1995- Editor urges importance of Meck Deck Day

The following is an opinion piece published in support of the continued celebration of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence day.

The Charlotte Observer 5/20/1995 p. 14 A

Meck Dec Day

There is value still in remembering the fervor for independence and nationhood that seized Mecklenburg in 1775.  

By Tom Bradbury Associate Editor  

Today is Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence Day, the 220th anniversary of the rebellious events of 1775, and a couple of quiet observances are planned. But uptown isn’t draped in flags and banners, as it was in that turn-of-the-century picture above. City and county employees didn’t get Friday or Monday off in honor of the day. Times have changed, since, say, 1891 when Edward Dilworth Latta figured that Meck Dec Day would be the ideal time to launch his new suburban resort and streetcar suburbs of Dilworth. 

You don’t have to be a true believer to be saddened by the neglect of the date that is Mecklenburg’s reminder on the state flag and the state seat. While we are far removed from the tiny Mecklenburg of two centuries ago-11, 395 people countywide in the 1790 census-there is some stirring history to know.  

Initiative in a new place

This was a new place in 1775. Mecklenburg had been created from Anson County just 13 years before, in 1762. Charlotte, chartered in 1768, had just been designated the permanent county seat the year before-because pioneer settler Thomas Polk and others had built a courthouse at their own expense. Folks here have always understood how to use entrepreneurial private initiative to secure governmental benefit.  

Britain’s King George III was honored, perhaps usefully flattered, with the choice of names in honor of his bride, Charlotte of Mecklenburg. But those early Mecklenburgers were a feisty lot. When news came that British troops had fired on Americans in the spring of 1775, the citizens were told to send representatives to a meeting at the courthouse.  

May 20 is the date long celebrated here for their proclamation of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence. That document, recreated from notes after a fire in 1800 destroyed the original records, has not been found in the newspapers of the time and has never been accepted by the skeptics. Historians want documentary evidence.  

But the Mecklenburg Resolves, adopted on May 31, were published contemporaneously. Those 20 resolutions began by saying that the crown’s commissions and laws were suspended; they ended by appoint “Colonel Thomas Polk and Dr. Joseph Kennedy to purchase 300 lbs. of powder 600 lbs., of lead and 1,000 flints.”  

This was a full year before the adoption of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. Mecklenburg’s revolutionary fervor was indisputable. When war broke out, British troops found the county to be a hornets’ nest. That appellation has survived in local memory, the county seal and, of course, the name of sports teams.  

Celebrating the undisputed Resolves.

Former Gov. Jim Martin had a wonderful idea last year for spotlighting the history instead of the controversy. He suggested a grand 225th anniversary celebration in the year 2000 that would focus on the undisputed May 31 Resolves rather than the disputed May 20 declaration.  

Sadly, though, Mecklenburgers these days are far more likely to care about the NBA Hornets than the origin of the name or the dispute over the May 20th declaration. We have a wealth of historic sites, there is an active preservation program, developers and neighborhoods alike have learned that history can be profitable, and more than 20 area groups have joined in the Charlotte Regional History Consortium. But too often, history is treated as the stuff we all got to forget when school let out.  

Yet modern Mecklenburg owes something to those early patriots, whose zeal for breaking with one country was matched by their devotion to building a new one. Today’s potential and today’s problems both have deep roots as well in Charlotte’s explosive success as a New South city over the last century.  

Communities, like sailors, should know the value of watching their wake. And sharing history and personal stories is one way to help a growing, changing county become a real community. The past is part of our present, and Mecklenburg’s fervor of 1775 is worth remembering.  

Want to participate? Today at 2 p.m. there will be a free 20th anniversary celebration for the restored Latta House, built around 1800, and dedication of its provision barn; the house, which can be seen in free small-group tours at 3, 3:30 and 4, is located at Latta Plantation Park on Sample Road in northern Mecklenburg. Sunday the Hezekiah Alexander Foundation will hold its annual Meck Dec Day celebration at the Hezekiah Alexander Homesite behind the Charlotte Museum of History at 3500 Shamrock Drive. It’s too late to sign up for the barbecue, but the free public program, featuring Observer Editor Jennie Buckner, will begin about 1 p.m. Home tours are $4 for adults, less for others. For general information, the Mecklenburg Historical Association has a phone with voice mail at 333-6422.