Support Your Local Library - Rent a Row Boat!

Or how a determined group of ladies purchased a disused yacht club and turned it into a library

Silver Cross Retreat, home of the King's Daughters Library,
photo attributed to Edward Gerock, c.1895.

By John B. Green III

This week's "treasure" from the Kellenberger Room is a photograph and the third item relating to the history of the library which we have examined in recent weeks.  The photograph is of a large boathouse which had been constructed over the Neuse River at the foot of Broad Street in 1891 for the New Bern Yacht Club.  Four years later the fortunes of the yacht club had declined and, in a most unlikely turn of events, the club sold the building along with five row boats to the New Bern branch of the King's Daughters, a Christian philanthropic organization.  New Bern's "Whatsoever" circle of the King's Daughters had been formed in 1890 and counted among its many laudable goals the creation of a public library for the town.  By 1895 the local King's Daughters felt the need of a permanent meeting place as well as a home for their growing library.  On July 29, 1895 they acquired the New Bern Yacht Club building and soon thereafter renamed it The Silver Cross Retreat as a reference to the national emblem of their order.

The building was put into good repair as were the five rowboats which had come as part of the purchase.  The second floor was used for meetings of the King's Daughters and as the home for the library.  Building and boats could be rented for special events with the proceeds supporting the library.  The Retreat became a popular spot for waterfront musicales in the evenings and the library grew in size and use.  When first formed in 1890 the library had been open to all members of the community but by 1896, under the operation of the "Mission Ten" circle, it was felt necessary to convert it to a subscription library in order to more adequately cover the operating expenses.

After four years of successful operation The Silver Cross Retreat suffered a blow from which neither  it nor the King's Daughters Library could survive.  The wind and storm surge of the unnamed hurricane which struck New Bern and coastal North Carolina October 30 through 31, 1899 heavily damaged the Retreat.  The wharf leading to the building as well as the platform around the Retreat were washed away.  The building was left battered and isolated on its pilings out in the river.  Soon thereafter the King's Daughters decided to relocate their headquarters and library and the Retreat was offered for sale.  Eventually the King's Daughters found the operation of a library beyond their means and a distraction from their charitable work in the community.  By 1902 they had donated their collection of books to the newly formed New Bern Circulating Library which would eventually become the New Bern-Craven County Public Library of today.

Silver Cross Retreat, home of the King's Daughters Library,
engraving based on a photograph by Edward Gerock, c.1895,
from The Silver Cross (New Berne Edition), 1895. 
Image courtesy Tryon Palace, New Bern, N.C.

This brings us back to our featured photograph.  Owned by Mrs. G. Tull Richardson of Bellair Plantation, the photo was copied on December 6, 1983 by John B. Green III (your blogger) and Peter B. Sandbeck for the New Bern-Craven County Photographic Archive.  Some thirty years later the Kellenberger Room was able to acquire the photograph at the sale of the contents of Bellair.  There has always been a question about the photo - Does it represent the boat house during its ownership by the New Bern Yacht Club or the King's Daughters?  This is of some importance if we want to describe it as representing our library's first home, however short-lived.  In examining the image for inclusion in this post a symbol or device could be seen in the gable end of the boathouse although it was indistinct.  The symbol's identity became clear when the above engraving was examined.  Based on a photograph by New Bern photographer Edward Gerock, the engraving appears in the "New Berne" edition of The Silver Cross, the national newspaper of the King's Daughters.  This edition was published by the local King's Daughters in the fall of 1895 as a fund-raising effort for the newly purchased Silver Cross Retreat.  In the gable end of the building in the engraving can be clearly seen a large Maltese cross, the symbol of the King's Daughters national organization and the origin of the Retreat's name.  The photograph does show the building when it housed the King's Daughters Library!  Two copies of this special edition can be found today in the collections of Tryon Palace Historic Sites and Gardens which provided the scan of the engraving for this post.

