davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-08-22
GREAT IN ALL THINGS.

The life of Zebulon B. Vance cannot be
summed up in word, or his character
compressed into a phrase. 1t may be
of aid to future generations, who may
look upon the lion-like features of his
statue in Capitol Square, and inquire
what manner of man he was, and what
were his life and character, to know
what impressions he made upon his con-
Temperatures.
l knew Senator Vance intimately
through all the vicssitudes of his re-
markable career-as young man, plead
ing for peace and the preservation of the
Union submitting his views to the de-
cison of his State and marching out as
a captain to fight her battles.
/ knew him as War Governor and
when oppressed by the results of the war
and the evil days of reconstruction, he
returned to the practice of the law as
a private citizen.
l knew him in the family circle, at his
private home, in Statesville. in Charlotte,
at Gcmbroon and in Washington-al-
ways the most affectionate husband, the
most indulgent father and most genial
host with whom / was ever acquainted.
I have seen him on the stump, swaying
multitudes with his eloquence, and when
he commanded the applause of listening
Senators-and mingling with the plain
people of his native State, with a kind
word for the children about him, and
I have seen him in the presence of
President and members of Cabinet. I'm
der all these circumstances he was the
same genial and kindly soul, the life of
every assembly and the centre of at
traction for all eyes. 1t was my sad
The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-08-22
AS WAR GOVERNOR.


Governor Vance was an uncommon man.
/ deem his most conspicuous services to
the State was his administration as our
War Governor. He inspired the people
with renewed love for the struggle. He
animated the Respondent, he tolerated the
conscientious peace lovers he reibuked the
time servers, he brought back to life the
spirit of our Revolutionary patriots, he
gave new hope to the army, he aroused
the pride of the State, he strengthened
all his means, he prepared for war to the
end, he created blockade fleet of vessels
with which he exchanged cotton to Eu-
rope for food and clothing for his fifty
seven ragged, hungry and starving regi-
ments.
If such Governors had fallen to the lot
of other Southern States the result of the
war might have been otherwise. His
zeal, labor and love were freely expended
for the honor, glory and welfare Of North
Carolina and her people.
ASHLEY HORNE.
Clayton, N. c., Aug. 20.
The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-08-22

/ first met Governor Vance, and heard
him speak in that memorable campaign
Of 1876. From that day to the present
time l have held him in the highest es-
TEEN.
Vance it may be said, was the one man
above all others who made the people feel
how great charm eloquence lends to
what is good, and how invincible justice
is, and that it is necessary for him who
would dexterously govern a commonwealth
always to prefer that which is honest
before that which is popular.
Vance possessed a mind capable OF APP
plication and perseverance. Initiated
from it's infancy in the practice of close
investigation, his opinion once formed had
its associate resolution and power to car
ry it to it's completion and nothing could
move it, but reason and truth.
His manners were remarkably plain and
easy, yet they had their eharm in an
eminent degree upon those who were in
his company. His language was simple
and always impressive and generally full
of anecdote and illustration.
Another Characteristic Of his life was
sincerity to his friends, despising hpoc-
risy as the lowest and meanest vice.
Vance would never permit throughout
the desperate struggle of 1861 to 1865, the
suppression of the writ of habeas corpus,
and this was in my opinion the browning
act of his life.
In my judgment Vance rendered his
State, and the people of North Carolina
his most conspicuous and valuable SER
vice in delivering the State from the
hands of incompetent and corrupt men in
1876
His canvass of the State was a mag
nifcent one, and his opponent, Judge Set
tie, was the greatest speaker the Repub-
lican party ever produced in Month Caro-
lima, and his election over such man,
when the Republicans at the time had
full control of the National and State COY
eminent, was a glorious victory.
This placed our State government under
the control of her best people, and for
twenty years the intelligent people of the
State governed North Carolina, and the
people prospered as never before in her
history
His life was a bright and illustrious
pattern of domestic social and public vir-
tue: modest, amiable, and upright, he NV
ed a noble ornament to his country and
rich blessing to his family, and died with
the hope of a blessed Immortality"
Yours very truly,
JOHN S. CUNNINGHAM.
Cunningham, N. c., Aug. 20.
The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-08-22
HIS MATCHLEss SERVICES.

