USS Pevensey

The SS Pevensey, blockade-runner serving the Confederacy, was lost on June 9, 1864, run aground by the Union supply ship New Berne. The Pevensey’s crew caused the ship’s boilers to explode and then escaped to shore, where they were captured and taken to Fort Macon. One crewmember was apprehended aboard the doomed vessel. The Pevensey had successfully run the blockade at Cape Fear four times before she was lost. On the day she ran aground, the ship’s crew was disoriented, thinking they were much closer to Cape Fear than they actually were. The ship grounded about nine miles west of Federal-held Beaufort, at present Pine Knoll Shores.

The Pevensey, an iron-hulled sidewheel steamer, was typical of the type of vessel used to run the Federal blockade during the Civil War. The Pevensey had one deck, two masts, and was schooner rigged. She was built by Charles Lungley of London circa 1863 or 1864. Her machinery was manufactured by Northam Iron Works of Southampton, England. The wreck currently lies about one hundred yards off the beach. The remains of the hub of the portside paddlewheel are visible above the water at low tide. Consequently, the wreck has captivated beachgoers for years. Known locally as the “Iron Steamer,” the wreck gave name to the nearby Iron Steamer Pier and Motel (since demolished).

The NC Underwater Archaeology Branch (UAB) examined the wreck site in November 2000. The UAB noted that much of the ship’s machinery is visible underwater, but that more of the vessel could be buried beneath the sand bottom. It was also noted that Pevensey is less well preserved than other blockade-runner wrecks at Cape Fear due to its closer proximity to shore and exposure to stronger currents. It was determined that there was interest in preserving the pier (which had been damaged by recent hurricanes) as a platform for public observation of the wreck. The pier, however, has since been removed. The UAB recommended further study and collaborated with an avocational underwater archaeology group called Surface Interval Diving Company (SIDCO) on further study of the wreck.

The Pevensey site is similar to the wrecks of the Beauregard at Carolina Beach and the Ranger at Holden Beach. The Pevensey wreck also compares favorably with the clusters of wrecks off Cape Fear that were studied by the UAB and placed on the National Register in 1985. That people can actually see a portion of this Civil War relic from the beach makes it a special curiosity.

A historical marker is located on NC 58 ( Salter Path Road) at mile marker seven:
Blockade runner, iron steamer, chased ashore by Union ship
June 9, 1864. Remains lie offshore, 220 yards SE

....................................

SIDCO is responsible for the entire archaeological
assessment of the 0001BBB wreck site.
Blockade Runner Pevensey

“Oysters are only 30 cents a bushel…” Jeannie Coues

View of Beaufort from Morehead City in the 1860s - Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper

 

Jane Augusta McKinney Coues, known as “Jeannie” to her family and friends, was the wife of Dr. Elliott Coues, the Fort Macon surgeon and a renowned naturalist who was assigned to Fort Macon in February, 1869. Initially, their living quarters were inside one of the Fort casemates. During their 20 months stay at Fort Macon, Jeannie corresponded frequently with her sister Louise. Here are some excerpts from those letters:

. . .I don’t know how to describe Fort Macon so that you will get my idea of it. It is built on a little island two miles out from the mainland. It is in the form of a hollow pentagon, and has a moat and a drawbridge. On the ramparts are cannons commanding the harbor and ocean called guns en barbette. The fort is turfed over and from the water looks only like high breast works, but in reality it is 40 ft. high. The entrance is called the sally-port and there is a guard of 10 or 15 men stationed there night and day.

 

. . .I go over to Beaufort nearly every day in a rowboat to market…Oysters are only 30 cents a bushel and almost everything else is cheap.

 

. . .It is very healthy here and nice places for Edith to play. In fact, Beaufort is the watering place for North Carolina...Warm days she is taken down to the beach and there she rolls over and over, fills her eyes and hair full of sand and makes little mud pies, though she hasn’t attained too much proficiency in the latter. Everything is so clean on the beach that I like to have her there. The sea comes up twice a day and washes away all impurities…I have been taking a hard gallop on the beach this evening, and my hand trembles so I can scarcely write.

