A variety of folks tried to be the first “enduring” settler of Wilmington. Presumably some folks who crossed the Alaska land bridge tried. We know some Puritans from New England and a gaggle from Barbados tried. Some wanderers may have stopped by in this early Wilmington History. But who can we point to and say ”it all started with him and continues to this day?”
Chris Fonvielle, UNCW historian, and lover of area history finally revealed the secret. He spoke at the Cape Fear Museum in a program sponsored by the CFM, Bellamy Mansion, and Historic Wilmington Foundation. Last week he teased us with tales of all the failed attempts but this week he finally clued us in.
We know that no one was here in the winter of 1724-25. Royal Governor George Burrington surveyed the lower Cape Fear that winter and found no one. All of the previous visitors had moved on. That opened things up allowing Burrington to issue the first land grant to Landgrave Thomas Smith on May 8, 1713. Landgrave is a Dutch title meaning land owner. Smith got Smith Island, generally known today as Bald Head Island even though its correct name is still Smith Island.
Bald Head, it turns out, is the name sailors gave to a large sand dune devoid of vegetation and used for navigation. It sits on Smith Island very close to the navigable portion of the Cape Fear River. But Smith is not the first of an enduring settlement despite the endurance of his naming rights (can you imagine the names we would have if the King sold naming rights?)
Maurice Moore received the area’s first economic development incentive. Moore was given 7,000 acres and became the first area resident in April of 1726. He then became the first civic booster and donated 360 acres for the Town of Brunswick. Oops, did he say Brunswick? Yes. Moore began the first settlement in the area but was not the first Wilmingtonian. Will anyone ever find Wilmington?
Mr. Moore’s Town of Brunswick seemed to thrive. Fonvielle’s various anecdotes tell of people making fortunes from the lumber industry but also of a somewhat poor town. One visitor decried the fact that the houses were not organized along recognizable streets.
And so things carried on until 1748 when the Spanish came a calling with their warships the Fortuna and the Loretta. Attacking by land and by water the invaders chased the citizens of Brunswick Town out and then pillaged for three days. A Mr. William Day organized about 80 locals for a counterattack and chased the invaders away. The Loretta seemed to have escaped safely but the Fortuna blew up in the water. Brunswick Town was able to finance its rebuilding from the valuables recovered from the wreckage. You can see a link to the Fortuna at St. James Episcopal Church in Downtown Wilmington. A picture of Jesus was recovered from the Fortuna and is now housed at St. James. That would make its age 264 years in Colonials’ hands plus however long the Spanish owned it. But, as you can see, we jumped ahead.
But all of that Brunswick Town activity was on the West bank of the Cape Fear. Will Chris ever reveal the person(s) that founded Wilmington?
John Watson seems to be the guy. He received a land grant on the east side of the river adjacent to the confluence of the North East Cape Fear. He then sold 300 acres to James Wimble for the creation of “New Carthage.” Watson, Wimble, Michael Higgins and John Grainger pooled their resources and created New Liverpool in April of 1733. It was variously known as New Town, Newton, and would, finally, be known as Wilmington. Their natural industry was aided by a powerful ally in the development of this New Town.
Royal Governor Gabriel Johnston came to power the next year, in 1734. Although a part of the ‘family’ that led Brunswick Town, he used his powers to undermine that development and support New Liverpool. Poor Brunswick, this was not the first time a development there was undermined. The first southern Charles Town was in Brunswick and its development was undermined by people who should have been supporters (see Chris’ talk of last week). The reference to ‘the family’ is a reference to a group of interconnected families that ruled the roost in Brunswick Town. Johnston must have had some sort of falling out with ‘the family.’ But that story is lost to history. Sounds like the model for Dallas brothers J.R. and Bobby Ewing.
Johnston placed the courthouse in Wilmington, the land office, personally purchased land here and urged his friends to do the same. Soon, investors in Brunswick Town were buying property in New Liverpool. Their successors had property in Wilmington and at Wrightsville Beach. But it also led to the eventual demise of Brunswick Town and rise of Wilmington.
One can still see the remains of Brunswick Town. It’s a state historic site and one that is highly recommended by Fonvielle. Historical Archeology began here. Stanly South was graduated from the college up in Chapel Hill. Until then the goal of archeology graduates was to head off to Greece and do classical archeology. South headed to Brunswick Town and began digging. It was the first application of that sort of archeological work and has been duplicated many times. Today, about one-third of Brunswick Town has been examined.
If you’d like to know more about this era, Fonvielle recommends “The Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days” by Lawrence Lee. He describes it as “the best book on colonial Cape Fear history.”
Fonvielle spoke about the colonization attemtps that failed in a talk last week. You can see those comments here: http://capefearpassport.com/blog/who-was-the-first-wilmingtonian/
If you’d like to find all the history events around here then try this link: www.History.EnjoyWilmington.com Or, if you’d just like to find all the cool stuff to do around here, try www.EnjoyWilmington.com You can find our various historic groups at this site www.WilmingtonGivesBack.org There are about 30 to 40 history groups listed there (use key word ‘history’ under the search for nonprofits function.)