Thursday, March 28, 2024

Caswell County Board of Education Election 1949

 School Politics Hot: School Spanking: William Claire Taylor Rejected


History teaches administration of Caswell County schools frequently has been politically charged. The Superintendent position often has been precarious. Some lasted only weeks, while others had a long tenure in office. Some resigned. Others were fired. The year 1949 saw intense political confrontation. At issue was School Superintendent Holland McSwain (1903-1988).

For some reasons, not all of which are clear, certain factions in the county took a strong dislike to McSwain, who had been in the position since 1935 and generally was well liked and respected. The battle lines apparantly were somewhat geographic, with the Semora group leading the anti-McSwain charge, and the Yanceyville group among the staunchest McSwain supporters.

As constituted, the three-member Board of Education (which hired the superintendent) would not remove McSwain. So Caswell County's representative to the NC Legislature, William Claire Taylor, "packed" the Board. He had passed legislation expanding the Board to five members, with the extra two specified in his bill. With the additional members, the Board voted 3:2 to remove McSwain.

However, one Taylor-picked Board member (Julius Spencer Watlington) then resigned amid the furor, and the Legislature stepped in requiring a special Board of Education election. This was held in May 1949. While races in some districts were close, those in support of McSwain prevailed in all districts and his contract was extended for two years (until June 30, 1951).

Thus, McSwain spanked Taylor.

Photograph: Holland McSwain

_____

The next year, 1950, Holland McSwain announced his resignation as superintendent of Caswell County schools to accept a position as public relations and business manager of Flora MacDonald College in Reg Springs, N.C. He left with head held high after defeating the somewhat devious actions by William Claire Taylor.

Monday, March 25, 2024

Yanceyville Kiwanis Club: 1948

Yanceyville Kiwanis Club

In November 1948, the Yanceyville Kiwanis Club was formally launched. Ralph Aldridge was president and other officers included John S. Dailey, vice president, Fred L. Stuck, secretary-treasurer, and J. C. Alexander, J. Bradley Cook, Ralph W. Holmes, V. Frazier Williams, John A. Woods, James W. White, and Edward H. Wilson, directors.
_____


Some of the principals who took part in the charter night festivities of the newly formed Yanceyville Kiwanis Club Monday in the Yanceyville High School are shown here (left to right):

1. Ralph Mims Aldridge, President of the Yanceyville Club;

2. John Slade Dailey, Vice President of the Yanceyville Club; and

3. Fred Lee Stuck, Secretary-Treasurer of the Yanceyville Club;

Remaing men in photograph are Kiwanis International officials from various parts of North Carolina. Click image to see a larger version.

Durham Morning Herald (Durham, NC), Wednesday, 24 November 1948.
_____

Additional Sources

Burton, W. C., "Kiwanis Club Is Chartered: Yanceyville Group Holds Initial Meeting." Greensboro Daily News (Greensboro, NC), Tuesday, 23 November 1948, Page 24.

When the Past Refused to Die: A History of Caswell County North Carolina 1777-1977, William S. Powell (1977) at 427.
_____

Sunday, March 24, 2024

"Bellfield" in Yanceyville, Caswell County, NC

"Bellfield"

The following story of Bellfield and friends Bell Siah and Andy Ferguson apparently is found in a letter from George Andrew Anderson (1869-1945) to his son James Ezekiel (Zeke) Anderson (1914-2005). Presumably this letter remains in the files of the Anderson family or was donated to the Caswell County Historical Association (CCHA), an organization in which Zeke Anderson and wife Sallie Gibbs Pridgen Anderson (1915-2012) were deeply involved (being founding members). The research library at the CCHA's Richmond-Miles Museum is named for Sallie Anderson.

Here is the story as published in 1948:


"Behind the [Caswell County] courthouse lies what is still called Bellfield, where more than 150 years ago [before 1798] Bell Siah and Andy Ferguson, two Irishmen from the old country, used to sit beneath a great sassafras tree or fish along the branch.

