State

Loiitsburg College Probablv as inucli as any other educational institution in the •'own to 1981, when il look it* pres¬ ent name. Л famous figure hovers over its early years, for il was under the tuition of Matthew Dickinson of Con¬ necticut, a graduate of Vale and an uncle of Cyrus W. Field, who laid the first Atlantie enhle; David Dudley Field; and other famous men of that distinguished family. It was not until 1813 that the young ladies of the MS'tion came into their own, for in that year a Female Department was added, giving in- - (ruction in “reading, writing, gram¬ mar. arithmetic, geography, painting, ; nd music, with useful and ornainen- t.d needlework of nliuost every de- eription." To earry out this ambi¬ tion- program, a building, thirty by twenty feet ami two stories high, was erected in 1813; and a I'uritan lady of ancient vintage became "precep¬ tress." She was assisted by a gentle¬ man “universally acknowledged for his qualifications in teaching music upon the pianoforte, and for his grace¬ ful and elegant manner of teaching dancing." Not content even here, in¬ struction was furnished in playing on the guitar! country, it lin.4 liuil its ups anil downs. Hut in every instance* it has managed to continue its work with new energy anil in¬ creased service. Bi/ К. C. LAWRENCE HERE is an ancient institution, located in an ancient town, in a county famous for it- patriot¬ ism, for away back in Colonial day* when il lwre the name "f my Lord Mule, il was said “There are no Toric- iu Mule"; and its county seal bore the name l*‘wisl>nrg, suggestive of the aid given by its pioneers when the Colo¬ nial- laid siege to that Canadian city. The patriotism of the section is fur¬ ther attested by the fact that it was a •>>n of Franklin, Orrin Smith, who de¬ signed the Stars and 15ars of the Con¬ federacy. and it was from a tlagpolc on the courthouse square in Dmi-hiirg that the battle banner of the South¬ erner* was first flaunted in the breeze. that of Salem College, dating hark to 1772. Louisburg was an appropriate place in which fo locate a Methodist college, oven though most of the great lenders who have come from the county have been of the liaptist church. From these red hills came the silver-tongued and gulden-hearted Thomas Walter Hiekott, great Governor of his state during the First World War; Charles M. Cooke, Captain of the Confeder¬ acy, Secretary of State, eminent ju¬ rist. one who. like Abou Ben Adhcm might well be thought of "as one who loves bis fellow man”; and Dr. Need¬ ham Y. Gulley, professor of law at Wake Forest and veteran dwan of that institution for more than forty years. Converted Into a College It was in 1355 that steps were taken to convert, the academy into a college, and a joint stock company was organized which constructed an im¬ posing four-story brick building, which still exists, and in which in¬ struction began in 1857. During the 'sixties, however, the "havoc of war and the battle’s confusion" came close to its doors; and it whs forced to close, as was practically every other educational institution in the state, in¬ cluding the University. The University did not reopen until several years after the collapse of the Confederacy, but 186(5 saw the re¬ opening of the Louisburg institution under the presidency of the Reverend T. M. Jones, D.D., who was later to pass such a distinguished career as the president of Greensboro College, giv¬ ing to that institution the longest ad¬ ministration in its history, lie was followed by the brilliant Dr. Frank I.. Reid, who came to the editorial chair of the Raleigh Christian Advo¬ cate, and who later became the presi¬ dent of Greensboro College, dying in its service. Many great institutions have had modest' beginnings, for the germ of Duke University once lay in the hum¬ ble academy of Brantley Yoiko, and the roots «if iny subject go back to 1787; therefore, it boasts an aristoc¬ racy in lineage almost as ancient ns I .oil is burg College of today is an evolution of three predecessors : Franklin Academy, which functioned from 1 787 to 1802; Louishurg Fe¬ male Academy, which operated from 1813 to 1857; and Louis burg Fe¬ male College, by which it was known The havoc of Reconstruction was worse than the wreckage of war, and again the old college had to close, its doors remaining shut for eleven years, although for a part of the time the building was used as an academy. But in 1SS9 it again burgeoned into bloom