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HISTORY

MECKLENBURG COUNTY

AND THE CITY OF CHARLO

III II

By D. A. TOMP

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BRITISH MAP OP MECKLENBURG IN 1780.

History of Mecklenburg County

AND

The City of Charlotte

From 1740 to 190*3.

BY D. A. TOMPKINS,

Author of Cotton and Cotton Oil; Cotton Mill,
Commercial Features ; Cotton Values in Tex-
tile Fabrics ; Cotton Mill, Prochsses
and Calculations ; and American
Commerce, Its Expansion.

Charlotte, N. C, 1903.

VOLUME TWO— APPENDIX.

CHARLOTTE, N. C:

Obskrvek Printing House.

1903.

V

9

-

Copyright, 1904.

BY

D. A. TOMPKINS.

EXPLANATION.

This history is published in two volumes. The first volume
contains the simple narrative, and the second is in the nature
of an appendix, containing ample discussions of important
events, a collection of biographies and many official docu-
ments justifying and verifying the statements in this volume.
At the end of each chapter is given the sources of the in-
formation therein contained, and at the end of each volume
is an index.

PREFACE.

One of the rarest exceptions in literature is a production
devoid of personal feeling. Few indeed are the men, who.
realizing that the responsibility for their writings will be
for them alone to bear, will not utilize the advantage for the
promulgation of things as they would like them to be. Many
of the works of the Ancients fail to stand the test of modern
historical criticism because the advancing conception of his-
torical labors is getting farther and farther from discursive
analysis and closer and closer to the presentation of plain,
unvarnished facts.

"History is philosophy teaching by example," says Diony-
sins, and it is obvious that if we are to "judge the future by
the past," that the main requisite is a complete record. "To
study history," says Wilmot, "is to study literature. The
biography of a nation contains all its works. No trifle is to
be neglected. A mouldering -medal is a letter of twenty cen-
turies. Antiquities which have been beautifully called his-
tory defaced, composed its fullest commentary."

Parton, in the preface to his Life of Jackson, gives an
apt illustration of the true historian's duty. A young clergy-
man, fresh from the university, became rector of one of the
oldest of English parishes. Examining his church, he found
that a crust was falling from the walls. The wardens sug-
gested whitewash, but the new rector discovered that white-
wash had been applied too many times already, and that it
was these surplus coats which were falling.

Thereupon, he resolved that instead of applying more, he
would remove that already on the walls. When this was
done, the beautiful frescoes which had been obscured for
many years were exposed to the view. These paintings,
some of them by the world's greatest artists, had been hidden
in order that the cracks might be filled. The true beauty of
the structure had been sacrificed to hide the natural results

IV HISTORY OF MECKLENBURG COUNTY.

of man's imperfect work. After the restoration, the defects
marred the glory of the decorations, yet it left a subject for
study even if not for unqualified admiration. And above
all, those viewing- it could be possessed of the consciousness
that they were beholding the truth — displeasing though it
might be — yet unquestionably and plainly the truth.

It is not for the writer of history to decide what shall and
what shall not be recorded, any more than it is justifiable
for a church-member to accept certain articles of his religion
and repudiate the others ; each must be all-inclusive or of no
importance. As a consequence, it is not within the proper
bounds of historical endeavor to be argumentative. The
person who investigates and accumulates facts for the pur-
pose of strengthening his pre-conceived opinions is not a
historian. History's worst enemy is the writer who distorts
facts to bolster prejudice. Histories should not be intended
to convince, but to enlighten. The true historian's duty is
ti i uncover the naked truth, and though this be a disagreea-
ble task, it is duty nevertheless. In the words of Lord
Bacon, the reader should "Reade not to Contradict, and Con-
fute; Nor to Beleeve and Take for granter; Nor to Finde
Talke and Discourse; But to Weigh and Consider."

In this History of Mecklenburg County, the author has
endeavored to present an historical record, not an historical
discussion. "Facts are stubborn," and when they are all in
hand, it is well to let them speak for themselves.

D. A. Tompkins.

December I, 1903.

CONTENTS.

Page.
CHAPTER I i

MECKLENBURG DECLARATION CONTROVERSY.
Brief Outline of the Discussion — Extract from Wheeler's History.
— Charlotte Democrat of July 8, 1873 — Preface to Martin's His-
tory of North Carolina — Correspondence Between Adams and
Jefferson — Extracts from the Raleigh Register — Certificates of
Men who Knew of the Convention — Instructions to Mecklen-
burg Delegates — Three Copies of the Declaration and the Re-
solves of May 31 — Hitherto Unpublished Correspondence Be-
tween John Vaughn, Hon. Peter Force, Gov. D. L. Swain and
Hon. George Bancroft — References and List of Publications on
the Subject.

CHAPTER II 57

MECKLENBURG INDEPENDENCE MONUMENT.

Unveiling in Charlotte in 1898 Attended with Impressive Ceremo-
nies. — Hon. Adlai E. Stevenson was Orator of the Occasion. —
First Monument Association Incorporated in 1842. — Declaration
Poem by Rev. W. V\". Moore, of Virginia.

CHAPTER III 6o

"BLACK BOYS" OF CABARRUS.
Young Men Destroyed Ammunition and Supplies Intended for Use
Against the Regulators. — Gov. Tryon's Proclamation of Pardon
Excepted Them. — Leading Citizens Later Petitioned in Their
Behalf and Secured the Pardon. — Col. Moses Alexander Pre-
sented the Petition.

CHAPTER IV 64

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
Condensed Items of Interest in the Lives of Persons Prominent in
Mecklenburg History. — Brief Biographies Alphabetically Ar-
ranged.

CHAPTER V 84

ANDREW JACKSON'S BIRTHPLACE.
Born in that Part of Mecklenburg Which was Made Into Union in
1842.— Moved Over Into South C rolina When a Few Weeks Old.
— Evidence of Those Who Were Present at His Birth.— Col. E. H.
Walkup's Publication.

VI HISTORY OF MECKLENBURG COUNTY.

CHAPTER VI 87

CUSTOMS OF THE PIONEERS.

Amusements of the Settlers of Mecklenburg. — County Muster and
Assemblies. — Horse Racing and Betting. — Liquor Used Freely
at Home and at Public Places. — The Old Taverns and Their
Uses.

CHAPTER VII 92

EIGHTEENTH CENTURY MONEY. (1762 to 1800.)
First Settlers Used Pennsylvania and Virginia Currency. — Paper
Money Discounted Nearly One-third. — Many Kinds of Coins
Used. — Federal Currency Established in 1792.

CHAPTER VIII 96

NOTES ON THE REGULATION.

Miscellaneous Information Summarized in Paragraphs. — The March
of Mecklenburg Troops to Hillsboro. — Governor Tryon's Visit
in the County. — Sentiment Pertaining to the Regulators and the
Governor.

CHAPTER IX 100

NOTES ON CHAPTER II. (The Indians.)

Items Regarding Important Events. — Very Few Relics Found in
Mecklenburg. — Correspondence Between Governors of North
Carolina and South Carolina Respecting the Catawba.

CHAPTER X 104

NOTES ON CHAPTER XV. (Religion.)

Coming of Rev. Hugh McAden. — Rev. Alexander Craighead With-
draws from the Presbyterian Synod and Comes to North Caro-
lina. — Established Church of England Met With Much Discour-
agement in Mecklenburg.

CHAPTER XI 109

HISTORY OF MINING IN MECKLENBURG.

Historic Anticipations — Discoveries in Florida — First Find in the
County — Geology of Mecklenburg — Development of Mining — Sta-
tistics of the Branch Mint in Charlotte.

CONTENTS. VII

CHAPTER XII 132

MECKLENBURG COUNTY REPRESENTATIVES.

Complete List of the Members of the General Assembly From This
County From 1764 to 1903.— Martin Phifer and Richard Barry
Were the First.

CHAPTER XIII 135

MECKLENBURG TROOPS IN THE WAR OF 1812.

Five Companies Sent From This County to the War with England
Caused by the Searching of American Vessels for British Sail-
ors. — A Total of Four Hundred and Thirty-Three Enlisted Men.*

CHAPTER XIV 142

CIVIL WAR TROOPS.

Roster of Officers and Men of the Twenty-one Companies Sent From
This County.— 2,735 Soldiers and Only 2,021 Voters.— Number
Killed, Wounded or Died.* — List of Promotions.

CHAPTER XV 180

MECKLENBURG'S PART IN THE MEXICAN WAR.

Roster of the Troops in the Company Organized in Charlotte in
April of 1847.* — Green W. Caldwell was Captain and He and the
Lieutenants Were Honored by Seats in the General Assembly
After the End of the War.— The Total Number of the Soldiers
was Seventy-nine, and Eleven of Them Died in the Service.

CHAPTER XVI 183

THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR.

Account of the Service Rendered oy Mecklenburg Troops. — Rosters
of the Three White Companies and the Colored Company.* —
Charlotte Soldiers Among the First Americans to Land in
Havana.

XVII HISTORY OF MECKLENBURG COUNTY.

CHAPTER XVII 192

LIST OF MINISTERS.

Names of the Preachers who have Served the Leading Churches of
Charlotte, With the Number of Years of Service of Each.

CHAPTER XVIII 195

DAVIDSON.

A Brief Sketch of the Progressive Town Which Has Grown up
Around the College. — Has Macadam Streets and Factories, and
a Large Business is Done. — The Corporation Dates From 1879.

CHAPTER XIX 198

PINEVILLE.

Brief Sketch of the Growth of the Town Which was Built Where
President Polk was Born. — In Fifty Years it has Developed'
Into a Prosperous Community With Factories and a Population
of Seven Hundred. — Creditable Churches and Schools, and
Names of Some Prominent Families.

CHAPTER XX 200

MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS.

Characteristics of the Mecklenburg Negro. — Comparative Effects of
Slavery and Freedom on the Increase of Population. — Tribute
to the Memory of Major Ross. — Important Dates in Mecklen-
burg History. — List of Mayors of Charlotte. — Acts of the Gen-
eral Assembly Creating Mecklenburg, Establishing Charlotte
and Permanently Locating the Court House. — County Road
Legislation.

INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS.

British Map of Mecklenburg in 1780 Frontispiece

Claremont Academy 1

Sugar Creek Church 1

Signatures of Prominent Characters in Mecklenburg History. .16-33

Coat of Arms of the Phifer family, 1760 44

Proclamation Money 44

Receipt, 1773 56

Receipt Signed by Thos. Polk in 1773 56

Monument Commemorating the Mclutyre Skirmish, Oct. 3, 1780 60

Mrs. Rachel Holton 64

Thos. J. Holton, Editor of the Charlotte Journal 64

James W Osborne 67

William Davidson 69

Henry Bartlett Williams 71

W. EJ. Phifer 72

General Hugh Waddell 74

General Joseph Graham 76

David Parks 78

Lieutenant E. C. Davidson 81

W. F. Davidson 82

Map of Vicinity of Jackson's Birthplace 84

Old Wilson Place 86

Alexander Rock House 86

Extracts from Copy Books in use in Mecklenburg County

Schools in 1850 88

Note Given in 1767 90

Bill for Teaching, 1822 90

Sale Notice, 1838 92

Contract, 1767 94

Confederate Currency, 1864 96

North Carolina Currency, 1866 100

Itemized Bill for "Learning," 1798 102

United States Bank Note 104

Revolutionary Currency 112

Revolutionary State Money 132

Tomb of Thomas Polk 136

Receipt, 1783 136

Bill of Account, 1767 140

XIX INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS.

Bill for Subscription, 1792 144

Stage Line Way-Bill, 1846 160

United States Currency 180

State Currency 184

Contract Dated in 1737 192

Revolutionary Currency 196

Contract, 1765 197

Negro Passes 199

Bill of Sale, 1747 204

Arab- African 208

Saracen-Africa n 208

Dinka-Negro. 209

Guinea-Negro 209

CLAREMONT ACADEMY.
(Volume I., Page 166.)

SUGAR CREEK CHURCH.
(See Index to Volume I.)

CHAPTER I.

MECKLENBURG DECLARATION CONTROVERSY.

Brief Outline of the Discussion — Extract from Wheeler's History.
—Charlotte Democrat of July 8, 1873— Preface to Martin's His-
tory of North Carolina — Correspondence Between Adams and
Jefferson — Extracts from the Raleigh Register — Certificates of
Men who Knew of the Convention — Instructions to Mecklen-
burg Delegates — Three Copies of the Declaration and the Re-
solves of May 31 — Hitherto Unpublished Correspondence Be-
tween John Vaughn, Hon. Peter Force, Gov. D. L. Swain and
Hon. George Bancroft — References ana List of Publications on
the Subject.

The controversy regarding the Mecklenburg Declaration
of Independence has occupied the time and attention of
many of America's most profound thinkers and writers.
Some of them contend that the evidence is sufficient, while
others maintain that it is not sufficient and that the actual
Declaration of Independence was not made as is claimed.

Conclusive proof of a historical proposition depends upon
contemporaneous records, personal testimony of reliable
persons acquainted with the facts, and traditions. Now,
suppose at this late date, some one should question the au-
thenticity of the National Declaration of Independence,
made in Philadelphia, July 4, 1776. First would be
shown a verbatim copy of the real original which was
signed July 4, 1776, and in the days following as new dele-
gates arrived. Then there would be the contemporaneous
periodicals, personal correspondence and the known trend of
public sentiment tow r ard independence. In proof of the
Mecklenburg Declaration, we have all this and in addition,
the specific statements of a dozen men who were present and
participated in the proceedings. Why is it, then, that there
was ever any doubt regarding the action of the people of
Mecklenburg ?

