Shepard House circa 1770

209 Front Street
Plaqued "Sloo House circa 1768" - it should be Shepard House circa 1770.
The original house was much smaller.
1997 Survey: House has lost all of its exterior 18th-century characteristics.
_________________________________________________________________

In September 1768, two deeds were registered for Old Town Lot 28, one from Beaufort Commissioners to Nathaniel Sloo, the other deed from Sloo to Solomon Shepard's bride-to-be Jane Miles. As noted in the 1777 sale to William Fisher, Jane and Solomon Shepard had improved the lot with a house. (Lt. Col. Solomon Shepard was listed as one of the Field Officers of the Minute Men during the Revolution.)

Before 1773, Solomon Shepard's brother Jacob Shepard and wife Sarah Lewis* moved into the house, perhaps with his brother Solomon's family.

Solomon Shepard (1728‒1780) was the son of David Shepard and Sarah Jarratt. David Shepard (c.1700‒1774) first purchased land in Carteret County in 1723; he lived on Bogue Sound and the mouth of Goose Creek (later Shepard's Point).
    
Capt. Charles Manly Biddle (1745–1821) wrote of the year 1778 and the house of Jacob Shepard and wife Sarah Lewis, "Here it was I first became acquainted with Miss Hannah Shepard, who I afterwards married. Mr. Jacob Shepard [1733–1773], the father of Miss Shepard, had been a respectable merchant of Newbern, and removed here on account of his health. Taking a voyage to Philadelphia, he was seized soon after with the smallpox and died in a few days [June 16, 1773]. His widow, finding this a very healthy place, concluded to reside here."
     
Charles Biddle and Hannah Shepard (1758–1825) married November 25, 1778. During their 1½ years in Beaufort during the Revolution, Biddle became a leader and helped build a town fort. The couple lived in "a small house belonging to an uncle of Mrs. Biddle, being the first house as you entered from the eastward." 

_______________________________________________________________

 

     209 Front Street was home for decades to the Sanders family. 

Cotton-broker David Sanders had a cotton gin on Front Street.

 

Beaufort News 3 Dec 1942

Born in Onslow County in 1844 to Eli Walter Sanders and Belinda Ajax Eason, in 1865 David Simmons Sanders married Emily Frances Sabiston, daughter of William Sabiston and Susan Jane Furlow (113 Moore). 

David Sander's paternal grandmother, Mary Ann Burns, wife of John Sanders, was the sister of privateer Otway Burns.

David and Emily's daughter Charlotte Vance Sanders (1879–1951) was the last Sanders in the home. "Miss Lottie" Sanders was superintendent of Ann Street Methodist children's church school in 1941; in 1950, the Lottie Sanders Building named in honor of her years of service.     

The home was later owned by Evelyn Marie Chadwick (1911–1986), widow of Harvey Ward Smith (1908–1976), who was well known in the menhaden fishing industry. Evelyn Marie Chadwick was born in Beaufort to Richard Whitehurst Chadwick and Maude Hunter Quick. In the 1980s, Mrs. Smith donated land on Front Street for a new maritime museum; opened in 1985, the museum displays many artifacts collected by Mr. Smith. In 1982, Mrs. Smith donated the old Paul Motor Company across from the museum; this was converted for boat building and later named the Harvey W. Smith Watercraft Center. Harvey Ward Smith has an inscription "Grand Master of Masons of North Carolina 1960" on his gravestone in St. Paul's Episcopal Church Cemetery.

___________________________________________________________________________

In Carteret County during the American Revolution 1765-1785, 

Jean Bruyere Kell wrote of Solomon Shepard:

    The first record of activity growing out of these new concerns of the people of the County details the election of delegates to the First Provincial Congress, held in New Bern on August 25, 1774. William Thompson and Solomon Shepard, of Carteret County, took part in passing the resolutions of the Congress.
    ...The Second Provincial Congress, held in New Bern on April 3rd, was also attended by William Thompson and Solomon Shepard.
    ...When the Third Provincial Congress was called at Hillsborough August 20, 1775, there were five men representing Carteret County: John Easton, William Thompson, Brice Williams, Solomon Shepard and Enoch Ward.
    ...The Assembly appointed field officers for the companies of 50 men to be called minute men. The officers appointed for the company to be raised in Carteret County were William Thompson, Col.; Solomon Shepard, Lt. Col.; Thomas Chadwick, First Major; and Malachi Bell, Second Major.
    ...Carteret County was represented by William Thompson, Solomon Shepard and John Blackhouse when the Fourth Provincial Congress met at Halifax on April 23, 1776.
    ...During the Congress, a letter from the Committee of Beaufort in Carteret County was referred to a committee whose members were John Campbell, William Thompson, James Coor, Matthew Locke, Thomas Person, John Spicer and Solomon Shepard.
    ...The Fifth Provincial Congress met in Halifax on November 12, 1776. Those sent from Carteret County were Solomon Shepard, Brice Williams, John Easton, William Borden, and Thomas Chadwick. During the session, which was not adjourned until December 23rd, the Declaration of Rights (Bill of Rights) was adopted (on December 15th) and on December 17th the North Carolina State Constitution. 

________________________________________________
 

*The Old Burying Ground tour guide brochure inaccurately reads: Sarah Gibbs (d.1792) & Jacob Shepard (d.1773) – Sarah was married to Jacob Shepard, a seaman. Jacob’s ship went to sea, but never returned. He was presumed to be dead. Later, Sarah married Nathaniel Gibbs and had a child with him. After an absence of several years, the shipwrecked Jacob Shepard unexpectedly returned to Beaufort to find his wife married to another man. The two men agreed that Sarah would remain with Gibbs as long as she lived, but must spend eternity at the side of Jacob Shepard.

  THE FACTS on Sarah Lewis, Jacob Shepard and Nathaniel Gibbs:

Click to enlarge images

Before 1753, Sarah Lewis (c.1740‒1792) married Jacob Shepard (1733‒1773). After Jacob Shepard's death from smallpox in 1773, widow Sarah married Nathaniel Gibbs (who first married Mary Whitehurst). After Sarah's death, Gibbs married Alice Easton in 1795. Gibbs died in 1806 and was buried in Washington, Beaufort County. Of Jacob and Sarah’s children, their daughter Hannah met and married Capt. Charles Biddle when he sailed into Beaufort during the Revolution and helped build a small fort.

