HISTORIC EDENTONANDCOUNTRYSIDEIncorporated 1722ENGLISH CARICATURE (1775) OF THE EDENTON TEA PARTY
HOTEL JOSEPH HEWES
IN HISTORIC EDENTON, NORTH CAROLINA
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FOREWORDThe biennial tours of old homes in Edenton and Chowan County have aroused so much interest in the history of the various houses and plantations that this booklet has been compiled in order to answer some of the questions. All information about town houses has been checked with court records. Dates of construction are based on tax valuation of property, prices given in deeds, and other evidence from deeds, early newspapers, and maps. The 1769 map made by Sauthier and a detailed, large-scale map made in 1904 by the Sanborn Company have been invaluable in determining the size, shape, structure, and precise location of the houses. In a few cases, it was possible to determine the exact date of construction. In others, it was necessary to use a date between two other known dates, one when the house was not there and one when it was. It must be added that the dates of some of the earlier houses might be changed if the houses were examined by a specialist in colonial architecture. Only the Barker House and the Cupola House have been subjected to such minute and expert scrutiny for the purpose of determining the date of construction.
Not one house in the original plan of the town (1712) is standing today. Of the sixty houses reported by Dr. John Brickell in 1731, only the Cupola House and the Joseph Hewes house are left. The 1769 map shows the following buildings: St. Paul's Church, the Court House, the Cupola House, and the Charlton, Craven, Ellison, Edmund Hatch, Joseph Hewes, Iredell, Leigh, and Pollock houses, and possibly the Planter's Inn. With the single exception of the Cupola House, the dwellings listed above have been enlarged, and the Ellison house and the Craven house have been moved back from the street in comparatively recent years.
THE EDENTON WOMAN'S CLUB
COVER CUT BY COURTESY OF THE TEA PARTY CHAPTER, N.S.D.A.R.
vignette Edenton Teapot
From the Morning Chronicle and London Advertiser, January 16, 1775, comes the following contemporary account of the Edenton Tea Party and the only authentic list of signers of the resolutions.
“Extract of a letter from North Carolina, Oct. 27.
“ ‘The Provincial Deputies of North Carolina having resolved not to drink any more tea, nor wear any more British cloth, &c. many ladies of this Province have determined to give a memorable proof of their patriotism, and have accordingly entered into the following honourable and spirited association. I send it to you, to shew your fair countrywomen, how zealously and faithfully American ladies follow the laudable example of their husbands, and what opposition your Ministers may expect to receive from a people thus firmly united against them:
“ ‘Edenton, North Carolina, Oct. 25, 1774.
“ ‘As we cannot be indifferent on any occasion that appears nearly to affect the peace and happiness of our country, and as it has been thought necessary, for the public good, to enter into several particular resolves by a meeting of Members deputed from the whole Province, it is a duty which we owe, not only to our near and dear connections who have concurred in them, but to ourselves who are essentially interested in their welfare, to do every thing as far as lies in our power to testify our sincere adherence to the same; and we do therefore accordingly subscribe this paper, as a witness of our fixed intention and solemn determination to do so.
| Abagail Charlton | Mary Blount |
| F. Johnstone | Elizabeth Creacy |
| Margaret Cathcart | Elizabeth Patterson |
| Anne Johnstone | Jane Wellwood |
| Margaret Pearson | Mary Woolard |
| Penelope Dawson | Sarah Beasley |
| Jean Blair | Susannah Vail |
| Grace Clayton | Elizabeth Vail |
| Frances Hall | Elizabeth Vail |
| Mary Jones | Mary Creacy |
| Anne Hall | Mary Creacy |
| Rebecca Bondfield | Ruth Benbury |
| Sarah Littlejohn | Sarah Howcott |
| Penelope Barker | Sarah Hoskins |
| Elizabeth P. Ormond | Mary Littledle |
| M. Payne | Sarah Valentine |
| Elizabeth Johnston | Elizabeth Cricket |
| Mary Bonner | Elizabeth Green |
| Lydia Bonner | Mary Ramsay |
| Sarah Howe | Anne Horniblow |
| Lydia Bennet | Mary Hunter |
| Marion Wells | Tresia Cunningham |
| Anne Anderson | Elizabeth Roberts |
| Sarah Mathews | Elizabeth Roberts |
| Anne Haughton | Elizabeth Roberts.’ ” |
| Elizabeth Beasly |
The Tea Pot on the green and the tablet on the Court House commemorate this event.
BANDON PLANTATION—Countryside
BANDON PLANTATION-Countryside
First mentioned in Hakluyt's ENGLISH VOYAGES in 1585 when Ralph Lane, Governor of Roanoke Island, brought several ships of Sir Richard Grenville's first expedition up the Chowan River. They proceeded as far north as the present Winton; on their return they camped on an island (Holiday Island). They also camped at the site of Bandon, near an Indian village.
The original grants were to Thomas Bray, 1717, and Edward Moseley, 1719, by Lord Granville. In 1744 it was owned by William Boyd, who sold it to Parson Daniel Earle “with all edifices, buildings and orchards,” 1758. Of the early dependencies (Boyd's) three buildings remain, the old kitchen, smoke house, and school house, where Parson Earle and his daughter Ann conducted a classical boarding school for boys; among whom were the two sons of Baron von Pollnitz (formerly chamberlain to Frederick the Great).
The plantation was renamed for Parson Earle's native village, Bandon, in Southern Ireland. Parson Earle was a rector at St. Paul's Church in Edenton (1759-1778).