In the first place, at the time the Mecklenburg Dec-

2 HISTORY OF MECKLENBURG COUNTY.

laration was made, each part of the country was too- busy
with home affairs to pay much attention to outside matters.
There were but few newspapers in this section, yet the Cape
Fear Mercury and the Charleston Gazette and Country Jour-
nal mentioned the proceedings. The men of the county were
busy with preparations for war, and as every one concerned
knew of the action, there was naturally no reason to make
superfluous records. The official papers were burned in the
fire which destroyed John McKnitt Alexander's house in
1800. The National Declaration was made fourteen months
after the Mecklenburg Declaration and, of course, overshad-
owed the action of the latter until long after the smoke of
battle had cleared away. Consequently, there was but little
contemporaneous evidence, and when the Mecklenburg Dec-
laration became of national interest in 1819, most of the an-
tagonism to it was based on the false belief that the trend
of sentiment in North Carolina was not so> strong in 1775
as to render probable a declaration of independence, and not
until the publication of the Colonial Records, in recent years,
was the falsity of that belief established. .These records
show, by correspondence and other official documents, that
Thomas Jefferson was conservative in his statement to John
Adams that "No State was more fixed or forward than
North Carolina."* The people of the State, acting independ-
ently, convened a congress at New Bern in August, 1774.
Gov. Martin left the State and royal authority ended in
North Carolina in June, 1775. The Battle of Moore's Creek
Bridge was fought February 27, 1776, and the Fourth Pro-
vincial Congress, held at Halifax in April, 1776, declared
for independence. So it appears not only natural that Meck-
lenburg should declare her independence, but that she ivas
independent and with a government of her own from May
20, 1775. It is to be remembered also, that Mecklenburg
then was about five times the present size, and that the pro-
ceedings of the convention were participated in by represen-

♦Correspondence, July 9, 1819.

MECKLENBURG DECLARATION CONTROVERSY. 3

tative men from other sections, so that while the Declara-
tion could not be construed as a State document, yet it un-
questionably represented the attitude of the entire State.
All North Carolina was independent, but only Mecklenburg
made an official declaration of the fact.

In the latter part of the year 1818, the subject was under
discussion among the North Carolina representatives in
Congress, and Nathaniel Macon, William Davidson and
others corresponded with representative men of this section,
the correspondence being published in the Raleigh Register
in 1819, and in the Essex (Mass.) Register of June 5, 1819,
and in other papers. The Essex Register fell into the hands
of John Adams and resulted in the letters regarding the sub-
ject between Adams and Jefferson. Jefferson's Writings
and Martin's History of North Carolina were published in
1829, and the discussion was reopened. In 1831. the State
issued a pamphlet under direction of a legislative committee,
which was designed to forever settle all dispute regarding
the declarati< n.

With the people of Mecklenburg, there had never been
any doubt, as the old traditions were firmly and generally
established. In 1809. nearly ten years before the contro-
versy began, the Raleigh Minerva published the declama-
tion of a school boy. William Wallace, at Sugar Creek
Academy, delivered June 1, 1809. The teacher was Rev.
Samuel C. Caldwell, a son-in-law of John McKnitt Alexan-
der. The declamation began: "On the 19th of May, a day
sacredly exulting to every Mecklenburg bosom, two dele-
gates duly authorized from each militia company met in
Charlotte. After a cool and deliberate investigation of the
causes and extent of our differences with Great Britain, and
taking a review of probable results, pledging their all in sup-
port of its rights and liberties, they solemnly entered into
and published a full and determined Declaration of Inde-
pendence, renouncing forever all allegiance, dependence, or
connection with Great Britain, dissolved all judicial and
military establishments emanating from the British Crown,

4 HISTORY OE MECKLENBURG COUNTY.

and established others on principles corresponding with their
declaration, which went into immediate operation, all of
which was transmitted to Congress by express, and proba-
bly expedited the general Declaration of Independence. May
we ever act worthy of such predecessors !"

On December 18, 1838, Colonel Peter Force, a distin-
guished antiquarian, found in the New York Journal of
June 29, 1775, a portion of certain resolves by the people of
Mecklenburg, made in May, 1775. He found a second copy
in the Massachusetts Spy of July 12, 1775. William Kelby,
assistant librarian of the New York Historical Society,
found that the New York Journal had copied the resolves
from a Charleston paper. The Northern papers had copied
the first four resolves, with the preamble, and had summar-
ized the others. At the instance of Gov. Swain, Dr. Joseph
Johnston found in the Charleston library a copy of the South
Carolina Gazette and Country Journal of Tuesday, June 13,
1775. About the same time, Mr. Bancroft, then American
minister to Great Britain, discovered the same number of the
South Carolina Gazette, which had been forwarded to the
British government by the Governor of Georgia, accom-
panied by the following letter : "By the enclosed paper, your
Lordship will see the extraordinary resolves of the people of
Charlotte-town, in Mecklenburg county, and I should not be
surprised if the same should be done everywhere else."

The original copy was destroyed in the fire which burned
the house of John McKnitt Alexander. A copy of the orig-
inal was sent before the burning of the house to the histo-
rian, Williamson, in New York, and it, together with the
other sources of his history, were destroyed by a fire in that
city. John McKnitt Alexander wrote the Declaration from
memory, and with the exception of some superfluous adjec-
tives, it is presumed to be a fairly accurate copy. This was
sent to Gen. William R. Davie and recovered after his death,
and is now in the library at Chapel Hill. It is known as
the Davie copy. The Martin copy is so called from its pub-
lication in Martin's History of North Carolina. This book

MECKLENBURG DECLARATION CONTROVERSY. 5

was published in 1829, but it was prepared, in final form, be-
fore 1809. A third copy, called the Garden copy, was pub-
lished in 1828 by Alexander Garden'* of Lee's Legion, and
this is almost exactly identical with the Martin copy, which
is regarded as the authentic copy. Garden could not have
gotten it from Martin's History, which was published a year
later, and Martin testifies to Dr. Hawkes that he did not get
his copy from Garden, and did not know that Garden had a
copy. Garden was an intimate friend and associate of Dr.
William Read, of Charleston, who was a surgeon-general
of Greene's army, and was stationed in Charlotte during the
Revolution, and who attended Dr. Ephraim Brevard in his
last sickness at the house of John McKnitt Alexander.
Garden had, 'therefore, ample opportunity for obtaining at
first hand the sources of information for his chapter on the
Mecklenburg Declaration, in which Dr. Read is mentioned
as the source of his information.

While Martin's history was published in 1829, the author
testifies in the preface that he had gathered the materials for
this history before 1809, when he was sent to the Mississippi
Territory by President Madison. And that being warned
by an attack of sickness, that he might not live to publish the
history, he determined "to put the work immediately to press
in the condition it was in when it reached New Orleans. "
The references he makes are to "Records, Magazines, Ga-
zettes." No one can read the Colonial Records, lately pub-
lished, and then read the digest of them in Martin's History,
without being struck with the accuracy and impartiality of
his story. As to this particular document of the Mecklen-
burg Declaration, Martin testified in a conversation with
Rev. F. L. Hawkes, D. D.. that he had obtained it "in the
western part of the State prior to the year 1800."** Judge
Francis Xavier Martin, LL. D., was an eminent jurist and

*Garden's Anecdotes of the Revolution.

**"The Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence," an Address
by Dr. Hawks in New York, December 16, 1852. Published in "Rev-
olutionary History of North Carolina," 1853.

6 HISTORY OF MECKLENBURG COUNTY.

scholar who emigrated from France to America in 1782,
and settled in New Bern. By a resolution of the Assembly,
he was employed to compile and edit the "British Statutes"
of North Carolina, and devoted the years 1791-92 to that
work. He was engaged by the Legislature, in 1794, and
again in 1803, to edit the private acts of the Assembly. All
this time he was gathering materials for his history of North
Carolina, and must have known those members of the As-
sembly from Mecklenburg who were participants in the
scenes of the 19th and 20th of May, such as Robert Irwin,
James Harris, William Polk, George Graham, and Joseph
Graham. In 1806-7, ne was a member of the Legislature
and again associated with George Graham, and Nathaniel
Alexander, Mecklenburg's first occupant of the Governor's
seat, who was a son-in-law of Col. Thomas Polk. Martin
had the opportunity for securing original documents, the
habit of historical investigation, the tastes and judgment of
a scholar, and the judicial temperament which weighs evi-
dence and rejects that which is false. His testimony alone
would be sufficient to establish the fact that the committee
of Mecklenburg citizens passed the resolutions which he
prints in full, on the 20th day of May, 1776.

In the year 1793, Dr. Hugh Williamson, who had an-
nounced his purpose to write a history of North Carolina,
secured a copy of the Declaration from Mr. Alexander,
which copy was seen by Gov. Stokes in Fayetteville in 1793,
in the well-known handwriting of John McKnitt Alexan-
der, as Gov. Stokes testifies.* In the year 1800, the Alexan-
der residence, with the original copy of the Declaration and
all the other proceedings of the Mecklenburg committee,
were destroyed by fire.

The following was affixed to the Davie copy in the hand-
writing of John McKnitt Alexander: "It may be worthy
of notice here to observe that the foregoing statement,
though fundamentally correct, may not literally correspond

*Dr. Hawks' Address. (See Page 8.)

MECKLENBURG DECLARATION CONTROVERSY. J

with the original record of the transactions of said delega-
tion and court of enquiry, as all those records and papers
were burnt with the house on April 6, 1800; but previous
to that time of 1800, a full copy of said records, at the re-
quest of Dr. Hugh Williamson, then of New York, but for-
merly a representative in Congress from this State, was for-
warded to him by Col. William Polk, in order that those
early transactions might fill their proper place in a history
of this State then writing by said Dr. Williamson, in New
York.

''Certified to the best of my recollection and belief, this
3d day of September, 1800."

The Davie copy is a free version of the Martin copy. It
begins with the past tense, "Whosoever abetted." showing
the act of memory involved. There is a superfluity of ad-
jectives, "unchartered and dangerous," "inherent and
inalienable," which may be an echo of the National Declara-
tion, though "rights inalienably ours" is an expression found
in the articles of association adopted by Congress in 1774-
"Americans" becomes "American patriots" in the old man's
memory. A preamble is put to the fourth resolution, "as
we n< >w acknowledge the existence and control of no law or
le<ral officer, civil or military" — "all and each" becomes "all,
each and every." Instead of "be entitled to exercise the
same powers and authorities as heretofore," Mr. Alexander
gives as the substance of it. "is hereby reinstated in his
former command an authority." "According to law" is
changed to "according to said adopted laws," and "the love
of liberty and of country" is recalled as "the love of country
and the fire of' freedom." The resolution about carrying the
copy to Philadelphia is omitted in Mr. Alexander's account.
Otherwise the copies agree.

It is impossible to believe that in writing down his recol-
lection of the resolutions adopted, Mr. Alexander should
have certified that the copy was fundamentally correct, and
at the same time have appealed to an exact copy for proof of
the fundamental correctness, the exact copy to be published,

8 HISTORY OF MECKLENBURG COUNTY.

as he thought, to the world, unless he was confident that his
recollection was reliable. When the fire destroyed the origi-
nal, he remarked that the declaration was safe, as Dr. Wil-
liamson had a copy.

Dr. Williamson did not complete his history as projected,
stopping with the year 1771. When the missing copy was
sought for, it was found that his papers also had been de-
stroyed by a fire in New York. The papers from which
Martin compiled his history were sent to France and have
disappeared. The data collected for Garden's Anecdotes has
also been lost, and no copy of the Cape Fear Mercury of
June, 1775, has ever come to light except the copy which
Gov. Martin sent to London and which Mr. Stevenson, of
Virginia, borrowed and did not return.*

They who undertook the task of proving that the Meck-
lenburg Declaration was not made, chose as their ground
for argument that some "Resolves" were adopted May 31,
and that these "Resolves" did not go so far as the Declara-
tion. They proved beyond all doubt that the Resolves were
made, while their opponents in the discussion proved that
the Declaration was made. Hence, we were given conclu-
sive evidence of two meetings, one of which completed the
work of the other. Some writers have lost the whole ques-
tion in a hazy attempt to merge the two sets of resolutions
and the two conventions into one, and hence have not noted
the fact that the Declaration of May 20 declared the inde-
pendence of Mecklenburg county, and that the Resolves of
May 31 proclaimed the independence of the United Colonies.

{Rev. Francis L. Hawks, D. D., LL. Z)j**

No less than seven witnesses of most unexceptionable character
swear positively that there was a meeting of the people of Mecklen-
burg at Charlotte, on the 19th and 20th days of May, 1775; that cer-
tain declarations distinctly declaring independence of Great Britain
were then and there prepared by a committee, read publicly to the

♦Record in the British Museum.
**In an Address. (See Note, Page 5.)

MECKLENBURG DECLARATION CONTROVERSY. 9

people by Col. Thomas Polk, and adopted by acclamation; that they
were present and took part in the proceedings themselves, and that
John McKnitt Alexander was a Secretary of the meeting. These
seven swear positively to the date, the 19th and 20th days of May,
1775. * * * Now as to the paper sent to Williamson, Hon. Mont-
fort Stokes was Governor of North Carolina in the year 1831; while
he occupied that high position, he testified that in the year 1793,
(mark the date), he saw in the possession of Dr. Williamson a copy
of the documents of the 20th of May, 1775, in the handwriting of
John McKnitt Alexander, together with a letter to Williamson from
Alexander, and that he conversed with Williamson on the subject.

(Wheeler's History of North Carolina, Page 258.)
The first American manifesto against the encroachments of
power, the elective franchise, and the unwise interference of trade,
was made in North Carolina as early as 1678, and nearly two
hundred years before our independence was declared. Thus were
sown, deep and broad, the seeds of liberty among her people with
a liberal hand. * * * That the people of North Carolina should
always have been.

"Men who knew their rights, and knowing dared maintain,"
is evident from every page of her history. But, that her sons should,
on the 20th day of May, 1775, assemble at Charlotte, at a period of
doubt, of darkness, and of danger, without concert with other
States, without assurance of support from any quarter, and there
"dissolve the political bands which connected them with the mother
country," and there "declare themselves a free and independent
people, and of right, ought to be soverign and self governing," is a
subject full of moral sublimity, and a source of elevating State
pride.

