Dillard, C. Clay, 1839-1863

C. Clay Dillard was born in Lynchburg, Va., in 1839 and died in Leaksville, N.C., in 1863. She was graduated from the Edgeworth Female Seminary, Greensboro, N.C., in 1856, after which she traveled around the South, often visiting the plantation of her sister May and brother-in-law, General Thomas Rivers, in Somerville, Tenn.

From the description of C. Clay Dillard papers, 1856-1863. WorldCat record id: 48378079

C. Clay Dillard (1839-1863) grew up in Lynchburg, Va. At about age 16, she was baptized and received into the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. As a young woman, she was enrolled at the Edgeworth Female Seminary in Greensboro, N.C. She graduated from the Seminary in May 1856 with 15 other girls from across the South. After leaving the Seminary, she spent time traveling around the South and visiting her sister and brother-in-law's plantation in Somerville, Tenn. Her brother in-law was General Thomas Rivers, who had been elected to Congress in 1855.

It was after her graduation that William Lafayette Scott, one of her teachers at Edgeworth and a graduate of the University of North Carolina, professed his love for her. She reciprocated these feelings. However, family members, particularly her brother-in-law, worked to terminate the relationship because they believed Scott was of inferior social status. By late spring 1857, the relationship was over, but Dillard never recovered from the affair. Her parents eventually bought and moved to a plantation in Rocky Mount, Tenn. After a protracted illness, Clay Dillard died in Leaksville, N.C., of bronchial consumption, on 12 July 1863 at the age of 24.

From the guide to the C. Clay Dillard Papers (#5077-z), 1856-1863 and undated, (Southern Historical Collection)