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Tablet  and  stone  marking  site  of  Old  Town  of  Bloomsbury,  now 

Raleigh,  N.  C,  erected  by  Bloomsbury  Chapter  D.  R. 

Unveiled  April  26,  1911. 


Vol.  XI  JULY,  1911  No.  1 


"Bhe 


floRTH  CflROlilflfl  BoOKliET 


*^  Carolina!   Carolina!  Heaven' s  blessings  attend  her ! 
While  we  live  ive  will  cherish,  protect  and  defend  her. ' 


Published  by 

THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  SOCIETY 

DAUGHTERS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION 


The  object  of  the  Booklet  is  to  aid  in  developing  and  preserving  North 
Carolina  History.  The  proceeds  arising  from  its  publication  will  be  de- 
voted to  patriotic  purposea  Editor. 


ADVISORY  BOARD  OF  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

I\Irs  Hubert  Haywood.  Miss  Martha  Helen  Haywood. 

Mrs.  E.  E.  Moffitt.  Dr.  Richard  Dillakd. 

Mrs.  Spier  Whitaker.  Dr.  Kemp  P.  Battle. 

Mr.  R.  D.  W.  Connor.  Mr.  James  Sprunt. 

Dr.  D.  H.  Hill.  Mr.  Marshall  DeLancey  Haywood. 

Dr.  E.  W.  Sikes.  Chief  Justice  Walter  Clark. 

Mr.  W.  J.  Peele.  Major  W.  A.  Graham. 

Miss  Adelaide  L.  Fries.  Dr.  Charles  Lee  Smith. 

editor  : 
Miss  Mary  Hilliard  Hi n  ton. 


OFFICERS  OF  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  SOCIETY 
DAUGHTERS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION  1910-1912 

REGENT: 

Miss  MARY  HILLIARD  HIXTON. 

VICE-REGENT: 

Miss  DUNCAN  CAMERON  WINSTON. 

honorary   REGENTS: 

Mrs.  SPIER  WHITAKER. 
Mrs.  E.  E.  MOFFITT. 

RECORDING   SECRETARY: 

Mrs.  J.  LEIGH  SKINNER. 

CORRESPONDING   SECRETARY: 

Mrs.  PAUL  H.  LEE. 

TREASURER : 

Mrs.  frank  SHERWOOD. 

REGISTRAR : 

Mrs.  JOSEPH  CHESHIRE  WEBB,  Jr. 

GENEALOGIST  AND   HISTORIAN: 

Mrs.  HELEN  DeBERNIERE  WILLS. 

CUSTODIAN   OF    RELICS: 

Mrs.  JOHN  E.  RAY. 


CHAPTER  REGENTS 

Bloomsbury  Chapter Mrs.  Hubert  Hayw^ood,  Regent. 

Penelope  Barker  Chapter Mrs.  Patrick  Matthew,  Regent. 

Sir  Walter  Raleigh  Chapter, 

Miss  Catherine  F.  Seyton  Albertson,  Regent. 
DeGraffenried  Chapter Mrs.  Charles  Slover  Hollister,  Regent. 


Founder  of  the  North  Carolina  Society  and  Regent  1896-1902: 

Mrs.  spier  WHITAKER. 

Regent  1902: 

Mrs.  D.  H.  HILL,  Sr.* 

Regent  1902-1906: 

Mrs.  THOMAS  K.  BRUNER. 

Regent  1906-1910: 

Mrs.  E.  E.  MOFFITT. 


•Died  December  12,  1904. 


THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 


Vol.  XI  JULY,   1911  No.  1 

THE   NORTH   CAROLINA   UNION   MEN   OF 
EIGHTEEN  HUNDRED  AND  SIXTY=ONE 

by  major  wm.  a.  graham, 
(commissioner  of  agriculture.) 

That  only  those  who  favored  secession  or  entertained  the 
doctrine  of  absolute  State  sovereignty  and  desired  a  dissohi- 
tion  of  the  Union  were  true  and  loyal  Confederates  would  be 
a  gTcat  historical  error  and  injustice  to  two-thirds  of  the 
citizens  of  IN^orth  Carolina.  At  that  time  there  were  four 
political  tenets  in  the  United  States. 

First,  jSTullification.  That  a  State  was  sovereign  to  such 
a  degree  that  it  could  remain  in  the  Union  but  only  comply 
with  such  laws  as  it  approved,  paying  no  attention  to  or 
nullifying  the  laws  it  did  not  sanction.  This  was  Mr.  Cal- 
houn's idea,  and  in  accordance  with  it  he  desired  a  perpetua- 
tion of  the  Union. 

Second,  Secession.  That  a  State  had  voluntarily  entered 
the  Union,  reserving  the  right  to  withdraw  or  secede  at  its 
own  will,  especially  if  it  deemed  any  act  of  Congress  unjust 
to  its  citizens. 

These  opinions  were  held  respectively  by  the  two  wings  of 
the  original  Republican,  afterwards  the  Democratic  party. 
Mr.  Davis,  upon  his  withdrawal  from  the  United  States  Sen- 
ate in  December,  1860,  upon  the  secession  of  Mississippi,  in 
his  address  gives  as  clear  an  enunciation  of  each  of  these  ideas 
as  I  have  seen.     He  endorsed  secession  but  not  nullification. 

Third.  That  when  a  State  entered  the  Union  by  adopting 
the  Federal  Constitution^  it  did  not  reserve  the  right  of  se- 


4  THE    XOKTII    CAROLINA    BOOKLET, 

cession  at  will,  but  consented  to  look  for  the  preservation  of 
its  rights  to  the  means  and  authority  provided  by  the  Con- 
stitution and  laws  made  in  conformity  thereto ;  there  was 
still  the  inherent  right  of  revolution  when  these  means  were 
denied  or  failed  to  protect  the  rights  or  property  of  a  State 
or  of  any  of  its  citizens,  but  it  was  the  duty  of  a  State  and 
in  accordance  with  its  agreement  to  exhaust  the  means  pro- 
vided by  the  government  for  redress  of  grievances  before 
resorting  to  revolution  or  withdrawal  from  the  Union.  This 
was  the  tenet  of  the  Whigs,  and  of  its  successor,  the  Consti- 
tutional Union  party  in  1860,  and  it  was  held  at  that  time 
by  a  large  majority  of  the  voters  of  the  State. 

Fourth.  That  the  States  bore  about  the  same  relation  to 
the  general  government  that  counties  bore  to  a  State.  This 
was  the  opinion  of  the  extreme  Federalist  in  his  day  and  of 
the  extreme  Republican  of  today. 

George  Fisher,  in  his  books  published  several  years  since 
''Men,  Women  and  Manners  of  Colonial  Times,"  gives  a 
history  of  the  people  who  settled  the  respective  colonies. 
Those  who  settled  Massachusetts  he  denominates  the  Puritan ; 
those  in  Virginia  the  Cavalier.  These  are  really  the  types 
of  the  iSTorthern  and  Southern  people,  and  the  student  can 
discover  the  difference  in  character  and  temperament  in  their 
descendants  to  this  day. 

The  Cavalier  settled  generally  in  the  country  upon  a 
plantation  and  had  no  connection  with  his  neighbors'  affairs 
except  as  they  related  to  public  matters,  local.  State  or  ISTa- 
tional. 

The  Puritan  settled  in  the  village  or  hamlet,  and  inter- 
ested himself  in  all  his  neighbors'  business ;  was  much  con- 
cerned as  to  how  he  bemeaned  himself  or  governed  his  family. 
This  ofRciousness  it  was  desired  to  extend  to  the  county,  the 
State  and  the  Nation.  To  this  may  be  added  the  advocates 
of  a  "higher  law"  that  no  matter  what  might  have  been  the 


THE    NORTH    CAROLINA    UNION    MEN    OF    1861.  5 

agreement  in  the  past,  if  at  any  time  one's  conscience  tells 
him  the  agreement  is  wrong,  he  can  violate  or  repudiate  it. 
This  was  the  school  of  Wm.  IT.  Seward,  and  might  be  justly 
entitled  nullification  by  the  individual.  There  was  none  of 
this  in  the  South. 

That  slavery  was  recognized  in  the  Federal  Constitution  is 
evident.  A  time  was  fixed  for  importation  of  slaves  to  cease. 
Provision  was  made  for  the  return  of  fugitive  slaves,  and  for 
reckoning  slaves  in  the  enumeration  upon  which  Congressional 
representation  was  based.  Any  interference  was  a  violation 
of  the  compact  of  the  Constitution. 

The  Republican  party  favored  the  abolition  of  slavery, 
although  its  supporters  differed  in  the  manner  in  which  it 
should  be  accomplished. 

With  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln  to  the  Presidency  and 
the  triumph  of  the  Republican  party,  matters  came  to  a 
crisis.  Some  thought  it  was  useless  to  longer  continue  in  the 
Union,  and  that  the  slave  States  should  withdraw ;  others 
that  they  should  not  do  so  until  there  was  some  overt  act 
upon  his  part,  Avhile  others  had  long  desired  a  separation  and 
hailed  its  apparent  coming  with  demonstrations  of  joy  and 
approval. 

South  Carolina  seceded  in  December,  1860,  and  was  fol- 
lowed within  a  month  by  seven  other  States.  The  proper 
course  for  North  Carolina  to  pursue  was  much  discussed  in 
public  meetings  and  in  the  Legislature,  with  warmth,  vehem- 
ence and  acrimony.  An  act  was  passed  submitting  the  ques- 
tion of  calling  a  convention  to  consider  the  question  and 
determine  the  course  the  State  would  pursue,  to  the  people, 
at  an  election  to  be  held  February  27,  1861.  Before  this, 
however,  delegates  in  behalf  of  peace  had  been  sent  to  a 
National  Peace  Conference  at  Washington,  D.  C,  and  to  the 
Provisional  Confederate  Government  at  Montgomery,  Ala. 

In  the  presidential  campaign  in   1860  the  rights  of  the 


b  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 

States  was  ably  and  fully  discussed  in  all  phases.  In  the 
Convention  camjjaign  only  the  desirability  and  advisability 
of  secession  or  the  contrary  action  were  considered. 

The  student  who  will  examine  the  history  of  the  canvass 
preceding  this  election,  as  recorded  in  the  press  of  that 
period,  will  see  that  upon  one  side  it  was  urged  that  there 
was  no  use  of  delay,  the  State  should  at  once  unite  with  the 
States  that  had  seceded.  There  would  be  no  war ;  the  States 
had  a  right  to  secede,  and  union  w^as  no  longer  either  de- 
sirable or  advantageous.  Others  said  they  could  wipe  up  all 
the  blood  that  would  be  spilt  with  a  j^ocket  handkerchief. 
Foreign  nations  would  at  once  recognize  us,  as  they  could 
not  do  without  our  cotton  and  would  naturally  desire  to  see 
the  United  States  divided.  Those  who  held  opposite  views 
were  criticised  in  the  harshest  terms  as  untrue  to  the  South, 
submissionists,  abolitionists,  etc.  Men  who  had  never  owned 
a  negro  called  men  who  owned  hundreds,  and  one-half  of 
whose  property  was  of  this  class,  abolitionists,  on  account  of 
their  devotion  to  the  Union.  The  denunciation  of  carpet- 
baggers and  scalawags  in  reconstruction  times  did  not  much 
exceed  the  abuse  to  which  these  were  subjected,  and  in  spite 
of  which  they  stood  for  the  right  as  they  saw  and  dared 
maintain  it.  Many  of  these  Union  men  afterwards  entered 
the  Confederate  army  and  gave  their  lives  to  uphold  the 
cause,  while  many  of  their  calumniators,  like  Job's  war 
horse,  "snuffed  the  battle  from  afar,"  and  when  the  time  for 
action  came,  through  sickness  (frequently  feigned),  or  polit- 
ical favoritism,  kept  his  carcass  out  of  the  reach  of  Yankee 
bullets,  the  abuse  of  their  neighbors  being  the  only  active 
service   they   rendered.     The   opponents   of   secession   said : 

(1)  If  slavery  was  the  object  it  would  be  destroyed  by 
secession,  if  that  failed. 

(2)  If  secession  was  successful,  the  border  States  would 
soon  become  free ;  the  easy  manner  of  escape,  the  care  and 


THE    NORTH    CAROLINA    UNION    MEN    OF    1861.  7 

expense  to  prevent  it^  and  the  impossibility  to  recover  a 
fugitive  slave  would  make  this  class  of  property  undesirable. 
When  a  State  became  free  it  would  naturally  unite  with  the 
Northern  government ;  we  would  have  new  border  States  that 
would  go  through  the  same  process  to  freedom. 

(3)  That  although  Mr.  Lincoln  was  President  he  could 
only  execute  the  laws  which  Congi'ess  enacted,  and  so  long 
as  we  had  six  Senators  from  the  ISTorthern  States  favorable 
to  us,  there  could  be  no  unfavorable  legislation ;  that  he  could 
not  appoint  objectionable  persons  to  office  as  judge,  etc.,  or 
even  members  of  his  Cabinet,  as  the  Senate  would  refuse  to 
confirm  their  appointment. 

(4)  The  Supreme  Court,  who  held  office  for  life  and 
passed  upon  the  constitutionality  of  all  laws,  was  unani- 
mously opposed  to  Republican  ideas,  and  a  majority  in  its 
favor  was  hardly  probable  in  twenty-five  years,  while  a  new 
President  would  be  elected  in  four.  Mr.  Lincoln  had  lacked 
nearly  900,000  votes  of  a  majority  of  the  popular  vote;  he 
had  been  elected  on  account  of  the  division  of  his  opponents, 
which  would  not  probably  occur  to  such  an  extent  again,  and 
the  next  President  would  be  favorable  to  the  Constitution. 

(6)  It  was  said  the  Confederate  States  Constitution  was 
almost  identical  with  that  of  the  United  States ;  then  there 
was  no  need  for  another  nation. 

(7)  That  the  seceding  States  could  not  be  cut  off  or  dis- 
membered from  the  rest  of  the  country  and  transported  else- 
where, but  must  remain  attached  to  it.  That  if  the  Con- 
federacy was  established  there  could  be  no  Chinese  wall  be- 
tween it  and  the  JSTorth.  Self-interest  in  trade  and  defense 
would  render  it  necessary  to  have  the  most  friendly  relations, 
consequently  it  was  best  to  be  one  nation. 

(8)  As  to  the  Yankees  not  fighting,  history  proved  the 
contrary.  The  men  of  the  Northwest  particularly  were  bone 
of  our  bone  and  flesh  of  our  flesh,  and  we  might  expect  a 
long  and  bloody  war. 


8  THE  NOKTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 

Many  of  the  people  of  North  Carolina  loved  the  Union, 
whose  independence  had  been  won  by  the  lives  and  sacrifices 
of  their  ancestors.  The  older  men  were  the  sons,  and  the 
middle  aged  and  younger  men  the  grandsons  of  those  who 
served  in  the  Revolutionary  war.  The  old  men  had  received 
the  account  direct  from  their  fathers,  the  actors ;  they  told  it 
to  their  children.  This  kept  alive  a  warm  attachment  to 
and  admiration  of  their  country,  and  they  were  unwilling  to 
aid  in  its  dismemberment  or  destruction. 

My  father,  as  his  sons  each  became  old  enough  to  under- 
stand, told  him  of  his  father's  service  in  the  Revolutionary 
War ;  how  near  Charlotte  he  was  left  for  dead  on  the  field 
of  battle,  with  three  balls  and  six  sabre  wounds ;  how  he  re- 
covered, returned  to  service  and  ''whipped  the  British."  His 
sons  regarded  this  as  their  country  whose  independence  was 
won  by  the  blood  of  their  grandsire. 

The  most  glorious  chapters  in  the  history  of  the  Union 
were  those  which  recorded  the  results  of  acts  of  Southern 
men ;  then  why  surrender  to  the  disloyal  men  of  the  North  a 
country  whose  independence  the  South  had  helped  to  win  and 
whose  position  among  the  nations  had  been  achieved  by  the 
direction  of  Southern  men,  many  of  whom  were  living  at  that 
time  and  prominent  in  national  affairs. 

The  election  resulted  in  the  choosing  of  two-thirds  of  the 
delegates  who  were  opposed  to  separation  at  that  time,  and 
the  call  for  a  convention  was  defeated  by  a  few  hundred 
votes.  Many  who  did  not  favor  separation  thought  it  well  to 
have  a  convention  in  readiness  for  action,  and  so  voted. 
The  vote  of  Davie  County  decided  the  matter,  the  vote  being 
otherwise  about  a  tie.  For  some  reason,  Davie  was  a  week 
late  in  making  return  of  its  vote. 

The  matter  of  secession,  as  far  as  North  Carolina  was  con- 
cerned, was  thought  to  be  settled  for  a  time,  and  it  was  hoped 
that  the  trouble  could  be  averted  without  war.     Mr.  Seward, 


THE    ]VOKTH    CAROLINA    UNION    MEN    OF    1861.  9 

who  was  to  be  Secretary  of  State,  had  assured  Judge  Camp- 
bell of  the  U.  S.  Supreme  Court,  that  no  attempt  would  be 
made  to  reinforce  Fort  Sumter,  and  it  was  not  thought  that 
South  Carolina  would  begin  hostilities  if  this  was  not  done. 

But  there  was  much  uneasiness  and  unrest.  Union  men 
began  to  lose  hope  of  reconciliation  and  declared  for  action. 
Those  who  had  confidence  in  certain  leading  citizens  seemed 
content  to  leave  the  matter  to  them  for  decision,  and  to  act 
as  they  would  indicate  seemed  best.  The  preacher  in  Ala- 
mance who  told  his  congregation  that  ''they  were  in  times  of 
darkness  and  trouble,  it  was  hard  to  decide  what  Avas  best ; 
he  could  only  commend  his  example  to  them,  that  he  got  his 
religion  from  the  Bible  and  his  politics  from  Governor 
Graham,"  was  not  an  isolated  case. 

During  a  discussion  in  which  disunion  was  a  topic  in  1841, 
Henry  Clay,  passing  the  desk  of  Governor  Graham,  at  that 
time  a  U.  S.  Senator  from  North  Carolina,  stopped  and  re- 
marked: "There  are  four  States  in  this  Union  which  in  its 
conformation  bear  to  it  about  the  same  position  that  the 
heart  does  to  the  human  body ;  as  long  as  they  are  quiet  and 
contented  there  is  no  danger  of  disunion,  but  if  they  shall 
become  dissatisfied  and  restless,  trouble  will  not  be  far  off ; 
these  States  are  Virginia,  Xorth  Carolina,  Tennessee  and 
Kentucky."     These  Avere  indeed  prophetic  words. 

When  Lincoln  was  inaugurated,  matters  began  to  assume 
a  different  aspect ;  while  his  messages  might  be  satisfactory, 
yet  his  acts  and  sayings  indicated  that  war  was  near.  An 
attempt  was  to  be  made  to  reinforce  Fort  Sumter;  South 
Carolina  anticipated  this  and  captured  the  fort.  Mr.  Lin- 
coln called  for  75,000  men  to  restore  United  States  authority. 

There  was  no  longer  any  question  as  to  what  could  be  done 
to  avert  war,  "War  was  here,  and  the  only  question  was, 
Which  side  will  you  take  in  the  fight  ? 

Many  of  the  E^orthern  States  had  passed  laws  forbidding 


10  THE    xVORTH    CAROLINA    BOOKLET. 

the  use  of  their  jails  and  prisous  to  United  States  marshals 
to  hold  fugitive  slaves ;  this,  as  far  as  possible,  left  him  to 
mob  violence  and  nullified  the  law  as  much  as  South  Carolina 
had  done  the  tariff  act. 

Mr.  Lincoln,  in  his  canvass  for  the  United  States  Senate 
against  Stephen  A.  Douglas  in  1858,  had  said  that  this  gov- 
ernment could  not  exist  half  slave  and  half  free,  and  must  be 
all  one  or  the  other.  He  would,  if  elected,  have  to  take  the 
oath  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States ;  this 
indicated  he  would  not  obey  this  oath,  and  some  said  they 
would  as  well  have  used  a  spelling  book  as  a  Bible  when  ad- 
ministering the  oath  as  President. 

All  the  States  to  the  South  had  seceded;  Virginia  on  the 
north  and  Tennessee  on  the  west  were  going;  was  there  any- 
thing left  for  Xorth  Carolina  to  contend  for  or  hope  for  in 
the  Union  ? 

The  question  had  long  been  determined  by  the  Union  men 
of  North  Carolina.  Nine-tenths  of  them  cast  in  their  lots 
with  the  South.  "Blood  is  thicker  than  water."  Here  was 
his  home,  his  kindred,  his  interests,  and  having  done  all  he 
could  to  prevent  disunion,  the  North  had  spurned  his  efforts, 
and  now  he  desired  to  be  rid  of  them.  A  convention  was 
called  which,  on  May  20th,  unanimously  adopted  the  ordi- 
nance of  secession,  but  not  until  the  Union  men,  who  consti- 
tuted more  than  one-third  of  its  members,  had  entered  upon 
the  journal  their  vote  for  a  measure  prepared  by  Judge 
Badger,  exj)ressing  their  views  as  to  the  manner  in  which 
separation  should  be  accomplished.  This  failing  to  be  adopt- 
ed, they  voted  for  and  signed  the  ordinance  of  secession. 
Some  few  good  men  in  the  State  never  yielded  their  allegiance 
to  the  Union,  but  were  loyal  to  the  end.  With  these  few 
exceptions,  men  of  all  parties  gave  their  allegiance  to  the 
Confederacy.  The  Secessionist  and  the  Union  Man,  the 
Whig  and  the  Democrat,  stood  side  by  side  and  shoulder  to 


THE    NORTH    CAROLINA    UNION    MEN    OF    1861.  11 

shoulder  in  all  the  hardships,  suffering  and  death,  and  those 
who  survived  accepted  together  the  results.  The  Union  man 
did  not  criminate  the  Secessionists  for  unnecessarily  begin- 
ning the  conflict,  for  he  knew,  although  late  in  entering  the 
fight,  he  had  done  his  best  to  make  it  a  success,  and  that  he 
was  in  no  wise  to  blame  that  the  independence  of  the  Con- 
federacy had  not  been  gained.  There  was  no  sycophant  cry 
that  "the  Secessionists  tempted  me  and  I  did  fight,"  but 
knowingly  and  willingly  he  entered  into  the  contest  and  never 
regretted  his  action  or  made  apology  for  so  doing.  In  the 
days  of  vengeance  he  asked  to  have  his  share  handed  to  him. 

Furthermore,  at  the  close  of  the  war  the  term  "Union 
man"  was  adopted  by  almost  every  man  who  was  guilty  of 
any  kind  of  disgraceful  misconduct,  and  it  became  synony- 
mous with  rascality  of  all  descriptions.  The  Union  men  of 
1860  had  no  lot  or  part  with  such  cattle,  and  refused  to  be 
recognized  by  a  common  name  with  them  or  to  plead  his 
efforts  in  1860  and  '61  in  exemption  from  the  outrages  heaped 
upon  us  by  the  ISTational  Government. 

I  have  called  your  attention  to  this  item  in  the  history  of 
the  State  in  order  that  you  may  elucidate  and  preserve  it. 
Many  a  gallant  Tar  Heel  has  always  maintained  that  he  did 
not  fight  the  United  States  flag,  but  the  man  who  was  carry- 
ing it  and  endeavoring  to  use  it  to  overturn  the  principles 
in  support  of  which  it  gained  a  place  among  the  ensigns  of 
the  nations. 

These  Union  men,  whether  jSTorth  or  South,  were  the  only 
truly  loyal  men  in  the  Nation  in  1860.  The  Secessionists 
of  the  South  desired  and  advocated  a  division. 

The  Republican  of  the  North  endeavored  to  carry  out  his 
individual  opinions,  regardless  of  his  constitutional  obliga- 
tions, maintaining  there  was  a  "higher  law"  than  the  Consti- 
tution, which  being  interpreted  was  the  right  to  do  as  you 
pleased  and  make  others  do  so  too. 


12  THE    XOKTII    CAROLINA    BOOKLET. 

The  TJnion  man  said,  I  will  stand  by  the  Union  as  long  as 
the  obligations  under  which  it  was  formed  are  observed. 

The  following  is  an  account  of  a  political  meeting  held  in 
Hillsboro  on  December  26,  1860,  and  of  the  resolutions 
adopted.  These  resolutions  were  also  adopted  by  many  other 
meetings  held  in  the  State  at  this  time. 

MASS-MEETIKG   IN    HILLSBORO. 

In  pursuance  to  an  adjourned  meeting,  a  large  portion  of  the  citi- 
zens of  Orange  County  met  at  the  court-house  in  this  place,  and  the 
meeting  was  called  to  order  by  the  Chairman,  Wm.  H.  Brown,  who  in  a 
few  patriotic  remarks  explained  the  object  which  called  vis  together  for 
the  second  time. 

The  Secretary  read  the  proceedings  of  the  meeting  of  the  15th  inst., 
and  the  Chairman,  the  Hon.  Wm.  A.  Graham,  of  the  Committee  of  Ten, 
reported  the  following  resolutions: 

The  excited  condition  of  the  public  mind,  occasioned  by  the  result  of 
the  recent  Presidential  election,  requiring  in  the  opinion  of  the  citizens 
of  Orange  here  assembled,  a  declaration  of  the  sentiments  of  the  people 
in  relation  to  the  course  proper  to  be  pursued  in  the  present  critical 
condition  of  our  Xational  affairs,  it  is  therefore : 

1.  Resolved,  That  the  measures  in  the  course  of  adoption  in  certain 
States  of  the  Union,  since  the  election  of  Abraham  Lincoln  to  the 
office  of  President  of  the  United  States,  presents  for  the  determination 
of  the  people  of  North  Carolina  the  grave  question,  whether,  so  far  as 
they  are  concerned,  the  Government  established  by  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States  shall  be  permitted  to  continue  in  operation,  or 
whether  it  shall  be  overthrown  and  annulled,  leaving  to  an  uncertain 
future  the  provision  of  new  guards  for  all  the  great  interests  that  Gov- 
ernment was  designed  to  secure. 