(Charlotte Democrat, July 8, 1873.)*
A highly intelligent gentleman, who has lived in Charlotte over
fifty years, told us the other day that at a celebration in Charlotte on
the 20th of May, 1835, he saw in procession seventy-five persons
who were present when the Declaration was made on the 20th of
May, 1775; and who testified that the meeting of the 31st of May
was an adjourned one from the 20th.

(Preface to Martin's History of North Carolina.)
The writer imagined he had collected sufficient materials to
justify the hope of producing a history of North Carolina worth

♦Carnegie Free Library, of Charlotte.

IO HISTORY OF MECKLENBURG COUNTY.

the attention of his fellow citizens, and he had arranged all those
that related to transactions, anterior to the Declaration of Inde-
pendence, when, in 1809, Mr. Madison thought his services were
wanted, first in the Mississippi territory and afterwards in that of
New Orleans; and when the latter territory became a State, the
new government thought proper to retain him.

He had entertained the hope that the time would arrive when
•disengaged from public duties, he might resume the work he had
commenced in Carolina; but years have rolled away without bring-
ing on this period; and a shock his health lately received during
the year of his great climacteric, has warned him that the moment
is arrived when his intended work must engage his immediate
attention, or be absolutely abandoned.

A circumstance, for some time, recommended the latter alter-
native. The public prints stated, that a gentleman of known
industry and great talents, who has filled a very high office in North
Carolina, was engaged in a similar work; but several years have
elapsed since, and nothing favors the belief, that the hopes which
he had excited will soon be realized.

This gentleman had made application for the materials not
published and they would have been forwarded to him, if they had
been in a condition of being useful to any but him who had col-i
lected them. In their circuitous way from Newbern to New York
and New Orleans, the sea water found its way to them: since their
arrival, the mice, worms and the variety of insects of a humid and
warm climate, have made great ravages among them. The ink of
several very ancient documents has grown so pale as to render
them nearly illegible, and notes hastily taken on a journey are in
so cramped a hand that they are not to be deciphered by any
person but him who made them.

The determination has been taken to put the work immediately
to the press, in the condition it was when it reached New Orleans:
this has prevented any use being made of Williamson's History of
North Carolina, a copy of which did not reach the writer's hands
till after his arrival in Louisiana.

The expectation is cherished, that the people of North Carolina
will receive with indulgence a work ushered to light under circum-
stances so untoward.

Very ample notes and materials are ready for a volume, relating
to the events of the Revolutionary War, and another, detailing sub-
sequent transactions, till the writer's departure from Newbern, in
1809. If God yield him life and health, and his fellow citizens in

MECKLENBURG DECLARATION CONTROVERSY. 1 1

North Carolina appear desirous these should follow the two vol-
umes now presented to them, it is not improbable they will appear.

Feancis Xaviee Martin.
Gentilly, near New Orleans, July 20, 1829.

(John Adams to Thomas Jefferson.)*

"Quincy, 22d June, 1819.
"Deae Sir,

"May I enclose you one of the greatest curiosities, and one of the
deepest mysteries that ever occurred to me; it is in the Esssex
Register of June the 5th, 1819. It is entitled, from the Raleigh
Register, 'Declaration of Independence.' How is it possible that
this paper should have been concealed from me to this day. Had
it been communicated to me in the time of it, I know, if you do not
know, that it would have been printed in every Whig newspaper
upon the continent. You know, that if I had possessed it, I would
have made the Hall of Congress echo and re-echo with it fifteen
months before your Declaration of Independence. What a poor
ignorant, malicious, short-sighted, crapulous mass is Tom Paine's
Common Sense in comparison with this paper. Had I known it
I would have commented upon it from the day you entered Con-
gress till the fourth of July, 1776.

"The genuine sense of America at that moment was never so
well expressed before nor since. Richard Caswell, William Hooper,
and Joseph Hewes, the then Representatives of North Carolina in
Congress, you know as well as I; and you know that the unanimity
of the States finally depended on the vote of Joseph Hewes, and was
finally determined by him; and yet history is to ascribe the Ameri-
can Revolution to Thomas Paine. Sat Verbum sapienti.
"I am, dear sir, your invariable friend,

"John Adams.

"President Jefferson."

(Thomas Jefferson to John Adams.)**

This letter is published in the furtherance of the author's
desire to give all the evidence. Mr. Jefferson's misinforma-
tion and mistakes are numerous. He expresses doubt as to
the publication in the Raleigh Register and to the exist-

* Jones' Defence of the Revolutionary History of North Carolina.
Page 296.

** State Pamphlet, 1831.

12 . HISTORY OF MECKLENBURG COUNTY.

ence of J. McKnitt (Alexander). He mentions "a copy
sent to the dead Caswell," when in truth the copy was sent
to William R. Davie who was living at the time Jefferson
was writing-. He refers to "historians of the adjacent States"
and to his own and Patrick Henry's biographers as though
he did not know they would be the last of all to acknowledge
that the Revolution began in North Carolina.

He speaks of "Williamson, whose memory did not recol-
lect in the history he has written of North Carolina, this
gigantic step of its county of Mecklenburg;" and William-
son's history reached only to the year 1771. And worst of
all, he speaks disparagingly of Hooper and Hewes, who ad-
vocated independence long before he did. (See Volume I.,

page 44.)

"Monticello, July 9, 1819.

"Dear Sir, — I am in debt to you for your letters of May the 21st,
27th, and June the 22nd. The first, delivered me by Mr. Greenwood,
gave me the gratification of his acquaintance; and a gratification it
always is, to be made acquainted with gentlemen of candor, worth,
and information, as I found Mr. Greenwood to be. That on the
subject of Mr. Samuel Adams Wells, shall not be forgotten in time
and place, when it can be used to his advantage.

"But what has attracted my peculiar notice, is the paper from
Mecklenburg county, of North Carolina, published in the Essex
Register, which you were so kind as to enclose in your last, of June
the 22nd. And you seem to think it genuine. I believe it spurious.
I deem it to be a very unjustifiable quiz, like that of the volcano,
so minutely related to us having broken out in North Carolina, some
half dozen years ago, in that part of the country, and perhaps in
that very county of Mecklenburg, for I do not remember its precise
locality.** If this paper be really taken from the Raleigh Register,
as quoted, I wonder it should have escaped Ritchie, who culls what
is good from every paper, as the bee from every flower; and the
National Intelligencer, too, which is edited by a North Carolinian;
and that the fire should blaze out all at once in Essex, one thou-
sand miles from where the spark is said to have fallen. But if
really taken from the Raleigh Register, who is the narrator, and
is the name subscribed real, or is it as fictitious as the paper itself?
It appeals, too, to an original book, which is burnt, to Mr. Alexander,
who is dead, to a joint letter from Caswell, Hewes, and Hooper, all

**The story was of a volcano in Buncombe county. — D. A. T.

MECKLENBURG DECLARATION CONTROVERSY. 1 3

dead, to a copy sent to the dead Caswell, and another sent to Doctor
Williamson, now probably dead, whose memory did not recollect,
in the history he has written of North Carolina, this gigantic step
of its county of Mecklenburg. Horry, too, is silent in his history
of Marion, whose scene of action was the country bordering on
Mecklenburg. Ramsay, Marshall, Jones, Girardin, Wirt, historians
of the adjacent States, all silent. When Mr. Henry's resolutions,
far short of independence, flew like lightning through every paper
and kindled both sides of the Atlantic, this flaming declaration of
the same date, of the independence of Mecklenburg county, of North
Carolina, absolving it from the British allegiance, and abjuring all
political connection with that nation, although sent to Congress,
too, is never heard of. It is not known even a twelve-month after,
when a similar proposition is first made in that body. Armed with
this bold example, would not you have addressed our timid brethren
in peals of thunder, on their tardy fears? Would not every advo-
cate of independence have rung the glories of Mecklenburg county,
in North Carolina, in the ears of the doubting Dickinson and others,
who hung so heavily on us? Yet the example of independent Meck-
lenburg county, in North Carolina, was never once quoted. The
paper speaks, too, of the continued exertions of their delegation
(Caswell, Hooper, Hewes,) 'in the cause of liberty and independence.'
Now, you remember as well as I do, that we had not a greater tory
in Congress than Hooper;* that Hewes was very wavering, some-
times firm, sometimes feeble, according as the day was clear or
cloudy; that Caswell, indeed, was a good Whig, and kept these gen-
tlemen to the notch, while he was present; but that he left us soon,
and their line of conduct became then uncertain until Penn came,
who fixed Hewes, and the vote of the State. I must not be understood
as suggesting any doubtfulness in the State of North Carolina. No
State was more fixed or forward. Nor do I affirm, positively, that
this paper is a fabrication, because the proof of a negative can only
be presumptive. But I shall believe it such until positive and
solemn proof of its authenticity shall be produced. And if the
name of McKnitt be real, and not a part of the fabrication, it needs
a vindication by the production of such proof. For the present, I
must be an unbeliever in the apocryphal gospel.

"I am glad to learn that Mr. Ticknor has safely returned to his
friends; but should have been much more pleased had he accepted
the Professorship in our University, which we should have offered
him in form. Mr. Bowditch, too, refuses us; so fascinating is the

♦These Reflections on Hooper and Hewes are Disproven by Jones'
Defence of the Revolutionary History of North Carolina. — D. A. T.

14 HISTORY OE MECKLENBURG COUNTY.

vinculum of the dulce natale solum. Our wish is to procure natives,
where they can be found, like these gentlemen, of the first order of
acquirement in their respective lines; but preferring foreigners of
the first order to natives of the second, we shall certainly have to
go, for several of our Professors, to countries more advanced in
science than we are.

"I set out within three or four days for my other home, the
distance of which, and its cross mails, are great impediments to
epistolary communications. I shall remain there about two months;
and there, here, and everywhere, I am and shall always be affection-
ately and respectfully yours,

"Th: Jefferson."

(Raleigh Register, April 30, 1819.)*

It is not, probably, known to many of our readers, that the citi-
zens of Mecklenburg county, in this State, made a Declaration of
Independence more than a year before Congress made theirs. The
following document on the subject has lately come to the hands of
the Editor from unquestionable authority, and is published that it
may go down to posterity.

North Carolina, Mecklenburg County,

May 20, 1775.

In the spring of 1775, the leading characters of Mecklenburg
county, stimulated by that enthusiastic patriotism which elevates
the mind above considerations of individual aggrandizement, and
scorning to shelter themselves from the impending storm by sub-
mission to lawless power, etc., etc., held several detached meetings,
in each of which the individual sentiments were, "that the cause of
Boston was the cause of all; that their destinies were indissolubly
connected with those of their Eastern fellow citizens — and that
they must either submit to all the impositions which an unprin-
cipled, and to them an unrepresented, Parliament might impose — or
support their brethren who were doomed to sustain the first shock
of that power, which, if successful there, would ultimately over-
whelm all in the common calamity." Conformably to these prin-
ciples, Colonel T. Polk, through solicitation, issued an order to each
Captain's company in the county of Mecklenburg, (then compris-
ing the present county of Cabarrus,) directing each militia company
to elect two persons, and delegate to them ample power to devise
ways' and means to aid and assist their suffering brethren in
Boston, and also generally to adopt measures to extricate them-
selves from the impending storm, and to secure unimpaired their

*State Pamphlet, 1831.

MECKLENBURG DECLARATION CONTROVERSY. I 5

inalienable rights, privileges and liberties, from the dominant grasp
of British imposition and tyranny.

In conformity to said order, on the 19th of May, 1775, the said
delegation met in Charlotte, vested with unlimited powers; at which
time official news, by express, arrived of the battle of Lexington on
that day of the preceding month. Every delegate felt the value and
importance of the prize, and the awful and solemn crisis which had
arrived — every bosom swelled with indignation at the malice, invet-
eracy, and insatiable revenge, developed in the late attack at Lex-
ington. The universal sentiment was: let us not flatter ourselves
that popular harangues, or resolves; that popular vapour will avert
the storm, or vanquish our common enemy — let us deliberate — let
us calculate the issue — the probable result; and then let us act with
energy, as brethren leagued to preserve our property — our lives —
and what is still more endearing, the liberties of America. Abra-
ham Alexander was then elected Chairman, and John M'Knitt Alex-
ander, Clerk. After a free and full discussion of the various objects
for which the delegation had been convened, it was unanimously
ordained.

(Here follows the Declaration.)

A number of by-laws were also added, merely to protect the asso-
ciation from confusion, and to regulate their general conduct as citi-
zens. After sitting in the Court House all night, neither sleepy,
hungry, nor fatigued, and after discussing every paragraph, they
were all passed, sanctioned, and decreed, unanimously, about 2
o'clock a. m., May 20, In a few days, a deputation of said delegation
convened, when Capt. James Jack, of Charlotte, was deputed as ex-
press to the Congress at Philadelphia, with a copy of said Resolves
and Proceedings, together with a letter addressed to our three repre-
sentatives there, viz., Richard Caswell. William Hooper and Joseph
Hewes — under express injunction, personally, and through the State
representation, to use all possible means to have said proceedings
sanctioned and approved by the General Congress. On the return
of Captain Jack, the delegation learned that their proceedings were
individually approved by the members of Congress, but that it was
deemed premature to lay them before the House. A joint letter
from said three Members of Congress was also received, compli-
mentary of the zeal in the common cause, and recommending per-
severance, order and energy.*

The subsequent harmony, unanimity, and exertion in the cause
of liberty and independence, evidently resulting from these regula-

*This letter was burned with the original Copy of the Declara-
tion.— D. A. T.

1 6 HISTORY OF MECKLENBURG COUNTY.

tions and the continued exertion of said delegation, apparently
tranquilized this section of the State, and met with the concur-
rence and high approbation of the Council of Safety, who held their
sessions at Newbern and Wilmington, alternately, and who con-
firmed the nomination and acts of the delegation in their official
capacity.

