The coastland times with which is combined the pilot and herald of Belhaven and Swan Quarter. [volume] (Manteo, N.C.) 1959-1973, 1960-12-02
times all.

times all.
He carried his efforts for the
children in the schools to the point
where local officials could say he
put more money into the county
treasury one year than the people
of the county paid in taxes.
When North Carolina followed
this pioneering leadership in later
years in equalizing schooling OPP
portunities on a statewide scale, he
matched state funds to finance a
study of the schools of North Car
DINA against the background of the
schools of the nation to find out
what was needed to bring them to
the level of the best.
! A neighbor dropped in to see him
at his home on Mackey's Island
in the 1920's, and found him read
ing The Tragic Era by Claude
Bowers. He started pacing up and
down the living room with the book
open in his hand, saying: "Here is
the first book l ever read giving a
picture of what the Southern peo-
pie were up against after the Civil
War. 1t is contrary to everything
I was taught in Northern schools;
and yet the man who wrote it is a
reputable scholar and has docu-
mented every statement he has
made with facts of record. Recon
struction' was a cruel wrong to
the South that made bad matters
worse. I can't right this wrong
everywhere but l am going to do
all can to right it here in Curri-
tuck County," To the last jot and
title he did his best to keep that
pledge, even to the point Of build
ing a Confederate monument on
the Currituck County courthouse
square.
From People on the Ground
to Government on the Spot
The part of his story leading to
this building begins as he walked
into a meeting of the Currituck
County Board of Education in the
middle 1920's to find out what they
were doing with the money he had
given for the schools and if they
needed more. The Superintendent
could not tell him what was owed,
who it was owed to, or when it
came due; nor could local officials
And after a week of trying they
saw, they didn't know how they
stood and couldn't find out.
At this point, Mr.. Knapp turned
to Dudley Bagley of Moyock who
was present representing the local
bank which was County treasurer
and said: young man, can you tell
us how things stand ?" II can tell
you the exact condition of every
i County Fund on hand and of every
thing paid out" Bagley replied
"but the bank keeps records Of
disbursements and not of obliga'
tons as they are incurred by the
county authorities" Can you find
out how things stand" asked Mr..
Knapp. eyes SIR" said Bagley, "but
it may take little time"
He took the time, got the facts,
found the County had incurred out
standing obligations amounting to
SAT 900, which was more than twice
the Superintendent stimate, anC
that the County needed $4,000 al
once for bills already due. The
members of the Board were wor-
), ried, and worried even more when
;, they were told of their personal
responsibility under the law for ex-
ceeding the budget approved by the
| County Commissioners. One OF
them grew frantic when he found
he could not come out from under
by resigning on the spot. Mr.
Knapp said: "Don't do that. got
you all into this mess by giving
you more money than you know
how to handle. Now Pm going
to get you out of it. I'll put
in the mail tonight a check for
$4,000 needed to cover the bills
now due, and you can call on me
for the rest as you need it."
This might have been a stopping
point for many men. For Mr.
Knapp it was starting point. He
wanted to do something about it
Here were people he knew and
loved and trusted, with plenty Of
common sense and with honesty be
yond question. But he saw thai
common sense was not enough *
handle uncommon problems, ere