{{Short description|American politician}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2012}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Thomas J. Jarvis | honorific_suffix = | image = Thomas Jordan Jarvis portrait.jpg | alt = | caption = | jr/sr = United States Senator | state = North Carolina | term_start = April 19, 1894 | term_end = January 23, 1895 | appointer = Elias Carr | predecessor = Zebulon Baird Vance | successor = Jeter C. Pritchard | order1 = 16th | office1 = United States Minister to Brazil | term_start1 = July 11, 1885 | term_end1 = November 19, 1888 | predecessor1 = Thomas A. Osborn | successor1 = Robert Adams, Jr. | president1 = Grover Cleveland | order2 = 44th | office2 = Governor of North Carolina | term_start2 = February 5, 1879 | term_end2 = January 21, 1885 | lieutenant2 = James L. Robinson | predecessor2 = Zebulon Baird Vance | successor2 = Alfred Moore Scales | order3 = 3rd | office3 = Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina | term_start3 = January 1, 1877 | term_end3 = February 5, 1879 | governor3 = Zebulon Baird Vance | predecessor3 = Curtis H. Brogden | successor3 = James L. Robinson | order4 = | office4 = Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives | term_start4 = November 21, 1870 | term_end4 = November 18, 1872 | predecessor4 = W. A. Moore | successor4 = James L. Robinson | office5 = Member of the North Carolina House of Representatives for Tyrrell | term_start5 = November 16, 1868 | term_end5 = November 18, 1872 | predecessor5 = N. W. Walker<br>(as Member, House of Commons) | successor5 = B. Jones | birth_date = {{birth date|1836|1|18}} | birth_place = Jarvisburg, North Carolina, US | death_date = {{Death date and age|1915|6|17|1836|1|18}} | death_place = Greenville, North Carolina, US | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | birth_name = | party = Democratic | spouse = Mary Woodson | partner = <!--For those with a domestic partner and not married--> | relations = | children = | alma_mater = Randolph-Macon College | occupation = | signature = Signature of Thomas Jordan Jarvis.png | signature_alt = <!--Military service--> | nickname = | allegiance = Confederate States | branch = Confederate States Army | service_years = 1861–1864 | rank = Captain | unit = Eighth North Carolina Regiment | commands = | battles = American Civil War * Battle of Drewry's Bluff | awards = }} '''Thomas Jordan Jarvis''' (January 18, 1836{{spaced ndash}}June 17, 1915) was the 44th governor of the U.S. state of North Carolina from 1879 to 1885. Jarvis served as a U.S. Senator from 1894 to 1895. A white supremacist, he spoke and wrote widely in support of the white supremacy campaign of 1898. In 1907, he helped establish East Carolina Teachers Training School, now known as East Carolina University.
== Biography ==
=== Early years === Born in Jarvisburg, North Carolina, in Currituck County, he was the son of Elizabeth Daley and Bannister Hardy Jarvis, a Methodist minister and farmer<ref name="docsouth">{{Cite web |url=http://docsouth.unc.edu/nc/jarvislet/bio.html |title=Thomas Jordan Jarvis, 1836–1915 |access-date=August 3, 2012 |archive-date=February 3, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180203104038/http://docsouth.unc.edu/nc/jarvislet/bio.html |url-status=bot: unknown }} Retrieved on April 28, 2022.</ref> and brother of George, Ann, Margaret, and Elizabeth. His family was of English descent; ancestors included Thomas Jarvis, lieutenant governor of Albemarle during the government of Philip Ludwell between 1691 and 1697; and Samuel Jarvis, who led the militia of Albemarle during his fight in the Revolutionary War. Jarvis's father owned a 300-acre farm, where the family "had the necessities of life but few of the luxuries".<ref name="docsouth"/> Jarvis was educated in local schools and at 19 went on to attend Randolph-Macon College, earning an M.A. in 1861. He had to exercise as teacher during the summer to pay for college tuition.<ref name="docsouth"/> An educator by training, Jarvis opened a school in Pasquotank County.
=== Career === thumb|left|Portrait of Jarvis Jarvis enlisted in the military at the beginning of the American Civil War and served in the Eighth North Carolina Regiment. On April 22, 1863, he was named Captain.<ref name="docsouth"/> Captured and exchanged in 1862, Jarvis was injured and permanently disabled at the Battle of Drewry's Bluff in 1864. After the war ended, he was on sick leave in Norfolk and in May 1865, he got probation, returning to Jarvisburg.
