i}
aa
th |

}
tie
earth

|
i
Ag
iF |
i}

WT Ie

ti t

;

‘| 5
a

] )

nt

;

+ }

i

{

'

ae

~ Ta

6 en

eo eee

Pa ee 20 a ee
aS

eos

snore peered -
<d

a - " — - ~
Dl te Ct aS ee ee cl eee: eewtie ~ - - —- - - :
: = : = a a a NN ;

Pe SPT eo ee eT I

 

142 Chronicles of the Cape Fear River

not only among the citizens of Raleigh, but among the members of

The precise amount is not at present
ascertained; but we trust it will] be such as will show the liberality

both houses of the Legislature.

of the subscribers, considering the hardness of the times.

Oruer Earty Fires.

In the preface to his History of New Hanover County, pub-

lished in 1909, Col. Alfred Moore Waddell said:

“What is called the Lower Cape Fear region of North Caro-

lina has long been recognized by the writers of our history as
the most interesting and, as one of them designated it, ‘the most
romantic’ section of our State. Yet, up to this time, although

partial sketches, historical and biographical, have appeared, no
attempt at a regular history of it has been published, and now

such a history cannot be written because of the destruction, by
fire and other agencies, of a large part of the material requisite
for the purpose. There was, perhaps, no part of the country
where so many planters’ residences with all their contents were
lost by fire as on the Cape Fear and its tributaries, and it is well
known among the descendants of those planters, some of whom
were members of the learned professions, that by these fires

many manuscripts, family records, and documents of various
kinds that would have been invaluable as material for the prep-
aration of a local history, were lost. Besides these fires on the
plantations, the town of Wilmington was, at an early period, as
well as several times afterwards, nearly destroyed in the
way, with the same results. .

a one of the ancient official records of the town of Bruns-
wick were preserved, and a considerable part of the county
records was destroyed by Northern soldiers when the town of
Smithville was captured by them in 1865. Some of the town

same

records of Wilmington of an early period have also disap-

Many years ago, I searched in vain the ruins of the first settle-
ment of Charlestown, at Town Creek, for records of that date
but my search was rewarded later by the discovery in the ruins
of a house, said to have been the residence of Nathaniel Rice
of the book of entries and clearances of the port of Brunswick

in a partly mutilated condition. I also searched at Lilliput
among the ruins of Eleazar Allen’s residence, without result ;

also, the ruins of Governor Tryon’s Castle Tryon, or palace, at
Orton, which revealed a piece of pottery stamped “W. Dry,

Early Years 143

Cape Fear, 1765,” and a large bunch of housekeeper’s keys
upon an iron ring and hook which fitted into a leather belt with
a spring by which a key could be withdrawn and replaced.
Other relics of less importance were discovered, but no papers.
All of these ruins, as well as the ruins of St. Philip’s Church,
showed the devastation of fire in charred woodwork and melted
colored glass.

As early as 1771, Wilmington suffered from a terrible con-
flagration, and an act of Assembly was passed to regulate the
affairs of the town, in view of possible fires. In the account

just given of the destruction wrought in 1819, it is mentioned

that, in the previous twenty years, there had been several de-
structive conflagrations.

Mr. J. T. James says: “Wilmington, in common with many
other of her sister towns and cities, has suffered often and seri-
ously from the terrible scourge of fire; so much so, indeed, that
these visitations have, from time to time, seriously retarded its
growth. Scarcely would the citizens recover from the effects
of one blow, ere they would be called upon to suffer again. The
old chronicles tell us that in November, 1798, a most destructive
fire occurred. On July 22, 1810, three stores and five houses,
situated near what is now the corner of Market and Second
Streets, but then known as Mud Market, were consumed by fire
caused by lightning. In 1819, there was a most terrible confla-
gration, and the four squares bounded by Water, Princess, Sec-
ond, and Dock Streets were destroyed. In 1827, the square
south of the site of the present market house was again burned.
In 1840 the square north of the market was consumed for the
second time, together with the courthouse, which then stood at
the intersection of Front and Market Streets. In 1843 occurred
one of the most serious conflagrations of any ever experienced.
On April 30 of that year a fire originated in the alley just north
of the Cape Fear Bank building and swept with rapid strides
to the north. All exertions to check it were in vain, and it was
not until everything west of Front Street and north of the bank
alley and portions of every square east of the same street and
bordering upon it and north of Chestnut were consumed, that
its fiery course could be stopped. This fire also destroyed the
workshops and buildings of the Wilmington and Weldon Rail-
road Company, and the Methodist Episcopal Church, then situ-
ated, as now, upon the corner of Front and Walnut Streets.
Three years afterwards, in 1846, the square next south of the

 

 

nen

a ics ise nit asin Oeste tenant ina

*
Vsti tel tennant initinene edn titan detente