Skip to content
Orange County Public Library (opens the library’s website in a new tab)

Key local figure

David L. Swain

Former governor David Lowry Swain (1801–1868) moved to Chapel Hill in January 1836 as president of the University of North Carolina and served longer than any other president. He kept the university open through the Civil War, lost the office when the Reconstruction board accepted the faculty's resignations in 1868, and died that August after a buggy accident.

Source: NCpedia (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography): Swain, David Lowry

Also found in catalogs as David L (David Lowry) Swain.

1803–1868 · Dates from the Library of Congress · On the Friends’ Local Authors roster → · Library of Congress authority record ↗

20 works about David L. Swain are indexed here. 1 held at OCPL →

Search these works Research sources View indexed works ↓
David L. Swain
David L. Swain

Life and Orange County connections

Storylines this person is part of, in date order. Each has its own page.

StorylineThe Orange County Bible Society, 1822–18461822–1846 · 6 events · In 1828 the Orange County Bible Society resolved to supply every household in the county that had no Bible. Hillsborough people had formed the society on January 7, 1822 as an auxiliary of the American Bible Society. Early in 1828 a committee visited every Hillsborough family and found one household without a Bible, which it supplied within the hour; that summer the managers turned to the whole county and named Dennis Heartt agent to collect gifts. In October 1829 the society reported about a thousand families in the county without a Bible and resolved to supply them through paid agents. In September 1846 citizens organized a new county Bible society at Hillsborough under Giles Mebane. StorylineJoseph Caldwell’s last years and the choice of David L. Swain, 1833–18371833–1837 · 9 events · When illness forced President Joseph Caldwell to ask for help in December 1833, the trustees gave the senior professor, Elisha Mitchell, power to act in his place. Caldwell died on January 27, 1835, and a Hillsborough town meeting agreed to wear crape for thirty days. Mitchell was named president pro tem, and the trustees put off electing a president until December while raising the president's salary. That November Caldwell's body was taken up so that the artist Alfred S. Waugh could make a plaster cast of his face. In January 1836 former governor David L. Swain moved to Chapel Hill as president. A sandstone shaft the trustees raised to Caldwell in 1837 soon crumbled and never bore a name. StorylineEnlarging the antebellum campus, 1840–18611840–1861 · 21 events · In 1840 President David L. Swain began the stucco finish on the brick college buildings, and by August 1841, with the session crowded beyond its rooms, the university had contracted for two new dormitory buildings. Swain then brought in the architect Alexander Jackson Davis, who first came to Chapel Hill in 1844. Davis's three-story additions to Old East and Old West, on which the masonry subcontractor Dabney Cosby put enslaved workmen, among them Osborne and his brother Albert, were finished in 1848 with halls for the Dialectic and Philanthropic societies, furnished by the free Black cabinetmaker Thomas Day. Smith Hall followed, named in 1852, and New East and New West, begun in 1858, were ready on July 31, 1861. StorylineBenjamin Hedrick, the scientific school and his dismissal, 1851–18621851–1862 · 17 events · Benjamin S. Hedrick lost his University chair in 1856 for saying he would support Fremont. He took the chair of chemistry when the new School for the Application of Science to the Arts opened in January 1854. In August 1856 he told students at the polls he would support a Fremont ticket, and when the Raleigh Standard attacked him he replied that he opposed carrying slavery into the territories. The Standard called for his removal, students burned him in effigy and the faculty voted to disown his views. Swain argued that only the full board could remove a professor, but the trustees' executive committee dismissed Hedrick on October 18, and the full board confirmed it in January 1857. StorylineThe death of Elisha Mitchell and the University’s mourning, 1857–18581857–1858 · 9 events · Elisha Mitchell, for nearly forty years a professor at the University, fell to his death from a cliff on June 27, 1857 while crossing the Black Mountains alone, and the village and the University mourned him together. The townspeople met in the University Chapel, agreed to wear mourning for thirty days and walked in procession to give his family their resolutions; the students agreed to wear mourning too, and the village commissioners recorded the loss of a fellow commissioner. The trustees voted his widow the rest of his half-year salary and bought his books, apparatus and mineral cabinet. Two professors and his son took up his teaching, and in January 1858 the trustees elected W. J. Martin to his chair. StorylineThe end of the Civil War in Orange County, 1865April 1865 · 31 events · In April 1865 David L. Swain and William A. Graham pressed for peace from Hillsborough as Johnston's army fell back through the county. Wheeler's cavalry fought Union pursuers at New Hope Creek on April 14, Union troops occupied Chapel Hill on April 17 under orders to protect the university, and Sherman and Johnston met at the Bennitt farm on the Hillsborough road, then in Orange County, where Johnston surrendered on April 26.
Show all 7 storylines
StorylineBuilding Memorial Hall, 1883–18851883–1885 · 16 events · Memorial Hall began with a promise from Governor Thomas J. Jarvis at the June 1883 commencement, when Gerrard Hall overflowed, and with a planned monument to the late president David L. Swain. The board ordered a large hall instead of an obelisk, and the cornerstone was laid on September 25, 1883. Work stopped that winter because the architect, Samuel Sloan, had underestimated the cost; Kemp P. Battle and George T. Winston canvassed the state for memorial tablets, and work resumed in the spring. After Sloan died in 1884 his chief carpenter finished the hall, with Paul C. Cameron advancing funds without security. It was dedicated on June 3, 1885, with the state's bill for its prison brick still unpaid.

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 105 dated events in the chronology →

