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Size | 2.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 800 items) |
Abstract | Benjamin Franklin Long was a lawyer in Statesville, N.C., and judge of the Superior Court of the Tenth Judicial District of North Carolina. His father-in-law was William McKendree Robbins (1825-1905), lawyer and congressman, and his wife was Mary Alice ("Mamie") Robbins Long (1857-1947). The collection documents the public and private life of Judge B.F. Long. Also included are correspondence and writings of various members of the Long family, as well as items relating to the Robbins and Hill families, including physician Melmouth Wilson Hill (1838-1900). Of particular interest are letters written by Long to Mamie Robbins prior to their marriage in 1879. Also included are many of Long's charges to juries in various cases over which he presided. |
Creator | Long, B. F. (Benjamin Franklin), 1852-1925. |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
Language | English |
The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
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Benjamin Franklin Long, son of Jacob Long (circa 1806-1894) and Jane Stewart Long (1811-1902), was born near Graham, Alamance County, North Carolina, on 19 March 1852. After graduating as valedictorian from Trinity College, Randolph County, North Carolina, in 1874, he taught Latin and history at Graham High School for two years. He then attended Judge Richmond Mumford Pearson's law school in Richmond Hill, Surry County, North Carolina. In 1877, Long entered law school at the University of Virginia, receiving a Bachelor of Law degree in 1878. In the same year, he became the law partner of William McKendree Robbins of Statesville, North Carolina. He married Robbins' daughter, Mary Alice (Mamie) on 23 December 1879.
In 1879, Long edited Judge Pearson's Law Lectures from notes taken while he was a student at Pearson's law school. Long served as solicitor for the Inferior Court of Statesville and as attorney for the city of Statesville. He also served two years as mayor of Statesville, resigning to accept the position of solicitor of the Eighth Judicial District, a position he held for two four-year terms. In 1894, he was defeated as Democratic candidate for judge of the North Carolina Superior Court, Tenth Judicial District. In 1902, Long was again nominated for this position and was elected. He continued to serve in this capacity until his death on 14 March 1925.
Long gained wide recognition for his role in the 1907 State vs. Southern Railway Co. et al. case. In February 1907, the North Carolina legislature passed an act setting the passenger rate at 2 1/4 cents and making the violation of that act a misdemeanor. On 29 June 1907, two days before this law went into effect, several railroad companies obtained an injunction from the United States Circuit Court prohibiting the enforcement of that law. Under this injunction, the Southern Railway Company continued to sell tickets at the old rates through its ticket agent, Mr. Green. When the Tenth District Superior Court convened on 8 July 1907 with Judge Long presiding, Green and the Southern Railway Company were indicted and found guilty of a misdemeanor. Upon promising to obey the law, Green was fined $5 and released. The Southern Railway Company refused to stop selling tickets at the old rate and was fined $30,000. Long ruled that the Federal Court could not suspend the laws of the state nor could it protect a citizen who violated state laws. The railroad company, Long held, was guilty of a misdemeanor for commanding Green to commit a misdemeanor. On appeal, the Supreme Court disagreed with this latter ruling, holding that only the person violating the law could be found guilty. The punishment of the railway company was limited to the penalty defined in the act. The Supreme Court agreed with Long on all other rulings.
Long and his wife had two daughters and three sons. One son, William Robbins Long, died in infancy on 8 July 1881. A second son, Benjamin Franklin Long Jr., born in 1882, was killed in a train station accident 16 November 1899, while a freshman at the University of North Carolina.
A third son, McKendree Robbins Long (1888-1976), was a minister, artist, and poet. He married Mary Bell Hill, daughter of Melmouth Wilson Hill (1838-1900) and Bell Murphy Boger Hill. Melmouth Wilson Hill, a physician, was a graduate of Davidson College and the University of Maryland Medical School.
B.F. Long's wife, Mary Alice (Mamie) Robbins, was born 23 September 1857 at Glenville, Alabama. Her mother Mary Montgomery (Millie) Robbins died in 1858. Her father then married his first wife's sister Martha (Mattie). Mamie was active in civic life in Statesville. She was founder and first president of the Statesville Woman's Club, and was also instrumental in the founding of the Statesville Public Library. She was one of the organizers of the local chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and served as its first president. Mamie Long died 2 June 1947.
Back to TopThe collection documents the public and private life of Judge B.F. Long. Also included are correspondence and writings of various members of the Long family, as well as items relating to the Robbins and Hill families, including physician Melmouth Wilson Hill (1838-1900). Of particular interest are letters written by Long to Mamie Robbins prior to their marriage in 1879. The collection also contains many of Long's charges to juries in various cases over which he presided. Material pertaining to the 1907 State vs. Southern Railway Co. et al. case is particularly abundant. These items may be found in the correspondence, writings, and printed material series. A summary of the history of the case is filed in Folder 26. Also of note is Volume 1 (1876), Long's notes on lectures by Richmond M. Pearson upon which Long based his edition of Pearson's Law Lectures.
Back to TopArrangement: chronological.
Personal and professional correspondence of B.F. Long with family and friends. Letters written in 1907 pertain to the Rate Case over which Long presided. Correspondence includes letters written by Long to his wife before and after their marriage in 1879, letters from Long to his children, and letters to Mamie Long from her father, William McKendree Robbins, and others. Also included is correspondence of Melmouth Wilson Hill, chiefly with family members, and correspondence between other members of the Long and Hill families.
Folder 1 |
1796-1865 |
Folder 2 |
1869-1877 |
Folder 3 |
January-May 1879 |
Folder 4 |
June-December 1879 |
Folder 5 |
1881-1899 |
Folder 6 |
1900-1905 |
Folder 7 |
1906-19 July 1907 |
Folder 8 |
22 July 1907-October 1907 |
Folder 9 |
1908-February 1912 |
Folder 10 |
March-September 1912 |
Folder 11 |
1913-1915 |
Folder 12 |
1916-1920 |
Folder 13 |
1921-1923 |
Folder 14 |
1924-1975 |
Folder 15 |
Undated |
Arrangement: chronological.
Carbon copies of typed typescripts, newspaper clippings, and one printed court record (1910) of Long's jury charges.
Folder 16 |
1903-1909 |
Folder 17 |
1910 |
Folder 18 |
Undated |
Arrangement: chronological.
Speeches and writings prepared by Long for various schools, clubs, and other organizations.
Folder 19 |
1876-1923 |
Folder 20 |
Undated |
Arrangement: by author.
Speeches, writings, holograph poems, and photocopies of poems by Long family members and others. Folder 25 also contains a pen and ink sketch by McKendree Robbins Long.
Newspaper clippings and photocopies of newspaper clippings about members of the Long and Hill families, cases over which B.F. Long presided, and other topics.
Folder 29-32
Folder 29Folder 30Folder 31Folder 32 |
Printed material, 1878-1962 and undated |
Genealogical and biographical information about the Long and Hill families; United States and Confederate military papers; a history of the Seventh Regiment, North Carolina State Troops; invitations; certificates; and other items.
Image P-4071/1 |
Jacob Albright Long (undated) |
Image P-4071/2 |
B.F. Long (undated) |
Image P-4071/3 |
B.F. Long, Mary Alice Long, and unidentified man (undated) |
Image P-4071/4 |
Young men playing football (Horner Military School?) (undated) |
Image P-4071/5 |
Benjamin Franklin Long Jr. and Mamie Long (September 1899) |
Image P-4071/6 |
Company B, Horner Military School, Oxford, North Carolina (15 May 1899) |
Image P-4071/7-9
P-4071/7P-4071/8P-4071/9 |
Unidentified house (undated) |