Full text of "The North Carolina booklet : great events in North Carolina history"

See other formats

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2011 with funding from

LYRASIS members and Sloan Foundation

http://www.archive.org/details/northcarolinaboo1902nort

t ^

Cbe north Carolina Booklet

GREAT EVENTS IN

NORTH CAROLINA HISTORY.

the Ku*K1ux Klans.

, BY

MRS. T. J. JABVIS.

PRICE 10 CEHTS. j* jt jt $1.00 THE YEAR.

Entered at the Postoffice at Raleigh, N. C, as second-class matter — June 24, 1901.

m ftortb Carolina Booklet

The Editors of the N. C. Booklet announce that should a suf-

number of subscriptions be received to warrant the

ation of the N. C. Booklet, it will be issued monthly, as

heretofore, for another year, beginning May 10th, 1902. The

dng being the proposed list of subjects:

May — Ku-Klux Klans.

Mrs. T. J. Jarvis.

Tune — Our Pirates.

Capt. S. A. Ashe.

July — Indian Massacre and Tuscarora War.
Judge Walter Clark.

August — Moravian Settlement in North Carolina.
Rev. Dr. J. E. Clewell

Sept. — Whigs and Tories.

Prof. W. C. Allen.

Oct. — The Revolutionary Congress of North Carolina.
Mr. T. M. Pittman.

Nov. — The Battle of Guilford Court House.
Prof. D. H. Hill.

Dec. — Historic Homes in NJD., — The Groves, and others.
Col. Burgwyn, Col. Wade/'Mr. Thomas M. Blunt, and others.

' Jan. — Old Charleston on the Cape Fear.
Prof. James S. Bassett

Feb. — Raleigh and the old town of Bloomsbury.
Dr. K. P. Battle, Sr. Conditional.

March — Confederate Secret Service...
Dr. Chas. E. Taylor*^""

April — The Story of the Albemarle.
Major Graham Daves.

ties desiring to subscribe will please send at once, their
■ss with the subscription price $1. for the year, to " The N.
joklet Co., P. 0. Box 125, Raleigh, N. C."
for any reason the Booklet should not be issued, each sub-
$r's money will be returned.

■angements have been made to have this volume of the

let bound in library style for 50c. Thowe living at a dis-

• will please add 5 cents in stamps to cover cost of mailing.

in ordering whether black or red leather is preferred.

NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.

Vol.. II. MAT 10, 1903. NO. 1.

the Ku-Klux Klans.

MES. T. J. JAKVIS.

RALEIGH :

CapiTai, Printing Company.

1902.

'Carolina! Carolina! fieawn's blessings attend bcri
Uibilc we live we will cherish, protect and defend her.'

THE KU-KLUX KLANS.

When Gov. Holden was installed as Governor in ' 68, the
State was declared to be a State in the Union, and it ceased
to be a satrophy under the orders of the Maj. -General. There
was a legislature ; but as it was elected by the negroes and
their allies, it was not at all responsive to the needs of the
State. Its leaders were vultures, who considered the State
as their prey. The scallawags, carpet-baggers and negroes
who composed the large majority were wholly irresponsi-
ble, and launched upon a course of wild extravagance in
order to feather their nests at the public expense. The
work of this mongrel body could not be checked by the
few brave spirits, who fought day and night with desperate
persistence, to stem the* tide of reckless extravagance and
corruption. In utter defiance of public opinion, debts of
many millions of dollars were foisted upon the state, offices
were created in defiance of law, with exorbitant salaries at-
tached, bar-rooms were openly run in the galleries of the
capital itself, until the statue of justice might well have
blushed under her bronze bandage, and dropped the scales
from her hands. The reign of terror began with renewed
horror in city, hamlet and country. The Union League,
a secret organization formed at the North during the war,
and now embracing carpetbaggers, deserters and negroes
in the south, was zealously doing its barbarious work.
This secret society whatever may have been the purposes
of its creation had now fallen into the hands of bad men
who were making it a terrible regime for evil. These

high-handed and lawless bandits, feeling that the State
was their own, and that they themselves were the law un-
to themselves, knew no such word as "enough." The
bonds of society were loosened. Law ceased to be enforced.
Lawlessness stalked abroad unrestrained. Dwellings of
families were burned in the night ; and in many in-
stances families already murdered were cremated in them;
on the same night in Alamance county, three distinct fires,
lurid against the darkened sky, were seen burning at one
time, consuming the provisions of an entire year. The incen-
diary torch was common. The negroes, who at first had
been satisfied to till the crops on shares, were now taught
to plunder and rob, such were the teachings of the politi-
cal gatherings. Incendiary appeals were made to the ne-
groes and publications given out by those high in authority
from which the inference could be clearly drawn that any
owner of lands, failing to employ colored labor, the said
colored applicant for work might be justified in forceably
taking possession of the means of living; although in
many instances the owners of small tracts of land were too
poor to employ outside labor and had tilled, planted and
stored their own crops with their own bands, or those of
their children. But, how shall we speak of the unspeak-
able crimes before which the holocaust would have been
an enviable fate — the shame, the anguish

"that befell

The only sister of our race,
— A thing too horrible to tell."

When families sacrificing their land for a song would
steal away to some distant state, to spend the remainder of

their days in obscurity, with the dark story locked in their
own breasts ?

White women were not safe even in their homes : they
could not venture abroad unprotected.

The rumbling of an earthquake was at last heard over
the land. Patience had ceased to be a virtue. Longer en-
dured it would have degenerated into pusillanimity and
cowardice.

The dry bones in the valley of Gehosephat were at last
gathered quickly together, clothed, vitalized and armed, and
The Ku-Klux Klans became a mighty factor in history.

The young reader, especially at the north, being abso-
lutely innocent of information upon the subject, or else
guided by the equally ignorant prejudice of persons who
could see only the discolored shadow of facts, will at once
conjure up a motley body of rough, unwashed, vicious
men ; banded together for the sole purpose of maltreating,
or, even in time, for the extermination of the colored race,
whom they could no longer own at so much marketable
value. On the contrary, however, this wide spread move-
ment, yclept the Ku-Klux Klans, embraced in large pro-
portion, the proudest, the most sensitive and cultured por-
tions of the English race. They had been slow to move
but when once they were made to realize the necessity to
go forward they moved like an avalanche. Perhaps it
may not be amiss to quote from that very luminous writer,
William Garrott Brown, the following account of the Ori-
gin of the Order, we give it in his own words :

" When the civil war ended, the little town of Pulas-
ki, Tenn., welcomed home a band of young men, who

though they were veterans of hard fought battles, were for
the most part no older than the mass of college students.
In the general poverty, the exhaustion, the lack of heart,
naturally prevalent throughout the beaten south, young
men had more leisure than was good for them ; a southern
country town even in the halcyon days, before the war,
was not a particularly lively place, and Pulaski in 1866
was doubtless rather tame to fellows who had seen Pickett
charge at Gettysburg, or galloped over the country with
Morgan and Wheeler. A group of these men assembled
in a law office one evening in May 1866, to discuss ways
and means of having a livelier time ; some one suggested
a club or society. An organization with no very definite
aims was effected ; and at a second meeting a week later,
names were proposed and discussed. Some one pronounced
the Greek word " Kuklos " meaning a circle. From " Ku-
klos " to " Ku-Klux " was an easy transition, — and " Klan"
followed " Ku-Klux " as naturally as " dumpty " follows
"humpty." That the name meant nothing whatever was
a recommendation ; and one can fancy what sort of badi-
nage would have greeted a suggestion that, in six years a
committee of Congress would devote thirteen volumes to
the history of the movement that began in a Pulaski law
office, and migrated later, to a deserted and half ruined
house on the outskirts of the village. The initial move-
ment of the organization — if such it can be called — par-
took only of the nature of a college society, or any other
congregation of men leagued together by fraternal obliga-
tions. There was scarcely more of seriousness than attends
the initiation of members into the order of "buffaloes" at

the present day. Its members as Mr. Brown says, " were
not 'lewd fellows of the baser sort' but young men of stand-
ing in the community, who a few years earlier would have
been men of wealth." The only serious clause in the oath
of membership was a pledge of profound and absolute
secrecy.

Disguises were adopted even at this early day. They
consisted of a mask for the face, usually white surmounted
by a cardboard hat, — many of them with folds or springs,
which could be shot up in an instance from two to four
feet in height. A loose robe enveloped the entire person ;
and when the Klans rode abroad the bodies of their horses
were likewise covered, and their feet enveloped in mufflers,
to deaden the sound of their coming. The officers were
named as follows:

A Grand Cyclops, or President.

A Grand Magi, or Vice-President.

A Grand Turk, or Marshall.

A Grand Exchequer, or Treasurer.

Two Lictors.

At this time only men of culture, esprit, and good morals
were permitted to join. Their objects were mutual amuse-
ment and the mystifying of their neighbors. In this their
success was far beyond their most sanguine expectations.
The knowledge of the Order spread like wild-fire through
country, village and town. The following of the Odd
Fellows, some years before, was as nothing compared to
this. At this time the horrors of reconstruction were al-
ready in full blast in Tennessee ; outrages of the most bru-
tal order were of daily occurence, and the perpetrators

went unwhipped of justice ; indeed the word justice seemed
to have been blotted from our vocabulary. A great Eng-
lish writer has said that, war, — and especially an inter-
necine war, retrogades mankind to the border land of pa-
ganism. The Union League, now following in the foot
steps of " Parson Brownlow," flaunted the flag of the Union
in the faces of ex- confederates, and made the national em-
blem the pretext for as foul and disgraceful crimes as ever
blackened the escutcheon of a great state. Southern society
had been completely inverted. The "canaille" were on
top ; and the southern gentlemen down, the former were
avenging their long cherished grudge againt the latter, and
the freed negroes were often as conscienceless as the most
savage Indian tribes. The deeply wronged Anglo-Saxon,
groping about for some means of righting himself grasped
the Pulaski idea. Says Mr. Brown : "It seems astounding
nowadays that the Congressional leaders in reconstruction
did not foresee that men of their own stock, so circum-
stanced, would resist ; and would find some means to make
their resistance effective. When they did make up their
minds to resist, — not collectively or through any represen-
tative body, but singly and by neighborhoods, — they found
an instrument ready to their hands." To General Nathan
Bedford Forest, the "bravest of the brave" is acredited
the solving of the knotty problem, He directed the use
of the Ku-Klux Klans to frighten the superstitious African
into less open defiance of law.

Through what instrumentalities the order came into
North Carolina it will not be permitted in the scope of
this chronicle to relate. The secret brotherhood, however,

speedily clasped hands from the Tennessee line to the
ocean. The outrages in Tennessee were being repeated
with emphasis in North Carolina. The Kti-Klux Klans
had a righteous work to perform, and when once their
minds were made up they were no longer slow to act. The
fanciful, mythological or oriental names of the pleasure
seeking order were dropped.

The Chiefs of the Klans in North Carolina were simply
denominated "commanders," each Klan having its own
ruler thus named. Those who were a menace to society
whether a carpetbagger or scallawag, were to receive the
blunt of their displeasure. The order was not harmful to
the inoffensive portion of the colored population. They
were by no means to be hung and quartered, they were
simply to be frightened into a non-committal of ciioies.
In many instances the order was enabled to do this. The
Klans began by simply parading at night. And the terri-
fied negroes, for a time, hid their diminished heads believ-
ing that the ghosts of the Confederate dead, were stalking
abroad in the land. Nor did the sight fail to awaken won-
der and amazement among the un-initiated whites. No
more thorough or perfectly organized body of men had
ever worked together, for a common cause. The " White
Brotherhood," " The Constitutional Union Guards," "The
Knights of the White Camellia," " The Pale Faces " were
some of the names of the Invisible Empire, generally de-
nominated KuKlux by outsiders. The members of each
separate order no longer called themselves Ku-Klux ; but
were known or rather knew themselves, only, by the name
of the special order to which they belonged ; and thus a

member of the " Pale Faces " could under oath, testify that
he knew nothing of the existence of the " White Brother-
hood'' except by general hearsay. And indeed this was
strictly true. Names were never handed down. No one
knew the number of members in his Klan, except, perhaps,
the Commander.

Horses were often whitwashed to prevent recognition.
Horns as large as those of an ordinary cow, were stuffed and
sewed into the brow of the masks, while red probosces or
snouts almost as long as those of an Elephant were attached
to the chin. The pasteboard caps, running several feet
into the air, with the long white robes, caused these men
to appear to be of monstrously inhuman proportions. Ter-
rible noises, sometimes resembling thunder, at others un-
like any sound that ever fell upon human ears, emanated
from these strange figures. Riding thus, a party of negroes
were visited at one of their union league gatherings. Many
of the latter plunged headlong through the windows. They
were ordered to halt and salute. Icy hands, forged from
iron, or severed from the elbows of some skeleton, and con-
sequently denuded of all flesh, were extended, in greeting,
from beneath these ghostly robes. It is needless to say
that another meeting was not immediately held in that
place.

We have stated that the various branches of the Ku-
Klux, by whatever names they might prefer to be called —
were as thoroughly organized a body of men as ever united
for any purpose. The brain and energy of the State were
in a great measure behind it. If there were men of cul-
ture, men of chivalrous honor in North Carolina, much of

the best blood of this class fed the sinew and muscle of the
Ku-Klux Klans. The stern necessity for action faced
them, and they " rode" prosperously because of oppression."
Often a ' ''noil pros ' ' was entered in the sham courts,
where a member of the Union L,eague had been indicted,
alike for the worst of capital offenses, as for petty larceny.
Men felt that they must again imperil their lives for a cause
more sacred than liberty, viz : to save from starvation and
foul dishonor the wives, daughters or sisters of their families.
A gentleman of profound culture, of high social stand-
ing, of exalted christian character, conversing some weeks
ago with the author of this article, said : "I belonged to
the order and have never regreted it. I was so located that
they needed my services, though I was only eighteen years
of age. I had intimated a desire to join, but I did not
know that I had been balloted on, or accepted, when an
intimate friend of our family, some ten years older than
than myself, called to me from the veranda one afternoon,
and asked me if I would take a drive with him. We were
speeding down a public highway in light hearted conver-
sation, when suddenly he turned into the Woods. He
would not explain the cause of this unexpected movement.
When far away from the road we were suddenly surround-
ed by a weird and mysterious sight of ghostly beings.
They would run and leap, but there was no sound. Some
could extend themselves into wonderful proportions and as
suddenly change to insignificant pygmies. I never knew
just how it happened, but soon I found myself kneeling
by a stump, around me were strangely wrought, but ter-
ribly stern faces, masking I knew not what. In uncom-

fortable proximity to my head I discovered a perfect shower
of glittering daggers and grinning pistols. At the same
time a human skull was held out to me, I was ordered to
place my hand upon it, and begin. A strong authoritive
voice dictated, and it did not occur to me to hesitate in
repeating after him. The fearfully binding obligation burned
itself into my young mind, through the lapse of years the
words have not faded away ; and the impression of every
circumstance is still there. I was bound to secrecy. For
the sake of myself, as well as for othets, I was not to make
known to any one the secret plans of the Council ; and was
to be ready to meet when called for.

" My allegiance was to the Caucasian race, and our
mothers and sisters were the patron Saints. Swift punish-
ment was to be inflicted upon those who would seek to des-
troy the honor of the women dependent upon us for pro-
tection. I was to obey the " Chief " and the Council in all
their proper and legitimate requirements. At the call of
the Chief I was to go to those in distress ; or in need of as-
sistance and protection.

" Uncompromising determination that we would not rest
from our efforts until we had established good government
for the protection of our homes and property was absolute-
ly demanded.

" We were to assist in a kind of secret policing of the
entire community, for the general good ; and the mutual
protection of each other in cases of necessity. We were to
assist in providing for those who might suffer in the per-
formance of duty. We were to help provide for the needy.
These were some of the stronger impressions which were

made on me, and remain vividly with me. There was a
system of grips, signs, and pass words, but most of them
are partially forgotten. The meetings were frequent and
stated, but never long in the same place. They were held
mostly at night, in some deserted spot or room. I was
present when several ladies were taken into the order, for
the purpose, as then expressed of preparing disguises and
assisting in caring for those who might be injnred ; so as
to save any publicity to them, and thus protect them from
their enemies. Gross insults to women were of almost
daily occurence. Old men were abused. Our sisters were
safe nowhere. Harrowing anxiety and sleepless fear hung
over our community like a threatening tornado. The
unbridled propensities of a newly liberated race, the grudge
of people who were the offscourings of civilization, among
the whites, made life one unceasing dread of impending
misery. Scenes that were of frequent occureuceyin those
days would be discredited by those who are supposed to be
skeptical, a third of a century later.

" The execution of the civil authority was the merest
sham. Those who held the offices were the creation of the
mongrel combination of a political influence, whose life-
blood was from the foulest bilge water in the cess pools of
the vicious and depraved. Frequent demonstrations and
parades of their Leagues were made in the road in front of
my father's house. Some white men were mingled among
the negroes in these lines, and I well remember what a
repulsive sight it was ; and the administration of affairs
was in their hands.

" Why then appeal to Caesar when Caesar was both Cali-
gula and Nero combined. In one instance a negro was
caught stealing ; he was tried by a magistrate, who was a
member of the league, and instantly acquitted. The next
night he was visted promptly, but succeeding in shooting
one of our neighbors in the knee, before receiving his
merited thrashing.

" So far as I know, no act of unmerrited violence was
ever committed by the Ku-Klux in the community in
which I lived. The Union Leaguers did go, one night,
with a crowd of about thirty, to a man named Ray-
ford and beating him nearly to death, set fire to his
mill. They told him that they were Ku-Klux, but he
knew better. A quarrel in the league soon divulged the
whole matter. John Tyndal was in the habit of beating
his wife unmercifully, and failed to furnish support for his
family. One night a ghostly cro ivd surrounded his house
and informed him that at the end of a certain period they
would return for business unless he got to work and treat-
ed his family more decently. From that time on there
was not a more industrious man in all that region. He
was a white man.

" My father was a minister of the Gospel. One day a
burly negro came to the front of the house and abused him
in language most revolting. Some one passing by heard
him. During the next night he concluded it was best for
him to leave the country.

" A number of smilar instances could be recited, but
these will serve as samples of what took place. The Ku-
Klux Klans were the salvation of our country. They awed

the negroes to such an extent that they did not return to the
extreme of insolence and daring any more. Some white men
who dishonored their race were also helped by its presence.
It was only wh< n mean men got into its ranks that the
germs of decay began to ripen and caused disaster to the
order. It served its purpose well and brought relief to the
people. Governor Holden, to a great extent, broke up the
organization in the State, but he could not stop its influ-
ence for good ; our people will never know to what extent
they are indebted to these daring men for the relief which
came at a most important period."

Another gentleman of prominence, and of unquestioned
integrity and veracity, who belonged to the order, furnish-
ed us the following :

" In the year 1868 I was just fourteen years of age, an
active and inquisitive chap, as most of boys are. One day,
as I entered abruptly into my older brother's room, I saw
him hurriedly concealing a strange looking "dunce cap"
as I called it ; and yet a stranger looking robe In a closet,
which he carefully locked, while he ordered me from the
room, bidding me to have the decency to knock the next
time I came in. I had of course heard of the Ku-Klux
and felt sure that he belonged to the order ; but when
questioned by me or my grown sister, he would smile
amusedly, make some evasive answer and change the sub-
ject.

On a certain afternoon I had gone into one of the great
old parlors at home, and thrown myself upon a large old
fashioned mohair sofa of huge dimensions ; and pulling a
buggy robe, which had been left there, over me, had fal-

len asleep. I was suddenly aroused by the voices in the
room, and before s'dring I heard my brother say :

" I have closed the door, we can talk freely here." They
then spoke in terms of horror of an assault and murder,
which had been committed the night previous ; and dis-
cussed the course which the Ku-Klux must pursue.

I lay perfectly still and when they had all left the room
I crept out. I did not wish my brother to see me, but I
foolishly told my sister of what I had heard. And when
John returned in the evening she began to banter him
about the Ku-Klux and their plans, and even used some
of his own expressions which I had repealed to her. He
looked, in angry surprise, first at her and then at me, I
suppose I looked guilty. "You have been eavesdropping,''
he said with a haughty sneer. " Tell me what you have
heard ? " and to this day I have never forgotten his expres-
sion. My father was dead and I stood in much awe of
this big brother ; but my pride was stung to the quick.

" No ! " I cried, and I told him how I had overheard.

" Your offense is still unpardonable " he replied with
chilling sternness. " A true sense of honor should have
constrained you, at the first word, to announce your pres-
sence and withdraw." I and my sister, especially myself,
were solemnly warned, that we would be the means of
bringing untold disaster upon his head, if we ever divulg-
ed, to human being, a hint of what we had heard. I gave
a solemn promise which I am sure I would sacredly have
kept ; but that was not enough. The next morning my
brother had two saddled horses at the gate ; and calling to
me, said he wished me to ride with him. When fairly in.

to a belt of woods lie suddenly turned out to an old church,
where services were only held once in every few months.
I was asked to go around and see if the door was opened.
It was, and as I ascended the steps I glanced back and
my brother was no where to be seen. A company of mas-
ked figures, already described, drew me in. My hand was
placed upon a grinning skull, and when I emerged I was a
member of the order. That evening some of the party
were in our parlors. John went for my sister, at first she
demurred, but he soon silenced her objections and led her
in. She took the oath. She was to make mufflers for
the horses feet, hats and robes for the men ; and care for
any that might be brought to the house, wounded or in
distress. I was too young to be taken on many of the
raids, but I often carried robes, hoises and letters, written
in cypher of which the following is a sample :

Alphabet, A. B. C. D. B. &c.
K. I,. M. N. O. &c.
Signs of meeting

At day : 4/3 4x3 — 12th at 9 o'clock.

9
3
At night : 4 ) 9 4x3 — 13th at 9 o'clock.

Through this sign manual the Ku-Klux did all their
correspondence, which was readily understood : and such
a determined front did they present on incredibly short
warning, wherever crime was committed, that the Governor
himself, grew alarmed, detailed a special guard for the
Executive Mansion ; and tried the menacing effect of several
proclamations without result. As crime went on, the
punishment of crime continued.

The following winter, with the legislature largely under
his control, the Governor procured the passage of a law,
making it a felony to go masked in a company, and to
bear arms. This bill gave him full power to declare the
State, or any part of it, in insurrection, to proclaim mar-
tial law, and to call for troops to enforce these iniquitious
measures. The act was denominated the " Shoffner Bill"
an act that is spoken of with abhorrance to this day, an act
whose author, Shoffner, was obliged, a little latter, to seek
safety outside of the State which he had dishonored ; for
there was no shadow of insurrection in any portion of it,
certainly not more, than, when in his message of Oct.
1 2th, the Governor had said: "Every good citizen is grati-
fied that North Carolina is at present as peaceable and
quiet as any state in the Union." In this message he had
declared " the right of the people to have arms in their
houses, and to "bear " them under the authority of law is
not questioned: "On the contrary it is claimed as a consti-
tutional right, sacred to freemen." This declaration cor-
rect as it might be, had permitted the League to fill their
houses with arms; and fortunately for the "sacred rights
of freedmen " it had been the means of putting the neces-
sary weapons of defense in the homes of her respected citi-
zens. In the meantime the vandals who sold the State,
and lent themselves to robbery, arson, murder, and some
nameless crimes, were reveling in illgotten gains. The
military were called out to help carry the elections. None
but the " faithful " were to have office. The negroes were
now carefully informed that the Ku-Klux were not " gob-
lins damned," or avenging shades of confederate soldiers,

slain in battle ; but the living ex-soldier, who was still try-
ing to deprive him of his rights ; and they were advised
to use their torch, or the shot gun if necessary. A town
police of four negroes and one white scallawag were called
out to parade and patrol the streets of the old and respectable
town of Graham. The next evening a company of seventy-
five mounted Ku-Klux rode quietly through the town at
midnight, and chased them from their beats. The town
preferred no police, to one of that description.

The city of Wilmington had no special Commander for
Klans. The Chief of the neighboring county was sent to
the city, to ask, if a member should get into trouble, in
the protection of his property or his life, or the honor of
his family, whether he might find a refuge there, or be
sent out of the reach of lawless retaliation. He was assur-
ed that Wilmington's good citizens would do all that just
laws should have done. In twenty-four hours " A " had
spoken to " B," and " B " to " C " etc.; each man knowing
only his immediate informer, until an invisible chain, so
to speak, had encircled the city. Acts of violence or rob-
bery were of frequent occurrence, within her own border :
and a touch of sorrow makes the whole world kin. The
bleeding city was to be made the altar of her refuge for her
sister towns, and adjacent country. Great boxes marked
"merchandise'' were brought into the city and taken to
private store houses. They contained fire arms and rifles.
The faces of men were calm, but cold and set : They were
a reproduction in base relief of the old time fading from
vision " Regulators." And still outrages were committed;
and the courts of law were silent. Governor Holden, who

was more sinned against than sinning, in that he was sur-
rounded by a corrupt gang, who were rilling his mind with
foul slanders upon the people of the State, while they prof-
ited by the very conditions they had helped to create, was
issuing proclamation after proclamation, maddening to the
men who had the good of the State, most at heart. His
agents were employing a secret detective force, and using
underhand sneaks, to skulk around in suspected localities,
and report the acts or language of irresponsible persons,
who, in a supposedly friendly conversation, might give ut-
terance to sentiments thoughtlessly expressed or grossly
exaggerated — a very " vox et-praeteria nihil" perhaps for-
gotten, by the speaker, in the hour of utterance.

General Abbott, a federal general, who had taken up
his residence at Wilmington, and had been sent, as a Sen-
ator, to represent the State at Washington, in lieu of the
illustrious Graham, had been prominent in inflaming the
negroes who had attacked a procession of white citizens
one afternoon. He was waited on, by a party of gentle-
men, who told him that in case of a race conflict, they
would seek him first and hang him to a lamp post.

"Do you mean to threaten me," cried Abbott, flushed
with anger?

" No " was the deliberate rejoinder, l: we don't mean to
threaten you at all. We are simply warning you." The
next day General Abbott went to Raleigh and held con-
ference with Gov. Holden. The inflammatory speeches
were less vigorous after that. Yet, over the State crimes
still sat in high places, as well as low ; and the Ku-Klux
Klans rode by night, with the grim determination of Gra-

heme of Claverhouse : And their swift marches and fan-
tasmie disguises, often struck terror to the guilty.

There was, now, no doubt of their determination to be
heard from wherever crime was committed. They had
bound themselves by an obligation, so solemn, that men
who duly understand the sacredness of an oath, will to this
day refuse to give utterance to it ; just as an Odd Fellow
or a Mason, though no longer an active member, feels in
honor bound, not to divulge the nature of their obligation.
And hence, it is only through the treachery or cowardice
of men, who wished to make capital out of the betrayal of
their friends, that the secret workings of the Order have
ever been made known. The yankee school master or
mistress were not all occupied with the thought of elevat-
ing the benighted African whom they delighted to teach.
Certainly their methods were often injudicious. In a town,
in the central portion of the State, a Northern school mis-
tress, in instructing the colored idea how to shoot, caused
it indeed to explode with shot gun force. The pupils of
this maiden lady, on their way home from school, one
evening , expressed a wish for some flowers in the yard of
a stately old southern homestead. This missionary to the
" benighted race," at once opened the gate ; and ordered
her pupils to go in, ond pluck all the flowers they wanted,
as their parents had toiled to make the flower beds all that
they were. When the lady of the house appeared on the
veranda, and commanded them to desist, shells and pebbles
were hurled at her, amid hootings of derisive laughter:
And when aprons full of flowers had been pulled, the beds
of geraniums and other flowers, were danced upon and

■

trodden under foot. That night a solemn body of men
visited the houses of the older pupils of the school, and
entering used a horse whip with some emphasis. The
next day the teacher was notified that such an act of tres-
pass must not be again encouraged.

In another locality, a white girl, coming from school,
with her little brother, was set upon by a dozen or more
colored children, emerging from their own alma mater,
beaten umercifully, and disfigured for life, by having an
eye thurst out by a fork. The following morning a body
of men visited the school, administering a thrashing where-
ever suspicion rested, and this time the male teacher came
in for his share, as it was alleged he had walked quietly
by, and had not attempted to stop the fracas. A few nights
later, a member of the visiting Committee of the " White
Brotherhood" was shot through his widow. Disguises
were now found to be an absolute necessity, instead of a
simple source of amusement or mystery. And work must
be done at night.

It was about this time that the organization, in some lo-
calities fell into the hands, and under the control, of men
who did not have its high purposes at heart ; and who,
consequently, did not hesitate to use it, not for the protec-
tion for society but, to avenge some personal grievance, or
to accomplish some other selfish and dishonest end. In
this way many outrages were committed, of the most wan-
ton nature, and for which, there could be no excuse. These
were not only charged up to the Ku-Klux ; but they were
made the pretext for Gov. Holden to declare Alamance
and Caswell counties in a state of insurrection ; and to call

from Tennessee one Colonel Kirk and his army of cut-
throats, to aid in this pernicious warfare. Hundreds of
the most prominent men in these counties were arrested
and thrown into prison ; some into loathsome dungeons
with hardened criminals : While others were hung up by
the neck to extort confession from them. Many of these
were aged men of high repute, against whom no word of
reproach had ever been uttered ; and who, as a matter of
fact, had never been members of the Ku Klux ; and who
knew nothing of its operations.

When these men appealed to the courts, of their State,
for protection, from these marauders, they were informed
by the Chief Justice that as Kirk claimed to be acting un-
der the orders of the Governor, and set the judicial power
at defiance, that the courts were powerless to interfere. But
an upright courageous Judge was found in the person of
George W. Brooks, of the Federal Bench, who commanded
these imprisoned citizens to be brought before him : and
when, after inquiry, he found nothing against them, he
ordered their release.

The President was appealed to, by telegram, with the
statement that Judge Brooks was usurping powers which
did not belong to him. But, be it said to the honor of
President Grant, he declined to interfere ; and the orders
of Judge Brooks were obeyed. Public indignation was at
fever heat. A general election was then in progress. The
people spoke at the ballot for better government : and in
condemnation of the Governor's course. Kirk and his min-
ions fled to Tennessee ; and the conditions which had call-
ed the Ku-Klux Klans into existence began to pass away.

This action of Judge Brooks, for which his name should
ever be honored, alone prevented a bloody conflict between
Kirk and his cut-throats, and the men of the State. In
the meantime, men were being ordered to Washington city,
to testify before an investigating committee of Congress,
which likewise demanded confessions regarding the alleged
ontrages perpetrated by the Ku-Klux Klans. Some of
these brave men, from day to day, notwithstanding threats
of imprisonment for contempt of congress, shook their
heads in silence, and were ordered from the witness stand —
to be recalled again on the morrow — until months had
passed, and thirteen volumes of evidence had been accumu-
lated. "From these volumes'' — in the language of Mr.
Brown, from whom we have before quoted. " He who
lives long enough to read it all, may learn much that is
true, but not particularly important ; much that is impor-
tant, if true ; and somewhat that is both true and impor-
tant."

As the forced outcome of these investigations, prosecu-
tions were instituted against several of the Ku-Klux who
had already been testified against — some of them falsely.
And who in consequence suffered a cruelly unjust impris-
ment for a term of years. Yet, to quote again " this spon-
taneous, popular movement was too all-pervading to be at-
tributed to any one man, or any conspiracy of a few men.
It was neither an accident nor a scheme : it was no man's
contrivance ; but an historical development."

On the cessation of these prosecutions, and a partial re-
storation of good government in the State, the orders
known as the Ku-Klux Klans, feeling that their mission

had been accomplished, ^ere disbanded: and later still an
unjustly delayed amnesty-act was passed.

The author of this sketch has given this subject a good
deal of thought and study, during the past year. We have
read books, legal and simple narrative, receiving the latter
with such allowance as was necessary, where affidavits had
not particularized statements ; we have visited in various
localities of the State, where the order, or orders referred
existed in greatest force. We have talked with ministers
of the gospel, and men of high official positions in church
and State : and we have, all imperfectly, but conscientious-
ly, given our honest views, as deducted therefrom. And,
if the question had to be " studied against its proper back-
ground of a disordered society and a bewildered people,"
we have tried, likewise to do that.

Mr. Brown was writing for a northern magazine. Sir
Walter Scott, in his original preface to his life of the First
Napoleon, makes this significant statement, " I am writing
a history for the English people." And, in it he conse-
quently failed to discover many of the justly distinguish-
ing, and equally justly extenuating, circumstances of Na-
poleon's wonderful personality. We are glad that we are
writing, regardless of the special prejudice of any particu-
lar class of readers. Mr. Brown, concludes his argument
thus, "If one asks of the movement, was it necessary?"
this much at least may be answered ; that no other plan of
resistence wo aid have served so well. If one asks, " was it
successful ? " the answer is plain. No open revolt ever
succeeded more completely. If one asks, " was it justifi-
able ? '' the " yes '' or " no " is harder to say.

We have to reply, in conclusion, that, if no other plan
of resistence would have served so well ; when, as we have
shown, " resistence was a necessity : " and it succeeded ;
then, without question, it was justifiable, since " the end
attained was mainly good."

Many of the actors in this tragedy have passed away. If
somewhat that seemed unjustifiable was done; at least,
remember this, that —

" There are deeds, you may not know,
Lashing the pulses into strife :
Dark memories of deathless woe,
Pointing the bayonet and knife."

The invisible chain that linked the great brotherhood of
the Ku-Klux Klan together which was first broken by the
dismemberment of the order, nearly thirty years ago, has
been yet more widely disintergrated by the fell hand of
the great destroyer, Death.

If the clasp was indeed of steel : and this modern order
of Knighthood wore a breast-plate of brass, and an un-
gloved, mailed had, when it became imperative that a
blow must be struck ; then let the reader calmly review
the provocations ; even as they are so feebly and imper-
fectly given here ; and say, if he can, that he could have
imitated the Divine meekness, and turned the other cheek.

" And there were also many other things — the which if
they should be written, every one," would fill far more
than the thirteen volumes of Congressional investigation,
which sought, in vain, to criminate them.

THE END.

i/jUto-

<3 L*^

,; . % <■ (( • '■/-?.-'

X 4-s--

WHEN THE KU KLUX BOIrE. BY
Eyre Darner. $1 net; by mail, $1.10.
Neale Publishing Company, New
York.

No political ' organization of equal
magnitude and importance has been so
grossly misunderstood as the famous
Ku Klux Klan. An organization — one
might better say an institution — of the
purest patriotic motives, it was vari-
ously maligned during its lifetime, and
since has been constantly •misin-
terpreted. Today only painstaking
students of post-bellum history have
an adequate conception of its aims
and motives, of the conditions which
necessitated it or of the beneficent
work it accomplished. To the rest, the
Ku Klux Klan is a mystery of vagufe
outline, dramatic, fascinating, of
which grotesquely caparisoned horses
and black-shrouded figures are the only
salient features.

Mr. Darner's new book on the sub-
ject is adroit and stimulating. It is
a dispassionate history of the condi-
tions that obtained in the Black Belt
for a decade subsequent to the war of
the States. As conditions in the Black
Belt were typical of conditions in all
the area covered by the operations of
the Klan, the book is, practically, a his-
tory of the social and political forces
that created the Ku Klux Klan.

Without rancor and without haste,
without hesitation or hysterics, giving
in every instance place, , names and
dates, nailing facts steadily, on and on,
Mr. Darner follows the growth of the
reconstructiton horror from its begin-
ning to the restoration of Anglo-Saxon
supremacy in the Black Belt, showing
how the Klan was the most powerful
single agent in that restoration.

His work is so logical and level-
headed, so simple and direct, that the
narrative is almost painful in its
cumulative effect. Following this
heaped-up testimony, one understands
with perfect clearness why there was
a Ku Klux Klan, just what it had to
do, the appalling odds against which
it had to work, and how it conquered
those odds.

In his preface, Mr. Darner refers to
himself as one "who was in the midst
of the struggle and a close observer."
His description is justified by his book.
"When the Ku Klux Rode" is a fine
example of historical writing, candid,
logical and intelligent

^-■ti— ij'wm Bwnaaawai

Ok north Carolina Bookl

IdA

vt>

GREAT EVENTS IN

NORTH CAROLINA HISTORY.

lLz^____L

■ ■I 11M ■ ■■»■■■! ■■■! ■■■IIBMIIM ■ II Tl - -

Our Own Pirates,

mk ■

S. A. ASHE

PRICE 10 CENTS. & & & $1.00 THE Yt

Entered at the Postoffice at Raleigh, N. C, as second-class matter— June 24,

ZU Hortb Carolina Boofilet

The Editors of the N. C. Booklet announce that should a suf-
ficient number of sabscriptions be received to warrant the

iblication of the N. C. Booklet, it will be issued monthly, as
1 jretofore, for another year, beginning May 10th, 1902. The
';< Rowing being the proposed list of subjects:

,-May-Ku-Klux Klaus, —l^s h ^u^cL ^ ^ I
Mrs. T. J. Jarvis.

J. — June — Our Pirates.

Capt. S. A. Ashe.

i >. — July — Indian Massacre and Tuscarora War.
Judge Walter Clark.

. — August — Moravian Settlement in North Carolina.
Rev. Dr. J. E. Clewell

>. — Sept. — Whigs and Tories.

Prof. W. C. Alien.

. — Oct. — The Revolutionary Congress of North Carolina.
Mr. T. M. Pittman. ,

:■'.— Nov.— The^Batolensf ^uJ4ford-€ourt House-. QlotfrTlf^ ^/
-J&rofe-Br-Pfr»ill. fr£ltnr7*t^ 'ik^y . %&&&&■
■ ■ . — Dec. — Historic Homes in N. C, — The Groves, and others.
*» Col. Burgwyn, Col. Waddell, Mr. Thomas M. Blunt, and others.

,•■ y J-^^nT^OWuhajleston on the Cape Fear, -r^f^--
■-'■ tU-d-t-u^ C fru^t- ' Prof. James S. Bassett. -n . ? 1/

< .— Feb.— galergfa-and-Lhe old lownof Bloomsbury. $ SS"^1 f* ■
Dr. K. P. Battle, Sr. jy-orj

. — March — Confederate Secret Service.

Dr. Chas. E. Taylor. Conditional. .

.—April— The Story o£4he Albemarle. J/^taM dcuss of ft W*r

Major Graham Daves. 1-i"T &dki^sc>-fv

Parties desiring to subscribe will please send at once, their
ad dress with the subscription price $1. for the year, to "The N.
0. Booklet Co., P. 0. Box 125, Raleigh, N. C."

If for any reason the Booklet should not be issued, each sub-
iber's money will be returned.

Arrangements have been made to have this volume of the
oklet bound in library style for 50c. Those living at a dis-
lce will please add 5 cents in stamps to cover cost of mailing.
: ite in ordering whether black or red leather is preferred.

- f

■

^ I -■ I ?ff.

-i~-fr-~.

tj 4 , '***>■

MnJr

- kfril t

NORTH CARpUNA BOOKLET.

Vol. II. JU!NE 10, 1902. NO. 2.

Our Own Pirates,

Black Beard and Bennett.

S. A. ASHE.

RALEIGH :

Capital Printing Company.
1902.

"Carolina! Carolina: fieawn's blessings attend ben
UPftile we live we will cfterisb, protect and defend fter.'

OUR OWN PIRATES.

BLACKBEARD AND BONNETT.

S. A. ASHE.

Every age has its peculiarities, which pass away under
the influence of advancing civilization. And so we find
some very odd things have happened in the world which
may have seemed natural enough at the time but appear to
us as more than passing strange. History tells us that
while first the settlers were seeking homes in the wilds of
North Carolina, there existed, a little further South of us,
in the West India Islands, a regular government of desper-
ate sea-robbers, embracing thousands of men, who not
only swept the seas with fleets of ships, but even captured
forts and cities and destroyed European squadrons sent
out to disperse them.

The tales of their adventures now seem to be marvelous,
but in this case truth is stranger than fiction. When these
robbers had taken towns and despoiled them of booty they
repaired to other towns where they lived soberly or riotous-
ly, occording to their individual whims, selling their stuff
openly, without regard to the manner of its capture, and
enjoying the fruits of their crimes as if they had only made
lawful gain in legitimate business. Indeed King Charles
II even conferred knighthood on the most successful of
these notorious freebooters, Henry Morgan, who was long
a chief among the Buccaneers, as they named themselves.

£ 7 *v n n

4
Although the calling was not altogether respectable, yet
this suffices to show that in the good times of the auld lang
syne people were more tolerant as to sea-rovers than in the
present day.

Eventually the Buccaneers disbanded, but the spirit of
making unlawful gain did not entirely die out. The Eu-
ropean government two centuries ago did not possess many
ships in their regular navies, but when at war, they gave
commissions to sea captains to fit out private ships and
make roving cruises to prey upon the commerce of their en-
emies; and since there was nearly always a war on foot,
privateersmen were seldom long out of employment.

These private war-vessels would sail from port under
bond to engage in no unlawful enterprise, but when in dis-
tant seas, where dead men tell no tales, the captains would
not be very careful to keep within the letter of the law.
Any fish that came to their nets were very good fish — and
the gold of a friend was quite as yellow as the gold of a
foreign enemy. Many privateers were fitted out in New
York and at other towns along the American coast, and
these practiced the trade of making captures quite success-
fully, for being so distant from the navies of Europe they
pursued their work with but little fear of interruption. In-
deed, some of the governors of New York, of South Caro-
lina, of Massachusetts and of other colonies were said to
have been interested in the success of some of these cruis-
ers, and harbored the pirates as if all the prizes taken were
according to the rules of international law. Because of
these numerous piracies on the high seas, commerce was so
greatly impeded along the American coast that it became

5
necessary to capture the privateers who had thus become
pirates.

The king had no ship to send, so it was agreed to fit out
a big privateer to catch the little ones. Mr. Livingstone,
one cf the most influential men in New York, started the
plan and subscribed for one-fifth of the stock in the compa-
ny, and he recommended a man named Kidd to be the
captain. The Lord Chancellor of England and many oth-
er noblemen also took stock in the enterprise and the king
said he would take for his part one-tenth of all the vessels
that Kidd might capture. It was a speculation that they
hoped would prove a bonanza — an expedition which it was
expected would make great gain for those who furnished
the money. The vessel was equipped, armed with the best
cannon, manned by brave seamen, and Kidd was duly
commissioned to sail out as a privateer in pursuit of pirati-
cal crafts. But alas for the speculation ! Kidd soon fell
into evil ways himself and set up for a pirate on his own
account.

After a three years' cruise, during which he scourged the
coast of Africa and sent many a poor fellow to Davy Jones'
locker, he at last turned up in Boston, having burned his
ship off New England after burying treasure at different
points along the coast. He was speedily arrested, and a
list of the places where he had hidden his gold was found
among his papers. He was taken to England, tried and ex-
ecuted.

All along the coast tradition points out places where he
concealed his plunder, and many are the "Money Islands"
named from the supposed fact that he buried treasure there.

For instance, there is a "Money Island" situated between
Wrightsville and Masonboro sounds, near Wilmington,
which has been dug all over for Kidd's money. Whether
any was found there is not known, but forty years ago we
heard from the lips of an elderly lady, herself the daughter
of a bold but respectable privateersman, many tales about
Captain Kidd and his money, and in particular she would
point out a gnarled and ancient live-oak tree just on the
point at Wrightsville, and tell how, long, long ago, they
found a key to Kidd's money-chest suspended from one of
tHeknotty limbs, all rusty with age and stained with blood.
They dug just beneath where the key was found for the
iron chest, but if it was there those who dug never made
much noise in the world about it. Similar tales of buried
treasure are told around the inlets all along the coast, but
those things are traditions and although curious and inter-
esting are foreign to our purpose, for we are dealing now
only with historical facts.

All vessels leaving the Gulf of Mexico turn the Florida
peninsula and follow the Gulf Stream northward. And
just off the point of Florida lie the Bahama Islands, which
were given by King Charles II to some of his courtiers as
a part of the princely domain of Carolina. Their number
runs up into the hundreds — little islands separated by in-
tricate channels, which none knew but the freebooters who
frequented those dangerous seas.

It was there that the pirates chiefly congregated, and
from this safe retreat they sallied out to reap a rich harvest of
spoil from the merchant ships engaged in lawful commerce.

The inlets and harbors along the Southern coasts also

7
afforded them convenient refuge, and from these sheltered
nooks they would dash out to sea and make prize of pass-
ing vessels. At times they would collect in large force and
sail gallantly into some undefended port and take posses-
sion or make heavy demands upon the people for booty.
Thus Charleston, which was then the most important town
south of Boston, was made to pay tribute, and the entire
Atlantic coast was more or less infested with those rovers of
the seas. As they got much plunder — merchandise as well
as gold — which they had but little use for, they were lib-
eral and generous in dispensing it, gaining favor by their
prodigality, which enriched those who dealt with them;
and so, although they were public enemies, the pirates had
many private friends among the people of the seaboard.

It was a strange time when a new continent was being
settled, when the colonists were brought into deadly con-
tact with the treacherous Indians, and when the bloody
Spaniards to the South of us were steeped in crimes com-
mitted against humanity and Englishmen, and life was not
so highly esteemed as now, and there was a roughness and
ruggedness among the people quite in contrast with the hu-
mane sentiments that prevail in this more enlightened age.
And pirates were not so severely judged as now. Indeed,
those sea-robbers were not altogether so ferocious as they have
been painted, for although when making a prize or seeking
to escape capture they fought desperately, yet after the vic-
tory was won they did not make a frolic of butchering their
prisoners. They seldom murdered them in cold blood.
But the tale ran that they had the habit of rigging out a
plank from the side of the vessel and, having blindfolded

tneir victims, they made them walk the plank. The poor
fellows would inevitably fall into the sea and be drowned;
but then the pirates could hold up their hands and say
" There is no blood on our hands " — and dead men told no
tales !

Along about 17 17 there was a noted pirate named Hor-
nigold, who had his headquarters at New Providence, down
in the Bahamas, where Nassau now is, the port that the
Confederate blockaders used to slip into during the late
war, bringing back loads of Yankee meat for the Confeder-
ate army. All old soldiers recollect the Nassau bacon served
out in rations in the war times. It came by way of the for-
mer haunts of the old-time freebooters.

In one of Hornigold's trips he enlisted with him an Eng-
lish seaman named Edward Thatch, sometimes called Ed-
ward Teach, who was born at Bristol in England, and who
had followed the sea many years. On a cruise in 1716 they
captured another vessel, which, as the sailors say, had clean
heels, and Capt. Hornigold gave command of it to Teach,
who sailed along with him, and, together, they devastated
the American coast.

They took many prizes and obtained much plunder.
Among the prisoners who fell into their hands was one
Major Steed Bonnett who was a man of good education and
great courage. He joined Thatch, and taking charge of a
vessel, accompanied him as a consort, for the pirates liked
to hunt in couples. While their chief rendezvous was New
Providence they frequented the Carolina coast, where they
made themselves very familiar. At that time the inhabited
parts of North Carolina were confined to the northern sec-

9
tion. Bath town was a little straggling place; Beaufort
had just begun to be settled, and New Bern and Edenton,
but by an order of the Lords Proprietors the people were
forbidden to settle in the Cape Fear country, and all along
that river was an unbroken wilderness. Amid the quiet
solitudes of the lower harbor of the Cape Fear the pirates
established their quarters, whence they could conveniently
sally out and seize their prey and return in safety with the
booty. As they kept no record of their performances, the
details of their murders and captures were never known.
There is a record, however, that they once put some men
ashore in Onslow county, but generally they forced their
prisoners to join them or made them walk the plank, al-
though, sometimes, when it was convenient for them to do
so, they gave them a captured vessel which was not needed
and let them go on their way rejoicing.

