North Carolina General Assembly of 1860–1861

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73rd North Carolina General Assembly (1860-1861)
← 1862–1864→
NC State Capitol 1861.jpg
North Carolina State Capital in 1861
Overview
Legislative bodyNorth Carolina General Assembly
JurisdictionNorth Carolina, United States
Meeting placeState Capital building in Raleigh
Term1860–1861
North Carolina Senate
Members50 Senators
President of the SenateHenry Toole Clark
Party controlSouthern Democrats
House of Commons
Members120 Representatives
Speaker of the HouseWilliam Theophilus Dortch
Party controlSouthern Democrats

The North Carolina General Assembly of 1860–1861 met in Raleigh, North Carolina in regular session from November 19, 1860 to February 25, 1861. They met in extra sessions from May 1, 1861 to May 13, 1861 and from August 15, 1861 to September 23, 1861. This General Assembly decided that each county should vote for special delegates who would decide whether North Carolina should secede from the Union. On May 20, 1861, those special delegates convened in Raleigh and voted unanimously that the state would no longer be a part of the United States of America.[1][2][3][4]

Councilors of State[]

The following persons were elected as Councilors of State on December 20, 1860:[3]

  • John W. Cuningham Person
  • W. L. Hilliard
  • Council Wooten, Lenoir County
  • W. A. Ferguson
  • John J. Long
  • David Murphy
  • Jesse F. Graves, Surry County

Legislation[]

The general assembly passed numerous laws in 1860-1861, including the creation of Clay County from Cherokee County; creation of Mitchell County from Burke, Caldwell, McDowell, Watauga, and Yancey Counties; and the creation of Transylvania County from Henderson and Jackson Counties.[5]

The North Carolina Constitution was amended on May 20, 1861 to "dissolve the union between the State of North Carolina and the other states united with her under the compact of government entitled the Constitution of the United States of America."[6]

Members[]

House of Commons[]

Rep. Leonidas LaFayette Polk
Rep. Augustus Summerfield Merrimon
Rep. Matt Whitaker Ransom
Rep. Richard Spaight Donnell
Rep. Jesse Johnson Yeates

There were, per the North Carolina Constitution amended in 1825, 120 representatives in the House of Commons. Some counties had more representatives based on the county population. William T. Dortch was elected Speaker of the House of Commons. He served until he left to become the North Carolina Senator for the Congress of the Confederate States of America from 1862 to 1865. Nathan Neely Fleming was elected as Speaker after he departed. Edward Cantwell served as clerk. Eighty-two of the representatives were Southern Democrats.[2][3][4]

County No of Members in County Member's Name (party in 1860)
Alamance 2 Giles Mebane (Whig)[7]
Alamance 2
Alexander 1
Anson 2
Anson 2 Leonidas LaFayette Polk (Whig)[8]
Ashe 1 [9]
Ashe 1
Beaufort 2
Beaufort 2 Richard Spaight Donnell (Whig)[10]
Bertie 2
Bertie 2
Bladen 1
Brunswick 1
Buncombe 1 Augustus Summerfield Merrimon (Southern Democrat)[11]
Burke 1
Cabarrus 1
Caldwell 1
Camden 1
Carteret 1
Caswell 2 John Kerr (Whig)[12]
Caswell 2
Caswell 2
Catawba 1
Chatham 3
Chatham 3
Chatham 3
Cherokee 1
Chowan 1
Cleveland 2
Cleveland 2
Columbus  1
Craven 2
Craven 2
Cumberland 3
Cumberland 3
Cumberland 3
Currituck 1
Davidson 2
Davidson 2
Davie 1
Duplin 2
Duplin 2
Edgecombe 2
Edgecombe 2
Forsyth 2
Forsyth 2
Franklin 1
Gaston 1
Gates 1
Granville 3
Granville 3
Granville 3
Greene 1
Guilford 3
Guilford 3
Guilford 3
Halifax 2
Halifax 2
Haywood 1
Henderson 1
Hertford 1 Jesse Johnson Yeates (Southern Democrat)[13]
Hyde 1
Iredell 2
Iredell 2
Jackson 1 [14]
Jackson 1
Johnston 2
Johnston 2
Jones 1
Lenoir 1
Lincoln 1 [15]
Lincoln 1
Macon 1 [16]
Macon 1
Madison 1
Martin 1
McDowell 1
Mecklenburg 2
Mecklenburg 2
Montgomery 1
Moore 1
Nash 1
New Hanover 2
New Hanover 2
Northampton 2 Matthew Whitaker Ransom[17]
Northampton 2
Onslow 1
Orange 2
Orange 2
Pasquotank 1
Perquimans 1
Person 1
Pitt 2
Pitt 2
Randolph  2
Randolph  2
Richmond 1
Robeson 2
Robeson 2
Rockingham 2
Rockingham 2
Rowan 2
Rowan 2
Rutherford 2
Rutherford 2
Sampson 2
Sampson 2
Stanly 1
Stokes 1
Surry 1
Tyrrell 1
Union 1
Wake 3
Wake 3
Wake 3
Warren  2
Warren  2
Washington 1
Watauga 1 [18]
Watauga 1
Wayne 2 William Theophilus Dortch (Speaker, Southern Democrat)[19]
Wayne 2
Wilkes 2
Wilkes 2
Yadkin 1
Yancey 1 [20]

Senate[]

Sen. Henry Toole Clark
Sen. Jonathan Worth
Sen. John Motley Morehead
Sen. Bedford Brown

Henry Toole Clark was elected Speaker or President of the Senate. As such, he was first in line of succession to the Governor since there was no Lieutenant Governor until 1868. When Governor John Willis Ellis died of tuberculosis on July 7, 1861, Senator Clark took over as Governor and remained in that position until September 8, 1862. He was thrust into this leadership position just as the U.S. Civil War started. Thirty-two of the Senators were Southern Democrats.[21]

The clerk of the Senate was J.W. Alspaugh. Senator William Holland Thomas was an adopted chief of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation and represented their interests as he served in the Senate from 1849 to 1861.[4][3][1][22]

Senators William Waightstill Avery and John Motley Morehead served as delegates from North Carolina to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States of America in the third through fifth sessions in 1861 and 1862.

