The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-03-30
W. a. SIMPKMS


and even great an,ong States. Writing
rapidly under physical embarrass-
| rnents. ! wish TO record q little Incl
dent connected with my X inter-
course with Capt. .Ashe, now extend
ing through We1l nigh forty years.
About the year 1874 or 1875 I was en-
gagged at Raleigh in editing Col. L. d.
Pools ~tri-monthly publications, Our
Living and Our Dead the North
Carolina Educational Journal / .1s-
sued a circular to the people Of North
Carolina in which l stated hat I pur-
posed soon to begin the preparation
of a History of the People Of North
Carolina,'i based somewhat upon thai
most remarkable and. as [ hold, the
most mastery one-solun1e history ever
published in the world, Thucydides,
the Greek, wrote his superb 'I1istory
Of Greece" Col. Pool became inter
ested n the project to the extent that
he made some preparation to put il
in my power to consum1nate my.
plans.
| left Raleigh and returned to my
home at Oxford and fully expected to
begin my se1f-appointed, stimulating
task at once. To that end I began
certain needed preparations. Now
capt. Ashe comes into the plan. /
know nothing of his own plans and
preparations. ! received a letter
from him stating that he had for some,
time been preparing for the writing
Of such a work as l propose. But he
most generously and kindly waved all
conflicting purpose or plan, and said
he would not only willingly relieve,
but would send me all the historic
material he had gathered in the way
of books, pamphlets, ETC., but woul
also send me such books hat belonged
to Judge William H. Battles collec-
ton All fhiS wa done And 1p0Cr-
gladly received by me-. for the aid
promised was no little. And now
comes the climax. Unseen financial
trouble on the part of another came
with great surprise to me. and Simpl!
ruined my hopes and prospects. The
whole plan failed at nee I abandoned
the ambition purpose, and was driven
into other fields of endeavOr. And now
in 1909, after the elaIse Of nearly
thirty years 1 am indeed most glad OF.
my own s~addening failure and 'disap-
pointment. And why this r~ejeictng?-
Briefly this: But for the failure in fl
nance OF another I would nave COM
pletely failed in my own literary
school. The tWenty-SeEen volumes
Of the most important Colonial Rec
ords'' Of North Carolina were not
then known or dreamed OF, n my.
proposed work would have been filled
With the thousand and one errors thar
crowd other volume published in the
past. Governor D. l.. Swain told Few.
DR.. Calvin II. Wiley, an old intimate
friend Of my boyhood and manhood,
as he impressed me at the last inter-
view | ever held with him. now moro
than t%hirty-three years ago, that he
Governor Swain) a actually found
one thousand errors in "1Nheefer's
History OF North Carolina" by actual.
count" SO / rejoice that my long-ago'
plans failed. 7 am gladder than ever
when I handle the mastery first vol 1
une of Captain Ashes historic UNDER
taking. and I realize that I neve got in
his way in any to-
prevent or delay the production OF
a work 81 very superior to anything.
of my own that / could have written.
| am glad indeed that my friend has
been spared for the contamination OF
his wise plans and the production of.
a work of such high Value n inter
est. as I am constrained to believe. T
write now in the hope that cultivated,
capable North Carolinians will duly
appreciate the really superior work
OF my friend, and aid in making it q
permanent possession for the youth OF
our State. I am writing with no ref
erence or purpose to legislation, for.
the above paper was written before
L knew Of any legislative plans, or.
the opinion Of Capt. Ashe in regard
to the. Mecklenburg Declaration.
which | only saw after I had prepared
my own views and wishes. He is a
careful. ajudicious North C~aroinian.
Many able men have held this sSiew,
Of the 2eth May Declaration that
Capt. Ashe holds. I recall that Gov.
Swain. Chief Justice Thomas Rutfin.
Key. DR.. Charles Phillips, Davent r.
and many others Of the
eminent me Of the past who were
North Carolinians, rejected the 2Otil
May Declaration and held to the s1st.
q / do not consider OF here.
T. Is. kINGSBURY.
Wilmington, n. c..
~.
OF Production.
>2F r . tA4A-.rr-r&
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES supporters Of the
various movements for the acnntrol of