Western sentinel. [volume] (Winston [i.e. Winston-Salem], N.C.) 1856-1886, 1882-01-26
VOL. XVI.
Nat Macon.
WARRENToN, n. c.,
Januarv T. 1881.
n. 7. World.

January 4, 1881.
Not great distance from the
old town of Warrenton, IN Warren
county, there is a heap Of stones
piled upon a sterile spot in the
woods. a monument to the memory
and the peculiarities of a man whom
john Randolph in his will declar-
ed was ssthe wisest and best man l
ever knew" and upon whose tomb
stone Thomas Jefferson said, "OL-
tau,us Loomamoruna" ought to be
written. A text for the political
moralist, a character both simple
and ludicrous and extremely inter-
esting, old Nathaniel Macon, by
all odds the greatest man that
North Carolina ever gave to the
public service, is as completely for
gotten as his strange modesty
could have desired. Just before
he died in 1887, he directed that
no tombstone should be placed at
his grave. He selected this sterile
place because s'it is so barren no
one viii! ever desire to cultivate
It." and he directed that a pile OF
stones that had been thrown from
an adjacent field be hea.,ed on his
grave, because "thay are Of no
value and nobody will ever want
Them He even forbade that the
place should be inclosed. His di-
rections are literally carried ou'
and the dense forgetfnlness CT ,
third of century has gathered
about the recollections of the ole
hero, and the region round about
more suitable for the dwelling-plact
Of the dead than of the living, il
the muster-ground, for the :rivi-
lous politicians who make fittu
s'iudependent" movements that ar'
startling enough TO make old Ma
cons ghost uneasy-more uneas,
tor the commonwealth than whel
in Congress he hade farewell "tc
his old TREND, the constitution o
the United States," because an ap-
preparation was about to be mad
Tor the Delaware and Chesapeake
Canal!
The records of Congress from
1871 to 1928, without interruption
are full of the speeches and espe
cially of the negative votes of Ma
thanieI Macon. of North Carolina
But hardly anywhere else than il
the official records can much mat
ter about him be found. Their
has been only one mar, l think
who served a longer time in the na
tional Legislature than be. Their
was never one who was absen
from his seat or unmindful of hi
duty fewer times than he, and We
it is like searching the records fo
the early life of William Tell t.
find out with any fullness of par
ticulars the private lite Of th
staunchest old Democrat tha
America ever produced. Mr.. Vel
don N. Edwards published in 1856
a memoir of Nathaniel Macon i
Confederate print and declamator
generalities that tell nothing
Wheeler's "History of North Car
olina" gives desultory sketch {
the old man, and these are al
When l visited the obscure grav
in company with descendant {
Mr.. Macon, we laughed at suc
peculiarities of his strange charac
ter as have been handed down b
tradition in the family.
He enlisted in the revolutions al
army as a private soldier, and, al
though be was very poor, he won
never accept pay for his service
While in the army he was, will
out bis knowledge, elected men
Der OF the State Legislature fro
Warren county. From that acc
dent-tor 1t seems to have been
sort of accident-dated his extr
ordinary political career. In II
he was elected to Congress and r
elected continuously until 181
Then be was elected United Sta
Senator and Reelected, and he /
signed in 1928. In 1924 Virgil
cast her votes for him for vi,
President. From 1901 till Is
he was Speaker of the House
Representatives. In 1925, Is
and 1921 be was elected Presid
pro tenn. of the Senate. Dur
the period of nearly forty ye
in Congress he cast more mega
votes than any ten other memb
Mr.. lngersoll, of Pennsylva
once said that Mr.. Macon was
.persistently opposed to the drii