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December 1774 - Colonists hold meetings and agree they will refuse to buy any more British goods. This refusal, called a boycott, further shows the British rulers that the settlers are determined to win independence.
William Davidson, soon to be elected state senator, moves into an elegant home north of Charlotte, near Sugaw Creek Presbyterian Church. With its formal gardens and ballroom, the home built by Archibald Frew has been called Frew's Folly.
A new invention called an iron cook stove promises to modernize the American kitchen. But most Mecklenburgers will still use fireplaces to heat their homes and cook, since wood is cheap and plentiful. Kitchen chores are strenuous. There are heavy pots to lift and hang over the fire.
May 12, 1835 - Samuel McComb is appointed to select the site and supervise the building of Charlotte's Mint. He is well qualified. Ten years earlier, he discovered gold on his farm and now owns a gold mine.
The boy who grew up near Charlotte becomes America's seventh president. People think highly of Andrew Jackson. He has been an outspoken lawyer, military hero, and senator.
January 8, 1836 - More than 50 gold mines now operate in North Carolina, and more are in Mecklenburg than in any other county. Some mines are named for places or their owners: Alexander, McComb, Davidson Hill. Others have more exotic names, like the Queen of Sheba and the King Solomon mines.
July 1838 - Worried about the chance of fire at Charlotte's Mint, one of its officials, John Heysham Gibbon, issues a warning. He reminds Superintendent John Wheeler Hill that the city operates only one fire truck, located far from the Mint.
Disease continues to claim the lives of the settlers. Vaccinations and cures for cholera, malaria, measles, smallpox and typhoid are years away. Charlotte's physicians, Dr. McKenzie and Dr. Caldwell, visit the sick.
James G. Torrence builds Cedar Grove, a grand home near Huntersville, next to the Torrence family store north of Charlotte. Like so many Mecklenburgers, these pioneers are descendants of English and Scottish people who moved to Ireland before they came to America. They are called Scots-Irish.
The Brick Church opens on the plot of land set aside in 1815 at the corner of Church and Trade streets. The house of worship, with the adjoining Settlers' Cemetery, is designed to practice not just one specific faith. Rather, it will be non-denominational.
Columbia professor James Renwick travels from New York to study Count Rivafinoli's operation of Charlotte's St. Catherine gold mine. Workers are using a method of extracting the pure gold from rocks that allows some of the precious metal to be washed away and lost.
The man who sold a $3,000 gold nugget for $3.50 in 1802 dies. John Reed had lived to become one the richest men in North Carolina. It all began in 1799 when his son, Conrad, found an unusual rock on the family's property 25 miles northeast of Charlotte.
His motto is Push, Pluck and Perseverance. Jewish store owner Samuel Wittkowsky is one of Charlotte's earliest civic boosters. As a friend of Governor Zebulon Vance, this European immigrant will intervene with those who want Vance arrested at the end of the Civil War.
Sparks from a furnace ignite the roof of Charlotte's Mint. Luckily, the fire is quickly discovered and doused. The Mint is spared the destruction of the fire that broke out ten years ago in 1844. But another twist of fate awaits this regional branch of the U.S. Mint.
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.