nvitation From the John Chavis Historical Society, Inc., 1325
Raleigh Road, P.O. Box 1737, Oxford, NC 27565, December 8, 2015.

Special Presentation on Tuesday, December 15, 2015 at 11:00 a.m. at
the Richard Thornton Library in Oxford NC.

Dear Friends of History,

The John Chavis Historical Society invites you to a presentation by
Professor Kathy Gore of the North Carolina State University School of
Forestry. The NCSU School of Forestry oversees the former Willie P.
Mangum Estate in Rougemont, North Carolina. It is now called Hill
Forest. U.S. Senator Willie P. Mangum was a member of the U.S. Senate
in the early 1860's , and he was a student of John Chavis in the
early Nineteenth Century. John Chavis (1763-1838) a free Black man
was one of the first teachers in North Carolina, operating a
classical school where he taught the sons and daughters of White
people as well as free Blacks before the Civil War. After careful and
thorough research, the John Chavis Historical Society (founded in
1986) discovered what we believe to be the final resting place of our
revered Rev. John Chavis in the "Old Cemetery" on the former Mangum
plantation. Along with the JCHS, the North Carolina State University
School of Forestry has endeavored to restore and preserve the
cemetery where John Chavis, the parents of Senator Mangum, and the
slaves of the Mangum plantation are buried. The students in Professor
Gore's Tourism class conducted research on Hill Forest and she will
be reporting their findings at the Richard Thornton Library in Oxford
at 210 Main Street on Tuesday, December 15, 2015 at 11:00 a.m.

The John Chavis Historical Society will be honored to have you attend
this presentation and hopes that you also will attend events that
have been scheduled for the Oxford, North Carolina's Bicentennial
Celebration in 2016. Please RSVP to the address above, my telephone
number (919) 693-9133 or email hdothow@embarqmail.com. Also visit the
John Chavis Historical Society's website http://www.jchsinc.org

Helen C. Othow
President of the John Chavis Historical Society.