REV. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN DIXON, MD - Brock Historical Museum ...

REV. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN DIXON, M.D.
(Fifth President)

MRS. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN DIXON
(Mrs. Nora Catherine Tracy Durham Dixon)

A WORD-PICTURE OF MRS. BENJAMIN F. DIXON
(Mrs. Nora Tracy Durham Dixon)
By MRS. JUANITA COLTRANE
GARRISON (Mrs. D. A. Garrison)
Gastonia, N.C.
Nora Tracy Durham Dixon was the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. James Wright
Tracy. She was one of the remarkable women of North Carolina. She was mar-
ried when quite young to Captain Plato Durham and to this union were born
five children, three of whom grew to manhood. These were Robert Lee Durham,
Stonewall Jackson Durham, and Plato Tracy Durham. Captain Durham died in
1875. Later she married Benjamin Franklin Dixon, who had courted her in her
girlhood when they were rivals in school. Three children came to bless this
union. One daughter, Pearl, and twin sons, Ben F., Jr., and Wright Tracy.
Mrs. Dixon was a slender woman of medium height with blue eyes and
brown hair. She had a most remarkable mind and a keen sense of humor. She
wrote a beautiful hand that looked like steel engraving, and found time in her
very busy life to do exquisite fancy work.
As the wife of a physician, minister, orphanage president, college president,
and a government official, she reigned like a queen in her home. She was at home
wherever she went and was always most hospitable. When she was the wife of
the President of G.F.C., she was greatly loved by all the girls, who felt at
home with her, often congregating in her room at night for a good time. She
had a great influence for good, not only over her own family, who looked up
to her in all things, but also over the girls in the College.
Her last days were spent with her daughter, Pearl (Mrs. W. L. Balthis), in
Gastonia. She numbered her friends by her acquaintances. None knew her but
to love her. One of her outstanding traits was her deep spirituality. She had a
sweet voice and loved to raise it in praise of her Heavenly Father.
She died April 19, 1933. Her going was a triumph for her, but a great
loss to her loved ones and friends.
REV. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN DIXON, M.D.
Born in Cleveland County, N.C., March 27, 1845.
Married Mrs. Nora Catherine Tracy Durham, July, 1877.
Died in Raleigh, N.C., September 26, 1910.
Buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Raleigh, N.C., September 29, 1910.
MRS. NORA CATHERINE TRACY DURHAM DIXON
Wife of
REV. BENJAMIN F. DIXON, M.D.
Born in Cleveland County, N.C., February 14, 1845.
Married Dr. B. F. Dixon, July, 1877.
Died in Gastonia, N.C., April 19, 1933.
Buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Raleigh, N.C., April 21, 1933.

CHAPTER VI
PRESIDENT BENJAMIN FRANKLIN DIXON’S
ADMINISTRATION
(1890-1893)
MY acquaintance with Dr. B. F. Dixon began with my pastor-
ate on the King’s Mountain Circuit, in 1888. Among the
leading members of the King’s Mountain Methodist Church
were Dr. and Mrs. J. W. Tracy, parents of Mrs. B. F.
Dixon. Accordingly Dr. Dixon and family made frequent
visits to King’s Mountain.
While serving the pastorate of King’s Mountain Circuit I raised
the indebtedness on the Methodist Church at King’s Mountain and
had the church dedicated. The Methodist ministers who assisted in
the dedicatory services were Dr. B. F. Dixon and Dr. H. T. Hudson.
The sermon was delivered at the morning service by Dr. Hudson, and
the evening message was delivered by Dr. Dixon.
During the session of the North Carolina Annual Conference,
M. E. Church, South, held in old West Market Street Methodist
Church, Greensboro, in 1889, I was assigned to the same home with
Dr. Dixon, Bishop R. K. Hargrove and three other Methodist
preachers. Bishop Hargrove occupied one room, and the other five
preachers occupier the two adjoining rooms at the other end of the
residence. In this group of Methodist preachers there was no dull time
spent. Dr. Dixon easily carried off the palm as an apostle of sunshine.
While Dr. Dixon was president of G.F.C., I was entertained
in the college as guest of the Dixons.
During the period of Dr. Dixon’s college administration, he visited
my charges in the pastorate at Morganton and Winston-Salem, and
preached to my congregations. His messages were received with warm
appreciation.
While Dr. John Franklin Crowell was president of Trinity Col-
lege, before its removal to Durham, N.C., Dr. Dixon preached the
Baccalaureate sermon at the Sunday morning service‘ of commence-
ment; and I delivered the Y.M.C.A., sermon at the evening ser-
vice. The occasion was one of mutual profit and pleasure. Several
years afterwards, while I was presiding elder of the Charlotte Dis-
trict, Dr. Dixon was in the noted political campaign, when Charles
Brantley Aycock was Democratic candidate for governor. While the
candidates were campaigning Charlotte, Mrs. Turrentine and I had
the pleasure of entertaining Dr. Dixon in our home for dinner, when
former memories were recalled. During the years which followed
there were various occasions when Dr. Dixon and I met in pleasant
fellowship.

