~Brief History of Rose Hill Plantation in New Hanover Cmmty by Wilson Angley • A Brief History of Rose Hill Plantation in New Hanover COl.IDty by Wilson Angley • 29 July 1988 Research Branch Division of Archives and History • North carolina Depart:Irent of Cultural Resources • Rose Hill Plantation was located on the Northeast ca:pe Fear River approximately six miles north of Wilmington, North carolina. At its fullest extent, it encanpassed a vast area along the east side of the river as far upstream as Prince George Creek near Castle Hayne. Already by the end of the eighteenth century, the lands associated with Rose Hill included the fonner plantation known as Red Banks. Indeed, the original Rose Hill and Red Banks plantation houses seem to have been situated in cl ose proximity to each other and near the site of the recently discovered shi,PWreck. Although the doctnrentary sources shed no light on the question, it is quite possible that the tv.u plantations shared a carm::>n landing at or near the shi,PWreck site• The lands along the eastern side of the Northeast ca:pe Fear River • in the general vicinity of the shi_pwreck were originally included in 1 grants to William Gray in 1736. An early settler in the area, Gray had figured praninantly in establishing the town of Wilmington. It was he who had laid out the town in 1733 when its projected narre was New Liverpool. Clearly, he was closely associated with James Wirnble and other founding fathers of Wilmington, who all had extensive merchant and maritima interests. 2 Gray served as deputy surveyor of New Hanover County under Mathew Rowan in the late 1730s; and in 1737 he was one of those charged with surveying the controversial boundary line between the 3 tv.u Carolinas. Certainly, Gray had an extensive familiarity with the 1~ ca:pe Fear area. In addition to his holdings along the Northeast • ca:pe Fear, he also acquired lands in present-day Bladen County and along 2 4 the lOM:rr reaches of the cape Fear below Brunswick Town. • With landholdings below Bnmswick Town and along both branches of the Cape Fear, there can be no doubt that Gray was exporting large quanitities of naval stores, lumber, and various agricultural products. There is no evidence that Gray established a residence on the future Rose Hill Plantation, but he may VAell have used the landing there in connection with his export activities. It is of interest to note that the James Wimble map of 1738 indicates the presence of a Carter residence only a short distance downstream fran the future Rose Hill. This same Carter was ap- parently William Gray' s business partner and, in fact, Gray was co-owner of the tract upon which Carter lived. The upper comer of the Gray and Carter tract was a point on the river bank which marked comers of the Red Banks tract and future Rose Hill Plantation as VAell. Indeed, it was alrcost precisely at the point of the juncture of the three tracts on the 5 • river bank that the shipwreck was recently discovered. By 174 2 William Gray had died and his contiguous tracts along the Northeast cape Fear were conveyed by his brother and administrator, John 6 Gray, to cape Fear m=rchant and mariner 1 Captain William Lithgow. Lithgow was a resident of Wilinington, but his landholdings in the lOM:rr cape Fear region were fairly extensive. In addition to the lands pur­ chased fran John Gray, he acquired at least four other tracts in New 7 Hanover County totaling approximately 2,500 acres. It was in connection with his lands on the Northeast Cape Fear that Lithgow ran afoul of "King" Roger M:x>re , builder of Orton. M:>reover 1 there is a distinct possibility that the controversy with M:Jore involved • the Red Banks and Rose Hill areas - perhaps the Rose Hill landing itself • 3 It ap~s that just before Lithgow' s purchase of the Gray lands, f.h:>re had • made extensive use of t.han for the production of ti.rrber and naval stores. Discovering f.b:>re ' s activities, Lithgow then attempted to prevent him fran shipping the products downstream for eJq;XJrt. These events were later surrrnarized in a deFQsition concerning certain miscarriages of justice under Governor Gabriel Johnston: [the deFQnent] acquainted us that one Mr. Lithgow a gentleman of credit in that Country [North carol ina] had purchased a Plantation fran one Mr. Grey on which plantation Mr. Roger f.h:>re one of the Council was at the tirre of such sale cutting down timber & l::>urn.ing ligh~ to make tar[ . ] Mr. Lithgow would not suffer Mr. f.b:>re after he had made the purchase to can:y off the tar UfXll1 which Mr. f.b:>re did it by force and threatened to sue Mr. Lithgow for Barretry. 