The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-01-11
A RETROSPECT
h Execution of Six Negroes In 1881 for
Inciring an Insurrection-A Gruesome
Scene at the Gallows on Market Street.
Memory of Able Men of the Past

IL u oIA NNckTOcB IN 1901 q
Inciring an Insurrection-A Gruesome
Scene at the Gallows on Market Street.
Memory of Able Men of the Past
CHANGING over in our newspapers the
reports Of cases hat now consume the
time of the courts and cause heavy eX-
penses to the county, l have been amaZ-
ed, in many instances. at the frivolous
nature of the charges presented. Very
many of them could and should be set
tied in a magistrates court where the
expense would fall on individuals and not
On the county or commonwealth, but a
great ,many people are fond of going to
law, as it is termed, regardless of the
expense, though they frequently have to
pay dear for their whistles. However,
that is their business, not mine, and /
only allude to it incidentally as an open
ing to q brief notice of a very exciting
trial that took place in this city many
yearse ago, to be exact, siXty-siX years.
1t was in the year 1881, at the fall term
of the superior court for New Hanover
county,, that six negroes. or perhaps /
should say six colored men, were placed
on trial for their lives, charged with
attempting to excite an insurrection
The hOrrid massacre of the whites, men,
women and children at Southampton,
Va, known as the Nat Turner uprising,
from the name. of their leader, had oc-
CURED but a few months previously and
although there was much feeling in the
community, yet the trial was conducted
with the utmost fairness and impartially.
They had the benefit of the ableSt coun-
sci their owners could obtain, and who
did not for a moment during the entire
trial relax, eXertion in their behalf.
That distinguished jurist, Hon. Robert
Strange, subsequently United States SEN
ator, and grandfather of our townsmen,
Colonel T. w. and Rev. Robert Strange,
presided with great dignity and decorum.
Mr.. Alexander Troy was the solicitor.
At the 0l1tSpt of the trial his honor
ruled that as the question presented it
self to his mind at that moment the evil
dence Of two witnesses would be neceS-
Sary to convict, but as the case develop
ed, it became extremely doubtful wheth-
er that rule could be enforced, owing to
the want of witnesses: so he changed
his ruling to one credible witness and
pregnant circumstances. l was a young
ster at the time, about 10 or 16 years old.
and the use of that word in connection
with circumstances struck me, to use
a Vulgarism, between wind and water. l
had never heard it used in that conjunc-
ton before. it lodged in my memory and
has remained there ever since, thus
showing how vivid and enduring are
early impressions, and now difficult it is
to entirely eradicate them.
The court appointed the gifted Joseph
A. Hill, whom Judge CASTOR, pronOunc-
ed the most brilliant man of his age in
North Carolina, to assist the solicitor in
the management of the case in behalf
of the state, and in fact, he conducted
the prosecution throughout. Of this dis
tinguished son of the lower Cape Fear IL
may not be amiss to remind the present
generation as to who and the manner of
man he was.
He was born at Hilton, the former
seat of Cornelius Harnett. in 1900. and
was the son of Hon. VIM. Hill, and
grandson of John AShe, of revolutionary
memory was graduated at Yale college
and trained for the bar at the celebrated
Litchfield law school. He represented
tho hnrouph of Wilmington in tho conn
mons in 1861 and 80, and the county of
New Hanover in 1S23-24. His gesticuia-
ton was graceful and his voice full,
rich and flexible. He had no rival of his
years as a debater and orator, and no
superior of any age in North Carolina.
His talents were versatile and he could,
as occasion demanded, convince, con-
vulse with laughter or move to tears.
His style was chaste, not ford, not dis
daining. ornament. but using it simply for
Illustration and yet his oratory was Of
ten fervid. His speeches before the Limo
MAN Society when a lad, on Fishers res
olution, onfthe Bank bill and tariff, or
notification, sustain is claimed for
him In the internal improvement con-
vention at Raleigh in 1893 he met in de-
bate the ablest men in the state. and
the journals show that ne trimphed in
carrying all the resolutions he submit
ted, and tradition reports that SO splen-
did was his exhibition of ability that his
claim TO leadership was generally, if not
universally conceded.
In social life without pretension, dis
tinguiShed for his playful humOr. his
satire which left no sting in the wound,
his fund of a~necdote, his joyous vivacity
and his delightful abandon" he was the
centre of attraction always and his So
ciety was sought by people distin-
guished for politeness and hospitality,
and somewhat given to conveniaiity. Be
cause a social pet, ii must not be suppos-
ed that he gave entirely to society
what nature designed for nobler uses.
He did not neglect the duties of his pro-
f~ession, which involved labor and study
and was so close an observer and diligent
student in his private hours that his ad-
vice was asked by old and grave who
valued his wisdom and learning as much
as the more volatile his pleasantly and
fun.
Mr.. Hill came to the bar with a mind
probably better disciplined than that of
any other man who had preceded him In
North Carolina. Thus prepared. thus
skilled in dialectics, with a genius equal
to the greatest occasions and Hottest eff
fors, it is no wonder, though he died al
the early age Of 5 years. hat he lef;
behind hin a fame c~o-extensive with
the state.
1t was the belief of his friends tina:
he was equal to any effort. and 1t has al.
ways been a matter Of great regret &c
them that he did not live long enough
; to display his powers upon a stage