A Rare Survival

Treasures from the Kellenberger Room

Featuring books, pamphlets, photographs, documents, and the occasional object from the collections of the New Bern-Craven County Public Library

by John B. Green III

Land grant from the Lords Proprietors to
Christopher Gale, June 11, 1720

The earliest era of North Carolina's permanent settlement, 1663-1729, is known as the Proprietary period.  This period derives its name from the eight Lords Proprietors, wealthy and influential men who had helped Charles II regain the throne of England.  In gratitude, King Charles granted the province of Carolina to these men along with various rights including that of issuing grants to others.  Of all the thousands of land grants issued during this sixty-year period, most survive only as official clerk's copies in bound volumes.  The original documents, which would have gone to the new owners of the land, have in most instances long since vanished.  We are indeed fortunate, therefore, to have in our collection, an original land grant from 1720, signed by the governor and various members of his council on behalf of the Lords Proprietors, and bearing their seal.

Seal of the Lords Proprietors

The grant for 640 acres (one square mile) of land along the Neuse River "a Little belowe hanging point" was originally granted in 1707 to William Brice who then sold the land to Thomas Urquehart.  Urquehart died without heirs and the property reverted to the Lords Proprietors who on June 11, 1720 granted it to Christopher Gale, chief justice of the province. The document bears the signatures of Governor Charles Eden and Thomas Pollock, President of the Council, along with five other councilmen and officials.

Signature of Thomas Pollock, President of the Council

Signature of Governor Charles Eden

"The day was a perfect one" - the launch of the Charles G. Blades

Treasures from the Kellenberger Room

Featuring books, pamphlets, photographs, documents, and the occasional object from the collections of the New Bern-Craven County Public Library

by John B. Green III

New Bern's maritime history is long and extensive.  Anytime we can acquire a photograph or document illustrating some portion of this history we tend to jump at the chance.  Two years ago we secured a photograph album of views of New Bern taken by an unknown photographer about 1901.  Two of photos in the album are believed to show the launching of the lumber barge Charles G. Blades, an event which drew hundreds of people to the Neuse River waterfront on January 16, 1901.  A detailed account of the launching of what was said to be the largest vessel ever built in the state appeared in the New Bern Daily Journal the following day.

The Blades was constructed for the Blades Lumber Company at its mill located between Johnson and King streets, just north of the Neuse River bridge.  Named for company vice-president Charles G. Blades, the vessel measured 175 feet long with a beam of 28 feet 8 inches, depth of hold of 12 feet 6 inches, draft of three feet, and was capable of carrying 500,000 board-feet of lumber.  On the day of the launching scores of people clambered aboard for the brief trip down the ways and hundreds more crowded the nearby bridge and adjacent shore and wharves.  Ivy Blades, daughter of W.B. Blades, company president, broke a bottle of water across the bow while christening the vessel the Charles G. Blades.  The lumber barge began its slide into the river to the cheers of the crowd and a salute from the U.S. Revenue Cutter Boutwell.  The momentum of the launch carried the Blades nearly half way across the river before the ship was taken in tow by a tug and returned to the dock.

Citizens gathered on board the vessel before the launch.
The Neuse River bridge can be seen to the right.

Vanished New Bern, No.16

By John B. Green III

Street's Ferry

Street's Ferry, from the south shore of the Neuse, photo ca. 1950.

Today's Vanished New Bern is a place and a mode of transportation rather than a building.  For much of New Bern's history the Neuse River was considered to be too wide to be easily bridged.  As a result a number of ferries operated throughout the 18th and 19th centuries to convey people and goods across the river.

Street's Ferry underway and heading toward the north shore landing and the ferry keeper's house, photo ca. 1950.

These ferries were privately operated and were usually known by the names of those who owned or originated the service.  Starting at New Bern and going upstream, the prominent Neuse River ferries of the late 19th century were Fowler's Ferry, Pettiford's Ferry, Nelson's Ferry, and Street's Ferry.  All except Street's were made obsolete by the building of the first Neuse River bridge at New Bern between 1898 and 1899.

Street's Ferry, photo ca. 1920.

Street's Ferry was located approximately eight and half miles up-stream from New Bern where the Weyerhauser plant is now located.  A ferry had existed at that location since the 18th century and had gone by a number of names culminating in Street's for the Street family which operated the ferry in the mid-19th century.  The ferry passed into county ownership and operation in the early 20th century before becoming a state-operated service.  Street's Ferry ended its many years of service in 1962 when it was finally replaced by a bridge.

Ferry keeper James Wiggins at Street's Ferry, 1941. From the 20 December 1941 issue of The State.