Williamsboro
It almost
1ич‘«н1Н‘
flic capital,
alinosl became (he site for
the University, almost be¬
came a big city — ami today it
is almost forgotten despite
its rieli history.
If}/ VESTA FORTSON WFSTFIt
Saint John’s Parish Church at Williamsboro. It
was one of the leading churches in the state during
its day and time.
AND then the railroad eatiie!"
IIow
типу
times have those
i words »|irlled success or de¬
feat for towns, iiikI individuals. And
because a railroad— the old Raleigh
and Gaston who..- territory the Sea¬
board now service- —came and passed
it by, the town of Willinmsboro. once
a center of North Carolina political,
educational, and social life, is today
a place whose dream of future great¬
ness is «lend.
Even as far hack ns colonial days
Willinnishoro planned and strove for
its dream of a position «•«|Ual to any
in the South. The fact that sueness
was not achieved was due to no fault
of its own.
The town was planned by .Judge
John Williams, who was an associate
justice of tin’ North t'arolina Supreme
Court, ami from him the place derived
its name. It was located in Granville
County, but when Vance was formed
from parts of Franklin. Warren and
Granville. Williamsboro became a
portion of the new county. It I toasted
a main street which was laid out
with boundless optimism to a width
of 00 feet. The lots on each side were
each MS feet front and JOO feet deep.
Down its wide avenue beneath the
wide-spreading . . . have passed the
soldiers of Lord Cornwallis on their
retreat from Guilford Court House to
Yorktnwn. There, ton, went Gov¬
ernor Thomas Iturk and our own
American soldiers t<* cope with the
men of Cornwallis. Almost n hundred
years later the Hth and 20th corps
of Sherman's Yankee army trod that
!*0 feet of main street in their tri¬
umphant return from the march
through Georgia. Ami as for the
individual res i« lent* of Williamsboro
and their political, educational and
religious institutions, they furnished
a highly important part of the North
Carolina of Colonial times and of the
|>cri««|s which proceeded ami im¬
mediately followed the War Met ween
the States.
In the beginning Williamsboro was
settled mostly by Scotch and Irish.
Its start is indefinite and it- lirst name
uncertain. It was in 1780 that the
state legislature finally gave sanction
to its rating as a town, and the group
of splendid estates, taverns, schools
ami businesses became “Williams-
borongh.” At the old home of Judge
Williams. •Montpellier.” which is
owned ami used bv bis desccndcnts,
Misses Annie Laurie and Kate Mul¬
lock ami Will and John Mullock, there
is still to l«r seen a “Plan of the
Town of Williamsboro, copied 21st
of May. IS27. from an original plan
in possession of M. Ridley. Esq.” The
original plan lias boon lost, but this
copy is still clear. It shows the main
street, the wide lots, ami the names
of the owners of each piece of land.
Its fading ink is protcctcil with n
glass and frame.
Here at “Montpellier" it is claimed
that Judge Williams opened the first
law school in North Carolina. Among
his pupils was Leonard Henderson,
also a resident of Willinnishoro, who
was to liecouie Chief Justice of the
State Supreme Court. I
л
ter Justice
Henderson himself ran a law school
at Williamsboro, and it was in his
honor that the city of Henderson,
county scat of Vance, was named.
It is said that when the state was
seeking a homo for its University,
Williamsboro hist the choice by only
one vote. Tradition also says that
Williamsboro was a strong «lark-horse
candidate for the capital of North
Carolina. Available recoril*. however,
•lo not establish these two contentions
definitely.
In Colonial and post Colonial «lays
the town was the center of a busy
urea. It was situated at the junction
of two important post roads. One
road fed the traflie from Fayetteville
to Petersburg, Ya.; the other was the
Hillsboro-Halifax. V a., highway. The
hospitality <*f the iaYcrn-kcc|>cr« was
known far and wide and their places
were always filled.
The fact that the town was so
easily acrcs-ible probably luul a great
•leal to do with the succes* of the
academics established there. An
excellent Female Academy was rim by
the Rev. Ily Patilio at an estate called
“Blooming Hope." Mi- Kate Mul¬
lock is authority for the slntcmcnt
that “Blooming Hope" was the home
of Hutchins Burton, grandson of
Judge Williams, w In —
«•
hopes in love
did not. flower and the young man
therefore hangeil him-elf in tin- attic
slairliole in a fit of deep melancholy.
Ho is buried in the old cemetery at
“Montpellier.”
Another of the Willinmeboro insti¬
tutions of learning was the Willia ms-
bo ro Academy for Boys. This was
managed by Alex Wilson. According
to a history of the town written by
the late Richard Austin Bullock,
young Alex Wilson eam«> to Rab-igli
as a fresh Irish youth and secured
work in n drug store there. A crowd
63