Carteret County during the Revolutionary Period

by Jean B. Kell

For the best account of the times, this narrative has been transcribed in full from the first edition 1975 “author’s presentation copy.”   

Carteret County during the American Revolution 1765-1785

The Revolutionary period in Carteret County dates from March, 1765, when the British Parliament passed the fateful Stamp Act. The Stamp Act provided that official stamps be purchased and affixed to a variety of legal documents, including ship’s clearance papers and bills of lading.

Reaction and protest in the colonies was immediate and strong. It was certainly so in Carteret, where the effects of the Stamp Act could not fail to be felt. Shipping was the main business of its citizens, for every commercial activity depended on it. Naval stores were produced for shipping. Skins of deer and other animals were prepared for transportation to distant markets. Grain, corn, rice and other farm products were grown and fish caught and salted, no only for home consumption but to be traded for the necessities and luxuries of life.

Anything that concerned the sea affected the people of Carteret County. So when word was received that the British had closed the port of Boston, Carteret Countians joined with their fellow Americans in proclaiming that “the cause of Boston is the cause of all.”

The first record of activity growing out of these new concerns of the people of the County details the election of delegates to the First Provincial Congress, held in New Bern on August 25th, 1774. William Thompson and Solomon Perkins are listed as delegates from Carteret, but there appears to be some error in this. Solomon Perkins was from Currituck County, and it is believed that his surname was listed by mistake as that of the Carteret delegate. Solomon Shepard had been a Carteret representative to the Governor’s Assembly, along with Thompson, and was probably the second delegate to the Provincial Congress as well.

Thompson and Shepard took part in passing the resolutions of the Congress. When they returned to Carteret they brought word of the congressional resolves that after January 1st, 1775, no British or East India goods, except medicines, would be imported into the Colony, that the people would not purchase such articles, and that unless American grievances were redressed before the first of October, 1775, the people of North Carolina would cease exportation of tobacco, tar, pitch, turpentine and similar goods. They would, further, “not suffer East India tea to be used in their families” after September 10th, 1774. Any person in the province who refused to comply with these resolutions would be considered an enemy of his country.

Word of these resolves and others was quickly spread throughout the County. The resolve to the effect that King George the Third was rightful King no doubt gave hope that differences would soon be overcome, and that the delegates chosen to represent the Colony at the general Congress, to be held in Philadelphia, would help bring about reconciliation with Britain. A plan for committees to be set up in each county to enforce the measures taken was also resolved. FULL TRANSCRIPTION

Revolutionary War Times

During the Revolutionary War, ships were in and out of the harbor transporting needed supplies. Patriots built salt works to supply themselves, and others, with the salt that had previously been imported. Some helped form an artillery battery to help defend the town.

Below are brief biographies of a few Beaufort citizens who were part of that time period.

ROBERT WILLIAMS circa 1723-1790 purchased 75 acres along Taylor’s Creek from James Winwright including the Hammock House. Williams built a salt works facility on the east end of town. He had a grist mill and built the first brick house in Carteret County using bricks and ballast stone from England. In 1776, Williams was appointed by the Provincial Congress to produce salt – he purchased Galland's Point for that purpose. (Galland's Point and Galland's Channel were named for John Galland, clerk of court in Carteret County in the 1720s. The named evolved to Gallants.)
 
RICHARD COGDELL circa 1724-1787, grandson of John the immigrant, was born in Beaufort to George and Margaret Bell Cogdell. Richard married Lydia Duncan. Cogdell was an ensign during the 1747 Spanish invasion, Aide de Camp to Governor William Tryon, justice of the court, sheriff of Craven County in 1762, representative from Carteret County in the legislature of 1766, member of the Provincial Congress of 1774 and 1775, and Chairman of the Committee of Safety. During the Revolutionary War, he was Judge of the Admiralty Court for Port Beaufort in 1776. He was a colonel in the Revolutionary Army and led troops that drove the last British Governor out of New Bern. It is said that he entertained George Washington when he visited New Bern.
 
WILLIAM BORDEN JR. circa 1731-1799 was a landowner, shipwright, and delegate to the Fifth Provincial Congress in 1776 when the Bill of Rights was adopted. His father, William Borden, Sr., was a ship builder from Portsmouth, Rhode Island, who arrived in North Carolina in 1732 aboard his schooner.
 
WILLIAM THOMPSON circa 1732-1802 was a naval deputy for the port of Beaufort and delegate to the Provincial Congress. As a colonel during the Revolution, he was the highest ranking officer from Beaufort. In 1776 he was commissioned to establish a salt works, and was justice as well as county treasurer – serving the town and county for thirty years. His Last Will and Testament provided land to an orphan and money for the schooling of four of the town’s poorest boys.
 
JOHN MARSHALL circa 1744-1807, born in London, served in the Revolutionary War, moved to Beaufort and purchased 100 acres. He was appointed by the General Assembly of North Carolina as commissioner of the town of Beaufort.

CAPTAIN CHARLES BIDDLE circa 1745-1821 designed and helped build the town's artillery battery after realizing the vulnerability of Beaufort to British attack. Biddle was not in Beaufort for long, but was elected to the General Assembly of North Carolina. For a short time, he owned the Gibble House on Marsh Street. until returning to Philadelphia in 1780. He and wife Hannah Shepard of Beaufort, had many children including Nicolas Biddle--child prodigy and famous American financier.
 
NATHAN FULLER circa 1750-1800, father of Belcher Fuller, was a Revolutionary War ensign in the Carteret County Militia. He was a navigator and ship owner who sailed from Beaufort to England and the West Indies, bringing supplies into Beaufort harbor prior to the Revolution.
 
COLONEL JOHN EASTON circa 1750-1805 was a man of great influence in Carteret County. He settled in Beaufort about 1770. He served during the Revolutionary War, was a member of the Provincial Congress in 1775, Congress of 1776—which framed the state constitution, and was on the Committee of Safety in the New Bern district. Easton purchased a lot on the southwest corner of Front and Orange streets in 1771. He sold part of the lot to Jacob Henry in 1794; Jacob Henry built a house on the lot about 1800.