Thatch or Teach or Thack, for he was known by all
these names, was a man who drank hard and led a carous-
ing life. To great physical power, he united a strong will,
dominated by ungovernable passions. He habitually wore
big bushy black whiskers over his face, whence was derived
the sobriquet " Black Beard, '' the name he is now most
generally known by. He was fond of luxuries and aimable
to the fair sex, and it is said that so successful was he in
his wooings that he had no less than eight wives, and in-
deed some accounts say twelve; but where he kept them or
whether he rid himself of any after the manner of his brother
in story, old Blue Beard, is not recorded. Doubtless though
he would not have hesitated to put any to death who diso-
beyed him, for he was passionate and of violent temper and

reckless of life. He used to be a good deal in the quiet wa-
ters of Pamlico and Albemarle sounds, and was on terms of
easy intercourse with some of the people there. Indeed he
was fond of boasting that he could invite himself to dine
with any gentleman of the colony and that he would be
welcomed. And without doubt there were many in the
colony who, notwithstanding they held him in detestation
and abhorrence were, nevertheless, deterred from fear of his
vengeance from treating him as he deserved. But all were
not so. There were some who keenly felt that this man
should not be permitted to frequent the waters of Carolina
as if he were an honest trader.

These belonged to the old families who had been long
settled in the colony. Among them were the connections
of the former president of the colony, Major Alexander
Lillington, such as Edward Mosely, Maurice Moore, the
Swanns, John Porter, Jeremiah Vail, etc., who represented
the true sentiment of the old settlers.

An anecdote has come down to the effect that Black
Beard, in pursuance of his boast that he could dine with
any man in the colony he chose, one day sent word to one
of the Swanns that he would take dinner with him and
would come at noon. Steps ran down from Col. Swann's
landing into the water, and a short way off in the harbor
lay the pirate's vessel. At noon Teach manned his boat,
and, with a dozen oarsmen, pulled up in fine style towards
the landing; but promptly Col. Swann appeared on his steps
at the landing place, rifle in hand, and warned the pirate
that if the boat came nearer he would send a ball through
his heart. With a fallen coutenance, Black Beard beat a

rapid retreat, muttering loud curses over his discomfiture.
He did not break bread with Col. Swann. The same spirit
pervaded most of the gentlemen who were bound by ties to
the colony, who were native and to the manner born, who
felt that the good fame of the settlement, was their gocd
fame — the good fame of their native land. But there were
a few who were friendly with Thatch, and, strange to
say, he found favor in the sight of Tobias Knight, who
had, a few years before, come over from England as the
Secretary of the colony, and who was a member of the
council and a deputy of one of the proprietors, and, indeed,
had even served as Chief Justice. But then it must be un-
derstood that none of these offices were in the gift of the
people, and Knight was only an adventurer from the old
country who had the address to win the favor of the gov-
ernor's council, whose business it was to govern the colo-
ny as the agents of the lords proprietors, being most com-
monly at variance with the people and not popular among
them. He was a friend of Teache's and gave him count-
enance and advice, and, it seems, also proposed to share his
booty. But there is no evidence that the people generally
sympathized with pirates, or that they would not have
sought to capture Black Beard if the authorities had called
on them for help. Of themselves they could do nothing;
and indeed, without ships and without cannon, against a
vessel ready at all points for a desperate encounter, the au-
thorities themselves were powerless.

At length Hornigold and Vane and Teach and Bonnett
and the other corsairs who ruled the seas on the American
coast so interfered with commerce that some measure had
to be adopted to arrest their ravages, and the King was in-

duced to offer pardon to all who, within one year, would
surrender themselves and make oath not to engage in un-
lawful enterprises again. It was in 17 17 that the King is-
sued his proclamation to that effect, and some of the free-
booters came in and made peace with the government and
became planters and traders in various parts of America.

Teach brought his crew to North Carolina, and, having
surrendered, the King sent him a pardon, and old Black
Beard made a great pretence that he would thereafter lead
an honest life. But he soon became dissatisfied with his in-
activity. Maybe his numerous wives bothered him; but
however that was, constant carousals depleted his store of
gold, and when his money was all squandered, the reform-
ed pirate was in desperate straits. His ship still lay in the
harbor — and she was a fast sailing craft, easy to fetch, but
hard to catch. The temptation to return to his old courses
was irresistible, and, gathering a crew about him in No-
vember, of that year, he sailed from Bath on a piratical
cruise and again became the terror of the seas. He return-
ed to his old haunts at Providence, and there re-established
the reign of the Buccaneers, of whom he became the ac-
knowledged chieftain. So frequent were his devastations
that the trade of Charleston was almost destroyed, and the
King, being pressed for aid, despatched a force under Sir
Woods Rogers to break up the pirates. Rogers was one of
the most famous officers of his day. He had circumnavi-
gated the globe, and it was he who rescued from his des-
ert island in the South Sea poor Alexander Selkirk, whose
story the charming pen of Defoe has immortalized under
the title of Robinson Crusoe. Rogers, with his wonted vig-

i3
or, made a rapid descent on Providence and captured such
of trie Buccaneers as happened to be there, except Vane,
who, with a crew of ninety men, managed to escape.

Black Beard, with Major Steed Bonnett and some of his
vessels were off on a cruise and eluded the vigilance of the
British squadron. In June 1717, however, he again ap-
peared off the coast with four vessels flying his black flag.
The governor of South Carolina sought to persuade him to
accept a new pardon and come in and cease his interfer-
ence with the commerce of the colonies. But Teach felt
too secure in his strength and in the fleetness of his ships
to heed such counsel. He had staunch vessels and despe-
rate fighters to command and knew no law but his own
rough will. Proudly he sailed along the coast, the sover-
eign of the seas. Kings had their domain on land but he
ruled the waves. Still in so short a time as eight days,
misfortune overtook him. His own fine ship was cast away
at Topsail inlet, where another one of his sloops was
wrecked, and most of his men, disheartened, began to dis-
perse. Some went to Pennsylvania and some to New York
to quit their evil ways forever, while others under Steed
Bonnett sailed away to the southward.

Teach kept one ship for himself, the "Adventure," and
taking a crew of twenty men came into Bath and surren-
dered, again claiming the benefit of the King's proclama-
tion and declaring his purpose to abandon a pirate's career
and lead a new life. And strange to say again did he re-
ceive mercy, for the King was pleased to pardon him once
more, and the pardon was duly made out and sent to Vir-
ginia for him. But it never took effect. Before it reached

H
America other things had happened, and Black Beard had
been called to a bar of justice more to be feared than even
the courts of the King of England.

The declaration of his intention to reform was a mere ruse.
He had no purpose of reformation. His old passion for
piracy, his love of gold, his daring spirit, were too strong
for lawful purposes. He kept a crew of rough fellows
about him and caused such a serious disturbance at Bath
that the Governor had to take measures to quell the trou-
ble. At length after a month's rest, he left the harbor and
turned the prow of the "Adventure" once more to the sea.
This time he cleared for a voyage to St. Ttomas, but on
the 2 2d of August he fell in with two French vessels re-
turning homeward from Martinique loaded with cocoa,
sweetmeats, cotton and sugar. One of these vessels he des-
poiled, transferring the plunder to the other, while he put
both crews on the vessel he had robbed and allowed them
to depart in peace. The loaded vessel he carried into Ocra-
coke inlet, arriving there on the 13th of September. That
night he rowed in his periauger to the residence of Tobias
Knight near Bath, carrying a present of four kegs of sweet-
meats and other booty, quitting the house of his friend be-
fore daybreak. On the way back he met with a boat in
which were William Bell, his son and an Indian, loaded
with rum and merchandise, which he attacked, and robbed.
He landed his cargo and hid his sugar, cotton, etc., in the
barn of Tobias Knight, where they were concealed under
fodder — and then burnt the French ship which he had
brought into the harbor. The news of his proceedings
caused great indignation among the people and alarm among

the merchants trading along the coast, and application was
made to Governor Spotswood of Virginia by some of the
colony to rid them of the pest.

Gov. Spotswood tells us that he had to act with the
greatest secrecy because there were so many persons in Vir-
ginia who sympathized with the pirates that he dared not
let even the members of his own council know his purpose,
for fear his plans would be betrayed. Only the officers who
were to command were taken into his confidence Two sloops
were privately hired and were manned and equipped from
the British frigates Lyme and Pearl then m the Chesapeake,
and on the 17th of November, they sailed out under the
command of Lieutenant Maynard, a British naval officer
from the Lyme, in search of the pirate vessel.

On the evening of the 21st of November these two ves-
sels appeared at Ocracoke inlet, and Black Beard, for the
first time, became aware of the effort that was being made
to capture him. Recognizing his danger, he would have
escaped to sea had it been possible; but he found himself at
last at bay, with no channel open to avoid the conflict that
seemed inevitable. Hitherto he had warred on those weaker
than himself — -vessels but poorly equipped and insufficiently
armed; now he was in the presence of a foe more than a
match for his pirate craft. But the danger only aroused
his mettle. He prepared his vessel for action, arranged ev-
ery detail with care, and having by his own display of cour-
age strengthened the confidence of his desperate crew, he
repaired to his cabin to spend the last night of his career of
crime and sin. He sat down to his bottle and drank hear-
tily, stimulating his spirits to frenzy, as a lion in the toils

making the last efforts for life. Knowing all the threads
of the intricate channel, he complacently regarded the ap-
proach of Maynard's vessels as the next morning they care-
fully sought to enter the inlet. Repeatedly were they
grounded en the hidden shoals, and with difficulty did they
gain the entrance; but at length they passed the inlets and
the conflict began. The pirate now brought to his aid his
superior knowledge of the location, and manoeuvred his
ship handsomely, and in the running fight that ensued se-
cured some advantages. But at length the attacking ves-
sels pressed him so hard that the Adventure herself ground-
ed on a projecting shoal, and an engagement at close quar-
ters became inevitable. Maynard ordered his brave crews
to prepare to board, and, with quickened zeal, sought to lay
his two vessels alongside the pirate sloop. But the heart of
Black Beard did not quail. He reserved the fire of his hea-
vy guns, double-shotted, until his assailants were close at
hand, and delivered a destructive broadside upon them. So
successful was he in this defence that at this very first
broadside twenty-nine of Maynard's force were either killed
or wounded, and one of the sloops was seriously disabled.
But Maynard was not made of the stuff to be driven off by
a first repulse. He had come to destroy the pirate and he
determined to fight it cut to the bitter end. His decks
were cleared of the dead and wounded, and he prepared ev-
ery detail for a fierce renewal of the encounter. His own
sloop alone was fit for action, but the Adventure being fast
grounded, manoeuvring was impossible, and the struggle
resolved itself into a question of mere physical power. Ob-
serving that his vessel drew so much water that he could

not readily close in with the Adventure, he threw over-
board whatever could be spared to lighten the ship, and
then resolutely undertook once more to grapple with the
enemy. The better to protect his men he made them re-
main below, while he himself heroically seized the helm
and steered directly for the Adventure.

But if Maynard was resolute, so was Black Beard, who,
resolving to sell his life as dearly as possible, had posted
one of his bandits at the powder magazine with a lighted
match, ready to make a heroic catastrophe-rather than per-
mit his capture.

Maynard skillfully handled his ship and approached so
as to prevent a similar broadside to that which had disa-
bled his consort; he alone was on deck as the bow of his
ship crashed up against the quarter of the stranded corsair.

Immediately Black Beard and his crew threw hand-gre-
nades of his own manufacture that enveloped their antag-
onist in a cloud of dense foul smoke, under cover of which
they leaped over her bows and hurried to assail the gallant
Maynard who alone was visible. But instantaneously the
men below rushed on deck and sprang to his relief and a
furious hand-to-hand conflict ensued.

The pirates fought with a resolution born of despair. It
was an effort to make havoc, without hope of success. Black
Beard was cut down but seemed endued with more than
human life, so violent was his fury, so terrific his frenzy.
His men with equal passion fought in sheer desperation,
inflicting great loss before they were subdued. But at
length Black Beard, himself wounded unto death, when in
the act of cocking his last pistol, fainted from loss of blood,

and falling, expired. Those who remained, overcome by
superior numbers, were then subdued; and Maynard had
the satisfaction and glory of a victorious issue of his under-
taking although dearly bought with heroic lives.

The survivors of the pirate crew were all found to be ne-
groes. They were carried to Virginia, where the judiciary
of the royal government had jurisdiction to try crimes of pi-
racy, and were tried the following March. Contemporane-
ously with the descent on Black Beard, Capt. Brand of the
frigate Lyme, had come overland into North Carolina, and
accompanied by Edward Mosely and Maurice Moore and
Jeremiah Vail, had been seeking information as to those
who were in complicity with Black Beard. At first Tobias
Knight denied all knowledge of the booty the pirate had
brought in, but eventually admitted that it had been stored
in his barn, where it was found hid away under some fod-
der. The claim was then made that Teach had found the
French ship deserted at sea and that the goods belonged to
him as the finder, but later, after Black Beard had met his
death, the pretence was made that the goods had merely
been stored in a warehouse to await tbe demand of the law-
ful owners. The pretence was too thin, and Capt. Brand
had the stuff carried to Virginia where it was sold on ac-
count of the French owners and the money accounted for.

This man Knight was Secretary of the colony, and lived
near Bath, but the public papers were kept at the house of
John Iyovick, the deputy Secretary, at Sandy Point, in
Chowan, near where Edenton now is, and where Governor
Eden himself resided. It was this man Iyovick whom, sub-
sequently, Gov. Burrington sarcastically dubbed " Eden's

J9
affidavit man." Apparently to secure evidence that would
throw light upon this dark spot in the history of the colo-
ny, Edward Mosely, who was the most influential man in
the colony, along with Maurice Moore, his brother-in-law,
who having come with his brother, Colonel James Moore
from South Carolina to fight the Indians five years before
when they rescued the colony from the great peril of being
entirely cut off by the savages, was also greatly esteemed by
the people, forcibly entered the Secretary's office and lock-
ing themselves in, remained there twenty -four hours exam-
ining the records and public papers. The object of their
search was without doubt to obtain record evidence touch-
ing the pirates and their accomplices. And they claimed
that their action was lawful because when the Lords Pro-
prietors sent over instructions to the Governors, as they did
every third year, they had invariably instructed that the
records should be open to public inspection. This unusual
seachingthe records occurred on the 27th of December, and
threw the Governor and his friends into great excitement,
and thereupon a force was collected to arrest Mosely and
Moore for high crimes and misdemeanors.

When the posse came to arrest Mosely, who was the lead-
ing lawyer in the colony, and had for many years been the
Speaker of the House, he remonstrated with one of the men
that it was a frivolous business and that he was astonished
at their coming that way to arrest him; that the governor
and authorities could easily procure armed men to come and
disturb quiet and honest men, but could not, though such
a number would have done, raise them to destroy Thack,
but instead of that the pirate had been suffered to go on in

his villanies, etc. These scandalous utterances stung the
Governor to the quick, and Mosely was arraigned for his
crimes and the whole power of the government was brought
to bear for his conviction. At November term 1719, he
was fined five shillings for detaining the records, and for his
scandalous language about the Governor he was fined 100
pounds and declared incapable of practicing law or of hold-
ing any office in the colony for a period of three years. But
because he was employed in all the important cases pend-
ing, on the application of the Chief Justice he was allowed
to appear in the cases already brought, and somewhat later
he put on record that his language about the Governor had
been hasty and passionate. When the three years of his sen-
tence had expired, he was immediately elected to the as-
sembly and chosen speaker of that body, for he was so in-
fluential with the people that he was Speaker of the House
whenever he was a member. His sentence was not remit-
ted, as some histories erroneously state.

As for Tobias Knight, when the pirates were tried in
Virginia in March, the evidence implicated him so posi-
tively that a copy of the testimony was sent to the Govern-
or of North Carolina with a request that he be sent to Vir-
ginia for trial. But his associates at the council board were
not of that mind. They however, called ou him to answer
before them, and he filed a statement on May 27th, 17 19,
accompanied by the affidavit of Edmund Chamburlane, a
young man who lived with him. The council was com-
placent enough to resolve that Knight was innocent, but he
never again sat at the board, and two months afterwards
had the srrace to die.

When Black Beard came in to surrender himself, in June,
Major Steed Bonne tt and his consort under Richard Worm-
ly, repaired to the solitudes of the lower Cape Fear, and
from there continued their depredations on the commerce
of Charleston, hardly any vessel going out or coming in es-
caping their plundering crews.

So great was the interruption of its commerce by these
pirates that the people of that city determined to help them-
selves, and in order to destroy these corsairs fitted out two
well-equipped vessels, putting them under Major Rhett, a
bold, brave and determined man, who was born in London,
but who had removed with his family to Charleston twen-
ty years before.

Major Rhett sailed out in search of the pirates and soon
discovered Bonnett's ships in waiting for some prey; but
when Bonnett saw that instead of the two vessels fleeing
from him, they were seeking to overtake him, he quickly
made sail for his den in Cape Fear harbor. Thither Rhett
pursued with all sail set, and soon brought on a conflict. A
desperate engagement followed within the harbor, the pi-
rates fighting like mad-men, but getting the worst of the
battle. Their vessel, however, escaped after the fight and,
according to tradition, made its way to the mouth of Black
river. There the pirates stood at bay. The men, fully
aware that the halter awaited them, purposed to die rather
than suffer capture. In the frenzy of despair they laid a
plan to allow Rhett's force to board their vessel and then
blow her up, all perishing in one fearful moment of de-
struction. Major Bonnett, however, was a man of educa-
tion, and had seen much of the world, and he treasured

hopes of some day abandoning his nefarious life and return-
ing to an honest calling, as others had done in South Car-
olina. He did not approve of this desperate heroism, and
discouraging the men from it, at length persuaded them to
abandon their project and surrender to Major Rhett, trust-
ing that thereby he might secure some favor for himself.
Thus the following day Major Rhett obtained possession of
the pirate vessel without further bloodshed. Amid great
rejoicing he carried Major Bonnett and the survivors of his
crew, forty in all, to Charleston. After refitting his ship,
Rhett sailed out again in search of Wormley, and having
come up with him, the pirates fought so desperately that
the whole crew was killed but two, and these were so se-
verely wounded that when they reached Charleston they
were immediately tried and executed to prevent their dy-
ing from their wounds.

Bonnett and his forty men were tried also, and were all
hanged and buried in Charleston harbor below high water
mark. On his trial it was pressed so hard that he was a
"gentleman," and the people were so favorable to him, that
the judge, Trott, in his charge to the jury, had to comment
on the fact that being a gentlemin was only an aggravation
of the crime, to secure a conviction. After sentence, Bon-
nett, by means of friendly aid, escaped from prison in wo-
men's clothes, and on being retaken, he addressed a long
and touching letter to Colonel Rhett, praying his interces-
sion for a reprieve until the King could have an opportu-
nity to pardon him, in which he expressed himself as fol-
lows:

" I entreat your charitable opinion of my great contri-

tion and godly sorrow for the errors of my past life, and if
I had the happiness of a longer life granted me in this
world, I shall always retain in mind and endeavor to follow
those excellent precepts of our holy Saviour — to love my
neighbor as myself; and do unto all men as I would they
should do unto me, living in perfect holy friendship and
charity with all mankind. This I do assure you, sir, is the
sincerity of my heart upon the word of a penitent Chris-
tian and my only desire of my enjoying such a transient
being, is that it may be for the future consecrated to the
service of my Maker, and by a long and unfeigned repent-
ance, I may beseech Almighty God, of His infinite mercy,
to pardon and remit all my sins, and enable me to live a
wholly religious life, and make satisfaction to all persons
whom I have any ways injured."

But this did not save him. He shared the common fate
of his miscreant band, and thus the last of the famous pi-
rates who had infested the coast of Carolina, suffered the
merited penalty of his villainous crimes.

THE END.

Battles of Revolution Tougbt in north Carolina.

Moores Creek Bridge,

Kamsour's Mill, .

Pacolet Eiver,

Earles Ford,

Cane Creek,

Wahab's Plantation,

Charlotte,

Wilmington,

Cowans Ford, .

Torrence Tavern,

Shallow Ford,

Brace's Cross Koads,

Haw Kiver,

Clapp's Mill,

Whitsell's Mill,

Guilford Court House,

Hillsboro,

Hillsboro, .

Sudleys Mill, (Cane Creek,)

Feb'y 27th, 1776
June 20th, 1780
July 14th, 1780
July 18th, 1780
Sept. 12th, 1780
Sept. 21st, 1780
Sept. 26th, 1780
Feb'y. 1st, 1781
Feb'y. 1st, 1781
Feb'y. 1st, 1781
Feb'y. 6th, 1781

Feb'y. 12th, 1781

Feb'y. 25th, 1781
March 2nd, 1781
March 6th, 1781

March 15th, 1781
April 25th, 1781
Sept. 13th, 1781
Sept. 13th, 1781

* 7 -,

IU north Carolina Booklet

MM. iil ^3

GREAT EVENTS IN

NORTH CAROLINA HISTORY.

E ! '

Indian massacre and Cuscarora Olar

I711''H.

VAITER'CLAEI.

PRICE 10 CENTS. & & & $1.00 THE YEAR.

Entered at the Postoffice at Raleigh, N. C, as second-class matter— June 24, 1901.

Cbe north Carolina Booklet

The Editors of the N. C. Booklet announce that should a suf-
ficient number of subscriptions be received to warrant the
publication of the N. 0. Booklet, it will be issued monthly, as
heretofore, for another year, beginning May 10th, 1902. The
following being the proposed list of subjects:

1. — May — Ku-Klux Klans.

Mrs. T. J. Jar vis.

2. — June — Our Pirates.

Capt. S. A. Ashe.

3. — July — Indian Massacre and Tuscarora "War.
Judge Walter Clark.

4. — August — Moravian Settlement in North Carolina.
Rev. Dr. J. E. Clewell

5. — Sept. — Whigs and Tories.

Prof. W. C. Allen.

6. — Oct. — The Revolutionary Congress of North Carolina.
Mr. T. M. Pittman.

7.— Nov.— The Battle of Guilford Court House.
Prof. D. H. Hill.

8. — Dec. — Historic Homes in N. C, — The Groves, and others.
Col. Burgwyn, Col. Waddell, Mr. Thomas M. Blunt, and others.

9. — Jan. — Old Charleston on the Cape Fear.
Prof. James S. Bassett.

10. — Feb. — Ealeigh and the old town of Bloomsbury.
Dr. K. P. Battle, Sr.

11. — March — Confederate Secret Service.

Dr. Chas. E. Taylor. Conditional.

12. — April — The Story of the Albemarle.
Major Graham Daves.

Parties desiring to subscribe will please send at once, their
address with the subscription price $1. for the year, to " The N.
C. Booklet Co., P. 0. Box 125, Ealeigh, N. C."

If for auy reason the Booklet should not be issued, each sub-
scriber's money will be returned.

Arrangements have been made to have this volume of the
Booklet bound in library style for 50c. Those living at a dis-
tance will please add 5 cents in stamps to cover cost of mailing.
State in ordering whether black or red leather is preferred.

NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.

VOL. II. JULY lO, 1902. NO. 3.

'Indian Massacre and Zuscarora War
1711-13.

WALTER CLARK.

RALEIGH :

Capitai, Printing Company.

1902.

'Carolina! Carolina ! ljeawn'$ blessings attend ben
While we live we will cherish, protect and defend her.'

INDIAN MASSACRE AND TUSCARORA WAR
J7U-'J3.

WAI/fER d,ARK.

The fate of the " Lost Colony of Roanoke " is one of the
enigmas of history. Whether worn out with three years of
weary waiting for sails which came not to whiten the sea,
or forced by starvation, the colony removed to a more eligi-
ble site and gradually amalgamated with the natives, as is
claimed, or whether weakened by disease or taken by sur-
prise it was massacred by the savages no man knoweth to this
day. The curtain of history has fallen and the breezes that
breathe softly over the scene of the settlement and the trials
of the colony tell no story to the ears of the anxious en-
quirer.

But, unless the colony of 1587, under John White, was
taken off by massacre, the boast 124 years later of our first
historian, John Lawson in 1711, that North Carolina was
the only instance of a nation planted in peace and located
without blood-shed was well founded. Yet even while he
wrote the tomahawks were being sharpened and the Indian
warriors plumed and painted were already stealthily gli-
ding along narrow trails, gathering for the harvest of death
and torture.

Till that date, friendly relations between the natives and
whites had been unbroken. There may have been occa-
sionally variances or feuds between individuals, but these
had always been settled by the law, and the races remained
at peace. The Indians were employed by the whites, in
many instances, as domestics, and all were admitted, with-
out suspicion, and at all times, into the white settlements.

Many reasons have been assigned for the bloody and
remarkable outbreak of 171 1. By some it has been attrib-
uted to the steady encroachments of the whites upon the
hunting grounds and fishing of the Indians, threatening
their livelihood and thus forcing them to remove far from
the burying grounds where reposed the bones of their an-
cestors. Others thought that the spectacle of the whites
engaged in conflicts with one another, divided and weak-
ened, encouraged the Indians to avail themselves of the op-
portunity to remove the intruders. There is not lacking
co-temporary assertion that Carey, who had just been de-
feated in his rebellion, or at least Roach, his subordinate,
instigated and procured the savages to make the assault.
Feeling ran high against the defeated and discredited fac-
tion and this last motive should be accredited with hesita-
tion, though it has received the support of Dr. Hawks.
Certainly the first two causes were sufficient to have moved
a suspicious and treacherous race, as the Indians by nature
were.

At that time, the force of fighting men among the Indi-
ans in this colony contiguous to the white settlement were
as follows, as appears from the estimates of that date. The
Tuscaroras who lived in Bertie and in the country south
of the Roanoke and on the waters of Tar and Pamlic
could muster about twelve hundred men. North and
Northwest of Albemarle Sound were the Meherrins, Not-
toways, Chowanokes, Pasquotanks, Poteskeets (or Curri-
tucks,) Connamox and Yeopims. These had been much
reduced in number by contact with civilization and use of
the white man's fire-7/ater, but they could still furnish one

hundred and sixty warriors. Southwest of Albemarle, be-
sides the Tuscaroras were the Pamlicos, Cotechneys and
Neusiocs, and between them and the ocean were remnants
of the Maramuskeets, Matchapungos, Hatteras, Cores (or
Coranines), Woccons, Croatan and Bear River Indians.
Though also reduced in numbers they yet numbered alto-
gether two hundred and fifty righting men. Farther south
were the Saponas of some strength and a feeble tribe, the
Sippahaws. Altogether the tribes immediately contiguous
to the whites were able to put near eighteen hundred men
into the field.

The province at that time, as appears from Lawson's
map,^ made in 1709, consisted of two counties, Albemarle —
which was divided into Currituck, Pasquotank, Chuwon
and Wickham, (later Tyrrell) precincts. Bath county,
which embraced Pampticough precinct (now Beaufort and
Pitt) and Archdale precinct, (now Pamlico and Craven).
The original division had been into Albemarle and Claren-
don on the Cape Fear, but as population passed South from
Albemarle, the county of Bath had been established, and
in 1690 Clarendon county had ceased to exist. In Decem-
ber 1 7 10 the Germans and Swiss landing at the confluence
of the Neuse and Trent had founded the town of New
Bern, though there was no incorporated town in the colo-
ny until later. The Germans were from Heidelberg and
vicinity in the Palatinate and hence were called Palatines.
The Swiss were from the canton of Bern and the combined
Swiss and German settlers under DeGraffenreid and Louis
Michel numbered six hundred and fifty. There were two

* A fac simile of this map is prefixed hereto.

other streams of white population, to-wit : the English on
the north side of the Albemarle, who had gradually extend-
ed west of the Chowan, and comprised the bulk of the pop-
ulation. About half of these were Quakers and not avail-
able in war. Some of the Albemarle people had pushed
south and were settled on the Roanoke and Tar and about
the town of Bath. The third element was the French Hu-
guenots who had come from Virginia in two distinct mi-
grations in 1690 and 1707, the former settled on Pamlico
and the latter on Neuse and Trent rivers, whence a few had
wandered into what are now Carteret and Onslow counties.
There was probably about seven thousand whites all told
in the province in 171 1. Excluding the Quakers there,
was about 1,000 men able to bear arms. Such was the
status and strength of the respective races. The rich
country of the Pamlico had enticed settlers from north of
the Albemarle, especially to the town of Bath which had
been established by the French Huguenots from Virginia,
in their first migration of 1690 in expectation of making it
the commercial metropolis of the province by reason of the
access to the ocean through Ocracoke inlet. At Bath, Gale,
the Chief Justice of the province, and Knight, the Secreta-
ry, resided, and Governor Hyde spent much of his time
there.

The Tuscaroras were the leaders in the movement for
the slaughter of the whites, and their plans were prepared
with skill and secrecy. They assumed the work of de-
struction of the settlers on the Roanoke, Tar and Pamlico
rivers. The tribe of the latter name were to slaughter
those on the lower Pamlico above Bath, while the Mara-

muskeets (or Matamuskeets) and Matchapungoes were to
complete the work at Bath, and upon the settlers in that
section. The Cotechneys, who lived in what is now Greene
county, were to join the Cores, and together they were to
effect the destruction of the settlers at New Bern and upon
the Neuse and Trent rivers. The Tuscaroras calling to
their aid the Meherrins and other small tribes above named
north of Albemarle, were to harry the whites in that sec-
tion.

A day was set for simultaneous action, to wit; on the day
before the new moon in September 171 1, which would oc-
cur on 23 September. The work of universal murder was
therefore to begin on 22 September, a day which was long
thereafter observed by the colony as a day of fasting,
prayer and mourning, under an act of the General Assem-
bly. The secret was kept profound as the grave, and the
whites suspecting nothing slept in fatal security.

A few days before the appointed time an incident oc-
curred, which, if known to the colonists at New Bern
might have aroused them to take measures for their safety.
Baron deGraffenreid, and L,awson, the Surveyor General,
left New Bern in the former's boat to go up Neuse river to
ascertain how far it was navigable and to inspect the
lands on either side. About nightfall they landed at an
Indian village called Corutra, intending to spend the night.
Being soon surrounded by a large number of armed In-
dians, they attempted to return to their boat, but were ta-
ken captive and marched all night by their captors to an-
other village some distance from the river and were deliv-
ered to its chief. The next day they were tried by a coun-

cil and interrogated as to their purposes. The Indians
complained of Lawson as the man who had surveyed and
sold their lands. After some vacillation, the negro servant
and Lawson were put to death. The body of the latter was
stuck full of lightwood splinters and he was burnt alive,
the splinters being set on fire. DeGraffenreid was kept a
close prisoner and no suspicion was aroused at New Bern
by an absence which was expected to continue for an un-
certain period.

On 2 1 September twelve hundred Tuscaroras and their
six hucdred allies divided into numerous detachments,
began their march at all points. Scouts were sent forward
among the whites to reconnoitre. About nightfall larger
numbers appeared near the white settlements, but as they
merely asked for food no alarm was excited. At dawn on
the 22nd the war whoop was heard throughout the colony.
The domesticated Indians in the homes of the whites an-
swered the signal of those lurking in the woods and the
massacre began. No age or sex was spared. The slaugh-
ter was indiscriminate and the wonder is any escaped. The
torch was then applied and those who had hidden them-
selves were forced out and killed. As a sample, Chief Jus-
tice Gale, soon after the massacre tells this of the fate of one
family: " The family of Neville was treated after this
manner. The old man was found, after being shot dead,
laid out on the floor, with a clean pillow under his head,
his stockings turned over his shoes and his body covered
with fine linen. His wife, after being murdered, was set
upon her knees in the chimney corner and her hands raised
up on a chair, as if at prayer. A son was laid out in the

yard, with a pillow under his head and a bunch of rose-
mary laid to his nose. At the next house the owner was
shot and laid on his wife's grave." (Then follows accounts
of unspeakable atrocities). ******

" In short their manner of butchery has been so various
and unaccountable, that it would be beyond credit to relate
them. This blow was so hotly followed by the hellish
crew that we could not bury our dead ; so that they were
left for prey to the dogs and wolves, and vultures, whilst
our care was to strengthen our garrisons to secure the liv-
ing. " One hundred and thirty were killed on the Roan-
oke alone, and sixty of the palatines on the outskirts of
New Bern. The total loss of life was appalling through-
out the province. The savages infuriated by the liquor
they found, commenced a systematic man hunt, and for
three days the carnival of blood continued. The smaller
settlements and the isolated farms were all destroyed. North
of the Albemarle the loss of life was small as the whites
outnumbered their assailants in most places.

Governor Hyde saw at once the impossibility of raising
near half as many men as there were Indian warriors, for
besides the large number of whites slain there were the
disaffected who had sided with Carey and Roach who were
suspected to have instigated the massacre, and there were
also the Quakers who composed so large a part of the pop-
ulation, and who were non-combatants. At the first onset
Governor Hyde was not able to embody more than one
hundred and sixty men. Many doubtless had gone to Vir-
ginia to carry the women and children to safety and many
of Carey's faction had recently gone thither for their

own security. There was also no public funds to pay the
troops that were raised. The confederacy of the Indians
was so wide-spread and comprehensive that the Governor
could get no allies from that source by appeals to tribal
jealousies. He called upon the adjoining provinces for aid.
Governor Spottswood, of Virginia, marched sixteen hundred
militia to Nottoway town which prevented Indian attacks
extending to that province, and probably to some extent
overawed the Indians in North Carolina near the line as
Gov. Spottswood's request for the liberation of Baron de-
Graffenried was granted, after he had been kept a prisoner
for five weeks, but owing to internal feuds the appropria-
tion requested to support troops to be sent to the aid of
North Carolina was not voted, and hence no assistance was
received from Virginia.

DeGrafienreid's enlargement was based upon his treaty
with the Indians that his Germans and Swiss at New-
Bern should remain neutral in the war between the Eng-
lish and the Indians, and this probably saved that settle-
ment from destruction. DeGraffenreid soon sold out to
Col. Thos. Pollock his holdings for eight hundred pounds
and put the Atlantic between himself and his late captors.

The legislature of South Carolina to whom Chief Justice
Gale was sent to implore aid, promptly sent six hundred
militia and three hundred and sixty Indians, mostly Yein-
assees, under Col. Barnwell, who with great expedition,
traversed the wilderness then separating the settlements on
the Neuse from the settled parts of South Carolina. The
surviving population on the frontier lines were collected
into temporary forts on the Chowan, Neuse and Pamlico,

and guarded by the militia. Food was brought from north
of the Albemarle, as elsewhere nearly all the crops and
provisions had been destroyed.

As soon as the South Carolina forces arrived they were
joined by all the North Carolina militia not required to
guard the forts. They advanced upon the Indians, who
also collected into one body, fell back to a strong wooden
breastwork, or palisade fort which they had erected on
Neuse river about twenty miles above New Bern. Here
Barnwell, with his combined forces made an attack upon
them 28 Jan. 17 12. The Indians having been reinforced,
marched boldly out to give battle, but they were defeated
with a loss of three hundred killed and one hundred taken
prisoners, the number of wounded unknown. Those left
upon the battle field were doubtless included among the
slain. The survivors retreated into the fort and were at
once surrounded. By pushing his parallels, Col. Louis
Michel succeeded in placing a battery of two guns within
eleven yards of the palisade, whereupon the Indians beat a
parley and were allowed to surrender. Some three months
after, the Council of State put on record their condemna-
tion of Barnwell's conduct. The complaint seems to have
been that he accepted the surrender of the Indians at a mo-
ment when he had them in his power and might have ex-
terminated them, and further, that after the treaty he had
allowed his men to fall upon some of their towns, in viola-
tion of the treaty, and carry off many as slaves to South
Carolina. Barnwell himself was wounded and returned to
Charleston together with his disabled men by water. His
Indian allies, according to savage custom, left him in large

numbers immediately after the battle to mourn their fallen
braves and sell their slaves and the diminution of his forces
from this and other causes may have required him to re-
frain from exacting an unconditional surrender of the fort.
The spot is known as Fort Barnwell to this day.

On 12 March 17 12 the General Assembly met and vo-
ted 4,000 pounds to carry on the war. They engaged
the Sapona Indians as allies and erected Fort Hyde on Core
Sound to overawe the Core Indians, and garrisoned it with
thirty men. They also erected Fort Reading on Tar river
with a garrison of ten men. Application as before was
made again for aid to the adjoining provinces, and as be-
fore the aid came from the South alone. There was great
alarm over a rumor that the Five Nations of New York
were to come down to join their Tuscarora brethren for
the destruction of this province. A powerful epidemic of
yellow fever also broke out and sadly diminished the num-
ber surviving from the massacre. Governor Hyde died of
the yellow fever 8 Sept. 171 2, and on 12 September the
Council elected Col. Thomas Pollock President of the colo-
ny and Commander-in-Chief.

He took the government at a gloomy time. The colony
was bankrupt and Carey's rebellion, the Indian massacre,
the succeeding war and the yellow fever had so re-
duced the population that the whole available force under
arms was 140 men. The whole province had to look to
the country north of Albemarle Sound for food. Pollock
acted with admirable skill. By Indian messengers and ne-
gotiations he kept the Five Nations quiet. He obtained an
interview with Tom Blunt, chief among the Tuscaroras

and secured a treaty of neutrality with his part of that tribe
and ultimately an agreement that he should capture and
bring in Hancock, the most hostile of the chiefs. Gov-
ernor Pollock also pacified the Quakers and secured their
aid in provisioning the forces. He also obtained from
South Carolina the dispatch of a force of one thousand In-
dians and fifty white men under Colonel James Moore.
Virginia voted 3,500 pounds to aid North Carolina in car-
rying on the war, and 600 pounds to be used in the pur-
chase of blankets and clothing for our troops. When Vir-
ginia asked however for a mortgage on the lands on the
Roanoke as security for re-imbursement Pollock resolutely
declined to give it on the ground that he was without au-
thority to do so.

On 25 November 171 2 President Pollock made a treaty
with Blunt and five subordinate chiefs by which they were
not only detached from the Confederacy, but they agreed
to make war on the Cotechneys, Cores, Neuse, Bear river,
Pamlico and Matchapungo Indians, and to slay all
above fourteen years of age, and further, to return all prop-
erty stolen from the English, and to relinquish all claims
to lands south of Neuse river or below Cotechney and Bear
Creeks on the north side of Pamlico river, with other stip-
ulations and giving hostages.

Soon after the conclusion of this treaty, which the ap-
proach of Colonel Moore and his troops doubtless hastened
those auxiliaries arrived. The other portions of the prov-
ince being bare of food, Gov. Pollock requested Colonel
Moore to march his troops into the territory north of the
Albemarle. It took much address to prevent collision be-

tween the Indian allies under Moore and the whites of that
section and to the great relief of the latter Moore marched
his troops about the middle of January 1713 to Fort Read-
ing, south of the Pamlico river. There they were detained
by a fall of snow till 4 February.

The Indians had built a fort near where Snow Hill, the
county seat of Greene, now stands, which they called Na-
hucke. Into this they retired under command of Hancock on
Moore's approach. He laid seige to it 20 March. By a
strange oversight no wells were provided in the fort, and
on learning this Moore cut them off from the streams from
which they were supplied. After having thus greatly dis-
tressed them, he took the fort by storm. A large number of
Indians were slain and eight hundred were taken. Moore
lost fifty-eight men, of whom thirty-six were Indians and
eighty wounded, of whom only twenty-four were whites.
The Indian allies, as in the previous expedition under
Barnwell, having secured all the prisoners they could for
slaves left for home save 180 only, who remained with him.
The defeated Indians had another fort Cahunke, about 40
miles to the southwest, to which those who escaped fled,
but taught by the loss of two forts, they did not trust to
their palisades again and abandoned this fort before Col.
Moore reached it. The greater part under Hancock, crossed
the Roanoke higher up and joined their kindred in New
York, whose designation was henceforward the Six Na-
tions. Those Tuscaroras who did not choose to go North
submitted and accepted whatever terms the whites laid up-
on them.

Tom Blunt, for his fidelity to the English, was made

king of all the Indians south of the Pamlico river, and
thenceforward was known as King Blunt. The war was now
about over. In April 17 13 the Matchapungos made an in-
road on Alligator river and killed some twenty whites. Col.
Moore sent some of his Indians thither and no trouble has
occurred from Indians in that quarter since that day. The
only remaining tribe, the Cores, soon after sued for peace.
The victory at Nahucke came just in time, as it was after-
wards learned that the Five Nations were on the point of
coming to the aid of the Tuscaroras in this province.

The war left the province depleted in population and
bankrupt. To cure the lack of money, the Legislature is-
sued bills for eight thousand pounds, which was the first
paper money it had emitted. There was also the peculiarity
that these bills were not promises to pay gold and silver,
but were to pass as money -per se.

The war having closed, Colonel Moore, who had only
about one hundred of his one thousand Indians remaining
with him returned by water to Charleston.

Not long after, in 17 15 an Indian war burst out in South
Carolina, an Indian Confederacy of all the tribes from the
Cape Fear to Florida having been formed for the extermina-
tion of the whites in that province, doubtless by insti-
gation of the Spanish. In this war, our former allies, the
Yemassees were the most conspicuous tribe. Gov. Eden,
who had then arrived, promptly called out our militia and
sent both horse and foot under the command of Colonel
Maurice Moore, to the aid of South Carolina, where they
rendered efficient service.

The Matchapungoes and Cores in Hyde, hearing of the

South Carolina troubles and the march of our troops again
broke out and murdered several whites at the more distant
and unprotected settlements but they were promptly pun-
ished and suppressed. King Blunt and his faithful In-
dians were removed and settled on a beautiful reservation
in Bertie county, known to this day as the Indian Woods.
Later these Indians also joined their brethren of the Six
Nations in New York, though the Indian title was not ex-
tinguished till a centnry later. A descendant of King Blunt
having married into the royal Hawaian family the last
sovereigns of Hawaii were lineal descendants of our North
Carolina Indian chief.

Col. Louis Michel was the ancestor of the well known
New Bern family which now spells its name Mitchell.
Chief Justice Gale numbers among his descendants the
Little family of Raleigh. Gov. Pollock's descendants are,
many of them, buried in the cemetery at Raleigh, and among
his living representatives is the Devereux family of this city

Space has not been given to the horrifying details
of brutality perpetrated in the great Indian massacre. They
can be gathered from the details given of savage outrages in
other wars. The massacre of 22 Sept. 171 1 was well
planned, and embraced all the inhabited parts of the province
except the more thickly settled portions north of the Albe-
marle. Had the Five Nations joined their Tuscarora
brethren, as was twice imminent, the total destruction of
the colony was within the bounds of probability. From
this we were saved first by the efforts of Gov. Pollock and
later by the victory at Nahuckc

THE END.

Battles of Revolution Tougbt in north Carolina.

Moores Creek Bridge,

Kamsour's Mill, .

Pacolet Eiver,

Earles Ford,

Cane Creek,

Wahab's Plantation

Charlotte

Wilmington,

Cowans Ford, .

Torrence Tavern,

Shallow Ford

Bruce's Cross Roads, .

Haw River, .

Clapp'sMill

Whitsell's Mill, .

Guilford Court House,

Hillsboro, .

Sudleys Mill, (Cane Creek,) .

Feb'y 27th, 1776

June 20th, 1780

July 14th, 1780

July 18th, 1780

Sept. 12th, 1780

Sept. 21st, 1780

Sept. 26th, 1780

Feb'y 1st, 1781

Feb'y 6th, 1781

Feb'y 12th? 1781

Feb'y 25th, 1781

March 2nd, 1781

March 6th, 1781

March 15th, 1781

April 25th, 1781

Sept. 13th, 1781

IU north Carolina Booklet

VtlK

JCLA

GREAT EVENTS IN

NORTH CAROLINA HISTORY.

Moravian Settlement in north Carolina.

Rbv. J. H. CLBWELL.

PRICE 10 CENTS. & j* & $1.00 THE YEAR.

Katered at the Postoffice at Raleigh, N. C, as second-class matter— June 24, 1901.

CIk north Carolina Booklet

Great events in north Carolina Ijistory.

Vol. 2.

l-May — Ku-Klux Klans.

Mrs. T. J. J arris.
2-June — Our Pirates.

Capt. S. A. Ashe.
3-July — Indian Massacre and Tuscarora War.

Judge Walter Clark.
4-Augtist — Moravian Settlement in North Carolina.

Rev. J. H. Clewell.
5-September — Whigs and Tories.

Prof. W. C. Allen.
6-October — The Revolutionary Congresses of North Carolina.

Mr. T. M. Pittman.
7-November — The Battle of Guilford Court House.

Prof. D. H. Hill.
8-December — Historic Homes in North Carolina: The Groves
and Others.
Col. Burgwyn, Col. Waddell, Mr. Thos. Blount, and others.
9-January — Old Charleston on the Cape Fear.

Prof. Jas. S. Bassett.
10-February — Raleigh and the Old Town of Bloomsbury.

. Dr. K. P. Battle.
11-March — Confederate Secret Service.

Dr. Chas. E. Taylor, (conditional).
12-Xpril — The Story of the Albemarle.
Maj. Graham Daves.

One Booklet a month will be issued by the N. C. Society
Daughters of the Revolution. Price $1.00 per year.

Address THE N. C. BOOKLET CO.,

Or Mrs. Hubert Haywood, 218 Newbern Ave., Raleigh, N. C.

Arrangements have been made to have this volume of the Booklet bound in library
style for 50c. Those living at a distance will please add stamps to cover cost of mail-
ing. State whether black or red leather is preferred.

editors:
Miss Martha Helen Haywood, Mrs. Hubert Haywood.

NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.

VOL. II. AUGUST 10, 1902. No. 4.

lttoratian Settlement in north Carolina.

J. H. CIJEWEUL.

RALEIGH :

Capital, Printing Company.

1902.

'Carolina! Carolina! fieaven's blessings attend ben
Ulbile we live we will cberisb, protect and defend ber.'

INTRODUCTION.

The literature concerning the Moravian Church in gen-
eral is so extensive that it forms a library in itself. The
information concerning the Moravian Church in North
Carolina is contained in thousands of pages of valuable
manuscripts preserved in two rooms of the Historical Build-
ing in Salem, N. C. These manuscripts, covering one
hundred and fifty years, are of the utmost importance to the
historian of North Carolina. Our story embraces the mem-
orable visits of Governor Tryon to Wachovia in 1767 and
1 77 1. Every story must have an introduction and a con-
clusion. We preface the narrative by a few items in regard
to the Moravian Church in general, and we will conclude
our monograph with a rapid glance at a few of the events
in the subsequent development of this important colony in
Western Carolina. For general and detailed " information
see " History of the Moravian Church, " Hamilton, Bethle-
hem, Pennsylvania. For a full account of one hundred and
fifty years in our own State see " History of Wachovia in
North Carolina," Clewell, Winston-Salem, North Carolina,
365 pp., 32 maps and illustrations.

THE MORAVIAN CHURCH.

