Want to know more about the first GOP mayor of Raleigh?
Here's a snippet from "Historical Raleigh," a 1913 history by Moses Neal Amis on Joseph W. Holden, who beat Tom Fetzer to the punch by more than a century:
(Gov. William W. Holden's) eldest son was Joseph W. Holden, who was Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives in 1868, 1869 and 1870, and enjoyed the reputation of being the most capable officer who had ever occupied that position in this State. He was afterwards elected Mayor of the City of Raleigh. He died at an early age and was undoubtedly one of the most talented men that the State has ever produced. His poem of "Hatteras" was written before he entered politics and this piece of composition will last until the everlasting rocks of Cape Hatteras and time are no more. He died in 1875, aged thirty-one years.
Amis was evidently a fan.
