2021 quick trips

This historic park is on the last remaining acres of the former Mordecai Plantation that was historically one of the largest in Wake County. At its height in 1860, the plantation had 1200 acres, and the family grew corn, wheat, cotton, and other crops. The house, which was the center point of the plantation, was lived in by 5 generations of the family from 1785 to 1964. Living on the grounds in 1860, just before the outbreak of the Civil War, were around 120 enslaved Africans who were responsible for most of the work done on the plantation.

Here’s our map of the grounds. We’re starting at the top of the map.

Federal Building

Built around 1847, this structure was probably used as a post office in its early years.

St. Mark’s Chapel

This chapel was built around 1847 by the enslaved carpenters on John Haughton’s plantation near Gulf, North Carolina, north of Raleigh.

An Episcopal chapel, it was only used by the Haughtons, their visitors, and the enslaved people on their plantation. The slaves sat in a segregated gallery above the main section of the chapel. St. Mark’s was deconsecrated and moved to Mordecai Historic Park in 1978.

Badger-Iredell Law Office

Built around 1810, it began use as the law office of George Badger in the 1820s. He later became a U.S. Senator. Eventually he sold it to another attorney, James Iredell, Jr., who served as governor of the state and who also later became a U.S. Senator.

This building was moved here in 1975 with the help of the Wake County Bar Association.

Andrew Johnson birthplace

Across the street is the building where oral tradition says that President Andrew Johnson, the 17th President of the United States after Abraham Lincoln, was born on December 29, 1808.

At the time of Johnson’s birth, the structure stood in downtown Raleigh and functioned as a kitchen.

This stone plaque in front of the building claims it is the birthplace of Andrew Johnson.

The original structure was pine, but only 15 of the original exterior boards remain. The building has been moved 4 times before it was transported here in 1975. It’s been restored to its original 1790 appearance.

This is another side view of the house. Can’t you just imagine how dark the 2nd floor is with only 3 windows?

So I started thinking, if this building was a kitchen and not a home when Johnson was born, what was his background? It’s a long way from birth in a commercial building to President of the United States. I found some good history about him on the White House historical website. I’m including information from Wikipedia in italics that add to this description of Andrew Johnson. My thoughts are in [brackets].

Born in Raleigh in 1808, Johnson grew up in poverty and “never attended school.” As a boy, he was apprenticed to a tailor, but soon ran away. He opened a tailor shop in Greeneville, Tennessee, married Eliza McCardle, and participated in debates at the local academy.

Entering politics, he became an adept stump speaker, championing the common man and vilifying the plantation aristocracy. As a Member of the House of Representatives and the Senate in the 1840s and 1850s, he advocated a homestead bill to provide a free farm for the poor man [but probably not for those who were black or slaves].

During the secession crisis, Johnson remained in the Senate even when Tennessee seceded, making him a hero in the North and a traitor in the eyes of most Southerners. “He was the only sitting senator from a Confederate state who did not resign his seat upon learning of his state’s secession. In 1862.” In 1862 President Lincoln appointed him Military Governor of Tennessee, and Johnson used this state as a laboratory for reconstruction. In 1864 the Republicans, contending that their National Union Party was for all loyal men, nominated Johnson, a Southerner and a Democrat, for Vice President.

[So far, so good.]

After Lincoln’s death, President Johnson proceeded to reconstruct the former Confederate States while Congress was not in session in 1865. [Oops, wonder why he didn’t want to work with Congress?] He pardoned all who would take an oath of allegiance, but required leaders and men of wealth to obtain special Presidential pardons [which he would hand out; wonder what was on his mind and if he received any money for these pardons]. “He favored quick restoration of the seceded states to the Union without protection for the former slaves.”

By the time Congress met in December 1865, most southern states were reconstructed, slavery was being abolished, but “black codes” to regulate the freedmen were beginning to appear. [Now the problem begins.]

Republicans in Congress moved vigorously to change Johnson’s program. They gained the support of northerners who were dismayed to see Southerners keeping many prewar leaders and imposing many prewar restrictions upon Negroes. [Sounds like Johnson didn’t want to see significant changes in the South.]

The Republicans’ first step was to refuse to seat any Senator or Representative from the old Confederacy. Next they passed measures dealing with the former slaves. Johnson vetoed the legislation. The Republicans gathered enough votes in Congress to pass legislation over his veto–––the first time that Congress had overridden a President on an important bill. Congress was able to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1866, establishing Negroes as American citizens and forbidding discrimination against them.

A few months later Congress submitted to the states the Fourteenth Amendment, which specified that no state should “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”

All the former Confederate States except Tennessee refused to ratify the amendment; further, there were two bloody race riots in the South. Speaking in the Middle West, Johnson faced hostile audiences. The Republicans won an overwhelming victory in Congressional elections that fall.

In March 1867, the Republicans put together their own plan of Reconstruction, again placing southern states under military rule, and they passed laws placing restrictions upon the President. When Johnson allegedly violated one of these, the Tenure of Office Act, by dismissing Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, the House voted eleven articles of impeachment against him. He was tried by the Senate in the spring of 1868 and acquitted by one vote.

In 1875, Tennessee returned Johnson to the Senate, “making him the only former president to serve in the Senate.” He died a few months later at the age of 67. Ulysses S. Grant, the famous general of the Northern troops during the Civil War, succeeded Johnson after his 1-year term.

“Johnson’s strong opposition to federally guaranteed rights for black Americans is widely criticized; he is regarded by many historians as one of the worst presidents in American history. “

Plantation Office

Built around 1826, this building served as an office for the family as they ran the plantation.

It may have also been used for the family’s law practices.

Smokehouse

Across the little street next to the plantation office is the smokehouse that was built around 1826. Smokehouses were an integral part of plantation life because those like this one could store a year’s worth of meat, providing food for all who lived here.

The meat was smoked and then cured in salt to help prevent the growth of mold and bacteria.

Allen Kitchen

Originally built in 1842 in Anson County north of Raleigh in the yard of the Allen family home, the kitchen was moved to this park in 1968 and placed where the Mordecai kitchen once stood.