The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1915-01-19
LIFE FULL OF SERVICE
The Work Which He Has Done
For North Carolina Gives
Distinctive SuperIativeS in
Accomplishments To This
Man Whose Heart Beats in
Sympathy For All Humanity
rs. II. WinterS.)

Is. X. Winters.)
Chapel Hill, Jan. 1o.-FouLder OF
of the first summer normal school, in
America. original advocate in North
Carolina for establishment of expert
ment stations for fertilizer and soil
analysis. has written and published
sixty historical publications relative
to North Carolina, obtained the first
State appropriation for the University
OF North Carolina. Sixty-two grad
uating classes, numbering ISIS stu
dents, have received diplomas from
the University since his freshman
year.. four presidents Of the United
States lave visited the University
during his career, and he is the asst
survivor of Governor Jonathan
Worth's administration-these distinc-
tive ~superlatives are at once identi-
fed with the name of DR.. Kemp
Plummer Battle.
The distinction of probably being
the oldest ex-president of any South
ern niversity-particularly empha-
sized in the recent celebration Of his
S3rd birthday-did not effectively
serve as a h~ag-station to signal a re-
Taxation Of his energies after round.
ing out more thar a half a century
in the service of his State. His alert
mind-hale in body n possessed of
a hearty appetite-youthful enthusi-
asIn, and an optimism that cannot be
easily matched, all gave testimony in
support of his pronouncement, Il am
in perfect health; and feeling young"
Completing the ~stupendous task of
having written and published two
volumes embracing an exhaustive
history of the University Of
North Carolina which is likewise a
history of the State for the contem-
porary period. pres" Battle has be-
gun the collection of "reminiscences of
his life. The painstaking volume will
be incorporated into a book entitled
Autobiography of Kemp Plummer
Battle" His triumph and achieve
ments, reverses and trials, the stormy
activities of the dying days of Recon
struction, his vast fun of historical
material, n anecdotes picked by the
wayside--wili furnish a ~resourceful
background for an autobiography OF
the journey of a Franklin county far
mer boy to University president and
foremost citizen of the common.
wealth.
Doctor Battle is a striking example
of a man who is well-groomed into the
activities of his many-sided life n i:
happy in the performance of them
His unusual capacity for work is at
t~ributable to his even-tempered dis
position, magnanimity of spirit, con
trmed optimism, and his ability t.
administer true proportions of worl
and study with relaxation and diver
sion. At the age of eighty-three h,
observes a rigid eigh-hour working
day claw, and well-defined Off
hours distribute his study period b
several hours after the Supper-hour
An afternoon siesta, a tramp through
the forests, or feats in chopping fire
wood constitute his days program O
diversion. He retires regularly a
1880 o'clock.
pres" Battles Home-Sennac.
Pres" Battles home-seated fiv
hundred yards east Of the campus
fringes on the border of the forest
and its s~tateliness, hedged about by
grove of elms and oaks, is a fittin
place Of abode for North Carolina
Sennac-suggests a peculiar histor
cal flavor. The name has bee
transported from England; it was O
Sennac Hill that a decisive Englis
battle was fought and won-and a
erwar the town of Battle |as COZ
structed on this Hill. The battle
are descendants from this histor
village and hence the RESIDENT;
name, Sennac. In close proximity
his residence. the law office of Judl
Battle, Pres" Battles fathe
stands. Here, Doctor Battle with III
tagging zeal prosecutes his historic
Investigations, collects his vast fur
VI hAStVliSoh ViC IA Will uuc Ii
quency ~dispenses information to pc
pie in the State in quest of histol
about North Carolina, relative
family trees, and other data of Il
by-gone days.
In an atmosphere reflected by mu
ty law books and hist orical doc
ments with photographs Of membe
of the United States supreme COZ
bench, Thomas Ruffin and Geor
w. Mordecai hanging on the wa
walking canes stacked up in one CO
ner of h office, and q few simI
pieces of furniture--this is the e