After the Revolution, Beaufort experienced a real period of growth. Most of the citizens made their living as carpenters, tailors, blacksmiths, mariners, coopers, shipwrights and fishermen. They also manufactured salt, processed forest by-products and shipped these products to other areas. There were also ministers, attorneys and a school master. More investors actually lived in, and took an active part in the building of the town. Ordinary citizens also became town leaders, some going on to represent the town in the North Carolina Legislature. Mail delivery was improving. Though still by horseback from New Bern, it was being delivered every two weeks.

Robert Williams involvement in Salt Works

In April 1775, the government of Great Britain severed all trade with the newly forming American government. One of the greatest concerns, especially in North Carolina, was the consequent shortage of salt, a vital commodity for the colony. In 1775 and 1776, the Provincial Congress of North Carolina worked quickly to create salt works. The first of the works was established near Beaufort. 

  

Salt was essential in the daily lives of Americans. It was needed as a preservative for food, with salted and dried meats being a staple for most during the winter months. In addition, Americans used salt in caring for livestock, curing animal hides, and providing for basic nutritional needs. Because of its importance, the government acted quickly. 

The Provincial Congress in 1775 passed three laws related to salt and to maintain its trade. First, the body established ceiling prices on salt, to ensure that salt remained available despite shortages. Then they began rationing the already existing salt supply. Finally, the government offered a bounty prize of 750 pounds to the first person to create a salt works and manufacture salt in North Carolina. 

 

In April 1776, the Provincial Congress expanded its actions, appointing four men to act as commissioners for salt industry development. Two of the men, Robert Williams and Richard Blackledge, began to develop salt works plants soon after their appointment, drawing upon the state funds. 

Turner Street marker was cast in 1939.

_________________________________________________________________________

This account focuses on Robert Williams involvement in the first Salt Works.

In his 1921 book, The Williams History, Milton Franklin Williams wrote of his great-grandfather: "Robert Williams was born in Ruthin, North Wales, April 29, 1723. He was of a roaming disposition, and went to England, from whence he is said to have sailed in his own ship for the Carolinas. Extracts from court records show that he bought land in 1765 in different parcels amounting to over 300 acres along the north side of Newport River, and on both sides of Black Creek [now Mill Creek]."

From 1765 to 1777, Williams also owned 75 acres along Taylor's Creek, including the "White House" and "Taylor's Old Field."

Though eventually unsuccessful, he was the first in North Carolina to build salt works, one east of the White House property, and another at Gallant's Point.

In "Carteret County during the Revolution," Jean Kell wrote: "Robert Williams, a planter and merchant in Carteret County, was familiar with the process of obtaining salt from seawater.  …he constructed a salt works on 10 acres of land, part of which is now the Davis property toward the east end of Front Street." (See end of post.)

______________________________________________________________________

From Colonial & State Records of North Carolina

May 19, 1776 Letter from Robert Williams to James Coor
Dunant, Carteret County

Esteemed Friend:
By Captain Ward I received a copy of a minutes made by the Congress appointing me a fourth commissioner for carrying on of salt works, and as I remember he told me it was of thy promising, I am glad thou has the interest of the country so much at heart.
Depending upon it, I will exert myself, as the preservation of the province depends upon it as much as upon arms and warlike stores, and must be entered upon immediately. I shall not wait for Blackledge nor Avery. I hope my exertion will prove to general advantage and will meet the aprobation of the public. We shall take the advice of every man worthy of consulting. Wish Blackledge and Avery were here, but will delay no time, as the season will not admit of dallying and doing of business after the usual Carolina fashion. I am going to-morrow about making handbarrows, but it will not avail to set up such works without they are defended, nor can they be defended except every man is confined in his own home, and that speedily, be the works set up where they may. Do mind what I say. We know not all our friends, or at least cannot depend upon every one that pretends to be so. There have been private emissaries at Halifax, and the accursed thing has been in our camp. I am sure of it. I do not want to be tedious, nor have but little time to enlarge, but let me beg myself and others who may be in authority immediately, to keep at home all persons not employed in the public cause, and that neither strangers nor neighbors be suffered to pass without permission. A message ought immediately be sent to caution them appointed at Onslow not to trust or suffer any man to pass. Neither hair-dressers nor fiddlers nor think they are safe to confide in any man, altho’ he may bring his moulded bread and clouted shoes. I am sure I am right, and that my advice ought to be put into immediate execution. Do procure all the spades in town, and if possible all or part made use of at your post. 

I am thy affectionate and assured friend,

Robert Williams

______________________________________________________________________

Letter from Robert Williams to the North Carolina Provincial Council
To Cornelius Harnet, President, and the rest of Council for North Carolina at Wilmington.
New Bern, May 27th, 1776

I have viewed with serious attention the situation of this province for a great while, and considered what it must suffer this winter, without a quantity of salt can be made with the utmost expedition, and abundance of men employed and making salt marshes, and the manner of France, Portugal and Spain. The season will be over in August.  I have been long in possession of Browning upon Salt, and have made it my study for many years, and have made it my business in Portugal to go and view their salt marshes in Lisbon. I was going to Halifax some time since to propose it to the Congress there, but our William Thompson told me that Avery and Blackledge were appointed , and only £600 allowed to carry on the work, but did not tell me he was one of the commissioners himself; nor after my appointment would he consult me or say a word about it, and was unwilling to sign along with me a letter I was going to send, and since delivered myself to James Coor, which letter I also showed to our other delegate, Solomon Shepard, who also took no notice of it, and seemed quite unconcerned. Must leave others to judge from whence backwardness proceeds. When I found I was appointed a fourth commissioner, considering the common consequence, the need of dispatch, the season advancing, and our suitable situation, I was in my own mind so sure of the propriety, thinking Thompson would join and encourage, that I had engaged men to make wheels and hand-barrows. Was going to raft a large quantity of fine timber John Raston had ready, and was willing to risk the pay; was going to risk a considerable quantity of plank I had myself, set smiths to work and procure spades and hoes to make a rough shed to cook and eat under, some places under locks to keep utensils and provisions when we get them.

The salt may be preserved in conical heaps, as I have seen that done in Portugal, until it is carried away, and it will not receive any injury from the weather, although exposed to the open air for three years.

