News | New Bern Historical Society

This Month in New Bern History – January 2021

Posted by Mickey

· February 1, 2021

by Claudia Houston, Historian, New Bern Historical Society

During the 1890’s in New Bern there was a large middle class of African American businesspeople who needed not only goods but services and institutions that would meet their specific needs. One such institution began with great promise, but by January of 1915 had to close its doors. Herein lies the tale of the Mutual Aid Bank.

New Bern’s Mutual Aid Bank was the first African American incorporated banking institution in North Carolina. Its incorporation date was March 6, 1896 and two years later the bank opened at what was then 117 Broad Street (now the 700 block of Broad Street). This was greatly heralded by the Black community as many had lost money during the days of the Freedmen Savings Bank run by the federal government, leaving a great distrust of white owned banks due to their experience. The Mutual Aid Bank offered normal banking services, mortgage lending and added insurance policies for Black businesses as they were excluded from white insurance organizations.

J.T. Barber, Mutual Aid Bank board member, teacher and principal

The various officers of the bank as well as the board of directors included men who were upwardly mobile, educated and committed to improving lives in the Black community. Christopher C. Roach was the bank president, and over time directors included Merritt Whitley, a funeral home director for the African American community and appointed Craven County Undertaker; JT Barber, noted teacher and principal; and William Lassiter, physician. The officers of the bank were C.C Roach, President, H.W. Thompson, Vice President and, J.H. Fisher, Cashier.

In 1907 an incident occurred which had a monumental effect on the future of the bank. A Baltimore distilling company shipped whiskey to parties living in the city of New Bern and sent drafts with bills of lading attached to the Mutual Aid Bank for collection. A suit was brought by this company to recover the balance of the money which a member of the bank had collected but not remitted to the plaintiff. Mr. Dowdy, an employee of the bank, was charged with selling liquor without a license, found guilty and sentenced to prison. The Mutual Aid Bank was ordered to compensate the Baltimore company in the amount of $158.

During a stockholder meeting in 1914 the bank showed assets of over $119,000. Despite this positive posture, the bank never recovered from the lawsuit and did not have sufficient assets to continue running.

On January 12, 1915 Sheriff Lane closed the doors of the Mutual Aid Bank due to failure to pay the judgment against them by the Baltimore distilling company. There was more to come. In February of 1915, after the closing of the bank, the cashier, John H. Fisher was charged with embezzlement. As cashier he had full charge of the bank funds and it was noted at trial, he did with them what he pleased. On June 8, 1915 he was convicted of embezzlement of over $1500, was sentenced to jail for a period of a year and was ordered to repay this amount.

By this time, Blacks were fully disenfranchised due to Jim Crow laws. They were not allowed to vote and no longer could run for office; many migrated north for more lucrative jobs and a better environment. The Mutual Aid Bank began with much promise and hope for a new future for the Black community. But in the end, there were not enough investors, funds were mismanaged and misappropriated, and the bank had to shut its doors.

Categories : Announcements, This Month in NB History

Gateway to History

Posted by Mickey

· January 7, 2021

The Beauty of Downtown Fences & Gates
by Curator Jim Hodges

Isaac Taylor House, 228 Craven St.

Even as a young boy while walking about the streets of downtown New Bern, I was always impressed by the array of metal fences and gates. Although many years have slipped by, my fascination has never waned. Recently, I delved into the matter and documented the variety of these man-made architectural works.

Edward R. Stanly House, 502 Pollock St.

The old adage “good fences make good neighbors“ is certainly open to discussion. My opinion is that these properties, including several churches, installed the fences as an elegant statement of defining the property perimeters. Considering the fact that the height of the fences is in the range of three to four feet, they do not present a formidable deterrent to trespassers other than roaming livestock back in the day. Cedar Grove Cemetery dating to 1798 had many metal fences and gates around family plots. These were placed not only out of respect for their departed loved ones, but also for family pride. Sadly, vandalism, theft, and time have taken a significant toll and very few remain intact.

Of note are the fences around Christ Episcopal Church, First Presbyterian Church, and First Baptist Church. The manufacturers’ emblems are normally affixed to the gates and none were observed on the fences. Christ Episcopal and First Presbyterian fences are attributed to Stewart Iron Works of Cincinnati, Ohio and the fence around First Baptist was made by Champion Iron Fence Company of Kenton, Ohio. Although Champion Iron Fence Company was only in business from 1876 to circa 1910, that is not the case for the Stewart Iron Work.

First Baptist Church, 239 Middle St.

First Presbyterian Church, 412 New St.

