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Hornets' Nest

Colonel Thomas Leroy Kirkpatrick and President Wilson

Among Charlotte lawyers of the 20th century, none will be remembered more vividly than Colonel Thomas LeRoy Kirkpatrick, good roads enthusiast, mayor, public servant extraordinary, and orator. It was he who spoke three times as long in introducing President Wilson as the President, himself, spoke when visiting Charlotte for the May 20th celebration in 1916. Of this event Mrs. Edith Bolling Wilson, widow of the President, has this to say in her book My Memoir(1938).

 

Home Life and Recreation

THE first Mecklenburgers, according to historian D. A. Tompkins, were producers. They believed than any work, so it was faithfully and honestly done, was worth doing, and that manhood was more than wealth. Mecklenburg could have existed comfortably cut off from the rest of the world. That makes a people feel independent . . .
 

Charlotte Manufactured Rifles

The Washington Post of June 16, 1901, carries an article by William Hugh Robarts entitled "Our National Weapon-Rise and Development of the American Rifle" which reads:
 
"The rifle became so popular in the South that a factory for making the hunting rifle was established at Charlotte, N. C., about 1740. The founders came from Leman's Rifle Factory at Lancaster, Pa., which is in existence to this day. The arm turned out there was unquestionably the best, because the most carefully constructed, rifle then made in America.
 

Charlotte in Time of War

THE battle of Charlotte is given scant attention in general histories of the Revolution, but the battle marked the turning point in the fortunes of the British. Never thereafter did the enemy wage a very successful offensive. Unlike the Mecklenburg declaration of independence, about which some have had doubts, no serious question has arisen about Charlotte's part in the Revolution.
 

Hornet's Nest

Hornets' Nest: the Story of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County was published in 1961 by the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. Although now dated in its approach and lacking in coverage of the latter part of the twentieth century, this book by William LeGette Blythe and Charles Brockmann continues to be a comprehensive source of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County history.