Chronicles of the Cape Fear Rwer

CAPE FEAR NEWSPAPERS.

If we may believe the historian Williamson, the Lords Pro-
prietors and the royal governors during their administration of
affairs were extremely hostile to the establishment of news-
papers in the colony. Doubtless they knew well the power of
an unfettered press, and dreaded its influence upon the minds
of the people. Nor did the circumstances and conditions of the
early times offer any financial inducement for establishing a
printing house. It was not until 1749 that a press was set up
in the colony. In that year James Davis erected one at New
Bern; and in 1755, some post offices being then established by
which newspapers could be distributed, Davis began the publi-
cation of a paper in that town. It was called the North Caro-
lina Gazette, and was printed on a small sheet, and issued
weekly.

The second press set up in North Carolina was at Wilming-
ton, in 1763, by Andrew Stewart, who printed a paper called
the Cape Fear Gazette and Wilmington Advertiser. That
paper was discontinued in 1767, but was succeeded the same
year by the Cape Fear Mercury, published by Adam Boyd.
Boyd was a man of versatile talents, an Englishman, but a true
friend to the colonies. He was a member of the Committee of
Safety for the town of Wilmington, in 1775, and was a promi-
nent member of the Committee of Correspondence. In 1776
he entered the ministry and was appointed a chaplain of the
Continental Line.

We have no means of knowing how long the Mercury existed,
nor have we been able to find copies of any other publications
prior to 1818. In that year, Mr. David Smith, jr., father of
the late Col. William L. Smith, formerly mayor of the city of
Wilmington, commenced the publication of the Cape Fear Re-
corder, which continued under his management until 1835,
when Mr. Archibald Maclaine Hooper succeeded him. Mr.
Hooper had fine, scholarly attainments and was fond of the
classics. He had the pen of a ready writer, and his style was
characterized by ease and elegance. He was felicitous in ex-
pression, and clothed his ideas in language chaste and beauti-
ful. He was a near relative of William Hooper, the signer of
the Declaration of Independence, and he was the father of
Johnson Hooper, in his day so well-known to fame as the author

Peace Restored 557

of Simon Suggs, Taking the Census, and other humorous works.
For a number of years the Recorder was the only paper pub-
lished in this part of the State. The next paper established
was the Wilmington Advertiser.

About the year 1832, Mr. Henry 8. Ellenwood came to Wil-
mington, and assumed the editorial chair of the Advertiser.
He was an educated gentleman, and fitted for the duties of a
journalist. He courted the muses with considerable success,
and much of his work gave ample evidence of wit and fancy
and belles-lettres culture. His connection with the paper was,
however, very brief, as he died suddenly a short time after
taking charge. After his death the paper was purchased by
Mr. Joshua Cochrane, of Fayetteville, and conducted by him
until the summer of 1836, when he died and Mr. F. C. Hill
became the editor and proprietor, and continued its publication
until about the year 1842, when it ceased to exist.

Contemporary with the Advertiser was the People’s Press,
a paper published by P. W. Fanning and Thomas Loring, the
latter being the editor-in-chief, which position he held for some
time, when he disposed of his interest and purchased the Stand-
ard, the organ of the Democratic party of the State, issued at
Raleigh, and he removed to that city. There he brought to the
discharge of his duties great energy, perseverence, marked
ability, and a thorough familiarity with political history. He
was a man of sanguine temperament and a warm partisan, and
in the excitement of controversy often indulged in expression
towards his political opponents, which, in his calmer moments,
his judgment condemned. He wielded at one time a political
influence second to but few men in the State, and was an ac-
knowledged leader of his party; but, differing from them in
1842 in regard to their course towards the banks of the State, he
retired from the position he held rather than continue to hold
it at the sacrifice of his independence. Returning to Wilming-
ton, he established the Commercial, which he conducted for a
number of years, until failing health compelled him to discon-
tinue it.

The Wilmington Chronicle was established about the year
1838, by Asa A. Brown. It was an exponent of the principles
of the Whig party, and advanced them with great zeal and
ability. Mr. Brown was a capable editor, a good writer, and a
man of more than ordinary ability. In 1851, he disposed of
the paper to Talcott Burr, jr., who changed its name to the
Wilmington Herald.