at great length, a visit he made in August, 1827 to this benignant settlement, how cheerfully he was received, communed with the church, and received with greatest cordiality and brotherly greeting.
The great feature of usefulness, and the most enduring monument of the society is the Salem Female Academy. The ancients were accustomed to inaugurate their rulers on the banks of a pure stream, hoping that their rule, like the pelucid stream, would refresh and fructify the whole land by its benign influences. So has this institution for nearly three-fourths of a century sent forth living streams of virtue and beauty to delight, purify, and invigorate our land. It was established in 1804, therefore it is one of the oldest literary institutions in the south, and is held in grateful remembrance by many Christian mothers who here received their elementary education and the holy impressions of eternal truth, and had the satisfaction of seeing their daughters and grand-daughters, educated at the same place, connected with such pleasing and useful remembrances of their earlier days.
The first pupils connected with the Salem academy, from Hillsboro, were Elizabeth Strudwick, Ann and Elizabeth Kirkland, and Mary Phillips.
We have not been favored with any recent statistics of this academy, but up to 1856 there had been three thousand four-hundred and seventy scholars entered; and in evidence of the healthfulness of the place, only twelve had died while at school.
The founders and the principals, (all are Moravians,) have rendered this service to the country. They may well rejoice in their work, and feel
--"The warrior's
name!
'Tho pealed and chimed on every tongue of
fame,
Sounds less harmonious to the grateful mind,
Than he who fashions and improves mankind"
Thomas Johnson Wilson, is a native of this county, born December 31, 1815. Studied law, and was licensed 1874; elected solicitor of Stokes and of Davidson Counties. He was a member of the convention, 1861, and advocated the propriety of submitting the question of secession to the people.
He was elected in 1874, judge of the eighth judicial circuit, and held the courts for six-months until the supreme court decided that his predecessor, Judge Cloud, was entitled to hold over.
CHAPTER XIX.
FRANKLIN COUNTY.
The origin of lynchlaw: During the revolution there was a noted tory, (and there were but few,) in that portion formerly called Bute County, now embraced within the counties of Franklin and Nash, called Major Beard. Major John H. Drake lived near Hilliardston; he and his family were decided whigs. He had a daughter, beautiful and accomplished, by whose charms Beard was captivated; and the tradition runs, that the handsome figure and commanding air of Beard had its effect on the young lady, notwithstanding the difference in politics between him and her father. On one occasion, Beard encamped for the night near
| Index - Contents |
 |
|
| ||
|
||