Thomas Jefferson
author of Declaration of Independence
author of Declaration of Independence
In the record (9)
1819 · 1819-06-05
John Adams first brought the newly-published Mecklenburg Declaration to Jefferson's attention after reading a reprint in the Essex Register of June 5, 1819, provocatively suggesting to Jefferson that he must have seen the Mecklenburg document before 1776 and 'copied the spirit, the sense, and the expression of it verbatim' into his own Declaration of Independence -- a charge Jefferson denied and rebutted by questioning the document's authenticity.
Source · checked 2026-08-13
1819 · 1819-07-09
In a letter to John Adams dated July 9, 1819, Thomas Jefferson expressed skepticism about the newly-surfaced Mecklenburg Declaration, writing that he believed it 'spurious,' noting that unlike Patrick Henry's 1765 Stamp Act resolutions which 'flew like lightning thro' every paper' of the day, this supposedly sweeping 1775 declaration of independence had 'never once [been] quoted' in any contemporaneous source before its 1819 appearance.
Source · checked 2026-08-13
1865
A North Carolina historical marker records that Jefferson Davis, moving south after Lee's surrender, spent April 19 to April 26, 1865 lodging in a house that stood on East Trade Street in Charlotte while using the nearby Bank of North Carolina branch office as his government's headquarters.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government CenterBank of North CarolinaJefferson Davis
Source · checked 2026-08-13
1865 · 1865-04-19
Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his fleeing government arrived in Charlotte on April 19, 1865, after a four-day journey by wagon from Greensboro, and set up headquarters at the Bank of North Carolina's Charlotte branch office on Tryon Street.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government CenterBank of North CarolinaJefferson DavisWilliam Tryon
Source · checked 2026-08-13
1865 · 1865-04-19
Jefferson Davis learned of Abraham Lincoln's assassination while standing at the corner of Tryon and Fourth Streets in Charlotte, as he was about to enter the Lewis F. Bates residence where he was lodging.
Source · checked 2026-08-13
1865 · 1865-04-20
The Charlotte Mecklenburg Library's Charlotte Mecklenburg Story history timeline states that Confederate President Jefferson Davis met with his complete cabinet for the last time on April 20, 1865, at William Phifer's home on North Tryon Street, even though the government's regular headquarters remained the Bank of North Carolina branch on Tryon Street; the meeting was moved to the Phifer House because of the illness of a cabinet member.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government CenterBank of North CarolinaJefferson DavisWilliam Tryon
Source · checked 2026-08-13
1865 · 1865-04-26
According to NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources historical markers, Jefferson Davis met with his complete Confederate cabinet for the last time as a full body on April 26, 1865, at the William Phifer House on North Tryon Street in Charlotte, where the group conceded defeat while Davis planned an escape route toward the Mississippi River and ultimately Mexico; Davis departed Charlotte that same day.
Source · checked 2026-08-13
1945 · 1945-01-01
WBT was sold by CBS to the Greensboro-based Jefferson Standard Life Insurance Company in 1945, which made WBT its flagship broadcast property.
Unverified — sourced but not confirmed against a primary record.
Source · checked 2026-08-13
1949 · 1949-07-15
WBTV signed on the air in Charlotte on July 15, 1949, becoming the 13th television station in the United States, the first television station in the Carolinas, and the oldest TV station located between Richmond, VA and Atlanta, GA. It was established by Jefferson Standard Life Insurance Company, the owner of WBT radio, and its call letters were changed from WBT-TV to WBTV shortly before launch.
Source · checked 2026-08-13