The present house was built circa 1790, by Charles Johnson, son-in-law of Parson Earle. Johnson was Vice President of the Hillsboro Convention, 1788, and the Fayetteville Convention, 1789, when the Constitution was ratified by North Carolina. He was also Senator from North Carolina, in Thomas Jefferson's Congress. The Johnson family owned Bandon for three generations.
The plantation was next owned by the Holley family, who sold it to John M. Forehand in 1902. It was purchased in 1944 from J. Lester Forehand by the present owners, Inglis and John Fletcher.
HAYES—Countryside
HAYES-Countryside
East of Edenton, surrounded by a beautiful grove and over-looking Edenton Bay, stands Hayes, begun in 1789 and completed in 1801 by Samuel Johnston, an outstanding patriot of the Revolutionary period, early Governor and first Senator from North Carolina. The estate was acquired by Gov. Johnston in 1765, and the name is derived from the home of Sir Walter Raleigh in England. The main house is flanked on each side by curving arcades on a lower level connecting with the library on the west and the kitchen on the east, while a wide porch with tall columns on the water side gives it an air of distinction traditionally linked with our Southern heritage.
THE GATE HOUSE—CountrysideThe original part of this house was standing when Samuel Johnston bought Hayes plantation in 1765. It stood then on the Plumb Walk and was moved to its present location when Hayes was built.
ALBANIA—West Queen Street Extd.
Date of construction unknown. The closed ends of the front galleries resemble those of the low-country houses of South Carolina. This house once belonged to Dr. Edward Warren, Surgeon - General during the Confederacy, who usually added to his name the title Bey conferred upon him by the Khedive of Egypt. He later moved to Baltimore, where he was one of the founders of City Hospital (now Mercy Hospital). The house was recently enlarged by the present owner, Mrs. M. G. Brown.
Built probably about 1782 by Thomas and Penelope Barker. Thomas Barker had a long and brilliant career in colonial government and finally became London agent for the Colony about ten years before the Revolution. His service in this post, though brief, was conspicuously successful. His wife Penelope, according to tradition, presided over the Edenton Tea Party, October 25, 1774—the earliest known instance of political activity on the part of women in the American colonies. In 1830, thirty-five years after Mrs. Barker's death, it was bought by Augustus Moore, whose law office was known as “the Judge shop,” from the number of his students who became judges. His family owned the house until 1952, when it was bought by Mr. Haywood Phthisic and presented to the town for a community house. The Junior Chamber of Commerce, the Business and Professional Women's Club, and the Edenton Woman's Club undertook to move the house to its present site, and to restore it for public use.
STRAWBERRY HILL—E. Church Street ExtendedStrawberry Hill Plantation was the home of Christopher Gale, Chief Justice of North Carolina, 1731. The house is pre-Revolution. The Harveys, the Charles Johnsons (son-in-law of Parson Earl) also lived here. Present owners, Mr. and Mrs. A. C. Boyce.
ST. PAUL'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH—West Church Street
The parish, organized under the first Vestry Act in 1701, has the oldest charter in the state and the second oldest church building. For almost seventy-five years it was under the care of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. Among its rectors have been the Rev. Clement Hall (1744-1759), the Rev. Daniel Earl (1759-1778), the Rev. Charles Pettigrew (1778-1807), the Rev. Samuel I. Johnston (1837-1865), and the Rev. Robert Brent Drane, D.D., (1876-1932). On June 19, 1776, the Vestry, while professing their loyalty to the King, nevertheless took their stand squarely behind the Provincial Congress in its defiance of unjust treatment by Parliament. The Revolution, however, had a disastrous effect on the
parish. The church building, begun in 1736 and completed some thirty years later, fell into a state of decay which necessitated extensive repairs, 1806-1809. Forty years later the present chancel woodwork and furnishings were added. In 1949, during further repairs, the steeple, roof, galleries, and old organ were destroyed by fire. All interior furnishings and memorials had been removed, and were installed again when the church was rebuilt exactly as it had been before the fire. St. Paul's has been described as “an ideal in village churches, unrivaled in this country except perhaps by Christ Church, New Castle, Delaware.”
EAST CUSTOM HOUSE—On Court House GreenOn property owned first by Governor Charles Eden, and later by James Trotter, Mrs. Mary Wallace, “tavern keeper,” lived until 1792. Her house was still standing on this corner, a point of measurement for many deeds, until the spring of 1807. Within the next eight years it was replaced by Joseph B. Skinner's law office, the original part of the present house. This building was later the office of Dr. Josiah C. Skinner, and then of Dr. John Herndon. After Henry Bond bought the property, it was eventually used as a customs house, and in recent years enlarged for use as a residence. Present owner, Mrs. Clara Preston.
THE PLANTER'S INN—South Oakum StreetIn 1743 the lot was granted to Joana and Martha Palmer; Joana was the widow of the Rev. Paul Palmer, who helped organize the first Baptist congregation in North Carolina. Her first husband was Thomas Peterson, who owned 420 acres on which Edenton is built. The house Mrs. Palmer built within two years, to keep this lot, was occupied by Robert Kingham's descendants until 1772 at least. In 1796, one Edward Reiley paid taxes on this lot, and the present house was here when his property was sold in 1813, after his death. But whether it is the original house is impossible to determine. Its name goes back to 1829, when William McNider took the house owned and recently occupied by Mrs. Elizabeth Hoskins Vail, and opened the Planter's Inn. Present owners, Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Yates.
