Queen Anne - 1707 to 1714

Queen Anne was the reigning monarch when Beaufort became a town. She supposedly donated trees to line Ann Street – named for her, as was Queen Street
Anne, born on February 6, 1665, was the second daughter of James II and Anne Hyde. She became Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland on March 8, 1702. On May 1, 1707 she became the first sovereign of the Kingdom of Great Britain. 
Anne married George, Prince of Denmark, but the pair failed to produce a surviving heir (Anne suffered from Hughes Syndrome or 'sticky blood' which resulted in miscarriages).
 
Queen Anne's reign was marked by the development of the two-party system. She personally preferred the Tory Party, but endured the Whigs. Her closest friend, and perhaps her most influential advisor, was Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough.
Queen Anne's reign continued until her death in 1714, at 49 years of age, after a lifelong battle with Hughes Syndrome.

Beaufort Named to Honor Turner's Friend

In Beaufort-by-The-Sea, Journey Back in Time, by Rick and Marcie Carroll,  
  Beaufort resident Ann Goellner wrote: 

"Beaufort—pronounced “boe,” not “bue” (except in South Carolina)—is a French name that means “handsome” or “great” or “strong,” as in a fortress. The name originated in Europe in the 900s, when a strong man built his fortress to protect local interests from the Vikings who had landed on the continent and were plundering France

"In the 1600s, the name Beaufort was brought into English by Henry Somerset (1629-1700), an exceptional Englishman. His wealthy family supported the last Catholic rulers of England and thereby lost their fortune in the civil war that resulted in Protestant rule. Henry spent those tumultuous years in Catholic France and upon return home to England, rebuilt his fortune and political power by marriage to Mary Capel Somerset, (1630-1715) an aristocratic woman of equal intelligence and energy.

"The Somersets were at the forefront of Enlightenment science and rationalism, and they built an extraordinary home and garden at Badminton House. The game of the same name was first played there after Royal Horse Guards brought it from India. When King Charles II offered Henry Somerset a dukedom, Henry chose to become the 1st Duke of Beaufort."
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Henry Somerset, 2nd Duke of Beaufort was an English peer and politician. He was the only son of Charles Somerset, Marquess of Worcester, and Rebecca Child. He was styled Earl of Glamorgan until 1698, and Marquess of Worcester from 1698 until his grandfather's death on 21 January 1700, when he succeeded him as 2nd Duke of Beaufort.

After gaining permission from the Lords Proprietors in the fall of 1713, Beaufort was established and laid out by ye sd surveyor on the 2nd day of October 1713. Robert Turner, then land patent owner, hired Deputy-surveyor Richard Graves to plat the 100-acre town. The name of the town honored Turner's friend Henry Somerset, the 2nd Duke of Beaufort (1684-1719), who was, at the time, Palatine of Carolina, the chief position among the Lords Proprietors

The Indians Were Here First

During the period of first white contacts, the Indian tribes inhabiting the area of the present state of North Carolina were of three linguistic stocks — the Iroquoian, Siouan, and Algonkian.  

In 1588 Thomas Heriot (1560-1621) authored the Brief and True Report on the New Found Land of Virginia. Reviews of his writings have included,the towns he saw were all small, and always close to the water. Except on foot, through forest and swamp, the Indian's only method of transportation was by canoe. This necessitated their towns being close to the water. Most of these towns contained ten or twelve houses constructed of small, upright poles, fastened together with strips of bark or rawhide."  

In Beaufort County: Two Centuries of Its History, C. Wingate Reed wrote, 
"When the first settlers began to filter south into the Pamlico River area, they did not find the Indians as populous as the Raleigh explorers had found them…approximately 13,800. A little more than a century later, at about the time of the founding of Bath Town, John Lawson estimated the Indian population of eastern Carolina as approximately 5,000.

"This reduction of the Indian population is not all attributable to the white man, though he is responsible for most of it. John Archdale, Governor of Carolina in 1694, attributes the reduction in strength to 'a great mortality' of a few years previous. This was probably an epidemic of smallpox, a disease to which the Indians were very susceptible…a disease unknown to the Indians before the white man came.”

John Lawson wrote, in his Letter to the Lord Proprietors, “The Indians of North-Carolina are a well-shap'd clean-made People, of different Statures, as the Europeans are, yet chiefly inclin'd to be tall. They are a very streight People, and never bend forwards, or stoop in the Shoulders, unless much overpower'd by old Age…Their Bodies are a little flat, which is occasion'd, by being laced hard down to a Board, in their Infancy.

