The county-by-county exploration of North Carolina and the War is not going as fast as I hoped. Maybe we will be able to wrap up by the end of the sesquicentennial. I thought today we would turn our attention to Onslow County.
Onslow County, a part of North Carolina’s Costal Plane, was formed in 1734 from New Hanover County. It was named for Arthur Onslow, Speaker of the House of Commons in the British Parliament. The county seat is located in Jacksonville, which was incorporated in 1843 and named for President Andrew Jackson. Onslow County is probably best known for these two things: the birthplace of Otway Burns, a privateer during the War of 1812 and later a member of the state house, and Camp Lejeune Marine Base.
In 1860, Onslow County had a population of 8,856 people, including 3,499 slaves and 159 free persons of color. In 1861, the men in Onslow County cast 781 votes for Breckinridge, 153 for Bell, and 24 for Douglas. In February 1861, the county cast 631 votes for calling a convention to consider the question of secession, and 89 votes against. Dr. G. W. Ward was their first elected delegate. Ward hailed from New Bern, but had spent some time in Mississippi. He was educated at UNC Chapel Hill, and later in Philadelphia. Ward served as a magistrate, County Superintendent of Public Instruction, and chairman of the county medical board. He resigned to enter the Confederate Cavalry and was replaced by Andrew J. Murrill, a farmer, magistrate and chairman of the board of county commissioners. Murrill later served in the state house and senate.
Men from Onslow County served in Companies E and G, 3rd NCST; Company B, 24th NCT; Company A, 35th NCT; Company H, 55th NCT; Company K, 61st NCT; Company I, 66th NCT; Company H, 67th NCT; Companies B and H, 3rd NC Cavalry; and, Company F, 8th Batt. Partisan Rangers.
Onslow County saw limited action during the war. In April 1862 there was a night-time skirmish at Gillett’s Farm, with the 2nd North Carolina Cavalry attacking a portion of the 103rd New York. On November 23, 1862, Lt. William B. Cushing, aboard the Union gunboat Ellis, arrived off the coast of Onslow County and destroyed salt works, then captured and burned a vessel loaded with turpentine and cotton at Stone’s Point. Cushing later captured the town of Jacksonville and captured two more schooners at Wantland’s Landing. The Ellis later grounded on the shoals across from Traps Bay and was attacked by the Confederates. The Federal Tars abandoned the vessel.
There is not much more to mention on Onslow County and the War. A visitor might learn more by visiting one of the local history museums – the Onslow County History Museum is in Richlands, and there is the Museum of the Marines on the base in Jacksonville. Louis H. Manarin wrote a small book entitled “Onslow County during the Civil War” back in 1982, but I do not have a copy and could find only one in a library in the state.
9 comments:
Off the top of my head, I know of one company you missed on your list of units that contained Onslow County men. There were Onslow Countians in Co. K, 2nd NC Cavalry. I've done a presentation on one of those men, Pvt. Isaac Taylor, who lived in the area currently known as Hubert. Just thought I'd mention that.
Your assessment is very good. The best work on Onslow County in general is Alan Watson's "Onslow County: A Brief History" which is available through NC Historical Publications (Archives & History). You can also find it on Amazon. I'd never heard of the Manarin book. I'll have to look for it.
Thanks for the additions – it is amazing how hard some of these counties are to find information on. Of course, it might help if I did not live on the other side of the state, too.
The only copy of Manarin book that I could find on WorldCat was in the library at Lenoir Community College.
How advantageous! Lenoir Community College is 10 minutes from my office. I may have to go take a look at that book and if it's not too lengthy maybe I can copy the whole thing. I'd be interested to know what Manarin was able to dig up on Onslow in the war. Thanks!
I saw someplace that it was only thirty pages – might I impose on you to also get a copy? I’ll gladly pay…
I'll go out to the college today or tomorrow and take a look. I imagine it's probably in their local history room (Heritage Place, I think they call it). If I can get a copy I'll certainly send one along to you.
I just got back from Heritage Place at the Lenoir Community College library and I found the Manarin piece. It is really nothing more than a research report, but I will send you a copy tomorrow. I'll send it to the PO Box address you have listed on your Facebook page if that's OK. They have about 6-8 of these research reports that were done in the early 1980s about different aspects of Onslow County history. They are all written by either former Dept. of Cultural Resources researchers or college professors. It's an interesting little collection that I hope to explore more now that I know about it. No worries about paying me for the copies; I'm happy to send them to you.
That PO Box is great – do you think a post man would come up here this time of year? Thanks for the help. I look forward to reading the report.
What a wonderful entry! I would like to note that the Museum of the Marine isn't in operation yet - I'm not sure when they plan on opening.
Can anyone tell me the full name of the owner of the Gillett farm? This is a family name. I am an amatuer Civil War buff. Thanks for any clue. Laureen
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