2.  Resolved,  That  while  regretting  the  decision  made  in  this  election, 
in  common  with  the  people  of  all  the  Southern  States,  because  of  the 
sectional,  and  towards  us,  hostile  spirit  of  the  political  organization 
which  nominated  and  elected  the  successful  candidate;  and  whilst  we 
shall  vigilantly  observe  his  course  of  administration,  and  shall  be 
prompt  to  make  resistance  to  encroachments,  if  any  shall  be  attempted 
by  him,  on  the  rights  and  interests  of  slavery  as  an  established  insti- 
tution of  the  Southern  States,  protected  by  the  Constitution  of  the 
Union,  we  perceive  in  the  fact  of  his  election  no  sufficient  cause  for  the 
subversion  and  abandonment  of  the  Government  of  our  fathers,  under 
which,  in  but  two  generations  of  men,  the  country  has  obtained  a 
prosperity  and  power  unsurpassed  among  the  nations  of  the  earth. 


THE    ]N^ORTH    CAROLINA    UXIOX    MEX    OF    1861.  13 

3.  Resolved,  That  we  are  not  insensible  to  the  encouragement  given 
to  the  hostile  feeling  of  the  North  against  slavery  in  the  Southern 
States,  by  the  result  of  this  election,  but  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  is  a  practical  Government,  of  but 
limited  powers ;  that  the  President  is  not  the  Sovereign  but  the  servant 
of  the  Eepublic,  with  authorities  defined  and  restricted  by  the  Consti- 
tution and  laws,  liable  to  be  cheeked  and  restrained  within  hig  legiti- 
mate powers  by  Congress  and  by  the  Judiciary;  that  Mr.  Lincoln  was 
elected  by  but  a  plurality  of  votes,  in  consequence  of  divisions  among 
the  conservative  voters  arrayed  against  him — the  majority  against 
him  in  the  whole  popular  vote  being  nearly  nine  hundred  thousand. 
And  when  add  to  this  that  he  will  enter  into  oiBce  with  a  majority  of 
both  Houses  of  Congress  opposed  to  him,  and  will  not  be  able  to 
appoint  even  his  Cabinet  counsellors  without  the  aid  of  a  conservative 
Senate,  there  is  but  a  remote  probability  of  a  successful  encroachment 
on  our  rights  during  the  limited  period  of  his  administration,  if  there 
shall  be  the  disposition  to  attempt  it. 

4.  Resolved,  That  the  enactment  of  laws  in  many  of  the  non-slave- 
holding  States,  intended  to  obstruct  the  execution  of  the  law  of  Con- 
gress, for  the  arrest  and  surrender  of  fugitive  slaves,  is  in  plain  and 
palpable  violation  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  the 
repeal  of  those  laws  is  demanded  as  a  duty  of  justice  and  submission 
to  the  Constitution  on  the  part  of  those  States,  and  as  indispensable 
to  fviture  union. 

5.  Resolved,  That  waiving  the  constitutional  question  of  the  jjower 
of  a  State  to  secede  from  the  Union,  such  act  of  secession,  if  effected 
peacably,  is  not  an  appropriate  and  adequate  remedy  for  the  injuries 
under  which  the  Southern  States  are  now  laboring.  To  depart  from 
the  Union,  leaving  behind  in  the  hands  of  her  supposed  enemies  all  her 
interests  in  the  national  accumulations  of  eighty  years,  in  which  she 
had  proportional  rights,  would  be  a  sacrifice  on  the  part  of  a  State, 
except  under  the  pressure  of  overruling  necessity,  as  incompatible  with 
her  dignity  as  her   interests. 

6.  Resolved,  That  we  recognize  in  its  full  extent  the  right  of  re- 
sistance by  force,  to  unauthorized  injustice  and  oppression,  and  if  the 
incoming  administration  shall  pervert  the  powers  of  the  Government 
to  destroy  or  otherwise  unlawfully  interfere  with  the  rights  of  slavery, 
none  will  be  more  ready  than  ourselves  to  recur  to  this  extreme  remedy; 
but  in  adopting  measures  on  a  subject  of  such  vital  interest  to  fifteen 
States  of  the  Confederacy,  we  should  deem  it  but  just  and  wise  to  act 
if  possible,  in  concert,  and  after  consultation  with  the  other  slave- 
holding  States,  and  more  especially  with  the  frontier  States  6f  Mary- 
land, Virginia,  Kentucky  and  Missouri,  which  are  the  greatest  sufferers 
from  existing  grievances,   and   stand   as  a  barrier  between  the  rest  of 


1-i  THE  NORTH  CAKOLINA  BOOKLET. 

the  Southern  States  and  the  enemies  of  their  peace  and  safety  beyond 
that  frontier. 

7.  Resolved,  That  reasonable  time  should  be  allowed,  and  all  remedies 
consistent  with  the  continuance  of  the  Union,  should  be  exhausted 
before  an  abandonment  of  that  Constitution  established  by  Washington 
and  its  compatriots,  which  in  its  general  operation  has  been  the  source 
of  blessings   innumerable  to  the  American  people. 

S.  Resolved,  That  it  is  recommended  to  the  Legislature  to  make 
appropriations  for  the  purchase  of  such  supplies  of  arms  as  may  be 
necessary  as  a  preparation  for  any  emergency  that  may  arise. 

9.  Resolved,  That  the  foregoing  resolutions  be  published  in  the  Hills- 
borough papers,  and  transmitted  to  tlie  representatives  from  this  county, 
to  be  laid  before  the  General  Assembly. 

John  W.  Norwood,  Esq.,  offered  the  following  as  an  amendment: 

Resolved,  That  we  recommend  to  the  present  Legislature  to  provide 
for  calling  a  Convention  of  the  people,  to  take  into  consideration  the 
alarming  state  of  public  affairs,  and  determine  for  North  Carolina  the 
time,  mode  and  measure  of  redress  for  existing  wrongs. 

The  question  being  taken  upon  Mr.  Norwood's  resolution,  it  was 
rejected. 

No  objections  were  made  to  the  resolutions  as  reported  by  the  com- 
mittee, and  they  were  passed  by  a  large  majority. 

Wm.  H.  Brown, 

Dennis  Heartt,  Chairman. 

C.  E.  Parish, 

Secretaries. 

]Sr.  B. — Governor  Graham  was  the  acknowledged  leader  of 
the  Whigs  or  Union  men.  The  topics  in  the  accounts  of  the 
opinion  of  the  Whigs  in  the  above  paper  are  taken  from  the 
address  which  was  made  to  the  people  in  the  convention  cam- 
paign in  February,  1861. 

*     *     * 

The  paper  which  was  presented  to  the  Secession  Conven- 
tion, May  20,  1861,  by  Hon.  George  E.  Badger: 

AN    ORDINANCE    DECLARING     THE     SEPARATION     OP    NORTH     CAROLINA    FROM 
THE    UNITED    STATES   OF   AMERICA. 

Whereas,  Abraham  Lincoln,  of  Illinois,  and  Hannibal  Hamlin,  of 
Maine,  were  chosen  President  and  Vice-President  of  the  United  States 
by  a  party  in  fact  and  avowedly  entirely  sectional  in  its  organization, 
and  hostile  in  its  declared  principles  to  the  institutions  of  the  South- 
ern States  of  the   Union,   and  thereupon,   certain   Southern   States   did 


THE    NOKTH    CAROLINA    UNION    MEN    OF    1861.  15 

separate  themselves  from  the  Union,  and  form  another  and  independent 
government,  under  the  name  of  "'The  Confederate  States  of  America"; 
and, 

Whereas,  The  people  of  North  Carolina,  though  jvistly  aggrieved  by 
the  evident  tendency  of  this  election,  and  of  these  principles,  did,  never- 
theless, abstain  from  adopting  any  such  measure  of  separation,  and 
on  the  contrary,  influenced  by  an  ardent  attachment  to  the  Union  and 
Constitution  which  their  fathers  had  transmitted  to  them,  did  remain 
in  the  said  Union,  loyally  discharging  all  their  duties  under  the  Con- 
stitution, in  the  hope  that  what  was  threatening  in  public  aft'airs  might 
yield  to  the  united  efforts  of  patriotic  men  from  everj'  part  of  the 
Nation,  and  by  these  eft"orts  such  guarantees  for  the  security  of  our 
rights  might  be  obtained  as  should  restore  confidence,  renew  alienated 
ties,  and  finally  reunite  all  the  States  in  a  common  bond  of  fraternal 
union;  meantime  cheerfully  and  faithfully  exerting  whatever  influence 
they  possessed  for  the  accomplishment  of  this  most  desirable  end;  and, 

Whereas,  Things  being  in  this  condition,  and  the  people  of  this 
State  indulging  this  hope,  the  said  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the 
United  States,  did,  on  the  16th  day  of  April,  by  his  proclamation,  call 
upon  the  States  of  the  Union  to  furnish  large  bodies  of  troops  to  enable 
him,  under  the  false  pretense  of  executing  the  laws,  to  march  an  army 
into  the  seceded  States  with  a  view  to  their  subjection  under  an  arbi- 
trary military  authority,  there  being  no  law  of  Congress  authorizing 
such  calling  out  of  troops,  and  no  constitutional  right  to  use  them,  if 
called  out,  for  the  purpose  intended  by  him ;   and, 

Whereas,  This  call  for  troops  has  been  answered  throughout  the 
northern,  northwestern  and  middle  non-slaveholding  States  with  en- 
thusiastic readiness,  and  it  is  evident  from  the  tone  of  the  entire  press 
of  those  States,  and  the  open  avowal  of  their  public  men,  that  it  is  the 
fixed  purpose  of  the  Government  and  people  of  those  States  to  wage  a 
cruel  war  against  the  seceded  States,  to  destroy  utterly  the  fairest 
portion  of  this  continent,  and  reduce  its  inhabitants  to  absolute  sub- 
jection and  abject  slavery;   and. 

Whereas,  In  aid  of  these  detestable  plans  and  wicked  measures,  the 
said  Lincoln,  without  any  shadow  of  rightful  authority,  and  in  plain 
violation  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  has,  by  other  procla- 
mations, declared  the  ports  of  North  Carolina,  as  well  as  all  the  other 
Atlantic  and  Gulf  States  under  blockade,  thus  seeking  to  cut  off"  our 
trade  with  all  parts  of  the  world;   and. 

Whereas,  Since  his  accession  to  power,  the  whole  conduct  of  the  said 
Lincoln  has  been  marked  by  a  succession  of  false,  disingenuous  and 
treacherous  acts  and  declarations,  proving  incontestably  that 'he  is,  at 
least  in  his  dealings  with  Southern  States  and  Southern  men,  void  of 
faith  and  honor;   and. 


10  THE    XOETII    CAEOLINA    BOOKLET. 

Whereas,  He  is  now  governing  by  military  rule  alone,  enlarging  by 
new  enlistments  of  men  both  the  military  and  naval  force,  without 
any  authority  of  law,  having  set  aside  all  constitutional  and  legal  re- 
straints, and  made  all  constitutional  and  legal  rights  dependent  upon 
his  mere  pleasure,  and  that  of  his  military  subordinates;    and. 

Whereas,  All  his  unconstitutional,  illegal  and  oppressive  acts,  all  his 
wicked  and  diabolical  purposes,  and,  in  his  present  position  of  usurper 
and  military  dictator,  he  has  been  and  is  encouraged  and  supported  by 
the  great  body  of  the  people  of  the  non-slaveholding  States : 

Therefore,  This  Convention,  now  here  assembled,  in  the  name  and 
with  the  sovereign  power  of  the  people  of  North  Carolina,  doth,  for  the 
reasons  aforesaid,  and  others,  and  in  order  to  preserve  the  undoubted 
rights  and  liberties  of  the  said  people,  hereby  declare  all  connection  of 
government  between  this  State  and  the  United  States  of  America  dis- 
solved and  abrogated,  and  this  State  to  be  a  free,  sovereign  and  inde- 
pendent State,  owing  no  subordination,  obedience,  support  or  other  duty 
to  the  said  United  States,  their  Constitution,  or  authorities,  anything 
in  her  ratification  of  said  Constitution,  or  of  any  amendment  or  amend- 
ments thereto  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding;  and  having  full  power 
to  levy  war,  conclude  peace,  contract  alliances,  and  to  do  all  other  acts 
and  things  which  independent  States  may  of  right  do:  and  appealing 
to  the  Supreme  Governor  of  the  world  for  the  justice  of  the  cause  and 
beseeching  Him  for  His  gracious  help  and  blessing,  we  will,  to  the 
uttermost  of  our  power,  and  to  the  last  extremity,  maintain,  defend 
and  uphold  this  declaration. 

Mr.  Craige  offered  the  following  as  a  substitute  for  the 
foregoing,  which  was  adopted,  ayes  72,  noes  40 : 

AN  ORDINANCE  DISSOLVING  THE  UNION  BETWEEN  THE  STATE  OF  NORTH 
CAROLINA  AND  THE  OTHER  STATES  UNITED  WaTH  HER  UNDER  THE 
COMPACT  OP  GOVERNMENT,  ENTITLED,  "THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE 
UNITED    STATES." 

We,  the  people  of  the  State  of  North  Carolina  in  Convention  assem- 
bled, do  declare  and  ordain,  and  it  is  hereby  declared  and  ordained: 

That  the  ordinance  adopted  by  the  State  of  North  Carolina  in  the 
Convention  of  1789,  whereby  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  was 
ratified  and  adopted;  and  also  all  acts  and  parts  of  acts  of  the  General 
Assembly,  ratifying  and  adopting  amendments  to  the  said  Constitution, 
are  hereby  repealed,  rescinded  and  abrogated. 

We  do  further  declare  and  ordain,  that  the  union  now  subsisting 
between  the  State  of  North  Carolina  and  the  other  States,  under  the 
title  of  "The  United  States  of  America,"  is  hereby  dissolved,  and  that 
the  State  of  North  Carolina  is  in  full  possession  and  exercise  of  all 
those  rights  of  sovereignty  which  belong  and  appertain  to  a  free  and 
independent  State. 


SOME    EABLY    PHYSICIANS    OF    THE    ALBEMARLE.  17 

SOME  EARLY  PHYSICIANS  OF  THE  ALBEMARLE 

BY  KICHABD  DILLARD,   M.D. 

At  a  vote  taken  by  the  Immortals  of  the  French  Academy 
some  time  ago,  to  determine  the  order  in  which  the  gTeat  men 
of  France  should  be  named,  Louis  Pasteur  outranked  Na- 
poleon Bonaparte.  It  was  decided  that  a  man  who  minis- 
tered to  "the  healing  of  the  nations"  was  infinitely  greater 
than  a  warrior  who  won  battles  at  the  reckless  sacrifice  of 
human  life.  And  the  whole  world  admits  this  truth  today, 
that, 

"A  wise  physician  skilled  in  wounds  to  heal, 
Is  more  than  armies  to  the  public  weal." 

Few  sections  have  had  so  many  distinguished  medical  men 
as  this.  One  was  Governor,  two  wrote  histories  of  the  State, 
some  have  won  honors  in  foreign  lands,  while  others  have 
served  their  country  both  in  peace  and  war,  and  filled  almost 
every  position  of  honor  and  trust. 

Undoubtedly  the  earliest  physician  of  the  Albemarle  sec- 
tion was  Dr.  John  King.  Among  the  records  of  the  court- 
house at  Edenton  may  be  found  his  bill  for  services  rendered 
Arter  Workman,  under  date  of  July  26,  1694,  to-wit : 

1  Emetic  &  1  dose  pill  Anodine  at 8s. 

To  my  visit  &  1  dose  pill  Anodyne 15s. 

To  8  days  attendance  at  10s.  per  day 4  £ . 

My  visit  at  Jno.  Godfrey's,  Jalep  and  attend 16s. 

My  visit  at  Madam  Clark's 10s. 

Dr.  Godfrey  Spruill  located  at  Edenton  about  1702,  but 
nothing  is  known  concerning  him  except  that  he  was  em- 
ployed by  the  vestry  of  St.  Paul's  Church,  Edenton,  to  attend 
one  Elinor  Adams.  The  record  runs  thus :  '^Information 
being  made  by  Capt.  Thos.  Blount  that  Elinor  Adams  by  of 
2 


18  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 

Infirmity  and  Indigence  is  in  great  danger  of  being  lost  for 
want  of  Assistance,  Ordered  that  Capt.  Thos  Blount  treat 
with  Doctr.  Godfrey  Sprnill  in  order  to  her  cure,  and  that 
Doctor  Godfrey  Spruill  be  paid  for  his  Physick  and  Cure 
by  the  Church  Wardens  five  pounds,  and  that  Capt  Thos 
Blount  is  requested  by  Vestry  to  endeavor  to  oblige  the  said 
Elinor  to  Serve  the  Doctor  for  the  use  of  his  House  and 
nursing." 

The  next  member  of  the  profession  to  locate  here  was 
"George  Allen,  Chyrurgeon."  He  is  described  in  the  Colo- 
nial Records  as  being  "a.  man  of  vile  character  and  lately 
condemned  at  Williamsburgh  for  cursing  King  George,  and 
Mr.  Drysdale  who  is  Govr  of  Virginia."  ISTot  long  after  that, 
a  bill  of  indictment  was  brought  against  him  for  going  pri- 
vately armed  and  assaulting  our  Governor. 

He  was  a  wicked  and  turbulent  spirit,  and  seemed  to  be 
constantly  at  war  with  the  public  authorities.  It  was  per- 
haps the  reputation  of  this  renegade  that  caused  Thos.  Iredell, 
of  Jamaica,  in  after  years  to  write  his  nephew,  James 
Iredell,  who  had  just  located  here:  "You  have  without 
doubt  physicians  who  understand  to  prescribe.  But  un- 
fortunately for  their  patients,  those  gentlemen  more  com- 
monly understand  their  trades  better  than  their  profession, 
and  it  is  more  for  their  interest  (howsoever  criminal  it 
may  be),  to  exercise  the  one,  than  practise  the  other.  In 
short,  if  your  doctor  has  not  some  friendship  for  you,  you 
must  pay  severely,  both  in  pocket  and  person."  (Life  and 
Correspondence  of  James  Iredell.) 

Probably  the  most  interesting  figure  who  located  here  in 
early  times  was  Dr.  John  Brickell.  He  came  here  with 
Governor  Burlington  in  1724,  and  was  appointed  by  him  to 
make  an  exploration  into  the  interior  with  the  view  of 
securing  the  friendship  of  the  Cherokee  Indians. 

He  left  here  in  1730  with  ten  men  and  two  Indians,  and 


SOME    EARLY    PHYSICIANS    OF    THE    ALBEMARLE.  19 

traveled  fifteen  days  without  having  seen  a  human  being. 
At  the  foot  of  the  mountains  they  met  the  Indians,  who  re- 
ceived them  kindly  and  conducted  them  to  the  camp,  where 
they  spent  two  days  with  the  chief,  who  reluctantly  per- 
mitted them  to  return.  They  made  the  entire  trip  on  horse- 
back in  thirty-two  days. 

He  describes  the  trip  very  interestingly  in  the  history 
which  he  wrote  of  !North  Carolina.  They  built  large  fires, 
and  cooked  the  game  which  the  two  Indians  killed,  and 
served  it  upon  pine-bark  dishes ;  at  night  they  tethered  their 
horses,  and  slept  upon  the  gray  Spanish  moss  which  hung 
from  the  trees.  They  lived  in  truly  Robin  Hood  style, 
and  the  tour  seems  to  have  been  more  for  romance  and  ad- 
venture than  for  scientific  research.  It  is  a  counterpart  in 
our  history  of  the  adventures  of  the  '^'Knights  of  the  Golden 
Horseshoe"  to  the  Blue  Ridge  of  Virginia  under  Governor 
Spotswood. 

Dr.  Brickell  had  a  brother,  who  settled  in  Hertford  County 
in  1739,  the  Rev.  Matthias  Brickell,  from  whom  is  descended 
some  of  the  best  families  of  that  county. 

Another  prominent  physician  who  lived  here  was  Gabriel 
Johnston,  a  Governor  of  ISTorth  Carolina.  To  write  a  sketch 
of  his  life  would  be  to  give  a  history  of  the  Province  during 
his  term  of  office.  He  was  a  graduate  of  the  University  of 
St.  Andrew's,  Scotland,  subsequently  held  a  chair  there,  and 
was  a  contributor  to  that  noted  journal,  ''The  Craftsman." 
The  affairs  of  state  so  engrossed  his  time  that  it  is  doubtful 
if  he  ever  practiced  in  America  the  profession  in  which  he 
was  so  learned.     He  was  the  best  of  our  Colonial  Governors. 

Dr.  William  Savage  was  another  member  of  the  profession 
here  in  early  days,  and  was  a  man  of  character,  position  and 
great  wealth.  He  owned  John's  Island,  which  subse^quently 
belonged  to  Stephen  Cabarrus,  and  is  described  on  the  records 
of  the  court  as  "that  island  opposite  the  town  of  Edenton 


20  THE    NORTH    CAKOLINA    BOOKLET. 

called  Strawberry  Island,  and  containing  about  140  acres." 
The  water  has  so  encroached  upon  this  land  that  barely  two 
acres  now  remain,  Iredell  mentions  him  several  times  in 
his  diary  as  a  very  reliable  man.  He  practised  here  about 
1770,  and  died  1780,  and  must  have  been  a  gentleman  of 
considerable  professional  attainments. 

Beneath  the  shadow  of  the  large  cedar  trees  in  Hayes 
graveyard  is  a  moss-covered  slab  of  red  sandstone;  the  over- 
hanging branches  waving  to  and  fro  in  the  autumn  sunshine 
cast  strange  silhouettes  upon  the  grave,  and  put  one  to 
dreaming.     The  epitaph  reads : 

"Dk.  Sylvester  Hosmer, 

Who  departed  this  life  in  1794, 

Age  29  years." 

Beyond  this  there  is  nothing  known  of  his  life,  save  that  he 

married  a  Miss  Blair,  a  niece  of  Governor  Johnston;  but  the 

modesty  and  simplicity  of  his  epitaph  might  be  taken  as  the 

true  index  of  his  character.     "The  silver  cord  was  loosed, 

and  the  pitcher  broken  at  the  fountain,"  ere  life's  ascending 

sun  had  scarcely  risen  upon  his  bright  and  useful  life.     All 

who  knew  him,  or  about  him,  have  long  since  passed  beyond 

the  tide,  and — 

"The  mossy  marbles  rest 
On  the  lips  that  he  has  pressed 

In  their  bloom ; 
And  the  names  he  loved  to  hear 
Have  been  carved  for  many  a  year 
On  the  tomb." 

The  broad  daylight  of  medical  science  had  not  broken, 
with  its  rays  of  splendor,  upon  the  world  in  his  day.  ISTo 
science  has  progressed  so  rapidly  as  that  of  medicine;  it 
flourished  even  in  the  dark  ages,  in  the  cloistered  chambers 
of  the  monks.  The  rusty  locks  of  the  vast  treasuries  of 
knowledge  have  now  yielded  to  the  golden  keys  of  scientific 


SOME    EAELY    PHYSICIANS    OF    THE    ALBEMARLE.  21 

research,  and  medical  science  has  worked  out  the  endless 
combinations  of  the  vaults  of  nature ;  but  knowledge  is  laby- 
rinthine, there  are  many  winding  passages  and  dark  cham- 
bers still  to  be  explored. 

It  does  seem  wonderful  to  us  that  the  circulation  of  the 
blood  was  not  discovered  until  1628.  Paracelsus,  in  1526, 
taught  cabalistic  medicine,  or  the  influence  of  the  planets 
over  diseases,  and  read  their  symptoms  from  the  stars.  The 
signs  of  the  Zodiac  are  even  to  this  day  believed  by  the 
superstitious  to  influence  wounds  and  operations  upon  difler- 
ent  parts  of  the  body.  He  believed  that  an  abstract  some- 
thing, which  he  called  Tartar,  was  the  cause  of  all  diseases. 