During their lifetime

  1. Presbyterians begin worshipping together in Chapel Hill A Presbyterian church at Chapel Hill appears in Orange Presbytery's 1827 report to the Synod, with twenty members and President Joseph Caldwell as stated supply; it met in homes and university buildings, with faculty as ministers. Its session was formed in 1845, when David L. Swain and Charles Phillips were elected elders, its first sanctuary on Franklin Street was dedicated September 23, 1849, and the congregation took the name University Presbyterian Church in the 1960s. People: David L. Swain, Charles Phillips, Joseph Caldwell Place: Chapel Hill · Also mentions: University Presbyterian Church, Franklin StreetSearch the index · University Presbyterian Church: Our History · Also: Cornelia Phillips Spencer, The Presbyterian Church in Chapel Hill
  2. The Institute of Education names Gaston to a committee to petition the legislature on popular education At its second meeting, held during the 1832 commencement, the North Carolina Institute of Education voted to memorialize the General Assembly on popular education and named William Gaston, Frederick Nash and David L. Swain to the committee. People: William Gaston, Frederick Nash, David L. Swain Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 346
  3. Internal improvement convention meets at Hillsborough and elects Thomas Ruffin president Delegates from Orange, Granville, Person, Caswell, Wake, Warren, Rowan, Guilford and Cumberland met at Hillsborough on September 9 to promote a railroad from the Roanoke into the western counties. They chose Judge Thomas Ruffin president over Governor David L. Swain by 26 votes to 16, named Walker Anderson and Sandy Harris secretaries, sat in the Presbyterian church, and adjourned on September 11. People: David L. Swain, Walker Anderson, James Webb, Thomas Ruffin Place: Presbyterian church, Hillsborough · Also named: Sandy HarrisSearch the index · The Harbinger (Chapel Hill), September 10, 1833, p. 3
  4. Students win the use of Steward's Hall for the commencement ball A committee chosen by a mass meeting of students, with Christopher C. Battle as its writer, petitioned the trustees on November 6, 1833 for a room in Steward's Hall for the commencement ball, and the trustees agreed. The ball managers then invited leading men of the state, among them Governor Swain. People: David L. Swain, John H. Watson Place: Steward's Hall · Also named: Christopher C. BattleSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 348
  5. Trustee committee advises against moving the university to Raleigh On James Iredell's motion, Governor Swain named fifteen trustees, none from Orange County, to consider moving the university to the capital. In December 1833 they reported removal inexpedient, and the question never came before the board again. People: David L. Swain Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: James IredellSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 352
  6. Thomas H. Taylor trades his Franklin Street house to the university Taylor exchanged Lot #17 and his house for university land in Tennessee and left Chapel Hill. The university gave the Tom Taylor house to its new president, David L. Swain, whose wife disliked the old Caldwell house. People: David L. Swain, Thomas H. Taylor Place: Tom Taylor house, Lot #17, East Franklin Street, Chapel Hill · Also named: Tom Taylor · Also mentions: Caldwell houseSearch the index · Bernard Lee Bryant Jr., Occupants and Structures of Franklin Street, Chapel Hill (1998; Chapel Hill Historical Society, 1999), scan p. 69
  7. Trustees create an executive committee to run the university At Duncan Cameron's instance the board placed management in a seven-member executive committee including the governor, with the powers of the land, appointments and building committees and the right to change studies and dismiss faculty. The first members were Cameron, George E. Badger, William McPheeters, Charles Manly, Frederick Nash, William A. Graham and Governor Swain. People: Duncan Cameron, David L. Swain, Frederick Nash, William A. Graham, George E. Badger, Charles Manly, William McPheeters Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 399
  8. Trustees sell off the university's Tennessee lands On resolutions drafted by Duncan Cameron, the executive committee sent Charles Manly to Tennessee to close out the lands with agent Samuel Dickens, and 42,345 acres plus the 20,000 Smith acres went to Orme and Gifford of Boston for $56,345.83. Manly's report of November 21, 1835 counted assets of $171,658, which he reckoned would carry the university's yearly costs with a surplus. People: Duncan Cameron, David L. Swain, Charles Manly Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Samuel DickensSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 400
  9. David L. Swain moves to Chapel Hill as university president Chosen to succeed the late Joseph Caldwell, former governor David L. Swain moved to Chapel Hill in January 1836 to become president and professor of national and constitutional law. He stayed at the university for the rest of his life, the longest term of any of its presidents. People: Joseph Caldwell Place: Chapel Hill, University of North CarolinaSearch the index · UNC Wilson Special Collections Library: David L. Swain Papers #706 (finding aid)
  10. President Swain reads Henry L. Pinckney's absent address to the university's literary societies Henry L. Pinckney of South Carolina, chosen by the Philanthropic Society to address the two literary societies on the day before commencement, was kept in Washington by the long session of Congress and sent his speech in manuscript. University president David L. Swain read it to the audience. People: David L. Swain Place: University, Chapel Hill · Also named: Henry L. Pinckney · Also mentions: Philanthropic SocietySearch the index · Columbian Repository (Chapel Hill), July 2, 1836, p. 3
  11. The university holds its first commencement under President Swain and graduates nineteen The 1836 commencement, the first under David L. Swain, followed three evenings of declamations by underclassmen. All nineteen seniors received the bachelor of arts; speakers included Henry K. Nash of Hillsborough in a debate on recognizing Texas and William W. Hooper of Chapel Hill. Governor Spaight, ex officio president of the trustees, did not attend. People: Henry Kollock Nash, David L. Swain Place: University, Chapel Hill · Also named: William W. HooperSearch the index · Columbian Repository (Chapel Hill), July 2, 1836, p. 3
  12. The university begins a course in national and constitutional law for seniors Beginning in 1837 the university offered seniors a course in national and constitutional law in the second session of their last year, taught by President David L. Swain, who kept teaching it after the law department opened in 1845. In 1841-42 Swain also met a small class of seniors reading Blackstone, Ruffin W. Tomlinson among them. People: David L. Swain Place: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · Also named: Ruffin W. TomlinsonSearch the index · Internet Archive: Fannie Memory Farmer, "Legal Education in North Carolina, 1820-1860", North Carolina Historical Review 28 (1951), p. 282
Show all 96 dated events
  1. Manuel Fetter is elected professor of ancient languages The trustees chose Manuel Fetter of New York to succeed William Hooper as professor of ancient languages. President Swain had first favored Henry Tutwiler of Alabama, but when Tutwiler withdrew he named Fetter over William E. Anderson of Hillsborough. People: Manuel Fetter, David L. Swain Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Henry Tutwiler, William E. Anderson, William HooperSearch the index · NCpedia: Fetter, Manuel (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography)
  2. Caldwell's abandoned observatory is burned The observatory, stripped of its instruments and judged not worth repairing, was set on fire, by a student according to tradition. President Swain reported it to the executive committee in December 1838 and asked whether to bring a criminal prosecution; the sound bricks went into a kitchen for Swain. People: David L. Swain Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 444
  3. Faculty keeps students out of the Log Cabin campaign During the 1840 presidential campaign the faculty asked the county candidates not to speak at Chapel Hill and forbade three students chosen to manage a Whig dinner in the village to serve. People: David L. Swain Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 564
  4. Fresh Treat riot and a textbook rebellion bring dismissals In the fall of 1840 a drinking feast paid for by new students turned into a riot in which tutors' windows were broken, faculty were stoned, classrooms were wrecked and professors' horses were ridden, and soon after all the blackboards were burned. Several students were dismissed, three more for defying James Phillips's rule against books in recitation, and the trustees approved a faculty resolution to prosecute serious outrages in the courts. People: James Phillips, David L. Swain, Elisha Mitchell Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 464
  5. Swain asks architect David Paton about coating the college buildings In 1840 President David L. Swain wrote to David Paton, the Scottish architect then finishing the State Capitol in Raleigh, about covering the brick college buildings with a tinted mix of cement, lime and water. The coating began the stucco finish the campus buildings wore for the rest of the century. People: David Paton Place: UNC campus · Also mentions: State CapitolSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 19
  6. Charles F. Deems joins the UNC faculty President David L. Swain brought Deems, a young Methodist preacher, onto the faculty in 1842 as adjunct professor of rhetoric and logic, to have a Methodist among the professors. He resigned in 1848 for Randolph-Macon College. People: Charles F. Deems, David L. Swain Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · NCpedia: Deems, Charles Force
  7. Graduates receive Bibles at commencement for the first time The 1842 commencement was the first at which each member of the graduating class was given a Bible bearing the president's autograph, a custom still kept in 1907. People: David L. Swain Place: Gerrard HallSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 475
  8. Trustees tell Swain to ask Robert Donaldson about plans for society halls and a landscape gardener In October 1843 the board directed President Swain to write to Robert Donaldson in New York about how best to get plans for new literary society halls and to find someone skilled in laying out the grounds, and at what price. People: Robert Donaldson Jr. Place: UNC campus · Also named: Robert DonaldsonSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 20
  9. Swain authorizes Donaldson to bring architect A. J. Davis to the university In a letter from Raleigh dated November 28, 1843, Swain told Donaldson he might invite Alexander Jackson Davis to Chapel Hill to make working drawings and specifications, with $100 for travel. The letter opened Davis's service as the university's architect and planner of its grounds. People: Alexander Jackson Davis, Robert Donaldson Jr. Place: UNC campus · Also named: Robert DonaldsonSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 21