The following table lists the Senators from the 50 Districts in North Carolina.[2][4][3]

District Counties Represented Senator (party) Home County
1 Pasquotank & Perquimans Perquimans
2 Camden & Currituck Currituck
3 Chowan & Gates Gates
4 Hyde & Tyrrell Tyrrell
5 Northampton Northampton
6 Hertford Hertford
7 Bertie David Outlaw (Whig)[23] Bertie
8 Martin & Washington Martin
9 Halifax Halifax
10 Edgecombe Henry Toole Clark (Southern Democrat, Speaker)[21] Edgecombe
11 Pitt Pitt
12 Beaufort Beaufort
13 Craven Craven
14 Carteret & Jones Carteret
15 Greene & Lenoir Greene
16 New Hanover New Hanover
17 Duplin Duplin
18 Onslow Onslow
19 Bladen, Brunswick, & Columbus Brunswick
20 Cumberland Cumberland
21 Sampson Sampson
22 Wayne Wayne
23 Johnston Johnston
24 Wake Wake
25 Nash Nash
26 Franklin Franklin
27 Warren Warren
28 Granville Granville
29 Person Person
30 Orange Orange
31 Alamance & Randolph Jonathan Worth (Southern Democrat)[24] Randolph
32 Chatham Chatham
33 Montgomery & Moore Moore
34 Richmond, & Robeson Alfred Dockery (Know Nothing)[25] Richmond
35 Anson & Union Union
36 Guilford John Motley Morehead (Whig)[26] Guilford
37 Caswell Bedford Brown (Southern Democrat)[27] Caswell
38 Rockingham Rockingham
39 Mecklenburg Mecklenburg
40 Cabarrus & Stanly Cabarrus
41 Davie & Rowan Rowan
42 Davidson Davidson
43 Forsyth & Stokes Forsyth
44 Ashe, Surry, Watauga, & Yadkin Surry
45 Alexander, Iredell, Wilkes Iredell
46 Burke, Caldwell, & McDowell William Waightstill Avery (Southern Democrat)[28] Burke
47 Catawba, Gaston, & Lincoln Lincoln
48 Cleveland & Rutherford Cleveland
49 Buncombe, Henderson, Madison, & Yancey Buncombe
50 Cherokee, Haywood, Jackson, & Macon William Holland Thomas[22] Jackson

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Lewis, J.D. "North Carolina State Senators 1860-1861". The American Revolution in North Carolina. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c Lewis, J.D. "North Carolina State House 1860-1861". The American Revolution in North Carolina. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Connor, R.D.D. (1913). A Manual of North Carolina (PDF). Raleigh: North Carolina Historical Commission. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Wheeler, John H. (1874). The Legislative Manual and Political Register of the State of North Carolina. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  5. ^ "Public Laws Passed of the State of North Carolina Passed by the General Assembly of 1860-186". Raleigh, North Carolina: John Spelman, Printer of the State. 1861.
  6. ^ "North Carolina Constitution and Amendments". NHINET.ORG. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
  7. ^ Stokes, Durward T. (1991). "Giles Mebane". NCPedia. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  8. ^ Noblin, Stuart (1994). "Leonidas Lafayette Polk". NCPedia. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  9. ^ Resigned his seat to join the Conferate Army
  10. ^ Carraway, Gertrude S. (1986). "Richard Spaight Donnell". NCPedia. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  11. ^ Bell, John L. Jr. (1991). "Augustus Summerfeld Merrimon". NCPedia. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  12. ^ Resigned his seat
  13. ^ Parramore, T. C. (1996). "Jesse Johnson Yeates". NCPedia. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  14. ^ Resigned his seat to join the Conferate Army
  15. ^ Resigned his seat after being appointed Adjutant General, joined the Confederate Army
  16. ^ Resigned his seat
  17. ^ Barrett, John G. (1994). "Matthew Whitaker Ransom". NCPedia. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  18. ^ Resigned his seat, joined the Confederate Army
  19. ^ Yearns, Buck (1986). "William Theophilus Dortch". NCPedia. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  20. ^ Hightower, Emily K. (1979). "Jacob Weaver Bowman". NCPedia. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  21. ^ Jump up to: a b Iobst, Richard W. (1979). "Henry Toole Clark". NCPedia. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  22. ^ Jump up to: a b McKinney, Gordon B. (1996). "William Holland Thomas". NCPedia. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  23. ^ Littleton, Rebecca B. (1991). "David Outlaw". NCPedia. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  24. ^ Zuber, Richard L. (1996). "Jonathan Worth". NCPedia. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  25. ^ Fawcett, Michael J. (1986). "Alfred Dockery". NCPedia. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  26. ^ Kearney, H. Thomas, Jr. (1991). "John Motley Morehead". NCPedia.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  27. ^ Jones, H. G. (1979). "Bedford Brown". NCPedia. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  28. ^ Watson, Elgiva D. (1979). "William Waightstill Avery". NCPedia. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
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