Near and Far – Near with Michele Russell – Bath, NC
On Dec 30th my husband and I took a day trip to historic Bath, NC, which is located on the Pamlico River about 2 ½ hours north of Wilmington. Bath was established in 1705 and is the oldest unincorporated town in North Carolina. The first settlers were French Huguenots from Virginia. John Lawson, considered the founder of Bath, and Christopher Gale, Chief Justice of the colony, were among the earliest English inhabitants.
Bath’s trade in naval stores, furs, and tobacco was the leading occupation in the beginning. The early years had their share of turbulence. Among these are Cary’s Rebellion in 1711, marked by political rivalry between governors, the yellow fever epidemic that same year, the Tuscarora War from 1711 through 1715, and the notorious pirate Edward Teach, known as Blackbeard. He was the biggest draw for my husband!
Despite the turbulence, Bath has a rich history. In 1746 Bath was being considered for capital of the colony, but New Bern was chosen. St Thomas Episcopal Church (1734) is the oldest standing church building in North Carolina. A library, given to St Thomas Parish in 1701 by the Rev. Thomas Bray, was the first public library in the state. Many early 18th century political leaders resided in or near the town, and the governor’s council and the colonial assembly met there several times.
We were able to go inside the Joseph Bonner house, built about 1820. In the kitchen outbuilding we saw ladies cooking pies on the fireplace hearth using original recipes in Mrs. Bonner’s handwriting. We ate samples too! We also visited St Thomas Church which is still an active church. Most notable of the many historic properties is Bath’s oldest and largest colonial home dating to 1751. A museum is located inside the old Bath high school with many displays of life in Bath from the Native Americans through the 20th century.
and Far with Jackie LaMar – Plymouth, MA and other area locales
As a member of the Mayflower Society, I recently went to Plymouth, Massachusetts for the first time and toured other nearby areas. In September, I attended the triennial Mayflower Congress and witnessed the new slate of officers being sworn in. I dressed in a mostly handmade colonial costume to walk in the Plymouth Progress from the Mayflower Society Meeting House (Edward Winslow's home) to the Mayflower Meetinghouse (the First Parish Church in Plymouth), stopping to pray at the sarcophagus in memory of those Mayflower passengers who died during the first winter. (Their bodies had been buried on the beach, but were reburied together on higher land) I saw Plymouth Rock, Burial Hill, the National Monument to the Forefathers, the Mayflower II, the Plimoth Patuxet Museum, and its recreation of a 17th-century English village. I was there for the onsite groundbreaking of the Warren House.
In Boston, I toured the Paul Revere House, the Boston Massacre Site, the Boston Soldiers and Sailors Monument, Faneuil Hall, and followed part of the Freedom Trail, saw the Old North Church, the statue of Paul Revere on his horse, Cobb's Hill Burying Ground where British soldiers used the gravestones for target practice, hitting the 'o's with precision.
On to Cape Cod, went to First Encounter Beach in Eastham, to the Pilgrims First Landing Park in Provincetown, ate a lobster roll, and then tried to work it off by going up the Pilgrim Monument and through the Provincetown Museum.
Also, I took a bus tour of Newport, RI, walked along the cliffs, and then through Cornelius Vanderbilt's summer cottage, a Gilded Age mansion known as The Breakers. (I can file supplementals sometime on my Tabor line who lived nearby)
It was a fabulous opportunity after seeing last summer where my Mayflower ancestors, William and Mary Brewster lived in Scrooby, Nottinghamshire, in England, and where they traveled with their Separatist Pilgrims seeking refuge in various towns in England, then in Leiden and Amsterdam in Holland before choosing to come to the New World. (Pics by Jackie!)
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