Johnson reviews book on first settlers of Lower Cape Fear

     From thousands of pieces of minutia such as wills, probate and estate records, household inventories, tax lists, church records, militia lists and port records, author Bradford J. Wood cconstructs a fascinating portrait of the pre-Revolutionary War settlers of the Lower Cape Fear Region of North Carolina. Dr. Lloyd Johnson, associate professor of history at Campbell University, reviewed Wood’s book, “This Remote Part of the World: Regional Formation in Lower Cape Fear, North Carolina, 1725-1775, at a recent Lunch and Learn session on the Campbell campus.
     “Wood analyzed nearly every aspect of the growth and development that took place in present day New Hanover and Brunswick counties in this 50-year period,” Johnson said. “His study will serve as a model for future quantitative community studies covering the history of Colonial and 18th century America.”
     From Wood’s painstaking research, the reader learns that Maurice Moore and his brother Roger were among the first settlers of the region, establishing the town of Brunswick on the Cape Fear River. The Moore brothers hoped that Brunswick would become a flourishing port city like Charleston, but that was not to be. The Spanish burned Brunswick in 1747 and the town never fully recovered. New Town, which later became Wilmington, eclipsed Brunswick as a point of trade on the Cape Fear River. Most of the prominent families that settled the region came from the Albemarle region of North Carolina. Many of these elite families also owned cottages in present day Pender County, where they could escape the malaria that infected the Northeast Cape Fear River. Wood’s book also uncovers the source of North Carolina’s nickname, “Tar Heel” state. Tar was the basic economic staple of the region during this period; rice was not extensively produced until after the American Revolution. “This Remote Part of the World” is published by the University of South Carolina Press.
     Johnson, who is director of historical studies at Campbell, received a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s degree in counselor education from Campbell University. He went on to obtain a master’s degree in American history from East Carolina University and earned a doctorate from the University of South Carolina. A resident of Erwin, N.C., he is the author of a book on Welsh settlers in the South, “The Frontier in the Colonial South: South Carolina Backcountry, 1736-1800,” and has made numerous presentations on his research in Wales, Britain and the U.S. He has also appeared in the BBC documentary, “Roots in Wales.” In addition he has published entries in the “Encyclopedia of North Carolina History,” the “African-American Encyclopedia of History,” and the “Encyclopedia of South Carolina History.” He has been a book review contributor for scholarly publications, including the “Journal of Southern History,” “North Carolina Historical Review,” the “William & Mary Quarterly,” “Baptist History and Heritage” and the “Georgia Historical Quarterly” His article on Welsh in the Carolinas was published in “Western Mail,” a national newspaper of Cardiff, Wales. In addition, Johnson recently received the Archie K. Davis Fellowship from the North Caroliniana Society, a private nonprofit corporation dedicated to the promotion of increased knowledge and appreciation of North Carolina heritage through the encouragement of scholarly research, writing and teaching and other means. Johnson will use the fellowship to continue researching the Upper Cape Fear Valley in the 18th century.
     Lunch and Learn is a bi-monthly lecture series sponsored by Campbell’s Department of Government, History and Justice.