"This institution has been in operation for twenty years, and has been eminently useful to the state. It has contributed, perhaps, more than any other cause, to diffuse a taste for reading among the people, and excite a spirit of liberal improvement; it has contributed to change our manners and elevate our character; it has given to society many useful members; not only in the liberal professions, but in the walks of private life . . .."

-- Archibald D. Murphey in his "Report on Education Submitted to the Legislature of North Carolina, 1817."

 

Source: Archibald D. Murphey, "Report on Education Submitted to the Legislature of North Carolina, 1817." In The Papers of Archibald D. Murphey, ed. William Henry Hoyt. Volume two. Raleigh: North Carolina Historical Commission, 1914, p. 73.

Image source: Archibald De Bow Murphey. Engraving by John Sartain. In Samuel Ashe, Biographical History of North Carolina. Greensboro: Charles L. Van Noppen, 1906. Vol. 14, following p. 340.