The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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94 ■ THE WOLFPACKER ■ PACK PAST for the UNC-Virginia football game, one of the biggest rivalries in the South, and his analyses of those annual contests were reprinted in newspapers in both states. On Sept. 20, 1909, Busbee suffered the second of two massive strokes and it was assumed to be fatal. Yet, like his father who suffered a similar affliction, he recovered enough to return to some of his former du- ties, though he rarely practiced law. In 1920, he was appointed to survey a new road between Raleigh and Chapel Hill, preferably without going through the city limits of Durham. His top choice was the gravel stagecoach route through the Pat- terson and Cedar Creek townships, smack dab in the middle of today's Research Tri- angle Park. While walking the route one day, the misshapen and limping Busbee apparently scared the local residents, two of whom called longtime Durham County sheriff John F. Harward to report "a stranger act- ing strangely." Harward, whose 24-year reign as sheriff was marked by financial corruption, took Busbee into custody, threw him in the hos- pital ward of the Durham County jail and left him for more than 24 hours before let- ting him contact his family to bail him out. He was never charged with a crime. The paralysis that hindered Busbee's middle age worsened as he neared retire- ment, to the point he was admitted to the North Carolina State Hospital in Raleigh, where he died on Jan. 9, 1935. Never married and childless, Busbee was buried along with other members of his politically prominent family in Oakwood Cemetery, which includes other NC State luminaries such as Leonidas Polk, O. Max Gardner and Jim Valvano. ■ Tim Peeler is a regular contributor to The Wolfpacker and can be reached at tmpeeler@ncsu.edu. www.systemscontractors.com Since 1977, Systems Contractors, Inc. has provided Industrial & Commercial HVAC Services throughout the Southeast. Call us today to learn more. 336.763.8969 • Commercial and Industrial HVAC • Design/Build • Piping • Custom Metal Fabrication • Service and Maintenance Contracts • Custom AHU's and Packaged Plants • Engineering Services • Energy Studies Q U A L I T Y • E F F I C I E N C Y • I N N O V AT I O N At the time of its first football game, NC State was then known as the North Carolina School of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, and this was the logo they used. IMAGE COURTESY SPECIAL COLLECTIONS RESEARCH CENTER AT NCSU LIBRARIES