Edenton, NC:

Edenton is the second oldest town authorized by legislation in North Carolina and it has been a witness to and participant in our nation’s history for more than 300 years. It is known as the prettiest town in the South and has been designated by the Smithsonian as “one of the 20 Best Small Towns to Visit in 2015.” This tiny gem has epic stories to tell and walking, riding and sailing tours each deliver a “round, unvarnished tale” that is inclusive of the gentry, farmers, traders, slaves and freedmen. visitnc.com

Archeological excavations have indicated that the Algonquians entered the region approximately 10,000 years ago and it is they that the early explorers encountered.  Nathaniel Batts is often cited as the first documented North Carolina settler even though his 1660 deed, granted by Indian Chief Kiscutanaweh, was for land that at the time was part of Virginia. George Durant purchased land the following year from another chief, Cisketando, and his deed is considered the oldest in the state. Additional settlers migrated to the area from Virginia and South Carolina in hopes of establishing farms and finding freedom before the colony was officially founded.

In 1663, England’s King Charles II granted eight Lords Proprietors a charter to a large tract of land and shortly thereafter a governor and council were appointed for the Albemarle River and the colony of Carolina and Albemarle County were established. The western section of the new county was referred to in 1668 as Shaftesbury Precinct and then Chowan Precinct in 1685 after the Chowanoac Indians.

Slavery and slave labor were an integral part of the colonization of North Carolina from its conception. The 1669 Fundamental Constitution legalized the status of slaves and by 1681 land grants were based on a headright system. Unclaimed land was given to an individual based upon how many people he imported including himself and any slaves. The average grant was 50 acres and the system encouraged the importation of slaves. Owners brought in the first slaves to the colony but by 1680 records indicate that slaves were being directly imported from Africa but large numbers of slave ships did not dock long the North Carolina coast because of the treacherous waters of the Outer Banks and ruthless hurricanes. A 1730 count lists 6,000 slaves in the entire colony, 100,572 in 1770 and by the onset of the Civil War 331,059, 1/3 of the population, lived in the state.

As Chowan Precinct developed, it became increasingly apparent that there was a need for a permanent courthouse for business and legal purposes. In response, the General Assembly gave permission for a town to be created at the fork of St. Anne’s Creek in 1712. Half-acre town lots were to be laid out on the land of Nathaniel Chevin. ‘Ye towne on Queen Anne’s creek,’ located at the point where Queen Anne’s and Pemberton Creek merge into Edenton Bay, was named Edenton in 1722 in honor of the recently deceased Royal Governor Charles Eden. chowancounty-nc.gov

The colonial legislature first met in Edenton in 1708, but at that time there was no established capital and meetings were held in a variety of locations. In 1722, Edenton was voted the first official Colonial Capital by the legislature. Twenty-one years later legislation made New Bern the permanent Colonial Capital.

The town had a name and a courthouse but growth was slow because the area was not readily accessible. Nevertheless Edenton was a thriving river port with more than 800 trading ships docking in the harbor in the 1770s. The 2,200-sq. mile Great Dismal Swamp, a morass of cypress, tupelo gum forests, mosquitoes and poisonous snakes, blocked passage from the north. It was not until a 22-mile canal was hand dug by slaves from Deep Creek, Virginia to South Mills, North Carolina that more access by water to Albemarle Sound was possible. It is the oldest excavated water route in America. Work was begun in 1793 and completed in 1805. The canal opened the area to settlement but also caused a decrease in river traffic as commerce increasingly moved to Norfolk. ncparks.gov/Visit/parks/disw/main

More than twenty sites in and close to Edenton are listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), consisting of 342 buildings with more than 170 historic buildings situated within one-square mile. Many of the structures were built using black labor in the form of carpenters and architects and two-thirds of the town’s documented carpenters at the turn of the 20th-century were of African descent. Edenton’s Historic District was listed on the NRHP in 1973 and expanded in 2001.