102 A ROMANCE OF EDUCATION
The varied gifts and achievements of this brilliant son of the
Old North State are more fully portrayed in the following tributes.
SKETCH OF REV. BEN FRANKLIN DIXON, M. D.
(“College Message,” Vol. V, No. 1, Greensboro, N.C., Feb., 1892.)
Dr. Ben Franklin Dixon, late Superintendent of the Oxford
Orphan Asylum, an institution supported jointly by the Masonic fra-
ternity and the State, was born March 26, 1846, in Cleveland
County, North Carolina, and is a son of Thomas and Mary Winter
Dixon, both natives of North Carolina, and of English and Irish ex-
traction, respectively. He was educated at the White Plains High School
and at Charleston, S.C. In 1861, at the age of fifteen, he left school
and entered the Confederate service as a private in Company D.,
Fourth North Carolina Regiment of Volunteers of Infantry. This
regiment was subsequently known as the 14th regiment. In 1863 he
was elected lieutenant of Company G, 49th Regiment, Ransom’s
brigade, and for meritorious conduct was subsequently promoted to the
rank of captain of his company, being at that time only eighteen years
of age, perhaps the youngest commissioned officer in the service,
although commanding a tried and true company of battle-scarred vet-
erans. During his four years of service in the army he distinguished
himself as a brave, discreet and efficient military leader. He received
several wounds during his service. Once at the battle of Drewry’s
Bluff, the ball entering at the wrist and escaping near the elbow; again
at the battle of Malvern Hill he was shot through the left arm; and
again at the battle of Petersburg he was shot in the left side. In July,
1865, he returned home from the war and for two years devoted him-
self exclusively to teaching school and studying medicine in Cleveland
County, N.C. In 1868 he entered the Gospel ministry, having stood
an approved examination in theology, and joined the South Carolina
Annual Conference of the M. E. Church, South. He was stationed
for one year at Sumter, S.C., where he was instrumental in accom-
plishing great good in the blessed Master’s service. He was next sta-
tioned at Monroe. At the close of his first year in the ministry all
the territory belonging to the South Carolina Conference lying within
North Carolina was transferred to the North Carolina Conference,
and Dr. Dixon’s home being in that territory, he joined the North
Carolina Conference and was stationed at Monroe as above men-
tioned. He remained at Monroe two years, where his labors were
abundantly rewarded, and the impress of his holy life indelibly stamped
upon the hearts and minds of that community. He was next appointed
to Shelby circuit. His health in the meantime becoming impaired, he
was advised by his physician to locate, which he did at the end of his
year on the Shelby circuit. After the completion of his medical course
at Charleston, S.C., he began the practice of his profession at King’s

A ROMANCE OF EDUCATION 103
Mountain, N.C., where he conducted a successful practice for ten
years. In 1884 he was elected Superintendent of the Oxford Orphan
Asylum, which position he filled with eminent ability and acceptability
until September, 1890, when he was unanimously elected by the
Trustees of Greensboro Female College as President of that institu-
tion, to succeed the late lamented Dr. Jones. In commenting upon
the appointment of Dr. Dixon as Superintendent of the Orphan
Asylum, the Oxford paper used the following complimentary and
merited language : “Everybody in North Carolina who knows Dr.
Dixon loves him. He is better suited for the pecuIiar work than any
man we ever knew This is high praise but we weigh our words and
we know the man of whom we speak. The Masonic fraternity seems
to have been given superior wisdom when it induced Dr. Dixon to
give up his large practice to take charge of the Asylum. He accepted
the place at a personal sacrifice as a call to duty He is now en-
gaged in the work for which he seems to have been made. He is
thoroughly appreciated and greatly loved by the people of Oxford,
as well as by the friends of the orphans throughout the State. Under
his management the Asylum has prospered and the children have been
well cared for and properly instructed. Good management and per-
fect system have characterized Dr. Dixon’s administration of the
affairs of the institution.”
And the Trustees of Greensboro Female College seem also to have
been endowed with eminent wisdom in the selection of Dr. Dixon to
succeed that distinguished and Christian gentleman, Dr. Jones. A
more worthy and qualified successor could not have been found in the
State. In the art of imparting knowledge, of training and moulding
character, and the inculcation of religious truth, the Doctor occupies a
position in the front rank of distinguished educators, and there are few
brighter Masons, more exemplary Christians or polished gentlemen
within the bounds of the old North State. He was married in July,
1877, to Nora C., accomplished daughter of Dr. J. W. Tracy, of
King’s Mountain, N.C. To this union have been born three children,
viz: Pearl, Benj. F. and Wright T. The Public Ledger, in speaking
of Mrs. Dixon leaving Oxford, says: “A host of friends in Oxford
regret the departure of Mrs. B. F. Dixon and her interesting family
for their future home in Greensboro. During her long stay in Oxford,
she has won the love of all classes of people, and is looked upon by
all as being one of the most admirable women in North Carolina.”

