Samuel Mitchell Brinson served on the ECTTS board of trustees from 1916 until 1918. A local leader in the educational revolution led by Gov. Charles B. Aycock (1859-1912), Brinson devoted much of his professional life to the growth of schools in eastern North Carolina, serving as county superintendent of public instruction in Craven County from 1902 until 1918. As with Aycock and other Democratic leaders of his day, Brinson’s work for educational progress remained within the limits of Jim Crow racial segregation. His later turn toward management of a public-private railway line and his election to the U.S. House of Representatives resulted in his brief tenure on the ECTTS board.
A native of New Bern, Brinson’s father, William George Brinson (1840-1886), had served as a sergeant in the Confederate army, Company K, North Carolina Regiment, during the Civil War. Brinson received his early education at the New Bern Academy, a private school, before studying at Wake Forest College (then located north of Raleigh). After graduating in 1891 and teaching at the New Bern Academy for a year, Brinson studied law at the University of North Carolina and earned his law license in 1896.
Brinson returned to New Bern to practice law but soon agreed to lead Craven County’s public schools as superintendent for public instruction, a post he held for nearly twenty years. During his tenure, he oversaw a “revolution” in the number of county schools with more than one teacher grow from three to sixteen. School facilities in the county were modernized and “modern school wagons” provided for “the convenience of the students.”
Later exponents of Aycock’s policies, including Gov. W. W. Kitchen (1866-1924), admired Brinson’s work in Craven County and his promise as a Democratic candidate for high office. In 1918, Brinson served as president of the Atlantic & North Carolina Railroad Company, an enterprise owned mostly by the state. The same year, Brinson ran for and was elected to the U. S. Congress, representing North Carolina’s Third District. However, during his reelection campaign in 1920, Brinson’s health began to decline, leading eventually to his passing in 1922.
Sources
- “Brinson, Samuel Mitchell, 1870-1922.” Biography of the United States Congress. https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/B000840
- “Brinson’s Death Brings Sorrow.” News and Observer. April 14, 1922. Pp. 1, 2.
- Britton, Edward E. “Members of House Honor Memory of S. M. Brinson.” News and Observer. February 12, 1923. P. 1.
- Carraway, Gertrude S. “Brinson, Samuel Mitchell.” NCPedia. From the Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, 6 volumes, edited by William S. Powell. University of North Carolina Press. https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/brinson-samuel-mitchell
- “Congressman Brinson Dies In North Carolina.” Washington Post. April 14, 1922. P. 3.
- Memorial Addresses Delivered in the House of Representatives of the United States in Memory of Samuel M. Brinson, Late a Representative from North Carolina. Sixty-Seventh Congress. February 11, 1923. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1924. https://archive.org/stream/samuelmbrinsonme00wash#page/n5/mode/1up
- “New Bern People Mourn Death of Samuel Brinson: Congressman from Third District Greatly Loved and Admired.” News and Observer. April 14, 1922. Pp. 1, 2
- “Representative New Bernians: Samuel Mitchell Brinson – Education His Hobby.” Morning New Bernian. January 10, 1917. P. 4.
- “Two Governors Praise Brinson: Third District Nominee of Right Type.” Wilmington Morning Star. October 27, 1918. P. 9.
Related Materials
Image Source: Samuel M. Brinson, N.C. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2016822362/
Image Source: Samuel M. Brinson, N.C https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2016822361/
Citation Information
Author: John A. Tucker, PhD
Date of Publication: 09/22/2022