. . .Elliott keeps two horses and we have splendid canters on the beach. Two days ago we went 10 miles away in a sailboat to see a whale that had been harpooned and was lying on the beach. It was 50 feet long, and when the roof of its mouth was cut off and placed on the beach it formed an arch high enough for me to stand erect under.

 

. . .Edith is the only child at the Post now and is fast being spoiled. Several of the officers keep a private paper of candy for her and she trots around to the different rooms and asks for “tan tan” every morning as soon as she is dressed.

 

. . .It is pretty warm here now, or would be were it not for the sea breeze. I ride my little pony every evening, when it is pleasant. I believe I told you we were keeping house…we had moved into a little row of cottages just outside the fort in consequence of Elliott’s being the second officer in rank. 

. . .One of the unmarried officers lives with us. Our dinner today is a pair of wart chickens, a large baked fish, stuffed with Irish potatoes and eggs, and garnished with slices of lemon, the usual vegetables, and grapes for dessert. My dinner is milk porridge. In a fishing excursion the other day I caught 7 immense blue fish just as fast as I could pull them in.

According to fort historian Paul Branch, Coues’ wife Jeannie included a hand-drawn floor plan of her “cottage by the sea” in a March 12, 1870 letter to her sister, showing their living arrangement. The front right room was occupied by an unmarried officer. The left front room was a common parlor. The rear room on the left was occupied by the Coues family. The right rear room was a common dining room.

Jacob Henry House circa 1800

Painting by Mary Warshaw

Though plaqued as the Easton House circa 1771, with the first houses plaqued in 1963, this house at 229 Front Street was built for Jacob Henry between 1794 and 1802.  

Jacob Henry was elected a member of the North Carolina Legislature in 1808. In 1809 he was challenged to step down because, as a Jew, he denied the Divine Authority of the New Testament. The debate, and Henry’s speech in his own behalf, was widely reported and important in the American fight for constitutional religious freedom.

 
Legend tells us that the cellar, constructed of large ballast stones, may have been used by Federal troops during the Civil War, as a prison for Confederate soldiers captured at Fort Macon. This is, however, not documented. This cellar does include a huge fireplace. When first built, meals were cooked here and passed up through a dumbwaiter into what is now the living room. It is said that the cellar was also used, at one time, for barrel making by a Beaufort cooper.

In 1835, the house was purchased by Marcus Thomas and remained in the Thomas family until 1959 when it became the home of John and Sara Jones. In 1900, Thomas descendant, Alonzo Thomas helped fund the purchase of Piver's Island so that it could be established as a U.S. Fish Commission marine laboratory.

At one time, a Mason-Hamlin organ was located in the living room; it was a gift to Emma Duncan upon her graduation from Greensboro Female Institute in 1859. Needlework samplers, dated 1846 and 1851, were discovered in an old trunk in the house.

____________________________

At a ceremony on June 11, 2012, Jacob Henry was honored 

with a N.C. Highway Historical Marker.  

 

MARKER TEXT:

Jacob Henry, the first Jewish representative in the North Carolina House of Commons, served in 1808 and 1809, a time in which people were bound constitutionally to affirm the “truth of the Protestant religion” before holding any public office or “place of trust or profit in the civil department.” A resident of Beaufort, he was elected to represent Carteret County. Although many details of his early life are lacking, it is known that he was the son of Joel and Amelia Henry, who moved to North Carolina from Charleston by the time of the 1790 census.         

Young Henry rose to importance in the state’s history not only as the first Jewish legislator, but, as such, he inadvertently became a defender of religious liberty. A Federalist, Henry was first elected in 1808, served the term without incident, and was reelected the following year. Hugh C. Mills, a newly-elected Republican representative from Rockingham County, took issue with Henry’s religious affiliation and, on December 5, 1809, introduced a resolution to vacate Henry’s seat. At issue were sections 32 and 12 of the state constitution (affirming the Protestant religion and taking a proper oath of office).  

