On March 8, 1865, Gen. William T. Sherman, traveling with the 15th Corps, crossed the state line and entered what is now Scotland County. Orders went out that Union troops should treat North Carolinians less harshly than South Carolinians, who were blamed for starting the war.
Topics Related to This Day in North Carolina History
On March 8, 1865, the Battle of Wyse Fork began near Kinston.
On March 8, 1705, Bath, the first town in colony of North Carolina, was incorporated. Bath was a thriving town of vital importance to the fledgling colony. The first town lots, recorded and acknowledged in court on October 1, 1706, were those belonging to Christopher Gale, the first Chief Justice of the colony. The following year Bath added a gristmill and the colony’s first shipyard. Other North Carolina firsts in Bath include the public library, St.
On March 7, 1887, the General Assembly passed legislation allowing for the construction of a secondary school for the Robeson County Indians then called the Croatan and now known as the Lumbee.
First known as the Croatan Normal School, the institution’s main goal was to train Indians to become school teachers.
On March 7, 1903, the General Assembly established the North Carolina Historical Commission.
First based in the northeast corner of the Capitol’s second floor, the Commission’s most important obligation was to collect, edit, and publish documents to make the records, both public and private, available to the citizens and to assure their preservation.
On March 7, 1914, George Herman Ruth Jr. hit his first home run as a professional baseball player and gained the nickname “Babe” in Fayetteville.
Ruth began playing baseball in his native Baltimore. At age 19, Jack Dunn, manager of the Baltimore Orioles, recognized his talent and signed him to his first professional contract. A few weeks later, the team headed to Fayetteville en route to Florida for spring training.
On March 6, 1970, Lance Crackers produced the last of its trademark five-cent items.
On March 6, 1863, only one week into blockading duty, the USS Peterhoff met an untimely end, south of New Inlet near Confederate-held Fort Fisher.
On March 6, 1836, North Carolina native Micajah Autry died defending the Alamo.
Born in Sampson County around 1794, Autry grew up in Cumberland County before moving to Tennessee in 1823, where he practiced law and tried his hand as a merchant. In Jackson, Tennessee, he met David Crockett, who some believe influenced Autry’s decision to try out life on the Texas frontier.
On March 5, 1728, delegates from North Carolina and Virginia met to survey the border between the two colonies.
Virginia and Carolina’s early settlers intermingled in the early colonial period, as colonists trickled south in search of good land to grow crops and establish homesteads. Explorer John Lawson began surveying a boundary between Carolina and Virginia, but was unable to complete the task.