History: Persons of InterestFranklin County, NC offers tremendous character and history. Afterall, the county was named after Benjamin Franklin. Green Hill Place in Louisburg is associated with the birth of the Methodism in North Carolina. The house was built during the 1760s, and was known to Methodists as a landmark of the North Carolina circuit, the course of travel a pastor would follow in preaching throughout the state. The first Annual Methodist Episcopal Conference took place at Green Hill’s House on April 20, 1785. Colonel Green Hill was a leading figure in the religious, martial, and political spheres of North Carolina life. From 1774 through 1779, Hill represented Bute County in various capacities, serving in the colonial Assembly in 1774 and the Second Provincial Congress in 1775. He also served as a Bute County magistrate beginning in January 1777. Hill was active in the Methodist church, serving as a pastor in his community. It was in this capacity that he served as an Army chaplain in 1781. In 1785, Hill hosted Bishop Francis Asbury and representatives from Virginia, North and South Carolina in the first Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, held at the his house in 1785. Eleven years later Hill moved to Tennessee where he died at his home on Liberty Hill, a structure that closely resembles his house in North Carolina. Built in the tradition of plantation style homes, the Green Hill House was renovated in 1988, but retains several features from the original design, such as brick chimneys and a tapered porch. References: Unique Tomb is located at US 401 at SR 1101 (Evans Road) south of Harris Crossroads. 200 yards west, cut in a large granite boulder and covered by a marble slab, is the tomb of William A. Jeffreys, state senator, 1844-45. Thomas W. Bickett was the first North Carolina governor to reach the office by way of a statewide party primary, fell the task of leading the state through World War I. The “War Governor” (one of several Tar Heel Chief Executives to share that nickname) was born on February 28, 1869, in Monroe to druggist Thomas Winchester Bickett and his wife, the former Mary Covington. His father died when young Bickett was thirteen years old. Educated in the public schools of Monroe and at Wake Forest College, where he graduated in 1890, Bickett himself taught in public schools in Marion and Winston-Salem before studying law at the University of North Carolina in 1892. The following year he was admitted to the bar and in 1895, after working briefly in Monroe and Danbury, he moved to Louisburg, where he joined an already successful practice. In 1898 he married Fannie Yarborough of Louisburg; only one of their three children survived infancy. In 1906 Bickett was elected to represent Franklin County in the state House. In his single term he made his mark as the sponsor of the “Bickett Bill,” which set aside a half-million dollars to fund land purchases and building construction to facilitate care for the mentally handicapped. At the Democratic convention in Charlotte in 1908 Bickett drew acclaim for his speech nominating Ashley Horne for governor and was himself nominated for attorney general. In his two four-year terms in that office, Bickett successfully defended the state’s interests in almost 400 cases before the state Supreme Court and five cases before the United States Supreme Court, including a boundary dispute with Tennessee. In the 1916 Democratic primary for governor, the first held since the enactment of the primary law the previous year, Bickett defeated Elijah L. Daughtridge and in the fall defeated Republican Frank A. Linney. Three months after Bickett’s inauguration the United States entered World War I. An exceptional orator, the Governor delivered speeches to lift spirits, sell Liberty bonds, and lead the war effort in North Carolina. In Ashe County in 1918 he took a direct role in solving a problem with local desertions. In his farewell address Bickett noted that 2,338 North Carolinians died in the war and stated that all of his achievements paled in comparison to the contribution of the 80,000 Tar Heels who had taken part in the conflict. In his inaugural address in 1917 Bickett laid out a set of recommendations with attention given to moving farmers from tenancy to land ownership, to the importance of agricultural education, to the need for telephones in all rural homes, to an increase of the school term from four to six months, to the need for increased spending on public health, and to prison and hospital reform. Bickett’s initiatives met remarkable success with the legislature adopting forty of forty-eight proposals during his term. The parole system was overhauled and the legislature, with the Governor’s endorsement, approved a $3 million bond program to permit expansion at state colleges and universities and increased funds for the charitable institutions. Tax reform measures modernized the state’s revenue structure. While not committed to an extensive program of road-building, Governor Bickett laid the groundwork for his successors by enlarging the duties of the State Highway Commission. At the conclusion of his term in office Bickett set up law practice in Raleigh with Attorney General James S. Manning. On December 27, 1921, three weeks after he had attended the reception for Allied commander Marshal Ferdinand Foch in Monroe, the ex-governor suffered a stroke at his home in Raleigh and died the following