Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 24.djvu/16

 8 Southern Historical Society Papers.

G. Foster; Richmond, Walter F. Leak; Rowan, Burton Craige, Hamilton C. Jones, Richard A. Caldwell; Sampson, Thomas Bun- ting (?); Stokes, John Hill; Wake, Kemp P. Battle; Washington, William S. Pettigrew; Wayne, George V. Strong.

The Convention had 120 members. Resignations, deaths, and new elections increased this number to about 139. About one-third of these had been students in this University. The secretaryship of the convention was given to one of her sons, Colonel Walter L. Steele, the assistant secretaryship to another, Leonidas C. Edwards, and she had more than her share of the ability of the convention. After we except the names of Judge Badger, Judge Ruffin, Judge Biggs. W. W. Holden, Kenneth Rayner, Governor Reid, E. J. Warren, and a few others, it will be seen that most of the leaders were University men.

When the convention came, on the i8th of June, to choose Sena- tors and Representatives from North Carolina to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States, which met in Richmond, in July 1861, the dominating influence of the University was still more power- fully felt. Four men were nominated for the senatorships: George Davis, W. W. Avery, Bedford Brown and Henry W. Miller. They were all University men. Seven others received votes without a for- mal nomination; five of these, W. A. Graham, Thomas Bragg, Wil- liam Eaton, Jr., John M. Morehead, and George Howard, Jr., were University men. Davis and Avery were chosen. For the eight seats in the Confederate House of Representatives, 17 candidates were presented. Eight candidates were University men and four of these were elected: Burton Craige, Thomas D. McDowell, John M. More- head and Thomas Ruffin, Jr. As Judge Waller R. Staples, of Vir- ginia, was also a member, the University of North Carolina had seven alumni as delegates to this session of the Provisional Congress. When we come to the two Congresses of the Confederate States, we find that the University had two representatives in the Senate, George Davis (i), and William A. Graham (2), while Thomas S. Ashe was chosen for the third which never met. In the House she had David W. Lewis, of Georigia (i); Thomas S. Ashe (i), R. R. Bridgers (i), Thomas C. Fuller (2), John A. Gilmer (2), Thomas D. McDowell (i), and Josiah Turner (2), of North Carolina; and Waller R. Staples, of Virginia.