104 A ROMANCE OF EDUCATION
TRIBUTE TO REV. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN DIXON, M.D.
[Capt. W. T. R. Bell, Head of King’s Mountain School (Military).
Biographical History of North Carolina Ashe]
On March 27, 1845, in Cleveland County, North Carolina, was
born Honorable Benjamin Franklin Dixon, present State auditor. In
the paternal line, Dr. Dixon is of English ancestry. The first of his
family in America was Thomas Dixon, who came to North Carolina
shortly before the Revolution. One of his grandsons, Thomas Dixon,
was the father of Dr. Dixon, and a successful farmer of Cleveland
County; strong in character, with moral views, particularly emphatic
on the subject of temperance, being himself a total abstainer and an
early opponent of the liquor traffic . “This (Dr. Dixon’s) company
was made up of volunteers from Dr. Dixon’s native county, its captain
being his elder brother, Edward Dixon, who in 1862 became major,
and died in the same year at Richmond .
He (B. F. Dixon) had periled his life on many fields in defense
of his home; and now for a time laid aside the sword, to take it up
again thirty-eight years later as a major of United States Volunteers
in the War with Spain.
He graduated from Charleston Medical College in 1874, and
began the practice at King’s Mountain, where he met with success
and spent a period of nearly ten years. In 1883 he was elected super-
intendent of the Oxford Orphan Asylum, to succeed John H. Mills.
After six years’ service in that institution, where he discharged
the difficult duties encumbered upon him with marked ability, he was
in 1890 elected by a unanimous vote of the trustees of Greensboro
Female College, president of that seminary. Here he continued four
years, until 1894, when he resigned. Shortly after his connection with
the institution in Greensboro began, he temporarily resumed control of
the Oxford Orphan Asylum until a regular successor could be ap-
pointed to supply the place of superintendent, who had died, and for a
period he directed the workings of both institutions at the same time.
After resigning his charge at Greensboro, in 1894, Doctor Dixon re-
turned to his former home in Cleveland County, and at the fall elec-
tions of 1896, he was elected from that county to the North Carolina
House of Representatives, and took his seat at the session beginning
in January, 1897. He served the State with fidelity and signal ability
in this body, and added to his established reputation as a man of affairs.
The marriage of Doctor Dixon (he is still known better as doctor
than major) took place on July 7, 1877, to Mrs. Nora Catherine
Durham, widow of the late Honorable Plato Durham, and daughter
of Doctor James W. Tracy, of King’s Mountain, and to this union
have been born a daughter and two sons. Both of the latter-Ben-

A ROMANCE OF EDUCATION 105
Benjamin F. Dixon, Jr., and Wright Tracy Dixon (twins)-were stu-
dents at Trinity College (Durham) when the war with Spain began,
but left their studies to follow the example of their father by volun-
teering for service. The former was corpal corporal and the latter a private
in Company G., under Capt. Junius T. Gardner, First North Caro-
lina Regiment of United States Volunteers, commanded by Col. J. F.
Armfield.
In 1900 Doctor Dixon was nominated by the State Democratic
Convention for the office of State Auditor, and this nomination was
ratified by the people in the general election. He qualified in January
1901, he was elected a second time, and now holds that office, his new
term beginning January, 1905.
He, as State Auditor, had duty of carrying out the Confederate
penson pension laws of North Carolina, was also member of a commission,
acting under auspices of U.S. War Department, having in charge
the preparation of more complete Confederate rosters to be published
by the National government at Washington. He was also author of a
supplemental history of the Forty-ninth North Carolina Regiment,
C.S.A., published in the third volume (Page 151) of the North
Carolina Confederate Regimental Histories, edited by Chief Justice
Clark.
In fraternal orders Doctor Dixon is much interested. He is a
member of the Masons (Past Master of Greensboro Lodge No. 76),
Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, and Junior Order of United Ameri-
can Mechanics. He was also at one time commander of the Confed-
erate Veterans Camp at Shelby, in Cleveland County Of Doctor
Dixon it may be truthfully said that while he has been called to serve
in many capacities, his versatility has been extraordinary and his powers
of adaptation simply wonderful
If we were asked to name the personal quality that above and
below all others enters into Dr. Dixon’s make-up, next to faith in
God and inseparable from it, we would say it is his abiding faith in
fellowman. Ben Adams’ angel is for him a guiding spirit.
This is made clear in all his pulpit ministrations, though forced
on account of his health to give up regular work. His throat and
bronchial tubes were unequal to the severe physical demands upon him
as a Christian minister, and only when obliged to do so did he sur-
render to his Church that highest of all earthly commissions. Twice
did he lay down other things and twice go back to his chosen field,
and twice was he compelled to abandon it.
His is a gospel of light and hope. He belongs distinctly to a class
of men-may the tribe increase who commend by smiles and laughter
in every day life the “good tidings’’ of which they preach. Humor hits
Dr. Dixon hard, and the Irish strain in him gives him the faculty so