The Moravian Church is well known, and little known.
Both statements are true. On the one hand to the student
of church history the work of four and a half centuries,
with the bright lights of noble work, and the dark shad-
ows of persecutions, forms a grand picture. On the other
hand there are many who scarcely know the name of the
church. In what we say we will assume that to the gener-
al reader the facts of the Moravian Church history are not
well known.

In the year 14 15 the great reformer, John Huss, was
burned at the stake. From the ranks of his followers came
the little band which, in 1457 organized the " Unitas Fra-
trum, or "Unity of Brethren." The Moravian Church is thus
the oldest Protestant denomination. The purity of their
doctrine, the godliness of their lives, and the energy of their
work caused the denomination to spread rapidly, in Bohe-
mia and Moravia. From the latter country has come the
name " Moravian Church, " though the official name of the
denomination is " Unitas Fratrum. " Hundreds of church-
es were established, thousands of members were received
from the high and the low of the land, and with the mem-
bership made up of learned professors in the Universities'
the nobility and the wealthy, as well as those from the
more humble walks of life, the Unitas Fratrum caused
beautiful Moravia and Bohemia to flourish as it has never

done since the destruction of the church organization by
persecution.

Then came the thirty years' war. General history re-
lates how the cruel and bigoted Ferdinand crushed out the /
Protestant church of the Unitas Fratrum with fire andf
sword, with torture and persecution, by banishment and by
death; the Bohemian-Moravian branch of the Unitas Fra-
trum suffered, till in 1627 ^ts church o£ one hundred and
fifty thousand souls ceased to exist as an organization. No
more thrilling and terrible page of history exists than that
which covers these years of sorrow and suffering.

We will not follow the weary years of the church in ex-
ile. The sorrowful life of the great Moravian Bishop, John
Amos Comenius, will serve as a t>pe of the church in these
years. Bishop Comenius prophesied that the Moravian £
Church would not only be re-organized, but that it would be
restored to its home land; the former prophecy was re-
alized in 1727; the latter is being realized in a remarkable
manner in our own day. The bishops carefully preserved
and perpetuated the Episcopal succession, which through
the Waldenses comes to the present day in unbroken suc-
cession from the apostles. In 1727 the church was re-
newed on the estates of the good Count Zinzendorf, in Sax-
ony and the prophecy of many aged fathers of the denom-
ination was fulfilled.

The membership of the renewed Moravian Church real-
ized that the wonderful preservation carried with it the
obligation to do some special work, and following the lead-
ing of Providence they entered upon the two great spheres
of missionary effort and of education. In these the church

is best known in our day and time. So widespread around
the world are its mission fields that it can be said of them,
as it is said of the British flag, the sun never sets upon
them. Its schools too are found in many parts of the world,
and they always enjoy the confidence of the sections in
which they are located.

THE MORAVIANS IN NORTH CAROLINA.

In the year 1752 a large tract of land was purchased in
what is now Forsyth county. This tract was about fifteen
miles long, and ten miles wide. It contained nearly one
hundred thousand acres. The object of the purchase was
to provide a home free from the persecutions which they
experienced in some of the European lands. In addition
to this they wished to establish a strong and prosperous col-
ony from which enlarged missionary efforts could be made.

Full and complete records of the events that followed
were made, and this history is preserved in the Archive
House in Salem. Each event in itself furnishes material
sufficient for the pen of the historian or novelist. The
good Spangenberg and his surveying party nearly lost their
lives in the mountain wilds north of the present towns of Mor-
ganton and Hickory ; the first company of a dozen or more
settlers journeyed laboriously through the forests of Penn-
sylvania, Maryland and Virginia, to their new North Car-
olina home. The first year was one of labor and toil with
exposure, hardships and dangers. There were able men in
the party, men who became known to the scattered settlers
all about them as persons skilled in medicine, able in fi-

nancial matters, thrifty in the trades, and true and honest
in their dealings. The best leaders in the Moravian Church
at large were interested, and came to visit them, and ad-
vise with the littfe colony. Spangenberg, the wise theo-
logical writer, Boehler, (the spiritual friend of Wesley)
Zeisberger, known as the apostle to the Indians, and many
others.

The colony grew and prospered. Bethabara, established
in 1753, was the first village, and is six miles north of the
present Winston- Salem. A few years later (1759) Betha-
nia was begun three miles northwest of the first settlement.
Both of these were intended to be only villages. In 1766 /
the central town, Salem, was laid out, and more pretentiou s
buildings erected. The administration officers were taken
thither. The trades were varied and flourished. Within a
few years a dozen or more enterprises were established
which could not be called "factories " in the modern sense
of the term, yet the amount of manufactured goods turned
out by these " trades " brought customers from, a distance
of a hundred miles and more in every direction, and had
wagon trains traveling to Charleston, S. C, and other towns.

The most trying event of the early years was the French
and Indian war. A fort was erected at Bethabara, and
many refugees from near and far fled to this fort after their
homes had been destroyed, and many who were endangered
came thither for protection. The yellow, musty manu-
scripts in the Archive House in Salem contain hundreds of
pages describing the years 1753 to 1763, and if a future
writer of " Indian Stories " arises within the Old North
State and desires to use home material, he will find all that

can be desired in these same manuscripts. There are sto-
ries of sufferings and tortures ; of terrors and horrors ; of
hair breadth escapes and merciless massacres ; of men at-
tending divine service with a trusty rifle upon the knee,
ready for instant defence ; of women and children wander-
ing by night hither and thither through the forests, alarmed
by the cry of the panther, but dreading the wild beast less
than the merciless red man.

The days of the Indian war came to an end. The farm-
ing operations were enlarged, the old industries were
strengthened and new trades started. The wagons of the
Moravian colony went back and forth between Charleston,
Cross Creek, Newbern and Hillsboro. It is not possible to
give the number of inhabitants residing within the tract
of Wachovia at the close of the Indian war, but it was
doubtless five hundred or more.

TRYON'S FIRST VISIT, \ 767.

Governor Tryon is a unique character in North Carolina
history. His predecessor, Governor Dobbs, died in 1765.
Trypn had been acting as Lieutenant-Governor before the
death of Governor Dobbs. He was really a " royal Govern-
or," for he established a miniature court where the elegance
of the English court was imitated, and many of the evils.
The ladies of the Governor's household were cultured, re-
fined and popular, and they fascinated the lawgivers and
legislators by the very atmosphere of the place, and this,
more than anything else caused the wishes of the Governor
to be carried out, often not wisely. To build his " man-

sion " and carry out his " court " plans, heavy taxes were
imposed, and what was worse, every petty official copied
the abuses of his royal master. A protest arose through-
out the land, and gradually assumed the shape of the re-
bellion of the Regulators.

On the other hand Tryon was possessed of many quali-
ties which endeared him to his people, and called forth their
admiration. He was a brave man and a true soldier. He
was genial and refined, though we know he could be cruel
and relentless. Altogether he was possessed of such contra-
dictory characteristics that the pleasant picture which ap-
peared on the occasion of his visits to Wachovia was a nat-
ural result of one side of his nature, and the ciuelty of the
Hillsboro executions brought out the other side.

Naturally Governor Tryon desired to see this well-known
and prosperous colony in Wachovia, and in 1767 news was
received in Bethabara, (then the largest village) that he
would visit them Friday, September 18. The roads over
which he would pass had been repaired, and a carefully ar-
ranged plan was devised, with a view to make his stay as
pleasant as possible. The Governor had with him Mrs.
Tryon, the Counsellor, McKellock, three colonels, Fann-
ing, Frohokand Bauton, the Episcopal minister Mickle-
john, from Hillsboro, and others. As the party drove into
town they were greeted with music, for the village already
boasted of its carefully drilled band.

The diary gives a detailed account of the manner in
which the four days were spent, and the elaborate plan of
entertainment challenges our admiration. A town or vil-
lage of the present day would with difficulty surpass the

Moravians of ante-revolution days in according honors to
the Chief Executive of the State.

A dinner was served in the public hall, after which the
Governor in company with a number of gentlemen of the
place, took a walk through the village, inspecting the va-
rious industries. He also examined the Constitution which
governed the colony, and expressed himself as greatly
pleased.

On the succeeding day Governor Tryon went to Betha-
nia, three miles distant, and to Salem, six miles from Beth-
abara. He visited the large mill which was so important
during the revolution; he rode across the great meadow and
inspected the fields and orchards; finally he expressed his
satisfaction by saying to the people that the colony had as-
sumed such a degree of prosperity and importance that he
recommended that they send a representative to the legis-
lature to guard their interests in that body.

A number of books bearing upon the history of the
church in various parts of the world were presented to the
Governor and his good wife. Among them was a copy of
the act of Parliament of England which acknowledged the
Unitas Fratrum as an ancient Episcopal Church.

In order that the reader may have a glimpse of the de-
lightful cordiality which existed between the visitors and
the people of Wachovia, we give the following brief ex-
tract from the diary. This will show how carefully the
entertainment was provided, and how cordially the visitors
responded. We quote from " history of Wachovia in North
Carolina " pp. ioo, 101, which is an extract from the orig-
inal diary : —

"Sunday, Sept. 20, 1767.— The Episcopal minister from
Hillsboro preached from Hag. 2:6. The sermon of the
Moravian minister was based on Gal. 5. The Episcopal
minister then baptized the children of a number of mem-
bers of his church who lived in the neighborhood of Wach-
ovia. We had arranged for a quiet afternoon for our visit-
ors, but Mrs. Try on expressed a desire to play upon the
organ, and as she played a uumber of the girls sang. This
pleased her. She made the request of Graff to perform on
the organ, and he did so. By this time the Governor be-
came interested in the music, and came to the meeting hall
from his room. An hour was pleasantly passed in this way.
From the meeting hall Mrs. Tryon visited the room which
specially belongs to the older girls, and she requested them
to sing for her as they had done during the afternoon.
While thus engaged, supper was announced, and the visit-
ors seemed loath to have the little gathering broken up. Sup-
per being over, a visit was paid to the home of the single
men, (one of the largest and most important buildings in
the village.) At ihe usual hour the Sabbath evening ser-
vice was held, a po^on of the exercises consisting of re-
sponsive singing. Governor and Mrs. Tryon were present,
and manifested a devout interest, being specially pleased
with the antiphonal singing. After the service Mrs. Try-
on was presented with a copy of the 'Berlin Sermons/
preached by Count Zinzendorf. When the friends had gone
to their rooms for the night, a number of the musicians
gathered in front of the house and discoursed music as a
pleasant way to express our 'good night.' "

As a result of this visit a large lot of goods were sent

from the shops and stores of Wachovia, to Brunswick on
the Cape Fear. These goods had been ordered by the Gov-
ernor. When the wagons arrived at their destination be-
low Wilmington, the Governor was absent. His represen-
tatives were evidently neither fair nor liberal in their deal-
ings with the men from the western part of the State. As
a result, the effort to establish a trade with Brunswick and
the lower Cape Fear section was not a success, and the
trade of Wachovia was diverted to Charleston, S. C, and to
Cross Creek, and other North Carolina towns.

We pass over the history of the intervening years between
1767 and 1 77 1. The opposition of Tryon's minions galled
the people beyond endnrance. The discontent began to
crystallize. Enemies came together and formed groups.
These groups came together and finally assumed the shad-
ow of general organization. The object was the regulation
of affairs so as to restore justice and to destroy oppression.
Hence the members received the well known name of
" Regulators. " little is known of these organized com-
panies. It is probable that the first step was the gathering
together into bands of those who were under the ban of the
law. To these were added later those who suffered unjust-
ly from oppressions, and still later many men from the
masses joined the Regulators.

The difficulty was the absence of wise organization, and
the presence of vicious influences. The culminating act of
folly was the selection of a miserable leader, one Herman
Husbands by name. When he became the head of the or-
ganization it was at once lowered to the standard of mob
rule, and the logical result of all their efforts was naked

anarchy. Had the Regulators been successful in defying
Governor Tryon, the state of the country under Regulator
rule would have been worse than under the oppression of
Tryon. It is not our object to discuss the Regulators, but
to understand the position taken by the Moravians the
above statement is necessary. Seme have described the
Regulators as American patriots. This is an error. Many
good men were in their ranks ; they were opposing injus-
tice and oppression ; but they were using means which
were worse than the evils they sought to cure. The patri-
ots of the eastern part of the State repudiated them, many
in the western part were opposed to them, and as their er-
rors became more and more apparent, the Moravians of
Wachovia firmly refused to espouse their cause. They
were always treated kindly by the people of Wachovia, but
they could not unite with them.

Passing over the intervening developments we find the
forces of Governor Tryon in battle array over against the
forces of the Regulators, at Alamance, some distance from
the present site of Greensboro, and perhaps fifty miles from
Wachovia. The story of this battle is to say the least
" hazy." Tryon's official reports were garbled to gain cer-
tain ends, and to try to justify certain unjustifiable deeds.
The traditions which have been preserved are, like all tra-
ditions, unreliable.

The straightforward record of this event, contained in
the Moravian archives is of the highest value, since the
writer made his record on the very days that the events
took place; he was free from bias, was the enemy of neith-
er the Regulators nor of Governor Tryon, and yet received

full accounts from the participants on both sides. Hence
the account alluded to should play an important part in
deciding the disputed points connected with the battle of
Alamance, and the events which followed.

While the stories told by the refugees are most interest-
ing and thrilling, we must pass them by with a brief men-
tion, in order that we may come to the visit of Tryon. The
battle was fought. Governor Tryon had troops well armed,
well drilled, and he was an able leader. The band of Reg-
ulators over against him were unorganized, many were
without arms, and though some fought bravely, many of
them seemed to consider the entire situation as an interest-
ing scene to study, rather than the eve of a battle. Thus
they confronted each other at Alamance. At the sound of
the artillery many fled or were shot down. Of course they
could not successfully resist Tryon and his well drilled ar-
my. The latter drove them into the woods, then set fire to
the leaves and undergrowth, and cruelly burned to death
the poor wounded men. Some of the captives were exe-
cuted at once, others were put in irons and carried with
the Governor to Wachovia, whither he marched to hold a
form of " court, " and to receive the defeated Regulators.
As he journeyed towards Salem he wreaked his vengeance
by utterly destroying the houses and farms of the deluded
Regulators.

In the meantime strange scenes were transpiring in Wa-
chovia. Herman Husbands, the leader of the Regulators,
deserted his people early in the battle. In person he went
to Wachovia, arid begged Dr. Bonn to go to the place where
some of the wounded had been taken, in order to minister

to their needs. This of course could not be done. They
did not know their visitor. Still the report was later cir-
culated that he had been assisted in Wachovia, and it was
proposed to send a division of cavalry from the camp of the
Governor and utterly destroy the colony. Fortunately Try-
on's visit in 1767 had made him acquainted with the peo-
ple, and he advised against the hasty destruction of Wach-
ovia. The Governor later expressed his great gratification
at having suppressed the hot headed plan of destruction.

It is a thrilling account of fleeing men, terrorized by the
dangers which surrounded them, and again the modern
writer can find new and fresh material of unquestioned ve-
racity, but which has been buried, lo, these many years.
We pass these by, and find Governor Tryon again in Wach-
ovia.

TRYON'S SECOND VISIT TO WACHOVIA,
JUNE 4-9, J77J.

The second visit was different from the first. On the
latter occasion he was surrounded by one hundred officers
and officials, the leading men of the State. He had with
him three thousand soldiers, who encamped near Bethaba-
ra, and satisfied their hunger with the ample provisions to
be found in Wachovia. He also had a company of misera-
ble prisoners chained together, two and two, who were
confined in the large Bethabara barn, temporarily used as a
prison.

Here the Governor set up his court. The proclamation
granting conditional pardon to the defeated Regulators, is

still to be seen in the Salem Historical rooms. It has at-
tached to it a great seal, as large as a small saucer. The
Regulators came and took the oath. Some the Governor
refused to pardon till they had been subjected to the later
court martial. Three or four days were occupied in this
way. The Wachovia records show that the period between
the battle of Alamance and the executions at Hillsboro cen-
tered in Wachovia. The general history of the State has
entirely lost sight of this important time and place, when
the large body of Regulators met the Governor, took the
oath and were pardoned. This again is an important link
in history, which the old archives offer to the North Caro-
lina historian.

Aside from the troubled nature of the visit, Tryon was
happy to renew his friendship with the Moravians. He
recognized their clear cut principle of obeying the existing
powers, and by virtue of this friendship the Moravians
were able to secure the release of some of the prisoners who
would otherwise have been taken to Hillsboro in chains.

Again we will quote from the original diary to bring as
vividly as possible before the reader one of the characteris-
tics of the visit. " History of Wachovia in North Caroli-
na," pp. it 4-1 1 7.

" June 6, 1 77 1. — We had a conference early this morn-
ing in order to discuss the question of sending a formal ad-
dress to the Governor, to express our submission to the ex-
isting government, and we felt that the occasion of the
King's birthday would be a fitting time. The Governor
had not required us to take the oath of allegiance. Hav-
ing decided to send the address, we consulted the Secreta-

ry, Mr. Edwards, and he referred the matter to the Govern-
or. The latter was much pleased with the idea, and ap-
pointed as the time the close of the review of the troops.

" The celebration of the King's birthday was after the
following manner : —

"At ten o'clock in the morning all the troops came out
of their camp by companies. Our musicians furnished the
music for the review. The soldiers marched to the field
beyond the barn. The army was drilled for several hours,
and the manoeuvres of the battle of Alamance wererepeated.
Volley after volley was fired, both from the musketry and
the artillery until the houses in the village trembled and
shook. This display of an army of 3,000 men, under the
command of selected officers, was a grand and imposing
sight. At two o'clock the manoeuvres were finished and
the army marched back to its quarters.

" Meanwhile the Governor's tent had been erected in the
public square. After return ing from the drill ground he
entered his tent with a number of his more distinguished
officers. Then Marshall, Graff, Utley, and Bagge were re-
ceived in the tent by the Governor and his staff, and Mar-
shall read the formal address. At the mention of ' His
Majesty, or 'His Excellency' they made a low obeisance.
" To His Mxcellency , William Try on, Esq., Captain

General aizd Governor-in-Chief in and over the Prov

ince of North Carolina.

" May it please your Excellency.

" Upon this most solemn o6casion the celebration of the
birthday of our most gracious King, the United Brethren
in Wachovia inviolably attached to his Majesty's Govern-

ment, esteem themselves particularly favored by the pres-
ence of this representative of the Province in the person of
your Excellency. With hearts full of the warmest senti-
ments of allegiance give us, leave, Sir, to lay before your
Excellency our most fervent wishes to the L,ord, by whom
Princes rule, to pour down His choicest blessings upon the
sacred person of our Sovereign, King George III and all
his Royal Family, and to establish his kingdom to the la-
test posterity over the British Empire.

" 'Ma}' the troubles which have of late unhappily torn
this Province, be the last that shall ever give uneasiness
to the paternal breast ot the best of Princes, and may this
very day be the blessed period from which this Province
shall date her future happiness through the good success of
your Excellency's measures, as well as in the reward of
the dangers your precious life was eminently exposed to in
his Majesty's service. The kind protection this settlement
has enjoyed during your Excellency's administration will
ever leave the deepest impression of gratitude in the minds
of the thankful people and combine their prayers with all
well wishers of this Province for your Excellency's pros-
perity in your future government.'

"After this address had been communicated the Govern-
or graciously read his answer, and then handed it to Mar-
shall.

" '7b the Ministers and Congregations of the United Breth-
ren :

" ' Gentlemen : — I return thanks for your loyal and du-
tiful address. I have already had the pleasure to acquaint
his Majesty of the zeal and attachment which his subjects

of Wachovia have on all occasions shown to his govern-
ment and the laws of this Province.

" ' I am obliged to you for your congratulations on the
success with which it has pleased Almighty God to bless
the army under my command, and cordially wish with you
that it may lay the foundation of peace and stability of this
country.

" ' Your affectionate regard for my particular welfare I
gratefully receive.

Wm. Tryon.
Moravian Campe,

Bethabara, June 6, 1771.'

During the reading of these papers it was noticed that
there was special attention and a sympathetic feeling dis-
played by the Governor. This was spoken of by officers
later. The four who presented the address to the Govern-
or were invited to dine with him, and all accepted the in-
vitation except Utley, who was unable to remain. There
were several toasts during the dinner, and to each of the
toasts the response was a loud : —

"'Hurrah! Hurrah!'

Our musicians furnished music while the dinner was in
progress. The last toast was

" ' For the prosperity of the United Brethren in Wacho-
via !'

" The Governor was specially gracious to Marshall and
placed him at his right hand during the meal. Next to
Marshall sat Graff.

" The remainder of the day was spent in a happy and
cheerful manner. As soon as it was dark there was a dis-

play of fireworks in front of the Governor's tent by order
of his Excellency, and the homes around the square were
brilliantly illuminated."

The Governor seemed loath to leave these friends, his ser-
vant declaring that it was as if the Governor were leaving
home. But he did leave, with his army, and with his poor
prisoners, and at Hillsboro his severity was such that the
executions brought upon him the hatred and condemna-
tion of the people of the State. Still we must admit that
aside from the crimes and wrongs described, he was an able
soldier and leader, and a polished gentleman with magnet-
ic powers.

The history of Wachovia continued to develop in inter-
est. There was not a movement of importance in the
Southern campaign of the war of the American revolution
but that Wachovia was directly or indirectly associated
with it. The diaries are again filled with matters of thiill-
ing interest. It is probable that a thousand or more peo-
ple lived in Wachovia at that time.

Then came the close of the century, with unusual zeal
and energy abroad. A notable event was the founding of

SALEM ACADEMY AND COLLEGE,

the famous school for girls and young women, known all
over the United States, and which has educated ten thou-
sand and more pupils.

Missionary work engaged the attention of the people,
and trades and industries increased.

In the dark days of the civil war the Moravians sent

many soldiers to the front, and they were among the bra-
vest of the brave North Carolina men.

Then came the advent of the new era. Winston, the
twin sister of old Salem was founded, grew and flourished.
The two towns, divided only by a street, have joined hands,
and have formed the Twin City, with its 15,000 to 20,000
inhabitants. The county of Forsyth, somewhat larger than
the original Wachovia, and embracing it, now has taxable
property listed at $10,000 000.

The growth of the religious work in Wachovia has been
such that the congregations now number between five and
six thousand members, and the Sunday-schools have a list
of more than four thousand children. The Moravian
church is only one of the many churches on the original
sight of Wachovia, but in many respects it stands in a
unique position. While its past history is great and beau-
tiful, its present work is just as interesting, and we close
this sketch with the closing words of "History of Wacho-
via."

" The past is sometimes emphasized at the expense of
the present. This is an error. The true student will find
that the day of enlarged work for the Master is now dawn-
ing for the Moravian Church of Wachovia. Its pure doc-
trine, its beautiful customs, its inspiring history, its success-
es in the past and in the present, its consecrated ministry,
its devoted membership; all these things point forward to a
bright and successful future which will not only bring
bright jewels of success to the church here on earth, but
will gain for it the smile of approval of the King of Kings
and the Lord of Lords."

•

w?^/ / u .

Cbe north Carolina Booklet

GREAT EVENTS IN

NORTH CAROLINA HISTORY.

WHIGS cAND TORIES.

^6 2-

Prof. W. C. AXJLEN.

PRICE 10 CENTS. & j* ji $1.00 THE YEAR.

Watered at the Postoffice at Raleigh, N. C, as second-class matter — June 24, igoi.

Cbe north Carolina Booklet

Great Events in north Carolina fiistory.

Vol. 2.

l-May — Ku-Klux Klans.

Mrs. T. J. Jarvis.
2-June — Our Pirates.

Capt. S. A. Ashe.
3-July — Indian Massacre and Tuscarora War.

Judge Walter Clark.
4-August — Moravian Settlement in North Carolina.

Rev. J. H. Clewell.
5-September — Whigs and Tories.

Prof. W. C. Allen.
6-October — The Kevolutionary Congresses of North Carolina.

Mr. T. M. Pittman.
7-November — The Battle of Guilford Court House.

Prof. D. H. Hill.
8-December — Historic Homes in North Carolina : The Groves
and Others.
Col. Burgwyn, Col. Waddell, Mr. Thos. Blount, and others.
9-January — Old Charleston on the Cape Fear.

Prof. Jas. S. Bassett.
10-February — Raleigh and the Old Town of Bloomsbury.

Dr. K. P. Battle.
11 -March — Confederate Secret Service.

Dr. Chas. E. Taylor, (conditional).
12- April — The Story of the Albemarle.
Maj. Graham Daves.

One Booklet a month will be issued by the N. C. Society
Daughters of the Revolution. Price $1.00 per year.

Address THE N. C. BOOKLET CO.,

Or Mks. Hubert Haywood, 218 Newbern Ave., Raleigh, N. C.

editors:
Miss Martha Helen Haywood, Mrs. Hubert Haywood.

NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.

VOL. II. SEPTEMBER 10, 1902. No. 5.

WHIGS cAND TORIES.

Pbof. W. C. ALLEN.

RALEIGH :

Capital Printing Company.

1902.

'Carolina! Carolina! titavcn's blessings attend hen
UJnile we live we will cberisb, protect and defend her.'

INTRODUCTION.

These names were first used in -England as terms of re-
proach. Whig, a good Scotch word, means a sour drink
prepared from milk. In 1648 it was applied to the Covenan-
ters of the south-west of Scotland on account of their sour-
ness of features and demeanor. Afterwards the name was
given to all who opposed the policy of the reigning house
of Stuart. In 1680, it became the name of a great politi-
cal party that endeavored to defeat the succession of a Ro-
man Catholic prince to the English throne. Later, it be-
came the party of the people in their struggle against the
" Divine right " of kings.

Tory, on the other hand, is Irish origin. It is derived
from the Celtic term tor a or toree, which means " stand
and deliver." It was applied first to those bands of out-
laws that infested Ireland for some years after the rebellion
in that country; was stamped out by Cromwell in 1650.
Later, the name was given to the Roman Catholics in
both England and Ireland, who supported the claims of
James, Duke of York, to the throne of England. After a
time it came to be the name of a powerful political organi-
zation which sustained the king in that irrepressible con-
flict in which the revolution of 1688 was one battle and
that of 1775 another.

By a slight process of imagination one can readily dis-
cern the significance of those historical names. The
Whigs, kept away from the counter of royal patronage,

had, in the opinion of their opponents, become soured;
while the Tories, the tax assessors and collectors, could
force the people to " stand and deliver " their goods at will.
It is perfectly legitimate to conclude that these counter
opinions formed the basis of that great struggle which be-
gan in England, and, after raging there for a hundred years,
leaped the ocean and reached a conclusion on the shores of
the New World.

In America this strife raged with all the bitterness of
partisan rancor; and nowhere, perhaps, was it more intense
than in North Carolina. Here, party spirit ran high, bring-
ing about personal conflicts between neighbors, in which,
later in the struggle, no quarter was asked or given.

The beginning of this strife in North Carolina may be
placed at the time when the British ministry began to tax
the colonies. Opposition to the Stamp Act in 1765 grew
into the rising of the Regulators in 1771, reached high-
water mark in the resolves of 1774, and became a revolution
in 1775. This last fact was peculiar only to North Caro-
lina, for in all other States the opposition to England was
in the nature of a rebellion until the 4th of July, 1776.
Until that time all of them claimed to be loyal subjects of
the king, fighting for their rights as Englishmen under the
English constitution.

North Carolina, however, boldly proclaimed, in 1775,
that the American States had out-grown their English
clothes, and that American liberty demanded an American
government. With that understanding North Carolina
sent her soldiers to the field, and maintained them until

victory and independence were achieved. That was n'ot a
rebellion. It was a revolution.

As to the number of Tories in North Carolina during
the time of the revolution, there can, of course, be no ac-
curate estimate given. It can be stated with accuracy
that a large majority of the people of the State in 1776
were revolutionists. There were, however, a large minority
that favored the rule of the king. These did all they could
to uphold the waning power of royalty, but did not
have the grace to yield when they saw the majority was
against them. Hence the hated name of Tory. They
were active in most parts of the State, and in some places
out numbered the Whigs. "There were," however, "no
Tories in Bute." Nor in Rocky River settlement in Cabar-
rus, and very few in Mecklenburg, Halifax and the Chowan
country. No Tories were allowed to live in the Watauga
settlement in what is now Bast Tennessee. They flourish-
ed in Cumberland, Bladen, Chatham, Orange, and the
counties at the foot of the Blue Ridge. The number that
were in arms against their country at different times may
be roughly given at twelve thousand. North Carolina sent
to the patriot army twenty-two thousand men.

In this estimate, North Carolina does not make a worse
showing than other States. New York and New England
were cursed by Tory influence; Georgia and South Carolina
were throttled by their power; Virginia and Maryland
struggled with them as with a night-mare; and Washing-
ton's army around Philadelphia in 1777-78 came near
starving because the Tory farmers of Pennsylvania refused
to sell them supplies. It is, therefore, seen that the struggle

was a gigantic one, two-thirds of America being pitted
against the other third with the whole power of the British
government to strengthen and encourage the one and to
weaken and destroy the other. No wonder the Whigs be-
lieved that Providence was on their side. Certainly this
time he was not on the side of the heaviest battalions.

CAMPAIGN OF J 775-76.

Three desperate attempts were made by the British to
conquor North Carolina, each one resulting in failure. The
first one was in accordance with a deep laid scheme con-
cocted by John Stuart, the British agent among the Chero.
kees of Western North Carolina, and approved by Lord
George Germaine, British Secretary of War for the colonies.
It was a far-reaching scheme worthy of greater genius than
Stuart afterwords displayed. The failure was no fault of
the schemer.

Briefly stated the plan was this : Sir Henry Clinton with
a British fleet and army was to appear, about the first of
March, 1776, at the mouth of the Cape Fear river. The
Tories of the State were to embody and march to the Cape
Fear to join him. The Cherokees and Chickamaugas were
to take the war-path, destroy the western settlements, and
pour over the mountains to meet the British and Tories in
their grand march of triumph from the seaboard. Thus
the Whigs would be crushed in the mighty coils of the ana-
conda which John Stuart had made.

It was a magnificent scheme, and its execution was at-
tempted with enterprise. Clinton cast anchor in the Cape

Fear about the last of February. He issued a procla-
mation of pardon to all North Carolinians, except Cor-
nelius Harnett and Robert Howe, if they would take the
oath of allegiance to king George. Howe and Harnett had
sinned too grievously to secure pardon from this haughty
Briton. The Tories assembled and began their " march to
the sea " about the same time. West of the Blue Ridge the
Indians fell upon the white settlements and spread terror
before them.

At each point, however, the Whigs were completely vic-
torious, and the stratagems of the schemer came to naught.
The activity of the patriots during this trying time served
them in good stead.

About the first of February, 1776, Donald McDonald, of
Cumberland county, who had been commissioned by the
British government to mobolize the Tories, erected the
royal standard at Cross Creek, and invited all loyal subjects
of the king to join him. McDonald was a Scotch High-
lander, who had supported the claims of the young Pre-
tender to the throne of England, and had afterwards sworn
allegiance to king George. Some years before this time,
he had come with a large Scotch colony to North Carolina
and settled along the banks of the Cape Fear. He, with
all his clansmen, were Tories, and a very respectable body
of them they made. Because of their character for honesty
and thrift they were afterwords treated with a great deal of
consideration by the victorious Whigs.

The Highlanders obeyed the call of their leader and
flocked to his standard. Tories from Orange, Chatham,
Guilford, and Wilkes, also came in large numbers. By the

middle of February about two thousand had assembled
with their broad swords. Amid pibroches and shouts of
" long live king George," they began their march to the
seaboard.

In the meantime the Whigs were not idle. Colonel
James Moore, with a regiment of North Carolina continental
troops and the Cumberland county militia, was watching
the movements of the Tories. He had posted himself on
Rocky River, where he supposed the Tories would pass,
and fortified his position. Colonels Caswell and Lillington
had assembled the militia of Craven and New Hanover
counties and taken position at Moore's Creek. They were
determined to prevent the junction of the British and
Tories.

McDonald sent Moore a summons to surrender, which
was politely declined. Instead of marching against Moore,
however, the Tories left him on their right and hurried on
toward Wilmington. They were surprised, on reaching
the bridge at Moore's Creek, to find it torn up and the
Whigs in considerable number posted on the other side.
But this was the way to Wilmington and they must cross.

" Lay down your arms and ask pardon of king George,"
was the haughty summons of the Tory leader to Colonel
Caswell ; but that patriot refused and declared that he
would dispute every inch of the ground. McDonald was
wroth and prepared to attack the Whigs next day.

Early on the morning of February 27, the Tories ad-
vanced to the creek and began to cross. In tearing up the
bridge the Whigs had removed the planks and left the
girders which stretched from bank to bank. Upon these

the Tories began to make their way over. Caswell and the
Whigs opened upon the first comers a destructive fire.
McL,eod and Campbell, who were leading the attack, were
shot down before gaining the levej. land of the other side.
The men who followed them were either shot down or
taken prisoners. No one could stand the murderous fire of
the Whigs.

Seeing the disaster of their comrades the Tories on the
other side began to hesitate. Caswell saw this, and ordered
the Whigs to make a counter charge across the creek.
This was done with bravery and dispatch. The Tories
were seized with panic and began to flee. In their flight
they threw away their arms in a vain attempt to get out of
the presence of the Whigs. The patriots pursued and killed
hundreds of them in the woods and swamps. Eight hun-
dred prisoners were taken, among them Donald McDonald,
Allan McDonald, husband of the celebrated Flora McDon.
aid, and others of note. Fifteen hundred stands of arms fell
into the hands of the conquerors. The Whigs lost but one
man.

This was a great and glorious victory. The Tories that
escaped fled to their homes and remained inactive for some
years. Clinton was effectually baffled ; and, after remain-
ing in the Cape Fear until the last of May, during which
time he ingloriously burned Gen. Robert Howe's home in
Brumswick county, he weighed anchor and sailed to Char-
leston S. C, where he was again baffled.

Thus was North Carolina saved from British invasion
that year.

Across the mountains, the Indians were endeavoring to

carry out their part of the programme. Oconostata, the
famous chief of the Cherokees and Dragging Canoe, the
cruel Sachem of the Chickamaugas, marshalled their braves
and fell upon the settlements of Watauga with all the
horrors of Indian cruelty. The back-woods men, however,
gathered themselves together, and, under the leadership of
Sevier, Shelby, and Robertson met the Indians in a desper-
ate encounter and routed them with tremendous loss.
About the same time General Rutherford was sent over
the mountains with eight hundred men to the assistance of
the Watauga patriots. He descended upon the hunting
grounds of the red men, laid waste their country with fire
and sword, and chased the worriors to the mountain fast-
nesses. In his humiliation and distress Oconostata asked
for peace and a generous foe granted it.

Thus was the great anaconda scotched, but not killed.
By the enterprise and bravery of the Whigs the plan was
every where frustrated, and John Stuart was put to his wits
to formulate another.

During this time numerous collisions took place between
the patriots and the Tories in different parts of the State,
in consequence of the latter's attempt to embody and join
the British. In Rowan the Whigs organized early in 1775,
and appointed committees to watch suspected Tories and
report any doubtful maneuvers of theirs to the Committee
of Safety. All persons suspected of friendly feelings to-
ward the king were arrested, brought before the Committee,
and made to swear allegiance to the State of North Caro-
lina and to the congress of the colonies.

In the forks of the Yadkin, then a part of Rowan, the

Whigs and Tories were very nearly evenly matched. A
military company had been in existence there for some
years with Samuel Bryan as Captain and Richmond Pear-
son as lieutenant. Bryan was a Tory and Pearson a Whig.
Afttr the beginning of the war there was friction in this
company. The Whigs wanted the company to volunteer
for the service of their country. The Tory members op-
posed the proposition. A difficulty arose between Bryan
and Pearson which threatened to come to blows. Bryan
ordered Pearson under arrest, but this was resisted by the
Whigs. It looked for a time as if the guns of the company
would be turned upon one another. Finally it was agreed
that Pearson and Bryan, on a day fixed, should settle the
matter by a fair fist fight, and who ever was victorious to
him the company should yield obedience. The parties met
at the time and place appointed, and the lieutenant was the
victor. Thus the company was saved to the side of the
Whigs, while Bryan went farther up the river and raised
another company of Tories. This incident shows what
trivial circumstances sometimes influenced sentiment in
in those days.

In the North-western counties of the State, Stokes, Surry,
Wilkes, and Watauga, a most cruel partisan warfare was
raging. The Tories seemed determined to force those
counties to remain faithful to the king, while the Whigs,
led by Colonels Benj. Cleveland, Joseph Winston, William
L,enoir, James and John Martin, and Joseph Williams, were
equally bold in their determination to put down the Tory
influence. The conflict was a long and bloody one, and
finally resulted in the expulsion of the greater part of the

Tories, who fled to the Indians of East Tennessee or to the
British in South Carolina.

The real hero of all the North-western counties was Col.
Benj. Cleveland, who lived in Wilkes county. He hated
the very name of Tory and couldn't bear the sight of one.
He met them in many conflicts, and would rarely ever
allow his men to take any prisoners. Whenever a prisoner
was brought before him he would order him hanged, for
he looked upon the Tories as murderers and incendiaries.

On one occasion Colonel Cleveland went alone to New
River on a matter of personal business, and was there taken
prisoner by a band of Tories. They took him to the woods
and ordered him to write passes through his lines for them.
Cleveland was an indifferent pensman, but he pretended to
be complying with the order. He felt sure ttat they were
going to hang him, but he meant to delay that as long as
possible. So he fumbled with his pen for a good while
anxiously hoping that some of his men would come upon
the scene. Sure enough Capt. Robert Cleveland, his
brother, with a body of Whigs, came dashing upon them.
Colonel Cleveland slid down behind the log he was using
as a writing desk to escape the bullets that began to fly,
and the Tories fled. Some weeks after that, in a skirmish,
Cleveland captured the same band that had captured him.
Forthwith he had their leaders hanged. This occurred
near Wilkesboro.

On another occasion a notorious Tory assassin was cap-
tured and brought before Cleveland. The criminal was
promptly sentenced to death. There being some delay in
leading the culprit to execution, Cleveland impatiently

said : " Waste no time, swing him off quick." Whereupon
the Tory turned coolly upon him and said : " You needn't
be in such a d d hurry about it, Colonel."

That retort arrested the attention of Cleveland, and he
ordered the man released. Then the Tory with much feel-
ing said : " Well old fellow, you have conquered me. For-
ever after this I'll fight on your side.'' He kept his word
and was afterword one of the heroes of King's Mountains.

So it turned out that the scheme for the conquest of
North Carolina, in 1776, failed at every point. The Tories
were held in check and the Whigs were triumphant.

CAMPAIGN OF \ 779- J 780.

For about three years North Carolina virtually had peace
within her borders. The war was being fought out in the
North. But when Burgoyne was captured at Saratoga,
and Clinton beaten at Mammouth, the tide of war began
again to roll southward.

Another tremendous scheme for the conquest of North
Carolina and the South was formulated. This was more
far-reaching than the other, because it contemplated not
only North Carolina, but South Carolina and Georgia as
well. This time the British were to make a landing in
Georgia, capture Savannah, disperse the Whig forces, turn
the State government over into the hands of the Tories,
march into South Carolina, do the same thing in that State,
and then advance into North Carolina. This was to be
the first act in the great drama. Meanwhile the Tories
were to rise everywhere, and the Indians of the frontier
were to begin their work of death and destruction.

The first part of the programme was carried out to the
letter. Georgia and South Carolina were quickly overrun
by the British and Tories, the patriot forces dispersed, and
the King's government re-established. Flushed with vic-
tory the British army, about the first of June 1780, ad-
vanced toward the North Carolina line. They expected to
meet with no resistence, for about fifteen hundred of the
North Carolina troops had been captured and held as pris-
oners at Charleston, and Colonel Buford's command, the
last organized Whig force in the South, had been cut to
pieces by Tarleton a few days before at Waxhaw. Expect-
ing therefore, an easy victory Tarleton and his dragoons
marched toward Charlotte.

At the same time the Tories began to rise. The suc-
cesses of the British had made Ihem bold. From the coun-
ties of the centre and the west they began to march to-
ward the south to meet the oncoming Briton. Camps of
rendezvous were stationed at Calson's Mill, Ramseur's
Mill, and the forks of the Yadkin, where the loyalists were
to assemble. Thousands gathered at those points ready to
join the British and bring war arjd desolation upon their
country.

But North Carolina was not crouching at the feet of the
conqueror. She had lost, it is true, all of her regular
troops at Charleston in May, but the militia was still active
and vigilant. General Caswell was in command of the
eastern division and General Rutherford of the western.
These two officers were efficient in maintaining and recruit-
ing their forces. Besides, there were two officers of the
regular army who had escaped the disaster at Charleston.

These were Colonels William R. Davie and William L,.
Davidson. Davie had been desperately wounded at the
battle of Stono and was home on a furlough. Davidson's
command was hurrying to the relief of Charleston and
failed to reach there in time. These two men thus Provi-
dentially saved to the State were towers of strength at this
time.

Rutherford, about the first of June, issued a call for all
patriots to assemble at Charlotte for the protection of the
State. Nine hundred brave men obeyed the call and as-
sembled there on the third of June. Tarleton heard of
this and turned back toward Charleston. Rutherford or-
ganized the militia into companies of minute men and dis-
missed them with orders to re-assemble at a minutes notice.

In a few days it was learned that Lord Rawdon, with a
large British force, was advancing toward Charlotte, and
that the Tories were assembling in large numbers at Ram-
seur's Mill, Calson's Mill, and the forks of the Yadkin. It
was a time of great fear and excitement in the State. To
meet this great danger General Rutherford called for the
minute men to assemble at McRee's plantation on the 12th
of June. Nearly one thousand responded to the call, and
these were divided into three corps. Colonel Davie was
given the command of the cavalry. The light infantry
consisting of three hundred picked men was assigned to
Colonel Davidson. General Rutherford assumed immed-
iate command of the remainder. The three commands
moved in concert to meet Rawdon. That officer, however,
did not accept the challenge, but retreated to Camden to
await the coming of Cornwallis.

Rutherford then resolved to attack and disperse the
Tories. Accordingly he dispatched Colonel Francis Locke
and Major David Wilson with a small force, with instruc-
tions to increase it by new levies, to watch the movements
of the Tories at Ramseur's, and, if possible, disperse them.
These were joined on the way by Colonels Joseph McDow-
ell and Hugh Brevard with small forces. Other recruits
were added until the little army amounted to four hundred
men.

Colonel John Moore and Major Nicholas Welch, two
notorious Tories, had assembled thirteen hundred men at
Ramseurs. They were ready to march to the aid of the
British whenever they should cross the border.

Locke moved with his force against them, and arrived
in sixteen miles of the Tory Camp on the 19th of June. In
a council of war held that night it was decided that the
Whigs should march during the night and fall upon the
Tories at sunrise. This was a bold decision, for it was
well known that the Tories outnumbered the patriots three
to one. Nothing daunted, however, the brave little band
made the attack, and, after a stubborn conflict, routed the
Tory regiment and scattered them to the four winds. Col-
onel Moore with about sixty-five of them found his way to
the British camp, but the others were killed, captured, or
dispersed beyond the chance of re-assembling. It was a
brilliant victory and checked the Tories in that part of the
State.

Rutherford, Davie, and Davidson with their commands
arrived upon the field about two hours after the battle had
ended. They assisted in burying the dead, administering

to the wounded, and securing the prisoners. Then these
patriots turned their attention to the other Tory bands that
were embodying. Rutherford marched to the Yadkin for
the purpose of striking the Tories a blow in that quarter.
Colonel Samuel Bryan, however, who was commander of
the Tories in that locality, did not wait for Rutherford's
approach, but broke up his regiment into small divisions,
and in that way escaped to South Carolina.

Davidson marched against the Loyalists at Calson's Mill.
He attacked them with enthusiasm and drove them from
their position, but received a dangerous wound himself
from which he was two months in recovering.

Davie was dispatched to the Waxhaw settlement to in-
tercept Bryan, if possible, and bring him to action. There
he learned that about eight hundred North Carolina Tories
had joined the British at Hanging Rock, S. C. He join-
ed General Sumter and the two planned for a concerted at-
tack upon that place, which was done with spirit and suc-
cess. It so happened that, in the battle, Davie's command
was pitted against Bryan's, North Carolinians against North
Carolinians. Davie charged upon the Tory lines with all
the enthusiasm of certain victory. The Loyalists were
routed, and driven from the field with tremendous loss.
The British regulars, however, stood their ground, and
Sumter withdrew his force. Davie then returned to the
State with his command flushed with victory.

It had been a short but glorious campaign. The Tories
had beed beaten everywhere, and North Carolina seemed
safe from British invasion. But an evil day came. Gen-
eral Gates was sent to North Carolina to take charge of the

Southern army. He assumed command about the first of
August, and without waiting to discipline the troops or to
gain recruits he marched into South Carolina to give battle
to Cornwallis. That officer was anxious for a trial of skill
with the hero of Saratoga. The two armies met near Cam-
den and a bloody battle was fought, in which Gates was
ignominiously defeated and his entire army routed and
dispersed. Thus it was that North Carolina a second time
lost the flower of her soldiery. Rutherford was captured
with a large part of his command, and hundreds of his best
men lay dead upon the field ; and so the State was again
opened to the invasion of the enemy.

Cornwallis remained at Camden until the first of Sep-
tember. He then began to march upon Charlotte. There
was no force to oppose him except Colonel Davie's dragoons,
who had not been in the battle of Camden. These annoy-
ed the British advance in every possible way. Whenever
a British foraging party left the main army, Davie and his
dragoons would fall upon them like a thunderbolt and
either destroy them or put them to flight. At Charlotte,
Davie held the whole British army at bay, and repulsed
three attacks. He was however, obliged finally to retreat.

Cornwallis established his headquarters at Charlotte on
the 26th of September, and waited to hear the result of the
Tory uprising in the western part of the State. Colonel
Ferguson with a small force of British regulars had been
sent to the foot of the mountains to arouse the Tories and
enlist them in the service of England. He advanced to
Gilbert Town in Rutherford county and issued a procla-
mation calling upon the citizens to take the oath of alleg-

iance to England, and to take up arms against their coun-
trymen. About twelve hundred joined him.

Meanwhile the Whigs were not idle. McDowell, Shel-
by, Sevier, Cleveland, and Campbell gathered their forces
together in a great meeting at Sycamore Shoals, and
marched through the defiles of the mountains in search of
Ferguson. That officer heard of the gathering storm and fled
before it. He retreated to Kings Mountain and there forti.
fled himself. The over mountain men followed and at-
tacked him in his stronghold. It was a hotly contested bat-
tle, but resulted in the complete success of the Whigs and
the utter defeat and destruction of the Tories. Ferguson
was killed and his command broken up, all of them being
either killed or captured. This was a crushing blow to
the Tories, from which they did not recover. They, made
no further risings in the western counties.

Cornwallis heard of the battle with astonishment. He
broke up his camp at Charlotte, and hastily retreated to
Winnsboro, S. C. And so North Carolina was again res-
cued from the clutches of the enemy, and this campaign
was at an end.

CAMPAIGN OF J78J.