From this delegation originated the Court of Enquiry of this
county, who constituted and held their first session in Charlotte —
they then held their meetings regularly at Charlotte, at Col. James
Harris's, and at Col. Phifer's, alternately, one week at each place.
It was a Civil Court founded on military process. Before this Judi-
cature, all suspicious persons were made to appear, who were for-
mally tried and banished, or continued under guard. Its jurisdic-
tion was as unlimited as toryism, and i 3 decrees as final as the con-
fidence and patriotism of the country. Several were arrested and
brought before them from Lincoln, Rowan and the adjacent coun-
ties.

[The foregoing is a true copy of the papers on the above subject,
left in my hands by John McKnitt Alexander, deceased. I find it
mentioned on file that the original book was burned April, 1800.
That a copy of the proceedings was sent to Hugh Williamson, in
New York, then writing a History of North Carolina, and that a
copy was sent to Gen. W. R. Davie. J. McKnitt.]*

(Raleigh Register, February 18, 1820J**

MECKLENBURG DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.

When this Declaration was first published in April last, some
doubts were expressed in the Eastern papers as to its authenticity,
(none of the Histories of the Revolution having noticed the circum-
stance.) Col. William Polk, of this city, (who, though a mere youth
at the time, was present at the meeting which made the Declaration,
and whose father, being Colonel of the county, appears to have
acted a conspicuous part on the occasion,) observing this, assured
us of the correctness of the facts generally, though he thought there
were errors as to the name of the Secretary, etc., and said that he
should probably be able to correct these, and throw some further
light on the subject, by inquiries amongst some of his old friends
in Mecklenburg county. He has accordingly made inquiries, and
communicated to us the following Documents as the result, which,
we presume, will do away all doubts on the subject.

*Dt. Joseph McKnitt Alexander, son of John McKnitt Alexan-
der.— D. A. T.

**State Pamphlet, 1831.

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SIGNATURES OF PROMINENT CHARACTERS IN MECKLEN-
BURG HISTORY.

MECKLENBURG DECLARATION CONTROVERSY. I J

{Certificate of Samuel Henderson.)*

State of Nobth Cabolixa.

Meckxenbubg County.
I, Samuel Henderson, do hereby certify, that the paper annexed
was obtained by me from Maj. William Davie in its present situa-
tion, soon after the death of his father, Gen. William R. Davie, and
given to Doct. Joseph McKnitt by me. In searching for some par-
ticular paper, I came across this, and, knowing the handwriting of
John McKnitt Alexander, took it up, and examined it. Maj. Davie
said to me (when asked how it became torn) his sisters had torn it,
not knowing what it was.

Given under my hand, this 25th November, 1830.

Sam. Hendebsox.

[Note. — To this certificate of Doct. Henderson is annexed the
copy of the paper A, originally deposited by John McKnitt Alexan-
der in the hands of Gen. Davie, whose name seems to have been
mistaken by Mr. Jefferson for that of Gov. Caswell. See preface,
pages 5 and 6. This paper is somewhat torn, but is entirely legible,
and constitutes the "solemn and positive proof of authenticity"
which Mr. Jefferson required, and which would doubtless have been
satisfactory, had it been submitted to him.]

( Captain Jack's Certificate. ) *

Having seen in the newspapers some pieces respecting the Declar-
ation of Independence by the people of Mecklenburg county, in the
State of North Carolina, in May, 1775, and being solicited to state
what I know of that transaction; I would observe, that for some
time previous to, and at the time those resolutions were agreed upon,
I resided in the town of Charlotte, Mecklenburg county; was privy
to a number of meetings of some of the most influential and leading
characters of that county on the subject, before the final adoption
of the resolutions — and at the time they were adopted; among those
who appeared to take the lead, may be mentioned Hezekiah Alexan-
der, who generally acted as chairman; John McKnitt Alexander,
as secretary; Abraham Alexander, Adam Alexander, Maj. John Da-
vidson, Maj. (afterwards Gen.) Wm. Davidson, Col. Thomas Polk,
Ezekiel Polk, Dr. Ephraim Brevard, Samuel Martin, Duncan Ochle-
tree, William Willson, Robert Irvin.

When the resolutions were finally agreed on, they were publicly
proclaimed from the Court-house door in the town of Charlotte, and
received with every demonstration of joy by the inhabitants.

I was then solicited to be the bearer of the proceedings to Con-

*State Pamphlet, 1831.

l8 HISTORY OF MECKLENBURG COUNTY.

gress. I set out the following month, say June, and in passing
through Salisbury, the General Court was sitting — at the request of
the court I handed a copy of the resolutions to Col. Kennon, an At-
torney, and they were read aloud in open court. Major William
Davidson, and Mr. Avery, an attorney, called on me at my lodgings
the evening after, and observed, they had heard of but one person,
(a Mr. Beard) but approved of them.

I then proceeded on to Philadelphia, and delivered the Mecklen-
burg Declaration of Independence of May, 1775, to Richard Caswell
and "William Hooper, the delegates to Congress from the State of
North Carolina.

I am now in the eighty-eighth year of my age, residing in the
county of Elbert, in the State of Georgia. I was in the Revolution-
ary War, from the commencement to the close. I would further
observe, that the Rev. Francis Cummins, a Presbyterian clergyman,
of Greene county, in this State, was a student in the town of Char-
lotte at the time of the adoption of the resolutions, and is as well,
or perhaps better acquainted with the proceedings at that time,
than any man now living.

Col. William Polk, of Raleigh, in North Carolina, was living with
his father Thomas, in Charlotte, at the time I have been speaking
of, and although then too young to be forward in the business, yet
the leading circumstances I have related cannot have escaped his
recollection.

James Jack.
Signed this 7th Dec, 1819, in presence of
Job Weston, C. C. 0.
James Oliver, Atto. at Law.

(The Alexander Certificate.)*

North Carolina,
Cabarrus County, Nov. 29, 1830.
We, the undersigned, do hereby certify that we have frequently
heard William S. Alexander, deceased, say that he, the said Wm. S.
Alexander, was at Philadelphia, on mercantile business, in the early
part of the summer of 1775, say in June; and that on the day that
Gen. Washington left Philadelphia to take command of the North-
ern army,** he, the said Wm. S. Alexander, met with Capt. James
Jack, who informed him, the said Wm. S. Alexander, that he, the said
James Jack, was there as the agent or bearer of the Declaration of
Independence made in Charlotte, on the twentieth day of May, sev-

*State Pamphlet, 1831.
**June 23.— D. A. T.

MECKLENBURG DECLARATION CONTROVERSY. 1 9

enteen hundred and seventy-five, by the citizens of Mecklenburg,
then including Cabarrus, with instructions to present the same to
the Delegates from North Carolina, and by them to be laid before
Congress, and which he said he had done; in which Declaration the
aforesaid citizens of Mecklenburg renounced their allegiance to the
crown of Great Britain, and set up a government for themselves, un-
der the title of The Committee of Safety.
Given under our hands the date above written.

Alphonso Alexander,
Amos Alexander,
J. McKnitt.

(Francis Cummins' Certificate.)*

Lexington, Ga., November 10, 1819.
Dear Sir: — The bearer, the Hon. Thomas W. Cobb, has suggested
to me that you had a desire to know something particularly of the
proceedings of the citizens of Mecklenburg county, in North Carolina,
about the beginning of our Revolutionary War.

Previous to my becoming more particular, I will suppose you re-
member the Regulation business, which took its rise in or before
the year 1770, and issued and ended in a battle between che Regu-
lators and Governor Tryon, in the spring of 1771. Some of the Reg-
ulators were killed, and the whole dispersed. The Regulators' con-
duct "was a rudis indigestaque moles," as Ovid says, about the be-
ginning of creation; but the embryotic principles of the Revolution
were in their temper and views. They wanted strength, consist-
ency, a Congress and a Washington at their head. Tryon sent his
officers and minions through the State, and imposed the oath of
allegiance upon the people, even as far up as Mecklenburg county.
In the year 1775, after our Revolution began, the principal char-
acters of Mecklenburg county met on two sundry days, in Queen's
Museum in Charlotte, to digest Articles for a State Constitution, in
anticipation that the Province would proceed to do so. In this busi-
ness the leading characters were, the Rev. Hezekiah James Balch,
a graduate of Princeton College, an elegant scholar; Waightstill
Avery, Esq., Attorney at Law; Hezekiah and John McKnitt Alexan-
der, Esq's., Col. Thomas Polk, etc., etc.

Many men, and young men, (myself one,) before magistrates, ab-
jured allegiance to George III., or any other foreign power. At
length, in the same year, 1775, I think, at least positively before
July 4, 1776, the males generally of that county met on a certain
day in Charlotte, and from the head of the Court-house stairs pro-

*State Pamphlet, 1831.

20 HISTORY OF MECKLENBURG COUNTY.

claimed Independence on English Government, by their herald Col.
Thomas Polk. I was present, and saw and heard it, and as a young
man, and then a student in Queen's Museum, was an agent in these
things. I did not then take and keep the dates, and cannot, as to
date, be so particular as I could wish. Capt. James Jack, then of
Charlotte, but now of Elbert county, in Georgia, was sent with the
account of these proceedings to Congress, then in Philadelphia — and
brought back to the county, the thanks of Congress for their zeal —
and the advice of Congress to be a little more patient, until Congress
should take the measures thought to be best.

I would suppose, sir, that some minutes of these things must
be found among the records of the first Congress, that would per-
fectly settle their dates. I am perfectly sure, being present at the
whole of them, they were before our National Declaration of Inde-
pendence.

Hon. Sir, if the above few things can afford you any gratification,
it will add to the happiness of your friend and humble servant.

Francis Cummins.

Hon. Nathaniel Macon.

(Joseph Graham's Certificate.)*

Vesuvius Furnace, 4th October, 1830.

Dear Sir: — Agreeably to your request, I will give you the details
of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence on the 20th of May,
1775, as well as I can recollect after a lapse of fifty-five years. I
was then a lad about half grown, was present on that occasion (a
looker on).

During the Winter and Spring preceding that event, several pop-
ular meetings of the people were held in Charlotte; two of which I
attended. — Papers were read, grievances stated, and public measures
discussed. As printing was not then common in the South, the
papers were mostly manuscript; one or more of which was from the
pen of the Reverend Doctor Reese, (then of Mecklenburg), which
met with general approbation, and copies of it circulated. It is to
be regretted that those and other papers published at that period,
and the journal of their proceedings, are lost. They would show
much of the spirit and tone of thinking which prepared them for the
measures they afterwards adopted.

On the 20th of May, 1775, besides the two persons elected from
each militia company, (usually called Committee-men), a much
larger number of citizens attended in Charlotte than at any former
meeting — perhaps half the men in the county. The news of the
battle of Lexington, the 19th of April preceding, had arrived. There

♦State Pamphlet, 1831.

MECKLENBURG DECLARATION CONTROVERSY. 21

appeared among the people much excitement. The committee were
organized in the Court-house by appointing Abraham Alexander,
Esq., Chairman, and John McKnitt Alexander, Esq., Clerk or Sec-
retary to the meeting.

After reading a number of papers as usual, and much animated
discussion, the question was taken and they resolved to declare
themselves independent. One among other reasons offered, that the
King or Ministry had, by proclamation or some edict, declared the
Colonies out of the protection of the British Crown; they ought,
therefore, to declare themselves out of his protection, and resolve on
independence. That their proceedings might be in due form, a sub-
committee, consisting of Dr. Ephraim Brevard, a Mr. Kennon, an
attorney, and a third person, whom I do not recollect, were ap-
pointed to draft their Declaration. They retired from the Court-
house for some time; but the committee continued in session in it.
One circumstance occurred I distinctly remember: A member of
the committee, who had said but little before, addressed the Chair-

•

man as follows: "If you resolve on independence, how shall we all
be absolved from the obligations of the oath we took to be true to
King George the III. about four years ago, after the Regulation
battle, when we were sworn whole militia companies together. I
should be glad to know how gentlemen can clear their consciences
after taking that oath." This speech produced confusion. The
Chairman could scarcely preserve order, so many wished to reply.
There appeared great indignation and contempt at the speech of the
member. Some said it was nonsense; others that allegiance and
protection were reciprocal; when protection was withdrawn, alle-
giance ceased; that the oath was only binding while the King pro-
tected us in the enjoyment of our rights and liberties as they ex-
isted at the time it was taken; which he had not done, but now de-
clared us out of his protection; therefore was not binding. Any
man who would interpret it otherwise, was a fool. By way of illus-
tration, (pointing to a green tree near the Court-house), stated, if
he was sworn to do anything as long as the leaves continued on
that tree, it was so long binding; but when the leaves fell, he was
discharged from its obligation. This was said to be certainly appli-
cable in the present case. Out of respect for a worthy citizen, long
since deceased, and his respectable connections, I forbear to mention
names; for, though he was a friend to the cause, a suspicion rested
on him in the public mind for some time after.

The sub-committee appointed to draft the resolutions returned,
and Dr. Ephraim Brevard read their report, as near as I can recol-
lect, in the very words we have since seen them several times in
print. It was unanimously adopted, and shortly after it was moved

22 HISTORY OE MECKLENBURG COUNTY.

and seconded to have proclamation made and the people collected,
that the proceedings be read at the Court-house door, in order that
all might hear them. It was done, and they were received with
enthusiasm. It was then proposed by some one aloud to give three
cheers and throw up their hats. It was immediately adopted, and
the hats thrown. Several of them lit on the Court-house roof. The
owners had some difficulty to reclaim them.