106 A ROMANCE OF EDUCATION
really rare of telling an anecdote with great zest. He so practices
religion as to make it add to the Old World’s remnant of mirth and
joy. He has tears, plenty of them, and gives them freely to human
misery; and they are only the more precious because through them he
has power to take from grief its pang, and enable sorrow to bear
its burden.
We are told that when Dr. Dixon was regularly engaged in the
ministry, by his very joyousness he charmed the younger members of
his congregation into active interest. The young people pressed about
him. In his ideal, the church is a blushing bride and not a widowed
mother; and wherever he went he scattered smiles and dispelled the
shadows.
This was but natural, for in Dr. Dixon sympathy bubbles with
kindness, and in every walk of his life tenderness and love spring up
in his footsteps. To him life is not a dismal dirge, but rather “a grand
sweet song,” to which the restoration of one lost note would fill the
world with harmony.
As a platform speaker Dr. Dixon is sought and known all over
the State. We suppose there is not a county in which he has not been
gladly heard. Much is said about “the common people,” and a speaker’s
abilities are often judged by his power to please them. We have many
acquaintances who are well called orators, but in many of them we
have been sometimes disappointed. We are not always what Mrs.
Browning would call our better selves. But we have heard Doctor
Dixon on half a hundred occasions, in pulpit and on platform, and
have come to believe that anywhere, at any time, he can possess him-
self of any audience. His earnestness, his sincerity, his perfect can-
dor, his absolute self-abnegation in the statement of a truth, the truth
becoming the sole embodiment of the man-this is what gives him his
wonderful power.
Yet he is the creature of emotion, sensitive to every touch of his
hearers; but unconsciously, with a consummate skill, he “steps from
grave to gay, from lively to severe.” In one moment pathos, and he’s
tears; in the next, humor, and he’s laughter itself. In this rare respect
he more nearly resembles Senator Vance than does any living man of
our acquaintance.
The space allotted me does not permit that I should write of
Doctor Dixon in the sweetest and most delicate of life’s domestic rela-
tions, as husband, father, friend. The thoughtful tenderness that char-
acterizes him elsewhere; the culture, refinement, and companionship
in his home and by the social fireside-shed here their most magnetic
influence.
Ruskin says that in patriotism there is the flavor of every other
human virtue. The scars Doctor Dixon bears, and that, as a mere

A ROMANCE OF EDUCATION 107
boy, he received in the great battle-hour when our loved Southland was
baptized in blood, attest his fearless devotion to principle. No man has
deeper scorn for the mere time-server and place-seeker-a foul brood
that yet at times fattens upon the corrupted vitals of the Republic.
No man better loves his State, her precious memories, her priceless tra-
ditions. If greater honors than those already bestowed are yet to
come to Doctor Dixon, they will come through the “unbought grace’’
of her brave and noble people.
DEEP SORROW OVERSHADOWS CAPITOL CITY
FOR DEAD STATE AUDITOR
REMAINS LAID IN STATE
FUNERAL OF MAJOR DIXON TO BE HELD FROM EDENTON STREET
CHURCH-INTERMENT OAKWOOD CEMETERY
(Greensboro Daily News, Wednesday, September 28, 19 10)
Raleigh, Sept. 27, 1910. T h e remains of Hon. B. F. Dixon,
North Carolina’s state auditor, were laid in state this afternoon in the
rotunda of the state capitol building there to remain until the hour for
the funeral. The statehouse is draped in mourning symbols of the
deep sorrow that overshadows this city and the state at the sudden
demise of this distinguished statesman, who has served his state long
and well as practicing physician, minister of the gospel, confederate
soldier, in the Spanish war, as legislator and a state officer of distinguished
ability.
Major Dixon’s death at near midnight came as a great shock when
the impression was abroad that he was already far recovered from the
terrible attack of angina pectoris that he suffered a week ago; and,
indeed, would be able to be removed to his home at the corner of
McDowell and Jones streets today. Instead, he is laid in state in
the capitol rotunda to receive in death the last tribute of respect from
a great stricken people who delighted to honor him in life
MAJOR DIXON’S FUNERAL
GREAT THRONG PAY LAST TRIBUTE TO DISTINGUISHED CITIZEN
Raleigh, Sept. 28, 1910.-The funeral of the late Hon. B. F.
Dixon was conducted this afternoon at 3:30 o’clock from the state-
house and Edenton Street Methodist Church, the ceremonies being
deeply impressive and attended by a great throng of people sorrow-
fully paying the last tribute of respect to this distinguished citizen, sol-
dier and statesman. All afternoon and until the remains were removed
for the funeral ceremony, throngs of people passed through the corri-
dors of the statehouse to review the remains lying in state rotunda.
The scene was beautiful and impressive to a degree. The catafalque
was directly under the dome. The casket was draped in United States

