The state chronicle. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1883-1893, 1888-02-17
OUR CHIEF SEAPORT.
EARLY HISTORY OF WILMINGTON
AND IT'S PATRIOTIC SONS.
4 Tribute to Some of Her CeIebratrd /
Dead ofthe Long gAgO--G0dfrey, John /
son. Blakely. Hooper, and Others.


| | live in Wilmington. | like Whining
ton, | believe there is a future of great
| prosperity for Wilmington, and as | am
pursuaded that the people of North Caro-
Ina are too little acquainted with the his
tory and commercial importance of this
city l propose to give your readers some
| what elaborate account of the past and
present of ''our city by the Sea-" In pre-
pairing these articles | am indebted to an
able and extended description of Whining
ton, which appeared in the News and
Courier of Charleston, April 10th, 1856,
written by a Mr.. Moroso and also to a
manuscript history of Wilmington by Col
James q. Burr, who is the author of an
| historical sketch of ST. JAMES PARISH, and
The HERMITAGE" and is now adorning
| the pages of the Wilmington Messenger
| by some spirited and we'll written trib-
utes to the memory of the great law
yers who have distinguished the Cape Fear
| section of the State
heard Maj. S NJ. Finger, our Superin-
tendent Of Public Instructions, say not
long since, that he had such confidence in
the future Of Wilmington that if he were
a young man and wished to enter into
business, he would settle in this city, or
| If he had money to invest, he would put
1t here with the assured hope of realizing
a handsome return. think Mai. Finger 5
| Judgment is based upon a good foundation
The Early History of Wilmington.
| 10 use the language Of Mr. MorOso
| Wilmington stands in the relation of "a
| kind OF step-mother to Charleston, and
| this will appear when it is stated that in
| 1868 Sir John Yeamans and 800 colonists
from Barbados settled a place on the
| Clarendon river, now the Cape Fear, some
| few miles below the present site of Will
mingtOn, and in honor of the reigning
King of England, named it Cnarlestown.
About six years afterwards, Sir John and
most of the colonists removed to Port
Royal, S c., and afterwards settled the
neck of land between the Ashley and
Cooper rivers and thus founded Charles
ten. There appears to have been estab-
llshed not long after these people left
South Carolina another town a few miles
lower down the river called Brunswick.
where were erected Il palace for the Gov
crnOr OF this part of the state, and a brick
church. known for many years as ST
Phillips. Col Burr says that ia 725 quite
a colony Of educated gentlemen, who nad
become dIS-usted with the despotic blue
| laws of Massachusetts, settled at Bruins
wick. and it soon became "A thriving town
The harbor at Brunswick being insecure
IN 1870 the most of the settlers moved
some miles up the river and founded on
the opposite side of the river town which
was first called New LIVERPOOL, after
wards, NEWTOWN, and finally, abont 1899,
it took the name of Wilmington, in honor
of Spence Compton, Baron Wilmington,
who was a friend of Gabriel Johnston.
The old town of Brunswick soon sank into
decay and was finally abandoued. C5l.
Burr says Of this old settlement: 1.-The
ruins of the Governors mansion are still!
there, ard the crumbling walls of St
Phillips Church keep silent watch over
the graves of those sleeping around, who
once worshipped at its affairs. Trees of a
larger size than those of the surrounding
forests have grown up within its roofless
walls. Where once the busy hum of life
was heard and the voice of praise ascen
ded. a solemn stiffness reigns, broken only
by the night owls screech, and the whip
poorwlls paintiye cry"
In 1755 there We're sixty househoders
in Wilmington.
In 1862 the population was thousand.
In 1866 occurred an event which was
heroic in the extreme, an event which
puts the patriots of the lower Cape Fear
by the side Of the patriots who s;gned the
Mecklenhurg Declaration of Independence
an event which is an immortal honor to
the State, which every child in the State
should be familiar with, and yet which
never knew until few years since. When,
in that year, the stamped paper for the
use of the province arrived in SlOOp of
war, and the Governor issued his procla
nation for the people to respect the stamp
| act, Coils. Ashe and Waddel embodied
| the militia of the counties of New Han
| over and Brunswick and marched to
| Brunswick, before which the vessel was
| anchored and notified the commander of
Il, 4
of the stamps. No attempt to land them
was made Leaving a party to watch the
| ship, the rest marched back to Whining
| ton, carrying with them one of the boats
| of the offending ship. Fixing a mast in
| it, with a flag attached, they hoisted it in
| a cart, and drove triumphantly through
the streets, all the citizens joining in the
| procession. On the next day great
coucourse of the people, headed by Col
| Ashe, proceeded to the Governors house
| and demanded James Houston, the Stamp
| Master for the province. They took Hous-
| ton to the market house and he then took
a solemn oath in the presence of the crowd
that he would not proceed with the s'llle
Of his office, on which the peuD2 gave
three cheers and conducted hlmMck safely
to the Governors residence
! Well might Col. Burr,>tsk: cat what
noi5n,->Iin. America was>ne Stamp Act mere
fearlessly yo1>gsslIaHy OF opposed! The de
strnct1on of tbcSa in the harbor of Bos-
ton has beg. embalmed in history and
immortar I'd in song, and while would
not dec<act in the least degree from the
| glos7 which justly belongs to that transac-
| TIA, yet do claim for the people of the
cape Fear section loftier need Of praise,
| higher niche in the temple of fame.
| The one was performed under the shadow
| of night, and the concealment of disguise,
| the other in the broad light OF day; no
strategem practiced; no shrinking; no DIS
guise, but open, straight forward manly
resistance Brave hearts of the olden
| time. Verify, there was subllmlty IN
your intrepidity!'
Space will not allow me to speak OF the
revolutionary history of Wilmington furth-
| er than to say that i'll 1880 the town fell
| into the hands of the British, the house
| occupied as the head quarters Of Lord
| Cornwallls is still standing and in good
repair, or to mention particularly the
! heroic deeds of such men as Hooper, one of
the signers of the Declaration of 1ndepen-
| dence, Harnett, one of the three men
| from North Carolina who signed the arti
| cles OF Confederation between the United
States, Ashe, Ellington, Howe, Moore,
and many others whose patriotism shed
| lustre upon their country. | will however,
speak briefly of three men, whose names
are not so well known, and who deserve
to be held in remembrance by our people.
am indebted to Col. Burr for my facts.
T., tho old GRO va r6 of ST TamaSf Ghurch