Bolshevism in America. Chaired by North Carolina senator Lee Overman, originally from Salisbury, the hearings are regarded as a forerunner of the House Un-American Activities Committee of the 1950s.
Overman’s committee was formed in 1918, as World War I drew to a close, to investigate the influence of German propaganda. Many Americans were uneasy about the repercussions of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in 1917, so in February 1919, a resolution to expand the focus of Overman’s committee was passed unanimously by the Senate.
This Day in NC History: Champion Miler Jim Beatty of Charlotte
On February 10, 1962, Jim Beatty became the first man to run the mile indoors in under four minutes.
Born in New York in 1934, Beatty moved to Charlotte with his family when he was 4-years-old. Growing up in the Dilworth neighborhood, he delivered the CharlotteObserver for five years. Then focused on boxing, the young Beatty decided to start running his paper route to help him train.
This Day in NC History: Designer Alexander Julian and Carolina Style
On February 8, 1948, designer Alexander Julian was born in Chapel Hill.
Julian’s father owned a menswear boutique, Julian’s, downtown near the UNC campus. Growing up visiting and later working in the store, young Julian took a natural career path.
This Day in N.C. History: Long route to Roanoke River Lighthouse
On February 6, 1832, Elizabeth City Congressman William Shepard petitioned the House of Representatives for a light station to help guide sailors to safety by the mouth of the Roanoke River.
Two years later, Congress appropriated $10,000 for a lightship to operate on the Albemarle Sound. The ship operated through the Civil War, but was replaced by a screw-pile lighthouse that operated on whale oil in 1867. That structure, in turn, was damaged by fire and ice in the 1880s.
This Day in N.C. History: Tar Heel New Dealer, Annie O’Berry
On February 4, 1944, Annie Land O'Berry, administrator of the North Carolina Emergency Relief Administration, or NCERA, and president of the Rural Rehabilitation Corporation, died while undergoing treatment for an illness.
Born in Edgecombe County in 1885, O’Berry lived on her family’s farm until she was sent to live with her sister in Littleton after her parents’ deaths.
This Day in N.C. History: French Broad Steamboat Is Chartered
On February 3, 1881, entrepreneurs chartered the French Broad Steamboat Company, with the objective of ferrying passengers and freight along the river from Asheville to Horse Shoe to Brevard.
Six months later, they christened the frame, 90-foot-long, two-deck excursion boat the Mountain Lily. Like its eastern North Carolina counterpart, the CSS Neuse, the Mountain Lily met its fate not far from where it was constructed after a few years.
This Day in N.C. History: Illinois Soldiers Overrun Thomas' Legion
On February 2, 1864, Union Maj. Francis M. Davidson and the 14th Illinois Cavalry engaged in a skirmish with Thomas’s Legion, a Confederate company of Cherokees led by Col. William Holland Thomas, on Deep Creek near Quallatown in Haywood County.
Accounts differ as to what exactly occurred that morning, but Union forces apparently surprised the Confederates and overran them. On the Union side, two men were killed and another six were wounded, while Thomas most likely lost 10 killed and 32 captured.
This Day in N.C. History: Streetcars in the Land of the Sky
On February 1, 1889, the first streetcar in North Carolina made its debut in Asheville. The first line extended from Pack Square down Biltmore Avenue and Southside Avenue, and then was routed west of present-day McDowell Street to a train depot.
The system’s roots can be traced to the previous year, when the city authorized a charter for an electric railway that would include lines from Pack Square to various sections of the city. E.D. Davidson, who had designed a Canadian horsecar railway, agreed to build the system in collaboration with Frank Sprague, who engineered the streetcar system in Richmond.
This Day in North Carolina History: The Wreck of the Metropolis, 1878
On January 31, 1878, the vessel Metropolis struck the shoals 100 yards from the beach at Currituck, halfway between two lifesaving stations.
Built in 1861 and originally called the Stars and Stripes, the ship was outfitted for naval service in September 1862 and saw action during the Battle of Roanoke Island later that year. The ship was refitted for freight and passenger service but eventually fell into disrepair, rendering it inadequate for the lengthy trips.
This Day in N.C. History: George H. White’s farewell address
On January 29, 1901, North Carolina Congressman George H. White delivered his now-famous farewell address.
White was the fourth of four African Americans to represent North Carolina’s Second District in the United States Congress in the late nineteenth century.
This Day in North Carolina History: Wrightsville Beach burns
On January 28, 1934, a devastating fire destroyed much of Wrightsville Beach, including the legendary Oceanic Hotel.
Just after noon on that Sunday, smoke poured out of the Kitty Cottage, a boarding house on the north end of the island. In less than three hours, more than 100 buildings were leveled as the westerly wind took the fire from building to building via wooden-shingled roofs.
This Day in North Carolina History: Cheerwine inventor passes
On January 27, 1931, Cheerwine inventor Lewis D. Peeler died in Salisbury.
Born in 1866, Peeler studied at a local Lutheran college and in Virginia before entering business. He tried his hand at a number of different enterprises, including farming and wholesaling, before beginning a soda business in 1913.
On January 26, 1823, Willis Napoleon Hackney was born in Nash County.
Although an obituary reported that he began life with no money, Hackney would eventually enter the wagon manufacturing business in Wilson and launch a family dynasty that became synonymous with transportation in North Carolina for nearly a century.