One mask or marsh must be finished first, and will, including the banks, be about 240 feet long and 150 feet large; then finish another as fast as possible, etc., and continue at it as long as the season promises any advantage from additional works. Must refer to some other observations in the draught of the letter delivered James Coor.

If the Council think well to employ me and make me the acting superintendent upon pay, and allow the whole county of 4d per bushel to myself, delivering all accounts upon affirmation, appoint paymasters to deliver money as materials are procured and work faithfully done, they may depend on the vigorous and steady exertion of my faculties; will give up my time for the purpose. Have hitherto fatigued myself, spent money and time, traveled upon occasion above 140 miles at different time already, without any view of superior advantage above the rest of the commissioners; but, as some pull back and others do not appear, I will not be pack-horse for others to share the profits.

I cannot tell, nor anybody else form a right judgment how long we shall be in getting the materials and making the first division or marsh of 18 salt beds, but would be in hopes that after we got in the way we would make another every succeeding week.

We have reason to expect that every salt marsh of 18 salt beds will make between 25 and 40 bushels a day in hot, dry weather.

All workmen to be employed as cheap as possible. Would suppose the daily expenses may be guessed at nearly thus, including provisions, which, however, must be provided separate:

8 best workmen, at 9s 8d
8 inferior ones, at 5s 4d
30 laborers, at 3s 8d
Superintendent £12
For 60 days, makes £735
Sundry materials, suppose £340
Total £1075

I wish that and much more might be laid out for the public good, and that more laborers might be employed with propriety, as every day now is of the utmost consequence. Many marshes ought to be now finished, and more carrying on.

If there is no salt made, it will require but little force to subdue and starve the province, which next spring must and will fall course, and tumble down of itself, like an old house in calm.

If what I have offered is worthy of Acceptance in receiving orders, I shall be ready at an hour’s warning, and some money must be lodged immediately in a safe hand that may be confided in New Bern.

Would recommend John Easton, an honest man, to provide provisions and to be pay master at Core Sound.

If the formality of bonds from them be thought requisite ‘tis best not to retard the work but do that part Soon as may be after ‘tis going on.

I am with due regard the Councils assured & affectionate friend,

Robert Williams

Quere: Is one company of Soldiers sufficient to guard old Topsail Inlet, the Town of Beaufort and the Salt Works?

May not General Clinton after securing his Landing at Cape Fear, send a number of men in Transports to Core Sound in 24 hours, destroy the town of Beaufort and the Salt Works, then march up and secure New Bern and without opposition secure the Numerous herds of Cattle on the Sea Coast while all the provincial Troops are kept at bay and doing or nothing at Cape Fear?

As it is evident to me and may be proved to a demonstration that people are going continually about as Spies on idle pretences, carrying intelligence much faster that our continental post. Ought not the imperious busy body be removed and all others not employed by the public, be ordered to stay at home and mind their corn fields, and none be allowed to depart from any place under any specious pretence whatsoever?

______________________________________________________________________

Friday, June 7, 1776 

1857 Map showing Gallant's Point

Minutes of the North Carolina Council of Safety; held in Wilmington
Resolved, That the Treasurers or either of them place the Hands of Mr. John Easton of Carteret County, for the immediate use of carrying on a Salt Work in the said County, the sum of five hundred pounds to be paid to Mr. Robert Williams occasionally, for the purpose aforesaid, and that they be allowed the same in their Accounts with the Public.

Mr. Arthur Mabson appeared in Council and agreed to sell them for the use of the public, l a certain Tract of Land in Carteret County, near Beaufort, containing ___Acres commonly called Gallant’s Point, which place is judged convenient for making Salt; the value to be ascertained by two persons, one to be chosen by Mr. Mabson, the other by the Council, which being agree to, Mr. Richard Cogdell of New Bern, and Mr. Solomon Shepard of Carteret County were appointed to value the said Land.

______________________________________________________________________

July 25, 1776
From: Minutes of Council of Safety; held in Wilmington

In order to encourage the importation of Common Salt an article essentially necessary and greatly wanted in the Colony.

Resolved, That all know Friends to the American Independency will on application to the Board be permitted to export any kind of staves or heading, first entering into bond with sufficient security to import in return Salt, Arms, Ammunition and other Warlike Stores to the full amount of the net proceeds of such staves and heading.

Whereas it is absolutely necessary to prevent as far as possible all kinds of forestalling and imposition on the inhabitants of this Colony in the article of Common Salt.

Resolved, That for the future no retailer of Salt shall be permitted to receive more than twenty per cent on the prime cost for any Salt purchased in the Colony, and the Committees of the respective Counties and Towns, see that this Resolve be strictly observed, and send under guard to the Board every person who shall presume to take or receive a greater advance than is hereby allowed and permitted for Salt purchased in this Colony as aforesaid.

_____________________________________________________________________

Letter from Robert Williams to the NC Council of Safety
Beaufort, Carteret County, June the 20th, 1776

Respected Friends:
The 16th instant I found a few lines from James Coor, dated 7th of June, left in a public house in Beaufort. I expected a matter of so much importance would have been forwarded with more expedition and care. John Easton received the letter to him the day before, and sent Express immediately to my house 20 miles, that’s the Distance. But he knew not there was any letter for me, and wondered to receive orders or intimation at second hand, however went to Beaufort the day following; and went home the same evening, dissatisfied with the laconic contents of my friend Coor’s epistle, giving account indeed of my letter being laid before you, and that £500 was ordered for the present into John Easton’s hands to carry on Salt Works. But ‘tis not so Expressive as I could wish, as I know not upon what terms I am going to neglect my own Business which is not trifling, to begin great works when the Season is far advanced, and but every requisite wanting in a place they are very difficult to procure.

The resolves of the Congress I had before, and I do not consider myself as acting that Capacity but as director & Superintendant at 16 shillings per diem works are carried on and the Overlooking of the people necessary. I am glad you propose John Easton as Commissioner, as he will be of great service and necessary assistance to me; has exerted himself a great deal already, but I will never agree that any other man shall share in the bounty or keep more Cats than Catches mice.

