The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1901-08-18
Pill GRIMAGE TO THE TOMB
OF HON. NATHANIEL MACON
The Grave of North Cardinals Greatest Statemar
Now Marked Only by Pile of Rough Stone
and His Home the Property of Negro.

To the Editor: Recently it was the
privilege and pleasure of this writer
| to spend few days in the beautiful lit
| tie of Macon, in the good old coun-
ty of Warren. The town dates back to
1886, when the r. & G. Railroad, then
in the course of construction reached
that place and located depot there.
1t was named in honor of Nat Macon,
who lived in that vicinity, and who rep.
resented North Carolina many years in
the Congress of the United States. Ma
| con has a population of about three
hundred. II lies on both sides of the
railroad, all its streets running parallel
with it. The people are intelligent, re-
fined, enterprising and thrifty, and they
certainly know how to dispense a gen.
erous hospitality as this writer had am
pie opportunity to know.
| The Warrenton District Conference
was in session and for five days all the
delegates and visitors, numbering sew.
| eral hundred, dined at a public table,
spread in the grove near the church,
and of a truth it may be said: "They
did all eat and We're filled, and they
took up of the fragments that remain
ed many baskets full
In the days of my boyhood Macon was
| my old tramping ground. / knew every
person in the town and it's vicinity, and
] knew every father in the neighbor-
| hood who looked sour in the morning
| after his daughters had been kept up
till the wee small hours, the night be-
fore. But fifty-one years had passed
away since my last visit to Macon.
What a change half a century hath
| wrought! There is not single individual
/ in the place who was living there in
1850. and but one house that was stand
| ing at that time On the day of my
arrival 1 looked over the large audience
for the faces of friends whom l had
known fifty years before, but found
only one, the widow of the late John
b. Powell, of precious memory. Later
in the day / met another, VIM. Brown
who has lived near Macon since 1925.
They were all; only two left.
| But / am depressing. I did not intend
to write about Macon and its good peo
pie, but to give an account Of my pill
grimage to the tomb of Nathaniel Ma
con. All that remains of this distin
guished statesman and patriot lies bu
ried at Buck Spring, where he lived
and died. This place is seven miles
northeast from Macon, and three miles
| from the Roanoke river. | spent a night
with the very interesting family of
! Thomas B. Fleming, whose elegant
home is near Buck Spring and the next
morning that gentleman was kind
enough to take me over TO what was
once the residence of Nat Macon. Our
| objective point was the grave of this
great man which we found in the edge
of skirt of woods about two hundred
and fifty yards from the dwelling. A
more desolate and uninviting spot. it
is said for one to imagine. Rocks.
rocks. rocks! nothing but flint rocks.
| Rocks on the ground rocks in the
| ground, rocks everywhere. These rocks
have been heaped up on the grave form
| ing mound about fifteen feet long,
| three feet high, and eight feet wide
at the base. There are two other small
er mounds near by which we learned
were the graves of two of the grand
children of the late Frank Thornton.
| From the heap of rocks on Mr.. Ma
1 cons grave l selected as souvenir
| one about the size and shape of brick
| though not quite so long, which has
been placed in the collection of min
erals at the Louisburg Female College
1t is thus labeled: Taken from the
neglected grave of the Hon. Nathaniel
Macon, who for thirty-seven consecu-
| tive years represented North Carolina
in the Z. S. Congress. The noblest
Roman of all, July 18th, 1901 TO the
shame of the people of North Carolina,
but more especially those of Warren
| county, be it said, the grave of Ma
| thaniel Macon, is now the property of
billiard Howard, negro. We found
! billiard in his field near by graSSing
| cotton, and learning the purpose of our
visit, he left his work and very kindly
volunteered to conduct us over the en-
tire premises, which he did, carefully
pointing out every object likely to in
| terest his visitors. We found the old
house in which Mr.. Macon lived and
reared his family and in which he was
accustomed to entertain the eccentric
John Randolph of Roanoke, who usual
ly visited him once year, to be very
insignificant and unpratentious affair.
| The body of the house is single room,
sixteen feet square, with attic above,
| a little shed room in the rear and wine
cellar beneath. 1t is now owned and oc-
cupied by billiard Howard, who, so far
as could Judge, is very clever colored
man. He was certainly very polite
and attentive to the wants of his visit
ors on that occasion and j shall al
ways remember his kindness with pleas
ure. ! found the house in very dilap-
idated condition, the weather board
| ing and shingles badly decayed and
falling off. The same is equally true
CT the other i've buildings on the prem
ises. that is, granary, crib, kitchen,
smoke house and dairy. if a nail has
been driven or a piece of new timber
used on the place IN fifty years there is
no visible evidence of the face. Houses,
trees, lands; everything bears on its