Battlefield tour guides from the New Bern Historical Society are preparing a manual which presents the script that will be used by guides in developing their own oral presentations for the five stations along the battlefield tour trail. Included in the manual is detailed background data about the battle, a bibliography, and related resources for further information.
The New Bern Historical Society is observing its seventy-fifth anniversary in 1998. Among those citizens instrumental in its founding were Mrs. Minnette Chapman Duffy and Miss Gertrude Carraway.
John Taylor was a self-made man. From humble beginnings and little formal education, he built an insurance agency and ran it 55 years. He was instrumental in reorganizing the New Bern Historical Society in 1952 and served as its president for ten years.
The question: who owned the land, the German Palatines or Swiss paupers. The answer: evident in the descendants for those two groups. After two centuries, they still reside in the area named New Bern by their ancestors.
This entry offered three corrections for the May 1998 issue. One was a missing paragraph from Richard Lore’s “The New Bern Historical Society: The First Seventy-five Years.” The second was two lines omitted from Mary Baker’s “John R. Taylor.” The third was the improper copying of an illustration on page five.
The first tour of historic homes in New Bern was held in 1946. Since then, the New Bern Historical Society and the New Bern Preservation Foundation have continued to improve the tour by extending it to magnificent gardens, newly renovated homes and buildings, and unique attractions.
Training of a sort for his current work started with experience as a Boy Scout volunteer guide. This insider’s perspective of the Harvey Mansion discloses its history, including its time as an apartment building. Also explored were architectural aspects such as closet space, which the author declared was once an amenity that only the wealthy could afford.
The housed, a representative of late eighteenth century life, lost a fragment of its post-Colonial origins through the roof’s remodeling. Another fragment of that time lost was the maritime commerce that made the building of the house possible for John Harvey.
The window, located on the roof of the William B. Blades House, offered an extensive look into history. It had a bird’s eye view of the Great Fire of 1922, trio of hurricanes, Tryon Palace’s construction, the Bicentennial celebration, and election of the town’s first black mayor. Nationally famous figures referenced by this poem’s fifth grade author included Babe Ruth, President Harry S. Truman, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Prior to Gertrude Carraway’s recent death, she had many endeavors in the historical field bringing her accolades and honors from many quarters. Carraway was an active member of the New Bern Historical Society, and exerted her greatest effort toward the Tryon Palace restoration.
The Union Army’s success in capturing New Bern in 1862 involved famous military men such as General Ambrose Burnside. The Confederate general presiding over the troop for this famous battle was Lawrence Branch. The latter, though perhaps lesser known in history books, was celebrated as equally important through the CSA monument in Cedar Grove Cemetery.
The success of this industry the past two centuries could be attributed to the beauty and accessibility of this region, made possible through several types of local endeavors. Societies such as New Bern Historic Society and the town’s five museums preserve its cultural significance. Businesses such as Swiss Bear, Inc. promoted revitalization of its downtown economy. Events included Tryon Palace tours and annual Historic Homes and Gardens Tour.
The profile honored Minnette Chapman Duffy, who played an important role in the preservation of New Bern’s history. It discussed her Tennessee origins, introduction to New Bern via marriage, receiving the First Annual Gold Medal, and conversion of the Stanly House into the public library. Included was a photo of a profile-style painting of Duffy, originally hung in the Attmore-Oliver House and later donated to the New Bern Historical Society.
Though it was credited as reviving the post-Civil War economy, the lumbering industry had played a role in New Bern’s fiscal development since the Revolution period. Attesting to and assuring its longtime importance to New Bern were businesses such as the Blade Lumber Company and Weyerhaeuser Company, and the establishment of the Croatan National Forest.
The church has had a broad appeal, in its denomination, the combined Christian Church and First Disciples of Christ, touted as the “largest denomination founded on American soil.” Its foundation was complete by the early nineteenth century, but it experienced a crumbling in terms of membership in the 1960s and early 1970s. By the new decade, though, it had rebuilt itself, congregation and worship space wise.