  10. Swain reports the Chapel of the Cross walls up to a plan by Thomas U. Walter Writing to Charles Manly, university president David L. Swain noted that the Episcopalians had raised the brick walls of their church and that it was planned by Walter of Philadelphia. The nomination treats this letter as the main evidence that architect Thomas U. Walter designed the chapel, which had long been credited to Richard Upjohn. People: Charles Manly Place: Chapel of the Cross, East Franklin Street, Chapel Hill · Also named: Thomas U. WalterSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Chapel of the Cross, National Register nomination (OR0005), p. 6
  11. Dabney Cosby takes the masonry subcontract for the lengthening of Old East and Old West Chapel Hill contractors Isaac J. Collier and Kendall B. Waitt subcontracted the masonry of the university additions to Cosby, who put enslaved workmen including the brothers Osborne and Albert on the job. Cosby and the architect Alexander Jackson Davis quarrelled over the drawings, and president David L. Swain asked the Hillsborough builder John Berry to look at the brickwork, which Berry reported was defective. People: Dabney Cosby, John Berry, David L. Swain, Alexander Jackson Davis, Isaac J. Collier, Kendall B. Waitt Place: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · Also named: Albert, OsborneIn the index: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · North Carolina Architects and Builders, NC State University Libraries: Cosby, Dabney (1779-1862)
  12. David L. Swain organizes the Historical Society of the University of North Carolina In January 1844 President David L. Swain announced the Historical Society of the University of North Carolina, with himself as president and the whole faculty as its executive committee. It set out to copy colonial records in British repositories and to collect North Carolina books, newspapers and papers at the university. Place: Chapel Hill, University of North CarolinaIn the index: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill · NCpedia: Historical Societies
  13. Alexander Jackson Davis makes his first visit to the university Davis came to Chapel Hill in February 1844, and that year trustee John Motley Morehead met with him and Swain there about the design of a new hall, later Smith Hall. Davis stayed in touch with Swain and the trustees about campus work until the mid-1850s. People: Alexander Jackson Davis, David L. Swain, John Motley Morehead Place: UNC campus · Also mentions: Smith HallSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 22
  14. Charles Phillips returns to Chapel Hill as a tutor of mathematics Phillips accepted a call from President David L. Swain in July 1844 to return to the University of North Carolina as his father's assistant. He held the post of tutor of mathematics until 1853. People: Charles Phillips, David L. Swain, James Phillips Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · NCpedia: Phillips, Charles
  15. Samuel F. Phillips opens a law practice in Chapel Hill Phillips, who had grown up in Chapel Hill after his family moved there in 1826, studied law under President David L. Swain and in the new university law school, then began practising in Chapel Hill when he came of age in 1845. People: Samuel Field Phillips, David L. Swain Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · NCpedia: Phillips, Samuel Field
  16. Enslaved workers build and tend the Battle household in Chapel Hill Letters between Lucy and William H. Battle in March 1845 describe enslaved men at their Chapel Hill house: Ben planted shrubs and flowers, Harry worked on the outbuildings and was hired out, and Billy was also at work. The well-house, servants' houses, barn and bath house were built almost entirely by enslaved labor. People: William Horn Battle, David L. Swain Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Lucy Martin Plummer Battle, Ben, Billy, HarrySearch the index · UNC Libraries: Slaves of Faculty and Townspeople (Slavery and the Making of the University)
  17. The Historical Society of the University issues its first report The Historical Society of the University of North Carolina, organized by President David L. Swain in 1844, issued its First Report, dated June 4, 1845, with a catalogue of the manuscripts in its possession. Among its holdings was a large collection of John Steele papers lately given by Archibald Henderson Sr. of Salisbury. People: David L. Swain Place: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · Also named: Archibald Henderson Sr.Search the index · Internet Archive: North Carolina Historical Review 5 (1928), p. 416
  18. The University gives honorary doctorates of law to President Polk and Senator Mangum At the University's commencement the trustees conferred the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws on two alumni, President James K. Polk and Senator Willie P. Mangum. At the Alumni Association meeting the night before, Governor Swain spoke of the postponed reburial of President Caldwell and of Governor Thomas Burke's unmarked grave near Hillsborough. People: James K. Polk, Willie P. Mangum, David L. Swain Place: University of North Carolina, Chapel HillSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, June 19, 1845, p. 3
  19. David L. Swain and Charles Phillips transfer from New Hope to the Chapel Hill church University president David L. Swain, who first joined a church at New Hope, and Charles Phillips were released by letter to the Presbyterian church at Chapel Hill, according to the New Hope church's history. Lucy Phillips Russell, writing from the Chapel Hill church records in 1936, said the first Session record there, dated June 8, 1845, shows Swain and Phillips ordained as ruling elders of the Chapel Hill congregation, months before the date the New Hope history gives for their release. People: Charles Phillips Place: New HopeSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: D. I. Craig, Historical Sketch of New Hope Church in Orange County, N.C. (1891), p. 29 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, April 24, 1936, p. 3
  20. Dialectic and Philanthropic societies draw lots for the east and west buildings The trustees had the society presidents, William M. Howerton and Matt W. Ransom, cast lots before Governor Graham, President Swain and Charles Manly; the Philanthropic won the east side and the Dialectic the west, and South Building rooms facing north went to the Phis and those facing south to the Dis. The arrangement lasted until 1868. People: Matt W. Ransom, William A. Graham, David L. Swain, Charles Manly Place: Old East · Also named: William M. HowertonSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 513
  21. Albert joins his brother Osborne to plaster the halls at the university Cosby sent Albert from Smithfield in Virginia to Chapel Hill, where Osborne was already at work on the additions to Old East and Old West. Albert carried a letter to university president David L. Swain saying he came to help his brother plaster the halls and would judge the sand to be used together with Osborne. People: Albert, Dabney Cosby, David L. Swain Place: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · Also named: OsborneIn the index: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · UNC Libraries, Slavery and the Making of the University: Dabney Cosby to David L. Swain, 11 May 1846
  22. William Mercer Green pledges fifteen enslaved people and his Bolin Creek land for a loan To secure 2,500 dollars borrowed from John H. Bryan, with David L. Swain and Duncan Cameron as his sureties, William Mercer Green conveyed to William H. Battle in trust his land on Bolin Creek near Chapel Hill and fifteen enslaved people: Jenny, Nancy, Lucy, Frances, Ellen, Celia, Anne, Julia, Rachel, Margaret, Peter, Sam, Aaron, Cain and Robert. If the debt went unpaid, they were to be advertised in the Hillsborough Recorder and sold at Chapel Hill to the highest bidder. People: William Mercer Green, William Horn Battle, David L. Swain, Duncan Cameron Place: Bolin Creek, near Chapel Hill · Also named: John H. BryanOrange County Register of Deeds: Deed Book 32, p. 118 (deed image) · Also: Orange County Register of Deeds: sales of enslaved people, 1761-1867; Orange County Indexed: the record of Deed Book 32/118, with everyone named in it; Mark Chilton’s abstract of Deed Book 32/118, in Orange County Indexed’s historic deeds
  23. False alarm sets off a panic in the chapel at commencement During the 1846 commencement someone shouted that the gallery was falling, and the packed crowd rushed for the doors while some jumped from windows, until President Swain, Governor Graham and other trustees calmed it. No one was hurt, and more pillars were placed under the galleries before the next commencement. People: David L. Swain, William A. Graham Place: Gerrard HallSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 503
  24. Citizens organize a new Orange County Bible Society Citizens met in the Presbyterian session house in Hillsborough, adopted a constitution for a county Bible society and elected Giles Mebane president, David L. Swain and others vice presidents, Stephen Moore treasurer and the Rev. Dr. Alexander Wilson secretary. People: Frederick Nash, Giles Mebane, David L. Swain, Stephen Moore, Alexander Wilson, Andrew Mickle Place: Presbyterian session house, HillsboroughSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, September 24, 1846, p. 3
  25. Dabney Cosby builds the Presbyterian church on Franklin Street After the university work Cosby built a small Tuscan style church designed by Alexander Jackson Davis for the Chapel Hill Presbyterian congregation, whose members included university president David L. Swain. In March 1848 the congregation member Charles Phillips wrote to Davis that the mason could not match the lilac gray color specified for the outside. The building no longer stands. People: Dabney Cosby, David L. Swain, Charles Phillips, Alexander Jackson Davis Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · North Carolina Architects and Builders, NC State University Libraries: Cosby, Dabney (1779-1862)
  26. Trustees dispose of Steward's Hall In 1847 the wings of Steward's Hall, the old college dining hall, were given to President Swain to build a servants' house and the main building was sold. For some years before, it had been rented to keepers who boarded any students who chose to eat there. People: David L. Swain Place: Steward's HallSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 431
  27. The university buys the old Caldwell house as President Swain's residence William Hooper sold his stepfather's former house to the university, which renovated it heavily for President David L. Swain. Professor John Thomas Wheat moved into Swain's old quarters in the Tom Taylor house. Place: Caldwell house, Lot #19, East Franklin Street, Chapel Hill · Also named: William Hooper, Tom Taylor · Also mentions: Tom Taylor houseSearch the index · Bernard Lee Bryant Jr., Occupants and Structures of Franklin Street, Chapel Hill (1998; Chapel Hill Historical Society, 1999), scan p. 91
