by Edward Ellis, Special Correspondent
The endurance of New Bern through its many trials is a thing to behold. We need to be constantly reminded of our small place in the scheme of things. Remarkably, we are.
Through the efforts of outfits like the New Bern Historical Society, Tryon Palace, the Kellenberger Room of the public library, and others, we are prompted to remember that some twelve generations have called Bear Town home since its founding in 1710. One hundred and sixty years ago this month, one of those generations observed a peaceful Christmas and New Year’s.
A merchant named George Allen was operating from his new store at 99 Pollock Street. A fine illustration from the New Bern Daily Progress of January 1, 1861, shows citizens of New Bern, decked out in all their finery, before the store’s lovely masonry façade. Men with stovepipe hats and walking canes accompany women in long bustled skirts and bonnets.
Allen’s offered luxury fabrics, blankets, clocks, hats, caps, boots, shoes, and other items “selected with great care,” according to his advertisement. Meanwhile, his competitor, Emmet Cuthbert, was luring the same crowd with a similar selection also at new digs “just opened” on the corner of Pollock and Middle Street. Cuthbert advised he had “a magnificent stock of fine dress goods.”
The newspaper woodcut of Cuthbert’s three-story structure depicts locals in horse-drawn transportation with a stylish gas lamp on the street corner.
Other news stories in the week’s edition of the Daily Progress lend a sobering aspect to the otherwise bucolic world thus portrayed. One item called “Rejoicing at the Results” reports that “salutes were fired in Wilmington, Charlotte, Norfolk, and Portsmouth Friday on the reception of the intelligence of the secession of South Carolina.” The December 20, 1860 withdrawal of South Carolina from the federal union caused “considerable rejoicing in Georgia, Alabama, and other Southern States,” according to the newspaper.
Eddie Ellis is the author of New Bern History 101 and other works about Craven County’s rich heritage. He can be reached at flexspace2@aol.com.