Richland Creek Library Society, in Guilford County. Bertie Union Academy, Bertie County. Sandy Creek Library Society, Davidson County. New Providence Library Company, Mecklenburg County. Morganton Academy. The act of incorporation recites that "considerable funds" had been given this school "both by private donations and acts of the legislature of this State." Chartered in 1824: Swansboro Academy, Onslow County. Line Academy, Sampson County. Shady Grove Academy, Rockingham County. The Library Society of Greensboro, Guilford County. The Abbotts Creek Library Society, of Davidson County. There are several features which characterize these acts of incorporation. They were chartered on private initiative and were backed by private enterprise. In some cases, like that of the Bingham School, charters were obtained for institutions that had been long in existence. The terms of the various charters, with the mere change of name, are almost identical. The State limited its fostering care to allowing the town in which the school was located to present to it the town commons, or to allowing it to raise a certain sum by lottery, generally taking care to make the incorporators personally responsible to the drawers of prizes. It sometimes exempted the property from taxation and, in the earlier period, the pupils and teachers from military service. But, with these exceptions, the legislation was merely permissive. V. THE AGITATION FOR THE COMMON SCHOOLS, 1815-1825. We have seen the provision in the constitution of 1776 providing for primary education. The University of North Carolina was chartered in 1789; it was opened in 1795. There was no further effort made by the State for years to aid any phase of education. Governor James Turner, in his message to the legislature, November 21, 1804, took up the demand for public instruction, saying: 66 Knowledge is one of the firmest pillars of national strength; and believing that nothing would tend more to the advancement of the character and respect ability of this State than a general diffusion of learning, I am desirous of seeing a plan of education introduced which shall extend itself into every corner of the State." Governor Nathaniel Alexander, November 19, 1803, indorsed the recommendation of Governor Turner and added a ringing demand of his own. Governor William Hawkins, in his message to the general assembly, November 20, 1811, said: “Too much attention can not be paid to the all-important subject of education. In despotic governments, where the supreme power is in possession of a tyrant or divided amongst an hereditary aristocracy (generally corrupt and wicked), the ignorance of the people is a security to their rulers; but in a free government, where the offices and honor of the State are open to all, the superiority of their political privileges should be infused in every citizen from his earliest infancy, so as to produce an enthusiastic attachment to their own country, and insure a jealous support of their own constitution, laws, and government, to the total exclusion of all foreign influence or partiality. A certain degree of education should be placed within the reach of every child in the State." On November 22, 1815, Gov. William Miller, who had been reared in Warren County and who was the first student of the University of North Carolina to attain the governorship. called the attention of the assembly to the need of public schools in his address to that body. He said: "To cherish this spirit of inquiry and produce men who shall not only understand their rights, but have the spirit to assert and maintain them at every hazard, nothing is better calculated than an extensive diffusion of information. . . . The progress which has been made of late in the establishment of seminaries for the education of youth evinces a spirit and genius in the people of this State for literary acquirements. But so long as these establishments are left to depend for support upon individual exertion their beneficial effects must necessarily be partial. It is under the fostering hand of legislative patronage alone that the temple of science can be thrown open to all.” The message was referred to a committee, but no further action was taken. Governor Miller was not discouraged. In his message to the legislature on November 20, 1816, he said: "The subject of education has always been one of primary importance with all governments established for the benefit of the great body of the people. If the wealthy alone be admitted to the temple of science, the most dangerous species of aristocracy may be apprehended. The various seminaries which have arisen in the State within a few years, from individual exertion alone, marks the progress of literary taste and points to the present as the time for legislative patronage. Permit the favorable juncture to pass and this growing taste may sicken and require ages to revive. To avail himself of public sentiment in support of any measure denotes the judicious statesman." This part of the governor's message was referred to the committee on education. It seems that there were two reports from this committee. The first report is dated December 17, 1816, and is signed by John M. Walker. The other was made December 19, 1816, and was signed by Archibald D. Murphey, of Orange, as chairman. It seems that the report of Walker-the first, as far as known, ever made on education in the State of North Carolina-has hitherto escaped attention. It is of interest because of the striking reason advanced for the necessity of education in North Carolina-a reason which the later experience of the State amply justified-and because of the curious method of supplying teachers which is sug 1 From full report in Journal, House of Commons, 1816, p. 4. 