Page 14 - Robeson Living Fall 2020

one of the District Judges, goes through the comedy of justice.

“Make proclamation!” cries he, or his clerk to the Sheriff who
stands at an open window opposite the bench, and who roars
down in a stentorian way to the people assembled in the pub-
lic area: “Neil McNeil! Campbell McGregor! Mcleod Duncan!
come into court, as you are this day commanded, or your security
will be forfeited to the State!”

This kind of noise, with variations of “Oh, yes! Oh, yes!” goes on
pretty much all day, while witnesses, jurors and attached people
are being summoned.

The court room is very crude, large and bare, and the Judge
looks amazingly high up behind the long gallery where they ex-
pose him. The old Solomon Bennett home

He is a queer, affable old Judge, who has fought in the Mexican
war, in the Confederate army, and commanded one of Holden’s
regiments against the Ku Klux.

Down before the Court House, where the people of the county are
congregated, there is an old pole well in the public square, where
people fill their gourds at the dripping bucket.”

In the early years of the 1900s there was a need for a larger more
modern courthouse. The third courthouse was constructed in
1909 at a cost of $65,000. The building was enlarged over the
years but fell a victim to the wrecking ball in 1974 to make room
for the fourth courthouse. The new modern appearing building
was designed by Lumberton native Elizabeth Lee the second
female architect to graduate from NCSU. The county has done
extensive renovations on the outside of the building to make the Thompson Hospital later used as the Lumberton
façade somewhat resemble the third courthouse. Municipal building
ored patients. Dr. Thompson was killed in 1922 by an automobile
Thompson Hospitals while crossing a Fayetteville street. Two years later the hospital
The first mention a hospital in Lumberton is found in the Decem- was destroyed by fire. A new hospital was built on the northeast
ber 19, 1905 issue if The Robesonian “Drs. Richard Gregory Ro- corner of Cedar and Fifth streets and was later the Lumberton
zier, Dr. Neill Archie Thompson Sr. and Mr. R.C. Lawrence have Municipal building before being torn down to make room for the
obtained from the state a charter for the institution which is to be parking of the new city hall.
located in this city under the name of the Lumberton Sanatorium
(always called Thompson Hospital). Drs. Rozier and Thompson Presbyterian Junior College
will be the physicians in charge of the hospital, but any doctor in This college began as Carolina Methodist College for Women.
the county will have the right to bring his patient to the institution The cornerstone was laid in 1908 but construction was not fin-
and treat the patient himself.” ished until 1912. The college flourished until it was voted to close
the college in 1926 because one of the conditions of large legacy
The first hospital was located in old Solomon Bennett home on from Buck Duke to Duke University was that they accept female
the northwest corner of Pine and Fourth streets, Thompson lived students. In 1927 a presentation was made to the Fayetteville
downstairs and the hospital was upstairs. The hospital moved the Presbyterian asking to establish a junior college, it was decided to
next year to a building on the northwest corner of Walnut and acquire the former Carolina College property for $35,000, which
Fourth streets that was built for especially for them and included was the outstanding debt on the facility. The new college opened
a training school for nurses. for its first semester on September 11, 1929. In 1961 it merged
with Flora McDonald College to form St. Andrews Presbyterian
An advertisement for the hospital in 1910 special edition of the College and moved to Laurinburg. The old campus was used for
News and Observer stated that the hospital cared for all classes the next ten years by the Carolina Military Academy until the
of surgical, gynecological and non-contagious medical patients, main building burned in 1973.
they had superior operations rooms and two large wards or col-

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