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Topics Related to Governors
On June 2, 1690, John Gibbs issued a declaration claiming his right to the governorship of Carolina and called on the people to obey him.
On May 24, 1775, Josiah Martin, the last royal governor of North Carolina, fled Tryon Palace under cover of darkness. In 1774, delegates to North Carolina’s First Provincial Congress recommended that counties form committees of safety, a move to supplant royal authority. Fearing that the cannons on the palace grounds might be used in an insurrection, Martin had them removed in May 1775.
On May 16, 1771, the Battle of Alamance was fought. The two opposing forces were colonial militia, under the command of Governor William Tryon, and a band of frontier citizens known as Regulators, who raised arms against corrupt practices in local government. Tryon’s force of 1,100 men marched into Regulator country to subdue the uprisings. About 2,000 Regulators, armed with old muskets and makeshift weapons, organized near Tryon’s camp.
On May 13, 1830, Zebulon Baird Vance was born in the Reems Creek area of Buncombe County. Raised in Asheville, Vance studied at the University of North Carolina. After setting up a law practice in Asheville, he launched his political career. Known for his personality and oratorical skills, Vance served as a state senator, U.S. congressman and governor.
On May 12, 1954, Clyde Hoey died in his office in the U.S. Capitol.A native of Shelby, Hoey married Bess Gardner, sister of Governor O. Max Gardner, and is counted as part of the “Shelby Dynasty,” that dominated state government for two decades. Hoey served as governor from 1937 until 1941. Until his bid for governor, he concentrated on his law practice and worked as a lobbyist.
On April 19, 1813, David Settle Reid, governor and member of both houses of Congress, was born in Rockingham County.Reid was raised in a community that in time became the city of Reidsville, named for Reid’s father. After first holding public office as a state senator at age 22, Reid won his second bid to the U.S. House of Representatives at age 30. Reid was elected governor in 1850, calling for sensible internal improvements, support for public schools and states’ rights.
On April 11, 1896, industrialist and Progressive Era governor Thomas Michael Holt died at age 64.
On April 11, 1900, Charles B. Aycock was unanimously nominated as the Democratic candidate for governor of North Carolina.Aycock practiced law and co-founded the Daily Argus newspaper in Goldsboro, but it became clear that politics was his true passion. He distrusted the Republican Party, which supported African American involvement in government and endorsed the idea that politics should be reserved for the white race.
On April 5, 1976, James Baxter Hunt Jr. announced his intention to run for governor of North Carolina.With 65 percent of the vote, Hunt handily won the election in 1976. He served as governor for a record-breaking sixteen years—with an eight-year break in between two sets of consecutive four-year terms.
On March 22, 1882, Governor Oliver Max Gardner, whose political organization known as the “Shelby Dynasty” dominated state politics for a generation, was born in Cleveland County.Gardner took office as governor only months before the stock market crash of 1929, and the Great Depression that followed presented Gov. Gardner with many unforeseen challenges. One of his many initiatives was to promote his “Live-at-Home” program to encourage the planting of crops for subsistence.