Page:Reminiscences of Randolph County - Blair - 1890.djvu/15

 music of machinery mingles its melody with the murmuring waters, and smoking furnaces and ringing anvils point to smiling villages and happy homes, it might be refreshing, in this age of fashion and progress, while the effacing hand of time and change is fast obliterating every sacred relict of the past, and every cherished emblem of domestic life has well-nigh lost its meaning and significance, to revert briefly to the simple rustic manners of the long ago.

The following extracts, copied from the minute docket of the county court from its formation in 1779 till its removal to Asheboro in 1793, may serve to exhibit the true status of society, and illustrate the taste and culture and morals of the people one hundred years ago:

At March Court, 1780 — It is ordered that George Everby be recorded as a public liar, for speaking and propagating falsehoods against Richard Lewis.

September Court, 1784 — Ordered that no person shall sell spirituous liquors in the Court House while court is sitting.

June Court, 1785 — Nathaniel Williams, attorney, is fined 4 lbs. for contempt of court, ordered in custody of Sheriff. Absalom Tatum, Clerk of the Court, is fined 40 shillings for contempt of court — fine paid.

March Court, 1786 — Ordered that the Sheriff and his deputies attend court in the future with their swords on, attended by three constables, each with a white stick six feet long.

December Court, 1787 — Andrew Jackson, Esq., produced a license from the Honorable the Judges of the Superior Court of Law and Equity authorizing him to