Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1874-11-27
L s.TTER FROM NORTHAMPTON
JACKSON, n. c., Nov. IA, 1874.

/ saE IER FROM NORTHAMPTON
8 JACKSON, N. c., Nov. IA, 1874.
a Dear Journal:
/ Among your varied correspondence
l. have never yet seen a letter frou
: this place, and, as [ am under the ne
, cesslty OF remaining over until to-mor
row, L will vile away an hour in writ
, ing to you.
/ Jackson is small village, the shir,
town of Northampton county. The
, houses seem to form all the sides of 6
square, in the centre of which stanG
the Court House and Jail. The form
er is fine structure, built, however
without any regard to acoustics, while
the bar seems to be badly constructed
for the convenience of lawyers and
sultors. The Jail is regular black
hole of Calcutta, disgrace to civiliza-
ton, as are most of the jails in the
State.
Jackson does not seem to be q s'fin-
1shed town, indeed, one would think
it had scarcely been well begun. It
must, in vacation, be a very quiet
place. The traveller might f1atter
himself, when he enters its corpor-
ate limits. that he had reached the
end of the world, or, at least, the
'happy valley" from which all care is
excluded. Still, it boasts many of the
| institutions of busy life, among others
eight necessary evils in the shape of
five lawyers and three doctors. Two
highly honorable professions, gen.
| orally to be found in .jurta- position,
but not, as heard an ill-natured ras-
cal once remark, that one might kill
the patient, and the other administer
on his estate. Jackson has also fine
school, two churches, several stores,
number of good mechanics, and two
or three grog-shops. The people seem
to be kind and refined, and the ladies
and girls very pretty, that is if some
L have observed are fair specimens OF
the others.
However quiet this place may be in
the interval between Courts, it was
lively enough to-day. I estimated the
number of people on the ground at
twenty-five hundred, and each color
was about equally represented. Mer-
chants from Petersburg, Norfolk and
Baltimore were on hand, intent on bus
mess with their customers. One might
see, lat glance, that the customers
balance was, generally. on the wrong
side of the ledger. l have never seen
a more polite set of men than those
merchants, especially when the balan-
ces are being satisfactorily adjusted,
Every description of vehicle, from
the days of Adam down, seemed to be
on the ground, and all the fashions
from the expulsion of Eve appeared to
to be represented. I am unequal to the |
task of describing the attire of some
of the African damseIs, but one old |
gentleman, of ebony hue, deserves a |
passing notice. He was arrayed in a
fancy figured calico shirt, bright check |
breeches and striped stockings. He |
sported mammoth bell crown hat, an |
apron Of many colors adorned his per |
son and about yard of white cotton |
cloth was folded, shawl fashicn, over |
his shoulders. He evidently regarded |
himself as OF some consequence, and |
certainly attracted large share OF at
tention.
Nor was the inner man unprovided |
for. Booths were erected at con-
venient places, where "NIillie the |
Cook seemed to be the presiding |
genius. Not far from these the pro-
prletoTs OF several oyster carts, Just |
from Suffolk, were busy, armed and |
equipped with furnace and fryiug-pan, |
dlshlDg up the bivalves at twenty-five !
cents stew. Here a fellow was speedily |
dlsposlng, at the top of his lungs, by |
way OF auction, of rags, III the shape |
OF new goods, whilst his voice was al |
most drowned by the eioquence of a
Jockey e1patlating on the good quail
ties OF horse he Was Offering for sale. |
Slres of fine pedigree were ostenta-
tIously paraded, and the hum bier Jack
donkey was not without place in the
picture; nor did his voice add much to
the harmony of the very babel of !
sounds issuing from the throats of
the numerous professors of the
art. All seemed to be
In good humor, and some were actual
~ overcome by exuberance OF spirits,
the latter, l thought, mostly of the
article. Taken all in al,
they were ''a jolly set
The state of the criminal docket
seems TO indicate that there isa '.screw
loose somewhere in the county. Il
over one hundred cases, in
cludlng several murder cases and others
OF high grade. Twenty-seven are in
jail awaiting trial; quite enough, 1
should say, Tor the present.
Judge Barnes is the senior of the
county bar, and is well known through
out The State; he is a pre- eminently
safe lawyer. The hiessrs. PEBBLES are
gentlemen Of distinguished ability, and
the local bar comprises two promi ing
young lawyers besides. It Was here
that the late Gov. Bragg resided for
the greater portion of lis life, and this
bar was the theatre of many of his
ables5 forensic efforts But it is get
ting lat,'. ana I bid you good night
VIAToR.