Wilmington in the Secession Crisis-- Part 2: "Great Popular Excitement and Enthusiasm"

After the war, the widowed wife of Confederate Colonel William Parsley, Eliza Hall Nutt Parsley, recalled:  "In 1861, when amid great popular excitement and enthusiasm, South Carolina seceded from the Union, the people of Wilmington were deeply stirred by conflicting emotions.

"Meetings were held and speakers for and against secession swayed the multitudes which attended them.  A prominent secessionist was attorney Oliver P. Meares.

Her husband, William M. Parsley, had been among the men who seized Fort Caswell during the Star of the West crisis in January 1861.  Then in April, was elected captain of the Cape Fear Riflemen.

Cape Fear historian James Sprunt wrote that Meares "was an ardent secessionist and a fiery speaker, and the younger element were carried away by his eloquence."  When North Carolina seceded, he was among those who occupied Fort Caswell.

Both men later served as officers in the Confederate Army.

--Old B-R'er