USA > North Carolina > History of North Carolina: North Carolina since 1860, Volume III > Part 31
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35
The average daily attendance in the white schools was increased from 166,500 to 235,872, an increase of more than 41 per cent.
The number of rural white school teachers was increased from 5,570 to 7,047, an increase of 1,477.
The expenditures for salaries of county superintendents were in- creased from $23,596.85 to $78,071.75; the average annual salary of the county superintendent was increased from $243.27 to $796.65.
The number of special local tax districts was increased from 18 to 1,167. In 1910 about $300,000 was raised by local taxation for the rural schools. Nearly $900,000 was raised by local taxation for the rural and city schools.
After 1905 the number of rural schools having more than one teacher was increased from 851 to 1,355.
The number of rural libraries was increased from 472 to 2,772. In addition, 914 supplementary libraries were established. These libraries contain 265,752 volumes of well-selected books, costing $96.870.
After 1907, when the rural high school law was passed, 202 rural public high schools were established in 93 counties, in which were enrolled in 1911 nearly 7,000 country boys and girls.
Since 1910 the advance has continued. In 1916 the rural school fund was $4,573,931 and the urban fund $2,698,956. The rural school property was valued at $6,135,060; the urban at $5,354,821. More than 22 per cent of the entire fund was raised by local taxation. There were 8,088 schoolhouses with a rapidly increasing average value. Over two-thirds have been built or rebuilt since 1901. Compulsory attendance be- gan in 1914. One of the most notable and important devel- opments is to be seen in the rise of the public high schools. In 1916 there were 212, exclusive of the city high schools, in ninety-six of the 100 counties with an enrollment of 10,379. Farm life schools are increasing and promise much assistance in settling the rural problems of the state.
The following table gives a comparison of certain signifi- cant facts in relation to school growth :
Vol. III-24
370
HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
1870
1901
1916
Schools
1,800
7,314
8,088
Teachers
1,590
8,663
14,550
Pupils
41,912
428,560
649,246
Expenditure
$42,856
$1,248,157
$6,561,646
Value Property
1,146,000
11,489,881
Local Tax Districts
0
18
1,834
Length of Term in Days
86
124
For the training of teachers the state has a number of agencies. The Normal College and the East Carolina Train- ing School are the largest normal schools for white teachers. The Cullowhee Normal School receives state aid and the Ap- palachian Training School was established by the state in 1903 to serve the counties of Alleghany, Ashe, Watauga, Mitchell, Yancey, Caldwell and Wilkes. The University and several colleges of the state through departments of educa- tion and through summer schools have also greatly assisted in this task. For negroes there are three normal schools besides the Agricultural and Technical College at Greensboro. There is also a normal school for Croatan Indians.
In the period following its reopening, the new University had many difficulties to meet and a long hard road was before it. The most outstanding one was lack of funds. Founded by and under the complete control of the state, the state, never- theless, had done little for it beyond giving it the escheats, the military land warrants in Tennessee, and the land scrip fund. In 1881 the first annual appropriation for mainte- nance-$5,000-was made, which in the face of bitter denomi- national opposition was increased to $20,000 in 1885. In 1887 the land scrip fund was lost, but the annual appropria- tion by the state was increased at intervals, reaching $25,000 in 1897, $45,000 in 1905, $70,000 in 1907, $115,000 in 1915, and $165,000 in 1917. Occasional appropriations for repairs and improvements were made and in 1905 the legislature gave the money for a chemical laboratory which was the first build- ing erected by the state. Since that time money for a number of buildings and other permanent improvements has been appropriated, and the legislature of 1917 made an annual ap-
371
HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
propriation of $100,000 for permanent improvements. Stu- dents came slowly but the nineties saw a great increase which has continued.
Opposition to the University was present in the legislature which chartered it, one member entering a protest against the creation of an aristocracy of education, and opposition has appeared from time to time ever since. Some feeling was manifested in the years following the reopening by certain people who professed to see in it an institution supported by the state for the sons of rich men, a charge utterly without foundation. But the chief enemies have been those who op- posed it as being in competition with the denominational col- leges. The fight on the University has been long and bitter, amounting at times in fact if not in form to a demand that the University be closed for the benefit of the denominational colleges. At no time has the University opposed the denomina- tional colleges, maintaining with much truth that there was more educational work to be done in the state than the Uni- versity and all the colleges were doing, and that the growth of the former was a distinct benefit to every other institution of learning within the borders of North Carolina. In spite of the fight against it, in spite of its meagre support, smaller than that of almost any state university, it has risen to the front rank of the southern universities, and has steadily ren- dered, as means were given it, greater service to the state in every line of activity and endeavor. Its presidents since the reopening have been Kemp P. Battle, 1876-1891; George T. Winston, 1891-1896; Edwin A. Alderman, 1896-1900; Francis P. Venable, 1900-1914; Edward K. Graham, 1914-1918.