"There were never better friends than these. One day as they sat beneath the tree, which according to a letter written by George Anderson to his son Zeke Anderson, had a trunk 'like the torso of a human body, while outstretched limbs were human in their resemblance,' Bell must have told his friend that he was going to fashion a coffin for himself out of the tree. This he did, using axe and adze to hollow it out, and sweet gum and bee's wax to polish the surface; then he stored in the loft of his cabin.

[Photograph: Looking south behind the Courthouse toward Country Line Creek. Image not associated with the above newspaper article. Click image to see a larger version. Courtesy Tim Ross.]

"When the time neared for the coffin to be put to its intended use, Andy was there; and he listened to his dying friend say: 'I feel that my calling and election is sure, and I can smell the shamrock and the hawthorn blooming in the fields of Old Ireland.'

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Confederate Dollar Scale of Depreciation, North Carolina: 1865

Confederate Money

Jokes are made about the value of Confederate currency/notes, which in many respects became worthless when the Civil War ended. I own many of these notes, some of which are of interest to numismatists.
However, what about contracts entered into during the Civil War based upon Confederate money? How were these contracts to be resolved? A scale of depreciation was adopted. Was the NC legislature being generous in only depreciating the Confederate dollar to 100 (100 Confederate dollars required to buy one gold dollar) in April 1865? Was this bill the final depreciation scale adopted? What about other Confederate states?

Confederate Dollar Scale of Depreciation: 1865

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT TO ESTABLISH A SCALE OF DEPRECIATION OF CONFEDERATE CURRENCY.

WHEREAS, By an ordinance of the Convention, entitled "An Ordinance declaring what laws and ordinances are in force, and for other purposes," ratified on the 18th day of October, A. D., 1865, it is made the duty of the General Assembly to provide a scale of depreciation of the Confederate Currency from the time of its first issue to the end of the war, and it is further therein declared that "all executory contracts, solvable in money, whether under seal or not, made after the depreciation of said currency before the 1st of May, 1865, and unfilled (except official bonds and penal bonds payable to the State) shall be deemed to have been made with the understanding that they were solvable in money of the said currency," subject, nevertheless, to evidence of different intent of the parties to the contract [parol evidence]; therefore,

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of North Carolina, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That the following scale of depreciation be and the same is hereby adopted and established as the measure of value of one gold dollar in Confederate currency, for each month, and the fractional parts of the month of December, 1864, from the 1st day of November, 1861, to the 1st day of May, 1865, to wit:


AND, WHEREAS, many grave and difficult disputes may arise between executors, administrators, guardians and trustees, and their legatees, distributees, wards and cestuysque trust, in the settlement of their accounts and trust, arising from the depreciation of Confederate currency, State Treasury notes and Bank notes, incident to and growing out of the late war; and that law suits and expensive litigation may be obviated;

Be it further enacted, That in all such cases the parties are hereby empowered to form a full and perfect statement of the case on both sides, which case shall be committed to the determination of one of the Judges of the Superior Courts, chosen by the parties, who is hereby authorized to consider and determine the same, according to equity and good conscience: Provided, however, That no part of this section shall be construed to estop or hinder any person from proceeding in the usual course of law, if he shall deem the same necessary.

A true copy.

J. A. ENGELHARD,

Clerk of Senate.

See: Branson

_____

The Confederate Note Case, 86 U.S. 548 (1873): Appeal from the Circuit Court for the District of North Carolina: Confederate Note Case

_____

60% From Printing Money

There are three sources of government revenue: taxation, borrowing, and printing money. Given that the Confederate States of America was established on the principle of states’ rights, many Southerners were suspicious of granting the central government powers to impose and collect taxes. With opposition from the general public as well as leading political figures, it is not surprising the Confederate government collected approximately only 8.2% of its total revenues from taxes. Tariffs, another potential source of tax revenue, were hampered by the Union blockade of Southern ports.

The Confederacy then turned to debt issue as a means of war finance. The South successfully sold some long-term government securities during the early stages of the war. Bond issues proved a limited source of war financing as Southern prospects diminished, however. Investors increasingly shied away from purchasing securities offered by a government with little or no tax base and a deteriorating military situation.

The government resorted to money financing as its primary source of revenue. Overall, debt issue and the printing press accounted for nearly 32 and 60 percent of the South’s total real revenues during the war.