8 Eventually, f.h:>re had poor Lithgow seized and thrown in jail as he was 9 preparing to take ship for Boston. Following the death of William Lithgow, sanetirre after the events • related above, the contiguous tracts originally granted to Wj) 1 iam Gray passed into the hands of Lithgow' s daughter and son- in- law. In 1767 they, in turn, conveyed them to the prosperous merchant and planter, Richard Quince. A native of Ramsgate, England, Quince had becane involved in the cape Fear trade during the 1730s; and by the early 1740s he had established his residence and base of operations at Brunswick Town. During the years to cane he served as town ccmnissioner, church warden of St. Philips, chainnan of the county court, and vice-admiralty judge. In the years just preceding his purchase of the Northeast cape Fear lands, he had also figured prani­ nently in the Stamp Act resistance and related activities. By the late 1760s he had also aCX3:Uired extensive landOOldings throughout the 1~ cape • Fear, including Orton Plantation, and was the owner of several merchant 4 vessels as well. Fran Brunswick Town these vessels traded with numerous • ports along the Atlantic seaboard, in Great Bri tain, and especially the 10 We st Indies . It is quite fX:>Ssible that Richard Quince derived significant quantities of export cx::moodities fran his laJrls along the Northeast Cape Fear, but his ownership lasted for only tv.u years. In August of 1769 he sold the five contiguous tracts, CCIIq?rising sane 2, 805 acres, to Lewis Henry DeRosset. The recited consideration of hl50 sterling VA:>uld sean to indicate that the 11 land had not been irrproved to any considerable degree. The tract farthest upstream of the five, CCIIq?rised of 640 acres, was described at the time of DeRosset' s p..rrchase as being "known by the narre of ye Red Banks joining ye upper line of a tract of Gray & Carters beginning at a pine on the river bank." The adjoining tract, just below the first, also ccrqptised 640 acres and shared the sarre pine tree on the • river bank as a fX)int of reference. This tract, though as yet~ , WJuld ocme to be known as Rose Hill by the mid- 1780s. Extending downstream fran the Reel Banks and future Rose Hill properties were three other tracts oamprising 640, 185, and 700 acres respectively.12 The new owner of the Northeast Cape Fear lands, lewis Henry De Rosset, was a man of even greater wealth and praninence than Richard Quince. He had ocme to the lower Cape Fear in the mid- 1730s and, like Quince, had establi shed hiroself thereafter as a prosperous merchant and planter. He had served New Hanover County as snerif.f and. justice of the peace, and had represented Wilmington in the colonial assembly. fust importantly, he had served as a Il'elli:>er of the royal cx:>m1cil since 1754, and w:JUld continue • to do so until the outbreak of the American Revolution. It is significant 5 to note that strong family and social ties linked DeRosset to Quince prior • to their transaction of 1769. DeRosset and Quince 1 s son Jolm had both 13 marri ed daughters of the late Robert Walker. It was a..l.lrost certainly Lewis Heru:y DeRosset who built the first substantial dwelling muse on either the Red Banks or Rose Hill tracts. M:>reover, there are strong indications that he did so a..l.lrost imnediately after his purchase fran Quince. When the Jolm Collet map of North Carolina was published in 1770, the presence of DeRosset' s residence was clearly recorded near the point of juncture between the Red Banks and lbsa. Bill tracts and in close proximity to the recently found shipwreck. The M:>uzon map of 1775 also indicated the presence of DeRosset 1 s plantation lx:m.:. l4 During the course of the Arrerican Revolution, DeRosset was forced at length to declare his allegiance to either the Patriot cause or to his • sovereign. In the event, he chose the latter, thereby placing all of his property in danger of confiscation. Prior to his banishment fran North Carolina, DeRosset therefore sold as much of his property as he possibly ( could, though unable to receive full value under the prevailing circum- stances. Am:mg the properties sold was his Red Banks lx:J:re and plantation, together with the four adjacent tracts on the Northeast cape Fear. These he sold to Richard Quince' s son, Parker Quince, on 9 March 1779. The recited consideration was ~ , 500. 15 Altmugh DeRosset had property holdings in addition to Red Banks and its adjoining tracts, sane idea of the improvercents on this land is con- veyed in the papers which DeRosset later sul:mitted to the British • governrrent in requesting canpensation.