Norfolk Highlights 1584 - 1881
By George Holbert Tucker
Chapter 42
Forrest - Norfolk's First Historian
Norfolk history buffs owe a great deal to William H. Forrest, the author
of the first serious historical work on the Norfolk area.
Although Forrest's prose style is a trifle rococo for contemporary
tastes, his historical writings preserve a gold mine of out-of-the-way
information concerning the Norfolk area that would have been forgotten
if he had not had the foresight to set it down.
Forrest was born near London Bridge in Princess Anne County (now the
City of Virginia Beach) in 1817. He was a son of John P.C. and Mrs.
Elizabeth Forrest. Not too much is known concerning his earlier years,
but he was always interested in his adopted city and was known as one
of its most progressive citizens.
When he was thirty, he began a weekly paper in Norfolk called the Virginia
Temperance Advocate. The first issue, dated May 15, 1847, stated that
it was dedicated to "temperance, morality, literature, health,
etc."
Feeling the great need for a city directory, there having been none
since 1806-07, Forrest set about compiling a systematic listing of the
inhabitants of the city and its many growing businesses. The directory,
published in 1851-52, lists him as "William S. Forrest, editor
and proprietor of the Norfolk Directory, No. 6 Brewer St., near Freemason."
While compiling the directory, Forrest felt the necessity of a good
general history of Norfolk and its vicinity. His "Historical and
Descriptive Sketches of Norfolk and Vicinity . . . During a Period of
200 Years" was published in 1853 and was an immediate success.
Forrest was blessed with an excellent memory and the knack of never
forgetting intimate details concerning persons and important happenings.
He also had access to many private papers and files of old newspapers
that no longer exist, and his extracts from them have proved invaluable
to latter-day historians.
Norfolk had a population of sixteen thousand at the time the history
was issued. Two years later, the city was almost wiped out by the worst
yellow fever epidemic in its history. Fortunately, Forrest survived
the disaster and incorporated his observations in "The Great Pestilence
in Virginia," which was published a year after the epidemic.
This volume is one of the best accounts of the terrible summer of 1855,
when the only vessel to enter the harbor was a small steamer transporting
mail and coffins from the Washington and Richmond steamers anchored
in Hampton Roads.
Throughout this period, Forrest was also connected with The Daily Southern
Argus and Virginia and North Carolina Advertiser. This was the Norfolk
"states' rights" paper of the period and was dedicated to
"Southern Views and Southern Rights."
The Argus was discontinued in 1861 after almost every man in its plant
had joined the Confederate Army. Forrest was the "local editor,"
or what would today be known as the "city editor" of the Argus.
After the Civil War, Forrest entered the real estate business. He was
a great promoter of railroads coming into the Norfolk area and was particularly
interested in making Norfolk the port for the Eastern North Carolina
trade.
He died on October 10, 1878, and was buried in Elmwood Cemetery. His
funeral took place at Cumberland Street Methodist Church, which was
torn down a few years ago to provide additional parking space for the
congregation of St. Paul's Episcopal Church.
 Chapter
43
Norfolk and the Navy
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