Who can DO the memory of Vance JUS
tice? l had the pleasure and honor of
knowing him intimately for many years,
and l cannot tell you how much the peo-
pie of North Carolina owe him.
No one of his many admirers can APP
proximate his matchless and phenomenal
services rendered the State during the
war, to say nothing of what he has done
since. His best friends cannot do him
justice. Among the many great, good
and noble men born in North Carolina
during the last seventy-two or three
years, there is no one l could call his
equal.
l am very sorry l cannot be with you
on the Goth in person, but / shall
certainly be with you in heart Thank
his numerous friends, who by word,
thought or act, have tried to show their
appreciation Of this greatest and best of
all great and good North Carolinians.
| am,
Yours very truly,
THOMAS J. BOYKIN.
Baltimore, Md, Aug. 20.
The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-08-22
GREATER IN PEACE THAN WAR.

1t would afford me sincere pleasure
If l could say or do anything which would
add to the fame of Zebulon Baird Vance,
but l feel unequal to the task. The
most conspicuous portion OF his public
life was passed amid the commissions of
war and reconstruction" and the eX-
element attending the subsequent Sec
ticnal antagonisms, and in every instance
where duty called him his marvelously
resourceful intellect pointed out the road
he should travel and his strong and I'M
yielding devotion to truth and justice
kept him in it, and it will require the
judicial temperament which time alone
can bring us to select the period in his
career when his services were worth
most to his State. A hurried glance may
find his work as War Governor most val
liable, but the student of history may
see his chief value in the example he
set for future generations, pointing out
to them the path along which the youth
of the State must seek distinction in
civil life and the firm devotion to the
right which must be their only sure
guaranty of success.
This latter view | am inclined to adopt.
His place as War Governor might have
been filed by others; but his place as
hero strong in intellect, strong in moral
sense, strong in all the qualities which
Justly made him the idol of his peo
pie and the equal of his most distinguish
ed contemporaries, could not have been
filled by others; and, as the trophies of
Miitiades would not permit Themistocles
to sleep, it may be hoped that the silent
image of this great man, built by the
loving hands of those who perhaps do
not fully appreciate the far-reaching re-
suits of their labors, may be an inspra
ton to the youth of the State, inviting
them to the higher walks of patriotic
citizenship, and pointing out the course
they must pursue.
p. +. GRADY.
Turkey, n. c., Aug. 20.
The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-08-22

became This is said without any dis
paragement of the latter or detraction
of Vance To men like Gordon, Hill and
Ransom the opportunities presented by
the restored Union were to be seized
upon by the Southern States and the
most to be made of them. To Governor
Vance on the other hand the old State
sore, bruised beaten with many stripes,
was a loved mother made doubly sweet
by the long enforced but fondly cherish
ing care for her in hours of trial by
the devotion Of her dutiful son. He
loved her mere than any other OF her
sons. He was capable of this love and it
was natural and disinterested and the
people returned this love without stint
or reserve. He loved his State better
than he did the Southern Confederacy
and after the days Of reconstruction he
loved it more than he did the Union
Because of this devotion, although he
may have been surpassed by many 9th
ers Of her great sons in many different
ls9lBaIS leu GIQgIgdmoou! sBM gu 'sGeM
son all things considered. Men loved
him and loved themselves for loving
him. He grieved when his people went
astray and he followed a little distance
imploring them to return. He came
back and sat down under the lofty sum-
NIT of Mt Mitchell and hid his grief
in the shadow of her dome.
North Carolina will ever weave her
choicest garlands for his statue and
treasure his name among her immor-
tails.
]. ALLEN HOLT.
Oak Ridge. N. c., Aug. 20.
The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-08-22
LOVED HIS STATE.

