The state chronicle. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1883-1893, 1886-09-09


From the Wilson Advanced
RALEIGH. N. g.. Aug. IT. 1856 When
eay much younger than | am to-day |
u-rd To- try to conceive what manner Of
nam rX Gov, Holden was From the time
took an interest III politics (that was before
knew anything of HE, hacc, hoe or Of
ha rule Of three | had heard him de
pouuccd on the stump as the meancst Of
,1u and worst of Governors and except
uoH and then Il feeble apology for his
course by Republican speakers, in whose
statements | put little crcdence, | had
heard nobody say a good word Of him. !
imagined drawing upon the story of
Blucbrard and other famous characters
with which children eaily become ac-
uutintcd, that Gov. Holden was a man of
powerful build Of stiff grizzly beard with
4 stern commanding eye and that one
would be awed by his very appearance.
OF course the speakers | had heard said
nothing about his appearance but my
youthful Imagination pictured him, q,
thought Ill bad men must be large Of
stature. grim viSagcd and fearful looking
eyes beneath shaggy eyebrows. That, /
say. was what GOV Holden was to me as
q boy. | first saw aim in 1881 at Winston
where ha delivered an address on Journal
O.
!. man with so much curiosity When he
began to read his speech | noticed with
surprise that his voice was low and not 1T
tI harsh; that he spoke most kindly and
warmly OF the great men who III other
days controlled journalism Of North Caro-
Ina; and particularly WAS impressed with
the thread Of profound reverence for
things sacred and illusions to duty to God,
that ran through the entire address.
..Hhat, thought |, ''can this be the man
who has been such an enemy to North
Carolina?
/ did not then make his acquaintance
but left the Association with :; desire to
know more perfectly something about the
life OF tins man, than whom no North Car
Gilman has been so much abused. am
not writing 10 the readers OF the Advance
to day for the purpose of reviewing the
acts of GOV. Holden with a view to >ecur-
iug ;treNersal Of the Judgment pronounced
upon hlm in the Senate chamber. | write
merely because there may be those who
will br interested to know something about
COY. Holden and how he is spending ''the
sunset of life"
When made Raleigh my home one of
the first men to call to see me and give
me Il cordial welcome to the city was Gov.
Holden. He came up the stairs one morn
ing, with slow step, walked in and asked
is Mr.. Daniels in!' | introduced myself
and he told me who he was, and said that
hc had called to make my acquaintance
and welcome me to Raleigh. He is an old
man think he is 6s years old-of me
dunn size and snowy hair and beard and
talks very slowly and sometimes with diff
tculty | appreciated the call and was
much interested in his conversation. lie
told me that ut exactly my age he obtain
cd his license TO practice law IN Raleigh
and that after q few months he abandoned
the law and bought the Raleigh Standard,
which he edited until he became Governor
of the State. How we'll he edited that
paper and how prominent n figure he was
in North Carolina politics until 1870 IS
known Of all men. The similarity Of our
start in Raleigh seemed to cause him to
manifest an interest III my success and he
calls often, to my pleasure.
10 not believe he ever forgot anything
He talks with interest of the prominent
men who made North Carolina famous in
other days. He was-you know; famous
Democrat i'll those times and with David
;. Reid, Arlington, of Nash, Saunders,
and such men caused the Democratic
party to grow until it controlled the State.
| doubt if we have had a better editor in
North Carolina than Gov. Holden. | have
recently been reading an old file of the
Standard Of 1856 and have been deeply in
tereSted in the discussions of that day and
impressed with the ability manifested by
Mr.. Holden in his editorials. He was an
aStute politician as well as an able editor
and from what old Democrats tell me dc
not suppose that for twenty years prior to
the war any man had more to do with
Sb, oUing the policy of the Democratic party.
What checkered career his has been
He was =, orn in Orange county and raised
poor boy. learning type setting as his
trade. He cam TO Raleigh as lad and
followed the trade seVefal years, reildliS
law at spare moment. ne "as' even lief'
very poor, and his educ Nloih, auN Nahta9e,
mad been very meagre. /. 'seii oo'hiiiIu y
license to practice law. y lew holitiis 'l
later he bought the Standard, the organ
5f the Democratic party He wor. 'ed ilaro
70 pay for it, having bought the pal "r ol
a credit. Raleigh was Whig town >liu
ne was very unpopular with them becaus
he was outspoken in defense of Democracy
and bitter in his denunciation of the
Wings. So bitter did the feeling run that
Nr. Holden, who was a Methodist, left the
church because ne was engaged in a bitter
newspaper controversy with Mr.. Lemay,
also a Methodist editor of the Raleigh
StT, the Whig organ. There was only one
Democrat in the church beside Mr. Holden
and as the preacher, no less celebrated
man than Rev. DR. Jno E. Edwards,
thought that Messrs. Lemay and Holden,
As brothers, ought to have no controversy
and as there could be no amicable settle
ment, Mr.. Holden withdrew from the
church. The great fight in the State be
tore the war between the Democrats and
Wings will not be forgotten soon, because
they have been transmitted from sire to
son. Mr.. Holden's paper was strictly a
party organ. He in a large measure plan
ned the campaigns and fought them vigor-
ously He gave the Wings no quarter and
they visited their hatred upon him. He
was partizan and an unflinching one.
He made a great success of his paper and
Won a name in the political world: repre-
sented the Democracy in several National
Conventions; came near receiving the nom
nation for Governor a few years before
the war He was strong then and he was
aggressive. Then came on the war. He
opposed the war and supported Vance for
Governor, but when the other States Sc
ceded he favored secession. He was mis-
trusted by many throughout the war. He
believed in the cause of the Union. The
war finally closed and until his impeach-
ment his public history is well known. /
suall not speak of it or comment on 1t.
Since then until few years ago he was
postmaster al Raleigh. He now is en-
gagged in no business and spends his time
III reading the Bible and other good books,
visiting the sick and conducting prayer
I,, ho,, Nft II 4 IL