Copyright © Janice Tracy, Mississippi Memories

Monday, August 8, 2011

Found - Historic Fenner House in New Bern NC

Digital Photo by A. Vaupel

Old Fenner House 
217 Hancock Street
New Bern, NC

Wow!  With the help of someone who works in the City of New Bern's GIS and mapping office, I now know the physical location of "Lot 89," the site of the old Fenner house.  The house on Hancock Street in New Bern, North Carolina, was purchased about 1769 by Richard John Fenner and Anne Coddington Fenner, my fifth great-grandparents.  I descend through their granddaughter Rachel Fenner, who married William Neatherlin and eventually migrated around 1800 to Amite County in the Mississippi Territory.  After finding the lot number of the property in an online excerpt of the book, The Fenner Forebears, I set out to find the actual house. And thanks to a very dear friend of mine who lives in New Bern, I also have a photo of the house itself.  The house is a rather large frame structure built in the colonial style and located on a street where the remnants of train tracks down its center can be seen.  Currently, the house is undergoing some renovation, including a new coat of paint that closely matches the red metal "storm" roof commonly seen on historic houses in New Bern. According to my contact in the GIS office, the property is currently owned by the Fenner Family Fund Partnership.


1 comment:

  1. I'm so impressed with your perserverance in finding this home. Richard John Fenner is a relative of mine also. My family line lends from William Fenner who was born in Dublin, Ireland. William was a son of Richard John Fenner. William married Rachel Austen and so forth. I am of the South Texas Fenners. This sounds like a band name actually. Anyway, I hope to see the house personally this spring. EXCITING! My name is Michelle White. my grandmother being Eldwyn Fenner.

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