The Burgwin-Wright Way

The "Burgwin" in Burgwin-Wright

Hello again!

It’s a fine day here at the Burgwin-Wright House! Market Street is bustling as usual with cars that are driving way too fast, and people walking leisurely down to the waterfront. The sounds of the modern world are quite strange to listen to when you’re in a house that is centuries old. The wood floor creaks beneath my feet with every step, but not in the way all wood floors do, these creaks are different, as if I can hear their age.

Creaking through the foyer of the Burgwin-Wright House, directly to the right of the front door when you walk in, is a painting of the house’s builder and first owner, John Burgwin.  Although it’s actually a reproduction of the original, which is on display at the North Carolina Museum of Art, the gilt frame of the reproduction gives it all the pomp and circumstance of the original.  In the painting Burgwin looks quite aristocratic, with his feather quill in hand and styled white hair.  William C. Fields painted the reproduction in 1965 in the same manner as John Copley painted the original in 1783, utilizing oil paints on a piece of canvas, and in what is known as the American Style.

While gazing at John Burgwin’s portrait, I can’t help but want to actually know who the man really was.  I am a guest in his home after all; I should know more about the man than simply that he built the place!  Here is what I found out about John Burgwin at the Burgwin-Wright House:

Burgwin’s life begins across the pond, as it were, in Great Britain in 1731. Burgwin was born in London as the second son in the family.  Since Burgwin could not inherit his father’s fortune, he had to pursue a life abroad.

After journeying across the Atlantic, nineteen year-old John Burgwin found himself in Charleston, South Carolina.  While living in Charleston he became a successful merchant and met his first wife, Margaret Haynes.  Once married, John Burgwin uprooted himself from Charleston to live in his wife’s native home, North Carolina. 

Burgwin quickly established himself as a man of many fields in Wilmington.  Since most of his mercantile business was in downtown Wilmington, he quickly acquired real estate on Market Steet, which was just as busy with business in the mid-eighteenth century as it is today.

However, many eyebrows were raised when Burgwin purchased the property of what was the former Wilmington jail.  The jail had since been abandoned by the time Burgwin purchased the property but the structure still remained standing.  Burgwin however looked at the sight in a practical way; yes, the site used to be a jail but hey, the foundation is already built, and out of strong stone.

John Burgwin’s new house was completed in 1771.  Sadly his wife, Margaret had passed away on October 19, 1770 before the house’s completion. Burgwin would go on to do many things in Wilmington throughout his life:

• Quartermaster of the New Hanover County Militia
• A lawyer
• Clerk of the Governor’s Council
• Private secretary to Governor Arthur Dobbs
• Justice of the Peace in Bladen and New Hanover County
• Clerk of Superior Court in Wilmington
• Commissioned by Governor William Tryon as clerk of the high court of chancery for North Carolina
• Wilmington Town Commissioner
• Member of the General Assembly for Bladen County

Quite an expansive career and clearly an important man in Wilmington’s history! Looking at the painting of John Burgwin now, I see him differently. From what I know of him now, he hardly seems the stuffy aristocrat that he looks like in the painting.  He was a man of ambition and vision. His home is a reflection of that; it is stately, but welcoming and warm.  Burgwin-Wright is not quite as austere as some of the other historic homes scattered around Wilmington. The house has big porches in both the front and back that give it a friendly façade.  Despite it’s eighteenth century furnishings, I don’t feel like an alien from the future, but like I have a role in its still living history. I encourage anyone and everyone to drop by the house and see for themselves.

Until next time!

X

Alex