     

The legislators decided to take up the resolution the next day, giving Jacob Henry time to prepare his defense. Without specifically mentioning Judaism, Henry gave a rousing speech in which he waxed about “natural and inalienable rights” and equalized religious sects with phrases such as, “the ruler of the universe would receive with equal benignity, the various offerings of man’s adoration if they proceed from an humble spirit and sincere mind.” 

One of Henry’s most ardent defenders was William Gaston, who, as a Catholic, had reason to be interested in the outcome of the debate. Gaston maintained that the religious requirements did not apply to legislative office, and therefore Henry had not violated the Constitution. Ultimately Jacob Henry was allowed to retain his seat. His inspiring and eloquent speech on December 6, 1809, has been published and quoted frequently ever since. It is considered a touchstone of religious rights and tolerance.    

Jacob Henry married Esther Whitehurst of Beaufort in 1801. The Federal era house that he built at 229 Front Street in Beaufort still stands. The Henrys had seven children before moving to Charleston around 1817. Henry did not engage in politics after the 1809 session. He died in 1847 and is believed to have been buried alongside his mother and wife in a “Hebrew cemetery” in that city. Tombstones have not been found. 

 

Much more on Jacob Henry and the house

 

Chadwick House circa 1858

Robert Withers Chadwick (1826–1884) was born January 30, 1826 near Beaufort in Straits, North Carolina, son of Gayer Chadwick and Caroline Hellen. Gayer Chadwick was the son of Barnabas Chadwick and Mary Polly Walpoole. Barnabas Chadwick’s grandfather, Samuel Chadwick, the whaler, came to the Core Sound area from Cape Cod in 1726. On November 14, 1854, Robert Withers Chadwick married Mary Elizabeth Potter (1832–1897), who was born in Beaufort to William Jackson Potter and Elizabeth Harris Davis.

The 1850 Hyde County census shows 24-year-old Robert Chadwick as a school teacher in the Currituck District. In 1870, twelve years after he built what is now known as the Chadwick House, census records show Robert having a residence in Wilmington, North Carolina, where he was customs officer. The Chadwicks evidently kept their Beaufort residence as a second home.
 

Elizabeth Chadwick Muse

Three children were born to Mary and Robert Chadwick. Robert Withers Chadwick Jr., born in 1862, died at the age of two. Elizabeth Hellen Chadwick, born in 1864, married William Henry Muse 1859-1931. One of the Muse children was Beaufort author Amy Bradley Muse who wrote several books including Granpa Was a Whaler, the story of the Chadwicks of Carteret County. The Chadwicks other daughter Mary Caroline married William Wallace Shaw, who worked for the telephone company in Durham, North Carolina. 

Local history tells us that Robert and Mary "adopted" a twelve-year-old Chinese boy, Charlie Soong, who was found as a stowaway on a ship docked in Wilmington. Young Charlie may have spent much time with the Chadwicks in Beaufort. Records show that Charlie also spend time in Wilmington and where others were also influential in his upbringing including Julian Carr who aided in financing his education at Trinity College (Duke University). (see Charlie Soong-A Beaufort Connection?)

This Greek revival style home was built with front porch pediments centered over three bays. Originally it was a “half-house,” consisting of a hall on the west side with four rooms on the east side-two upstairs and two downstairs.

When John W. Noe bought the house in 1882, for only $400, he added a dining room, kitchen and a porch on the north side. The next addition took place around 1906 when West Noe enlarged the front section by adding four rooms on the west side of the hall. The roof was changed, pediments were re-centered and two additional bays were added to retain the classic Greek revival style.

During the late 1930s, the main part of the house was converted into four apartments, but in the late 1960s the house returned to its original plan. In 1985 the rear wing was remodeled to provide an enlarged kitchen and dining area. The rear porches were enclosed for added living space. Windows were added on the enclosed east side to create a Florida room.

