Collection of American ^Literature 3BcqucaIbr6 to Cfje ILibvavp of ttjc Bnibersitp of i^ortfj Carolina 'He gave back as rain that which he received as mist" 59G. C.2, i|'"''|'''nr''!'|ip|T!'ii|i:i|iffl 00032761039 This book must not be taken from the Library building. ^^ii^ vi 4 J JOHN M. MORKHEAD, INTKRNAI. IMPROVEMKNT GOVERNOR OF NORTH OROLINA. THE IISTORY OF GUILFORD COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA. sallif: w. s'iy)ckari), A. n. (IS'JT, C^uilford College), A. H. (18'W, University of Noitli CaroliiKi), A. M. (l«JXt, University of North Carolina.) 'O WDUlil that my oncmy ml^tit write a book." -Job. Knoxvillx, Tknn.: Co., I'kimteks and Book Binhehs. 1110 2. To Col. James Turner Morehead, Dr. and Mrs. Charles D. Alclver, Col. and Mrs. W. H. Osborn. Dr. and Mrs. Lewis Lyndon Hobbs, Mr. and Mrs. J. Wyatt Armfield, Major and Mrs. Joseph M. Morehead, Mr. and Mrs. Alfred ^loore Scales, Mrs McAdoo-King and her children, Prof. P. P. Claxton and P<-of. J. Y. Joyner. To Guilford County, her historic lore, her glorious past, and her wealth of promise for the future. Copyright, 1902, by SALLIE W. STOCKARU. ; ; ! "Rejoice wc arc allied To That wliich doth provide And not partake, effect and not receive! A spark disturbs our clod Nearer we hold of God Who gives, than of His tribe that takes, I must believe. Tlien, welcome each rebuff That turns earth's smoothness rough. Each sting that bids not sit nor stand, but go Be our joys three parts pain! Strive, and hold cheap the strain Learn, nor account the pang; dare, never grudge the throe. TABLE OF CONTENTS. C?IAPTER I. Guilford County, Its Establishment ii CHAPTER II. The Slttlement 13 CHAPTER III. Prerevolutionary Land Grants 20 CHAPTER IV. The Part of Guilford in the Revolution. 24 CHAPTER V. "^Iinute Packet," i782-'S8 33 CHAPTER VI. Notes from the Minute Docket, 1796-1811 40 CHAPTER VII. The Slavery Question 46 CHAPTER VIII. The Part of Guilford in the Civil War. 52 CHAPTER IX. Industrial Development 55 CHAPTER X. History of Education in Guilford 7-7 CHAPTER XL History of Religion in Guilford 114 CP[APTER XII. The Towns of Guiliord and History of Families 132 PREFACE. Histon- relates the rise and progress of the human spirit. History is the story of what has been done. It shows the free play of reason, and is mind objectified into strenuous, potential, fruitful activity. Guilford County is the heart of Piedmont North Carolina. Once it was the hunting-ground over which the Catawba Indian chased the buffalo and built his wigwam fires by the many whis- pering streams. By right of discovery the Spanish claimed pos- session until England assumed her place as mistress of the seas. In 1776 the British Colonies of America declared their power of self-government. Old Mecklenburg of North Carolina was the first to raise the flag of Independence. In 1861 North Carolina withdrew from the United States to become one of the Confederate States of America, and the star of destiny shone red above her. In five years the Old North State was again admitted into the I'nion. In the galaxy of nations the United States of America takes her place as the honored of all the world. Guilford County is midway between the mountains and the sea. Greensboro, the County seat, is a city of twenty-two thou- sand inhabitants, situated a thousand feet above sea level, midway in the state from Raleigh and Charlotte, Asheville and Wilming- ton. High Point is twelve miles south of Greensboro. Guilford is the typical Piedmont region. From her broad- backed ridges many creeks and rivers rise. Near the swell of land. C)ak Ridge, two of the largest rivers of the state have their origin. Here the upper waters of the Dan of the Roanoke, and ; 6 PREFACE. of Deep River and Haw River of the Cape Fear, almost inter- mingle in the loving gambols of childlike springs. The Great Alamance, the Little Alamance and the Stinking Quarter Creeks also have their source in this County. These waters turn more cotton-mill wheels than any other in North Carolina. Guilford County has an almost uniform soil and forest growth'. Oak, hickory, walnut, persimmon and maple abound. The soil of the wide ridges is of yellow, sandy, gravelly loam underlaid by a yellow and red clay. The southern part of the County belongs to the cotton zone the western part to the tobacco zone. Guilford is the wheat- growing and fruit-raising County of the State. Before the War mining was carried on profitably. Gold and copper are found on the south side of the Southern Railway, which bisects the County, and iron on the north side. Guilford County is rectangular, 28 miles east and west, 