In  460  B.  C,  Hippocrates  of  Cos  gave  forth  his  apothegTii, 
that  ^'Medicine  consists  in  addition  and  subtraction,  the  ad- 
dition of  the  things  which  are  deficient,  and  the  subtraction 
of  those  things  which  are  redundant.  He  who  practises  this 
is  the  best  physician,  but  he  whose  practice  is  farthest  from 
it,  is  the  farthest  removed  from  knowledge  of  the  art."  Said 
he :  "Life  is  short,  the  art  is  long,  the  occasion  fleeting,  ex- 
perience fallacious,  judgment  difiicult.  The  physician  must 
not  only  be  prepared  to  do  what  is  right  himself,  but  also  to 
make  the  patient,  the  attendants,  and  externals  co-operate." 
He  was  the  father  of  what  is  now  called  the  regular  school  of 
medicine,  and  stamped  that  dignity  and  honor  upon  the 
profession  which  it  now  bears.  He  required  each  neophyte 
to  take  an  oath,  and  this  every  one  is  supposed  to  take  now 
upon  entering  this  profession.  It  has  been  beautifully  trans- 
posed from  Greek  into  verse  by  Dr.  James  Aitken  Meigs,  of 
Philadelphia.     They  swore : 

"To  wield  the  sword  of  knowledge  in  relief 
Of  sick  and  suffering  ones,  and  those  with  grief 
Bowed  down,  and  overweighted  with  much  care. 
And  further,  you  must  solemnly  declare 
That  you  in  purity  and  holiness 
Will  live,  and  exercise  vour  art  to  bless 


22  THE  NORTH  CAEOLINA  BOOKLET. 

Mankind;   from  acts  of  mischief  will  abstain 

And  all  seductive  wiles;   and  will  refrain 

From  giving  drugs  for  deadly  purposes 

Or  vile.     And  when  some  aching  brain  discloses 

The  secrets  of  a  sad  or  guilty  life, 

Which  best  the  world   should  never  know,  lest  strife 

And  ill  example  follow,  you  will  hide 

Such  secrets,  whilst  you  counsel,  whilst  you  chide." 

This  is  the  exalted  HipjDocratic  oath,  and  forms  the  founda- 
tion stone  to  the  present  code  of  medical  honor. 

The  earliest  known  physician  of  antiquity  was  Sekhet- 
Enach,  chief  physician  to  Pharoah  Sahura  of  the  fifth  dyn- 
asty. The  first  known  examination  for  license  to  practise 
medicine  was  conducted  by  Sinan  Ben-Tsabet  at  Bagdad, 
A.  D.  931.  Dioscorides  was  the  most  famous  herbalist  of 
antiquity,  and  the  Dioscorea,  or  wild  yam,  was  named  in 
honor  of  him.  Rider  Haggard,  in  his  story  of  Cleopatra, 
features  him  as  her  court  physician. 

Shakespeare  was  fond  of  making  thrusts  at  the  profession, 
and  especially  does  he  make  Timon  of  Athens  exclaim: 

"Trust  not  the  physician, 
His  antidotes  are  poisons  and  he  slays 
More  than  you  rob." 

And  Dry  den  says  : 

"Better   search  the   fields  for  health  unbought 
Than  pay  the  doctor  for  a  nauseous  draught." 

I  clip  the  following  from  the  Edenton  Gazette,  published 
about  1810,  and  doubtless  written  by  some  member  of  the 
profession  here: 

"God  and  the  doctor  we  alike  adore, 
Just  on  the  brink  of  danger,  not  before; 
The  danger  passed  both  are  alike  requited, 
God  is  forgotten,  and  the  doctor  slighted." 

An  old  doctor  from  a  neighboring  town  used  to  declare 
that  the  malaria  was  so  thick  there  that  the  frogs  sang  all 


SOME    EAKLY    PHYSICIANS    OF    THE    ALBEMAKLE.  23 

night  long',  ^'Quinine,  Quinine" ;  while  the  refrain  of  the 
bull  frogs  was  ''Calomel,  Calomel." 

Hugh  Williamson,  M.D.,  LL.D.,  though  a  native  of  Penn- 
sylvania, practised  here.  His  father  and  mother  were  cap- 
tured at  sea,  while  on  their  way  to  this  country,  by  the  cele- 
brated Blackboard,  but  were  finally  set  free  after  having 
been  despoiled  of  their  property.  Dr.  Williamson  first 
preached  in  Philadelphia  two  years,  then  was  Professor  of 
Mathematics  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania ;  and  not 
finding  either  of  these  congenial  occupations,  finally  studied 
medicine  at  Edinburg  and  Leyden,  and  was  induced  by  his 
friends,  in  1777,  to  locate  in  Edenton.  Dr.  Williamson  rep- 
resented Edenton  in  the  Commons  in  1782,  was  a  delegate  to 
the  Convention  which  formed  the  Federal  Constitution,  and 
was  a  member  of  Congress  1790-92,  and  Jeft'erson  was  much 
impressed  with  his  ability  there.  During  the  Pevolution  he 
was  a  member  of  Caswell's  medical  staff,  and  exhibited  great 
bravery  on  the  field.  He  was  one  of  the  first  trustees  of  our 
University,  and  was  requested  by  them,  in  1795,  to  invest 
some  money  in  books.  This  was  the  first  step  toward  the 
foundation  of  that  large  and  valuable  library.  Williamson 
wrote  a  good  deal  about  the  climate  of  Eastern  Carolina, 
malarial  diseases  and  the  best  methods  for  preventing  them. 

He  was,  no  doubt,  an  apostle  of  the  Hepatic  creed,  whose 
dogma  was :  "One  organ,  the  liver ;  one  disease,  biliary  de- 
rangement;  one  remedy,  mercury."  Blood  letting  was  prac- 
tised indiscriminately  in  his  day,  and  the  old-fashioned  ''ten 
and  ten"  was  given  to  every  patient.  The  doctors  in  those 
days  did  not  have  the  elegant  pharmaceutical  preparations, 
or  the  skilled  druggist,  as,  now,  but  compounded  and  dis- 
pensed their  own  medicines.  The  favorite  prescription  here 
in  those  days  for  the  malarial  fevers  was  "one  pint  of  chamo- 
mile tea  every  morning  on  an  empty  stomach,"  and  this  was 
to  be  kept  up  through  the  entire  malarial  season.     Quinine 


2-4  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 

was  unknown  to  the  world  then,  though  Peruvian  bark  had 
been  introduced  some  time  by  the  Jesuits. 

Dr.  Samuel  Dickinson  was  born  in  Connecticut  in  1743, 
and  died  in  1802.  He  graduated  in  medicine  at  some  foreign 
school,  most  probably  Edinburgh  as  that  was  the  medical 
center  of  the  world  then,  and  located  in  Edenton. 

About  1777  he  bought  the  Cupola  house,  which  is  still 
occupied  by  his  descendants.  His  arms  and  crest  still  hang 
uj)on  the  walls  of  that  quaint  old  mansion,  and  from  its  breezy 
cupola,  which  seems  to  stare  vacantly  at  the  distant  shore, 
the  engagement  between  the  Confederate  ram  Albemarle  and 
the  double  enders  under  Capt.  Melancthon  Smith  was  watch- 
ed by  his  granddaughters  through  a  spy  glass.  Dr.  Dickin- 
son's office  stood  where  the  corner  store  on  the  lot  now  stands. 
He  had  associated  with  him  young  Dr.  Beasley,  whose  por- 
trait was  found  not  long  ago  in  a  negro  house  down  on  the 
wharf,  and  was  used  as  a  cover  to  a  meal  barrel.  Dr.  Beas- 
ley's  beautiful  daughter,  Miss  Sallie,  was  engaged  to  the 
gallant  and  chivalrous  Major  Ringold,  who  fell  covered  with 
glory  on  the  sanguine  field  of  Palo  Alto.  This  so  affected  her 
mind  that  she  soon  became  hopelessly  insane,  and  died. 

Dr.  Dickinson  was  a  man  of  wealth,  and  engaged  in  some 
large  land  schemes  across  the  sound.  He  was  a  distinguished 
physician,  and  was  often  called  in  consultation  as  far  as 
Norfolk,  and  met  his  death  from  exposure  in  crossing  the 
Albemarle  Sound  to  see  some  member  of  the  Armistead 
family. 

Dr.  Matthias  E.  Sawyer  was  an  eminent  practitioner  of 
medicine  here  about  1825,  and  published  a  book  about  that 
time  called  "Fevers  of  Eastern  ISTorth  Carolina."  In  the 
treatment  of  fevers,  Dr.  Sawyer  was  at  least  fifty  years  in 
advance  of  his  time.  The  University  of  North  Carolina 
now  possesses  the  only  copy  of  this  work  in  existence. 

Dr.  Collins  Skinner  was  a  very  distinguished  physician  of 


SOME    EARLY    PHYSICIANS    OF    THE    ALBEMARLE.  25 

Edenton.  His  office  still  stands  upon  the  court-house  green. 
About  1835  he  performed  an  operation  for  cataract  upon  an 
old  lady,  a  member  of  the  Howcutt  family,  residing  some 
five  miles  north  of  Edenton;  this  was  the  first  successful 
operation  for  cataract  ever  performed  in  Eastern  North  Caro- 
lina, and  perhaps  in  the  State. 

Among  the  most  prominent  physicians  of  a  more  recent  date 
are  the  Warrens,  and  particularly  the  brilliant  Edv^^ard  War- 
ren-Bey, whose  genius  shone  upon  three  continents,  and  whose 
checkered  life  reads  like  some  Eastern  romance.  To  Dr. 
Edward  Warren  belongs  the  honor  for  the  discovery  of  hypo- 
dermic medication,  and  in  that  he  was  four  years  in  advance 
of  the  inventor  of  the  hypodermic  syringe.  Dr.  Warren, 
soon  after  graduating,  had  under  his  care  a  Miss  Betty  M. 
Jones  (afterwards  Mrs.  George  Parrish),  and  finding  her 
stomach  perfectly  intolerant  for  a  number  of  days  to  any 
form  of  nourishment  or  medicine,  it  occurred  to  him,  as  a 
last  resort,  to  introduce  his  medicine  under  the  skin ;  the 
suggestion  at  once  met  with  the  approval  of  the  suffering 
patient.  Dr.  Warren  then  with  a  lancet  made  a  small  in- 
cision in  her  arm,  and  through  it  injected  his  remedies  by 
means  of  an  ordinary  Annels  syringe,  giving  almost  instant 
relief  to  all  the  distressing  symptoms.  Many  years  after- 
wards this  patient  became  mine,  and  she  frequently  related 
to  me  Dr.  Warren's  wonderful  experiment,  with  the  greatest 
minuteness  and  enthusiasm. 

Then  there  are  to  be  added  the  Norcoms,  Dr.  Richard 
Dillard,  Sr.,  Dr.  William  R.  Capehart,  Dr.  R.  H.  Winborne, 
and  a  host  of  others  too  numerous  for  this  short  sketch,  who 
have  passed  over  the  waste  fields  of  death  into  the  land  of 
the  hereafter — men  who  forgot  themselves  to  bless  mankind. 


26  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 


SOME  BALLADS  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 

BY  PROFESSOR  JOHN  A.  LOMAX, 

(secretary   university   of   TEXAS   AND   ASSISTANT   DIRECTOR 
OF    THE    DEPARTMENT   OF    EXTENSION.) 

During  a  ballad-collecting  experience  of  a  number  of  years, 
it  has  come  about  that  no  few  have  fallen  into  my  hands 
from  North  Carolina,  in  my  belief  one  of  the  richest  locali- 
ties in  ballad  material  of  any  section  of  the  United  States. 
A  small  number  of  these  ballads  I  am  printing  at  the  earnest 
solicitation  of  the  editor  of  this  journal,  in  the  hope  that  the 
article  will  awaken  the  interest  of  others  in  preserving  for 
posterity  the  floating  folk  songs  that  abound  in  some  districts 
of  ISTorth  Carolina. 

I  should  say  in  the  beginning  that  no  collector  in  the  field 
of  balladry  should  pursue  his  work  on  the  Carolina  coast  with- 
out first  talking  with  Professor  Collier  Cobb,  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  North  Carolina,  and,  if  possible,  getting  a  look  at  his 
valuable  collection.  Professor  Cobb,  although  a  well-known 
scientist,  has  a  genuine  interest  in  ballad  material  that  he 
imbibed  from  the  greatest  of  the  balladists,  perhaps,  in  the 
entire  history  of  letters.  Professor  Child,  of  Harvard  Uni- 
versity. As  a  student  of  Professor  Child,  Professor  Cobb 
learned  to  love  the  native  song  of  the  out-of-doors  people, 
while  he  was  at  the  same  time  being  wedded  to  the  field  of 
geology  through  the  teaching  of  the  great  Southern  educator, 
long  eminent  at  Harvard  University — Professor  N.  S.  Shaler. 
To  Professor  Cobb,  therefore,  I  must  make  due  apology  for 
presuming  to  invade  a  field  already  possessed  so  thoroughly 
by  him. 

The  songs  I  am  printing,  however,  may,  in  time,  lead  many 
people  to  confide  their  treasures  into  the  competent  hands  of 
Professor  Cobb  or  of  other  collectors,   and  therefore  be  of 


SOME  BALLADS  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA.  27 

direct  benefit  to  ballad  collecting  tbrongbout  America.  In 
addition  to  Professor  Cobb,  there  are  other  persons  in  North 
Carolina  who  have  done  good  work  in  this  field.  Among 
them  is  Miss  Adelaide  Fries,  of  Winston-Salem.  Miss  Fries 
has  made  an  interesting  collection  of  Moravian  songs,  which, 
I  am  told,  are  all  religious  in  tone  and  of  German  origin. 
Mr.  Cobb's  collection  consists  chiefly  of  songs  that  he  has 
picked  up  along  the  coast.  Indeed,  these  are  probably  the 
most  interesting  of  all  the  JSTorth  Carolina  ballads.  Through 
Miss  S.  O'H.  Dickson,  of  Winston-Salem,  has  come  informa- 
tion of  mountain  corn-husking  songs,  similar  in  spirit  to  the 
negro  corn-husking  songs ;  and  also  mention  of  the  negro  to- 
bacco stripping  songs.  Unfortunately,  I  have  not  been  able 
to  secure  examples  of  either  of  these  classes. 

The  material  that  has  been  sent  to  me  from  other  sources 
in  North  Carolina  may  be  grouped  somewhat  as  follows : 
First,  traditional  songs ;  second,  war  songs ;  third,  negro 
songs ;  fourth,  mountain  songs ;  fifth,  the  coast  songs,  collected 
by  Professor  Collier  Cobb.  The  songs  in  Professor  Cobb's 
collection  are  not  available  for  publication,  inasmuch  as  he 
perhaps  will  issue  them  at  some  time  himself.  He  has, 
however,  consented  to  furnish  the  library  at  Harvard  Uni- 
versity copies  of  all  of  his  collection.  At  Harvard  the  col- 
lection will  become  available  to  all  students  of  the  ballad. 

Before  quoting  any  of  the  songs,  I  should  like  to  ask  the 
readers  of  this  article  to  furnish  me  with  copies  of  the  fol- 
lowing songs : 

1.  "Morgan's  War  Song." 

2.  "Run,  Nigger,  Run." 

3.  "Sal's  in  de  Garden  Siftin'  San'." 

4.  "When  Lillington  Fought  for  Caswell's  Glory." 

I  should  also  appreciate  complete  copies  of  what  the  fol- 
lowing seem  to  be  fragments.     In  some  instances  the  frag- 


28  THE  NORTH  CAKOLINA  BOOKLET. 

ment  may  be  the  entire  song,  but  I  should  like  any  informa- 
tion whatever  about  any  one  of  the  songs.  These  fragments 
all  came  from  my  North  Carolina  correspondents. 

Cold,  frosty  morning,  nigger  mighty  good ; 
Axe  on  his  shoulder,  gwine  to  cut  some  wood. 
Little  piece  of  corn  bread,  little  piece  of  fat. 
And  de  white  folks  grumble  if  you  eat  much  of  dat. 

■H-  *  *  «■ 

Frog  he  sot  and  watched  the  alligator. 
Hopped  on  a  log  and  offered  him  a  'tater; 
The  alligator  grinned  and  tried  to  blush, 
Frog  he  laughed  and  said,  "Oh,  hush!" 

*  *  4t  * 

Sam  stuck  a  needle  in  his  heel,  in  his  heel, 
Sam  stuck  a  needle  in  his  lieel. 
A  one-eyed  black  snake  run  thu  the  fence, 
What  a  funny  chicken  a  terrapin  air, 
And  Sam  stuck  a  needle  in  his  heel. 

■i;-       •»       *       * 

Harness  up  yo  bosses, 

Hey,  oh  hey ! 
Harness  up  yo  bosses. 

Hey,  oh  hey ! 
We'll  show  you  how  to  drive  'em; 

Hurrah  for  Uncle  Sam. 

I've  wondered  and  wondered 

All  the  days  of  my  life, 
Where  you're  goin',  Mr.  Mooney, 

To  get  yourself  a  wife, 
Where  you're  goin',  where  you're  goin' 

To  get  yourself  a  wife. 

I'm  goin'  to  , 


An'  that  will  be  the  place 
To  get  Miss  Laura, 

If  God'll  give  me  grace — etc. 

Out  came  Miss  Laura 

All  dressed  in  silk, 
With  a  rose  in  her  hair 

And  white  as  milk — etc. 


SOME  BALLADS  OF  NORTH  CAKOLINA.  29 

Johnstown's  a  mighty  flood, 
Johnstown's  a  mighty  flood, 
Johnstown's  a  mighty  flood, 

For  the  dam  was  bound  to  break. 

Fifty  thousand  souls  were  lost, 
Fifty  thousand  souls  were  lost, 
Fifty  thousand  souls  were  lost, 
For  the  dam  was  bound  to  break. 

•»     *     »     * 

There  was  a  lady,  skin  and  bone; 

Such  a  thing  before  had  ne'er  been  known. 

She  walked  out  one  night  to  pray, 
She  walked  but  a  little  way. 

She  walked  up,  she  walked  down, 
She  saw  a  ghost  lying  on  the  ground. 

The  lady  to  the  spirit  said, 
"Shall  I  look  so  when  I  am  dead?" 

The  spirit  to  the  lady  said—!  !  !  Wah!  Ah!   Eh! 

By  traditional  songs  is  meant  snch  songs  as  were  familiar 
to  the  old  generation — songs  that  were  sung  by  our  grand- 
mothers in  their  childhood  and  have  been  handed  down  from 
generation  to  generation  chiefly  by  oral  transmission.  Good 
examples  of  these  songs  are : 

"Suzana,  Don't  You  Cry." 

"Old  Dan  Tucker." 

"Jim  Crack  Corn." 

"A  Frog  He  Would  a-Wooing  Go." 

Of  these  songs  I  have  full  copies.  The  two  traditional 
songs  quoted  hereafter  were  perhaps  chiefly  serviceable  for 
the  entertainment  of  children.  The  first  one,  so  far  as  I 
know,  has  no  title.  The  second,  as  I  happen  to  know,  was 
as  popular  in  Massachusetts  as  it  was  in  early  days  in  North 
Carolina. 

Oh  who  will  wear  my  castor  boots,  castor  boots. 
Oh  who  will  wear  my  castor  boots? 
Oh  who  will  wear  my  castor  boots,  castor  boots. 
When  I  am  far  away? 


30  THE  WORTH  CAKOLINA  BOOKLET. 

Oh  who  will  ride  the  old  black  mule,  old  black  mule? 
Oh  who  will  ride  the  old  black  mule,  old  black  mule, 
When  I  am  far  away? 

Oh  who  will  smoke  my  rusty  pipe,  rusty  pipe, 
Oh  who  will  smoke  my  rusty  pipe,  rusty  pipe? 
Oh  who  will  smoke  my  rusty  pipe, 
When  I  am  far  away? 

Oh  who  will  shoe  my  pretty  feet,  my  pretty  little  feet, 
Oh  who  will  shoe  my  pretty  little  feet,  my  pretty  little  feet? 
Oh  who  will  shoe  my  pretty  little  feet, 
When  I'm  in  a  far  away  land? 

Oh  who  will  glove  my  pretty  little  hand?  etc. 

Oh  I  will  shoe  your  pretty  little  feet,  etc., 
When  you're  in  a  far  distant  land. 

Oh  I  will  glove  your  pretty  little  hand,  etc., 
When  you're  in  a  far  distant  land. 

«     *     »     * 

BILLY   BOY. 

Where  have  you  been,  Billy  Boy,  Billy  Boy, 

Where  have  you  been,  charming  Billy? 

I  have  been  to  seek  a  wife  for  the  comfort  of  my  life; 

She's  a  young  thing  and  can  not  leave  her  mother. 

Did  she  ask  you  in,  Billy  Boy,  Billy  Boy? 
Yes,  she  asked  me  in  with  a  dimple  in  her  chin. 

Did  she  take  your  hat,  Billy  Boy,  Billy  Boy? 
Yes,  she  took  my  hat  and  she  threw  it  at  the  cat. 

Did  she  set  you  a  chair,  Billy  Boj^,  Billy  Boy? 
Yes,  she  set  me  a  chair,  with  a  ribbon  in  her  hair. 

Can  she  make  a  cherry  pie,  Billy  Boy  ?  etc. 

Yes,  she  can  make  a  cherry  pie  quick  as  a  cat  can  wink  his  eye. 

How  old  is  she,  Billy  Boy?  etc. 

Three  times  seven,  twice  twenty,  and  eleven. 

Can  she  make  a  pudding  well,  Billy  Boy,  Billy  Boy? 
Can  she  make  a  pudding  well,  charming  Billy? 
She  can  make  a  pudding  well,  I  can  tell  it  by  the  smell, 
She's  a  young  thing  and  can  not  leave  her  mother. 

Can  she  make  up  a  bed  neat?  etc. 

She  can  make  a  bed  up  neat  from  the  head  to  the  feet,  etc. 


SOME  BALLADS  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA.  31 

Another  version : 

Where  have  you  been,  Billy  Boy,  Billy  Boy? 

Where  have  you  been,  charming  Billy? 

Oh,  I've  been  down  the  lane  for  to  see  my  Betsey  Jane, 

She's  a  young  thing  and  wants  to  leave  her  mammy. 

Hold  old  is  she,  Billy  Boy,  Billy  Boy?  etc. 

Three  times  six,  four  times  seven,  twenty-eight  and  eleven,  etc. 

How  tall  is  she?  etc. 

She's  as  tall  as  a  pine  and  as  straight  as  a  pumpkin  vine. 

Twice  six,  twice  seven,  three  times  twenty,  and  eleven. 

Naturally,  the  three  American  wars  produced  a  consider- 
able amount  of  popular  ballad  material.  A  partial  collec- 
tion has  already  been  made  of  this  material,  but  many  of 
the  most  vital  and  interesting  of  the  songs  are  still  floating 
among  the  people,  especially  the  folk  who  live  in  the  back 
country  and  on  the  frontier.  For  example,  take  a  single 
stanza  from  a  Confederate  song  of  the  Civil  War,  which  men- 
tions the  Louisiana  Tigers  and  the  Bucktail  Rangers  of  Penn- 
sylvania, whose  name  grew  out  of  the  bucktails  on  their  caps : 

The  Louisiana  Tigers 

They  charged  with  a  yell; 
They  charged  the  Bucktail  Rangers, 

Damn  their  souls  to  hell. 

Another  popular  Confederate  song  was  an  adaptation  of 
''Wait  for  the  Wagon/'  the  chorus  of  which  ran : 

Wait  for  the  wagon, 

The  Confederate  wagon; 
O  wait  for  the  wagon. 

And  we'll  all  take  a  ride. 

Other  similar  parodies,  more  completely  worked  out,  for 
which  single  stanzas  will  serve  for  illustrative  pur[30ses,  are : 

Yankee  Doodle  had  a  mind 

To  whip  the  Southern  traitors, 
Because  they  didn't  choose  to  live 

On  codfish  and  pertaters. 


32  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 

Yankee  Doodle,  fa  so  la, 

Yankee  Doodle  Dandy; 
And  to  keep  his  courage  up 

He  took  a  drink  of  brandy. 

»  *  *  »  # 

King  Abraham  is  very  weak, 

Old  Scott  has  got  the  measles; 
Manassas  is  now  off  at  last. 

Pop  go  the  weasels. 

I  came  from  old  Manassas 

With  a  pocketful  of  fun; 
I  killed  forty  Yankees 

With  a  single-barrel  gun. 

It  don't  make  a  nif-o-sniference 

To  either  you  or  I, 
Big  Yank,  little  Yank, 

All  run  or  die. 

The  two  parodies  are  taken  from  a  book  of  Southern  war 
songs  published  bj  M.  T.  Richardson  &  Co.  in  1890.  There 
are,  of  course,  many  similar  ones  written  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  North,  all  of  which  should  now  be  given  wide 
publication  as  interesting  human  mementoes  of  those  trou- 
blous days. 

The  negro  songs  that  have  come  to  me  from  JSTorth  Carolina 
are  mainly  religious.  A  number  of  interesting  fragments  of 
secular  songs  were,  however,  given  to  my  wife  by  Mr.  Fred 
A.  Olds  of  Raleigh,  N.  C.  These  fragments  are  fairly  illus- 
trative. 

Turkey  buzzard,  turkey  buzzard, 

Take  me  on  your  wing; 
Carry  me  cross  de  ribber 
To  see  Sally  King. 

Buzzard  no  answer. 

Keep  on  fiyin' ; 
Sally,  she's  a-waitin'. 

Fairly  dyin'. 


SOME  BALLADS  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA.  33 

I'll  never  marry  an  old  maid, 

Tell  you  de  reason  why: 
Neck  so  long  and  stringy 
'Fraid  she'll  never  die. 

Git  along  home,  Cindy,  Cindy, 
Git  along  my  Cindy  gal, 
Way  down  in  Yallerbam. 

I'll  never  marry  a  po'  gal. 

Tell  you  de  reason  why: 
She'll  eat  up  all  yo'  rations, 

An'  fool  you  on  de  sly. 

Git  along,  etc. 

*  *     *     * 

I  don't  like  a  nigger  no  how, 
I  don't  like  a  nigger  no  how; 

A  nigger  and  a  mule 

Is  a  mighty  big  fool — 
Don't  like  a  nigger  no  how. 

