Thomas Godfrey Memorial, Wilmington
The grave marker, approximately three feet tall, is a rough cut block of granite with a partially polished face. The face bears an inscription to the memory of Godfrey.
NEAR THIS SPOT LIES / THOMAS GODFREY / BORN IN PHILADELPHIA PA. 1736 / DIED IN WILMINGTON N.C. 1763 / AUTHOR OF / THE PRINCE OF PARTHIA / THE FIRST DRAMA WRITTEN / BY AN AMERICAN AND / PRODUCED UPON THE / PROFESSIONAL STAGE IN / THE COLONIES / ERECTED BY / THE N.C. SOCIETY COLONIAL / DAMES OF AMERICA / 1929
St. James Church, Wilmington
April 4, 1930
34.235520 , -77.944690 View in Geobrowse
"The Lives and Work of Doug and Kay Swink," Thalian Hall Center for the Performing Arts, Inc., (accessed February 20, 2013) Link
"Thomas Godfrey (1736-1763)," English Poetry 1579-1830: Spenser and the Tradition, CATH, (accessed February 20, 2013) Link
"Thomas Godfrey Memorial," Panoramio.com, (accessed February 20, 2013) Link
Barefoot, Daniel W. Touring the Backroads of North Carolina’s Lower Coast. Winston-Salem, N.C.: J.F. Blair, 1995, 207. Link
Godfrey, Thomas. "The Prince of Parthia A Tragedy," (accessed February 20, 2013) Link
McEachern, Leora H. 1985. History of St. James Parish, 1729-1979. Wilmington, N.C.
Yes
Granite
The N.C. Society of Colonial Dames of America
Thomas Godfrey was born in Philadelphia, the son of Thomas Godfrey the inventor. The elder Godfrey was the inventor of the navigation instrument, the octant. The younger Godfrey had a very short life, living to the age of twenty-seven. He served in the Seven Years' War after being apprenticed to a watch maker, and subsequently located to Wilmington where he worked as a merchant's factor and where he reportedly wrote "The Prince of Parthia." The play has been regarded as the first to be written and performed in the American Colonies. Godfrey also penned a number of poems.
The marker is located in the graveyard of St. James Church, on the corner of 4th and Market Streets.
The marker sits in the grass in the graveyard next to the church buildings. The graveyard is separated from the street and sidewalk by a low gridiron fence and is graced by shrubs, plantings, and mature shade trees.
Yes
The N.C. Society of Colonial Dames of America were given permission in February 1929 to erect a stone to Godfrey's memory in the graveyard.