Louisburg College’s decision to disinter one of its early professors – Michael Dickinson – from a rural, family graveyard, The Edwards Family Cemetery, despite the protestations of the Edwards family. The college plans on desecrating the very old family cemetery with a backhoe, without regard to who they might disturb, or what they might destroy, in the process.
In a letter sent to the college, and various surrounding media, Susan Wiens writes:
I have recently been informed about Louisburg College’s decision to disinter Matthew Dickinson from The Edwards Family Cemetery, a rural cemetery near Ingleside, North Carolina, that holds the remains of many of my ancestors. This cemetery is the final resting place of, among many others, my fourth great-grandfather Zedekiah Gideon Edwards. Zedekiah’s son Rial Edwards served in the 1st North Carolina Cavalry during the Civil War, a fact of which I am very proud. A picture of third great-grandpa Rial in his cavalry uniform, a copy of his military records, and The Edwards Family Cemetery are the only physical connections my family has left to this branch of our ancestors. The story my grandfather told us was that many of the family from North Carolina went west to California after the War because of the resulting devastation to the population and economy in the South. Connections with the family remaining in North Carolina slowly faded as the generations marched on. But I am very proud of my family from North Carolina. If I lived there, I would certainly help to maintain the family cemetery on a regular basis. As I live so far away, I previously rested easy with the belief that at least the cemetery would remain undisturbed as it has for hundreds of years. I plan on visiting it someday with my son.
Unfortunately, I have discovered that Louisburg College intends to disturb, and possibly irreparably damage, the cemetery in order to disinter Michael Dickinson, one of the founders of the college. And that this disinterment will not be handled delicately under the supervision of a heritage preservation organization or archaeologist but with a backhoe wielded by a cemetery relocation company. A backhoe! You have been made well aware of the Edwards Family’s opposition in this matter, and I also understand that you have not received permission from any of Mr. Dickinson’s relatives to move his body.
You stated in a recent email that Louisburg College feels it is justified in disturbing the cemetery because it has not been kept up. First off, the state of the cemetery should be the main reason that precludes anyone from going in there to dig up Mr. Dickinson. As most of the headstones are gone or overgrown with plants, they will have no idea who they are disturbing. Second, I’d like to ask you if you maintain the cemeteries where your ancestors rest? Of course you don’t. But does that mean you feel it would be okay for someone else to come and possibly dig them up with a backhoe?
I find it ironic that Louisburg College wants to disinter Michael Dickinson as part of its 225-year “celebration” of its history. I was curious as to what kind of institution would so callously disregard and possibly defile someone else’s history to celebrate their own. So I looked online for more information on Louisburg College and found that it boasts of its long history in North Carolina (just like the Edwards family does), as well as its relation by faith to the United Methodist Church (the Edwards were also devout Methodists). I would be interested to know how the United Methodist Church leaders, and its members, feel about desecrating graves.
I was also interested to know more about Matthew Dickinson. Mr. Dickinson must have had a long and illustrious relationship with Louisburg College to warrant the college frittering away what must surely be a large sum of money to disturb his grave and move him. While I did discover that Mr. Dickinson was a reputable and learned scholar and teacher that started at Louisburg College in 1804, I also discovered that he left the college by 1809 to pursue a career in law. Indeed, Charles H. Mebane, Superintendent of Public Instruction of North Carolina in December, 1900, alludes on page 434 of his Biennial Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of North Carolina for the Scholastic Years 1898-99 and 1899-1900 that Mr. Dickinson left Louisburg College because he felt that the students of North Carolina weren’t up to par with his level of teaching (“Evidently he found that the youth of the Tar River Valley did not hasten to the delights of the ‘higher branches of metaphysics and philosophy,’ nor to intellectual feasts in Hebrew and conic sections.”) Long and illustrious relationship indeed.
I intend to send a copy of this letter to numerous North Carolina news agencies and historical societies to let them know of the College’s high-handed disregard of the resting places of so many deceased souls. I will also be sending a copy of this letter to the Franklin County Manager and various members of the Franklin Board of County Commissioners to let them know that my disappointment extends to them as well for approving such an outrage.
Franklin County Commissioners Robert L. Swanson was the recipient of a plea from Edwards family descendant Stephen C. Ertman, one of 14 descendants of the family that object to the removal of the grave. The letter can be viewed here: Edwards_Letter_to_Commissioner_Swanson