In 1987, Kenneth Wetherington, owner and heir, sold the house to Dr. Stephen Boone. The house had fallen into a state of disrepair due to extensive damage from termites, powder post beetles, water leaks and neglect. The huge 9-month renovation task was carefully planned in order to preserve the character and charm of the home.

The home’s garden lights were taken from the first highway bridge into Beaufort which was constructed in 1927. The “Beaufort Fence” was built from recycled original porch lumber. Through continued restoration by subsequent owners, this historic home reflects its classic nineteenth century origins.

Robert and Mary Chadwick are buried in The Old Burying Ground.

Charlie Soong--A Beaufort Connection?

Local Beaufort history has told us that Charlie Soong was "adopted" by Robert and Mary Chadwick who built the Chadwick House, circa 1858, on Ann Street. It has been written that the Chadwicks raised him and saw to it that he got a good education, helping him attend Trinity College. 

Research to verify this connection revealed no documentation to connect the Chadwicks with Charlie Soong. But, since Robert Chadwick was customs officer in Wilmington, NC around the time Charlie arrived there as a stowaway, it seems that Charlie may have spent a lot of time in Beaufort, with the Chadwicks taking part in caring for this young boy. 

D.G. Martin wrote an article in the Chatham Journal Weekly—Monday, April 18, 2005—as part of a Chinese language course he was taking at the Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC-Chapel Hill. One of his assignments was to prepare a business project and then give an oral summary to his classmates in Chinese. Martin wrote in Charlie Soong – North Carolina’s link to China’s History, 

 

“Although Charlie Soong was born in China in 1866, he made his way to Wilmington, North Carolina as a young boy. There he converted to Christianity and announced his intention to return to China as a missionary. A minister in Wilmington persuaded Durham tobacco and textile manufacturer, Julian Carr, to take an interest in Soong.  

"Carr brought Soong to Durham and then arranged for him to enroll as the first foreign student at Trinity College (Duke) in Randolph County.…. Carr and Soong developed a ‘father-son’ lifelong friendship, despite Charlie Soong's serious flirtation with Carr's niece, which resulted in Charlie's 'exile' to Vanderbilt University for more religious training.    

 

The following history at chinatoday.com—Charlie Soong and Wilmington by Zhang Yan, also contradicts the original Beaufort story. 

“In front of the Fifth Avenue Methodist Church in Wilmington, North Carolina stands a monument erected in 1944 which reveals an unusual historic connection with China. The engraved plaque states that Charlie Jones Soong, father of the famous Soong family of modern China, converted to Christianity in this church on November 7, 1880.  

"Charlie Soong, was born Soong Yaoru in 1863, to a poor farming family in Wenchang County of China's southern Hainan Island. His life and the lives of his six children sketch an incredible picture of modern Chinese history.  

"Soong Ching Ling, one of his three daughters, married revolutionary leader Dr. Sun Yat-sen [the first president of the Chinese republic]…..Charlie Soong's youngest daughter, Mei Ling, married Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek…. Soong's first daughter, Ai Ling, married H. H. Kung, finance minister of the Nationalist government who, together with three other large families, dominated the fate of the Republic of China for a long period of time. Soong's three sons were likewise influential leaders in China during that period. T. V. Soong was minister of foreign affairs and later prime minister of the Nationalist government. T. L. and T. A., his two other sons, held responsible positions in the financial structure of war-torn China.  

"Charlie Soong's story began late in the 19th century, when China was flagging after the two Opium Wars under the reign of the declining and corrupt Qing (Manchu) Dynasty. There at that time was an outflow of impoverished immigrants to other lands seeking a livelihood no longer possible at home. At the age of nine, Soong became part of it when he went to Java, Indonesia to work as apprentice for a relative. Soon after his arrival, he was given up for adoption to his aunt's younger brother who had a shop selling silk and tea in Boston, Massachusetts. This was the turning point in Soong's life. 