The story behind the success of Stewart Iron Works is especially interesting. In 1862, the business was started by Richard Clayborne Stewart, Sr. as the Stewart Iron Fence Company in Covington, Kentucky. By the advent of the 20th century, Stewart Iron was recognized as the largest ornamental iron furniture manufacturer in the United States and the largest ornamental fence company in the world. With astute management, the business incorporated in 1902 into three separate entities: The Stewart Structural and Iron Bridge Company, The Stewart Iron Fence Company, and The Stewart Jail Works. The Jail Works business provided jail cells for Alcatraz, Sing-Sing, Leavenworth and many prisons across the country.

JRB Carraway House, 207 Broad St.

Prior to WWI, Stewart Iron merged with US Motor Trucks and manufactured the heavy duty trucks used by the US Army during the war. During WWII, Stewart Iron participated and produced portable Bailey bridges and tank armor. With the creation of the interstate highway system in the 1950s and 1960s, Stewart was awarded the contract for chain link fencing to line the highways coast to coast.

At the close of the 20th century, Stewart Iron Works had weathered the ups and downs of business cycles and was prospering. In 2005, it was purchased by a group of investors and, in 2019, was acquired by the HGC Group of Companies. Although under an umbrella, Stewart Iron Works still operates under its original name at its headquarters in Covington, Kentucky and is a recognized leader in the wrought iron and ornamental metal industry.

Next time when you are downtown and see one of these hundred-plus-year-old fences and gates, appreciate not only the historical significance they contribute to our town, but also the American companies dedicated to outstanding quality and craftsmanship that built them.

Cedar Grove Cemetery

Joseph L. Rhem House, 701 Broad St.

Wade Meadows House, 221 East Front St.

Register of Deeds Office, 226 Pollock St.

John R. Justice House, 221 East Front St.

Categories : Announcements

This Month in New Bern History – December 2020

Posted by NBHS OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR

· November 30, 2020

by Claudia Houston, Historian, New Bern Historical Society

This month marks the death 98 years ago of a distinguished New Bern native for whom a liberty ship was named. This is the story of diplomat, author, and legal scholar Hannis Taylor.

After the Union occupation of New Bern during March 1862, many local families fled the city and found themselves transplanted to other parts of the state or country. Richard Nixon Taylor, a local merchant, his wife, Susan Stevenson, and six children were one such family.

Hannis Taylor, the couples’ oldest son, was precocious and began school at the age of four. He attended New Bern Academy until his family left the city due to the Civil War. They eventually resided in Raleigh where Hannis entered the University of North Carolina in 1867. Mr. Taylor’s store failed, and financial constraints forced Hannis to withdraw nine months later. The family returned to New Bern where Hannis served as a law clerk for John N. Washington. However, during 1869 a large outbreak of tuberculosis claimed the life of his five-year-old sister Hannah as well as that of John Washington. His mother contracted tuberculosis and was advised to move to a drier climate. The Taylor family thus moved to Port Clear, Alabama where Mr. Taylor began work at a turpentine factory. With the loss of his job and his wife’s death, he was unable to function and young Hannis, at age 20, became the head of the household.

Hannis moved his father and siblings to Mobile Alabama. He worked for a local law firm and his modest salary enabled him to rent a house for all. Hannis had been raised as a Baptist in New Bern, but he began attending services at St. Mary’s Catholic Church where he was introduced to 19-year-old Leonora LeBaron who he wed in 1878.

Hannis was admitted to the bar and practiced law in Mobile from 1870-1892. He was admitted to practice at both the Alabama Supreme Court and the US Supreme Court. He became the state solicitor for Baldwin County, Alabama, and rewrote the Mobile city charter, helping to keep the city from being liable for Reconstruction debts. A prominent legal and political activist, he was named President of the Alabama State Bar, a position he held for several terms.

Taylor’s scholarship and political activity led to his appointment by President Grover Cleveland as Minister to Spain from 1893-1897. He had a keen knowledge of constitutional and international law; between 1897-1901 he completed his treatise on the Origin and Growth of the English, a study of the development of the English constitutional system and its growth to the Federal Republic of the U.S. This work was adopted by many U.S. and European universities and law schools as a text or reference book, earning Taylor a reputation in international scholarship circles. In recognition of his impressive work, he was granted the honorary degree of LLD from the University of Edinburgh, Dublin University and eight American universities.

Hannis ran unsuccessfully for the US House of Representatives from Alabama in 1898 and 1900. He then moved his family to Washington DC. where he spent five years as an attorney and professor of law at Georgetown University, served as special adviser to the Spanish Treaty Claims Commission, and as American counsel to the Alaskan Boundary Tribunal. A prodigious author, he published many scholarly articles for the North American Review and other prestigious journals.

On December 16, 1922 at the age of 71, Hannis Taylor died of Bright’s disease and was buried at Fort Lincoln Cemetery in Maryland. In 1943 a liberty ship was commissioned the SS Hannis Taylor in his honor.