I  don't  like  a  po'  white  man  no  how, 
I  don't  like  a  po'  white  man  no  how; 

Put  hrm  on  a  hoss. 

Thinks  he's  a  boss — 

Don't  like  a  po'  white  man  no  how. 

*  *     *     * 

Hush,  you  sinner. 

Don't  you  cry. 
Devil's  gwine  ter  git  you 

By  and  by. 

You  needn't  shout. 

You  needn't  laugh. 
For  you  is  only 

Just  de  chaff — 
For  a  few  days. 

Of  the  same  nature  is  a  small  fragment  sent  in  by  Miss 
Dickson,  of  Winston-Salem.  This,  she  says,  was  a  favorite 
of  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  darkies  before  the  war,  and 
was  current  in  other  localities : 

I  gone  down  town  wid  my  pocket  full  o'  tin, 

Dooda !   dooda ! 
I  come  back  home  wid  my  hat  cave  in, 

Dooda,  dooda,  day! 
3 


34  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 

I  boun'  ter  run  all  night,  an'  I  boun'  ter  run  all  day, 
I  bet  my  money  on  de  bob-tail  boss, 
Dooda,  dooda,  day! 

Still  another,  which  was  sung  to  my  wife  by  a  cook  in 
Ealeigh,  is  described  by  the  negro  woman  as  "awful  pitiful." 

Poor  Joseph  been  sick  pinin'  for  you. 
Dear  father,  dear  father,  come  home; 
This  is  the  message  I  heard  him  say — 
Come  home,  the  work  is  all  done. 

Refrain : 

Come  home,  come  home. 
Dear  father,  dear  father,  come  home, 
This  is  the  message  I  heard  him  say — 
Come  home,  the  work  is  all  done. 

My  mother  is  too. 

Dear  father,  dear  father,  won't  that  do? 
My  mother  is  sick  and  wantin'  you  too — 
Dear  father,  dear  father,  come  home. 

Mother  said  her  love  was  true, 
O  father,  0  father,  won't  that  do? 
Mother  said  her  love  was  just  as  true — 
0  father,  won't  that  do? 

It  is  difficult  to  choose  among  the  large  body  of  religious 
songs  known  by  the  oldtime  darkies  of  North  Carolina.  Miss 
Dickson  says,  in  a  letter  enclosing  several,  some  of  which  I 
quote  later :  ''The  songs  enclosed  are  those  I  can  fully  recall. 
They  are  some  of  those  sung  by  the  members  of  my  father's 
two  negro  congregations  in  Orangeburg  and  Barnwell.  They 
are  so  entirely  different  from  those  sung  elsewhere  that  I 
can  not  help  thinking  that  there  was  some  unknown  minstrel 
who  sung  and  whose  songs  spread  among  them." 

1.  Oh,  come  home,  come  home,  come  home,  my  Fader's  children; 
Come  home,  come  home,  an'  He  ain't  got  weary  yet. 

Refrain: 

Oh,  He  call  you  by  de  lightnin'. 
An'  He  call  you  by  de  t'under. 
An'  He  call  you  by  de  middle  night  cry. 
Oh,  come  home,  etc. 


SOME    BALLADS    OF    ISTOKTH    CAROLINA.  35 

2.  Oh,  come  home,  come  home,  come  home  to  my  Fader's  kingdom,  etc. 

3.  Oh,  come  home,  come  home,  come  home  to  de  cross  of  Jesus. 

4.  Oh,  come  home,  come  home,  come  home  to  de  Saviour's  bosom. 

*     *     *     * 

Refrain:  patience. 

It's  good  fuh  to  liab  some  patience,  patience,  patience, 

It's  good  fuh  to  hab  some  patience  fuh  to  wait  upon  de  Lawd. 

My  brudder,  won't  you  come  and  go  wid  me. 
My  brudder,  won't  you  come  and  go  wid  me, 
Fuh  to  wait  upon  de  Lawd? 

Refrain: 

It's  good  to  hab  some  patience,  etc. 

My  sister,  won't  you  come  and  go  wid  me?  etc. 
My  fader,  won't  you  come  and  go  wid  me?  etc. 
My  muddah,  won't  you  come  and  go  wid  me?  etc. 

{Last  verse)  : 
De  ship  is  in  de  lia'bor,  ha'bor,  ha'bor, 
De  ship  is  in  de  ha'bor,  ha'bor,  ha'bor, 
An  I'se  a-gwine  home. 


O  section,  don't  ring  that  bell  no  mo'   [to  be  sung  three  times]. 
In  that  mornin',  my  Lord,  in  that  mornin',  my  Lord, 
In  that  mornin'  when  the  Lord  says  hurry. 

2.  0  Lord,  I'se  done  what  you  tole  me  to  do,  etc. 

3.  0  Raphael,  don't  stop  that  shinin'  sun,  etc. 

4.  O  Gambler,  you  can't  ride  this  train,  etc. 

5.  0  Gambler,  no  money  won't  pay  your  fare,  etc. 
G.  0  Micah  goin'  strike  dat  'vidin'  line,  etc. 

7.  0  Liar,  you  can't  ride  this  train,  etc. 

8.  0  Lord,  I  feel  like  a  motherless  child,  etc. 

9.  0  Lord,  I  wish  I  never  been  born,  etc. 
10.  0  Drinker,  you  can't  ride  this  train,  etc. 

Another  fragment : 

O  my  Lord,  you  promised  to  come  by  here  [three  times], 
In  de  mornin'  when  de  Lord  says  hurry. 

O  my  Lord,  I  want  to  be  yo'  chile  [three  times]. 
In  de  mornin'  when  de  Lord  says  hurry. 


36  THE    ISrOKTH    CAROLINA    BOOKLET. 

When  de  sun  fail  to  shine   [three  times] 
I'll  go  to  God  a-shoutin'. 

Refrain: 

You  may  have  all  dis  worl'   [three  times], 
But  glory  be  to  God. 

When  de  moon  turn  to  blood  [three  times] 
I'll  go  to  God  a-shoutin'. 

«     »     *     * 

Lord's  goin'  set  dis  worl'  on  fire, 

Lord's  goin'  set  dis  worl'  on  fire  some  o'  dese  days, 

Lord's  goin'  set  dis  worl'  on  fire, 

Lord's  goin'  set  dis  worl'  on  fire  some  o'  dese  days. 

Lord  don't  want  no  coward  soldiers, 

Lord  don't  want  no  coward  soldiers  in  His  band, 

Lord  don't  want  no  coward  soldiers, 

Lord  don't  want  no  coward  soldiers  in  His  band. 

God's  goin'  ride  on  whistlin'  chariot  [repeat  as  first  verse]. 

I'm  goin'  tell  my  Jesus  howdy. 

I'm  goin'  kneel  roun'  de  union  table. 

I'm  goin'  walk  an'  talk  wid  angels. 

I'm  goin'  ride  on  de  whistlin'  chariot. 

We're  all  goin'  kneel  'roun'  de  union  table. 

We'll  all  be  asleep,  yes  Lord,  in  glory. 

We  all  shall  bow  our  heads  in  glory. 

We  all  goin'  drink  wine,  drink  wine  in  glory. 

Precisely  similar  in  spirit  and  imagery  are  the  religious 
songs  yet  popular  among  the  darkies  of  the  Brazos  River 
bottom  cotton  plantations  of  Texas.  One  of  the  most  mov- 
ing of  a  large  number  of  these  songs  in  my  possession,  I  heard 
sung  not  long  ago  with  powerful  effect  by  a  negro  congrega- 
tion hid  among  the  trees,  just  on  the  edge  of  one  of  the  big 
fields  of  cotton  in  Brazos  County,  Texas, 

I  got  a  mother  in  de  Beulah  Land, 

Outshine  the  sun,  outshine  the  sun,  outshine  the  sun; 
I  got  a  mother  in  de  Beulah  Land, 

Outshine  the  sun,  far  beyond  the  sun. 


SOME  BALLADS  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA.  37 

Do  Lord,  do  Lord, 

Do  remember  me; 
Do  Lord,  do  Lord, 

Do  remember  me; 
Do  Lord,  do  Lord, 

Do  remember  me,  do  remember  me. 

When  my  blood  run  chilly  and  cold 

I  got  to  go,  I  got  to  go,  I  got  to  go; 
When  my  blood  run  chilly  and  cold 

I  got  to  go,  way  beyond  the  sun. — Chorus. 

Right  under  de  cross,  dere  lies  your  crown, 
Dere  lies  your  crown,  dere  lies  your  crown; 
Right  under  de  cross,  dere  lies  your  crown. 
Way  beyond  de  sun. — Chorus. 

The  melodjj  the  pathos,  the  vivid  phrasing,  and  the  touch- 
ing faith  of  these  old  songs  will  finally  win  a  place  for  them, 
in  my  judgment,  in  the  future  history  of  American  literature. 

The  most  valuable  of  the  mountain  songs  from  North  Caro- 
lina are  probably  those  that  have  come  from  Miss  Edith  B. 
Fisk,  of  White  Rock,  ISTorth  Carolina.  Many  of  these  are 
survivors  of  the  old  English  and  Scottish  ballads  yet  held  in 
cherished  possession  by  the  direct  lineal  descendants  of  the 
men  and  women  who  chanted  the  ballads  in  the  old  country 
centuries  ago.  Such  ballads  as  'Tair  Eleanor,"  ''Lord 
Thomas,"  "Sweet  Margaret,"  and  "Barbara  Allen,"  are 
widely  known  and  yet  sung  to  the  old  tunes  by  the  modern 
people.  Other  songs  popular  among  them  are  local  songs  of 
historic  interest,  or  local  songs  recounting  late  events,  usually 
tragedy.  Moreover,  among  the  mountains  are  found  many 
of  the  frontier  ballads  of  America  that  have  drifted  back  east. 
Such  songs  as  "The  Buffalo  Skinners,"  "The  Cowboy's  La- 
ment," and  "The  Dying  Cowboy,"  picked  up  in  Texas,  and 
printed  in  my  volume  of  Cowboy  Songs,  are  often  found 
among  the  mountaineers  in  the  Asheville  district.  Miss  Fisk, 
in  writing  of  an  old  woman  from  whom  she  secured  numerous 
songs,  says :     "She  says  she  has  always  known  them.     When 


38  THE    NORTH    CAROLINA    BOOKLET. 

she  was  a  girl  that  'is  all  they  studied  about,'  and  if  she  heard 
a  song  once  she  knew  it.  There  was  an  old  man  who  used  to 
sing  many  a  song  when  he  'got  drunk,'  and  all  gathered  about 
him  eagerly.  She  assured  me  that  she  knows  'one  hundred 
love  songs,'  and  'one  hundred  songs  of  devilment.'  She  gave 
me  Brothers  and  Sisters  and  Pretty  Sarah,  playing  and  sing- 
ing them  for  me." 

From  this  "old  woman"  Miss  Fisk  copied  the  following 
interesting  songs  of  the  Civil  War : 

It  was  our  hard  general's  false  treachery 
Which  caused  our  destruction  in  that  great  day. 
Oh,  he  is  a  traitor,  his  conduct  does  show; 
He  was  seen  in  the  French  fort  six  hours  ago. 

And  to  be  marked  by  the  French,  I  am  sure. 
There  round  his  hat,  a  white  handkerchief  he  wore; 
And  one  of  our  bold  soldiers  he  stood  by  a  tree, 
And  there  he  slew  many  till  him  he  did  see. 

"Would  you  be  like  an  Indian,  to  stand  by  a  tree?" 
And  with  his  broad  sword,  cut  him  down  instantly. 
His  brother  stood  by  him,  and  saw  he  was  slain. 
His  passion  grew  on  him,  he  could  not  refrain. 

"Although  you're  a  general,  brave  Braddock,"  said  he, 

"Eevenged  for  the  death  of  my  brother  I'll  be." 
When  Washington  saw  that,  he  quickly  drew  nigh, 
Said,  "Oh,  my  bold  soldier,  I'd  have  you  forbear." 

"No,  I  will  take  his  life,  if  it  ruins  us  all." 
And  Washington  turned  round  to  not  see  him  fall. 
He  up  with  his  musket,  and  there  shot  him  down. 
Then  Braddock  replied,  "I  received  a  wound." 

"If  here  in  this  place,  my  life  I  should  yield, 
Pray  carry  your  general,  boys,  out  of  the  field." 

Then  General  Gatefore,  he  took  the  command, 
And  fought  like  a  hero  for  old  Eng-e-land. 
He  fled  through  the  ranks,  like  a  cat  to  her  game. 
But  alas,  and  alack,  he  was  short-i-ly  slain. 


SOME  BALLADS  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA.  39 

Then  General  Gates,  he  took  the  command, 
And  fought  like  a  hero  for  old  Eng-e-land. 
He  wished  that  the  river  had  never  been  crossed 
And  so  many  Englishmen  shamefully  lost. 

We  had  for  to  cross,  it  was  at  the  very  last. 
And  crossing  over  the  river  they  killed  us  so  fast. 
Men  fell  in  the  river  till  they  stopped  up  the  flood, 
And  the  streams  of  that  river  ran  down  red  with  blood. 


Brave  Washington  he  led  the  way  to  victory  and  renown, 
Planted  the  tree  of  liberty  Great  Britain  can't  pull  down. 
The  roots  they  spread  from  shore  to  shore. 

The  branches  reach  the  sky; 
The  cause  of  freedom  we  adore, 

We'll  conquer,  boys,  or  die. 

Brave  Tennessee  has  sent  a  band 

To  fight  at  New  Orleans; 
With  British  blood  we'll  wash  the  land. 

The  Tories  cord  the  sea. 

And  with  a  shout  our  eagle  roared, 

And  fluttered  as  she  flew; 
Her  arms  are  like  a  lion  grown, 

Her  arms  are  ever  true. 

There's  Iowa  and  Kentucky, 

New  knights  with  heart  and  hand ; 
There's  several,  too,  the  North  we'll  fight. 

Our  Union  to  defend. 

"Pretty  Sarah"  and  "Owen's  Confession"  are  fairly  illus- 
trative of  the  songs  of  local  origin. 

When  I  came  to  this  country,  in  1829, 

I  saw  many  lovyers,  but  I  didn't  see  mine. 

I  looked  all  around  me  and  saw  I  was  alone, 
And  me  a  poor  stranger,  a  long  way  from  home. 

It's  not  this  long  journey  I'm  dreading  to  go. 
Nor  leaving  my  country,  nor  the  debts  that  I  owe. 

There's  nothing  to  pester,  nor  trouble  my  mind, 
Like  leaving  pretty  Sarah,  my  darling,  behind. 


40  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 

My  love,  she  won't  have  me,  as  I  do  understand, 
She  wants  a  freeholder,  and  I  have  no  land. 

But  I  can  maintain  her  with  silver  and  gold, 

And  it's  many  pretty  fine  things  my  love's  house  can  hold. 

I  wish  I  was  a  poet,  and  could  write  a  fine  hand, 
I'd  write  my  love  a  letter  that  she  could  understand. 
I'd  send  it  by  the  waters  when  the  water  overflows, 
I  think  of  pretty  Sarah  wherever  she  goes. 

I  wish  I  was  a  dove,  and  had  wings  and  could  fly. 
About  my  love's  dwelling  this  night  I'd  draw  nigh. 
And  in  her  lily  white  arms  all  night  I  would  lay. 
And  watch  some  little  window  for  the  dawning  of  day. 

As  pretty  Sarah,  pretty  Sarah,  pretty  Sarah,  I  know, 
How  much  I  love  you,  I  never  can  show. 
At  the  foot  of  old  Coey,  on  the  mountain's  sad  brow, 
I  used  to  love  you  dearly — and  I  don't  hate  you  now. 


owen's  confession. 

Come,  all  ye  good  people,  far  and  near, 

That  has  come  here  this  day  to  see  my  body  put  to  death- 

Oh,  for  my  soul  do  pray ! 

I  would  have  you  take  warning  from  what  you  now  do  see; 
I  pray  you  trust  in  honesty,  and  shun  bad  company. 

December  past,  in  ninety-eight,  as  you  may  understand, 
That  was  the  time  we  set  out  upon  this  cruel  plan. 

Lewis  Collins  was  a  man  that  enticed  me  to  go. 
To  my  eternal  ruin,  to  my  reproaching  woe. 

It  was  our  intention,  a  fortune  for  to  make, 

Though,  poor  and  happy  men,  we  were  met  with  a  mistake. 

I  went  so  far  against  the  will  of  my  poor  wife  so  dear. 
The  night  before  I  left  her  my  shirt  she  bathed  in  tears. 

Then  down  to  Mr.  Irlen's,  Ohe  therefore  I  was  bent; 
To  do  any  murder  it  was  not  my  intent. 
Though,  making  for  his  money,  he  made  toward  his  gun — 
And  to  save  my  own  life,  Ohe  then  I  shot  him  down. 


SOME    BALLxiDS    OF    NORTH    CAROLINA.  41 

And  to  get  his  money  we  quickly  did  prepare, 
As  it  was  well  ordered,  we  got  but  little  there. 

It  being  the  first  crime  of  the  sort  that  ever  I  had  done, 

My  guilty  conscience  checked  me  so  that  from  the  house  I  run. 

Then  to  quit  my  company,  Ohe  therefore  I  was  bent, 

To  go  to  Wilkes  among  my  friends,  for  that  was  my  intent. 

But,  ohe,  his  sad  deluding  he  prest  on  me  so  hard, 
"As  for  the  crime  that  we  have  done,  why  should  you  it  regard?" 

By  his  insinuation  some  comfort  I  did  take, 

And  freely  went  along  with  him  to  my  unhappy  fate. 

The  poor  and  unhappy  rich  I  was  to  go  on  such  a  cause. 
And  now  I  am  condemned  to  die  by  justice  and  by  law. 

I  hear  the  carriage  coming  my  body  for  to  bear 
To  the  place  of  execution,  death  to  encounter  there. 

So  fare  you  well,  my  loving  wife,  likewise  my  children  dear, 
William  Owen  is  my  name,  all  ye  that  want  to  hear. 

Farewell  to  sun,  moon,  stars,  all  things  that  in  them  be. 
Farewell  to  earth  with  all  her  fruits — I  have  no  need  for  thee. 

Come,  sweet  Lord,  I  humbly  pray,  and  wash  me  in  Thy  blood. 
And  in  Thy  praise  continually  my  tongue  shall  sound  aloud. 

The  limits  of  this  article  forbid  a  detailed  discussion  of 
any  of  the  songs,  and  I  submit  as  the  concluding  one  a  song 
sung  to  my  wife  by  Mrs.  Davis  of  Britton's  Cove : 

There  was  a  Romish  lady  brought  up  in  Popery; 
Her  mother  always  taught  her  the  priest  she  must  obey. 
"0  pardon  me,  dear  mother,  I  humbly  pray  thee  now. 
For  unto  these  false  idols  I  can  no  longer  bow." 

Assisted  by  her  handmaid,  a  Bible  she  concealed, 
And  then  she  gained  instruction  till  God  His  love  revealed. 
No  more  she  prostrates  herself  to  pictures  decked  with  gold, 
But  soon  she  was  betrayed,  and  her  Bible  from  her  stole. 

"I'll  bow  to  my  dear  Jesus,  I'll  worship  God  unseen, 
I'll  live  by  faith  forever — the  works  of  men  are  vain. 
I  can  not  worship  angels  nor  pictures  made  by  men; 
Dear  mother,  use  your  pleasure,  but  pardon  if  you  can." 


42  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 

With  grief  and  great  vexation,  her  mother  straight  did  go 
To  inform  the  Roman  clergy  the  cause  of  all  her  woe. 
The  priests  were  soon  assembled  and  for  the  maid  did  call, 
And  forced  her  in  the  dungeon  to  fright  her  soul  withal. 

The  more  they  strove  to  fright  her,  the  more  she  did  endure; 
Although  her  age  was  tender,  her  faith  was  strong  and  sure. 
The  chains  of  gold  so  costly  they  from  this  ladj^  took. 
And  she,  with  all  her  spirits,  the  pride  of  life  forsook. 

Before  the  Pope  they  brought  her  in  hopes  of  her  return. 
And  then  she  was  condemned  in  horrid  flames  to  burn. 
Before  the  place  of  torment  they  brought  her  speedily; 
With  lifted  hands  to  heaven  she  then  agreed  to  die. 

There  being  many  ladies  assembled  at  the  place. 
She  raised  her  eyes  to  heaven  and  begged  supplying  grace. 
"Weep  not,  ye  tender  ladies,  shed  not  a  tear  for  me. 
While  my  poor  body's  burning,  my  soul  the  Lord  shall  see. 

"Yourselves  ye  need  to  pity,  and  Zion's  deep  decay, 
Dear  ladies,  turn  to  Jesus,  no  longer  make  delay." 
In  comes  her  raving  mother,  her  daughter  to  behold. 
And  in  her  hand  she  brought  her  pictures  all  decked  with  gold. 

"0  take  from  me  these  idols,  remove  them  from  my  sight, 
Restore  to  me  my  Bible  wherein  I  take  delight. 
Alas,  my  aged  mother !      Why  on  my  ruin  bent  ? 
'Twas  you  who  did  betray  me,  but  I  am  innocent. 

"Tormentors,  use  your  pleasure,  and  do  as  you  think  best, 
I  hope  my  blessed  Jesus  will  take  my  soul  to  rest." 
Soon  as  these  words  were  spoken,  up  steps  the  man  of  death. 
And  kindled  up  the  fire  to  stop  her  mortal  breath. 

Instead  of  golden  bracelets,  with  chains  they  bound  her  fast. 
She  cried,  "My  God,  give  power — now  must  I  die  at  last? 
With  Jesus  and  His  angels  forever  I  shall  dwell; 
God,  pardon  priests  and  people,  and  so  I  bid  farewell." 

North  Carolina  collectors,  who  value  this  material  prop- 
erly, will  see  to  it,  I  feel  sure,  that  not  many  years  elapse 
before  all  this  interesting  material  is  taken  down  and  de- 
posited in  the  libraries  of  the  universities,  where,  in  after 
years,  it  will  be  invaluable  to  students  of  humanity.  These 
songs,  coming  straight  from  the  heart  of  the  folk,  simple  and 
direct,  reflecting  the  social  and  intimate  emotional  life  of  the 
people,  will  eventually  become  priceless  historical  documents. 


A    PAINTING    OF    THE    BAPTISM    0¥    VIRGINIA    DARE.         43 


A  PAINTING  OF  THE  BAPTISM  OF 
VIRGINIA  DARE 


At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  North  Carolina  Society 
Daughters  of  the  Revolution,  held  in  Raleigh  at  the  home  of 
the  Corresponding  Secretary,  Mrs.  Paul  H.  Lee,  in  January, 
1911,  a  most  imjDortant  resolution,  and  one  that  should  arouse 
the  interest  of  all  patriotic  Xorth  Carolinians,  was  introduced 
by  Mrs.  E.  E.  Moffitt,  who  was  the  guest  of  honor  on  that 
occasion. 

This  resolution  was  to  raise  funds  sufficient  to  place  in  the 
Nation's  Capitol  at  Washington  a  painting  of  the  baptism 
of  the  first  white  child  born  on  American  soil,  the  best  known 
of  all  children  whose  names  are  recorded  in  the  annals  of 
American  history — the  ill-fated  Virginia  Dare.  It  is  need- 
less to  state  that  the  North  Carolina  Society,  Daughters  of 
the  Revolution,  which  is  ever  keenly  alive  to  the  necessity  of 
guarding  and  preserving  our  State's  noble  past,  unanimously 
adopted  this  resolution. 

Below  is  given  the  resolve  in  full : 

FOREWORD. 

Among  all  the  incidents  of  the  early  history  of  this  nation,  no  one 
thing  should  stand  out  in  bolder  relief,  more  pathetic,  or  more  signifi- 
cant of  mighty  and  holy  purpose  than  the  baptism  of  Virginia  Dare, 
which  took  place  on  Roanoke  Island,  on  the  shores  of  North  Carolina, 
August  18,  1587. 

Whereas,  In  consideration  of  this  great  historic  event  which  took 
place  within  the  limits  of  North  Carolina,  and  as  no  great  public  recog- 
nition has  yet  been  made  to  bring  before  the  world  the  great  intention 
of  our  great  colonizer,  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  therefore  be  it 

Resolved,  That  as  this,  the  "North  Carolina  Society  of  the  Daughters 
of  the  Revolution,"  which  has  for  its  object  the  perpetuating  and  com- 
memorating great  events  in  North  Carolina  history,  take  steps  to  have 
a  painting  executed  of  such  merit  as  to  entitle  it  to  a  place  among  the 
other  notable  paintings  depicting  great  scenes  in  the  history  of  this 
nation,  which  now  adorn  the  Capitol  at  Washington. 

Second,  That  this  Society  raise  sufficient  funds  for  the  picture,  through 


44  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 

its  own  efforts  and  by  petition  to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  for 
the  completion  of  this  object.  Respectfully  submitted, 

Mrs.  E.  E.  Moffitt, 
Ealeigh,  N.  C,  January,  1911.  Honorary  Vice-Regent. 

Committee  signed  by  Miss  Mary  Hilliard  Hinton  of  the  Regent  of  the 
North  Carolina  Society  of  the  Daughters  of  the  Revolution. 

J\Irs.  Louise  Pittenger  Skinner,  Recording-Secretary,  N.  C.  S.  D.  R. 

Mrs.  Paul  Hinton  Lee,  Corresponding-Secretary,  N.  C.  S.  D.  R. 

Mrs.  Mary  Bates  Sherwood,  Treasurer,  N.  C.  S.  D.  R. 

