father came to Wilmington with his wife and two small children, and in a short time after his arrival, he died. Colonel Jones with the spontaneous generosity of an Irishman, took charge of the boy, fed, clothed and educated him. He was sent to the University. He felt that this charge on his patron was not proper, and his friends procured for him, February 5, 1800, an appointment as Midshipman in the United States Navy. He sailed under Commodore Preble to the Mediterranean; for his activity, assiduity, and exemplary conduct, he soon was promoted. In 1814, he sailed from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in command of "The Wasp," for the English coast; he encountered, on July 28, 1814, the sloop of war "Reindeer." An action ensued and the "Reindeer" was captured. Her Captain and First Lieutenant were killed, as also many of the crew. This won for Captain Blakely the applause of the nation and the thanks of the State.
He fell in with the "Avon," in August following, which ship, after a severe action, surrendered to Blakely.
From the 1st to 15th August, Blakely took fifteen ships from the English. One of these, the "Atlanta," he placed under a Prize Master, and sent home with dispatches. This is the last authentic intelligence ever received from Captain Blakely.
His ship may have been sunk in a sea fight, or foundered. And so perished, at the early age of thirty-three, this gallant officer.
He married (December 1813) Jane, daughter of Mr. Hooper of New York; left one daughter, Udney. In December, 1816, the Legislature adopted her as "the child of the State," and ordered that she be educated and maintained at the expense of North Carolina.
The widow of Captain Blakely married a second time, Dr. Abbot of Santa Cruz, and removed to that place, taking the daughter with her. The daughter married in 1841, when about twenty-six years old and died in 1842, without issue. (Uni. Mag., February, 1850.)
James Innes of Wilmington. Much interest is connected with this name, since from his will, duly proven in 1759 before Governor Dobbs, the "Innes Academy" had its origin. In April of that year, the Legislature passed an act incorporating the Academy with Samuel Ashe, A. McLain, William Hill, and others as Trustees. Before the Academy building was completed a theatrical corps had been organized in Wilmington, and an arrangement was made between them and the trustees, that the lower part of the building should be fitted up and used exclusively as a Theatre. This arrangement was carried out, by a perpetual lease made to the "Thalian Association."
The name of Colonel Innes is frequently met in the accounts of the State. He was born in Scotland, and lived at Point Pleasant, on the North East Branch of the Cape Fear River, about seven miles from Wilmington. he had been an officer of rank in the British Army, and was distinguished in the expedition against Carthagena, in South America. He was considered a man of mark and possessed of considerable estate.
When Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia, applied to President Rowan, then acting Governor of North Carolina, for aid to check the French and Indians on the Ohio, Colonel Innes marched at the head of the North Carolina troops to Winchester, Virginia. This was in 1754. Washington Irving, in "Life of Washington," gives an account of this campaign, and states that "the North Carolina troops rendered no service."
The Legislature of North Carolina voted sixty thousand dollars for subsistence of the forces under Colonel Innes, but this was soon exhausted and such was the feeling at Williamsburg that not a dollar was voted to retain the force sent to defend them. The North Carolina troops had to return to prevent starvation. Col. Innes was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the entire
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