Tours of the historic area are a tour of American architectural history and no place is that more apparent than the Courthouse Green. The structures that surround the public green include Federal, Greek Revival and Queen Anne-styles. The site, oriented toward the water, has been used for public celebrations and commemorations since 1712.  The southern end of the green is ornamented with three Revolutionary cannons purchased by the colonies from the French and a 1932 monument to Joseph Hewes a signer of the Declaration of Independence and Secretary of the Navy. Midway the green sits a bronze sculpted teapot, an iconic symbol of Edenton.

At the northern end of the Courthouse Green is the 1767 Chowan County Courthouse, the second on the site. An earlier courthouse had been constructed in 1719. No architect is named but it is believed John Hawkes designed it. The classic Georgian building is a five bay brick with a three bay pedimented central pavilion, topped by a two stage cupola. Offices flank the courtroom on the ground floor. The second floor functioned as a meeting room and event space and was considered at the time the largest paneled room in the colonies. The Williamsburg Courthouse is modeled after it.

The courthouse is the most intact colonial courthouse in the country as well as the oldest courthouse still in use. The upstairs is completely original as is the staircase. The lower level has ballast stone floors and columns that were added in the 1800s to support the balcony. James Monroe and John C. Calhoun visited the courthouse in 1819. A small museum showcases artifacts from the courthouse and an example of a lawyer’s wig from the 18th-century. visitedenton.com/1767-chowan-county-courthouse

Replicas of colonial Stocks, Pillory and Whipping Post are located in the rear of the courthouse and have been since 2007. Interpretive signs provide information on crime and punishment in the 1700s and the site is an excellent photo op.

The Jailor’s House and Jail are situated a few yards from the courthouse. The Jailor’s House dates from 1905. The 1825 jail was the fifth built in the county. On each of its two stories there are cells and it was used until the 1970s.

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church is one of the oldest churches in North Carolina. In 1701 the Vestry Act established a council to tax landowners to generate funds to construct district churches. A simple building was erected in 1702, but was quickly outgrown. A second wooden structure was built and then the current Georgian-style church was constructed of Flemish-bond brick. In the 1800s, a wooden floor and spire were added and chancel woodwork and furniture were designed. The churchyard contains more than 700 internments including that of Charles Eden. stpauls-edenton.org

Recently what is believed to be the oldest house in North Carolina was discovered and dated by dendrochronologists. Owner Steve Lane planned to renovate the four room, two story house for use as a rental property. Carpenters uncovered pegged hand-hewn posts, two chimneys and whitewashed walls that prompted them to bring in a restoration specialist who dated the Lane House between 1718-19. 

Thomas and Penelope Barker built a home in 1782 that is a mixture of Georgian and Greek Revival-styles. The house was originally two rooms but was expanded to three floors and contains eight fireplaces. Today it serves as the Edenton Welcome Center. This is a great place to sit on the porch and enjoy the scenery. Edenton Trolley Tours are regularly scheduled and depart from the Barker House. visitedenton.com/barker-house

Penelope Barker was an ardent supporter of the colonists and she felt that women’s voices should be heard. On October 25, 1774, she gathered 51 women to sign a petition to protest King George’s taxation by boycotting tea and other products. The event has come to be known as the Edenton Tea Party, the first organized female protest in the nation.

Francis Corbin, an agent of John Carteret, Earl of Granville, built the Jacobean-Georgian Cupola House in 1758. The octagonal cupola provides both ventilation and a view of the water. The home was purchased by Samuel Dickinson in 1777 and remained in the family for 141-years. In 1918, a descendent sold the first floor Georgian woodwork to the Brooklyn Museum causing residents of Edenton to raise funds to purchase and preserve the property. The woodwork has been reproduced, the second floor is original and the home has been furnished with period antiques. The pattern of the Cupola House Herb Garden replicates the pattern in the lower panel of the wooden entry door. Cupolahouse.org

Colonial Waterfront Park is the perfect place to focus on the maritime history of Edenton. A number of interpretive plaques detail various aspects of the seaside trade and Edenton’s role in the Maritime Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.