Categories : Newsletter, This Month in NB History

This Month in New Bern History – November 2020

Posted by NBHS OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR

· October 23, 2020

by Claudia Houston, Historian, New Bern Historical Society

Winslow Homer “Thanksgiving Day in the Army – After Dinner: The Wish-Bone” (from Harper's Weekly, Vol. VIII), courtesy Metropolitan Museum of Art website

During November our thoughts often turn to family, food and home in preparation for Thanksgiving. Although we deeply associate the story of the Pilgrims’ first Thanksgiving with this celebration, Thanksgiving has strong roots in the Civil War.

Through the years, many of our leaders have asked that a day be set aside to express our thankfulness. The Continental Congress during the Revolutionary War asked that days be dedicated to give thanks, and in 1789 George Washington issued a proclamation of thanks during the first year of his presidency. Presidents John Adams and James Madison issued proclamations as well.

During the Civil War, the Thanksgiving holiday was a cultural tradition celebrated locally by communities in different regions of the United States. Both the Union and the Confederate Armies held periodic and separate days of thanksgiving in response to military victories. Confederate President Jefferson Davis called for a “day of fasting, humiliation and prayer” to take place on November 15, 1861. Sarah Josepha Hale, editor of a popular women’s magazine, lobbied President Abraham Lincoln to establish a national day of Thanksgiving as an attempt to unify a nation that was strongly divided along many lines. On October 3, 1863 Lincoln issued a Thanksgiving Day Proclamation that was written by Secretary of State William Seward which offered a hopeful message. On November 26, 1863, President Lincoln held the first official Thanksgiving Day celebration.

How did the troops celebrate during the war? For many southerners, this day was a day like all the rest. Many refused to celebrate as they viewed Thanksgiving as a New England abolitionist holiday. For the Union troops the response was a bit different. Many remembered past Thanksgivings surrounded by family and loved ones.

In 1862, Edward J. Bartlett of Concord, Massachusetts, age 19, enlisted in the 44th Massachusetts Infantry, Co F and was stationed at New Bern. He wrote letters home in 1862 describing his first Thanksgiving as a soldier. There were elaborate preparations, decorations, and food:

“First we had oysters then turkey and chicken pie then plum pudding then apple raisin & coffee with plenty of good soft bread & butter. After we had all eaten a little too much, people usualy [sic] do on Thanksgiving days and we who had lived so long on hard tack did our best[,] we had a fine sing.” (Massachusetts Historical Society)

The next year he wrote on 15 November 1863 from Nashville, Tennessee, stating:

“Our company Thanksgiving in the barracks last year is a day that I can never forget. Six of those boys are now dead. Poor Hopkinson, the president, in his address, [said] ‘that he hoped the next year would see us all at our own family tables.’ He died two months after.”

Bartlett spent Thanksgiving 1864 stationed at Point Lookout, Maryland, guarding Confederate prisoners-of-war. He wrote to his sister Martha about his homesickness on the evening before the holiday:

“Thanksgiving eve. I sat over the fire, thinking of what you were doing at home, and what I had done on all the Thanksgiving eve’s, that I could remember.”

In the darkest days of our history, with thousands of men dying on battlefields far from home, during wartime or peace, Americans still paused and give thanks for what we have. May we honor them by continuing to do so.

Happy Thanksgiving from the New Bern Historical Society family!

Winslow Homer “Thanksgiving in Camp” (from Harper's Weekly, Vol. VII), courtesy Metropolitan Museum of Art website

Categories : Newsletter, This Month in NB History

This Month in New Bern History – October 2020

Posted by Mickey

· October 21, 2020

by Claudia Houston, Historian, New Bern Historical Society

Appleton Oaksmith, one of the most eccentric characters in New Bern history, died this month in 1887. While he did not reside in New Bern, he was known here primarily due to his purchase and reconstruction of the Simpson house at 226 East Front Street. Later known as the Simpson-Oaksmith-Patterson House, this unique house has been the focus of more stories and traditional history than any other structure in New Bern.

Per the National Register of Historic Places, in 1810, Samuel Simpson purchased the original portion of the house which stood at the southeast corner of Pollock and East Front Streets. In 1843 a huge fire destroyed a good portion of the homes on Pollock Street and it appears that Simpson’s federal style brick house was rebuilt between 1843-1846. (Sandbeck, Peter, The Historic Architecture of New Bern and Craven County, NC Architecture pgs.108-109, Tryon Palace Commission 1988). The house remained in the Simpson family until 1860 when it changed hands. During the Civil War, the house served as a Provost Marshal’s office and jail. Appleton and Augusta Oaksmith purchased the home sometime in 1874 and after 1884 began operating the Vance Academy, a boarding and day school, in the house.

