Topics Related to This Day in North Carolina History

On March 4, 1911, Congressman Robert Lee Doughton launched a 42-year career in the United States House of Representatives. He served 21 successive terms in Congress before voluntarily retiring in 1953, just short of his 90th birthday.

Born in Alleghany County in 1863, he was named for the Confederate general under whom his father served. A farmer by trade, Doughton began a career in public service with his appointment to the state Board of Agriculture in 1903. He then served in the state Senate in 1908 and 1909, before being elected to Congress in 1910.

On March 3, 1915, the General Assembly appropriated $20,000 to purchase Mount Mitchell. It would become the first of North Carolina’s state parks.

At the time, the virgin-growth forests rich with balsam and spruce that once dominated the Black Mountains were quickly disappearing because of a thriving timber trade in the area. The effort to preserve the Yancey County mountain from rampant logging came about, in part, from extensive lobbying by Governor Locke Craig.

On March 3, 1923, Arthel Lane Watson, known to the world as “Doc” Watson, was born in Watauga County. The sixth of nine children, Watson developed an eye infection that left him blind as an infant, and he was sent to attend the Governor Morehead School in Raleigh.

On March 3, 1891, legislation passed creating a Normal and Industrial School in Elizabeth City. The school was founded with the express purpose of “teaching and training teachers of the colored race to teach in the common schools of North Carolina.”

On March 3, 1868, Cardinal James Gibbons was appointed the first vicar of North Carolina. At the time, he was the nation’s youngest Roman Catholic bishop.

On March 2, 1927, President Calvin Coolidge signed legislation authorizing the Kill Devil Hills National Monument. Five years later, a 60-foot granite monument was dedicated in Dare County.

The monument itself was built on a 90-foot sand dune stabilized through the planting of special grasses. The dune was part of a larger natural embankment that the Wright Brothers used to launch gliders in the years leading up to their famed first powered flights in 1903.

On March 2, 1781, Patriot forces under Col. Henry Lee, local militiamen and Catawba Indian allies surprised the Loyalist mounted cavalry of Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton in a well-planned ambush near Clapp’s Mill in Alamance County.

On March 2, 1936, J. E. Winslow called to order the first meeting of the North Carolina Farm Bureau (NCFB) in Greenville.

No records exist to show who was elected to the nonprofit, grassroots organization’s first board of directors, but many years later, the Farm Bureau has much to show for its years of service to the state’s rural families.

On March 1, 1898, the Bank of Smithfield, now known as First Citizens Bank, opened for business.

The bank, Johnston County’s first, was founded by Allen W. Smith who remained president until 1906.  The institution became First National Bank of Smithfield before merging with Citizens National Bank to become First and Citizens National Bank. In 1929, the company adopted the now-familiar moniker of First Citizens Bank & Trust Company.