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May 2, 1863 - Confederate General Thomas J. Jackson dies after being mortally wounded at the battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia. Thousands of men on both sides have been killed.
Before the Civil War began, black slaves attended church with their white masters, but sat in the balconies. Now, as slaves win their freedom they want churches of their own. The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church of Philadelphia helps start a congregation in Charlotte.
April 20, 1861 - North Carolina Governor John Ellis sends Col. John Y. Boyce and his troops to Charlotte. They command Green Caldwell to turn over control of the Mint. Officials strike out the words of the U.S. from all their documents. No longer will the Mint make coins for the United States.
April 18, 1865 - In the closing days of the Civil War, Confederate President Jefferson Davis stops in Charlotte. He spends two weeks in the Queen City. Davis holds several meetings with his advisors, or cabinet.
May 7, 1865 - There is panic in Charlotte as the Civil War ends. Reveling Union soldiers are drunk. Some desperate people who have lost all their possessions resort to stealing, or looting, from stores. Slaves have run away from farms, leaving no one to plant and harvest crops. Captain M.C.
Zebulon Vance, who was sent to prison at the end of the Civil War, is elected North Carolina's governor. When Jewish shopkeeper Samuel Wittkowsky learned of the order to arrest Vance, he convinced the officers that his friend was honorable and would not flee. Now Vance lives in Charlotte.
April 7, 1867 - Mrs. Henry Biddle of Philadelphia contributes $1900, and Colonel W.R. Myers donates land west of Charlotte. Together, they help the Presbyterian Church establish Biddle Institute, a school to train black ministers. A Pennsylvania widow named Mrs. J.C.
A group of Episcopal women led by Jane Wilkes begin St. Peter's Home and Hospital. It is the first civilian hospital in North Carolina. Although St.
During the Civil War, Charlotte's Jews raised $150 to help Confederate volunteers. In 1868, the Hebrew Cemetery was established on McCall Street.
The Buford Hotel opens. At Fourth and Tryon streets, it will host inventor Thomas Edison and his wife when they visit Charlotte. Other prominent Charlotteans will make their homes at the Buford home, including industrialist D.A. Tompkins.
February 18, 1900 - The Belk family department stores now have a competitor. J.B. Ivey opens a shop in Charlotte at North Tryon near Sixth Street. All retail employees work long hours. Some area stores are open from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm. Men earn $12 to $15 per week, women slightly less.
Good Samaritan Hospital is aptly named. It is reported to be the first hospital in the U.S. for black patients. Mrs. Jane Wilkes, a nurse whose husband, Captain John Wilkes ran Mecklenburg Iron Works, heads the hospital's fund-raising efforts. Hundreds of miles away in New York, Mrs.
November 9, 1914 - Across the nation, a movement called Suffrage has been gathering support since Revolutionary days. Women are allowed to vote in some states, but not in North Carolina. Today, Charlotte's Selwyn Hotel hosts the state's first suffrage convention.
November 15, 1915 - Five thousand people crowd into the Academy of Music in downtown Charlotte. It is the premiere of the silent film Birth of a Nation. A 30-piece orchestra accompanies it. Based on a novel by Shelby's Thomas W. Dixon, the controversial D.W.
November 1918Millions of people worldwide are dying from Spanish influenza, or flu. To keep the infection from spreading throughout the community, Charlotte officials close parks, churches, schools and other public buildings. Still, in the U.S.
Since around 1900, the Karnazes brothers have sold fruit at Charlotte's downtown crossroads, called the Square. Families from foreign countries continue to come to America, or immigrate. Now the city's Greek community is large enough to buy its own church building on South Boulevard.
The Fifth Courthouse was located at 700 East Trade Street next to the new City Hall. . . . It was designed by noted architect Louis H. Asbury, a Charlotte native who also built the Myers Park United Methodist Church. . . .
October 22, 1936 - Although the nation is suffering an economic depression, North Carolina's first art museum opens. The old Charlotte Mint building, now vacant, has been dismantled and moved, brick by brick, from West Trade Street to suburban Randolph Road.
Fans fill the stands at Memorial Stadium. The first Shrine Bowl game pits the best high school players from North and South Carolina against each other in what will become an annual football rivalry.
Factories have shut down. People who had jobs just a short time ago have no money. Families try to share what little they have. A charity called the Salvation Army open soup kitchens and bread lines, trying to feed the hungry.