The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-08-08

we're over GENERA AaChaN
over the room turning over a book
when suddenly he called out over his
shoulder; oh Polk. thCe - \
~vacancy in the navy and / want It"
All. said the President. is there
hadn't heard OF II. but suppose
you may have 1t" But, MIR. pr.S!-
want Il now And he got Il.
Mr.. Arlington also sald thss GEN
eral Mackay was called by his coll
leagues the Watchdog OF the Treas
ury." or odd Money Bags because
he was so economical as 10 public
ex~penditur and so careful to protect
tna Treasury from unnecessary outlay.
While q Representative in Congress
General Mackay was Very useful IA
his constituents and was instrumental
IN securing appropriations foe the
construction OF the arsenal at Fay
etteville and for building Fort CAS-
Well at the mouth OF the Cape Fear
river.
General Mackay's family va. Of the
presbyterian faith: but he did not
attach himself 10 that denomination
and yet his contributions 10 i, were
exceedingly liberal. In some respects
he was eccentric. but he Was a keen
business man and accumulated large
wealth, Ill particularly noted for
lis rigid integrity Of character and
contempt for and deviation
from the paths OF rectitude. a coun-
try gentleman. in afiluent circum-
stances, long associated at Washing
ton with the strongest and most
polished of our public men. he was
q student Of political economy and
OF the great questions that asitated
the public mind during the excited
period of his career; but essentially he
was a man interested in the m
lty where he was born and whose good
viii and respect he valued more than
aught else in the world. He possessed
a warm, kind heart, and was well
known for his benevolent dis position
and wide charity. 1t is still a tradi-
ton that many a poor youth he set
on the road TO competency and that
many ~unfortunates We're sustained by
his county.
he had married a woman of great
beauty and unusual capacity, Miss Ann
Eliza Harvey. who bore him ope son,
James Travis, who. however, died In
infancy, and they had no other chill
dren.
Without descendants he proposed
by his will to. crafty his natuSal in
clinatIons to serve those with whom
he had been associated in life. For
his Belfort plantation he had some
years before his death been offered
$4,000; but he declined it. An Item
of his Will reads as follows:
Il give and devise after the termi-
nation of my wife's .w~fdowhood my
above-named Belfort plantation to
William J. Cowan and my executors
hereinafter named, and their heirs in
trust for the county of Bladen on the
express condition that the said plan
tation shall be used as an expert
mental farm and that the poor of
tho pnI1nfu an6 tho moor and jn1fpant
orphans who are directed by law to
be bound out, shall be kept, main
tanned and employed on said planta-
ton under such rules and regulations
as the county court of said county
may prescribe
This was virtually establishing an
orphan asylum for the county OF
Bladen, being the first effort in that
direction which the writer is now
advertent to within the state of North
Carolina. The feature annexed to the
Request Of establishing an experiment
tai farm was likewise far in advance
of the prevailing thought at that
era.
Since then eXperime entail farms
have been established both by the
general government and by the Agri-
cultural Department OF the State of
North Carolina; but General Mackay
was far in advance in seeking TO give
practical effect to such sentiments.
In like manner he felt himself free
to deal with his slaves prosperity ac-
cording to his benevolent disposition.
Those slaves inherited from his
parents and acquired by marriage in
number between 200 and 600. he de-
termined to emancipate and to settle
in a home Of their own in Liberia,
and item 10th OF his VIII is:
1T is my Will and desire that the
slaves hereinbefore excepted be hired
out by nv executors for two or three
Years in order to raise funds for their
transportation to the colony Of Ii
IBERIA. and as soon as that object can
be effected. my executors are hereby
strictly ~enjoined to take the requisite
means for the transportation Of said
slaves to Liberia under the direction
and patronage Of the Colonization So
ciety."
This provision Of his will was after