The foregoing is all from personal knowledge. I understood af-
terwards that Captain James Jack, then of Charlotte, undertook, on
the request of the committee, to carry a copy of their proceedings to
Congress, which then sat in Philadelphia; and on his way, at Salis-
bury, the time of court, Mr. Kennon, who was one of the committee
who assisted in drawing the Declaration, prevailed on Captain Jack
to get his papers, and have them read publicly; which was done,
and the proceedings met with general approbation. But two of the
lawyers, John Dunn and a Mr. Booth, dissented, and asserted they
were treasonable, and endeavored to have Captain Jack detained.
He drew his pistols, and threatened to kill the first man who would
interrupt him, and passed on. The news of this reached Charlotte
in a short time after, and the executive of the committee, whom
they had invested with suitable powers, ordered a party of ten or
twelve armed horsemen to bring said lawyers from Salisbury; when
they were brought, and the case investigated before the committee.
Dunn, on giving security and making fair promises, was permitted
to return, and Booth was sentenced to go to Camden, in South Caro-
lina, out of the sphere of his influence. My brother George Graham
and the late Col. John Carruth were of the party that went to Salis-
bury; and it is distinctly remembered that when in Charlotte they
came home at night, in order to provide for their trip to Camden;
and that they and two others of the party took Booth to that place.
This was the first military expedition from Mecklenburg in the Rev-
olutionary war, and believed to be the first anywhere to the South.

Yours respectfully,

J. Graham.
Dr. Jos. WKt. Alexander, Mecklenburg, N. Carolina.

Certificate (Graham, Hutchison, Clark, Robinson.)*

State of North Carolina,
Mecklenburg County.
At the request of Col. William Polk, of Raleigh, made to Major-
General George Graham, soliciting him to procure all the informa-
tion that could be obtained at this late period, of the transactions

♦State Pamphlet, 1831.

MECKLENBURG DECLARATION CONTROVERSY. 2T,

which took place in the county of Mecklenburg, in the year 1775, as
it respected the people of that county having declared Independence;
of the time when the Declaration was made; who were the princi-
pal movers and leaders, and the members who composed the body
of Patriots who made the Declaration, and signed the same.

We, the undersigned citizens of the said county, and of the several
ages set forth opposite to each of our names, do certify, and on our
honor declare, that we were present in the town of Charlotte, in the
said county of Mecklenburg, on the 19th day of May, 1775, when two
persons elected from each Captain's Company in said county, ap-
peared as delegates, to take into consideration the state of the coun-
try, and to adopt such measures as to them seemed best, to secure
their lives, liberty, and property, from the storm which was gather-
ing, and had burst upon their fellow-citizens to the Eastward, by a
British army, under the authority of the British King and Parlia-
ment.

The order for the election of Delegates was given by Col. Thomas
Polk, the commanding officer of the militia of the county, with a re-
quest that their powers should be ample, touching any measure that
should be proposed.

We do further certify and declare, that to the best of our recollec-
tion and belief, the delegation was complete from every company,
and that the meeting took place in the Court-house, about 12 o'clock
on the said 19th day of May, 1775, when Abraham Alexander was
chosen Chairman, and Dr. Ephraim Brevard Secretary. That the
Delegates continued in session until in the night of that day; that
on the 20th they again met, when a committee, under the direction
of the Delegates, had formed several resolves, which were read,
and which went to declare themselves, and the people of Mecklen-
burg county, Free and Independent of the King and Parliament of
Great Britain— and that, from that day thenceforth, all allegiance
and political relation was absolved between the good people of
Mecklenburg and the King of Great Britain; which Declaration was
signed by every member of the Delegation, under the shouts and
huzzas of a very large assembly of the people of the county, who
had come to know the issue of the meeting. We further believe,
that the Declaration of Independence was drawn up by the Secre-
tary, Dr. Ephraim Brevard, and that it was conceived and brought
about through the instrumentality and popularity of Col. Thomas
Polk, Abraham Alexander, John McKnitt Alexander, Adam Alexan-
der, Ephraim Brevard, John Phifer, and Hezekiah Alexander, with
some others.

We do further certify and declare, that in a few days after the
Delegates adjourned, Captain James Jack, of the town of Char-

24 HISTORY OF MECKLENBURG COUNTY.

lotte, was engaged to carry the resolves to the President of Con-
gress, and to our Representatives — one copy for each; and that his
expenses were paid by a voluntary subscription. And we do know
that Captain Jack executed the trust, and returned with answers,
both from the President and our Delegates in Congress, expressive
of their entire approbation of the course that had been adopted,
recommending a continuance in the same; and that the time would
soon be, when the whole Continent would follow our example.

We further certify and declare, that the measures which were
adopted at the time before mentioned, had a general influence on the
people of this county to unite them in the cause of liberty and the
country, at that time; that the same unanimity and patriotism con-
tinued unimpaired to the close of the war; and that the resolutions
had considerable effect in harmonizing the people in two or three ad-
joining counties.

That a committee of Safety for the county were elected, who
were clothed with civil and military power, and under their au-
thority several disaffected persons in Rowan, and Tryon (now Lin-
coln county), were sent for, examined, and conveyed (after it was
satisfactorily proven they were inimical) to Camden, in South
Carolina, for safe keeping.

We do further certify, that the acts passed by the committee of
Safety, were received as the Civil Law of the land in many cases,
and that Courts of Justice for the decision of controversies between
the people were held, and we have no recollection that dissatisfac-
tion existed in any instance with regard to the judgments of said
courts.

We are not, at this late period, able to give the names of all the
Delegation who formed the Declaration of Independence; but can
safely declare as to the following persons being of the number, viz.:
Thomas Polk, Abraham Alexander, John McKnitt Alexander, Adam
Alexander, Ephraim Brevard, John Phifer, Hezekiah James Balch,
Benjamin Patton, Hezekiah Alexander, Richard Barry, William
Graham, Matthew M'Clure, Robert Irwin, Zachias Wilson, Neil Mor-
rison, John Flennegen, John Queary, Ezra Alexander.

In testimony of all and every part herein set forth, we have here-
unto set our hands.

Geo. Graham, aged 61, near 62.

Wm. Hutchison, " 68.

Jonas Clark, " 61.

Rob't Robinsox. " 68.

MECKLENBURG DECLARATION CONTROVERSY. 25

(John Simeson to Col. William Polk.)*

Providence, January 20, 1820.

Dear Sir: — After considerable delay, occasioned partly to obtain
what information I could, in addition to my own knowledge of the
facts in relation to our Declaration of Independence, and partly by
a precarious, feeble old age, I now write to you in answer to yours
of the 24th ult.

I have conversed with many of my old friends and others, and
all agree in the point, but few can state the particulars; for although
our country is renowned for general intelligence, we have still
some that don't read the public prints. You know, in the language
of the day, every Province had its Congress, and Mecklenburg had
its county Congress, as legally chosen as any other, and assumed an
attitude until then without a precedent; but, alas those worthies who
conceived and executed that bold measure, are no more; and one
reason why so little new light can be thrown on an old truth, may
be this — and I appeal to yourself for the correctness of the re-
mark — we who are now called Revolutionary men, were then
thoughtless, precipitate youths; we cared not who conceived the
bold act, our business was to adopt and support it. Yourself, sir,
in your eighteenth year and on the spot, your worthy father, the
most popular and influential character in the county, and yet you
cannot state much from recollection. Your father, as commanding
officer of the county, issued orders to the captains to appoint two
men from each company to represent them in the committee. It
was done. Neill Morrison, John Flennegen, from this company;
Charles Alexander, John McKnitt Alexander, Hezekiah Alexander,
Abraham Alexander, Esq., John Phifer, David Reese, Adam Alexan-
der, Dickey Barry, John Queary, with others, whose names I cannot
obtain. As to the names of those who drew up the Declaration, I
am inclined to think Dr. Brevard was the principal, from his known
talents in composition. It was, however, in substance and form, like
that great national act agreed on thirteen months after. Ours was
towards the close of May, 1775. In addition to what I have said,
the same committee appointed three men to secure all the military
stores for the country's use — Thomas Polk, John Phifer, and Joseph
Kennedy. I was under arms near the head of the line, near Col.
Polk, and heard him distinctly read a long string of Grievances, the
Declaration and Military Order above. I likewise heard Col. Polk
have two warm disputes with two men of the county, who said the
measures were rash and unnecessary. He was applauded and they
silenced. I was then in my 22d year, an enemy to usurpation and

*State Pamphlet, 1831.

26 HISTORY OF MECKLENBURG COUNTY.

tyranny of every kind, with a retentive memory, and fond of liberty,
that had a doubt arisen in my mind that the act would be contro-
verted, proof would not have been wanting; but I comfort myself
tbat none but the self-important peace-party and blue-lights of the
Bast, will have the assurance to oppose it any further. The biogra-
pher of Patrick Henry (Mr. Wirt) says he first suggested Independ-
ence in the Virginia Convention; but it is known they did not reduce
it to action— so that it will pass for nothing. The Courts likewise
acted independently. I myself heard a dispute take place on the
bench, and an acting magistrate was actually taken and sent to
prison by an order of the Chairman.

Thus, sir, have I thrown together all that I can at this time. I
am too blind to write fair, and too old to write much sense — but if
my deposition before the Supreme Court of the United States would
add more weight to a truth so well known here, it would be at the
service of my fellow-citizens of the country and State generally.

I am, sir, your friend and humble servant,

John Simeson, Sen.

P. S. — I will give you a short anecdote. An aged man near me,
on being asked if he knew anything of this affair, replied, "Och,
aye, Tarn Polk declared Independence long before anybody else."
This old man is 81.

(Certificate of Isaac Alexander.)*

I hereby certify that I was present in Charlotte on the 19th and
20th days of May, 1775, when a regular deputation from all the
Captains' companies of militia in the county of Mecklenburg, to-wit:
Col. Thomas Polk, Adam Alexander, Lieut. Col. Abram Alexander,
John McKnitt Alexander, Hezekiah Alexander, Ephraim Brevard,
and a number of others, who met to consult and take measures for
the peace and tranquility of the citizens of said county, and who
appointed Abraham Alexander their Chairman, and Doctor Ephraim
Brevard Secretary; who, after due consultation, declared themselves
absolved from their allegiance to the King of Great Britain, and
drew up a Declaration of their Independence, which was unani-
mously adopted; and employed Capt. James Jack to carry copies
thereof to Congress, who accordingly went. These are a part of the
transactions that took place at that time, as far as my recollection
serves me.

Isaac Alexander.

October 8, 1830.

*State Pamphlet, 1831.

MECKLENBURG DECLARATION CONTROVERSY. 27

(Certificate of Samuel Wilson.)*

State of North Carolina,

Mecklenburg County.
I do hereby certify, that in May, 1775, a committee or delegation
from the different militia companies in this county met in Charlotte;
and after consulting together, they publicly declared their independ-
ence on Great Britain, and on her Government. This was done be-
fore a large collection of people, who highly approved of it. I was
then and there present, and heard it read from the Court-house
door. Certified by me. Samuel Wilson.

(Certificate of John Davidson.)*

Beaver Dam, October 5, 1830.

Dear Sir: — I received your note of the 25th of last month, requir-
ing information relative to the Mecklenburg Declaration of Inde-
pendence. As I am, perhaps, the only person living, who was a
member of that Convention, and being far advanced in years, and
not having my mind frequently directed to that circumstance for
some years, I can give you but a very succinct history of that trans-
action. There were two men chosen from each captain's company,
to meet in Charlotte, to take the subject into consideration. John
McKnitt Alexander and myself were chosen from one company;
and many other members were there that I now recollect, whose
names I deem unnecessary to mention. When the members met,
and were perfectly organized for business, a motion was made to de-
clare ourselves independent of the Crown of Great Britain, which
was carried by a large majority. Dr. Ephraim Brevard was then
appointed to give us a sketch of the Declaration of Independence,
which he did. James Jack was appointed to take it on to the
American Congress, then sitting in Philadelphia, with particular in-
structions to deliver it to the North Carolina Delegation in Con-
gress, (Hooper and Caswell). When Jack returned, he stated that
the Declaration was presented to Congress, and the reply was, that
they highly esteemed the patriotism of the citizens of Mecklenburg;
but they thought the measure too premature.

I am confident that the Declaration of Independence by the peo-
ple of Mecklenburg was made public at least twelve months before
that of the Congress of the United States.

I do certify that the foregoing statement, relative to the Meck-
lenburg Independence is correct, and which I am willing to be
qualified to, should it be required. Yours respectfully,

Doct. J. M. Alexander. John Davidson.

♦State Pamphlet, 1831.

28 HISTORY OF MECKLENBURG COUNTY.

Note. — The following is a copy of an original paper furnished by
the writer of the foregoing certificate, from which it would seem,
that, from the period of the Mecklenburg Declaration, every indi-
vidual friendly to the American cause was furnished by the Chair-
man of that meeting, Abraham Alexander, with testimonials of the
character he had assumed; and in this point of view the paper af-
fords strong collateral testimony of the correctness of many of
the foregoing certificates.

North Carolina,
Mecklenburg County,
November 28, 1775.
These may certify to all whom may concern, that the bearer
hereof, William Henderson, is allowed here to be a true friend to
liberty, and signed the Association.
Certified by Abr'm Alexander,

Chairman of the Committee of P. S.

(Letter From J. G. M. Ramsey.)*

Mecklenburg, T. Oct. 1, 1830.
Dear Sir:— Yours of 21st ultimo was duly received. In answer I
have only to say, that little is in my possession on the subject
alluded to which you have not already seen. Subjoined are the cer-
tificates of two gentlemen of this county, whose respectability and
veracity are attested by their acquaintances here, as well as by the
accompanying testimonials of the magistrates in whose neighbor-
hood they reside. With this you will also receive extracts from
letters on the same subject from gentlemen well known to you, and
to the country at large.

