In his 1854 report on the survey of Beaufort Harbor in North Carolina, Lieutenant James Maffitt stated the following:

…Wimble’s chart published in 1737 (one hundred and seventeen years ago,) gives eighteen feet as the depth on the bar at low tide. It is also stated on good authority that Lawson’s chart published in 1718 coincides with Wimble’s in the depth at low water.

John Lawson died in 1711. Furthermore, neither the original English version of Lawson’s map of Carolina, published in 1709, nor subsequent German and Swiss derivatives, show any soundings in the vicinity of Beaufort. I have been unable to locate a Lawson published map or manuscript map that shows soundings at the inlet to Beaufort, nor any map published circa 1718 that might have been misattributed to Lawson. The not-so-“good authority” is not named by Maffitt, so one is impeded in trying to investigate from that angle. Edward Moseley’s map of North Carolina, published in 1733, contains an inset of “Port Beaufort”. Perhaps that is the map to which the “good authority” was referring. If anyone has a better suggestion, please let us know via the “What’s on your mind?” comment box. Thanks.

The long-awaited and twice postponed program, Cartography & Culture: Mapping the Early American South, will be held at the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA) in Winston-Salem, NC, on October 21-22, 2022. The organizers have created an outstanding program with an All-Star lineup of speakers. Further details on the program and registration are available here: https://mesda.org/program/mesda-fall-seminar/ .
This program has been generously sponsored by Mr. & Mrs. Frank H. Holcomb of Houston, TX. I hope to see you there!

…or a whole lotta Botta!

Four separate, but nearly identical, maps of the Carolinas, engraved and printed in Italy in the 19th century, are completely devoid of the letter “W”.   These four maps have an identical title, Le Provincie Meridionali degli Stati Uniti.  Continue reading “Le Provincie Meridionali degli Stati Uniti x 4”

This conference has been rescheduled for September 17-18, 2021. 

Cartography & Culture: Mapping the Early American South, a MESDA Map Seminar, will be held at the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts in Winston-Salem, NC, on September 17-18, 2021. The organizers have created an outstanding program. Further details on the program and registration are available here: https://mesda.org/program/mesda-fall-seminar/ . This program has been generously sponsored by Mr. & Mrs. Frank H. Holcomb of Houston, TX. I hope to see you there!

Tuesday evening, 7:15 p.m., September 13, 2016 – Chapel Hill, NC.
Join us for Claude Joseph Sauthier: his life and activity in North Carolina, by independent scholar and author, Stewart Dunaway. This presentation will review Sauthier’s life activity from his childhood home of Strasbourg, France to North Carolina, New York, and England. Mr. Dunaway will describe Sauthier’s roles at Tryon Palace, during the War of the Regulation, and during the American Revolution. A brief review of Sauthier’s ten town maps of North Carolina will be presented. Mr. Dunaway will bring high resolution color facsimiles of all of Sauthier’s town maps for viewing after the presentation. This presentation provides a sampling from Mr. Dunaway’s recent book, Claude J. Sauthier and his maps of North Carolina – An interpretive Guide.

Mary Morrow, a long-time WPCMS member and map collector, will get the program started at 7:15 p.m. with a glimpse into the world of map collecting and a display of some of her favorite maps. Please join us in the auditorium at Carolina Meadows. A reception will follow the presentations.

If you are using a GPS device to find Carolina Meadows, enter the following address:
100 Whippoorwill Lane, Chapel Hill, NC 27517

If you plan to attend, please let us know via the “What’s on your mind?” comment box below so that we can plan for the reception accordingly.

Sunday, May 22, 2016, at 3 pm – Chapel Hill, NC
Mapping Orange County: Land Grants, Early Travel Routes, and the Native Trading Path. A Talk by Mark Chilton

Mark Chilton’s work on mapping the original land grants of Orange County will show where important early figures in county history lived, how people traveled by road, ferry, ford, and bridge, and where the great Native Trading Path was. Starting with the work of Allen Markham of some fifty years ago, Chilton has broadened Markham’s perspective on the Orange County historical record.

Sunday, May 22, at 3 PM

Chapel Hill Historical Society

100 Library Drive, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27514 (on Google Maps)

This year marks the 250th anniversary of the founding of Salem, North Carolina. Richard Starbuck, archivist with the Moravian Archives in Winston-Salem, will present a lunch-time lecture, Mapping Salem, at 12:15pm, on Thursday, January 14. The lecture will be in the Spaugh Lecture/Recital Hall of the Archie K. Davis Center. You’re welcome to bring your lunch!  Although the street address is S. Church Street, the parking lot is accessed from E. Salem Avenue. The extended forecast looks promising, but should inclement weather develop, call the Moravian Archives, 722-1742 or 725-0651, to see if the lecture is still “on”.

Saturday, October 10, 2015, at the Wilson Library on the UNC-CH campus.

William P. Cumming Map Society

North Carolina Collection

and the Rare Book Collection

9:30 am — Meet, greet, coffee

10 am – “America’s First ‘Coloring Book’: Theodor de Bry’s 1590 edition of Thomas Harriot’s Briefe & True Report from the New-Found Land of Virginia”, by Larry Tise

11 am – “Deed Books as Maps: Origins of the 1770 Churton-Collet Map”, by Mark Chilton

12 noon– Lunch*

1 pm – “Carolina Comparative Cartography – Mouzon and Others“, by Jay Lester

2 pm – Event ends.