I brought my Circumferentor and Chain down and with John Easton and others, went and laid off ten acres and 40 ps. On Gallant’s Neck, viz: 82 Po. On front and 20 poles back. There is good clay there but does not go so deep as I could wish. However, what we may want in depth I will add in Surface of my reservoir parts, and it will exale the faster. I have sent people off for Easton’s Tun Timber, advertised for spades and have some promised. Have engaged men to make wheel barrows & raft down plank. Have ordered nails to be made. Easton is now sending off to New Bern for Pork, &c. Every thing that is possible shall be done. But if I was much younger and had a back of steel, the Season is too far advanced to do great matters. Would have declined it altogether, but as I had offered my services, was afraid the public would have blamed me for not using my endeavours. I have already travelled 200 miles, on the occasion. Neglected my own business of rice planting, to my evident prejudice of about £80. Perhaps you will blame me for such strong inclination of being of public service; as in general Charity begins at home.

I am with due regard your assured friend,

Robert Williams

_______________________________________________________________________

Letter from Richard Blackledge to the NC Council of Safety
Core Sound, August ye 1st, 1776

Gentlemen:
I have been here some days past and have been trying the water at 5 different places while the people were a getting things in order, to carry on the works, but find as farr as I have been able to judge, the channel water the best both for clearness and stringht we can git. Near one peck of salt out of 32 gall. of water will be got, in this unstedey way of boiling in small pots, and the open aire.

I send per Capt. John Jones a small sample of the salt, made both from the Channell, and the flats, though its not near cured as yet. I have purchased one large Iron Kittle of Ms Wasley at £6 & have sent per Capt. Jones to Bath to try to bring three or 4 more for feare ye plates should not come. I am told the Marylenders are making in Large cast flat Iron Kittles. In case the plates should arrive, I have spoek to some workmen who saith thay can Rivett them for me. As the Seasons farr advanced I think Boyling will bee  our greatest dependency for this season, but I mean to make one or 2 setts of works with which I hope we shall make some quanitty of salt by Evaperation but the place whare Mr Williams at work on I dont like, as I am certain I can erect a sett of works much cheaper & more Exstensive & deal better foundation about three miles higher up ye River, and from Experance the water equally as good & more out of the way of an enemy, and the land can be had on such termes that wont be disagreeable, to the publick. I believe, however I am this day to Treat as to the price of it.

I shall want some oxen, say 2 yoak, a cart and Timber wheels, a Boat & Cannon, which I mean to try to buy, as oxen at 5 per day will soon run away with the price of a yoak or two & we shall allways be in want of some. As the properest ways & means to make salt to advantage is of the utmost consequence to the provance, I have prevailed on Capt. Jones to waite on your honours, to ffer himself to go to Vergenia, the the salt works there & vew them, & git the best derections that is to be had, also to offer his services to you Honours as an assistance to me to carrey on the works. M Williams hath finished one of his sett of works, & is gon a considerable way on with the second, though much aganst Capt Easten or my inclination. He expected to make salt next week.

I ant seen the second account, but am told that the £500 you long sence, lent Capt. Easten advanced, as well finished the second works, or all must stop, as I find his plan & mine wont agree, to carry on to geather.

I am Gentlemen with Esteem your Honours most Obe. Humble Servant

Richard Blackledge

________________________________________________________________________

Letter from Robert Williams to the Council of Safety
Carteret County, August the 5th, 1776

To the Council,
Yours of the 11th Ulto I rec’d the 26th by Blackledge. I have finished my first Works and let on Water last Thursday the 3d instant. Expect to make Salt in 4 or 5 Days; if we have good weather I have no doubt of Success; I thought the Exigencies of the province called for a quantity rather than a Sample, however must and will in some measures submit to your orders. Let the Public I have been so anxious about suffer what they may be leaving off the works, but hope to finish a Second Division (or work) in about a week. If I by Doing transgress your orders must pay what I lay out amiss. Have discharged most of the people at high wages which was necessary, as I have no money for them at present; and my common labourers I have reduced to about 30, & as it appears you have no great confidence in my integrity, or are Diffident of my Abilities, I shall be always Willing to quit your Service, and hope to see you soon, with account quantity, and sample of the quality of Salt. 

I am as usual an entire well Wisher of the good of the province

Robert Williams

_______________________________________________________________________

Letter from Robert Williams to Council of Safety
Salt Works Carteret County
August 9th, 1776

In my last I acquaintd you how & when I laid water on the first Salt works. Diderick Gibble is now scraping up of a little Salt that is made on such parts of the beds as became bare. The water was laid on the whole of the works from the river, but now Brine Pits and Salt pits are Greatly Saturated, to be ushered on the Salt beds Gently this Evening. Please observe the first water was in its Natural State, the earth Plank and Timber imbibing the best particles, so that I would not have attempted to keep the water down but for Sample Sake and in hopes to satisfie the impatience of the Public. In hopes yourselves and them will receive more agreeable accts as soon as time and season will admit. It seems as if my Second work will be finished or in great forwardness the following week. But as the people have got a report among them I am to have no more money, I am in great measure, nay altogether responsible for their wages, as the £500 is already & more expended. The weather has been unfavourable and we have had two rains since I laid on water.

I am in great haste, tho’ as usual yours,
Robert Williams

________________________________________________________________________

Letter from John Easton to Cornelius Harnett (Council of Safety)
Beaufort, ye 6th Augst, 1776

Sir,
Your Honble Board were pleased to order £500 to be deposited in my hands to be paid to Robert Williams occasionally for carrying into execution Publick Salt Works. I have now to inform you that it is expended, I could not prevail on Mr Williams to have the process fully demonstrated with that Money, have frequently told him it was the intention of the Council of Safety, but he being so confident of it himself extended his works to a second division. I am however in hopes it may still answer a public purpose, am confident Salt will make in Others, the first division has had water on the beds four days, am in hopes in 4 more salt will begin to make, after which should it continue dry, it will make fast, the second division is going on will be completed in 15 or 16 days; the men at high wages are discharged, so that am in hopes it will be carryed on with less expence that the first. I have done every thing in my power to lengthening out the £500. I have advanced Money towards carrying on the works hopeing it may meet with your approbation as I think it may be of use to the publick as the works are so far gone on with to have it finished, it is clear to the that the place where we are fixed is equal to any in the Province for the purpose, it is well sheltered against storms and I think the works are proof against a Hurricane, as they are well executed and the water equally salt. As no provision has been made for furnishing the Independent Company’s with fire Arms, I have ventured to deliver out to Captn Ward’s Company what Guns I have purchased for the Publick and take his Rect for the delivery of them when called for, I hope the Council of Safety will favr me with a Letter informing how far they may approve of my advanceing for finishing the second division of Salt works as likewise my letting out the fire Arms as mentioned above. 

