Story of St. John's College and Oxford Orphanage

              in the establishment of what is now the Mills

Home at Thomasville.

The work of Dr. Dixon, commencing in 1884,

was of a constructive type and his Board of Di­rectors,

with the Grand Master, as ex- officio Chair­man

of all Boards from the beginning, consisted of

Fab Busbee, Grand Master and President of the

Board, A. H. A. Williams, Secretary, Thomas S.

Kenan, C. T. Bailey, J. S. Carr, T. A. Green.

Dr. Dixon, in his report of 1885, builds upon

the foundation formed by Mr. Mills. This state­ment

occurs: " At least four religious denomina­tions

shall be represented among the officers oJ

the Asylum and the representatives of all religious

creeds and all political parties shall be treated a­like."

The By- Laws of that year outlined the duties

of the Board of Directors and the Superintend­ent,

stating' that " the Superintendent shall be

a married man, have board and lodging for

himself in the Asylum free of charge and re­ceive

a salary of $ 1200.00 a year. He shall keep

two books- a book of receipts and a book of dis­bursements.

He shall make regular reports to

the Directors at their meetings and be executive

head of the Asylum."

The number of children in the Asylum in 1885

was 175. Other names appearing on the Board of

Directors besides the Grand Master's, through the

years, were C. T. Bailey, J. M. Currin, G. Rosen­thal,

N. B. Broughton, J. W. Cotten and B. S.

Royster. In 1893 the State of North Carolina ap­pointed

three members to the Board of Directors,

- B. N. Duke of Durham, J. M. Ramsey, of Sea­board,

and Fielding Knott, of Oxford. Succeed­ing

Mr. Knott, three years later, was Mr. C. W.

Toms, of Durham, and succeeding Mr. Ramsey was

E. F. Lovill, of Watauga County, and upon the

resignation of Mr. B. N. Duke, Dr. Dred Peacock

was selected. -

A local Advisory Board of three Granville

County Masons was created in 1889. The first

members were John W. Hays, N. A. Gregory, and

J. M. Currin. This Board is today composed of

B. W. Parham, A. H. Powell, and J. M. Baird.

Dr. Dixon, during his administration, was able

to enlarge the orphanage by the erection of what

is now the Walker Building, the gift of Mrs. Leti­tia

Morehead Walker, in memory of her son,

John Morehead Walker. This building was used

as a residence by the Superintendent until 1904

when it was converted into a hospital. Several

acres of land were bought in 1884 from R. O. Gre­gory

and L. C. Taylor. During these days the in­dustrial

departments of the Orphanage were great­ly

increased as Dr. Dixon was quite enthusiastic

along this line. In 1886 and 1887 the Shoe Shop,

Printing Office, etc., were added and buildings ar­ranged

for these purposes. Tribute is paid, not

only to Dr. Dixon, but his wife, who, with him,

worked out the policies of the orphanage and con­tributed

much to its progressive policy during

those days. The number of children, during hii

administration, went as high as 264. Brother

Dixon resigned in 1890 and Re, v. J. T. Harris, of

Durham, was elected in his place.

Hardly had Brother Harris entered on his

work, when in November of that same year, he

died. Dr. Dixon managed the affairs of the in­stitution

until a successor could be appointed.

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In January, 1891, Dr. W. S. Black, of Raleigh,

was made Superintendent. During his adminis­tration

the orphanage also underwent many chan­ges

and, likewise, Mrs. Black, known as " Aunt

Mary", was a fine spirit within the life of the

home. The age of reception and discharge of chil­dren

was changed, making the dates six to eighteen.

At this time Mr. A. H. A. Williams, of Oxford, was

Treasurer and was succeeded by Mr. G. Rosen­thal,

in 1892. During Dr. Black's administration

the industrial features of the orphanage were car­ried

forward and enlarged. In 1894, a few months

after the death of his wife, Dr. Black gave up the

work, returning to the ministry of the Methodist

Church.

He was succeeded by Mr. N. M. Lawrence, of

Tarboro, and early in his administration the in­stitution

was incorporated as " The Oxford, North

Carolina, Orphan Asylum". The work by this

time was well established and orphanage activi­ties

in the state had grown to where the Baptists,

Presbyterians, Episcopalians and Methodists had

institutions doing a similar work. One of the out­standing

pieces of work done by Mr. Lawrence

was the change from the old congregate system

of the orphanage to the separate building or cot­tage

system. It is seen readily that during these

days the orphanage was willing to be actually mak­ing

adjustments in its plans of work in keeping

with the advancing ideas of the day in regard to

child- care. At this time Brother Lawrence and

others were able to interest Mr. B. N. Duke in the

affairs of the orphanage to a greater extent than

, ever and he offered to contribute half of the funds

required for such buildings as were needed and

planned by Mr. Lawrence. As a result, four cot­tages

for boys and a central dining room build­ing

was started, and a little latter four cottages for

girls were completed,- the first in 1897, the last

in 1899. Thus the gift of Mr. Duke, coming at

the time when it did, guanmteed, for the Oxford

Orphanage increased possibility and evidenced its

effectiveness and permanency. This act on his part

showed that men of large means had become in­terested

and, as the other institutions of similar

kind over the state were wondering as to their

future, the stability accorded the Oxford Orphan­age

gave impetus and encouragement to similar

institutions as well as our own. Other gifts,

through the years, have been made and the list

of those contributing either as memorials, through

their wills, or in donations, is long and appreciated.

Mr. Lawrence retired from the management

of the orphanage July, 1898, and was succeeded

by Col. W. J. Hicks, of Raleigh. During his ad­ministration

the work of the orphanage school was

greatly emphasized. and improved. The business

organization of the orphanage was reorganized and

improved. The buildings commenced under Mr.

Lawrence were finished and occupied. Buildings

for laundry, sewing, printing office and shoe shop

and wood working departments were completed.

An office or administration building was erected.

Deep wells were bored. These, along with many

smaller improvements, greatly added to the effi­ciency

and possibilitie3 of the orphanage fora

higher grade of work. Each Superintendent,

during his administration, was able to lead the

orphanage into making necessary improvements

and reorganize wherever necessary for more ef-

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