Nereus Mendenhall

Nereus Mendenhall (August 14, 1819 – October 29, 1893) was an American politician and educator from North Carolina. He was principal of New Garden Boarding School (later Guilford College) and served as a member of the North Carolina House of Representatives. He was a member of the Quaker delegation that petitioned North Carolina and the Confederate States Congress for exemption from military duty for Quakers during the Civil War.

Early life Nereus Mendenhall was born on August 14, 1819, in Jamestown, North Carolina, as the fourth child to Mary (née Pegg) and Richard Mendenhall. His great-grandfather was James Mendenhall, the namesake of Jamestown. His parents were Quakers. At the age of 13, he was sent to Greensboro to study the printer's trade under Lyndon Swaim. He entered Haverford College in 1837 and graduated in 1839. He was principal and instructor of New Garden Boarding School (later Guilford College), founded by the Friends of North Carolina, from 1839 to 1842 and from 1846 to 1847. He left teaching and worked as a civil engineer and surveyed railroads in North Carolina and South Carolina, primarily the railroad from Salisbury to Asheville.

As a Quaker, Mendenhall was opposed to the Civil War.

In 1870, Mendenhall was elected with D. F. Caldwell to represent Guilford County in a convention on the North Carolina constitution, but the convention was not held. He served two terms as a Democrat in the North Carolina House of Representatives, including a term from 1874 to 1875. He was the Democratic nominee for the state superintendent of public instruction.

In 1876, Mendenhall was appointed as a faculty member of the William Penn Charter School. He moved to Philadelphia and taught at Haverford College for two years. His nephew was Aaron Marshall Elliott.

Mendenhall died on October 29, 1893, aged 74, at the home of his sister in Jamestown.