  28. Orange County railroad meeting backs a central route through Orange and Guilford A county meeting at the Hillsborough court house, chaired by Dr. Edmund Strudwick, adopted William A. Graham's resolutions that the central railroad should run through Orange and Guilford, pledged enough subscriptions to grade the road through the county, and named ten delegates to the Salisbury railroad convention in June. Graham and Giles Mebane spoke. People: William A. Graham, Edmund Strudwick, Giles Mebane, Dennis Heartt, David L. Swain, Cadwallader Jones, John Wall Norwood, John U. Kirkland, James Patterson Place: Court house, HillsboroughSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, March 21, 1849, p. 3
  29. A railroad meeting at Chapel Hill hears William A. Graham and President Swain College exercises closed at noon on July 26, 1849 for a public meeting in the village on the railroad the legislature had chartered at its last session, with two million dollars from the state if the people subscribed one million. Former governor William A. Graham urged the crowd to take up the work, and President Swain spoke briefly. Thomas M. Garrett complained that the audience had to stand. People: William A. Graham, David L. Swain Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Thomas Miles GarrettInternet Archive: Thomas Miles Garrett, Diary (1849), ed. John Bowen Hamilton, North Carolina Historical Review 38 (1961), p. 258
  30. North Carolina Railroad stock books open at Hillsborough The commissioners opened the North Carolina Railroad subscription books at the Hillsborough court house, where John M. Morehead, David L. Swain and William A. Graham addressed the people; the editor called the first day's subscriptions respectable, and the books stayed open thirty days. People: Cadwallader Jones, Edmund Strudwick, John Motley Morehead, David L. Swain, William A. Graham Place: Court house, Hillsborough · Also mentions: North Carolina RailroadSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, August 1, 1849, p. 3
  31. The Presbyterian church on Franklin Street is finished and dedicated Built with money and effort from James and Charles Phillips, Elisha Mitchell and President Swain, the small Presbyterian church on the old Grand Avenue ground was completed and formally dedicated. Lucy Phillips Russell, writing from the church records in 1936, said it was dedicated free of debt on Sunday, September 23, 1849, when Rev. John A. Gretter of Greensboro preached the dedicatory sermon. People: James Phillips, Charles Phillips, Elisha Mitchell, David L. Swain Place: Presbyterian Church, East Franklin Street, Chapel Hill · Also named: John A. GretterSearch the index · Bernard Lee Bryant Jr., Occupants and Structures of Franklin Street, Chapel Hill (1998; Chapel Hill Historical Society, 1999), scan p. 91 · Also: Chapel Hill Weekly, April 24, 1936, p. 3
  32. Trustees let student church members worship at their own churches Petitions from several denominations reached the board in December 1849 asking to ease compulsory Sunday worship in the college chapel. On January 4, 1850 the trustees voted down a broader plan and adopted Samuel F. Patterson's rule letting communicants attend the church of their choice while all others still attended chapel, a rule that stood about ten years. People: David L. Swain, William Mercer Green, Samuel Finley Patterson Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 519
  33. Benjamin S. Hedrick graduates from the university with first honors Hedrick, who had entered the sophomore class in 1848, graduated in 1851 at the head of his class and was strongest in mathematics. On President Swain's recommendation he was then given a clerkship in the Nautical Almanac office at Cambridge, Massachusetts. People: Benjamin Sherwood Hedrick, David L. Swain, William A. Graham Place: University of North Carolina, Chapel HillSearch the index · J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton, Benjamin Sherwood Hedrick (1910), scan p. 8
  34. Trustees set up a system of county escheators Rather than surrender the university's right to escheated property, the trustees made the treasurer principal escheator and had him appoint a lawyer in each county to find escheated land and unclaimed estates, paid ten percent of what they recovered. Treasurer Charles Manly's salary was raised to $1,000 for the added work. People: David L. Swain, Charles Manly Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 622
  35. English landscape designer Thomas Paxton lays out the Montrose grounds for Mrs. William A. Graham The terraced landscape at Montrose, running down to the Eno, was shaped by the English gardener Thomas Paxton under the direction of Susan Washington Graham. William A. Graham asked David L. Swain on November 4, 1852 to send the university's gardener, and Paxton worked at Montrose that winter at $1.60 a day; in March 1853 (or 1855) Mrs. Graham asked to keep him another week. People: David L. Swain, William A. Graham Place: Montrose, 320 St. Mary's Road, Hillsborough · Also named: Thomas Paxton, Susan Washington GrahamSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Hillsborough Historic District Additional Documentation, National Register (OR0077ad, 2014), 320 St. Mary's Road, Montrose · Also: Internet Archive: John V. Allcott
  36. A. J. Davis returns to Chapel Hill with designs for new and enlarged college buildings With the dormitories overflowing, Swain asked the faculty and trustees in 1855 for leave to build new residence halls, and the university turned again to Davis, who visited in the summer of 1856 and offered several designs. When the trustees acted in 1858 they hired William Percival instead. People: Alexander Jackson Davis, David L. Swain, William Percival Place: UNC campusSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 29
  37. Old belfry burns and the college bell is destroyed During a student game of throwing alcohol-soaked fireballs, the old belfry caught fire and burned and its bell was destroyed. The executive committee sent the facts to the Orange solicitor, but no bill went to the grand jury, and the two literary societies agreed to fine any member $25 for wanton damage to university property. People: David L. Swain Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 653
  38. Senior class invites Archbishop John Hughes to preach A majority of the seniors present voted to invite the Roman Catholic Archbishop John Hughes to preach the commencement sermon, and the invitation was sent before the faculty could object. President Swain told the class it was unwise, the executive committee backed him, and the archbishop declined. People: David L. Swain Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: John HughesSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 667
  39. Students burn Professor Hedrick in effigy on the campus On the Saturday night the Standard with Hedrick's letter reached Chapel Hill, students hung and burned him in effigy in the college grounds while the bell was tolled, and did it again on the Monday night. President Swain spoke to the whole student body on the Sunday morning, and talk of tarring and feathering him reached Raleigh. People: Benjamin Sherwood Hedrick, David L. Swain Place: University campus, Chapel HillSearch the index · J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton, Benjamin Sherwood Hedrick (1910), scan p. 21
  40. The faculty vote 12 to 1 to disown Hedrick's published views Called together by President Swain, the faculty resolved that Hedrick's letter broke the university's custom of keeping out of party politics and that no other member shared his opinions, while expressing personal regard for him. Instructor H. Herrisse cast the only vote against, saying no one suspected the faculty of Republicanism. People: Benjamin Sherwood Hedrick, David L. Swain, Elisha Mitchell, James Phillips, Charles Phillips, Fordyce M. Hubbard Place: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · Also named: H. HerrisseSearch the index · J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton, Benjamin Sherwood Hedrick (1910), scan p. 19
  41. President Swain argues that the trustees' executive committee has no power to dismiss a professor Writing to trustee secretary Charles Manly, Swain read the charter to mean that only the full board could remove a professor, and only for misbehavior, inability or neglect of duty. He urged the committee to wait for the annual meeting and to charge Hedrick, if at all, with breaking university usage rather than with his opinions. People: Charles Manly, Benjamin Sherwood Hedrick Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton, Benjamin Sherwood Hedrick (1910), scan p. 30
  42. The university dismisses Benjamin S. Hedrick over his Free Soil views In 1856 faculty member Benjamin S. Hedrick admitted and defended in the newspapers his preference for the Free Soil party. President David L. Swain disapproved of his speaking out, and on October 18, 1856 the trustees' executive committee, meeting in Raleigh, dismissed Hedrick and paid his salary to the end of the session; Swain objected only that the committee had taken authority belonging to the full board. People: Benjamin Sherwood Hedrick Place: Chapel Hill, University of North CarolinaSearch the index · NCpedia (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography): Swain, David Lowry · Also: J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton, Benjamin Sherwood Hedrick; Hillsborough Recorder, November 12, 1856, p. 2
  43. Trustees create a professorship of modern languages After a dispute between the French instructor Henri Harrisse and President Swain, the trustees created a professorship of modern languages and elected Hildreth H. Smith, president of Catawba College, to fill it. Smith held the chair until the university closed in 1868. People: David L. Swain Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Hildreth H. Smith, Henri HarrisseSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 659
  44. The university confers degrees on sixty-nine graduates After the annual report was read on commencement day, the university conferred degrees on sixty-nine members of the graduating class, the faculty giving each a bound Bible, and awarded master's degrees in course to about twenty earlier graduates. Governor Bragg and nine other trustees attended. People: Thomas Bragg, David L. Swain, William A. Graham, William Horn Battle, Charles Manly, Giles Mebane Place: Gerard Hall, University, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Gazette, June 6, 1857, p. 2
  45. The university's annual report counts 68 seniors, 93 juniors, 114 sophomores and 90 freshmen The annual report of the visiting committee and faculty, read on commencement day, gave the senior class as 68, the juniors as 93, the sophomores as 114 and the freshmen as 90, and recorded students who had missed no college duty all year. People: David L. Swain Place: University, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Gazette, June 6, 1857, p. 2
