126 THE CAROLINA MOUNTAINS 
herited by his gifted son, David Lowrey Swain, one 
of the most honored names not only of the moun- 
tains but of the State of North Carolina. He was 
born in a log cabin at Beaver Dam, near Asheville, 
at the foot of Elk Mountain, in 1801, and was edu- 
cated at "Newton Academy," along with all the 
ambitious boys of that day, who came from far and 
near to profit by the instruction of the Rev. George 
Newton, who, as early as 1797, started a classical 
school at a place a mile south of Asheville. From the 
log school-house in the mountains David went to 
the University of North Carolina that had recently 
been established at Chapel Hill, near Raleigh, then 
to Raleigh, where at the age of twenty-two he was 
admitted to the bar. From that time all the honors 
within the gift of the people were heaped upon him. 
Before he was thirty he had been elected five times 
to the legislature as well as entrusted with other 
important public functions, including his election as 
judge of the supreme court, which office he resigned 
after two years, upon being elected, when only 
thirty-one years old, governor of the state. While 
governor he was elected a member of the conven- 
tion to revise the constitution, and in the same year 
was proffered the presidency of the University of 
North Carolina, which important position he oc- 
cupied for more than twenty-five years. Swain 
County, taken from Buncombe, was named after 
him, and his name is still cherished in the hearts of 
his loyal countrymen. 
The founders of Asheville chose the strategic posi- 
