A retired history teacher has written a book about a Revolutionary War general whose name was given to the Greene County and county seat of Pitt County.
“How Greenville Got Its Name: The Life and Time of Nathanael Greene” is the latest book by Richard McLawhorn, who grew up on a farm outside of Ayden and now lives in Grifton with his wife, former state representative Marian McLawhorn.
“I became interested in Nathanael Greene when I taught North Carolina history to eighth-graders in Kinston many years ago,” McLawhorn said. He was surprised to learn the book was being published the same year Greenville is celebrating its 250th anniversary.
Greene is best known as the general who opposed British General Charles Cornwallis at the battle of Guilford Courthouse, the former name for Greensboro. While the British claimed victory, the Americans had dealt such a blow to the British that Cornwallis was forced to march his army to the coast in search of reinforcements.
It was at Yorktown, Va., where the British were forced to surrender when they were trapped by George Washington’s army and the French navy, McLawhorn said.
His book examines Greene’s early life as a member of a family of New England farmers, blacksmiths and merchants.
Although raised a Quaker, Greene joined George Washington in the fight for American independence.
McLawhorn said a collection of Greene’s papers at East Carolina University’s Joyner Library included letters to Washington, his wife and other family members.
“He told of his problems dealing with shortages of uniforms, boots, blankets and tents,” McLawhorn said. “His men would leave when their enlistments were up, and there were never enough horses.”
After the war, he wrote to his friends about his financial problems.
Greene also wrote about returning home to Rhode Island and the people he encountered.
He had breakfast in Kinston one morning with General William Caswell, son of North Carolina Gov. Richard Caswell. They spent three days near Grifton at Blount Hall with Colonel Jacob Blount.
They spent the next night with Colonel John Hardee in eastern Pitt County. The following morning the party crossed the Tar River at Martinborough, a village that would become Greenville in less than four years.
After the war, the states of South Carolina and Georgia each rewarded Greene with a rice plantation. He moved his family to the one outside Savannah. He died there less than a year later, at age 43, of heat stroke.
McLawhorn’s book also discusses that while Quakers opposed slavery, Greene purchased enslaved people to work on his plantation.
A few months after Greene’s death, a bill to change the name of the town of Martinborough was introduced to the North Carolina General Assembly. The bill passed, and Martinborough became Greenesville in January 1787. Later it would be shortened to Greenville.
“I discovered 26 other Greenvilles and one Greeneville in the United States. Most are tiny,” McLawhorn said. “Greenville, South Carolina, and Greenville, North Carolina, are the largest.”
Not all Greenvilles were named for Greene, McLawhorn said. For some, the origin of their name has been lost.
“My wife and I set out to visit all 28 Greenvilles, but the pandemic interrupted our travels,” McLawhorn said. “So far, we have visited nine, and we have been well received by the people we met in each. We hope to resume our travels soon.”
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