In 1865, Jarvis returned home and opened a general store with entrepreneur William H. Happer; he was later named a delegate to the state's constitutional convention that year. In 1867, Jarvis bought out Happer, but after getting a license to practice law in June of that year, he abandoned the store and moved to Columbia.<ref name="docsouth"/>
Active in the Democratic Party, Jarvis was elected to the State House in 1868 and served there for four years, two of them (1870–1872) as Speaker of the House. In 1872, he was a Democratic elector-at-large on the Horace Greeley ticket. Jarvis also married Mary Woodson in December 1874.
An opponent of federal Reconstruction policy, Jarvis was elected the third lieutenant governor in 1876 on a ticket with Zebulon Vance. In 1879, Vance resigned the governorship to serve in the United States Senate, and Jarvis filled the vacant position. As governor, he fought against government corruption and attempted to cut taxes, the state's debt, and government control. He also completed the sale of various state railways to private companies. He established mental health services in Morganton and Goldsboro, managed the establishment of normal schools for teachers in North Carolina and helped develop the State Board of Health.<ref name="docsouth"/>
He won election in his own right in 1880, defeating Daniel G. Fowle for the Democratic nomination and narrowly winning over Republican challenger Ralph Buxton. In office, Jarvis convinced the legislature to authorize construction of the North Carolina Executive Mansion, although it was not completed until 1891.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://projects.newsobserver.com/under_the_dome/executive_mansion_gets_its_place_in_history |title=News & Observer: Executive Mansion gets its place in history |access-date=May 13, 2010 |archive-date=April 1, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120401164246/http://projects.newsobserver.com/under_the_dome/executive_mansion_gets_its_place_in_history |url-status=live }} {{Cite web |url=http://projects.newsobserver.com/under_the_dome/executive_mansion_gets_its_place_in_history |title=Archived copy |access-date=May 13, 2010 |archive-date=April 1, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120401164246/http://projects.newsobserver.com/under_the_dome/executive_mansion_gets_its_place_in_history |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ncmarkers.com/Markers.aspx?sp=Markers&sv=H-117 |title=North Carolina Historical Marker |access-date=May 13, 2010 |archive-date=March 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303171030/http://www.ncmarkers.com/Markers.aspx?sp=Markers&sv=H-117 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He "supported establishing a system of county superintendents of education elected by boards of education, grades of teacher certification, standards of examinations for public school teachers, and lists of recommended textbooks. Also, Funds for the mental institutions continued to increase, and the laws of North Carolina were for the first time codified and state insurance laws fully defined. Also, was built a governor's mansion".<ref name="docsouth"/>
Term limited, Jarvis stepped down as governor in 1885, but was appointed United States Minister to Brazil by President Grover Cleveland. Jarvis held this post for four years, after which he practiced law in Greenville, North Carolina. After Senator Vance died in 1894, Jarvis again succeeded him in office, serving as a U.S. Senator through an appointment by Gov. Elias Carr. In 1895, the state legislature, now under the control of Republicans and Populists, did not elect Jarvis to a term of his own.
In 1896, Jarvis was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, where he supported William Jennings Bryan in his last major political act.
In 1898, Jarvis participated in the state's white supremacy campaign, speaking widely on behalf of the movement and writing a widely syndicated newspaper essay criticizing the Fusion movement and denouncing Greenville’s African-American-dominated town council.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-11-30 |title=Thomas J. Jarvis (A-6) {{!}} NC DNCR |url=https://www.dncr.nc.gov/blog/2023/11/30/thomas-j-jarvis-6 |access-date=2025-02-19 |website=www.dncr.nc.gov |language=en |archive-date=February 19, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250219041401/https://www.dncr.nc.gov/blog/2023/11/30/thomas-j-jarvis-6 |url-status=live }}</ref> While not directly involved, Jarvis's political rhetoric may have contributed to the Wilmington insurrection of 1898, a violent ''coup d'état'' by white supremacists. They expelled opposition black and white political leaders from the city, destroyed the property and businesses of black citizens built up since the Civil War, including the only black newspaper in the city, and killed an estimated 60 to more than 300 people.<ref name=Thalian2>{{cite news |title=Race Question in Politics: North Carolina White Men Seek to Wrest Control from the Negroes |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/100642725/race-question-in-politics/ |newspaper=The New York Times |date=October 24, 1898 |location=Raleigh, North Carolina |page=1 |access-date=2022-04-08 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=April 28, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220428175614/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/100642725/race-question-in-politics/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Thomas Jordan Jarvis and the White Supremacy Campaign of 1898 |url=https://collectio.ecu.edu/chronicles/About/Thomas-Jordan-Jarvis-and-the-White-Supremacy-Campaign-of-1898 |access-date=2022-11-26 |website=collectio.ecu.edu |archive-date=November 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221126140936/https://collectio.ecu.edu/chronicles/About/Thomas-Jordan-Jarvis-and-the-White-Supremacy-Campaign-of-1898 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Jarvis was instrumental in the 1907 founding of what is now East Carolina University in Greenville, where the oldest residential hall on campus is named in his memory.
