The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1900-05-04

time sem out an express 1or n other
councillors in this neighborhood TO
meet me at Wilmington mex day. Sat-
urday the eth, where his majesty was
again proclaimed by the corporation
and gentlemen of the ne~ighborhood. un-
der a triple salute Of twenty-one guns.
where we had an entertainment pre-
pared; the militia were drawn out, and
the evening concluded by bonfires, illu-
limitations. and a ball and suppe with
all unanimity and demonstration OF
joy"
"Of the Town Of Brunswick at this
time, Colonel Waddell says:
1T never contained more than 400
white inhabitants, but there were
among these many of the wealthiest,
most refined and cultivated people in
the province; the equals in every res
pect of the best people on n contl-
nent; and the reputation of the town
for intelligence. public spirit, and un-
bounded hospitality, soon became
widespread. The fac that, for reasons
which will presently be given, the
population Of Brunswick was %eyentu-
ally absorbed by the younger town Of
Wilmington Cloth towns being in New
Hanover county, until 1764, when
Brunswick county vas establiShed),
will explain the confusion that has ap-
peared some lime in North Carolina
histories, in the assignment of a resi-
dence to certain distinguished men in
both towns, or only in Wilmington.
"A majority of the great men of the
lower Cape Fear, during the revolu-
ton, lived at Wilmington, as at hat
time it was the only town in tina sec
ton of the state; but most of them had
previously lived in Brunswick, or it's
vicinity. Hooper, the Signer of the dec
laration of independence, had not, as
he did not come to North Carolina
F-4r, ar-oahrrCa rrnri1 1IH1- hrr
MacLaine and Mcguire, each of whom
became attorney generals, and a num-
Der of other distinguished men, moved
to Wilmington after Brunswick began
to decay. Mcclure was a loyallSt when
the revolution broke out, n went to
England, but the others were all pa
triots, and some of them became lead
ers in that struggle. General Robert
Howe, one of the most illustrious of
these leaders, always lived in or neal
Brunswick; and so did General James
Moore, and the latter'S son, Judge AL
fred Moore, afterwards a judge of the
United States supreme court, and
some of the distinguished members CT
the Ashe family, and Governor Benja-
min Smith and Colonel VIM. Dry, and
many others of note
When the character and fame Of
these men are considered, Ink the size
of the town is remembered, it may be
confidently asserted that no community
so small, on the continent, eve con
tanned at the same time so many men
who afterwards became so distinguish
ed, as soldiers and jurists n states
men. And yet, alas! except in the
faintest and most confused way, not
only the deeds, but the very names of
these heroes and patriots have well
nigh ceased to be remembered, and
the place of their abode, once the busy
mart, the seat of refined culture n
generous hospitality, has long been the
home of the fox and the owl,
I'm an old volume published in Dub
lin, Ireland, in 1877, we find the follow
ing reference by DR.. John Brickell, a
traveller, to the people n customs of
the Cape Fear region in North Caro-
lima in his day, to-wit.:
THE planters by the richness of the
soil, live after the most easier and
pleasant n of any people I have
eve met with, for you shall seldom
hear them repine at any misfortunes
in life, except the loss of friends, there
being plenty of all necessaries conven-
lent for life; poverty being an entire
stranger here, and the planters the
most h~ospitable people that are to be
met with not only to strangers but
likewise to those who by any misfor-
tune have lost the use of their limbs
or are incapable to work and have no
visible way to uppOrt themselves; to
such objects as these, the country al
lows $50 per annum for their support.
So there are no beggars or v~aCa1onds
to bet met with strowIinr F.. ~"e
to place as is common among Us. the
country in general is adorned with
large and beautiful rivers and creeks,
and the woods with lofty timber, which
affort most delightful and pleasant
seats to the planters, and the lands
very convenient and eaSie to be fenced
in, to secure their stocks of cattle to
more strict boundaries, whereby with
small trouble with fencing, almost
every man may enjoy to himself an
entire plantation. These with many
other advantages, such as cheapness
and fertility of the lands, plenty Of
fish, wild fowl and veniSon and other
necessaries that this country naturally
produces has induced a great many
families to leave the more northeriy
plantations, and come and settle in
of the mildeSt governments in the
world, in a country that with moder-
ate industry may be acquired all nee
~sSarieS convenient for life, so that
yearly we have abundance of strang-
erS that come among us from Europe,
New England, Pennsylvania, Mary
land, and from many of the islands,
such as Antigua, Barbados, and many
olilcIS, " StIllc HclC, IIlduy VI WllOlll
with small beginnings are become very
rich in a few years. The Europeans
or Christians of North Carolina are
a straight, tall, we'll limbed, active
people, their children being seldom or
never troubled with ricketts,, and many
other distempers hat the Europeans
are afflicted with, and you shall sell
dom see any of them deformed in body.
The men who frequent the woods and
labor out of doors, or use the waters,
the vicinity of the sun makes impress
sionS on them; but as for the women
who do not expose themselves to
weather, they are often very fair, and
we'll featured as you will meet with
anywhere, and have very brisk and
charming eyes; and as we'll and finely
shaped as any women in the world.
The girls are most commonly hand
some and we'll featured, but have pale
Or swarthy compilations, and are gen
orally more forward than the boys,
Notwithstanding the women are very
shy in their ~discourses, till they are
acquainted. The girls are not only
bred to h needle and spinning, but to
tina dairy and domestic affoirc xb;oh