Last oi the
Great Houses
Ky CllinillKS DAVIDSON
The last of the ante-bellum great
houses on the Catawba River has re¬
cently been rescued from a watery
grave. The once fertile lands of “Elm¬
wood Farm" will soon sink from the
surface of the earth beneath the rising
flood of the Duke Power Company’s
Lake Norman. The massive brick
house which has weathered the storms
of nature and the desolations of war
was unable to ride out the tide of
Piedmont progress. But it will return
to life, if present plans succeed, some¬
where in the vicinity of Winston-
Salem. It is now in the appreciative
hands of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Bab¬
cock of that city. As the house was
dismantled, each piece of molding,
wainscoting and carved wood was care¬
fully marked and wrapped. Whether
or not the house can be completely
reduplicated is uncertain, but barring
an atomic bomb or a Communist revo¬
lution. it will soon again become the
home of a noted Tar Heel family.
"Elmwood" house was built in 1825-
28 by John D. Graham, the son of
General Joseph Graham of Lincoln
County. General Graham was a
wealthy, as well as a distinguished,
citizen. His fortune originated in iron.
He and his brother-in-law. Captain
Alexander Brevard, were set up in the
iron foundry business by their father-
in-law Major John Davidson of Meck¬
lenburg. In the late 18th century.
Captain Brevard built Mount Tir/ah
Forge and Major (later General) Gra¬
ham built Vesuvius Furnace. The tre¬
mendous old home places of both of
these pioneers of industry arc still
standing in Lincoln County and mid¬
way between them is Maepclah
Presbyterian Church, originally the
burying ground for the two plantations.
Other fortunes in this area were also
founded on iron, such as those of the
Forneys of “Inglcsidc" and the Fulen-
widers of "High Shoals."
“Elmwood" has a unique charm.
I he square massiveness and the
hipped roof are Georgian, but the
Elmwood Form
charms the mother-in-law of Generals
Rufus Barringer. D. H. Hill, and
"Stonewall" Jackson.
Life at "Elmwood Farm" before the
War can be reconstructed front the
letters written by its master to his
brother William A. They arc now on
file in the North Carolina Department
of Archives and History in Raleigh.
In the year 1837. for example.
John D. writes that he plans to take
daughter Malvina to Hillsboro Female
School, that the iron furnace is blowing
(usually started about November I ),
that he will make sixty bales of cotton,
which is a "tolerable good crop." and
that "Mr. Morrison has accepted the
presidency of Davidson College. I ex¬
pect to send Montrose (his son)."
It will come as a surprise to some
to learn that great planters like the
Brcvards and the Grahams employed
white housekeepers to supervise the
yard servants. Owners of plantations
working as many as one hundred hands
would hire at least two overseers, some
times three or four. And yet the heads
of these households were kept busy
day and night. Hospitality was a
princely virtue and an obligation which
the affluent could not forego even if
they had so desired (and there is little
evidence that they regarded it as a
chore.) Not only was the respectable
stranger to be offered bed and board
for as long as he chose to remain, but
aunts, uncles and cousins visited for
months at a time.
"Elmwood" saw distinguished com¬
pany in its day. and so also did such
nearby seats as tlte imposing "Burton
Place" of the Burtons, the learned re¬
treat of Dr. Morrison at "Cottage
Home," and the arboreal gardens of
( Continual on page 30)
small fluted columns on the river front
are Classical Revival, and the single
wing, balanced by the spacing of the
windows on the other side of the house,
is pure "Graham." There was no other
house quite like it.
And there was no other family quite
like the Grahams. According to demo¬
cratic dictum, the progeny of so rich a
man as Joseph Graham should have
wasted their substance in riotous
living: John D. Graham was the oldest
son. He was one of the few1 planters
in the North Carolina Piedmont who
actually did own a hundred slaves.
He took an active part in the public
affairs of his day, served as a Trustee
for Davidson College, as a Trustee for
Unity Presbyterian church, begat thir¬
teen children (by two wives), and
educated all of them who grew to
maturity. The next son was James
Graham, a university-bred lawyer who
served some fifteen years in the United
Stales Congress as a member of the
Whig party. A third brother. George
Franklin, graduate of the University
of North Carolina and the University
of Pennsylvania Medical College, died
of yellow fever on the threshold
of a promising career. The youngest
brother, Hon. William A. Graham, was
United States Senator, Governor of
North Carolina, Secretary of the Navy,
and Whig candidate for the Vice-
Presidency of the U. S. in 1852.
Nor were the daughters hidden in
the shadows of their distinguished
brothers. All married well and did well
with what they married. Mary Graham,
the youngest, was most in the public
eye. She became the wife of Dr.
Robert Hall Morrison, the first Presi¬
dent of Davidson College, and by
virtue of her daughters' matrimonial
THE STATE, March IB. 1961
11
