Col. Emmett MacDonald Camp 
Robert Mills

Ancestor: Great-great grandfather Captain Briant Hellen Simpson

Born: 1823 in Beaufort, Cartaret County, North Carolina

Died: Date Unknown in Cartaret County, North Carolina

Unit: Blockade Runner, North Carolina Coast
 
 

Briant Hellen Simpson was a Quaker minister, but he fought for the South during the War between the States. He was a blockade runner. His ship carried supplies to the Confederate Army camps at Wilmington, Washington, Elizabeth City, Edenton and New Bern, North Carolina. It has been told by his daughter that he could move from inlet to cove in the darkest night. Once returning home from such a voyage a young fellow, loyal to the South,rowed out to Captain Simpson's ship and warned him that "The Yankees were waiting for them" being told by a Union sympathizer that the ship would be captured upon entering the harbor. Briant and the crew sank their ship with all the supplies and returned to shore by a different route via Smyrna and Tusk. Briant Hellen Simpson was known for his kindness, generosity and love of his fellow-man. He always shared with any in need. He was buried in a plot of land that became known as Simpson's Cemetery on the Old New Bern Road.