Miss  Grace  Bates,  Librarian,  N.  C.  S.  D.  R. 

Mrs.  John  E.  Ray,  Custodian  of  Relics,  N.  C.  S.  D.  R. 

Mrs.  Annie  Moore  Parker. 

Mrs.  John  Cross. 

Mrs.  Hubert  Haywood,  Regent  of  the  Bloomsbury  Chapter,  D.  R. 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  General  Society,  held  in 
Baltimore  in  May,  it  received  the  endorsement  as  a  State 
Society  work. 

On  May  26,  1911,  Hon.  Lee  S.  Overman,  Senior  Senator 
from  North  Carolina,  introduced  this  bill : 

A  BILL  FOR  THE  EXECUTION  OF  A  SUITABLE  AND  CREDITABLE  PAINTING 
DEPICTING  AND  PERPETUATING  THE  BAPTISM  OF  VIRGINIA  DARE,  THE 
FIRST  KNOWN  CELEBRATION  OF  A  CHRISTIAN  SACRAMENT  ON  AMERICAN 
SOIL. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  That  the  sum  of  ten 
thousand  dollars,  or  so  much  thereof  as  may  be  necessary,  be,  and  the 
same  is  hereby,  appropriated,  out  of  any  money  in  the  Treasury  not 
otherwise  appropriated,  for  the  execution  of  a  suitable  and  creditable 
painting  depicting  the  scene  of  the  baptism  of  Virginia  Dare,  which 
took  place  on  Roanoke  Island,  on  the  shores  of  North  Carolina,  on  the 
eighteenth  day  of  August,  fifteen  hundred  and  eighty-seven;  said  paint- 
ing to  be  of  such  merit  as  to  entitle  it  to  a  place  among  the  notable 
paintings  depicting  and  perpetuating  other  historic  scenes  of  national 
interest  which  now  adorn  the  w^alls  of  our  National  Capitol. 

It  is  indeed  a  gratification  to  be  able  to  report  that  the 
said  bill  has  passed  two  committees  and  been  referred  to  the 
Committee  on  the  Library.  There  also  comes  the  news  that 
there  is  hope  of  its  passage.  Both  Senator  Overman  and 
Senator  Simmons  are  working  hard  for  this  noble  cause, 
which  has  been  far  too  long  unnoticed. 


MARKING    SITE    OF    THE    OLD    TOWN    OF    BLOOMSBURY.       45 

MARKING   THE   SITE  OF  THE  OLD  TOWN  OF 
BLOOMSBURY,  OR  WAKE  COURT  HOUSE 


PRESENTATION  OF  TABLET  TO  THE  CITY  OF  RALEIGH 


The  morning  of  April  26,  1911,  was  fair  and  bright,  and 
it  seemed  that  Nature  herself  smiled  approval  on  the  Blooms- 
burj  Chapter,  Daughters  of  the  Revolution,  and  their  gift  to 
the  citj,  that  should  mark  for  future  generations  the  location 
of  the  old  town  of  Bloomsbury,  the  remembrance  of  which 
was  fast  fading  from  the  mind  of  the  oldest  inhabitant  and 
becoming  an  uncertain  tradition. 

Bloomsbury  had  but  a  short  life — about  twenty  years — 
but  it  was  nevertheless  during  that  time  a  social  and  politi- 
cal center.  The  home  of  Colonel  Joel  Lane  was  here,  and  the 
probabilities  are,  though  history  does  not  so  state,  that  it  was 
through  his  influence  that  it  was  chosen  the  county  seat,  as  it 
was  also  through  his  influence  that  Raleigh  was  chosen  our 
State  capital.  Colonel  Lane  was  noted  for  his  hospitality 
and  fondness  for  social  life,  as  well  as  for  his  influence  in 
politics.  Here  great  hunting  parties  assembled  from  all  the 
country-side,  and  there  is  still  standing  today,  in  our  Capitol 
Square,  a  tree  but  a  short  distance  removed  from  Fayette- 
ville  street  which  was  in  those  days  a  favorite  deer  stand. 
To  accommodate  the  crowds  which  assembled  here,  Colonel 
Lane  had  a  tavern  built,  which  was  situated  just  across  the 
road  from  his  own  residence.  It  was  here  that  Tryon  rested 
in  17Y1  from  the  5th  to  the  8th  of  May,  when  he  was  gath- 
ering his  forces  to  march  against  the  Regulators,  and  when 
the  army  returned  from  Alamance,  Colonel  John  Hinton  dis- 
banded his  detachment  here. 

It  was  at  Bloomsbury,  in  Colonel  Lane's  residence,  that 
the  Legislature  was  held  in  1781,  during  the  Revolution,  and 
at  this  time  and  in  this  place  Thomas  Burke  was  elected 
Governor. 


46  THE  NORTH  CAKOLINA  BOOKLET. 

The  Bloomsburj  Chapter,  Daughters  of  the  Kevolution, 
celebrated  their  first  anniversary  by  this  gift  to  the  city.  It 
was  a  happy  and  joyous  occasion  to  them,  to  which  all  were 
invited,  and  many  responded.  It  was  the  first  occasion  upon 
which  a  local  historical  spot  had  been  marked  in  Raleigh. 
Mr.  John  W.  Hinsdale,  Jr.,  a  descendant  of  Joel  Lane,  was 
marshal  for  the  day,  and  he  most  gracefully  introduced  the 
various  speakers. 

The  services  were  opened  by  the  Rev.  W.  McC.  White, 
D.D.,  with  an  invocation,  which  was  as  follows : 

A    PRAYER    AT    THE    ESTABLISHMEiSfT    OF   A    MEMORIAL    STONE    IN    RALEIGH, 

APRIL  26,   1911. 

0  Thou  Eternal  One,  we  bow  our  heads  in  lowly  adoration  before  Thee. 
Thou  art  God — even  from  everlasting  to  everlasting,  Thou  art  God. 

From  everlasting,  from  the  beginning,  or  ever  the  earth  was — Thou 
wast.  In  the  beginning  Thou  didst  create  the  heaven  and  the  earth. 
Thou  laidest  the  foundations  thereof,  when  the  morning  stars  sang 
together  and  all  the  sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy.  All  things  were  made 
by  Thee,  and  without  Thee  was  not  anything  made  that  was  made. 

As  Thou  hast  been  from  everlasting,  so  Thou  wilt  be.  Heaven  and 
earth  shall  pass  away — they  shall  perish — but  Thou  remainest;  they 
shall  wax  old  as  doth  a  garment,  and  as  a  vesture  shalt  Thou  fold  them 
up,  and  they  shall  be  changed;  but  Thou  art  the  same  and  Thy  years 
fail  not. 

But,  oh.  Thou  ever-living  God,  our  days  on  earth  are  but  as  a  shadow 
that  passeth  away — but  as  an  evanishing  cloud — as  a  watch  in  the 
night — as  a  tale  that  is  told — as  the  grass;  in  the  morning  it  groweth 
up  and  flourisheth,  in  the  evening  it  is  cut  down,  and  withereth.  As 
for  man  his  days  are  as  grass;  as  the  flower  of  the  field,  so  he  flourish- 
eth. For  the  wind  passeth  over  it,  and  it  is  gone,  and  the  place  thereof 
shall  know  it  no  more  forever. 

Yet,  oh.  Lord,  we  children  of  men  long  for  immortality,  and  would 
perpetuate  the  memory  of  our  deeds  on  earth,  and  of  our  history  hith- 
erto. And  we  have  come  now  to  set  up  this  memorial  stone  to  mark 
the  beginnings  of  our  city — lest  we  forget.  Let  it  be  unto  us,  we  pray 
Thee,  and  unto  them  that  come  after  us,  a  reminder  of  our  origin,  that 
from  it  we  may  measure,  and  rightly  estimate  and  appreciate,  Thy  great 
goodness  unto  us  in  Thy  providence  over  us  all,  the  plentitude  of  Thy 
loving-kindness  and  the  multitude  of  Thy  tender  mercies  unto  us.  As 
we,  or  our  children,   or   our   children's  children,   look  upon  this   stone. 


MARKING    SITE    OF    THE    OLD    TOWN    OF    BLOOMSBURY.       47 

may  we  or  they  be  moved  to  say  with  the  patriarch  of  old:  I  am  not 
worthy  of  the  least  of  all  Thy  mercies  which  Thou  hast  showed  unto 
Thy  servant;  with  my  staff  I  passed  over,  and  now  I  am  become  two 
bands!  With  the  pious  Israelite  may  we  stand  to  praise  Thee,  saying: 
A  Syrian  ready  to  perish  was  my  father;  and  he  went  down  into  Egypt 
with  a  few,  and  became  there  a  nation,  great  and.  mighty  and  populous. 
So,  oh.  Lord,  as  we  look  back  upon  our  humble  beginnings  and  then 
turn  to  contemplate  this  imperial  city  in  all  its  beauty  and  riches  and 
power  and  glory,  may  our  hearts  fill  up  with  grateful,  loving  adoration 
of  Thee,  our  fathers'  God,  and  our  God.  For  Thou,  Lord,  art  good,  and 
Thy  mercy  endureth  forever. 

Not  unto  us,  not  unto  us,  oh.  Lord,  but  vmto  Thee  do  we  give  the 
glory.  And  if  ever  in  the  pride  of  our  hearts  we  are  found  saying,  Is  not 
this  great  Babylon,  that  I  have  built  by  the  might  of  my  power  and 
for  the  honor  of  my  majesty — forgive  us,  we  pray. 

Oh,  Lord,  keep  watch  over  this  stone.  And  if  it  please  Thee,  let  it 
remain  in  its  place  until  that  day  when  the  elements  shall  melt  with 
fervent  heat,  when  the  earth  and  the  works  that  are  therein  shall  be 
burned  up.  Nevertheless,  we,  according  to  Thy  promise,  look  for  a  new 
heaven  and  a  new  earth,  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness.  And  grant  it 
of  Thy  mercy,  oh.  Lord,  that  we  may  inherit  the  new  earth  and  dwell 
therein  forever.  And  oh,  that  we  may  then,  in  eternal  leisure,  revisit 
in  memory,  or  in  spirit,  or  even  in  our  own  person,  the  scenes  of  our 
earthly  history,  and  be  permitted  to  trace  out  all  Thy  dealings  with  man 
from  the  beginning  to  the  end.  And  as  then  with  unclouded  vision  we 
see,  no  longer  as  through  a  glass  darkly,  but  face  to  face;  as  we  know, 
not  in  part,  but  the  whole — we  shall  behold  and  admire  and  join  with 
the  saints  of  all  ages  in  the  song  of  Moses  and  the  Lamb,  saying.  Great 
and  marvellous  are  Thy  works,  oh,  Lord  God  Almighty;  just  and  true 
are  Thy  ways.  Thou  King  of  Saints. 

And  now,  God  of  our  fathers,  be  Thou  still  a  God  unto  us.  Here  we 
raise  this  Ebenezer;  hitherto  hast  Thou  helped  us.  And  unto  Thee  do 
we  look  in  faith  for  the  unknown  future.  Guide  Thou,  govern  Thou  us 
all  the  days.  This  we  pray  in  the  name  and  for  the  sake  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.     Amen. 

Mr.  William  B.  Snow,  who  is  the  great-grandson  of  Wil- 
liam Boylan,  who  in  1818  purchased  the  estate  of  Bloomsbury 
shortly  after  it  passed  from  the  possession  of  the  Lane  family, 
and  whose  children  and  grandchildren  have  continuously 
owned  the  property  until  now,  made  the  next  address.  Mr. 
John  W.  Hinsdale,  Jr.,  introduced  Mr.  Snow. 


48  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 

In  North  Carolina  we  have  heretofore  paid  too  little  attention  to  the 
past  and  to  keeping  our  records  straight.  We  have  been  content  •with. 
doing,  but  have  considered  the  remembrance  of  the  deed  accomplished 
as  of  minor  importance.  This  was  wrong,  for  a  heroic  deed  forgotten 
had  almost  as  well  never  have  taken  place.  It  is  the  remembrance  of 
past  glories  that  stimulates  the  youth  of  coming  ages,  and  it  requires 
a  knowledge  of  the  past  to  give  those  who  live  in  the  present  a  proper 
outlook. 

It  is  true  that  the  founding  of  a  town  is  not  a  heroic  act,  but  the 
same  spirit  that  produced  the  Regimental  Histories  of  North  Carolina, 
stimulates  the  activities  of  the  North  Carolina  Historical  Society  and 
that  originated  the  North  Carolina  Booklet  and  a  score  of  other 
tokens  of  our  new  view  of  the  past,  is  responsible  for  our  presence  here 
today  to  commemorate  the  founding  of  the  old  and  almost  forgotten 
town  of  Bloomsbury. 

I  take  pleasure  in  introducing  to  you  Mr.  Wm.  B.  Snow,  who  will 
make  the  address  of  the  day. 

MR.    snow's    address. 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 

It  is  truly  an  honor,  and  no  less  a  pleasure,  which  has  been  conferred 
upon  me  by  the  Bloomsbury  Chapter  of  the  Daughters  of  the  Revolution, 
to  address  you  upon  an  occasion  so  inspiring  as  the  dedication  and 
unveiling  of  the  monument  to  commemorate  this  historic  spot. 

While  the  people  of  a  busy  world  are  so  engaged  and  absorbed  by  the 
daily  affairs  of  life,  the  patriotic  and  self-sacrificing  order  of  the 
Daughters  of  the  Revolution,  composed  of  the  descendants  of  those  who 
fought  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution  for  American  independence,  and 
created  the  greatest  nation  of  the  world,  are  industriously  and  nobly 
engaged  in  perpetuating  the  memory  of  those  now  historic  times  and 
events  and  in  preserving  the  identity  of  the  places  which  formed  a 
setting  for  these  scenes.  Much  does  the  present,  and  more  will  the 
future  owe  to  these  good  women  for  their  high-minded  purpose.  And 
so,  today,  they  have  erected  here  a  monument  to  commemorate  and 
identify  the  historic  place  of  "Bloomsbury,"  the  original  County  Seat 
of  Wake  County. 

In  the  year  1771,  during  the  strenuous  period  of  the  reign  of  George 
III,  Wake  County  was  created  by  act  of  the  Colonial  Assembly,  out  of 
portions  of  the  older  counties  of  Cvimberland,  Orange  and  Johnston;  the 
origin  of  its  name  is  disputed,  as  are  other  things  and  events  pertaining 
to  that  period  of  our  State's  history,  some  ascribing  it  to  the  name  of 
Royal  Governor  Tryon's  wife,  and  others  to  that  of  his  wife's  sister. 


MARKING    SITE    OF    THE    OLD    TOWN    OF    BLOOMSBURY.       4U 

Seven  commissioners  appointed  by  the  Legislature  located  the  county 
seat  at  Wake  Cross  Eoads,  as  the  place  had  been  theretofore  called,  be- 
cause it  formed  the  junction  of  two  or  more  of  the  important  highways 
of  the  State  leading  to  and  from  the  then  seat  of  the  government  at 
New  Bern  and  the  towns  of  Hillsboro  and  Salisbury.  The  seven  com- 
missioners were  Joel  Lane,  Theophilus  Hunter,  Hardy  Sanders,  Joseph 
Lane,  John  Hinton,  Thomas  Hines  and  Thomas  Crawford.  But  as 
fitted  the  newly  acquired  dignity  of  the  place,  the  name  became  changed 
to  "Bloomsbury,"  which  was  the  name  of  the  home  of  Colonel  Joel  Lane. 
There  still  stands,  in  quiet  beauty  and  imposing  grace,  the  one  object 
which  has  remained  to  mark  the  location  of  the  historic  place,  the  old 
Colonial  home,  at  that  time  the  stately  mansion,  of  Colonel  Joel  Lane,  one 
of  the  great  men  of  his  day.  Upon  a  gentle  slope,  it  overlooked  the 
surrounding  lands,  the  only  residence  for  distances  around,  the  gathering 
place  for  the  commanding  men  and  fair  women  of  its  times,  to  whom 
its  open  doors  offered  the  pleasures  afforded  in  those  days  by  a  people 
noted  for  their  Southern  hospitalitJ^  There,  too,  occurred  many  of  the 
important  gatherings  and  meetings  which  formed  eventful  epochs  in 
those  days  when  men's  minds  were  filled  and  their  hearts  throbbed 
with  the  pulsations  of  war.  There,  too,  met,  on  June  23,  1781,  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  Colony,  and  elected  Thomas  Burke,  Governor 
of  the  Colony.  There,  too,  oftentimes,  went  the  Governor  to  seek  advice 
and  assistance  from  Colonel  Lane.  It  was  at  Bloomsbury  that  the 
Governor  and  the  officers  in  command  of  the  King's  soldiers  assembled, 
and  from  there  proceeded  on  their  march  to  Hillsboro  to  meet  the 
Regulators,  and  to  further  advance  to  the  battle  of  the  Alamance. 

When  the  county  seat  was  established,  the  Wake  court  house  and  jail 
were  built,  their  location  being  probably  to  the  south  of  the  Lane 
residence  and  near  the  present  railway  tracks,  where  they  remained 
for  more  than  twenty  years  and  until  after  the  town  of  Raleigh  had 
been  created.  In  1818,  Bloomsbury  and  the  large  tract  of  surrounding 
land,  extending  to  the  present  grounds  of  the  Central  Hospital  on  the 
south,  to  Hillsboro  street  on  the  north,  to  the  Seaboard  Air  Line  on 
the  east,  and  Pullen  Park  and  Rocky  Branch  on  the  west,  became  the 
property  of  William  Boy  Ian,  in  whose  family  it  has  constantly  remained, 
descending  to  his  namesake  and  grandson,  who  is  its  present  owner. 
At  the  time  of  its  acquirement  by  the  Boylan  family,  Bloomsbury  was 
the  only  residence  within  the  limits  of  the  tract  of  land,  and  for  many 
years,  until  the  modern  city  of  Raleigh  arose,  and  its  open  areas  be- 
came traversed  by  streets  and  modern  residences  sprung  up,  it  still 
overlooked,  in  all  its  historic  grandeur  and  importance,  the  broad  domain 
of  which  it  had  been  the  central  figure.  The  loving  care  bestowed  upon 
it  by  those  who  have  cherished  its  history  has  kept  it  in  a  remarkable 


50  THE    NORTH    CAROLINA    BOOKLET. 

state  of  preservation,  and  may  the  result  of  these  exercises  today  be  to 
sustain  the  interest  of  the  public  in  its  noble  past. 

The  living  descendants  of  Colonel  Joel  Lane  are  numerous  in  the  city 
of  Raleigh,  and  well  known  and  distinguished  as  befits  the  descendants 
of  so  eminent  a  character  in  the  history  of  Bloomsbury  and  of  their 
county  and  State. 

Colonel  Lane  had  six  sons  and  six  daughters,  and  time  forbids  that 
I  should  attempt  to  mention  the  names  of  the  numerous  descendants. 
Among  them,  however,  are  the  ]\Iordecais  and  the  Devereux,  of  whom  the 
accomplished  and  esteemed  John  W.  Hinsdale,  Jr.,  adds  to  the  success 
and  enjoyment  of  these  ceremonies  by  his  services  as  Chief  Marshal  of 
the  occasion;  and  the  two  handsome  and  attractive  young  boys,  William 
and  Gavin  Dortch,  who  will  by  unveiling  the  monument  thus  con- 
tribute their  part  towards  the  success  of  the  occasion. 

So  much  for  the  history  of  Bloomsbury.  As  we  stand  in  the  midst 
of  surroundings  hallowed  by  memories  so  dear  to  the  hearts  of  a 
patriotic  people,  and  look  through  the  vista  of  the  past,  we  marvel  at 
the  changes  which  have  come  with  time.  No  longer  is  the  scene  one 
bright  with  the  movements  of  Revolutionary  troops,  and  Bloomsbury 
stands  surrounded  with  modern  homes,  its  once  solitary  grandeur  gone. 
In  the  years  which  are  to  come,  future  generations  will  no  longer  have 
the  pleasure  which  is  ours  today,  to  look  upon  the  home  that  was  once 
so  intimately  associated  with  an  eventful  past.  But  when  that  time 
shall  come  this  imposing  monument  shall  speak  to  them  a  story  they 
may  never  read  in  books,  and  they  will  be  the  better  for  it.  They  will 
know  of  the  patriotism  of  a  people  who  loved  their  past  and  loved  to 
honor  it.  And  they  will  tliink  with  increased  admiration  of  the  splendid 
work  of  that  band  of  noble  hearted  women  who  devoted  their  efforts  to 
the  task  of  making  immemorial  those  things  so  often  soon  forgotten, 
the  Daughters  of  the  Revolution. 

After  Mr.  Snow's  address,  Miss  Mary  Hilliard  Hinton, 
State  Regent  of  the  North  Carolina  Society,  Daughters  of 
the  Revolution,  in  hehalf  of  the  Bloomsbury  Chapter,  pre- 
sented the  memorial  to  the  city,  in  the  following  graceful 

manner. 

MISS  hinton's  address. 

Today  we  stand  upon  Wake's  most  historic  ground,  and  in  placing 
this  memorial  do  reverence  the  brave  men  and  noble  women  who  have 
gone  before,  the  fruits  of  whose  labors  later  generations  have  enjoyed. 

The   various    periods    of    our    history   are    here    combined;    therefore 


MARKING    SITE    OF    THE    OLD    TOWN    OF    BLOOMSBURY.       51 

naturally  an  onlooker  becomes  retrospective.  His  thoughts  revert  to 
the  days  when  these  acres  formed  a  part  of  a  vast  wilderness,  untouched 
by  civilization  save  at  energy-stirring  distances,  when  conveniences 
were  a  dream  of  a  future  that  was  yet  to  dawn.  Gradually  it  became 
the  center  of  a  large  county,  later  its  seat  of  government.  Next,  the 
horrors  of  a  civil  war  overshadowed  the  Province,  and  Governor  Tryon 
here  gathered  together  his  army,  loyal  subjects  of  a  British  sovereign, 
and  marched  hence  to  meet  the  Regulators  on  the  field  of  Alamance. 
In  a  short  space  the  men  who  defended  the  crown's  rights  were  assert- 
ing their  own.  In  the  midst  of  that  long  struggle  for  independence,  the 
General  Assembly  honored  Colonel  Lane  with  its  presence,  and  in  yonder 
Colonial  home,  the  oldest  we  can  claim,  the  brilliant  Thomas  Burke 
was  elected  Governor  of  North  Carolina.  Then  came  the  efforts  to 
locate  the  State's  capital  permanently,  and  Colonel  Lane  won,  selling 
one  thousand  acres  and  donating  five  lots  for  the  new  town.  Lastly, 
the  selection  of  a  name  that  should  be  a  source  of  pride  to  every 
English-speaking  individual,  carries  us  back  to  the  time  of  the  "Lost 
Colony"  and  the  beginning  of  England's  power. 

In  marking  this  site,  the  Bloomsbury  Chapter,  in  celebration  of  its 
first  birthday,  imparts  information  known  only  to  the  minority. 

Monuments  and  tablets  are  regarded  by  a  majority  of  our  country- 
men as  an  utterly  useless  expenditure  of  money.  To  the  thoughtful 
they  are  an  essential  means  of  teaching  history,  of  arousing  that 
national  love  without  which  a  man  can  claim  no  country.  It  is  a 
pronounced  characteristic  of  the  Anglo-Saxons  to  revere  the  deeds  and 
memories  of  their  antecedents  and  to  lose  no  opportunity  of  preserving 
their  records  beyond  the  archives  of  state,  even  though  centuries  may 
elapse  without  some  achievement.  From  this  line  of  progenitors  we  are 
visibly  inheriting  this  excellent  trait. 

The  flame  of  patriotism  which  is  adorning  our  land,  by  perpetuating 
its  glorious  past  in  bronze,  stone,  marble  and  on  canvas,  is  not  the 
passing  fad  of  an  hour;  it  is  the  safeguard  of  progress,  preventing  the 
vandalic  supremacy  of  materialism  that  threatens  the  life  of  the  New 
World. 

To  the  aldermen  and  officials  of  the  city,  who  by  their  generous  assist- 
ance have  made  this  event  possible,  we  extend  our  heartfelt  gratitude. 

On  behalf  of  the  Bloomsbury  Chapter,  North  Carolina  Society  Daugh- 
ters of  the  Revolution,  and  at  the  request  of  our  Regent,  Mrs.  Hubert 
Haywood,  it  affords  me  infinite  pleasure  to  present  this  tablet  and 
stone  to  our  city  of  Raleigh,  through  her  most  highly  esteemed  Mayor, 
the  Honorable  J.  S.  Wynne,  asking  that  the  said  memorial  receive  their 
care  and  trusting  that  it  may  serve  to  arouse  a  proper  sense  of  State 
and  national  pride  in  the  citizens  of  this  county. 


52  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 

The  Hon.  J.  S.  Wynne,  Mayor  of  the  city,  accepted  the 
memorial  for  the  city,  in  a  brief  address. 

HON.  J.  s.  Wynne's  address. 
Daughters  of  the  Revolution. 

