Edenton

Perhaps you think Edenton, population 15,000, was named after the Garden of Eden—its  idyllic setting on the Albemarle Sound, quite water, vacation spot for geese, history from the early colonial period.  But it’s not.  Edenton was named for British Governor Charles Eden of North Carolina Colony, 1673-1722.

I wanted to find him buried under the magnolias at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, but after some inquiries, and considerable searching, I found only this indecipherable image on the internet.  Eden was accused of being soft on pirates, especially Edward Teach ("Blackbeard"), whose bounty he was rumored to have shared in return for favors.  Others praised Eden for fair and conscientious leadership.  Neglect for such a figure in a town named for him seems odd, especially in a place where extolment of history is everywhere.  

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church dates back to 1701 when the parish was formed.  This brick structure was erected in 1736.  Back then the church rented pews to raise revenue, a common practice in colonial times.  Slaves sat upstairs, and benches along the sides accommodated visitors.  That great disparity between black and white is mostly gone in Edenton, a town about equally divided race-wise  

I might get this book after the trip is over, and read about life, as my life might have been in the slave-time south. 

It‘s hard to deny the loveliness of Edenton along the waterfront where houses are historically elegant,  And it’s hard to go north on Broad Street, see  the trailer parks, and not think that the old South is a bit like it was in colonial times.

Cupola House built 1758

.

.