Early History Goldsboro

(By J. H. W. Bonitz)
Bonitz Apartments.

Wilmington, D. C. Aug. 19, 1909.
Editors Record: - You do not hear on the streets of Goldsboro now a days the once familiar saying, "Run 'nigger,' run, or the patrol will catch you!" But this expression was a common one in Goldsboro for about a generation.

In ye olden days, it was the mayor's duty to appoint a number of citizens every day to patrol the town at night and see if all the colored people were at home, and if one was found away from home without a pass, the patrol would give him a good whipping and let him go.  I expect some of the colored people of Goldsboro could give some rich experiences along this line if they would.

The man who was elected captain of the patrol furnished supper for the party. One night, when I was captain, while we were at supper, (in the house now occupied by Mr. Powell), we heard a loud outcry, which came from the old air grounds. Going there, we found on a fence, in the rear of Mr. Pipkin's house, a negro man belonging to Mr. W. K. Lane. He was holding a rooster in his hands, and a coachwhip snake, which had wrapped itself about the negro's leg and the fence, was holding him and whipping him. He had stolen the rooster from Mr. Pipkin and while he was getting over the fence, the snake caught him. We killed the snake, but while the man had already had a whipping from his snakeship, it was our duty to whip him, too. So we put in one in good shape and then let him go home; but the snake had already fixed him, for a short while afterwards white swelling set in and the man's leg had to be amputated.

As Goldsboro was always a leader, so was she in the emigration movement. It was in the Fall of 1865 that Mr. William Atkinson came to me about starting an Emigration Society in Goldsboro and wanted me to go to Europe and bring emigrants to Goldsboro to take the place of negroes on the farms. I did my best to convince him that the green emigrants would not do for the South, as those people never had seen any cotton or corn grow; that they would do for the West, but not for the South.

However, against my pleadings, in January, 1866, Mr. Atkinson went to Bremen, and as bad luck came to him, he fell into the hands of a Swiss emigration agent who carried him to the mountains of the Swiss. I think it was about February when they arrived in Goldsboro. There were about five hundred of these Swiss emigrants, which were divided among the different farmers.

The scheme was a complete failure, as I had told the promoters. As long as the rabbits, squirrels and buzzards lasted, (they thought the buzzards were turkeys) they stayed, but about the first of June there was only one Swiss left, and he was a blacksmith. He remained and died near Goldsboro only a few years ago.

Lieut. Gov. Curtis H. Brogden always stopped with me when in Goldsboro, so when Gov. T. R. Caldwell died, in 1874, I received a telegram from Raleigh to notify Mr. Brogden of his death and tell him to go to Raleigh at once. As Mr. Brogden was then with his sister, Nancy, I drove out there, and as I was going up to the house, someone hailed me, and as I looked in the direction of the voice, who should I see but the Governor of the State of North Carolina (by virtue of his office as Lieut.-Gov.)  Sitting on a log, with nothing on but a homespun shirt and a pair of pants - no shoes and no hat.

In the death of Dr. W. H. H. Cobb, Goldsboro, yea North Carolina, loses one of its noblest men, as also that of his life-long friend, Dr. Swindell, who followed so soon after him. With the passing of Dr. Cobb, the last of the old physicians have crossed the River. We recall among them Dr. Craton, Evans, Dewey, Moore, Wm. Robinson, Daniel Cogdell, Goelett, Finlayson, Davis, Miller, Kirby, Hill, James Hughes (who was in Goldsboro from 1862 to 1868), Jones and Spicer. There were two more whose names I cannot recall just now. Among this list are the names of some of the ablest physicians the State has ever known.

EARLY HISTORY OF GOLDSBORO

BY J. H. W. BONITZ
Bonitz Hotel

Wilmington, N. C., Aug. 27
Editors Record: Since my last letter, one more of Goldsboro's landmarks is gone. With the death of Capt. John F. Divine, another one of her old citizens who resided there in ye olden days, has passed to his eternal reward.