I am with due regard,
Your Obedt Humble Servt
John Easton

_______________________________________________________________________

Letter from Robert Williams to the North Carolina Council of Safety
September 14, 1776

On the 5th instant as my Salt beds were promising something considerable of Salt in a day or two, there fell a heavy rain and blasted all my hopes for this fall, as before then the length of nights chilled the brine and the decreased length of Days exaled it much slower than four or five weeks before, and as the same disadvantages must increase till the next Summer have quitted the works for the present while I am getting in my much neglected crop about 30 acres of rice. The Second Division of Salt works is all leveled for my salt beds and the rest of the Ground in Great forwardness, my ground timber is all fitted and scarfed, and lies on the spot. Plank for the whole ready Jointed; It should be necessary to finish that work and lay on water this fall, that Wood and Soil my get fully saturated with saline particles against next Summer; for it takes abundance more time to season that I expected, and everybody who have been making Salt in the small way hereabout have experimented the same. One Zacha Harker informed me that in a wooden or Plank’d vat he has, he at first gathered not a quart but in Continuation of 6 or 7 weeks came to Scrape a Bushel or more at a time from water of the same quality as the first Although we begun several months too late yet by experience found out on trial, which perhaps we should not have otherwise properly investigated it may be of advantage to the public that some of their money is laid out this fall, so as to be in best order against next Summer. I still trust the works will pay for themselves in due time, if this climate will produce Salt as on the coast of France or Portugal &c., I am Certain our water is as fully impregnated with Salt as theirs or more so, but their days are longer. Perhaps their winds are more keen than the Southerly Breezes on our Coast which I observe contain a good deal of humidity until far to the westward especially when on the eastern board.

Indeed so great my Anxiety been for the preservation of the Public even before I had thots of being employ’d that I am persuaded few individuals felt so much as I did.

When last I receiv’d your letter on the Subject, would not have then engaged it being so late, but for fear the public would have blamed me for not using my endeavours, but when I set about it I went on with all the industrious rapidity in my power, overlooked the shortness of time and the other numerous difficulties I had to encounter, and my mind became animated with hopes of accomplishing something for Public Good. I had a good stock of provisions and utensils procured, built several necessary temporary houses or plank sheds; dug wells; made near 40 Wheel and hand Barrows, Got Oxen Carts and Carriages upon the Spot, Employ’d many hands until after a while, and for some time work’d from 40 to 60 or upward a day—my fatigue was great for some weeks in Directing so many hands & new matters; the weather was close & rainy & my feet almost constantly wet going to the woods where my business frequently called me. I suffer’d much in my health, my business and interest at home greatly neglected. Having thus made a large and necessary preparation such as I judge the exigency of the undertaking required, I set off upon a Double work from the 1st, but not in such manner as to retard the completion of the first Division as quickly as possible. When Blackledge first came I was just then getting and had many trees in common hew’d for the Second work and when he returned with your letter were Chiefly laid in their Places and the first work or Division Just finished. Believe had you seen my Situation your Selves you would have thot mos Eligible to go on as I did, though confess the works cost far more labour & time and the ground proved more Disadvantageous than I expected, having had many roots upon Top and much dirt to move away.

I judge upon pretty near calculation, we have not expended above £160 upon the Second Division in wages since the first was finished. Believe about £70 more will compleat the 2d part in a manner much more effectual and promising success. Nothing points out to improvements and shews Defects like an Essay or a work finished. Generally every first undertaking will be defective in pt.

I herewith send my Accounts nearly as they now stand. Many people are in want and several importunate with me for the Balance of their wages. I am certainly greatly distressed my self having advanced all the money I had among them, so that I have not the wherewithal to carry on my rice harvest nor to purchase such domestic necessaries as times will afford. I must request you will order the Present ballance due to the works about £288 with or without the addition of the £70 above mentioned towards compleating what is on the verge of being finished.

I would have waited on you myself but cannot for some weeks leave home and my long neglected business.Who am your Friend,
Robert Williams

P.S. Had no hands on the highest wages since I finished the first beds, only tow I had lately to get the 2d pt in order. I wish I could be with you to answer such part of the accounts and explain such other matters as you would want to know, which perhaps would be too tedious for me to attempt with my pen.

I think I heard that Gallands Neck was valued being abt 270 acres at about £270, surely it would not sell for ½ of the money exclusive of 3 or 4 Acres the Salt works stands upon, if any more works are made there 10 or 12 Acres would be sufficient for the Country but guess better places may be had hereafter, Although I had Sufficient reason to fix there at the time I began as Tenders with great reason were hourly Expected.

We have cut all the pines that we could find as at foot of the acct, few would have squared 8 inch at 20 feet long, nor one of them maul into rails, the land for many years past had been constantly Pillaged by the town People. There is a bit of tolerable land where a Plantation formerly was but the chiefest part is only low grassy piney Land with tolerable Clay bottom and no ways preferable to piney land of the kind in Common; only for this disadvantage that it has no trees f or turpentine, or rails, nor a knot of lightwood left unpillaged.

_______________________________________________________________________

December 23d, 1776
The Committee appointed to inquire into the State and condition of the Salt Works at or near Core Sound, in Carteret County, under the management of Robert Williams, reported as follows, viz:

That it appears by account rendered by said Robert Williams, on his solemn affirmation, that he hath, including his own charge for superintending and attendance on this Congress, &c., expended on said Salt Works the sum of £856 9s. 11d.; that he has received from the Public, by the Hands of Mr. John Easton, the sum of £500, and for sundry provisions, &c., to the amount of £24 10s., and agreeable to the charges in the said account, a balance of £332. 7d. is due to the said Robert Williams for his own Labour, and wages to the people he employed on the works, and material purchased for the purpose.

Your Committee are further of Opinion, from the best information they have procured that the said Salt Works are incomplete, and not likely to answer the good Purposes intended, and that it would not be prudent to be at any more Expence about them, until a more perfect Inquiry can be made.

