Faces of New Bern

John Wright Stanly was born on December 18, 1742 the son of Dancey and Elizabeth Wright Stanley, in Charles City County, Virginia. After his father's death and his mother's remarriage when he was fifteen, Stanly apprenticed himself to learn the merchant trade working in Petersburg and then Williamsburg, Virginia. After receiving his inheritance at twenty-one he went into trade with Kingston, Jamaica merchantmen. His first base was in Philadelphia. After Philadelphia, merchant Jonathan Cowpland falsely accused Stanly of defrauding him and left Stanly to spend a year in debtors prison. Stanly then chose to relocate to Charleston. On his journey south, his ship was struck in a storm off the coast of North Carolina and Stanly ended up in New Bern where he met and married Ann Cogdell.

After arriving in New Bern in 1772, John Wright Stanly established his mercantile business. During the American Revolution he supported the patriots outfitting privateers and working to acquire supplies for the Continental army. When the fighting approached eastern North Carolina Stanly moved his family to Philadelphia. By the war's end he had returned to New Bern and begun construction on a new home. The stately Georgian style home located on a full city block in New Bern, was only used by John Wright Stanly and his family for a short time. In 1789 both he and his wife contracted yellow fever and passed away within a month of each other leaving behind six children. Stanly had one other known son with an enslaved Ebo woman, John Carruthers Stanly. John Carruthers Stanly was born into slavery but was educated and manumitted at twenty-one by his owners, the Stewart family. Carruthers Stanly went on to great financial success and eventually became one of the largest slave owners in Craven County, North Carolina.

John Stanly was born April 9, 1774 in New Bern to John Wright Stanly and Ann Cogdell Stanly. After his parents death in 1789 he began to clerk for his father's business partner, Thomas Turner. In 1795 Stanly set off on his own career and married Elizabeth Franks of Jones County. Stanly went on to become a noted Federalist congressman and legislator whose career was marred by the death of Richard Dobbs Spaight in a duel they fought in 1802. In 1827 Stanly suffered a paralytic stroke and fell into declining health. He passed away on August 2, 1833 and is buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery.

Elizabeth Franck Stanly was born in Jones County and inherited a substantial amount of property from her father. She married John Stanly, son of John Wright Stanly and Ann Cogdell Stanly. The couple resided for most of their married lives in New Bern, NC at the Stanly family home. They had 14 children, five died in infancy and of the remaining nine there was one daughter, Elizabeth Mary Stanly Armistead, and the eight boys: John (idiotic from birth), Alfred, Frank, Edward (served as military governor of North Carolina 1862-1863), Alexander Hamilton, Fabius Maximus, Marcus Cicero, and James Green. In 1827 John Stanly suffered a stroke and his health rapidly deteriorated as did the financial health of the family. Elizabeth Franck Stanly cared for her husband until his death in 1833 and was forced to advertise for boarders in order to pay off debts. After her husband’s death she moved into her daughter’s home in Virginia where she died in 1843. Elizabeth Franck Stanly is buried in the Armistead family cemetery.

William Gaston was born to the American Revolutionary War hero Alexander Gaston, and Margret Sharpe on September 19, 1778 in New Bern. Raised by his widowed mother in the Catholic faith, Gaston became a champion of the Catholic Church in North Carolina. He was the first student enrolled at Georgetown University and went on to graduate from Princeton. Gaston accomplished a prominent career as a lawyer, judge and legislator. He is often best remembered for writing "The Old North State," the official state song of North Carolina. Gaston passed away in Raleigh in 1844. He is buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery in New Bern.

William Gaston married Susan Hay on September 3, 1803. She passed away the next year and there were no surviving children. On October 6, 1805 Gaston married Hannah McClure. Together they had three surviving children: Alexander (1807-1848), Susan Jane (1808-1866) and Hannah Margret (1811-1835). Hannah McClure passed away in 1813. Gaston married one final time on September 3, 1816 to Eliza Ann Worthington. They had two surviving children: Elizabeth (1817-1874) and Catherine Jane (1819-1885). Eliza Ann Worthington passed away in 1819 due to complications from childbirth.

