Raleigh+Story

Where Oh Where Should Raleigh Be Located? The boy did his best to stay hidden in the shadows of the hallway. He cautiously watched the men coming into the house and his mother taking their overcoats. He crept back out the door to the outdoor kitchen where is aunt was cooking dinner for the large party. Mistress and the children were still away visiting mistress’s mother in Virginia. Tonight Master was having important men over. Men he wanted to sell some of his land to so they could found a new city. The boy’s aunt was hard at work over the fire making bread and watching the meat turning on a spit.  “William” she said sharply “get in here and help mash the potatoes in the table, then put them in that there serving bowl.”  He did as he was told as quickly as possible. Master would be hungry soon and Lord help them all if dinner was late. Shortly his three cousins came into the kitchen and started picking up dishes to take into the main house. All three girls were freshly washed and had put on their cleanest clothes to serve for tonight’s big event. As they swished from the kitchen his aunt called after them “Where is your sister Rosie? She know we need all four of y’all for tonight!”  “She don’t feel good. She still in bed looking like a ghost” called back his cousin Bitsy.  Exasperated, his Aunt said, “William you gonna have to serve in her place then. Master said children only servin tonight. Wash your face and hands. Do you have a clean shirt to put on?”  “No mam” William  He scrubbed his face and hands as clean as he could get them. He didn’t want to leave dirty finger prints on the fine serving dishes. After he was cleaned up he grabbed he dish his aunt had left for him and hurried into the house. He found his cousins lined up, waiting for him so they could go into the dining room. They all took a simultaneous breath and as William’s mother pushed the door to the dining room open they quietly filed into the well lit room. The men ignored the children as the gently placed the bowls on the table. Just as they were about to leave Master spoke-“You there, boy, you stay here.”  William was frightened, but he stayed. He found a place in the corner and stood there, afraid to even breathe. As the men started eating he relaxed some and started to breathe more easily. The men were laughing and drinking. William’s mother kept refilling their cups and made sure that all the men had everything they needed. Periodically Bitsy or one of William’s other cousins would stick their head in to see if more food was needed. William began to question if Master remembered he was there. Finally, towards the end of the dinner, Master spoke to him again, “Boy, go into the other room and fetch my cigar box and matches”.”  William scurried out of the room and carefully picked up the ornate boxes that contained the cigars and matches. He brought them back to Master and returned to his corner. He watched closely as the men finished eating. They were getting sloppy with their food and he knew he would be the one under the table cleaning it up later so he wanted to know where every morsel fell. Finally Master called for his mother and cousins to clear the dishes from the table. As soon as the dishes were gone Master sent William down to the cellar to get a bottle of brandy. Even though Master was a State Senator the finery was rarely put to use.  “Now, for the business at hand” Master said as the men lit up their cigars, filling the room with smoke.  The men began puffing on the cigars and turned their attention to the head of the table. One by one the men began to speak. It didn’t take William long to figure out that they were discussing the location for the new capital city. The men debated several different places, places William had never heard of before. William was in awe listening to descriptions of faraway places that he might get to if Master had to go. He didn’t really know what Master did, but he knew Master was important. The men were also discussing whether or not they should found the new city near the house and by land from Master. The men continued to argue and sometimes the voices got so loud and angry that William was afraid they would start throwing things. Each man wanted to have the new city near their own homes. Finally, the men realized how late it was and began to talk about resuming the debate in the morning. The men got up and quickly left for the evening.  Master released William for the night, but told him to return in the morning rather than doing his regular chores. William practically ran out of the room to tell his family that he didn’t have to do chores in the morning. His mother promptly insisted on washing William’s clothes so they would be clean to be near Master in the daylight. William was scrubbed and feed a few pieces of leftover meat from the dinner and put to bed.  In the morning William bounced out of bed and dressed in his freshly washed clothes. The hurried into the house to see his mother whispering to his cousins, “Tell your ma to put the big breakfast on hold- they all got headaches from drinkin last night and won’t be here till after noon.”  William wasn’t sure what to do next. Master came through the door and went out into the garden. He still had his night shirt on, thrown over last night’s pants. He went for a walk and was gone for most of the morning. While he was gone William went about helping his mother and aunt with the chores. William was almost ten years old and soon enough would be sent into the fields with his father and the rest of the grown men Master owned. Master came back, covered in sweat, and told William’s mother to draw a bath so he could go out. After his bath Master had the horses brought up. William rode behind Master’s stable boy who went everywhere to care for the horses. They arrived at their destination and William had to sound out the name on the sign- Isaac Hunt’s Tavern. All the men from the night before were gathered around a large table in the middle of the room. Master sent William into the kitchen to have food brought out. The kitchen maid brought out large plates of meats, vegetables and breads. Master was in such a good mood that he told William to fix himself a plate of whatever he wanted. William sat in the corner eating his fill while the debate from last night resumed. The bar maids brought out drinks for the men. As soon as the men began to drink the mood began to lighten. As the drinking went on the discussion became less and less about the location of a new capital city and more and more about how wonderful the drink was. Mr. Hunt came out and address the group of men “Gentlemen, thank you so much for your patronage. I hope to see you again soon and often.”  “What’s the name of this wonderful drink?” called out one of the men. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> “I call it Cherry Bounce and the recipe is a closely guarded secret” replied Mr. Hunt. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The men debated a bit longer and then one man finally hushed everyone and spoke “Well Mr. Lane, I think we have made a decision. We all love this state and know how important our job is. We also want the location of the new capital to be a place we feel comfortable and relax after a long day. We have come to a decision. We want the new capital, Raleigh, to be near this tavern. We all enjoy our time here so much that the new capital must be within 10 miles of this place. So, we need to settle on a price and get to work.” <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> Master grinned from ear to ear because he was going to make good money from the sale. William had finished eating and was helping the maids clear the dishes from the table. The cook was so pleased with William’s help that she gave him some apples to take home. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> After the men had finished his business with Master and papers had been signed, the stable boy brought the horses around. On the ride home Master sang and laughed so hard he almost fell off his horse. As they passed through the gate to the house William looked at the sign hanging over head. He always practiced his reading by reading all the signs he saw. This one read “Joel Homestead”. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> That night Master had a smaller meal and celebrated by himself. The rest of the family should be home the next day or so. William shared his apples with his family and told them all about his time away from the house. It was so rare for slaves to be taken from the house on trips that everyone was fascinated by his story. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> As time went on the new city grew and grew. William also grew up. Instead of being sent to the fields, Mr. Lane kept William as his helper. William traveled to important meetings with his master and always made sure there was plenty of Cherry Bounce in Master’s cup. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> While this story is almost entirely fictional, the story about the selection of this area as the location for the new capital city is important for students to understand. There are legends surrounding the selection process, including the influence of a drink called The Cherry Bounce. It would be interesting to see what the students thought about this story, along with the legends that it was based on. Students could write their own stories based on the legends of Raleigh. Joel Lane was a real person with a real house that is still standing in Raleigh today. We could take a virtual or actual field trip to the Lane house. Even something similar to the Raleigh Trolley could be done that would allow students to visit many famous places in Raleigh. In 8th grade students learn about creating maps, so students could create their own maps based on the legends of Raleigh. Taking the students through the writing and creation process could lead to a presentation of their own interpretations of the legends of Joel Lane and other native Raleigh citizens.
 * <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Classroom Implications: **