{"id":280,"date":"2010-07-04T00:11:09","date_gmt":"2010-07-04T00:11:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ncgenweb.us\/craven\/?page_id=280"},"modified":"2010-07-04T00:11:09","modified_gmt":"2010-07-04T00:11:09","slug":"letter-judge-william-gaston","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ncgenweb.us\/craven\/records\/misc\/letter-judge-william-gaston\/","title":{"rendered":"Letter About Judge William Gaston"},"content":{"rendered":"

Contributed by Florence Fulford Moore<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

From the Elizabeth Moore Papers Collection no. 322, East Carolina Manuscript Collection,\u00a0J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC. For research and study only;\u00a0not for deposit in other repositories. Most manuscripts are protected by copyright laws,\u00a0permission to publish must be requested. NOTE: Florence Fulford Moore has received\u00a0permission to publish this information, which is in the form of a letter.<\/p>\n

\u201cPinehaven
\nPlainfield, NH
\nNov. 18, 1972<\/p>\n

The Secretary
\nNew Bern Historical Society
\nNew Bern, NC<\/p>\n

Dear Sir or Madam: –<\/p>\n

I have a story to tell. In the September last copy of \u201cAntiques\u201d magazine there was a full-page\u00a0reproduction in color of a painted portrait of a Mrs. Robert Donaldson. I happen to have pages\u00a0torn out of a Bible that had belonged to a Mrs. Robert Donaldson on which she had written the\u00a0family vital records. So I wrote to the Brooklyn Museum (owners of the painting) and\u00a0ascertained that their lady was the same one as Miss Susan Jane Gaston Donaldson (daughter\u00a0of William Gaston).<\/p>\n

In the Bible, she has written: \u201cMy beloved and now sainted father was born in Newbern, the\u00a019th Sept. 1778. He was the second son of Doc\u2019t. Alex Gaston and Margaret \u2013 (whose maiden\u00a0name was Sharpe) his wife. The oldest son, Alexander died when an infant. The only other child,\u00a0Jane, was born 1780, was married to Judge (information blurred).<\/p>\n

On 6 Oct. 1805 Will\u2019m. Gaston was married to Hannah McClure the only child of General Wm.\u00a0McClure. Their children were Alexander, born 19 Jan\u2019ry. 1807, Susan Jane \u2013 born 4 June 1808,\u00a0Hannah Margaret \u2013 18 March 1811.<\/p>\n

My mother died 12 July 1813, a pious Catholic and a crown of glory to her husband. \u00a0On the __ (left blank in the letter) August 1816 my father married Eliza Worthington of Georgetown,\u00a0District of Columbia. Their children were: Eliza born Sep\u2019r. 1817; Catherine Jane born Jan. 7 1819.<\/p>\n

Using the above information I went up to the Baker Library at Dartmouth College, and found your\u00a0William Gaston in \u201cWho Was Who,\u201d Vol. I. \u00a0\u2018William Gaston, Congressman, jurist, b. New Bern, N.C., Sept. 19, 1778, son of Alexander &\u00a0Margaret Sharpe. Graduated from College of N. J. (Princeton), m. Susan Hay. M. (2) Hannah\u00a0McClure. M. (3) Eliza Worthington. 5 children, including Alexander. Admitted to N. C. Bar 1798.<\/p>\n

Member of N. C. House of Commons 1807-1809, 1824, 27-29, 31. N. Carolina Senate 1800,\u00a01812, 1818, 1819. Helped write Act which established North Carolina Supreme Court, 1818.<\/p>\n

Member U. S. House of Representatives. The 13th Congress & 14th, 1813-1817. Chief Justice\u00a0N. C. Supreme Court 1833-4, Member N. C. Constitutional Convention 18__, Trustee, University\u00a0of N. C. 1802-1818, 1844. Buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery, New Bern, NC. Died Raleigh NC. \u00a0Jan. 23, 1844.\u2019<\/p>\n

Of course I know that you knew all this, but I did not. Then I got out a little pamphlet that I once\u00a0got in New Bern, with a map of its historic buildings. I find on it a William Gaston house (54),\u00a0William Gaston office (5-), and another Gaston House hotel. This William Gaston is mentioned\u00a0as the composer of the State Anthem.<\/p>\n

Now, after all of this written material, which, of course, you knew, I want to ask of the William\u00a0Gaston of which I have written is the same one listed on your map, who wrote the State Anthem?\u00a0Is the house furnished and open to visitors, or is it privately owned?<\/p>\n

I am not related in any way to the Gastons. The bible-records I think I got at a New York City\u00a0second-hand book shop. I think Susan Jane (Gaston) Donaldson lived at Edgewater, N.J., but I\u00a0have not researched the Donaldsons.<\/p>\n

Very truly yours,<\/p>\n

Clare S. Boyd.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Contributed by Florence Fulford Moore From the Elizabeth Moore Papers Collection no. 322, East Carolina Manuscript Collection,\u00a0J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC. For research and study only;\u00a0not for deposit in other repositories. Most manuscripts are protected by copyright laws,\u00a0permission to publish must be requested. NOTE: Florence Fulford Moore has received\u00a0permission to publish Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":54,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-280","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncgenweb.us\/craven\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncgenweb.us\/craven\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncgenweb.us\/craven\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncgenweb.us\/craven\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncgenweb.us\/craven\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ncgenweb.us\/craven\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/280\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncgenweb.us\/craven\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/54"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncgenweb.us\/craven\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}