een

x nn — =

Se ee omen grey ene aneooe a eae a es ee

ee ee ee

ae

poem

ee ee a RR aR ENS ME ema iN etn ete AeNtatine ati Settee Stee NN te: :
Z :

es
, -
. |
|
: a i]
{ a |
} iim |
i
mb it
aoe! ie
9 H
; ii
4 1
5 a
ll
Hi
“tit ;
Lad
mn |
ff im}
‘i
4 ie
a f
4 i
; i
at ;
mt
;
au
ae
4 ‘
te
|

 

 

WILMINGTON TONNAGE ENTERED AND CLEARED.

American vessels

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

nt MOE SF pcb ceunsg is taesecies sss 12,378
Ce WE 5. SS 3,827
16,205 Entered..... 16,205
ie: aes |. .....::..... 25,600
Pee TO .c As 3.929
29,529 Cleared...... 29,529
VIRGINIA TONNAGE ENTERED.
Petersburg, American vessels ............. 3,693
Richmond, American vessels RT ee eS
>. | ee 1,197
7,712 7,712
Norfolk, American vessels ............ 4,357
Mine, Oo... = soe 10,000
14,357 14,357
VIRGINIA TONNAGE CLEARED.
Petersburg, American vessels ............ 2,748
Richmond, American vessels ............. 13,240
FPOCUsgE 4G 2555233 4,340
20,328 20,328
Norfolk, American vessels ....... eee 12,771
pare Seis 3S 12,222
24,993 24,993

Early Years 159

WILMINGTON IN THE FORTIES.

JoHN MacLavurRiIn, a prominent merchant and a Presby-
terian elder, who died in the year 1907, was one of the most
remarkable men of our community in his day and generation.
Proud of his Scottish lineage, he possessed those sterling traits
of heart and mind which likewise adorned the lives of many
of his fellow-countrymen in the Cape Fear region—‘“absolute
dependableness in all thinking and in all dealing, a lively sense
of justice, a cultivated taste, critical judgment, with a splendid
capacity for moral indignation.” He was an honor to his city

and Commonwealth.
He was a friend and admirer of Colonel Burr, who was

some twelve years his senior, and he wrote for the local news-
papers some charming reminiscences of Wilmington in the

forties over the pen name “Senex, Jr.,” parts of which I have
selected for more permanent record.

ai
After little observation, one will note in the topography of

Wilmington that Fifth Street, running parallel to the Cape Fear

River, is the backbone of a ridge upon which the city is built.
The plateau which lies upon the summit of this ridge is variable
in width, including oftentimes Fourth and even Third Streets
on the one side and Sixth and Seventh Streets on the other, in
somes cases with the level ground almost overhanging the river,
as between Ann and Church Streets. We speak of the natural
lay of the land as the topography—before the many changes that
within the past fifty years have been made by grading and filling
the streets. The average height of the ridge is fifty feet above
tidewater, and the highest point, supposed to be at or near the
intersection of Seventh and Red Cross Streets, perhaps ten feet
higher. The descent towards the river is seamed by several
branches, or runs, taking their rise sometimes as far back as
Third Street and emptying into the river a few hundred yards
apart. Within the limits of “Wilmington of the Olden Time”
these were the streams rising between Third and Fourth Streets
and emptying at the foot of Mulberry: Jacob’s Run, rising at
Fourth Street near Princess and pursuing a southwest course
until the river receives its waters at Dock Street; and Tanyard
Branch, rising at Third Street between Orange and Ann Streets
and running nearly due west, emptying into the Cape Fear
River at a point between the same streets. Boiling Springs