"It was indeed a long physical journey for this Chinese lad to travel from Java to Boston. Even longer was the cultural, social and psychological distance to late 19th century Boston. The shopkeeper uncle wanted to keep his promising kinsman tied to the store. 

"For the boy, the attraction of new horizons far outweighed the comfort and security of family relations. Frequent contacts with Chinese students sent by the Qing government to learn modern ideas and techniques inspired him enormously. After a year behind the counter at the Chinese grocery, Soong was ready to quit and go to school. When his uncle objected, he ran off and stowed away on a U.S. Revenue Service cutter.   

"Luckily for him, the Norwegian-American captain of that ship, Eric Gabrielson, was a generous person who took an immediate liking to this enthusiastic young Chinese and offered him a paid position as 'cabin boy' on his crew. Over the ensuing months, Soong became attached to the captain and his family, who treated him kindly and took him along when they moved to Wilmington, North Carolina, along the Atlantic coast. In 1880, he was hired as mess boy for a steamship used by the U.S. Revenue Service to track down smugglers. He also took Gabrielson's advice and joined the Methodist Church. 

"Colonel Roger Moore, a Civil War veteran and friend of Gabrielson, became Soong's close friend shortly after his arrival in Wilmington and took him 'church-shopping.' On Soong's third Sunday in town, they landed at Fifth Street Methodist Church where the Rev. T. Page Ricaud took Soong under his wing. On November 7,1880, a notice in the local Wilmington Star announced Soong would be 'the first Celestial' (as Chinese immigrants were then known) that has ever submitted to the ordinance of Christian baptism in North Carolina. 

"Impressed with Soong's intelligence, both Col. Moore and Rev. Ricaud determined that he should receive a formal education in religion. Paying his tuition was the only problem. Col. Moore sought help from his old friend Julian Shakespeare Carr, one of the richest men in the South and a founder of Duke University. Carr asked Moore to send the young Chinese over, saying that if he liked him he would foot his educational bill. Fortunately Carr was immediately won over by young Charlie's enthusiasm and ambition. He not only agreed to pay Soong's tuition but also invited him to stay in his home. In the following years, Soong took Bible courses at Trinity College in Wilmington and was later dispatched to Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, to complete his training. He was awarded his certificate in theology in 1885.

"By the 1880s, Charlie's personality and outlook were becoming more complex, as was the era in which he lived. Having arrived as a poor immigrant, he had broken the mold by seeing and getting a Western education. He was more over immersed in the everyday life of Americans and was preparing to launch a 'self-made man' career with skills he has learned as a farm boy, shop apprentice, sailor and printer. He knew how to use his hands and liked to do so. But he always maintained his Chinese identity, in his own eyes as well as those of others.  

"Despite the kindness and affection of many Americans whom he would warmly remember, Charlie Soong could not have been oblivious to anti-Chinese sentiment in the US after Congress passed the racist Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882. Back in his own country his awareness was sharpened. In 1886,the year of his return, an anti-missionary movement broke out in China as retaliation against mistreatment of Chinese in the US.  

"When Soong was sent back to Shanghai to bring the gospel to his people, he came up against a domineering Methodist sponsor who insisted he be appropriately treated as a 'native' and paid just US $15 a month, not enough to keep a family. Protests proved useless. This led Soong to switch, in 1892, from missionary to businessman, though he still worked as lay preacher. Using techniques learned in Wilmington, he started his first venture -- a printing press of Bibles in Chinese- - with financial support from Julian Carr. It was this press that drew attention of China's republican revolutionaries headed by Dr. Sun Yat-sen. Later he became publisher of their political literature and assisted them in many ways, including raising money for their cause. What actually drew Soong to the revolutionaries was his belief in modernism and nationalism. In Shanghai, he was constantly irked by China's obviously inferior international status and its effect on Chinese people.  