Ladies: — It  gives  me  peculiar  pleasure  to  accept,  on  behalf  of  the 
city  of  Raleigh,  this  tablet,  which  your  public  spirit  and  your  pride  in 
history  have  caused  you  to  place  on  this  spot,  for  it  is  the  first  tablet 
set  up  to  mark  any  point  in  Raleigh  which  has  a  bearing  upon  local 
events  or  places.  The  time  has  come  to  take  up  this  work  of  thus 
placing  memorials  of  this  character,  for  Raleigh,  though  it  has  only  a 
little  more  than  a  hundred  years  of  history  behind  it  as  the  capital  of 
the  great  Commonwealth  of  North  Carolina,  yet  long  before  that  honor 
was  conferred,  this  locality  was  the  scene  of  incidents  which  bear  upon 
our  colonial  history.  In  accepting  this  enduring  bronze  memorial  to 
mark  the  site  of  old  "Bloomsbury,"  I  take  pleasure  in  making  the  high- 
est public  acknowledgment  of  the  appreciation  of  Raleigh  and  of  Wake 
for  the  thoughtful  care  which  has  caused  you  to  take  this  very  proper 
step,  and  I  thank  you  for  what  is  but  an  added  evidence  of  your  high 
purpose  to  instill  pride  in  the  memories  of  the  great  past  in  the  minds 
of  our  people. 

At  the  close  of  Mayor  Wynne's  address,  Mr.  Hinsdale 
announced  that  the  tablet  would  be  unveiled  by  Masters 
William  and  Gavin  Dortch,  descendants  to  the  seventh  gener- 
ation from  Joel  Lane,  and  whose  silver  knee  buckles  were  used 
to  clasp  the  regalias  which  these  little  boys  wore  on  this  occa- 
sion, when  they  had  come  to  do  honor  to  their  ancestor. 

The  benediction  by  Dr.  White  closed  the  services. 

The  Daughters  of  the  Eevolution  are  under  many  obli- 
gations to  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  Mr.  R.  B.  Seawell,  city 
engineer,  and  Mr.  W.  A.  Cooper,  alderman  and  city  street 
commissioner ;  also  Mr.  Marshall  DeLancey  Haywood,  with- 
out whose  advice,  kindness  and  co-operation  this  memorial 
would  not  have  been  possible. 

The  tablet  is  placed  on  a  natural  boulder  of  Wake  County 
granite,  which  is  located  at  the  comer  of  Boylan  Avenue  and 


MARKING    SITE    OF    THE    OLD    TOWN    OF    BLOOMSBURY.       53 

Morgan  street.     It  is  of  bronze,  and  bears  the  following  in- 
scription : 

On  and  Aroujstd  This  Spot 
Stood  the  Old  Town  of 

BLOOMSBURY 

OK 

WAKE  COURT  HOUSE 

Which  was  Erected  and  Made  the  County-seat 
WHEN  Wake  County  was  Established  in  1771. 

This  place  was  the  rendezvous  of  a  part  of  Governor  Tryon's  army 

WHEN    HE    marched   AGAINST   THE   REGULATORS    IN    1771;    HERE   MET   THE 

State  Revolutionary  Assembly  in  1781;  and  to  this  vicinity  was 

removed  the  seat  of  government  when  THE  CAPITAL  CITY  OF  RALEIGH 

was  incorporated  in  1792. 

This  Memorial  Placed  by 

bloomsbury  chapter 

Daughters  of  the  Revolution 

A.  D.  1911. 

Emily  Benbury  Haywood, 

Regent  Bloomshury  Chapter,  D.  R. 

References : 

Haywood's  Joel  Lane,  Pioneer  and  Patriot. 
Amis's  Historical  Raleigh. 


54  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 

BIOGRAPHICAL,  GENEALOGICAL  AND 
HISTORICAL  MEMORANDA 

COMPILED  AND  EDITED  BY  MRS.  E.  E.  MOFFITT. 

MAJOR  WILLIAM  ALEXANDER  GRAHAM 

The  subject  of  this  sketch,  and  the  author  of  the  article 
in  this  number  of  The  Booklet  entitled  "The  ISTorth  Caro- 
lina Union  Men  of  Eighteen  Hundred  and  Sixty-one,"  is  a 
native  of  Hillsboro,  North  Carolina.  His  home  residence  is 
at  Machpelah,  Lincoln  County,  IST.  C,  one  of  the  oldest 
communities  in  the  State  and  first  settled  by  his  forefathers. 

Major  Graham  is  the  grandson  of  General  Joseph  Graham 
(1759-1836),  the  distinguished  Revolutionary  patriot,  whose 
life  is  conspicuous  in  the  annals  of  North  Carolina. 

Major  Graham  is  the  son  of  Governor  William  A.  Graham 
(1804-1875),  of  Hillsboro,  North  Carolina,  and  Susan 
(Washington)  Graham,  his  v^ife.  Of  the  large  family  left 
by  Governor  Graham,  many  have  already  made  their  mark, 
among  them  his  son.  Major  Wm.  A.  Graham.  He  was  born 
in  Hillsboro  on  December  26,  1839;  educated  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  North  Carolina  and  at  Princeton,  where  he  gradu- 
ated in  1860. 

He  entered  the  Confederate  army  as  a  first  lieutenant  of 
Company  K,  Second  North  Carolina  Cavalry,  and  on  May  1, 
1862,  was  promoted  to  a  captaincy,  and  was  at  Gettysburg, 
July  30,  1863,  where  he  was  wounded.  After  this  he  was 
Assistant  Adjutant  General,  in  which  capacity  he  served 
during  the  war.  In  1874,  he  was  elected  to  the  State  Senate 
from  Lincoln  and  Catawba  counties,  and  was  re-elected  from 
same  district,  1876. 

Major  Graham  married  (1864)  Julia,  daughter  of  John 
W.  Lane,  of  Amelia  County,  Virginia,  by  whom  he  has  an 
interesting  family. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    AND    GENEALOGICAL.  55 

Major  Graham  has  always  been  a  devoted  student  of  his- 
tory, and  has  made  valuable  contributions  in  its  preservation. 
In  1904  he  published  a  history  of  his  grandfather,  General 
Joseph  Graham,  in  which  is  published  his  Revolutionary 
papers,  with  an  epitome  of  North  Carolina's  military  services 
in  the  Revolutionary  war  and  of  the  laws  enacted  for  raising 
troops.  This  is  a  most  valuable  work,  and  which  required 
the  most  extensive  research  for  the  facts  contained  therein, 
dating  from  the  settlement  in  1750  of  the  Scotch-Irish  emi- 
gration, to  the  year  1782,  inclusive.  They  are  authentic  and 
based  on  manuscripts  and  original  records. 

The  Booklet  is  indebted  to  Major  Graham  for  several 
articles  on  great  events  in  North  Carolina  history.  Vol.  IV, 
June,  1904,  he  wrote  on  the  "Battle  of  Ramsaur's  Mill,"  a 
battle  which  is  little  known  in  general  history,  yet  one  of  the 
most  important  in  results  and  best  fought  of  the  Revolution. 
It  destroyed  Toryism  in  that  section.  In  this  fight  with 
Cornwallis,  forty  were  killed  and  one  hundred  wounded  out 
of  four  hundred  engaged.  The  defeat  and  rout  of  three 
times  their  number  is  certainly  worthy  of  note.  This  battle 
field  is  now  within  the  limits  of  Lincolnton,  and  yet  remains 
to  be  marked  by  a  patriotic  people. 

Vol.  V,  January,  1906,  contains  another  article  by  Major 
Graham,  on  "The  Celebration  of  the  Anniversary  of  May  20, 
1775."  This  was  the  first  celebration  of  the  anniversary  of 
the  Mecklenburg  Declaration  of  Independence,  Charlotte, 
]Sr.  C,  May  20,  1835.  The  attendance  was  estimated  to  be 
at  least  five  thousand,  participated  in  by  many  distinguished 
citizens  of  the  State.  At  the  dinner  many  speeches  were 
made  on  the  political  questions  of  the  day.  General  Joseph 
Graham  was  there  and  responded  to  the  toast,  "Our  guest. 
General  Joseph  Graham,  the  living  tvitness  of  the  scene  ive 
have  met  to  commemorate,  and  the  bold  and  intrepid  defender 
of  its  principles." 


56  THE  NORTH  CAEOLINA  BOOKLET. 

General  Graham  replied,  giving  his  individual  experience 
relative  to  that  event.  He  was  personally  acquainted  with 
those  venerable  fathers,  and  had  heard  the  discussion  on 
those  resolutions,  and  believed  that  the  signers  were  actu- 
ated by  pure  patriotism,  governed  by  no  motive  but  the 
country's  welfare,  etc.  The  account  of  this  celebration  is 
from  the  Miners  and  Farmers  Jouriial,  Charlotte,  IST.  C., 
May  22,  1835.  The  address  of  General  Graham  is  from  the 
Western  Carolinian,  Salisbury,  N.  C.,  June  20,  1835. 

Again,  in  Vol.  V,  April  Booklet  (1905),  Major  Graham 
contributed  another  interesting  article,  entitled,  "The  Battle 
of  Cowan's  Ford,  N.  C. — The  Passage  of  the  Catawba  River 
by  Lord  Cornwallis,  February  1,  1781."  In  this  article  the 
patriots  of  Rowan,  Mecklenburg  and  Lincoln  counties  are 
given  due  credit  for  valor  and  readiness  for  the  service  in 
the  struggle  for  Independence.  They  were  in  fact  soldiers 
cantoned  upon  their  own  families,  ready  to  immediately  re- 
spond to  a  call  for  service,  and  to  provide  for  their  own 
findings,  in  clothes,  arms  and  ammunition.  Their  swords 
and  scabbards  were  made  principally  by  the  smiths  and  shoe- 
makers of  the  vicinity  in  which  the  men  lived.  GeogTaphi- 
cally,  this  was  the  storm  center  of  the  Revolution,  and  with 
the  crudest  of  accoutrements,  such  as  present  warfare  de- 
mands, these  men,  undaunted  by  fear  and  with  unflinching 
determination,  stood  ever  ready  to  defend  their  homes  and 
firesides  against  the  invasion  of  a  foe  that  had  wantonly 
trampled  on  their  rights.  Well  worthy  to  be  kept  in  remem- 
brance by  a  loyal  people !  It  was  recorded  in  "Tarleton's 
Campaigns"  that  the  counties  of  Mecklenburg  and  Rowan 
were  more  hostile  than  any  other  in  America. 

The  declaration  made  by  Tarleton  to  Cornwallis  that  "he 
had  gotten  into  a  hornet's  nest,"  has  become  a  classic,  as  it 
were.  This  epithet  was  gloried  in  by  the  j^atriots  of  that 
day  and  is  yet  held  as  a  badge  of  honor  and  is  emblazoned 


BIOGRAPHICAL    AND    GENEALOGICAL.  57 

on  the  monument  that  stands  in  a  public  square  of  Char- 
lotte, N.  C,  which  was  erected  to  the  patriots  of  Mecklen- 
burg of  1775. 

Major  Graham,  after  filling  many  positions  of  honor  and 
trust,  was  chosen  some  years  ago  as  the  head  of  the  ]^orth 
Carolina  Department  of  Agriculture,  and  still  continues  in 
that  ofiice  and  makes  his  business  home  in  the  city  of  Ral- 
eigh. His  experience  as  an  active  and  successful  farmer  won 
for  him  a  place  not  easily  filled.  In  this  position  he  has 
the  confidence  of  the  people,  and  the  Department  is  to  be 
congratulated  that  one  so  efficient  and  up  to  date  in  methods 
of  agriculture,  is  at  the  forefront  to  lead  and  advise.  Major 
Graham's  activities  in  his  county  and  State  have  led  to  many 
important  improvements  in  methods  of  agriculture  and  the 
administration  of  law,  and  always  with  no  spirit  of  self- 
aggrandizement,  but  for  the  good  of  the  whole. 

The  JSToeth  Carolina  Booklet  has  been  enriched  by 
his  historical  articles,  and  hopes  for  others,  that  its  readers 
may  become  more  familiar  with  events  in  our  State's  history 
which  have  had  less  prominent  attention  than  they  deserve. 


PROFESSOR  JOHN  A.  LOMAX 

John  A.  Lomax  writes  for  this  issue  of  The  Booklet 
''Some  Ballads  of  iSTorth  Carolina,"  and  though  not  a  native 
of  this  State,  he  is  a  Southerner  and  takes  unusual  interest 
in  all  that  concerns  this  section  of  the  United  States.  He 
was  born  in  Mississippi  and  his  parents  removed  to  Texas 
when  he  was  but  one  year  old.  He  was  educated  at  the 
University  of  Texas,  where  he  took  both  the  A.B.  and  M.A. 
degrees.  He  afterwards  studied  in  Harvard  University, 
where  he  was  awarded  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts. 

During  his  residence  in  West  Texas  he  lived  near 'one  of 
the  old  cattle  trails,  and  naturally  became  interested  in  cow- 
boy songs,  which  finally  resulted  in  a  collection  of  these  songs, 


58  THE  NORTH  CAEOLINA  BOOKLET. 

published  in  1910.  His  work  in  ballad  collecting  has  re- 
ceived the  recognition  of  Harvard  University,  by  his  appoint- 
ment for  two  successive  years  as  Sheldon  Fellow  for  the  in- 
vestigation of  American  ballads. 

After  graduating  from  the  University  of  Texas,  Mr.  Lo- 
max  served  for  six  years  as  Kegistrar,  and  then  became 
Instructor  in  English  in  the  Agricultural  and  Mechanical 
College  of  Texas,  and  afterwards  Associate  Professor  of  Eng- 
lish in  that  institution.  He  is  at  present  again  connected 
with  the  University  of  Texas  as  Secretary  of  the  University 
and  Assistant  Director  of  the  Department  of  Extension. 
He  expects  eventually  to  issue  a  series  of  volumes,  possibly 
as  many  as  six,  covering  the  whole  field  of  the  American 
ballad. 

The  pages  of  The  Booklet  are  ever  open  to  literary  pro- 
ductions of  this  nature,  and  especially  to  such  as  relate  to 
ISTorth  Carolina  and  her  people. 


DR.    RICHARD  DILLARD 

A  biographical  sketch  of  Dr.  Dillard  was  published  in  the 
July  Booklet^  October,  1906.* 

Dr.  Dillard  was  one  of  the  first  contributors,  his  leading 
article,  "The  Edenton  Tea  Party  of  October  25,  1774,"  and 
which  was  commented  on  in  the  biographical  sketch.  Since 
that  time  Dr.  Dillard  has  contributed  five  other  interesting 
articles,  a  list  of  which  we  append : 

(2)  "Hayes,  and  Its  Builder,"  Vol.  II,  December,  1902. 

(3)  "The  Indian  Tribes  of  Eastern  ISTorth  Carolina." 

(4)  "St.  Paul's  Church,  Edenton,  'N.  C,  and  Its  Associa- 
tions," Vol.  V,  July,  1905. 

(5)  "Some  Heroines  of  the  Revolution  in  ISTorth  Caro- 
lina," Vol.  VIII,  April,  1909. 

(6)  "Some  Early  Physicians  of  the  Albemarle,"  Vol.  XI, 
July,  1911. 

*Thi3  was  the  first  year,  beginning  in  July,  1906,  that  the  Biographical  and  Genealogical 
Memoranda  was  introduced  as  a  feature  of  this  publication. 


EOWAN  COUNTY  WILLS  AND  MABKIAGE  BONDS.      59 


ROWAN  COUNTY  WILLS 


COMPILED  BY  MRS.  M.  G.  McCUBBINS. 


Alexander  Clingerman,  a  farmer  (Book  C,  page  234), 
June  19,  1803.  Wife :  Elizabeth.  Sons :  Michael  (land  on 
Second  Creek),  Jacob  (the  youngest  and  not  of  age),  George 
(the  eldest),  Peter,  Henry.  Daughters:  Esther  and  Cather- 
ine. Executors :  Sons  Michael  and  Peter  and  friend  Fred- 
rick Fisher.     Test :  David  Woodson  and  Martha  Woodson, 

Augustine  Davenpord  (Book  E,  page  238),  September  30, 
1Y99.  Wife:  Mary  "Davenport."  Daughters:  Sary,  Detphy, 
Susanna  Jane,  Anna,  Mary,  Elizabeth.  Sons:  Augustine, 
James,  David,  Joel  and  Jesse.  Executors:  Wife  Mary,  son 
Augustine,  and  son-in-law  Thomas  Jackson.  Test :  William 
Jackson  and  Geremias  Arnold. 

Thomas  Allison  (Book  E,  page  272),  February  12,  1780. 
Wife :  Martha.  Sons :  Richard  and  Thomas.  Daughters : 
N^aomi  and  Ann  (there  may  be  other  children).  Executors: 
Adam  and  Theophilus  Allison.  Test :  James  Tinley  and 
Theophilus  Simonton. 

Eobert  Wilson  (Book  D,  page  239),  June,  1797.  Wife: 
Elizabeth.  Daughters :  Mary  Davis,  Rachel  Parke  and  Eliz- 
beth  Ennox  (this  may  have  been  his  wife[  ?]).  Step-grand- 
son :  Wilson  Jones.  Witnesses :  Richard  Wilson  and  John 
Wilson,  Jr. 

John  Wilson  (Book  D,  page  242),  May  10,  1800.  Sons: 
John  (all  of  the  land  to  him  and  his  son  Andrew),  James, 
Samuel.  Daughters:  Elizabeth  Frost,  Mary  Boon,  Sarah 
Harper.  Executors :  Son  John  and  Spruce  Macay.  Test : 
Elizabeth  Macay,  Jacob  Wiseman,  Jurat ( ?)  and  Spruce 
Macay. 

Elizabeth  Wilson  (Book  E,  page  10),  February  19,  1799. 
(She  was  from  county  of  York,  in  South  Carolina.)     ISTiece : 


60  THE    ISrORTH    CAROLINA    BOOKLET. 

Mary  Thomson.    Umprej  Williams.    Test :     Thaddeus  Shur- 
ley,  Moses  Thomson  and  Francis  Whitney. 

Thomas  Bell  (Book  B,  page  147),  November  15,  1792, 
and  probated  in  1800.  Wife:  Catharina.  Daughters:  Agnes 
Heed  and  Elizabeth  Carradine.  Sons:  William  (the  eldest), 
Thomas,  James.  Grandson:  John  (son  of  James).  Son-in- 
law  :  Patrick  Sloan.  Witnesses :  David  MclSTeely,  Archibald 
MclSTeely,  Jr.,  and  James  Brandon. 

MARRIAGE  BONDS*  OF  ROWAN  COUNTY,  N.   C. 

James  Andrews  to  Martha  ISTiblock.  May  14,  1762. 
James  Andrews,  Richard  King  and  Henry  Horah,  Robert 
Johnston.     (Will  Reed.) 

David  Alexander  to  Margaret  Davison.  April  1,  1762. 
David  Alexander,  Henry  Lively  and  John  Johnston,  Will 
Morrison.     (Will  Reed.) 

William  Archibald  to  Martha  McCorkell.  January  8, 
1765.  William  Archbald,  Alexr.  M.  Corkle  and  John  Arch- 
bald.     (John  Frohock.) 

Thomas  Archbald  to  Martha  Edmont.  March  23,  1765. 
Thomas  Archbald  and  John  Edmont.      (Thomas  Frohock.) 

William  Adams  to  Eliz*"^  Edmond.  January  25 (  ?),  1766. 
William  (his  X  mark)  Adams,  David  Black  and  Joseph  (his 
X  mark)  Erwin.     (Thomas  Frohock.) 

John  Ashurst  to  Judith  Johnson.  October  22,  1767.  John 
(his  X  mark)  Ashurst  and  William  Frohock.  (Thos.  Fro- 
hock.)    A  note  enclosed  from  bride's  father,  Gideon  Johnson. 

John  Adams  to  Winne  Bussell.  August  15,  1768.  John 
Addams  and  Edward  Turner.  (Thomas  Frohock.)  The 
following  note  from  the  bride's  father :  '^Cornall  frohock 
Sir  please  to  grant  John  Addams  Lisons  to  mary  my  daugh- 
ter Winne  and  you  will  oblige  your  friend  Given  from 
under  my  hand  on  this  15  day  of  August  1768  Farnsed(  ?  ) 
Bussell,  Elizabeth  Bussell." 

*Some  are   almost  illegible  and  some  have  the  same  name  spelt  in  two  ways.    When 
possible  I  have  copied  the  signatures. 


ROWAN  COUNTY  WILLS  AND  MARRIAGE  BONDS.      61 

William  Armstrong  to  Margaret  Woods.  August  23,  1768. 
William  Armstrong,  William  Temple  Cole  and  John  Bran- 
don.    (Tho.  Frohock.) 

Abel  Armstrong  to  Margret  Cowan.  September  16,  1768. 
Abel  Armstrong,  James  Dobbin  and  Jas.  Brandon.  (Thom- 
as Frohock.) 

William  Alexander  to  Mary  Brandon.  January  21,  1769. 
William  Alexander  and  John  Dunn.     (Tho.  Frohock.) 

Adam  Allison  to  Mary  Barr.  January  6,  1770.  Adam 
Allison  and  Andrew  Allison.  (Thomas  Frohock.)  A  note 
from  bride's  mother,  ''Ceatherin  Barr." 

Gabriel  Alexander  to  Jane  Black.  January  19,  1770. 
Gabriel  Alexander,  David  Black  and  Max :  Chambers. 
(Thomas  Frohock.) 

Thomas  Allison  to  Martha  Gillespy.  January  20,  1770. 
Thomas  Allison,  Benj.^  Milner  and  Thomas  Frohock.  (John 
Frohock. ) 

Timothy  Anderson  to  Elizabeth  Sloan.  March  20,  1770. 
Timothy  Anderson  and  William  Moore.  (Thomas  Frohock.) 
A  note  from  bride's  father,  Scot(  ?)  Henry  Sloan,  giving 
permission  for  "Bettey"  to  be  married  on  Thursday. 

William  Aldridge  to  Hannah  Bell.  December  18,  1772. 
William  (his  W  mark)  Aldridge  and  John  Littel.  (Ad. 
Osborn.)  A  note  from  John  Irvin  saying  that  Hannah  Bell 
was  a  ''free  woman"  who  lived  in  his  home.  Dated  from 
Hunting  Creek,  December  16,  1772. 

Robert  Adams  to  Elizabeth  Fleming.  February  19,  1773. 
Robert  Adams  and  Alexander  Endsley.     (Max:  Chambers.) 

Robert  Arthurs  (Arteres  ?)  to  Sarah  Allen,  a  widow. 
March  1,  1773.  Robert  Arteres,  Adam  Terrence  (Tarance?) 
and  Moses  Winsley.     (Ad.  Osborn.) 

James  Alexander  to  Margaret  Ireland.  May  7,  1773. 
James  Alexander  and  James  Ireland.     (Ad.  Osborn.) 

Henry    Aggenger(  ?)     to    Maria    Mothllena    Kircher(  ?), 


62  THE    NORTH    CAROLINA    BOOKLET. 

June  15,  1774.     Henrj  Aggenger(  ?)  and  Philip  Virvill(  ?). 
(Ad  Osborn.) 

Richard  Armstrong  to  Margaret  Osborn.     December  27, 

1774.  Richard  Armstrong  and  Ad  Osborn.     (jSTo  name.) 
Christoj)her  Aesan  to  Margaret  Smith.    September  4,  1775. 

Christopher  (his  X  mark)  Aesan  and  Daniel  Smith  and  John 
Lowrance.     (D*^  Flowers.) 

Henry  Aggner(  ?)  to  Elizabeth  Erry(  ?).     September  30, 

1775.  Henry  AggTier(  ?)  and  Anthony  Soett.     (D^^  Mowers.) 
William  Adams  to  Mary  Baker,    December  6,  1775.    Wil- 
liam (his  a  mark)  Adams  and  Charles  (his  C  mark)  Baker. 
(Max:  Chambers.) 

John  Andrews  to  Jean  McCuan(  ?).  March  28,  1776. 
John  Andrews  and  James  McKenn(  ?),     (Ad.  Osborn.) 

Jacob  Adams  to  Mar  Touson(  ?).  January  7,  1777.  Jacob 
(his  X  mark)  Adams  and  Spencer  (his  X  mark)  Adams. 
(No  name.) 

John  Alexander  to  Susanna  Alexander.  Xovember  7, 
1778.     John  Alexander  and  Samuel  Hogsed.     (Ad.  Osborn.) 

William  Anderson  to  Elizabeth  Homes.  August  6,  1779 
William  Anderson  and  Francis  (his  X  mark)  Homes.  (Jo. 
Brevard.) 

Benjamin  Abbott  to  Mary  Hudgins.  March  16,  1781 
Benjamin  Abbott  and  Ad.  Osborn.  A  note  from  bride's  fa 
ther,  William  Hudgens. 

Daniel  Adams  to  Sarah  Irvin.  Xovember  7,  1780(  ?) 
Daniel  (his  X  mark)  Adams  and  Walter  Irvin (  ?).  (H 
Giffard?). 

William  Abbot  (a  planter)  to  Lydia  Grist  (a  spinster). 
February  28,  1780.  William  (his  X  mark)  Abbot  and  Ben- 
jamin (his  X  mark)  Grist.      (B.  Booth  Boote?). 

Matthew  Adams  to  Anne  Howsley.  February  20,  1780. 
Matthew  (his  X  mark)  Adams  and  Robert  (his  X  mark) 
Howsley.      (B.  Booth  Boote  ?) 


KOWAN  COUNTY  WILLS  AND  MAKRIAGE  BONDS.      60 

Peter  Albright  to  Mary  Dillon.  February  5,  1780 (?). 
Peter  (his  X  mark)  Albright  and  Michael  Albright.  (No 
name. ) 

John  Avitts  to  Sarah  Pimmonton.  October  18,  1779. 
John  (his  J  mark)  Avitts  and  John  (his  X  mark)  Hunts- 
man.    (Jo.  Brevard.) 

