Agriculture Heritage Lecture: Wayne County in the 1850s Turpentine Boom

Agriculture Heritage Lecture: Wayne County in the 1850s Turpentine Boom By Marty Tschetter, Local History Librarian On Saturday, October 18 at 1pm at the Wayne County Museum, Dr. Bryson Bateman will present research he culled from old documents kept by Wayne County planter George W. Collier who owned the 2,200 acre Blackjack Plantation. Located south of Goldsboro in the community of Everittsville, the operation also included over 80 slaves to work the land. Close examination of Collier’s papers reveal turpentine still records and his business connection with the New York commission merchants who marketed his product.

Planters played an integral role in the political atmosphere that eventually led to the Civil War.

Dr. Bateman followed an emerging narrative that illustrated how one local fit into the larger picture of national history. The first public program for the Agriculture Heritage project, Dr. Bateman will also include important context about the founding of Goldsboro, the transportation improvements that made interstate trade lucrative, and 1850 Census findings that characterize the county during this era.

A physician by training, Dr. Bateman’s fascinating study of the Collier ledgers led to writing a master’s thesis in American History at East Carolina University titled “The New York commerce connection: a planter-merchant during the antebellum North Carolina turpentine boom.”