"In 1905, Soong set sail for the United States for the second time in his life. He soon began to enroll his daughters at the Wesleyan Women's College in Macon, Georgia. and also spent long hours at the Wilmington Men's Club discussing finance and politics. Despite his resolve to give all his children Western college educations, Soong never encouraged them to settle in the US. He always tried to keep them well informed about matters in China by regularly sending letters and press clippings. He wanted to imbue them with a sense of China's great past, dissatisfaction with her current humiliation and backwardness, and belief in her great future if progress could be made. Right after the victorious 1911 Revolution in China, Soong sent the national flag of the newborn Republic to his second daughter Ching Ling at the Wesleyan. She jubilantly pinned it up on her dormitory wall and stamped on its predecessor, the yellow dragon of the Manchu emperors. She immediately wrote an article lauding the victory of the revolution as: 'The Greatest Event of the Twentieth Century.'  

"In 1914, when Carr visited Shanghai on a voyage around the world, Soong was already a wealthy businessman deeply involved in China's revolutionary movements. Dr. Sun Yat-sen, provisional president of the new Republic of China and now Soong's son-in-law, joined the rest of the family in a lavish welcoming celebration when Carr arrived. According to Carr's grandson, Austin, his grandfather was then 'treated like a king.' At Duke University, a reading room is dedicated to Soong and his family, and in every history of the Soong family, there are footnotes about Charlie's years in Wilmington. When Austin Carr made his own journey to China he was amazed to find that his young guide in Guangzhou knew all about Charlie Soong and his time in North Carolina."  

___________________

Charles Jones Soong (1863-1918), born Han Jiaozhun (韓教準) in Hainan as the third son of Han Hongyi (韓鴻翼), changed his surname after a sonless uncle adopted him, at age twelve, while he worked in Boston—Wikipedia Encyclopedia.

Manney-French Love Story

Dr. James Manney House

 

Nancy Leecraft Manney (c.1820‒1886) was born in Beaufort in the "Dr. James Manney House circa 1812" on Craven Street—one of nine children of James Manney and Maria Frederica Lente.

Besides tending the sick in Beaufort and at Fort Macon, Dr. Manney was an entrepreneur and a prolific letter writer. President James Monroe appointed Dr. Manney as collector of customs. In the late 1820s, Manney competed with Otway Burns in supplying brick for the building of Fort Macon.

In a 1842/43 session of the North Carolina General Assembly, Dr. Manney was one of eleven men appointed as trustees for a new school—Beaufort Male and Female Academy.*

Soon after, Charles Grafton Wilberton French (1820‒1891), a recent graduate of Brown University, came to Beaufort to teach at the school. He soon met and was smitten by Dr. Manney’s daughter Nancy.

In November 1844, Charles decided it was time to leave Beaufort to continue his law studies. Nancy promised Charles she would wait for him, and Charles promised to return for her. 

Dr. Manney, however, not in favor of the romance between Nancy and Charles, contacted his son-in-law Postmaster William Coale Bell (1807-1850) and made an agreement with him to hold any letters between Nancy or Charles.

Charles French returned to his hometown of Berkley, Massachusetts, where he studied with several prominent lawyers from 1845 through 1848. In December 1848 he was accepted into the Massachusetts Bar and began practice in Dedham, Massachusetts. 

Bell House circa 1830 - Except for a few
sash, all exterior fabric is replacement;  
front porch was added after 1885. 

Postmaster William Coale Bell served from December 14, 1841 until his death on December 5, 1850. Bell’s wife, Mariah Alida Manney (Nancy’s sister), was appointed to replace her husband and served until December 1853. At that time, "the coming of the mail was the chief event of the day, and notice was given of its arrival by a horn blown by the stage driver as he came through town; when he arrived at the ‘post office’ on the southwest corner of Ann and Turner Streets, the town was assembled to meet him"—Amy Muse. With W.C. Bell as postmaster, the “post office” was located in his home, inherited from Elizabeth Bell, widow of William Coale Bell Sr. (The house was moved to 115 Ann about 1990.)

