Wayne County, NC - Heritage Series

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                       The Lady of Vernon


Reprinted with permission of the Mt. Olive Tribune and cannot be 
reproduced without permission. 

"Our Heritage"  
By Claude Moore

Vernon is an old plantation home located three miles west of Mount Olive
on the old road which ran from Wilmington to Waynesborough. The house,
originally built 1820-36 in federal style with an Italianate porch added
later, stands today as a mere shadow or shell of its former grandeur &
beauty. This home was built by & was the home of Anna Maria Rhodes & her
husband from 1839 until her death in 1859. This plantation of 1,250 acres
was a part of a large survey which belonged to Dr. Andrew Bass, a leader in
the American Revolution & one of the founders of the town of Waynesborough.
This land was passed on by Dr. Bass to his daughter, Anna (1776-1817), who
first married General James Rhodes (1765-1810).

General James Rhodes was a merchant in Waynesborough, where he lived &
owned a plantation nearby. I have before me the record from the Rhodes
Family Bible & it shows that General Rhodes & Anna Bass were married April
10, 1793. They had three daughters, Sallie Ann, Anna Marie, Rhodes Clarissa
& three sons, Joseph Andrew, James & William Thomas. When Dr. Bass made
his will in 1790, he left his daughter, Anna, twenty two slaves & more than
four thousand acres of land. After the death of General Rhodes in 1810,
his wife married Cullen Blackman.

Anna Maria Rhodes, who was later to be the lady of Vernon, was born
September 5, 1797 in Waynesborough. She was sent to private schools & from
her letters, one would conclude that she had a good common education &
expressed herself well. Anna Maria Rhodes was married around 1817 to
General Edward Ward of Onslow & it is believed that they built the old part
of the house at Vernon about this time. General Ward & his wife moved to 
his plantation on New River in Onslow County, where they lived until his 
death on August 16, 1834. He is buried in the New River Cemetery at
Jacksonville.

In 1835, Anna Maria Ward moved back to Vernon & probably made extensive
additions onto the home, at this time. She had some of the finest farm land
in North Carolina & she owned very productive turpentine lands east of
Dudley. She also had a watermill & no less that forty slaves.

In July 1839, Anna Maria Ward was married to Dr. Buckner Lanier Hill, a son
of Thomas & Frances Smith Hill, pioneer settlers of Duplin County. Dr. Hill,
a large landowner & slaveholder may have been married before. They had no
children, but she adopted her niece, Anna Maria Rhodes, of Greensboro,
Alabama, the daughter of her brother James, who had married two daughters
of Daniel Kornegay from near Mount Olive. Anna Maria Rhodes, the adopted
daughter, married Dr. A. M. Garber. They inherited Vernon at the death of
Anna Maria Hill.

Dr. & Mrs. Hill entertained lavishly & according to tradition (& inventory
of their estates) they had handsome furnishings at Vernon. Relatives of
various degrees of kinship were always either visiting or living in the
home for long periods. Her sister, Rhodes Clarissa, married Richard Hatch 
& another sister, Sallie Ann, had married Stephen Smith. All had large
plantations & servants nearby & lived in an elegant style. The Hills traveled
extensively, making trips to the White Sulphur Springs in Virginia, to
Washington, Richmond & Baltimore & to visit the relatives in Alabama &
Mississippi. 

There were actually colonies of their kin who migrated from New Bern, from 
Duplin & from Wayne to the far south. The completion of the Wilmington &
Weldon Railroad in 1840 made travel easier. The Hills owned a fine carriage
which they had purchased in Baltimore. They got their mail from Dudley.

Mrs. Hill was deeply religious & was greatly concerned about the spiritual
welfare of her friends & relatives. She was a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church of Everettsville. She was kind to her servants. Several
of her letters written to the adopted daughter have been preserved.

Anna Maria Hill died on March 22, 1859 & she was buried on the plot with
her parents & grandparents near Waynesborough. She has a very large marble
monument, a photograph of which accompanies this article. This plot is
located in the southwest corner of Elmwood, the Goldsboro black cemetery.

In her will, she left twelve slaves, a sideboard, three mahogany tables,
four beds & silver to Anna Garber in Alabama. Twenty eight slaves & other 
furniture; including four other beds, were given to other relatives.

Dr. Buckner L. Hill died on November 9, 1860 & is buried at his father's
plantation near Faison. The inventory of his estate shows that he owned
more than one hundred & fifty slaves & more than four thousand acres of 
land.

This article is a tribute to Anna Maria Rhodes Ward Hill, the lady of
Vernon, a real daughter of Waynesborough & a grand daughter of Dr. Andrew
Bass, one of the founders of Wayne County. I am indebted to a friend of
mine, Cullen B. Hatch, who is a great nephew of Mrs. Hill for much of the
data in this article.

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This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by
Claude Moore
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