In a "correction" published in the Saturday, January 23, 1999, issue of The News & Observer, state officials admitted that a picture long purported to be that of Richard Caswell, was actually that of a grandson.

There is no authenticated likeness of Caswell, founding father of Kinston, Revolutionary War hero and first governor of North Carolina.

The picture of the questionable portrait was accepted by the state officials and the grand Lodge of North Carolina Masons in October of 1973.

The picture was also presented to St. John's Lodge in Kinston, where Caswell was First Worshipful Master in 1787 and Second Grand Master of North Carolina Masons in 1788.

The portrait was painted from a miniature which Caswell family members on the Mackilwean side thought to be that of the state's first governor.