"ELMWOOD," THE OLD SWANN HOMESTEAD IN PASQUOTANK COUNTY
On a low bluff, overlooking the waters of the beautiful Pasquotank
River, some five or six miles from Elizabeth City, there stood until a
few years before the outbreak of the Civil War, an old colonial mansion
known as "Elmwood," the home for many years of the historic Swann
family, who were among the earliest settlers in our State, and played a
prominent part in the colonial history of North Carolina.
Mrs. J.P. Overman, of Elizabeth City, whose father, the late Dr. William
Pool, of Pasquotank County, spent his boyhood days at Elmwood, then the
home of his father, has given the writer a description of this historic
house, as learned from her father: "The house was situated on the
right-hand bank of the river, and was set some distance back from the
road. It was built of brick brought from England, and was a large,
handsome building for those days. As I recall my father's description of
it, the house was two stories high; a spacious hall ran the full length
of the house, both up-stairs and down; and in both the upper and lower
story there were two large rooms on each side of the hall. A broad,
massive stairway led from the lower hall to the one above. The house
stood high from the ground, the porch was small for the size of the
building, and the windows were high and narrow. The ceilings of the
rooms on the first floor had heavy, carved beams of cedar that ran the
length of the house. On the left of the house as you approached from the
river road, stretched a dense woods, abounding in deer, and in those
days these animals would venture near the homes of men, and feed in the
fields."
The great planters in those early days in North Carolina, spent their
working hours looking after the affairs of their estates, settling the
disputes of their tenants, and attending with their fellow-landed
neighbors the sessions of the General Assembly, and of the courts. Their
pleasures were much the same as those of their kinsmen across the sea in
merry England--fox-hunting, feasting and dancing; though to these
amusements of the old country were added the more exciting deer chase,
and the far more dangerous pastime of a bear hunt, when bruin's presence
near the homestead became too evident for comfort. Often the wild
screams of the fierce American panther would call the planters forth
into the dark forests at their doors, and then it must be a hunt to the
death, for until that cry was stilled, every house within the shadow of
the forest was endangered. Among the homes of the planters in the
ancient counties of Pasquotank, Currituck, Perquimans and Chowan,
Elmwood was noted for the hospitality of its earliest owners, the
Swanns; and the long list of prominent families who afterwards lived
within its walls, kept alive the old traditions of hospitality.
On many a clear, crisp autumn day, the lawn in front of the mansion
would be filled with gentry on horseback, dressed after the fashion of
their "neighbors" across the sea in hunting coats of pink, ready for a
hunt after the wily fox. The master of the hounds, William Swann
himself, would give the signal for the eager creatures to be unloosed,
the bugle would sound, and the cry "off and away" echo over the fields,
and the chase would be on. A pretty run would reynard give his pursuers,
and often the shades of evening would be falling ere the hunters would
return to Elmwood, a tired, bedraggled and hungry group. Then at the
hospitable board the day's adventures would be related, and after the
dinner a merry dance would close the day.
At Christmas, invitations would be issued to the families of the gentry
in the nearest counties, to attend a great ball at Elmwood. The old
house would be filled from garret to cellar, and the hospitable homes
of nearby friends would open to take in the overflow of guests. Dames
and maidens coy, clad in the quaint and picturesque colonial costume,
with powdered hair and patches, in richly brocaded gowns and satin
slippers, made stately courtesy to gay dandies and jovial squires
arrayed in coats of many colors, broidered vests, knee breeches and
silken hose, brilliant buckles at knee and on slippers, their long hair
worn ringleted and curled, or tied in queues. In stately measure the
graceful minuet would open the ball. Then the gayer strains of the old
Virginia reel would cause even the dignified dame or sober squire to
relax; and in laughter and merry-making the hours would speed, till the
gradual paling of the stars and a flush in the east would warn the merry
dancers that "the night was far spent, and the day was at hand."
Such are the tales still told in our county of the olden days at
Elmwood--tales handed down from father to son, and preserved in the
memories of the old inhabitants of Pasquotank. And all such memories
should be preserved and recorded ere those who hold them dear have
passed away, and with them, the traditions that picture to a generation
all too heedless of the past, the life of these, our pioneer
forefathers.
From this old home more distinguished men have gone forth than probably
from any other home in North Carolina.
The Hon. J. Bryan Grimes in an address made before the State Historical
Society at Raleigh in 1909, gives a long list of eminent Carolinians who
have called Elmwood their home. Among them were Colonel Thomas Swann and
Colonel William Swann, both in colonial days Speakers of the Assembly;
three members of the family by the name of Samuel Swann, and John Swann,
members of Congress. Here lived Fred Blount, son of Colonel John Blount,
an intimate friend of Governor Tryon. William Shephard, a prominent
Federalist, for some years made Elmwood his home. The Rev. Solomon Pool,
President of the University of North Carolina, and his brother, John
Pool, United States Senator from North Carolina, both spent their
boyhood days in this ancient mansion. And, as Colonel Grimes' researches
into the history of this old home have made known, and as he relates in
his speech on "The Importance of Memorials," "At Elmwood lived, and with
it were identified, ten Speakers of the Assembly, five Congressmen, one
United States Senator, one President of the State University, and one
candidate for Governor."
One of the Samuel Swanns who resided at Elmwood was the brave young
surveyor, who, with his comrades, Irvine and Mayo, was the first to
plunge into the tangled depths of the Dismal Swamp, when the boundary
line between North Carolina and Virginia was established.
Before the War between the States had been declared, the old house was
burned to the ground; and since then the estate has been cut into
smaller farms, and the family burying-ground has been desecrated by
treasure-seekers, who in their mad greed for gold have not hesitated to
disturb the bones of the sacred dead.
Just when or how the old home was burned, no one is able to tell.
Whatever the circumstances of the destruction of this fine old building,
the loss sustained by the county, and by the State, is irreparable.