Vance, the greatest war Governor of
the South! What shall / say OF him?
What can any man say of him that
will set him higher in the esteem of
his countrymen of North Carolina? Shall
/ say that he was honest? He used to
hold up his hands chow dramatically
and yet with what sincerity he did it,
and say Through it all these hands
were never soiled with dishonest gain
Yet other men were honest as he. Shall
| say that he was without intrigue?
Surely it was So He was no adept at the
midnight conference seeking advantage
over party friend or foe. He fought
but he fought openly and not for his own
but his States welfare. But other men
have displayed the same openness in
their dealings with men and parties
Shall / say that his wit was matchless,
penetrating. convincing and ll-pervasive?
II was this and more. 1t was sui gen
eris. 1t did not leave a thing to rankle.
It cut to the quick like the surgeons
knife but the wound cured without
scar In this regard. perhaps of all
Americans Lincoln only surpassed him,
and he only because he occupied more
conspicuous and broader field.
Was Vance an orator? Judging by his
capacity to draw his fellow-men and to
convince them. yes. He was conspicu-
ously clear and his Illustrations and met
aphors so often taken from the Bible
were always apt and before people
who read the Bible and hear it read and
are a moral people, these were wonder
fully effective. The State has produced
other men who, in the set speech and in
ornate dietion and the tricks of rhetoric
have SURPASSED him but none who have
approached him on the hastings. To have
heard Vance was the event of a life
time, He loved North Carolina and her
people more than anything else. 1t is
significant that he always preferred,
even after higher honors had come to
him, to be addressed as Governor" To
him the highest honor North Carolina
had to bestow was the highest honor
to be found lie was never quite himself
after he went to the Senate. 1t is to be
doubted whether he ever became the
national man that other Southern men
The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-08-22

In scanning the roll of North Caro-
linas great men whose name stands
higher than that of Zebulon B. Vance :?
In all Of his undertakings he showed
himself equal to the task. In enumera-
ting the great events which were brought
about by this great man l scarcely know
where to begin, for at every turn of his
hand greatness seemed to shine forth
He loved to live with his friends. with
good, pleasant men who loved him. 8"
This was his delight, alike when OPP
pressed with his multiplied cares of Of
flee at Washington and when enjoying
the repose and quiet of his mountain
home. He loved to meet his friends at
the social board where he always made
the occasion pleasant and profitable.
His personal appearance contributed to
the attraction of his social intercourse.
His countenance, frame, expression and
presence arrested and fixed attention
You could not pass him unnoticed in a
crowd; nor fail to observe in him a
man of high mark and character
Early in life he became one of his
States most prominent lawyers, was a
true and loyal soldier, was Governor of
the State three times and from this
The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-08-22
INTERESTING INCIDENTS.

In compliance with your request |
write you certain incidents in Senator
Vance's life which may interest others.
Not having seen him since during the
Confederate war, when | was a boy in
Raleigh, except once when he de-
livered an address at Chapel
Hill, I was pleased to meet
him, just after my graduation, as q
guest at my fathers house when he
came to Hllsboro to attend the funeral
of Governor Graham in the summer OF
1875. He then told me that the first
time he was ever in Hillsboro, was
when he was a Chapel Hill student, he
had come there to buy his engagement
ring from old Mr.. Samuel Lynch, the
jeweler, and that was about the last
time he had been there was when he was
retreating from Raleigh before Sher-
mans army, when he was also the guest
of my father with all of his staff, eX-
cept his surgeon general, Dr. Edward
Warren, afterwards Bey, on the staff of
the Khedive of Egypt.
On this occasion in 1875 he and my
father were very much interested in the
contemplated reopening of the Univer-
sity, which was to take place about a
month after, my father at the time hav-
ing charge of the repairs on the build
ings, while l, as his assistant, was look
ing after them, so that all would be in
readiness, and both deplored the fact
that Governor Graham could not have
lived a little longer to witness this hap
by event. He then demonstrated with a
young friend of mine on a visit to me,
for leaving the State for his collegiate
training instead of entering Chapel Hill,
and told him that there was no circum-
stance which had benefited him so much
in life as the fact that he had been
educated at Chapel Hill; that he could
go in any county in the State, and some
old Chapel Hill friend would say, go
ahead Zeb, will back you" Indeed he
was most loyal to the University.
In the winter OF 1894, not long before
his death, he and Governor Holt and
were sick in Florida, a part of the
time together, and l had a good deal Of
chat with him. AmoIg other things he
said that during the war, when he was
worn out, tired and almost sick from
the cares of his office, he had a hiding
place where he could find peace and
quiet and good company and good cheer
at the home Of his friend, Mr. Jake
Mordecai
Another thing he said then was that
just before the evacuation Of Richmond,
when he received a message from mem
bers of President Davis cabinet and a
coterie of Senators suggesting that if
he withdrew the North Carolina troops,
the main stay of General Lees army,
and assigned them to the defense of our
own borders, the army would disinte-
CRATE and thus terminate the war in
the most humane way, he had de-
clined the proposition most emphatical-
". and said that the North Carolina
troops should do their full share to the
last in defending that sacred cause.
The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-08-22
IMsPIITION OF OUR PATRIOTISM