Your Committee are further of Opinion, that the Treasurers, or either of them, be directed to pay unto Mr. John Easton, the aforesaid Balance of £332 7d., in order that he may be enabled to pay people employed on said Salt Works.

Finally it is the Opinion of your Committee that the said Robert Williams deliver into the Hands of Mr. John Easton, of the Town of Beaufort, all the Materials, Tools, and Utensils, he may have in Custody, and purchased for said Works, and now to be found, to be kept by said Mr. John Easton, for the Use of the public until further Orders.
Christr Neale, Chairman

 ________________________________________________________________________

In 1776, Zachariah Harker developed a salt works on his third of Harker's Island. In the early 1800s, entrepreneurs Otway Burns and Dr. James Manney Sr. were also heavily involved in salt works.

________________________________________________________________________

 1938 Map of Salt Works Tract on East Front Street in Beaufort

 Approximate Site of the 10-acre Salt Works between Leonda and Sunshine Court

Beaufort Marker on Turner Street including essay

More on Robert Williams

Caleb Bell House - 817 Front Street

From: Early Domestic Architecture in Beaufort, North Carolina - Summer Field Study 2011 - College of William and Mary & Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Dept. of Architectural and Archaeological Research (Klee and Lounsbury) - Images are Field Study drawings and photographs.  
Click images to enlarge.

The building at 817 Front Street is characteristic of Beaufort cottages. This house has seen several periods of change since it was built at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Its original story-and-a-half plan consisted of a main floor with three rooms and an enclosed rear staircase. The entrance led into a large heated room on the southwest side with a smaller unheated room on the southeast side. The rear space was most likely a one-story shed similar to the one at the Ward- Hancock House. In subsequent years the house received a new partition wall, a remodeled staircase, a window seat, and was moved 30 feet southward so it could receive a substantial addition by the current owners. 

The west exterior chimney heats two rooms, one on each floor, and is laid in Flemish bond with scribed joints and closers at the corners. There is some random glazing and the shoulders are stepped. The house originally sat on piers made of ballast stones. The spaces between the piers have now been filled.The front entrance now leads to a five-foot wide center passage that was probably inserted in the 1870s when a wall was added to form the west partition. A large rear wing (which has since been replaced with the modern addition) with a room on either side was also added. The southwest room, which is heated, has exposed un-chamfered timbers. An early 1920s window seat addition sits to the left of the fireplace, extending the west wall out by a couple feet. On the other side of the passage is a small room enclosed by a one-inch vertical board partition. All joists and trimmers in this room are beaded, indicating that the ceiling framing in this room was originally exposed. Floorboards are whitewashed and many are not undercut except for an apparently patched area alongside the partition, where there are a handful of gauged and undercut boards. 

The present stair, while old, is not in its original location. Inside the lobby, an original joist has been cut through to accommodate the present run. In addition, the stair rises awkwardly from the back of the passage, with its first step about three feet from the door and a pair of unusually large winders rising to the second flight of steps. The odd configuration and the cut-through joist suggest that an earlier stair existed in another location. Since there is no sign of any alterations in the board partition wall, the most likely configuration is in a much tighter, steeper run, rising from the rear of the passage along the east side of the board partition, inside the small unheated room. And indeed, the relatively wide spacing of the two westernmost ceiling joists could easily accommodate a steep winder stair. In addition, the patched area of gauged and undercut floorboards is over this pair of joists, making it the most likely location for the original staircase, probably in a sheathed enclosure much like the present one. The second floor reveals much construction detail. One of the most striking features of the hewn and pit sawn frame is the up-brace of the four-foot high half story visible at the top of the staircase. The hand rail at the top of the steps is scribed and tenoned in place. The common rafters are hewn and pit sawn and the roof sheathing is from mixed periods, the earliest being mill or sash sawn. The siding and studs on the west gable end have been replaced by circular sawn boards in the late nineteenth century. The rear attic space displays evidence that the rear shed is original due to the lack of nails on the lower parts of the common rafters. Also visible are the main rafters which are attached to the wall plate with rose-head wrought spikes. Additionally, the rafters are tenoned and pinned at the ridge. On a batten door found in the heated room upstairs is evidence of a scoring pattern for the placement of clinch nails in the three beaded battens.

The stair originally rose from the back of the passage and up a set of winders to run along the east side of the partition. It was later reconfigured to rise along the east wall of the inner room. It currently enters directly into one of the two chambers. Although both rooms are of equal size, each has their own details to suggest their function or importance. The floorboards in the east room are narrower than those in any other room. This, along with the gauged and beveled undercutting, suggests higher quality. At the same time the west room was heated suggesting it was the chamber of choice during the winter.

All of the contradictory evidence makes dating difficult; however, several elements suggest that the earliest time period as the 1810s. The combination of hewn and pit-sawn and hewn and sash sawn members, the story and a half plan, Georgian moldings, board and batten doors with wrought nails, wrought iron strap hinges, narrow partitions with narrow beads all suggest that the Bell house most likely dates to somewhere between 1810 and 1815, or slightly later. In the 1870s a center passage was formed, creating the current size of the west room on the main floor, and a large rear wing was added. In the early 1920s the window seat in the west gable-end was added, extending the wall. In more recent years the owners demolished the 1870s wing and replaced it with a much larger addition. It was at this time that the original foundation of the house was moved thirty feet toward the south and the rear room received two partitions, breaking it off into two rooms divided by a continuous center passage.  

Caleb Bell Family - researched by Mary Warshaw

Mary “Polly” Thompson 
Greenfield Bell
3rd wife of Caleb Norris Bell 
(Family Photo - ancestry.com)

Caleb Norris Bell (1788-1872)
Son of Caleb Bell (1731-1811)
G-son of Joseph (1695-1777)  
(Family Photo - ancestry.com)

Joseph Bell (abt 1698-1777) and Mary Corbett (abt 1702-1775) were married about 1722 in Princess Anne, Virginia. Joseph received land in Carteret County from his father Andrew (bef 1670-1725) and migrated into North Carolina about 1736, where he quickly became a colonial leader. By 1741 Joseph became a justice in Carteret County, a post he held for 36 years. He served as a colonel in the Carteret County Militia, represented Carteret County in the North Carolina legislature and served in the colonial assembly. By 1757, Joseph was a commissioner for the town of Portsmouth. In 1766 he received a license to operate an ordinary in Beaufort. This house on Turner Street (across from the restoration grounds, now plaqued John C. Manson, may have been used as Colonel Bell’s town house. Joseph was buried in Bogue Sound Family Cemetery.

