Newspapers / The Duplin Times (Warsaw, … / Sept. 16, 1949, edition 1 / Page 8
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Story Of Doplin Is Typicol .., By RICHARD H. BYED. While other. North Carolinians grow beards, stage parades and celebrate generally 100th birthdays, the people of Duplin quietly and proudly up the ante a hundred . years and prepare to pay trib ie to their 200-year-old county. On September 22-24, The Dup lin Story," written by Sam Byrd, will be presented. ' The action of the pageant will revolve around the historical high lights of Dunlin, both post and pres- ; ent, recreating signicant moments In the county's past and tying them in with its present-day life. ' The biicentennial celebration will serve a double purpose: first as a dramatic tribute to Duplin's his tory, and, second ,as a source of funds for the construction of a central county auditorium and gymnasium. Duplin's historv is typical, its peopple the small-town and1 farm folks seen every day, everywhere throughout North Carolina. All though the county W officially only 200 years old, the first chapter in its history was written 214 years ago. In 1735, a London merchant, Henry McCulloch, appeared before George I's Board of Trade nd asked for grants of land in the Co lonial Province of North Caro lina. His request wa recognized and the grants made, on the con dition that McCulloch and the eth er settler enter and settle as much aa possible of more than a million acres on the headwaters of the Neuse, Pee Dec, Northwest, North east and Cape Fear rivers. Finally the McCulloch .ompany was formed in 1736, 400 ScoUh Irish and Swiss immigrants landed at- Wilmington on the Cape Fear, liy boat and wagon they pushed northward along the river toward the McCulloch tract on its north east branch. Ons a bluff overlooking the river they pitched camp, naming it Sd racte (now Sarccta). The sur rounding country soon became known as "Goshen' named by the settlers in likeness of the Biblicial "land of plenty'. in 1738 McCulloch followed his company to Sarec.ta, made his head quarters there and laid out a town. . This town soon became a leading center of activity in Duplin, being strategically loeuted on trie North east, on whose waters native prod ucts of pitch, turpentine, lumber, and farm goods could be floated down to the Cape Fear and on to Wilmington. ! The territory when first settled was the northern half of New Han over County, but in 1749 was incor porated by Act of the Colonial As sembly into a separate "County of DUPLIN STORY" DANC J Duplin and St. Gabriel Parish " be ing named for Henry Hay, Lord Duplin, members of the bngilsn BonM of Trade and personal friend of McCulloch. 1 ' t In 1784 the western part of Dup lin was divided and a new county formed, named Sampson in honor of John Sampson, leading Itizcn of that region. Golien Grove wis chosen as Duplin County Seat and a court house erected there in 1785. The town was laid out In 1 1818 and named Kenansville for James Ken an, past member of the House of Commons and delegate to , the Nbvrh Carolina Provincial Congres ses, "Liberty Hall," as the Kenan .iome was called, soon became the social center of the new county seat and many lavish affairs were con' ducted in its bulls. " The old house stands today barred and rundown, a mute re minder of lis past glory. The name Kenan still lives, however, and Is familiar to all North Carolinians. A tribute to the family stands to day in the form of beautiful Kenan Memorial Stadium, built at the University of North Carolina in 1927 as a jift of William Kand Ken an, Jr. ' Also, in 1917, Mrs.. Jessie Kenan Wise donated $75,000 to be used lor professorships at the University and again in 1932 gave $24,000 to the University Emergency Student Loan Fund. In addition,' Mrs. Sarah Grahvr Kenan donated a total of $55,000 for philosophy fellowships a3 an endowment for the Southern His torical Collection, and as a supple ment to the Student Loan Fund. Wrote Military History The county and its military forces played a most important part in the Revolutionary War and the crisis leading up to it. The Brit it sh rule had become increasingly distasteful to the colonies in the middle 18th century, and D'iplin took up arms to protect the cause of independence. The Stamp Act had recently been passed and was greeted with bitter opposition by the colonists. Op posing forces were formed in pro test, and in 1765 Captain James Kenan led volunteer troops from Kenansville to Brunswick to pre vent the levy of the stamp duties there. A few years later, after the out break of the war, the Tory general, Dorald McDonald, organized the 1600 