I am, very respectfully yours, etc.,

J. G. M. Ramsey.

(Certificate of James Johnson.)*

I, James Johnson, now of Knox county, Tennessee, but formerly
of Mecklenburg county, North Carolina, do hereby certify, that to
the best of my recollection, in the month of May, 1775, there were
several meetings in Charlotte concerning the impending war. Being
young, I was not called on to take an active part in the same; but
one thing I do positively remember, that she (Mecklenburg county)
did meet and hold a Convention, declared independence, and sent a
man to Philadelphia with the proceedings. And I do further cer-
tify, that I am well acquainted with several of the men who formed
or constituted said Convention, viz.: John McKnitt Alexander, Hez-

*State Pamphlet, 1831.

MECKLENBURG DECLARATION CONTROVERSY. 20.

ekiah Alexander, Abraham Alexander, Adam Alexander, Robert
Irwin, Neill Morrison, John Flennegen, John Queary.
Certified by me this 11th day of October, 1827.

James Johnson,
In my seventy-third year.

{Certificate of Elijah Johnson and James Wilhite.)*
We, Elijah Johnson and James Wilhite, acting Justices of the
Peace for the county of Knox, do certify, that we have been a long
time well acquainted with Samuel Montgomery and James Johnson,
both residents of Knox county; and that they are entitled to full
credit, and any statement they may make to implicit confidence.
Given under our hands and seals this 4th day of October, 1830.

Elijah Johnson, [Seal.]
James Wilhite, [Seal.]
Justices of the Peace for Knox County.

Note. — Mr. Montgomery's certificate does not purport to state
the facts as having come under his own personal observation. It
is therefore omitted in this publication.

Instructions Given to Mecklenburg Representatives to the Provin-
cial Congress, September 1, 1776.**

1. You are instructed to vote that the late province of North Car-
olina is and of right ought to be, a free and independent State, in-
vested with all the power of Legislation, capable of making Laws
to regulate all its internal policy, subject only in its external con-
nections and foreign commerce, to a negative of a continental
Senate.

2. You are instructed to vote for the Execution of a civil Govern-
ment under the authority of the People for the future security of
all the Rights, Privileges and Prerogatives of the State, and the
private, natural and unalienable Rights of the constituting members
thereof, either as Men or Christians. If this should not be confirmed
in Congress or Convention — protest.

3. You are instructed to vote that an equal Representation be es-
tablished, and that the qualifications required to enable any person
or persons to have a voice in Legislation, may not be secured too
high, but that every Freeman who shall be called upon to support
Government either in person or property, may be admitted thereto.
If this should not be confirmed, protest and remonstrate.

*State Pamphlet, 1831.

** Wheeler's History, page 260. Date according to Governor
Swain.

30 HISTORY OF MECKLENBURG COUNTY.

4. You are instructed to vote that Legislation be not a divided
right, and that no man, or body of men be invested with a negative
on the voice of the People duly collected, and that no honors or dig-
nities be conferred, for life, or made hereditary, on any person or
persons, either legislative or executive. If this should not be con-
firmed — protest and remonstrate.

5. You are instructed to vote that all and every person or per-
sons, seized or possessed of any estate, real or personal, agreeable
to the last establishment, be confirmed in their seizure and pos-
session, to all intents and purposes in law, who have not forfeited
their right to the protection of the State by their criminal practices
towards the same. If this should not be confirmed — protest.

6. You are instructed to vote that Deputies to represent this State
in a Continental Congress be appointed in and by the supreme Leg-
islative body of the State, the form of nomination to be submitted
to, if free, and also that all officers the influence of whose office is
equally to extend to every part of the State, be appointed in the
same manner and form — likewise give your consent to the establish-
ing the old political divisions, if it should be voted in convention,
or to new ones if similar. On such establishments taking place you
are instructed to vote, in the general, that all officers, who are to
exercise their authority in any of the said districts, be recommended
to the trust only by the freemen of said division — to be subject,
however, to the general laws and regulations of the State. If this
should not be substantially confirmed — protest.

7. You are instructed to move and insist that the people you im-
mediately represent be acknowledged to be a distinct county of this
State as formerly of the late province, with the additional privilege
of annually electing in their own officers both civil and military,
together with the election of Clerks and Sheriffs, by the freemen
of the same. The choice to be confirmed by sovereign authority of
the State, and the officers so invested to be under the jurisdiction
of the State and liable to its cognizance and inflictions, in case of
malpractice. If this should not be confirmed, protest and remon-
strate.

8. You are instructed to vote that no chief justice, no secretary
of State, no auditor-general, no surveyor-general, no practicing law-
yer, no clerk of any court of record, no sheriff, and no person hold-
ing a military office in this State, shall be a representative of the
people in Congress or Convention. If this should not be confirmed —
contend for it.

9. You are instructed to vote that all claims against the public,
except such as accrue upon attendance of Congress or Convention,
be first submitted to the inspection of a committee of nine or more

MECKLENBURG DECLARATION CONTROVERSY. 3 1

men, inhabitants of the county where said claimant is a resident,
and without the approbation of said committee, it shall not be ac-
cepted by the public, for which purpose you are to move and insist
that a law be enacted to impower the freemen of each county to
choose a committee of not less than nine men, of whom none are to
be military officers. If this should not be confirmed — protest and
remonstrate.

10. You are instructed to refuse to enter into any combinations
of secrecy as members of Congress or Convention, and also to refuse
to subscribe any ensnaring jests binding you to an unlimited sub-
jection to the determination of Congress or Convention.

11. You are instructed to move and insist that the public accounts
fairly stated shall be regularly kept in proper books, open to the in-
spection of all persons whom it may concern. If this should not be
confirmed — contend for it.

12. You are instructed to move and insist that the power of Coun-
ty Courts be much more extensive than under the former constitu-
tion, both with respect to matters of property and breaches of the
peace. If not confirmed — contend for it.

13. You are instructed to assent and consent to the establishment
of the Christian Religion as contained in the scriptures of the Old
and New Testaments, and more briefly comprised in the 39 Articles
of the Church of England, excluding the 37th Article, together with
all the Articles excepted and not to be imposed on dissenters by the
act of toleration; and clearly held forth in the confession of faith
compiled by the assembly of divines at Westminster, to be the Reli-
gion of the State, to the utter exclusion forever of all and every
other (falsely so called) Religion, whether Pagan or Papal, and
that the full, free and peaceable enjoyment thereof be secured to
all and every constituent member of the State as their unalienable
right as Freemen, without the imposition of rites and ceremonies,
whether claiming civil or ecclesiastical power for their source, and
that a confession and profession of the Religion so established shall
be necessary in qualifying any person for public trust in the State.
If this should not be confirmed — protest and remonstrate.

14. You are instructed to oppose to the utmost any particular
church or set of clergymen being invested with power to decree
rites and ceremonies and to decide in controversies of faith to be
submitted to under the influence of penal laws — you are also to op-
pose the establishment of any mode of worship to be supported to
the opposition of the rights of conscience, together with the de-
struction of private property. You are to understand that under
modes of worship are comprehended the different forms of swear-
ing by law required. You are moreover to oppose the establishing

32 HISTORY OF MECKLENBURG COUNTY.

an ecclesiastical supremacy in the sovereign authority of the State.
You are to oppose the toleration of the popish idolatrous worship.
If this should not be confirmed — protest and remonstrate.

15. You are instructed to move and insist that not less than
four-fifths of the body of which you are members, shall, in voting,
be deemed a majority. If this should not be confirmed— contend
for it.

16. You are instructed to give your voices to and for every motion
and bill made or brought into the Congress or Convention, where
they appear to be for public utility and in no ways repugnant to
the above instructions.

17. Gentlemen, the foregoing instructions, you are not only to
look on as instructions, but as charges, to which you are desired to
take special heed as the general rule of your conduct as our Repre-
sentatives, and we expect you will exert yourselves to the utmost
of your ability to obtain the purposes given you in charge, and
wherein you fail either in obtaining or opposing, you are hereby
ordered to enter your protest against the vote of the Congress or
Convention as is pointed out to you in the above instructions.

THREE COPIES OF THE DECLARATION.

As some writers were confused by the difference between
the Resolves and the Declaration, so they were also by three
different alleged copies of the latter. The first, or Martin
copy, is given in the ninth chapter of the first volume, and
was secured by Judge Martin, as he says, in Western North
Carolina prior to 1800. As it would have been virtually im-
possible for an incorrect copy to have co-existed with the
original, which was destroyed in 1800, this is obviously a
genuine reproduction.

Following is the Davie copy, which was written from
memory by John McKnitt Alexander soon after the burning
of his house and the official papers :

1st. Resolved, That whosoever directly or indirectly abbetted or
in any way or form countenanced the unchartered and dangerous
invasion of our rights as claimed by Great Britain, is an enemy to
this country, to America, and to the inherent and inalienable rights
of man.

2d. Resolved, That we, the citizens of Mecklenburg county, do
hereby dissolve the political bands which have connected us to the

^^tJfrsttosJM

l <g^^<&%-i77 l

r c

SIGNATURES OF PROMINENT CHARACTERS IN MECKLEN-
BURG HISTORY.

MECKLENBURG DECLARATION CONTROVERSY. 33

mother country, and hereby absolve ourselves from all allegiance
to the British Crown, and abjure all political connection, contract
or association, with that nation who have wantonly trampled on
our rights and liberties, and inhumanly shed the blood of Ameri-
can patriots at Lexington.

3d. Resolved, That we do hereby declare ourselves a free and in-
pendent people; are and of right ought to be a sovereign and self-
governing association, under the control of no other power but that
of our God and the general government of the Congress; to the
maintenance of which independence, we solemnly pledge to each
other our mutual co-operation, our lives, our fortunes, and our most
sacred honour.

4th. Resolved, That as we now acknowledge the existence and
control of no law or legal officer, civil or military, within this coun-
ty, we do hereby ordain and adopt as a rule of life, all, each and
every of our former laws, wherein, nevertheless, the crown of Great
Britain never can be considered as holding rights, privileges, immu-
nities, or authority therein.

5th. Resolved, That it is further decreed, that all, each and every
military officer in this county is hereby reinstated in his former
command and authority, he acting conformably to these regulations.
And that every member present of this delegation, shall henceforth
be a civil officer, viz: a Justice of the Peace, in the character of a
"Committeeman," to issue process, hear and determine all matters of
controversy according to said adopted laws, and to preserve peace,
union and harmony in said county; and to use every exertion to
spread the love of country and the fire of freedom throughout Amer-
ica, until a more general and organized government be established
in this province.

The Garden copy, which is almost exactly similar to the
Martin copy, was published in Garden's Anecdotes of the
Revolution, in 1828, one year before the publication of Alar-
tin's history. Alexander Garden acknowledges as his source
of information Dr. William Read, who attended Dr.
Ephraim Brevard in his last illness in 1777, at the home of
John McKnitt Alexander. Both the Garden and Martin
copies are undoubtedly genuine reproductions of the origi-
nal ; the first was published in 1828 and the other in 1829,
and Garden and Martin both stated that they did not know
of the existence of the other copy until both had appeared in
print. The Garden copy is as follows :

34 HISTORY OF MECKLENBURG COUNTY.

Resolved, That whoever directly or indirectly abets, or in any
way, form, or manner, countenances the invasion of our rights, as
attempted by the Parliament of Great Britain, is an enemy to his
country, to America, and to the Rights of Man.

Resolved, That we, the citizens of Mecklenburg county, do hereby
dissolve the political bonds which have connected us with the
Mother Country, and absolve ourselves from all allegiance to the
British Crown, abjuring all political connection with a nation that
has wantonly trampled on our right and liberties, and inhumanly
shed the blood of Americans at Lexington.

Resolved, That we do hereby declare ourselves a free and inde-
pendent people, that we are and of right ought to be a sovereign and
self-governing people, under the power of God and the General Con-
gress, to the maintenance of which independence we solemnly pledge
to each other our mutual co-operation — our lives — our fortunes — and
our sacred honours.

Resolved, That we do hereby ordain and adopt, as rules of con-
duct, all and each of our former laws, and the Crown of Great
Britain cannot be considered, hereafter, as holding any rights, priv-
ileges or immunities among us.

Resolved, That all officers, both civil and military, in this County,
be entitled to exercise the same powers and authorities as hereto-
fore—that every member of this delegation shall henceforth be a
civil officer, and exercise the powers of a Justice of the Peace, issue
process, hear and determine controversies, according to law, pre-
serve peace, union and harmony in the county, and use every exer-
tion to spread the love of liberty and of country, until a more gen-
eral and better organized system of governmnet be established.

Resolved, That a copy of these Resolutions be transmitted by ex-
press to the President of the Continental Congress, assembled at
Philadelphia, to be laid before that body.

Resolves of May 31, 1775, Copied from the South Carolina Gazette
and Country Journal of June 13, 1775, No. 498 — Printed at
Charleston by Charles Crouch, on the Bay, Corner of Elliott
Street*

Ciiaklotte-town, Mecklenburg County, May 31, 1775.

This day the Committee of this county met, and passed the fol-
lowing Resolves:

Whereas, By an Address presented to His Majesty by both Houses
of Parliament, in February last, the American colonies are declared

♦Copies of this paper are now on file in Charleston, S. C, and
London, England.

MECKLENBURG DECLARATION CONTROVERSY. 35

to be in a state of actual rebellion, we conceive, that all laws and
commissions confirmed by, or derived from the authority of the
King or Parliament, are annulled and vacated, and the former civil
constitution of these colonies, for the present, wholly suspended.
To provide, in some degree, for the etigencies of this county, in the
present alarming period, we deem it proper and necessary to pass
the following Resolves, viz.:

I. That all commissions, civil and military, heretofore granted
by the Crown, to be exercised in these colonies, are null and void,
and the constitution of each particular colony wholly suspended.

II. That the Provincial Congress of each province, under the
direction of the great Continental Congress, is invested with all
legislative and executive powers within their respective provinces,
and that no other legislative or executive power, does, or can exist,
at this time, in any of these colonies.

