by Edward Ellis, Special Correspondent
We’ve found letters from time-to-time penned by a newspaper correspondent who signed himself only as “Videns.” In writing to The Western Democrat of Charlotte, Videns gave a remarkable description of New Bern about two-and-a-half years after the end of the Civil War.
In his article from the city on February 5, 1868, he said, “I find this place very much changed since 1859, but still in many respects the Newbern of old. Fire has laid waste that part of the city on which stood the Washington Hotel, the old Court House and Market, and other portions of the town now bear ugly scars received under the attacks of the devouring elements at different times.”
Videns was seeing still-existing damage from the three major fires that ravaged New Bern on the day of its attack by Union forces, March 14, 1862. But he saw “contra to this a good deal of improvement has been made.” He compared the store of “McLean & Co.” to one of Raleigh’s fine establishments and said it was “excelled … by none other in the South known to the writer.” We know from other sources that McLean’s was located in the Court House Building and dealt in “dry goods and clothing.” McLean’s was a heavy advertiser in the Newbern Journal of Commerce. It received merchandise daily by steamship dealing with suppliers in New York City and other places. Videns said they were always busy.
Also in business, he noted: “Weinstein and Bro., Baer & Eppler, and others have fine Dry Goods establishments on Pollok [sic] street.” He mentioned a grocer, Mr. Amyett on South Front Street, plus R.N. Taylor, Havens & Latham, Mitchell, Oliver “and others, well-known citizens, are driving their several avocations in the avenue of trade.”
skirts at McLean & Co.
He particularly pointed out Mitchell, Allen & Co. who “keep an extensive Hardware establishment on Pollok Street.”
“Stagnation in business and the scarcity of money is a general complaint here,” Videns wrote, “but I do not think it is warranted by the facts gleaned by general observation.”
We’ll let Videns speak much of the rest in his own words. “Wm. P. Moore, so well and favorably known by your citizens as the Proprietor of the Mansion House, does, it is said, the largest business in the Cotton and Naval Stores line of any merchant in the city. The best evidence of the high grade of Mr. Moore’s business capacity is his almost unparalleled successes in life. It has become a trite adage that ‘what he touches turns to gold.’ Mr. M. is also the Proprietor of the Gaston House, and when I add that the House is under the Superintendence of Mr. J.W. Jones, a resident of your city in bellum [during the war, that is], you will not be surprised at my declaration that it is one of the best Hotels in the South.”
The Gaston House, and especially its bar, was a favorite of Union officers during the occupation of New Bern (1862-1865). When the Northern army seized the town, they tried to change the name of the place to the Union House, but their attempt was short-lived.
“Many citizens have died since I was here last,” Videns said, “and society has undergone some change, but the same proverbial, genial hospitality once so gratifying and attractive to the visiting stranger, is still existent here. Notwithstanding fortunes have been swept away by the result of war, and that distrust would seem to be inevitable, engendered by the harsh experiences of the refugee citizens of the war, the ‘latch string’ of the old Newbernian hangs, as of old, outside the door.”
“Lawlessness prevails to a considerable extent in this vicinity. Petty theft occurs daily, while offenses of graver character are very frequent,” he said.
In closing, he lamented that “Steamers of large capacity have taken the place of the sail vessels which formerly dotted the waters of the Neuse and Trent, and added so much to the beauty of the picturesque river scenery.”
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.