The Famous Flora MacDonald in NC

Flora MacDonald, who, as a young girl, rose to fame for her part in secreting Charles Stuart, the “Young Pretender,” from his pursuers in the Hebrides area of Scotland after his defeat at Culloden. “On the night of June 20 [1745], which was full moonlight, they sought out Flora MacDonald and asked her help. The ten days that followed made Flora Scotland’s most loved heroine.” [Source: Vining, Elizabeth Grey, Flora, ABiography. J.B. Lippincott, Philadelphia and New York, 1966]

Fame did not mean fortune to Flora and her family -- “the spring of 1771, known as the Black Spring [in Scotland], was disastrous….the tide (of emigration) crept toward Flora.” [Ibid] The family of Allan and Flora (MacDonald) MacDonald moved to North Carolina and into the pre-Revolutionary War turmoil.

“They came first to Fort Johnston on the west bank of the Cape Fear River…” . [Ibid]

“Twelve miles above the mouth of the river, on comparatively high ground, also on the western bank, was Brunswick, the port of entry…”. [Ibid]

Pictures of a view from Brunswick, North Carolina; the remains of the town of Brunswick, NC, and a mosaic from the museum at Brunswick depicting Brunswick as a thriving port city.