School History of North Carolina Part 44

*For letter in full, see Governor's Letter-book, page 328.

**For letter in full, see Governor's Letter-book, page 329.

12. At the time when the Governor was so anxious thus "summarily"

to try and shoot people, not a single man had been killed in Caswell, and only one in Alamance. It might be borne in mind, too, that the men whom he refers to, and whom he afterwards arrested as a.s.sa.s.sins and murderers, were among the best men in all the land, many of them venerable for age as well as respected for personal integrity and Christian character.

QUESTIONS.

1. How did our people take the many changes in State polity?

2. What was done with the University?

3. How was the manner of electing judges changed? What was the effect of this change?

4. What secret organization was formed at this time?

5. What is said of the Ku-Klux?

6. Can you tell something of the condition of society?

7. How are the doings of the Ku-Klux considered?

8. What was done by the Governor in regard to the Ku-Klux?

9. What occurred in Alamance county?

10. What was the general effect produced by the Federal troops?

11. What was the next step taken by Governor Holden?

12. Who were the men arrested by order of the Governor?

CHAPTER LXVII.

THE RESULTS OF RECONSTRUCTION--Continued.

A. D. 1868 TO 1870.

On the 21st of May, John W. Stephens, then a Senator from Caswell county, was secretly murdered in an unused room in the courthouse at Yanceyville. A large concourse filled the house when the deed was committed, the occasion being a Democratic political gathering, and Stephens was seen and talked to at the meeting, being there as a spectator. Strange to say, however, it is a mystery to this day as to who committed the crime.

2. It was insisted by Governor Holden and his party that Stephens had been murdered by the Ku-Klux. This however, was as stoutly denied, and the a.s.sertion added that, as Stephens was an object of derision and contempt rather than of hatred, there was neither desire nor cause to put him to death.

3. Meanwhile, Congress had refused to confer upon the President the power to declare martial law, and the August elections kept drawing near. A new Attorney-General and a new Legislature and new Congressmen were to be elected. The Governor and his party were therefore compelled to rely on the Shoffner bill alone.

4. State troops, as they were called, were now recruited, and, on the 21st of June, George W. Kirke, a brutal ruffian of infamous character, and known to be such, who had commanded a regiment of Federal troops during the war, was brought from his home in Tennessee and commissioned Colonel. This man Kirke, in his public posters calling for recruits, the original of which was found in Governor Holden's own hand-writing, appealed to his old comrades to join him, saying that "the blood of their murdered countrymen, inhumanly butchered for opinion's sake, cried to them from the ground for ensconce."

5. On the 8th of July, the county of Caswell was declared to be in a state of insurrection. Meanwhile, however, a company of Federal troops had been stationed at Yanceyville, and had found use for neither ball nor bayonet, and in both Alamance and Caswell the courts were open and not the slightest obstruction to any process of the law.

6. On the 13th of July, Kirke having organized his regiment, was ordered to take command of the counties of Alamace and Caswell.

In a few days more than a hundred citizens of Alamance and Caswell were arrested and imprisoned by Kirke and his subordinates. In some instances persons thus seized were hung up by the neck, or otherwise treated with great brutality. Among there prisoners were many men who had been for years of the first respectability as citizens, and were known and honored in every portion of the State.

7. Application was speedily made to Chief-Justice Pearson for a writ of habeas corpus, that Adolphus G. Moore, and others thus imprisoned, might know the cause of their detention and receive the protection of the laws. Judge Pearson granted the writ, but when it was served on Kirke, he directed the messenger to inform the Chief-Justice that such things "had played out," that he was acting in accordance with Governor Holden's orders, and he refused to obey the command of his Honor. The lawyers of the imprisoned men then asked for further process of the Judge to punish Kirke for his disregard of his orders; but Judge Pearson pa.s.sed over his contemptuous message as the "flippant speech of a rude soldier," and held that his powers were exhausted, as the Governor had ordered Kirke to seize the men, and the judiciary could not contend with the Executive, and in this he was sustained by the other members of the court.

8. The conspiracy against the Const.i.tution, the laws and the liberties of the people developed rapidly, now that the highest judges in the State had declared the courts of the State to be impotent. The military tribunals that the Governor failed to get from Congress in March, he now proceeded to organize under the Shoffner act. The court was to consist of thirteen members, seven of whom Governor Holden selected from among his own partisans in the militia and six he left to Kirke to select from the officers of his command. * The 25th day of July was first selected for the meeting of the court, and then the 8th of August. [!] It was a terrible state of affairs. The Chief Executive of the State was daily making his preparations for holding a drum head court-martial to try the best men in all the land, tie them to stakes and shoot them like dogs, while the judiciary, standing in sight and in hearing, declared itself helpless!

*For full letter, see Impeachment Trial, Volume I, page 238.

[!]For full letter, see Impeachment Trial, Volume II, page 1147.

9. Fortunately, Chief-Justice Pearson and those who sat with him were not the only judges in North Carolina. There proved to be at least one judge who did not think his powers exhausted. That judge was George W. Brooks, Judge of the United States District Court for North Carolina, and application was accordingly made to him for a writ of habeas corpus. He came to Raleigh, and was told by the Governor that if he interfered civil war would ensue; but Judge Brooks was inflexible, and, on August 6th he ordered Marshal Carrow to notify Colonel Kirke that in ten days his prisoners should be brought before his Honor at Salisbury.

10. Governor Holden then appealed to President Grant, informing him of the situation; and the President, after advising with the Attorney-General, replied that the authority of Judge Brooks must be respected. Kirke accordingly brought a portion of his prisoners as ordered, to Salisbury, and as no crimes were alleged for their detention, they were all set at liberty.

11. As soon as Governor Holden was informed of the decision of the President, he sent a messenger in haste to the Chief Justice, who thereupon came to Raleigh, and the prisoners who had not been brought before Judge Brooks at Salisbury were carried before him and the other Judges of the Supreme Court at Raleigh.

12. But it was Judge Brooks who broke the backbone of this great conspiracy against the government of North Carolina. No man ever lived on our soil who deserved to be held in more grateful remembrance by the people of North Carolina than he. Whatever others may have done in building up the State, it was he that saved her Const.i.tution and her laws and the liberties of her people. The scenes of horror that would have been witnessed but for his timely interference cannot be thought of, even now, without a shudder. It is greatly to be hoped that the Legislature will speedily erect a suitable monument in the capitol square in token of the grat.i.tude of the people for whom he did so much.

QUESTIONS.

1. What occurred at Yanceyville on May 21st?

2. Who were accused as the murderers of Stephens? Upon what ground was this denied?

3. What had Congress done concerning martial law?

4. What man was put in charge of the state troops? Where was Kirke from, and what was his character?

5. What was the condition of affairs in Alamance and Caswell counties?

6. Give an account of Kirke's exploits in these counties?

7. To whom did the people apply for aid? With what result?

8. What was next done by the Governor?

9. To what judge did the people next go for protection? What did Judge Brooks do?

10. What was Governor Holden's next step? Where were Kirke's prisoners taken?

11. Where were the prisoners then carried?

12. What tribute is made to Judge Brooks? What are the reflections upon this matter?