General Benjamin Smith

<p> This biography is about one of North Carolina's early governors an advocate for public education in the post-Colonial period. Benjamin Smith (1757-1826) came from a distinguished South Carolina family and acquired enormous wealth in the Cape Fear region as a member of the planter class. Like his elite white peers Smith was active in public life in county government and as a legislator in state politics. He promoted public schools the University of North Carolina domestic manufacturing banking penal reform and internal improvements. Earning the nickname General because of his militia activities he rose to governorship but ended up dying in poverty.</p>