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660 Chronicles of the Cape Fear River Peace Restored 661

whereby they received the benefit of all the funds appropriated,
which arrangement existed until July 1, 1863, a period of six

way, and for many years chairman of the Joint School Com-
mittee of the city of Wilmington.

years. The schoolhouse originally seated one hundred pupils.
In 1859 a room capable of holding forty scholars was added.”
The letter states further: “On account of the absence of Mr.
Martin from the State in 1862, Mr. B. G. Worth was appointed
his successor, and nobly sustained the school from his private

means in connection with the amount received from the common
school fund.

“The largest enrollment at one time was one hundred and
forty-five, and the smallest about one hundred, this being the
number for the summer months of June and July.”

DECADE 1870-1880—-THE WILMINGTON PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM.

In the case of every great enterprise or achievement, interest
in its first beginning increases with the passing of the years,
while personal knowledge and first-hand information concerning
the event diminishes proportionately with each generation. At

this present time, when the city’s rapid growth and increase in
population made the expansion and enlargement of her school
accommodations imperative, inquiry is frequently made con-
cerning the origin of this most important and vital enterprise.
So closely and intimately was the work of Miss Amy Morris
Bradley interwoven with our early publie school system, that
her labors should always receive the public recognition which
is justly due.

1. Her influence and suggestion are responsible for the name
which the Hemenway and Union Schools bear.

2. There was never any conflict between her private interest
and the community’s public interest.

3. The trained and skillful teachers whom she gathered
around her in turn trained others, who incorporated into the
public schools the best and most modern methods of instruction.

4. Her schools were recognized by the State, for in the year
1870 she received from the State fund $1,266.71.

5. The Union School house, in which was taught the Tileston
Normal School, composed from the Union Grammar School,
passed into the hands of the county in October, 1871, when the
new brick Tileston building was opened.

6. This building, in turn, by a deed of gift, became the prop-
erty of the city of Wilmington in 1901, through the mediation
of Mr. James H. Chadbourn, a personal friend of Mrs. Hemen-

A large bronze tablet at the entrance bears the following
inscription :

TILESTON MEMORIAL SCHOOL
Built by
MARY HEMENWAY, OF BOSTON,
Who established herein a school for the White People of this com-
munity in the year eighteen hundred and seventy-one and maintained
the same at her own cost for twenty years under the devoted adminis-
tration of
AMY MORRIS BRADLEY.
Given to
The City of Wilmington
In the Year Nineteen Hundred and One,
in the name of
MARY HEMENWAY.

Accordingly, on the 9th day of October, 1872, the old Union ,~
and Hemenway buildings were abandoned, turned over to the
Free School Committee, and the schools were combined “and
established under the name of the Tileston Normal School in
the new brick structure. The cornerstone had been laid with
considerable ceremony, November 31, 1871, and the building
was erected under the supervision of James Walker, builder, of
Wilmington, at a cost of $30,000.

The school continued in popular favor until the summer of
1886. During all this period $5,000 a year was donated by
Mrs. Hemenway for support and maintenance. This amount,
together with a small tuition fee, afforded ample funds to carry
on the work.

When the decade of 1870 to 1880 dawned upon the people of
North Carolina, interference on the part of the United States
Government with the affairs which rightfully belong to a State
had begun to disappear. There was deep gratification at the im-

proved condition of affairs, and the large gain made by friends
of the South in Congress was also a source of encouragement.
Energy and industry were fast removing the traces of war, and
individuals bravely struggled to restore their shattered for-
tunes. During this decade a change of sentiment began to be
felt in New Hanover County in regard to the attitude of the
people toward free public education. Previous to this time
“well-to-do people,” and those who are usually spoken of as
“socially prominent,” entirely ignored and disregarded the free