History of Mecklenburg County and the City of Charlotte, North Carolina

 

Table of Contents

CHAPTER I 1
THE COLONISTS.

CHAPTER II 7
INDIANS OF THIS SECTION. (1753 to 1763.)

CHAPTER III 15
EARLY SETTLERS. (1740 to 1762.)

CHAPTER IV 22
INDUSTRIES AND CUSTOMS. (1745 to 1762.)

CHAPTER V 28
FORMATION OF THE COUNTY. (1762.)

CHAPTER VI 31
BEGINNING OF CHARLOTTE. (1762 to 1772.)

CHAPTER VII 35
EARLY TROUBLES AND REGULATORS. (1762 to 1772.)

CHAPTER VIII 41
THE APPROACHING STORM. (1772 to 1775.)

CHAPTER IX 46
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; MAY 20, 1775.

CHAPTER X 52
GOVERNMENT BY THE COMMITTEE. (1775 to 1776.)

CHAPTER XI 56
THE REVOLUTION. (1776 to 1780.)

CHAPTER XII 60
THE HORNETS' NEST. (1780 to 1782.)

CHAPTER XIII 65
CLOSE OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. (1776 to 1800.)

CHAPTER XIV 70
EDUCATION BEFORE 1800.

CHAPTER XV 75
RELIGION AND CHURCHES FROM 1748 TO 1800.

CHAPTER XVI 80
DOCTORS AND MEDICINES BEFORE 1800.

CHAPTER XVII 84
SLAVERY BEFORE 1800.

CHAPTER XVIII 89
FIRST YEARS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. (1800 to 1825.)

CHAPTER XIX Page 94
INTRODUCTION OF THE COTTON INDUSTRY. (1790 to 1825.)

CHAPTER XX 97
EFFECT OF SLAVERY ON INDUSTRIES.

CHAPTER XXI 101
LIFE IN THE OLD SOUTH.

CHAPTER XXII 107
CHURCHES BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR.

CHAPTER XXIII 111
EDUCATION BEFORE 1860.

CHAPTER XXIV 117

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT FROM 1825 TO 1860.

CHAPTER XXV 124
RAILROADS AND INDUSTRIES FROM 1830 TO 1860.

CHAPTER XXVI 129
MINING AND THE MINT BEFORE 1860.

CHAPTER XXVII 133
SLAVERY, POLITICS AND SECESSION. (1825 to 1861.)

CHAPTER XXVIII 138
CIVIL WAR. (1861 to 1865.)

CHAPTER XXIX 143
RECONSTRUCTION. (1865 to 1875.)

CHAPTER XXX 149
FIRST DECADE WITHOUT SLAVERY. (1865 to 1875.)

CHAPTER XXXI 154
INDEPENDENCE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. (May 20, 1875.)

CHAPTER XXXII 158
LAST QUARTER OF THE CENTURY. (1875 to 1900.)

CHAPTER XXXIII 162
THE CHURCHES FROM 1860 TO 1903.

CHAPTER XXXIV 166
EDUCATION FROM 1860 TO 1903.

CHAPTER XXXV 173
MINING, BANKING AND THE ASSAY OFFICE. (1860 to 1903.)

CHAPTER XXXVI 176
ROAD BUILDING FROM 1880 TO 1903.

CHAPTER XXXVII 180
DEVELOPMENT OF MANUFACTURES. (1865 to 1900.)

CHAPTER XXXVIII 185
MECKLENBURG AND CHARLOTTE IN 1903.

CHAPTER XXXIX 187
MECKLENBURG'S GREAT CITIZENS.

CHAPTER XL 193
SUMMARY.

 

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History of a county is closely associated with history of the State, as the health of an arm is with the condition of the whole physical structure. An account of the life of a prominent man in a community is a history of that community in the same way that the history of a representative county is a history of the commonwealth. This book is written primarily to preserve Mecklenburg history for the inspiration of present and future generations of Mecklenburg people, but the aim extends further than this on the presumption that this is a typical southern county and hence, by deductive reasoning, its growth portrays the effects subsequent to certain industrial activities throughout the South.

Prominent among the author's incentives was the desire to investigate, from an industrial standpoint, regarding the lack of industries until within the last half century and the causes of business revival since. He had no personal opinions to illustrate, but investigated and brought forth this accumulation of facts so that he and others might be enabled to form opinions based on truth. The history preaches no doctrine and leans to no side. It is the result of five years of almost continuous work, of painstaking and laborious investigations, of considerable financial expenditure, and of a guiding desire to learn and to record the historical events of the county.

The author is not a native of Mecklenburg. He was raised on a farm in South Carolina, and was educated at the South Carolina College and at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, and though active participation in Charlotte life in recent years has made him a thorough citizen, he feels that he can view in an impartial manner the events herein discussed. The data was gathered from a library of North Carolina history and literature, unpublished State and county records and manuscripts, the Colonial and State Records, private correspondence and diaries and business records, testimony of aged and reliable citizens, and files of Charlotte newspapers from 1824 to 1903.