Joseph and Mary Bell had five sons: Church (abt 1731-1775) married Sarah Shepard. Andrew (abt 1729-1790) married Elizabeth Lovett. Caleb (1741-1811) married Susannah Coale. Joseph (1739*-1813) first married Hannah Lovett, who died 28 Sept 1795; the following year he married Jane Davis 8 Nov 1796. Joseph was county clerk and also served as captain during Revolutionary War; he and Hannah were buried Bell’s Chapel Cemetery, Mansfield, Carteret County. Malachi (1745-1803) first married Elizabeth Coale (1761) and later married widow Sarah Fulford Robertson. Some family trees note a daughter Sarah born, to Joseph and Mary Bell, in 1725.
* Gravestone: ”Joseph Bell who departed this life 13th day of Feby 1813 aged 73 years 2 months & 7days.”

Malachi Bell’s son Josiah Bell (1767-1848) married Mary "Polly" Fisher; their son Josiah Fisher Bell (1820-1890) married Susan Benjamin Leecraft. The Josiah Bell House circa 1825, on the historic grounds, is across the street from the Joseph Bell House circa 1767. Josiah Fisher Bell was the Confederate agent responsible for blowing up lighthouses on Cape Lookout during the Civil War.

Caleb married Susannah Coale (abt 1755-), perhaps in 1772. Children were Abigail, William (1777-1827) married Sara Ward, Jacob (1784-1850), Joseph Coale (1785-1826) married Hannah Fulford, Caleb Norris Bell (1788-1872) married three time (see below), Charlotte (1790-) married Bartholomew Chadwick, and Elizabeth Bell (1792-).

Caleb Norris Bell Jr. (1788-1872), born in Beaufort, was a traveling minister in the Methodist Church of Virginia for many years; he moved to Kentucky in 1822. He married several times and fathered eight children; he married Judith Harper Moore (1789-1819), of Nottoway County, Virginia, 3 May 1815; Jane Browder (1793-1836) 6 Sept 1820 in Dinwiddie County, Virginia – they reached Todd County, Kentucky 26 Dec 1822; and Mary “Polly” Thompson Greenfield (1800-1869) widow of Samuel Greenfield) 16 Oct 1837 in Todd County, Kentucky. Rev. Bell died 21 Sept 1872 and was buried in Bell’s Chapel Cemetery, Todd County, Kentucky.

In The Story of the Methodists in the Port Beaufort, Amy Muse wrote,

“Tradition has it that Caleb Bell, his wife Suzannah Coale Bell, and his oldest daughter were charter members of our Church. Dr. A. H. Redford in his ‘History of Methodism in Kentucky’ tells of Caleb's conversion: ‘The old gentleman was an Episcopalian but did not know the witness of the spirit. Being in great distress of mind one day he took his Bible and boat and rowed out to one of the islands of the Beaufort Sound and there read and prayed until the burden was removed from his heart. He was made very happy but did not know the nature of the wondrous change nor realize that he was adopted into God's household until shortly afterward the Methodist preachers came in preaching regeneration and the witness of the spirit and at once with his wife and daughter he united with the Methodist Church—the first fruits of their labors.’

“When the great revival ‘struck’ Beaufort, Caleb Norris Bell, son of this older Caleb, was a boy living in Beaufort—eighteen years of age to the month. “One evening while out in the country sitting on a door step, he was convicted of sin. The same night he and his brother, with many others, went forward for prayers at the Church in Beaufort but found no relief. George Read, Clerk of Court and also class leader, invited Caleb and Jacob to spend the night with him [Hatsell House on Orange St.]; at eleven o'clock the power of God came upon them, and they were both, in the same instant, clearly, powerfully, satisfactorily converted.” At the first opportunity, he and his brother joined the Methodist Church at Bell's Chapel built by his grandfather.” The Chapel mentioned seems to have been the chapel on the West side of the Newport River authorized by the vestrymen of the Church of England in 1748. If it is, it was paid for with public funds as were improvements as late as 1766. Its location seems to have been on land which old Colonel Bell in 1755 deeded to the Parish. This and the fact that a Bell always read the service may account for the fact that it was called Bell's Chapel. It is assumed that as with St. John's in Beaufort, the Chapel was abandoned after the War and the Methodists, being the only religious sect near, took it over.

“After the conversion of Caleb and Jacob ‘the preachers urged them to exercise their gifts, and sometimes sent Caleb out to fill their own appointments.’ Thus Caleb was our first contribution to the ministry although he did not join the Conference until 1809; Jacob joined in 1807. There was no North Carolina Conference until 1838. Both boys joined the Virginia Conference, but Caleb's first field of service was in North Carolina; Jacob's in Virginia. A brother, Joseph, also joined the Conference but died when very young. Caleb served the Tampico Circuit in 1809. The following year his father was sick and requested that he be sent to Beaufort.

“Caleb, senior, died in 1811 and young Caleb left Beaufort for another circuit. He worked fervently for the next few years, but so large were the early circuits and so great the hardships that few could stand up long under the strain. Then, too, Caleb had found a girl in Virginia whom he wanted to marry so in 1815 he asked to be ‘located.” Later, 1822, he went to Todd County, Kentucky. ‘Here he found the Methodists few and far between,’ by zeal he built up the church there, and with his own hands helped build Bell's Chapel said to be the ‘best church house in the country at that day.’ Later he lived to see the Chapel ‘too small for the Lord's host (in Todd County) and a magnificent brick house, large enough for the multitude erected in the same beautiful grove.’ Dr. Redford says, ‘The influence of Caleb Bell was universally felt and acknowledged. He was perhaps the most popular preacher in the county—preaching more funeral sermons, baptizing more children, and marrying more couples than any other.’”

MORE FAMILY HISTORY: Excerpts from: Colonel Joseph Bell of Carteret County and Some of His Descendants - Marybelle Delamar 1946