The good merchant: Alonzo Jerkins of New Bern
It was a good thing that some soulless thug stole the gate to the Jerkins grave 25 years ago, because if they hadn’t, I’d still be trying to figure out a subject for a history column this week. Earlier in the week I covered the return of an elaborate gate that hung on an ornate fence surrounding the grave plot of the Jerkins family. Some guy bought it for $350 at an auction, found out it had been stolen from Cedar Grove years and kindly sold it back for a 100% profit at $700. It was very generous of him. The family plot was that of Alonzo T. Jerkins, who died in 1895 at the age of 87—an...
Source: newbernsj.com