2 The House Journal gives John W. Walker as member of the house of commons from Warren County for that year. There was no other Walker in that legislature. The report is said to be from "a member of the committee to whom was referred so much of his excellency's mes sage," etc., but there is no mention of this report in the journals of the legislature for that year. gested. The report is summarized from a unique copy in the library of the present writer (8 vo., pp. 8). Mr. Walker says: In viewing the subject brought thus near us, we have great cause to felicitate ourselves that our fellow-citizens are beginning duly to appreciate its importance; and that North Carolina may rival any State in the Union in the number and respectability of its academies. However important education has been to our country, it is becoming increasingly so to the Atlantic States. If we cast our eyes from the East around the North to the South, we find vast tracts of fertile land springing into Territories, and these growing into States, enjoying great advantages in fertility of soil, in salubrity of climate, and above all, enjoying the same inestimable blessings of a free government with ourselves. These great advantages are already beginning to dissolve the attachment to the spot of nativity and the kindred tie of acquaintance, by inviting thither the stream of migration. Let but the advantage of facility in education be added, and the vinculum which binds man to his birthplace and family will no longer restrain its current. . . Such is the demand for education in our country and such the scarceness of teachers that the competition between the parents for teachers has raised the price of ordinary education to $15 and $20 the scholar. The majority of indigent parents, having from three to four children capable of receiving education, are unable to pay such a price. Your committee therefore propose to lessen the price of tuition by increasing the number of teachers. . . . They are emboldened to recommend"First. That three classes of 186 young men, between the ages of 15 and 20 years, be annually and successively taught and prepared to teach reading, writing, arithmetic, English grammar, and moral philosophy at the public expense, they first giving bond to the governor of the State for the time being in the probable amount of the cost of their education, conditioned to teach in some county in this State three years, at the moderate price of $5 per scholar, with liberty to enter into any other pursuit after receiving their education by cancelling their bond, or so much as remains due, in proportion to the time they wish to avoid teaching. The first class to commence in 1817, or as soon thereafter as convenient; the second class twelve months after the first, and the third class twelve months thereafter. "Third. That the first court of pleas and quarter sessions held in 1817, in each county, appoint not less than five nor more than twelve prudent, intelligent men in their respective counties, who shall constitute a board of literature to continue in office five years, and who shall have power to fill vacancies occasioned by resignation, death, or removal, and whose duty it shall be to invite and recommend indigent young men of their respective counties to enter into the above class. "Fifth. That a school for the reception of this class be established in each judicial district of this State, apportioning to each school a proportionate number of scholars according to the population of each district; and the steward's departments be furnished and supplied out of the public treasury. Supposing it will require three years to prepare each class to teach, and by thus establishing the schools for their tuition, the cost of the State is not expected to exceed $50 a scholar the first year, $10 the second, $30 the third and succeeding years. Upon this supposition, the subjoined table will show the amount of cost and the extent of operation of this plan. "NOTE. This table has not credit for 558 teachers which ought to be added to the number of 46,500 youths taught, which would reduce the price to $1.22 each. "Your committee beg leave to make a few remarks on the foregoing table and plan of education. First: On the economy of the plan. Second: Its facility in operation. Third: Its diffusable operation. Fourth: Its capacity for extension. . . ." The chairman of the committee, and the author of the report which is summarized a little farther on, was Archibald D. Murphey. The work of Murphey was so important in advancing the interests of the common schools that he won for himself the title of "father of the common schools." He deserves more than a passing notice, for he was not only the father of the North Carolina common schools, but of the first geological work done under governmental auspices in America, and was the first native historian of North Carolina. Archibald De Bow Murphey was the son of Col. Archibald Murphey, and was born in Caswell County, N. C., in 1777. He was prepared for college in the famous academy of Rev. David Caldwell, in Guilford County (see p. 1387) and entered the University of North Carolina in 1796. He was graduated with the highest distinction in 1799; was immediately chosen professor of ancient languages in that institution and served in that capacity for three years. In the meantime he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1802. His skillfulness in the examination of witnesses and the argument of causes before juries made him a reputation, while his Quaker-like plainness of aspect, his scrupulous cleanliness and neatness of attire, his habitual politeness and a subdued simplicity of manner won his way to the hearts of juries. His style of address was that of earnest and emphatic conversation, and he delighted in equity practice. He was elected a judge of the superior court by the legislature in 1818; he served for two years and was once given a special commission as judge of the supreme court. He published three volumes of reports, embracing the decision of cases from 1804 to 1819. Judge Murphey was a member of the State senate continuously from 1812 to 1818, and it was in this capacity that his greatest usefulness to his State appears. No other man of his generation showed the same broad grasp and philosophic insight as to what should be the proper public policy of the State. Governor Graham says: 66 Judging from the public documents