The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1905-02-10

I I0nH ~kHaIFi Oh 1F0y = &<CGN
| tow nship, Cumberland county: ar1oti1sr
was the wife of the late James q.
Cook. OF the firm OF Cook n Taylor.
| doing business on upper Hay street be-
fore the Civil war who lived on Hay
mount where now is the residence OF
! DE-. T. d. Haigh; a third married Dr.
Sykes, of Bladen countys q fourth be-
came Mrs. McDaffffie, and Was the
mother Of the late D.. G. n
distinguished civil engineer n OF the
late DR.. W. c.. McDufie. an eminent
surgeon and physician Of this city, and
a very brainy man. who was more n
once prominently spoken OF fer the sn-
p~erintendency OF the insane asylum at
Raleigh. The two sons. James and Da-
vid. engaged in business on Green
/ street. just south OF what Is kncwn rs
! the OverbaaSh House. now the proper
~ Of MessrS. ]. and q. Evanss mer-
shants and boat owners. David Gee
sas a hattes-not merely deaiIng IN
1ats. as the term would imply az tais
dRy, but making hats: fashioning uieS-
then considered elegant. for h beaux.
OF Fayettevule. and -hrim
slouches for the farmers OF he sur
roraxding countuy-
James Gee dealt in general merchaH-
disc and lived for Il long time in a cae@
story house on North Green street.
which, l believe. was still standing
wn6T-Ala1pE w. ~ a0AKI e oA b6AA k0~
then L citizen os Fayetteville. bought
the prsperty and erected the handsome
residence now ow0ed and occupied ry
Mr.. IN Med. Robinson. Colonel j. Il.
Starr, tie honored old Confederate ar
tillery officer. now living on Rowan
street, tegan housekeeping in the Gee
house aser his marriage TO Miss Sophie
Smith. Several year before he died
James See moved out 10 his property
west OF town, having built the house
mentioned in the beginning Of this aru-
Gle.
Our Uncle Jimmy Gee was n short,
stout buiG, one-arTuad man, with a
comical face and a cholerie temper, who
looked for2an the wsrld like a retired
Jack tar. though l heard OF his
sailing the seas. He was hospitable,
faithful TO his friends&ana very positive
character. In fact. there was Moth
ling negative about him; he was a yea
and nay man, downright IN all his re-
Iations WITH his Fellows,
His father4was a Wing, dur
ing the Revolution Wing meant pa-
triot, but in Uncle Jimmy" Gees day
Ehiggery was a very different thiag.
To him it was an a~bomination, for he
"sss an ardent, uncomRromising Demo
crat all his life. He haEf a hard time
81 it for years for the Wings had a
long lease of power in. this state. SI'
ftb ilNSu 10 Ss II KING oll 10 HlS
own He haa a plot Of land which he
said he intended to give to North Car
olina for a public burying ground on
the election ot a Democratic governor.
and he kept his word. for when David
S. Ried was seated in the gubernato-
ria chair he made the gift, and the
decd Is today m record in the archives
of Cumberland county in the court
house.
Hic nnlv cAArua Eno xxyn Efif..4
at kinston during the Civil war-as
bra re a man as ever Swabbed out Il
piece of artillery. He WIS serving n
six-nound Napoleon gum supported by
a small detachment of infantry, when
an overwhelming force Of he enemy
came down on their flank The order
had just been given for retreat. when
Gee, who had the
ton chest, was shot thCA1gh the head
and instantly killed. He fell over into
the arms of the. late Isaac Jessup,
father of Messrs. JessuTs Brothers, dry
goods merchants of this city, and was
borne off The field. The father was
not the man to Parade his grief, buc al
ter the loss of his son.. James Gee FAIL
ed rapidly, and passed away 500 after
the close of the wan
When his end drew nigh Uncle Jim
my Gee took to his bed. and awaited
the close, u~ndismaSed. without a tram-
or, the noble Old HJna that he was
He called in his nephew, the late Ir. .
w. c. MaDuffie, aEd calmly said: Wi
liam, l am about al the end of my row,
and for what lies. beyond I must trust
to Gods mercy. But throughout my
life | have kept oxe faith clean and UNI.
brokeaa. | have, newer been anything
but a Democrat, and nave never vot-
ed anything but a Democratic tickeS.
When this poor body becomes clay, I
want none but a good Democrat to lay
me out for the grave i would like my
old friend W. T.. Frizzell, to do his
service for me if he will" Only a few
hours< later. DEATH east the mantle of
its majesty over Inc sterling Democrat.
w. T. Frizzell was a master workman
in tia Mcclellan carriage factory On
Person street, and there DR.. McDufie
him and told hin of the dying
wish Of his friend. FriZZell said not
a word. .hesitated not a moment, dRop-
ped his tools, put on his coat, and set
out for the Gee Place, W. and a quar-
ter miles away.
In a. quiet country graveyard. the
family burying ground, about twosmiles
west of Fayetteville. the dust II the
Gees lies thick in little m~ounds-the
mortal remain of the redoubtakie So
der Of Nathaniel Greene; of theeplucky
WIFE,. WAC severed the bFnds tf
the captiyess and set them free: Of the
staid, digffifisd old halter. who's rode n
and out of town In his queer ofd-fesIi-
icned barouche of the fiery oase-armed
cd Dsnfpasat, the triumph OF whose
life was the seating Of David Reid as
governor 9f North Carolina. Their,
lives were simple and plain are the
slabs above their heads. The.
robin darts in and out of the red ber-
ried holy that shelters their narrow
beds, and the quail pipes ih the brown.
stubbEe near by; the win&b rises as the.
day dselines and to its sweep the lofty
pines nod in slow and solemn move
ment. But to those haiox God nath.
rest ]. II. Ia
Fayetteville. January 30.