III. As all former laws are now suspended in this province, and
the Congress have not yet provided others, we judge it necessary,
for the better preservation of good order, to form certain rules and
regulations for the internal government of this county, until laws
shall be provided for us by the Congress.

IV. That the inhabitants of this county do meet on a certain day
appointed by this Committee, and having formed themselves into
nine companies (to-wit), eight in the county, and one in the cown
of Charlotte, do chuse a Colonel and other military officers, who
shall hold and exercise their several powers by virtue of this choice,
and independent of the Crown of Great Britain, and former consti-
tution of this province.

V. That for the better preservation of the peace and administra-
tion of justice, each of those companies do chuse from their own
body, two discreet freeholders, who shall be empowered, each by
himself and singly, to decide and determine all matters of contro-
versy, arising within said company, under the sum of twenty shil-
lings; and jointly and together, all controversies under the sum of
forty shillings; yet so as that their decisions may admit of appeal
to the Convention of the Select-Men of the county; and also that
any one of these men shall have power to examine and commit to
confinement persons accused of petit larceny.

VI. That those two Select-Men, thus chosen, do jointly and to-
gether chuse from the body of their particular company, two persons
properly qualified to act as Constables, who may assist them in the
execution of their office.

VII. That upon the complaint of any persons to either of these
Select-Men, he do issue his warrant, directed to the Constable, com-

36 HISTORY OE MECKLENBURG COUNTY.

manding him to bring the aggressor before him or them, to answer
said complaint.

VIII. That these eighteen Select-Men, thus appointed, do meet
every third Thursday in January, April, July, and October, at the
Court-House, in Charlotte, to hear and determine all matters of con-
troversy, for sums exceeding forty shillings, also appeals; and in
cases of felony, to commit the person or persons convicted thereof
to close confinement, until the Provincial Congress shall provide
and establish laws and modes of proceeding in all such cases.

IX. That these eighteen Select-Men, thus convened, do chuse a
Clerk to record the transactions of said Convention, and that said
Clerk, upon the application of any person or persons aggrieved, do
issue his warrant to one of the Constables of the company to which
the offender belongs, directing said Constable to summons and warn
said offender to appear before the Convention, at their next meeting,
to answer the aforesaid complaint.

X. That any person making complaint upon oath, to the Clerk,
or any member of the Convention, that he has reason to suspect,
that any person or persons indebted to him, in a sum above forty
shillings, intend clandestinely to withdraw from the county, without
paying such debt, the Clerk or such member shall issue his warrant
to the Constable, commanding him to take said person or persons
into safe custody, until the next sitting of the Convention.

XI. That when a debtor for a sum below forty shillings shall
abscond and leave the county, the warrant granted as aforesaid,
shall extend to any goods or chattels of said debtor, as may be
found, and such goods or chattels be seized and held in custody by
the Constable, for the space of thirty days; in which time, if the
debtor fail to return and discharge the debt, the Constable shall
return the warrant to one of the Select-Men of the company, where
the goods are found, who shall issue orders to the Constable to sell
such a part of said goods as shall amount to the sum due; That
when the debt exceeds forty shillings, the return shall be made to
the Convention, who shall issue orders for sale.

XII. That all receivers and collectors of quit-rents, public and
county taxes, do pay the same into the hands of the chairman of
this Committee, to be by them disbursed as the public exigencies
may require; and that such receivers and collectors proceed no
further in their office, until they be approved of by, and have given
to, this Committee, good and sufficient security, for a faithful return
of such monies when collected.

XIII. That the Committee be accountable to the county for the
application of all monies received from such public officers.

XIV. That all these officers hold their commissions during the
pleasure of their several constituents.

MECKLENBURG DECLARATION CONTROVERSY. 37

XV. That this committee will sustain all damages that ever here-
after may accrue to all or any of these officers thus appointed, and
thus acting, on account of their obedience and conformity to these
Resolves.

XVI. That whatever person shall hereafter receive a commis-
sion from the Crown, or attempt to exercise any such commission
heretofore received, shall be deemed an enemy to his country, and
upon information being being made to the Captain of the company
in which he resides, the said company shall cause him to be appre-
hended, and conveyed before the two Select-Men of the said com-
pany, who, upon proof of the fact, shall commit him, the said
offender, to safe custody, until the next sitting of the Committee,
who shall deal with him as prudence may direct.

XVII. That any person refusing to yield obedience to the above
Resolves, shall be considered equally criminal, and liable to the
same punishment, as the offenders above last mentioned.

XVIII. That these Resolves be in full force and virtue, until
instructions from the Provincial Congress, regulating the jurispru-
dence of the province, shall provide otherwise, or the legislative
body of Great Britain, resigns its unjust and arbitrary pretentions
with respect to America.

XIX. That the eight militia companies in the county, provide
themselves with proper arms and accoutrements, and hold them-
selves in readiness to execute the commands and directions of the
General Congress of this province and this Committee.

XX. That the Committee appoint Colonel Thomas Polk, and Doc-
tor Joseph Kenedy, to purchase 300 lb. of powder, 600 lb. of lead,
1,000 flints, for the use of the militia of this county, and deposit
the same in such place as the Committee may hereafter direct.

Signed by order of the Committee.

Eph. Bkevard,
Clerk of the Committee.

CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN JOHN VAUGHN AND COLONEL

PETER FORCE.

The following letters were secured many years ago
through the kindness of William L. Force, of Washington,
D. C, and are here published for the first time.* John
Vaughn, whose inquiry elicited the valuable reply from
Col. Force, was born in England in 1756, was a brother of

♦Preserved in manuscript by Lyman J. Draper.

38 HISTORY OF MECKLENBURG COUNTY.

Benjamin Vaughn, the friend and correspondent of Frank-
lin, came to America in 1776, and became acquainted with
Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, Adams and others; was
president of the American Philosophical Society and a man
of extensive learning and strong character, and died in Phil-
adelphia in 1 841.

Colonel Peter Force, historian, was born at Passaic Falls,
New Jersey, November 26, 1790. His father, William
Force,, was a soldier in the Revolution, and moved to 1 New
York city in 1793, and his son there learned the printer's
trade and was president of the Typographical Society in
1812. In 1815, he moved to Washington City, where he
published an annual called the National Calendar, from
1820 to 1836; in 1823, he established the National Journal
in support of Adams for the presidency ; was councilman
and alderman; mayor from 1836 to 1840; rose to the rank
of major-general of militia; and was president of the Na-
tional Institute. He published several volumes of import-
ance, the greatest of them being the American Archives, in
nine volumes. Gen. Force died in Washington January 23,
1868, leaving two sons, William L. Force and Manning F.
Force, the latter having been a general in the Civil War,
and afterwards becoming a judge in Ohio 1 .

In reading these letters, it is to be remembered that they
were written in 1841, and it is obvious that neither of the
writers had read even all the literature on the subject which
was then obtainable. Col. Force recognizes the overwhelm-
ing evidence in support of the authenticity of the Mecklen-
burg Declaration, and for want of a better explanation of
the difference between the Declaration and the Resolves,
endeavors as others have done, to account for it on the as-
sumption that there was but one meeting of the committee
and thai one or the other of the two documents was incor-
rect. Not until the publication of the Colonial Records,
nearly half a century later, was it known that these meetings
were frequent not only in Mecklenburg, but in other coun-
ties in North Carolina, and then it was made known that

MECKLENBURG DECLARATION CONTROVERSY. 39

the Resolves were adopted at a meeting- of the Mecklenburg-
Committee held eleven days after the convention, and that
they were amended and added to at similar meetings con-
vened subsequently.

(From John Vaughn to Col. Force.)

Philadelphia, Nov. 26, 1841.
Peter Force, Esq., Washington:

Dr. Sir: — Mr. Jefferson has been accused of borrowing from the
Mecklenburg, N. C, Declaration sundry expressions which he made
use of in his draught of the Declaration of Independence, and the
question was discussed at a meeting of our Historical Society, when
a paragraph was produced from a newspaper stating that you had
found a North Carolina paper in which the Mecklenburg Declara-
tion was published soon after the resolutions were adopted, which
did not contain the expressions said to be borrowed by Mr. Jeffer-
son. Knowing your correctness, they were desirous of learning
whether you had authorized such information. Oblige me by in-
forming me when the Mecklenburg Declaration was made, and
what was the date of the newspaper and its title, and whether the
expressions alluded to were not found in the original Declaration,
and in the published one, and, if not. when probably they were in-
troduced in future publications and at what time.

It is desirable to put this question to rights whilst it can be done,
and no evidence can be more conclusive than yours.

I remain yours truly,

Jxo. Vaughn.

(From Col. Force to John Vaughn.)

Washington, Dec. 11, 1841.
Dear Sir: — I avail myself of the earliest opportunity in my power
to reply to your letter of the 26th of November. The Mecklenburg
Resolutions, commonly called "The Mecklenburg Declaration of Inde-
pendence," were adopted in May, 1775. There are two papers which
are said to be copies of these Resolutions, one is in manuscript (A),
where the Resolutions are dated May 20th; the other is printed (B),
where they are dated May 31st* of that year. You ask if certain
expressions are not found in the original Declaration, and in the
published one. By "the original Declaration" I suppose you mean

*A, was the Declaration; B, was the Resolves. — D. A. T.

40 HISTORY OE MECKLENBURG COUNTY.

the manuscript copy; for of the existence of the original at this time
nothing is known. We are told that the original book, that is, the
book in which the Resolutions were originally entered, was burned
in April, 1800. It is not pretended that the manuscript now in the
executive office at Raleigh is the original Declaration — there it pur-
ports to be nothing more than a mere copy, and is incorporated into
a notice of the transactions of that period, drawn up some time
afterwards, apparently for publication. When it was written is not
stated, but it bears evidence on the face of it that it was written
after the 4th of July, 1776.* It was first published in the Raleigh
Register of April 30, 1819. "The expressions Mr. Jefferson has been
accused of borrowing for his draft of the Declaration of Independ-
ence," are found in this copy.

That the Resolutions were published soon after its date, Governor
Martin's Proclamation of the 8th of August, 1775, furnishes evidence.
The Governor says: "And whereas, I have also seen a most infa-
mous publication in the Cape Fear Mercury, importing to be the
Resolves of a set of people styling themselves a committee for the
county of Mecklenburg, most traitoriously declaring the entire dis-
solution of the Laws, Government and Constitution of their county,
and setting up a system of Rule and Regulation repugnant to the
Laws, and subversive of His Majesty's Government." After a care-
ful research and extensive inquiry, I have not been so fortunate as
to find a copy of this newspaper, and, of course, have never said
that I had found a North Carolina newspaper in which the Mecklen-
burg Declaration was published soon after the Resolutions were
adopted.

But, I have two of the early printed copies of the Mecklenburg
Resolutions. One is in the New York Journal of the 29th of June,
the other in the Massachusetts Spy of the 12th of July, 1775. The
Resolutions, then dated May 31st, do not contain the expressions
you refer to. They were printed in New York more than a year be-
fore the Declaration of Independence, in less than a month after
their date, within a week of the time when the messenger by
whom they were transmitted to the Continental Congress was in
Philadelphia, and at the very time when the publication of a forged
or false copy must have been followed by instant detection and ex-
posure. They were then received as genuine, and I believe their
authority has not, to this day, been disputed. With regard to the
date, it is possible that in transcribing or printing a figure (3) may
have been substituted* for a (2), and then made May 31st instead

*The copy referred to was the Davie copy, made in 1800. — D. A. T.

MECKLENBURG DECLARATION CONTROVERSY. 41

of May 21st. This is altogether possible;* but it does not change
the character or affect the genuineness of the paper. It is proper to
call your attention to the fact that though the printed copy con-
tains the Resolutions which form the Declaration of Independence,
it does not give all the Resolves adopted at the same time by the
Committee. This remark applies also to the manuscript copy; but
there is this difference between the two copies — the writer of the
manuscript takes no notice of any omitted resolutions; he gives five
(numbering the Preamble as one of them), as all that were "unani-
mously ordained," leaving every one to believe, and such has been
the universal belief, that he had given the whole. The printed copy
of the 29th of June, after the Preamble and four Resolutions, gives
the substance of the succeeding eleven, and then the sixteenth Re-
solve at length.* The eleven omitted Resolutions relate exclusively
to the county of Mecklenburg, or to the province of North Carolina,
and from the "System of Rule and Regulation," for the temporary
government of that county or the province mentioned in Gov. Mar-
tin's Proclamation. As these eleven Resolutions apply only to the
local affairs of the county or province, we can readily account for
the omission by a printer in New York; but it is not easy to imag-
ine why the same Resolutions (that is, the Resolutions containing
the Rules and Regulations), were omitted by the writer of the man-
uscript, if they were in his possession when he drew up his narra-
tive, unless we suppose he intended to cover the omission by his 5th
r"&olution.

The two copies differ very widely in another respect. The manu-
script does not "declare the entire dissolution of the Laws, Govern-
ment and Constitution of this country." It applies to Mecklenburg
county alone; that county only is declared independent — "a sover-
eign and self-governing association" by itself, separated alike from
the Crown and the province, and leaving North Carolina and all tho

*The subsequent discovery of the full series of resolves in the
South Carolina Gazette and Country Journal confirmed the correct-
ness of the date (May 31), when they were adopted. For reasons
unknown, the Declaration of May 20th was not submitted for pub-
lication.— D. A. T.

*The entire set of Resolves of the 31st of May had not at this
period been discovered, and hence Col. Force was not aware that
they really numbered twenty beside the Preamble. It is also to be
borne in mind that he was endeavoring to construe the Resolves as
the Declaration, when in fact they were merely supplementary —
D. A. T.

42 HISTORY OF MECKLENBURG COUNTY.

other colonies in subjection to the Crown. The Declaration in the
printed copy is of an entirely different character. It does declare
"the entire dissolution" in that the whole country is declared inde-
pendent.* The Declaration is not for one county of one colony; it
is for all the colonies.