The last and greatest attempt to conquer the State was
made in 178 1. In this year two simultaneous invasions
were made from different directions, one from South Caro-
lina by the way of Lincoln county under Lord Cornwallis,
and the other by the way of the sea under Major Craig. It
was about the last of January that Cornwallis came into the
State in hot pursuit of General Morgan, who had just won

a glorious victory over Tarleton at the Cowpens. At the
same time Major Craig landed a force on the Cape Fear
and captured Wilmington. His object was to hold that
city as a base of operations whence he would arm the Tories
and turn loose the dogs of war upon the fairest portion of
the State.

Greene's retreat before Cornwallis from the Catawba to
the Dan, while it was a masterly stroke of war, was con-
strued by the Tory sympathizers as being an indication of
the waning power of the patriots. The Loyalists, there-
fore, began to rise in all parts of the State where British
influence was felt. When Cornwallis unfurled the stan-
dard of the king at Hillsboro in February, hundreds of
Tories joined him ; and hundreds more collected them-
selves into companies and regiments ready to join when-
ever they should be needed. The country between the
Yadkin and the Neuse rivers was filled with them.

About four hundred of them assembled in Alamance
county under Colonel John Pyle. Cornwallis sent Tarle-
ton into that county with a small force to enroll them and
lead them to Hillsboro. Green had sent " Light-Horse
Harry Lee" and General Andrew Pickens to the same lo-
cality to hold the Tories in subjection. As good luck would
have it Lee and Pickens came up with Pyle before Tarle-
ton did. Pyle, not dreaming that any patriots were near,
allowed Lee to bring his force up within ten paces of him.
Thinking that Lee was Tarleton, the Tory leader was
about to make over his command to him, when Lee order-
ed him to surrender. Instantly Pyle saw his mistake and
sounded a retreat, but he was too late. He with ninety of

his men were shot down in less than five minutes, and the
rest scattered in every direction. 'That was the breaking:
up of Pyle's command, and Tarleton, when he heard of it,
hastened back to Hillsboro without his game. Soon after
that the battle of Guilford Court House was fought, and
Cornwallis was forced to retire to Wilmington, which was
in the hands of Craig ; and later on to Yorktown.

Major Craig was an energetic but cruel officer. Soon
after he reached Wilmington in February, 1 781, he invited
all Tories to repair to the standard of the king. He threw
into prison two distinguished patriots of Wilmington, Cor-
nelius Harnett and General John Ashe, who after linger-
ing for a while died just as the dawn of American inde-
pendence began to break.

In response to the invitation of Craig, David Fanning, a
notorious bandit of Chatham county, went to Wilmington
and enlisted in the British service. He was at once appoint-
ed Colonel of the loyal militia, given a British uniform,
and sent back to the middle section of the State to embody
the Tories and terrorize the Whig inhabitants. Just before
that time the Whig forces under Colonel Thomas Wade, of
Anson, had been defeated by the Scotch Highlanders at
Piney Bottom, near Cross Creek. As a consequence the
Whigs were drawn out of that part of the State and took
refuge in Duplin and Wayne counties.

Fanning became a terror to the Whigs of Chatham and
Orange counties. On the 16th of July he rode into Chat-
ham Court House and captured a Court Martial that was
in session and hurried them off to Wilmington. His next
exploit was an attack upon the house of Colonel Philip

Alston, one of the patriots who had beaten him in some of
his expeditions. He succeeded in capturing the house and
all the inmates. Later, he totally defeated Colonel Wade
and six hundred Whigs at McFall's Mill. In September
six hundred Tories under Fanning and McNeil captured
Hillsboro, and carried off Governor Burke as a prisoner.

On the next day after the capture of Hillsboro, as the
Tories with their booty were making their way to Wil-
mington, they found a force of three hundred Whigs in
their way at Cane Creek. With his usual dash and enter-
prise Fanning led the attack and soon broke the line of the
Whigs. Some of them, however, under Major Robert Me-
bane stood their ground and beat back every attack of the
enemy. Finally, after a hotly contested battle, the Whigs
were compelled to retreat and yield the field to the Tories,
who continued toward Wilmington.

So far the Tories under Fanning had been entirely suc-
cessful. The Whigs had been beaten in every conflict.
They had been driven from their homes, and many of
them were in exile in Sampson, Duplin, and Wayne coun-
ties, having gone there from Bladen and Chatham.

About the middle of September, sixty of these exiles in
Duplin organized themselves into a company and resolved
to return to their homes in Bladen. Colonel Thomas Brown
was chosen leader. They marched to the Cape Fear, op-
posite Elizabethtown, crossed in the darkness of the night,
and made a determined attack upon the Tories under
Slingsby stationed at that place. Brown's plan of attack
was masterly, succeeding in so deceiving the enemy that
they thought themselves attacked by a very large force.

As a consequence they fled with precipitation, leaving the
sixty Whigs as masters of the field. This easy victory
broke the power of the Tories in that county, and turned
the tide of success against them in the State.

General Rutherford, who had been taken prisoner at
Camden in August 1780, after a year's confinement, was
exchanged, and returned to North Carolina in September
1 781. He at once raised a command of fourteen hundred
men for the purpose of driving Craig and his bandits from
the State. Early in October this gallant command set out
from Mecklenburg for the Cape Fear country intending to
assault and capture Wilmington. On the 15th of October
they came up with a Tory force at Rockfish Creek, and
routed them with loss. In a few days they again encoun-
tered the Loyalists at Raft Swamp, where the Tories were
again defeated and retreated to Wilmington.

Rutherford then marched toward that city, and began to
prepare for an assault. Before he got in position to make
an attack, he received intelligence that Cornwallis had sur-
rendered at Yorktown a few days before. The next day
he led out his force for the attack, but there was no need
of it, for Craig had abandoned the town, and was at that
time sailing down the river with all his forces. Ruther-
ford's army marched into the town in triumph. The last
vestage of British power had vanished from the State.

READJUSTMENTS.

After the surrender of Cornwallis many of the Tories left
the State. Fanning and his minions fled to Canada. Bryan
returned to his home in the forks of the Yadkin, and was

arrested on the charge of treason. Colonel Davie, who had
often crossed swords with Bryan on the battlefield defend-
ed him and secured his release. The Highlanders of the
Cape Fear sections accepted the result of the struggle in
good faith, and laid down the sword for the pursuits of
peace. The murderers and incendiaries among the Tories
were not allowed to remain, but were driven out to make
place for better citizens. Now, the descendants of both
sides can say, " God bless North Carolina.

Battles of Revolution Tougbt in north Carolina.

'/^j~>

Moores Creek Bridge,

Ramsour's Mill, ....

Pacolet River, .

Earles Ford,

Cane Creek,

Wahab's Plantation **> she, n/A/y-h&Mrt.

Charlotte

Wilmington,

Cowans Ford,

Torrence Tavern,

Shallow Ford

Brace's Cross Roads, .

Haw River,

Clapp's Mill . . .

Whitsell's Mill, .

Guilford Court House,

Hillsboro,

Sudleys Mill, (Cane Creek.)

Feb'y 27th, 1776

June 20th, 1780

July 14th, 1780

July 18th, 1780

Sept. 12th, 1780

Sept. 21st, 1780

Sept. 26th, 1780

Feb'y 1st, 1781

. Feb'y 1st, 1781

Feb'y 1st, 1781

. Feb'y 6th, 1781

Feb'y 12th, 1781

Feb'y 25th, 1781

March 2nd, 1781

March 6th, 1781

March 15th, 1781

April 25th. 1781

Sept. 13th, 1781

£++(j L« /fa^^Vro?

yy v*

Cbe north Carolina Booklet

mT Od- MO 2- Jf»£>

GREAT EVENTS IN

NORTH CAROLINA HISTORY.

THE REVOLUTIONARY CONGRESSES OF
NORTH CAROLINA.

THOMAS M. PITTMAN.

PRICE 10 CENTS. j> & & $1.00 THE YEAR.

Entered at the Postoffice at Raleigh, N. C, as second-class matter — June 24, 1901.

Cbe north Carolina Booklet.

Great €wnt$ in north Carolina Ijistory.

Vol. 2.

l-May — Ku-Klux Klans.

Mrs. T.-J. Jarvis.
2-June — Our Pirates.

Capt. S. A. Ashe.
3-July — Indian Massacre and Tuscarora War.

Judge Walter Clark.
4- August — Moravian Settlement in North Carolina.

Rev. J. H. Clewell.
5-September — Whigs and Tories.

Prof. W. 0. Allen.
6-October — The Bevolutionary Congresses of North Carolina.
Mr. T. M. Pittma
e of Guilford (

Prof. D. H. Hill

lvir. x. ivi. jriiDinan.

7-November— The Battle of Guilford Court House. JY~t

Prof. D. H. Hill.

8-December — Historic Homes in North Carolina: The Groves
and Others.
Col. Burgwyn, Col. Waddell, Mr. Thos. Blount, and others.
9-January — Old Charleston on the Cape Fear.

Prof. Jas. S. Bassett.
10-February — Ealeigh and the Old Town of Bloomsbury.

Dr. K. P. Battle.
11-March — Confederate Secret Service.

Dr. Chas. E. Taylor, (conditional).
12- April — The Story of the Albemarle.

Maj. Graham Daves.

One Booklet a month will be issued by the N. C. Society
Daughters of the Eevolution. Price $1.00 per year.

Address THE N. C. BOOKLET CO.,

Or Mks. Hubert Haywood, 218 Newbern Ave., Ealeigh, N. C.

editors:
Miss Martha Helen Haywood, Mrs. Hubert Haywood.

NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.

VOL. II. OCTOBER 10, 1902. No. 6.

Zhe Revolutionary Congresses of
Bortb Carolina-

THOMAS M. PITTMAN.

RALEIGH :

Capital Printing Company.

1902.

'Carolina! Carolina! fieaoen's blessings attend ben
mbile we live we will cberisb, protect and defend ber.'

THE REVOLUTIONARY CONGRESSES OF NORTH

CAROLINA.

The seeds of the Revolution in North Carolina were
planted in the very beginning of the Colony. The prince-
ly gratitude of Charles II towards the Duke of Albemarle
and other favorites was expressed in the Carolina Charter.
He granted them a rich and extensive territory, and a
larger measure of popular rights than was common to
Englishmen at home. England had just emerged from
the great Civil War, and men of the Commonwealth were
in constant dread of the King's displeasure. The Lord's
Proprietors, fully alive to this situation, offered induce,
ments of large civil and religious liberty to such as should
settle in Carolina, with the result that Albemarle was
quickly occupied and a government set up.

The men who fought under Cromwell and made the
Commonwealth were not weaklings. It may be that these
settlers were not actual followers of Cromwell in war, but
they were of the same class and spirit. Tradition asserts
that under the name of Crowell members of Cromwell's own
family settled in North Carolina and that their descendents
were represented in the revolutionary movements in this
State.

From the beginning the settlers asserted their rights
under the charter, contending that they were as fixed and
inviolable as land titles acquired by like authority. When
the Lords Proprietors yielded up the colony to the crown
they still insisted that their rights were not affected ; they

had acquired them lawfully by a grant which was sacred
under the British Constitution. The denial of their claim
furnished the third and final revolutionary element. Given
the Carolina Charter, the Carolina settlers and the claim of
royal prerogative adverse to the charter and we have a con-
junction of all the elements of a revolution, only waiting the
fulness of time when a spark shall set all aflame.

Local disturbances marked the virile spirit of the
colonists. Obnoxious Governors were deposed, practical
nullification of distasteful laws ante-dated by many dec-
ades South Carolina's famous effort, and actual outbreaks
of violence were not unknown. The war of the Regulation
was among the most notable of the latter, and so shortly
preceded the Revolution as to constitute a most significant
introduction to that great movement. During Governor
Tryon's administration the Regulators were organized in
North Carolina pretty much as they already existed in
South Carolina and elsewhere. Their efforts to correct
certain official irregularities by rather irregular methods
led to the Battle of Alamance and the correction of their
own irregularities, while those of the officials were left un-
touched. That event has been variously estimated accord-
ing to the point of view of different writers. At any rate
it was significant of the temper existing in a large portion
of the Province. Only six years earlier, during the same
administration, the Proud Spirits of the Cape Fear had
brought humiliation to the Governor's soul by forcibly
preventing the operation of the Stamp Act in North Caro-
lina. These were but local manifestations, but they were
repeated in different forms throughout the Colony. Events

as if endowed with life and prescience now pressed on in
quick succession, gave to the people a sense of their unity
and strength and hastened the inevitable conflict.

The grievances were not always the same in different
localities, and this gave rise to misunderstandings, which
in one case at least, proved a costly blunder to the Ameri-
cans. The more opulent and thickly settled communities
near the coast did not experience the annoyances that call-
ed the Regulators into being, and failed to recognize the
Spirit of Independence in the alleged turbulence of their
conduct. The coast men gave assistance to the Governor
in suppressing their demonstrations and forcing them into
submission, and into an oath of allegiance to the British
Crown which they held to be binding upon their consciences.
When the Revolution broke out these people remained loyal,
and their communities were Tory strongholds where civil
war raged with all the bitterness of internecine strife.

Governor Martin found his Carolinians even less tract-
able than had his predecessors. The Assembly repeatedly
passed a court and attachment law to which he refused as-
sent, with the result that the Colony was for years without
a Superior Court. It also asserted that the taxes levied to
redeem the paper currency of the Colony had been sufficient
for that purpose, and the council refusing to join in the re-
peal of the law authorizing such taxes, the Assembly di-
rected the collectors to desist from their further collection
and undertook to indemnify them against harm for so doing.
For this, Governor Martin indignantly dissolved the As-
sembly on March 30, 1774.

It is at this point we have the suggestion of a Provincial

Congress. A letter from Samuel Johnston to William
Hooper, dated April 5, 1774, is in part as follows : " Colonel
Harvey and myself lodged last night with Colonel Bun-
combe. Colonel Harvey said during the night that Mr.
Biggleston told him that the Governor did not intend to
convene another Assembly until he saw some chance of a
better one than the last ; and that he told the Secretary that
then the people would convene one themselves. He was in
a violent mood, and declared he was for assembling a con-
vention independent of the Governor and urged us to co-
operate with him He says he will lead the way

and will issue hand-bills under his own name I do

not know what batter can be done Colonel Harvey

said he had mentioned the matter to Willie Jones the day
before, and that he thought well of it, and promised to ex-
ert himself in its favor. I beg your friendly counsel and
advice on the subject, and hope you will speak of it to Mr.
Harnett and Colonel Ashe or any other such men." A
little later, the 26th of the same month, Hooper wrote
James Iredell, brother-in law of Johnston: "With you I
anticipate the important share which the Colonies must
soon have in regulating the political balance. They are
striding fast to independence, and ere long will build an
empire upon the ruins of Great Britain." On July 14th,
the spark had kindled and James Reed, the missionary,
wrote home to the Secretary : " All America is in a most
violent flame."

That violent flame was not confined to North Carolina,
but raged in all the Colonies, kindled largely by four
acts of Parliament relating to Massachusetts : (1) Closing

the Port of Boston until compensation should be made to the
India Company for their tea ; (2) Vacating the Charter of
Massachusetts Bay ; (3) Authorizing the Governor in case
of indictment preferred against any officer of the crown, to
suspend the proceedings against him in America and send
him home for trial ; (4) Quartering soldiers in the Colony.
If the principle held good no Colony was safe. Iredell
wrote : " The arrival of all these thundering regulations
(which very quickly succeeded one another) caused the
greatest alarm in America. Here was a full avowal of
tyrany in its most frightful form. We did not view the
storm merely at a distance ; it was almost at our very door.
These measures, affecting one Colony only, made no differ-
ence in the general indignation they caused. They were
all interested in the principle. Their rights were nearly
the same ; an invasion of one was equivalent to a declara-
tion of war against the rest. Heaven had placed them in
the neighborhood of each other, as it were, for their mutual
defence ; such an union was absolutely necessary for their
safety ; singly they might be easily crushed ; united — ."

William Hooper was a native of Boston and a graduate
of Harvard. He had studied in the office of James Otis,
imbibing at once law and patriotism from the same master.
He had been ten years in North Carolina, and had become
one of the inner circle of the splendid body of Cape Fear
men. The enactments against Massachusetts were assaults
upon his home and kindred. On July 21, 1774, he presid-
ed over a meeting at Wilmington, which appointed a Com-
mittee of Correspondence and called a Provincial Congress
to meet at Johnston Court House, August 20th, " to debate

upon the present alarming state of British America, and
in concert with other Colonies to adopt and prosecute such
measures as will most effectually avert the miseries which
threaten us." It also proposed a Continental Congress to
be held in Philadelphia on September 20th, " that such
regulations may then be made as will tend most effectually
to produce an alteration in the British policy and to bring
about a change honorable and beneficial to all America.''

The call met with a hearty response. The freeholders of
Johnston, Pitt, Anson, Craven and other counties, and of
New Bern, Halifax and other towns met and adopted reso-
lutions warmly endorsing the movements and expressing
their views of the situation. Those of Rowan give a fair
exhibit of the prevailing spirit. First declaring loyalty to
the British Crown, they proceed in part as follows :

" That the right to impose Taxes or Duties to be paid by
the inhabitants within this Province for any purpose what-
soever is peculiar and essential to the General Assembly
in whom the legislative authority of the Colony is invested.

" That any attempt to impose such Taxes or Duties by
any other is an Arbitrary Exertion of Power, and an in-
fringement of the Constitutional Rights and Liberties of the
Colonies.

" That the late cruel and Sanguinary Acts of Parlaiment
to be executed by military force and ships of war upon our
Sister Colony of the Massachusetts Bay and town of Boston,
is a strong evidence of the corrupt Bnfluence obtained by
the British ministry in Parliament and a convincing Proof
of their fixed Intention to deprive the Colonies of their Con-
stitutional Rights and Liberties.

" That it is the Duty and Interest of all the American Col-
onies firmly to unite in an indissoluble union and associa-
tion to oppose by every just and proper means the infringe-
ment of their common Rights and Privileges."

Of the Granville resolutions we note two :

" That by the civil compact subsisting between our King
and his People, Allegiance is the right of the first Magistrate
and protection the right of the People, that a violation of
this Compact would rescind the civil Institution binding
both King and People together.

" That the King at the head of his American Assemblies,
constitutes a supreme Legislature in the respective Col-
onies, and that as free men we can be bound by no law,
but such as we assent to, either by ourselves or our repre-
sentatives. That we derive a right from our Charters to
enact laws for the regulation of our Internal Policy of Gov-
ernment, which reason and justice confirm to us, as we
most know what civil Institutions are best suited to our
state and circumstances."

One extract from the Chowan meeting :

" That the act for the better regulating the government
of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, in North America,
is an attempt to dissolve a contract most solemnly entered
into by the present ancestors of the Massachusetts Bay
with their sovereign ; a contract which ought to be held
inviolable, without the mutual consent of King and Peo-
ple ; That if the King arid Parliament continue to exercise
this power, none of the Colonies may expect to enjoy their
rights and Privileges longer than they approve themselves
obsequious to the dependents on administration. That the

act for the impartial administration of justice in the case of
persons questioned for any acts done by them in their exe-
cution of the Laws, or for the suppression of Riots and
Tumults in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, in New
England, puts it in the power of a cruel and despotic Gov-
ernor, wantonly to sport with the lives of His Majesty's
subjects in that Province with impunity.''

Among the remedies which found favor was a cessation
of commercial intercourse with the mother country. The
Halifax resolution on this subject is of interest —

u That we continue our exports to Great Britain until the
debts due from America are fully discharged, and hereby
recommend it most heartily to the several counties in the
Province, as the most elligible plan to secure to us the af-
fections of our Mother Country, in as much as by that we
shall convince her of the uprightness and honesty of our
intentions, most warmly recommend ourselves to those who
have trusted us on the common faith and Credit of the
Country, and will magnify our firmness, patriotic virtue and
Public Spirit."

We note three things of these meetings : (i) They were
composed entirely of the responsible class of citizens, free-
holders ; (2) All declared themselves loyal to the British
Crown, and that they were but asserting their rights as
English subjects ; (3) While a common spirit characterized
all the resolutions, they are distinctly unlike in form and
expression, and present a series of clear and able statements
of the political relations subsisting between Great Britain
and her American Colonies comparable to the papers of
any publicist who has written since that time, and furnish

striking proof of the ability of the men who laid the foun-
dations of our independence.

Governor Martin was deeply offended. He laid the mat-
ter before the council and upon its advice issued his procla-
mation " to discourage as much as possible proceedings so
illegal and unwarrantable in their nature, and in their effect
so obviously injurious to the welfare of this country."
He required the people on their allegiance " to forbear to
attend at any such illegal meetings and that they do dis-
courage and prevent the same by all and every means in
their power, and more particularly that they do forbear to
attend, and prevent as far as in them lies the meeting of
certain deputies, said to be appointed to be held at New
Bern on the 26th, instant, and do more especially charge,
command and require all and every His Majesty's Justices
of the Peace, Sheriffs and other officers, to be aiding- and
assisting herein to the utmost of their power." This power
was very limited for the Governor himself when he an-
nounced to the council that the deputies were gathering,
was advised " that no other steps could be properly taken
at this juncture."

The success of the movement warranted a change of plan,
and instead of meeting at Johnston Court House as at first
proposed, the Congress or Convention met at New Bern, the
seat of government, on August 25th. Thirty counties and
six towns were represented by seventy-one delegates. Five
counties — Edgecombe, Guilford, Hertford, Surry and Wake,
and three towns, Brunswick, Campbellton (Fayetteville)
and Hillsboro — were not represented. Col. John Harvey
was Moderator. It was a body of singularly able men,

brave, patriotic, earnest and clear-headed. The meeting
had no spectacular features. It was in session three days
and its whole work is embraced in a series of resolutions
— some twenty-five in number — said to have been written
by Hooper. Of the debates and deliberations of the Con-
gress we are left in ignorance. One letter conveys an intima-
tion of some trouble over the appointment of delegates to
the Continental Congress, and capital was afterwards at-
tempted to be made of the fact that no western man was
appointed. In substance, these resolutions declared alle-
giance to the King ; asserted the exclusive right in the
Provincial Assemblies to impose taxes in America, the
King by his Governors constituting a branch of such as-
semblies ; denounced as oppressive, cruel and illegal the
acts of Parliament directed against Massachusetts ; endors-
ed the course of the inhabitants of Massachusetts " for their
manly support of the rights of America in general ; " pro-
vided for non-intercourse with Great Britain and India in
commercial matters ; approved the proposal of a Continen-
tal Congress and appointed Wm. Hooper, Joseph Hewes,
and Richard Caswell delegates to attend the same, with
ample powers of representation ; authorized the appoint-
ment of a committee of five in every county, by freeholders
favorable to the Congress, to carry out the plans of the gen-
eral Congress, and authorized the Moderator, or in case of
his death, Samuel Johnston, to convene tbe delegates at
such time and place as he should deem proper.

The immediate result of this meeting was the establish-
ment of dual governments throughout the Province. The
freeholders met in the several counties and elected the com-

mittees recommended by the Congress, in most instances a
larger number than the five proposed. There was no inter-
ference •with the orderly administration of the law by the
regular authorities, but these committees, called Committees
of Safety, were the real rulers and exercised such despotic
powers as would not have been tolerated under other con-
ditions. In one instance a lady at whose house the gentle-
men of Wilmington had arranged to give a public ball was
notified " to decline it, and acquaint the parties concerned,
that your house cannot be at their service, consistent with
the good of your country." On another occasion young
men who had horses in training for a race were notified to
desist. In one case notes of hand had been exchanged be-
tween the parties to a proposed race ; the notes were re-
quired to be surrendered and the race was called off. In
fact the seriousness of the Puritan dominance in England
was well-nigh repeated in North Carolina. The dignity
and solemnity of a great occasion were upon the people.
There was government by public sentiment. Every ad-
verse element was quietly but certainly being silenced and
subdued by the concentrated force of a powerful public
sentiment. Long before armed hostilities began, freedom's
battle had been fought and won in the greater part of
North Carolina.

It was the good fortune of the people at this time that
Governor Martin had no real comprehension of what was
going on. When John Harvey, in violent mood, was
threatening to call an independent convention, and John_
ston, Hooper, Iredell, Willie Jones and others, were plan,
ning their measures of relief, he thought the representatives

of the people were growing more complaisant to authority ;
when the call had gone out for the second Congress and
he had discovered that even his council were in sympathy
with the people, he thought he saw a re-action in favor of
the government.

The second Congress met in New Bern, April 3, 1775,
concurrently with the General Assembly called by the
Governor. Sixty-one out of sixty-eight members in attend-
ance upon the Assembly were also members of the Congress,
and John Harvey was President of both bodies. Governor
Martin, as usual, issued his proclamation against the Con-
gress. His address to the Assembly called upon that body
to oppose the illegal gathering. The reply of the Assembly
was an endorsement and defence of both the Provincial and
Continental Congresses and a sharp arraignment of Parlia-
ment for its oppressive and unconstitutional proceedings
towards the American Colonies. This was unsatisfactory
to the Governor and he at once dissolved the Assembly. It
was the last to convene under royal authority in North
Carolina. The Congress ratified the doings of the Conti-
nental Congress, adopted the association entered into by
that body, and approved the course of its own delegates,
who were reappointed. It asserted the right of the people
to petition the Throne for a redress of grievances and de-
clared the Governor's proclamation against them illegal and
an infringement of their just rights. Hillsboro was named
as the place for the next meeting.

So far there had been little of exciting incident. The
organization of the people had been wonderfully wise and
prudent. It had been quiet, steady and strong, dominating

the whole life of the Colony, yet carefully avoiding all con-
flict with the constituted authorities. Soon all was changed.
News of the Battle of Lexington was spread by special ex-
press throughout the country. The excitement and re-
sentment were intense. At Charlotte, the now famous
Mecklenburg Declaration was the immediate result. At
New Bern the Governor, in alarm, dismounted the cannon
at the palace and concealed his ammunition to prevent
their falling into the hands of the Safety Committee. He
disingenuously told the committee that the cannon were
dismounted because the mountings were rotten. In a little
while he became panic stricken and fled, taking refuge on
a British war vessel. He never again occupied the palace.
From his refuge he issued proclamations, sent outemissaries
to arouse the King's party, called for military assistance to
suppress the people, and wrote home hysterical letters to
show that he had been wise and prudent in his conduct, and
recommending a policy for adoption towards the Province
when it should be brought into complete subjection.

The government now passed from the Governor's hands
to those of the Safety Committees, who took active control
of affairs in their respective counties.

About this time the Colony suffered a severe loss in the
death of John Harvey, President of the Congress and
Speaker of the Assembly. Samuel Johnston succeeded
to his authority, and convened the Congress at Hillsboro
on August 20th. Every county and burrough town elected
delegates and one hundred and eighty-four were in attend-
ance. Johnston was elected President. The plans of the
first Congress had been so wise, and were so well executed

that the transition from a royal government to a popular
one was effected without friction, and the work of the
Congress was little more than a development of the system
already in force. A Provincial council of thirteen mem-
bers and six district Safety Committees were created. The
county and town committees were continued as before.
These with the Congress constituted the government. A
military organization was arranged and officers were ap-
pointed from every district and county. Steps were taken
to secure arms and ammunition. An emission of not ex-
ceeding $125,000 of paper currency was ordered. Induce-
ments were offered for manufactures within the Province.
Hooper, Hewes, and John Penn were elected delegates to
the Continental Congress and instructed not to agree to
any union with the other provinces, further than the asso-
ciation then existing, without first submitting its terms to
this Congress. Their assumption of power was explained
in the following paragraph of an address to the inhabitants
of the British Empire :

" Whenever we have departed from the forms of the Con-
stitution, our own safety and self preservation have dictated
the expedient ; and if in any Instances we have assumed
powers which the laws invest in the Sovereign or his repre-
sentatives, it has been only in defence of our persons, prop-
erties and those rights which God and the Constitution
have made unalienably ours. As soon as the cause of our
fears and apprehensions are removed, with joy will we re-
turn these powers to their regular channels ; and such
Institutions formed from mere necessity, shall end with
that necessity that created them.''

The Provincial Council organized at Johnston Court
House, October 18, 1775, with Cornelius Harnett as Presi-
dent. The other members were Samuel Johnston, Samuel
Ashe, Thomas Jones, Whitmill Hill, Abner Nash, James
Coor, Thomas Person, John Kinchen, Willie Jones, Thomas
Eaton, Samuel Spencer, and Waightstill Avery. This
Council had the administration of the Province. The
King's forces were not ready for hostilities, and the Council
had until the battle of Moore's Creek in February of the
next year for preparation. In this time it proceeded steadily
to strengthen its military organization and equipment, and
to suppress with a firm hand all dissent from the authority
of Congress. The battle of Moore's Creek and the de-
struction of the force around which General Martin had
hoped to gather all the loyal elements in the Province
elicited warm praise from the Council, as did also the dis-
tinguished services of Colonel Howe in Virginia.

A fourth Congress met at Halifax, April 4, 1776. Samuel
Johnston was President. Its notable act was a resolution
unanimously adopted, empowering its delegates in the \
Continental Congress to " concur with the delegates of the
other colonies in declaring independence, and forming
foreign alliances, reserving to this Colony the sole and
exclusive right of forming a Constitution and laws for this
Colony." It also authorized a further issue of ^500,000
in paper currency, to be redeemed by a poll tax to com-
mence in 1780.

News of the Declaration of Independence reached Hali-
fax, where the Provincial Council was in session, July 22,
1776. It was ordered to be proclaimed in the most public

manner throughout the State. Jones gives this account of
the ceremony at Halifax : " At mid-day Cornelius Harnett
ascended a rostrum which had been erected in front of the
Court House, and even as he opened the scroll, upon which
was written the immortal words of the Declaration, the en-
thusiasm of the immense crowd broke forth in one loud
swell of rejoicing and prayer. The reader proceeded to his
task, and read the Declaration to the mute and impassion-
ed multitude with the solemnity of an appeal to heaven.
When he had finished, all the people shouted with joy, and
the cannon, sounding from fort to fort, proclaimed the
glorious tidings that all the Thirteen Colonies were now free
and independent States. The soldiers seized Mr. Harnett
and bore him on their shoulders through the streets of the
town, applauding him as their champion, and swearing
allegiance to the instrument he had read."

The time had now come for the Congress to return the
powers it had assumed to their regular channels. It as-
sembled for its last session, at Halifax, November 12, 1776.
On the 13th a committee was appointed to form and report
a Bill of Rights and a Constitution. It was adopted on
December 18th, in such form as to endure without amend-
ment for nearly sixty years. Richard Caswell was elected
Governor. A few ordinances were adopted, making tempor-
ary provision for the well ordering of the State until the
General Assembly should establish government in accord-
ance with the Constitution, and the Provincial Congress of
North Carolina passed into history.

Banks of Revolution fougto in nortb Carolina.

Moores Creek Bridge,

Eamsour's Mill, .

Pacolet River, .

Earles Ford,

Cane Creek,

Wahab's Plantation

Charlotte

Wilmington,

Cowans Ford,

Torrence Tavern, (

Shallow Ford

Brace's Cross Roads, .

Haw Eiyer,

Clapp's Mill

Whitsell's Mill, .

Guilford Court House,

Hillsboro,

Sudleys Mill, (Cane Creek.)

Feb'y 27th, 1776

June 20th, 1780

July 14th, 1780

July 18th, 1780

Sept. 12th, 1780

Sept. 21st, 1780

Sept. 26th, 17.80

Feb'y 1st, 1781

. Feb'y 1st, 1781

Feb'y 1st, 1781

, Feb'y 6th, 1781

Feb'y 12th, 1781

Feb'y 25th, 1781

March 2nd, 1781

March 6th, 1781

March 15th, 1781

April 25th. 1781

Sept. 13th, 1781

V^WJV3-*VO»<%OV,.'V».» .

»o»iv;vrJ»'3*t: v-rw^

SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 1903.

tOSKLfil ON "KALEIJiH ANOTHG
TOWN OI.' BM»Oin<vBfJK1t»

(By Kemp P. Battle, LL. D.)
We extract the following from a pri-
vate letter from one of the most intel-
ligent men in the State, himself an
author of very valuable historical mon-
ographs:

"I have just received and read ev-
ery line of the North Carolina Booklet,
entitled "Raleigh and the Old Town
of Bloomsbury." It is the most fas-
cinating scrap of history that I have
read in a long time, and it is told in
such a charming way, that one cannot
put it down without finishing the last
word. * * * The most interesting
and condensed information will doubt-
less prove of great value to the read-
ing public."

Anything from the pen of Dr. Battle,
the able Professor of History at our
University, is fascinating as well as
instructive. These "Booklets" should
be obtained by every lover of the
State, as each is devoted to some por-
tion of or incident in the history of this
good old State and of the people who
have given her character.

y^y.^f

Cbe north Carolina Booklet

'cK it

Jro 7

GREAT EVENTS IN

NORTH CAROLINA HISTORY.

RALEIGH AND THE OLD TOWN OF
BLOOMSBURY.

KEMP P. BATTLE, Uu. D.

PRICE 10 CENTS. & <* & $1.00 THE YEAR.

Entered at the Postoffice at Raleigh, N. C, as second-class matter— June 24, 1901.

Cbe north Carolina Booklet

Great Events in north Carolina history.

Vol. 2.

l-May— Ku-Klux Klans.

Mrs. T. J. Jarvis.
2-June — Our Pirates.

Capt. S. A. Ashe.
3-July — Indian Massacre and Tuscarora War.

Judgre Walter Clark.
4- August — Moravian Settlement in North Carolina.

Rev. J. H. Clewell.
5-September — Whigs and Tories.

Prof. W: C. Allen.
6-October — The Revolutionary Congresses of North Carolina.

Mr. T. M. Plttman.
7-November — The Battle of Guilford Court House.

Prof. D. H. Hill.
8-December — Historic Homes in North Carolina : The Groves
and Others.
Col. Burgwyn, Col. Waddell, Mr. Thos. Blount, and others.
9- January — Old Charleston on the Cape Fear.

Prof. Jas. S. Bassett.
10-February — Raleigh and the Old Town of Bloomsbury.

Dr. K. P. Battle.
11-March — Confederate Secret Service.

Dr. Chas. E. Taylor, (conditional).
12-April — The Story of the Albemarle.
Mai. Graham Daves.

One Booklet a month will be issued by the N. C. Society
Daughters of the Revolution. Price $1.00 per year.

Address THE N. C. BOOKLET CO.,

Or Mrs. Hubert Haywood, 218 Newbern Ave., Raleigh, N. C.

editors:
Miss Martha Helen Haywood, Mrs. Hubert Haywood.

NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.

Vol. II. NOVEMBER 10, 1902. No. 7.

Rakigb and tbe Old town of Bloom$bury.

KEMP P. BATTLE, LL. D.

RALEIGH :

Capital Printing Company.

1902.

'Carolina! Carolina! ficaocn's blessings attend her!
While we live we will cherish, protect and defend her.'

Raleigh and (fee Old town of Bloomsbury.

Three years after the Restoration of Charles II to the
throne of England, in the flush of gratitude, to eight of his
great lords, he renewed a lapsed grant to a large part of the
new Continent, called Carolina, after his fathers's Latin
name, Carolus I. Two years afterwards the boundaries
were enlarged so that the territory stretched from the At-
lantic to the Pacific ; from the boundary between North
Carolina and Virginia to the parallel which passes through
Florida near Cedar Keys. As England did not own the
territory west of the Mississippi, the grant was only effec-
tive as far as that mighty river. For over three score
years these noblemen, their heirs and assigns, through their
deputies, directed the government of our people.

In 1729 the representatives of seven of these Lords Pro-
prietors, finding in their possessions no honor, but contin-
ued trouble and very little profit, sold all their rights to the
crown of England for $12,500 each. It is a wonderful
illustration of the rapid growth of our country that about
a century and three quarters ago lands through the heart
of our continent were sold, ten thousand acres for about one
dollar. John, Lord Carteret, afterwards Earl Granville, sur-
rendered the right of government but refused to sell his
eighth part of the soil. In 1744 Commissioners, appoint-
ed for the purpose, laid off his share between latitude 35 ° 34'
and the Virginia line. The straight line north of the
counties of Moore, Montgomery, Stanly, Cabarrus and
Mecklenburg, and south of Chatham, Randolph, Davidson,
Rowan and Iredell show on the map the southern boundary
of his grand property.

In the beginning of this century there occurred in Ral-
eigh a battle of giants. The arena of conflict was the Cir-
cuit Court of the United States. The arbiter of the fray
was Judge Henry Potter. The champion of the plaintiffs
was Wm . Gaston ; on the side of the defendant the most
eminent was Duncan Cameron. The heirs of Earl Gran-
ville were seeking to wrest from free-holders of North
Carolina the lands they had won by the sword. When
the fight was ended all that remained to the claimants was
the honor of having the names of their family and earldom
affixed to two of our counties, Carteret and Granville.

Earl Granville took possession of his North Carolina
territory in 1744. He sent his agents, Childs and Frohock
and others to make his sales. His practice was to reserve
quit- rents to be paid yearly. The settlers thus had the
double burden of paying these rents to their landlord
across the great water and poll taxes to the royal govern-
ment at Newbern, practically further off than are now Que-
bec and the city of Mexico. Roads were horrible with jagged
rocks, tenacious mud and yielding sand. Few bridges
spanned the streams ; the meagre crops could not be turn-
ed into money ; specie was almost unknown and paper
money was forbidden. The collecting officers, appointed
by the royal Governors or the agents of the Earl had
no sympathy with the people and were often brutal and
cruel. The money raised by these exactions in large
degree stuck to the pockets of the officers, while the rest
was spent for distant objects unknown to the settlers
or offensive to them. In addition to these evils the offi-
cials about the towns extorted illegal fees and were be-

lieved to be growing fat on their robberies. And so rage
grew fierce and tempers fiery hot, and old rifles were
rubbed up and bullets moulded, and scythe blades were
sharpen ed for swords, and the Civil War of the Regulation
began. It ended in a pitiable defeat, for Try on had been a
Lieutenant Colonel in the British army, and the militia of
the eastern counties promptly obeyed his order to march, and
on the 1 6th of May, 1771, the undisciplined mob without
a military head were scattered over the hills of Alamance.
Tryon and the General Assembly however had made
efforts to end the insurrection without resort to the sword.
In 1770 it was endeavored to conciliate the insurgents,, and
at the same to render it more difficult for them to gather
together, by creating four new counties in the western
section. One cut from Orange and Rowan, was called in
honor of the earldom of Guildford, of which Lord North
was heir apparent, another Chatham, cut from Orange,
after the celebrated William Pitt, the elder, Earl of Chat-
ham ; Surry, cut from Rowan, after Lord Surrey, the heir
apparent of the Duke of Norfolk, and Wake, cut from
Johnston, with slices of Cumberland and Orange, in com-
pliment to his wife, courteously addressed by our ances-
tors as Lady Tryon, whose maiden name was Margaret
Wake. The Governor in choosing the names proved him-
self to be a true courtier. The eldest son of the Karl of
Guildford was Prime Minister and popular with the Tories,
Chatham and Surrey was powerful friends of the colonies
in their dispute with the mother country, while Lady
Tryon, by her gracious manners, was a favorite with all
our people.

I know that Jo. Seawell Jones (of Shocco), in his " De-
fence of North Carolina,'' says that Esther Wake, the
beautiful sifter of Lady Tryon, was the person complimented
but it is altogether impossible that the Governor's wife
wife should have been passed over, even if such a damsel
ever existed. Of this there are grave doubts. No contem-
porary evidence mentions her as being in Newbern, or
New York, where Tryon lived as Governor for several
years, after leaving North Carolina. Judge Wm. Gaston
stated that he often talked with his mother who was a
frequent visitor to Tryon's family and although she spoke
freely of the various members she never mentioned Esther.
Moreover the present heads of the families of Wake and of
Tryon know nothing of her. All this however is only
negative evidence, and there remains a problem of North
Carolina history, whether Esther Wake is a myth, and, if
so, from what source did Shocco Jones get the story.

The General Asssembly appointed seven Commissioners
to locate the county seat. They were Joel Lane, Theophi-
lus Hunter, Hardy Sanders, Joseph Lane, John Hinton,
Thomas Hines and Thomas Crawford. Of these fathers
of our Capital City, Joel Lane was the strongest. His
ancestors removed from the Albermarle Country to Halifax
County. Thence, he and his brothers, Joseph and Jesse,
transferred their residence to the part of Johnston, that
is now Wake. Joel became a very large laud owner and
influential. His residence, still standing, though modest
now, was the most imposing in the county and in it he
dispensed a liberal hospitality. He was Lieutenant Colo-
nel of the regiment that marched against the Regulators.

He was member of the State Congress of 1775, of that of
April 1776, and beginning with 1782, thirteen times State
Senator, continuously, except in 1793. During the war
he was a member of the County Committee of Safety. He
was a Commissioner to locate the boundaries of Wake
County. As Justice of the Peace he was a member of the
first Court in the county, on the 4th of June, 1771, and
was afterwards Chairman. He was one of the Charter Trus-
tees of the University and offered 640 acres at Cary as a site.
He was a delegate to the convention of 1788, and to that
of 1789, voting against the Federal Constitution in the
first and for it in the second.

His brother, Joseph Lane, another of the Commissioners
was of more modest temperament. This appointment-
ment however and the fact that he likewise was a mem-
ber of the first court shows his high standing. The other
brother, Jesse, although still more modest, was a grand-
father of two very eminent men, David L- Swain, Gover-
nor, Judge and President of the University, and Joseph
Lane, a General in the Mexican war, Senator from Oregon
and candidate for the Vice- Presidency on the Breckenridge
ticket.

Of the other Commissioners, Theophilus Hunter was
Chairman of the first County Court, a Commissioner to
locate the county boundaries and a Lieutenant Colonel of
Militia. It is interesting that Tryon on his expedition
against the Regulators camped on his plantation, called
Hunter's Lodge. His son, of the same name, familiarly
called " Orphy " Hunter, was famous for bountiful hospi-
tality at his residence called Spring Hill, a few miles from

his father's home. Another Commissioner, John Hinton,
father-in-law of Joel Lane, was Colonel of the County, in
the Provincial Congress of August 1775 and April 1776,
and a member of the Committee of Safety for Wake.
Another, Hardy Sanders, was a Lieutenant Colonel of
Militia, a member of the War Legislature and Sheriff.
Thomas Hines was a member of the Provincial Congress
of August 1775, and Major of Militia and Sheriff. Thomas
Crawford was a Justice of the Peace and member of the
first court. Descendants of most of these Commissioners
still reside in the county, and a portion of Joel Lane are
citizens of Raleigh. The Devereux family, the Mordecais,
Mackays, Hinsdales Thomases, Browns, Dr. Everett, claim
him as an ancestor.

Wake Cross Roads, a notable place near the centie of
the county, was naturally chosen for the establishment of
the court house, and its inevitable accompaniments, the
jail, the whipping post and stocks. It was probably the
taste of his lady to affix to it the fancy name of Blooms-
bury. At that date John Russell, Duke of Bedford, own-
ed the hamlet of that name, with adjacent fields, north
west of the city of London. It is a corruption of Blem-
undsbury, the name of de Blemontes, Blemunds or Blem-
mots, in the reign of Henry III and Edward I. The
Duke's palace, Bedford House, was on the site of the
Manor-house of the Blemunds. He was a man of wealth
and strong character and gathered to himself a compact
little party, known commonly as " the Bloomsbury Gang."
He was in office as President of the Privy Council when
Tryon was appointed Lieutenant-Governor under Dobbs,

soon to succeed him, and it is likely that to the noble
Duke he owed, in part at least, his appointment and
honored his benefactor by the name. The Dictionary of
National Biography however says that Tryon's wife was a
relative of the Earl of Hillsborough and that she was the
cause of her husband's advancement. At any rate the
name perpetuates the memory of the Duke of Bedford. The
next Duke, Francis, was a great benefactor of his country
in the promotion of agriculture. Having little love for
city life, he tore down his palatial mansion and laid off
the land into building lots, streets and squares. Augustus
J. C. Hare in his Walks in London, says : " When the
changeable tide of fashion in the last century flowed north
from the neighborhood of St. Clement Dane and White-
hall, it settled with a deceptive grasp, which seemed like-
ly to be permanent, on the estate of the Duke of Bedford.
Everything here commemorates the glories of that great
Ducal family. Bloomsbury Street and Square, Chenies
Street, Francis Street, Tavistock Square, Russell Square,
Bedford Square, and many other places have their names
and titles." Macaulay, writing of the year 1685, says:
" A little way from Holborn, and on the verge of pastures
and cornfields, rose two celebrated palaces, each with an
ample garden. One of them, then called Southampton
House, and, subsequently Bedford House, was removed
early in the present century, (1800), to make room for a
new city, which now covers with its squares, streets and
churches, a vast area renowned in the the seventeen cen-
tury for peaches and snipes." The other was Montague

House, since burned, rebuilt and torn down to give place
to the British Museum.

I have seen it stated that the name was given by Colonel
Lane to his residence. I cannot think that this is correct
as I can conceive of no reason for his introducing it into
the middle of North Carolina. Even conceding the truth
of the tradition, said to have been in old times in the
family, that they were descended from a brother of Sir
Ralph Lane, the Governor of the abortive Colony at
Roanoke (the Governor was unmarried it is thought), that
family lived in Northamptonshire, not Middlesex.

The people of North Carolina refused to accept the
aristocratic Bloomsbury, though, while substitutiting Lin-
coln and Rutherford for the odious name of Tryon County,
their chivalrous nature induced them to allow the memory
of his charming wife to be perpetuated on our map.

At Wake Court-House the county seat remained for
twenty years, distinguished for the princely hospitality of
Colonel Lane and his neighbors, for its comfortable inn
erected by him, for the grand hunting parties, which as-
sembled at his mansion, or at that of Theophilus Hunter.
It occupied a central position between the Capitals of
Orange and Johnston, Cumberland and Granville, among
the pleasant hills near the dividing line of the eastern
plains, where the road from the east and that from the
north crossed one another. So convenient was it, and so
surrounded by a people devoted to the patriot cause, that
the General Assembly in a very dark hour of the Revolu-
tion, June 23rd, 1 78 1, met in the commodious house of
Colonel Lane. It was here that Governor Thomas Burke

was elected in the place of Abner Nash, soon to be captured
by Fanning at Hillsborough, while a prisoner to break his
parole and thus ruin his political career.

Let us now trace the steps by which this favored spot
became the Seat of Government, the City of Raleigh.

The first Capital of North Carolina was Edenton, the
second, practically though not by law, Nerbern. When
the central and western parts of the State became populated,
there was general agreement that this latter town was too far
east, but it was difficult to reconcile competing localities.
For some time the executive officers lived at their homes,
while the General Assemblies selected their place of meet-
ing. During the Revolution their choice depended on the
exigencies of war ; at Newbern, Halifax, Smithfield, Hills-
borough, Wake Court-House, and a session was appointed
at Salem, at which a quorum did not attend. After the
war the favored towns were Hillsborough, Newbern, Tar-
boro, Fayetteville.

This state of things was not only extremely inconven-
ient but led to the loss of valuable State papers. The
evil became insupportable as population and public busi-
ness increased. It led the General Assembly of 1787, in
calling the Constitutional Convention of 1788, to recom-
mend the people to instruct their representative to "fix on
the place for unalterable seat of government. "

The question of thus locating the seat of Government
was accordingly brought up in the Convention, which was
held at Hillsborough. The members from the Cape Fear
and its tributaries and those west of that territory pre-
ferred Fayetteville — then written Fayette- Ville. Those of

the Albermaile region, and the valleys of the Roanoke,
the Tar and Neuse advocated a point further east. No
agreement seemed possible, but Willie Jones was unex-
celled as a manager of men. On his motion the Conven-
tion agreed to select by ballot some place and to order the
General Assembly to make the location within ten miles
thereof.