THE LITTLEJOHN HOUSE—West Eden Street
In 1770, Joseph Blount bought from William Flury this lot and everything west of it to the creek, including a very big house and stables and gardens which appear on the 1769 map. Seven years later he willed it to his son Joseph. There is no record of the transfer from Joseph Blount, Jr., to his sister Sarah Blount Littlejohn, one of the signers of the Tea Party resolutions. But she and her husband, William Littlejohn, built the present house and were living in it in 1791, when their young daughter Jane was drowned within sight of it, the only one lost when the boat was ripped open on a sunken wreck while she and a group of friends were on a sailing party. From 1889 until 1919 it was the home of the Theodorick B. Bland family. Present owners, Mr. and Mrs. T. C. Byrum, Sr.
One mile north of Bandon Plantation. In 1752, Lord Granville granted to John Wallace 325 acres, with the usual provision that within three years he must clear and cultivate 3 to 4 acres per hundred in order to retain the property. This original grant is still intact. The original part of the present house was built about 1752 by Peter Parker, husband of John Wallace's daughter Sarah Wallis. The house is an example of double galleries and low ceilings. This property is unique in being the only grant in Chowan County still held by the descendants of the original owners. Present owner, Mrs. W. H. Winborne.
SYCAMORE PLANTATION—Countryside
Built before the Revolution. Built by Thomas Norcom and retained in the Norcom family until 1903. The main part of the house (floor plan) is like the Adam Thorogood house (1660) in Princess Anne County, Va. The original floors, panelling and mantels are still intact. Present owners, Mr. and Mrs. Grayson H. Harding.
This house was probably built by Gilbert Leigh, believed to be the architect of the Court House, who owned the property from 1756 to 1771. At the time of the Tea Party it was owned by William Bennett, hatter, and his wife Lydia, one of the signers of the resolutions. In 1777 it was bought by Alexander Valentine and his wife Sarah Crickett, another signer; their descendants, the Hathaways and Bockovers, continued to own it until about the time of the War Between the States. Since 1873 it has belonged to descendants of Capt. Jacob Wool. Present owners, Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Everett.
The earliest owner (1723) of this property was Christopher Gale, soon to become Chief Justice of North Carolina. But after he sold it, the following year, there is no record of the property until 1763. At that time George Blair bought the lots where the house stands, and within ten years had “saved” the whole west half of the block. This house is the one he built. In 1783, Jean Blair, his widow, and her brother Samuel Johnston, sold the property to Stephen Cabarrus, who within five years sold it to Cullen Pollock of Bertie. Pollock willed his house and “four Lotts Joining” to his wife, Ann Booth Pollock, and a “new, elegant and fashionable Charrot with Harness for four horses, also her choice of four horses.” For some time after her husband's death, Mrs. Pollock lived in New York, but not until 1821 was the house sold. Three years later it came into the hands of Dr. James Norcom, whose granddaughters still owned it sixty years later. Present owner, Mrs. S. W. Taylor.
GREENFIELD—CountrysideThe main part of the house, built around 1752 by the Creecys, was later owned by the Woods, all of the same lineage, and the present occupants represent the seventh generation of ownership in the family. Present owner, Mrs. George Collins Wood.
THE IREDELL HOUSE—East Church Street
The Commissioners granted John Wilkins four lots in December, 1756, with the usual provision that within two years he must build a house on each lot at least twenty by fifteen feet, or make comparable improvements to the whole plot. He built the original part of the present house by 1759. In 1773 he sold it to Joseph Whedbee, a silversmith, who in 1778 sold it to James Iredell. Deputy Collector for the Port of Roanoke at 17, Iredell was Attorney General of North Carolina at 28, and an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States at 39. In 1773 he married Hannah Johnston, sister of Samuel Johnston. Their son, James Iredell, Jr., became Governor of North Carolina. The house remained in Mrs. Iredell's possession until her death in 1826, and after that in her son's, even after he moved away from Edenton.
Governor Iredell died here while on a visit to his cousin, the Rev. Samuel I. Johnston, Rector of St. Paul's Church. From about 1853 on, for many years, the Iredell house was used as a rectory for St. Paul's. Saved in 1949 by the Edenton Chapter of the N.S.D.A.R., and owned by the State of North Carolina, the house is in the care of the James Iredell Association, Inc., and the Tea Party Chapter of the D.A.R.
THE JAMES IREDELL, JR., HOUSE—West King StreetOn November 26, 1806, Edmund Hoskins, who had owned this house for four years, advertised in the Edenton Gazette the new stock in his store opposite the dwelling house of the late Nathaniel Allen — an interesting record, because no other known business property of that period still exists. He continued to run his store here even after he sold this and the Ellison house next door to James Iredell, Jr., in 1816. But Iredell took it over about 1820, using it also for his law office. Soon after he was elected governor and sold all his Edenton property, the Edenton Gazette carried a final mention of the use of this house for business, when Nathaniel Howcott opened a clock-making shop in the “apartment” used by Iredell as his office. Later owners were Thomas B. Haughton, Joseph Manning, and Thomas H. Leary, Jr. In 1890 it came into the possession of Dr. Thomas J. Hoskins, whose descendants have occupied it ever since. Present owner, Miss Louise Coke.
