Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the B.F. Long papers #4071, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Received from Mrs. Isaac T. (Caroline Long) Avery Jr. of Statesville, North Carolina, in October 1975 (Acc. 77027), March 1977 (Acc. 78052), May 1979 (Acc. 80032), and June 1983 (Acc. 83097).

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

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.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

• Courtship--North Carolina--History--19th century.
• Families--North Carolina--Social life and customs.
• Hill family.
• Hill, Melmouth Wilson, 1838-1900.
• Judges--North Carolina--History--20th century.
• Lawyers--North Carolina--History--20th century.
• Long family.
• Long, B. F. (Benjamin Franklin), 1852-1925.
• Long, Mary Alice Robbins, 1857-1947.
• Robbins family.
• Robbins, William McKendree, 1828-1905.
• Statesville (N.C.)--History.
• Statesville (N.C.)--Social life and customs.

• James King Hall papers (#1563); William McKendree Robbins papers (#4070); Richmond Mumford Pearson papers (#584) in the Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• See also the writings of B.F. Long in the North Carolina Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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.

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. 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.

• P-4071/1-9 Pictures
• C-4071 Currency