HISTORY
Scotch-Irish settlers were the first to arrive, about 1740, in the area
that today comprises the County of Sampson. They located along the Black
River in the southern part of the county and used the waterway to
transport their goods to markets in Wilmington. Sampson County was
formed in 1784 out of Duplin and named for John Sampson, a wealthy land
owner and planter who also engaged in the tar and turpentine
industry. He was commissioned as a Lieutenant General in 1768 and
later served as a member of the General Assembly and on the Governor's
Council as well as holding various county offices. He came from
Donegal, Ireland with his wife Mary (Lyon) and his foster son, Richard
Clinton, for whom the county seat was named in 1818. Richard Clinton
distinguished himself in both military and government service.
Richard Clinton was made a Lieutenant Colonel and served with William
Tryon throughout the Revolutionary War. He was a member of the
Provincial Congress and was among the first members of Congress elected in
1776, where he represented Duplin County. After 1784, he represented
the newly created Sampson County. He was Duplin County Registrar of
Deeds for ten years. Clinton died in 1795 and is believed to have
been buried on the present site of the First United Methodist
Church. He and his wife, the former Penelope Kenan, reared a
family of nine children. He donated a portion of his
plantation for the first
courthouse. |