The following were placed in nomination : Smithfield,
Tarborough, Fayetteville, Isaac Hunter's plantation in
Wake County, Newbern, Hillsborough, the Fork of Haw
and Deep rivers. On the first ballot there was no choice ;
on the second Isaac Hunter's plantation was chosen. It
was a mile from Crabtree on the Louisburg road. A way-
side inn was there and liquid refreshments were sold.
James Iredell brought in a bill to establish the Seat of
Government within this circle of twenty miles diameter,
and it passed. Wm. Barry Grove, delegate from Cumber-
land, drew up a protest, which was signed by one hundred
members and entered on the Journal.

The friends of Fayetteville were not disheartened by
this action. They took the ground that a legislative ordi-
nance of the Convention, not a part of the Constitution
could be repealed by the General Assembly. In Novem-
ber 1788 the motion of Willie Jones to carry the ordinance
into effect passed the Senate but was smothered in the
House. In 1789 the session was in Fayetteville and the
question was not taken up. In the next year in the same
town the proposition passed the House by the casting vote
of the speaker, Stephen Cabarrus, of Chowan, and failed
in the Senate by the casting vote of the President, William

Lenoir. The friends of the measure determined to procure
the session of 1791 in an eastern town. The friends of
Fayette ville fought this desperately but without success.
Newbern was selected and there the pressure of influential
men and of social blandishments, for which that town was
famous, procured a majority for the measure in both
houses; in the Senate 27 to 24 and in the House 58 to 53.
Joseph R. Gautier of Bladen drew up a protest which was
signed by himself and the Senators from Burke, New
Hanover, Orange, Iredell, Sampson, Cumberland, Ran-
dolph, Stokes, Chatham, Mecklenburg, Guilford, Lincoln,
Anson, Montgomery, Robeson, Moore, Rockingham,
Rowan. So strong was the feeling, that Wm. Barry
Grove donounced James Terry, Senator of Richmond
County, as a " Renegade " for deserting his section of the
State on this question.

The Commissioners for locating the Capital, or as it was
called, the Seat of Government, were Joseph McDowell,
of Quaker Meadows, to distinguish him from his cousin
of the same name, called of Pleasant Gardens, both heroes
of King's Mountain; James Martin, a Revolutionary Colo-
nel of repute, who had the high honor of being court-
martialed and acquitted for strict discipline of his militia;
Thomas Person, a Militia General of the Revolution,
whose liberality to the University is recognized by a hall
named in his honor, and services to the State by the name of
a county; Thomas Blount, who fought well at Eutaw as
Lieutenant and was afterwards a Representative in Con-
gress ; Wm. Johnston Dawson, grandson of Governor Ga-
briel Johnston and great-grandson of Governor Eden, a

Congressman of uncommon promise, but his career cut
short by early death ; Frederick Hargett, a militia officer
of the Revolution, a most trustworthy Senator from Jones ;
Henry William Harrington, an active General of Militia
in the Revolution ; James Bloodworth, a Representative
and Senator from New Hanover, son of the old gunmaker
and United States Senator, Timothy Bloodworth, and
lastly Willie Jones, of Halifax, member of the State and
Provincial Congresses and Chairman of the State Com-
mittee of Safety, often Senator and Commoner in the State
Legislature, aristocratic in associations but a violent, almost
radical, Republican in politics.

Of the Commissioners only six acted, Messrs. Hargett,
Dawson, McDowell, Martin, Blount and Jones. On 30th
of March, 1792, they decided in favor of Wake Court-
House, buying of Colonel Lane one thousand acres of
land for $2,756. They then laid out a city of four hun-
dred acres into lots, squares and streets, naming some of
the streets after themselves, others after the court towns,
others after the speakers of the two Houses of the Assem-
bly, Joel Lane and Colonel, afterwards General and Gov-
ernor, Wm. Richardson Davie, the father of the Univer-
sity. The boundary streets were called after the points
of the compass. The square in which is the State-House
bears the name of Union, while the four others dedicated
to the public commemorate three war Governors, Caswell,
Nash and Burke and the Attorney General, Alfred Moore.
Two of the squares have been taken from the city by the
General Assembly, Caswell for the Deaf and Dumb Asylum,
and Burke for the Governor's Mansion, without any resist-

ance, or even protest against such illegal and, I think,
harmful action, as time will prove when more parks shall
be needed for the health and recreation of the people,
especially the children.

In 1587 a charter was granted by Sir Walter Raleigh,
who, as Lord Proprietor under the patent of the Queen,
had authority so to do, to the Governor and Assistants of
the City of Raleigh. The Governor was to be John
Whyte, the Assistants were Roger Bayly, Ananias Dare,
Christopher Cooper, John Sampson, Thomas Stevens,
Roger Pratt, Dyonisius Harvie, George Howe, James Piatt
Simon Fernando. It was the first charter of an English
city in America. But the Assistants were slain or merged
among the Indians. The Governor was saved by return-
ing to England for supplies and recruits. The contem-
plated capital of the transatlantic colony had only a paper
foundation.

Two hundred and five years afterwards the name of
the great " admiral, philosopher, statesman, historian and
poet, all in one," at the suggestion, it is said, of Governor
Alexander Martin, a brother of the Commissioner, James
Martin, was honored by being conferred on the new capital.
None more appropriate can be found. It was by his efforts
and sacrifices that the State was first made known to the
civilized world, and his exalted place in the world's his-
tory entitles him to be the eponymous father of our city.
The very name, meaning in Saxon, " Field of the Roes,"
is appropriate, as numerous wild deer once abounded in
the forest where the city stands. There is veracious tes-
timony that forty of them fell before the rifle of one hun-

ter, Edmund Lane, at his favorite stand near the old sassa-
fras tree in Union Square, while the bounding game fled
before the dogs between the rich bottoms of Crabtree and
the rich bottoms of Walnut Creek.

It is impossible to find a place where the conditions for
health are superior. The elevation of the highest point in
Union Square is 363 feet above the sea level. The ground
slopes gently towards the streams that flow into Neuse six
miles off. The latitude of the State-House is 350 17' N.;
the longitude 780 41' West from Greenwich. Its isother-
mal, or line of equal temperatures, enters Europe a little
North of Lisbon ; passes through Madrid, near Genoa and
Florence ; leaves Europe not far from Constantinople ;
passes near the spot designated by tradition as the Garden
of Eden ; then through the valley of the Yang-tse-Kiang
in China, the Southern islands of Japan and enters the
American continent near San Francisco. Its climate is,
therefore, the climate of the grape and the fig, of cotton
and tobacco, of corn and wheat. Its spring temperature is
580, its summer 780, its autumn 6o°, its winter 400. Its
rainfall is 48.2 inches. It is nearly in the centre of the
next largest county, which is near the centre of the State.

After locating the city on 400 of the 1,000 acres pur-
chased, the Commissioners made sale at public auction of a
majority of the lots, which were one acre each. Forty-two
lots were left unsold, being mostly those South of Cabarrus
street. The late James D. Royster, a most estimable citizen,
remembers that his father, in order to give him a moral
object lesson, took him to a hanging in the middle of South
street in front of the Rex Hospital. The rope was sus-

pended from the limb of an oak tree, one of many then
standing. The prices obtained at the sale were considered
satisfactory. Of the two acres next the Capitol Square on
the South, that on the East of Fayetteville street brought
$232, that opposite $222. The four acres on which Dr.
Thomas D. Hogg lives brought $254. They were pur-
chased by General Davie. The highest price paid was the
lot on which are the Agricultural and Supreme Court
Buildings, $263. The buyer was Thomas E. Sumner, son
of General Jethro Sumner. Of course the prices away from
Union Square were much less. Many lots were bought on
speculation and the ventures were said to be unprofitable.
For many years there was little increase of population. The
inhabitants found remunerative employment to only a small
extent. There is only one piece of property in possession of
the heirs of the original purchaser, the square comprising
numbers, 140, 141, 156 and 157, bid off by Richard Ben-
nehan, and owned by the heirs of the late Paul C. Came-
ron. Treasurer John Haywood purchased a lot in the
Western part of the city and exchanged it for that on
Newbern Avenue, which he made his home. The house
erected by him, and occupied by the widow of his son, the
late Dr. E. Burke Haywood, is the only residence owned
and occupied by the same family continuously since 1792.
The Commissioners for building the first State-House,
which name as well as that of the United States, was
copied from Holland, were prominent business men ;
Richard Bennehan, of Orange, a wealthy planter; John
Macon, often Senator from Warren, brother of Nathaniel
Macon ; Robert Goodloe, of Franklin, a planter and ex-

perienced house builder ; Nathan Bryan, Senator from
Jones, afterwards Representative in Congress, and Theoph-
ilus Hunter, already described, who was a brother of Isaac
Hunter, whose plantation has been mentioned. They
were allowed to use the proceeds of sale of the lots. The
architect employed by them was familiarly known as
"Rhody" Atkins. The bricks were made out of State
clay on lots Nos. 138 and 154 reserved for the purpose.
They were burnt with fuel cut from the State forest. The
barn-like, reddish walls loomed up imposingly among the
wide-spreading oaks. In two years, January, 1794, it was
ready for occupancy by the General Assembly. The mem-
bers, as a rule, brought their horses and rode to the daily
sessions from their lodgings in the neighboring farm
houses. The State officers, Richard Dobbs Spaight, Gov-
ernor ; James Glasgow, Secretary of State ; John Hay-
wood, Treasurer; John Craven, Comptroller, were all in
attendance with their official papers brought from their
distant homes. Another John Haywood, the Attorney
General, great in body and great in learning, in the same year
transferred to the bench, was ready to give sound opinions
on all public questions of a legal nature. The State
officers, except the Governor, were required to reside in the
new Capital, and in 1798 the same requirement was made
of the Governor.

Although the first State-House was plain, it probably
served more uses and gave more pleasure than any build-
ing ever erected in the State. Its halls above and passages
below were open for patriotic festivals, religious congrega-
tions, political meetings, theatrical performances and the

like. In the vacations of the Legislature on one day the
candidate would proclaim the pure righteousness of his
cause and the diabolical mischiefs of the opposing party ;
on the next men with their stomachs filled with barbecued
pig, washed down with corn whiskey or apple-jack brandy,
shouted defiance to Great Britain and boastings of the
greatness of America. Then the floor would be swept and
at night belles and beaux would walk in the stately
minuet or caper in the quick-time Virginia reel, while the
old negro musician sawed his violin with the enthusiasm
created by the triple inspiration of the Goddess of Melody,
of expected largesses and of old John Barleycorn. After-
wards came the mountebank, dancing, as stated by a news-
paper of that day, a hornpipe with both feet on the crown
of his head, or itinerant companies attempting tragedy or
comedy with improvised stage and home made scenery.
And when the week was over, the people assembled in the
sobered chambers and trembled as the preacher thundered
forth the wrath of God, and sulphurous punishment on
those whose lives were given up to worldly pleasures.

I have described Wake Cross Roads, Bloomsbury, Wake
Court House and traced their change into Raleigh. It
would be a labor of love to follow the history of the North
Carolina Capital up to its present proud position among
the minor cities of this favored country. Situated in the
interior, surrounded by lands by no means fertile, without
a navigable stream, separated from the great centres of
wealth by many miles of unimproved roads, for decades of
years it was a mere straggling village. Its only prosperity
arose from the residence of the officers of state, the meet-

ings of the legislatures, the lawyers, who attended the
courts, with occasional wealthy families from the east, flee-
ing from malaria. In 183 1 the Capital, which had been
repaired and improved was burned and Fayetteville made
another vain attempt to secure for herself the Seat of
Government. It was not until after the great Civil War
that the upward march of Raleigh really began. The
scores of thousands of strangers, who visited the city dur-
ing the war and after its capture were captivated by its
natural advantages. Capital has flown in, manufactories
have sprung up, the rail road system has been enlarged
and improved and has supplied the needed facilities for
transportation. Growth has been steady and healthy. The
government is wisely administered and is free from cor-
ruption. The citizens are orderly and conservative. The
future evidently offers rich rewards to intelligent enter-
prise. So mote it be !

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

For some items in the preparation of this paper I am
indebted to Mr. Marshall Delyancey Haywood, whose
forthcoming History of Governor Tryon will be a very
valuable contribution to our State history. Also to Mr.
M. N. Amis' Historical Raleigh, a very useful work.

I have consulted the Journals, Ordinances of Conven-
tion and Acts of Assembly, and my Centennial Addresses
of 1876 and 1892 ; also Hare's Walks in London and the
Dictionary of National Biography, (Great Britain).

K. P. B.

Banks of Revolution fought in north Carolina*

Moores Creek Bridge,

Feb'y 27th, 1776

Eamsour's Mill, ....

. June 20th, 1780

Pacolet River,

July 14th, 1780

Earles Ford, . . . .

. July 18th, 17.80

Cane Creek, . . . .

Sept. 12th, 1780

Wahab's Plantation .& v &.,

Sept. 21st, 1780

Charlotte . . . . .

Sept. 26th, 1780

Wilmington, ....

Feb'y 1st, 1781

Cowans Ford, ....

. Feb'y 1st, 1781

Torrence Tavern,

Feb'y 1st, 1781

Shallow Ford ....

. Feb'y 6th, 1781

Brace's Cross Roads, .

. Feb'y 12th, 1781

Haw River,

Feb'y 25th, 1781

Clapp'sMill ....

. March 2nd, 1781

Whitsell's Mill, ....

March 6th, 1781

Guilford Court House,

. March 15th, 1781

Hillsboro,

April 25th. 1781

Hillsboro, ....

Sept. 13th, 1781

SmHeys Mill, (Cane Creek.) .

Sept. 13th, 1781

fr jf i-

%&4*++*r~9»

the north Carolina Booklet

JbdM. ;

GREAT EVENTS IN

NORTH CAROLINA HISTORY.

Historic Homes in north Carolina.

PRICE 10 CENTS. j»j».j« $1.00 THE YEAR.

Entered at the Postoffice at Raleigh, N. C, as second-class matter— June 24, 1901.

Cbe north Carolina Booklet

Great €ums in Borfl) Carolina history.

Vol. 2.

l-May — Ku-Klux Klans.

Mrs. T. J. Jarvis.
2-June — Our Pirates.

Oapt. S. A. Ashe.
3-July — Indian Massacre and Tuscarora War.

Judge Walter Clark.
4- August — Moravian Settlement in North Carolina.

Rev. J. H. Clewell.
5-September — Whigs and Tories.

Prof. W. C. Allen.
6-October — The Revolutionary Congresses of North Carolina.

Mr. T. M. Pittman.
7-November — The Battle of Guilford Court House.
Prof. D. H. Hill.
j ,8-December -Historic Homes in North Carolina: The Groves
and Others.
Col. Burgwyn, Col. Waddell, Mr. Thos. Blount, and others.
9-January — Old Charleston on the Cape Fear.

Prof. Jas. S. Bassett.
10-February- -Raleigh and the Old Town of Bloomsbury.

Dr. K. P. Battle.
11-March — Confederate Secret Service.

Dr. Chas. B. Taylor, (conditional).
12-April — The Story of the Albemarle.
Maj. Graham Daves.

One Booklet a month will be issued by the N. C. Society
Daughters of the Revolution. Price $1.00 per year.

Address THE N. C. BOOKLET CO.,

Or Mes. Hubeet Haywood, 218 Newbern Ave., Raleigh, N. C.

editors:
miss Martha Helen Haywood, Mrs. Hubert Haywood.

trifvY 4

NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.

VOL. II. DECEMBER 10, 1902. No. S.

fiistork domes in Jlortb Carolina,

HISTORIC HOMES AND PEOPLE OF OLD BATH TOWN.
Miss Lida Tunstall Rodman.

BUNCOMB HALL,
Me. Thomas Blount.

HAYES AND ITS BUILDER,
Richard Dillard.

RALEIGH :

Capital Printing Company.

1903.

'Carolina! Carolina! Ijeawn's blessings attend ben
While we live we will cherish, protect and defend her.'

HISTORIC HOMES AND PEOPLE OF OLD BATH

TOWN.

BY LIDA TUNSTALL EODMAN.

In the vicinity of the ancient town of Bath may be
found rare old landmarks and traces of early colonial homes
bearing testimony indubitable of the generous hospitality
and good living of the people of that generation.

Much historical interest is attached to this section,
Bath having been for a time the capital of the Province,
residence of a Royal Governor, and headquarters of a bold
and bloody pirate.

It was incorporated as a town in 1705, being the first in
the State, forty-two years having intervened between the
earliest settlement and the commencement of the first
town. It consisted at the time of about twelve houses and
is described as being " not the unpleasantest part of the
country, — nay in all probability it will become the centre
of trade, as having the advantage of a better inlet for ship-
ping and surrounded with most pleasant savannas very
useful for stocks of cattle. In this as in all other parts of
the province there is no money, every one buys and pays
with their commodities, the difference of their money is as
one to three."

The earliest settlers being without roads sought the con-
venient shores of creek, bay or river for their residences,
the waters forming a broad highway upon which transpor-
tation was carried on by means of various craft, the pi-

fPronounced periangur.

roguef being mnch in vogue at that time, this also accounts
for the small number of houses in the towns, most of the
population residing on the large plantations near by.

About two miles north of Bath is the old Ormond estate,
the house built in early Colonial days is rapidly going to
ruin, yet the hadsome old stairway running down to a
small paned window, with doors on either side, still remains
as does the picturesque hip roof. The fined tiled mantle-
piece, a gem in its day, has been destroyed. Some miles
beyond this at Hunter's Bridge was another large planta-
tion owned originally by one of the Ormond brothers, an
old bachelor whose wealth excited the cupidity of his
slaves, and while their master slept, they threw an im-
mense feather-bed over him, jumping on it to complete the
process of smothering and killing. Tradition says the
negroes were apprehended and three of them burned at the
stake in Bath Town. If this be true it is the only case of
its kind on record in the State.

The Ormonds were an English family of wealth and
distinction.

In another direction a few miles from Bath are still to
be seen the foundations of a large brick house owned by
the Rhoulhacs, the size and plan giving token of gay and
generous French hospitality, for tradition has kept up the
memory in all this country side of " grand balls in which
gay ladies in rich brocades trod the stately minuets with
their gallant partners."

Perhaps the quaintest house in existence to-day, is the
old Marsh home, situated on the principal street of Bath

Town, and in good preservation. It was built in 1744 by
Monsieur Cataunch for Mr. and Mrs. Whitemore. The
chimney is of immense size, being seventeeen feet broad,
and four feet thick, having windows in it which open on-
closets having stone floors. The bricks and tiles of the
chimney are of the same pattern as those used in the con-
struction of St. Thomas Church and were brought from
England.

In the rear of the building is a family burying ground
where is interred Mrs. Mary Evans, niece of the White-
mores, the grey stone slab at the head of her grave is very
quaint, as at the top surrounded by scroll work is carved a
medallion of the fair lady herself. She has the figure and
face of youth and is arrayed in the long pointed waist and
tight sleeves of that era.

The incription is perfectly distinct and reads thus :

" Here lies the Body of Mrs. Mary Evans,
Who departed this life Jan. 31st, 1758, aged 19 years."

Then follows a poem recording her youth and graces.

The beautiful Mary Evans died of a broken heart caused
by the loss of her husband in a wreck at sea. The
Whitemores being devotedly attached to her were so
grieved that they moved away, selling the place to Jona-
than Marsh, a large ship owner whose descendants still
reside there.

Near the southern extremity of Front St. some remains
are still seen of the old Fort, built about the time of the
terrible Indian massacre in 171, being the highest point
in that locality it commanded the approach by land and sea,
and furnished a place of refuge in time of danger when the

people were compelled to flee their homes for safety
from the dreaded Indian outbreaks.

Fort Reading on Pamlico river, was also built about this
time on the estate of Lionel Reading. Just opposite Bath
on the South side of the river, where it attains a width of
five miles, is Core Point named for the Coree Indians, and
in 172a an act of Assembly provided for laying out a pub-
lic road from Core Point to connect the southern part of
the Province with the northern. Several miles of this old
colonial road remains in good condition.

Lawson, Surveyor General under the Crown, and Caro-
lina's oldest historian, lived in Bath; it is noted as a singu-
lar coincidence that in his history he boasts that his colony
was the only instance of a colony being planted in peace
and without bloodshed of the natives little dreaming that
in a few years he would be captured by the Indians while
on an exploring expedition, and murdered in a fiendish
way having his body stuck full of lightwood splinters and
then set on fire.

Christopher Gayle, Chief Justice of the Colony, also a
resident of Bath Town, writes to his sister in London,
" that he was still living though by as signal a hand of
Providence as this age can demonstrate.

About ten days before the fatal day (Sept. 22nd 171 1) I
was at the Baron's (De Graffenreid's) and had agreed with
him and Mr. Lawson on a progress to the Indian towns ;
but beiore we were prepared to go a message came from
home (Bath) to inform me that my wife and brother lay
dangerously sick ; which I may call a happy sickness to
me, for on the news I immediately repaired home and

thereby avoided the fate which I shall hereafter inform
you."

Neville's Creek on the outskirts of Bath perpetuates the,
name and site of the residence of the family of Mr. Neville,
who were all murdered and scornfully treated by the
savages.

Christopher Gayle in another letter speaks of leaving
his "wife and sister in garrison at Bath Town," which
was the Fort just mentioned.

An act of Assembly was passed making the 22 nd of
September a day of fasting in commemoration of the mssa-
cre of whites at Bath by Tuscarora and Core Indians.

Bath Town has the honor of having possessed the first
Library in the State, as is seen by an Act of Assembly
1705, providing in the most rigorous manner for the care
of the Public Library of St. Thomas Parish, this was the
Library sent out by Rev. Thos. Bray founder and secretary
of the Society of the Propagation of the Gospel. Accord-
ing to the old record, "He did send to us a library of books
for the benefit of this place, given by the Honorable the
Corporation for the establishing of the Christian religion."
This collection was valued at one hundred pounds and at
first lead a wandering life, going from end to end of St.
Thomas Parish; it finally settled down in Bath and its sub-
sequent history is enveloped in obscurity.

Certain lands were early set apart as the Glebe of St.
Thomas Parish, and a small creek near is called Glebe
Creek.

There is a record that in September 171 1 the people
" having no minister met every Sunday at the house of

Christopher Gayle, a very civil gentleman, where a young
gentleman, a lawyer, was appointed to read prayers and a
sermon."

The act incorporating the Town, March 8th, 1705, pro-
vided that " convenient Places and Proportions of Land be
laid out and preserved for a Church, a Town House and a
Market place." Upon this land St. Thomas church was
built, being completed in 1734 during the reign of George
II. The bricks and large square tiles used in its construc-
tion were brought from England, and it is said Queen
Anne gave to St. Thomas Parish the silver communion cup
and the bell ; the silver cup has long since disappeared and
the bell which was cracked and broken having been recast,
there is no record to place the seal of historic truth upon
this otherwise pleasing tradition, though many believe it
to be well authenticated.

An old resident writes, " the church stands a grim senti-
nel of the past, gloomy and rusty with age, with no steeple
it presents a mediaeval aspect, producing a thrill of rev-
erence and awe when we contemplate the officers of the
English crown walking down the aisle to worship at its
shrine."

It is indeed a mute witness of the days that are gone, and
could it speak how many tales of history, romance and
tragedy would fall upon the listening ear, for within its
portals came soon or late all the people of the Parish and
perhaps of the Province, the prattling babe to receive the
sign of holy church, gay cavalier and blushing maid to
plight their troth, and there must have been weeping ones
who found the sting of death and separation just a bit more

keen, because they had left home and motherland for this
new country so full of strange terrors.

A stone tablet on the wall is a pathetic record to the
memory of " Mrs. Margaret Palmer, wife of Robert Palmer,
Esq'r, one of His Majesty's Council and Surveyor General
of the L,ands of this Province."

It is claimed that Governor Hyde resided for a short
time in Bath Town, and the records show a purchase of
two lots by his successor Governor Eden and also a large
tract of land on the opposite side of the river known as
" Thistleworth," there are in addition, records of two mar-
riage licenses granted by him, both facts furnishing some
proof of his residence in Bath. His stay was probably of
short duration, and perhaps he was quite glad to leave as
it was while there that his political enemies accused him
of having given countenance to the notorious Pirate Teach,
or Black Beard.

Tobias Knight, Secretary of the Province and Judge of
the Admiralty Court, resided in Bath Town and an old in-
habitant writes, " near the mouth of the creek on its west-
ern bank stood the palace of Governor Eden, and from the
creek to the steep bank was cut a subterranean passage
through which Edward Teach, or Black Beard, in com-
plicity with Governor Eden and his secretary Tobias
Knight, received goods captured by Teach on the high
seas and through this passage deposited in the cellar of the
palace. What he did with them has never been known.
Opposite the palace of the Governor was a rock wharf, the
stone foundation still remaining1, and buried in the mud
just beyond this wharf is one of Teach's old cannons."

Beyond the mere accusation no proof has ever been
found to tarnish the good name Governor Eden bears in
history, he is described as a polished, genial and popular
man, trusted and beloved by the people.

Tobias Knight, owing probably to his high position, was
not convicted, but the proof was so conclusive of his guilt
that he lost the esteem of his friends and countrymen.

Edward Teach was a giant in wickedness, and for a
time the inland waters of North Carolina were the scenes
of his infamous piracies.

On the shore of Pamlico river about a quarter of a mile
from the mouth of Bath Creek was located his residence,
some remnant of the brick foundation yet remaining.

Here he had his carnivals as well as in Bath Town
where after one of his lootings on the Caribbean Sea, it is
said he " worked the town firing indiscriminately upon all,
or any one of its citizens, using such fiery oaths as never
man heard before."

The King having promised a pardon to all Pirates who
would surrender in twelve months, Teach took advantage
of this, surrendering to Governor Eden, and obtaining a
certificate, soon after at a court of Admiralty convened in
Bath, he obtained the condemnation of a sloop " as a good
prized though he never held a commission. He now pre-
tended to become respectable and settle down marrying his
thirteenth wife.

One authority says she could not have been very inquis-
itive as to how many of her predecessors were still living.

After spending some time rioting on the Pamlico and in
Bath Town, the old passion for piracy being so strong he

sailed on a cruise, on which, though the skull and cross
bones were veiled, their horrid significance was no less
evident to those who chose to read the facts. Returning
with a large and valuable French ship loaded with sugar
and cocoa, four men swore she had been found at sea with-
out any person on board ; on this evidence the court of ad-
miralty adjudged her a lawful prize to the captors. In
order to elude an investigation the ship was declared un-
seaworthy and promptly consumed by fire. Unfriendly
people said the Governor and the Judge received each sixty
and twenty hogsheads of sugar as a douceur. Be that, as
it may, Teach remained on Pamlico river becoming bolder
and more offensive to the lawabiding people who were
more and more terroiized by his depredations. Governor
Eden certainly had not the means at his disposal to make
any effective resistance if he had wished to do so.

Application was secretly made to the Governor of Vir-
ginia to send a force to subdue the pirate, and Lieutenant
Maynard of the Royal Navy was ordered to proceed to
North Carolina in command of two sloops. A reward of
one hundred pounds was offered for the apprehension of
Teach and smaller sums for his officers and men. Teach
had learned of the expedition in some way and was pre-
pared, the encounter taking place near Ocracoke was very
desperate and bloody, the exact spot is pointed out to-day
by boatmen as Teach' s hole.

Lieutenant Maynard displayed both courage and the
skilled diplomacy of battle for finding his men fatally ex-
posed by their position, he ordered them below, but to be
ready for close fighting on the first signal. Seeing none

but the dead on deck the black old pirate, who had said
there should be no quarter given or taken, with a fearful
oath ordered his men to board her, as they did Lieutenant
Maynard's ciew rushed up in obedience to his signal and
the fight was on. Maynard engaged Teach, first firing,
and then each using dirks until Teach fell exhausted from
many wounds. Lieutenant Maynard caused Teach's head
to be severed from his body and hung on the end of his
bowsprit, he then sailed up to the town of Bath where he
landed his men. What rejoicing in the old Town and in
all the country side over the death of this villian wliose
impudent robberies and murders were at last avenged.

We shall never know until the secrets of the Great
Deep are revealed, how many innocent men and women
with their little ones were forced to walk the plank while
Teach commanded Queen Anne's Revenge or the sloop
Adventure, or others of his ill-gotten craft. Small wonder
he always kept supplied with good West India rum to
drive from memory those white and agonized faces.

One term of the Assembly was held in Bath during Gov.
Gabriel Johnston's administration in 1753 at which time
an act was passed for facilitating navigation of the Port of
Bath,, the town was then prosperous carrying on a brisk
trade with the West Indies and other ports.

Though so long an incorporated town Bath never
possessed a court house, jail or pillory until 1766.

In 1765 George Whitefield, the eloquent English Evan-
gelist, visited Bath, but he was so coldly treated by the
people that he is said to have shaken the dust from his

feet invoking the curse of heaven upon the place and its
inhabitants.

Whether attributable to this or to the natural shifting-
of men and events to more central and richer localities, it
is certain that prosperity with brilliant wings outspread,
flew away and has never returned to this picturesque old
haven.

There are other places of interest in and near Bath
Town but space forbids further mention.

BUNCOMBE HALL.

BY THOMAS BLOUNT.

Amid the fens and breaks and forests of juniper, covering
the crest of the low divide running up from the sea, be-
tween Albemarle and Pamlico sounds, Kendrick's creek
takes its rise. Slipping thence northwardly, into the open
country, it winds between fertile hills dotted over with
well tilled farms, and rushing through roaring gates, or
whirring wheels, gliding past busy villages and sleepy
woodlands, its amber tide pours into Albemarle sound,
south of Edenton. Narrow of mouth, and no more than
fifteen miles in length, this modest stream does not attract
the attention of the passing navigator of the Albemarle,
nor does it make any great figure in the topography
of the country. Yet every foot of its shore line is preg-
nant with facts in the primal history of North Carolina.

During the Culpepper rebellion, and the unhappy ad-
ministration of Seth Sothel, many hardy spirits slipped
away from the North Albemarle colony, and settled along
the banks of Kendrick's creek, preferring the solitude of
the wilderness, and the society of the simple savage, to the
doubtful protection of an unstable government administer-
ed by avaricious tyrants. In vain the authorities "command-
ed them back." They blazed a rugged trail from the mouth
of the creek along its western shore, and on through the
forest, to the banks of the Pamlico where Bath Town was
later located, and planted a thin line of humble homes by
its side ; the seed-bud of that wondrous growth which has

since expanded into a mighty state. Along this rout,
flowed for half a century the ceaseless tide of imigration
coming up from the Virginia coast, and peopling the wil-
derness to the south and west. It was a part of the first
mail rout in the province, and was the course taken by the
impatient Governor Dobbs when hastening from Virginia
to Newbern to take the oath of office, after being detained
at Hdenton " above a whole day by contrary winds so fresh
he could not cross the ferry some eight miles." On the
south side of this road, about three-quarters of a mile from
the Tyrrell court house at Lee's Mills, was the entrance to
the Buncombe Hall grounds, over which was suspended
the famous distich :

"Welcome all,
To Buncombe Hall."

This was no empty invitation posted to make the vulgar
stare. It meant rest and good cheer for any travel-stained
pilgrim who would avail himself of it, dispensed with a
lavish hand by the princely owner himself, to rich and poor
alike. For no matter how humble the traveler, while he
was within the gates of Buncombe Hall he was its master's
guest, and as such was treated with the most courtly con-
sideration. If a boon companion showed a premature dis-
position to depart, trusty slaves knew how to remove cer-
tain bridges on either side of the estate and the wooing of
that guest's fair charmer was deferred to another day.

Near this same road, but a little higher up stream than
the Buncombe plantation, Captain Thomas Blount of the
first Chowan vestry, erected a mill in 1 702. This man was
a blacksmith and ship carpenter by trade. He came from

Virginia to Perquimans where he married Mary, the widow
of Joseph Scott. During the winter of 1698-99 he re-
moved with his family to the " east side of the mouth of
Kendrick's creek." Later he purchased " Cabin Ridge
plantation " where the town of Roper now stands and im-
mediately began the erection of a mill on the creek hard by.
This was for a while the "one miil in the whole province"
and in time came to be the industrial centre of the "South
Shore " settlement. At it, was manufactured the lumber
for many of the earlier buildings at Eden ton, such as floor-
ing for the first church (never used), material for the first
court house, and much more. With a continuous service
of two centuries rounded out to its credit, this mill
is now the oldest developed water-power in North Carolina.

Captain Blount died in 1706 and Thos. Lee, marrying
his widow, subsequently got possession of his mill and most
of his other property.

To this circumstance is due the scattering of his immed-
iate descendants to the four-winds and the opportunities of
advancement which they thus found. Verily —

" There is some soul of goodness in things evil,
Would men observingly distil it out."

With one brief exception the mill remained the property
of the Lee family until 18 14, hence the place came to be
called " Lee's Mills." The assembly which Gov. Gabriel
Johnston called to meet him in Edenton in the winter of
1735— '6, was the first to which Tyrrell had sent delegates.
Prominent among her representatives that year was Capt.
William Downing of Lee's Mills, who was unanimously
elected speaker of the house.

This Assembly fixed Tyrrell's court house at Lee's Mills
where it remained until the erection of Martin county in
1774, when it was removed to the house of Benjamin
Spruill on Scuppernong river.

At the first session of the court held at that place, which
was on "third Tuesday in May, 1774," Colonel Edward
Buncombe presented his commission from the Honorable
Samuel Strudwick, Esq'r, dated December 18, 1773, ap-
pointing him Clerk of the court. He immediately quali-
fied, giving bond in the sum of one thousand pounds,
with Stevens Lee and Archibald Corrie as sureties. His
successor qualified on the tenth day of February, 1777,
hence Colonel Buncombe was the last clerk of the county
court for Tyrrell under the colonial government. Mr.
Corrie often performed the duties of the office as Colonel
Buncombe's deputy. They were " Co-partners and mer-
chants " at Lee's Mills.

It is said that Colonel Buncombe's fine Tyrrell estate
came to him by the terms of his uncle Joseph's will.

Some years before Colonel Edward Buncombe was born,
Joseph Buncombe went from England to St. Kitts hoping
to improve his fortune. While there his brother Thomas
sent him money with which to buy land. Being a bach-
elor "heart whole and fancy free" and hearing of the fair
women and fertile lands of Albemarle, he sold his holdings
in the " tight little island " to his brother, and came to
North Carolina. On the 20th of March, 1732, he purchas-
ed from Edward Moseley one thousand and twenty-five
acres of land in Tyrrell county, " bounded on the east by
Kendrick's creek, and on the south by Kendrick's creek

and Beaver Dam branch." About this time he married
Ann, the oldest daughter of Geo. Durant who had died in
1730. They made their home on the Tyrrell lands near
what is now known as Buncombe Landing. On the 17th
day of August 1735, Joseph Buncombe qualified as the
guardian of Geo. Durant's children, giving bond in the sum
of 2,994 pounds, with Stevens Lee and William Downing
as sureties. On the 10th of September following he exe-
cuted to these bondsmen an indemnifying deed covering all
his lands and including several slaves. This deed recorded
in the Tyrrell ofiice 16th April, 1736, was the first instru-
ment registered in that county.

Later we find Mr. Buncombe renewing this deed, and
adding a sum of money " adjudged to be due him from the
public " for slaves executed at Edenton. November 30th,
1739, he assigned negroes to his wife Ann and his daughter
Mary. A few years later Thomas Corprew who had mar-
ried Mr. Buncombe's widow, settled up the Durant guar-
dianship. Mary Buncombe married a Mr. Sutton, and her
mother who was born July 14th, 17 14, died in 1741, leav-
ing two sons by her Corprew marriage.

Colonel Edward Buncombe who was born in 1742, was
probably sent when quite a young man to look after his
father's St. Kitts' property. At any rate he married Eliza-
beth Dawson Taylor there April 10th, 1766. Their first
child, Elizabeth Taylor, was born in St. Kitts, March nth,
1767, and the second, Thomas, was born in North Carolina,
February 3d, 1769, while the last child Hester, was born
April 25th, 1771.

Colonel Buncombe's first public act in his new home was
to sit as a member of an "Inferior court" held at the
Tyrrell court house, "On the second Tuesday in May, 1769.''
His name appears last in the list of justices at this term,
but he was one of the three who remained to sign the
docket at the end of the session.

From these circumstances it would appear probable that
Colonel Buncombe removed with his family to North
Carolina as early as the spring of 1768. The story of his
coming as popularly related, is as follows :

One Mr. Cox of Bdenton learning that Colonel Bun-
combe had come into possession of the Tyrrell lands, went
to St. Kitts and offered to buy the property. But young
Mrs. Buncombe advised her husband that if it was worth all
that trouble on the part of Mr. Cox, it surely was worth a
visit from its owner before confirming a sale of it. Acting
upon this suggestion Colonel Buncombe came to North
Carolina, and was so mnch pleased with the place that he
at once gave orders to Stevens Lee of I^ee's Mills to build
a house for him on the farm, while he returned for his
family.

Considering the fact that lumber could only be sawed
during the winter months, and that bricks were only made
in the summer, and taking into account the fact that all
processes of building at that time were very slow, it seems
probable that this first visit of Colonel Buncombe's was
made during the summer of 1766.

It has been said that the bricks used in the building
were brought from England. But Governor Tryon wrote

that very year " We do not import lime, lumber or bricks,
either from the northern colonies, or from England." There
were brick yards at L,ee's Mills.

One who had read the " Buncombe Notes " — an elabor-
ate account of Colonel Buncombe's removal to North
Carolina, preserved until 1874 — says that in these it was
related that the vessels in which he came were loaded with
great quantities of valuable stores, farming implements,
seed, stock, slaves, furniture, and all things necessary for the
farm in the new country. These were landed at the place
now known asBuncombe landing, at the east end of the
beautiful ridge on which Buncombe Hall stood, some three-
quarter of a mile ° to the west. Vessels trading with the
West Indies, New York, Boston and other points along the
coast came regularly to Kendrick's creek in those days for
cargoes of lumber, and farm produce. So profitable was
this trade, that Colonel Buncombe built a vessel of his own
to engage in it, and on the 20th of September, 1775, the
schooner " Buncombe " was registered at Port Roanoke,
Edenton, N. C, Jno. McCrohon being her first master.

Just below the landing at Buncombe Hall the dark
waters of the stream are unusually deep, so much so that
the place was popularly said to have no bottom. This
was called the " Guinea Hole " from a very pathetic
circumstance said to have occured there.

During the days of Mr. Joseph Buncombe a vessel from
the West Indies was unloading at this wharf which had
among her crew a young man who had " shipped " one
trip in a Guinea slave trader. He recognized among the
negroes handling the cargo, some natives of Guinea, whom

Mr. Buncombe had recently purchased from a New Eng-
land dealer, and getting into conversation with one of the
men, our wag managed to make him understand that he
was but recently in the man's own country. After answer-
ing many eager inquiries as best suited his whim, the
sailor was finally urged to point in the direction of Guinea.
Either in a spirit of mischief, or intending to indicate that
the place was on the other side of the world, he pointed
over the stearn of the ship down through the deep hole.
The simple child of the Niger understood the gesture to
mean that here was a secret passage to Guinea, ,and
hugging his precious secret he took the first opportunity
imparting it in all confidence to his fellow countrymen,
who like himself were longing for their native jungles.
Getting a long pole, they secretly sounded the place, and
finding no bottom, they concluded the kindly looking
young sailor had told them truly, so selecting a dark night
when no one was watching, and loading themselves with
weights, that they might sink quickly, plunged beneath
the inky waters on their long journey to the other shore.
Though their unfortunate lives were lost, may we not hope
that they found an eternal abiding place in the presence of
Him who said " Come unto me all ye that labor, and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest.''

Be this legend true or false there were among Mr. Bun-
combes slaves some desperate men, who in their efforts to
escape, slew their keepers, and were executed.

"It is along the borders of streams that men usually
seat,'' wrote Thomas Woodward the first Surveyor General
of Albermarle. This custom fixed the early roads paralled

with the water courses, and usually next to them. The
one leading from " Edenton's sound" to Lee's Mills was
no exception to the rule. It zigzagged along the edge of
the hills next the stream until it reached the end of the
long ridge composing the southern portion of the Buncombe
estate, then leaving the creek it turned down the northern
side of this, going in a westernly direction. It was on top
of this ridge, and about half a mile west of the spot where
Joseph Buncombe had lived, that Buncombe Hall was
erected. As originally constructed, it was a long two
story frame building, containing four large rooms, wide
halls, and three cellars. It faced the road on the north
and had on that side a; rather pretentious ;double piazza,
through which the lower hall was entered by wide double
doors. The cooking was done in a great open fireplace in
the east cellar, and the dining room was immediately
above. The stairs leading to the upper chambers was
entered through a door from the piazza. Later, and cer-
tainly during Colonel Buncombe's life, a long wing was
erected from the south side of the west end of the build-
ing, making it L shaped. This new wing contained two
large rooms on the first floor, and one above, which was
entered by stairs leading up from the room next the main
building. There were two cellars under this wing. The
basement walls of brick, were about five feet above ground,
and had small windows in the top. There were chimneys
outside at the end of each wing, and probably one double
chimney running up through the middle. The lower rooms
had high ceilings, and were carefully finished inside, but the
dormered walls of the second story were low, through

which numerous little windows jutted out, like many eyes
peeping from under the heavy eaves of the quaint hipped
roof above. In front of the building was a plot of ground
devoted to the cultivation of flowers, oramental shrubs,
and border plants. At the end of a pretty walk on the
east side of this, was Colonel Buncombe's office. In the
rear of the building broad piazzas extended the entire
length of both wings. From this piazza the two rooms in
the annex, or south wing, were entered. In the rear of
the building, and on the broad hill-side sloping to the
south-east, were the orchards of peaches and other fruits.
To the west of this, nestling in a grove of virgin oak, and
hickory trees, were the ample slave quarters. A few of
these venerable oaks are still standing, majestic witnesses of
a dead past. The branches of one of them has a spread of
more than two-hundred feet, and its gnarled trunk
measures eighteen feet in circumference above spurs. Near
this stood the "smithy" and "wood shop" of the plantation.
In these were manufactured many domestic utensils, the
farm implements in use at the time, the carts, wagons
great carry-logs, the light chair, or gig in which the
master rode forth on journeys, and even the mahogony
chariot, or carriage in which the mistress was wont to travel
abroad could be repaired there. It is highly probable that
in these shops were mended, and "made fit for use"
the heterogenous collection of arms with which the fifth
battalion was at first equipped. For the day after the
election of Colonel Buncombe to the command of this
regiment, the Provincial Congress sitting at Halifax ap-
pointed Stevens Lee and Hezekiah Spruill, a committee

for Tyrrell, "to receive, procure and purchase firearms
for the use of the troops," and to have such as required it
repaired with all possible dispatch. If one had stopped
to rest under the shade of this old tree in those busy days
at Buncombe Hall, he would have heard above the din of
the anvil, and the roar of the forge, the quaint songs of
many dusky damsels in the cabins hard by, as they busily
"seeded'' the cotton, carded the wool or sped the sough-
ing spindles of many great wheels, while the clatter of re-
sounding looms would have told him that the " tasks " of
yarn from the spinners of yesterday, were supplying those
of the weavers of today. These, with the dyers, the shoe-
makers and the tailors were all busy with the mighty task
of equipping a regiment of fighting men. For they were
here nearly a year, arming and drilling for the fray, and
we are told that Col. Buncombe practically bore the ex-
pense himself.

The original deed from Edward Moseley placed the
acreage of the Buncombe tract of land at one thousand and
twenty-five acres, but when we remember that rent was
paid on land in those days at so much per acre, and then
taking into account the general callings by which the sur-
veyor had bounded it, we need not be surprised to find two
thousand acres in the tract, and to this Colonel Buncombe
added until the estate consisted of four square miles of the
finest farm, and timber lands in the Albermarle section.
The land drained naturally, and was easily brought into
cultivation, the removal of the forest growth being the
chief difficulty. During the eight or nine years Colonel
Buncombe resided on this property he made at least two

thousand acres of it fit for tillage. The Hall was so
situated that one could view the entire plantatation from
the upper floor of the front piazza, and a magnificent sight
it was said to be, those seas of golden wheat ripe for the
sickle, surrounded by the gleaming green of great fields of
corn just budding into tassel.

Colonel Buncombe was loyal to the crown, and sup-
ported the colonial government heartily, as is shown by
bis unwillingness to aid Governor Tryon in suppressing the
insurrection of the Regulators, and the promptness with
which he always discharged his duties, either as a militia
officer, or member of the county court. But when Colonel
Harvey came riding from Halfax, and his conference with
Willie Jones on that eventful fourth of April, 1774, and lodg-
ing that night with Colonel Buncombe, poured out to him
and Samuel Johnston, the storyof Governor Martin's tyranny
and with fervid eloquence unfolded to them his plans of
resistance and defiance, not only was the impetuous young
lion of Buncombe Hall won to the cause of popular
liberty, but the calm, calculating prudence of the astute
Johnston, surrendered to him. It was just two years and
ten days later that Colonel Bunombe's adopted country
called upon him to prove his faith by his works. On the
15th of April, 1776, the Halifax Assembly, of which Archi-
bald Corrie was the sole representitive from Tyrrell, elect-
ed him Colonel of the fifth batallion of North Carolina
troops. He had just laid his loved young wife to rest
within the sacred precincts of old St. Paul's at Edenton, and
his bruised heart had turned for " surcease of sorrow " to
the care of the three bright pledges of her love, their

children. But like the patriot soldier that he was, he
never hesitated. Proceeding at once to gather about him
a band of devoted men, who like himself, preferred the
privations, and uncertain fortunes of the tented field, with
honor, to inglorious submission to foreign tyrants, he
equipped and drilled them with all possible dispatch,
largely at his own expense. Then taking such order with
his private affairs as the unsettled state of the country
would permit, he bade his children adieu, and turning his
back forever upon them, and the home which his ardent
soul had sought so faithfully to make the aery of loves
bright dream, he placed himself at the head of his regi-
ment, and began that career which was to end so disas-
terously at German Town. Here he was wounded, captur-
ed by the enemy, and according to a letter of his sister,
Mrs. Cain, dated March 23rd, 1780, died a prisoner of war
at Philadelphia< 1779, aged thirty-seven years.

Of Colonel Buncombe's children, Elizabeth Taylor, the
oldest, was sent when eleven years old, 1778 for education
to Abraham Lot in New Jersey, Thomas and Hester were
placed under the care of Mrs. Ann Booth Pollock of North
Carolina. For many years after this Buncombe Hall be-
came the prey of the spoiler.

