schools, and many of our middle-age people who now read the newspapers teeming with news from the four corners of the earth, all knit together with railroads and telegraphs, feel and complain of their ignorance of the latter study, and would give much to be able to trace upon the map the connections and bearings of countries formerly seldom heard of and now mixed up with their nearest political and religious interests and affecting the prices even of their produce and labor. "The method of teaching was extremely primitive; to look on the book and make a decent droning noise of any kind, not out of the common key, would insure immunity from the all-potent rod, while this habit of noise, pleasant as it is as a reminiscence, because it was the music of our early years, was anything else than an advantage to those who really wished to bend their minds to study. Hence all these, and all who claimed to be such, were allowed to pursue their studies out of doors; and among the white heads with which the sunny landscape would blossom, perhaps one in every ten would be following out some useful train of thought or diving into the mysteries of Dilworth and Pike. He would work out the sums' for all the others, and, as blackboards were unknown, the scholar had but to run in, hold up his slate to the teacher, get an approving nod, and return to his amusements. There were no lectures, few explanations, no oral instruction; to get through the book was the great end, and to whip well the paramount means. Few and indifferent as these schools were, they were not generally kept for a longer term than the great majority of common schools now are, and the attendance was equally uncertain and irregular. The schools were generally limited to a quarter of three months during the coldest part of the winter, and as families with two to six children would subscribe half a scholar, the house would often be jammed with sixty students and as often hold fifteen or twenty. "Half a scholar! Why, can't we remember when five children would biennially get the benefit of the teaching due half a scholar for three months; that is, when one and a half months' schooling every year, or every two years, would be divided among three to five children, making six to ten days or more apiece? The good old times, which, divested of all romance, of all the tender fancies which_naturally cluster around the recollections of all childhood, were times which tried the souls of those who wished to gain a good education and which throw their still lingering shadows upon the present age.' VIII. REORGANIZATION AND GROWTH, 1852-1861. The common-school system had begun in 1838 with considerable means, and the small impression that it created on the thinking people of the State and on the public generally proves that it was not considered a part of the governmental machinery, but as a local interest with which local authorities could deal largely at their discretion. The law of 1825 had provided that the distribution of the literary fund should be on the basis of the free white population, but the act of 1840 changed the basis from white to Federal population. Governor Manly, in his message to the legis lature of 1850-51, claimed that the rule adopted in 1840 carried “on its face a vio. lation of the spirit and object of the injunction of the constitution; is a breach of the public faith given by the legislature of 1825; is at variance with the rule in other Southern States; divides the fund not according to the public necessity, but the wealth of the people, and is in itself unequal and unjust." The advocates of the existing system defended their side with equal vigor, and thus were sown the seeds of dissention and jealousy with which Dr. Wiley had to deal during the whole of his administration. "The system, as then organized, was not only deficient in its organization but in accountability, uniformity, and its general management. For a period of ten years about $90,000 have been placed annually in the hands of the various school committees of the State, a sum larger than the whole amount of the State's revenue paid into the public treasury during that period. This large sum, forming an aggregate of nearly a million of dollars, has within this brief period been spent, and yet no adequate provision has been made, much less enforced, for even informing the people or their representatives of what has become of it or how it has been spent." Governor Manly substantiates his charges by saying further that he had published in 1849 an edition (6,000 copies) of the laws of the assembly relating to the public schools (the first of the kind), and had distributed the same, together with an appendix of precedents and appropriate forms of returns. These laws required that the chairman of the board of county superintendents of each county should, within fifteen days of the 1st of November, report in writing to the literary board his school accounts, credited by the proper county authorities, together with the number of children in the county, the number in the schools for the previous year, and the length of time the schools had been kept open. But this duty was performed by only seven superintendents throughout the whole State within the specified time. Several came in later, so that at the time of the report to the legislature forty-one had been received. This was a little more than one-half. It was found that there was still in the hands of the chairmen an aggregate of school funds amounting to $90,000. Estimating a like amount in the hands of those who had made no returns, it might be said that $180,000 lay unemployed and not used for school purposes, besides an indefinite amount in the hands of former chairmen and not used for school purposes. Governor Manly continues his message in the following strain: Those [chairmen] who choose to do so submit them [their accounts] to the committees of finance or county court clerks, while those who fail to do so escape forfeiture or censure. It may be safely stated that thousands of dollars remain from year to year in the hands of superintendents, and if a rigid settlement were enforced the public would be astounded at the aggregate sum thus withheld from its legitimate destination. The whole fund annually distributed, although large, is yet inadequate to the public exigency. According to the provisions of the existing law, the several county courts may, in their discretion, levy a tax as other taxes are levied for county purposes not less than one-half of the amount annually received from the literary fund. . . Some of the counties, with commendable spirit, levy a fair tax, others levy a