WILMINGTON 



029S 



WILMOT PROVISO 



tion was 25,748; in 1916 it was 29,892 (Federal 

 estimate). 



The Federal government has in recent years 

 expended more than $1,000,000 in improving 

 the harbor here and in canalizing the river, to 

 provide navigation to Fayrttt \ ilh\ 115 miles 

 above Wilmington. As a commercial and in- 

 dustrial center, the city has a high rank in its 

 territory. It has extensive lumber interests, 

 eight lumber and timber establishments being 

 in operation here; besides these, there are 

 plants for making turpentine, resin, confec- 

 tionery, foundry and machine-shop products, 

 cotton products and chemicals. The chief ex- 

 ports are cotton, rice, naval supplies, lumber, 

 turpentine and truck-garden products. 



Wilmington has a county courthouse, a city 

 hall, a post office, a United States Marine Hos- 

 pital, a Masonic Temple, a number of modern 

 bank and office buildings and James Walker 

 Memorial and the city hospitals. The city also 

 has the county house of correction, the county 

 home, Catherine. Kennedy Home for aged 

 women, and other charitable organizations. 

 Saint Mary's Cathedral and First Baptist 

 churches are worthy of note. For higher edu- 

 cation there are Cape Fear Academy, Gregory 

 Normal School, for colored pupils, Academy of 

 the Incarnation, Alderman's School and a pub- 

 lic library. Wrightsville Beach, a noted sum- 

 mer resort, is on an island, eight miles east. 



Wilmington is the outgrowth of a settlement 

 founded in 1730. Its original name of New 

 Liverpool was later changed to Newton, and 

 the present name was adopted in 1739, at the 

 time of the town's incorporation, in honor of 

 Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington. In 

 1744 it became the capital of the province. In 

 1765 the town firmly opposed British authority 

 and offered the first armed resistance to the 

 Stamp Act, when it refused to permit a British 

 man-of-war to land a quantity of stamps. An 

 early victory of American arms in the Revolu- 

 tionary War occurred at Moore's Creek Bridge, 

 sixteen miles above this point, on February 27, 

 1776. Wilmington was the headquarters of 

 Cornwallis in 1781 and 1782. During the War 

 of Secession it was a noted port for blockade 

 runners, being the gateway between the South 

 and foreign nations, and it was strongly forti- 

 fied by the Confederates. In February, 1865, 

 they were forced by General Schofield to 

 abandon the city. In 1866 Wilmington re- 

 ceived its city charter. j.s.c. 



Consult Powell's Historic Towns of the South- 

 ern States. 



WIL'MOT, LEMUEL A. (1809-1878), a Cana- 

 dian statesman, bora in New Brunswick, in 

 Sunbury County, and all his life identified with 

 the interests of that province. He was gradu- 

 ated from, the University of King's College, 

 Fretfericton, admitted to the bar at the age of 

 twenty-three, and in 1834, when twenty-five 

 years old, was elected to the legislature. Be- 

 cause of his untiring efforts in behalf of re- 

 sponsible government he was sent to England 

 in 1836 to plead for popular control of the pro- 

 vincial Crown lands, and this he secured. In 

 1848 Wilmot became premier of New Bruns- 

 wick, under its first responsible government, 

 but he resigned this post in 1851 to accept 

 appointment to the provincial supreme court. 



He worked to secure confederation for Can- 

 ada, and upon organization of the Dominion he 

 became the first lieutenant-governor of New 

 Brunswick. 



WILMOT PROVISO, provi'zo, an amend- 

 ment offered in the United States Congress on 

 August 9, 1846, to a bill appropriating $2,000,- 

 000 for the purchase of territory from Mexico. 

 The amendment, presented by David Wilmot, 

 a Democratic representative from Pennsyl- 

 vania, was to the effect that "neither slavery 

 nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist in 

 any part of said territory, except for crime, 

 whereof the party shall first be duly convicted." 

 The House adopted the amendment. It was 

 sent to the Senate, and was under debate at 

 the time fixed for adjournment, but Wilmot 

 again introduced it in the next session, in 1847, 

 and a fierce contest began. The House finally 

 passed the measure on February 15, but the 

 amendment was rejected by the Senate. The 

 question resulted in a breach between the 

 Northern and Southern Democrats, and brought 

 definitely before the country the question of 

 the status of the new territory. 



David Wilmot (1814-1868), author of the 

 amendment, was born in Bethany, Wayne 

 County, Pa. He studied law, was admitted to 

 the bar in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., in 1834, and be- 

 gan practice in Towanda. He first came into 

 public notice through his ardent support of 

 Martin Van Buren in the Presidential cam- 

 paign of 1836, and was subsequently sent to 

 Congress as a Democrat, serving from 1845 to 

 1851. From 1853 to 1861 he was judge of the 

 thirteenth district of Pennsylvania. Later he 

 joined the Republican party, and in 1857 was 

 defeated as a candidate for governor of the 

 state. In 1861 he was elected to the United 

 States Senate, in place of Simon Cameron. He 