In the period since Reconstruction the state has broad- ened the scope of its activities in higher education. The Col- lege of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts was established at Raleigh and has grown steadily, widening its influence and making a place in state service. Generous appropriations from the state and federal governments have enabled it to grow with great rapidity. Its presidents have been Alexan- der Q. Holladay, 1887-1900; George T. Winston, 1889-1908; D. H. Hill, 1908-1916; Wallace C. Riddick, 1916 -. In 1916
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA
COPYRIGHT 1907 W.T.UITTIG, NEW YORK
CAMPUS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA, CHAPEL HILL, IN 1907
373
HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
there were sixty-one members of the faculty and more than 700 students. The buildings had increased to twelve.
In 1891 the Legislature established the Normal and In- dustrial School, which soon after became the Normal and Industrial College, for the training of the girls of the state. Under the guidance of Charles D. McIver, in reality its founder, who was filled with a passion for universal educa- tion, its value and importance was immediately apparent. It too has grown rapidly and its influence upon public educa- tion has been incalculable. Not less has been its influence upon the women of the state personally. Dr. McIver died in 1906 and was succeeded as president by Julius I. Foust.
In the denominational colleges there is the same story of growth. Three denominational colleges, Wake Forest, David- son, and Trinity, were in existence in 1860 and two, Guilford and Elon, have come into existence since the Civil war.
Wake Forest, owned and controlled by the Baptist Church, came out of the war with only a small enrolment. Its endow- ment which had been $40,000 in 1860 had been reduced to less than $11,000 in 1865. Dr. W. M. Wingate, the president, was a minister of great power and eloquence who had the full con- fidence of his church. He was succeeded in 1878 by Rev. Thomas H. Pritchard, who, however, soon returned to the pulpit. For a time there was no president, the conduct of the college being under Dr. W. B. Royall as chairman of the faculty. In 1884 Dr. Charles E. Taylor became president. He had just successfully raised an endowment of $100,000 and during his administration there was a great development. When he came to the presidency there were seven professors, 150 students, and three buildings. When he retired in 1905 there were seventeen professors, more than 300 students and seven buildings, and an endowment of more than $300,000. His constructive ability had largely remade the institution. He was succeeded by Dr. W. L. Poteat, under whose adminis- tration the progress of the college has been uninterrupted. There were in 1916 a faculty of twenty-three, and a student body of more than 500. The buildings had increased to eight and the endowment was more than $500,000.
Davidson College, the property of the Presbyterian
374
HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
Church, like the other colleges in the state, was desperately hurt by the war. Fewer students had been lost because they were younger, but the endowment of $260,000 of 1860 had been reduced to one-fourth of that amount. The presidents have been Rev. L. Kirkpatrick, 1861-1866; Rev. G. W. Mc- Phail, 1866-1871; John R. Blake, chairman of the faculty, 1871-1877; Rev. A. D. Hepburn, 1877-1885; Rev. Luther Mc- Kinnon, 1885-1888; Rev. John B. Shearer, 1888-1901; Henry Louis Smith, 1901-1912; William J. Martin, 1912 -. The re- covery of the college began about 1871, and commencing dur- ing Dr. Shearer's administration, there was a notable ad- vance. In 1916 there were nineteen in the faculty and nearly two hundred students. The endowment and equipment to- gether amounted to nearly $700,000.
Trinity College, the property of the North Carolina Con- ference of the Methodist Church, was growing rapidly at the opening of the civil war. But war largely decreased the at- tendance, President Craven resigned in 1863, being succeeded by W. T. Gannaway, and exercises were finally suspended in April, 1865. In the same year Dr. Craven was re-elected and the doors of the institution were opened in 1866 to a mere handful of students. The college lived only through Craven, who gave himself unstintedly to its preservation and up- building. Under his administration it grew slowly and its student body increased. He died in 1882 and W. H. Pegram became chairman of the faculty until 1883 when Rev. M. L. Wood was chosen. Upon his resignation in 1884, John F. Heitman became chairman of the faculty, serving for three years. In 1887 John F. Crowell, a forward looking and pro- gressive man was called to the presidency. His administra- tion lasted until 1894 in which time he showed himself to be courageous in speech and action, a keen student of public affairs, especially in the state, an excellent administrator and an educator of high ideals. He saw clearly that the col- lege was in too remote a place for great success and urged its removal. He carried his point and after some discussion it was finally decided to move it to Raleigh. Just at this time Washington Duke offered to give the college $85,000 if it was brought to Durham, and Julian S. Carr donated the
375
HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
site. These offers were accepted and in 1892 the move was accomplished. It was a fortunate thing since it led through greater contact to greater opportunity for growth and service.