The 1886 screw-pile Roanoke River Lighthouse is newly reopened for tours after a four year restoration. The lighthouse was relocated to Edenton from the Roanoke River 8 miles west. The two level Arts and Crafts House is 1250-sq. ft. with downstairs living space and bedrooms on the upper level. edentonlighthouse.org

One of the real joys of the waterfront is an Edenton Bay Cruise aboard the “Liber-Tea.” The 40-minute tour aboard the 22-ft. long electric boat is fully narrated and filled with stories that interweave land and sea tales. The legend of the Dram Tree is one of my favorites. A huge cypress was situated in Edenton Harbor when the first colonists arrived. It became customary for trading ships entering the harbor to leave a bottle of the best rum in a hollow in the tree trunk and for the captain to salute Edenton by drinking a dram from a bottle at the Dram Tree when departing. Dire consequences awaited anyone who failed to heed the custom. Regularly scheduled, themed and private tours sail from Colonial Waterfront Park. The phone number for information is 860-367-5786

Edenton’s Cotton Mill Historic District consists of 57 mill houses, built between 1899-1923, for mill “operatives.”  The homes are wooden and many were duplexes with a shared kitchen. Houses were assigned to workers based on family size. The intact mill district includes the mill building, a church and an office building. millvillagemuseum.org

Cannon’s Ferry River Walk is dedicated to relating the story of Herring fishing in the region. A boardwalk has interpretive information and provides water views and photo ops and information on Edenton’s seven paddle trails for Kayaking and canoeing is available on the website. Difficulty ranges from beginner to moderate. visitedenton.com/hendrix-park-and-cannons-ferry-river-walk

Waterman’s Grill opened in 1996 to instant acclaim. There are two dining areas, the dress is casual and the seafood is spectacular. Domestic and imported beers are offered and the wine list is extensive. watermansgrill.com/about-us

The Table at Inner Banks Inn, a unique B&B recently opened a restaurant featuring American regional fusion cuisine. Their Sunday Jazz Brunch is exceptional. innerbanksinn.com/edenton-nc-restaurants

Edenton’s Hampton Inn Hotel is centrally located and is accessible to all of the city’s sites and attractions. Amenities include free parking, WIFI, outdoor pool, business center, designated smoking areas, express check-in and a Hampton bed®. Specials are available online. hamptoninn3.hilton.com

Edenton’s history includes the remarkable story of a remarkable woman, Harriet Jacobs, who hid for years in a place too small to stand upright to escape slavery. We will trace her journey in part two. Planning tools for a trip to Edenton are available online at visitedenton.com

“When they told me my new-born babe was a girl, my heart was heavier than it had ever been before. Slavery is terrible for men; but it is far more terrible for women.”  –Harriet Ann Jacobs

Edenton’s designation as the “South’s prettiest town” is well deserved. Visitors can arrive by land or water and spend a few hours or a few days meandering along the streets, stopping in a quaint shop, dining at a unique eatery or exploring historic sites. Narrated walking, electric boat and trolley tours are offered on a regular schedule and each tour adds another piece to the city’s story. One of the things Edenton does best is tell a “complete” story, inclusive of all its residents, black or white, slave or free, rich or poor and that fact alone makes the city more than just a pretty façade. visitnc.com

A Historic Marker at the shoreline of Colonial Waterfront Park indicates that Edenton is a Maritime Underground Railroad Site, a specific part of the Underground Network to Freedom. Scholars have only recently started to focus on the singular contributions of black watermen to the UGRR and the black community.

Many men of African descent were seafarers in Africa and they brought their skills to the New World. In the early days of colonization captains quickly realized they could get cheap labor by manning ships with slaves and so there was never a time black men were not in blue waters. Originally most black sailors were enslaved but gradually larger numbers gained their freedom.

Life at sea gave the men a certain amount of freedom but they still struggled because of their status and color. One of the earliest documented protests by black mariners occurred in 1780 when a group protested their unequal treatment to the Revolutionary Government. In 1788, another protest was launched, this time against their being kidnapped from ships and sold into slavery.