If you plan to attend, please make that known to Alison Barnett via email ammurray@email.unc.edu so that we’ll know how many chairs to set up. Before the conference, and/or during lunch, you are invited to view the exhibit, Chronicles of Empire: Spain in the Americas, where De Bry volumes and fine cartographic materials will be on display.

*LUNCH: The most convenient option, if it can be arranged, would be to purchase a box lunch to be provided at the Wilson Library. If you desire this option, contact Alison Barnett at the Wilson Library to express your interest (ammurray@email.unc.edu). Other options include various on campus facilities, some very close to the Wilson Library (http://files.dining.unc.edu/Hours/Fall_2015_Hours.pdf). Restaurants on Franklin Street are another option, though the relatively short lunch break may render that option less viable.

Monday, October 19, 2015 – Williamsburg, VA 

The Williamsburg Map Circle

WMC will meet at 5 p.m. in their usual venue, the Jamestown-Yorktown Room at Williamsburg Landing. Margaret Beck Pritchard, Curator of Prints, Maps, and Wallpaper at Colonial Williamsburg, will talk about the evolution of the CW map collection. She is the author of “Degrees of Latitude,” treating selected maps from the collection (now sold out and out of print). The Colonial Williamsburg map collection began as an element of the furnishings of the historic houses, but during Margaret’s tenure has become a comprehensive assemblage of the most important printed (and some manuscript) maps of the era. She will tell us how it happened. Additional information from Ted Edwards.

Saturday, October 10, 2015, at the Wilson Library on the UNC-CH campus.

9:30 am — Meet, greet, coffee

10 am – “America’s First ‘Coloring Book’: Theodor de Bry’s 1590 edition of Thomas Harriot’s Briefe & True Report from the New-Found Land of Virginia”, by Larry Tise

11 am – “Deed Books as Maps: Origins of the 1770 Collett-Churton Map”, by Mark Chilton

12 noon– Lunch (likely box lunch available for prepurchase)*

1 pm – “Carolina Comparative Cartography – Mouzon and Others“, by Jay Lester

2 pm – Event ends.

Before the conference, and/or during lunch, you are invited to view the exhibit, Chronicles of Empire: Spain in the Americas, where De Bry volumes and fine cartographic materials will be on display.

*LUNCH: The most convenient option, if it can be arranged, would be to purchase a box lunch to be provided at the Wilson Library. If you desire this option, contact John Blythe at the Wilson Library to express your interest (blythej@email.unc.edu). Other options include various on campus facilities, some very close to the Wilson Library (http://files.dining.unc.edu/Hours/Fall_2015_Hours.pdf). Restaurants on Franklin Street are another option, though the relatively short lunch break may render that option less viable.

Battle of Guilford Courthouse Annual Lecture Series

A post pertaining to maps related to the Battle of Guilford Courthouse was posted on the blog this morning, as scheduled, and in anticipation of the upcoming 234th anniversary of that pivotal battle. Unfortunately, four completely unrelated family events in the past 10 days, involving 4 family members, including death, car wreck, incapacitating back pain, and broken leg requiring surgery, prevented me from putting the finishing touches on the post and I forgot to “unschedule” it. I have since removed that post and will try to get it polished and republished on the blog later this week. However, that will be too late for several important events. Please see the following web site for details of this week’s evening lecture series:

http://www.nps.gov/guco/upload/ANNUAL-LECTURE-SERIES-2015a-2.pdf

Wednesday, March 11, 2015 7:00 PM ‘Seeking the Historical Cook’: Exploring Eighteenth-Century Southern Foodways Kay Moss Historian, Author

Thursday, March 12, 2015 7:00 PM ‘General John Sullivan and the Battle of Brandywine’ Michael Harris Historian, Author

Friday, March 13, 2015 7:00 PM ‘William Washington, American Light Dragoon’ Daniel Murphy Historian, Author

All lectures take place in the theater of the park visitor center, located at 2332 New Garden Road, Greensboro, NC. All lectures are free to the public, but reservations are required. Seating is limited. Call (336) 288-1776 for information and to register for each night’s lecture. The purpose of the Annual Guilford Courthouse National Military Park Lecture Series is to serve the educational and general interests of the community through the knowledge and insights of distinguished historians speaking on topics of 18th century history.

Gary W. Thompson, Chairman of the North Carolina Boundary Commission, will be speaking at the Friends of the Archives annual meeting in Raleigh on Monday, June 23, 2014 at 1:30 p.m. The presentation will be in the State Library Building Auditorium, 109 E. Jones Street, Raleigh, NC. Mr. Thompson’s presentation will provide an overview of the history of the North Carolina-South Carolina boundary that determined how North Carolina got its shape. Information will be provided on the research and survey work performed to complete the recent task of reestablishing the boundary. After the program, a selection of historical boundary maps will  be on exhibit in the State Archives’ Reading Room. Want to see the “official broadside” for this event? Click here.

UPDATE!  For those of us who couldn’t make it, many thanks to the NC Archives for making it available on their YouTube channel.