Yadkin Folks Built
a New Kind of Park
The firs! coniMiicil liisturir-natiirc
park, al ICirliinoiiil Hill, may fore¬
shadow others in IN'orlli Carolina.
«1/
CTI.ARLKS MATINS
A model for future Tar Heel parks
has been opened in Yadkin County. It
is Historic Richmond Hill Nature Park,
the first combined historic-nature park
to be dedicated in North Carolina.
State Sen. Hamilton Horton of For¬
syth. the dedication speaker, points out
that North Carolina has 61 counties
with more population than Yadkin’s
but that it was Yadkin folk who got
together and established the state's first
nature park at a historic site.
"This." he says, "is going to be the
prototype for future parks in North
Carolina."
I he park, which the Yadkin County
Historical Society is hopeful can even¬
tually be enlarged to include 250 acres,
consists presently of 25 acres: a one-
acre historic site surrounded by 24
acres of wooded scenery.
An old concept, a nature park is an
area set aside for the preservation and
enjoyment of the natural state. It has
no swing or seesaw, no ball field, no
tennis court, no swimming pool —
nothing that would interfere with
plant, tree and fauna.
Л
Famous I .aw School
Richmond Hill, which Sen. Horton
describes as "an immensely valuable
historic site." was the home of Rich¬
mond Mumford Pearson who. more
than a century ago. cht>se the quietness
of the upper Yadkin River backwoods
for the campus of a private law school
he had started earlier in Mocksvillc.
The fame of Richmond Hill Law
School spread throughout the South
and. over a period of 30 years, its stu¬
dents numbered more than one thou¬
sand. Many became prominent 19th
century leaders — governors, congress¬
men and judges.
It was in 184X. the year he re¬
established his school at Richmond
Hill, that Pearson (who had served as a
Superior Court jurist for 12 years) was
named an associate justice of the State
A mirror frome from on antique drntci rcit*
against one of *i« toble* under the pork'* group
shelter,
о
perfect ipot for fomily reunion* ond
church picnic*. — iCHorlc* Mothi* photo*.
Supreme Court by the Democrat-con¬
trolled legislature.
Ten years later he was chosen Chief
Justice, a position he held for two dec¬
ades. through both the Civil War and
Reconstruction.
Unpopular Decisions
He was opposed to North Carolina’s
secession from the Union and. during
the lighting between the states, ren¬
dered unpopular decisions in connec¬
tion with habeas corpus proceedings in¬
volving conscription laws. With the
war over, he was recipient of even more
criticism when he switched his politics
from Whig to Republican and ap¬
pealed for the election of U. S. Grant as
President. For a time, it appeared that
he might be impeached, especially so
when he elected not to interfere with
Gov. William Woods Holden’s notori¬
ous decision to have a writ of habeas
corpus denied for Josiah Turner, editor
of the state’s leading Democratic news¬
paper. who was falsely arrested during
an insurrection.
Pearson, by simply declaring that the
judiciary had been exhausted in the
matter, brought on the indignation of
many. He managed, however, to hold
on to the Chief Justice scat, perhaps
due to the influence of his former stu¬
dents. Ironically, he later presided
when Gov. Holden was tried before
the House of Representatives on eight
articles of impeachment. Holden was
convicted on six articles and removed
from office.
Commuted to Raleigh
Throughout his tenure as Chief Jus¬
tice, Pearson maintained a residence at
his beloved Richmond Hill, commut¬
ing by horsedrawn conveyance to Win¬
ston and by train on to Raleigh. It was
while on a trip to open a session of the
THE STATE. SEPTEMBER 1974
The pork'* noorly five mile* of noture frails Icod* Ihc hiker acrot* this foot bridge in
о
mcodow
or bo*e of Richmond Hill. — (Chorlet Molhi* photo. I
26