THE CRAVEN HOUSE—West King StreetIn 1754 Dr. John Craven took up this lot with the usual provision that he build within two years. That he did so is established by the fact that he kept it; but the house was not for his own occupancy, as his “mansion house” was across the street. Col. Thomas Nash bought the place in 1767, though he probably never lived in it. Records show that Mrs. Nash lived in town during the Revolution, presumably in this house. William Bennett's family owned the property from 1780 until 1802. William Manning, a cabinet maker who occupied and mortgaged the house in 1809, probably added the room across the entire back for a workshop. In 1831 the house was bought by John M. Jones, who lived here almost fifty years. He also owned a store on Joseph Hewes’ old lot on Broad Street. In 1879 it was bought by Minton H. Dixon, when his father-in-law bought Beverly Hall; his descendants owned it until recent years. Present owner, Mrs. J. Augustus Moore.
THE OLD BOND HOUSE—On Court House Green
The first known owner of the property was Governor Charles Eden, who sold it in 1722. Six years later it was bought by James Trotter, tailor, who in May, 1743, gave half of it to his “beloved friend”, Mrs. Martha Hoskins Potter, widow. She married him next December. Until long after the Revolution, his descendants occupied the property. In 1803, the site of the present house was acquired by Joseph Blount Skinner, who married Maria Louisa Lowther the following year. The house was built about the time of their marriage. One of the members of their household was Joseph B. Skinner's younger brother, Thomas Harvey Skinner, who later was pastor of the Brick Presbyterian Church in New York and one of the founders of Union Theological Seminary. Later Charles Blount Skinner, another brother, bought it and gave it to his son-in-law, Dr. John Herndon, in 1831. About sixteen years later, it was sold to Henry A. Bond, in whose family it has remained except for short periods. Present owners, Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Ross Leary.
THE CUSTOM HOUSE—Blount StreetThe third owner of this lot was Francis Corbin, Lord Granville's agent. He got it by exchanging lots with Jasper Charlton, and the wing of Charlton's house is on the lot Corbin traded to him. In 1772 Wilson Blount bought the site, and it was probably he who built the present house. In 1787 it figured in a law suit and was sold to satisfy the debt of the late owner's estate to Parson Earl's estate. William Borritz, who built the Tredwell house, owned it for the next ten years. In 1799 Samuel Tredwell bought both places; and for the next seventy years at least this was known as the Custom House. For a brief period it belonged to Mrs. Elizabeth Vail, daughter of Richard and Winifred Hoskins, of Paradise. Among other owners were the Rev. Williac J. Norfleet and his wife Eliza P. Howett, and Sheriff Myles C. Brinkley. Present owners, Mr. and Mrs. R. E. Leary.
PEMBROKE HALL—West King Street
Before 1750 part of this property belonged to Dr. Samuel Saban Plomer (from whom it took its first name, “Plomer's Point”) and his wife Sarah Catherine, the first woman to take up a lot in the “new plan,” when the town was enlarged. The widow then of a certain Hodges, she married Robert Loyd, then John Ismay, then Christopher Gale, and finally Dr. Plomer. Next to the Plomers lived Dr. Abraham Blackall, whose house was occupied at the time of the Revolution by Mrs. Mary Littledale, a signer of the Tea Party resolutions. In 1777 the entire property was acquired by Robert Hardy. In 1813 it came into the hands of Josiah Collins, Sr., whose son inherited it. In 1847 Josiah Collins, Jr., gave it to his son-in-law, Dr. Matthew Page, and about 1850 built the present house for Dr. Page and his wife. For more than forty years it was owned by the late William O. Elliott. Present owners, Colonel and Mrs. W. B. Rosevear.
THE TREDWELL HOUSE—West Eden StreetThe earliest record of this property is a grant in 1757 to the Honorable Peter Henley, Esq., Chief Justice of North Carolina. In 1774, his son John appointed Samuel Johnston to sell all his property in the state; the Edenton lots, however, were still unsold when the Revolution began, and were confiscated because Henley was an Englishman. In 1787 these lots, unimproved, were bought by William Borritz, who built the present house. By 1800 it became the home of Samuel Tredwell, Collector of the Port of Roanoke. Tredwell married Helen Blair, daughter of George and Jean Johnston Blair; their daughter Frances married her cousin, Governor James Iredell, Jr. Present owner, Mrs. F. F. Muth.
THE EDMUND HATCH HOUSE—East King Street
The lot on which this house stands was originally part of the property owned by Governor Charles Eden in 1722. In December, 1741, a 50-foot square on King Street was sold by James Trotter, tailor, who had owned it almost fourteen years, to a French barber, Andre Richard. Within two years his name appeared as Richards (English instead of French) on the marriage bond of Lucy Richards and Edmund Hatch. Hatch, a great grandson of George Durant, was Clerk of Court in Edenton for several years. In March, 1745, Richards and his wife Hephzibah sold to Edmund Hatch the little lot bought from Trotter; but now it could boast of a dwelling house “lately Erected and built,” the main part of the present building. In 1774, it came into the hands of Dr. Samuel Dickinson, who, in 1777, two months after he bought the Cupola House, sold the house to Col. James Blount of Mulberry Hill. In 1804, it was bought from King Luton by Mary O'Malley, whose sister Ann married Nathaniel Bruer, first clerk of the branch bank in Edenton and later Post Master. Present owners, Mr. and Mrs. Junius Davis.