very small one, while very many of the counties levy no tax at all. Hence it results that in those counties dependent solely on the literary fund, the sum they receive, when subdivided among a large number of districts, is so small for each that many of the districts have no schools at all and derive no benefit from the provision. Our people do not take hold of the subject with that energy and spirit essential to success. A general listlessness prevails. Those that can afford it send their children elsewhere to school, while the poorer classes keep theirs at home to work. Throughout the State you see everywhere on the highways schoolhouses deserted, the doors broken from their hinges, and the grass growing in the yard. Why is this? Besides those already alluded to, one prominent cause, doubtless, is the difficulty of procuring proper teachers, qualified by education and good morals to direct the young. In some of the counties, I am happy to be able to say, their schools are well managed, and are accomplishing with marked effect Manly's message to the legislature of 1850-51 (p. 19). The growth of the literary fund is shown by the following figures: the beneficent results aimed at by the law, and it is to be hoped that such is the case in others. But there is no official information on the subject, and what I design to say is that the very want of this information demonstrates the absolute necessity of some radical amendment. This necessity suggests the expediency of creating a new office in government to take general charge of the whole business, in accordance with the practice in other States and with the earnest and repeated recommendation of my predecessors. . . . Having been a member of the literary board from its organization and having bestowed some attention upon the subject, I feel in conclusion fully warranted in recommending as the most effectual means of attaining the ends referred to, the appointment of a general superintendent of common schools for the State." Under such pressure as this from the governor, the literary board, and other officials, progress was made toward reform. When it is remembered that the annual income of the literary fund was more than the income of the State, and that this amount was spent and subjected to no general supervision, the importance of such supervision may be easily seen. The legislature of 1848-49 had considered bills for the appointment of a general superintendent, but while rejecting them had authorized county superintendents at a salary of $250 each. In the legislature of 1850-51, Dr. Wiley, who was then a member of the house of commons from Guilford County, introduced a bill for the appointment of a State superintendent. The bill had able and enlightened friends in both houses; it received favorable consideration and a large vote, but failed to pass. Dr. Wiley was also a member of the assembly of 1852-53, and through his influence a bill for a superintendent was introduced by Mr. Cherry, of Bertie. Another bill to divide the funds among the counties in the ratio of their white population and one to provide for the education of teachers at Normal, Davidson, and Wake Forest colleges were also introduced, but these failed to pass. The "Act to provide for the appointment of a superintendent of common schools, and for other purposes," stands as chapter 18 in the Public Acts of 1852. It is the corner stone on which was built up the best system of common schools in the South before the war, and in brief is as follows: It provided for a superintendent of common schools for the State, to be chosen by the legislature and to hold office for two years. County chairmen were to make their reports to the superintendent on or before the third Monday in November, and to include, among other items, the number of certificates granted to teachers, male and female. In each county there was to be "a committee of examination," consisting of not more than five members, "whose duty it shall be to examine into the qualifications, both mental and moral, of all such persons as may apply for employment as teachers in any of the common schools." Certificates issued to teachers were good for one year and only in the county where issued, and in absence of such certificate payment might be refused. The State superintendent was to collect information concerning the condition and operation of the common schools in the counties and to report the same to the governor for the benefit of the legislature. He was to superintend the operation of the schools, see that the laws were enforced, and look after escheated property. The State treasurer was to furnish him an annual statement of the sums disbursed to the counties, and he was to issue annually to the examining committees "a circular letter of instructions and suggestions as to the qualifications of teachers." He was to prepare and furnish blanks for the use of county officers and to compile and arrange the laws on the subject, together with such other instructions as were necessary. He was to make an annual report to the governor, reviewing the work of the schools and including statistics, of which "the governor shall cause 150 copies to be printed in cheap pamphlet forin, 50 copies for his own use, 1 This message emphasizes and summarizes the report which Governor Manly had made to the same legislature as chairman of the literary board. 66 as often and 100 copies for the use of the said general superintendent," who was as possible" to deliver public lectures on the subject of education. His salary was $1,500. The funds of the literary board, principal, in 1852 were invested as follows: 1. 5,322 shares stock in Bank of Cape Fear. 2. 5,027 shares stock in Bank of the State 4. Bonds on Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad Company, secured by mortgages and deed of trust on the property of the company in 1837 and 1840 5. Bonds indorsed by the State.. 3. Bonds of Raleigh and Gaston Railroad Company, indorsed by the State, due January 1, 1860... $532, 200.00 502,700.00 140,000.00 85,000.00 50,000.00 2,250.00 2,000.00 39, 808.55 552.00 6, 169.52 2,000.00 7,000.00 6. Bonds indorsed by the State. 7. Bond of State issued for stock in Fayetteville and Western Plank Road. 8. Bond executed according to act of assembly. 9. Bond executed according to act of assembly. 10. Bond of Wake Forest College 11. Bond of Floral College. 12. Bond of Greensboro Female College 13. Bond of Chowan Female Institute. 14. The whole of the swamp lands of the State, reclaimed and unreclaimed, not granted and held by individuals prior to the year 1826. estimated at 1,500,000 acres, heretofore valued at... 3,000.00 19. One bond on Nathaniel Credle and others for swamp lands. 