which he has left behind him in advocacy of this policy, no man has ever brought into our legislative halls a more ardent spirit of patriotism, a more thorough survey and comprehension of her situation and wants, or proposed bolder or more intelligent measures for her relief. Whether these measures failed from error in their conception or timidity in his contemporaries to meet and boldly sustain them, the historian must pronounce that his reports and other writings in regard to them are the noblest monuments of philosophic statesmanship to be found in our public archives since the days of the Revolution." His scheme for the advancement and upbuilding of the State may be divided into three general divisions. The first was to improve her means of transportation by deepening the inlets from the ocean, opening the rivers for navigation, connecting them by canals and turnpike or macadam roads, and thus concentrating her trade at two or three points within her own limits. This concentration would build up commercial cities of her own, bring about the economic independence of the State from other States, and thus secure a better regulation of her currency and exchanges. The second scheme dealt with the education of the masses, and will be treated later in detail. From 1815 to 1823 Judge Murphey was either chairman of the legislative committee or of the board of internal improvements, and as such prepared annual reports on the public policy of the State, which were much commended by high authority. In 1819 he published a memoir on the internal improvements and the resources and finances of the State. As a result of his labors, Hamilton Fulton, an English engineer, was invited, by authority of the legislature, to come out to North Carolina at a salary of $6,000 in gold. Fulton arrived about the middle of July, 1819. He brought with him Robert H. Brazier, as surveyor, at a salary of $1,500, and the two made surveys of harbors and rivers and of many routes for roads in various parts of the State. The plan of Judge Murphey, for which he obtained the approbation of Fulton, was to improve the inlets at Nags Head (if possible), which has since been closed, Ocracoke, Beaufort, Swansboro, and Wilmington. He was then to open for flatboat navigation the Roanoke, Tar, Neuse, Cape Fear, Yadkin, Catawba, and Broad rivers, and sundry of their tributaries. He was to join the Roanoke, Tar or Pamlico, and Neuse rivers by canals, in order to ship the productions of the valleys watered by each from the town of Beaufort. In the same way he proposed to unite the Cape Fear with Lumber River and at a more northerly point with the Yadkin and the Yadkin with the Catawba. In this way he hoped to bring to the mouth of the Cape Fear the commerce of the whole watershed trending from the Blue Ridge, except that of Broad River, which drained into South Carolina. In this way it was expected to make commercial marts of Fayetteville and Wilmington. Places remote from water routes were to be supplied with an improved system of roads. This plan proposed to supply the State with the most approved means of transportation then known, for this was before the dawn of the railroad era. The comprehensiveness and boldness of the scheme is evident, but it is probable that this very comprehensiveness was the cause of failure. To conciliate favor, inadequate appropriations for various parts of the work in all sections of the State were made at once. Work was commenced under incompetent supervision, and resulted in failure. After a few years of trial the whole was abandoned and the engineer was discharged. The expenditures for the work from the treasury of the State, including the salary of the principal engineer and assistants, was repaid tenfold in the topographical and statistical knowledge obtained. The series of reports made to the board of internal improvements between 1818 and 1827 are of much value in themselves, and stand as the beginning of geological work in America.2 Judge Murphey's devotion to the history of the State was not less than that to her internal development. He "studied her interests by every light of political economy and every record of the past within his reach, was personally acquainted with nearly every citizen of intelligence, and his talents, public spirit, and engaging manners rendered him a favorite among the surviving officers and soldiers of the Revolution." He gathered materials for her history from many sources, public and private. At his instance the legislature had the office of the Board of Trade examined, and prepared a preliminary list of documents relating to North Carolina.3 Literary men in other States like Jefferson and Madison aided his efforts, family archives were thrown open to his inspection, and some of the Revolutionary leaders then surviving furnished reminiscences. Under date of December 5, 1825, Judge Murphey submitted to the legislature the plan on which he proposed writing the history of the State. His outline was an admirable one. He divides his work into seven parts: (1) An account of the discovery of America; (2) the aboriginal history of North Carolina; (3) the colonial history of North Carolina; (4) history of North Carolina from the time of her becoming a sovereign 1 The expenditures for internal improvements from December, 1827, to November 1, 1840, amounted to $653,626.86. From the beginning in 1817 to November 1, 1840, the expenses were $008,773.84. *Fulton's engagement with the State ended with the end of 1825. The next year he was in the employ of the State of Georgia at a salary of $5,000. Alanson Nash, who had been recommended by De Witt Clinton, was employed by North Carolina in 1827. His engagement closed with the end of 1828. In 1838 Charles B. Shaw, who had done similar work for Virginia, was employed. Laws of 1826-27. This list was printed in 1843, and this effort of Judge Murphey bore fruit sixty years later in the magnificent series of Colonial and State Records of North Carolina, whose publication was begun in 1886. It now extends to fifteen quarto volumes, and has not yet been finished. |