"Their Colour is of a tawny, which would not be so dark, did they not dawb themselves with Bears Oil, and a Colour like burnt Cork. This is begun in their Infancy, and continued for a long time, which fills the Pores, and enables them better to endure the Extremity of the Weather…Their Teeth are yellow with Smoaking Tobacco, which both Men and Women are much addicted to. They tell us, that they had Tobacco amongst them, before the Europeans made any Discovery of that Continent...Although they are great Smokers, yet they never are seen to take it in Snuff, or chew it.” 

Lawson also wrote that the Indians made “Tobacco-pouches of his [the pelican’s] Maw” and used conk shells as their wampum.

White House and Hammock House

White House

1733 Moseley Map noted "N.Taylor"
owner of the White House from 1725-1733
A structure, in the area east of the town of Beaufort, was noted on early maps as the “White House.” With its position on the waterfront and clear view of the inlet, it would have served as a landmark to help guide early mariners. 

Since Farnifold Green owned the land and had the means, he may have built the "White House" as an outpost - a place to stay when visiting the yet-settled wilderness. 

Green, who lived on a 1700-acre plantation north of Neuse River, (on Green's Creek, near present-day Oriental) also had the first land patent for land that would later become Beaufort - 780 acres on "the south end of the peninsula that extends between North River and Newport River" - the patent granted December 20, 1707.

The earliest recorded occupant of the  "White House" was Thomas Austin Sr. In 1725, when Richard Rustull Sr. sold the estimated 200 acres comprising the land known by the name of Beaufort; the eastern boundary was '100 yards to the eastward of the hammock that Thomas Austin formerly lived on.'” (deed)

Although there is no record showing when the "White House" was built, or by whom, the earliest owners or proprietors of the Town of Beaufort are said to have owned and lived in the "White House," including Robert Turner (1713-1720), Richard Rustull Sr. (1720-1725) and Nathaniel Taylor (1725-1733).

1738 Chart showing "White House"
      The "White House" was mentioned in James Winwright's 1744 will. He had acquired the house when he purchased the town from John Pender in 1742.
      In 1754, the 100 acres adjoining the eastern boundary of Beaufort, described as "Taylor's Old Field" and containing the "White House" property, was sold at public auction from the estate of James Winwright for the sum of £15-10 shillings proclamation money. In 1765 Robert Williams purchased the 25 acres "known by the name White House..." for £15. (Charles Paul)  (It is believed that the "White House" was located between Fulford and Gordon streets.)
 
1775 Mouzon Map showing "White House" 
The house did not appear on maps after 1780.
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Hammock House 

For many many years, the "White House" and Hammock House were believed to be one and the same. The Hammock House, however, was built in 1800 by Samuel Leffers. The "White House," built in the early 1700s, once existed several hundred yards west of the Hammock House, and east of Gorden Street. (Research and documentation is included in Mary Warshaw's book, Historic Beaufort)

Oldest-known Photograph of Hammock House circa 1900
The oldest-known photograph of the "Hammock House" shows a dilapidated house with an engaged porch, the same form as many Beaufort houses built close to the turn of the century and the first quarter of the 19th century—the 2-story Beaufort-style house. (1815 Duncan House and 1800 Jacob Henry are good examples.)

The photograph above was scanned from Beaufort-by-The-Sea Journey Back in Time, The Illustrated Heritage Guide to Beaufort, NC by Rick and Marcie Carroll. In 1980, the Carteret News-Times published the photograph with the following caption:
"This is the Hammock House in Beaufort as it looked in early 1900. The photograph belongs to George Huntley Jr., Beaufort. According to Elizabeth Springle, Beaufort, the small house in the background was the home of Augusta 'Gus' Mason and his wife Elvira. Their two sons, Allen and Whitford Mason, were captains in the Coast Guard. They also had a daughter, Ida. The small house, believed to be located on Spring Cut leading into Taylor's Creek, burned many years ago. The spring was a source of drinking water for many residents in the area." 
 
 
Hammock House circa 1935 to 1940 (Charles Farrell Photo Collection . NC Archives)
 
Elbert R. Felton owned the Hammock House from 1936 to 1945. Felton was the owner and captain of a dredge boat and apparently spent most of his time out of the area, principally in Louisiana. He purchased the Hammock House to provide a home and source of income for his widowed mother and his three sisters. It was probably during this period that the dormers were added.
  
Contemporary Painting by Mary Warshaw