Scotch Highlanders around Fayetteville (then Campbeliton'and proceeded south to join other Brit ish forces at Wilmington. The Dup lin militia under the Ammand of Kenan marched to Moore's Creek in Pender County to join Colonel James Moore, supreme commander of the patriot forces and in the bat- 9M ""'"" 1 . . '1 j.,..h..a n ftllhert Alnhine. Nancy ana Auarey aiihuiw, u"" , . , - r Jr"president of the Duplin oityjrtetoricloOon, a . shown above as they practiced thir dance $ebt UWT ml do tepageant about toe history o! Duplin wunty.lhi Duplin story. tie of Moore's Creek Bridge de feated the Highlanders, taking Mc Donald prisoner. Kenan's Duplin militia again saw action in 1781 at Rockfish Creek, in the battle of Stono in Camden, South Carolina, and in the battle i f Briar Creek near Savannah Gerrgia. The annals of the Civil War ilso include action by the Kenans and Duplin troops. Thomas Kenan was appointed captain at the outbreak of the war and took command of the Duplin Kifles, Confederate mi litia. In 1862 Kenan was -niada colonel in charge of the 43rd regi ment of tne North Carolina troops and was instrumental in routing Federal forces in Duplin. In 18fi3 .e Federal raided Ken anrville, burned the Froeieck sword factoiy there, and proceeded to Warsaw, burning and pillaging as they went. The depot at Warsaw was destroyed, telegraph wires cut) railroad tracks torn up, and the town ransacked. Hearing of the raid, ConIedente leaders rushed re inforcements t' Duplin, only to find the Federals gone before them. The educational advances made in Duplin date back to 1785 when thp Ornvp Academy was founded in Kenansville by legislative grant 'to fit young men lor college, or 10 prepare them for the ordinary walks of life.' ' Many of Duplin's most famous Mr. Tobacco Grower FAIRMONT, THE OLD RELIABLE, THE BORDER BELT'S BIGGEST AND BEST TOBACCO MARKET HAS SOLD MORE POUNDS OF TOBACCO, PAID OUT MORE MONEY AND HAS THE HIGHEST AVERAGE OF ANY TOBACCO MARKET IN NORTH OR SOUTH CAROLINA, Pounds Sold This Season 42f ;78t 618 Money Paid Out Ml 472 842. 77 AVERAGE $52.54 Sales Thursday POUIIDS-807982 I MO!IEY420, 030. 90 AVERAGE-$51.l98 FAIRMONT WAREHOUSES ARE NOT CROWDED - SALES ARE NOT BLOCKED. FARMERS, YOU CAN DRIVE TO FAIRMONT;; fl SELL YOUR TOBACCO AND RETURN HOME THE SAME DAY.' SELL THE REMAINDER OF YOUR TOBACCO IN U L u J ti it , i ) I t ? 7 if The 1 014 " Reliable'' vf Q 3 'M. C. B. STAITOr.D, E-i?s r '--t' men attended the academy at one time or another. Captain W. J. Houston, Duplin Civil War hero, Senator F. M. Simmons, Vice-President William Rufus Kin3. " Congressman B. F. Grady are a few of those who received their, first education at the old Institu tion, which after operating off and on for 122 years, closed its doors for good in 1907. Later in 1396 the James Sprunt Institute, Presbyterian school for jirls, was established at Knans cille and operated as late as the middle 1920's. Hanna Moore Acad emy was organized In the Goshen community by plantation owners who wished to have a convenient srhnnl for their children. Religion and public education hive from tha first been clo3cly al lied in Duplin, the first Presbyte- ian ministers acting as tutors fo the neighborhood children durin the week and preaching on hunda . Duplin is and has always been an agricultural region, with a 203 day growing season. The earlier farmers shipped their farm pro duce, pitch turpentine, lumber and cattle down the Northeast to Wil- - mington. From clearing his land the farmer could soon gather great quantities of i logs for lumbei, meanwhile leaving his cattle to grase along the rich swamp and lowlands, and at the same time growing vhat crops were necessary for food and clothing and perhaps a small amount to trade for house hold luxuries.: William, Dickson, clerk of court in 1810, had this to say about t'.e land: "The Soil of these lands is proper forjhe CuJ'ure of Indian Corn, Peas, Potatoes and Cotton, lo Wheat, Rye, and Oates, all of which it will produce without Ma-nur".'-' i'v.'.'-."'.':'-" '' Tobacco, now the county's lead ing money crop, was not grown un til thp IW'i, when W, J. Smith of J'earrall township introduced it to t!v county. Sarerta in the earlv days was the mreMng point of three main st.?e lines, one south to Wilming ton, one east to New Bern, and m othcr west to Fayettevllle, the dis tance to these cities being almost equal. Those roads remained the moft important routes in the coun ty until the Wilmington and Wcl don Railroad was built farther west prior to the Civil War The new roac (now the Atlantic Coast l ino) wan nl that time of the lonp- i-st railroads in. the country and soon the commercial activity shift ed westward from Kenansville and Sarecta to the new and coi venlent north-south line. Numerous towns .