Benjamin  Albenny  to  Sarah  Gracy(  ?).  January  7,  1782. 
Benjamin  Albenny  and  John  Greacey.     (No  name.) 

James  Andrew  to  Mary  Scott.  February  22,  1782.  James 
Andrew  and  Eobert  Scott.     (Ad.  Osborn.) 

George  Admire  to  Euth  Jones.  (Xo  date.)  1781  (  ?) 
George  Admire,  James  (his  X  mark)  Jones.      (Xo  name.) 

John  Andrews  to  Margaret  Andrews.  March  4,  1783. 
John  Andrews  and  John  Andrews.     (Will™  Crawford.) 

Joseph  Arthur  to  Sarah  Duncan.  June  17,  1783.  Joseph 
Arthur  and  Thos.  Duncan.     (Ad.  Osborn.) 

Pichard  Allison(  ?)  to  Lettice(  ?)  Xiel.  July  26,  1785 (  ?) 
Pichard  Allison  and  William  Xiell.     (H.  Magoune.) 

Joseph  Andrews  to  Zephiah  Barnes.  May  5,  1786.  Jo- 
seph (his  X  mark)  Andrews  and  W.  Moore.     (John  Macay.) 

John  Alexander  to  June  (?)  Lackey.  February  2,  1786. 
John  Alexander  and  George  Leckey  (Luckey  or  Leekey). 
(Xo  name.) 

Theophilus  Allison  to  Elizabeth  Xiel.  January  10,  1786. 
Theophilus  Allison  and  Andrew  Snopdey(  ?).    (Wm.  Erwin.) 

Frederick  Allimong  to  Hughley  Shersate.  December  19, 
1786.  Frederick  (his  X  mark)  Allimong  and  Daniel  Alle- 
mong.     (Jno.  Macay.) 

Thomas  Adams  to  Mary  Lynon(  ?).  February  22,  1787. 
Thomas  (his  X  mark)  Adams  and  William  Scudder.  (Edm 
Gamble.) 

James  Adkins  to  Anne  Johnston.  April  2,  1787.  James 
Atkinson  and  Obadiah  Smith.      (Jno  Macay.) 


64  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 

Ephrame  Adams  to  Eleonor  Brian.  September  25,  1789. 
Epbrame  (his  X  mark)  and  Daniel  (his  X  mark)  Adams. 

Daniel  Allemong  to  Elizabeth  Bartlett.  Eebruarj  7,  1788. 
Daniel  Allemong  and  Xicbolas  Bringle.     (J.  McCunn.) 

Thomas  Allen  to  Marjira  Brion.  May  26,  1789.  Thomas 
Allen  and  William  huey  (  ?).      (W.[  ?]  J.  L.  Alexander.) 

Silvester  Adams  to  Hannah  Stineen.  July  8,  1790. 
Silvester  (bis  X  mark)  and  Epbram  (bis  X  mark)  Adams. 
(Basil  Gaither.) 

James  Aytcherson,  Jr.,  to  Cristina  Miller.  February  25, 
1791.  James  (bis  X  mark)  Aytcherson,  Jr.,  and  Stephen 
(his  X  mark)  Xoland,  Senior.      (Basil  Gaither.) 

Isaac  Adams  to  Hannah  Fillips.  June  25,  1791.  Isaac 
(his  X  mark)  Adams  and  Edmond  (bis  X  mark)  Adams. 
(Basil  Gaither. 

Abraham  Adams,  Jr.,  to  (a  blank)  Howard.  August  25, 
1791.  Abraham  (bis  X  mark)  Adams,  Jr.,  and  John  Ball. 
(Basil  Gaither.) 

Abel  Armstrong  to  Mary  Roseborough.  December  7(  ?), 
1791.     Abel  Armstrong  and  Chas.  Harris.     (Chs.  Caldwell.) 

Isaac  Adams  to  Margaret  Winford.  May  22,  1792.  Isaac 
(his  X  mark)  Adams  and  Daniel  (bis  X  mark)  Adams. 
(G.  Enochs?). 

Richard  Armstrong  to  Elizabeth  Gibson.  Aug.  8,  1792. 
Richard  Armstrong  and  Henry  Hughey.     (Chas.  Caldwell.) 

Thomas  Anderson  to  Martha  Dickey.  October  8,  1792. 
Thomas  Anderson  and  Mick  Troy(  ?).     (Jo.  Chambers.) 

Hugh  Allen  to  Martha  Swan.  Xovember  10,  1792.  Hugh 
Allen  and  Richard  Trotter.      (Jo.  Chambers.) 

John  Adams  to  Mary  Hunt.  February  15,  1793.  John 
Adams  and  William  Lucky.     (Jo^  Chambers.) 

John  Aldridge(  ?)  to  (no  name).  February  26,  1793. 
John  Aldrige  and  G.  Wood.      (Jo®  Chambers.) 


EOWAN  COUNTY  WILLS  AND  MARRIAGE  BONDS.      65 

Alexander  Auston  to  Anna  Braly.  March  23,  1793.  Alex- 
ander Aston  and  John  Braly.     (Max  Chambers.) 

Nicholas  Aldrege  to  Sarah  Knock.  August  9,  1793. 
Nicholas  Aldrege  and  Fredrick  (his  X  mark)  Allimong. 
(Jo^  Chambers.) 

Jeremiah  Allen  to  Susanah  Spoon.  October  2,  1794. 
Jeremiah  (his  X  mark)  Allen  and  Evan  X  Davis.  (John 
Eccles,  Esqr.) 

Peter  Adams  to  Ann  Smith  (or  Sneth?).  December  29, 
1794.     Peter  Adams  and  Leonard  Crider.     (M — Troy.) 

Killian  Jarrett  to  Eliz.  Clingerman.  January  2,  1795. 
Killian  Jarrett  and  John  (  ?)      (Xo  name.) 

James  Anderson  to  Mary  Graham.  May  27,  1795.  James 
Anderson  and  Andrew  Irwine.     (I  Troy,  D.  C.) 

William  Adams  to  Elenor  Simpson.  March  18,  1795. 
William  (his  X  mark)  and  Ross  Simson.     (I.  Troy,  D.  C.) 

John  Adams  to  Esther  Hawkins.  October  3,  1795(?). 
John  Adams  and  Isaac  Jones.     (I.  Troy.) 

Thomas  Avery  to  Peggy  Buck.     May  12,  1797.     Thomas 

(his  A  mark)  Avery  and  John  (his  A  mark)  Avery.     ( 

Rogers  ?) 

John  Adams  to  Betsy  Reed.  January  30,  1797.  John 
Adams  and  Wm.  (his  X  mark)  Adams.     (Xo  name.) 

George  Andrews  to  Catharine  Barr.  December  8,  1798. 
George  Andrews  and  John  Barr.     (Edwin  J.  Osborn,  D.  C.) 

Samuel  Anderson  to  Anna  Knox(  ?).  January  24,  1800. 
Samuel  Anderson  and  Robert  Johnton.      (Edwin  J.  Osborn.) 

Isaac  Anderson  to  Elizabeth  Hunter.  March  14,  1801. 
Isaac  Anderson  and  John  (H)  Howard.  (John  Brem  [  ?  ], 
D.  C.) 

James  Anderson  to  Xelly  Miller.  October  3,  1801.  James 
Anderson  and  William  Wood.      (Jno.  Brem  [  ?  ],  D.)  C. 

Daniel  Ageuer  to  Resina(  ?)  Basinger.  July  12,  1802. 
Daniel  Agener  and  Jacob  Ribeler  (  ?).  (Jno.  Brem,  D.)  C. 
5 


66  THE  NOETH  CAEOLINA  BOOKLET. 

George  Agle  to  Susanah  Huldemer(  ?).  October  15(?), 
1802.  George  Agie(  ?)  and  John  (his  X  mark)  Agle.  (A. 
Osborn,  D.  C.) 

Thomas  Adams  to  Poll/Michel.  April  19,  1803.  Thomas 
(his  X  mark)  Adams  and  William  Harwood.  (John  Marsh  ?) 

Samuel  Austin  to  Lyda  Railsback.  Jan.  24,  1803.  Sam- 
uel Austin  and  Wilson  Russum(  ?).     (J.  Hunt.) 

William  Aderton  to  Charity  Daniel.  February  9,  1804. 
William  Aderton  and  James  Daniel.     (A.  L.  Osborn.) 

Jesse  Adams  to  Mary  Xoland.  August  6,  1804.  Jesse 
(his  X  mark)  Adams  and  William  Whitaker.      (Xo  name.) 

John  Andrews  to  Ruth  Delow.  October  13,  1805.  John 
Andrews  and  Bat.  Williams.     (Jno.  Monroe?) 

Nelson  Anderson  to  Margret  Smoot.  May  24,  1806.  Xel- 
son  Anderson  and  Frederick  thompson.      (John  Marsh,  Sr.) 

Josiah  Albertson  to  Alie  Ruddack.  July  7,  1805.  Josiah 
(his  X  mark)  Albertson  and  James  Cunnaday  (Kenaday?). 
(William  Peggott.) 

John  Andrews  to  Catharine  Bell.  May  23,  1807.  John 
Andrews  and  William  Bell.     (A.  L.  Osborne.) 

Charles  Anderson  to  Eleander  Smoot.  December  5,  1808. 
Charles  Anderson  and  James  Smott  (Smoot?).  (Jno.  Marsh, 
Sr.) 

Henry  Arnhard  to  Susanna  Hartlin.  October  27,  1808. 
Henry  (his  X  mark)  Arnhard  and  George  (his  X  mark) 
Hartline.     (A.  L.  Osborne.) 

Peter  Agenor  to  Catharine  Rough.  October  21,  1809. 
Peter  (his  X  mark)  and  John  Smathers(  ?).     (Xo  name.) 

James  Atkinson  to  Polly  Hartley.  December  13,  1809. 
James  Atkinson  and  Peter  (his  X  mark)  Winkler.  (Jno. 
Giles.) 

Peter  Albright,  Jr.,  to  Catharine  Albright.  January  17, 
1810.  Peter  Albright (  ?)  and  Peter  Albright,  Sr.  (Geo. 
Dunn.) 


ROWAN  COUNTY  WILLS  AND  MARRIAGE  BONDS.      67 

Jesse  Alberson(?)  to  Ann  Bailj(  ?).  August  22,  1810. 
Jesse  Alberson(  ?)  and  Joseph  Albertson.     (Jno.  Giles.) 

John  Armsworthy  to  Susannah  Bates.  December  15,  1810. 
John  C.  Armsworthy  and  Aquillar  Cheshier(  ?).  (Jno. 
Marsh.) 

Henry  Allemong  to  Nancy  Todd.  April  25,  1811.  Henry 
Allemong  and  George  Betz.     (Jno.  Giles.) 

John  Albright  to  Peggy  Lamb.  April  24,  1811.  John 
Albright  and  Peter  Albright.     (Ezra  Allemong.) 

Joseph  Adams  to  Jensy  Tussey.  May  22,  1811.  Joseph 
Adams  and  James  welling.      (Geo.  Dunn.) 

John  Aulford  to  Polly  Markland.  September  20  (Si), 
1811.     John  Alford  and  John  Markland.     (W.Ellis.) 

Abraham  Arey  to  Catharine  Clingerman.  l^ovember  23, 
1811.    Abraham  Arey  and  John  Airy.     (Jno.  Giles.) 

Abraham  Allen  to  Mary  Allender  ISTailer.  December  13, 
1811.     Abraham  Allen  and  Jacob  Allen.     (Jno.  Marsh,  Sr.) 

Benjamin  Agenor  to  Caty  Bullon.  December  17,  1811. 
Benjamin  (X)  Agenor  and  John  Trexeller(  ?)    (Geo.  Dunn.) 

Abraham  Alston  and  John  Koe(  ?)  to  Winny  Daniel.  Jan- 
uary 16,  1812.  Abraham  (his  X  mark)  Alstin  and  John  (his 
X  mark)  Roe(  ?).  (J.  Willson.)  (The  above  is  very  faulty, 
but  the  family  may  know.) 

Peter  Albright  to  Mary  Correll.  March  9,  1812.  Peter 
Albright  and  Phillip  Correll.     (Geo.  Dunn.) 

William  Abbott  to  Hannah  Myres.  December  23,  1812. 
William  Abbott  and  Abraham  Jacobs.     (Jno.  Giles.) 

Henry  Adams  to  Betsy  Baleman(  ?).  February  8,  1813. 
Henry  Adams  and  James  Walling.     (Geo.  Dunn.) 

Joseph  Abbott  to  Lucy  Myers.  February  17,  1813.  Jo- 
seph Abbott  and  Abraham  Jacobs.     (Jno.  Giles.) 

Isaac  Allen  to  Sally  Hawkins.  August  31,  1813.  Isaac 
Allen  and  Ebenezer  Frost.     (R.  Powell.) 


68  THE  NORTH  CAKOLINA  BOOKLET. 

Lewis  Aplen  to  Mary  Bannerfut.  September  28,  1813. 
Lewis  (his  X  mark)  Aplen  and  Peter  Younce.     (I.  Willson.) 

Michael  Akel  to  Polly  Flemmon.  December  12,  1813. 
Michael  Akel  and  George  Lowry.     (John  Hanes.) 

Peter  Agie  to  Peggy  Stirwalt.  April  30,  1814.  Peter 
Eagle  and  Joseph  Basinger.     (Jno.  Giles.) 

Michael  Anderson  to  Jensy  Hartley.  October  29,  1814. 
Michael  Anderson  and  Henry  Allemong.     (Geo.  Dunn.) 

Isaac  Aley  to  Sally  Setlif(  ?).  May  4,  1815.  Isaac  (his 
X  mark)  Aley  and  Samuel  X  Nedding  (  ?  ).      (Jno.  Giles.) 

Garland  Anderson  to  Sally  Frost.  July  15,  1815.  Gar- 
land Anderson  and  P.  Powell.     (P.  Powell.) 

Thomas  Archibald  to  Sarah  F.  Luckey.  January  30,  1816. 
Thomas  Archibald  and  William  Potts,     (Jno.  Giles.) 

Samuel  Agenor  to  Polly  Grubb.  April  15,  1816.  Samuel 
(his  X  mark)  Agenor  and  Samuel  Lemly.     (Geo.  Dunn.) 

Peter  Ader  to  Betsy  Pickett.  April  28,  1816.  Peter  (his 
X  mark)  Ader  and  Samuel  (his  X  mark)  Bird.    (J.  Willson.) 

James  Atkinson  to  Mary  Berry.  May  1,  1816.  James 
Atkinson  and  William  (his  X  mark)  Adams.    (Henry  Giles.) 

James  Austin  to  Margaret  S.  Gambal.  May  27,  1816. 
J.  L.  Austin  and  Bennet  Austin.     (P.  Powell.) 

Daniel  Airy  to  Rebecca  Rttman(  ?).  August  29,  1816. 
Daniel  (his  X  mark)  Airy  and  Adam  Kauble  (Cauble?). 
(Jno.  Giles.) 

Starling  Abbott  to  Xancy  Mervil.  September  7,  1816. 
Starling  (his  X  mark)  Abbott  and  William  Mervil  (Mer- 
rel?).     (Henry  Giles.) 

Peter  Adams  to  Sally  Walton.  October  17,  1816.  Peter 
Adams  and  Ezra  Allemong. 

Gabil  Aery  to  Prissy  Parker.  October  23,  1816.  Gabriel 
Avery  and  Daniel  (his  X  mark)  Aery.     (Milo  A.  Giles.) 

Bennet  Austin  to  Margaret  Carson.  February  9,  1817. 
Bennet  Austin  and  Basil  G.  Jones.     (P.  Powell.) 


EOWAN  COUNTY  WILLS  AND  MARRIAGE  BONDS.      69 

Peter  Albright  to  Betsey  Fink.  December  12,  1817. 
Peter  (his  X  mark)  Albright  and  John  Albright(  ?).  (Milo 
A.  Giles.) 

Shadrach  Aytcheson  to  Ljdia  O^-rel.  January  6,  1818. 
Shadrach  Aytcheson  and  Wm.  Aytcheson.     (R.  Powell.) 

Eiley  Aytcheson  to  Mary  Black.  January  22,  1814  (or 
'18).  Riley  (his  X  mark)  Aytcheson  and  Silas  (his  X  mark) 
Aytcheson.     (Jno.  R.  Palmer,  Saml.  Jones.) 

Jacob  Agner  to  Betsey  Waller.  January  28,  1818.  Jacob 
(his  X  mark)  Agner  and  george  Waller  (  ?  ).    (Jno.  Giles.) 

Jacob  Allen  to  Barbary  Balance.  October  31,  1818.  Ja- 
cob Allen  and  Robert  McClamrock.      (R.  Powell.) 

Jeremiah  Airey  to  Christena  Eller.  March  25,  1819. 
Jeremiah  Airy  and  Abraham  Airey (  ?).     (Jno.  Giles.) 

Wm.  Adams  to  Elizabeth  Hall.  September  2,  1819.  Wm. 
Adams  and  John  Tomlinson.     (R.  Powell.) 

Stej)hen  Allen  to  Sally  Deever.  December  26,  1819. 
Stephen  Allen  and  Samuel  Smith.     (R.  Powell.) 

John  Area  to  Mary  Redwine.  March  23,  1820.  John 
Area  and  Peter  Arey.     (Xo  name.) 

Andrew  Allison  to  Jane  Knox.  February  4,  1820.  An- 
drew Allison  and  Richard  Gillespie.     (Jno.  Giles.) 

William  Albertson  to  Margaret  Elliott.  January  16,  1820. 
William  Albertson  and  Shadrack  M.  Gevandan.     (L.  Hunt.) 

Henry  Albright  to  Christena  Kesler.  April  24,  1820. 
Henry  Albright  and  John  Albright.      (Hy  [  ?  ]  Giles.) 

Lazerus  Apling  to  Susana  Hill.  May  8,  1820.  Lazerus 
(his  X  mark)  Apling  and  Reuben  Johnson.     (J.  Willson.) 

Jeremiah  Akels  to  Elizabeth  Johnson.  August  3,  1820. 
Jeremiah  eakels  and  James  (his  X  mark)  Johnson,  '  (Xo 
name.) 

James  Adderton  to  Martha  Parker.  August  15,  1820. 
James  Adderton  and  Barham  Parker.     (Jno.  Giles.) 


INFORMATION 

Concerning  the  Patriotic  Society 

''Daughters  qf  the  Revolution" 


The  General  Society  was  founded  October  11,  1890, — and  organized 
August  20,  1891, — under  the  name  of  "Daughters  of  the  American 
Revolution" ;  was  incorporated  under  the  laws  of  the  State  of  New  York 
as  an  organization  national  in  its  work  and  purpose.  Some  of  the  mem- 
bers of  this  organization  becoming  dissatisfied  with  the  terms  of  en- 
trance, withdrew  from  it  and,  in  1891,  formed  under  the  slightly  diflfer- 
ing  name  "Daughters  of  the  Revolution,"  eligibility  to  which  from  the 
moment  of  its  existence  has  been  lineal  descent  from  an  ancestor  who 
rendered  patriotic  service  during  the  War  of  Independence. 


"  The  North  Carolina  Society  " 

a  subdivision  of  the  General  Society,  was  organized  in  October,  1896, 
and  has  continued  to  promote  the  purposes  of  its  institution  and  to 
observe  the  Constitution  and  By-Laws. 


Membership  and  Qualifications 

Any  woman  shall  be  eligible  who  is  above  the  age  of  eighteen  years, 
of  good  character,  and  a  lineal  descendant  of  an  ancestor  who  ( 1 )  was 
a  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  a  member  of  the  Conti- 
nental Congress,  Legislature  or  General  Court,  of  any  of  the  Colonies 
or  States;  or  (2)  rendered  civil,  military  or  naval  service  under  the 
authority  of  any  of  the  thirteen  Colonies,  or  of  the  Continental  Con- 
gress; or  (3)  by  service  rendered  during  the  War  of  the  Revolution 
became  liable  to  the  penalty  of  treason  against  the  government  of  Great 
Britain:  Provided,  that  such  ancestor  always  remained  loyal  to  the 
cause  of  American  Independence. 

The  chief  work  of  the  North  Carolina  Society  for  the  past  eight  years 
has  been  the  publication  of  the  "North  Carolina  Booklet,"  a  quarterly 
publication  on  great  events  in  North  Carolina  history — Colonial  and 
Revolutionary.  $1.00  per  year.  It  will  continue  to  extend  its  work  and 
to  spread  the  knowledge  of  its  History  and  Biography  in  other  States. 

This  Society  has  its  headquarters  in  Raleigh,  N.  C,  Room  411,  Caro- 
lina Trust  Company  Building,  232  Fayetteville  Street. 

1 


Vol.  XI  OCTOBER,  1911  No.  2 


"Bhe 


floRTH  CflROIilNfl  BoOKliET 


*'' Carolina!   Carolina!  Heaven^ s  blessings  attend  her ! 
Wliile  we  live  we  will  cJierisJi,  protect  and  defend  her.'' 


Published  by 

THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  SOCIETY 

DAUGHTERS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION 


The  object  of  the  Booklet  is  to  aid  in  developing  and  preserving 
North  Carolina  History.  The  proceeds  arising  from  its  publication 
will  be  devoted  to  patriotic  purposes.  .Editob. 


ADVISORY  BOARD  OF  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

Mrs.  Hubert  Haywood.  Miss  Martha  Helen  Haywood. 

Mrs.  E.  E.  Moffitt.  Dr.  Richard  Dillard. 

Mrs.  Spier  Whitaker.  Dr.  Kemp  P.  Battle. 

Mr.  R.  D.  W.  Connor.  Mr.  James  Sprunt. 

Dr.  D.  H.  Hill.  Mr.  Marshall  DeLancey  Haywood. 

Dr.  E.  W.  Sikes.  Chief  Justice  Walter  Clark. 

Mr.  W.  J.  Peele.  Major  W.  A.  Graham. 

Miss  Adelaide  L.  Fries.  Dr.  Charles  Lee  Smith. 

EDITOR: 

Miss  Mary  Hilliard  Hinton. 


OFFICERS  OF  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  SOCIETY 
DAUGHTERS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION  1910-1912 

regent  : 
Miss  MARY  HILLIARD  HINTON. 

VICE-REGENT: 

Miss  DUNCAN  CAMERON  WINSTON. 

HONORARY   REGENTS: 

Mrs.  SPIER  WHITAKER. 
Mrs.  E.  E.  MOFFITT. 

recording    SECRETARY: 

Mrs.  CLARENCE  JOHNSON. 

corresponding   SECRETARY: 

Mrs.  PAUL  H.  LEE. 

TREASURER : 

Mrs.  FRANK  SHERWOOD. 

REGISTRAR: 

Mrs.  JOSEPH  CHESHIRE  WEBB,  Jr. 

custodian    of   RELICS: 

Mrs.  JOHN  E.  RAY. 


CHAPTER  REGENTS 

Bloomsbury  Chapter Mrs.  Hubert  Haywood,  Regent. 

Penelope  Barker  Chapter Mrs.  Patrick  Matthew,  Regent. 

Sir  Walter  Raleigh  Chapter, 

Miss  Catherine  F.  Seyton  Albertson,  Regent. 
DeGraffenried  Chapter Mrs.  Charles  Slover  Hollister,  Regent, 


Founder  of  the  North  Carolina  Society  and  Regent  I896-I902: 

Mrs.  SPIER  WHITAKER. 

Regent  1902: 

Mrs.  D.  H.  HILL,  Sr.* 

Regent  1902-1906: 
Mrs.  THOMAS  K.  BRUNER. 

Regent  1906-1910: 
Mrs.  E.  E.  MOFFITT, 


•Died  December  12,  1904. 


Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  North  Carolina: 


THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 


Vol.  XI  OCTOBER,   1911  No.  2 


ROANOKE  ISLAND^ 


Standing  on  the  Aventine  hill,  by  the  banks  of  the  Tiber, 
we  can  still  behold  the  cradle  of  the  great  Roman  people,  the 
beginning  of  that  imperial  race  which  for  centuries  held  in 
its  control  the  entire  civilized  world  of  their  day  and  whose 
laws,  whose  feat  of  arms,  whose  thought,  have  profoundly  im- 
pressed all  succeeding  ages. 

HERE    BEGAN    THE    GREATEST    MOVEMENT    OF    THE    AGES. 

Standing  here  we  see  the  spot  where  first  began  on  this  con- 
tinent the  great  race  which  in  the  ISTew  World  in  three  hun- 
dred years  has  far  surpassed  in  extent  of  dominion,  in 
population  and  power  the  greatest  race  known  to  the  Old. 
Farther  than  the  imperial  eagles  ever  flew,  over  more  men 
than  its  dominion  ever  swayed,  with  wealth  which  dwarfs  its 
boasted  treasures,  and  intelligence  and  capacity  unknown  to 
its  rulers,  this  new  race  in  three  centuries  has  covered  a  con- 
tinent, crossed  great  rivers,  built  great  cities,  tunneled  moun- 
tains, traversed  great  plains,  scaled  mountain  ranges  and 
halting  but  for  a  moment  on  the  shores  of  a  vaster  ocean,  has 
already  annexed  a  thousand  islands  and  faces  the  shores  of  a 
Western  continent  so  distant  that  we  call  it  the  East. 