While Colonel Buncombe was organizing his regiment,
the Tories about Lee's Mills were very active. At their
head was one Daniel Legget, who taking to himself the
title of " Senoir Warden,'' went from farm to farm during
the summer of 1776, and with notched sticks, tripple
oaths, mysterious grips, and spelled-out pass-words, in-
itiated all who would join him into a society for the pro-

tection of the Protestant religion, the maintainance of King
George's authority, the assistance of deserters, and the pro-
tection of members from service in the patriot army. They
were promised that as soon as Colonel Buncombe should
march with his command, that Gen. Howe would certain-
ly come to their assistance, and give over to their tender
mercies his estate, and the property of all those who
had enlisted with him. Gaining some strength, they be-
gan formulating a plan for assassinating all the chief men
in the province, when their bloody purpose was disclosed,
the ring-leaders apprehended, and loged in jail at Eden ton.
One of them at least, one Llewellyn, was executed, and
this so frightened Leggett that he had a fit of hysteria,
and wrote Governor Caswell a most penitent letter, beg-
ging that his unprofitable life should be spared, and assur-
ing him that his penitence was so great that he would ever
after be incapable of harm. He appears to have escaped
with his neck.

Elizabeth Taylor Buncombe, Col. Buncombe's oldest
daughter was married, by Bishop Benjamin Moore, to Jno.
Goelet of New York, October 23rd, 1784. Eight children
were the result of this union, three being born prior to
their removal to North Carolina, which was about 1793.
About this time Colonel Buncombe's estate was divided
among his three children. Mrs. Goelet's part being the
south-eastern portion of the Tyrrell plantation, on which
Buncobe Hall stood. It was probably during the minority
of these heirs, certainly prior to 181 1, that the public road
was changed, and laid out through the middle of the farm
running nearly north and south, leaving the Buncombe Hall

fully three hundred yards to the east, and side to the road.
They planted long rows of shade trees, principally syca-
mores, along the top of the ridge between the house and
the road, and on either side of the latter through the
entire estate, making the change as attractive as possible,
but there was no attempt at altering the house to front
the new road. This could easily have been done, as
either wing was about equal in length, and contained the
same number of rooms. But there was no disposition to
make any alteration. In fact the reverential affection of
Mrs. Goelet for everything that had been her father's, made
her exceedingly averse to any change in Buncombe Hall,
the home he had made. And thus it remained until 1876,
when the Connecticut carpetbagger began to demolish it.
True the piazza on the north side had fallen away, but
the building itself was pratically as good at the close of tsi
century of service, as when first erected.

After the division of the Buncombe property, the several
parts were quickly taken by two or three good families,
the Washington county Court House was erected at Lee's
Mills, Mr. and Mrs. Goelet's large family of children, be-
gan to be " grown up," and altogether Buncombe Hall was
again a social centre of first importance, on the " South
Shore."' In 1836 they erected a chapel in the centre of
the little colony, placing it on the west side of the public
road, and only a few hundred yards from the entrance to
the Buncombe Hall grounds.

This church, St. Luke's, was the scene of the early
priestly ministrations of Bishop A. A. Watson, as it also

was of Rev. Dr. George Patterson, who recently died in
Tennessee.

About the centre of this church-yard, marked by a
modest marble slab, is the grave of Mrs. Elizabeth Taylor
Buncombe Goelet, wife of John Goelet, and oldest daugh-
ter of Colonel Edward Buncombe. Mrs. Goelet died in
Greenville, N. C, at the home of her son, Dr. Peter Goelet,
March 9th, 1840, being within two days of seventy-three
years old. She was first interred in the family burying
ground on the farm, but was later removed to the church-
yard. By her side, and to her left is the unmarked grave
of Mr. Jno. Goelet, her husband. Mr. Goelet was born in
1759, on the day of the fall of Quebec, and died at Bun-
combe Hall, October 6th, 1853, and was buried in St.
Luke's churchyard by Rev. Dr. Geo. Patterson, two days
later. Mr. Goelet was a man of small stature, and slight
figure, but he had the voice of a Boanerges, being able to
make himself heard at a great distance. He was remark-
able for his activity in his old age, frequently walking to
Plymouth and back, a distance of eighteen miles, in half a
day, even after he was eighty years old. On the right of
Mrs. Goelet is the grave of her seventh child, and third
son, Major John Edward Buncombe Goelet, who was born
Januaiy 4th, 1807, and died November 13th, 1857. This
grave is also unmarked. It is highly probable that the
plot contains the graves of others of the Goelet children,
but the two I have mentioned are the only ones certainly
identified.

In 181 1 Mr. and Mrs. Jno. Goelet gave their daughter
who married a Mr. Haughton, one hundred and seventy

acres of the Buncombe Hall land, as her portion, one of
the callings being a sycamore now the north-east corner
of St. I<ukes churchyard. It was their son who in 1859
purchased the homestead, it having been sold for division.
The terms of the purchase not having been complied with,
it was again in 1868 sold by decree of court, this time to
an adventurer from Connecticut, who obtained very liberal
terms from his political friends of the court. He com-
pleted the payment of the purchase price, $800.00, in 1874,
perfecting his title. P ashing an old office building into
the grove, between the house and the public road, he
moved into this, not feeling himself equal to the presump-
tion of residing in such a dignified looking building as
Buncombe Hall was even in its ruins. To provide him-
self with spending money, he would sell with equal readi-
ness, to negroes or political associates, a piece of the land,
or a part of the house. Thus it came about that in 1878
there was nothing of the old building left save the naked
framework of the dining room, and the kitchen walls under
it. That nothing of its destruction might be wanting, the
Norfolk and Southern railroad, whose track crosses the
ridge about in line with the western walls of Buncombe
Hall, dug away the earth on which it stood, to a depth of
about five feet, leaving nothing to indicate its location save
a slight depression at the side of the cut where the kitchen
cellar was.

The last time I saw Buncombe Hall was in the spring
of 1874, 1 had been sent to Lee's Mills on some errand by
my father, and returning late, passed by the place after
dark. The evening moon hung low in the west, its faint

light throwing indistinct shadows across the fenceless, fen-
nel covered grounds, revealing the moss covered, sombre
looking old building standing tenantless at the end of the
long vista of sycamores. The upper windows, lined with
the accumulated dust of years of neglect, threw back the
light of the moon so brightly at times, that I nearly fan-
cied these reflections were the spirit lights of ancient heroes
holding high carnival in those silent upper chambers . About
it, in perfect alignment were rows of great sycamores, their
whitened branches pointing heavenward, like the bleached
bones of many armed skeletons, hands uplifted. From
the thicket jungle north-east of the house, containing the
old burying ground, came the disquieting call of a lone
whippoorwill, while way down by the Guinea hole on the
creek, a horned owl sounded his melancholy note. Such
were the last days of Buncombe Hall.

HAYES AND ITS BUILDER,

BY RICHARD DILLARD, A. M., M. D.

" Time has a Doomsday-book upon whose pages he is
constantly recording illustrious names. Only a few stand
in illumined characters never to be effaced." Each cen-
tury has left us large legacies of wisdom and experience,
but that which was useless has been reduced to dross in
the merciless crucible of Time.

History is the essence of biography, and biography is
the great open door to universal information. We cannot
read too often the record of the truly wise, and virtuous ;
their deeds are of inestimable value to a Commonwealth.
The soul only grows noble by the contemplation of the
noble.

Gov. Samuel Johnston, the builder and master of Hayes,
was of ancient Scotch lineage, and distinguished personnel.
His commanding figure was well fitted to carry the fine
head, and Jove-like brow which his portrait denotes. In
early life he studied law under the distinguished barrister,
Thomas Barker, of Edenton, and was soon appointed
Deputy Naval Officer of the Province, an office which he
filled with great ability, until removed by the royal gover-
nor Martin, for his decided revolutionary sentiments. The
literature of an age undoubtedly impresses its stamp upon
the characters who figure in it. The writings of Coke and
Blackstone unconsciously affected every youth who studied
law then. Gov. Johnston's strong forensic mind was evi-
dently moulded, and illumined by them. His preeminent

GOV. SAMUEL JOHNSTON.

FROM A RARE OLD WATER COLOR IN THE HAYES LIBRARY.

*■

ability and shrewdness became famous throughout the pro-
vince, and his name is inseparably connected with the
early history of law, and equity in North Carolina. His
great octopus mind seemed to reach out in every direction ;
he filled with distinction the offices of Judge and Gover-
nor, and was the first United States Senator from North
Carolina. He was on a commission created by Congress
to settle the boundary line between New York and Mass-
achusetts, with Jno. Jay, Elbridge Jerry, Rufus King, and
others. The result was so satisfactory that in the election
of 1796 he received two votes from the State of Massa-
chusetts for the Vice-Presidency. He presided over the
Hillsborough Provincial Congress, and over the Conven-
tion of Fayetteville in 1789, which adoptod the Federal
Constitution. His associates were the greatest men of the
time, and he was their peer. Governor Johnston was a
federalist in politics, and helped to stamp strength upon
our own State institutions. The revolutionary correspon-
dence of Gov. Johnston, including letters from the Adames
Jefferson, John Sevier, Anthony Wayne, James Madison,
Robt. Morris and others, is an inviting and untilled field
for the future historian, but it is too voluminous to publish
here. I myself shall rest content, while humbly gleaning in
this rich harvest of Canaan, to have my sheaves make their
proper obesiance into those of my brother reapers.

His marriage to Miss Cathcart brought him additional
wealth in the fine Caledonia estate on Roanoke River, and
a large number of slaves. Both the Governor and his wife
were hospitable hosts, and their elegant home became the
resort of the cultured and refined. The distinguished

James Iredell, who wrote so charmingly of those days, was
always glad of an opportunity to take tea, or spend the
evening there, especially to meet the Governor's sister,
Hannah, whom he subsequently married, and Mr. Barker,
his old tutor, during his last years made frequent visits to
Hayes to discuss the great political changes, which had
taken place in the government. The affection between
tutor and pupil became stronger and stronger, and when
Mr. Barker died Gov. Johnston was his executor, and had
him buried, by special request, in his own family grave-
yard at Hayes. As we view Governor Johnston down the
long vista of time, he filled the full measure of Shakes-
peare's successful man, " Honor, wealth and ease in waning
age." He was one of the ablest men the State has pro-
duced, and will live forever among the immortals who
helped to mould her history.

Hayes, his beautiful seat, was built in 1801, and named
for the home of that versatile and kingly knight, Sir Wal-
ter Raleigh. £ fact in itself, which lends great interest to
its history.

The homes of the early settlers indicated their type ;
here the cavalier prevailed, and he brought over with him
his grand ideas of English life. Sir Christopher Wrenn,
the famous architect of St. Paul's London, had for a long
time set the fashion in architecture : the projecting second
story ; the gabled roof, and its most necessary embellish-
ment, the lanturne or cupola, which was lighted up on the
King's birthdays, and other festive occasions. This aerie
in summer became the social heart of the mansion, just as
the great fireplaces and inglenooks were the center for win-

ter evening's amusements. When guests were present, tea
would sometimes be served there, and the lord of the man-
or could spend hours there looking out upon the broad ex-
panse of Albemarle Sound, watching for some overdue ves-
sel, which was to bring him tidings and newspapers from
England, or fruit and luxuries from far off Indies. News-
papers were scarce, and personal correspondence took their
place. The elegant diction, and beautiful penmanship, are
in striking contrast with the curt, typewritten, stenographic
modern letter. By way of parenthesis, Col. Edward Bun-
combe was probably the exponent of the hospitality of
Eastern North Carolina in those days. His gates always
stood wide open, and above them he had inscribed, with
great pride, his royal welcome. Whenever it was the good
fortune of the stranger to lodge there, he would invariably
find the next morning that the bridge across Kendrick's
Creek had been taken up during the night, by the Colonel's
orders, and that he was a prisoner in the castle to await
the pleasure of his host. In passing it is an interesting
study in philology to note that the modern word Buncombe
or " bunkum " is indirectly derived from his name. A cer-
tain member of the Legislature from Buncombe County
named Felix Walker, whenever a question was presented
always persisted in making a speech, declaring that his
constituents expected it, and that he was obliged to make
a speech for Buncombe, hence its general use now mean-
ing a pretended enthusiasm.

After the revolution, when our forefathers had accumu-
lated wealth and slaves, a modification of their architec-
ture became necessary to keep balance with their munifi-

cence, and they built with a spaciousness commensurate
with their broad hospitality, and the pattern became classic,
and for the most part Corinthian. Perhaps Hayes is one
of the purest types of that style. It generally consisted of
a large central mansion, with its huge portico, and col-
umns, the wings connected to it by a colonade, or Grecian
peristyle ; the observatory taking the place of the lanturne*
The gardens were for the most part formal, and of the
Italian pattern, laid out in hearts, and horse-shoes, and
stars, and edged with box. The long avenues were bor-
dered by cedars, or stately elms, and tulip trees. Then
there was the summer-house covered with Lady Banksia
roses, a suitable tryst for the amours of Florizel and Per-
dita, and off on the sunny sward stood the ever-warning
sundial. The gateway to the carriage drive was wide and
inviting, and the posts were usually surmounted by cou-
chant lions, urns, or the American Eagle.

Hayes is seated in the midst of a lovely grove and lawn
upon a broad plateau, with its gentle trend toward Eden-
ton Bay, an estuary of Albemarle Sound. The shore line
broken here and there by clusters of feathery cypress trees,
forms enchanting vistas of ever changing water scenery,
and the dignified old mansion nestled among its stately
trees lends a picturesque serenity to the landscape. The
grounds are laid out with artistic skill and beauty, and
pictorial cleverness. The walks lead to surprises of arbors,
bowers of roses, and beautiful groupings of shrubbery :
And when the summer moon hangs in the sky like a cut-
ting of silver, the waves kiss back at her a thousand broken
reflections, and the sheen thrown upon the landscape trans-

forms trees and bowers into fairy islands, dells and grot-
toes more weird and beautiful than the caves of Ellora.
In the spacious dining-room hang [the portraits of Clay
and Webster, (both by Bogle) Marshall, Peter Brown,
Judge Nash, Badger, Governor Morehead, Governor Gra-
ham and Gaston, the poet statesman. The portrait of Clay
was painted especially for Mr. Jas. C. Johnston, and was
the last one of that famous statesman. In a personal letter
to Mr. Johnston, Mr. Clay stated that he would not have
had his portrait painted at that time of life for any other
living man.

The library, which occupies one wing of the mansion, is
of unique octagonal design and antique appointment : It
contains more than five thousand rare books, manuscrips,
etc,, principally collected by Governor Johnston and is
still sacredly preserved by its appreciative possessor, Mr.
John G. Wood. There are many rare and costly old
editions of various authors. Upon its walls hangs the
portraits of Thos. Barker, (by Sir Joshua Reynolds,) John
Stanley, Judge Iredell, Judge Ruffin the elder, Gavin Hogg,
and around the cornice are busts of Washington, Marshall,
Hamilton, John Jay, Zachary Taylor, Henry Clay, Dewitte
Clinton, Webster, Walter Scott, Chancellor Kent, and
James L. Pettigrew of Charleston, the erstwhile law part-
ner of Gen. Pettigrew. The catalogue of books, though
done with a quill pen, has the appearance of the most ex-
quisite steel engraving. Mr. Edmund M. Barton of the
American Antiquarian Society of Worcester, Mass., says :
" The catalogue is a wonderfully quaint thing in itself ;
the collection of books is very fine ; worthy of careful in-

vestigation and preservation, and would make an excellent
foundation for the public libraries, which must, and are
gradually coming up through the South.''

This library is a tempting, and enchanting pasture,
where the mind may browse to its content, like herds upon
the green Sicilian slopes, or wander like a bee, to gather nec-
tar from the poet's flowers, and where fancy may, with wan-
ton joy, chase the golden butterflies of fiction, or of ro-
mance.

Mr. James C. Johnston, a son of the Governor, was the
last of the family to occupy Hayes. He was a courtly
polished man, and inherited much of the physique, and
strength of mind ofhis father. He lived in great exclusive-
ness and elegance at Hayes, with his retinue of servants.
It is said that an early disappointment in love consigned
him to celibacy, and changed the whole tenor of his life.

Mr. Johnston was an extensive planter, and engaged also
in milling and shipping. At the outbreak of the Crimean
war, in 1854, prices of breadstuffs went up in a fabulous
way. That year the sales of wheat and corn from his
Caledonia farm alone, amounted to over one hundred
thousand dollars, nearly all of which was profit. And Mr.
Johnston was so gratified at the result, that in addition to
the regular salary paid his manager, he presented him with
his check for one thousand dollars. This incident alone
will give some idea of his munificence. He had the high-
est appreciation of sterling worth of character, especially
applied to those with whom his extensive business opera-
tions associated him, and when his trusted Attorney,
Malachi Haughton of Edenton died, with characteristic

generosity he erected to him a handsome shaft in St. Paul's
Churchyard, and inscribed thereon his estimate of him in
these lines :

" A wit's a feather, and a chief's a rod
An honest man's the noblest work of God."

Mr. Johnston was an extravagrant admirer of Henry
Clay, and when the great commoner became embarrassed,
voluntarily, and without his knowledge, paid off the entire
indebtedness amounting, it is said, to over forty thousand
dollars.

During the civil war Mr. Johnston was a Union man>,
and had but little sympathy with the ultra states right
doctrine held by many.

If we are the reproduction of those who have preceded us,
we cannot blame him too much for his political opinions.
Rigidly reared under his father's influence, he had been
taught to believe in a strong centralized government, and
he held that there could only be complete strength in com-
plete union of the component parts thereof.

When the war came with its bouleversement, the wreck-
ing of fortunes, and the estrangement of friends, Mr.
Johnston felt that he was neglected by his family, and be-
came permanently alienated from them.

He died May 9th 1865, and by his holographic will,
bitterly contested in chancery, by the ablest jurists of the
day, his vast estate passed from his family forever.

" Here let us rest his case,
He's gone from hence, unto a higher court
To plead his cause."

Richard Dixi,ard.
Edenton, N. C.

Battles of Revolution fought in north Carolina.

Moores Creek Bridge,

Kamsour's Mill, .

Pacolet Eiver, .

Earles Ford,

Cane Creek,

Wahab's Plantation fr\-

Charlotte

Wilmington,

Cowans Ford,

Torrence Tavern,

Shallow Ford

Brace's Cross Roads, .

Haw River,

Clapp'sMill

Whitsell's Mill, . ' .

Guilford Court House,

Hillsboro,

Hillsboro, . .

Sudleys Mill, (Cane Creek.)

Feb'y 27th, 1776

June 20th, 1780

July 14th, 1780

July 18th, 1780

Sept. 12th, 1780

Sept. 21st, 1780

Sept. 26th, 1780

Feb'y 1st, 1781

. Feb'y 1st, 1781

Feb'y 1st, 1781

. Feb'y 6th, 1781

Feb'y 12th, 1781

Feb'y 25th, 1781

March 2nd, 1781

March 6th, 1781

March 15th, 1781

April 25th. 1781

Sept. 13th, 1781

Oe north Carolina Booklet

GREAT EVENTS IN '^?

NORTH CAROLINA HISTORY. , , 0

'2 >?

historic Rome$ in ilorfft Carolina.

PRICE 10 CENTS. & <* & $1.00 THE YEAR.

Entered at the Postoffice at Raleigh, N. C, as second-class matter — June 24, 1901.

Che north Carolina Booklet

Great Events in north Carolina history.

Vol. 2.

l-May— Ku-Klux Klans.

Mrs. T. J. Jarvis.
2-June — Our Pirates.

Capt. S. A. Ashe.
3-July — Indian Massacre and Tuscarora War.

Judge Walter Clark.
4- August — Moravian Settlement in North Carolina.

Rev. J. H. Clewell.
5-September — Whigs and Tories.

Prof. W. C. Allen.
6-October — The Kevolutionary Congresses of North Carolina.

Mr. T. M. Pittman.
7-November — The Battle of Guilford Court House.

Prof. D. H. Hill.
S-December^-Historic Homes in North Carolina : The Groves
and Others.
Col. Burgwyn, Col. Waddell, Mr. Thos. Blount, and others.
9-January — Old Charleston on the Cape Fear.

Prof. Jas. S. Bassett.
10-February — Ealeigh and the Old Town of Bloomsbury.

Dr. K. P. Battle.
11-March — Confederate Secret Service.

Dr. Chas. E. Taylor, (conditional).
12- April — The Story of the Albemarle.
Maj. Graham Daves.

One Booklet a month will be issued by the N. C. Society
Daughters of the Eevolution. Price $1.00 per year.

Address THE N. C. BOOKLET CO.,

Or Mrs. Hubert Haywood, 218 Newbern Ave., Ealeigh, N. C.

editors:
Miss Martha Helen Haywood, Mrs. Hubert Haywood,

NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.

VOL. II. JANUARY, 1903. No. 9.

fiistork domes in north Carolina.

THE GROVES— THE HOME OP WILLIE JONES,
By Col. Burgwyn.

HISTORIC HOMES IN THE CAPE PEAR COUNTRY.
By Col. A. M. Waddell.

WAKEFIELD,
By Martha Helen Haywood.

HAMLET, N. C:

Capitai, Printing Company.

1903.

4 Carolina ! Carolina! fieawn's blessings attend Deri
TOiie we live we will cbcrisb* protect and defend ber.'

THE GROVES— THE HOME OF WILLIE JONES.

BY COI,. BURGWYN.

Situated on the banks of the Roanoke River, but a few
miles from the Virginia line, is the little town of Halifax !
A name fraught with memories of gallant deeds and the
home of more than one hero. If age gives prestage to a
place then we may claim an interest along this line for
this town. The exact date of its first settlement is not
known, but it was, perhaps, in the early part of the 18th
century. It is situated in what was then Edgecombe county,
but in 1758 the county of Halifax was formed and thus
became the centre of judicial administration by being
made the shiretown of the new county.

In the intercourse between the settlements in Virginia
and those in inland eastern Carolina, this was the best and
safest place to cross the Roanoke, rightly named, " river
of death, " always dangerous from its strong and powerful
current, often it became a raging torrent of seething
waters and impassible even at this point. The delays from
this and other causes no doubt prompted the erection of
shelter for the traveler and the beginning of that hospi-
tality for which the town became noted in after years.

We read that " in the early history of the state the town
of Halifax bore an important part." That here on the 12th
day of April 1776, the first Provincial Congress in America
declared for independence. Except the Mecklenburg
Declaration there had not been anywhere in America an

instance of a public declaration in favor of a complete
separation from Great Britian.

On a slight elevation called Constitution Hill, the house
is still standing in which this convention met. Of the
personnel of this convention we have much in a general
way. Moore in his history says — "During October the
elections were held for members of the convention that
was soon to meet for the formation of a new government
for North Carolina. Two distinct and antagonistic parties
were developed, which struggled for ascendency at the
polls on the 15th day of that important month, in the
state's history.

Samuel Johnson and his friends were anxious for the
establishment of a splendid system which should be pos-
sessed of great powers of repression and should rest authori-
ty largely in the hands of the enlightened few, who had
been for two years past so largely "influential in shaping
the destinies of the infant commonwealth.'' The leader
of the opposing party was Willie Jones of Halifax who
fiercely denounced this scheme. He was the avowed
champion of the masses ; and though an aristocrat in his
habits and associations, was still theoretically the most
radical politician then in the state.

Col. Caswell sympathized with such views but was wary
and moderate in expression and went not to such lengths
as were habitual with Mr. Jones.

Willie Jones was no demagogue, no office seeker ; and
few men have exerted a more salutary influence in North
Carolina than he. Although the son of a provincial offi-
cer, Col. Robert Jones, who was appointed Attorney Gen-

eral for the Province of North Carolina by King George
II, in 1749, and possessing an education acquired with the
nobility of England, he was an ardent patriot and firmly
advocated and believed in the rights due the infant
colonies.

Moore says of him as he appeared in ty/4: "Willie
Jones was to North Carolina what Thomas Jefferson was
to Virginia. Never conspicuous on the hustings or in
the debates of deliberative bodies, but in his powerful and
original mind was to be developed the larger portion of
the policy of his people during the continuance of his
life," and in another place the same historian says of him:
" Willie Jones was a chapter of contradictions. He was
always a leader of the assembly and yet rarely joined in
the debates and then only to utter a few pungent and
pointed sentences. Again, no man was so democratic in
theory and yet so patrician in tastes. When the house
had adjourned after an exciting debate his real strength
manifested itself. No man could be so insinuating and
convincing at the fireside. Probably Governor Caswell
never realized how much his views were colored by the
adroit and accomplished member from Halifax."

Mr. Jones was the leader of the majority in the consti-
tutional convention which met in Hillsboro July 21st
1788 for "the purpose of deliberating and determining on
the proposed plan of Federal Government." There is a
tradition that before the convention met, Mr. Jefferson
wrote an autograph letter to Mr. Jones requesting him to
use his influence to prevent the ratification of the Federal
Constitution by North Carolina. As the story goes Mr.

Jones read that letter privately to every member of the
convention known to be a disciple of Jefferson and con-
verted from opposition to ratification others who were in
doubt, so that he had counted the masses before the con-
vention was called to order and knew that the Federal
Constitution would not be ratified as it stood. Knowing
that a large majority was with him, Mr. Jones wished the
question immediately put without debate.

He said: "The constitution has so long been the sub-
ject of deliberation by every man in this country and the
members of this convention have had such ample time to
consider it, that I believe every one of them is prepared to
give his vote now upon the question." Mr. Iredell spoke
at length against voting without debate and Mr. Jones in
a very short speech withdrew his motion saying: "If
gentlemen differ from me in the propriety of this motion
I will submit.'' As is often the case his apparent sub-
mission carried his point for the vote stood 184 to 84
against ratification. Until the Declaration of Rights and
certain amendments were made a part of the constitution.
Willie J ones won the day, and as long as he lived, was the
most popular political leader in the state. In this way his
friendship for and with the great Jefferson was strengthen-
ed. In after yeais the families were united by the mar-
riage of Mr. Jones' daughter, Martha, to Judge John W.
Eppes, of Buckingham county, Va., whose first wife had
been Thomas Jefferson's daughter.

Willie Jones' father, Col. Robert Jones, lived at what
was called "Jones' Castle" in Northampton county, just

across the river from Halifax but died while his son was
at Eton, England.

After young Willie's return to America in the year 1765,
he moved his father's house to Halifax and built in the
extreme south of the town what has since been known as
the "Grove House."

All the building material of the first house which was ,
erected in 1740 had been brought from England. This
when moved to Halifax was added to and improved to
suit the taste of the young owner and his prospective bride.
The construction of this house which has stood so well
the storms of years was elaborate; the workmanship was
of the best and it was built according to the demands of
the times in regard to hospitable entertainment, situated in
an immense park of native white oaks, it still stands a
ruin of what was once the castle from which its owner
extended such lavish hospitality and around whose hearth-
stones he used those graces which won men to his views
and brought such lasting results.

Of the majestic oaks which formed this park, or "Groves"
which Mr. Jones preferred to call it, and through whose
branches the sunlight fell on dead leaves and bronze
mosses which formed a carpet of varied colors for the feet,
there are five remaining in one group ; these five oaks
divide honors with two immense sycamores in guarding
the approach to the front door of the castle. One of the
provisions of Mr. Jones' will was that not an axe should
be laid to the body of one of these trees, but alas, how
impotent the will of man to control the events of passing
years — many of them have been removed. The door-yard

is a wilderness of shrubbery, which has reached an abnor-
mal growth, and the limbs of huge Crepe Myrtles are inter-
laced with those of the "Rose of Sharon" and Mock
Orange which are more trees than shrubs, so long and deep
have their roots fastened themselves in the generous soil.

The steps to the front porch were of semi-circular shape
and built of red granite, which was brought from Scotland.
The entrance hall is large and square, the wainscoting of
handsome paneled oak, the moulding around the ceiling of
each room is precisely what many are using to-day, with
the addition of the dignity given by more than a hundred
years, the large open fireplaces in hall, salon, and parlor
offer suggestions of the warmth and cheer of which only
these shadows remain. In one corner of this hall is a
peculiarly arranged window or nook, said to have con-
tained secret chambers which opened with a concealed
spring and which is credited with having been the
receptacle of state papers of no little importance. Un-
canny tales are told of other spirits than those which cheer
as visiting this mysterious corner at most unlooked for
times, and "hants" are often seen by the credulous passers-
by, when overtaken by the darkness in this forsaken
spot.

A wide cross hall separates this one from the banquet
hall or dining room which deserves more than a passing
notice. All the rooms are large, this one unusually so.
The wide and deep bow window, the high carved mantel
which reached to the ceiling, the heavy frescoe and many
other small paned windows give it still an air of more
than ordinary interest. The tone and coloring of the

paper on the walls can be seen in places but much of its
ornamentation has been taken away by relic seekers.

This large bow window which formed a semi-circle with
one wide center window and two smaller windows on
either side, was the first one ever built in North Carolina,
and Mr. Jones arranged it so that he could have a perfect
view of his private race track, and from this room watch
the racing of his blooded horses of which he was passion-
ately fond. Of the cost of this window we can form some
idea, when we remember that the duty on glass was one of
the chief grounds of complaint at the time this house
was built.

The historian Moore again says of Mr. Jones, "that he
was authority on all matters concerning field sports, and
lost a most advantageous alliance in marriage in prefer-
ence to surrendering his thoroughbred horses.

Mr. Jones was married June 27th 1776, to Mary, second
daughter of Col. Joseph Montford, of whom the historian
says: He was a grand specimen of the old time Virginia
gentleman who had settled in that part of Edgecombe
County which afterwards became Halifax. Col. Montford
was descended from Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leecester.
He was appointed by the Duke of Beaufort to be the first
Grand Master of Masons in the Province of North Caro-
lina. His oldest daughter, Mrs. Jones' sister, Betsey, mar-
ried Gov. John Baptista Ashe Oct. 7th, 1779, and it was
in this room at the Grove House in which Col. Tarleton
was dining with L,ord Conwallis that the conversation
occurred in regard to Col. Wm. Washington which has
immortalized her name in history. Mrs. Ashe was with

her sister at the Grove House while her husband Col.
Ashe was away in command of his regiment of patriot
soldiers and Col. Jones was in Virginia in command of
another. Lord Cornwallis in his march from Wilmington
to Yorktown in April 1781, on reaching Halifax found
the waters of the Roanoke so high that he could not cross
the ferry so took forced possession of the house and
grounds. He soon found that though he could establish
a forced occupation of the premises he could not control
the sharp speech of the mistress of the mansion and her
wily sister.

This house and grounds in after years were occupied by
portions of two other armies. First during the civil war
Col. Duncan K. McRea with the 5th North Carolina
Regiment, with the consent of the owners, spent quite a
while in camp there; after the war closed it was occupied
and partly destroyed by a portion of the Federal army.
Another interesting incident is that owing to a railroad
accident just opposite the Grove in which several Con.
federate soldiers were killed and wounded Gen. Johnston
Pettigrew and Col. Harry K. Burgwyn were detained and
rested at the Grove House until transportation could be
resumed. This was in the early summer of 1863, when
Pettigrew's Brigade, of which Col. Burgwyn's Regiment
the 26th North Carolina was a part, was ordered to
Virginia to unite with Gen. Lee's army in the invasion
of Pennsylvania. The dinner taken here was the last
meal eaten by either of these gallant young soldiers in
their native state — one fell leading his men at Gettysburg,

the other a few days thereafter, defending the retreat of
the army across the Potomac.

A narrative of this family and their home would not be
complete without the statement that it was here the
young Scotchman John Paul found a home in his wander-
derings and from grateful recognition of kindness shown
him adopted the name he afterwards made so famous.

Winston Churchill in his book Richard Carvel, as
others have done, claims that John Paul Jones got his
name from a Virginia planter. Mr. Cyrus T. Brady in his
biography of his favorite heroes contained in his Great
Commander Series says "that he adopted the name in
affectionate regard for the Hon. Willie Jones and his beau-
tiful and charming wife who had both been very kind to him
in his days of obscurity." He adds "that it was Willie
Jones, one of the leading attorneys and politicians in his
native state who afterwards secured for Paul a command
in the United States navy. He likewise surmises that, as
the Jones family were the first people of refinement and
education with whom young Paul ever associated, it
was to them that were primarily due the polish and
cultivation which later admitted the gardener's son to the
highest circles in American and French society. The
impression made upon young John Paul by the privilege
of association with these friends who had raised him from a
"tramp" to a welcome guest for an indefinite time, was of
the deepest, and he gave to them, especially to Mrs. Jones,
a warm hearted affection and devotion amounting to
veneration."

Mr. Brady is right in his statements. An autograph

letter from Willie Jones' grand-daughter, Mrs. Wm. W.
Alston, who is now living, in Isle of Wight county, Va.,
in answer to one of enquiry regarding this statement says:
"You ask did John Paul Jones change his name in compli-
ment to my grand-father, Willie Jones ? I have always
heard that he did and there is no reason to doubt the
fact. Not only have I always heard it, but it was con-
firmed by my cousin, Mrs. Hubbard, wife of Col. K.
Hubbard from Virginia, while in Washicgton in 1856,
with her husband who was a member of congress. She
then met a nephew of John Paul Jones who sought her
out on hearing who she was. He told her of hearing
his uncle and the family speak of the incident often and
his great devotion to the family, so that in my opinion
you can state it as a historical fact." This lady is more
than 80 years old but her letter is full of love and venera-
tion for the name of her honored grand parents and the
associations of her childhood. There are several churches
in Halifax — one built on a portion of the Grove estate,
the lot was given by Mr. Jones' daughter, Mrs. Eppes for
this purpose; but on the farther side of the town just as
you descend toward the river still stands one built so long
ago that no one can give the date of its erection. Some say
it was built for a "free church" and was used by preachers
of all creeds, others say that it was the established church
in which many of the leaders worshipped before the
Revolutionary war. There is a crown over the pulpit and
a sounding board. This would seem to prove the correct-
ness of those who claim the latter, and say that the clergy-
man of the church of England in charge of this parish was

allowed the same salary given to each incumbent, which
was #650 per annum by the province and another hundred
by the London Society for the propogation of the gospel.
Perhaps it was from contempt for some such incumbent,
too prevalent at that time, as Miss Johnson gives to the
character of "Darden" in her last book on Allen, the tool
of Richard Carvel's arch enemy, that caused Mr. Jones to
lean too much to the views which were sweeping over
France and America at that time.

The intense hostility which he imbibed for church
establishment had its origin in religious persecution for
non-conforming to the required rites and ceremonies of
church, and often carried its adherents too far; but from
what we know of the sterling piety of some of his family
we would judge that he was in sympathy with a recently
published letter of his friend, Mr. Jefferson, in which he
says, "I always rejoice in efforts to restore us to primitive
Christianity; in all the simplicity in which it came from
the lips of Jesus. Had it never been sophisticated by the
subtleties of commentators now paraphrased into meaning
totally foreign to its character, it would at this day have
been the religion of the whole civilized world."

In Mr. Jones' will which is lengthy and bears date
Feb. 22, 1798, he states the ages of his children then liv-
ing, giving as his reason that there is no public record
kept of births of these children. Willie Jones, Jr., ac-
cording to the English law of primogeniture inherited
most of his father's estate and lived at the Grove House
until he died in 1846. This young man was mentally
dwarfed and died without issue leaving his paternal estate

to his three surviving sisters. One of these as we have said
had married Judge John W. Eppes, of Buckingham coun-
ty, Va. Another, Sallie, married Governor Burton, of
North Carolina, and after his death was again married to
Col. Andrew Joyner, of Halifax county. The third be-
came Mrs. Joseph B. Iyittlejohn, of Oxford.

This will which is on record at Halifax is peculiar in
other ways. There is a singular provision as to Mr.
Jones' burial place, directing that if he die while a mem-
ber of the General Assembly at Raleigh in session there,
he shall be buried there; but if he should die in Halifax
he should be buried by the side of his little girl who was
buried in the orchard; that his family and friends were
not to mourn his death even with a black rag, on the
contrary "I give to my wife and three daughters each a
quaker colored silk to make them habits on the occasion."
Another remarkable extract from the will of this remark-
able man is: "I appoint my brother Allen Jones and my
friend Wm. R. Davie executors of it. My brother is to be
acting executor as long as he lives; if he should die Gen.
Davie must act; for two acting executors or administrators
at the same time are like two Kings of Brentford."

Mr. Jones was buried in Raleigh, as he directed, but the
family graveyard in the orchard is still preserved. The
tomb of the little girl mentioned in this will is of brick
covered by a heavy marble slab which bears the following
inscription.

MARY MONTFORT JONES,

The Child oe

Whjje and Mary Jones,

She was Born August 21, 1788,

And Died June 29, 1791.

"Venus gave all the graces, Pallas formed the mind
With rival art, to make the first of woman kind,

Jove, of the wonderous work too soon enamored grown
Sent the stern tyrant death and claimed her for his own.

The spirit soar'd to Jove the fine, cold, senseless clay
Shin'd in spight of death, as bright as orient day."

This tomb though more than a century old and for
many years uncared for, is well preserved and the inscrip-
tion perfectly legible. How sad that we are behind our
mother Virginia again in that we have no society to look
after such things; so many of our places of interest are
allowed to vanish in ruins for want of such protecting
care. The state or county should own this old home and
restore it to its former condition.

In the extreme north of the town, repaired and in good
condition is the home of Gen. Wm. R. Davie of "Hornets
Nest" fame, and in the old church yard above alluded to
is the tomb of his wife who was Mr. Jones' niece. This
tomb has a slab of marble over it similar to that of the
little girl and is inscribed as follows:

The Memory of

SARAH DAVIE,

Daughter of

General Allen Jones,

Born the 2 3RD Day of September, 1762.

She was Married to William R. Davie, Esq.,

On the iith of April 1782,

And Departed This L,ife
On the 14TH of April, 1802.

Ida T. Wilkins.

HISTORIC HOMES IN THE CAPE FEAR COUNTRY.

BY COI<. A. M. WADDEU,.

There are very few "historic homes" in North Carolina
if, by that phrase, homes of distinguished men remaining
in the same families for more than a hundred years be
meant. There are a great many sites of the homes of the
early settlers, and a few original buildings left, but nearly
all of the latter have perished, and even where they have
been restored, or where new ones have been substituted
for them, the owners are in most cases not of the blood of
those who made those homes historic. This is the
inevitable result in any country where the law of primo-
geniture is unknown, where families are large, and where
real estate cannot be entailed, or escape liability to credi-
tors. I can scarcely recall an instance of a home which is
more than a hundred years old, and which is still kept up
by the descendants of the original proprietor in the same,
or a better, style than he affected. It was not so prior to
1861, for up to that date there were scores of such homes
in the states; but the deluge came, and, with it, wreck and
transformation.

Aside from this, the truth is, that our people have never
taken especial pride or interest in preserving historic
memorials of any kind.

One of the most remarkable and pitiful illustrations of
this was what occurred several years ago in regard to

Hilton,* the home of the Revolutionary patriot Cornelius
Harnett. The house and grounds, which lie just outside
of the city of Wilmington, were bought by a Northern
man, as a site for a manufacturing establishment, and, not
wishing to tear down the venerable mansion, the proprie-
tor offered (according to a statement in the city papers
published at the time) to exchange the house with any
one who desired to remove and preserve it, for the same
quantity of brick contained in it. It was not a large
house, and the cost of removal would have been small, but
no one could be found willing to comply with the offer,
and it was torn down.

Or ton and Kendall, adjoining plantations on the lower
Cape Fear, are the only "historic homes' ' that have been
continuously occupied as residences (but not by the de-
scend ents of the original proprietors) for a hundred and
fifty years or more — the former being the only house that
has remained substantially the same, and the latter a
comparatively new building. There are in the city of
Wilmington two houses opposite each other on Market
Street at the corner of Third, still occupied as residences,
one of which, the McRary house, was built before the
Revolution by John Burgwin, Esq., and occupied by
Cornwallis in 1782 as headquarters, and the other the
DeRosset house, built in 1798 and occupied by that family
ever since until recently, which was occupied during the
war of 1861-65, by Gen. Whiting as headquarters.

* This name has long been spelled so, under the popular belief that it
was so called after Hilton, one of the original explorers of the country;
but Harnett named it Maynard, and after it passed into the possession of
Wm Hill, Esq., he gave it the name of Hilton after his own family.

These are the only instances of "historic homes" still
standing on the lower Cape Fear, but there are on both
branches of the river for many miles up and down, the
ruins of residences once occupied by men who were promi-
nent in making our early history. In some cases the
foundations of the houses are visible, but in most there is
hardly a vestige of them left. Very few modern houses
have been built on these plantations, and hardly one of
these on the old site, which is generally occupied by
undergrowth and weeds, or is a bare, bald spot.

It is, to those who have sensibilities on the subject, a
source of profound sadness that these old homes of the
men who laid the foundations of our state, and through
trials, and suffering, and sacrifices, little dreamed of by
the present generation, secured the liberties of the people,
have disappeared, and their very sites become unknown
to ninety nine of every hundred of the inhabitants of the
country. But such has been the fate of the "historic
homes" of the South generally.

It is diferent in New England, where, from the Revolu-
tion to the present time, no armies have been seen, and
the thrift of the people has been supplemented by per-
petual bounties from the Federal government — that is to
say, from all the other people of the country.

One of the historic homes near Wilmington should be
of especial interest to the Masonic fraternity, as it was the
summer residence of William Hooper one of the signers
of the Declaration of Independence, and the place of
meeting, before and during the Revolution, of the Masons
belonging to the first Lodge established in the state, and

the place from which the locality took its oame of Mason-
boro. It is on the Sound about eight miles from Wil-
mington. The walls of the house, (which was burned a
few years ago) bore Masonic emblems which were visible
nearly up to the time of its destruction.

On the east side of the N. E. branch of the Cape Fear
about 25 miles above Wilmington, and the uppermost of
the old places, was L,illington Hall, where lived and was
buried Gen. Lillington, one of the heroes of the battle of
Moore's Creek Bridge, the first victory of the American
Revolution, fought on the 27th February 1776. It was
a notable place in its day, and is described in Lossing's
"Field Book of the Revolution."

Opposite to Lillington Hall, on the west side, and ex-
tending thence to within three miles of Wilmington, there
was a succession of estates, the first of which was Stag
Park, first located and patented by Gov. Burrington of
Colonial, (and unsavory) reputation. Then came "The
Neck," the residence of Gov. Samuel Ashe; and next
"Green Hill," the residence of Gen. John Ashe of Revolu-
tionary fame.

Then came Moseley Hall, the residence of Col. Sampson
Moseley, who was prominent in civil and military life
before and during the Revolution; then Clayton Hall, the
residence of Francis Clayton, who was frequently in the
legislature, and, after him, the residence of Col. Sam. Ashe,
where occurred the remarkable and amusing adventures
of Tom Martin (too long to be told here). Next came
"The Vats," located by Col. Maurice Moore, after a con-
troversy with Gov. Burrington, which came near ending

in blood.' The point of focks at the bend of the river on
this place gave the name of Rocky Point, which it still
bears, to the neighborhood. Col. Maurice Moore the
founder of the town of Brunswick is buried there, and his
son Judge Maurice Moore. Then came a succession of
nine plantations owned by prominent men, (among them
Col. Jno. Pugh Williams of the 9th Regiment of the
Continental Iyine), and then crossing the river again,
came another series of places, the most historic of which
were Castle Haynes owned by Gen. Hugh Waddell, who
is buried there, and the Hermitage owned by Mr. Burgwin,
Treasurer of the Province before the Revolution, which
was one of the most celebrated homes in the Cape Fear
country for a hundred years, but which, like most of the
rest of them, finally succumbed to that destroyer of coun-
try homes, fire.

The great majority of these residences were wooden
structures, some of them being large, with wide halls and
piazzas, but without any pretence to architectural beauty,
and some being one story buildings, spread out over a
considerable space. A few were of brick, but none of
stone, as there was no building stone within a hundred
miles; but all, whether of brick or wood were comfortable,
and the seats of unbounded hospitality.

On the west or main branch of the Cape Fear above
Wilmington, there was a similar succession of places once
owned by men distinguished in military or civil life, the
first of which was Maclaine's Bluff, where the famous
lawyer Archibald Maclaine is buried. He was a member
of the Committee of Safety for Wilmington in 1776, of

the Provincial Congress at Hillsboro in 1775, and of the
Convention of 1778 at the same place, to consider the
adoption of the Federal Constitution, and represented the
town of Wilmington in the legislature from 1783 to 1786.
The Bluff is now occupied by a guano factory, and the
acid chamber is over 1 he spot where he was buried. Fur-
ther up the river in Bladen County is "Owen Hill," the
residence of Col Thomas Owen, a brave officer who was at
the battle of Camden, and was frequently in the legislature.
It was also the home of his son Gov. John Owen, a very
prominent man for many years, and until a recent date
was the home of the latter's daughter.

In this county there was also the residence of Gen.
Thomas Brown, a Colonial and Revolutionary soldier,
the hero of the "surprise party" at Elizabethtown in 1781,
and a brave and noble patriot. This residence remained
in his family until a few years ago. Near Elizabethtown
was "Belfont," the residence of Gen. Hugh Waddell, and
the place on which Cornwallis's favorite officer, L,t. Col.
Webster, who was wounded at the battle of Guilford
Court House, is buried. The estate was afterwards bought
by James J. McKay, who was a distinguished member of
congress for many years. He devised the property to the
County of Bladen, which I believe, still owns it.

* "Brompton," the residence of Gilbert Johnson, brother
of Gov. Gabriel Johnson, (who was Colonial Governor for
18 years) was also in Bladen, but has long since gone to
decay. It is said that at this place Gen. Francis Marion
met a number of officers and re-organized his command,

which — it will surprise some people to learn — was largely
composed of North Carolinians.

The foregoing list, I think, embraces all or very nearly
all of the "historic homes" on the lower Cape Fear,
although it is quite possible that some have been omitted.

* Letter of Gilbert Johnstone, Gentleman, written March. 8th, 1790.

My grand father, John Johnstone, Stapleton, Officer in Scotch Regi-
ment and in French service married Elizabeth, her father Gabriel Bel-
chier, French Protestant. Their children, 1 John, he and only son died
in North Britain. 2 Gabriel, Governor of North Carolina. 3 Gilbert,
my father. 4 Samuel, lived in Onslow, N. C. 5 Elizabeth, married
Thomas Kenan, at our home, Armagh. My father married Caroline,
her grand father, George Johnstone, Armagh 1724, children, Gilbert,
Henry, Caroline, Gabriel, Robert, William, Isabel; John. I married
Margaret Warburton, North Carolina 2nd, June 1750. Children, Hugo,
Gilbert, Jean, Isabel. Henry died Catawba County, son James, Col. in
war. Caroline married William Williams, son William. John lived in
Yadkin county now in Bertie, N. C. Gabriel married Janet Macfarland,
son Frances killed, Lieut. Mother and Aunt Francis died Brompton.
My father to Ireland after 1715. Got my lands through George Gould.
Barfield tories burned my home to cellar. Was at Culloden with father,
he wounded, came Cape Fear 1746. My father died 1775.

Marion, two Horrigs and Francis Huger met Folsome and Giles my
house. All chose Marion, bar Folsome. Hugo took my men with
Marion 1780, all horsemen. Francis Huger and James often at my
house. John Rutherford a tory.

Writ by my hand for Susanna 8th day March 1790.

(Signed) Gilbert Johnstone, Gentleman.

The following endorsements are on the back of this letter:

"Folded and addressed on back to Susanna Johnstone by Stephen."

"NoTE: "Hugo" was the eldest son of Gilbert Johnstone who wrote
the letter and Susanna was Hugo's wife."

"I certify upon honor that this is a true copy of the original letter
which is now in my possession at Idylwild, Ga.

August 20, 1900. (Signed) Huger W. Johnstone,"

Idylwild, Ga.