-prang up ilong the road: Wallace, Teacheys, Rose Hill, Magnolia, Warsaw, Faison, and Calypso. These communit es flourished and now make up the leading trading centers of the county. AIJj;jCAIt VAY &&&MI BETTER JOB Of A , ; KMA RUINING THr , - , -J SasaC'-U wa ' - I ' 1 I Rnniiitr f!n Strawberry Capital . Today Wallace is the mosl fam ous and mrst prosperous 0 all Duplin tiwns. It has become rcc-' osnteed as the lurgest single straw berry auction market in the world and each year stages its colorful Strawberry Festival. It has be come a thriving tobacco market as well, with four large auction ware houses located there. I Warsaw, .he county's largest town, has become a leadi. g live stock maike t and lumber shipping oint. Large quantities oi puip- The first settlers, predominantly (wood and logs are brought there Presbyterian, held worship servi first In the homes and later o meeting houses. - In 1742 the first organized Pres byterian congregation constructed a meeting house at Golden Grlive, in Kenansville. - The building (till stands and even today is one of. Kecansvilles' leading churches. J ,anc" shipped by rail to various man ufacturing centers. Although' log ging and lumber manufacturing is Mill the countv's leading industry. I Itao iimher siiddIv like that in most foarts of the country has liimin- Uished within the last few years. The pine, cypress and gum once so plentiful have been cut oiv of the swamps and pocosins which cover (he county. Still, in 1946, some 42 sawmills in the county produced 16,425,000 feet of pine and hard wood lumber. Faison, located on the ACL north' of Warsaw, has developed .nto an important truck market where each year the farmers bring their pep ,er, corn, beans, cucumbers, and other produce to auction. The Cates Pickle Comoany has i plant nearby and buys great quantities of the produce that goes into the making of pickles and pickle prod-, ucts. A relatively new crop has ap peared in Duplin during the last several years. This crop is the blueberry ,a plant similar to the huckleberry, native to Duplin. The blueberry plants are imported from nurseries in New Jersey and other fruit-growing states, and are trans planted in the damp rich soil which Is favorable to their growth.. Several large farms have sprung up around Magnolia, where by modern methods large areas of the swampy t woodland can be easily cleared and cultivated. More farms are being prepared and since the type of soil favorable to its growth is widespread in the county, tle blueberry has a good chance of tx -coming a leading money crop for : many Duplin farmers. So Duplin is today an old, proud county with a colorful and noble, history. It can well be proud -of the men it has produced: the Ken ans, Gradys. Houstons, Falsona, men who have gone from the coun ty to rise to national prominence. - Duplin can be equally proud of the men and women who ' have stayed with the land; for from the land hai come Duplin's success and In the land lies the promise of its ; future. The man who is to write the pa geant portraying Duplin's history is well qualified to do it justice. Al though he is not a Duplin native, he has lived on the very border of ' the county and has been in close contact with it and its people all his life. s ' The pageant is being written by Sam Byrd, of Mount Olive, who has received national recognition in the field of drama and literature... He is to direct its production and will take the leading role when the play opens on September 22. r I ",,J J Ai ' V' "' rX?). t $Z3i: -. I f YOU ARE We Feature Recognized Names In Clothing r V fiVf Junior Dresses ; TRUDY HALL, JR. CAROL KING Misses Dresses GEORGIANA , j KAYDUNHILL ' MARTHA MANNING BETTY HARTFORD .- LADIES' COATS Constant Companion , By Chat Moor - LADIES' SUITS . By Whitley 1 1 . 1 FOR CHILDREN Cinderella Dresses Men's Suits & Topcoats .GRIFFON j", CLIPPER CRAFT . j - i Men's Hats r ' ' STETSON DOBBS SOCIETY CLUB . ;, , Men's Shirts ARROW . . ... , MANHATTAN Correctly Dressed WHEN YOU DRESS FROM A. BROOKS IN WARSAW For Children POLL PARROT Tom Sawyer Clothes For Boys - .. Rugby Sweaters And Bantama Jackets ' For Men ' ' Men's Ties & Socks . BOTANY TIES INTERWOVEN SOCKS Shoes For Men FLORSIIEIM '. ' JARMAN ! ' - STAB BRAND For Women JOLENE . TWIN TREAD - wA nun j n t vt uiuuivu w V DEPARTMENT STORE ' r "M2i::rc!:-r.,i!3 ' 1?', , V i I y r ... n-i , r
The Duplin Times (Warsaw, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Sept. 16, 1949, edition 1
8
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