In 1774 Joseph Whedbee, a silversmith, sold this property to Richard Whedbee, a carpenter, who built the house within the next three years. Between 1788 and 1796, it was acquired by William Blair, son of Mrs. Jean Johnston Blair. His brother George and George's wife Mary King, who shared his home, owned it from 1806 to 1820. James C. Johnston, of Hayes, gave it as a wedding present to their daughter Elizabeth, wife of Joshua Skinner, Jr. In 1852, less than a month before his death, Skinner gave the place to Thomas Courtland Manning in trust for his infant daughter Elizabeth Blair, named for Skinner's dead wife. The little girl died at the age of eleven. In 1856, Manning moved to Louisiana and entered upon a brilliant career in law and politics. Five years later he joined the Confederate Army, and became a Brigadier-General in 1863. In 1864 he became a member of the Supreme Court of Louisiana, and in 1877 Chief Justice. In 1881 he was elected to the U. S. Senate, and in 1886 appointed Minister to Mexico. But he retained possession of his house in Edenton until 1883, when he sold it to Mrs. Elizabeth M. Elliott, whose descendants have kept it ever since. Present owner, Mrs. J. N. Elliott.
THE CUPOLA HOUSE—South Broad Street
Built about 1725 by Richard Sanderson (one of the oldest houses in town), the Cupola House is considered the finest Jacobean type house south of Connecticut. The interior woodwork (most of it now in the Brooklyn Museum of Fine Arts) was probably added by the last agent of the Lords Proprietors, Francis Corbin. At least he bought the house in 1756, added his initials and the date 1758 to the finial, and at his death still owed £211:6:0 to Robert Kirshaw, a carpenter. During the Revolution, the Corbin heirs sold the house to Dr. Samuel Dickinson, whose wife (then Mrs. Elizabeth P. Ormond) signed the Tea Party resolutions. Their descendants lived in the Cupola House until about 1920. Since 1921 it has been used for the Shepard-Pruden Memorial Library and a small museum. Present owner, The Cupola House Association.
CANNON—On Court House Green
The green facing the Court House has been part of the Court House property ever since the town was laid off in 1712. By 1718 it was the site of the first Chowan County Court House, the “Council Chamber” built especially for meetings of the General Assembly of the Colony of North Carolina. The three cannon at the foot of the green (and several others serving as corner markers here and there) were, according to tradition, brought to Edenton in 1778 by William Borritz, captain of a French ship, THE HEART OF JESUS. These were saved when the ship was wrecked in Albemarle Sound. The few still left in Edenton in 1862 were put out of commission by Federal troops who observed that they were a greater danger to the men behind them than to the enemy in front.
THE CHARLTON HOUSE—West Eden StreetBuilt between 1761 and 1769 by Jasper and Abigail Charlton. Jasper Charlton was a lawyer, very active in Revolutionary politics. His wife Abigail was the first signer of the Tea Party resolutions. Their son Jasper married Elizabeth Stone, daughter of Zedekiah Stone of Hope, Bertie County, and sister of the future Governor David Stone. From 1821 to 1853 the house was owned by William D. Lowther, son of Penelope Johnston and her second husband. For almost thirty-five years the Sawyers owned it, and for the past fifty years the Warrens. Present owner, Miss Pensie Warren.
THE BOOTH HOUSE—North Granville Street
In 1756 James Gardner acquired nine adjoining lots, with the usual provision that he must make improvements equivalent to building a 20-foot x 15-foot house on each. When he mortgaged them six months later, he had built one dwelling house and a mill (the latter clearly shown on the 1769 map). Within three years the property was in the hands of John Taylor, Gardner's father-in-law, and Francis Penrice, a close relative. Penrice willed his “Horse Mill” and its two lots to his son, who owned them until 1777. In 1820 John Boyd advertised his lot (the original site of this house) in the EDENTON GAZETTE as having a “large, Commodious and well finished Dwelling House.” For thirty years after that it belonged to the family of Malachi Haughton, and for thirty more to the Burtons. It is not known how the Booth name became connected with it. In 1826 Robert Booth married a girl believed to be living then in this house; perhaps they moved back here when they left the Coffield house in 1837. The Booth house was moved in 1942 to its present site and enlarged by a brick wing. Present owners, Mr. and Mrs. Leland Plant.
In 1724 Edmund Gale sold Adam Cockburne two lots in the “new plan,” at a price which indicates a very good house. Thirty years later Cockburne's daughter sold the property to George Disbrowe. In 1769 Samuel Swift sold the house and lots he had bought from Disbrowe to George Blair and his wife Jean Johnston, a signer of the Tea Party resolutions. James Iredell may have courted Hannah Johnston here; his diary shows that he fairly haunted Mrs. Blair's house. Blair and Joseph Hewes were business partners until Blair's death (1772); and Hewes was one of the most intimate friends of the family until his death (1779). About 1782 the firm still called Hewes, Smith and Allen acquired it. In 1794 their debt to the Blair estate was so great that the place was sold to Nathaniel Allen, Hewes’ nephew, who owned it about ten years. Later it belonged to the Norcoms, William C. Warren (father of Dr. Edward Warren), Edward Wood, and the late W. O. Elliott. Present owners, Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Conger, Sr.
