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Excerpt from North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame: 1997 Induction Ceremony, May 17, 1997 In 1904, James Boyd, a steel and railroad magnate, purchased 1200 acres in Southern Pines and built a home. He christened this new estate Weymouth, after a town he had visited in England. Set amidst a magnificent stand Of virgin long-leaf pines, it served as a country manor where his grandson and namesake, James, Often came as a boy to repair frail health and explore the imposing pine forest and surrounding countryside. Later young James went to Princeton and earned a master's degree at Cambridge. After serving as an ambulance driver during World War I, an experience which left his heath even more fragile, he returned to Weymouth for recovery. In 1919, he and his new wife, the former Katharine Lamont, spent their honeymoon in the house, which by now James co-owned with his brother, Jackson. The following year, he and Katharine moved to Weymouth and began redesigning it. They moved part of the original house across Connecticut Avenue to become part Of Jackson's new home, now known as the Campbell House. TO the remaining structure, they added a second story and two wings, enlarging the Georgian-style house to square feet. James Boyd, now 32 years old, left the management of the family business to his brother while he pursued the dream which had begun when he was editor Of his high school newspaper: to become a writer. Boyd's biographer, David Whisnant, observes that Boyd chose to live in Southern Pines because this site seemed to Offer the best conditions for beginning [a literary career] - a reasonable physical comfort, freedom from distractions, and a mild an Opportunity to affirm the tangible values of American life. One of the earliest visitors to the newly-enlarged home was British novelist and playwright John Galsworthy, who, after reading Boyd's stories, encouraged him to try a novel, then, on a trip to New York, urged publishers to keep an eye on James Boyd. In 1925, Scribner's published Boyd's first novel, Drums. It won immediate attention, not only for its story but for its realism - the result of Boyd's extensive and meticulous research. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