15. State bonds issued in 1852, purchased by the board.... 150,000.00 10,500.00 2,265.00 125.60 18. Four bonds on Allen Grist and others for swamp lands. 296.00 125.00 20. One bond on W. D. Cooke, showing a small balance. 21. One bond on N. S. King, believed to be of no value.. 22. One bond on William D. Cooke and others.... 268.00 1,000.00 1,735.79 1,538, 995. 46 23. Amount of cash in bank of Cape Fear to credit of board (principal money) After securing a new and improved act for the schools and providing for a superintendent of common schools came the still more difficult task of finding the proper man to fill the office. Dr. Wiley was then a member of the legislature from Guilford County. He was a Whig in politics and a lawyer by profession, while the legislature was Democratic. But the activity displayed by him in advancing the interests of the schools pointed him out as the man for the place. He was elected, without the slightest solicitation on his part and by a large majority, in December, 1852, and entered upon his duties January 1, 1853. In the estimation of all others, as well as himself, the superintendent was "all things to the schools, and had to be, for a time at least, a guide to them, to public sentiment, and to the legislature, with no guide or support for himself in the community or in the neighboring States." Dr. Wiley was already well and favorably known to the people of the State. Calvin Henderson Wiley was born near Greensboro, Guilford County, N. C., February 3, 1819, and was the son of David L. and Anne Woodburn Wiley. His father's family was of Scotch-Irish stock; William Wiley, his great-grandfather, removed from Pennsylvania in 1754, and bought lands from Lord Granville in the Alamance section of Guilford; his grandfather, David Wiley, was a Regulator in 1771, and later a soldier in the Revolution. While still a boy he showed a taste for books and reading, and was sent to Caldwell Institute in Greensboro and was there prepared for the University of North Carolina. He was graduated from that institution in 1840 and already numbered among his friends some of the political leaders of the State. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1841, and located in Oxford. In addition to his practice of law he edited the Oxford Mercury, 1841-43. Not content with these two activities, he entered the field of romance and published in 1847 his first novel, called Alamance, or the Great and Final Experiment, which was redolent of the soil of his native section. A second novel, Roanoke, or where is Utopia? appeared in Sartain's Magazine in 1849. In 1851 he was invited and urged to go to Charlotte to edit a Whig paper, but declined. During that year, however, he associated himself with W. D. Cooke in editing the Southern Weekly Post, in Raleigh. The first number appeared December 6, 1851, and was "edited chiefly" by Wiley. Cooke was the publisher. It was devoted to the general upbuilding of North Carolina. The announcement of this paper, evidently the work of Wiley, strikes the keynote of the policy which his paper, and he in all his subsequent work, was to pursue: "It is a fact worthy of being universally known that North Carolina is considered by bookmakers the best mart in the world for uncurrent and trashy productions, and the very refuse of literary quackery is sent out here and circulated among our people. For most of the works of this sort Northern publishers have agencies all over North Carolina, and thus while there are none to circulate our own books, and the people are kept in ignorance of their own history and of the character and resources of their State, they are drugged with foreign narcotics and heavily taxed for the benefit of fabrics that will not sell and can not be sold where they are manufactured." It was with the hope of doing away with or improving on this state of affairs that Dr. Wiley entered politics in 1850 as a Whig member of the house of commons from Guilford County, and began efforts for that series of educational reforms which have put him among the leading educational statesmen of the South. He assumed his duties as superintendent of common schools January 1, 1853. During the whole period of his incumbency much of the superintendent's time was taken up with the routine and clerical duties of the office, for he was allowed no clerk. His correspondence with local school officers was heavy and much of it trivial. He prepared digests of the school laws, gave directions and made suggestions to teachers and to committees, made many speeches in all parts of the State, and published many articles in the papers. He was forced, moreover, to meet many attacks on himself and on the system as a whole from its enemies, open and concealed. It was said that he wasted his time or used it for his private interests, while he complained that the newspapers failed to devote a proper attention to educational affairs, since few were apparently interested, and that there were none to stir up a community on education against the coming of the superintendent, while there were plenty to arouse enthusiasm when a politician was to speak. But in the midst of criticism and abuse Dr. Wiley steadily refused to follow the policy which would keep his own name most prominently before the pub lic. He chose rather to do the humbler work, which was no less necessary, but which brought him little personal credit. He was willing to work for the future. His first official duty was to prepare a new digest of the State laws relating to the schools then in force. These laws went no further back than the act of 1844-45. To the collection of acts was added a statement of the forms in which the principal of the literary fund was invested (see p. 1431); specimens of the forms to be used by the county chairmen in their reports to the State superintendent, and by the school committees to the county chairmen, regulations, a circular to the chairmen, and an address by the general superintendent "to the officers of the common schools and to the friends of education in North Carolina," were included in his first official publication. In the spring of 1853 Dr. Wiley began the active prosecution of his duties. He made a tour in his buggy from the middle part of the State to Currituck CourtHouse, in the extreme east, and delivered addresses, according to previous arrangements, at each county seat. In the summer and fall he traveled in the same way to Murphey, in Cherokee County, in the extreme southwest. It is evident that trips of this kind would require a large amount of time, but they were made dur |