During the early nineteenth century, residents of eastern North Carolina dreaded such ailments as “bilious fever,” typhoid fever, and especially malaria. According to his obituary in the Raleigh Register, Matthew Dickinson, the first headmaster of Franklin Academy in Louisburg, died in September 1809 of “a bilious fever which he had caught on a journey in the low country.” Wealthy planters and other residents of this region sought refuge from these diseases by spending summer months in the Piedmont or mountains of North Carolina. According to Guion Griffis Johnson’s Ante-Bellum North Carolina: A Social History (University of North Carolina Press, 1937), Warrenton, Shocco Springs, Hillsborough, Pittsboro, and Oxford were among the destinations.

Many residents of the state’s Coastal Plain purchased summer homes in Franklin and surrounding counties. An anonymous writer stated in 1810 that “Franklin is more valued for its pure air and good water than for the richness of its soil—this has induced Gentlemen from the lower parts of the State to purchase summer retreats and in some neighbourhoods considerably enhanced the value of Land....”

Property owners in Franklin County who wished to sell their land regularly placed ads in the Tarboro Free Press. On June 9, 1827, James Logan advertised his 251-acre plantation on the south side of the Tar River, near Louisburg, saying “It would be a desirable situation for a family from the lowlands, the neighborhood being remarkably healthy.” Joseph H. Bryan of Oxford in 1834 offered for sale the 1,200-acre plantation formerly owned by William Burlingham and located nine miles north of Louisburg on the stage road leading to Warrenton. Bryan felt that “Perhaps there is not a more beautiful summer residence in the State.” The executors of Sally Kilpatrick in 1843 advertised her 553-acre farm located between Louisburg and Franklin Depot (now Franklinton). “The location of this land is very healthy,” they claimed, “and it is supplied plentifully with excellent water. To those who are desirous of possessing a healthy summer residence, this place is highly recommended.”

Possibly the most notable summer home in Franklin County was Monreath, which still stands four miles north of Louisburg on the former stagecoach road leading to Warrenton. According to the National Register of Historic Places nomination written for the home, it contains woodwork suggesting that it was built beginning in the late eighteenth century. Joseph Blount Cheshire (1814-1899), rector of Calvary Episcopal Church in Tarboro, purchased the 160-acre farm from Daniel S. Hill on December 5, 1850, paying $600. His wife, the former Elizabeth Toole Parker, was a cousin of the wife of Joseph Blount Littlejohn, who owned the nearby Ingleside plantation. Cheshire viewed the property as a summer escape from the “bilious fever” then prevalent in Tarboro. The Cheshires usually made the several-day trip to Monreath in late June and stayed through September.

Their son, Joseph Blount Cheshire, Jr. (1850-1932), who later became bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina, wrote a memoir that includes his recollections of Monreath. He remembered attending the Louisburg Male Academy in the summer of 1864, where he received excellent instruction from the principal, Matthew S. Davis. Cheshire walked to and from school each day for the privilege of studying with Davis.

Perhaps sections of Franklin County could once again become a summer refuge for prosperous people who wish to make their escape--not from disease, but from encroaching development.

Published in The Franklin Times on May 30, 2018.

Maury York is director of Louisburg College’s Tar River Center for History and Culture.