WAKEFIELD.

BY MARTHA HE^EN HAYWOOD.

Just without the boundaries of Raleigh, quaint and
gray, like a page torn from some dim history of the past,
lies "Wakefield." Quiet and vine covered it stands in its
simple dignity with a stateliness in its modest architec-
ture which recalls the bygone days of Lady Lyon (nee
Miss Wake) from whom it was named; and of Joel Lane
pioneer and patriot, who in 1792, "conveyed to the state
as a site for a capitol one thousand acres of land contiguous
to his residence at Wake Court House.

Although "Wakefield" bore a tory name it was for
many years the rallying spot of the most ardent patriots.
"Here the General Assembly of the rebellious and traitor-
ous Province of North Carolina (the proudest title she
ever won whether in ancient or modern days) met in June
1 78 1 and elected Thomas Burke, the accomplished Irish-
man, Governor of the State. Here also tradition tells us
rested the Great Wolf of Carolina while he rallied his
forces to march against the Regulators. In that day the
gray old house wore a suit of "tory red'' to match the
governor's own, and consisting as it did of only two low
stories with slanting roof and dormer windows was con-
sidered "a rare specimen of architectual elegance," in every
way worthy the representative of the King.

Joel Lane was a man of influence and of strong charac-
ter. On Lyons march against the Regulators he served as
Lieutenant Colonel of the Regiment, and during the war

for American Independence he served with faithfulness
and bravery occupying many positions of both civil and
military trust, all of which he filled with honor to himself
and his country.

* "He was a member of the State Congress of 1775, of
that of April 1776, and beginning with 1782, thirteen times
State Senator, continuously, except 1793. During the
war he was a member of the County Committee of Safety.
He was a commissioner to locate the boundaries of Wake
County. As Justice of the Peace he was a member of the
first court in the county. He was one of the charter
trustees of the University and offered 640 acres at Cary as
a site for it. He was a delegate to the convention of 1788
and to that of 1789 voting against the Federal Constitu-
tion in the first and for it in the second."

Joel Lane died in the year 1795 on March 25th and he
now lies buried in an open field on the east of Boylan
Avenue, "mouldering in the midst of the unrecorded dead,"
[Letter of Gov. Swain], beneath the shade of an old
mulberry tree. He bequeathed his residence at his death
to his son Thomas who sold it to Dr. Allen Gilchrist who
had married a daughter of Joel Lane.

From Dr. Gilchrist it was bought by an old Scotchman
named Peter Brown, who was an able scholar and lawyer,
and who built in the grounds, close to the residence a
large library for which he accumulated while on his
travels in America and Europe a most interesting and ex-
tensive collection of the best books of the day.

In an old newspaper we read that in 181 8 Peter Brown

* Hon. Kemp Battle in " Raleigh and the old town of Bloomsbury."

sold "Wakefield" to Wm Boylan, "the first editor of the
Raleigh Minerva, a gentleman of great positiveness and
yet kindliness of character. Accumulating a large estate
he spent the last years of his life in the enjoyment of
private and domestic life, though when a public emergency
called him to the front as in 1850, when the prospect of
obtaining the necessary subscription to secure the build-
ing of the Central Railroad was imperiled, he was prompt
to come forward aggressive, bold, liberal, and public
spirited, with one hand on a true North Carolina heart,
and one in a patriotic pocket."

Wakefield has remained in the possession of the "Boy-
lan" family ever since it came into the possession of Wm.
Boylan in 1818, and to-day it stands under the shadow of
its spreading trees (except for an addition of a South wing
and the falling away of the old Colonial columns that
graced the front portico), exactly as it stood, long before
city of Raleigh was planned or even dreamed of. Holding
as it ever will something of its old world atmosphere, it
seems a thing apart from the stir and bustle of modern
life, the rush and clamor of the business world of to day.
A region of quiet and repose where the fancy travels far,
where dim shapes in lace and powder in buff and blue,
seem not the things that dreams are made of, where
memories faint and half forgotten, find yet a weal, habita-
tion and a name.

Banks of Revolution T owgbi in north Carolina.

Moores Creek Bridge,

Ramsour's Mill, .

Pacolet River, .

Earles Ford,

Cane Creek,

Wahab's Plantation <?-t-

Charlotte

Wilmington,

Cowans Ford,

Torrence Tavern,

Shallow Ford

Brace's Cross Roads, .

Haw River,

Clapp's Mill

Whitsell's Mill, .

Guilford Court House,

Hillsboro,

Sudleys Mill, (Cane Creek.)

Feb'y 27th, 1776

June 20th, 1780

July 14th, 1780

July 18th, 1780

Sept. 12th, 1780

Sept. 21st, 1780

Sept. 26th, 1780

Feb'y 1st, 1781

. Feb'y 1st, 1781

Feb'y 1st, 1781

, Feb'y 6th, 1781

Feb'y 12th, 1781

Feb'y 25th, 1781

March 2nd, 1781

March 6th, 1781

March 15th, 1781

April 25th.. 1781

Sept. 13th, 1781

r •

ZU north Carolina Booklet

^/- (/ft) ,o

GREAT EVENTS IN

NORTH CAROLINA HISTORY.

the County of Clarendon.

r«

yjjk-dLClL

-BY-

JAMES S. BABfeBTT.

PRICE 10 CENTS. & & & $1.00 THE YEAR.

Entered at the Postoffice at Raleigh, N. C, as second-class matter— June 24, 1901.

the north Carolina Booklet

Great Events in north Carolina fiistory

Vol. 2.

l-May — Ku-Klux Klans.

Mrs. T. J. Jar vis.
2-June — Our Pirates.

Capt. S. A. Ashe.
3-July — Indian Massacre and Tuscarora War.

Judge Walter Clark.
4- August — Moravian Settlement in North Carolina.

Rev. J. H. Clewell.
5-September — Whigs and Tories.

Prof. W. C. Allen.
6-October— The Eevolutionary Congresses of North Carolina.

Mr. T. M. Pittman.
7-November — The Battle of Guilford Court House.

Prof. D. H. Hill.
8-December — Historic Homes in North Carolina: The Groves
and Others.
Col. Burgwyn, Col. Waddell, Mr. Thos. Blount, and others.
9-January — Historic Homes continued.
10 February — The County of Clarendon.
Prof. Jas. S. Bassett.
11-March — Raleigh and the Old Town of Bloomsbury

Dr. K. P. Battle.
12-April — Confederate Secret Service.

Dr. Chas. E. Taylor, (conditional)

One Booklet a month will be issued by the N. C. Society
Daughters of the Eevolution. Price $1.00 per year.

Address THE N. C. BOOKLET CO.,

Or Mrs. Hubert Haywood, 218 Newbern Ave., Raleigh, N. C.

editors:
Miss Martha Helen Haywood, Mrs. Hubert Haywood.

NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.

VOL. II. FEBRUARY, 1903. No.\
&-

the County of Clarendon.

— BY-
JAMES S. BARRETT.

HAMLET, N. C:

Capital Printing Company.

1903.

'Carolina! Carolina! ljeaoen's blessings attend her!
UJbile we live we will cberisb, protect ana defend her.'

THE COUNTY OF CLARENDON.

BY JOHN SPENCER BASSETT, PH. D.

It is to the island of Barbados that we must look for the
beginning of Clarendon county on the Cape Fear. To this
island came during the parliamentary war in England a
number of loyalists who would not submit themselves to
Cromwell. They found the place a welcome but a restric-
ted home far south of the Tropic of Cancer. Sugar grew
profitably and wealth began to accumulate. But one thing
disturbed the thoughts of the settlers. They realized that
they were on a small island, where no influential commun-
ity could be planted, and where their children would find
themselves isolated among the people of the earth or forced
to seek homes elsewhere. It seemed good to some of them
to move at once to a larger and more promising field.
Added to this was a political reason foi their dissatisfaction
in the island. It had long ago been granted to Lord Car-
lisle who failed to improve it. When the loyalist refugees
came to it they found no one to forbid them to settle and
no one to sell them land. They took possession and built
their homes without land titles. Ere long the original
proprietor's claim was brought up and a cloud was thus
cast upon their titles. This caused them much concern and
concern deepened into dismay when, after some long dis-
cussions, it was decided that the settlers should pay to the
proprietor's creditors, for he was deeply in debt, four and a
half per cent, of their gross yearly produce, and that after

these creditors were satisfied the inhabitants should con-
tinue to pay a like sum to the king. It was equivalent,
said they in dismay, to a tax of ten per cent, on their net
incomes. Their dissatisfaction was little allayed by the
fact that the king after the restoration in 1 66 1, as a token
of his esteem for the islanders, made baronets of thirteen of
them, among whom were John Colleton, one of the future
proprietors of Carolina, and in due time, Sir Juh 1 Yeamans,
who took part in planting the Cape Fear colony, as we shall
soon see.

In 1663 the king granted Carolina to the eight Lord
Proprietors. It was natural for the Barbadians to think of
this as a field for their settlement. Promptly, in less than
six months after the king signed the grant, two gentlemen
of Barbados, Thomas Modyford and Peter Colleton, wrote
to the new proprietors in behalf of themselves and two hun-
dred others of the same place proposing that they should
make a settlement 'in that goodly land of Florida," (on
the Cape Fear river.) They declared that many hundreds of
experienced and respectable planters of Barbados would
follow them to the proposed colony if they were properly
encouraged. They asked to be allowed to name their own
rulers, to make their own laws, and to have a tract of land
consisting of one thousand square miles subject to fixed
rents. 1 hey asserted that they were qualified for the task
of settling the place "as well for their experienced planters,
as for the number of their Negro and other servants fit for
such labor as will be there required."

This was not the first information the proprietors had of
the design of the Barbadians. Private letters had already

told them the same story, and on August 25th they sent to
the island an outline of the terms on which they would
grant land in Carolina. They announced that a colony
might settle on the south side of Cape Fear river, near the
mouth, that 20 000 acres of land must be reserved in such
a colony for the proprietors, that the settlers must send
them the names of thirteen men, from whom they would
appoint a governor and six councillors to rule the colony
for three years, that there should be an assembly chosen by
the people to make laws, subject to the approval of the
proprietors, that all persons should have personal and relig-
ious liberty, and that for the first five years each adventurer
should have one hundred acres of land for himself, fifty acres
for each man-servant and thirty acres for each woman-ser-
vant. For this land they reserved as an acknowledgement
and to help pay the charges of settlement one-half penny
for each acre — presumably as a quit-rent, though the pro-
posals do not explicitly say as much. It was expected that
this colony would produce wine, oil, silk, rice, currants,
etc., which were not then raised elsewhere in the king's
possessions. The Duke of Albemarle, who was the execu-
tive head of the eight proprietors, wrote cautiously to the
governor of Barbados explaining that it would be an ad-
vantage to that island to have the proposed colony planted.
It would prevent, said he, an overproduction of sugar, and
that would promote the interests of Barbados, by taking
off a part of the sugar planters there. He added, and it
was much more to the point, that the new colony would
produce corn, beef, and pork for the supply of the island.

He might also have mentioned in the same connection
staves and lumber.

The proposed Barbadian colony was not the first which
went to the Cape Fear. Some time before it was projected
some New Englanders had discovered and entered the
mouth of the river. They found out how favorable a place
it was for a colony and gave report of it at home. The
feature which attracted them was the large cane-brakes
and open meadow. It seemed to them to offer advantages
for cattle-raising.

The New Englanders secured an Indian grant for the
region — and prepared to make a settlement. They brought
the matter before some London business men, and a com-
pany was organized there to co-operate with them in their
scheme. To these they declared that they were the first
who had ever entered the mouth of the river, which they
called the Charles, the first to land and set foot on its
banks, and that they possessed good Indian deeds to the
land, after the fashion of settlers who came into some new
region. They went so far as to apply to the king for a
patent, not doubting that it would be granted. But in
this they were disappointed. When Carolina was granted
to the proprietors, these Londoners sent to the latter
a petition in behalf of the New England enterprise. The
settlement had already been made, and since the
patent for it could not be got from the king it was
important that some kind of an arrangement should be
made with the proprietors. Speaking for their associ-
ates in New England, who were the controlling part of the
company, the petitioners asked that the new settlement be

given as liberal a form of government as was enjoyed by
New England colonies generally; that is to say, that they
might choose their own governors, make and confirm their
own laws, and be exempt from any taxes but those they
laid themselves. If either of these privileges was not fully
granted to them then those who were concerned in the set-
tlement, although some of them had established consider-
able estates there, would incontinently abandon it. The
petitioners added, furthermore, that the progress of the set-
tlement had recently met a short check from some who
had gone thither and becoming dissatified had returned to
New England with reports in their mouths about the diffi-
culties of the harbor, and the sterility of the soil. They
urged that the privileges requested be granted, lest the re-
fusal of them in connection with this evil report should be
the end of the colony. What answer they received we do
not know. But we know from the proposals the proprie-
tors made for settlers on August 25th, that they were not
disposed to introduce New England institutions into Caro-
lina, and we know, also, that the New England colony was
withdrawn by its promoters. When they withdrew they
set up a post on which they placed a bit of information
very uncomplimentary to the place.

The settlement of the Cape Fear was left, therefore, to
the Barbadians. They had heard of the bad report of the
New Englanders, but they did not believe it, as became
good Cavaliers. They had already sent William Hilton to
explore the Carolina coast, and his report was good. They
were about to send him on another trip for the same pur-
pose. He was dispatched with two others in the fall of 1663

and the explorers were in the river from October 12
till December 4. They explored the main stream
as much as fifty leagues and some of its branches nearly as
far. They found much poor land and much that was as
good as any in the world. Of the latter there was enough
to accommodate thousands of Englishmen; to all of which
they duly testified in a report to those who sent them out.

"We saw mulberry trees," they said, "multitu les of grape
vines, and some grapes, which we eat of. We found a
very large and good tract of land on the northwest side of
the ri i^er, thin of timber except here and there a very great
oak, and full of grass, commonly as high as a man's middle,
and in many places to his shoulders, where we saw many
deer and turkeys; one deer having very large horns and
great body, ' therefore called it Stag-Park." This delight-
ful park, they added, stretched "away for several miles.
They found other tracts like this. Some of the land was
pine-barrens; but most of it was good for pasturage. It was
the latter fact which had attracted the New Englanders
who hoped to raise cattle there. They heard of the droves
of cattle left there by the New England people, but they
could not find them.

The report of the commissioners pleased those who em-
ployed them. Preparations for sending out a colony were
begun at once. The winter was devoted to them and in
the spring of 1664 the expedition set sail from Barbados.
Who led it, and how many people it contained we do
not know. We only know that it arrived in the Cape
Fear, 01 the Charles, on May 24, 1664. On the south side
of this river some twenty or thirty miles from the sea they

selected the site of a town which they hoped would become
the metropolis of their new nation. In loyalty to the king
they called it Charles Town. They did not all settle there,
however, but placed themselves along the river as they
found good land. At the end of three years the planta-
tions extended up and down the river for sixty miles.

Two prominent men in the colony were Robert Sandford
and John Vassall. Peter Colleton in Barbodos and his
brother, Sir John, one of the proprietors were interested in
it. The displayed hurry in setting out proved to be un-
wise.

The proprietors, it is true, had promised liberal terms,
but no formal charter had been signed. To get such an
instrument they authorized Henry Vassall, a cousin of
John Vassall, to negotiate in L,ondon with the proprietors.
He found no difficulty in his task. He prepared the
draft of a charter which was submitted to his principals in
Barbados. These accepted the same and authorized him
to sign it in their behalf. In the meantime, the proprietors
recognized the existing state of affairs and gave it a form
of legality by appointing two agents of themselves in the
colony. They appointed on November 14th and 20th re^
spectively, Robert Sandford and John Vassall to be secre-
tary and surveyor-general of the County of Clarendon.
The former was authorized to issue land grants according
to the terms offered by the proprietors and the latter was
to survey the land actually granted. These men were in
the colony and exercised their offices, as it seems, during
the years 1665, 1666, and part of 1667. For actual internal ,
government the colony probably organized themselves ac-

cording to the plan first outlined by the Lords, but on this
point we have no evidence.

It was at this point that the colony's fate was deter-
mined Another group of Barbadians desired to
plant in Carolina. They were led by John Yeamans,
soon to be a baronet. Yeamans was a selfish man and a
skilful manipulator. He organized a company to send out
a colony. He expected, as no doubt the others expected,
to reap great advantages from the project by getting large
tracts of land in the colony and by engaging in the trade
thither. He and his associates sent his son, Major Wil-
liam Yeamans, to England. He opened negotiations
with the proprietors in the fall of 1664. He offered them
more favorable terms than Vassall had agreed to accept,
pnd the result was that their lordships closed with him.
Vassall and his associates were set aside and left to accept,
if they would, the terms of the grant of Yeamans.

It was on January 7, 1665, that Major Yeamans signed
the " concessions" of the proprietors, as the charter was
called. This instrument was a general form of government
for Carolina. It provided for three counties, each of which
was to be an independent government, with governor,
council, and assembly.

One county was Albermarle, or the sound of the same
name ; another was Clarendon, to be established on the
Cape Fear river, near its mouth ; the other was to be in
the later colony of South Carolina. The proposed settlers
might go to either of these counties as they saw fit. They
decided to go to Clarendon. To all who came hither the
proprietors offered to give one hundred acres of land to

each adventurer, and a like amount to his wife if he had
one, and fifty acres for each able-bodied man-servant. These
several amounts were to be scaled down for those who
arrived after the first year. Sir John Yeamans was made
governor of Clarendon as well as of all the land lying south
of it as far as Florida. He had the entire confidence of the
proprietors and they wrote that they had just got him
made a baronet. In Barbados active preparations for a
settlement were going forward. A company was formed
there to promote the enterprise, and each member of it was
to have 500 acres of land in the colony for each 1000 pounds
of Muscovado sugar he paid into the common fund. In
October, 1665, this colony sailed for its destination.

The fleet which carried them to Carolina consisted of
three vessels ; a " fly boat " of one hundred and fifty
tons, a small frigate which was his own property, and a
sloop which had been purchased for the use of the colony
out of the common funds of those who projected the settle-
ment. What Sir John Yeamans, who was only a peaceable
citizen, was doing with a frigate does appear. Possibly he
was concerned in the West Indian trade and had a man-of-
war to be safe against the pirates in that part of the
world. Possibly the frigate was a privateer. In the Cari-
bean Sea many strange things happened in the seventeenth
century.

The largest ship was the "fly boat." In it were the
governor of the colony and many of his associates, as
well as the arms and ammunition sent by the proprietors,
and many other supplies. A storm dispearsed the little
fleet soon after it set sail, but in the beginning of Novem-

ber all were reunited before the mouth of the Cape Fear
river. Here they anchored ; but a sudden gale came
upon them and blew the " fly Boat " out to sea, she nar-
rowly escaping the dangers of Frying Pan Shoals. "But
this," says Sandford in the beginning of the account of his
voyage southward, "proved but a short difference in their
fate, for returning with a favourable wind to a second vie we
of the entrance to Charles River, but destitute of all pilates
(save their owne eyes, which the flattering Gale that con-
ducted them did alsoe delude by covering the visage of
their objected dangers with a thicke vaile of smoothe wat-
ers) they stranded their vessell on the middle ground of
the harbours mouth to the Westward of the Channell where
the Ebbe presently left her and the wind with its owne
multiplyed forces and the auxiliaryes of the tide of flood
beate her to peeces." All persons on the luckless s^ip were
saved but most of her precious freight was lost. The two
other vessels got safely into the river and landed the set-
tlers.

The necessities of the colony were now dire. Sir John
immediately returned to Barbados in his frigate. To re-
lieve the most pressing wants he sent the sloop to Virginia
where she secured a load of provisions and sailed promptly
for the South. But here again an unlucky fate intervened.
A storm seized her, old and rotten as she was, and drove her
on the beach at Cape Lookout, whence her men were glad
to escape with the loss of only two lives to the settlements
on the north of Albemarle Sound. The governor had pro-
posed to send the colony a ship from Barbados under the
command of Captain Edward Stanyon. The loss of the

sloop, therefore, left this vessel the only hope of the colony.
She was anxiously expected. L,ate in the spring of 1666
she came into port with a discouraging tale. Her captain
had sailed from Barbados without a full crew, and with
no first mate; storms had kept him out at sea till his mind
had given way under his load of anxiety; and he had jumped
overboard in a frenzy of insanity. The effect of all these
events on the spirits of the colony was depressing.

When Yeamans left the colony he gave the charge of it
to John Vassall, who was probably lieutenant-governor.
Robert Sandford, who was in the place, was ordered to take
the sloop or Captain Stanyon's ship, whichever should first
arrive in the river, and go on an exploring journey along
the Carolina coast to the southward. The design was to
find a place for another settlement which it was expected
to make in this region. Sandford took Stanyon's ship as
soon as he could get it and was off on June 14, 1666. He
went as far as Port Royal and on July 12 returned to Claren-
don with the most favorable report of the country he had
seen.

The first Barbadian settlers and the second colony lived
together peacefully. In 1666 they numbered eight hun-
dred persons. They all settled around Charles Town,
and began to clear fields for themselves. They were al-
ready experienced in new world settlements and they
probably had brought slaves with them.

They found the climate congenial and healthy. Houses
were built, cattle were imported, fields of corn and peas
were planted; and it seemed that the dangers of a "starving
time," which so many new colonies experienced, would be

avoided. And, speaking literally, such a time was avoided.
There was no period, as appears from the scant record
which has come down to us, when food failed. The bounty
of nature was too great for that.

Nevertheless there was dissatisfaction in the colony. It
grew out of the relations between the settlers and the pro-
prietors. Besides the two groups of people who had come
from Barbados there were present a number of colonists
from New England. These were not of the first New Eng-
land movement; for when Hilton visited the river in 1663
the place was abandoned and a warning against the place
had been left where all new comers might read it. But in
the same year, and at the same time, that the proprietors
responded to the first overtures from the Barbadians they
sent their terms to New England also. It is probable that
these terms caused a number of people to go from New Eng-
land to Clarendon. They seemed to have arrived about
the time Vassall's colony reached there. They were, how-
ever, not satisfied with conditions in Clarendon. They
complained that they were not given as much political lib-
erty as they desired, and they desired as much as was held
by the people of Massachusetts. They sent doleful reports
of their condition back to Boston, and in 1667, the year in
which the settlement was abandoned, a general contribution
was by order of the court laid on the Massachusetts colony
for their relief. It was out of these discordant purposes
and hopes that the enterprise was destined to reap its ruin.

The discontent was not long in coming to a formal pro-
test. The colony of Yeamans arrived with the formal Con-
cessions of January 7, 1665, early in November of the same

year. By this instrument they were instructed to elect an
assembly of twelve delegates chosen by the people. Such
an assembly was ere long in session. It proceeded straight
to the task of framing a remonstrance to the proprietors,
the subject of it being land tenures. Since seeing the char-
ter and the concessions of the proprietors, said they, there
were three things for which they asked redress; — "i. The
halfe penny per acre for all lande, 2. The undecimall way
of division of there lande, 3. The Injunction on penaltye
of forfiture of keeping one man on every hundred acres."
They explained these points more fully as follows:

1. The demand of half a penny quit-rent for all land was
a burden because in every track there was much more pine
swamp and marsh land than high land, or "oake land," as
they described it. Now the former was wholly unprofi-
table to the owner and on it he should not be required to
pay quit-rents. They were willing, however, to pay a
higher rent for the oak land, as much as one penny an acre,
if they might be allowed to pay quit-rent for the oak land
only.

2. As to the undecimal division of the land, it is neces-
sary to explain that in the concessions the proprietors had
provided that all the land should be divided into small dis-
tricts, one eleventh of each of which should be reserved for
their own use. In the same spirit they ordered that the set-
tlement should be on only one side of the river. By these
two provisions the proprietors were reserving to themselves
tracts of land which at some day might be very valuable.
This reservation, declared the assembly, would work a great
hardship on the people, since most of them had arrived in

Clarendon before the concessions were framed, and had taken
up land on which they had made improvements. All
this land by the new arrangement was to be divided over
again. Many men would, therefore, lose their improve-
ments. Besides, the good land was found so rarely in the
large stretches of poor land that the division which was
proposed to be made would bring it about that some per-
sons should have very poor land. They added that under
the existing system the eight hundred inhabitants were,
through their desire to get good land, dispersed over a dis-
tance of sixty miles.

3. To the requirement of keeping one man on each hun-
dred acres they replied that under the proposed arrange-
ment many of the divisions of one hundred acres would not
support a man.

In this petition not only the delegates joined but the
lieutenant-governor and the council also. Furthermore,
they were able to state that the matter had been brought
before the governor before his return to Barbados and that
he had at first approved it; but that when it was written
out and presented to him for his signature he had refused
on the ground that he did not know the soil of the country
well enough to give such a positive account of its worth.
After he left the colony it does not appear that he gave
himself much concern about it. The lieutenant-governor
was John Vassall, as appears from the responsibility he as-
sumed in connection with the removal of the colony.

In truth, the position of the settlers was unfortunate.
Most of them were of the original Vassall party. They had,
as they said in their petition, come to Clarendon, when, all

the fame of this province was left in that black cloud of
Reproaches which a party of new england Adventurers
had wraped the whole country in, and noe mans eare or
mouth or hand was open to heare or speake or act in her
defense. We then for no other incitemt but the glory of
that venture which is made for Publick advantage, did by a
vollentary and full contrybution dispell those mists of scan-
dal! and revive a lustre bright enough to direct and provoke
to a seizure by meanes of which expence your L,ordshipps
have the possession of a parte which may be improved to
aseminary for the whole provence if the discoridgement
from without the place prove not more fatall than those
within it."

They had not only planted this colony but they had paid
the expenses of the exploration of the whole Carolina coast
to the south of them, which was a most important fact in
the settlement of the province. For this expense they had
been promised by one whom they regarded as the author-
ized agent of the proprietors in Barbados five hundred acres
of land for each thousand pounds of sugar given to the com-
mon undertaking. But the new division of land ignored
this promise. They could not but take it to heart, as one
may see in their petition, that after all they had done an-
other party of adventurers had "intercepted that treaty
which we had commenced with your Lordships."

Those who projected Yeamans's colony had not at first
designed to settle in Clarendon, but at Port Royal, to which
place Yeamans's second colony was sent out in 1669. It
was for a long time a favorite idea of the proprietors to have
a colony there on account of the good harbor as well as of

the advantage of having so far southward an outpost against
the Spaniards. Diverting the colony of 1665 to Clarendon
weakened the enthusiasm of the projectors. Some calamity,
the nature of which it is not easy to understand, befel Yea-
mans at this time, and that discouraged them from giving
further assistance. This, in turn, discouraged that party
who had joined in the enterprise of Vassall. Unless the
proprietors, said the petition which has been mentioned,
should interfere and grant the colony the favorable terms
which they had one time come so near granting, inevitable
ruin awaited it. There is no evidence that the proprietors
were moved to any action by this paper.

In the meantime the Clarendon settlement moved on to
its fate. All its supplies from abroad were cut off. Even
the proprietors lost sight of the settlement. John Vassall,
the head of it, declared on October 6, 1667, that he had re-
ceived no communication from the proprietors since he got
his commission as surveyor-general, which was issued three
years earlier. The greatest need was clothing. Of corn
they had enough on hand to last them two years. But they
depended on the outside world for clothes. The company
which sent them out thought that they forsaw certain fail-
ure and they were not willing to spend more money on the
enterprise. They would not even furnish ships to carry
the people back to Barbados.

In these circumstances Vassall had much trouble in main-
taining his authority. Those who had risked most in the
project were loth to leave it. They kept hoping for: relief.
The Indians cut off their cattle, but they did not dare at-
tack the colonists. If only two hundred pounds worth of

clothing were sent them they might make out for another
year. It was expected that Henry Vassall might come
with succor; but this hope proved vain. Those who had
least property at stake were the first to conclude that the
place ought to be abandoned. They were, said John Vas-
sall, "dayly redy to mutany against mee for keeping them
there soe long." Finally they formed a project of going
northward to Virginia by land. Whereupon Vassall yield-
ed to them. He seized the first ship which came into the
river and sent for other shipping in which all sailed away
together in August or September, 1667. Vassall left with
great reluctance. If only twenty men would stay with
him, he said to the others, he would remain till he heard
from the proprietors; but not six would join him. Some of
the people, presumably the New England element, went to
Boston. The others went to Virginia, and some of these
seem to have settled finally in Albemarle County, North
Carolina.

The failure of the Clarendon settlement was the first re-
sult of the insufficient rule of the proprietors. It was due
primarily to the conflicting terms granted to the first and
second bands of Barbadian settlers. The location itself was
an important one. It had the first good harbor south of
Virginia. It was on one of the longest navigable rivers in
Carolina. Although there was much poor land, there was
still enough good land to support the colony amply. There
is nothing to indicate that the place was unhealthy. Even
after the settlers gave up the colony nothing was said by
them, so far as we know, against the healthfulness of the
location. The only charges ever made depend on the gen-

eral charge of the unwise and unexpected reversal of the
terms of taking up land, and for this reversal the proprie-
tors were responsible.

Had the settlement prospered it would have made a vast
difference in our history. The lines of settlement would
have gone out from the Cape Fear instead of from the Albe-
marle sound. On account of the good harbor we should
have been brought from an early period in our history
directly into touch with Europe, instead of indirectly
through other colonies. We should have had the center
of colonial life so far away from Virginia that we should
not have been, as we so frequently were, merely a weak
reflection of Virginia ideas, Virginia business life,
and Virginia politics. In fact, had the Clarendon set-
tlement become permanent, it is hardly likely that
Cape Romaine would have been the dividing point
between the two great divisions of Carolina. It
would have been more logical to have made Clarendon
the center of a powerful colony — the southern boundary of
which would properly have been the Ashley and Cooper
rivers. If Clarendon had survived, Charleston probably
would not have been settled in 1670, or have become so
powerful after it was settled; and the center of the South-
ern colony might have been at Port Royal or on the Savan-
nah.

Battles of Revolution fought in north Carolina.

Moores Creek Bridge,

Ramsour's Mill,

Pacolet River,

Earles Ford,

Cane Creek, . . ...
Wahab's Plantation (rtJ, %t^$*<f*i

Charlotte

Wilmington,

Cowans Ford, ....

Torrence Tavern,

Shallow Ford

Brace's Cross Roads, .

Haw River,

Clapp's Mill

Whitsell's Mill, .

Guilford Court House,

Hillsboro,

Sudleys Mill, (Cane Creek.)

Feb'y 27th, 1776

June 20th, 1780

July 14th, 1780

July 18th, 1780

Sept. 12th, 1780

Sept. 21st, 1780

Sept. 26th, 1780

Feb'y 1st, 1781

. Feb'y 1st, 1781

Feb'y 1st, 1781

. Feb'y 6th, 1781

Feb'y 12th, 1781

Feb'y 25th, 1781

March 2nd, 1781

March 6th, 1781

March 15th, 1781

April 25th. 1781

Sept. 13th, 1781

,(Hyi

?Cb

Cfte north Carolina Booklet

MM.

'frhlsx cA-

Jf/I

GREAT EVENTS IN

NORTH CAROLINA HISTORY.

Cbe Signal and Secret Service

of tbe Confederate States.

— BY —

Dr. CHAS. E. TAYLOB.

PRICE 10 CENTS. j* j* j* $1.00 THE YEAR.

Entered at the Postoffice at Raleigh, N. C, as second-class matter— June 24, 1901.

Cbe north Carolina Booklet

Great events in north Carolina Ristorv

Vol. 2.

l-May — Ku-Klux Klans.

Mrs. T. J. Jarvis.
2-June — Our Pirates.

Capt. S. A. Ashe.
3-July — Indian Massacre and Tuscarora War.

Judge Walter Clark.
4-August — Moravian Settlement in North Carolina.

Rev. J. H. Clewell.
5-September — Whigs and Tories.

Prof. W. C. Allen.
6-October — The Revolutionary Congresses of North Carolina.

Mr. T. M. Pittman.
7-November — The Battle of Guilford Court House.

Prof. D. H. mil.
8-December -Historic Homes in North Carolina : The Groves
and Others.
Col. Burgwyn, Col. Waddell, Mr. Thos. Blount, and others.
9-January — Historic Homes continued.
10 February — The County of Clarendon.
Prof. Jas. S. Bassett.
11-March -Raleigh and the Old Townjof Bloomsbury

Dr. K. P. Battle.
12-April — Confederate Secret Service.

Dr. Chas. E. Taylor, (conditional)

One Booklet a month will be issued by the N. C. Society
Daughters of the Revolution. Price $1.00 per year.

Address THE N. C. BOOKLET CO.,

Or Mrs. Hubert Haywood, 218 Newbern Ave., Raleigh, N. C.

Arrangements have been made to have this volume of the Booklet bound in library
style for 50c. Those living at a distance will please add stamps to cover cost of mait-
ing. State whether black or red leather is preferred.

editors:
Miss Martha Helen Haywood, Mrs. Hubert Haywood.

NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.

VOL. II. MARCH, 1903. No. 11.

Cbe Signal and Secret Service

of tbe Confederate States.

—BY—
DB. CHAS. "E. TATIOE.

HAMLET, N. C:

Capital Printing Company.

1903.

* Carolina! Carolina; fieaws timings miM Deri
lUbilc we live m will cfterisft, protect and defend fter.'

THE SIGNAL AND SECRET SERVICE OF THE CON-
FEDERATE STATES.

To present an elaborate and consecutive account of the
Secret Service of The Confederacy would transcend the
limits of a Booklet and demand a volume. Indeed, two
large volumesf have been required to set forth adequately
the work of the Service in its foreign relations.

My present task is a very modest one and I shall be satis-
fied if I can succeed in giving the reader only a very
general idea of the working of the Signal and Secret
Service of the Confederate States as it was familiar to me
nearly forty years ago.

The beautiful Capitol Square in Richmond falls south-
ward in verdant and well shaded slopes to a short thorough-
fare known as Bank Street. Here were located several of
the Departments of the Government and most of the
Bureaus of the War Department. Among these situated
about half way between the offices of President Davis and
of the Secretary of War, was a suite of rooms which, by a
modest sign over the outer door, announced itself as THE
Signal bureau. These offices consisted of a public
reception room and of inner apartments into which none
but trusted officers and employees were ever admitted.

The "Bureau" was by day and night a centre of interest
to higher officials and to newspaper reporters. The great

f " Secret History of The Confederate States in Europe," by Capt. J.
D. Bullock, 2 Vols. Putnams, New York, 1884.

majority of people in Richmond thought that it was only
a sort of headquarters for the officers and men of the Signal
Corps. A few others knew enough to stimulate the im.
agination with some sense of mystery. Only a small num-
ber, even of the well informed, knew that from those rooms
was conducted a correspondence, usually in cipher, with
numerous agents beyond the limits of the Confederacy,
that in them, with occasional interruptions mail was re-
ceived from Washington almost as regularly as from
Charleston, and that through them cipher dispatches be-
tween generals in the field and the Departments were
constantly passing.

Among the many patriotic sons of Maryland who pledged
their fortunes to Southern Independence was Major Wil-
liam Norris. Early in the war he was released from duty
on Gen. Magruder's staff and placed at the head of the
Signal and Secret Service. It was largely due to the
inventive and executive ability of Major Norris and of
Captain (afterward General) E. P. Alexander that this
Service became very efficient and useful in several
directions.

The Signal Corps was composed of one Major, ten
Captains, twenty Lieutenants, twenty Sergeants, and
about fifteen hundred men detailed from the ranks of
many regiments. These men, though privates, were, for the
most part, well educated and of high social standing. And
the fact is noteworthy that, while they were often employed
in independent service and were trusted with important
secrets, no case has ever been reported of a betrayal of
trust by any one of them. All were experts in signaling

and in the use of cipher. They were, of course, entrusted
with the key- word. "These men," says Mr. H. K. Cum-
mins, f who was an officer in the Corps, "when occasion re-
quired, became dauntless messengers and agents,
going into the enemy's lines and cities, or
to lands beyond the sea; communicating with
agents and secret friends of the Confederate Govern-
ment; ordering supplies and conveying them to their
destination; running the blockade by land and sea; making
nightly voyages in bays and rivers; threading the enemy's
cordon of pickets and gunboats; following blind trails
through swamp and forest, and as much experts with oar
and sail, on deck and in the saddle, and with rifle and
revolver, as with flags, torches and secret cipher."

To every division of infantry and brigade of cavalry
was assigned a squad of from three to five men, all
mounted. These were commanded by a lieutenant or
sergeant. Each of these men was provided with signal
flags for sending messages by day, and torches, filled with
spirits of turpentine, for use at night. The flags were
about four feet by two and a half feet in size and contained
in their centres squares of another color than that of the
body of the flag. For use against a dark background like
a forest or hillside, the white flag was used; against the
sky, a dark blue flag; and against a field of snow a scarlet
flag. To establish a line of communication for temporary
use in the field was short and easy work for those who
had experience. Of course this was more difficult in a
flat than a hilly country. The stations were not far apart

[ f So. Hist. Soc. Papers Vol. 16, p. 98. ]

and glasses were not always necessary. Whenever pos-
sible, some elevated central point was chosen as a station
to and from which, as a medial point, messages could be
sent from the field.

In 1864, when Gen. J. E. B. Stuart was falling back,
covering the retreat of Gen. Lee after the battle of Bristoe
Station, closely followed by Gen. Kilpatrick, he left a
brigade hidden in the woods on the flank of the advancing
enemy. With this brigade he kept in communication by
means of signal stations. In this way he was enabled to
attack Kilpatrick's flank and front simultaneously and to
achieve a success which was long known in cavalry circles
as "The Bucktown Races." Kilpatrick's wagon train
supplied the Confederate Cavalry with enough genuine
coffee and toothsome sutlers' stores to feast on for several
weeks.

The Confederate soldier, in spite of his rags and lack of
rations, was 'always on the qui-vive for fun, and his sense
of the humorous was always appealed to when a column
marched in sight of the men whom they called "flag
floppers." It was hard for them to refrain from such good
natured inquiries as "Mister, is the flies a botherin' of
you?" "Say, is mosquitoes plentiful around here?"

One of the chief uses of the signal corps was in vsork
over permanent lines extending to the headquarters of the
several army corps and divisions which were not reached
by telegraph lines. Mount Poney, near Culpepper Court
House, Va., was successively used by the Signal Corps of
the Confederate- and the Federal armies. Early in 1862
Gen. Pope had caused to be constructed a high scaffoM, or

pen, of trunks of trees on the summit of this mountain.
From this elevation the whole country was visible for
many miles around, especially after it had been denuded
of its forests. Here, as on all other permanent lines, were
used powerful glasses. Some of these were secured from
Southern colleges, and, later on, many excellent ones were
brought from Europe through the blockade. Mount
Poney served admirably as a post of observation as well as
a centre for communication. When Gen Lee fell back
behind the Rapidan River I was able to watch for six or
eight hours the slow and cautious advance of the whole
Federal army, extending about eight miles east and west,
and on some of the roads massed in great numbers. A
more magnificent spectacle I have seldom witnessed.

L,ater on, Clark's Mountain, near Orange Court House,
Va., was used for the same purpose. When Gen. L,ee's
army was in Orange County in 1863, reports were sent
every few hours about the movements in the camp of
Gen. Meade, which, for the most part, lay in full view.
Some of the glasses of stronger power almost revealed the
features of the nearer Federal soldiers.

One morning a party of ladies, escorted by Confederate
officers, rode to the top of Clark's Mountain and became
deeply interested in the sending and receiving of mes-
sages. One young lady, from Charleston, S. C, asked to
be allowed to send over the line a greeting to a gallant
General, well known as a ladies man. As the line hap-
pened to be idle, the message was cheerfully sent. In a
few moments the young sigiial officer rose from his seat at
the glass, saying "I have a reply for you, do you wish me

to deliver it?" "Why, certainly," said Miss B. "Well,"
said he, "The message is, "Gen. S. sends a kiss to Miss
A. B." The young lady turned away in confusion, suffused
with blushes. In spite of the rigor of military law,
that message was not fully delivered, but I have never
heard that the young officer was court-martialed.

It was not generally known during the war and it is
not known now that for many months there was
a permanent post of observation hidden on a timbered
bluff overlooking the Potomac River. By a line of signal
stations this post was in communication with the nearest
telegraph office on the Fredericksburg railroad. No
steamer carrying troops passed up or down that river with-
out Gen. Lee's knowing of it within a short time.
Changes of base and movements of troops between North-
ern and Eastern Virginia were thus observed and reported.

The best regulated lines of communication will play
tricks sometimes. Gen. Stuart once received a message
from one of his staff officers who was visiting near the
lower end of this line inviting him to "come down and
eat jumping mules, which are very abundant." Even at
its worst, however, the Confederate army did not often
have to resort to mules for commissary supplies — especially
near the great rivers, which at certain seasons abound in
Jumping Mullets.

The system of flag communication was very simple, an
alphabet being formed by combinations of right and left
waves of the flag. A practiced operator could in this way
spell out a message almost as rapidly as a telegrapher can
do it with his dots and dashes. And the work was

greatly facilitated by the use of many abbreviations which
came to be universally known by all skilled operators.

One distinct department of the work of the Signal Corps
was on blockade-running steamers. No steamer ventured
to come into port, especially in the later days of blockade
running, without at least one signal officer on board to
communicate with the forts and batteries. Instead of
flags or torches, each officer was provided with two large
lanterns of different colors with sliding screens in front.
Standing between these and using the same alphabet
which was used in the army, he sent his message. In
this case the two colors were used instead of the right and
left waves of the flag.

Stations were located for thirty or forty miles along the
coast on both sides of the blockaded port. The blockade-
runners came in close to shore after nightfall and from
time to time flashed their lights toward the shore. These
were soon answered. Information was then given as to
the condition of things, the position and movements of
the blockading fleet, and the chances of a safe home run.
If it was decided to try to bring the steamer in, proper
lights were shown for the pilot's guidance and a swift run
was made for the port.

An illustration of this special duty of a signal officer is
given in The Narrative of a Blockade- Runner, by Capt.
Wilkinson of the C. S. Navy. "The range lights were
showing and we crossed the bar without interference and
without a suspicion of anything wrong, as it would
occasionally happen that under particularly favorable
circumstances we would cross the bar without even seeing

a blockader. We were under the guus of Fort Fisher, in
fact, and close to the fleet of United States vessels, which
had crossed the bar after the fall of the fort, when I
directed my signal officer to communicate with the shore
station. His signal was promptly answered, but turning
to me, he said: 'No Confederate signal officer there, sir;
he cannot reply to me.' The order to wear around was
instantly obeyed; not a moment too soon, for the bow of
the Chameleon was scarcely pointed for the bar before two
of the light cruisers were plainly visible in pursuit, steam-
ing with all speed to intercept us. Nothing saved us
from the capture but the twin screws, which enabled our
steamer to turn as upon a pivot in the narrow channel
between the bar and the ribs. We reached the bar before
our pursuers, and were soon lost in the darkness outside."

Positions as signal officers on blockade-running steamers
were considered very desirable and were much sought
after. Not only had this special service its exciting and
romantic features, but it was also profitable, as the officer
usually contrived to store away a few bales of cotton on
private account on the outward trip and was thus able to
bring back from Nassau many articles of necessity and
luxury which could not be secured within the limits of
the Confederacy. And I have known it to create a small
sensation in Richmond when one of these young fellows,
just in from a successful run, would unscrew the heels of
his boots and take out a handful of English Gold.

From time to time, in order to prevent the enemy from
reading our messages, the alphabet was changed through-
out the South. Our men were often able to take down

the dispatches of the Federal SignalJCorps. One man,
sitting at the glass, would call out the right and left waves
of the enemy's flag. Another, at his side, would take
them down. Then, by noting the relative frequency of
similar combinations, as illustrated in Edgar A. Poe's
Gold Bug, they were able, not infrequently, to decipher the
message and secure the alphabet. Whenever this was
successfully done, it was at once communicated through-
out the Corps.

The Yankees were as shrewd as we were at these tricks.
But Gen. Early in his Valley Campaign, finding that
Sheridan's Signalmen were reading his messages, cunning-
ly availed himself of the fact to create a diversion. He
instructed his men to flag to himself the following
message:

Lieut. Gen. Early,

Fisher's Hill, Va.
"Be ready to advance on Sheridan as soon as my forces
get up, and we can crush Sheridan before he finds out that
I have joined you."

J. Longstreet.

Gen. Longstreet was supposed by Sheridan to be (as
he really was) with Lee in front of Petersburg. The
bogus message, therefore, greatly mystified not only Gen.
Sheridan, but Halleck in Washington and Grant in front
of Lee. They never solved the puzzle. When Gen.
Early was asked about it after the war, he only smiled and
said nothing.

Nowhere was the Signal Corps more effective, both in

communicating with their own stations and in reading
the messages of the enemy, than in the operations around
Charleston, S. C. At this point seventy-six signal-men
were constantly employed, twelve of whom did nothing
but read the messages of the enemy. As large a per cent
of casualties were reported from this command as from
any other stationed around Charleston.

In his report for July 1863, Capt. Markoe, who was in
command of these stations, stated that over 500 messages
had been sent, at least a third of them under fire. He
said "I have read nearly every message the enemy has
sent. We were forewarned of their attack on the 18th.,
and were ready for them, with what success is already a
part of history. The services rendered by the Corps in
this respect have been of the utmost importance. But I
regret to state, that, by the carelessness of staff officers at
headquarters, it has leaked out that we have read the
enemy's signals. I have ordered all my men to disclaim
any knowledge of them whenever questioned. My men have
also been actively employed in guiding the fire of our
guns, and have thus rendered valuable service."

In his report for August, Capt. Markoe says, "We have
continued to read the enemy's signals, and much valuable
information has been obtained. I have temporarily changed
the signals, as we intercepted a message from the enemy
as follows: 'Send me a copy of Rebel Code immediately, if
you have one in your possession.' I make the men, more-
over, work out of sight as much as possible, and feel sure
that they can make nothing out of our signals."

In reporting for September, he said "On the night of

the 5th, the enemy made an attack on Battery Gregg,
which failed, and was repulsed by the timely notice from
Sullivan's Island Signal Station, which intercepted the
following dispatch :

'To Admiral Dahlgren — I shall try Cummins Point
to-night and want the sailors again early. Will you please
send two or three monitors by dark to open fire on Fort
Moultrie as a diversion. The last time they were in, they
stopped reinforcements and may do so to-night. Don't
want any fire in the rear. (Signed) Gen. Gil more.'"

The attack on Fort Sumter on the night of the 8th, was
foiled by a similar notice of a dispatch from Gen. Gilmore
announcing that the attack would be made that night.

After it became evident that the enemy might possibly
read our messages through possession of our alphabet, the
use of cipher became imperative. Especially during the
later years of the war all important communications sent
by flag or wire were put into cipher.

The use of cipher or disguised writing was known at
least five hundred years before the Christian Era. We
know that the Spartans had an ingenious method of com-
munication between their Ephors at home and their
generals in the field. The latter, on setting out on an
expedition, carried with them round wooden staves
(called scytales), leaving an exact duplicate with the
Ephors. When a message was to be sent, a strip of parch-
ment was wound spirally around the the scytales and the
message written upon it. When this was unrolled, only
fragmentary and detached letters could be found upon it.
But when this parchment was wound upon the duplicate

staff, the message could easily be read. During the
Middle Ages the knowledge and use of cipher was believed
to pertain to the black art. In modern times, various
systems have been devised, and one or another of these
has been almost universally employed to conceal military
dispatches and diplomatic correspondence.