Replying to your favor of 18th inst ask
ing me my estimate of Vance / take pleas
ure in saying that in recalling to our
minds his virtues we become aware of
that in which the safe guard of our coun
try consists. His figure is the most
unique as well as the best beloved in the
history of the State of North Carolina.
His genius placed him where no man in
our day, at least, however great and mer-
itorious, shall be able to compete with
him for the prize of this peoples homage
and love. Appearing at the solemn hour
of the birth of the Civil War, he repre-
scented in himself all the energy, the abil-
ity and enthusiasm of a people rising to
battle for their liberties and striving to
triumph by force of their virtues He
was therefore an inspiration OF our pa
triotsm and met the ideal of our South
ern citizenship. AS we looked up to his
majestic face. as we studied the features
of the man who for thirty-five years
lowered above all parties, whose name
was the consecrated Shibboleth OF his
party and was invoked by all to coniure
up the purest patriotism, we found
it was all summed up in the
word-character. He was greater
than any particular deed he ac-
complished. To my mind Senator Vance
was the character Of a man described by
Jethro to his SON in-law Moses when he
said, "Modeover thou shalt provide out of
all the people, able men, such as fear
The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-08-22

marvellous, he mastered every detail of
n vast, complicated and diversified
tariff system In a series of papers and
speeches he illuminated this dry and I'M
interesting subject with the certainty
Of his own information, and invested 1T
with charm by the quaintness Of his
humor and the aptness Of his illustration.
To this task and in his country's SER
vice he gave, both as an evidence and
as result of his infinite capacity for
taking pains, his oversight and his
health.
His power to express in simple Ian
guage and with homely illustrations
great truths in political economy and
government, so clearly that the aver
age mind could comprehend was proof
not only of his brilliant creative power
but of his capacity to act as interpreter
between the people and their needs.
The power of his oratory did not con-
sist in flights of eloquence or in the
sweep of unanswerable logic. but in the
correct reading of the peoples desires,
and in putting into speech their unut-
tered wishes
He is called 'The Tribune of the Peo-
ple," and perhaps his best claim to the
title is that he never outgrew or lived
above the people. He kept his ear bent
close TO hear the peoples heartbeat,
and the uttering of their wish to him
was the mandate of the law. Out of this
too great sensitiveness, sprung the one
notable mistake of his career-the yield
ing, savoring of weakness, to the thin
yelled threat of the Farmers Alliance.
What was his greatest achievement?
We cannot tell. Upon no specific, isolated
thing or act can we lay our hands and
say, ';This was Vance's greatest deed. !"
When we come to analyze his life, it is
the sum total of many little things that
made him great. His record as War
Governor is glorious, yet what one act
glorifes it? His career as Senator was
magnificent, yet what one service magni-
fies it? y
His principal characteristic was to un-
dertake nothing beyond his power, and to
make the most possible out Of the ma
terials at hand
Yours truly,
F. S. SPRUILL.
Louisburg, N. c.. Aug. 20.
The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-08-22