Upon President Crowell's resignation in 1894 as president, Rev. John C. Kilgo was elected and served until 1910. When he took charge the college had a faculty of nine men, 153 stu- dents and a plant worth $135,000. He won for the college the closer friendship and interest of the Dukes, father and sons, who together bore the financial burden of the college for twenty-five years. Their gifts were generous. - Before his death Washington Duke gave the college nearly $500,000 and the two sons together have given more than a million and a quarter.
During Dr. Kilgo's administration there was a steady growth in students and faculty. He resigned in 1910 and was succeeded by Dr. William P. Few, the present head of the college. In 1916 there were thirty members of the faculty, nearly six hundred students and nine buildings. The endow- ment was almost a million and a half dollars.
In 1888 the school at New Garden belonging to the Society of Friends was chartered as Guilford College. It has estab- lished in the years which have intervened a reputation for good sound training and high ideals. In 1916 it had a faculty of fourteen, 127 students, and eight buildings and a plant and endowment of about $500,000. Its presidents have been : Lewis L. Hobbs, 1888-1915; Thomas Newlin, 1915-1917; Ray- mond Binford, 1918 -.
Elon College was founded by the Christian Church in 1889 and opened in 1890. Its presidents have been Rev. W. S. Long, Rev. W. W. Staley, E. L. Moffitt, and W. A. Harper. In 1916 it had a faculty of eighteen, four hundred students, and seven buildings.
In addition to the institutions described there are numer- ous junior colleges in the state owned by religious denomina- tions as well as a great number of church and private schools which have played no small part in the life of the state and the education of its people.
CHAPTER XVII
AGRICULTURE AND INDUSTRY
THE RETURNS OF INDUSTRY
1880
1890
1900
1910
1915
Factories
$20,095,000
$40,375,000
$94,920,000
$216,656,000
$289,412,000
Farms
51,730,000
50,071,000
89,310,000
180,766,208
278,000,000
Forests
4,455,000
12,675,000
24,771,000
42,436,000
35,000,000
Mines
576,000
837,000
1,459,000
1,358,617
3,583,000
In the table which heads this chapter is shown the outline of agricultural and industrial development in North Carolina during the period since 1880. Viewing these figures one sees simply the story of progress with little else included. There has been of course tremendous progress but the story is not complete in statistics alone.
Of primary importance still in the state is the cultivation of the soil. To understand properly the situation it is well to review briefly the geographical character of the state.
"North Carolina, with its infinite variety of climate, soil, natural resources and acquired advantages, has an area of 52,426 square miles, of which water covers 3,686 miles. It lies between 34 degrees and 361/2 degrees north latitude, and be- tween 751/2 degrees and 841/4 degrees longitude west from Greenwich. Its greatest length is from northeast to south- west, a stretch so long that a circle drawn with it as the ra- dius and the northwest corner of the State as the pivot would take in Buffalo, N. Y .; the whole State of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and a large part of Illinois in its sweep. Its reach north and south is from the southern end of Virginia to about the middle of South Carolina; from east to west it extends from the Atlantic Ocean at the farthest southeastern point of the country to a point considerably west of the eastern exten- sion of Tennessee. Its topographic variety, from sea level on the east to an altitude of nearly 7,000 feet on some of the
376
377
HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
mountain tops at the west, gives it a climatic variety not pos- sessed by many States, ranging from semi-tropical on the islands off the coast to the temperature of Northern Canada on the tops of its high mountains.
"North Carolina has three distinct divisions-Mountain, Piedmont and Coastal Plain. The first stretches along the western border, touching on Tennessee from Virginia to Georgia, taking in a number of counties, in some of which the Appalachian mountains reach their greatest altitude in the peaks of the Blue Ridge and the Great Smoky Mountains. The Mountain district is about 100 miles wide and has an area of about 6,000 square miles. The Piedmont plateau, joining the Mountain section on the east, covers about one-third the area of the State. It is divided into the Upper and Lower Piedmont, the former having an elevation of from 1,000 to 2,000 feet below that of the adjoining Mountain region. In the Lower Piedmont the elevation gradually declines until the level of the Coastal Plain is approximated. The surface is generally rolling. The eastern division is the Coastal Plain, which reaches from the edge of the Lower Piedmont to the Atlantic Ocean. It is for the most part a level country, though slightly rolling toward its western limits."