Mr. Editor, I just wonder if there are any of the old citizens left who enjoyed the grand ball and supper Messrs. Biggs & Divine gave in honor of the opening of their machine shop in 1859, afterwards and to the present known as the Great Eastern. It was indeed a swell affair.

Captain Divine was beloved by all men working under him. And nowhere could you find a better set of railroad men than the old conductors and engineers of the W. & W. Railroad. Among them I recall Capt. James Knight, Mr. Crone, Jack Langston, Jimmie Long, Capt. Browning, Fillyaw, Howell, Morrison, James Borden, Capt. Henry Hazell, J. C. Slocumb, John Hessinger, Dick Casey, Steve Merritt, John Neimeyer, who ran over Miss Rosenthal; Winfield Taylor, Guilford Horne and Tom Lawther.

Of the old men now living, I can only recall Capt. John Berry, the old road-master; Capt. Farmer McMillan, Louis Wacsmuth, Capt. Lynch, and Paymaster Lynch. Yes, there is my old friend, Capt. Boon, who, with Jim Knight, Jr., were the merrymakers for all, and their greatest delight was playing jokes. During the great snow storm that tied up all railroad travel in Goldsboro for two days. Capt. Boon and Jim Knight, Jr.  went to every bar in town and put assafoetida on the stoves and in the hot water which was used for making hot drinks. The odor the assafoetida produced was something awful, and you can imagine the number of hot drinks that were spoiled.

While we are talking about the old W. & W. R. R., I had a talk with my old friend, Col. W. B. Fort, of Pikeville, and told him that I thought the old stockholders of the W. & W. R. R. should show gratitude to Mr. William T. Walters, who had it in his power to freeze out all the stockholders of the old W. & W. R. R., as he bought the state's interest.

I was present when Mr. M. Walters, Mr. Newcomber and Mr. R. R. Bridgers came from Raleigh, and Mr. Geo. Howard of Tarboro, introduced Mr. Sharpe of Sharpsboro to Mr. Walters. Mr. Sharpe asked Mr. Walters if he intended to freeze all the small stockholders out. Mr. Walters replied:

"No, but I do want all your goodwill and support, and we will give you the best railroad in the South, in time."  There would be no better place to have a nice fountain than at the new union depot, in honor of Mr. William Walters.

It was Sunday, the fifth day of September, 1869, after the great fire in Goldsboro, when the Messenger was burned out, that Capt. Smith brought me a personal letter from Gov. Wm. W. Holden, expressing his sympathy for Brother Julius A. Bonitz's loss, and asking that I let him know if he (the Governor) could be of any help to him (Julius). As Julius and the Governor were not on terms of personal friendship, I wrote to him that if he had a small hand press in the Standard office, brother could use it. By the next train there came the press, and the paper was printed under the old sweet gum tree.

Well, well, my dear friend Jim! Did I ever think that I got some of the same good old French brandy! I came to Wilmington before Christmas, 1863, and got acquainted with the German captain, and I bought one case (12 bottles) of French brandy. After using ten bottles, I took two bottles and put them under lock and key, with instructions that they were not be opened until the tenth day of June 1912. They were then to be opened in the presence of my old friends, who are welcome to make use of it, and I hope to have the pleasure of your company to tell me if it is the same. I am a total abstainer from all liquors, but on that day I shall taste of the brandy, and I shall fix an old-fashioned Presbyterian punch with some of it, and as the minister and my best man and lady are still enjoying life, I hope to have them all present on that day, and till then.

The booklet War-Time Reminiscences and Other Selections by J. M. Hollowell was contributed by Alton Parnell and digitized by Rita Korbach.  Printed with permission.

Other topics in this series:

About these writings and J. M. Hollowell - A Character Sketch
Some Early Recollections of Wayne County - But More Particularly of Goldsboro
Politics 1852 - 1861 
Early Residents, Soldiers, Railroad Workers, Early Churches
Early Trade
Webbtown, Graded school, Pates
Coming of the Yankees
War-Time Reminiscences

Wayne County, NCGenWeb  Published 10 October 1996  Diana Holland Faust
This page added 24 October 2000    Last updated 16 February 2007