108 A ROMANCE OF EDUCATION
and North Carolina flags and the well-worn and moth-eaten battle
flag of the Fourteenth North Carolina regiment, Confederate army,
in which Major Dixon served so valiantly, coming out of the war
with the rank of Captain. On the casket there was also the Major’s
Masonic apron and laid over the whole there was his sword that he
wielded in the battle of the Civil war and offered for service in
Spanish-American war. Around the walls of the rotunda and corri-
dors were white and black mourning draperies and placed with strik-
ing taste were also lovely groups of palms, ferns and other appropriate
plants. The floral decorations were also extremely beautiful and
numerous. There were special military guards of honor from the old
soldiers of the soldiers’ home and from the local company of the North
Carolina National Guard.
The remains were removed from the statehouse at 3:30 o’clock
for the funeral service at the church. The pall-bearers were members
of the William G. Hill Lodge of Masons, and the honorary pall-
bearers were the state officers, including the judges of the Supreme
Court, and also members of prominent private citizens who were
close friends of the deceased. Long lines of Masons from the three
Raleigh lodges and Knights of Pythias and Junior Order United
American Mechanics followed the casket on foot. Also 150 or more
Confederate veterans, including inmates of the Soldiers’ home. The
cortege of vehicles stretched away for five blocks or more. At the
church the services were conducted by Rev. H. M. North, the pastor,
assisted by Dr. J. N. Cole. High tribute of a personal character and
extolling the public service of the deceased were paid by Governor
Kitchin and ex-Governor Aycock, in whose administration Major
Dixon served as state auditor. From the church the remains were con-
veyed to the cemetery for interment, the Masons and other secret
orders of which Major Dixon was a member taking part with their
respective tributes and rites for their dead.
RESOLUTIONS BY COUNCIL OF STATE
At a special session of the council of state, held in the offices of
Governor Kitchin, resolutions relative to the death of Major Dixon,
state auditor, were adopted as follows:
“In the death of Benjamin Franklin Dixon, state auditor, on
Monday night, September 26, 1910, the State of North Carolina lost
one of her ablest and most loyal sons; a gallant soldier and patriotic
statesman.
“
He was a man of varied talents and rendered eminent service to
his people as soldier, minister, physician, teacher and statesman.
“
We, his associates in the executive department, who knew his
worth, feel most keenly his taking away. We realize the state’s inestimable

A ROMANCE OF EDUCATION 109
loss, and experience a deep personal bereavement in the departure
of one whose genial nature, lovable disposition and true friendship
endeared him to all who came in contact with him, and marked him
the highest type of North Carolina manhood.
“To his family in their affliction we tender our heartfelt sympathy
and request them to permit his remains to be in state in the rotunda
of the capitol that those who loved him may pay a last tribute to his
memory.
“It is ordered as a mark of respect, that the state flag be half-
masted until after the interment, and that the capitol be draped in
mourning for 30 days.
“A copy of these resolutions will be sent to Major Dixon’s family.”
He (Dr. Dixon) was nominated on the same Democratic ticket
of which Charles B. Aycock was the head, and in many ways he was
closely affiliated with the great Governor in spirit and ideals. They
showed similar enthusiasm for educational betterment, and Major
Dixon was actively identified with the launching of the North Caro-
lina educational program during Governor Aycock’s administration,
and the administrations of Governors Glenn and Kitchin.

CHAPTER VII
PRESIDENT FRANK L. REID’S ADMINISTRATION
(1893-1 894)
R. FRANK L. REID was a noted son of the Methodist
parsonage. His father, Dr. Numa F. Reid, was one of the
outstanding ministers of Southern Methodism. His vener-
able paternal grandfather, Rev. James Reid, was one of the
pioneers of North Carolina Methodism, and left a record of
heroic achievements. The Reids, including Governor Reid,
were natives of Rockingham County, N. C.
My acquaintance with Dr. Frank L. Reid began during his
editorship of the Raleigh Christian Advocate. Such association with
Dr. Reid includes attendance upon many annual conferences of North
Carolina Methodism, and of his visits to some of my pastoral charges,
especially in the interest of the Advocate. Our mutual esteem grew
with the years of our acquaintance. He wrote with the “pen of a
ready writer.” He was equally gifted in forceful, extemporaneous
speaking and argument.
In his noted controversy through the columns of the Advocate
with Dr. J. J. Lafferty, of the Richmond Christain Christian Advocate, re-
garding the division of the North Carolina territory into the two
annual conferences of North Carolina Methodism, Dr. Reid worthily
deserves the major share of credit for the timely achievement.
Among pleasant recollections of Dr. Reid’s visit to my pastoral
charges is his visit to Winston-Salem, while I was pastor of Cen-
tenary Methodist Church, 1891-1895. Besides representing the in-
terests of the Advocate, he was also soliciting special funds in behalf
of Trinity College.
His work as president of Greensboro College was characterized
with clear vision of an educational statesman, connected with excel-
lent business acumen.
While his administration lasted only one year, records as included
in the appendix of this volume, show that Dr. Reid was responsible
for the college’s making progress in the field of Christain Christian education.
The following tributes to his memory furnish high testimonials
of Dr. Reid’s noble life and valuable service.