The soils are as varied as the climate, running from the sand of the coast and the rocky covering of the mountain tops through clays, loams, and alluvia to the rich black muck of the East. The products, too, are as varied as soil and climate, ranging from north temperate to semi-tropical. The total acreage is 31,193,600, of which in 1910, 22,380,000, or 71 per cent of the whole, were uncultivated. More than two million acres, however, have been brought under cultivation since the Civil war. Since 1860 the number of farms has rap- idly increased with a natural decrease in size. The following tables are illustrative :
FARMS
Census Year
Population
Number
Per Cent of Increase
1910
2,206,287
253,725
12.9
1900.
1,893,810
224,637
25.9
1890
1,617,949
178,359
13.2
1880
1,399,750
157,609
68.4
1870
1,071,361
93,565
24.4
1860.
992,622
75,203
32.0
378
HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
FARM PROPERTY
Land and Buildings
Census Year
Total Value
Per Cent Increase *
Per Cent Increase *
1910
$537,716,210
130.0
Value $456,624,607
134.6
1900
233,834,693
7.9
194,655,920
5.8
1890.
216,707,500
31.9
183,977,010
35.5
1880
164,286,737
96.9
135,793,602
117.0
1870 +
83,429,729
- 53.7
62,568,866
- 56.3
1860.
180,305,812
101.4
143,301,065
111.1
Implements and Machinery
Domestic Animals, Poultry, Bees
Census Year
Value
Increase *
Value
Per Cent Increase *
1910
$18,441,619
103.3
$62,649,984
108.1
1900.
9,072,600
26.3
30,106,173
17.8
1890.
7,183,210
18.2
25,547,280
14.0
1880.
6,078,476
86.1
22,414,659.
27.4
1870+.
3,265,689
- 44.4
17,595,174
43.5
1860
5,873,942
49.4
31,130,805
75.7
* A minus sign (-) denotes decrease.
t Computed gold values, being 80 per cent of the currency values reported.
AVERAGE VALUE PER FARM
Census Year
Average Acres Per Farm
All Farm Property
Land and Buildings $1,800
Implements and Machinery
Domestic Animals, Poultry and Bees $247
Average Value of Land and Buildings Per Acre $20.35
1900.
101.3
1,041
867
40
134
8.56
1890
127.0
1,215
1,031
40
143
8.12
1880
141.9
1,042
862
39
142
6.07
1870+.
212.0
892
669
35
188
3.15
1860
316.0
2,398
1,906
78
414
6.03
* Averages are based on "all farms" in state.
t Computed gold values, being 80 per cent of the currency values reported.
TENURE
1910
1900 224,637
1890 178,359
157,609
Farms operated by owners and managers.
146,438
131,629
117,469
104,887
Farms consisting of owned land only.
121,382
115,118
(1)
(1)
Farms consisting of owned land and hired
land
23,938
15,454
(1)
(1)
Farms operated by managers.
1.118
1,057
(1)
(1)
Farms operated by tenants.
. 107,287
93,008
60,890
52,722
Share tenants
80,215
73,092
50,318
44,078
Cash tenants
20,708
19,916
10,572
8,644
Tenure not specified (3)
4,331
Per cent of farms operated by
owners and
managers
.57.7
58.6
65.9
66.5
Tenants
42.3
41.4
34.1
33.5
Share and share-cash
.32.4
32.5
28.2
28.0
Cash and non-specified.
9.9
8.9
5.9
5.5
(1) Not reported separately.
(2) Share-cash tenants were doubtless largely included with share tenants in 1900, 1890, and 1880.
(3) Prior to 1910 non-specified tenants were included with cash tenants.
1880
Number of all farms ..
253,725
$73
1910.
88.4
$2,119
Per Cent
Share-cash tenants (2)
2,033
379
HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
It will be noted that while the number of farm operators increased 61 per cent in the period from 1880 to 1910, the number of tenants increased 1031/2 per cent.
In 1890 more than 95 per cent of the owned farms were free from mortgage, in 1900 more than 84 per cent and more than 81 per cent in 1910. The number of mortgages and the amount of the mortgage debt increased largely in the same period but the average debt has decreased more than 20 per cent. The value of the land has also risen so that while in 1890 the mortgage indebtedness was more than 45 per cent of the value of the mortgaged farms, it had dropped by 1910 to a little more than 23 per cent.
Of the North Carolina farmers in 1910, 188,069, or about three-fourths, were white; 64,456 were negroes; and about eleven hundred, Indians and Chinese.
