Tryon Palace by Cindi
Tryon Palace, in its renovated state, is a beautiful place filled with lots of history. Actually, Tryon Palace in it’s olden days was called the Government House because several governors lived in this place. Many people every year visit Tryon Palace to view the historical events that went on at the time of its original state. No one would have thought that Tryon Palace was going to be a home to remember.
After Governor Arthur Dobbs’ death on March 29th, 1765, William Tryon became the new royal governor of the Carolina Colony. William Tryon was born on June 8th, 1729, in Surrey, England. He married in 1757 and had two children. He had connections to a person higher up in the governmental system and that is believed to be why he got to be the royal governor of North Carolina. Governor Tryon and his family moved to New Bern in October of 1764 with John Hawks, the architect of the Government House. The first thing he did was create the Stamp Act crisis. This caused a lot of stress for the colonists, so the colonists did not pay the taxes. One of the other things he did when he became governor was decide on where the capital would be. The colonial government assembly decided that the construction for the Government House would take place on November 8th, 1766.
John Hawks was the main architect hired by Governor William Tryon to construct the Government House. John Hawks was born in 1731 at Shipston-on-Stour in Warwickshire. Most of his personal life is a mystery but historians found some information in England on him. It’s said that John got his architect skills from his father and Stiff Leadbetter. His father was a joiner and learned his trading skills from him. John Hawks came with Governor Tryon knowing he was going to build the Government House and started on January 9th, 1767, even though it was originally supposed to begin on November 8th, 1766.
It would take just 5,000 pounds to build the Government House, but with Governor Tryon’s desires another 5,000 pounds would have to be added for the construction of the House. Governor Tryon thought that the colonists would not have minded the tax raise to build the home of the himself, his family, and the government but this thought was very wrong because the colonists made a resistance team called the Regulators. The Regulators had caused lots of trouble for Governor Tryon, so he decided to call a special session of the assembly of the colonial government. But during the battle between the two, Governor Tryon still managed to throw a party that included himself, his family, and other invited guests. For three years they fought and finally the Regulators went down in 1771. This battle was called the Battle of Alamance. Governor Tryon made an allegiance to the Regulators. While some people agreed to the allegiance, some did not and those people were hung. After the six people were hung, the case was excused, the battle was over, and Governor Tryon was transferred to New York to be the new royal governor.
Josiah Martin became the new royal governor of New Bern, in August of 1771, and his stubbornness caused colonists to invade the Government House. While Governor Martin was “absent”, Richard Caswell took his place. But the American Revolution, which lasted from 1775-1783, caused the House’s supply to drop because people would just come in and steal the food and supplies. About eight tons of the House’s lead was stripped and made into musket balls.
Since the Revolution was over and the capital was moved to Raleigh, what was left of the House was destroyed by a fire in 1798. It wasn’t until about the 1950’s that someone actually cared about recreating Tryon Palace and it was Maud Moore Latham. When she was a child, she played around Tryon Palace and had a dream of fixing it. Sadly, before it was finished she had died in 1951. Tryon Palace, in its renovated state, was opened on April 10th, 1959.
After Governor Arthur Dobbs’ death on March 29th, 1765, William Tryon became the new royal governor of the Carolina Colony. William Tryon was born on June 8th, 1729, in Surrey, England. He married in 1757 and had two children. He had connections to a person higher up in the governmental system and that is believed to be why he got to be the royal governor of North Carolina. Governor Tryon and his family moved to New Bern in October of 1764 with John Hawks, the architect of the Government House. The first thing he did was create the Stamp Act crisis. This caused a lot of stress for the colonists, so the colonists did not pay the taxes. One of the other things he did when he became governor was decide on where the capital would be. The colonial government assembly decided that the construction for the Government House would take place on November 8th, 1766.
John Hawks was the main architect hired by Governor William Tryon to construct the Government House. John Hawks was born in 1731 at Shipston-on-Stour in Warwickshire. Most of his personal life is a mystery but historians found some information in England on him. It’s said that John got his architect skills from his father and Stiff Leadbetter. His father was a joiner and learned his trading skills from him. John Hawks came with Governor Tryon knowing he was going to build the Government House and started on January 9th, 1767, even though it was originally supposed to begin on November 8th, 1766.
It would take just 5,000 pounds to build the Government House, but with Governor Tryon’s desires another 5,000 pounds would have to be added for the construction of the House. Governor Tryon thought that the colonists would not have minded the tax raise to build the home of the himself, his family, and the government but this thought was very wrong because the colonists made a resistance team called the Regulators. The Regulators had caused lots of trouble for Governor Tryon, so he decided to call a special session of the assembly of the colonial government. But during the battle between the two, Governor Tryon still managed to throw a party that included himself, his family, and other invited guests. For three years they fought and finally the Regulators went down in 1771. This battle was called the Battle of Alamance. Governor Tryon made an allegiance to the Regulators. While some people agreed to the allegiance, some did not and those people were hung. After the six people were hung, the case was excused, the battle was over, and Governor Tryon was transferred to New York to be the new royal governor.
Josiah Martin became the new royal governor of New Bern, in August of 1771, and his stubbornness caused colonists to invade the Government House. While Governor Martin was “absent”, Richard Caswell took his place. But the American Revolution, which lasted from 1775-1783, caused the House’s supply to drop because people would just come in and steal the food and supplies. About eight tons of the House’s lead was stripped and made into musket balls.
Since the Revolution was over and the capital was moved to Raleigh, what was left of the House was destroyed by a fire in 1798. It wasn’t until about the 1950’s that someone actually cared about recreating Tryon Palace and it was Maud Moore Latham. When she was a child, she played around Tryon Palace and had a dream of fixing it. Sadly, before it was finished she had died in 1951. Tryon Palace, in its renovated state, was opened on April 10th, 1959.