A WORD-PICTURE OF MRS. FRANK L. REID
(Mrs. Minnie Cardwell Reid)
By FLORA E. CREECH, Raleigh, N. C., June 15, 1943
Mrs. Reid’s many sterling qualities of heart and mind exercised great influence
upon the life of her husband as Pastor, Editor, and as College President. Dr.
Reid admired and respected these qualities and, often he read his sermons to her,
anxious to have her approval; or to make any omissions or additions she sug-
gested. There was no one in whose decisions he had greater confidence. She
inspired and helped him.
Mrs. Reid, daughter of James LeGrand and Sallie M. Cardwell, was born
in Rockingham County and, at the age of nineteen, she married Mr. Frank Reid,
who had just qraduated from Trinity College. She went with him to Louisburg,
where Mr. Reid was pastor of the Methodist Church and, later, became President
of Louisburg College. From Louisburg they moved to Raleigh, when Dr. Reid
became Editor of the Christian Advocate and served as Presiding Elder of the
Raleigh District. During their residence in the Capitol City, the Reid home was
known as the “Preachers’ Home” because of the generous hospitality extended
the visiting ministers by Mr. and Mrs. Reid.
Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Reid; one son and three daughters.
The son, Fuller Reid, (named for the Poet, Edwin Fuller, a devoted friend) lives
in Roanoke, Virginia. The daughters reside in Greensboro, and one, Mrs. B. G.
Gilmer, (Minnie Reid) is President of Greensboro Chapter of Greensboro College
Alumnae Association.
Of medium size, with soft blue eyes, fair complexion and dark hair, with just
a little gray around the temples, Mrs. Reid, despite her 88 years, is still interested
in outside affairs and people especially young people, and she enjoys having
them around her. She has the happy faculty of seeing the fine points in people;
not their defects. She loves the beautiful things of life.

REV. FRANK LEWIS REID, A.M., D.D.
(Sixth President)

MRS. FRANK LEWIS REID
(Mrs. Minnie E. Cardwell Reid)

REV. FRANK LEWIS REID, A.M., D.D.
Born in Rockingham County, N. C., June 16, 1851.
Married to Miss Minnie E. Cardwell of Rockingham County, N. C., June 3,
1873.
Died in Greensboro, N. C., September 24, 1894.
Buried in Green Hill Cemetery, Greensboro, N. C.
INSCRIPTIONS ON MONUMENT OBELISK
Below the dates of birth and death (indicated above) : “Servant of God Well
Done.”
Below last inscription is the following (contributed by Dr. Dred Peacock) :
“A friend asks the privilege of placing on his monument this tribute of his
life and worth: Distinguished as Educator, Editor, and Preacher, he has left us
a life worthy of emulation, and while his body may moulder into sacred and
pathetic dust, he will live on in the memory of those who have been blessed
by his influence.”
MRS. MINNIE E. CARDWELL REID
Wife of
REV. FRANK L. REID, A.M., D.D.
Born in Rockingham County, N. C., October 29, 1853.
Married io Rev. Frank L. Reid, D.D., June 3, 1873.

A ROMANCE OF EDUCATION 111
AN APPRECIATION OF DR. REID
CLARK, LL. D.
BY JUSTICE WALTER
(The N.C. Teacher, Raleigh, N. C. Vol. XI, No. 4 D ec. 1893)
Rev. Frank L, Reid, D.D., comes of an intellectual race. His
father, Rev. Numa F. Reid, D.D., and grandfather, Rev. James Reid,
were both distinguished preachers. The latter was an acknowledged
leader in the Conference of this State, and the former, as a brilliant
orator, had not his equal of his age. Their descendant, the subject of
this sketch, has inherited their ability. He is one of the most popular
men, and one of the ablest pulpit orators of his church.
Rev. Dr. F. L. Reid was born in Rockingham County, N. C.,
June 16, 1851. He entered Trinity College at fifteen years of age,
and graduated with distinction June 16, 1870, on his nineteenth birth-
day. He was immediately elected Principal of Kernersville High
School, Kernersville, N. C., which he conducted till December of that
year, when he joined the Conference and was assigned to Madison
Circuit, in his native county, upon special petition of the Board of
Stewards of that charge. He remained on that circuit three years. In
January, 1874, he was appointed by Bishop Keener to Louisburg sta-
tion, where he served the full legal limit of four years. His health
failing and his throat becoming affected, he was compelled to retire
from active pulpit service.
In 1876 he was elected President of Louisburg Female College,
which position he resigned in June, 1878. In October of that year,
in conjunction with Rev. Dr. W. S. Black, he purchased the Raleigh
Christian Advocate, the organ of the North Carolina Conference of
the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. In December, 1884, he pur-
chased Dr. Black’s interest, and has ever since remained the sole owner
and manager, and the editor-in-chief of the Advocate. Upon the
death of Rev. A. A. Boshamer, in October, 1881, he was appointed
to succeed him as pastor of Edenton Street Church, in Raleigh, and
Presiding Elder of the Raleigh District in May, 1888, upon the death
of Rev. N. H. D. Wilson, D.D. He received the degree of A. B. at
Trinity in 1870; A.M., of the same college in 1873, and the honorary
degree of D.D., from the University of North Carolina in 1890.
In May, 1890, he was a delegate to the General Conference of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, South, held at St. Louis, and was a dele-
gate to the Ecumenical Conference at Washington, D.C., October,
1891. It was largely owing to the influence of the Advocate and
Dr. Reid’s efforts at the St. Louis General Conference that the seven-
teen North Carolina counties, formerly in the Holston Conference,
and the territory between the Chowan and Roanoke rivers, previously
in the Virginia Conference, were transferred to the North Carolina

