Manor were Josiah Quincy, of Boston,
and Robert Howe, who met here to
devise plans which were to lead to the
colonists’ successful bid for freedom.
It is with good reason that Hilton has
been often referred to as the “Cradle
of American Liberty.”
It was Cornelius Harnett who sum¬
moned the leaders of the lower Cape
Fear to his plantation to organize re¬
sistance to the hated Stamp Act, and
later prevented the landing of stamps
from British ships of war at Bruns¬
wick Town.
And it was Harnett who headed the
band of patriots who confronted Gov¬
ernor Tryoii at his palace {then in
Brunswick) and demanded the pres¬
ence of Pennington, Royal Comptroller
in charge of enforcing the Stamp Act.
Pennington was required to go with
the band to Wilmington to resign his
office, and to take an oath never to
sell stamped paper to the colony.
These stirring deeds were but a pre¬
lude to Cornelius Harnett’s distin¬
guished services in the cause of free¬
dom (The State, Voi. VIII, No. 35).
As Professor C. A. Smith writes, “he
filled every position of honor and trust
that a grateful and devoted State could
bestow,”
Harnett’s Death
Suffice it to say that by the time the
British forces, under Major James
Henry Craig, captured Wilmington in
1781, Harnett was one of only two
leaders who had not been granted
amnesty.
On arriving in Wilmington, Major
Craig immediately dispatched a com¬
pany of “redcoats” to find Cornelius
Harnett and bring him to town, Har¬
nett’s health had failed meantime, and
he was powerless to make good his
escape. Soldiers found him 32 miles
from Wilmington in Onslow County, at
the home of his friend Colonel Spicer.
Although Harnett was extremely
sick and in great pain, soldiers dragged
him from the bed and forced him to
walk until he sank to the ground in
utter exhaustion. He was then thrown
across the back of a horse “like a sack
of meal,” and so brought through the
crowded streets of the town,
In prison he suffered intensely, and
a few hours before his death he wrote
his will and dictated a couplet from
Pope’s “Essay on Man” to serve as an
epitaph.
•‘The sunset of life gives us mystical lore
And coming events cast their shadows be¬
fore.”
On the crown of the hill at 4th and
Market streets in Wilmington is a
monument, a plain white shaft, hon¬
oring the memory of Cornelius Harnett
as “a man who in life was the mightiest
single force during the period of the
American Revolution,”
In another part of the city at Hilton
Park, the World’s Largest Living
Christmas Tree may also serve as a
reminder of Harnett and his fellow
patriots for those who are aware of the
history that was made there.
The Manor House
Various historians and writers have
assumed that Hilton was named for
William Hilton, one of the early ex¬
plorers of the lower Cape Fear in
1663. They have also taken for
granted that the Manor House of Hil¬
ton Plantation was situated in the
beautiful grove of moss-hung live
oaks near the site of the present world-
renowned Christmas tree.
Old records are more specific. Cor¬
nelius Harnett’s father (Cornelius, Sr. )
“late of Chowan County,” came to
southeastern Nortli Carolina in 1726
and settled at Brunswick Town, where
he operated a ferry. On May 21,
1741 Cornelius Harnett (Jr.) pur¬
chased 300 acres of land near a set¬
tlement called New Liverpool, later
known as Wilmington. May 30, 1753
and November 9, 1756 Harnett bought
an additional 150 and 144 acres on
the “south side of Smiths Creek,” near
the mouth.
Here he erected the Manor House,
which was a large brick structure with
a gambrel roof and dormer windows
on the second story, A wide porch en¬
circled three sides and was surrounded
by a grove of magnificent oaks and
commanded a fine view of the river.
This eighteen-acre tract was situated
north of the present Seaboard Coast
Line Railroad tracks and bounded
on the north by a large rice field and
Smith’s Creek.
May 31, 1784 Mary Harnett of Wil¬
mington, widow of Cornelius Harnett
Esq., sold to John Hill, for 3,750 Span¬
ish milled dollars, “all that plantation
and parcel of land called ‘Maynard’
lying and being in New Hanover county
containing 272 acres together with the
capital Mansion or Dwelling House.”
The Name “Hilton”
At a later date John Hill sold the
property to his brother, William Hill,
who slated in his will that he named
the property “Hilton” in honor of his
family. In so doing, however, he left
out one “L” in the name, which spell¬
ing has apparently confused historians
for 200 years, and given birth to the
legend that the plantation was named
for Capt. William Hilton.
As late as 1892 this structure, though
damaged by vandals, was still stand¬
ing. On January 17 of that year the
Percgoy Lumber Co. bought “a part
of that tract of land called Hilton”
containing seventeen and three-tenths
acres for $8,000, including the Manor
House and the burial vaults of the
Hill family.
Peregoy stated at the time that he
proposed to tear down the house, but
if the City of Wilmington would ex¬
change the old brick for new brick
and move the house to a park where
it could be preserved, the city could
have it. The city officials failed to
realize the opportunity; and the his¬
toric old mansion, with all its memories
of the Revolution, was demolished.
Eventually Hilton became the first
public park in the city, which story
is too long to relate here. After two
decades as such, it was abandoned as
new parks gained in popularity.
The Christmas Tree
During the early part of December
1928 James E. L. Wade, City Com¬
missioner, conceived the idea of a liv¬
ing Community Christmas Tree for
Wilmington and the surrounding coun¬
ties.
On the R. A. Parsley property, bet¬
ter known as Hilton Park, Wade se¬
lected a giant live oak — the largest
tree in New Hanover County. He im¬
mediately launched his plan of decorat¬
ing the tree with 500 vari-colored lights
and other electrical effects and ar¬
ranged for a program in keeping with
the season.
At eight o’clock on Christmas Eve
a misty rain was falling, and an epi¬
demic of influenza had swept the
county, but nevertheless, Wade was
on hand to preside at the occasion.
Promptly on the hour he threw the
switch, and the inky blackness of old
Hilton Park was cut by the sparkle
and shine of the hundreds of lights —
the first in over a decade.
Two years later Hilton Park Com¬
munity Tree won the national prize
for the most beautifully decorated
Christmas tree in the United States.
For the past 39 years our tree has
grown in fame and beauty, and once
again in the month of December old
Hilton Park recaptures some of its for¬
mer glory.
Ю
THE STATE, December 15, 19SB