day. His body lay in state in the Capitol before the funeral in Raleigh’s Christ Church and burial in Louisburg. References: Moses A. Hoipkins was an educator and clergyman, was born into slavery in Montgomery County, Virginia, on December 25, 1846. During the Civil War he worked as a cook in Union camps. In 1866, at age twenty, Hopkins learned the alphabet, launching his lifelong interest in education. He attended Avery College, Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Lincoln University, also in Pennsylvania. Hopkins then enrolled at Auburn Seminary in New York. Completing his degree in theology in 1877, he was the first African American graduate of the seminary. Ordained by the Presbyterian Church in 1877, Hopkins moved to Franklinton. In Franklinton Moses Hopkins founded Mt. Pleasant Presbyterian Church and Albion Academy. He led Albion through its formative years, which included the construction of an administration building, a shop, and a girls’ dormitory. Hopkins and his wife, Carrie, published a newspaper entitled The Freedmen’s Friend, the masthead of which designates it as “The Organ of Albion Academy and Our Race.” The only known issue is from August 1884. In 1885 Hopkins applied to the Democratic Party for a diplomatic post and was appointed Minister to Liberia on September 11 of that year. He reported to Monrovia within a month. Moses Hopkins died in Monrovia, Liberia, August 7, 1886. (Though most published sources list his death date as August 4, a researcher contacted the Department of State in 1950 to verify the date. The Chief of Historical Policy Research located a telegram dated August 9, 1886, sent to the American Colonization Society announcing that Hopkins died on August 7.) His place of burial is unknown. The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, New York, New York, maintains the archives for Auburn Theological Seminary. The archives has a file on Hopkins that includes correspondence, newspaper clippings, and a copy of one issue of his newspaper, Freedmen’s Friend, Vol. 1, No. 4, dated August 1884. References: Edwin Wiley Fuller was a native of Louisburg, Edwin Wiley Fuller is best remembered for his novel Sea-Gift, in which he depicted student life at his alma mater, the University of North Carolina. His Chapel Hill years commenced in 1864 but were interrupted by his father’s illness, which required his return home. Fuller completed his education at the University of Virginia, earning a degree in 1868. At Chapel Hill and in Charlottesville he published poetry. Back in Louisburg, he took over his father’s store and pursued his literary interests as a sideline. Fuller’s first novel, Angel in the Cloud, appeared in 1871 and went through five editions by 1907. His novel Sea-Gift, which according to family tradition was written when he was eighteen, was published by E. J. Hale & Son in 1873. His works were widely read in his day. Sea-Gift is 348 pages long and takes its title from an incident described whereby a shipwreck off the North Carolina coast deposited the book’s heroine upon the beach. The “sea-gift” marries the other principal character, a former student at the University. Tales of romance and adventure ensue. The book in time was so popular among students at UNC that it was known at the “Freshman’s Bible.” In 1871 Fuller married Mary Elisabeth Malone and they had two daughters. He died at the age of twenty-eight. References: John Williamson was born into slavery in Georgia, John H. Williamson was brought to Louisburg by his widowed mother in 1858. Despite barriers to education, Williamson learned to read by the end of the Civil War and quickly became politically active. His first role was as a delegate to the state Freedmen’s Convention followed by appointment as Franklin County Registrar in 1867. Williamson eventually served six terms in the state legislature (1868-74, 1876-77, and 1887), more than any other nineteenth century African American. He served on his county Board of Education, as a Justice of the Peace, and as a delegate to Republican National Conventions in 1872, 1884, and 1888. While in office, Williamson advocated equal rights for blacks, proposing various legislative agendas to accomplish that goal. He also advocated the overall improvement of his race through education and personal improvement in order to earn a greater role in the political, economic, and social spheres. Williamson recognized the power of the press and in 1881, the year he was elected Secretary to the North Carolina Industrial Commission, he founded The Banner, a paper dedicated to educational and industrial topics with the objective of promoting the Industrial Commission. With circulation across the state, The Banner was merged by Williamson with the Goldsboro Enterprise; he moved his printing operations to Raleigh in 1883. The Banner-Enterprise faltered and Williamson sold his shares to begin another, the Raleigh Gazette, in 1884. The Gazette became one of the state’s leading African American newspapers, sending its political, educational and industrial views statewide. The Gazette also saw growth in circulation to over 2,000, an impressive figure since most black papers had circulation numbers around 500. Counted as a friend by Josephus Daniels, Williamson was described as a man “pushing forward into new realms and bringing new conquests of glory” to his race. References: |
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