 
Postmaster Bell continued to hold letters between Nancy and Charles, perhaps storing them in a locked box. Since mail service in those days was unpredictable, Nancy and Charles may have not been concerned—until time went by with no communication.

Manney family on 1850 Beaufort Census

After no response from his letters to Nancy, in 1851 Charles traveled to California, lived in Placer County, but moved to Sacramento in 1854. He married widow Abby Ann Haskell in 1866, practiced law for many years and also served in the state legislature.

1860 New Bern Census

Nancy's father died in 1852; her mother in 1864. By the 1860 census, 39-year-old Nancy was recorded in New Bern, living with her sister Mary L. Manney Emery. At the time, their widowed mother was living with daughter Frances Vail, wife of Durant H.L. Bell.

1870 New Bern Census

On the 1870 census, Nancy was still in New Bern, then with sister Julia (wife of shipbuilder James Howard) and family, who were in the household of a lumber dealer Amos Wade.

In 1875 President Grant appointed Charles French to chief justice of the Supreme Court in the territory of Arizona. His wife Abby Ann Haskell died of cancer in 1879. In 1880 French was reappointed by President Hayes to a 2nd term as chief justice and assigned to town of Prescott; he established a law practice there in 1885.

Between 1885 and 1886, Charles sent 11 letters to Nancy from Prescott, Arizona, and Washington, D.C., beginning July 1885. Below are a few excerpts from these, donated by Nancy's great-grandniece Mary Elizabeth Strickland Guggenheimer (Manuscripts Collection at the Huntington Library in San Marino, CA).

On April 28, 1885, Charles sent a letter from Prescott to the Beaufort postmaster (then John Forlaw):
     Will you be so kind as to inform me if Nancy LeCroft Manney daughter of Dr. Manney of Beaufort is still living – if not what members of the Dr’s family yet survive. I am a friend of the family and wish much to learn something of them especially of the daughter Nancy. Please do not fail to answer as I feel a deep interest in this matter.

Charles G.W. French

 
Although Charles expected a response from the postmaster, he MAY have received a response from Nancy instead. 

There are no letters from Nancy in the Huntington Library collection except for an 1886 note from Nancy inquiring about a trunk, and a photocopy of the 1886 marriage application for Charles and Nancy. 

In the first letter to Nancy, July 1885, Charles writes of the death of his wife (Dec. 1879) and that "she knew all about my relations to yourself, long before her marriage to me." 

On September 5, 1885 Charles wrote:
     When I left Beaufort I was convinced of your regard but I did not know how your family regarded the matter. I enclose in this letter a little ring of shining hair which has been my cherished treasure through life and which I mean shall rest upon my heart in my grave. It has been sacredly and safely preserved by me through all my wonderings… After the reception of your letters received by me just prior to my marriage, I never ceased to reproach myself for not having gone to Beaufort and visited with you in person. You must not blame the deceased Post-Master too much. 

In October 1885 Charles wrote that he wanted to come to Beaufort so that "there should be no possibility of another mistake," and by March 1886 they had become engaged and Charles wrote that "all that I am, all that I have, and all I hope for in this life, I am ready now to devote to you." According to the Huntington Library, enclosed with one letter is a photograph of French dated 1870 (photograph not online).

Also included with the correspondence is a note from Nancy inquiring about a trunk (1886); and a photocopy of a marriage application for Charles and Nancy (1886). 

So... "Just prior to" his 18 Feb 1866 marriage to Abby Ann Haskell in Folsom, CA, Charles received "Nancy's letters" and learned of Postmaster Bell's interception of their letters in the mid- to late 1840s. Were these more recent letters from Nancy OR letters held by Postmaster Bell, OR more likely BOTH? Charles must have received a letter of explanation from Nancy, i.e., "must not blame the deceased Post-Master." The "held" letters, sent to Charles in late 1865, after the Union occupation of Beaufort, were likely sent by then postmaster Joseph Davis. Of note - legend has surmised the letters were turned over to Nancy shortly before Postmaster Bell's death in 1850; this is debunked by the fact that Charles did not receive Nancy's letters until 16 years later.

