THE STORY OF LENOIR COUNTY AND Kl NSTON, NORTH CAROLI NA I ., j' ! General William Lenoir for whom Lenoir County was named. From an original pencil sketch in the possession of Mrs. Mary Fisher Patterson, Chapel Hill. Annals of Progress THE STORY OF LENOIR COUNTY AND KINSTON 1 NORTH CAROLINA WILLIAM S. POWELL RALEIGH STATE DEPARTMENT OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY 1963 STATE DEPARTMENT OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY EXECUTIVE BOARD McDANIEL LEWIS, Chairman JAMES W. ATKINS RALPH P. HANES MISS GERTRUDE SPRAGUE CARRAWAY JOSH L. HORNE FLETCHER M. GREEN DANIEL J. WHITENER CHRISTOPHER CRITTENDEN, Director The seal of the City of Kinston, reproduced on the cover and title page, was granted by the College of Arms, London, during the City's two hundredth anniversary celebra­ tion in 1962. PREFACE This is the first of an anticipated series of 100 county histories written for use in the public schools of North Carolina and in­ tended as a supplement to the regularly prescribed North Caro­ lina history textbook. By its nature it cannot delve deeply into the origins of all aspects of the County's history nor can it fully relate everything to similar or related events elsewhere in the State. It is hoped that young readers will be inspired to under­ take their own research on local topics which trigger their interest and that they will make use of other published local and State histories for further information. For his generosity in permitting me to make extensive use of The Story of Kinston and Lenoir County, which he and Talmage C. Johnson published in 1954. I am deeply indebted to Charles R. Holloman of Raleigh. The staff of the State Department of Archives and History assisted in the preliminary planning of this history and later read the manuscript and made suggestions. For reading the manuscript I am also grateful to Bertha Mae Strowd, eighth-grade teacher in Grainger High School, Kinston ; to Mrs. Martha L. Harrelson, eighth-grade teacher in Leroy Mar­ tin Junior High School in Raleigh; and to Samuel M. Gainor of Raleigh, an eighth-grade student. 'fheir comments as teachers and pupil of North Carolina history were most helpful. Many Lenoir County citizens responded willingly to my re­ quests for information. Among those most attentive to my pleas were Mrs. Stella K. Barbee, H. Galt Braxton, Dr. Rachel D. Davis, Col. Meriwether Lewis, and Marion A. Parrott. J. C. Billings of the Kinston Chamber of Commerce and Miriam 0. Irby of the Kinston-Lenoir County Public Library came to my aid on several occasions. Kinston Mayor Guy Elliott and City Manager James E. Blue provided the map of Kinston. McDaniel Lewis of Greens­ boro, a misplaced son of Lenoir, supplied facts from his vast file of resources. The North Carolina Society of County and Local Historians, long an advocate of histories of this type, lent en­ couragement to my work, and Dr. D. J. Whitener, Dean of Appa­ lachian State Teachers College, made numerous specific sug­ gestions. Last and most sincerely I thank the Richardson Foundation for its grant to the State Department of Archives and History which made possible the preparation of this history. WTT4LIAM S. POWELL Chapel Hill January 1, 1963 CONTENTS Page I. NATURAL SETTING AND GEOGRAPHY Geo gra phi cal Facts ________________________ ------------------------------------------------ 1 Early Description of Lenoir County____________________________________________ 2 Climate -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 Towns and Communities________________________________________________________________ 3 Population -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5 II. EARLY HISTORY Discovery and Exploration____________________________________________________________ 6 Indians and Tobacco_______________________________________________________________________ 7 Pioneer Settlers ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7 Lawson and Von Graffenried________________________________________________________ 8 Early Land Grants __________________________________________ ------------------------------ 10 Johnston County ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11 Stringer's Ferry ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13 Search for a Provincial Ca pitaL_ -------------------------------------------------- 13 III. DOBBS COUNTY AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF KINGSTON Dobbs County -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16 Establishment of Kingston_____________________________________________________________ 17 Division of Dobbs County______________________________________________________________ 19 IV. REVOLUTION AND INDEPENDENCE Richard Caswell ____________ ---------------------------------------------------------------- 20 Regulator Movement -------------------------------------------------------------------- 22 Revolution -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 23 First Provincial and Continental Congresses____________________________ 24 Second Provincial and Continental Congresses__________________________ 25 Third Provincial Congress____________________________________________________________ 27 Fourth Provincial Congress________________________________________________________ 27 Fifth Provincial Congress____________________________________________________________ 28 Caswell as Governor ______________________________________________________________________ 28 Caswell's Later Career and Influence __________________________________________ 29 Hillsboro Convention -------------------------------------------------------------------- 31 End of Caswell' s Career_____________________________________________________________ .. _ 32 V. FORMATION OF LENOIR COUNTY: SLOW GROWTH ANL PAINFUL PROGRESS Abolition of Dobbs, Establishment of Lenoir __________________________ 34 William Lenoir ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 34 Early Description of Lenoir County____________________________________________ 36 Kinston' s lncorporati on ____________________________ ------------------------------------ 38 Internal Improvements in Lenoir County _________ ------------------------- 38 Kinston in 1850 and 1860______________________________________________________________ 41 Page VI. CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION S eces si on __ __ _____ ___ _ _ _ __ __ ______ ___ _________ ____ ______ ______ ____ __________________ __ __________ __ 42 Preparation for War______________________________________________________________________ 43 Battle of Kinston ________________________________ -------------------------------------------- 45 Lenoir County Soldiers__________________________________________________________________ 4 7 Ram ''Neuse''--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 50 Reconstruction Years ------------------------------------------------------------------ 51 Late Nineteenth Century______________________________________________________________ 52 VII. THE DOOR TO THE PRESENT Changes in Kinston ____________________________ ------------------------------------________ 54 Kinston as a Tobacco Market________________________________________________________ 55 Newspapers ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 57 Industrial Growth ___________________________ --------------------------------------------- 60 Merchants ____ ____ ___ ______ _________________ ___ ___ _______________ _________ __________ ____________ 62 Kinston Public Library________________________________________________________________ 66 Town Ordinances -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 67 VIII. CHURCHES AND RELIGION Religion in Early Lenoir County________________________________________________ 69 Quakers ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 69 St. Patrick's Parish ____________ ------------------------------------------------------------ 69 Baptists ________ ___ __ __ __ ___ _____ _____ ______ __ ________ ________________ ____ __ __ ____________________ 7 0 Episcopalians ________________________________ ------------------------------------------------ 72 Methodists _____________________________________________ ----------------------------------------- 72 Presbyterians ______________________________________ ------------------------------------------ 73 Disciples of Christ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 7 4 Catholics ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 74 Jews ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 75 IX. EDUCATION Education as a Church Function ----------------------------------------------- 76 Dobbs Academy ________________________________ -------------------------------------------- 7 6 Spring-Hill Seminary of Learning______________________________________________ 77 Military School __________ ------------------------------------------------------------------- 77 Fairfield Academy _____________ ----------------------------------------------------------- 77 Other Academies ________________ ---------------------------------------------------------- 78 Public School System _____________ --------------------------------------------------_____ 78 Lenoir County Educational