Advertisement for the Vance Academy in the Simpson-Oaksmith House after house was renovated (NBHS files)

Between 1884 and 1887, Appleton Oaksmith began remodeling this house in a perplexing – if not bizarre – style. In 1888 George Nowitzky visited New Bern and described the house in this manner:

“The Greatest Architectural Curiosity in the South. It is formed by one of New Bern’s oldest brick buildings (one has done duty as a jail), transformed into such a remarkable combination and blending of dormers, balconies, pinnacles, fantastic-looking tower, railings, human, griffin and dog heads as to make it a veritable architectural puzzle. No one knows what it was intended for, and the owner, apparently believing it is nobody’s business, has failed to enlighten them.”
(Green, John III, A New Bern Album, The Tryon Palace Commission, 1985 pg. 137)

The house was referred to by many as “Blackbeard’s House” as there were rumors of a secret tunnel allowing the pirate to smuggle treasure. Blackbeard died long before the house was built, but the rumors persisted. Many speculated that Appleton Oaksmith used the secret tunnel for smuggling purposes. Some said that the house was fashioned after Morro Castle in Havana, but why, no one knew.

The storied house reflected Oaksmith’s unconventional character. Appleton Oaksmith was an ambitious man, with vision, boldness and daring -- yet his ethics were questionable. He was a sea captain, writer, munitions supplier, soldier of fortune, slave trader, politician, blockade runner, entrepreneur, railroad speculator, and some said, a pirate.

Oaksmith was born in Portland, Maine in 1827 to literary and accomplished parents. Armed with fluency in four languages and a passion for arts and science, at the age of 16 Oaksmith set sail for China. Over the next few years he ventured to South America, the Caribbean and Africa while trading goods. He heavily financed military expeditions in Cuba and Nicaragua from 1855-1856 and lost a great deal of money. He dabbled in the magazine business, railroad speculation, paper mill ownership, and even Tammany Hall politics.

In 1861, Oaksmith was arrested, imprisoned, and convicted of slave trading. He was jailed in Boston but escaped from prison in 1862 with the help of friends who bribed the guards. He hid in his grandmother’s home in Maine for a year where he fell in love with his cousin, Augusta Mason. This was problematic as he was married since 1855 to Isotta Rebecchini, an Italian musician who bore him four children.

Oaksmith sailed to England where he spent years in exile. Despite his fugitive status, he became a sea captain and blockade runner for the Confederacy, sailing from England to Texas. He was almost captured in 1864 when his ship was boarded by the Union Navy, but he managed to escape and return to England.

Oaksmith’s personal life was as tumultuous as his checkered career. He filed for and obtained a divorce from his wife Isotta in 1866 without her knowledge. He then coerced her into giving up custody of their four children, vowing she would never see them again if she did not sign papers. Isotta reluctantly complied, but Appleton still allowed no contact with the children. He then married his cousin Augusta in Canada in 1867, with whom he had an additional eight children.

On a trip back to the US, Oaksmith landed in Beaufort, NC to make repairs to his ship. While there, he attended an auction and successfully bid $11.25 for property west of Morehead City, known as Becton Place. Oaksmith sailed back to England but finally in 1873 returned with his wife and children to make Carteret County their home. He hired locals to reconstruct a home from a building that had been a Union Army barracks. He purchased another 300 prime acres which includes nearly all of present-day Atlantic Beach and a portion of Pine Knoll Shores. He put all the property in the name of his wife and her sister, calling his vast estate Hollywood.

With the stigma of the slave-trading affair hanging over him, Oaksmith resolved to clear his name. Using an alias, he met with President Ulysses Grant. Oral history has it that after a short meeting, Grant was swayed to sign the pardon. When the President asked why his visitor pleaded so earnestly for this man, the audacious Oaksmith smugly replied, "Because I am Appleton Oaksmith."

In 1874 Oaksmith ran for the state House of Representatives from Carteret County which he won, serving one term. While in office, the visionary Oaksmith hatched many development plans for the county. He recommended dredging Beaufort Harbor and the Neuse River. He tried to acquire Fort Macon to serve as a resort hotel but when that failed, he then planned to develop the Atlantic Beach area into a seaside resort. Oaksmith was not able to obtain backing for his ambitious plans.

Business failures, sickness, and personal tragedy mark Oaksmith’s last years. On July 4, 1879 he set sail for Beaufort on an outing in the family boat with six of his children, four girls and two boys ranging in age from 5-21. The boat capsized. None of the children could swim and the four girls tragically drowned. Son Ralph, age 17, told the Sheriff that his father had tried to drown them all, an accusation which Oaksmith vehemently denied. Authorities believed Oaksmith’s account and Ralph left home, never to return.

