HISTORY OF CORNELIUS
HARNETT
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Cornelius Harnett, who lived from 1723-1781, made his home on the Hilton site, (now home of the Cape Fear Marina) and his plantation extended well to the east along the west bank of Smith Creek and east of the Cape Fear River. Harnett enjoyed the reputation as a leading patriot among the residents of Wilmington and later became a recognized figure throughout the new nation of the United States.

Citizens of Wilmington in 1765 armed themselves and marched on the officer of the Stamp Office in open rebellion against the Stamp Act and the unfair taxes levied on the colony. Cornelius Harnett was one of the two men chosen as a spokesperson for Wilmington and was directed to call upon Governor Tryon. The net effect was that the citizens of Wilmington were exempt from paying the tax which years later became a catalyst for patriots from the North East and other areas to declare themselves in open rebellion to England. The Sons of Liberty grew out of this general resistance.

Harnett, among others, was instrumental in drafting the content of the Declaration of Independence. Josiah Quincey, of Boston, who visited Harnett at his home at Hilton on March 30, 1773, wrote of him as the Samuel Adams of North Carolina. During Quincey's visit with Harnett at Hilton, they "...spend two of three days together in earnest conference. They devised plans for bringing about American freedom from Great Britain: and these all were said to have been put into effect. So that, far and wide, Hilton was referred to as the birthplace and cradle of American liberty".