Morehead City’s namesake was ‘Father of Modern N.C.’

On Feb. 20, 1861, the Town of Morehead City was officially incorporated by the North Carolina General Assembly – 165 years ago.

 

Morehead City townspeople gleefully celebrated the accomplishment. It’s too bad that former Gov. John Motley Morehead, whose home was in Greensboro, was unable to attend.

He was busy working to avoid a civil war. 

Morehead was one of North Carolina’s five delegates who were sent to the “Peace Conference of 1861,” which met from Feb. 4-27, 1861, in Washington, D.C.

 

Its purpose was to try to arrive at a last-ditch solution that would keep the North and the South as one union.

Also representing North Carolina at the conference were political stalwarts of the day – Daniel Moreau Barringer of Poplar Grove in Cabarrus County, David Settle Reid of Reidsville in Rockingham County, George Davis of Porters Neck in New Hanover County and Thomas Hart Ruffin of Louisburg in Franklin County. (They are shown is descending alphabetical order.)

 

Clearly, a compromise between the “free and slave” states wasn’t in the cards. Although he had hoped war could be avoided, former Gov. Morehead “reluctantly served” in the Confederate Congress during 1861-62.

Perhaps former Gov. Morehead’s greatest contribution toward the Civil War was in helping to end it.

 He did so in 1865, when he was called upon by North Carolina’s sitting Civil War governor – Zebulon B. Vance (shown below) – to broker North Carolina’s “political surrender” on May 2, 1865.

This necessary action followed the military surrender of Confederate troops at Bennett Place near Durham, where Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston (shown above) agreed to terms with Union Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman (shown below) on April 26, 1865.

 

(Their agreement disbanded all active Confederate forces in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, totaling 89,270 soldiers, which was the largest military surrender during the Civil War.)

Former Gov. Morehead welcomed Gov. Vance into his Blandwood manor at his in Greensboro. 

Two Union generals were also present – Jacob Dolson Cox (shown above) and John Schofield (shown below).

 

Meeting in the main parlor of the Morehead homeplace, the parties agreed to accept Gov. Vance’s offer to surrender. The Union generals dismissed Gov. Vance; he was free to go and join his family.

This was former Gov. Morehead’s final deed of public service. He died in 1866 at age 70.

 

North Carolina Gov. James G. Martin, who served from 1985-93, said former Gov. Morehead “rightfully earned the lasting distinction as the ‘Father of Modern North Carolina.’”

“My job as governor was easier,” Martin said, “because I could stand on the shoulders of John Motley Morehead (governor from 1841-45) and his legacy in transportation, education, manufacturing, architecture and preservation.”

“Gov. Morehead was an energetic visionary, intellectual and persuasive 19th-century lawyer, statesman, legislator, farmer, pioneer manufacturer and business administrator with a talent for leadership.”

“Clearly, Morehead’s most enduring and significant contribution to the economic development of North Carolina was to charter, fund and construct the North Carolina Railroad,” former Gov. Martin stated.

“He engineered an amazing public-private partnership that established the 317-mile rail corridor from Charlotte through the Piedmont, passing directly through Greensboro within sight of his beloved home, Blandwood, eventually reaching the port city named in his honor.”

“How fitting that John Motley Morehead was born on the Fourth of July in 1796, just 20 years after we declared our independence from England.”

It counterbalances, in a way, the fact that America lost three U.S. “founding fathers” presidents on Independence Day.

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died on July 4, 1826. James Monroe died on July 4, 1831.

They were in the same “great Americans” league as John Motley Morehead.

Morehead’s legacy, and place in North Carolina history, is a topic for further exploration. 

While serving as governor from 1841-45, he is largely credited with the “awakening” of North Carolina, rousting it from a “Rip Van Winkle” stupor.

A white marble bust of John Motley Morehead is on display in the rotunda of the first floor of the North Carolina State Capitol in Raleigh. 

Dedicated on Dec. 4, 1912, this sculpture was created by Frederick Wellington Ruckstull, a French-born American artist and sculptor.