Source: Confederate Finance and Money

Caswell County Board of Education: 1911

 Caswell County Board of Education: 1911

Yanceyville, April 6 [1911] -- "The county board of education was in session Monday, Messrs. C. H. King, chairman, T. J. Hatchett and R. I Newman being in attendance. A large amount of routine business was transacted and settlement was made with the county treasurer. Superintendent Anderson submitted a report on the general condition of the school work. The report indicates that the session just closed was the most satisfactory one in years."

The Reidsville Review (Reidsville, North Carolina), 7 April 1911, Friday, Page 1.

_____

C. H. King is Cary Howard King (1864-1959).

T. J. Hatchett most likely is Thomas Jackson Hatchett (1866-1932).

R. I. Newman most likely is Robert Ira Newman (1854-1934).

Superintendent Anderson is George Andrew Anderson (1869-1945).

It appears the Caswell County Board of Education was created in 1885 with George Nicholas Thompson (1832-1891) serving as the first superintendent:

"In June, 1885, W. W. Taylor, Henry F. Brandon, and Gabriel L. Walker were elected to the Board of Education for Caswell County and in July they met and organized. George N. Thompson was Superintendent of Public Instruction and he acted as clerk of the board. In the fall the board appointed three committmen for each of the school districts and the following year it was reported that the number of schools for both races had been increased. There were 35 for whites and 37 for blacks. An additional school district had recently been created bringing the total number to 37. The average salary for white teachers was less than $27.00 a month and for black teachers it was about $24.00."

Source: Powell, William S. When the Past Refused to Die: A History of Caswell County North Carolina 1777-1977. Durham (North Carolina): Moore Publishing Company, 1977, pp. 383-388. 

Caswell County Board of Health: 1911

Caswell County Board of Health: 1911

Yanceyville, April 6 [1911] -- "The county board of health, as created by the last General Assembly, met in the office of the superintendent of schools Monday. The board is composed of the following gentlemen: J. S. Harvey, chairman; Geo. A. Anderson, secretary, and B. S. Graves. In compliance of the law, Dr. J. A. Pinnix, of Anderson township, and Dr. J. F. Badgett, of Locust Hill township, were elected as additional members. The board will meet again on the second Monday in May at which time the county superintendent of health will be elected."

The Reidsville Review (Reidsville, North Carolina), 7 April 1911, Friday, Page 1.

_____

This is the first mention found of the Caswell County Board of Health. The newly created group selected as the County Superintendent of Health Dr. Stephen Arnold Malloy, M.D. (1872-1944).

J. S. Harvey most likely is John Shields Harvey (1864-1935). In 1911 he apparently was living in Pelham Township, Caswell County, NC.

Geo. A. Anderson is George Andrew Anderson (1869-1945).

B. S. Graves is Barzillai Shuford Graves (1854-1942).

Dr. J. A. Pinnix is Dr. John Alexander Pinnix, M.D. (1846-1931).

Dr. J. F. Badgett is Dr. James Farish Badgett, M.D. (1855-1933).

_____


Photograph: Undated image of the Caswell County Health Department building. Caswell Knitting Mills Inc. is in the background. According to Bill Powell's History of Caswell County, in 1970 a "new" Health Department Building was built.

Locust Hill Post Office Closed: 1911

 Locust Hill Post Office Closed: 1911

The News of Caswell: Our Yanceyville Scribe Has Store of New Items

"The office at Locust Hill, which has been maintained as a postoffice for many years, has been discontinued by the Department, and the patrons in the future will be supplied by the R.F.D. from Yanceyville."

The Reidsville Review (Reidsville, North Carolina), 7 April 1911, Friday, Page 1.

_____

The Locust Hill US Post Office began as Brown's Store in 1804, apparently operating in the store of Jethro Brown (1766-1828) [built by his father John Edmunds Brown (1733-1798)]. The first postmaster was John H. Brown, possibly a son of John Edmunds Brown. Jethro Brown became postmaster in 1818. While the name changed in 1846, query whether the location did. The first postmaster under the Locust Hill name was Stephen Neal. The last postmaster was William W. Hatchett (1859-1939).

_____


Brown's Store







Locust Hill Post Office Cancellation August 7, 1885