112 A ROMANCE OF EDUCATION
Conference, which, thus enlarged, was divided into two Conferences.
The capstone of this work, so beneficial to North Carolina Methodism,
will be placed when finally is secured the transfer to the North Caro-
lina Conference of the six counties beyond the Chowan, which alone
of North Carolina territory are not yet embraced in one or the other
of the two North Carolina Conferences.
Dr. Reid was married June 3, 1873, to Miss Minnie E. Cardwell,
of Rockingham County. From this marriage have been born four chil-
dren, all of whom are living.
Dr. Reid became a Mason at the age of twenty-one, and has twice
been Grand Chaplain of the Grand Lodge of North Carolina. He has
filled several important civil positions, and always with credit and
fidelity. He was for several years a director of the State Penitentiary,
of which board he was secretary and chairman of the finance com-
mittee. He was also for some years a member of the school committee
of the City of Raleigh. He is now a director of the North Carolina
Railroad Company by special appointment of Governor Carr.
Dr. Reid is eminently a practical and successful business man.
This is especially evidenced by the Advocate, which, under his manage-
ment, has more than doubled its circulation, and by its vigorous edi-
torials has made his name familiar throughout Southern Methodism.
“Nothing succeeds like success,” and recently further drafts have been
made upon his experience and talents by his election by the Board of
Directors of the Greensboro Female College as President of that in-
stitution. While constrained by a sense of duty to accept the presidency,
it is gratifying to know that he will not relinquish his position as
editor-in-chief of the Advocate. Dr. Reid’s success at Greensboro, so
far, has been remarkable, and the future of the college is very bright.
The full measure of Dr. Reid’s fame and usefulness has by no
means yet been reached. He is still a young man, and is one of that
small class of men who grow with the demands made upon them. If
spared by Divine Providence, he will render yet more distinguished
service to his church and the people of his native State.
MEMOIR OF REV. F. L. REID, D.D.
By REV. W. C. NORMAN
(Journal of the North Carolina Conference, 1894)
Rev. Frank Lewis Reid, D.D., was born in Rockingham County,
N. C., June 16, 1851, and died in Greensboro, N. C., September 24,
1894, in the forty-fourth year of his age. He was the son of Rev.
N. F. Reid, D.D., and the grandson of Rev. James Reid, whose names
are illustrious in the annals of North Carolina Methodism. While yet
young in years he entered school at Trinity College, and at the age
of nineteen graduated from that institution. In young manhood’s

A ROMANCE OF EDUCATION 113
beginning he laid his heart upon God’s altar, and became a member
of the church of his fathers. He soon became impressed that he was
divinely called to the work of the ministry and for some months was
much exercised on this subject. He did not hastily enter the work, but
pondered well the solemn responsibilities of the sacred calling, and it
was not until he was thoroughly convinced of his call that he consented
to enter the work. Having once settled the matter, he obeyed the call
with all his heart, and gave himself fully to the work of the itinerant
ministry.
He was received on trial in the North Carolina Conference in
Greensboro, N. C., in the year 1870, and was sent to the Madison
Circuit, where he remained three years. During his pastorate there his
labors were greatly blessed. All around the circuit the revival fires
burned and glowed, and his people flocked to hear the young gifted
preacher. He threw his whole soul into the work as he preached and
talked and labored, and many were the souls born to God under his
ministry “amid the hills of Dan.”
It was during the pastorate on the Madison circuit that he was hap-
pily married on June 3, 1873, to Miss Minnie E. Cardwell of Rock-
Rockingham County, who, through all the years of his life thereafter, with
a beautiful devotion, shared his joys and sorrows. From this marriage
were born four children, all of whom, with his wife, three brothers
and three sisters, survive him. I have never seen a man who loved his
family with a tenderer and more considerate affection than did our
dear departed brother.
At the Conference of 1873 Dr. Reid was appointed to Louisburg
station, which charge he served for four years with distinguished suc-
cess. While here, in addition to the work of the pastorate, he was
called to the presidency of Louisburg Female College, which position
he filled with fidelity and ability until he resigned in 1878. It was
about this time that Dr. Reid, on account of failing health and a
chronic throat affection was compelled to desist from regular preach-
ing. This was a great cross to him. He was sorely chastened. But with
the humility and trust of a little child, he meekly accepted his affliction,
and committed himself into the Heavenly Father’s hand, and waited
for the Divine Providence to open up a way for him to labor in
the vineyard of his Lord. That way was in due time opened, when
he and Rev. W. S. Black, D.D., became editors and proprietors of
the Raleigh Christian Advocate. Having bought Dr. Black’s interest,
December, 1884, he remained sole owner and manager, and the
editor-in-chief of the Advocate. From the time he entered upon his
labors as editor until he resigned to prosecute the work in which he
died, his labors and zeal knew no abatement. A large portion of the
time he did the work of two men, and, amid bodily weakness and