privilege to be at his bedside during his
last hours and observe his cheerfulness
to the end. During his suffering the
night before he died, he said to me, Tom
my running gear has given me most
trouble heretofore but to tell you the
truth, l am in the same fix as the old
wagon, whose owner asked to have it
repaired a little and said he really be-
lieved it needed a new set of running
gear and a bed
To the people of North Carolina he
was always plain Zeb Vance, and to
them, that name was a badge of more
enduring honor than all the titles with
which they had decorated him in war and
in peace.
The office of governor gave him am
pie scope to display his great admins
trative capacity and executive ability,
and through his ceaseless eXertions,
North Carolina soldiers at the front, were
comfortably clothed and shod, when the
troops of other States went barefooted
and in rags. So great were his abilities
in this line, and so successful was he in
keeping the regiments fed and
provided for, that he was known all
over the South as the Great War Gov
ernor of the Confederacy.
Great and loved as Vance was, his
figure would have doomed larger in his
tory had his lot been cast in more propit-
ious times.
Since the war, no North Carolinian has
had opportunity to link his name with
great progressive movements or meas
ures of constructive craftsmanship. The
times have demanded men of other
talents Up to the present day, it has
been a life and death struggle to pre-
serve Anglo-Saxon civilization and the
purity of our free institutions against
the assaults Of ignorance and vice, i'm
providently armed with the ballot
The bronze figure in Capitol Square
will perpetuate to future generations the
features of the States greatest son.
Other leaders have gained the respect
and admiration Of the people, but he
won their love.
In his DEATH / lost my best friend.
North Carolina is lonesome without
him.
T. ]. ALLISON.
Statesville, N c., Aug. 90.
The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-08-22
A BORN LEADER OF MEN.

Senator Vance was pre-eminently
statesman. For more than forty years ne
was the tribune of the people, loved, hon
ored trusted, revered They had tho
fullest confidence in his honesty and his
ability. He was q broad minded. catholic
conservative. He had a keen eye tor
the pith of any question submitted to
him. He would apparently with niue
thought, go straight to it's heart, ana
lay bare dts virtues or its vices, so that
every one could recognize them at
glance Especially was this true as 10
political or governmental questions. lie
seemed to have the intuition OF woman
and in his long and not uneventful career
it may be safely said he never made
grave political blunder or mistake. THIS
almost prophetic insight, joined to an I'M
The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-08-22
GREATEST NORTH CAROLINIAN

Zebulon B. Vance was the greatest
North Carolinian | ever meta great Sen
ator, the peer OF any of his contem-
poraries. and made more prepared
speeches and elaborate reports than any
of them. / expect. But his most con-
spicuous service to the State was from
1862 to 1865 as War Governor, when his
great genius and love, made him pre-
eminent above the Governors OF the other
Southern States, and it is safe to say
that had they been like unto him, Soath-
ern independence would have been posi-
BILE, if not probable.
Very truly yours,
W. P. ROBERTS.
Gainesville, n. c., Aug. Is, 1900.
The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-08-22

God, able men, hating covetousness and
place such over them to be rulers of
thousands and rulers of hundreds and
rulers of ffties and rulers of tens" When
/ say he was a God-fearing man l do not
refer to conventional piety or to his church
affiliations or to his creed. l mean that
he was impressed with the providentjal
guidance Of the destinies of men. His
character had such an inherent
force that he became king among men
and compelled their allegiance and direct
ed their energies for the accomplishment
CT his plans in their behalf. He was
feared by his political enemies while he
lived, but none have praised him more
since his death than they.
Yours truly,
q. C. BUXTON.
Winston, N. c., Aug. IA, 1900.
The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-08-22
HIS LAST DAYS THE BAsT.

Zebulon B. Vance was North Carolina
greatest SON. Among all our public men
ait every period in our history he was easi-
ly first. He was great as the States
War Governor, great as the leader OF his
people out of Radicalism in 1876, but
probably his greatest service to the
state and her people was rendered dur
ing the closing year of his life when with
weakened body he threw himself against
Cleveland's un- Democratic policies and
held the Democracy Of his State to the
old faith of bimetallism. That, in my
opinion. was the browning glory Of life
OF greatness.
Respectfully,
A. d. WATTS.
Statesyille, n. c., Aug. 90.
The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-08-22
THE GENIUS OF BENIFICENCE.

Stagville, N. c., Aug. 200.
The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-08-22

Statesville, N. c., Aug. 20.
The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-08-22
UPHELD CABEAS CORPUS.

Winston, N. c., Aug. IA, 1900.
The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-08-22

IID-FIIAD y. Do
Baltimore, Md, Aug. 20.