Ga., and then were ordered back to Newberry, S. C, where the iron-bound boxes of specie were put in bank. It was a cold, rainy night, and Mr. W. S. Culpeper recalls with pleasure a gracious act of Mrs. Davis. He, a young fellow of 17 or 18 years, was detailed as guard at the door of a little church where her family was spending the night. Mrs. Davis came to the door, bringing him a glass of wine, saying he must be cold and wet, and this was all she could do for him.
"The next day the officials wanted to pay off the 55 men of the guard with pennies, but, remembering the weary tramp back to Charlotte, the men declined the offer and never received any pay for their labor.
"A few days later, in April, 1865, President Davis and his cabinet came to Charlotte and for a few days this was the capital of the Confederate States. One of the last declarations and cabinet meeting was held in the building now occupied by the Charlotte Observer, then the bank, and some of their last acts were sealed and signed there.
"After the news of President Lincoln's assassination was received the government broke up and the officers dispersed. President Davis set out to overtake his family and the sequel is historic.
"The navy yard was abandoned and when the Federal forces marched into Charlotte, it was taken possession of by the United States government as was the mint and all the stores of the Confederacy.
"Later, Captain Wilkes was permitted to repurchase his own property (the Confederacy never having paid him for its use) at a reasonable rate. There he established the Mecklenburg Iron Works, which occupied the site for 10 years, from April, 1865 to April 1875. The last castings were made there on the day of our big fire, April 12th, 1875.
Mr. P. P. Zimmerman, of the Mecklenburg Iron Works, a life-time resident of Charlotte, and one of her most honored
