Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Nathaniel Macon: An Address
Nathaniel Macon was born in Granville county, now Warren, December 17, 1757. His father was Gideon Macon, a native of Virginia, descended from the Hugue not Gideon Macon, who settled in that State some time prior to 1682. Martha, a daughter of this first Gideon, married Orlando Jones and was grandmother of Martha Custis, the wife of George Washington. His mother was Priscilla Jones, daughter of Edmund Jones, of Shocco, and Abigail (sugan) Jones, reputed the fiirst white wo man to cross Shocco creek into the up country. Nathaniel was one of the younger, possibly the young est, of eight children. His father died when he was about five years old. His mother subsequently married James Ransom and from that marriage sprung Gen. Robert Ransom and his distinguished brother Matt. W. Ransom. At an early age Nathaniel gave such promise of those strong moral and intellectual qualities which distinguished his mature years that, notwithstanding the moderate means of the family, it was determined to give him a collegiate education. The few classical schools then in the State were conducted chiefly by Presbyterian ministers who were educated at Princeton college - then as now an institution of very high rank. Through the influence of these teachers it contributed more than any similarinstitution to higher education in North Carolina. The fact that young Macon was sent to that college ln dicates the influence of some one of those teachers, most likely Rev. Henry Patillo, who taught in Orange and later in Granville, and was chairman of the Committeeof Safety of Bute county from its organization. His rep utation as a teacher was excellent and specimens of his handwriting, now in my possession, indicate that he was a man of culture. Ihave not been able to learn when Mr. Macon entered college, but it was probably about 1775. In 1776 when he was not yet eighteen years of age, his studies were interrupted for a short tour of military service on the Deleware, after which he returned to his classes. The gifted and patriotic Dr. Witherspoon was then President of Princeton and the value of his influence upon the life of the young man can not now be measured. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.