for the traveller concerning
HISTORIC SITES
AND
EARLY COUNTRY-SIDE HOMES
OF
EDENTON
IN NORTH CAROLINA
INC. 1722
| 1. | Hotel Joseph Hewes. | 9. | Cupola House. |
| 2. | Chowan County Court House. | 10. | Joseph Hewes House. |
| 3. | Edmund Hatch House. | 11. | James Iredell, Jr., House |
| 4. | Coffield House. | 12. | Beverly Hall. |
| 5. | East Custom House. | 13. | Pembroke Hall. |
| 6. | The Old Bond House. | 14. | Wessington House. |
| 7. | Edenton Tea Pot. | 15. | Paxton House. |
| 8. | The Homestead. | 16. | Littlejohn House. |
This map was made in 1951 and therefore does not mark some of the houses included in this booklet.
for the traveller concerningHISTORIC SITES
AND
EARLY COUNTRY-SIDE HOMES
OF
EDENTON
IN NORTH CAROLINA
INC. 1722
| 17. | Charlton House. | 25. | Greenfield. |
| 18. | Pollock House. | 26. | Sycamore Plantation. |
| 19. | Leigh House. | 27. | Mulberry Hill. |
| 20. | Booth House. | 28. | Coke Farm. |
| 21. | St. Paul's Church. | 29. | Clement Hall. |
| 22. | Iredell House. | 30. | Martinique. |
| 23. | Barker House. | 31. | Bandon Plantation. |
| 24. | Strawberry Hill. |
Note: No. 23, Barker House, moved from South Broad Street to the waterfront.
WESSINGTON HOUSE—West King Street
In 1730, the property was occupied by Sir Richard Everard, Governor of the Province. Twenty years later it belonged to Dr. Abraham Blackall. The present house, the first villa in the Albemarle, was built about 1850 by Dr. Thomas D. Warren. From 1862 to 1865 it was used as headquarters for Federal troops in this area. Present owner, Mrs. W. A. Graham.
One of the earliest owners of this property was Dr. George Allen, who bought it in 1726. In 1779 it belonged to Robert Egan, who operated the tavern Horniblow gave up. It is not known who built the present house, but there was a house here with piazzas on front and back when Samuel Butler advertised it for sale in 1799. Possibly this house is incorporated in the present house. In 1837, when Jonathan Haughton sold the place through Thomas Whedbee to James Coffield, it was the residence of Haughton's family and the family of Robert Booth, whose name is connected with another charming old house. James Coffield's daughter Margaret married Dr. Thomas Warren and was the first mistress of what is now Wessington House. Until recent years the Coffield house remained in the possession of her descendants. Present owner, Mrs. E. W. Bond.
MULBERRY HILL—CountrysideThe plantation was established by Captain James Blount in 1684 and is located on the Albemarle Sound five miles from Edenton. This distinguished four story brick house was built prior to the Revolution by James Blount, great-grandson of the first James Blount. James Blount, whose wife Anne Hall, signed the Tea Party resolutions, was a Colonel in the Chowan County Militia in 1779. The west gable of the house contains a fan window (radius five feet) made from one piece of wood. Present owners, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Wood.
CHOWAN COUNTY COURT HOUSE—East King Street
Built in 1767, probably by Gilbert Leigh, this is considered the finest Georgian court house in the South. It has been in continuous use ever since its completion. The apsidal plan of the court room, and the wainscoting and judge's chair, are reminiscent of the original Capitol in Williamsburg, burned twenty years before this was built. The beautiful assembly room upstairs is believed to be the largest panelled room in the Colonies, and one of the most beautiful. The Masonic Lodge room, which opens into it, boasts a chair used by George Washington as master of the Alexandria, Va., lodge.
THE HOMESTEAD—East Water StreetThe original house, built about the time of the Revolution, is now an ell back of a Victorian house facing the green. The records for the lot on which it stands go back to 1718, when it was granted to Richard Grills. For thirty years before the Revolution it appears to have been used chiefly for business property, and owned only by merchants. It was probably Robert Smith who built the house. Stephen Cabarrus was living in it when Josiah Collins bought it in 1786. Since then it has been owned by his descendants. Present owner, Mrs. F. B. Drane.
THE PAXTON HOUSE—West King Street
Shortly before the Revolution this property was bought by Henry Eustace McCulloch, who, as a Tory, forfeited it to the state and fled to England. The house was built in the late 1790's by Samuel Butler, a merchant. It takes its name from the family who owned it from 1851 to 1925. Present owners, Dr. and Mrs. Frank Wood.
The earliest record of a house on this site dates from 1763, when Roger Haslewood mortgaged his home and his 75-ton sloop Tryal to George Pollock of Bertie. Later Haslewood sold the place to George Brownrigg, who sold it to Charles Bondfield, Clerk of Court during the Revolution. Rebecca Bondfield, probably his sister or first wife, signed the Tea Party resolutions. The house they occupied was replaced between 1794 and 1808 by the present building, which even in dilapidation shows evidence of having been a handsome house long ago. It was built by John Gray Blount's nephew, Jacob Blount, whose daughter Elizabeth married John Wilson Littlejohn, son of William and Sarah Littlejohn. Elizabeth and her sister continued to live here long after her husband's death. In 1872, when Myles Brinkley bought the place, it was still called by her name. In more recent times it has been known by his. Present owner, Mrs. M. G. Brown.
COKE FARM—CountrysideLocated on U. S. 17 one mile north of Edenton. This house, built in 1827, has a foundation of brick, laid in arches, which supports the central structure, and two great chimneys rise from the wings on either side. Mr. Edward Wood of Hayes, a lawyer, gave it to his daughter Betty, who married Octavius Coke. It takes its name from this family. Present owner, Mrs. J. H. Haskett.
