A LITTLE LOCAL HISTORY

Editor's note:  Foscue Plantation is located at 7509 US Highway 17, Pollocksville, NC  28573.  Tours are available on Thursdays from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm by appointment and the plantation is also available for special events.  For tours call:  252-224-1803. Website:  http://www.foscueplantation.com/

The Foscue Plantation by Jan Parys


The architectural details were fascinating, such as the fact that the cellar walls were five bricks thick, the first floor: four bricks, the second floor: three bricks, and the top floor: only two. And, of course, the docents knew everything about the history of the house from the original Foscue family up the present, including four boys who rented the house in the nineteen-sixties (with no electricity, kitchen, or bathroom) and made a basketball court out of the parlor and dining room,” said Marty Chandler of New Bern after a tour.

Have you ever wondered what southern plantation life was like in the 1800’s? If you want to step back in time and find out about a fascinating tale of love and war and the strength of a Southern family, Foscue is the right place! On Saturday, June 1, 2012, the owners allowed some of us from the English Speaking Union to see the plantation inside and outside.

Foscue is so lovely inside and the grounds are better close up than from the road. It can be seen from I17 on the East in Pollocksville, in Jones County, N. C. Located on the Trent River, just south of New Bern, the plantation was built in 1824 by Simon Foscue, Jr., and it has been in the family for eight generations. Placed on the National Register of Historical Places in 1971, it was one of the first in North Carolina to be so designated. It is the second dwelling on the property. With three floors and a working basement, cemetery, garden, forest, plantation land, and the Trent River at the back of the property, there is certainly a great deal to see.

The décor is high-style ante-bellum and retains a number of original furnishings. In addition, the family has continued to acquire antiques which are correct for the 1800’s period. The mantle and fireplace in the parlor of the brick plantation house are carved in a grand rope style rarely seen today. The rugs and accessories pop the rooms into a foregone era.

In 1813, Simon Foscue, Jr. was appointed Justice of the Peace by Governor Hawkins. At that time, a Justice of the Peace held the most powerful position in county government in America. They were the local governing authorities with executive, judicial and legislative powers. Justice Foscue visited New Bern and admired the Jones-Jarvis House and Eli Smallwood House with their high-style side hall townhouses.

Lynn Childs said, “When our tour was over, I felt a sense of knowing the family, and what it was like to live at Foscue during that long ago time!”

• Tours are available at 7509 US Highway 17 on Thursdays from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 P. M. and by appointment. They are also available for special events and gatherings. Please call 252-224-1803 for more information.

The plantation is a proud host of the annual Wounded Warrior Hunt. A professional forester is always consulted and helps manage the woodlands for timber management and works in harmony with a professional wildlife management consultant to carry out the plan put together by North Carolina State University. Boy Scouts come to not only work on their merit badges and Eagle Scouts awards, but make contributions to wildlife habitat. The historic home was presented the Governor’s Award for Forestry Conservation by the North Carolina Wildlife Federation in September 2010.

When you enter the iron gates at the entrance, you are immediately taken back to a different time. Protected by magnificent crepe myrtles and a beautiful magnolia tree, the three-story brick plantation house is like no other you will find in the area. Each brick was handmade on the plantation, laid in a beautiful Flemish bond design on the facade with handsome corbelling on the gable ends, and stately chimneys. They are placed in such a manner to protect the interior from the strongest of storms. Upon entry, the fascinating story begins. Inside you will learn about Simon Foscue, Jr., his son, John Edward, John Edward’s wife, Caroline Foy and their children, Henry, Christiana and Mariana.

The Foscue family owned nineteen slaves in 1830, John Edward Foscue, Simon's son, owned twenty-three slaves in 1840 and Caroline Foscue, John's widow, owned forty-eight at the outbreak of the Civil War; "a significant number for even eastern North Carolina". The family enjoyed economic prosperity before the war but struggled after it.