The entire control of the cipher used by the State and
War Department of the Confederate Government was in
the hands of the Signal and Secret Service. The system
used was what is known as "Court Cipher" and depends
upon the use of a key-word or sentence known both to the
sender and the receiver. From time to time a special
messenger was sent to the headquarters1 of the several
departments to communicate orally a new key- word. This
was never put in writing by anyone. The principle of the
Confederate system of cipher is very simple. The whole
alphabet was written 26 times upon a page in such a way
as to appear alike when read horizontally or perpendicu-
larly. For instance:
a b c d e f g etc
b c d e f g etc
c d e f g etc
d e f g etc
e f g etc
f g etc
getc
etc.

The first letter of the key-word is found in the first hori-
zontal column and the first letter of the message in the
first vertical column. At the point of intersection of the

two columns is found the letter used in the cipher mes-
sage. The translation of the cipher into the original was,
of course, the reverse of this process. The Confederate
key- word always consisted of 15 letters, the same
number being always retained for convenience in the use
of several mechanical contrivances which made translation
to and from cipher a very simple and easy matter. I
remember that one of the o!d key-words was "Manchester
Bluff." Suppose it were desired to put into cipher the
message, "Grant is pontooning James River." The letter
M would be found in the horizontal column of the
page of alphabets, and the letter G in the first vertical
column. At the point of intersection of these two columns
would be found the letter S. Anyone having sufficient
curiosity to work out this message would find that it re-
vealed itself in cipher as follows-

SRNPA— NK— ISEUZISNZG— VCTIK— KMMFC.—

It hardly needs to be said that the division between the
words of the original message as given above, was not
retained in the cipher. Either the letters were run
together continuously or breaks, as if for words, were made
at random.

Until the folly of the method was revealed by experi-
ence, only a few special words in a message were put
into cipher, while the rest was sent in plain language.
This afforded opportunity for adroit and sometimes suc-
cessful guessing.

A dispatch from President Davis, while the Confederate
capital was still in Montgomery, to Gen. E. Kirby Smith,
commanding the Trans-Mississippi Department was as

follows:— "By this you may effect O— TPGGEXYK above
that part-HJOPGKWMCT-patrolled led by the etc." The
author of The Military Telegraph in the Civil War says
that at first sight the meaning of this captured message
occurred to him. He read it correctly "By this you may
effect a crossing above that part of the river patrolled by
the etc.'' He had now only to apply the right words to
the cipher in order to get the key-word. This revealed
itself as "Complete Victory,'' — one of the earliest of all the
key-words used by us.

I think it may be said that it was impossible for well
prepared cipher to be correctly read by any one who did
not know the key-word. Sometimes, in fact, we could not
decipher our own messages when they came over telegraph
wires. As the operators had no meaning to guide them,
letters easily became changed and portions, at least, of
messages were rendered unmeaning thereby.

Only a few days before the fall of Richmond a dispatch,
mutilated in this way, was received from the Trans-
Mississippi department by President Davis. It was in
reply to the President's order to Gen. Dick Taylor, that
he should bring his army over the Mississippi River and
effect a union with the forces of Gen. J. B. Johnston.
Naturally, there was great anxiety as to Gen. Taylor's
reply. The message was long and letters had been added
or dropped or changed in every line. Three experienced
operators locked themselves up and worked upon the puz-
zle through several hours of that April Sabbath day on
which it was placed in their hands. At best they were
only able to report detached fragments of Gen. Taylor's

reasons why he pronounced the movement impossible. It
fell to my lot to carry our fragmentary results to the
President. If he felt aught of disappointment, it did not
reveal itself in his unperturbed and courteous bearing.

A full and detailed account of the services of the Signal
Corps in conducting secret correspondence through and
beyond our lines would be a most romantic and interesting
history. Part of this can never be written, for most of
the actors have passed from the stage, leaving no record.
And part, in its details, one would not like to assume the
responsibility of writing. Even the children and grand-
children of some of the confidential agents (who were
sometimes called by a shorter and less euphemistic name)
might fail to appreciate the patriotic daring and shrewdness
of their heroic ancestors.

During the earlier months of the war, before the block-
ade became effective by land and sea, there were many
open avenues through which messengers and trading
pedlars passed back and forth without much difficulty or
danger. When, one after another, these avenues were
closed by the tightening coils of the Federal "anaconda,"
the Confederate Government undertook, through its Signal
Corps, to keep open one permanent line of communication
with its agents in the North and abroad .

In his Four Tears in Rebel Capitals, f Mr. T. C. DeLeon
says:

"L<ate in the war, when, all ports were closed to its com-
munication with agents abroad, the Richmond Govern-
ment perfected this spy system in connection with its

t Four Years in Rebel Capitals, p. 286.

signal corps. This service gave scope for tact, fertility of
resource and cool courage; it gave many a brave fellow,
familiar with both borders, relief from camp monotony in
the fresh dangers through which he won a glimpse of
home again; and it gave a vast mass of crude information.
But its most singular and most romantic aspect was the
well-known fact, that many women essayed the breaking
of the border blockade. Almost all of them were success-
ful, more than one well nigh invaluable for the informa-
tion she brought sewed in her riding-habit or coiled in
her hair. Nor were these coarse camp-women, or reckless
adventurers. Belle Boyd's name became as historic as
that of Moll Pitcher; but others are recalled, petted belles
in the society of Baltimore and Washington and of Vir-
ginia summer resorts of yore, — who rode through night and
peril alike, to carry tidings of cheer home and to bring
back news that woman may best acquire. New York,
Baltimore and Washington to-day boast of three beautiful
and gifted women, high in their social rank, who could —
if they would — recite tales of lonely race and perilous
adventure, to raise the hair of the budding beaux about
them."

Mr. DeLeon was mistaken when he wrote that the sys-
tem was organized "late in the war." As a matter of fact
it was in full operation in 1862, the second year of the
war. In reply to certain questions asked him after his
return to his home in Maryland, after the war, Major
Norris wrote as follows:

"Early in the war the necessity of having points on the
Potomac river, at which Government agents and army

scouts might promptly and without delay cross to and
from the United States, was so seriously appreciated that
the Secretary of War suggested the propriety of establish-
ing one or more camps in King George and Westmoreland
counties, Va., with an especial eye to such transportation.
The idea was immediately acted upon. In a short time
the additional duties were assigned to these stations of
securing complete files of Northern papers for the Execu-
tive Department and upon requisitions from heads of
Bureaus, to obtain from the United States small packages,
books, etc. Here our duties, strictly speaking, ended.
But as we were forced, in order to perform the other duties,
to establish a line of agents from the Potomac to Washing-
ton, it was determined, as far as possible to institute a
regular system of espionage. The Government having
failed, however, to place at our disposal the necessary
means to carry into execution this design, we were forced
to rely almost entirely upon the energy and zeal of a few
devoted gentlemen of Maryland for such indications of the
enemy's movements as they were able to acquire fiom
mingling in official circles about Washington, Baltimore
and New York. Our accredited agents were constantly in
these cities. They were gentlemen of high social position
who, without compensation, voluntarily devoted their time
and energies to this work. There was no expense beyond
the mere pay, rations, and clothing of the officers and
detailed men. These lines never cost the government one
farthing after I assumed command. Some of our agents
acquired their information from personal observations, the
others from friendly parties within the lines. They were

selected with great care and with an eye to their intelli-
gence and devotion and energy. Actual experience
proved their credibility."

Perhaps the most useful of all the men connected with
the C. S. Secret Service was Mr. Thomas A. Jones of
Maryland. His farm was bounded on the west by the
Potomac River and on the north by Pope's Creek. His
house was a frame building on a bluff 80 feet high, over-
looking the river. He could stand in his back yard and
look seven or eight miles up the river. Down the river
he could see as far as the eye could reach. The Potomac
was comparatively narrow at this place and the creek
afforded excellent opportunities for landing and hiding
boats. Not only Mr. Jones, but all his neighbors were in
hearty sympathy with the South. Hence this became the
chief point of junction between the routes of agents in the
North and the couriers in the South. Mr. Jones frequent-
ly crossed the river, though it was two miles wide, twice
in a single night and sometimes oftener. Hundreds of
people who were allowed to do so by the Confederate
authorities crossed at Jones' Ferry. On the Virginia side
of the river was the farm of Mr. Benjamin Grimes in King
George county. He heartily co-operated with Mr. Jones
and with the agents of the Confederacy.

Of course no little courage and prudence were required
to carry on these operations. The Potomac River was
guarded with many gunboats and other craft, armed
patrols guarded the Maryland shore, and the Federal
Government had a spy on nearly every river farm in
Southern Maryland. In addition to these a detachment of

troops was stationed at Pope's Creek and another on Maj .
Watson's place, not 300 yards from Mr. Jones' house. But
none of these precautions availed against the audacity and
cunning of the Confederate agents.

On the Virginia side a signal camp was established in
a swamp back of Grimes' house. The boats for the mail
service, swift and strong, were kept on the Virginia side.
A little before sunset, the reflection of the high bluffs near
Pope's Creek extended out into the Potomac till it nearly
met the shadow cast by the Virginia woods. At that
hour of the evening it was very difficult to detect so small
an object as a row-boat on the river. The Federal pickets
did not go on duty till after sunset. It was, therefore, ar-
ranged that the boat from Grimes' should cross just before
sunset, deposit the packages from Richmond in the fork of
a dead tree on Jones' shore, and take back the packet for
Richmond from the North, which would be found in the
same place, if, for some special reason, Jones was not on
the beach in person when the boat came over from
Virginia.

If it was not safe for the boat to cross from Virginia a
black dress or shawl was hung as a warning in a certain
dormer window of Maj. Watson's house, right over the
heads of the troops stationed there. The person who
attended to this signal was Miss Mary Watson. Of this
lady Mr. Jones once wrote: "Miss Watson was a remarkably
pretty young lady, 24 years of age. She would have made
almost any sacrifice for the Confederacy, and I know that I
owe in great measure the success which attended the
management of the Confederate mail to her ceaseless

vigilance and skill. About the close of the war she

married Dr. C , who had been a blockade-runner,

and went to California to live."

It was Mr. Jones who helped John Wilkes Booth to cross
the Potomac River five days after the assassination of
President Lincoln. This fact he was able to keep a secret
for nearly twenty years. It was well that he could do so,
for in the passion of the hour he would surely have been
sacrificed for a crime for which he felt no sympathy. For
a number of years after the war he was employed in the
Washington Navy Yard and died in 1895.

After conveying Booth to the Virginia side of the river,
Jones was offered $100,000 for information which would
disclose the hiding place of the assassin. He was a poor
man and he knew exactly where Booth was at that time.
But he said nothing and thus refused what would have
made him a wealthy man. Such was the heroic fibre of
some of the men who were in our Secret Service.

Every afternoon a courier would arrive in Richmond
by the Fredericksburg Railroad, bringing files of news-
papers, letters and reports in cipher from parties in
Canada and various portions of the United States. So
regular was this service that for one continuous period of
six months not a day passed without the authorities in
Richmond being put in possession of Washington and
Baltimore newspapers of the day before. The New York
papers came a day later. The same courier would go out
the next morning and connect by relays of other couriers
with the hidden camp at Major Grimes' place on the
Potomac. Many letters were sent for private individuals

after they had been inspected in the office in Richmond.
These were quietly dropped into the post office in Balti-
more or Washington. The couriers were not infrequently
accompanied by special messengers of the Government.
I remember well the arrival at our office one afternoon of
a lady, who, before going to her room at the Spottswood
Hotel, called for a knife and cut off the large buttons of
her cloak. When these had been ripped open, there were
disclosed sheets of the finest white silk closely written with
cipher dispatches for the Department of State.

One of the habitues of the Richmond office for several

months was Dr. P. , one of the most versatile and

gifted men whom I have ever known, he had travelled all
over the world and was a thorough Bohemian in his man-
ner of life. He had been connected with some of the best
New York newspapers and was himself an author of repute.
This gentleman was employed to write letters, purporting
to be from Washington, to a number of the most influen-
tial and widely circulated newspapers in the North. They
were written for the purpose of moulding public opinion
adversely to the continuance of the war and for other
more specific purposes. Some of these lettters written in
Richmond though dated from Washington, were publish-
ed in the great New York dailies as "From our own cor-
respondent." I remember that at the time when the Con-
federate Congress was discussing the policy of arming

batalions of slaves, letters were written by Dr. P ,

urging that the United States Government should make
peace before the Confederate army should receive this

new reinforcement. And most adroitly was this literary de-
ception carried out.

In the great conflagration at the time of the evacuation
of Richmond the Signal office was destroyed and with it
the invaluable copies of dispatches received and sent.

The Signal and Secret Service of the Confederate States
and its work are now only memories. But out of the
experience gained by the signal men of both armies has
arisen a beneficent, peaceful institution. Signal men now
receive their dispatches from the winds and the clouds.
Their flags are signs to the world of coming meteorological
changes. Torches have given place to barometers, and
the world wide cipher codes are now in the daily use of
commercial interests. Here, also,

"Peace hath her victories no less renowned than war."

FINIS.

Banks of Revolution Towgbt in north Carolina.

Moores Creek Bridge,

Kamsour's Mill, .

Pacolet River, ..-.'.

Earles Ford,

Cane Creek,

Wahab's Plantation

Charlotte

Wilmington,

Cowans Ford,

Torrence Tavern,

Shallow Ford

Brace's Cross Roads, .

Haw River,

Clapp'sMill

Whitsell's Mill, .

Guilford Gonrt House,

Hillsboro,

Sudleys Mill, (Cane Creek.)

Feb'y 27th, 1776

. June 20th, 1780

July 14th, 1780

. July 18th, 1780

Sept. 12th, 1780

y/i*fi~S. . Sept. 21st, 1780

Sept. 26th, 1780

Feb'y 1st, 1781

. Feb'y 1st, 1781

Feb'y 1st, 1781

. Feb'y 6th, 1781

Feb'y 12th, 1781

Feb'y 25th, 1781

March 2nd, 1781

March 6th, 1781

March 15th, 1781

April 25th. 1781

Sept. 13th, 1781

J^S

Oe Horib Carolina Booklet

GREAT EVENTS IN ,

NORTH CAROLINA HISTORY.

uV%

Cbe Cast Days of the mar.

HENBY T. BAHNSOX.

PRICE 10 CENTS. & & & $1.00 THE YEAR.

Entered at the Postoffice at Raleigh, N. C, as second-class matter — June 24, 1901.

ZU north Carolina Booklet

Great events in north Carolina history

Vol. 2.

1-May — Ku-Klux Klans.

Mrs. T. J. Jarvis.
2-June — Our Pirates.

Capt. S. A. Ashe.
3-July — Indian Massacre and Tuscarora War.

Judpre Walter Clark.
4- August — Moravian Settlement in North Carolina.

Rev. J. H. Clewell.
5-September — Whigs and Tories.

Prof. W. C. Allen.
6-October — The Revolutionary Congresses of North Carolina.

Mr. T. M. Pittman.
7 -November — Raleigh and the old Town of Bloomsbury.

Dr. K. P. Battle, L. L. D.
8-December — Historic Homes in North Carolina: Part I.

Miss Rodman, Mr. Thos. Blount, Dr Dillard.
9-January — Historic Homes in North Carolina : Part II.

Col. Burgwyn, Col. Waddell, Miss Haywood.
10 February — The County of Clarendon.

t Prof. Jasi S. Bassett, P. P. D.
11-March — The Signal and Secret Service of the Confederate
States.

Dr. Chas. E. Taylor.
12-April — The Last days of the War, as seen by a Confederate
Private.

Henry T. Bahnson, Co. B. 1st. N. C. Batt S. S. A. N. V.

One Booklet a month will be issued by the N. C. Society
Daughters of the Revolution. Price $1.00 per year.

Address THE N. C. BOOKLET CO.,

Or Mes. Hubert Haywood, 218 Newbern Ave., Raleigh, N. C.

editors:
Miss Martha Helen Haywood, Mrs. Hubert Haywood.

NORTH CAROLINA BOOKLET.

VOL. II. APBIL, 1003. No. 12.

Ok Cast Days of it war.

—BY-
HENRY T. BAHNSON.

HAMLET, N. C:

CapiTai," Printing Company.

1903.

■

4 Carolina ! Carolina ! fiea w$ blessings attend Der i
White m live we Will cberisb, protect and defend Her/

THE LAST DAYS OF THE WAR.

AS SEEN BY A CONFEDERATE PRIVATE,

HENRY T. BAHNSCXN",
Co. B, 1st, N. C. Batfn. S. S., A. N. V.

Apparently not many privates survived the war. At
least very few have spoken or written about it. Perhaps
like me they feel they have'nt much to brag of. Then,
too, nobody expects much from a private; therefore, he is
not obliged, as his superiors are, to explain, and contradict,
and generally prevaricate, in an effort to sustain his repu-
tation.

The glowing accounts of battles and campaigns, have
nearly always been written by general officers, or by non-
participants who style themselves historians* It seems
hardly fair that we privates should be entirely ignored; be-
cause, without us, there would have been no generals, nor
would there have been a war to write about.

In choosing my subject, "The Last Days of the War, as
Seen by a Private," I certainly have no desire to parody
Gen. Gordon's famous lecture, "The Last Days of the Con-
federacy." He was my general and I entertain only re-
spect and admiration for the man. I have never heard his
lecture and if in any way I differ from his statements, such
discrepancy is doubtless due to the fact that we looked at
events from different standpoints. The general rode on
horseback and I went afoot.

Before daylight on the morning of Sunday, April 2nd,
1865, a couple of us were at the little stream that supplied
our camp with water. Our command was temporarily in
reserve, on the north bank of the Appomattox river, and
the night before we two had received permits to visit our
friends on the lines in front of Petersburg. We were in-
dustriously scrubbing ourselves for the occasion, and I was
about to put on my clean underclothes, having made ar-
rangements to wash the suit I had worn four weeks on the
campaign, when our occupation was suddenly arrested.

The steady monotonous firing by the pickets in the rifle
pits across the river, which we were accustomed to hear
all through the night, ceased for a moment. This ominus
silence was broken by an outburst of hoarse huzzas which
the still night air bore to our quickened ears with alarm-
ing distinctness. The dropping musketry fire, deepening
into a sullen roar, and broken only by the quickly recur-
ring, ear-splitting, crack of field artillery and the jar of
bursting shells, left no doubt in our minds that our lines
had been assaulted and a big battle had begun. Our holi-
day was spoiled, and in a few minutes we were on the way
to the scene. Crossing the river and passing through
Petersburg we were halted in a ravine behind the breast-
works, where we learned that a part of the advanced lines,
occupied by Clingman's and Scales' Brigades, had been
captured by the enemy. The firing was still kept up, and
shells burst over our heads, or rolled and spun and darted
and hissed about our feet in a dreadfully demoralizing way.
Then, too, the wounded men, pale-faced and bloody, some
borne on litters, others limping and tottering, and passing

us in crowds, had no tendency to enliven our spirits. It
was a real relief to be ordered forward. On reaching the
reserve line of breast-works, we were ordered to take posi-
tion in a ditch (called a covered way), which led in a slant-
ing and zigzag direction to the advanced lines captured
earlier, and now held by the enemy. The bottom of the ditch
was stiff blue clay, through which the water trickled. Our
feet stuck fast to the sticky stuff, and more than once I had
to stop and dig out my shoe. Every few steps we came
upon a dead man, nearly always shot through the head.
When we finally halted we were not more than a hundred
yards from the enemy, and just in front of us was a battery
of five pieces, which had been captured and was now turned
against us. The artillerymen were busily throwing up
earth to protect themselves. Our brigade was ordered to
charge the breast-works, and thirteen of us were detailed to
go as close to the battery as possible, and pick off the artil-
lerymen to prevent their firing on our troops in the charge.
We crept along the ditch some thirty or more yards, and
when the order to charge was given we fired at the artil-
lerymen. Our execution was terrible at such close range,
and in a few seconds so many were killed or wounded that
the rest ducked down behind their improvised breast-works.
They only fired three of the five guns, and these did no
execution; but many of our men, including Maj. Wilson
and Lieut. Shultz, were woundtd or killed by the galling
infantry fire, and the charge effected little or nothing. Our
firing, however, and our exposed position made us a target
for the enemy, and two of our little party were killed. One
of them, Abner Crews, from this county, was next to me.

We had made a furrow with our guns in the top of the
ditch bank to protect our heads, and through this we fired
alternately. I was waiting for him to shoot but he was so
slow, that I grew impatient and pushed him to attract his
attention. We were squatting on a narrow ledge and my
push destroyed his balance. Before I could catch him he
toppled over, and as bis face turned toward me I saw a bul-
let hole midway between his eyebrows. Our bodies had
been touching from knee to shoulder, but not a quiver did
I feel when his life so suddenly went out. The killing and
wounding of my comrades thoroughly aroused the brutal
part of my nature. The desire for revenge made my aim
deliberate, and I felt a fiendish delight, as I saw a man sink
down or tumble over after my shot. Of course there were
others firing with me, and I cannot say with certaintly that
I killed anyone. I thank God fervently for this possible
doubt. Even now I shudder when I recall the frenzy that
possessed me on this occasion, and indeed in every battle
when the excitement of conflict had overcome the natural
fear and dread which always preceded it. The conscious-
ness of danger was lost, and with wounds and death on all
sides, the desire to aid in the carnage became an all-engross-
ing passion. The foulest blasphemy rolled from the tongue;
every instinct of humanity was obliterated; the man was
transformed into a raging Hon or a ravening wolf. I have
seen a prize fight with all its disgusting concomitants, and
I am sure every old soldier will agree with me when I de-
clare my deliberate conviction that the prize ring is the
quintessence of refinement — an object lesson of forbearence
and morality, when compared with the hellish brutality of

a battlefield. Several men were left behind in the charge,
and these crawled to us and cleaned and loaded our guns.
One of them, a captain, volunteered to go back to the lines
and bring us more ammunition, ours was exhausted by as
the continuous firing. He had gone but a few steps when
a shell tore off his arm at the shoulder. I hastened to his
assistance, as fast as the sticky mud would let me, but just
as I reached him he fell back in my arms dead. I went
for the ammunition, and when I returned our volunteer
re-inforcementshad left us, and another of our party had been
killed; the whole top of his head torn off.

Annoyed by our destructive fire, the enemy had concen-
trated their attention upon us, and balls and shells literally
rained in our direction. Fortunately we were protected by
the ditch in the bottom of which we were crouched but the
artillery swept away the bank and nearly buried us. I was
at the angle of the ditch nearest the enemy, and happen-
ing to glance around in their direction, I saw a party of
blue coats within a few yards of us. The ditch was so
narrow that they could only walk two abreast, and as they
saw my head the foremost men fired, but missed me. We
held our guns in the ditch and fired down it for a minute
or two, then cautiously peeping around the angle we saw
the ditch clear, except for six or eight men lying on its
bottom.

To stay where we were seemed certain death. About
twenty yards to our left was an abandoned breast-work,
with embrazures for three guns. To reach it however, we
had to pass over the level ground. We chose a moment
when there was a dense smoke from the bursting shells.

One of our number was killed in the attempt; completely
torn to pieces by a shell. Evidently our movement was
unseen, for we had hardly got to our new quarters, when
the place we had left was literally torn out of the ground
by mortar shells thrown from three batteries on the ene-
mies' lines. I counted thirteen shells in the air at one
time, all converging to the same spot. Half stiffled as we
were by the sulphurus fumes, and almost buried by flying
masses of earth torn up by their explosion, we could not
help admiring the beautiful rings of smoke, ascending a
hundred or more feet in the air, as the mortars belched
them forth on their murderous mission.

In our new position we were exactly between two heavy
batteries which kept up an artillery duel. It was some
time, however, before we could realize that we actually saw
rifled shells flying through the air. A dark speck would
appear out of the smoke from a cannon, and in a second it
had grow to a mass, apparently as large as a man's head.
As it passed over us we felt faint and had to gasp for breath
in the rarified air.

It was noon when we shifted our quarters, and we re-
mained, (nine of us) alone throughout the day and far into
the night. We had enough to eat if we had been hungry,
but such was not the case. Our thirst, though, was in-
satiable. Again and again one would run or crawl to the
ditch and fill several canteens from its foul bottom, fall of
dead men and spattered with blood and brains, but how re-
freshing to our parched mouths and throats that water was.

During the day the enemy made repeated charges on our
lines. Fort Mahone was only a few hundred yards to our

right, and our firing did considerable damage to the charg-
ing columns. Again and again the attack upon it was re-
pulsed, until the ground in front of it was covered with
dead and wounded men. Finally when the ammunition of
its garrison was exhausted the fort was carried just before
night by assault, its brave defenders disputing every inch
of the ground with the bayonet; the only time during the
war I saw this awkward part of a soldiers' accoutrement
put to its legitimate use.

All that long day, God's holy Sabbath, we shot and were
shot at. Our shoulders were so sore from the rebound of
the guns, that we had to pad them with our blankets.
Even after night fell the balls were flying thickly and
shells bursting about us. After some hours, however, we
noticed that the firing was only from the lines of the enemy.

My comrades had put themselves under my direction and
I sent a man back through the ditch to see what was the
matter. He did not return and fearing that he had been
killed, I went myself, taking another man along, in case of
accident, and arranging a signal to call my companions.
We made straight for the battery behind us, preferring the
chance of being shot, to floundering in the mud and stumb-
ling over the dead men in the ditch. We were too stiff to
run, but a few minutes brought us safely to the fort. There
was perfect silence inside it. No one responded to our call.
We crawled up along side of a gun and to our horror found
it spiked. As I dropped to the ground inside, I stepped on
a wounded man, and from him — poor fellow, left there all
alone to die — we learned that our troops had evacuated the
lines two hours before. The six men we had left behind

responded quickly to our signal and together we made our
way back to Petersburg. The city was in indescribable
confusion. Men and women thronged the streets in every
sort of deshabille — some drinking and cursing, others pray-
ing and wringing their bands. Many homes were open
and deserted, and piles of household goods littered the
streets. Great fires were burning in various places. When
we reached the Pocohontas bridge, some men were pouring
turpentine over the planking. We had hardly crossed
when with a hiss and a roar as of a rushing wind, the long
structure burst into flames. As we ascended the hill, the
light from the burning bridge and the fires in Petersburg,
brought out the minutest object in glaring distinctness;
and when we got to the top, the glow of burning Rich-
mond, 22 miles away, cast our shadows behind us, while
every few minutes the ground trembled and jarred under
our feet, as the magazines along the lines were blown up.
I fully sympathize with the sentiment expressed somewhat
differently by a comrade, that the judgment day had come.
Apparently we had been forgotten up to this time, but
here we found a courier awaiting us, with orders to set fire
to the stores and ammunition at Dunlap's Station, on the
Richmond and Petersburg railroad, and then rejoin the
army in retreat on the river road. We found the great
sheds and long trains of cars already burning in places, and
taking only time to spread the fire where the cars had not
ignited, we hurried on, leaving a number of women and
children, whom we had plainly warned of their danger,
dragging clothing and provisions out from the flames. As
we left, the cars of ammunition began to explode, and we

could see women and children blown about in every direc-
tion over the ground. The air was filled with burning cart-
ridges, like shooting stars, the balls of which rained down
on us. We were all bruised about the head and shoulders,
but none of us were seriouly hurt, although many shells,
likewise, exploded or fell around us.

As we got back to the road we could hear again the
hoarse huzzas which announced that the enemy had dis-
covered our retreat and were taking possession of our lines.
Presently we caught up with a train of wagons and scat-
tered out amongst them trying to steal a ride. I found an
ambulance, closely buttoned up all around, with the driver
asleep. Loosening the back curtain, I peeped in, and in
the darkness made out the forms of two men lying in the
bed. I could not hear them breathe, and putting my hand
on the head of one, I felt it was cold and his hair matted
and sticky. Both were dead. Finding an oil-cloth on the
bottom of the ambulance, I spread it over them and lay
down between them. How long I slept I do not know, but
sometime after daylight I was awakened by the driver pul-
ling my hair and cursing me for daring to ride in the gen-
eral's private ambulance. I don't remember his name, but,
poor fellow, dead as he was, he had done me a great service,
for my cramped and stiffened limbs would never have car-
ried me the long miles I had slept and jolted away by his
side.

On rejoining our command we were immediately ordered
on the skirmish lines. Without food or rest we were busily
engaged in prizing wagons and horses out of the deep mud,

or repelling attracks of the enemy's cavalry on the long
wagon train.

At Amelia Court House we were drawn up in line to
await an attack. I was leaning on a rail fence, surround-
ing a grove of large oaks. A lot of caissons and ammuni-
tion wagons were hauled into the grove, and some artillery-
men were cutting the wheels and boxes of ammunition to
pieces with axes. I was so tired that I hardly noticed what
was going on, when suddenly I found myself lying on my
back breathless, with rails piled over me, and I could see
wheels, pieces of ammunition chests and great branches of
trees, sailing in the air away above me, while shells were
bursting in every direction. The great pile of ammunition
had exploded, whether designedly or not, I do not know.
One of our skirmishers had a broken leg, and all of us were
stunned and bruised, but much more damage was done in
our line of battle, several hundred yards behind us. The
enemy did not appear, so we skirmishers were again sent
to our tiresome task of protecting wagon trains. Several
nights we acted as rear guard, and tried ineffectually to
to keep up the stragglers. They lay asleep singly or in
squads, in the woods and fields where they had dropped,
dispirited and exhausted, and out numbered us a hundred
to one. They had thrown away their guns, and only en-
cumbered us, so we left them lying as they were.

In one of our skirmishes with the enemy, the shank of
my shoe was cut through by a ball, and the bottom of my
feet badly bruised. I was stooping forward, the pain jerked
my knee up till it struck my chin, and I bit my tongue
most painfully. For a moment I was sure I was wounded

all over. Another time the blanket on my shoulder was
cut and torn nearly into by a ball. L,ater on, however,
I got another blanket. Some cavalry that we had driven
from the wagon train made a stand at a little house on a
hill. As we advanced against them over an open field, one
of them shot at me sixteen times with his carbine. I
danced about pretty lively, dodging his balls, but managed
meanwhile to load my gun, and he turned I sent my
bullet through his thigh, and killed his horse. His
comrade helped him off, but on his saddle I found a splen-
did blanket to make good the loss of mine. The cavalry
still hung around, and we found that they had forced the
lady of the house to cook their breakfast. While some of
us fought them off, the rest of us ate their rations; the only
meal we had the whole way from Petersburg to Appomat-
tox. The kitchen had a window toward the enemy and
doubtless in revenge for the loss of their breakfast, they
kept up a constant fire at the window. The balls whizzed
through it and struck the other side of the room, but that
brave woman never stooped as she passed the window in
going from the fireplace to the table.

The bridge across Sailor's creek had broken down and
hundreds of our wagons were detained. The enemy were
pressing us hotly, and Gen. Gordon rallied three or four
hundred of us to protect the wagons. We formed a horse-
shoe with the curve to the front, and by his orders held our
fire until the enemy, charging our whole line were only
a few yards from us. Such destruction I never saw. Nearly
every man was on the ground, but some were only playing
off, because they joined the fresh regiment which came up

in a few minutes to a second charge. We repeated our tac-
tics and again drove them back with terrible loss. In the
meantime, however, they had brought up their artillery,
and Gen. Gordon, seeing further resistance was hopeless,
gave us orders to save ourselves, he showing us the way by
galloping his horse down the hill and fording the creek.
We followed as fast as we could with shells hurtling and
bursting over our heads. That night we were twice sent
across the high bridge near Farmville to repel the ap
proaching enemy. The last time as we started back to
the Farmville side, a panic ensued, and in an instant the
bridge was a mass of wriggling humanity, wedged so tightly
that moving and even breathing seemed impossible. Many
were trampled under foot, and one man I saw forced up
above our shoulders, cling for a moment to the parapet,
and with a wild scream disappear over the side. Next
morning at Farmville some packages of French soup ma-
terial, done up in tin foil, were issued, the only rations I
received during the seven days of retreat. I got a lump of
dried onions about as large as two fingers, and was munch-
ing them industriously, when shots were heard just in our
front, and the bugle called the skirmishers to advance. The
enemy's skirmish line had crept within fifty yards of us,
but being unsupported they slo wly gave away before us, for
a mile or more. At such close range their fire was very ef-
fective, and a number of our men, including the officers in
command were killed or wounded. Our line became much
scattered and in pursuing a man in front, I found myself
with only two comrades in sight, on a little eminence over-
looking a field in which were two railroad cuts. My man

dropped his gun, and, falling to the ground, rolled over and
over down the hill, until he tumbled into the second of the
two cuts. Thinking I could capture a prisoner, I called
my two comrades to head him off, and ran to the further
end of the cut. Just before I reached it, a mounted officer
dashed out of the other end. He lay flat on his horse's
neck, and as I fired at him I saw the blue fuzz fly from his
back, but he rode on apparently uninjured. (I learned af-
terwards that he was a major-general from Pittsburg, Pa.)

Stepping on the railroad I found the cut full of Blue
Coats, every man with hands up, and crying. "Don't
shoot Johnnie ! We give up Johnnie ! For God's sake
don't shoot !'' To say I was surprised wouldn't begin to
express my feelings. If one of them had pointed a gun
at me, it would have afforded me infinite pleasure, under
the circumstances, to give up myself, but they seemed so
anxious to surrender that I leveled my gun at them, and
with a variety of emphatic and peremptory expletives, hur-
ried them out before they had a chance to change their
minds. As we got out of the cut, my two comrades and
eight others who had joined them -came up. In the second
cut were some more equally willing to give up, and we
drove them all out before us. Then one of our prisoners
looking around, in surprise, exclaimed: "Why, is this ail
of you? You yelled so we thought L,ee's whole army was
after us."

They were enlightened too late. I reckon we ought to
have pitied the poor fellows, but we didn't have time, for
within three or four hundred yards of us came another line
of their skirmishers, at the top of their speed, calling on

their comrades to stop, and cursing and threatening to
shoot us. We jeered them and dared them to shoot, know-
ing they would hit a dozen of their men to one of us. But
we didn't feel as funny as we pretended, for in spite of all
our urging and threatening and jabbing with guns, our
prisoners would stumble and blunder and go slow, and the
enemy's line was within 50 yards of us when Gen. Gor-
don saw our predicament and sent a force to our relief.
Once behind our own men we took it leisurely and counted
our prisoners. We had 103; 21 commissioned officers, sev-
eral still carrying their swords, a dozen or more non-com-
missioned officers and the rest privates, composing the bet-
ter part of the Veteran Fifty-ninth New York and Seventh
Michigan Regiments.

Gen. Gordon complimented us and told us to turn our
prisoners over to the provost guard but we didn't try very
hard to find them at once. Our prisoners were clever fel-
lows and gladly shared with us the rations they had in
their haversacks. Stopping at a little branch to wash our
powder-grimed faces, we found to our surprise, and our
captives disgust, that only one man of our eleven had a
load in his gun.

When we got back to the rear a stout colonel, whose
spotless uniform and white complexion had not been ac-
quired in field service, undertook to pull the blanket off
the shoulders of one of the prisoners with whom I was
chatting. I only said, don't, but I very solemnly aimed
my gun at the most prominent part of his well filled uni-
form— and he didn't.

How the next day or two passed I hardly know. We
were constantly fighting on the skirmish line, but so worn
out, and hungry and sleepy that my recollection is a maze
of physical and mental misery. I can remember our
skirmish line lying in front of a battery in action to pro-
tect it against a charge of the enemy, when the premature
bursting of a shell from one of our guns tore open the head
of a comrade and spattered his brains over me. Then, too,
I remember coming across Dr. Shaffner one night at a
camp-fire, and his kind gift of a piece of cold corn-bread.
It was all he had to give, but it was a God-send to me. He
also took charge of an officer's belt and pistol I had cap-
tured some days before, and brought them home for me.

As we truged wearily along one morning, we were
startled by the sounds of a conflict in front of us. All our
fighting up to this time had been with the enemy on our
flanks and rear. We were hurried forward and just at
dawn we reached a little cross road village — Appomattox
Court House. We were deployed in skirmish line and
within half a mile came upon a strong force of the enemy,
drawn up in line of battle and supported by artillery. After
feeling their positiou, we were ordered back to the court
house. My old brigade, a few hundred strong, had just
come up and were wheeling into line as Gen. L,ee rode close
by us. He looked care-worn and haggard. The boys
broke out into their usual cheer of welcome, but his only
response was shading his face with his hat, and, bowing
his head almost to the mane of his old familiar gray horse,
Traveler, and I saw the tears trickle down his cheeks. It
was my last sight of our beloved and revered commander.

The line was ordered forward, and as we were deployed
on their left we could see the whole movement. It was
my fortune to witness several charges during the war, in-
cluding the famous third day's attack on the heights of
Gettysburg, but I never saw one so magificently executed
as this. Our men advanced as regularly as though on pa-
rade, and as the shells and grape shot ploughed through the
ranks, the files closed up without the slightest faltering.
Presently they broke into a double quick, and with the old
time yell, and an irresistable rush, they carried the enemy's
position, capturing several guns and a number of prisoners.
It was North Carolina's last oblation to the fame of the
Army of Northern Virginia. In the meantime, we on the
skirmish line became engaged with some dismounted cav-
alry. A man named Alfred Long, from Yadkin county,
and myself had gotten to a small house, and were firing
from the corner of it. I shot at three men who were cross-
ing a ditch on a rail, less than a hundred yards away. The
middle man dropped into the ditch, and I noticed his com-
panions draw him up and lay him on the bank, crossing
his hands and covering his face with his hat. Just at this
moment several balls whistled over us from our rear, and
turning round we saw five of the enemy's cavalry at the
yard fence, within fifty feet of us. Our skirmish line was
several hundred yards behind them, in full retreat, and
could no nothing but surrender. I bent my faithful gun
under the house, and narrowly escaped being shot by my
captors for the senseless act. After some cursing and par-
leying, however, they contented themselves with taking
my hat, and the good blanket I had captured a few days

before. Their moderation was due to the fact that noth-
ing else I had, seemed to them worth taking. One of them
conducted Long and myself to their advancing lines. We
passed by the poor fellow I had shot. His coat was torn
in the center of his breast and between his folded hands,
the frothy blood had welled up. I could not resist the im-
pulse, and gently raising his hat, I gazed on a boyish, beard-
less face, whose peaceful expression was marred only by the
stony stare of his widely open eyes. I have learned by
heart all the sophisms that prate of patriotism, fighting for
the rjght, defending homes and fire-sides, etc., etc., but will
a just God, who has commanded: "Thou shalt do no mur-
der," be satisfied with such empty platitudes?

On our way out we met Gen. Sheridan, who seemed to
me a coarse-featured, short-necked, chunky man, with re-
dundant length of arms, and riding a horse two or three
sizes too large for him. Long and myself were so tired
and worn out that we had to hang on to the saddle skirts
of our guard. Our strange appearance attracted the gen-
eral's attention and halting us, he asked me how many men
Gen. Lee had with him. I told him 70,000 or 80,000, and
he invited me to the bad place with a fluency and versa-
tility of expression that indicated a thorough acquaintance
with the resources of profanity. Everybody knows Sheri-
dan was a great soldier. I have since been told that he
was handsome. He may have been. I was a better
judge of cursing in those days than I was of good looks.
Just before we met Gen. Sheridan we noticed that firing
had ceased on the lines, and we could recognize Gen. Gor-
don, with another man carrying a white flag, riding toward

the little white house where we had been captured. There
Sheridan and Gordon met, and shortly afterward we were
informed that Gen. Lee had surrendered our army. L,ater
on I learned the advisibility of being civil to a darkey be-
hind a gun. We met a colored soldier and I foolishly re-
plied to some of his taunts, when without warning he lev-
eled his gun at my head. I remember looking into the
gun barrel and closing my eyes in expectation of immedi-
ate death. However, my guard spoilt his aim by cutting
his head open with his sabre and the charge went harm-
lessly over my shoulder.

We were kept prisoners for a week, and during that time
we had nothing given us to eat. Hampton's cavalry had
destroyed Grant's wagon trains, and our captors had not
enough for themselves. How we chewed roots, and bark
and buds, and sucked the inside of our grimy haversacks,
and skewered up our waist-bands, and drank water by the
gallon to lesson the aching void of hunger, is painful to re-
member, and prosy and monotanous to tell about. One
day a poor fellow prisoner, who felt himself dying, gave
me a couple of spare-ribs in return for some little attention I
had shown. I don't know how he had got them or how long
he had carried them. They were so soft they didn't need
chewing, and the most of the meat had stuck fast to the in-
side of his dirty haversack; but you may be sure I didn't
lose any of it on that account. Many of our friends who
had been paroled at Appomattox Court House, passed us
with pleasant greetings. One of them on horse-back over-
took Gen. Grimes, my division commander, and told him
I was a prisoner. Although he was on his way home he

rode three miles back to intercede for my release. It
availed nothing, but I shall never forget his kindness. I
grieved for a friend, indeed, when long after the war, the
ball of an ambushed assassin brought his gallant life to an
untimely close.

I will not weary you with an account of our return
home. We were paroled at Farmville, and begging food
by the way, sometimes welcomed — often repulsed, we
walked by slow stages on account of our weakness, to Clo-
ver Station on the R. and D. R. R., where we found a train
which carried us to Danville. Here we appropriated a con-
struction train, and standing on a flat car, rode to a burned
bridge, ten miles from Greensboro. Walking on, I reached
home the second morning thereafter. I had been mourned
for as dead. Some of my company had taken the descrip-
tion, given by a burying detail, of a young fellow resemb-
ling me, and marked his grave with a board on which they
carved my name. My welcome home can be imagined.

I had lost 38 pounds in three weeks, and was so emaci-
ated and filthy that my father at first failed to recognize
me. As I emerged from the nasty clothing I had worn
night and day for seven consecutive weeks, and enjoyed
the luxury of a waim bath, and donned clean garments,
and again sat in a chair and ate with a fork, and drank
water from a glass, and joined in the family prayers, and
slept in a bed, the glamour and illusions of the pomp and
pride, and circumstances of glorious war, were forever dis-
pelled. I certainly wasn't built for a soldier. I don't
want to impugn the veracity nor would I curtail the pleas-
ure of these old soldiers who speak and write so enthusias-

tically of the duty of patriotism, and the glory of war. But
must express my selfish regret that they so successfully
concealed their real feelings at the time. If any single one
among the thousands I saw felt at all happy or contented,
he failed utterly to show it. I know if I had been half so
badly scared as everybody around me looked, I never would
have stayed to go into a single battle.

Speaking for myself, I have few pleasant recollections of
the war? To my mind come only sad, and grim, and
gloomy memories: — the forms of my comrades and friends
hurried to an untimely death by disease and wounds; left a
prey to the birds of the air, and the beasts of the field — at
best hastily and unceremoniously shoveled into a shallow
trench; if haply surviving, maimed and crippled, and marred
in health and usefulness; the privations and sufferings
from fatigue and hunger, and heat and cold, and filth and
nakedness, in comfortless camp, on toilsome march, in
ruthless conflict, in loathsome hospital, in pitiless prison;
fields deserted, homesteads and towns pillaged and burned,
graves violated, sanctuaries defiled; Sabbaths desecrated; the
havoc and ruin, the wanton waste and destruction, the
merciless carnage; the unutterable agony of heart-rending
grief that hung like the smoke of torment over the tens of
thousands of bereaved and desolated homes. The abomi-
nation of desolation !

May justice and righteousness dwell in this land; may
mutual toleration and forbearance take the place of sec-
tional jealously and bitterness; may the God of love so com-
pletely fill the hearts and minds of this people, that the
God of battles can nevermore find room in their thoughts;
may the reign of the Prince of Peace speedily begin, and
and His dominion extend over all God's beautiful earth!

.23

0<A^/?

'.h-f^-C : ; ,

With this issue of the Booklet its present editors retire.
Before doing so, we desire to thank our friends for their
many kindnesses, without which we could not have made
the Booklet a success. The object with which the work
was undertaken, was to raise a sufficient amount of money,
that some appropriate memorial might be erected to the
memory of the patriotic women of the Edenton Tea Party,
held Oct. 25, 1774. As yet, the sum obtained from the
Booklets have been so small, and a substantial memorial
seems so far in the future, that we beg the Booklet itself,
maybe accepted, as a loving tribute, and memorial, until
something more enduring can be obtained. With us, the
work has been a labor of love. If by chance some of these
Booklets have fallen in the hands of any descendants of
these patriotic women, and their hearts have been quick-
ened with the glow of pride, in their heroic ancestresses,
and they feel that they too would like the privilege of con-
tributing to the memorial, we feel that our labor has not
been in vain.

The Booklet will be continued by Miss Mary Hilliard
Hinton, and we hope that the many kindnesses shown us,
will be extended to her.

Very truly,
Miss Martha Helen Haywood,
Mrs. Hubert Haywood,

Editors N. C. Booklet.

~fa%~ ****.&* /*2<7*r
F £ r / v

if \0PT^C>&l*C

Battles of Revolution fougbt in nortft Carolina.

, . Moores Creek Bridge, . . . . Feb'y 27th, 1776

, - Kamsour's Mill, June 20th, 1780

Pacolet Kiver, . . .... July 14th, 1780

Earles Ford, . . . . . . July 18th, 1780

Cane Creek, . . . . . . Sept. 12th, 1780

Wahab's Plantation in, sl/frph&HrJ . Sept. 21st, 1780

Charlotte . . . . . . Sept. 26th, 1780

Wilmington, . . . . : . . Feb'y 1st, 1781

Cowans Ford, Feb'y 1st, 1781

Torrence Tavern, . . . . . Feb'y 1st, 1781

Shallow Ford . . . . ... Feb'y 6th, 1781

Brace's Cross Roads, . ... . Feb'y 12th, 1781

Haw Eiver, . . . . . . Feb'y 25th, 1781

Clapp's Mill March 2nd, 1781

Whitsell's Mill, .. . . . , March 6th, 1781-

*- Guilford Court House, . . . . March 15th, 1781

Hillsboro, ...... April 25th. 1781

_Hillsboro, Sept. 13th, 1781

Sudleys Mill, (Cane Creek.) . .• " Sept. 13th, 1781

i2ui iw*^i> c) , -<&/ ft /?$

( ■ ■ ■

SfrlZ^i

Jr.e

/to-'^l

^7 ^2^-^- tr**- ^^

f*. : . /■/,, :~ ^-c ^Z f ^1^7 L^**<7

tfZc J^^ >

/cor. &/a^~<^ ^^y.^f2^

Oye^L

9^ z/^f ^^4i^^t--<:::^^/^-*-^^

/Y?3. <dks£5Zt£&to, & J4& <3fL*£~ ^ JC^_

/Iff. Ju^/r-6^^Z^ ^c£r&$

cp/&/o/ ffo-i*^ yh>-2^te*^£^t^/G>z*^^

<S'

DATE DUE

'HINTED IN U.S.A.

Internet Archive Audio

Featured

Top

Images

Featured

Top

Software

Featured

Top

Books

Featured

Top

Video

Featured

Top

Mobile Apps

Browser Extensions

Archive-It Subscription

Save Page Now

Full text of "The North Carolina booklet : great events in North Carolina history"

See other formats