The state chronicle. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1883-1893, 1888-02-17

| 1856, About 1860, he settled in Whining
| ION as a merchant While here he wrote
! tnc hfSt dramatic tragedy ever published
| IN America. called The Prince of Par
tina. lie was ala the author of a poem
entitled The Court of Fancy" which was
modelled after Chaucer's' House of Fame"
Both OF these interesting productions have
long been out of print, but extracts from
The Prince of Parthia' may be found in
''Duyclncks Cyclopedia of Literature"
and the work was said to possess merits
superior to Barlow's Columbiad, so famous
in its day.
Johnston Blakely was another son of
Wilmington, who early attained great dis
tlnctlon as hero upon the seas His pa
rents, who We're Irish, settled here about
1884, but soon died, leaving two little or
phans. One of these was adopted and ed
ucated by Edmund Jones, an eminent law
yer. At the age of nineteen he entered
the Navy. His talents rapidly gave him
promotion, and in 1914, he was put in
command of the sloop of war, WASP Col.
Burr tells Us that ne soon appeared off the
coast of England, and announced his
presence by the capture of the English
ship of war, Reindeer" in an action of
only nineteen minutes. Ship, after ship
OF the enemy, acknowledged his powers
and paid homage to his gallantry and skill
HIS name was on every lip, and his coun-
try was prepared to welcome back the
youthful hero, and bestow fresh honors
upon him. But alas, he NJ yer returned.
On the 4th of Nov, 1914, the brig Attain
ia arrived at Savannah, with dispatches
from Blahely, and that was the last all-
thentlc information ever received from
him. Whether he foundered at sea, or
went down amidst the roar of battle was
The
sign, nor did the wild winds syllable the
mystery of his fate Thus perished at the
early age of 33, Johnston Blakey BY his
marrlagt in 1913, he had one ckld, a
daughter, named UDREY, and on the 21th
OF Dec, 1916, the General Assembly of
North Carolina unanimously resolved that
the child Of Blakely should be educated at
the expense of the State
johnson }. Hooper, for many years the
editor Of the Montgomery Mail, author of
''Slmon Suggs,' Taking the Census"
ana other humorous productions, was also
Wilmington boy. He was the son of
Archibald McLain Hooper, for years tho
editor Of the Cape Fear Recorder. for a
long time the only paper of Wilmington
The Hooper family seem to have possessed
the literary faculty II an extraordinary
degree. The signer of the Declaration of
independence was not only writer of dis
tinguished merit, but Moore in his history
OF North Carolina says, "he had attracted
attention by his brilliant eloquence in
PhIladelphia, where he was considered one
OF the finest orators in America" Tradi-
tions still linger around Wilmington of the
wit and culture of Archibald NJ. Hooper,
and Rev. VIM. Hooper, d. d.. IL. D., who
was buried by the side of DI Caldwell in
the Campus at Chapel Hill OF y a few years
ago. at the ripe age of eig ty-five, and
who was also born in Win ngton, was
perhaps the finest scholar Moth Carolina
has yet produced. The Bap' jst Encyclo-
peiia closes a notice of D.. Hooper in
these words, ''lt may well b. questioned
whether any man has lived IN the South,
or for that matter, in America, who wrote
better English than Dr.. Hooper, and it is
greatly to be regretted that le died with
out issuing from the press a few volumes
of his sermons, or some other work by
which future generations mie 1t have been
certified OF the lovely piety, exquisite taste,
sparkling wit and rich stores of learning
of this great and good man.
johnson Hooper was elected Chief Clerk
Of the Confederate Congress in Montgom-
cry, Ala. When the seat OF government
was changed TO Richmond Va, he fol-
lowed it aud died there soon after The
interest of Col. Burr's manuscript has be-
gulled me into different line Of remark
than hat which was in my mind, but one
which hope your readers will pardon In
my next, l will speak of the Wilmington
of to-day.
I