- Transcription
Kinston N.C. July the 28th 1913.
TO HIS EXCELLENCY.
HON. LOCKE CRAIG,
GOVERNOR OF NORTH CAROLINA.
Dear Sir:-
I herewith hand Col. Kerr, your secretary, cashiers check for $4.50, and most earnestly ask you to seriously consider the application of mine filled in your office on the 13th inst, asking you to reappoint me one of the Notaries Publics of Lenoir County.
In a previous letter to me regarding the same matter, you told me in reply one of mine asking you to give me the conditions precedent that you would consider my appointment; that I would have to convence that office that I was a fit person to receive the appointment, thereupon I got the endorsement of thirteen WHITE DEMOCRATS, men in good standing in this county, and forwarded the same to you, then it was that you informed me that I would have to get the endorsement of Messrs Allen, Collins, and Rouse, in addition to the other ones; had you told me this at first, I would not have gone any further in the matter, as Mr. Collins refused th qualify me when you were kind enough to appoint me, pretending that he could not find the oath, requesting me to come back again, in the meantime telling Judge Allen about it, and the Judge immediately wrote you that I had obtained the appointment by fraud, and that I was negro, after which you wrote the clerk not qualify me, and I turned my commission over to him.
So Your Excellency can see that if I had known that I would have to get these men endorse me, it would have been an act of folly for me to have thought of going any further, but thought that If could have you some good men, and men of your party, and mine as well, that you would take the trouble and investigate the matter to the end of fiding out whether, or not that your department would have made a mistake in letting your previous appointment have stood, or in reappointing me. Gov. Glenn appointed me just before he went out of office, and the same facts from the same parties were sent to Gov. Kitchin asking him to revoke the appointment, but he refused to listen to them, telling them to prefer charges which was never done, and I served my time out with credit to myself, and to the administration; but I will frankly say to you that had Gov. Kitchin informed me at any time during his term that the appontment was in the least embarrasing to him, or was in any way likely to do him harm politically, socially, or otherwise, I would have willingly surrendered my commission, and I say the same to you, if after you shall have considered the matter, appoint me, and after which you find to your satisfaction that you have made a mistake, you will have nothing to do but intimate the matter to me, and I will not hesitate to return my commission you for cancellation, as I would have done if you had told me that the last appointment was not entirely satisfactory to you, or that you wanted to invesigate same.
I sent your letter to Judge Allen, with return postage, and asked him to return same to me for further use, but up to this date I have not heard from him, and while I feel sure that he will not endorse me, after writing you as he did in Jan. I am not absolutely certain that either he, or Mr. Collins will fight me, but remain passive, and I feel almost absolutely sure that no other white man here will write you that you will make a mistake in appointment me, in fact but very few persons are interested in the office of Notary Public, and had not Mr. Collins told Judge Allen about it and qualified me, the fact would not have been thought off, and would not hardly have gone outside of the court house, as there are certainly nothing political about it, what little work I might do is done exclusively among my own people.
I have written your excellency before on the same subject, giving you my history, and all that any one can truthfully say why you should not appoint me is that I am a colored man, and Your Excellency has assured me, that that alone would not debar me, and that I must prove my fitness for the place.
I was born, and reared in this county, and have carried myself in such a manner that My color is not inquiried into my in any kind of busness transactions, and I am universally taken as belonging to the Superior race, even Your Excellency, being an experienced lawyer, and seeing my name in numerous cases in the N.C. Supreme Court reports from 137 to 158 as attorney for myself, making oral arguments before the court, so judged me.
I simply call these matters to the attention of Your Excellency to show you that while I am a negro, I am not the "tin pan alley" kind and hope that Your Excellency can see your way clear to appoint me
Yours etc