He reopened his law firm and in 1912, he founded a partnership with Frank Wooten.<ref name="docsouth" /> In November 1914, Jarvis presided over the unveiling of the Pitt County Confederate Soldiers' Monument.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mullis |first1=Justin |title="Unveiling Meaning: the Pitt County Confederate Soldiers' Monument and Lost Cause Sentiment" |journal=The ScholarShip |date=May 4, 2022 |pages=20 |url=https://thescholarship.ecu.edu/bitstream/handle/10342/10840/MULLIS-HONORSTHESIS-2022.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |access-date=December 14, 2022 |archive-date=March 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230331104527/https://thescholarship.ecu.edu/bitstream/handle/10342/10840/MULLIS-HONORSTHESIS-2022.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |url-status=live }}</ref>
He died at his home in Greenville on June 17, 1915.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/100642919/ex-governor-jarvis-dies-at-greenville/ |title=Ex-Governor Jarvis Dies at Greenville |newspaper=The Charlotte Observer |location=Greenville, North Carolina |page=1 |date=1915-06-18 |access-date=2022-04-28 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=April 28, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220428175613/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/100642919/ex-governor-jarvis-dies-at-greenville/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
== Legacy == * In addition to the ECU residence hall, a local United Methodist church<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jarvis Memorial UMC - Home |url=https://www.jarvis.church/ |access-date=2022-11-26 |website=www.jarvis.church |archive-date=November 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221126140936/https://www.jarvis.church/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and a street in Greenville are named in his memory. * At one time, several personal artifacts were on display at the church.
== Personal life == Jarvis married Mary Woodson in December 1874.
==See also== *North Carolina General Assembly of 1868–1869
==Notes== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{Find a Grave|7723925}} * [http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/ecu-icons/jarvis East Carolina University Icons Gallery profile] * [http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/special/ead/findingaids/0616 Thomas J. Jarvis Papers (#616), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.]
{{s-start}} {{s-ppo}} {{s-bef|before=John Hughes}} {{s-ttl|title=Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina|years=1876}} {{s-aft|after=James L. Robinson}} {{s-bef|before=Zebulon Baird Vance}} {{s-ttl|title=Democratic nominee for Governor of North Carolina|years=1880}} {{s-aft|after=Alfred Moore Scales}} {{s-off}} {{succession box |title=Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina |before=Curtis H. Brogden |after=James L. Robinson |years=1877–1879 }} {{succession box |title=Governor of North Carolina |before=Zebulon B. Vance |after=Alfred M. Scales |years=1879–1885 }} {{s-par|us-sen}} {{U.S. Senator box |state=North Carolina |class=3 |before=Zebulon B. Vance |after=Jeter C. Pritchard |alongside=Matt W. Ransom |years=1894–1895 }} {{s-dip}} {{succession box |title = United States Minister to Brazil |before = Thomas A. Osborn |after = Robert Adams, Jr. |years = July 11, 1885 – November 19, 1888 }} {{end}}
{{Governors of North Carolina}} {{USSenNC}} {{SenPOCSCommitteeChairmen}} {{US Ambassadors to Brazil}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jarvis, Thomas J.}} Category:1836 births Category:1915 deaths Category:Democratic Party governors of North Carolina Category:19th-century American diplomats Category:Lieutenant governors of North Carolina Category:Democratic Party United States senators from North Carolina Category:Speakers of the North Carolina House of Representatives Category:Democratic Party members of the North Carolina House of Representatives Category:People from Currituck County, North Carolina Category:People of North Carolina in the American Civil War Category:East Carolina University Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Brazil Category:19th-century United States senators Category:19th-century members of the North Carolina General Assembly Thomas J Category:Wilmington massacre conspirators Category:American people of English descent