After the loss, Oaksmith became reclusive; his mental and physical health declined. Suffering from unbearably painful malaria attacks, seizures, and even paralysis, he spent several years between home and NY hospitals. On October 29, 1887, in NY, Appleton Oaksmith died. His body was returned to Carteret County by train.

The New Bern Daily Journal of October 30, 1887 wrote:

“… In many respects Captain Oaksmith was a remarkable man. A true history of his life would doubtless make an interesting little volume.”

Photo of Simpson-Oaksmith House taken by photographer William Garrison Reed shortly before renovations by Oaksmiths (photo NBHS).

His widow Augusta Oaksmith sold the whimsical brick home in New Bern and it changed owners many times thereafter. In 1974, “The Greatest Architectural Curiosity in the South” was unceremoniously demolished, leaving today a gravel parking lot across from the Galley Stores and Marina gas pumps. Thus ends a very fanciful chapter in New Bern history.

Categories : Announcements, This Month in NB History

This Month in New Bern History – September 2020

Posted by NBHS OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR

· September 1, 2020

by Claudia Houston, Historian, New Bern Historical Society

Photo from Wikipedia

On September 19, 1889, a young professional, educated couple were married in New Bern. Together they were to have a profound effect in establishing an African American middle class and promoting gender and racial equality in 19^th century New Bern. This is their story.

Meet Sarah Dudley, born in New Bern in 1869, the first free woman born into a family whose members had been slaves since the Revolutionary War. After attending local schools, Sarah entered Scotia Seminary, a progressive Presbyterian women’s school in Concord, NC, where she studied classics, Latin, and other subjects traditionally reserved for male students. Sarah graduated with distinction and returned to New Bern to teach. As the daughter of a black state representative, Sarah was taught the importance of civic engagement at an early age.

Charles Pettey was born into slavery; after emancipation he learned to read, worked tirelessly at multiple crafts, and saved every penny for his education. In 1872 he walked ninety miles to Charlotte to enter Biddle Memorial Institute where he studied the classics, Latin and Greek. After graduation he quickly became an elder in the growing African Methodist Episcopal Zion (AME Zion) Church. He started a school in South Carolina as well as founding a monthly newspaper for the AME Zion Church, the Star of Zion, which soon became one of the most influential black newspapers in the country. He married Lula Pickenpack, Sarah’s roommate at Scotia, and moved to California where he established the town of Petteyville and several new AME Zion churches. Lula died in 1887, leaving Charles a widower with two young girls. Charles and Sarah reconnected in New Bern and were married in September 1889.

In New Bern, the Petteys were one of many successful middle-class black families of leaders and businessmen. Well educated professionals, they were active community volunteers who fought for racial and gender equality. While many members of AME Zion were uncomfortable with women taking on a prominent role, Charles was his wife's most steadfast supporter. He encouraged her to write a column for the Star of Zion and urged her to follow his sermons with her own. Sarah’s influential sermons included “Woman, the Equal of Man” and “Women’s Suffrage.” Among her most powerful quotes: “Some would say that a woman was good in her place. This reminds me of what some white people say about the Negro, that “’he is good in his place.’”

Charles demonstrated his belief in women’s equality when, in 1898, he allowed the ordination of a

woman as an elder in the AME Zion Church -- the first ordination of a woman in any denominational church and highly controversial at the time.

Charles became the Bishop of the Church District of Texas, Louisiana, and Alabama and the couple traveled extensively. Fueled by their ideals and hopes for a new south, they worked together to fulfill their vision of a future of racial and gender equality. Their belief in progress, however, was thwarted by the growth of the white supremacy movement, culminating in 1898 when more than ten black Wilmington city leaders were killed at the hands of white vigilantes. By 1900, the North Carolina legislature had effectively revoked the right of blacks to vote by enacting literacy tests and poll taxes. Jim Crow had come to roost in the south.

Photo from New York Public Library Digital Collection

Charles died suddenly in 1900 and Sarah, disheartened by the oppression of Jim Crow laws, moved north with her family. Six years later, at the age of 37, Sarah Dudley Pettey died. Both Charles and Sarah are buried at Greenwood Cemetery in New Bern. Ironically, it would be another 15 years before women would be allowed to vote and another 60 years before African American men and women in North Carolina would experience the freedom that Charles and Sarah had known in the progressive New Bern of the late 19^th century.

Note – you can hear Sarah Dudley Pettey tell her story in the New Bern Historical Society’s online presentation Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Deeds at www.newbernhistorical.org.

Categories : Events, Newsletter, This Month in NB History

This Month in New Bern History – August 2020

Posted by NBHS OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR

· July 16, 2020

by Claudia Houston, Historian, New Bern Historical Society

North Carolina Highway Marker at Broad and Craven Street, New Bern, NC

New Bern is well known for its many significant “firsts” – North Carolina’s first capital, first printing press, first newspaper, first published book, and first postal service, among others. But one “famous first” in August of 1774 had a tremendous impact upon the future formation of the state of North Carolina as well as the United States of America. What was this historic event?