THE ELLISON HOUSE—West King Street
The deeds for this property are the most detailed deeds recorded in Edenton. In 1729 this place was bought by James Potter, a carpenter, whose wife Martha was to become James Trotter's “beloved friend.” In 1760, Robert Lenox, “practioner in physic and surgery,” sold it to Benjamin Ellison for four times as much as it had ever brought before. The original part of the present house may have been here then; the 1769 map shows a house shaped as this used to be and located on the street as this was until sixty years ago, an “elegant dwelling house,” according to the confiscation certificates. Because Ellison was a Tory, his property was confiscated in 1776 and he fled. In 1816 Edmund Hoskins sold this house and the house east of it to James Iredell, Jr., who owned it until he was elected Governor and moved to Raleigh. For seventeen years it was owned by Joseph Manning, father of Thomas C. Manning and twenty-four other children. In 1856 it was sold by Thomas H. Leary, Jr., to Edward Wood, whose descendants still own and occupy it. Present owner, Mrs. Fred Wood.
CLEMENT HALL—CountrysideOne mile north of Edenton on Route 32 is the plantation of Clement Hall, Rector of St. Paul's Church (1744-1759). His wife Frances and his daughter Anne signed the Tea Party resolutions. The present house, built by Richard Hoskins, a later owner, replaces the original house that burned. Present owners, Mr. and Mrs. W. E. Bond.
BEVERLY HALL—West King Street
The grounds consist of three lots not combined in one until 1835. Among the earlier owners of individual lots were John Cummings and his wife Charlotte, daughter of Dr. Abraham Blackall (1749-1762); Daniel Marshall, a shoemaker, who lost his property and then recovered it ten years later for 5 shillings (1762-1785); Michael Payne, very active in the Revolution (1785-1798); and John Bonner Blount, son of Joseph Blount, Jr., and wife Lydia Bonner (1801-1815). It was John B. Blount who on January 1, 1816, sold to the State Bank of North Carolina the two eastern lots with a “Brick Dwelling and Banking House erected thereon.” In 1835 Charles Hoskins, who had bought the western lot, bought the “Bank lot” also. But in 1850 he sold the western part to Dr. Thomas D. Warren, and it was not until 1880 that the owners of the Bank lot bought it back. In the meantime, the Badhams had owned the Bank lot for more than twenty years prior to 1878, when it was sold to Dr. Richard Dillard. He enlarged both the house and the yard. Since 1880 Beverly Hall has been in the possession of his descendants, Dr. Richard Dillard, Jr., and the late Judge Richard Dillard Dixon. Present owner, Mrs. Richard Dillard Dixon.
COMPLIMENTS OF
HOME FEED & FERTILIZER CO.
PHONE 66
EDENTON, N. C.
QUINN FURNITURE COMPANY
— Dealers In —
Furniture, Stoves, Household Furnishings
W. M. Wilkins - L. G. Wilkins - M. M. Perry - J. R. Byrum
Green's Fuel A Natural Gas Service Logo
WESTERN GAS SERVICE
BULK AND BOTTLED SYSTEMS
204 South Broad Street
P. O. Box 147 -:- Phone 487
EDENTON, NORTH CAROLINA
COMPLIMENTS OF
HOBBS IMPLEMENT COMPANY
“Your John Deere Dealer”
COMPLIMENTS OF
BILL PERRY'S TEXACO SERVICE
FIRESTONE PRODUCTS
Phone -:- Road Service
COMPLIMENTS OF
W. D. HOLMES WHOLESALE GROCERY, INC.
“THE RETAILER'S FRIEND”
ESTABLISHED 1901
E. L. BELCH
Buyer of All Kinds of Produce
EDENTON, NORTH CAROLINA
P. C. A. License No. 139692
Phone 770
P & Q SUPER MARKET
“HOME OF FINE FOODS”
EDENTON, NORTH CAROLINA
H. M. PHTHISIC
H. G. QUINN
PHONE 511
COMPLIMENTS OF
THE EDENTON PEANUT COMPANY
Edenton Peerless Jumbos Tea Party Brand Logo
“PREFERRED STOCK” PEANUTS SINCE 1909
| TELEPHONES: | |
| Local 34 | P. O. Box 149 |
| Long Distance 252 | Edenton, N. C. |
LANDING BRO'S.
CAROLINA SERVICE STATION
“TEXACO PRODUCTS”
North Broad Street
Phone 444
GENE PERRY, Owner
CHOWAN MOTOR COMPANY
SALES
DeSoto Automobiles Logo
SERVICE
O. B. PERRY, President
J. G. PERRY, Vice President
P. G. PERRY, Secretary and Treasurer
R. J. BOYCE
ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR
EDENTON, NORTH CAROLINA
Phone 367
EDENTON TRACTOR & IMPLEMENT COMPANY
The Ferguson System Tractor and Plow Logo
West Water Street
Edenton, N. C.
Phone: Office 461. Residence 507-J
THOMAS E. FRANCIS, President
SCOTT HARRELL, Secretary-Treasurer
STOP AT THE
TRIANGLE LUNCH ROOM
— For —
LUNCH - SANDWICHES
COLD DRINKS
COMPLIMENTS OF
ALBEMARLE PEANUT COMPANY, Inc.
