678 Chronicles of the Cape Fear Rwer

THE RIVER COUNTIES.

The sixteen counties from Onslow to Richmond constitute
what has long been known as the Cape Fear country. From
their first settlement the inhabitants of these counties have been
allied in business and social interests, and their association has
been so close that their history is largely inter-related.

The Upper Cape Fear having been settled principally by
Highland Scotsmen, whose descendants still remain near where
their forefathers found a home, the predominating strain in
that region is Scotch. Lower down, the settlers were chiefly
English and Scotch-Irish.

Since the Revolution there have been no considerable acces-
sions from abroad, and the development has been through in-
ternal growth, which was very slow during those decades when
so many North Carolinians were migrating to the new lands of
the South and West. But on the cessation of that migration
population began to thicken, and industries have been diversi-
fied to the great advantage of the entire region. Indeed, the
development of all the counties of the Cape Fear country has
been most gratifying, and, while every township has reason to
rejoice in its social and material improvement, the uplift of the
region has had a potent influence on the centres of trade. Espe-
cially has Wilmington felt the beneficial effects in the enlarge-
ment of its business and the strengthening of its financial re-
sources, and in its increasing importance as an entrepot of
foreign and domestic commerce. While it is beyond the com-
pass of this volume to describe the historical events of the entire
region, whose history is so full of interest and such a source of
pride to the inhabitants, yet the writer can not omit some slight
mention of the river counties, Cumberland, Bladen, and Bruns-
wick. New Hanover was laid off from Bath in 1729, and five
years later Bladen was laid off, extending indefinitely to the
west and reaching the Virginia line to the north. Bladen was
named for one of the members of the Board of Trade, which
had charge of the colonies, who was personally interested in
North Carolina, as he owned lands in Albemarle and his son-
in-law, Colonel Rice, had made his home on the Cape Fear.
Bladen, so vast in extent, in time became the mother of coun-

ties. Its western and northern territory, clear to the Virginia
line, was, in 1749, erected into a county called Anson. Then,

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Peace Restored 679

five years later, Cumberland County was likewise cut off from
Bladen. After the Revolution another part was taken off and
called Robeson, in honor of one of Bladen’s heroes. Finally, in
1808, a slice of Bladen, added to a part of Brunswick, became
Columbus.

Cumberland was for many years a very large county, but in
1784 Moore County was cut off from it, and in 1855 Harnett;
and, more recently, Hoke was formed from parts of Cumber-
land and Robeson.

While Bladen and Cumberland were so extensive they played
a most important part in the stirring events that mark the his-
tory of the Cape Fear. During the Revolution the inhabitants
were much divided, many adhering to the government under
which they had lived and to which they felt that their allegiance
was due. But in both counties there were ardent Whigs, and
civil war at times raged, with deplorable consequences. No
Whigs were more determined than those of Bladen and Cumber-
land, and battles were fought in each county, some account be-
ing given elsewhere of the Battle of Elizabethtown.

After the Revolution, Fayetteville, being at the head of navi-
gation, became the market for western products and the dis-
tributing point for imported goods, needed even beyond the
mountains. Its importance was so fully recognized that the
Legislature held sessions there, and it was regarded as the natu-
ral point for the State capital. Although improperly deprived
of this advantage, Fayetteville continued to flourish, becoming
in many respects the most important center in the State. There
was to be found one of the most elegant social circles in the
State, and her citizens were foremost in enterprises. In 1818
they started the steamer Henrietta to run on regular schedule

between Wilmington and Fayetteville, and they led in the erec-
tion of mills to make paper and cotton goods.

From the beginning Cumberland could boast of many fami-
lies of superior intelligence, virtue, and refinement, and the pas-
sage of time has only added to its high reputation in this regard.
The men of Cumberland were ever the equals of the best in the
State—the Hays, Rowans, Groves, Eccleses, Mallets, Donald-
sons, Winslows, McAllisters, McQueens, Campbells, Murchi-
sons, Smiths, McNeills, McCormicks, McDearmids, Bethunes,
Cochrans, Dobbins, Henrys, MacRaes, Camerons, Rays, Hales,
Steeles, Shepherds, Stranges, Shaws, McLaughlins, Robinsons,
Tillinghasts, Halls, Worths, Haighs, Huskes, Kyles, Cooks,