To set the stage, the colonial resistance movement against the British government culminated with the Boston Tea Party in December of 1773, which greatly angered Great Britain. By June of 1774, Parliament passed a series of punitive laws in retaliation that became known as “The Intolerable Acts”. North Carolinians joined the other colonies to support opposition to Parliament’s retaliatory measures against Massachusetts. North Carolina’s colonial leaders agreed to meet in New Bern, the colonial capital, to outline their concerns, plan further opposition to Great Britain and choose delegates to the Continental Congress to be held in Philadelphia. Several men were elected to represent Craven County: Richard Cogdell, Joseph Leech, and Lemuel Hatch. Isaac Edwards and Abner Nash were elected to represent New Bern.

On August 25, 1774, North Carolina’s First Provincial Congress met at the County Courthouse in New Bern with seventy-one delegates present at roll call. It was the first such meeting held in any of the thirteen colonies. The meeting took place near Tryon Palace, the residence of Royal Governor Josiah Martin, who was not invited to attend. Although he received daily reports about what transpired during the assembly, he made no attempt to stop the meeting. The moderator of the First Provincial Congress was John Harvey, who presided over delegates from thirty of the then thirty-six counties, as well as additional members from six towns.

The New Bern Resolves issued by the First Provincial Congress declared that, while they remained loyal to the King, they repudiated the Intolerable Acts, deeming British taxation “highly illegal and oppressive”. To protest Parliament’s actions against New England, the provincial congress approved a trade boycott of all British goods. It then endorsed a general congress for the provinces and nominated Richard Caswell, William Hooper, and Joseph Hewes to represent North Carolina in the First Continental Congress scheduled in Philadelphia for September 1774. The provincial congress also recommended the formation of local committees of safety which would better enable communication.

The First Provincial Congress was the first of five congresses held in North Carolina from 1774-1776 to create the revolutionary government structure. Among many things, they organized an army for defense and wrote a constitution and bill of rights which eventually led to the establishment of the state of North Carolina. In the fifth and final provincial congress that met in Halifax in 1776, they approved the Constitution of North Carolina and elected Richard Caswell of Kinston as the first Governor of the State of North Carolina.

These first five congresses were a testament to the North Carolina colonists’ determination to become self-governing and to their readiness to achieve that goal. The First Provincial Congress was a “first” not only for New Bern, but directly led to the formation of our current state government, the first meeting of the North Carolina state Legislature on April 7, 1777 also in New Bern, and ultimately, the establishment of the new nation.

Categories : Events, This Month in NB History

This Month in New Bern History – July 2020

Posted by NBHS OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR

· June 24, 2020

by Claudia Houston, Historian, New Bern Historical Society

What person from a famous New Bern family was promoted to commodore in the US Navy on 1 July 1870 and had a destroyer in WWII named after him?

Our notable person for July is Fabius Maximus Stanly, the son of John Stanly and Elizabeth Franks Stanly, born in New Bern on 15 December 1815. The Stanly family had quite an illustrious history. John Stanly was a merchant, orator, lawyer and representative to Congress. He is probably most notorious for having shot and killed ex-Governor Richard Dobbs Spaight in a duel here in New Bern. John and Elizabeth had fourteen children, five of whom died young. There were eight living sons: Alfred, Frank, Edward, Alexander Hamilton, Fabius Maximus, Marcus Cicero and James Green. The only daughter to reach adulthood was Elizabeth Mary Stanly who, against her father’s wishes, married Captain Walker Keith Armistead, who eventually served as Chief Engineer for the US Army Corps of Engineers. They had one son, Brigadier General Lewis Addison Armistead, who died at Gettysburg, famously leading a Confederate charge at Seminary Ridge.

Fabius Maximus Stanly entered the navy as a midshipman candidate in 1831 and served in naval squadrons from the Mediterranean to Brazil. He passed as a midshipman in 1837 and was commissioned a lieutenant in 1841. Fabius sailed on board the Steamer Princeton for a year and then was sent to the frigate Congress as part of the Pacific Squadron. He served in many places during the Mexican War, taking part in the capture and defense of San Francisco and assisting in the capture of Mazatlán. Stanly received the thanks of two secretaries of the Navy for his service in the Mexican War.

Ironically, Fabius Stanly got in trouble over a duel. His superior officer, Commander Zachariah F. Johnston had agreed to a duel with Stanly, but then backed out. Stanly called him a coward and unfortunately put it in writing in a newspaper. In 1851 Stanly was tried before a general court martial, found guilty and sentenced to be dismissed from the Navy. The court, however, recommended executive clemency and President Millard Fillmore reduced his sentence to twelve months suspension from service.