Black seamen and others who worked around the docks, including women who served as cooks, laundresses and vendors, were conduits of information to the black community as well as assisting fugitives. North Carolina slaveowners recognized the problem immediately and a law was passed in 1793 stating that the penalty for a captain transporting a fugitive out of state was hanging and all harbors and river towns were blanketed with reward posters and newspaper articles filled with warnings.

In 1816, North Carolina attempted to ban all black pilots but owners, realizing the economic implications blocked the ban. In 1830, the North Carolina legislature passed a bill that required that any ship with black sailors be quarantined so that the seamen could not leave the ship and any individual from the black community who visited would receive 39 lashes on the whipping post. * This law was overturned and eight years later the North Carolina State Gov. Edward Dudley posted a $500 reward or anyone helping to identify the mariner who had assisted one of his slave’s in escaping.

The journey from slavery to freedom by water was fraught with special dangers. Fugitives stepped out on faith hoping that they would not be betrayed, that they would not be discovered or that the ship would not wreck on its journey. Bribes were often necessary and hiding places had to be identified because the wait for passage could be anywhere from hours to years. It must be noted that not all black seamen were participants in the Maritime UGRR, nor were those who risked their lives and livelihoods all of African descent.

No individual case better exemplifies the perils of both being enslaved and freedom seeking than that of Harriet Ann Jacobs. Jacobs was born in Edenton in 1813 the daughter of slaves. Her owner, Margaret Horniblow, taught her to read, write and sew. Upon her death in 1825, Jacobs expected to be freed but was instead willed to Horniblow’s 3-year old niece Mary Norcom. Jacobs, in reality, became the slave of Mary’s father, Dr. James Norcom, because of Mary’s youth. Dr. Norcom had attended the University of Pennsylvania medical school and returned to Edenton to practice.     

Almost from the moment Jacobs entered the household she became the object of Norcom’s sexual advances and his wife’s intense dislike. She entered into a relationship with attorney Samuel Tredwell Sawyer, who later became a North Carolina State Congressman. The union produced two children, John and Louisa. In 1835, Jacobs fled Norcom’s home for personal safety and to prompt Norcom to sell the children to Sawyer. Sawyer managed, through an agent, to purchase the children and Jacobs’s uncle Philip.

Norcom was led to believe that Harriet left the area but in truth she was secreted in a 9’ by 7’ garret that was 3’ high at the highest point above her grandmother’s shed. While her hiding place was being prepared she was hidden in the home of a white female friend of her grandmother’s, ironically a slaveowner herself, and in the nearby swamp. She would stay in the attic for 6-years and 11-months as family members passed food to her and she watched the world through a one-inch square hole.

In 1842 she was assisted by Peter, a free black man, to the shoreline where she boarded a boat bound for Philadelphia with the complicity of a white captain. After five days in Philadelphia, she took the train to New York where she was reunited with her daughter Louisa but never fully regained her health. Dr. Norcom’s perseverance was legendary and he continued to pursue her until she was purchased and freed in 1852. Harriet Jacobs published her autobiography, “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: Written by Herself,” in 1861 using the pseudonym Linda Brent. She settled in Massachusetts where she and Louisa worked for the abolitionist cause and is buried in Cambridge.

Edenton commemorates the life of Harriet Jacobs with two markers, a North Carolina Highway Historical Marker situated in front of the Historic Edenton Visitor Center and one in front of the Roanoke Lighthouse* honoring her and the Maritime UGRR. An exhibit inside the center displays documents and artifacts relating to her life. A self–guided tour brochure detailing Harriet’s years in Edenton, including 13 sites with maps, photographs and historic information, is available. Most of the sites no longer survive but the tour allows visitors to gain a sense of place.

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and Churchyard* was the site of the baptism of Harriet’s children. African Americans worshipped there and were seated in the balcony. Dr. Norcom is interred in the churchyard.

Martha Hoskins Blount’s home was located on Queen Street near Broad. Blount hid Jacobs in a room above her own after she left the swamp. Blount and Jacobs’s grandmother were friends.

Originally printed May 2014