North Carolina need not concern herself greatly about her place in the sun, according to Rambling Bill Williamson, who is a native of Lawndale, Cleveland county, but who has been “all over” since he came down to Charlotte in 1909 and enlisted in Uncle Sam’s army. The reason North Carolina needed scramble for a place in the sun, according to Bill, is that she already has a place in the sun, through the presence of her native sons in nearly every clime under the sun.
HIS HOME NOW IN ARIZONA
When Mr. Williamson came to Charlotte 12 years ago and enrolled at a local army recruiting station he was plain William b. Williamson. Since that he has been everywhere in the United States, was in the van of Pershing’s expedition into Mexico after Villa in 1916, was in Villa’s army as a machine gunner for a night or two, saw service along the border and fought in France. He was wounded in France and is now here taking a course of instruction at King’s Business College, provided by Uncle Sam. Wherever you find a North Carolinian, according to Mr. Williamson, he is making good in line of endeavor. And he always retains a warm spot on his heart for the old North State.
Mr. Williamson said:
“In my opinion North Carolina is represented in every state in the Union and in every country on the face of the earth. I have been in more than 25 states in the good old U.S.A., and in Mexico, Canada, England and France, and have found “Tar Heels” in nearly every place I’ve been. And to add credit to the old North State, I must say that in nearly every instance where I have found North Carolinians living in other states or countries, they were in good circumstances, which goes to show that her noble sons can take care of themselves wherever they happen to roam. “In Douglas, Arizona, there is, or was two years ago, J.P. Stewart, a prominent editor of one of the daily papers, a son of the old North State who went there when the town was young and made good. His editorial have been read far and wide and his broad minded views have done much toward building up the Southwestern country to what it is today.
“In New Mexico, there is a prominent ranch owner, J.W. Eaker, who left his native soil of North Carolina 30 years ago without a dollar in his pockets, and worked his way westward through the harvest field route and now he is rated highly among the big cattle men of that section. “El Paso, Texas, has its quota of North Carolina men, some of whom are numbered among their most influential citizens and big business men. They have proven to world that this state produces good material for making good.
“Near Namiquipa, Mexico, lives a “Tar Heel” known by the name of Braswell who, during all the past uprisings and revolutions, has stuck to his post and refused to be frightened away from his home and property. Ask him if he is a native of Mexico and he will pretty soon tell you ‘No Siree’ but that he was born in the good old state of North Carolina.
“I have never yet found a native of this state living in any other state, or in any other country, who was not loud in his praise of his Dixie homeland. He’s always glad to shake the hand of the visitor who says he, too, is from Dixie, and especially glad to meet other Tar Heels. “While on a three day leave in Paris during the early part of 1919, I was standing on a bridge overlooking the Seine, when a man past middle age in civilian clothes addressed me in English and inquired in a southern drawl what part of the states was my home. I told him North Carolina and he nearly wrung mu hand off. I cannot recall his name, but he said he had come from the Eastern section of this state 32 years ago and settled in Paris. He was a contractor and evidently had made good.
“There is one logical reason that I can offer for the Tar Heels’ success in other countries, and that is he is not afraid of work and knuckles down to it until he makes it stick. Then he keeps on making it stick to show the world that he is a Tar Heel. Not only has he made a good worker in other lands, but as a soldier and as a sailor and a fighter as well. I have hiked with him in Mexico, when the blistering sun boiled down on our necks and shoulders as if it would burn through, and when our water was low and our chow was scarce and I observed him in the Argonne forest when high explosives and 77s were coming over at a rate which made us each thing we would be next, but he never quailed, which goes to show that he possesses some of that indominable spirit typical of his forefathers and North Carolina traditions.
‘North Carolina produces men of whom she should be proud. Not only has she sent men to the far corners of the earth that have added credit to her, but she has men right here at home who rank second to none in the world’s progress. She is the greatest state in the Union in my estimation and one that is destined to yet grow in achievements. I have compared her with more than 20 other states in this country and she far excels them all in opportunities for the man with limited means.
“I have never yet heard of a person starving in this state, wherefore, it is a known fact that they have starved in other countries. But I doubt very much if any North Carolinians have ever starved anywhere, because people who are willing to work generally do not go hungry, and Tar Heels can always make it stick.”
From The Charlotte News, Tuesday, June 7, 1921
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