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Collection: DUDLEY, EDWARD BISHOP
. Wilmington, Raleigh
1836
P.C. _ i&l
Physical Description: .18 items; letters, sketch.
Acquisition: Biennial reports indicate only the public papers of Governor
Dudley have been received. Probably the 17 items of 1836 (3 of which are
also recorded in the Governor's Letter Book) were transferred to Private
Collections since Dudley did not take office until January 1, 1837.
Description: Edward Bishop Dudley, son of wealthy planter-legislator
Christopher Dudley of Onslow County, was born in 1789. He may have
received his education at an academy and/or with private tutors. Serv¬
ing the House of Commons from Onslow in 1811, 1813-1814, he was also
with the Onslow militia detailed to protect Wilmington in the War of
1812, and was promoted to colonel in 1814 and to brigadier general in
1817. He settled in Wilmington with interests in nagivation companies,
railroads, naval stores, lumber, banks and plantations.
In 1815 he married Elizabeth [Eliza] Haywood of Raleigh, sister of
William H. Haywood, Jr., and sister-in-law of Charles Manly. They had
seven children: Christopher Hill, William Henry Haywood, Edward Bis¬
hop, Jr., Robert, Eliza Ann, Margaret, and Jane.
Dudley was a member of the House of Commons from the borough of
Wilmington in 1816-1817, a Jacksonian elector in 1824, and a Jacksonian
congressman in 1829. Having become an anti- Jacksonian, he refused re-
election, saying that Congress was no place for an honest man.
As a Whig in the House of Commons from Wilmington, 1834-1835 , he
supported the West in its fight against the Democratic East for consti¬
tutional reform and in return secured legislation fbr building the WLlmingtcn and
Raleigh Railroad, which was incorporated in 1834. An amendment to the
charter the next year changed the destination of the railroad to Weldon,
although the name was not changed until 1852. Dudley, who subscribed
$25, OCX), became president of the company in March, 1836.