  46. Chapel Hill citizens hold a town meeting in the University Chapel to mourn Elisha Mitchell Once word came that Mitchell had died on Black Mountain, the townspeople met in the University Chapel, adopted resolutions on his forty years as a resident and agreed to wear mourning for thirty days. They then walked in procession to his house to give the resolutions to his family, and the town's stores closed for the meeting. People: Elisha Mitchell, Jones Watson, Francis L. Hawks, Samuel (Samuel Field) Phillips, David L. Swain Place: University Chapel, University of North Carolina, Chapel HillSearch the index · A Memoir of the Rev. Elisha Mitchell (1858), scan p. 34
  47. The faculty mourn Elisha Mitchell and ask for a funeral sermon and a eulogy At its first regular meeting after Elisha Mitchell's death the university faculty adopted resolutions on its oldest member and asked the Rev. James Phillips to preach a funeral discourse in the University Chapel the next Sunday and President Swain to deliver a eulogy before the university. People: James Phillips, David L. Swain Place: University, Chapel Hill · Also named: Elisha Mitchell · Also mentions: University ChapelSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Gazette, July 25, 1857, p. 2
  48. The trustees' executive committee votes Elisha Mitchell's widow his salary and divides his duties Meeting in Raleigh after news of Elisha Mitchell's death, the trustees' executive committee voted his widow the rest of his half-year salary and the use of their house to the end of the year, and authorized President Swain to share out Mitchell's teaching and his duties as bursar among the faculty, appointing tutors if needed, for the session. People: Thomas Bragg, David L. Swain, Charles Manly Place: Executive Office, Raleigh, for the University at Chapel Hill · Also named: Maria North Mitchell, Elisha MitchellSearch the index · The Chapel Hill Gazette, July 25, 1857, p. 2
  49. Students of a lawless club riot and are sued for damages A club of students sworn to back each other in breaking rules rang and stole the bell, stoned the faculty and piled the classroom benches and blackboards for a bonfire. The leaders were expelled and, sued in Orange Superior Court, made to repay the university about $200. People: David L. Swain Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 690
  50. University enrollment reaches its antebellum peak The university's catalogue for the 1858-59 session counted 456 students, its highest college enrollment before the Civil War. Counting eight independent law students, the 1857-58 total had been 461. People: David L. Swain Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Catalogue of the Trustees, Faculty, and Students of the University of North Carolina, 1858-'59, Summary, p. 25 · Also: Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952
  51. Trustees buy a second thousand shares of bank stock on credit When the old state bank's charter ran out, the trustees put the university's $100,000 into the new Bank of North Carolina and, by a bare majority, subscribed for another thousand shares on credit. Only $10,000 of that debt was ever paid, and after the war the university owed $90,000 on shares that were worthless. People: David L. Swain, Bartholomew F. Moore Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 706
  52. President James Buchanan attends commencement President Buchanan and Interior Secretary Jacob Thompson, an alumnus, came to the 1859 commencement as guests of President Swain, received callers under the Davie Poplar and saw Buchanan given an honorary doctor of laws. The Wilmington Light Infantry, the first military company to attend a commencement, camped on the campus for the occasion. People: David L. Swain, James Buchanan Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Jacob Thompson · Also mentions: Davie PoplarSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 698 · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, October 13, 1993, p. 1
  53. President Swain's circular tells parents half the states are represented at the university In a circular to patrons dated September 4, 1860, President David L. Swain reported students from about half the states, including men from some thirty other colleges between Vermont and Texas, and judged the faculty and the students' conduct and scholarship as good as at any earlier time. Place: University of North Carolina, Chapel HillSearch the index · Alfred M. Waddell, The Ante-Bellum University (1895), scan p. 16
  54. UNC remains open during the Civil War President David Lowry Swain kept the university in session as students left Chapel Hill at eight to ten a day to enlist in late April 1861. Enrollment fell to 91 by September 1861, Swain won a Confederate draft exemption for some students in 1863, and only four students graduated in 1865. People: David L. Swain Place: Chapel HillDocumenting the American South: Erika Lindemann, True and Candid Compositions, "Civil War"
  55. A Union meeting at the court house nominates Graham and John Berry for the convention Union men of all parties met in the court house at Hillsborough, nominated William A. Graham for the proposed state convention and, on the report of a committee of nineteen, added Capt. John Berry. Berry accepted after Col. Guthrie withdrew David L. Swain's name, and on February 22 Swain confirmed that he had left the race. People: John Berry, William A. Graham, A. C. Murdock, David L. Swain Place: Court house, HillsboroughSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, February 27, 1861, p. 3
  56. Students petition trustees to close the university for the war After Fort Sumter the juniors, sophomores and freshmen asked the trustees to suspend exercises until fall, since eight or ten students were leaving each day. The petition was refused, and President Swain issued a circular that the university would go on as before. People: David L. Swain, Willoughby F. Avery Place: Chapel HillDocumenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 719
  57. Thirty Chapel Hill families pool money to buy corn Amid wartime scarcity, thirty heads of families sent Andrew Mickle to buy corn in a better-supplied district; he brought back about 1,921 bushels by rail to Durham and wagon from there, at $6.75 a barrel delivered. The livery keeper John H. Watson took ninety barrels, President Swain 33 and Judge Battle 24. People: Charles Phillips, David L. Swain, Andrew Mickle, John H. Watson Place: Chapel HillDocumenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 725
  58. Walter Clark resigns his Confederate commission and graduates first in his class at the university When his regiment came back to North Carolina in February 1863, Walter Clark resigned his commission as a Confederate officer and went to the university, where he studied under David L. Swain and William H. Battle. He graduated first in his class in June 1864. People: Walter Clark, David L. Swain, William Horn Battle Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Walter McKenzie Clark, 1846-1924 (from the Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, by David Clark and Charles W. Eagles)
  59. Swain asks Jefferson Davis to exempt university students from the draft Acting on a trustee resolution of October 8, President David L. Swain wrote from Chapel Hill to Jefferson Davis asking that the remaining students be spared from conscription. He reported 63 students left of the 430 enrolled in 1860 and fifteen young men of the village already killed. The Conscript Office then told the district enrolling officer to grant the exemptions. People: David L. Swain, Peter Mallett Place: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · Also named: Jefferson DavisStephen B. Weeks, The University of North Carolina in the Civil War (1896), scan p. 35
  60. Wartime woodcutting strips the university forests To ease the faculty's hardship the trustees let professors, and the widow of tutor George B. Johnston, cut firewood from university land, extending the privilege in December 1864 with Bursar Fetter to mark trees. Neighbors cut freely as well, and many acres near the village were stripped of oaks and hickories. People: David L. Swain, William Horn Battle, Manuel Fetter Place: Chapel HillDocumenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 740
  61. Wilson Caldwell walks out with President Swain under a white flag to meet approaching Union troops When Union troops approached Chapel Hill in 1865, Wilson Caldwell walked out under a white flag with President David L. Swain, Judge W. H. Battle and others to meet the incoming cavalry and seek protection for the town and the university. People: Wilson Swain Caldwell, William Horn Battle, David L. Swain Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Carolina Story: Wilson Caldwell (1841-1898), Slavery and the University
  62. A Chapel Hill public meeting resolves to fight on after the peace talks fail Meeting on the evening of February 10 and again the next afternoon, Chapel Hill citizens under Jones Watson resolved that peace could not be had on acceptable terms and pledged their support to the army and to soldiers' families. Samuel F. Phillips tried to substitute a call for a state convention, saying slavery was no longer the real question, but the move lost 81 to 62 in a disputed count, and the resolutions passed with a preamble amended by David L. Swain. People: Jones Watson, Andrew Mickle, Samuel (Samuel Field) Phillips, David L. Swain Place: Chapel HillHillsborough Recorder, February 22, 1865, p. 2
  63. David L. Swain writes William A. Graham urging a move to end the war Before daylight at Chapel Hill, university president Swain wrote to Graham at Hillsborough proposing that the two of them meet Governor Vance in Raleigh and press for steps to spare the state, its capital and the university. Graham answered that evening that Southern independence was hopeless and asked Swain to stop at his house on the way. People: David L. Swain, William A. Graham Place: Chapel Hill and HillsboroughCornelia Phillips Spencer, The Last Ninety Days of the War in North-Carolina (1866), scan p. 143
  64. Swain and Graham agree on a peace plan at Graham's Hillsborough house Swain spent the day at Graham's house in Hillsborough, where Graham wrote out a four-point plan calling for the legislature to meet and seek peace talks with the United States, and for the governor to ask Sherman for a halt to fighting. Swain carried it to Raleigh by the morning train, and Vance agreed to try it if General Johnston consented. People: William A. Graham, David L. Swain, Zebulon B. Vance Place: Graham house, HillsboroughCornelia Phillips Spencer, The Last Ninety Days of the War in North-Carolina (1866), scan p. 149
  65. Graham and Swain bring Governor Vance word of Lee's surrender at Hillsborough Returning from Raleigh with Sherman's invitation and safe conduct for the governor, Graham and Swain reached Hillsborough on the evening of April 14 and found Vance waiting in Graham's parlor. Neither Vance nor General Hampton had yet heard that Lee had surrendered. Vance chose to answer a summons from Jefferson Davis and left for Greensboro the next morning instead of going back to Raleigh. People: Zebulon B. Vance, William A. Graham, David L. Swain Place: Graham house, Hillsborough · Also named: Jefferson DavisCornelia Phillips Spencer, The Last Ninety Days of the War in North-Carolina (1866), scan p. 172
