666 Chronicles of the Cape Fear Rwer In 1911 the gift by Mr. Sam Bear of a beautiful brick school building afforded a valuable and much-needed addition to the equipment of the system. The schools have increased proportionately with the growth of the city, and the enrollment has reached the grand total of four thousand, nearly three thousand of whom are white children. The faculty in charge now numbers nearly one hundred per- sons. Fortunately, the management of the schools has been in the hands of capable and conservative business men, and to serve on the County Board of Education or on either one of the com- mittees of the different districts, has been deemed a great honor. So, to the integrity and high character of those who fill these offices of trust and responsibility, rendering free of cost valuable service to the community, is largely due whatever of success may have been achieved. LOYALTY OF THE CAPE FEAR PEOPLE TO THE STATE UNIVERSITY. It is fitting to mention the devotion of the people of the Lower Cape Fear to the venerable University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill which has been manifest in the records of several generations. Reference has been made in the Chronicles to the larger gifts of Governor Benjamin Smith, of, Orton, but the following list of donations from the Wilmington district as early as 1793-94, noted in Dr. Kemp P. Battle’s admirable His- tory of the University of North Carolina, will be read with interest by the descendants of the donors. Alfred Moore ; Joshua Potts Edward Jones Thomas Hill Griffith John McRee J. R. Gautier Peter Mallett James Moore, sr Nathaniel Hill Thomas Ashe Henry Toomer Alexius M. Forster John G. Wright Henry d’Herbe Robert Whitehurst Snead.... James Kenan William Wingate : Samuel Ashe (son of the gen- Samuel Houston eral) Thomas Brown Anthony Toomer Hugh Waddell John Brown Peace Restored John Cathorda Thomas Moore .... Michael Sampson William Hall (Sheriff of Bruns- James Read William Montfort Samuel Ashe, jr Nehemiah Harris Samuel Hall William Bingham Samuel R. Jocelyn Marshall Wilkings John Fergus William Davis Duncan Stewart John Allen John Burgwin John Blakeley William Green John Fulwood Thomas Wright John A. Campbell Frederick Jones John Lord Henry Urquhart Amariah Jocelyn William Cutlar. William E. Lord John James James Walker George Davis John London George McKenzie William H. Hill Spafford Drewry John McKenzie Daniel McNeil Christopher Dudley George Gibbs James Moore (Clerk) Hugh Campbell Richard Quince, sr J. Scott Cray i i j John Peter Martin James Flowers John Hall James Spiller John Campbell How well the genius of the University was described by Presi- dent Venable a few years ago: “A shining light in the dark- ness, clearly and patiently directing the course of those who would travel the pathway to knowledge and the higher life; a center of gracious and helpful influence streaming out into the whole land; a strong foundation unmoved by frenzied passion, by the shifting sands of political change, by the bigotry of igno- rance, or the selfish bias of wealth, a treasure which can not be bought or sold away from the people, by whom and for whom it was created; a loving mother of many noble sons, whom it is her pride to help and nourish and lead upwards to the lght.” And how well is his eloquent description of the true functions of the institution sustained by the succeeding administrations of that distinguished and devoted son of the Cape Fear, President Edward Kidder Graham, who writes thus in his annual report for the year 1914-15: “It is with a profound sense of happiness that I report the conviction, fortified in many substantial ways, that the alumni, the students, and the public at large are taking a more continuous and sympathetic interest in the serious work