After almost a year of correspondence, Charles returned to Beaufort and married Nancy on April 29, 1886—almost 42 years since Charles had left Beaufort. 

The ceremony likely took place in brother James Lente Manney’s home at 305 Ann Street (built by William Leecraft about 1853). J.W. Jones minister; witnesses, James Lente Manney (1827‒1889), Sidney Whitehurst Styron Manney (1845‒1912, James’ second wife) and Julia A. Howard (1831‒1888, Nancy’s youngest sister).

Charles made a brief trip to Washington, DC to find a home for his bride. Unfortunately, less than two months after the marriage Nancy died from consumption June 14, 1886. Nancy Leecraft Manney French was buried in the Manney family plot with her brother, Dr. James Lente Manney and their parents in the Old Burying Ground on Ann Street, not far from the James Manney House.

Charles French returned to Washington, DC, sold most of his property in Prescott, and returned to Sacramento. He died a few years later on August 13, 1891, on a trip to San Francisco, and was buried in the Old City Cemetery in Sacramento, in the family plot of his first wife.


SUMMARY NOTES:

1.    LETTERS – Intercepted letters were likely kept in a locked box by postmaster Wm. C. Bell – the custody passed on to following postmasters along with other post office paraphernalia, unquestioned until postmaster Joseph Davis (tenure 1862‒1872).

2.    NANCY’S LETTERS – “Held” letters from Nancy to Charles were likely forwarded to Charles by postmaster Joseph Davis in late 1865 (after Union occupation 1862-1865 during which time a locked box could have been forced opened/inspected by Union officers or soldiers). Though Charles didn’t reply due to impending marriage, these letters were surely saved by Charles - likely discarded after his death.

3.    CHARLES’ LETTERS – What happened to Charles’ letters to Nancy intercepted by postmaster Bell?  In late 1865, did postmaster Davis give the letters to Nancy’s mother, or send them to Nancy in New Bern? ONLY 11 letters written between 1885 and 1886 were saved by Nancy and passed down through family – donated to Huntington Library by Nancy’s great-grand niece in 1982.

 ▪ C.G.W. French letters to Nancy are held in the Rare Manuscripts Collection at the Huntington Library in San Marino, CA. They were donated to the library in December, 1982 by Mrs. Max Guggenheimer — Mary Elizabeth Strickland, 1st great grand niece of Nancy Leecraft Manney.
▪ Special thanks to Jim Pool for his research.  
▪ Image of Charles French scanned from Beaufort's Old Burying Ground by Diane Hardy, Mamre Wilson, and Marilyn Collins.

▪ Mary Warshaw painting of the Manney House, inspired by an early 1900's postcard.

 
  * PRIVATE ACTS OF THE STATE OF NORTH-CAROLINA, PASSED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, At their Session which commenced on Monday the twenty-first of November, one thousand eight hundred and forty two, and ended on Saturday the twenty-eight of January, one thousand eight hundred and forty-three. An Act to incorporate the Beaufort Male and Female Academy in the town of Beaufort hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That Asa Canaday, Malachi B. Roberson, John F. Jones, Marcus C. Thomas, Benjamin L. Perry, Isaac Ramsey, Benjamin Lecraft, William J. Potter, Thomas Duncan, James Ward and James Manney, of the county of Carteret, and their successors, be, and they are hereby constituted a body politic and corporate, to be known and distinguished by the name and style of the Trustees of the Beaufort Male and Female Academy. (Laws of the State of NC, Passed by the General Assembly, at the Session of 1842-1843, Raleigh, Thomas J. Lemay, Printer, 1843, pp. 121-123)