But the glory of old Brunswick was transient, and its life was absorbed by the new settlement fifteen miles higher up the river. In 1739, the Assembly passed an act by which it was provided that the county offices of New Hanover, and the office of the Collector and Officer of the Port of Brunswick, should thereafter be established at the “village called Newton,” at the confluence of the two branches of the Cape Fear River; and this village was incorporated as a town by the name of Wilmington, in honor of Spencer Compton, Baron Wilmington, the friend and patron of Governor Gabriel Johnston. Its more favorable situation attracted the increasing trade which came down the two branches of the river, and afforded greater security against the severe storms as well as the privateers which now and then threatened vessels lying in the roadstead at Brunswick, while its more healthful climate made it a more desirable place of residence. The wealth and influence of Brunswick for a while prevailed, and it fought hard to retain its superiority, but it fought in vain. For some years before the beginning of the Revolution Wilmington was securely established as the chief town of the Cape Fear section, and in a manner the heir-apparent to the culture and influence of Brunswick. In itself, Wilmington was an inconsiderable place until some time after the Revolution. But it was the centre of a most cultivated, high-spirited and intelligent population, and, as it were, the stage upon which all the eminent men of the country around performed their parts. It was at once the head and the heart of the Cape Fear section. Its history is not the history of the dwellers within its corporate limits alone. The owner of a house and lot in the town could vote for its member of the Assembly, though he left his house vacant and lived in the country; and the qualification of its representative was not residence in the town, but the ownership of town property. So it came about that many of the most prominent characters in its history, those who were actors in its most stirring scenes, and who are identified with its memories and traditions, never resided within its limits. There were wealthy and intelligent and public-spirited townsmen,--James Innes, Louis and Moses John de Rosset, William and George Hooper, Archibald Maclean, Eagles, Quince, Lloyd, Davis, Hogg, Campbell and others; but the greater number of its most eminent names are those of men living in the country around,--Ashe, Waddell, Moore, Burgwin, Harnett, Lillington, Moseley and Swann. One of its notable citizens was Colonel James Innes, who, having been an officer in the North Carolina contingent sent to aid Admiral Vernon’s ill-fated expedition against Carthagena, afterwards commanded the joint forces of Virginia and North Carolina against the French in 1754. Another distinguished man of this section, Major Hugh Waddell, commanded the North Carolina troops sent to Virginia in the second French war.