Charlotte Mecklenburg Library

You are here

Home

History Timeline

1853 - Distinguished Citizen

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. The building and loan company Wittkowsky organizes will one day become Home Federal Savings. 

Date of Event:

1865 - A Nation in Mourning

April 14, 1865The Civil War is over. President Abraham Lincoln is attending Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C. with his wife when actor John Wilkes Booth appears in the president's private theater box. Booth, a supporter of slavery, despises the president. He shoots and kills Lincoln, then jumps to the stage and flees. Booth will be found hiding in Virginia 12 days later and be shot. As Americans mourn the loss of Lincoln, they are uneasy. They wonder what will happen next.

Date of Event:

1878 - First Hospital

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. Peter's will become part of Charlotte Memorial Hospital in 1940, its building will remain standing at the corner of Sixth and Poplar streets. Fashionable condominiums will occupy the building more than 100 years later.

Date of Event:

1854 - Mint History

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. Soon it will be taken over by the Southern states who break away, or secede, from the U.S. during the War Between the States.

Date of Event:

1861 - Change of Command

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. It will soon belong to the new Confederate States of America.Governor John Ellis

Date of Event:

1868 - A New Constitution

July 4, 1868 - North Carolina is accepted back into the United States of America. As part of the agreement, the state now approves, or ratifies, the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. Blacks are now granted the same liberties white citizens have enjoyed, including the right to own property. The 15th Amendment would later address the right to vote.

Date of Event:

1825 - Charlotte, Mining Town

Samuel McComb finds gold at Irwin Creek, near what will be the intersection of West Morehead and Graham streets one day. He is the first to follow a deposit called a vein of gold. Other Charlotteans are now hunting in streams and hillsides for the precious metal, hurrying through their daily chores so they can devote hours to a pastime that will make some of them rich.

Date of Event:

1863 - Death of Stonewall

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. The leader who stood with his men in battle like a stone wall has been accidentally shot by Confederate soldiers from North Carolina. His widow, Anna Morrison Jackson will eventually settle in Charlotte, North Carolina and raise their daughter, Julia.

Date of Event:

1865 - End of the Confederacy

April 17, 1865 - The Confederate government collapses. President Jefferson Davis and other officials flee Richmond, Virginia. The fighting ends in North Carolina. At Bennett House near Durham, Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston surrenders to Union General William T. Sherman. The two military leaders sit down and discuss how to heal the torn nation.

Date of Event:

1869 - Keep the Presses Rolling

At least four newspapers were circulated during the Civil War era. Some were used to promote a particular idea or point of view, a practice called propaganda. Charlotteans now get their news from the Daily Charlotte Observer. It will be followed in 1886 by a competitor, the Charlotte Chronicle, and the old Observer will cease to exist. Industrialist D.A. Tompkins and editor J.P. Caldwell will buy the Chronicle in 1892 and change its name to the Daily Observer. It will evolve into the modern-day Charlotte Observer.

Date of Event: