The Life of CHARLES BRANTLEY AYCOCK
CHARLES BRANTLEY AYCOCK 1859-1912
GOVERNOR OF NORTH CAROLINA 1901-1905
BEECHWOOD SECTION, LOT E-2
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Charles Brantley Aycock was born in Wayne County, North Carolina, November 1, 1859, the son of slave-holding planter Benjamin Aycock and his wife, Serena. As a teenager Aycock taught in a Fremont school for a term prior to entering the University of North Carolina in 1877, where he studied law and graduated in 1880 with honors in oratory and writing. In 1881 he opened a law practice in Goldsboro, with Frank Arthur Daniels as a partner, and was soon involved in county and state politics.
In 1890 Aycock made an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic nomination for Congress. During the 1892 Presidential campaign, he worked tirelessly for Grover Cleveland, who appointed him US Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina (1893-1897). Aycock's prominence as a political leader was assured by his part in the so-called White Supremacy campaign of 1898, during which he spoke to more than 100,000 people in the course of making over 100 speeches in seventy-five of the state's 100 counties. In 1900 Aycock won the general election by the largest margin ever realized in a state gubernatorial race to that time.
From his years as a young man Aycock's "pet" interest had been public education, and this became the centerpiece of his program as Governor. He recruited powerful leaders such as Thomas Toon (HOC), J.Y. Joyner (HOC), and Charles McIver to help him expand and improve education in the state, seeing this in part as a way to solve the race problem. School days, school buildings, school libraries, and school standards all increased during his tenure in office. Other programs during Aycock's administration included a child labor law, enacted over the objections of industry leaders, and new regulations placed on the railroads. Aycock supported, unsuccessfully, an anti-lynching law and the Woman's Suffrage Amendment.
After leaving office Aycock formed a law practice in Raleigh with Judge Robert W. Winston (HOC). A likely candidate for the US Senate, he died on April 4, 1912, while speaking to the Alabama Education Association at the Jefferson Theater in Birmingham. The very last words -- indeed, word -- spoken by the former Governor before he fell to the floor, "...sometimes on Sundays they would ask me down to the churches to talk, and I always talked about education...," probably cemented his reputation as North Carolina's "Education Governor" for all time. His statue is on the grounds of the State Capitol; his last words are etched on a block of polished granite at the Education Building in the State government complex in Raleigh.
SCHOOL TOUR BIO:
Charles Brantley Aycock was born in Wayne County, North Carolina, November 1, 1859. As a young man, he studied law at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, where he graduated from in 1880. In 1881 he opened a law practice in Goldsboro and was soon involved in county and state politics. He ran for Congress unsuccessfully in 1890. In 1892, Aycock worked in the presidential campaign of Grover Cleveland, who appointed him US Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina (1893-1897).
In 1900 Aycock won the general election by the then-largest ever margin in an election for state governor. As a governor, he was devoted to public education. He recruited powerful political leaders to help him expand education in the state. School days, school buildings, school libraries, and school standards all increased during his time in office. Other programs during Aycock's administration included regulations on child labor, as well as on the state railroads. Aycock supported, unsuccessfully, an anti-lynching law and the Woman's Suffrage Amendment.
After leaving office Aycock formed a law practice in Raleigh with Judge Robert W. Winston. A popular candidate for the US Senate, he died on April 4, 1912, while speaking to the Alabama Education Association at the Jefferson Theater in Birmingham. The very last words spoken by the former Governor before he fell to the floor, "...sometimes on Sundays they would ask me down to the churches to talk, and I always talked about education...," probably cemented his reputation as North Carolina's "Education Governor" for all time. His statue is on the grounds of the State Capitol; his last words are etched on a block of polished granite at the Education Building in the State government complex in Raleigh.