24 miles north and south. There are eighteen townships, namely: Oak Ridge, Summerfield, Center Grove, Monroe, Madison, Wash- ington, Deep River, Friendship, Morehead, Gilmer, Jefferson, Rock Creek, High Point, Jamestown, Sumner, Fentress, Clay and Green. In regard to the people of this County succeeding chapters will show. How really to know them is by experience. In no way does one come closer to understanding them than by writing the history of their county. In the history of Guilford County only four dates have any- thing like a general value. These are: 1750, when the first settle- ment was made; 1774, when the Quakers freed their slaves and began to agitate the slavery question; 1840, when the Whig idea attained supremacy and the internal improvement and educational wave began to break over the country; and 1865, the close of the Civil War. Around these dates each of these ideas has hovered like a shadow with a penumbra fainter and fainter in efifect. PREFACE. 7 However absurd and unpatriotic it may seem to some rich people, I undertook this work as a business enterprise and I hoped to earn sonic money out of it. 1 hope this work will awaken in the younp people a deeper interest in the land they live in. I wish to sec a buildinjr, commo- dious and imposinp^, erected at the State Normal College for the purpose of preservings the history of North Carolina, the relics which show the life and the development of the people of this state. The State Historical Society, the Colonial Dames, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Daug^htcrs of the Con- federacy and other historical orp^anizations would be interested in having such a building, fire-proof and secure, as a receptacle for this objective teaching of history. A hall for this purpose will be erected somewhere soon or late. The portraits of Governor John M. Morehead, Judge Gil- mer. Governor Scales, Judge R. P. Dick, Dr. Calvin H. Wiley, Dr. J. Henry Smith and some others would be an adornment for the Greensboro Public Library. A statue of John M. More- head will perhaps some time be erected near the depot of the Southern Railway in Greensboro, to commemorate the name of him who did more for the North Carolina Railroad than anv other, and thus hastened industrial activity in the state. It would beautify the square on which the courthouse is situated if walks were laid off, grass plots and flower beds were made, over which beautiful fountains played. The fine old Roman roads in Eng- land were the beginning of her civilization and prosperity. Such macadam roads as lead out from Summer Avenue in Greensboro, if they were all through the County, would be a credit to any people. It would be an honor to Guilford if every school-house in her borders was made attractive without and within. Horti- culture should be taught in the public schools. The Audubon Society, organized through the interest and energ>' of Prof. T. Gilbert Pearson, of the State Normal College, for the study and preservation of birds, is an advance both indus- 8 PREFACE. trially and educationally ; birds affect agriculture and the natural products of a country ; this society creates the love and study of natural history. The organization of the Society for the Improvement and Beautifying the Public Schools in North Carolina, during the spring term of 1902 at the State Normal College, is an advance- ment to the cause of education. Miss Laura Kirby, of Goldsboro, is its president. The plan of the society is to organize the women throughout the State in this movement. The Southern Education Board, of which Mr. Robert C. Ogden is chairman, has inaugurated the greatest philanthropic movement this country has probably known in its history. The Civil War left the South impoverished. This body of men of both North and South have come together for the sake of humanity to do what can be done for the education of the Southern youth for the development and salvation of America. The History of Guilford County was undertaken at the sug- gestion of several prominent men of this County. Its accomplish- ment is largely due to Mr. Victor Clay McAdoo. My thanks are due Col. James T. Morehead, Dr. Charles D. Mclver, Mr. A. M. Scales and Mr. V. C. McAdoo for presenting the interests of this book before the County Board of Trustees. Upon their request the Board granted one hundred dollars. To. Col. Morehead, Mr. Scales, Prof. J. Y. Joyner, Prof. W. C. Smith, Mrs. L. L. Hobbs and others I wish to make grateful acknowledgment for reading various parts of the manuscript. The excellent library of the Greensboro Female College has been of service to me.