212 Chronicles of the Cape Fear Rwer

eloquent address, during which he alluded to the birth and

education of the ex-President in North Carolina, and to many

of the leading measures of his administration. Mr. Polk’s re-
sponse was feeling and patriotic. He fondly acknowledged his
attachment to North Carolina, and the gratification which it
gave him to receive from the archives, and to transmit to our
State Executive, the recorded evidence of the early disloyalty
and independent resolves of different portions of North Caro-
lina. He spoke of the inestimable value of our Union, and of
the bright destiny in store for our country, provided we shall
adhere to this glorious Union, and the teachings of the Father
of the Republic. When he had closed, General Marstellar an-
nounced to the crowd that at 12 o’clock Mr. Polk and suite
would be happy to see their fellow-citizens at the Masonic Hall.
And, accordingly, at that hour, hundreds repaired thither and
offered their salutations to our distinguished guests.”

Min.tarp Fitimorg, the thirteenth President of the United
States, after his retirement, visited Wilmington on the 12th
day of May, 1854. He had contemplated a tour of the South
in 1853, and on March 10, 1853, the citizens of the town met
and passed the following resolution:

Resolved, That a Committee of twenty-four persons, and the magis-

trate of police, be appointed to correspond with Millard Fillmore, late
President of the United States, and such of the members of his late
cabinet as may accompany him on his projected visit to the South,
and tender to him and to them the hospitalities of our town.

Under this resolution the following gentlemen were ap-
pointed: Talcott Burr, jr., John L. Holmes, William A.
Wright, William C. Bettencourt, R. H. Cowan, R. H. Beery,
George Davis, S. J. Person, James S. Green, John Walker,
John MacRae, R. Strange, jr., J. G. Wright, Gaston Meares,
E. Kidder, 8. D. Wallace, A. A. Brown, E. W. Hall, D. Dupre,
Miles Costin, J. J. Lippitt, P. M. Walker, O. P. Meares, and
J. T. Miller.

A sub-committee consisting of Messrs. James S. Green, John
L. Meares, S. J. Person, and Adam Empie, jr., were appointed
to go to Richmond and tender the hospitalities of the town to
the ex-President, who was supposed to be on a visit there at the
time, and to his suite. The death of Mrs. Fillmore caused the
postponement of Mr. Fillmore’s tour in the South that year,
but in 1854 he fulfilled his desire to make such a tour, with the

Notable Incidents 913

assurance to the public that he “earnestly wished to avoid the
pomp and pageantry of a public reception.” In the Daily Jour-
nal, issue of Friday, May 12, 1854, the files of which are in the
local library, is an account of the ex-President’s visit, as
follows:

‘“Ex-President Fillmore, of New York, and Mr. Kennedy, of
Maryland, Secretary of the Navy under his administration, ar-
rived here this morning on the Manchester cars from Columbia.
A very large number of our citizens of both parties have called
upon our distinguished visitors at their rooms at Mr. Holmes’s
hotel [now a store, southeast corner Market and Front Streets].
Owing to the illness of Mrs. Kennedy they are anxious to reach
Baltimore at the earliest possible moment, and are thus com-
pelled to leave for the North by the 2 o’clock train. In accord-
ance with the earnest wish of the people, Mr. Fillmore had de-
signed to make a short address from the balcony of the hotel at
11 o’clock, but, in consequence of the rain, his intention could
not be carried out. We are pleased to see both gentlemen appar-
ently in the enjoyment of high health and spirits. Mr, Fillmore
is certainly a gentleman of exceedingly prepossessing appearance
and manners; and bears little evidence of the cares of state
having pressed heavily upon him.

THE VISIT OF HENRY CLAY.

The happy occasion of a visit by Henry Clay to Wilmington
while he was canvassing the South during his presidential cam-
paign in 1844, is described by the Wilmington Chromele as

f :
ollows: April 3, 1844.

The Committee of Arrangement for the reception and enter-
tainment of our distinguished fellow-citizen, Henry Clay, who
in compliance with the invitation of the citizens of this town is
expected to visit us on Tuesday, the 9th of April, 1844, have
adopted the following measures:

_ [Here follows an elaborate program. |

The following gentlemen are appointed marshals of the day,

viz.: O. G. Parsley, Thomas W. Brown, G. B. Alsaps, James
Anderson, George W. Davis, James F. McRee, jr., John L,
Meares, Nathaniel Hill.

The following gentlemen compose the accompanying commit-