One of the earliest descriptions of Franklin County, written in 1810, provides valuable information about the geography, economy, and people of the area. In March of that year, Thomas Henderson and Dr. Calvin Jones, publishers of the Raleigh Star, printed a notice that solicited detailed descriptive essays about each county in North Carolina. They wished to publish these so that their readers would have an accurate picture of all sections of the state. Subsequent appeals later that year and in 1811 suggest that few such statements were forthcoming. Fortunately, an unknown writer from Franklin County penned one of twelve county descriptions, which were preserved in what is now known as the Thomas Henderson Letter Book, 1810-1811, at the State Archives of North Carolina. The essays were not published by the Star, but appeared in The North Carolina Historical Review in 1928 and 1929.

The description of Franklin County was dated June 23, 1810, about the time the third census was undertaken. The county’s population consisted of 4,655 whites, 5,330 slaves, and 171 free Blacks. The writer claimed that “there are few if any wealthy People in Franklin—The Inhabitants for the most part enjoy a competency—they dwell in comfortable houses, have snug plantations, make enough to support their families genteelly, & to educate their children.” It should be noted, however, that fifty-three persons owned more than 1,000 acres each, and members of the Jeffreys, Perry, and Williams families possessed from 3,000 to nearly 5,000 acres.

According to the writer, forests in Franklin County consisted chiefly of oak and hickory trees, mixed with pines. The soil was “thin and stoney,” except that near water courses. ‘Thin” land was worth between six and seven dollars an acre, but property adjoining the many highly prized creeks and streams fetched eight to ten dollars. This arable land, the essayist said, “is easily cultivated and is what is usually called a Kind free soil ….” The farmers and planters (“many are compelled to be both”) produced cotton, tobacco, wheat, cattle, and hogs and carried these products to markets in Petersburg or Richmond. Corn was produced primarily for domestic use, though “during the last scarce years [farmers] supplied Warren [County] with a considerable quantity...”

Many of the farmers likely used wagons to carry their crops to market on the main post road that ran from Petersburg, through Warrenton, to Louisburg. The essayist claimed that the road between Louisburg and Warrenton “exhibits as handsome situations, and pleasant seats, as any road of the same extent in the Southern States.” Three times a week, north- and south-bound stages met in Louisburg, a “flourishing” county seat of some twenty “neat” houses.

Noteworthy in Louisburg was the Franklin Academy, a private school for boys “situated on a beautiful eminence.” The writer praised the first headmaster, Matthew Dickinson, as a first-rate scholar who had opened the school in January 1805. A graduate of Yale College, Dickinson had attracted as many as ninety students a year, some of whom were from South Carolina and Virginia. He had relinquished his duties to study law and died in 1809 at the age of 29. The academy featured a small but well-selected library.

The writer devoted some attention to religion in the county. Although Charles Cupples had established an Anglican parish—St. Johns—in Bute County (from which Franklin and Warren were formed in 1779) before the American Revolution, Methodists and Baptists predominated in Franklin. There were six Methodist churches and four Baptist churches in 1810. A friend of Matthew Dickinson’s who visited Louisburg in 1808 recorded in his diary Dickinson’s assessment of the status of the county’s clergy: “All are Baptists and Methodists and very unlearned and in low estimation in Soc[iet]y although perhaps very good men. There are many professors of religion, though mostly in humble life. There are however some exceptions. Some rich and honorable Sincere Christians, down below Louisburg. A wide field is open for the production of good by enlightened clergymen.”

The writer closed the article with praise for Nathaniel Macon, of Warren County, who had represented Franklin County in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1791. Having served as Speaker of the House from 1801 until 1807, he was more prominent than any politician produced by Franklin County—before or since.

Published in The Franklin Times on August 3, 2017.

Maury York is director of the Tar River Center for History and Culture at Louisburg College. This piece is based on a series of three articles, “Twelve North Carolina Counties in 1810-1811,” edited by A. R. Newsome and published in The North Carolina Historical Review in 1928 and 1929.