In spite of natural advantages it is only in the period since 1865 that North Carolina farmers in any considerable number have begun to improve their methods along the lines of scien- tific agriculture and among a large proportion agricultural methods and ideas are still archaic. The demonstration and extension work is of course making great changes in the recent years. In 1915 the Agricultural and Mechanical College dis- tributed for this work $190,515, more than was spent for the purpose in any other state except Indiana, New York, Iowa, and Texas.
The relative position of the staple agricultural products in 1909 and 1915 shows several interesting changes.
1909
1915
Cotton
Wheat
Corn
Potatoes
Corn
Sweet Potatoes Cotton
Hay and Forage
Tobacco
Potatoes
Tobacco
Peanuts
Peanuts
Oats
Wheat
Oats
Hay and Forage
Peas
Sweet Potatoes Peas
The fluctuations in acreage over a considerable period are also best seen in tabulated form.
ACRES HARVESTED
Crop
Year
Corn
Wheat
Peanuts
Hay and Forage
Tobacco
Cotton
1909
.2,459,457
501,912
195,134
375,795
221,890
1,274,404
1899
2,720,206
746,984
95,856
229,998
203,023
1,007,020
1889
. 2,360,627
666,509
17,767
190,754
97,077
1,147,136
1879
2,305,419
646,829
(1)
101,758
57,208
893,153
(1) Not reported.
380
HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
It will be seen that cotton acreage increased in the first decade, decreased slightly in the second, and gained in the last. Corn and wheat acreage increased for the first two dec- ades and decreased in the last. Hay and forage, tobacco, and peanuts increased steadily. In the six year period from 1909 to 1915 increase in production was more rapid in many of the crops, ranging from 5 per cent for cotton and sweet po- tatoes to 88 per cent for corn, 161 per cent for wheat, and 667 per cent for buckwheat.
Prior to 1866 North Carolina was not regarded, strictly speaking, as one of the cotton states. Forty-one counties cul- tivated it but only twenty-two to any extent. The crop of 1860 was 145,514 bales and the state stood ninth in rank. In the period after the war cotton assumed a new position among the crops of the state and by 1880 forty-two new cotton coun- ties had appeared. Their cotton acreage was 301,447 and they produced 129,398 bales. Among these counties were Wake, Mecklenburg, and Johnston, ranking first, third, and fifth in the state in production. Today cotton is grown principally in the eastern half of the state although it appears in sixty- eight counties. Over one-half of the total acreage is in four- teen counties, eight in the east central group and six near the centre of the southern boundary. They are in order, Robeson, Mecklenburg, Johnston, Wake, Edgecombe, Union, Anson, Halifax, Wayne, Cleveland, Pitt, Scotland, Wilson, and Nash. Between 1850 and 1910 the crop increased 2,300 per cent. The production now is around three-quarters of a million bales and tends to increase. Of all the cotton states, among which North Carolina ranks eighth, it has the largest per acre yield.
Corn is planted all over the state and the value of the crop, $31,286,000 in 1910 had reached $49,318,000 in 1915. In 1850 North Carolina produced thirty-four bushels per capita. In 1914 this had been reduced to twenty-four bushels, making a tremendous shortage for the state. Only two counties, Hyde and Clay, raised their own supply. Nor was this an accidental shortage for a census year. It was true of every year pre- ceding the outbreak of the war in Europe. In 1914 the per capita production of corn, wheat, oats, peas and beans, po-
-
381
HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA
tatoes, beef, pork, and mutton was less than in 1860 and there were actually fewer cattle, hogs and sheep.
Nine counties contain nearly one-half of the acreage of the tobacco crop, which has steadily increased in amount and value. North Carolina is now outranked in production only by Kentucky. In 1860 the crop was nearly 33,000,000 pounds; in 1870 it had fallen to 11,000,000, rising to 27,000,000 in 1880; 36,000,000 in 1890; 127,500,000 in 1900; and to 156,000,000 in 1905. In 1910 the crop was 138,813,163 pounds valued at $13,847,559, and that of 1917 was over 200,000,000 pounds. Between 1850 and 1910 the crop increased more than 1,300 per cent. Owing to the im- portance of the crop thirteen towns have been built up in the period since the civil war chiefly on their importance as mar- kets, although several, notably Winston-Salem, Durham, and Reidsville have engaged largely in manufacture as well. The sales of the year 1916-1917 at Wilson totaled more than 27,000,000 pounds, nearly 18,000,000 at Winston-Salem, more than 17,000,000 at Rocky Mount, and more than 16,000,000 at Kinston and Greenville.
Peanuts have rapidly come into importance. Not planted as a commercial crop in 1879, more than 200,000 acres are de- voted to them now. In 1909 the crop brought in more than $5,000,000 and has since largely increased. It is practically confined to twenty-one counties near the coast.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.