It is a Declaration of the independence of the United Colonies,
and made by men who saw far into the future— whose patriotism
was not limited by the boundaries of their own county. At that
early day the men of Mecklenburg marked out the true course to be
pursued by the whole continent for a redress of grievances; this
was afterwards found to be the only course. When they took their
ground they stood alone — their own province of North Carolina
did not join them. They did not ask their fellow subjects to unite
with them in so daring an enterprise without first encountering
the peril themselves. They did not wait for others to take the first
step — they did not stand at ease until the whole were prepared to
advance in line; but they boldly and fearlessly marched out to the
front, inviting by their example all the rest to follow. These men
were the first to declare that the authority of the King and Parlia-
ment over "their colonies" was annulled and vacated. They were the
first to declare "that the Provincial Congress of each province, un-
der the direction of the great Continental Congress, is invested
with all legislative and executive power, within their respective
provinces, and that no other legislative or executive power does, or
can at this time exist in any of these colonies." They were the first
to incur the responsibility, whatever it might be, of making such a
declaration, and publishing it to the world.

The Resolutoins were immediately forwarded by an express to the
Continental Congress. I need not ask which of the two Declara-
tions, the "manuscript" or the "printed" would be the most appropri-
ate for such a special communication — that which related to the
separation of a single county from a province, then represented by
three delegates in that body; or that which in substance and in
terms was a full and complete Declaration of Independence of all
the colonies? With one, the Congress had nothing to do, while
North Carolina was firm (and North Carolina was never otherwise
than firm) in her support of the Continental measures. The other
presented for consideration a question which no other body of men
on the continent was competent to decide. What was the result of

*The convention of May 20th declared the independence of "the
citizens of Mecklenburg county," while the Resolves of May 31st
"conceive" the suspension of "the former civil constitution of these
colonies:'— B. A. T.

MECKLENBURG DECLARATION CONTROVERSY 43

the mission? The Congress, as will be seen by their Declaration
of the 6th of July,* believed it inexpedient at the time to declare in-
dependence. The people of Mecklenburg acquiesced in this decision,
and fell back into line; their delegates in the next Provincial Con-
gress, held at Hillsboro, in August, 1775, united with the other
members in all their proceedings, and we find subscribed to the
"Test," adopted and signed on the 23d of August, which begins with
these words: "We, the subscribers, professing our allegiance to the
King, and acknowledging the constitutional executive power of gov-
ernment" — the names of Thomas Polk, John McKnitt Alexander,
John Phifer, Waightstill Avery, with one hundred and eighty
others, members of that Congress.

It has been suggested that there were two sets of Resolves adopted
— two separate and distinct Declarations made on two different
days — one by a convention, another by a committee of Mecklenburg
county, and that the manuscript copy is the record of the proceed-
ings of one of these meetings, the printed copy of the other meet-
ing. But this is a mere assumption not supported by a particle of
evidence. The writer of the manuscript mentions but one. None of
the survivors in 1830 of those who were inhabitants of Mecklen-
burg county in May, 1775, and present when the resolutions were
adopted, speak of two Declarations.** But one messenger was sent
by the Committee to the Continental Congress with "The Declara-
tion." Gov. Martin alluded to one only, which had then been
printed, and we find one printed six weeks before the date of his
Proclamation corresponding so exactly with his description of it as
to leave no room for doubt that it is the identical paper he de-
nounces as "the Resolves of a set of people styling themselves a
committee for the county of Mecklenburg, declaring the entire disso-
lution of the Laws, Government and Constitution of this country,
and setting up a system of Rule and Regulation," etc.

In answering your letter, my dear sir, I have endeavoured to be
as brief as possible to notice such points only as were necessary,
and to avoid everything that had not a direct bearing upon your
questions; yet I am conscious that I have extended mine to an un-
reasonable length. But upon looking it over, I see nothing that

*6th of July, 1775— D. A. T.

**They were called upon to certify specifically that the Declara-
tion was made and they did so. There was only one Declaration, and
there was no occasion for remarks about the Resolves of May 31.
Meetings were held at intervals during the entire year, but were not
mentioned in a discussion wholly concerned with the Convention
of May 20.— D. A. T.

44 HISTORY OE MECKLENBURG COUNTY.

strikes me as proper to be omitted, so I send it all, trusting to your
patience and good nature to find a suitable excuse for me. If I
bave succeeded in establisbing a single trutb, or in removing a sin-
gle doubt — if I have cleared away one of the many clouds of error,
that for twenty years have thrown so much darkness around this
brilliant star in our history, I shall be entirely satisfied. For the
convenience, I add copies of the two papers marked A and B, I have
referred to so often.

Very respectfully, etc.,

[Signed.] Petek Force.

John Vaughn, Esq., Philadelphia.

GOV. SWAIN'S LETTERS.

David Lowry Swain, son of George Swain, was born
near Asheville, Buncombe county, North Carolina, January
4, 1801. He was educated in Asheville, attended the State
University for a short while, studied law under the direction
of Judge John L. Taylor in Raleigh, served as member of
the General Assembly, Solicitor of the Edenton district,
member of the State Board of Internal Improvements,
trustee of the University, Judge of the Superior Court, and
was elected Governor in 1832, being then only thirty-one
years of age. He was elected president of the University in
1835, and served in that capacity until his death. August
27, 1868. He organized the historical society of the Uni-
versity in 1844, an d in 1855, he was appointed State Histori-
cal Agent. In this position he did work of great and lasting
value in securing and preserving documents of importance.
His generosity in assisting Bancroft, Lossing, Hawks,
Wheeler, Randall and other historians without reward in
any form, attests the sterling character of the man.

Governor Swain probably devoted more time, to the study
of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence and the
involved questions than did any other man. He examined
carefully all the available testimony in a spirit in which even
his unswerving patriotism and love for his native State
could not influence him in his search for truth. Of the
authority of the Declaration, he had no' doubts, but he
could not satisfy himself as to the details. It matters not to-

COAT OP ARMS OF THE PHIFER FAMILY, 1760.

TI-] !'■

X,\-% Proclamation . . \Smi to •*

(.of Assemble, pa&J us a^d of A?ril,\\
\ ■

PROCLAMATION MONEY.

MECKLENBURG DECLARATION CONTROVERSY 45

us to-day whether the Declaration was made May 20 or
May 31, but to Governor Swain, it was a matter of import-
ance to accurately and positively determine every item of
historical importance. Xo one has ever disputed the account
of the resolves of May 31, which were published at the time,
and when the discussion arose, the forthcoming evidence
proved the facts of the convention of May 20. Then some
writers undertook to reconcile the two or prove there was
but one. but there were the two sets of resolutions and all
finally came to the same conclusion as did Governor Swain,
as is shown in the following - correspondence.

(Gov. Swain to Hon. Benson J. Lossing.)*

Chapel Hill. Dec. 20. 1851.

My Dear Sir: — Your letter of the 14th was received this morning.
In reply to your enquiries about the Mecklenburg Declaration, I find
myself constrained to say several things which might be much
more satisfactorily communicated if I had you before me in the
midst of the books and documents to which I must necessarily refer.

The preface to the State Pamphlet, of which you speak, was writ-
ten by me for Gov. Stokes. The report of the committee (p. 9) was
drawn by Mr. Badger, of the United States Senate, the brother-in-
law of Gen. J. G. Polk, Chairman, and the son-in-law of Colonel
Wm. Polk. The latter was the only surviving field officer of the
North Carolina line, a shrewd observer, and of unquestioned truth-
fulness, and it was he who first called attention to the subject by
the publication which produced the correspondence between Adams
and Jefferson.

Neither Gov. Martin's Proclamation, nor the five Resolutions in
the American Archives (Vol. XL, p. 855), had then been disin-
terred by Col. Force, and it is not very surprising that in the then
state of facts I should have yielded to the force of my own argu-
ment. (Gov. Stoke's preface.)

The entire series of Resolutions adopted 31st of May (2d Wheeler,
p. 255), was first discovered in the Charleston Library by Dr. Joseph
Johnson, after repeated searches made at my instance, was copied

♦Benson John Lossing. born in New York, February 12. 1813, au-
thor of the Pictoral Field Book of the Revolution, Life of Wash-
ington, and other books. Died near Dover Plains. New Jersey, June
3, 1891.— D. A. T.

46 HISTORY OF MECKLENBURG COUNTY.

and communicated to me, and by me sent to Mr. Bancroft, at Lon-
don. He had found it there before my letter reached him, but not
until after Dr. Johnson had sent it to me.

All the original papers which were copied in the State Pamphlet
are now in my possession. I have examined Dr. Smyth's pamphlet,
Mr. Tucker's life of Jefferson, and probably all that has been writ-
ten, and worth reading upon the subject. There may have been a
meeting of the Committee on the 20th, and resolutions may have
been adopted; but there is no evidence satisfactory to my mind if
it be so, that the papers purporting to be Mecklenburg Declaration
are true copies of the original record. If they be, where were they
made and by whom?

The Davie paper, as we call it, (State Pamphlet, pp. 14, 15, 16),
shown to be in the handwriting of John McKnitt Alexander, in
whose house the original was burned in April, 1800, was written in
September, 1800, about five months after the destruction of the
record. It was not taken from the record, it is not shown to be the
copy of a copy, or that there was a copy extant in September, 1800.*
In form it appears to be a narrative of past events, not a record of
present proceedings. Compare it with the copy in second Martin's
History of North Carolina, page 574, and the discrepancies are
numerous and remarkable. The former consists of five, the latter of
six resolutions. The former speaks in tne past, the latter in the
present time ;and in fine the latter is not merely an enlarged, but an
improved edition.* I wrote to Judge Martin in 1842, requesting
to be informed when and by whom his copy was furnished, but I
did not succeed in extracting a reply.**

Without entering farther into the enquiry than to call attention to
the two facts which follow, I feel free to say that I regard the paper
of the 31st as the better, supposing both to be genuine.

1. You will perceive from the editorial copied from the Raleigh
Register (p. 23), that previous to February, 1820, Col. Polk, who was
present at the meeting held, "thought there were errors as to the

*The "Davie paper" was written from memory by John McKnitt
Alexander, and the fact that its variance from the genuine (Mar-
tin's) copy is no greater, is evidence that John McKnitt Alexander
was thoroughly acquainted with the original document. See his
certificate.— D. A. T.

**Martin testified to Dr. Hawks that he secured the copy before
1800 from some one (not an Alexander) in Western North Caro-
lina, but that at that late date, he did not remember the name of the
person. — D. A. T.

MECKXEXBURG DECLARATION CONTROVERSY 47

names of the secretary, etc." There was but one clerk on the 31st,
Eph. Brevard. Is it probable that a committee organized under the
articles of the American Association would have had two clerks at
any time?*

2. How is it to be accounted for that the Resolutions of the 31st
make no reference to the proceedings of the 20th, if the former were
not merely more important than but the foundation of the latter?

Dr. Brevard died in a short time, and was no doubt succeeded in
his office as clerk of the committee by J. McK. Alexander. Mr. Alex-
ander's house was burned in April, 1800, and with it, as was sup-
posed, the only written memorial of a most interesting and import-
ant historical event. The narrative sent to Gen. Davie was proba-
bly the most accurate account of the great transaction which his
memory enabled him to furnish. Be this as it may, the evidence
that the paper published in the Cape Fear Mercury and denounced
by Gov. Martin; that transmitted by Gov. Wright to Lord Dart-
mouth, and the official dispatch forwarded by Capt. Jack to the Con-
tinental Congress are identical with the copy discovered in Charles-
ton, is exceeding strong, if not conclusive.

The evidence of Gen. Graham on the point to which you refer,
goes very far towards identifying the Resolutions of the 31st as
those discussed in his hearing. The statement of John Simeson
(p. 25), which seems not to have attracted your attention, appears
to me to strip the enquiry almost of reasonable doubt. At the dis-
tance of fifty years the memory of no man can be relied upon as to
dates and precise form of expression, while there are substantial
facts so remarkable that no man can forget them.

"As to the names of those who drew up the Declaration, I am in-
clined to think Dr. Brevard was the principal, from his known
talents in composition. * * *

"It was towards the close of May, 1775. In addition to which I
have said the same committee appointed three men to secure all the
military stores for the county's use. Thomas Polk, Jonn Phifer and
Joseph Kennedy. I was under arms near the head of the line near
Col. Polk, and heard him distinctly read a long string of grievances,
the Declaration and military order above." Apply this statement
of Mr. Simeson to the last of the series of the Resolutions of the
31st of May. "That the Committee appoint Col. Thomas Polk and
Dr. Joseph Kennedy to purchase 300 lbs. of powder, 600 pounds of
lead, 1,000 flints for the use of the county and deposit the same in
such places as the Committee may hereafter direct.

*There was but one Secretary May 20. — D. A. T.

48 HISTORY OF MECKLENBURG COUNTY.

"Signed by order of the Committee, Ephraim Brevard, Clerk of
the Committee."

There is something potential in this closing resolution decidedly
Cromwellian, and in unison with the character of the sturdy Scotch-
Irish Presbyterian from whom it emanated:

"Then put your trust in G-od, my boys,
And keep your powder dry."

Queen's College was the Faneuil Hall of the South. Are you
familiar with its history? Previous to its establishment there were
but two chartered seminaries of learning in the province — Edenton
and New Bern Academies. None but a member of the Established
Church was eligible to the office of trustee or instructor, and the
latter even appointed by the G-overnor. The Presbyterians applied
to the Colonial Assembly for an unrestricted charter for a college
in a county named in compliment to the King and Queen, Meck-
lenburg (Strelitz), the native place of the latter, in a town bear-
ing the name of his consort, for an institution to be known by the
titular distinction. The bill passed the Commons, of course; the
Council did not choose to breast the storm of popular indignation,
which a rejection would have excited. Gov. Tryon had not the
firmness to disallow it;" but the triple compliment to royalty
availed little on the