  66. Wheeler's cavalry reaches Chapel Hill and posts a guard on the university Confederate cavalry under General Joseph Wheeler reached Chapel Hill, and at the request of alumnus James P. Coffin, Wheeler detailed Lieutenant McBurney Broyles and fifteen men to report to President Swain and protect the university's books and apparatus. Wheeler's headquarters were opposite the Episcopal church. People: David L. Swain, Charles Phillips Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Joseph Wheeler, James P. Coffin, McBurney BroylesDocumenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 741
  67. Swain returns to Chapel Hill with word of Lee's surrender Swain got back to Chapel Hill on the morning of Saturday, April 15, and found Wheeler's cavalry camped in the village. He brought the first sure news of Lee's surrender to the troopers there, some of them former students of the university. People: David L. Swain Place: Chapel HillCornelia Phillips Spencer, The Last Ninety Days of the War in North-Carolina (1866), scan p. 175
  68. Sherman's orders protect the university and village of Chapel Hill When a Federal officer rode into Chapel Hill at sunset on April 16, President Swain told him of General Sherman's promise to protect the university and village, and the officer said he had received the orders. When Smith D. Atkins's cavalry took the town the next morning, Sherman's orders were obeyed and dwellings and university property were guarded. People: William T. Sherman, David L. Swain, Smith D. Atkins Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 743
  69. Union troops occupy Chapel Hill Wheeler's Confederates left Chapel Hill at midday on Easter Sunday, April 16, and a small Federal party rode in at sunset, met President David Lowry Swain and returned to camp. Smith D. Atkins's cavalry took possession about 8 a.m. on Monday, April 17, posting guards from the Ninth Michigan at houses that asked for them and quartering officers and horses in the college buildings. Ordered to Greensboro, the brigade left on May 3, leaving a guard at the university that stayed in the college buildings for more than two months. People: David L. Swain, Smith D. Atkins Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Joseph WheelerDocumenting the American South: Cornelia Phillips Spencer, The Last Ninety Days of the War in North-Carolina (1866), pp. 166-179 · Also: Documenting the American South: True and Candid Compositions, Erika Lindemann
  70. Swain asks Sherman to stop the stripping of farms around Chapel Hill President Swain wrote General Sherman that Wheeler's men and then the Federals had stripped the country of forage and horses, leaving families such as the Rev. George W. Purefoy's fifty people with no food and no work animals. Sherman replied on April 22 that seizures would stop when the war ended. People: David L. Swain, William T. Sherman Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: George W. PurefoyDocumenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 743
  71. General Smith D. Atkins leads his troops out of Chapel Hill Atkins, whose Federal cavalry had held Chapel Hill since mid-April, left the village with his troops on May 3, 1865. Only after he had gone did Eleanor Swain, daughter of the university's president, tell her parents in a short note that she meant to marry him; the wedding took place on August 23. People: Smith D. Atkins, David L. Swain Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Eleanor SwainInternet Archive: North Carolina Historical Review 42 (1965), p. 205
  72. The 1865 commencement graduates one senior before a crowd of Federal soldiers Of fifteen seniors on the rolls on June 1, 1865, only William Curtis Prout was allowed to finish the course, though three others who took part in the commencement exercises at President Swain's invitation were also given degrees. No visitors came from a distance; the only outsiders were about thirty Federal soldiers posted to keep order. People: David L. Swain Place: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · Also named: William Curtis Prout, Edward G. ProutStephen B. Weeks, The University of North Carolina in the Civil War (1896), scan p. 40 · Also: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I
  73. General Smith D. Atkins married Eleanor Swain, daughter of the university president The courtship began during the occupation, when Atkins called on President David Lowry Swain, met his daughter Eleanor, had his regimental band serenade her and gave Swain two horses. Atkins was mustered out in June and the two married in Chapel Hill on August 23, 1865; many invited guests stayed away, students tolled the college bell for three hours and hanged Swain and Atkins in effigy. People: David L. Swain, Smith D. Atkins Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Eleanor Swain AtkinsDocumenting the American South: True and Candid Compositions, Erika Lindemann, "Civil War"
  74. The university opens its first postwar session with twenty-two students The university began its fall session with twenty-two students. The same day Swain told Spencer that the endowment was lost and the school had nothing but tuition to live on. People: David L. Swain Place: University of North Carolina, Chapel HillHope Summerell Chamberlain, Old Days in Chapel Hill (1926), scan p. 137
  75. Cornelia Phillips Spencer publishes The Last Ninety Days of the War in North-Carolina Encouraged by her friend, former governor David L. Swain, Spencer published her first book, an account of the war's last months in North Carolina that describes Wheeler's Confederate cavalry passing through Chapel Hill and the town's occupation by Union cavalry in April 1865. People: Cornelia Phillips Spencer, David L. Swain Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Cornelia Phillips Spencer, The Last Ninety Days of the War in North-Carolina
  76. Trustees mortgage all university property to settle its debts Facing $103,000 of debt against worthless bank stock and Confederate securities, the trustees compromised with the Bank of North Carolina and other creditors at a quarter of the debt in gold, pledging all the university's property at Chapel Hill and its Buncombe County lands. The General Assembly also voted $7,000 for one year to pay the officers. People: Thomas Bragg, David L. Swain, Charles Manly, Bartholomew F. Moore Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 755
  77. Trustees strike Confederate leaders from the commencement ball The student ball managers named Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, John C. Breckinridge, Zebulon Vance and other Confederate figures as honorary managers without asking them. Fearing hostile action by Congress, the trustees ruled the choice improper. People: Zebulon B. Vance, David L. Swain, Robert E. Lee Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Jefferson Davis, John C. BreckinridgeSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 755
  78. Legislature gives the university North Carolina's land-grant scrip At President Swain's urging, the General Assembly transferred to the university the state's scrip under the federal Morrill Act, on condition that it set up at least two professorships in agriculture and the mechanic arts. Each county court could send one needy student free of tuition, and students could enter those branches without the usual classical preparation. People: David L. Swain Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 756
  79. President Andrew Johnson attends commencement Andrew Johnson came to the 1867 commencement with Secretary of State William H. Seward, Postmaster General Alexander Randall and General Daniel E. Sickles, the military governor under the Reconstruction Acts, and recalled passing through Chapel Hill on foot in 1826. Johnson joined the Dialectic Society and Seward the Philanthropic, but a minority of Dialectics blocked Sickles. People: William H (William Henry) Seward, David L. Swain, Jonathan Worth Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Andrew Johnson, Alexander W. Randall, Daniel E. SicklesSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 759 · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, October 13, 1993, p. 1
  80. Swain and the faculty resign as trustees plan a new university At a meeting Governor Jonathan Worth called to face the university's collapse, Charles Phillips presented the resignations of President Swain, Professors Hubbard, Fetter and Smith, law professor William H. Battle and himself, and the trustees adopted Kemp P. Battle's resolution for a committee to plan an elective university system with higher standards. People: David L. Swain, Charles Phillips, Kemp Plummer Battle, Jonathan Worth Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: William H. BattleDocumenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 763
  81. Governor Holden appoints Wilson Caldwell a justice of the peace In 1868 Governor William W. Holden appointed Wilson Swain Caldwell a justice of the peace. Caldwell had been enslaved by university president David L. Swain and had worked at the university since boyhood; he taught school for a time before returning to the university in 1875. People: Wilson Swain Caldwell, William W. Holden, David L. Swain Place: Chapel HillDocumenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. 2, pp. 558-559
  82. Reconstruction Republicans reshape UNC governance The 1868 constitution gave the choice of university trustees to the state Board of Education, controlled by Governor William W. Holden. In July 1868 the new trustees removed President David L. Swain and his faculty, and a Republican faculty under Solomon Pool reopened classes in March 1869 amid strong partisan opposition. People: William W. Holden, Solomon Pool, David L. Swain Place: Chapel HillDocumenting the American South, The First Century of the First State University: Civil War and Reconstruction
  83. Swain protests his removal to Governor Holden Learning that the new Reconstruction trustees had declared his 1867 resignation final, David L. Swain wrote Governor William W. Holden, as chairman of the board, that no charge had been made against him and that a resignation accepted by a board that no longer existed could not be revived. He asked for reconsideration, but died later that month. People: David L. Swain, William W. Holden, Charles Manly Place: Chapel HillDocumenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 777
  84. David L. Swain dies after a buggy accident Weeks after the Reconstruction board of trustees accepted his resignation, David L. Swain was thrown on August 11, 1868, from a buggy pulled by the horse General Sherman had given him. He seemed to be recovering but died on August 27 and was buried on August 29 in the garden of his Chapel Hill home; Charles Phillips preached his funeral sermon. People: Charles Phillips Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, September 2, 1868, p. 2 (death notice) · Also: UNC Wilson Special Collections Library: David L. Swain Papers #706

