Murder at the Azalea Festival by Ellen Elizabeth Hunter Page B

of freedom, so it wasn't long before he engineered an escape into the swamps. You see, at that time, he had no wife or children on the mainland to ensure his return."
    "Hostages, you mean?"
    "Yes, hostages," Binkie replied grimly.
    "Did many slave watermen escape?" I asked.
    "Yes, it was quite common. Coastal geography was in their favor. The swamps were remote, the forests dense, and there were vast pocosins where a man would drown if he didn't know where to place his feet. But that also meant there were many inaccessible places for a man to hide; places for a man to take long-term refuge. In fact, there were colonies of escaped slaves out in the blackwater swamps. That was long before the wetlands were drained."
    The waiter brought our plates. At tables around us, diners basked in the sun or enjoyed the shade of an umbrella. The warm spring day offered a hint of the summer heat to come.
    "In addition," Binkie continued, "fugitive slaves often found work in the naval stores industry. The longleaf pine forest generated turpentine, tar, pitch, and rosin, and there was a severe labor shortage in those remote places. So when willing laborers showed up, crew bosses asked few questions, grateful for another pair of hands.
    "For a slave determined to run away, there was a network of assistance. Food would be set out, and weapons, such as a mowing scythe, the crooked handle replaced with a straight stick for use to fight the bloodhounds that pursued them. If a man or woman, or even a child, could make it to the swamps, they'd find a welcome there, a community in which to live."
    I listened intently, fascinated. Binkie had a way of making history come alive; he was a wonderful teacher.
    "When the war ended and the slaves were emancipated, Caesar moved back to town to a freed people’s camp. African-Americans were the majority in Wilmington at that time, you know. And, as many were skilled artisans and maritime laborers, it was a time of opportunity for them."
    "And that didn't sit well with some of the whites," I said.
    "So true, Ashley. It did not sit well with some of the old guard. In fact, a violent backlash occurred. But Talliere succeeded despite that resistance. With his skill at shipbuilding, he founded his own shipyard. He built schooners for fishing and for transporting freight. And sloops and scows. He was branching out into steamers, which quickly became common after the war.
    "He joined St. Paul's Episcopal Church and the Masons. He married, and built Moon Gate, at a cost of $60,000, a lot of money in those days, utilizing the same skilled craftsmen who had built the Bellamy Mansion."
    "I knew he was well-to-do because of the gold coin in the banister." I told Binkie about the coin and its significance.
    "His shipbuilding business was quite prosperous," Binkie said.
    "Then what happened? How did the Tallieres lose everything? Until Tiffany made money with her acting, and Auguste with his investments, Caesar's descendants had been poor. It's amazing they were able to hang on to their house and land."
    "As you can imagine, Ashley dear, there was a great deal of resentment among the white citizenry for an 'uppity negro.' Yes, Caesar made a lot of money, but he made powerful enemies, as well. Conservative whites were determined to reassert the power they'd enjoyed prior to the war.
    "A violent fringe organized into night riders and they tried, unsuccessfully, to terrorize freed peoples with threats of beatings and hangings. The blacks stood up to them. Still there were isolated incidents when targeted African-Americans disappeared in the dead of night."
    "Are you saying that Caesar Talliere disappeared? I'd assumed he died a natural death?"
    "Vanished without a trace. Probably lynched, although his remains were never found."
     

 
     
     
     
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    I glanced at my watch. "I've got to go, Binkie. I promised Jon I'd meet him at the garden we didn't get to see yesterday. Would you like to join us?"
    He covered a yawn with