The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1900-01-16
GENERAL JOSEPH GRAHAM
GALLANT DEEDS OF AN .
ED NORTH CAROLINIAN.
THEIR HISTORY SHOULD BE WRITTEN
M. Sheriff. Suggests That Judge schenck,
Admirably Qualified For the Work.
Write the Lives of H. W. Connor
and William larde

To the Editor: Major ". y. Ora
ham calls attention TO an error in my
statement in speaking of MAJOR Henry
w. Connor as major, and aid-de-camp
to Major General Jose.h Graham. l
noticed the eieor at =" tue It was
published and would h9vo called atten-
ton to it in the next Issue OF the News
and Observer. but presumed rs COnnO
was put major a,d "aid-tle-calnp" thai
it would he understood that Il vas to
Il general, and not a major.
Either l or the printer left of the
word 'GeneraI,' it should have read
Major General joseph Graham There
was another error in that co;nmlniCa-
ton. Samuel ian.!et" WAS put fer
William Lander. Rev. Samuel Lander is
Il Younger brother of William Lander,
and was for years President Of naven-
port Female College, Ienoir, \. =,
and is now President Of Williamson Te-
male College. South Carolina. | agree
with Major Graham, we should try TO
keep the history correct. North Caro-
lima need not be ashamed of her record
or Of the men who made her record i'll
the past. | think it will be of interest to
your readers while on this subject TO
give 4 short sketch of General Joseph
Graham given by q man living beyond
our borders. Samuel Gardner Drake,
in his American Biography, speaks OF
General Graham as follows:
General Joseph Graham, born in
Chester county. Pa, October 18th. 1913.
Died in Lincoln county, y. G., November
18th. 1886. t
AT the age of Z he accompanied his
widowed mother to North Carolina. Ed
ucated at Charlotte; enlisted in the
Fourth North Carolina Regiment in May,
IT'S: was III TIE battle of Stone IN 1873:
appointed adjutant OF the Mecklenburg
regiment in 1880; and in an action at
Charlotte in the autumn OF 1880 received
six sabre and three bullet wounds. Re
covering two months after. he raised 4
company of mounted riflemen with whom
he defended the passage Of CoWan'S
Ford ton CiitaWba Riyer) and performed
i series of heroic deeds. commanding III
fifteen engagements, attaining to the
rank OF Major. Elected sheriff of Neck
lenDurg county after the war; frequently
represented the county IN the State Sen
ate. and subsequently, engaged in the
manufacture Of iron in Lincoln county.
He commanded against the Greek IN
dams in 18Th. with the rank Of Major
General; his youngest son, William A.,
was Secretary of the Il. 81 Navy
That is what Mr.. Drake in brief say
of Genera Graham. We sec that he
was born in the 'keystone' State,
which he could net help. but became a
North Carolinian by choice, and adopted
North Carolina as his State.
Since the appearance Of that piece in
the News and Observer | have received
letters from friends asking ne 70 W.T."
a sketch Of William Lander an. also
of N .;or Connor. Some one more coIn-
petent must DO that. | suggest that
Judge ID. Schnnck. of Greensboro. who
WAS the law co partner Of Mr.. Lander 1T
LiEcolnton. write 4 sketch OF his l:fe.
Judge Schenck is no novice at the bust
ness. When quite young he wrote Il
very interesting sketch Of the life OF
"HardaWay Bone" 4 man who came to
North Carolina from the INK -nh.
mines Of Georgia and killed James Cor
nelliiS in CataWha county III 1893, for
which he was tried, convicted and hang
cd 1T Dallas. y. G. Judge Schenck was
his counsel. Bone made Il full statement
of all his crimes to the Judge. | remcm-
Der to nav read it with great interest
in my hoyhood days. He also wrote
4 sketch Of the life Of his gallant broth
er-in-law. Gen. bod s. Ramseur, and
last though not least, he wrote Il book
that should be III every North Carolina
home. "Invasion Of the CarOlinas 1891
by the British"
So Judge Schenck is eminently quail
fed for the task. If he cannot. then it
will dcvolve on Major w. A. Graham
and Alf. Nixon, Esq. TO write up the
! worthless Of their county. William Ian
der. in my opinion, had no superior. and
but few equals as q lawyer i'll North
Carolina. The local bar i'll the COS at
IincolntOn, y. c.. could not be excellcd.
Col. w. =. Bynum (afterward Judge
of the Supreme Court, Col. John +.
Hoke, who had but few equals, the firm
Of Lander 4 Schenck (Schenck after
ward became a Judge of the Superior
Court, his record as such is known,
William Shipp. who also became judge,
and probably H. w. .Guion ct al. ! do
not remember as to that. The names
of the above are sufficient to Indicate
my statement as to the Lincoln bar.
Referring again to Major II. w. Con
nor. | call to mind a statement related
to me by Mr.. T.. Caldwell. He says
just 4 year or two preceding our Civil
War be was listening to Major Conner
and his (Caldwell's) father speaking Of
matters pertaining to cur government.
an Major Connor made what 10 rs nav
looks like prophetic wor,ls) the follow,
ing remarks: Caldwell. the
Abolitionists are determined 4,
force 4 war on this country: when it
comes it will be such as we have never
had. The South will be shut in, the
border States will nearly all go with the
NORTH They will eventually overrun
us with numbers: we will be crushed:
slavery will go with it: we will be ruin
ed: however, there are three things that
Will make ours the garden spot Of the
world. climate. water power and TIM
Der; and We will have the soil and the
people to bring the South up from her
ashes and humiliation. Sir, we will
} become 4 manufacturing people. Those