After their death in 1868

Later events: estates and burials, and the buildings, honors and histories that remember them.

  1. The remains of David L. Swain and his daughter Annie are taken from Chapel Hill to Raleigh for reburial An undertaker, K. P. Waitt, carried the coffins of the former governor and university president and his daughter Annie from their graves in Chapel Hill to Raleigh, where they were buried side by side in the old city cemetery with only family and a few friends present. People: David L. Swain Place: Swain family graves, Chapel Hill; reburied in the old city cemetery, Raleigh · Also named: Annie Swain, K. P. WaittDigitalNC: The Daily Journal (Wilmington), December 18, 1869, p. 3 · Also: DigitalNC newspaper, December 20, 1869, p. 3; DigitalNC newspaper, August 20, 1874, p. 2
  2. Zebulon Vance delivers a memorial eulogy of David L. Swain at commencement Governor Vance, in office a second time, gave the memorial address on the late president David L. Swain at the 1877 commencement, a year after he had given up the same assignment in anger. Spencer, unable to hear, had read his manuscript and watched Swain's old neighbors in tears. People: Zebulon B. Vance, David L. Swain Place: University of North Carolina, Chapel HillSearch the index · Hope Summerell Chamberlain, Old Days in Chapel Hill (1926), scan p. 264 · Also: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. II; Hillsborough Recorder, June 13, 1877, p. 3
  3. Mrs. Swain gives her husband's papers to the Historical Society at the university The widow of former university president David L. Swain turned over the documents in her husband's charge to the State Historical Society, and President Kemp Battle gave the collection a room at the university. People: Kemp Plummer Battle, David L. Swain Place: University of North Carolina, Chapel HillSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, September 11, 1878, p. 3
  4. Trustees vote to raise a monument to David L. Swain beside Caldwell's At the June 1883 commencement a well-attended board of trustees adopted a resolution asking for an alumni committee to collect money for a monument to the late president David L. Swain, to stand near the Caldwell monument on the campus. Governor Thomas J. Jarvis, then board president, named the committee, and within weeks the plan turned into Memorial Hall. People: Thomas Jordan Jarvis Place: UNC campus, Chapel Hill · Also mentions: Memorial HallSearch the index · University of North Carolina, Memorial Hall Inaugural Proceedings, Wednesday, June 3, 1885 (1885), scan p. 8
  5. Governor Jarvis has the trustees build a hall in place of a Swain obelisk At a trustees' meeting in Raleigh in July 1883, Governor Thomas J. Jarvis proposed that the board and the alumni pool their efforts on a large hall at Chapel Hill instead of an obelisk to Swain. The board agreed, on condition that the alumni not be bound to any fixed sum, and Jarvis wrote the ordinance ordering what was first called Swain Memorial Hall. People: Thomas Jordan Jarvis, David L. Swain Place: Memorial Hall, UNC, Chapel HillSearch the index · University of North Carolina, Memorial Hall Inaugural Proceedings, Wednesday, June 3, 1885 (1885), scan p. 9
  6. Memorial Hall rises at UNC under Paul C. Cameron's building committee The cornerstone of Swain Memorial Hall was laid on September 25, 1883, and the hall was dedicated on June 3, 1885, honoring President David L. Swain, faculty and the university's Confederate dead. Paul C. Cameron, president of the Alumni Association and chairman of the building committee, raised money for it and gave money himself. People: Paul C. Cameron, Kemp Plummer Battle, David L. Swain, Thomas Jordan Jarvis Place: Memorial Hall, UNC, Chapel HillSearch the index · UNC Libraries: Names in Brick and Stone, Memorial Hall
  7. Trustees pay for Memorial Hall tablets to Caldwell, Swain, Mitchell and Phillips Besides the subscribed tablets, the trustees put up tablets at their own cost to presidents Joseph Caldwell and David L. Swain and professors Elisha Mitchell and James Phillips, in tribute to the long-serving officers. Governor Scales told the dedication crowd that the hall, first meant as Swain's memorial alone, had been redesigned so these names stood beside his. People: Joseph Caldwell, David L. Swain, Elisha Mitchell, James Phillips Place: Memorial Hall, UNC, Chapel HillSearch the index · University of North Carolina, Memorial Hall Inaugural Proceedings, Wednesday, June 3, 1885 (1885), scan p. 10
  8. Fire destroys the old president's house on Christmas morning The house Helen Hooper built, later home to Presidents Caldwell and Swain, burned the day after Professor Thomas Hume's family moved in. Fire spread from boxes and straw in an outbuilding, and Chapel Hill had no fire engine or ladder company to stop it. People: Joseph Caldwell, David L. Swain, Thomas Hume Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), January 8, 1887, p. 3 · Also: Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. II
  9. Swain Hall is built as the university dining hall The university built Swain Hall in 1913 and 1914 as a dining hall on the site of the first president's house and named it for David L. Swain. It served as the dining hall until 1940 and later became the first home of the communications department. Place: Chapel Hill, Swain HallSearch the index · Names in Brick and Stone (UNC): Swain Hall building narrative

People named in the same events

People named in the same dated entries as David L. Swain, those sharing the most entries first. Each line links one of the shared entries in the chronology, where its source is cited. A shared entry shows these people in the same event, not how well they knew each other.

Show 50 more

Indexed works

Works about or by David L. Swain. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it. Background reading appears below.

A Consequential Life: David Lowry Swain, Nineteenth-Century North Carolina, and Their University

Whichard, Willis P. · 2022

Willis P. Whichard's biography of David Lowry Swain, governor of North Carolina from 1832 to 1835 and president of the University of North Carolina from 1835 until his death in 1868. The subtitle ties Swain, nineteenth-century North Carolina and the university together, and the book belongs with the lives of college presidents and governors. Published in 2022.

Included because: Catalog heading in the OCPL record: Swain, David L. 1801-1868.

✓ Held at OCPL · NC BIO SWAIN WHI NC Cardinal

The life and character of Hon. David L. Swain

Vance, Zebulon Baird, 1830-1894 · 1878 · Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies of the University of North Carolina

Zebulon Baird Vance on the life and character of David L. Swain, the North Carolina governor who died in 1868. The address appeared in the University Magazine at Chapel Hill for May 1878 and was issued separately by the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies of the University of North Carolina.

Included because: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Swain, David L. (David Lowry), 1801-1868.

UNC

Willie Person Mangum papers,

Mangum, Willie Person,; Mangum, Arthur,; Mangum, Charity Alston Cain

Personal and political papers of Willie Person Mangum, the Whig senator from Orange County, together with papers of Arthur Mangum and Charity Alston Cain Mangum. Correspondents include Daniel Webster, William A. Graham, David L. Swain, John Chavis and Abraham Lincoln, and other topics include plantations at Hillsborough, the estate called Walnut Hill, state politics, agriculture and education.

Included because: Catalog heading in the Library of Congress record: Swain, David L (David Lowry), 1801-1868 -- Correspondence.