Mary Jones Leech Spaight (often referred to as Polly) was the daughter of Joseph Leech and his first wife Mary Jones Leech. Born in New Bern, she married Richard Dobbs Spaight, also of New Bern in 1788. Four years later Spaight became the first native born North Carolina governor. As the wife of Richard Dobbs Spaight Mary Jones was accorded several honors including leading the first dance with President George Washington in 1791 when he visited New Bern, and being the first woman to attend a University of North Carolina commencement in 1795. In 1802 Mary Jones lost her husband to a duel with John Stanly. She passed away eight years later. Both she and her husband are buried at the Clermont Estate Cemetery in New Bern.

Richard Dobbs Spaight Jr. was born in 1796 to Richard Dobbs Spaight Sr. and Mary "Polly" Leech Spaight. He grew up in New Bern receiving his education at the New Bern Academy and continuing on to the the University of North Carolina. Spaight served in both the state and federal legislature as well as a short term as governor. After retiring from politics he returned to New Bern to manage his family estates, taking on an occasional law case to benefit members of the community. During this time he was an active Mason and supporter of Christ Church in New Bern. Spaight passed away in 1850 having never married and leaving no known children.

Margret Spaight Donnell was the daughter of Richard Dobbs Spaight Sr. and Mary "Polly" Leech Spaight. She was born in 1800 and grew up in New Bern. She lost her father when she was two and her mother when she was ten. On June 18, 1816 she married John Robert Donnell. Born in Scotland, Donnell had attended the University of North Carolina and established a prosperous law practice in New Bern, North Carolina. He also served on the North Carolina Superior Court. They had two children: Richard Spaight Donnell who served as a congressman and state senator, and Mary Spaight Donnell who married Charles Biddle Shepard. Margret Spaight Donnell passed in 1831 and her husband never remarried.

Charles Biddle Shepard was born December 5, 1807 in New Bern, North Carolina to William and Mary Shepard. After graduating from the University of North Carolina in 1827 he was admitted to the bar and began practicing law in New Bern. He served as United States Congressman and state legislator. Charles Biddle Shepard married twice. His first wife was Lydia G. Jones. They had one son. Seven years after her death he married Mary Spaight Donnell, the granddaughter of former governor Richard Dobbs Spaight. They had two daughters and a son. Shepard died on October 24, 1843 and was buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery.

James Biddle Shepard was born November 14, 1815 to William and Mary Shepard in New Bern, North Carolina. After graduating from the University of North Carolina and studying law for some time in New Bern he moved with his widowed mother to Raleigh, North Carolina. He served in the state legislature and wrote poetry. In 1845 his wife Frances Leech Donnell Shepard died shortly after giving birth to their only child John Robert Donnell Shepard. James Biddle Shepard never remarried and spent the last years of his life frequently traveling abroad to visit his son in Paris, France. He is buried in City Cemetery in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Mary Davis Daves McKinlay (1777-1840) was born the daughter of Oroondates Davis and his wife Mary Eaton Haynes. Her father passed away when she was a young child and her mother remarried to in 1782 to Major John Daves. McKinlay spent the remainder of her childhood in New Bern, North Carolina with her mother, step-father and younger half-siblings including John Pough Daves (1789-1838) whose home is now part of Tryon Palace. The family was very close knit and McKinlay remained close to her Daves siblings throughout her life. In 1796 she married wealthy merchant James McKinlay (d.1819) who became a close member of the Daves family. Mary McKinlay and her husband did not have any children but were very close with their nieces and nephews. In her will McKinlay provided equally for all of the children and her brother's widow. She also made provisions for full emancipation of the slaves she owned along with housing and furniture from her estate. In October 1840 Mary McKinlay was laid to rest in Cedar Grove Cemetery in New Bern, NC.

After the Battle of New Bern in 1862, New Bern was held under Federal occupation for the remainder of the Civil War. During that time the population of the town shifted dramatically. Not only did many of the local townspeople flee (only to have their homes taken over by Union soldiers) but the city became a gathering point for African Americans in the region seeking their freedom. Sylvia Conner was a successful African American seamstress who worked and lived in New Bern during the Union occupation.