These Bills of Lading were for delivered from Norfolk, Va. to "Thompson's Landing" on the Roanoke River, just down the current Weeping Mary Road in Hotel (now Lewiston-Woodville). Lewis Thompson (1808-1867), the ancestor of most families raised here, was a NC senator, planter, businessman, and graduate and trustee of the University of North Carolina.
Crops were sent to Virginia markets from plantations, and steamers/schooners delivered ‘city’ goods to this, and other plantation landings along the Roanoke and Chowan rivers. . Until the advent of railroads, transportation and movement of goods depended on waterways. Steamboats first appeared in eastern NC in 1812, and by the mid 1800s, steamers regularly traveled the Chowan and Roanoke Rivers. These two bills of lading are marked "1 barrel of sugar and 1 bag of coffee" from the William Morris, 1857) and "2 boxes" from the Kahukee, 1861.
The steamer Kahukee, and schooner William Morris was piloted by Captain Babel Taylor, of Norfolk,Va. He served in the Confederate Navy during the Civil War. The Kahukee was engaged in several adventures along the Virginia and NC coast and rivers during the early stages of the war.
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This page was last updated on: Sunday, Oct 5 2021 10:04:57 MDT