Library of Congress

Letter: David Lowery Swain to Governor Charles Manly, August 15, 1862

Swain, David L. (David Lowry), 1801-1868 · 1862

Letter of 15 August 1862 from David L. Swain at Chapel Hill to Charles Manly about plans for the inauguration of the newly elected governor, Zebulon Vance. Two images. Swain, president of the university, had been governor himself, as had Manly, who served from 1849 to 1851.

Included because: Its title names this person.

NC Digital Collections DPLA

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Letter: David Lowery Swain to Zebulon B. Vance, August 15, 1862

Swain, David L. (David Lowry), 1801-1868 · 1862

David L. Swain wrote Zebulon B. Vance on 15 August 1862 as Vance prepared for his inauguration, offering advice on the governor's office. Swain, himself a former governor, was then president of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Vance had commanded the 26th North Carolina Infantry.

Included because: Its title names this person.

NC Digital Collections DPLA

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Cornelia Phillips Spencer (1825-1908) Papers

Spencer, Cornelia Phillips, 1825-1908 · 1857

Letters and papers of Cornelia Phillips Spencer, the Chapel Hill writer and historian and daughter of professor James Phillips, 1857 to 1905. Most of the correspondence, from 1859 to 1895, concerns the university and life in the village, with letters exchanged with Swain, Kemp P. Battle and George T. Winston, successive heads of the university, and with Mrs. Swain and W. C. Kerr. State Archives of North Carolina, PC.7.

Included because: Their name appears in the record.

State Archives of NC
Show 6 more

John H. Wheeler (1806-1882) Diaries and Papers

Wheeler, John H. · 1854

Diaries and papers of John Hill Wheeler of Hertford County, historian, legislator, state treasurer from 1843 to 1845 and minister to Nicaragua from 1854 to 1857. The diaries, a broken run from 1854 to 1882, follow his social and political life in Washington, D.C. University commencements at Chapel Hill and his work on North Carolina history also come up. State Archives of North Carolina, MfP.51.

Included because: Their name appears in the record.

State Archives of NC

Benjamin Sherwood Hedrick papers,

Hedrick, Benjamin Sherwood · 1848

Papers of Benjamin Sherwood Hedrick, the UNC chemistry professor dismissed in 1856 for opposing slavery and backing the Republican candidate John C. Fremont. Most of the 6,037 items, from 1848, are letters to Hedrick: early ones exchanged with Mary Ellen Thompson before their marriage, then others on university life at Chapel Hill, his dismissal, and his later career in Washington with the Patent Office. Correspondents include David L. Swain and Kemp P. Battle.

Included because: Catalog heading in the Duke record: Swain, David L. -- 1801-1868.

Duke

Papers,

Scott, William Lafayette · 1847

Papers of William Lafayette Scott, Greensboro lawyer, teacher, Confederate officer and politician, 1,017 items mostly from 1854 to 1871. They follow him from his student years at the University of North Carolina through law and teaching, a legislative term in the 1850s, a troubled Confederate service that ended in resignation, and Reconstruction politics. Kemp P. Battle, David L. Swain, Albion W. Tourgée and Jonathan Worth are among the names in the papers.

Included because: Catalog heading in the Duke record: Swain, David L. -- 1801-1868.

Duke

George Bancroft letters

Bancroft, George · 1845

Letters of the historian George Bancroft, 1845 to 1885, 22 items. Fifteen are transcripts of letters addressed to UNC president David L. Swain about the state's history: the Regulators, the Loyalists, the Mecklenburg Declaration, Tryon and Martin as governors, and Edmund Fanning and Hermon Husbands, both central to the Regulator troubles in Hillsborough.

Included because: Catalog heading in the Duke record: Swain, David L. -- 1801-1868.

Duke DPLA

Documents printed by order of the General Assembly of North Carolina at its session of ...[1831-1835

North Carolina · 1831

Legislative documents the North Carolina General Assembly ordered printed for its sessions of 1831 to 1835, with reports on canals, roads, railroads, banks, the militia, schools and the university, the Cherokee and slavery, among other business. Governors Montfort Stokes and David L. Swain figure in them; Swain later became president of the University of North Carolina. 602 images.

Included because: Catalog heading in the NC Digital Collections record: Swain, David L. (David Lowry), 1801-1868.

NC Digital Collections

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Ruffin S. Tucker papers, 1811-1924 (bulk 1811-1858).

Tucker, Ruffin S., 1795-1851 · 1811

Papers of Ruffin S. Tucker, 1795 to 1851, dated 1811 to 1924 and heaviest between 1811 and 1858: fifty four items in the Southern Historical Collection at UNC, collection 4595. Topics include the real estate business in Raleigh, marriage settlements, bills of sale for enslaved people, and economic conditions in Franklin, Pitt and Washington counties. David L. Swain is among the other names.

Included because: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Swain, David L. (David Lowry), 1801-1868.

UNC

Search all 20 indexed works →

Start at OCPL

Books in OCPL’s Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection whose titles, catalog subjects, or descriptions match this person. The Friends’ recommended starting points are labelled.

  • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC BIO SWAIN WHI A Consequential Life: David Lowry Swain, Nineteenth-century North Carolina, and Their University Whichard, Willis P. · 2022

    Willis P. Whichard's biography of David Lowry Swain, governor of North Carolina from 1832 to 1835 and president of the University of North Carolina from 1835 until his death in 1868. The subtitle ties Swain, nineteenth-century North Carolina and the university together, and the book belongs with the lives of college presidents and governors. Published in 2022.

  • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 920 CON Ante-bellum Builders of North Carolina Connor, R. D. W. · 1971

    Four men who shaped North Carolina before the Civil War are the subjects of these lectures by R. D. W. Connor: Archibald Murphey and his plans for schools and internal improvements, David Swain and the constitutional reform of 1835, Calvin Wiley and the common schools, and John Morehead and the railroads. Delivered and published in 1914 at the State Normal and Industrial College; reprinted in 1971 from the 1930 edition, 123 pages.

Places in this person’s story

Buildings, schools, churches and other sites named in the dated events on this page, the most often named first. The map shows the 14 with a known location.

Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Site locations from the N.C. State Historic Preservation Office survey, Open Orange, Orange County GIS, OpenStreetMap and a few other published sources named on each site’s page; town and community pins show approximate locations.

Show 7 more

All places and the county map →

Records of enslaved people

One record of 1844 name David L. Swain as a party to the sale, gift, trust or other transfer of enslaved people. Each record lists the people named in it, with their ages and family ties.

Search all records of enslaved people in Orange County →

Deeds

4 deeds, 1842 to 1850, in the county’s deed books name David L. Swain as a party, from Mark Chilton’s published abstracts. Each links to the deed-book page at the Register of Deeds.

Search every historic deed →

Wills

One will or paper in the county’s will books names David L. Swain, from Ruth Herndon Shields’s abstracts. Each shows the role and the year.

Search the wills →

Research sources

Sources and research tools for this person. For ready-made searches of other catalogs, see Search further. Research guide: Trace a family through historical records.

Background

Records of the time

Collections and databases

  • NC LIVE: prepared search for David L. Swain Library card Search NC LIVE for this subject and Orange County. You can change the search terms. Sign in through your North Carolina library to access the materials.
  • Ancestry Library Edition In the libraryOrange County Public Library Census, birth, death and marriage records, and more, free on the public computers at OCPL libraries

Local help

Search further

Search other catalogs and collections for this name. Results may include other people with the same name and have not been reviewed by the Friends.

Books about David L. Swain

Books by David L. Swain

Find copies at other libraries

Photographs, papers, and newspapers

Historical records and collections

Catalog searches use the Library of Congress name heading: Swain, David L. (David Lowry), 1801-1868. Historical-record searches use the person’s name and may include namesakes. Links open in a new tab.

Found a book OCPL doesn’t own? You can often borrow it through interlibrary loan at OCPL.

Picture: David L. Swain. Public domain. via Wikimedia Commons

More to discover

Keep Reading Local

The Friends connect people with new library materials, local writers and publishers, and resources documenting Orange County.

Browse New Arrivals → Meet Local Authors → Explore Local Publishers →
Two mice reading back to back against a leaf, with the hand-lettered words Friends of the Orange County Public Library
Illustration by Caldecott Medalist Matthew Cordell, gifted to the Friends 2026