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THE town of Brunswick,
which lay about twelve miles within the bar of the Cape Fear River, was
located on the lands of Maurice and Roger Moore, upon high ground along
the western bank. Maurice Moore, the chief promoter, had come from South
Carolina in 1719, had settled at first in Chowan county on Albemarle
Sound, and in 1722 had taken up lands on the Cape Fear. In 1725 he
"caused a plot or plan containing 360 acres of land to be admeasured and
laid out in lots, which 360 acres is but part of a larger tract or
parcel of land containing 1500 held by patent thereof" of the
proprietors. Forty of the 360 acres were added by Roger Moore "to make
the said town more regular" (N. C. State Records, XXIII, 239). The terms
of settlement were that a house, iô by 20, should be built on each lot
sold or "in such size as shall seem habitable" within eight months
(Register's Office, Conveyances, A, pp. 71-72). The lots contained half
an acre each and were numbered, the numbers running to 350. In 1731 it
was said that the town was "like to be a flourishing place by reason of
its excellent situation for the trade of those parts" (N. C. R. III,
261), but Hugh Meredith, writing in the same year, reported that it was
"but a poor, hungry, unprovided place, consisting of not above 10 or 12
scattering mean houses, hardly worth the name of a village," but, he
added, "the platform is good and convenient, and the ground high
considering the country" (Pennsylvania Gazette, May 6-13, 1731). Because
of the slow growth of the place, a bill was passed in 1745 by the
provincial assembly organizing a town government and settling and
securing the tides to the land. Possession of the soil was vested in a
board of commissioners, of which Richard Quince and W7illiarn Dry, 2d,
were members. There is no certainty as to how many lots were sold or how
many houses were built, though the owners of about fifty can be
identified. We read of "Front Street," the "Street on the Bay," and the
"Second Street on the Bay." Other Streets were probably laid out, but
may not have been named.
A little north of the
centre, placed according to the true meridian and occupying one block,
was St. Philip's Church (76 ft. by 54 ft.), the walls of which, two feet
nine inches in thickness, are still standing. Until 1762 or 1763 the
only place of worship in Brunswick had been an "old chapel" with but 15
actual Communicants (N. C. R. VI, 730) ; but in that year the church,
which had been begun in the early fifties, was finally and after long
delay roofed in (ib., V, 18, VI, 235, 237), and must have been used for
services soon after. There was no parsonage. On the north of Brunswick
was the plantation Russeliboro, named for its first owner, Captain
Russell of H. M. S. Scorpion, an estate of about fifty acres, which
afterwards became the borne, first of Governor Dobbs and then of
Governor Tryon. The site of the Tryon house has recently been located
and suitably marked (Sprunt, Chronicles of the Cape Fear, zd ed., pp.
103-10G). On the south was York plantation, belonging to Nathaniel
Moore.
The town contained at
least one ordinary, known as Roger's tavern, and probably many more.
Except as a port of entry and clearance, and a residence of
sea-captains, merchants, and storekeepers, it was never conspicuous,
though courts were held there, business was transacted, physicians
practiced, missionaries labored for many years without glebe, church, or
salary, and neighborly intercourse was carried on of a social and
friendly character. Disorder and crime prevailed also, for as early as
1739-1740 we learn that both court house and jail were greatly needed
(New Hanover Counts' Records, 1737-1741'). There lived the Drys, the
Moores, the Quinces, and others of the better sort who constituted the
provincial group of those who opposed many of the policies of Governor
Gabriel Johnston and his friends, and who resisted with vigor the
governor's efforts to develop Wilmington at the expense of Brunswick.
They had invested money in lands and buildings there and hoped that from
its lucrative trade in naval stores, lumber, and rice it would in time
become a great city. Burrington had said as early as 1736 that it would
be a place of very great trade as soon as it became well peopled (ib.,
IV, 169). But all were destined to be grievously disappointed. With the
rise of WiImington, Brunswick steadily declined; and even in 1775 Miss
Schaw could describe it as but a poor town "with a few scattered houses
on the edge of a wood," and her brother could call it "but a straggling
village." See also Appendix VI. |
