CABARRUS GENEALOGY SOCIETY

Cabarrus, January 29, 1833: Fire in Concord! Franz Xaver Habermann, New York Public Library Although the earliest surviving newspaper for Cabarrus County is the Concord Weekly Gazette of August 11, 1855, earlier extant papers in Salisbury and Charlotte often illuminate events in Concord. Both the Carolina Watchman (Salisbury) and the Miner's and Farmers's Journal (Charlotte) of Saturday, February 2, 1833, reported a fire in Concord. The fire occurred around 5:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning, January 29. Ten houses and two stores near the courthouse were destroyed. The courthouse, and the Klutts house across the street, also were threatened. The fire began in Ward's store which had just received a new shipment of goods. David Storch and George W. Spears also suffered considerable losses. Storch owned most of the burned houses, and Spears ran the other store lost in the fire. Cabarrus historian Robert Washington "Wash" Allison (1809-1898), in A History of Cab

1802 Diary: "Voige to Cabaras & Roan Countys"   John Osborne, born ca. 1773, was the son of William Osborne, then of Mecklenburg County, now part of Union County. In January 1802, Osborne traveled with an uncle on "A Voige to Cabaras & Roan Countys" to purchase a wagon. They had heard that most of the inhabitants of those counties were Dutch and possessed the best wagons.  Luckily for researchers, Osborne included the trip in his diary .  The sixth volume of   John Osborne's diary, which covers January 1800 to September 1802, is one of two that have been found.  The diary contains a daily record of the activities of John and also a note at the beginning each day about the weather. It gives great insight into the daily lives and interaction of John and the people in the community. Osborne set out on Wednesday, January 13, and arrived back home on Sunday, January 17; the two men covered about 100 miles round trip. Along the way, they stopped at

160 Years Ago: The Railroad Comes to the Piedmont Image courtesy NCRC During the winter of 1854/1855, railroad tracks were being put down in order to connect a line from Charlotte to Salisbury. A shortage of iron caused a delay in the completion of the track and by late November of 1854 it was reported that less than 4 miles of track were left to be laid. On December 21, an invitation/advertisement appeared in the Carolina Watchman announcing  "A Rail-Road Barbecue," to be given by the citizens of Rowan County on January 4 in honor of the completion of the railroad. More than just an excuse to eat, barbecue played an important role in the building of railroads. Railroad promoters used barbecues to attract citizens to rally support for the building of railroads and, more important, to encourage them to buy "subscriptions," or shares, in railroad companies. Towns held barbecues to celebrate the completion of railroad lines to their communities, which

Cook Helps Establish Stonewall Jackson Training School in Cabarrus County "Jackson Training School, near Concord, N.C.," c. 1909-1915, in Durwood Barbour Collection of North Carolina Postcards, North Carolina Collection, UNC, Chapel Hill. The January 2, 1937 issue of The Uplift , published by the boys of Stonewall Jackson Training School, carried an article listing contributors to the Boys' Christmas Fund. Local donors to Christmas 1936 included: M. S. Lyles, Concord: $5.00 W. J. Swink, China Grove: $50.00 E. B. Grady, Concord: $5.00 L. D. Coltrane, Concord: $5.00 Mrs. Charles E. Boger, Concord: 130 pounds of pecans Cabarrus Cash Grocery, Concord: 1 box oranges, 2 boxes tangerines J. W. Propst, Jr., Concord: 14 bushels oranges Each boy received a Christmas bag with nuts, candy fruit, raisins. chewing gum and Cracker Jacks. James P. Cook, 1919. Courtesy of www.NCpedia.org  . Stonewall Jackson Training School was established by act of the N. C. Central