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590 Chronicles of the Cape Fear River

An account of the Boys’ Brigade has been prepared by Rev.
Dr. Wells, as follows:

‘In connection with the work done by the First Presbyterian
Church at Immanuel Church, in the southern part of the city,
there has been established one of the most useful institutions
in Wilmington. This is the Boys’ Brigade, now quartered at
the southeast corner of Second and Church Streets. |

“On the evening of February 14, 1896, Col. Walker Taylor,
then the commander of the Second Regiment of North Carolina
State Troops, and an active worker in the Immanuel Presby-
terian Sunday-school, met with fifteen boys and organized the
first company of the Boys’ Brigade in the South. In the char-
ter granted, Col. Walker Taylor was commissioned as captain,
E. P. Dudley as first lieutenant, and J. J. Loughlin as second
lieutenant of the new company. While growing out of Imman-
uel Church and connected with it, the work in its scope and in-

fluence has been largely undenominational. Every member has.

been required to attend a Sunday-school. The brigade has been
a blessing to every church in our city, and in return has received
the cordial support and sympathy of them all.

“For eight years the brigade continued to meet in one of the
rooms connected with Immanuel Church. Then in 1904 a splen-
did armory for the organization was erected by Mrs. Henry M.
Flagler as a memorial to her father, Capt. William Rand Kenan,
an elder in the First Presbyterian Church, who had been a sym-
pathetic friend and wise counselor of the organization. The
building is of concrete, colored to represent gray sandstone. The
style is Norman, and the building, sixty by one hundred feet in
size and four stories in height, is a very massive and handsome
structure. It is complete in every detail, with large gymnasium,
ample dressing-rooms and bathrooms, library and reception
rooms, offices, large auditorium, dining-room, kitchen and pan-
try, bowling alleys, and rooms for guns and equipment. The
armory was completed in 1905, and was dedicated to the glory
of God and opened for the use of the organization on June 22
of that year. On that occasion the principal address was deliv-
ered by Hon. R. B. Glenn, then governor of North Carolina.

“A complete and useful library of two thousand volumes was
shortly after presented to the brigade by Mr. James Sprunt;
and this, with an ample supply of current papers and maga-
zines, has served to make the library of the brigade an attractive
and helpful feature of the work.

Peace Restored 591

“In September, 1905, a second company, B, was organized,
and in 1911 a third company, C. These companies, while en-
joying the training and privileges of the organization, are at the
same time ‘feeders’ from which members pass into the senior
company. The brigade now numbers one hundred and thirty
members. Mr. Charles Dushan is the efficient secretary and
physical director.

“Bible classes, weekly addresses by prominent business and
professional men, an ‘annual ten-day encampment, athletic
games and contests of all kinds, and a helpful and instructive
winter lyceum course are all employed for’ the instruction and

amusement of the members.
“A notable constructive work has been done by the brigade

in the community. The little room and the wooden guns have
developed into the magnificent building and the complete equip-
ment. The little working boys have developed into some of our
city’s most valued business leaders and professional men. The
whole tone of that part of the city has been lifted, and the
community is vastly better for the work done there. And this
has been the work of one man—Col. Walker Taylor. The friend
and trusted helper of the boys when they were lads, he has con-
tinued to be their adviser and confidential friend in their moral,
religious, civic, and business life. He has made weekly talks
that have been of the greatest influence in moulding their char-
acters. He has taught them in his Sunday-school class with
vigor and power. He has visited them in their homes and places
of business. His office door has always been open for them to
tell him their troubles or joys or to seek his advice upon their
problems. And all the while he has been stamping the influence
of his strong Christian character upon their plastic lives. 5s He
has builded well, not only in concrete but also in character.

PUBLIC BUILDINGS IN WILMINGTON.
By W. B. McKoy.

was situated at the intersection of Market and Front Streets.
It was built by private contribution, and was ealled the Town
House. Under the act incorporating the town, 17 39, this build-
ing became the county courthouse. I have been informed that
it was a brick building, with an open area below paved with