Cumberland-Newhanover-Bladen County NcArchives Biographies.....Wilkinson, James Archibald July 17, 1828 - January 21, 1853
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Bill Gibson bgibson@uncfsu.edu October 10, 2007, 4:45 pm

Author: Bill Gibson, II

Captain Wilkinson’s Young Wife

John Wilkinson and Ann McKenzie were married in Cumberland County on July 3rd,
1826. Their first son, John McKenzie, was born the following year, and their
second son, James Archibald, was born on July 17th, 1828. On October 9th, 1828,
John Wilkinson died while visiting Chesterville, South Carolina, leaving his
wife and two infant sons.

Andrew Jackson Howell was born on October 9th, 1828. By 1850, he was a young
clerk, boarding in the household of Augustus J. and Martha Erambert in
Wilmington, NC.

A. J. and Martha Erambert lived for a while in Fayetteville, NC. Their children
were Virginia, Louis B., Emily J. and Martha Ann, but Martha Ann died while
still an infant.

By 1852, the Henrietta Steamboat Company had been in operation many years. That
year, the Company launched a new steamboat, Southerner. The Southerner was a
sternwheel steamer, 112 feet in length, 17.5 feet wide, with a three foot hold
and a draft of 12 inches. Light draught steamers were a necessity upon the Cape
Fear River before the building of three dams and locks between Fayetteville and
Wilmington. The Cape Fear was a narrow,winding river, often subject to the
weather, from freshets (floods) to barely a trickle.

According to an ad that ran repeatedly in the Fayetteville Observer, the steamer
Southerner, “WILL leave Fayetteville every Wednesday and Saturday at 7 o’clock,
A. M. and arrive in Wilmington at 7 o’clock P. M.   And will leave Wilmington
every Monday and Thursday, at 12 o’clock, M., and arrive in Fayetteville next
morning.”

On July 11th, 1852, John McKenzie Wilkinson died at his mother’s home, just six
days before his brother’s 24th birthday.

Later that year, Capt. James A. Wilkinson married Emily J. Erambert on the 22nd
of December, at 6pm in Wilmington, NC. The Rev. Mr. Munns officiated the ceremony.

About a month later, on January 21st, 1853, Mrs. Emily J. Wilkinson, celebrated
her 18th birthday. Six days later, her young husband was aboard the steamer,
Southerner, heading up the Cape Fear River on an extremely cold night. About two
miles above Elizabeth Town, Capt. Wilkinson was making his way along the
steamer’s guard when he slipped, perhaps upon an icy deck, and was plunged into
the Cape Fear. The Southerner was immediately stopped and a search was made, but
there was no sign of the young captain. It may have been that his body passed
beneath the boat, or he might have been struck by the spinning paddlewheel.

A few days after the accident, it was mistakenly reported in the Fayetteville
Observer that Capt. Wilkinson’s body had been recovered.

On the 1st of February, an advertisement was re-run in the Fayetteville
Observer, by the Henrietta Steamboat Company. The ad stated that on the 10th of
the month, all boats of the company, both steam and tow, would be auctioned off.
On February 10th, 1853, the Messrs. Roberts, purchased the boats of the
Henrietta Steamboat Company, including the Southerner and the Evergreen. The new
company took the name of the Express Steamboat Line.

On the 22nd of February, the Fayetteville Observer reported a, “STEAMBOAT
COLLISION. – On Friday last, the Southerner coming up, and the Fanny Lutterloh
going down, came in contact.  Both sustained injury – the Southerner very
considerable, we understand.”

Almost two months after the accident, on Monday, the 21st of March, the steamer,
Chatham, Capt. Evans, was headed downriver. About 13 miles below where the
accident had occurred, the lifeless body of Capt. James Archibald Wilkinson was
recovered from the river. The newspaper reported that his body was in remarkably
good condition for having been in the water so long. When searched, the
captain’s money, various papers, and even a note which he had penned to his
wife, but not posted before leaving Wilmington, were found in his clothing.
Perhaps in his own way, Capt. Wilkinson, was trying to personally deliver the
note to his young widow.

The body of Capt. Wilkinson was returned to Fayetteville where it was buried
beside his brother in Cross Creek Cemetery.

On the 21st of May, 1857, the widow, Mrs. Emily J. Wilkinson married Capt.
Samuel Wallace Skinner in Wilmington. Capt. S. W. Skinner was a steamboat
captain, the son of Capt. Samuel Skinner, of Richmond, Virginia, also a steamer
pilot.

Ann McKenzie Wilkinson died on the 27th of June, 1886 in Fayetteville, NC.

Additional Comments:
Assumption is that the record of John Wilkinson's death in Chesterville, SC is
for the husband of Ann McKenzie.

I mention Andrew Jackson Howell (Sr.), because I see this vignette as part of a
larger story of post-Civil War Wilmington, so when later events happen, it is
important that A. J. Howell had this personal experience with the Erambert family.



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