Stanly sailed on numerous ships in many different areas but found himself in trouble again in 1860 while commanding the steamer Wyandotte. Although he successfully prevented the capture by secessionists of Fort Taylor in Key West, Florida, the administration of James Buchanan relieved him of his command due to “excessive zeal.”

Stanly served the Federal Navy with distinction during the Civil War, and rose through the ranks as captain of the Tuscarora in 1866 in the South Pacific Squadron. He was promoted to commodore in July of 1870 and then rear admiral in February 1874, retiring in June of that year after 49 years of service. He died of heart disease in Washington DC on 5 December 1882 and is buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington.

USS Stanly-US Navy

The USS Stanly, a destroyer, was completed at the Charleston Navy Yard in 1942 and named in Stanly’s honor. The Stanly earned nine battle stars and the presidential unit citation for service in WWII for "extraordinary heroism in action against enemy Japanese forces during the Solomon Islands Campaign, from 1 November 1943, to 23 February 1944."

Categories : Announcements, This Month in NB History

This Month in New Bern History – June 2020

Posted by Mickey

· June 20, 2020

by Claudia Houston, Historian, New Bern Historical Society

New Bern is the site of many significant “firsts” – first provincial convention in America held in defiance of British orders, North Carolina’s first capital, first postal service, first free public school, and first black-owned bank. During the month of June in the year 1749, New Bern was the site of a major new institution that had a profound cultural and political impact on the future of the Old North State.

Prior to the mid-eighteenth century, information and news in North Carolina were passed through word of mouth and handwritten records. As the population grew and towns formed from rural areas, the provincial government found the handwritten, incomplete and error-filled colonial laws inadequate. After voting to revise the laws, the Assembly hired James Davis of Williamsburg, Virginia, and on June 24, 1749, Davis arrived in New Bern to become North Carolina’s first public printer.

Davis had likely apprenticed under William Parks, at that time Virginia’s first and only printer. The printing press Davis brought with him to New Bern from Williamsburg was the first to be used in North Carolina. He initially set up shop on Pollock Street, but later moved to the southwest corner of Broad and East Front Streets. In 1749, Davis printed the first official publication for the colony entitled The Journal of the House of Burgesses of the Province of North Carolina.

Davis was also responsible for printing the colony’s first currency. In 1751 he finally completed the revisal of the colonial laws. While completing his public printer duties, out of financial necessity he supplemented his income by private printing. In 1751, Davis began publishing the first newspaper in the colony, the North-Carolina Gazette, with the motto, "With the freshest advices, foreign and domestick," which he produced until 1760. Davis started another newspaper in 1764, called The North Carolina Magazine; or, Universal Intelligencer, but it only lasted four years. In 1768, he resumed publication of The North-Carolina Gazette, which continued to be printed until 1778.

In 1753, Davis published a book, A Collection of Many Christian Experiences, Sentences, and Several Places of Scripture Improved, written by Reverend Clement Hall. This book was a first in several categories: the first book written by a native of North Carolina and the first privately printed, non-legal book published in the colony. Davis served as North Carolina’s public printer for almost thirty-three years and published over one hundred documents in that time.

While he was a prolific printer, Davis also wore many other public hats. In 1753 he became a member of the county court, an office he held for over 25 years. In 1754 he was elected Sheriff of Craven County, leaving that position after ten months upon his election to the Assembly. He was later appointed New Bern Postmaster and served as a justice of the peace from 1768-1778. Davis was a supporter of the American Revolution and during this period was appointed to numerous influential political positions representing New Bern and Craven County. He reached the zenith of his political career with his 1781 appointment to the Council of State, North Carolina’s powerful executive branch.

James Davis’ appointment in New Bern as the state’s first public printer ushered North Carolina into a new world of information sharing between the state and the rest of the world, brought its citizens unprecedented access to news and ideas, and bound together the colony’s patchwork of isolated rural areas into a single political entity. He died in New Bern in 1785 and is buried at Christ Episcopal Church. Inscribed on his gravestone is the following:

Established the art of printing in the Colony of North Carolina,1749
Public printer to the Colony and the State
Published first book, first newspaper and first magazine in North Carolina
Member of the Council of State
Of the General Assembly
Of the Provincial Convention
Of the Provincial Congress
And of the Committee of Safety for the County of Craven and Town of New Bern
Judge of the Admiralty Court
Justice of the County Court
Sheriff of Craven County
Postmaster and Contractor to convey the public mails from Suffolk to Wilmington
Printed currency for the colony

Categories : Announcements, This Month in NB History

American Dream Leads to New Bern

Posted by Mickey

· May 22, 2020

by Jim Hodges
Curator, New Bern Historical Society

“Boston Millionaire to Locate Here,” read the headline in the New Bern Weekly Journal on this day in May 1914, declaring that Dr. Earl S. Sloan was planning to build a winter home in the area. Today this announcement would probably not attract much attention, but in 1914 – obviously worthy of note. This is a life journey personifying the American dream, where a motivated individual with natural entrepreneurial and marketing skills as well as keen business savvy can accumulate great success and wealth. This is the story of Dr. Earl Sawyer Sloan.

