Whispers of the Long Departed: Untold History of Southern Craven County, N.C.

Book Synopsis: Winner of the 2021 North Carolina Society of Historians President's Award.Free Blacks in the 1700s, a Civil War Rebel spy ring, and maestros of moonshine – they’re all a part of the history of southern Craven County recounted in a lively new book by award-winning writer and historian Edward Ellis in which the author reveals previously unreported stories from one of North Carolina's oldest counties.While the history of New Bern, the state's colonial capital, is well known, the heritage of Neuse River's south shore -- from the Trent River to Adams Creek -- has gone unrecorded until now. Two hundred and fifty years from the first settlements to the modern era are covered in this well-annotated 560-page volume.Since the racial mix of southern Craven County has varied through time between one-third to three-quarters African American, Whispers of the Long Departed is filled with Black History. A large population of “free blacks” thrived there before the Civil War and the author pulls no punches regarding slavery on the river plantations and its legacy into the modern era.The reader and genealogical researcher will find rare cemetery, obituary, property, and census records, lists of geographical names and location, and rich genealogical material spanning 300 years. One section alone lists burial and biographical information on more than 500 people.Areas covered from the early 1700s through the 1940s include the Neuse River, Slocum Creek, Hancock Creek, Clubfoot Creek, Adam’s Creek, Havelock, Cherry Point, James City, Thurman, Riverdale, Croatan, Pine Grove, Harlowe, Bachelor, Blades, Camp Bryan, and more. With additional historical information on New Bern, Newport, Morehead City, and Beaufort.Disclosures on subjects as far-ranging as archaeology, early settlement, maritime life, the local destruction and aftermath of the War Between the States, Yankee missionaries, the illegal but highly successful moonshine trade, and the impact of a Marine Corp airbase are like gifts for the curious reader.Written by an award-winning journalist, author, and historical sleuth, Whispers of the Long Departed is the culmination of a lifetime dedicated to the research of southern Craven County and its people, both black and white, who have lived, loved, struggled, and triumphed there from the earliest days of America. Ellis succeeds again for his readers who say his conversational style makes history both highly readable and enlightening.The book offers more than 200 illustrations including 22 original and antique maps plus rare historical photographs and artwork.