114 A ROMANCE OF EDUCATION
labors abundant and frequent discouragements, he toiled on uncom-
plaining through the years, almost giving his life for the work that
lay so near his heart. His efforts were largely blessed, and he was
permitted to see the work to which he felt providentially called prosper
in his hands. No one can estimate how great a blessing Dr. Reid has
been to North Carolina Methodism through the weekly visits of the
Advocate.
While engaged in his arduous work as editor he served the Church
and his generation in various other departments of labor. Owing to
his fine business tact and skill, he was at different times called to give
the benefit of his valuable labors in important and responsible civil
positions, and whenever and wherever he served, he showed himself a
man of affairs, and won the admiration of all concerned, as a faith-
ful and efficient public servant. Upon the death of Rev. A. A. Boshamer
mer, in October, 1881, he was appointed to succeed him as pastor of
Edenton Street Church, in Raleigh, where the name of Dr. Reid con-
tinues unto this day as an ointment poured forth. He was appointed
presiding elder of the Raleigh district, upon the death of Rev. N. H.
D. Wilson, D.D., in May, 1888, and it was on account of overwork
in this extra charge that he came near dying during the same year.
He received the degree of A.B. at Trinity College in 1870 and
of the same college in 1873 the degree of A.M., and the honorary
degree of D.D., was conferred upon him by the University of North
Carolina in 1890. In May, 1890, he was a delegate to the General
Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, held at St.
Louis, and he was also a delegate to the Ecumenical Conference held
at Washington, D. C., October, 1891.
Not many months ago a new sphere of usefulness seemed to open
up to him when he was urgently called to the presidency of Greens-
boro Female College. Exercising his usual caution he did not hastily
accept the call, but after much prayer and counsel with his brethern, brethren
he decided to accept the position, and immediately entered upon his
new and responsible work, with the same energy and enthusiasm and
skill that had characterized him in every sphere of duty in which he
had ever served. The universal acclamation was that he was pre-
eminently the man for the place; and with his heart all aglow with
zeal for the prosperity of Greensboro Female College and for the
cause of Christian education in general, and especially in the families
of his own beloved Methodism in North Carolina, he began a vig-
orous campaign, which had already begun to wake up the people on
the subject of Christian and denominational education. With convincing
logic, earnest persuasion and burning eloquence, he pressed his
theme and won his way to the hearts of his hearers, and wherever his

A ROMANCE OF EDUCATION 115
his successful leadership, Greensboro Female College fast rose to an
era of prosperity that has gladdened the hearts of its friends through-
out the State. The result of his plans and labors, in the improvements
in the building, increased patronage, and general confidence in the
character and success of the institution, evidence the wisdom of the
directors in placing him in this delicate and responsible position which
he served so well. His work for Greensboro Female College will abide
while he sweetly rests.
He was devotedly attached to Trinity College-his Alma Mater-
and labored every way as trustee and friend, to advance its interests.
At the request of the trustees he raised several thousand dollars to
equip the new buildings at Durham. He was a member of the Board
of Trustees until the last session of the N. C. Conference. Few men
have done so much valuable work in so short a time as he.
He has been suddenly called from labor to rest, but he was found
standing bravely at his post and ready for the summons.
North Carolina Methodism mourns for her distinguished son. It
is hard for us to realize that we shall never hear his voice again, nor
again see the light kindle in his eye; and while we join our hearts in
sincerest sympathy with his loved ones and with the institution that
sits amid the ashes of mourning, we thank God for the noble, manly,
Christian life of Frank L. Reid; for his career of usefulness, and the
works that do follow him.
Farewell, faithful comrade, brother, friend. By the grace of God
we will meet thee again, and walk and talk with thee amid the hills
of light.