The Andrew Sloan family emigrated from Ireland after the American Revolution and eventually settled in Zanesfield, Ohio. Andrew Sloan was a horse harness maker who had a certain ability with horses which allowed him to pursue this skill and become a self-taught veterinarian. Doc Sloan was also known for his strong-smelling brown formula that was effective in reducing joint pain and inflammation for overworked horses.

Earl Sawyer Sloan, the third of five children, was born September 8, 1848, in Zanesfield, Ohio. Although he did not attend more than the elementary grades, he learned to read and write and developed a great appreciation for books. He was apprenticed as a harness maker at the age of fifteen, but in 1871 joined his brother Foreman in St. Louis, Missouri. Earl carried with him a supply of his father’s horse liniment and with Foreman, who was engaged in the buying and selling of horses, they peddled the concoction throughout the area. This time period marking the heyday of the horse in American life, the Sloan liniment was in great demand.

Sloan's 1898, courtesy baybottles.com

As the story goes, by accident it was discovered that the liniment was beneficial not only for the horses but humans as well – consequently it was advertised as “good for man and beast.” The essential ingredient is chili pepper (capsicum, a topical analgesic) and its external use was once recommended for everything from a stiff neck to bruises, sprains, strains and mosquito bites. The formula was refined and patented about 1885 and the business grew rapidly due to Earl Sloan’s fondness for newspaper advertising. In 1900 Earl, who was now married, moved his manufacturing operations to Boston in 1904. The business was incorporated in 1904 as “Dr. Earl S. Sloan, Incorporated.” Apparently the title “Doctor,” although never formally or academically achieved, gave him and his product more credibility and increased sales. By 1907, sales were reported throughout the United States as well as South America, Australia, Europe and Canada. In 1913 Dr. Sloan sold his company - including offices in Ontario, England, Australia, and Amsterdam - to William R. Warner & Co. Of interest, W. R. Warner & Co. merged into Warner-Lambert Pharmaceutical in 1955, which was eventually acquired by Pfizer in 2000.

In the late 19^th and early 20^th century, it was a practice of wealthy northerners to build substantial residences in North Carolina and other more climate friendly areas to serve as second homes. Although Dr. Sloan considered several locations including Asheville and Pinehurst, he eventually selected New Bern. He acquired 440 acres of land from John W. Stewart and an additional 25 acres from the Craven County Commissioners, located on the north side of the Trent River about 2 miles from downtown New Bern. The Stewart property was known as the Colonel Ransom estate, thus Sloan called his plantation Ransom Farm. New Bern native Robert F. Smallwood was hired as the architect and local contractor John F. Rhodes was hired to supervise construction.

Sloan Estate ca. 1929. From "A New Bern Album," John B. Green III

Built in 1914, the Dr. Earl S. Sloan House was a “large and well appointed example of Colonial Revival residential construction with Mediterranean and Tudor Revival influence. The two and a half-story brick building has a main block and flanking pavilions under low, hipped slate roofs. The long axis of the home runs parallel to the Trent River. The interior of the house exhibits carefully crafted cypress and hardwood woodwork with chestnut trim and mahogany varnished hardwood veneer doors.” Not too bad for a man who started his career hawking horse liniment door to door.

It is not clear how much time Dr. and Mrs. Sloan actually spent at Ransom Farm. He died in 1923 leaving the property to his widow, who sold Ransom Farm in 1928 to the New Bern realty firm of N. E. Mohn and Company. In 1933 the property transferred to U.S. Senator O. F. Glenn of Illinois, who renamed it Trent Pines. Senator and Mrs. Glenn intended to use Trent Pines as a winter home; however, their plans never materialized. From 1942 to 1968, the property was operated as the Trent Pines Club, a popular inn and yacht club. It was then purchased by Robert P. Holding, Jr., Chairman of First Citizens Bank, who renamed the estate Miles Away. Mr. Holding died in 1979 and the property passed to his son Frank R. Holding who continued the restoration of the house.

Sloan's Liniment, early 20th century. Still available today

The house is recorded on the National Register of Historic Places and is a standing tribute to the success of Dr. Sloan and the vibrant history of New Bern and Craven County.

Sloan’s liniment is still sold today. Over 135 years later, the packaging still carries Earl Sloan’s likeness on the label.

Categories : Announcements, This Month in NB History

New Bern Historical Society

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