Guilford Battleground Company

Judge David Schenck's Vision

David Schenck

T
he creation of the battlefield park was largely due to the vision, the energy and the devotion of David Schenck, left (1835-1902). A lawyer by profession and a Superior Court Judge, Schenck moved with his family to Greensboro from Lincoln County in the early 1880s to accept the position of General Counselor for the Richmond and Danville Rail Road Company.

S
chenck would often drive his horse and buggy to the battlefield to study the land over which the armies of Greene and Cornwallis clashed on March 15, 1781.

O
n one of these visits in October 1886 Schenck recorded in his diary that he had decided to purchase the site of the battle to "...to redeem the battlefield from oblivion." His irresistible urge to carry out his plan spurred him to immediate action and before the end of the day he had bargained to purchase thirty acres of land.

S
chenck succeeded in imparting some of his enthusiasm for the preservation of the battlefield to a group of his closest friends, and they determined to place the bold enterprise on a firm basis. This group incorporated under the name of Guilford Battle Ground Company and petitioned the North Carolina State Legislature for a charter.



Guilford Battleground Company, P.O. Box 39508, Greensboro, North Carolina 27438, 336-545-5313
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