North Carolina Minute

Flora and Fauna

North Carolina has a wide variety of natural vegetation, made possible by the wide range of natural conditions. Growing in the high mountains are found sub arctic species such as spruce and balsam fir. Along the southern coastal area, palmetto and other subtropical trees flourish. It is said that forest cover more than half of the state. (Note: that last statement was made in 1990. Do you think it is more than half forest today?) If deer are any indication, I would suggest that it is less than half. I have deer in my back yard every week. Forest fires have played a big part in our forest being destroyed in the past several years.

Our state abounds with a great variety of wildlife, but again with less forest, wildlife is being run out of their forest homes. Just yesterday I saw three deer dead on the highway. There are more than 200 species of birds and 50 species of mammals.

Fishing in North Carolina is a very good commercial business and as for sport fishing, both salt and fresh water is big business. Hunting and fishing make up a great commercial and sport activity in North Carolina. Over 1,000,000 hunting and fishing licenses are sold each year in the state.

Old Burying Ground At Beaufort

If you are ever down Beaufort way, be sure and visit the Old Burying Ground in the heart of town. Everywhere I go I always make plans to visit the old local cemeteries. There is so much history in cemeteries that are not in history books. Take the Old Burying Ground at Beaufort.

Buried there are both Mary and Robert Chadwick. Mr. Chadwick was Collector of Customs at the Port of Wilmington. As such, he and Mrs. Chadwick had the opportunity to entertain sea captains from all over the world. The story is told that on one such dinner at the Chadwick's a sea captain told the story of a young Chinese boy who was a stowaway aboard his ship. The young lad must be arrested and deported. However, Mrs. Chadwick took the boy into her home and educated him. While at Beaufort, the lad became a Christian and was sent to Trinity College, now Duke University for his education.

After college he returned to China as a Methodist missionary. He was married in China and became the father of the famous Soong sisters, one of whom was Mme. Ching Kai-Shek.

George Washington Finley Harper

(A North Carolinian who made a Difference)

George Washington Finley Harper was born on July 7, 1834 at Fairfield Plantation in Wilkes County, North Carolina. He received a Classical education in the area schools and entered Davidson College in 1855, graduating in 1859. Following college he returned home to help his father who was in the merchandise business.

Harper was serving as County Register and Justice of the Peace when the Civil War started. He waited until 1862to join the Confederate Army and was promoted to first lieutenant of Company H, Fifty-eighth North Carolina Regiment. He first saw action fighting Union forces near Cumberland Gap, Tennessee and also participated action in Kentucky. He later became Captain of his unit.

During 1863 the Fifty-eighth Regiment joined the Army of Tennessee and in September of that year he lead his troops in the Battle of Chickamauga, where one-half of his regiment was killed or wounded.

In the spring of 1864, Harper was wounded in the Battle of Resaca. He was sent home for his wounds to heal. He rejoined his regiment in the fall 1864 and upon returning to duty found that he had been promoted to the rank of major. He fought in the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee and after that battle he was put in charge of transporting 1,700 prisoners to Corinth, Mississippi.

In the spring of 1865, Harper witnessed the Union forces making their big push through Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. He was at Bentonville, North Carolina for the last major battle of the war. Harper was with General Joseph E. Johnston when Johnston surrendered to General Sherman on April 26, 1865.

Following the war, Harper returned to Lenoir, a town his father had established. Here he entered public service to help mankind. His political activities included a term as County Commissioner, member of the North Carolina General Assembly and Mayor of Lenoir. Harper died on March 16, 1921 and is buried in the Bellview Cemetery in Lenoir.

Human History 101

Lawyers came in for frequent ribbing in Poor Richard's Almanack. Maybe it was because Benjamin Franklin hung out with lawyers. Among the signers of the Declaration of Independence, there were more lawyers (14) than any other profession. Judges ran a close second with 13. Franklin was the only publisher, and in the course of doing business he had the occasion to run into lawyers more often than he cared to.

In his rhyming parable "The Benefit of Going to Law," Franklin told of two beggars who argued over the ownership of an oyster. They went to a lawyer, who resolved the issue fairly: Each of the beggars got one half of the oyster shell and the lawyer got what was in the middle.

Lawyer and statesman Daniel Webster was good friends with Jeremiah Mason, another lawyer, and the two often found themselves on opposite sides of a case. One day, they met in court, and the clerk asked them which parties they were representing. Mason turned to Webster and asked which side he was on. "I don't know," Webster replied. "Take your choice."

Call your next case!

Thought for the day: Life is simpler when you plow around the stumps.

J.C. Knowles is a traveling speaker, historian and antique expert. For more interesting North Carolina stories, visit www.heathero.com/ssg.