The state chronicle. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1883-1893, 1885-11-06

EDGECONBE. 4 GOODLY COUNTY.
| FLOWING WITH COTTON.
The Fifth Annual Fair--wh hat the Editor
of the Chronicle >aw-.Smali Crowd
I Pre>eni-- Many and Varied Exhibits.
| Tarborough, named from the Tar (Which
( means health whose sluggish waters make
| a boundary on one side of the town and
| about two thirds of the year carry Its cot
| ton and bring its goods, Is one of the old
! towns Of the State. When Durham aud
| Wilson and Winston were the forest pri
i meval, Tarboro was county seat and
/ the home of some the most distinguished
men the State has produced Ii was first
settled by honest, highly respectable and
educated people from the mother country
and has kept up It's reputation TO this day
/ for culture, refinement and wealth. Be
! fore the war no town in North Carolina
| boasted of better society and if the people
/ did arrogate to themselves superiority
! over their less famous neighbors III the
! adjoining counties, it was a smail sin and
| their many virtues, like charity, covered II
completely as to blot il out. If they did
| (and if some of them do to this day. think
| that a man born in Edeccombe county Was
/ little better man than If he had been
! born in a less favored county they had
many reasons for thinking So, and We can
only condemn them for showing their feel
! lngs 50 plainly.
Edgecombe was formed from Craven in
.33 By Governor Burlington, and his ac-
| ton was confirmed by the Legislature
which met in Edenton in l14l The word
'Edgecon be- is Saxon and means IA val
| ley surrounded by hills Its area is 800
square miles, and its population %, 6,1.9-
The Tar divides the county and gives it
abundance of water. The soil is rich and
it is probable that it is in higher state of
! cultivation than any other county III the
| State. The branch of the W. X w and
the Albemarie and Raleigh railroads at
ford good railroad facilities. Cotton is
the great staple of the county. Upwards
| of 26, 600 bales VT re raised last last year.
| AS many bales of cotton as there are peo-
| pie in the county. 1873, 900 bushels of corn;
"a, 600 bushels of oats; 1900 pounds of
rice; I'll bushels of rye; 16, 70 bushels of
wheat, We're raised in 1898, II addition to
the cotton Enough fruit for home con
sumption, to dry, and convert into brandy
and wine was produced.
In the county there are 2,6l2 sheep, and
according to Dossey Battle, fifty million
dogs, most of the yellow persuasion. Mr..
Battle Is raising an army to go out against
| the ours and hopes to change these figures,
and have 80, 600, 900 sheep and 2,612 dogs
in the county in five years. In this cru
sade the CHRONICLE gives brother Battle
| its hearty endorsement.
In 1888 there was raised of tobacco in
Edgecombe county 5I1 pounds Most of
| this was raised by negroes in fence corners
| and was cured by the sun process In 1884
| in the Whtakers- -BatIleboro section of the
county many OF the best farmers planted
| large crops and We're quite successful. We
| could not obtain the exact number but 1t
is estimated that !, 900 pounds We're raised.
This year many others planted the weed
| and while no one knows the acreage, We
| heard it estimated that fully twenty five
thousand pounds would be the crop,
This shows that Edgecombe farmers are
prospering.
The land in the county. of which 800, 443
acres are listed is valued at 50, 124 100.
There are exactly three pairs of Jacks and
jennies in the county and enough goats
| 11O-to give a healthy aroma to the atmos-
phere. OF the land 1876, 600 acres are i'm
proved-One thousand acres more than are
unimproved There are twice as many mules
as horses. There are not one tenth enough
hogs raised to furnish the meat for the
people and in consequence but few far
mers make money.
Inasmuch as there are 2.515 negro vo-
tiers to ,335 white voters, one would think
that but little interest would be manifest
| ed in local politics. The Democrats have
| as many factions however, as can be found
in any county and the feuds are as bitter
In the town election in the spring; in the
election of a Solicitor of the Superior
Court; in every election the factions come
to the front and the John kelleys and Hu-
bert Q. ThompsOns con a small scale) try to
run the politics of the county. Dossey
!. Battle, Esq, hopes to go to the Legs
ture on the ticket mo Dogs" but mira
bile dictuD there are Democrats in good
| old EdgccomEe who prefer dogs to sheep,
and as the Republicans to man (whoever
, saw a negro who didn't own a sorry ''yai-
| ler dOrg.') are in favor of dogs, Mr. Battle
will hardly go the next Legislature.
Joseph J. Martin, eXCongressman Re
pubicaO from the FIRST District, lives in
r Tarboro and would like to 90 to Congress
in place of O'Hara, but thinks he has lit
? tie chance to beat the colored brother.
The Democrats have the Sheriff and Clerk
5 of the Court, the Republican officials elect
l ed being unable to give bond.
2 There are fourteen lawyers in Tarboro
With the exception of four or five none Of
them are making more than Il living With
all its rich lands, its mortgages, and il
county full of negroes, who will drink
whiskey and fight, it IS notorious that
there is very little litigation in the county
Half the lawyers could do the work wei
and receive a handsome support-dividec
r as it is there will be few Lawyer Wander
/ bilts in the place. Tarboro is the home o.
t three judges-ex-Judge Howard, ex-Judgt
r Gillian and present Judge Phillips. The
first named is one Of the wealthiest mel
e in the town and has done more for the
s prosperity of the place than any other resi-
: dent. He owns the Edgecombe Agricul
Il tural Works; is partner in one of The
V largest mercantile businesses; is, viii
d others, building a cotton seed oil mi..
;. owns more stores and houses than an,
: man in Tarboro, and is interested in nearly
IL every other enterprise which ought to in
, terest public spirited citizen.
|, Judge Gillian has large practice il
r Edgecombe and the adjoining counties an'
|. devotes himself TO his profession. Judg
:. Phillips is engaged in the active duties O
d a Judge and spends but a small portion o
o his time at home.
is The young lawyers are starting out we'll
, Some of them will mount up high on tn
r ladder