By: Stephen C. Ertman, Spokesman for the Edwards & Dickinson Family Descendants
Here is some late-breaking news on the growing opposition to stop Louisburg College from disinterring their first precept, Matthew Dickinson, from the Edwards Family Cemetery located near Ingleside, NC. A Dickinson Family Descendant has recently come forward and sides with the Edwards Family Descendants in strongly opposing the disinterment of Matthew Dickinson. Matthew Dickinson did not marry, so he has no direct descendants. Diane Gravlee is his great-great-great grandniece and has been the family historian and genealogist for the Dickinson Family. She has just mailed certified letters to Mark LaBranche at Louisburg College and to two of the Franklin County Commissioners, Robert Swanson and Shane Mitchell. I’m certain that the letters have not even arrived yet, so you are getting an early scoop on this late-breaking news. Now we will see the true moral and ethical principles of the Louisburg College administration. Will they acquiesce to the desires of the Dickinson Family Descendants and leave Matthew Dickinson’s gravesite undisturbed, or will they continue to trample roughshod over the desires of both the Dickinson and the Edwards descendants.
According to North Carolina General Statutes, the authority to grant Louisburg College permission to disinter Matthew Dickinson lies with the Franklin County Board of Commissioners. A meeting to decide the issue has been scheduled for August 20, 2012 at 7 PM in the Franklin County Administration Building, 2nd floor, 113 Market Street, Louisburg, NC. A number of concerned Franklin County citizens — including a Louisburg College student and a local historian at the Richard H. Thornton Library — have also contacted the Edwards & Dickinson Family Descendants and plan to attend the County Board meeting to represent local opposition against Louisburg College’s proposal to disinter Matthew Dickinson and relocate his gravesite.
From HiH: You can find our previous article on this issue here: http://homeinhenderson.com/2012/07/09/susan-wiens-louisburg-college-to-disinter-founder-from-family-graveyard-despite-protests/