to
relax; and in laughter and merry-making the hours would speed, till the
gradual paling of the stars and a flush in the east would warn the merry
dancers that "the night was far spent, and the day was at hand."

Such are the tales still told in our county of the olden days at
Elmwood--tales handed down from father to son, and preserved in the
memories of the old inhabitants of Pasquotank. And all such memories
should be preserved and recorded ere those who hold them dear have
passed away, and with them, the traditions that picture to a generation
all too heedless of the past, the life of these, our pioneer
forefathers.

From this old home more distinguished men have gone forth than probably
from any other home in North Carolina.

The Hon. J. Bryan Grimes in an address made before the State Historical
Society at Raleigh in 1909, gives a long list of eminent Carolinians who
have called Elmwood their home. Among them were Colonel Thomas Swann and
Colonel William Swann, both in colonial days Speakers of the Assembly;
three members of the family by the name of Samuel Swann, and John Swann,
members of Congress. Here lived Fred Blount, son of Colonel John Blount,
an intimate friend of Governor Tryon. William Shephard, a prominent
Federalist, for some years made Elmwood his home. The Rev. Solomon Pool,
President of the University of North Carolina, and his brother, John
Pool, United States Senator from North Carolina, both spent their
boyhood days in this ancient mansion. And, as Colonel Grimes' researches
into the history of this old home have made known, and as he relates in
his speech on "The Importance of Memorials," "At Elmwood lived, and with
it were identified, ten Speakers of the Assembly, five Congressmen, one
United States Senator, one President of the State University, and one
candidate for Governor."

One of the Samuel Swanns who resided at Elmwood was the brave young
surveyor, who, with his comrades, Irvine and Mayo, was the first to
plunge into the tangled depths of the Dismal Swamp, when the boundary
line between North Carolina and Virginia was established.

Before the War between the States had been declared, the old house was
burned to the ground; and since then the estate has been cut into
smaller farms, and the family burying-ground has been desecrated by
treasure-seekers, who in their mad greed for gold have not hesitated to
disturb the bones of the sacred dead.

Just when or how the old home was b