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Wilkes

November 26, 2023

The Old Old Courthouse

An interesting donation was made at the Wilkes Heritage Museum recently. Frank and his brother Jim Roselle donated a copy of a sketch of the old Wilkes County courthouse that was drawn in 1864 by a Civil War soldier who was in town. This was the courthouse that preceded the building that is now the museum. This older courthouse was built about 1827, and it was torn down to construct the 1902 courthouse at the same location.

The old Wilkes County courthouse as it appeared in 1864.

This sketch is exciting because it is the only known image of this early courthouse. Even though it stood until 1901, no photographs have been found of it. (If anyone knows of another picture of this old courthouse, please let me know!)

The sketch shows the two-story 1827 courthouse at the left with a gate and fence in the front yard set back from the road in the foreground. At the right is the Wilkesboro Hotel that was owned by John Finley and operated by different individuals over several decades. It had at least 15 feather beds, and feather pillows for each of them. This wooden hotel was replaced by a brick hotel in 1891, and it became the Smithey Hotel in 1906 when it was purchased by Nike B. Smithey. The building still stands today, now occupied by Dooley’s Grill & Tavern. In the sketch, you can see local citizens milling about along Main Street, and a wagon is parked in front of the hotel.

Main Street, Wilkesboro – Now and Then.

The caption at the bottom reads “Wilkesboro, Nor. Car’a, Feb 22d, 1864. Gov. Vance & 26^th Reg Band.” Not only is it great to finally have a picture of the old courthouse, but the date when it was drawn has its own special significance. It was on February 22, 1864, that NC governor Zebulon Vance came to Wilkesboro to give a speech to rally the western part of the state in support of the Confederate cause. While many people in Wilkes and surrounding counties fully supported the war, not everyone did, and the governor was well aware of that. He chose this location to give an empowering speech that lasted over two hours according to one report. He likely gave this speech from the balcony of the courthouse.

Gov. Zebulon Vance, 1862.

In The Papers

Gov. Vance’s speech was thoroughly discussed in all major North Carolina newspapers over the next several months. Some papers were in support of his views, and others not so much. The Raleigh Daily Progress printed the entire speech in the March 1, 1864, edition. The paper prefaced the speech by saying that “the governor seems to think that the only road to peace is by the sword, while many ... (think) that an effort should be made to negotiate.”

On March 1, 1864, the Raleigh Daily Progress was skeptical of the governor’s plan.

The speech spanned two pages of the Daily Progress, and you can read Page 1 and Page 2 by clicking on the links to open an image. The governor began his oration by wondering how he could make himself heard by such a large audience. He also reminded the crowd that he visited the county back in 1858 when he was running for a seat in the U.S. Congress which he won.

The Daily Confederate was pleased to reprint a review of the speech that had appeared in the Richmond Dispatch. They wrote that “we have seldom seen a finer specimen of eloquence than his speech as reported in late Raleigh papers. We doubt whether the first American Revolution ever produced anything more patriotic, grand, and soul-inspiring.”

On 3/12/1864 The Richmond Dispatch had an extremely positive opinion of the governor’s speech.

The North Carolina Times of New Bern was vehemently opposed to the governor’s position. The paper said that “from the bitterness of his late speech at Wilkesboro, we should think he had been drinking recently at the fountains of gall and vindictiveness at Richmond.” Yikes! By 1864, the paper evidently had no more patience for subtlety.

On April 2, 1864, the North Carolina Times described the governor’s speech as bitter and vindictive.

An Artist Among the Musicians

When traveling throughout the state, Gov. Vance sometimes brought with him the famed band of the 26^th Regiment. In fact, Gov. Vance had been the Colonel of the 26^th when he found out that he had been elected as governor in 1862. He was pleased that they happened to be on furlough in February 1864 when he came to speak in Wilkesboro in 1864.

The band was initially made up of members of the Salem Town Band, with many of them being part of the Moravian community. In 1862, band leader Samuel T. Mickey traveled to New Bern and successfully got permission for the band to join the 26^th Regiment. The band’s primary responsibility was to boost morale by performing at hospitals, at camps, at home, and even on the battlefield. In the heat of battle, band members often served in the hospitals and transported the wounded.

The 26th Regiment Band from Salem on its first furlough, July-August, 1862.

The group photo (above) of the 26th Regiment Band shows eight members (L to R): James M. Fisher, Julius A. Leinback, D. T. Crouse, A. L. Hauser, W. H. Hall, J. O. Hall, A. P. Gibson, and Samuel T. Mickey, band leader. The photo and information on the 26^th Band was compiled by Joe Mickey, great grandson of band leader Samuel T. Mickey.

At least one member of the band is absent from this photo, and he is the reason we have this sketch of the old courthouse. His name is Alexander C. Meinung.

Alexander Meinung (1823-1908), musician, artist, and soldier.

Alexander Meinung was 38 years old when he enlisted as a musician in the 26^th Regiment in March 1862.

In addition to being an accomplished musician, he was also an artist. He drew several sketches of the places that were visited by the band during the war, and this sketch of the courthouse is one of them. After the war, he continued in the music ministry of the Home Moravian Church in Salem becoming the instructor of orchestral instruments. He often served as the church organist, and he taught the organ in his later years. He is buried in the Moravian cemetery at Old Salem.

More on the bands of the Civil War can be found in a 1987 dissertation by Benny Pryor Ferguson III at North Texas State University. Information on the 26^th Band begins on page 333 of that document. The above photo of Alexander Meinung is on page 340.

Meinung’s sketch and the governor’s speech took place on the front lawn of where the museum stands today. Imagine hundreds of people gathered there, straining to hear Governor Vance’s every words and hoping that he says something to give them hope that this terrible war will soon be over – whatever their personal views of the war might be. It didn’t matter whether they sided with the North or with the South because both sides were experiencing terrible losses and sacrifices. It’s fitting that Meinung’s sketch of this pivotal moment in Wilkes history has made its way back to the very point where it was first created nearly 160 years ago.

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