The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1900-01-23
THE LIFE And TIMES OF MACON
Pen Picture of the Great North CaroIinian. GIimpses of
Men and Things a Century Ago.


church vcStrymen and county colonies rs
| far back as 1855. that a lientenanths ON
mission was rendered him, but never ac-
| copied and that he became a member Of
the Senate Of North Carolina
in 1871. but what Is very
! strange ia ii man like Macon. ea;lct
to attend during the whole Of the first
session of that assembly. He received
no pay for serving as q soldier III the
Revolution nor did he accept his expenses
/ even for serving as chairman of the Con
stitutional Convention Of North Carolina
in 1880 rs the papers III the archives Of
The State Department conc.usively show.
He was in tlEis as in many other things
| an imitator of Washington.
The events of 177G caused Princeton
! college to suspend; Macon was there at
school and had served with the local
! militia IN some expedition; he now went
home and began the study Of law ana
may have joined the county militia, but
certainly did ent,v the service at once IA
did his brother. John. At college the
farmers son from Warren county, North
Carolina. did not distinguish himself nor
did the learning of DR.. Witherspoon give
impetus enough to young Nuthaniels love
of study to overcome lack of early train
ing. Macon never became a Scholar Oth-
ing is known of his college life except
F.! that there was such and that he was at
Princeton Il short time. lie, perhaps,
cave I'D law and went away to South
Carolina. III ITS and from that time oa
followed the fortune Of the Southern
army till elected to the Legislature above
| mentioned: we have no record CT
his service in Il Legislative capacity till
June II. 1871. in Raleigh. but from then
on we can Judge fairly we'll of his life
and work though from very nteasrc rec
| ords. From 1871 to 1885 he was i
! member of the Senate of this State and
| served industriously on the chief COM
mittces of that body, and We see his
name ranked With the names Of the first
men Of the State from this TINT on.
One of these committees on which he
acted was the one that had the hopeless
task Of r~e-organizin& and giving stability
10 our finances.
fHo does not seem to have taken part in
p~olitics in the period of 1856 to 11SS-it
! was. we are told, the honeymoon time
with him which was not spent IN notiis
and railway ears, but in the home, on tie
| plantltion-ano1her sign of right tllnk-
ing. In 1883 he again enters politics
and that along the lines marked out 1y
that ~arch-opponent CT the Federal constr
4 IlIlIDU. W IltN BCittD VI AAiS
brother John was a member Of the tli.is-
boro convention that sat III July. il>S.
bit did little more than vote nay to every
motion that was made favoriEG the Fed
eral constitution. 1t was there that
/ tradition in North Carolina says Jctfer-
sons influence began to dominate alat1-
FeLeralist politics though the author Of
the Declaration Of Independence was still
III France.
In 1871, Oct. u, Wednesday, there mp
pcarcd at the bar Of the House two be-
lated mmmbcrs Of Congress and presented
their credentials. One was Theodore
Sedgwick, Of Massachusetts, the otlHf
Nathaniel Macon. Of North Carolina. the
one the we'll known Feleralist that beat
in the race for speakership i'll tit3.
the other the stern, severe Democrat.
who won the contest for the same office
in December, 1901, and continued to WIN
for six years to come. 1t was rather Il
/, peculiar coincidence that brought these
two men into Congress on the same day.
Sedgwick to oppose Macon in every act
of his life afterward and Macon to OPP
pose Sedgwick in the same way. Still
again are their lives similar both were
elevated to the Senate and beth be-
came speakers pro tenn repeatedly. SedS-
wick served his party and died with at In
1913: Macon served his. though no party
man Intentionally. and cast his last vote,
IN 1896, for the ticket that was elected
the Martin Van Buren, ticket.
Macon was appointed on the committee
/, for drafting Il bill fixing the new ratio of
representation i'll Congress. but fOr some
cause did not serve till the subject was
settled. On that first committee was
John Page, of Virginia. and Van Muir
ray, of Maryland. the same who served
this country such a good turn in settling
the difficulties with France In 1893 when
General Davie was also attached to the
commission and is said to have out-shnre
the oldest Of courtierS at the court of the
ReEutlique ancais and to have spoken
French better than a Frenchman. Aftca
this committee experience OF Macon s
he seems to lave remained absolutely still
in his seat for two years-a silence that
would have pleased Carlyle himself had
it not been that of Il Democrat. Macon
had. ! think. found the apportlorment
business too intricate for him and retired
to serve his apprenticeship before asslLm
ing the role of master again. SO quiet
did he remain during the two sessions OF
the second Congress that his lame does
not one time occur in the index to the
House proceedings. His votes wert
though invariably cast among the nays
along with William Barry Groves ard
John Raptiste Ashes OF North Carolina
and James Madisonis of Virginia. Some
times these nays dWindle down to q halt
J. dozen. some times they Mount up to {
respectable minority. 1t was the nucleus
of the opposition that was to becOlns> the
dominant party in the nation ten years
later.
At that time there We're but five repre-
scntatives in Congress. i. e., the House,
from North Carolina though the popuia-
ton was 1888. 900. the ratio OF ! to 3;.lHO
inhabitants had not been established. 1t
was no especial honor 20 bail from
North Carolina and no delegate IF the
State in Congress was expected to play
l any very important role-not more then
: than now: dead. solid opposit;or voting
, has been North Cardinals part III IA
tional legislation. The per4onol, now
ever. Of the North Carolina members
was good and the State may doubt ii
-J IL has nN 4 ttntlpI lltnr ltta