er per a a tee A I at + ge RS enone — as So oe eee TE les SEI SS eS SS I a ee ES ta ate ae oe omen oo tested: tose ee etaiaaie Pe emanate aces ae Ete ea ene : me onan pa na 2 = 5 a tas Sai ieliedneedii emesis nei ame a ee oe ee Ae | a Ne NN a eR ee ge LEO LOLI ELLOS ELLE L,I CE POLS ETO wo SS ORS Op eS Se ae a he en ene — neo Se ST - = tn Re I Re Rn eR aR oe a ati = = = a ~ panna cacao ane nn = bes La cee an er Tossa Se i — - ® r - —— Ae “ - a we om acer eae aseaanpntyinaatiatnsnantanstaelpnetppaisesn antl nantaseaets tien aineninanouaene: 64 Chronicles of the Cape Fear River sented by the grand jury of Chowan County for riotous and dis- orderly conduct on the streets, with a party of rowdy compan- ions. Of such material as this did our English rulers make governors for the guardianship of the lives and fortunes of their loyal subjects in these provinces. Burrington returned to England, and there contracted a debt to a Mr. Strudwick, for which he mortgaged the Stag Park estate of ten thousand acres, and a large body of land which he owned in what was known as The Hawfields, in Orange County. Mr. Strudwick sent his son, Edmund, to look after his property, thus acquired in this country. The tradition was that this gentleman had fallen into dis- favor with his friends on account of having married an actress in the city of London, which was the cause of his coming to set- tle in America. His residence was divided between Stag Park and The Hawfields. He left a son whom the writer has only heard mentioned as Major Strudwick and as quite an influential citizen of Orange County, where he chiefly resided. He married a Miss Shepperd, of Orange, by which marriage there were several sons and daughters, of whom the late Mr. Samuel Strud- wick, of Alabama, was the eldest. This gentleman was a suc- cessful planter and acquired a large estate. He was of high intelligence, and remarkable for his fine conversational talent. Dr. Edmund Strudwick, of Hillsboro, is well known as one of the ablest physicians of the State, and is especially eminent as a surgeon. Betsy, the eldest daughter, married Mr. Paoli Ashe, and was the mother of the Hon. Thomas S. Ashe, one of the associate justices of the Supreme Court of North Carolina, and a gentleman distinguished alike for professional ability and great worth and purity of character. Stag Park was sold about the year 1817 for division among the heirs, and was purchased by Ezekiel Lane, Esq., for $10,000. This gentleman we will have occasion to mention further on. The next place, descending the Northeast, is The Neck, the residence of Gov. Samuel Ashe, who, together with his brother, Gen. John Ashe, was amongst the most prominent and influen- tial characters in the Cape Fear region, both before and after the Revolutionary War. Governor Ashe held with distinction the office of judge up to the time he was elected governor. His eldest son, John Baptista Ashe, was also elected governor, but died before he could be inducted into office. There were two other sons of Governor Ashe, Samuel and Thomas. The latter eee iY A ee eer Rit UE CON Seah CU ae RE. ate Permanent Settlement 65 grandfather of the present J udge Ashe, already spoken the former will be mentioned further on. There was youth say son named Cincinnatus, who, with some other — the Cape Fear gentry, volunteered as midshipman on a O feet ni fitted out at Wilmington, and commanded by Was ga n Allen, an Englishman. The vessel went to sea, and - ates to have been sunk by a British ship, or foundered remember cf way, as she was never more heard of. The writer tirely bli econ he was a child an old lady, a Mrs. Allen, en- thaake * » the widow of the English captain, who lived with mules of the Northeast, first one and then another, with whom : she was always a welcome guest, and treated with much Cee Neck, and within the precinct known as Rocky gent] sate — Hill, the residence of Gen. John Ashe. This inde Pa id more, probably, than any other man in the prov- ‘S arousing the spirit of resistance against what was of the Ush °ppression. He was the prime mover and leader Party which resisted the Governor in his attempt to did ee Stamp Act. And when the War of the Revolution Cut, he raised a regiment at his own expense, so The ea: his feelings enlisted in the cause. ities a of General Ashe’s services is, or ought to be, known that “ people of the Cape Fear. But it may not be can not } € died in obscurity, and the place of his interment * Pointed out. The story is that on a visit to his fami] > this oe Hill when in feeble health, he was betrayed by son at Wi] “rvant to a party of soldiers, sent out from the garri- ' mington for hig capture. ‘Taken to Wilmington, he rine Craig’s “bull-pen,” as it was called. Here his tempted en SO feeble that he was released on parole, and at- farther sea es to his family at Hillsboro. But he reached no son, in th ampson Hall, the residence of Col. John Samp- ardently Ww of the D —Maj. Samuel Ashe. He was an active politician “mocrat-Republican party, and represented for many unty of New Hanover in the Legislature. Of the ters of General Ashe, one married Colonel Alston, arolina. Gov. J oseph Alston of South Carolina was her So 2. Another married Mr. Davis; and the third, Mr. Wil- 5 ia