By Claudia Houston, New Bern Historical Society
The Historical Society’s 100th Anniversary celebration continues and with it has come an opportunity to reflect upon our long history as an organization. We had a rousing start, but due to the Depression and two world wars, the Society remained inactive from 1942 until the early 1950’s. If there were any meetings, no formal records of them survived. Richard K. Lore, our longtime Historian, wrote an article in the New Bern Historical Journal celebrating our 75 years of history. After this period of general malaise, Lore described the next era as the “go go fifties”, and indeed they were. In 1953 Dwight D. Eisenhower was President and the Korean War had ended. There was a new outlook and feeling not only in the nation, but locally as well, that prosperity was just around the corner.
In New Bern, several Society members continued to lead the fight to rebuild Tryon Palace. While many were opposed to this reconstruction, particularly those who owned property where the Palace was to be built, there was a general excitement over the prospect of this building once again gracing the city and turning it into a major historical center.
In the middle of all of this, on November 12, 1953, John R. Taylor was elected President of the Society. There were sixty-three members at the time, and the treasurer’s report in June of that year indicated there was a total of $89.64 in assets. But Taylor had a vision! With few people and even fewer assets, he found a way to energize an effort to purchase the Attmore-Oliver House on Broad Street to become the Historical Society headquarters.
The Attmore-Oliver House was a grand old house that had fallen into disrepair by the early 1950’s. It had originally been built by Samuel Chapman in 1790 as a story and a half frame building. The house eventually passed to Chapman’s daughter, Caroline Eliza. She and her husband, Henry Waring, sold the house to Isaac Taylor, a prominent local businessman who resided on Craven Street and owned a large plantation “Glenburnie”. The house on Broad Street was purchased and renovated over the years for Isaac’s daughter, Mary Taylor, who married George Sitgreaves Attmore. They enlarged the house to accommodate their seven children. When Isaac Taylor died, he willed this home to Mary Taylor Attmore. Unfortunately, she died at a young age and though the family continued to reside in the home, once George Sitgreaves Attmore died, the home was left to their daughter, Hannah Taylor Attmore. She had married William H. Oliver in 1854 and they had a family of eight although three children died in infancy. Three of Hannah’s brothers fought for the Confederacy as did her husband. Two of the brothers were killed but eventually the family returned home after having vacated the house during the Civil War. Hannah died in 1881 and William died in 1908, leaving the house to their unmarried daughter, Mary Taylor Oliver. Miss Oliver died on March 13, 1951, and her home was left to her five nephews, none of whom lived in New Bern.
Enter the New Bern Historical Society President John R. Taylor. Though the house was in severe disrepair, John Taylor thought that it had great potential for a permanent home for the Society. He and John Guion Dunn drove to Fayetteville to meet with the family and after negotiations, the family agreed to sell the house and property for a reduced sum of $30,000.
To support this major expenditure, the Society had to come up with a plan. Several meetings were held, and the minutes record a seven-member finance committee. There were also listed twenty-nine people with the title of “Solicitor.” Whatever they did, the money began to flow into the coffers of the NBHS treasury. From a meager $89.54 in June of 1953, the Treasury reflected a sum of $9,000 only six months later. By the next month, this amount grew to $15,000. By the Spring of 1954 one half of the purchase price of the house, $15,000, was paid in cash.
The house needed significant work, and the same Solicitors were sent out again to obtain donations for restoration and furnishings. Several businesses contributed not only money but building supplies, paint, and furniture as well. Many town members got into the spirit of resurrecting this old house and they succeeded. In less than 10 years the Society raised more than $65,000 to purchase, restore and furnish the Attmore-Oliver House — a huge sum for a recently resurrected nonprofit in a small town in the fifties. On March 20, 1963, at a meeting at the Governor Tryon Hotel, the mortgage on the Attmore-Oliver House was burned. President John R. Taylor’s leadership galvanized the Society and the townspeople to achieve this goal – an enormous task and accomplishment for New Bernians of that era.
This was just the beginning of a resurgence of energy and commitment on the part of the Historical Society. Preservation has always been at the heart of what we do. Recognizing that the preservation mission was important enough to justify a separate organization devoted solely to rescuing old houses and buildings threatened with destruction, the New Bern Preservation Foundation was formed in 1972.
The Attmore-Oliver House was maintained as a House Museum for many years, complete with docents and tours. Our administrative offices were in the Roberts house on our campus, but in 2012, we moved that function into the Attmore-Oliver house. We continue to appreciate the history of this old home. Our current Historical Society Curator, Jim Hodges, the grandson of President John R. Taylor, greets “Miss Mary” every morning when he comes in. We think she is appreciative of the care we have given to her family home.
For more stories like this from New Bern’s past, we hope that you will visit the Duffy Gallery at the North Carolina History Center to see our free exhibit, “Through the Looking Glass, A Journey with the Storytellers.”