EDENTON, NORTH CAROLINA
SINCLAIR PRODUCTS
GOODYEAR TIRES AND BATTERIES
Phone 158
J. C. PARKS, Owner
Preston's
LADIES’ READY-TO-WEAR
Swansdown
Gage Hats
Compliments of
POWELL'S
Texaco Station
Compliments of
Jack and Jill Shop
Edenton, N. C.
Bill's Pure Oil
701 North Broad Street
Phone 428-W
EDENTON, N. C.
JACKSON'S
Radio Service
TELEVISION SERVICE
Edenton, N. C.
WELCOME!
MALONE'S
5 & 10c STORE
EDENTON, N. C.
CHOWAN FARMERS EXCHANGE, Inc.
FARM SUPPLIES
North Broad Street
P. O. Box 445
J. WILLIS McCLENNEY, President
STEAM HEAT
AAA Carolina Motor Club Logo
TILE BATHS
EDEN MOTEL
MODERN RESTAURANT NEARBY
PHONE 680
MRS. R. F. ELLIOTT'S ANTIQUES
206 West Eden Street
Phone 637
Direct Importers From the British Isles
— Specializing In —
Furniture, Silver, Brasses, Lamps, Crystal
Dealers Welcomed
Buyer — Mrs. Kathryn H. Goodwin
EDENTON FURNITURE COMPANY
HOUSEHOLD FURNISHINGS
Phone 516
JESSE L. HARREL
JIM P. PARTIN
WELCOME!
CAMPEN'S JEWELERS
PHONE 141
COMPLIMENTS OF
TAYLOR THEATRE
Taylor Theatre, Edenton, N. C.
Eden Theatre, Edenton, N. C.
Hi-Way Drive-In Theatre, Edenton, N. C.
Gatesville Theatre, Gatesville, N. C.
OWNERS: Mrs. S. W. Taylor and W. J. P. Earnhardt, Sr.
ALBEMARLE RESTAURANT
WELCOMES YOU TO
Edenton
WELCOME TO EDENTON
HUGHES - HOLTON
Hardware
B.B.H. MOTOR COMPANY
Chevrolet Motor Company Logo
CHEVROLET SALES AND SERVICE
Plants and Plantings
In the Colonial Tradition . . .
COMPLETE GARDEN SERVICE . . .
CAMELLIAS AND AZALEAS A SPECIALTY
BUXTON WHITE SEED COMPANY
“THE LIVE SEED HOUSE”
ELIZABETH CITY, N. C.
GULF SERVICE STATION
Gulf Products
Phone 122 -:- Road Service
COMPLIMENTS OF
THE BANK OF EDENTON
ESTABLISHED 1894
Member of Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
W. H. WEATHERLY COMPANY
ELIZABETH CITY, N. C.
Wholesale Grocers -:- Mfg. Confectioners
ALBEMARLE MOTOR COMPANY
SALES
Ford Motor Company Shield Logo
SERVICE
COMPLIMENTS OF
RALPH E. PARRISH
YOUR FRIGIDAIRE DEALER
Frigidaire Made Only By General Motors Crown Logo
Classic Texaco Gas Company Star and Circle Logo
THE TEXACO COMPANY
J. H. CONGER
Wholesale Distributor
Edenton, N. C.
WELCOME!
BRIDGE TURN SERVICE STATION
Texaco Products
PHONE 39
ROAD SERVICE
PAUL L. PARTIN, OWNER
COMPLIMENTS OF
LEARY BROS. STORAGE COMPANY
MITCHENER'S PHARMACY
| SANDWICHES | LUNCHES |
| DRUGS | DRINKS |
WELCOME!
BYRUM HARDWARE CO., INC.
“Over a Quarter of a Century of Dependable Service”
EDENTON -:- SUFFOLK
COMPLIMENTS OF
EDENTON COTTON MILLS
COMPLIMENTS OF
FOREHAND JEWELERS
Edenton, North Carolina
STEAM HEAT
PRIVATE BATHS
TRIANGLE MOTOR COURT
Junction N. C. 32 and U. S. 17
Telephone 534
American Automobile Association AAA Logo
John F. White
Edenton, N. C.
Owner
COMPLIMENTS OF
ELLIOTT'S
TOTS AND TEENS
Welcomes You
To
EDENTON
Compliments of
BADHAM'S
KENNAN & COREY
PLUMBING & HEATING CO., INC.
N. C. State License 1061
EDENTON, N. C.
WILLIFORD'S FUNERAL HOME
110 West Albemarle Street
EDENTON, N. C.
TAKE HOME A PACKAGE
Spedic Peanuts Logo
PEANUTS
D & T HOBBY SHOP
CUSTOM MADE PICTURE FRAMES
50 Patterns To Choose From
GEORGE DAIL
E. R. TOLLEY
Coca-Cola Classic Logo
Is Right at Home
In Beautiful Colonial Edenton
ESTABLISHED 1886
WELCOME TO EDENTON
BELK-TYLER'S
EDENTON'S SHOPPING CENTER
CLEAN REST ROOMS
COLONIAL MOTOR COURT
One of the Finest In the South
U. S. HIGHWAY 17
¾ Mile North of Edenton, N. C.
| Beautyrest Mattresses | Radiant Heat |
| Tile Bath | Modern Dining Room |
Texaco Service
C. G. BRICKLE, Mgr.
PHONE 460
Quality Courts United Inc. Logo
MEMBER
OCEAN
HIGHWAY
ASSOCIATION
AAA Carolina Motor Club Logo
PRINTED BY THE CHOWAN HERALD, EDENTON, N. C.
1953
