Steamboats on the Tar - Softcover

Henry Clark Bridgers, Jr., (1913-1981) was the son of Henry Clark Bridgers, Sr., (1876-1951) and the great nephew of Robert Rufus Bridgers (1819-1888). R. R. Bridgers was the president of the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad and the Wilmington, Columbia, and Augusta Railroad. Bridgers, Sr., organized (1898) and was president and general manager of the East Carolina Railway. Also active in banking, he was the president of the First National Bank in Tarboro, as well as banks in Conetoe, Pinetops, Macclesfield, Fountain, and Hookerton. Henry C. Bridgers, Jr., graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1935; after which he entered the Navy and graduated from flight training school in 1936 as an aviator. He joined Patrol Squadron 7 in San Diego, California, and in 1939 became instrument training instructor at Pensacola, Florida. During World War II he served in the South Pacific as operations officer of Fleet Air Wing One, receiving the Legion of Merit for combat operations in the Solomon Islands. In 1945 he commanded Fighter Squadron 42 and then Carrier Air Group 42 aboard the USS SICILY. After training at the General Line School and the Naval War College, Bridgers became navigator of the USS MIDWAY (1952). He achieved the rank of captain in 1963 and took command of the Naval Station at Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico. Later that same year he assumed command of the Atlantic Fleet Weapons Range as well. Bridgers suffered a heart attack in 1965 that forced his retirement from the Navy. Returning to his native Edgecombe County, N.C., he became a well-known local historian who wrote on railroading, banking, and steam boating in eastern North Carolina.