We  do  well  to  come  here  to  visit  the  spot  where  this  gi'eat 
movement  began.  It  was  one  of  the  great  epochs  of  all  his- 
tory. Here,  36  years  before  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims  at 
Plymouth  Pock;  here,  23  years  before  John  Smith  and 
Jamestown,  in  the  year  1584,  the  first  English  keel  grated 


•Address  of  Judge  Walter  Clark  at  meeting  inaugurated  by  the  State  Literary  and 
Historical  Association,  Manteo,  N.  C. ,  24  July,  1902. 


74  THE  NOETH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 

on  the  shores  of  what  is  now  the  United  States.  Here  the 
greatest  movement  of  the  ages  began,  which  has  completed 
the  circuit  of  the  globe.  For  thousands  of  years,  God  in 
His  wisdom  had  hidden  this  land  behind  the  billows  till 
His  appointed  time,  and  in  Europe  and  Asia  millions  had 
fought  and  perished  for  the  possession  of  narrow  lands.  The 
human  intellect  had  been  dwarfed  with  the  dimensions  of 
its  prison  house.  In  due  season  Copernicus  gauged  the 
heavens,  revealing  countless  worlds  beyond  our  grasp,  and 
Columbus  almost  at  the  same  time  unveiled  this  tangible 
world  beyond  the  Atlantic.  Stunned,  dazed,  the  mind  of 
man  slowly  realized  the  broadened  vision  unrolled  before  it. 
Since  then  the  energies  of  the  human  intellect  have  steadily 
ex]3anded,  and  thought  has  widened  with  the  process  of  every 
sun. 

Here  broke  the  spray  of  the  first  wave  of  Saxon  popul,a- 
tion  and  now  westward  across  the  continent  to  the  utmost 
verge  and  beyond  it,  there  rolls  a  human  sea.  Three  cen- 
turies have  done  this. 

About  this  very  date  Amidas  and  Barlowe  landed  here,  for 
on  July  4,  a  day  doubly  memorable  on  these  shores,  they 
descried  land  and  sailing  up  the  coast  120  miles  they  en- 
tered with  their  two  small  vessels  through  an  inlet,  probably 
now  closed.  Proceeding  further  they  came  abreast  of  this 
island,  where  they  landed  and  were  hospitably  received. 

WHAT    WONDEOUS    CHANGES. 

ISTature  remains  unaltered.  As  on  that  July  day,  of  the 
long  ago,  earth,  air  and  sky  and  sea  remain  the  same.  The 
same  blue  arch  bends  above  us.  The  same  restless  ocean 
rolls.  The  same  sun  shines  brightly  down.  The  same  balmy 
breezes  breathe  soft  and  low.  The  same  headlands  jut  out  to 
meet  the  waves.  The  same  bays  lie  open  to  shelter  the  com- 
ing vessels.     The  trees,  the  foliage,  the  landmarks,  would  all 


KOANOKE    ISLAND.  75 

be  recognized  by  the  sea-worn  wanderers  of  that  memorable 
day.     But  as  to  what  is  due  to  man,  how  altered ! 

To  the  westward,  where  the  Indian  paddled  his  light  canoe 
on  great  rivers,  innumerable  vessels,  moved  by  the  energies 
of  steam,  plow  the  waters,  freighted  with  the  product  of 
every  industry  and  the  produce  of  every  clime.  Where  the 
smoke  of  the  lonely  wigwam  rose,  now  the  roar  of  great 
cities  fills  the  ear  and  the  blaze  of  electric  lights  reddens  the 
sky.  Where  then  amid  vast  solitudes  the  war-whoop  re- 
sounded, boding  death  and  torture,  now  rise  a  thousand 
steeples  and  anthems  to  the  Prince  of  Peace  float  upon  the 
air.  Where  the  plumed  and  painted  warrior  stealthily  trod 
the  narrow  war  path,  mighty  engines  rush.  Where  a  few 
thousand  naked  savages  miserably  starved  and  fought  and 
perished,  near  one  hundred  millions  of  the  foremost  people 
of  all  the  world  live  and  j)rosper.  Three  short  centuries  have 
seen  this  done. 

OUK   CONTRIBUTION   TO   EUROPE. 

Looking  eastward  the  ocean  rolls  unchanged,  but  not  as 
then  to  be  crossed  only  after  two  or  three  months  of  voyage. 
Already  a  week  sufiices  for  its  passage  and  across  its  waves 
even  now  messages  flash  without  the  medium  of  wires.  Be- 
yond its  shores  is  also  a  new  world.  When  the  first  expedi- 
tion landed  here,  the  Turk  was  threatening  Vienna,  and  the 
Spaniard  was  asserting  his  right  to  bum  and  pillage  in  Hol- 
land. The  fires  of  the  Inquisition  burned  in  Spain  and  Bel- 
gium. France,  sunk  to  a  second-class  power,  grovelled  be- 
neath the  rule  of  one  of  the  most  worthless  of  its  many 
worthless  kings,  the  third  Henry — while  England,  the  Eng- 
land of  Drake  and  Ealeigh,  of  Shakespeare  and  Bacon,  and 
of  Elizabeth,  already  lay  beneath  the  gTOwing  shadow  of  the' 
Armada,  whose  success  threatened  the  extinction  of  English 
liberty  and  of  the  Protestant  religion,     Russia  was  then  a 


76  THE    ]SrOKTH    CAROLINA    BOOKLET. 

small  collection  of  barbarous  tribes,  and  Germany  and  Italy, 
not  yet  nations,  were  mere  geographical  expressions.  Con- 
trast that  with  the  Europe  of  today.  The  change  is  barely 
less  startling  there  than  on  this  side  of  the  water. 

The  change  has  been  greatly  due  to  the  reflex  action  from 
this  side.  Civilization  has  been  and  is  on  the  steady  increase 
in  the  betterment  of  the  masses.  The  leaders  of  thought, 
Shakespeare,  Bacon,  Michael  Angelo,  Dante,  Petrarch,  the 
painters,  the  sculptors,  the  statesmen,  were  as  great  then  as 
since.  The  difi^erence  is  in  the  masses.  Then  they  were  de- 
graded, disregarded,  beaten  with  many  stripes,  dying  like 
animals  after  living  like  brutes ;  today  they  have  a  voice  in 
every  government  and  are  beginning  more  fully  to  perceive 
that  they  have  unlimited  power  which  they  can  use  for  their 
own  advancement  and  the  betterment  of  their  material  sur- 
roundings. 

The  change  started  here  when  a  new  race  began,  without 
feudal  burdens  and  amid  the  breadth  and  freedom  of  un- 
trammeled  nature.  With  new  paths  to  tread,  new  roads  to 
make,  new  rivers  to  travel,  new  cities  to  build,  men  began  to 
think  new  thoughts  and  to  add  to  the  freedom  of  nature  the 
liberty  of  speech  and  of  action. 

WHERE    THE    SHACKLES    OF    THE    AGES    WERE    BROKElSr. 

Well  do  we  come  here  to  visit  the  spot  where  the  shackles 
of  the  ages  were  broken,  precedents  forgotten  and  where 
man  first  began  to  stand  upright  in  the  likeness  in  which 
God  had  made  him. 

ISTaught  tells  more  forcibly  the  depression  in  which  the 
minds  of  the  men  of  that  day  were  held  than  the  fact  that 
the  hardy  English  mariners,  the  descendants  of  the  Vikings 
of  old,  delayed  nearly  a  century  after  Columbus  had  dis- 
covered the  ISTew  World  before  the  foot  of  an  Anglo-Saxon 
had  trod  the  shores  of  North  America.     From  the  discovery 


ROANOKE    ISLAND.  77 

in  1492  to  the  first  landing  here  in  1584  and  the  first  per- 
manent but  feeble  settlement  at  Jamestown  in  1607  was  a 
long  time.  Could  another  new  continent  such  as  this  be  dis- 
covered in  3,000  miles  of  London  today,  not  as  many  hours 
would  elapse  as  our  ancestors  of  three  centuries  ago  per- 
mitted years  to  pass,  before  the  English  race  would  land  on 
its  shores.  In  1520  Cortez  led  the  Spaniards  to  the  Plateau 
of  Mexico  and  subverted  an  empire.  Yet  65  years  more 
passed  before  Amidas  and  Barlowe  led  the  first  English  ex- 
pedition to  land  on  this  continent. 

ISTot  only  were  men's  minds  enthralled  by  governments 
which  existed  solely  for  the  benefit  of  the  few,  but  the  condi- 
tion of  the  upper  classes  was  only  in  degree  better  than  that 
of  the  poorer.  Coffee,  sugar,  tobacco,  potatoes  and  other 
articles  of  common  use  by  the  poorest  today  were  unknown. 
Queen  Elizabeth  herself  lived  on  beer  and  beef,  and  forks 
being  unknown  that  haughty  lady  ate  with  her  fingers,  as  did 
Shakespeare,  Raleigh  and  Bacon.  Articles  of  the  commonest 
use  and  necessity  in  the  dwellings  of  the  poorest  now,  were 
then  not  to  be  obtained  in  the  palaces  of  kings.  Carpets 
were  absent  in  the  proudest  palaces  and  on  the  fresh  strewn 
rushes  beneath  their  tables  princes  and  kings  threw  the  bones 
and  broken  meats  from  their  feasts.  Religion  was  to  most 
a  gross  superstition,  law  was  a  jargon  and  barbarous,  and 
medicine  the  vilest  quackery.  Just  in  proportion  as  the 
masses  have  been  educated,  as  freedom  has  been  won  by 
them,  as  their  rights  have  been  considered,  the  world  has 
advanced  in  civilization  and  in  material  well  being. 

Unlike  the  founding  of  Rome,  where  the  seat  of  Empire 
abode  by  its  cradle,  no  great  cities  arose  here  at  Roanoke 
Island,  at  Jamestown  nor  at  Plymouth.  The  new  move- 
ment begun  here  was  not  for  empire  but  for  the  people,  and 
it  has  advanced  and  spread  in  all  directions. 


YS  THE  NORTH  CAEOLINA  BOOKLET. 

THE  GREAT  DANGER  TODAY. 

In  1820  Daniel  Webster  delivered  a  memorable  oration 
at  the  anniversary  of  the  landing  at  Plymouth  Rock.  In 
that  speech  he  prophesied  that  our  free  government  could 
stand  only  so  long  as  there  was  a  tolerable  equality  in  the 
division  of  property.  What  would  he  say  could  he  stand 
here  today  and  count  over  the  names  of  those  possessed  of 
$20,000,000,  of  $50,000,000,  of  $100,000,000,  even  of  more 
than  $200,000,000  and  name  over  the  great  trusts  and  cor- 
porations who  levy  taxes  and  contributions  at  their  own  will, 
greater  than  those  exacted  for  all  the  jDurposes  of  govern- 
ment? He  instances  that  when  the  great  monasteries  and 
other  church  corporations  under  the  Tudors  threatened  Eng- 
lish prosperity  the  eighth  Henry  confiscated  their  property 
(as  has  been  done  in  our  day  by  Mexico  and  other  Latin 
countries)  and  redistributed  their  accumulations.  He  might 
have  added  that  when  the  new  commercial  monopolies  under 
his  daughter  Elizabeth  bade  fair  to  take  the  place  of  the 
suppressed  ecclesiastical  foundations  in  recreating  inequal- 
ity, the  Commons  called  on  her  to  pause  and  that  haughty, 
unbending  sovereign  had  the  common  sense  to  save  her 
throne  by  yielding. 

Mr.  Webster  also  utilized  the  occasion  to  point  to  the  fact 
that  in  France  by  her  exemption  of  nobles  and  priests  from 
taxation,  property  had  gravitated  into  their  hands  till  the 
wild  orgy  of  revolution  had  retransferred  it  to  the  people 
and  he  prophesied  that  the  new  law  in  that  country  which 
by  restricting  the  right  to  will  property  had  prevented  its 
accumulation  into  a  few  hands  would  inevitably  destroy  the 
restored  monarchy  and  rebuild  the  republic.  His  prophecy 
has  come  true. 

The  great  expounder  of  the  constitution  was  right.  Power 
goes  with  those  who  own  the  property  of  the  country.    When 


^IH  WALTER  RALEIGH 


EOANOKE    ISLAND.  79 

property  is  widely  distributed  and  a  fair  share  of  the  com- 
forts of  life  are  equally  in  the  reach  of  all,  a  country  will  re- 
main a  republic.  When  property,  by  whatever  agency,  be- 
comes concentrated  in  a  few  hands,  a  change  is  impending. 
Either  the  few  holders  will  bring  in,  as  he  stated,  an  army 
that  will  change  the  government  to  a  monarchy,  or  revolu- 
tion will  force  a  redistribution  as  in  England  and  France. 
That  has  been  the  lesson  of  history. 

In  this  day,  of  wider  intelligence  and  general  education, 
let  us  hope  and  believe  that  there  is  a  third  way,  hitherto  un- 
known in  practice,  and  that  by  the  operation  of  just  and 
wiser  laws  enacted  by  the  sovereignty  of  the  people,  a  more 
just  and  equal  distribution  of  wealth  will  follow  and  the 
enjoyment  of  material  Avell  being  will  be  more  generally  dif- 
fused among  the  masses.  All  power  is  derived  from  and  be- 
longs to  the  people  and  should  be  used  solely  for  their  good. 
This  is  the  fundamental  teaching  of  the  institutions  which 
begin  their  record  from  the  landing  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race 
on  these  shores,  a  landing  which  was  first  made  at  this  spot. 

Had  I  the  ability  of  Mr.  Webster,  could  I  speak  with  his 
authority,  I  might  point  out  as  he  did  the  great  danger  of 
the  accumulation  of  wealth  in  a  few  hands,  and  might  fore- 
see and  foretell  the  remedies  which  a  great,  a  wise  and  an 
all-powerful  people  will  apply.  But  I  shall  not  follow  in  the 
path  which  he  has  trod,  liaud  passihus  equis. 

Let  us  not  forget  on  this  occasion  that  to  this  island  be- 
longs the  disting-uished  honor  of  being  the  birthplace  of  the 
first  American  girl.  It  is  the  Eden  from  which  she  sprung. 
She  had  no  predecessor  and  remains  without  a  model  and 
without  a  rival.  In  that  first  Eden  man  was  the  first  ar- 
rival and  the  garden  was  a  failure.  Here  the  girl  was  the 
first  arrival  and  the  boys  have  followed  her  ever  since.  Ap- 
propriately she  bore  the  name  of  Dare,  and  daring,  delight- 
ful, her  successors  have  been  ever  since.     We  do  well,  were 


80  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 

we  to  come  here  solely  to  do  honor  to  the  memory  of  the  first 
American  girl,  this  finished,  superlative  product  of  her  sex 
and  of  these  later  ages. 

NORTH  Carolina's   future. 

When  the  first  expedition  landed  here  there  were,  it  is 
estimated,  in  the  bounds  of  the  present  State  of  ISTorth  Caro- 
lina, 20,000  Indians,  earning  a  precarious  living  by  fishing 
and  hunting  and  spending  their  miserable  lives  in  slaying 
and  torturing  one  another.  Today  we  have  near  2,000,000 
of  the  foremost  race  of  all  the  world,  living  in  peace  and 
order.  Could  I,  like  Mr.  Webster  in  his  Plymouth  Rock 
oration,  prophesy  as  to  the  future — 100  years  hence — I 
should  predict  a  still  gTeater  change.  I  should  say  that  with 
the  same  rate  of  increase  N^orth  Carolina  will  then  have 
6,000,000  of  people  and  that  cities  of  100,000  inhabitants 
will  be  numbered  by  the  score ;  that  every  village  will  be 
connected  with  its  neighbor  by  electric  roads,  for  steam  will 
have  ceased  to  be  a  motive  power;  that  education  will  be 
universal  and  poverty  unknown ;  that  every  swamp  will  have 
been  drained  to  become  the  seat  of  happy  homes ;  that  every 
river  will  be  deepened  and  straightened ;  that  public  works 
operated  for  the  benefit  of  the  people  and  not  for  the  enrich- 
ment of  a  few,  will  bring  comforts  and  conveniences,  now 
unknown,  to  the  most  distant  fireside ;  that  the  hours  of 
labor  will  be  shortened ;  that  the  toil  of  agriculture  will  be 
done  by  machinery  and  that  irrigation  will  have  banished 
droughts ;  that  the  advance  of  medicine,  already  the  most 
progressive  science  among  us,  will  have  practically  abolished 
all  diseases  save  that  of  old  age ;  that  simpler  laws  and  an 
elevated  and  all  powerful  public  opinion  will  have  minim- 
ized crime  and  reduced  the  volume  of  litigation ;  that  re- 
ligion less  sectarian  and  disputatious  about  creeds  and  forms 
will  be  a  practical  exemplification  of  that  love  of  fellow  man 


KOANOKE    ISLAND.  81 

which  was  typified  by  its  divine  founder;  that  every  toiler 
with  brains  or  with  hand  will  prosper  and  that  under  juster 
laws  the  only  inequality  in  wealth  or  condition  will  be  that 
due  to  the  difference  in  the  energy,  efforts  and  natural  gifts 
of  each  possessor. 

This  is  but  the  first  of  many  successive  celebrations  of  the 
landing  here  and  if  these  feeble,  fugitive  words  shall  be  pre- 
served to  that  distant  day  the  speaker  who  shall  read  them 
to  a  vast  audience  gathered  here  will  either  justify  the 
prophecy  or  at  least  he  will  say,  ''In  the  interest  of  the  hap- 
piness of  the  human  race,  they  ought  to  have  come  true." 


82  THE  NOETH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 

HOW  CAN  INTEREST  BE  AROUSED  IN  THE 

STUDY  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA?* 


Those  of  you  who  at  dawn  have  rocked  on  the  restless 
deep  know  that  when  the  great  sun  lifts  himself  upon  the 
horizon  a  hreeze  always  springs  up  and  with  the  new  light  a 
new  breath  from  heaven  walks  upon  the  face  of  the  waters. 
So  in  N^orth  Carolina  as  the  doors  swing  wide  open  to  the 
coming  Twentieth  Century,  we  feel  that  a  new  spirit  is  mov- 
ing upon  the  face  of  the  land.  A  new  epoch  is  at  hand.  Uni- 
versal education  must  soon  come  and  with  it  will  come  the  un- 
told development  of  our  resources  and  of  the  energies  of  our 
peojDle.  We  feel  that  farther  west  than  the  fabled  island 
of  Atlantis,  this  land  of  North  Carolina  is  rising  into  the 
sunlight  of  a  grander  and  a  more  perfect  day. 

To  no  other  agency  is  so  much  credit  due  for  this  great 
movement  as  to  this  Association.  Though  I  believe  this  is 
only  the  eighteenth  annual  meeting  of  your  body,  you  have 
in  these  seventeen  years  completely  revolutionized  public 
sentiment  in  this  State  upon  the  subject  of  public  schools. 
The  beautiful  words  of  Barry  Yelverton,  Lord  Avonmore,  on 
another  subject,  can  with  justice  be  applied  to  you  in  connec- 
tion with  the  public  school  system  of  this  State :  ^' You 
found  it  a  skeleton  and  you  have  clothed  it  with  life,  color 
and  complexion ;  you  have  embraced  the  cold  statue  and  at 
your  touch  it  has  grown  into  youth,  beauty  and  vigor."  In- 
stead of  being  barely  tolerated,  our  public  schools  are  now 
deemed  of  the  first  necessity  and  no  public  man  and  no  re- 
spectable section  of  society  dare  oppose  them.  They  are  be- 
coming our  pride  and  the  only  real  question  is  so  to  readjust 
taxation  that  a  sum  adequate  to  their  just  and  proper  sup- 
port shall  be  laid  upon  those  best  able  to  bear  it. 


*Acldress  by  Judge  Walter  Clark,  President  of  N.  C.  Literary  and  Historical  Society, 
before  the  Teachers'  Assembly,  Wrightsville,  N.  C,  12  June,  1901. 


HOW  CAN  INTEREST  BE  AROUSED  «  85 

Yon  are  to  be  congratulated  upon  the  $200,000  appro- 
priated from  the  general  fund,  which  is  due  to  your  efforts. 
Though  inadequate,  it  is  an  installment  upon  the  pledges 
made  for  the  education  of  the  children.  It  is  also  significant 
of  the  growth  in  public  sentiment  that  every  election  this 
spring  upon  the  subject  of  graded  schools  has  been  favorable 
and  indeed  in  some  places  unanimous. 

The  jSTorth  Carolina  Literary  and  Historical  Association, 
though  organized  only  last  fall,  has  been,  I  am  proud  to  say, 
as  I  have  the  honor  to  be  its  president,  of  some  assistance 
to  you  in  this  great  work.  It  was  in  one  of  our  meetings 
that  the  j^lan  of  public  school  libraries  was  formulated. 
The  draft  of  the  bill  as  originally  suggested  by  Professor 
Grimsley  was  with  some  amendments  adopted  by  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  having  been  ably  and  eloquently  championed 
by  Senator  TL  S.  Ward  and  other  progressive  and  public 
spirited  members. 

Though  now  limited  to  six  school  districts  in  each  county 
with  a  library  of  $30  each,  this  is  a  good  beginning.  It  will 
not  be  long  before  the  library  will  be  extended  to  every  school 
district  in  the  State,  and  the  appropriation  for  each  library 
will  be  increased. 

The  subject  you  have  assigned  me,  "How  to  Encourage 
the  Study  of  the  History  of  ITorth  Carolina,"  struck  me  with 
surprise.  It  is  related  of  the  great  Hannibal  that  a  certain 
philosopher  undertook  to  point  out  to  him  the  defects  in  his 
system  of  strategy,  with  possibly  some  criticism  of  his  lin- 
gering so  long  around  Capua.  The  old  warrior  listened  with 
such  interest  that  some  one  ventured  to  ask  him  afterwards 
what  he  thought  of  the  philosopher.  "Why,"  he  said,  "he 
had  such  cheek  I  was  bound  to  listen  to  see  what  he  would 
say  next."  I  do  not  understand  why  I  have  been  selected  to 
talk  of  war  in  the  presence  of  so  many  Hannibals^-if  some 
one  present  who  is  skilled  in  the  Punic  tongue  will  tell  me 


84  THE  NORTH  CAEOLIA'A  BOOKLET. 

the  feminine  for  Hannibal — I  will  add  in  the  presence  of  so 
many  Hannibals  and  lady  Hannibals.  I  can  only  account 
for  it  upon  the  popular  superstition,  wbich  is  entirely  un- 
founded, that  a  lawyer's  cheek  is  equal  to  anything.  It  is  so 
hard  for  a  superstition  to  die  out ! 

The  first  requisite  for  the  encouragement  of  the  study  of 
history  is  a  sufficient  school  term  and  suitable  school  houses 
in  which  it  may  be  taught.  First  '^catch  your  rabbit"  pre- 
cedes all  directions  as  to  how  to  cook  him.  With  the  present 
school  term  of  little  over  three  months  there  is  not  much  time 
for  more  than  the  ''three  R's."  All  declamation  and  ora- 
tory in  favor  of  longer  terms,  and  all  pledges  of  "education 
for  all  the  children,"  are  worse  than  idle  unless  there  is  suffi- 
cient revenue  for  the  support  of  the  schools. 

Your  Association  has  created  and  directed  the  public  sen- 
timent which  is  now  almost  unanimously  in  favor  of  an  effi- 
cient system  of  public  schools.  What  is  needed  now  is  the 
financial  ability  which  shall  draft  and  enact  a  modem  up-to- 
date  system  of  taxation  which  shall  raise  the  necessary  funds 
by  the  readjustment  of  the  burdens  in  accordance  with 
modern  conditions.  It  is  idle  to  talk  about  a  nine  months' 
term  with  the  appropriations  now  available.  More  money 
must  be  had,  and  a  great  deal  more.  It  can  not  be  raised 
by  increasing  the  tax  upon  land  and  merchandise,  the  crude 
medieeval  system  which  is  still  so  largely  in  vogue  among  us. 
The  farmer's  business  is  not  prosperous.  You  can  not  add 
to  his  burdens.  Nor  can  the  merchant,  who  now  pays  not 
only  a  double  tax  but  a  threefold  or  fourfold  tax,  bear  a 
heavier  burden.  In  the  classic  language  of  the  day,  "the 
proposition  is  up  to  you," 

Your  able  secretary,  who  for  four  years  has  been  the  effi- 
cient superintendent  of  public  schools,  has  in  two  reports 
called  the  attention  of  the  Legislature  to  a  new  source  of  rev- 
enue, hitherto  untouched,  which  he  thought  could  most  easily 


HOW  CAN  INTEREST  BE  AROUSED  ?  85 

contribute  to  the  support  of  the  public  schools.  The  rail- 
roads of  this  State  collect  as  North  Carolina's  proportion  of 
their  earnings  annually  over  $16,000,000  of  which  more 
than  $6,000,00  is  net  profit.  jSTot  one  dollar  of  this  im- 
mense revenue  pays  one  cent  of  tribute  to  God  nor  C?esar. 
As  they  are  owned  almost  entirely  by  nonresidents,  these 
great  net  revenues  are  carried  out  of  the  State,  never  to  re- 
turn, and  thus  to  our  permanent  impoverishment. 

!N^ot  in  a  spirit  of  hostility  to  them  but  in  justice  to  all 
other  taxpayers,  Mr.  Mebane  has  called  attention  to  the  fact 
that  many  other  States  were  raising  a  large  share  of  their 
revenue  from  a  tax  on  the  gross  earnings  of  corporations. 
Illinois  lays  a  tax  of  eight  per  cent  upon  the  gross  earnings 
of  the  Illinois  Central,  and  Governor  Odell,  of  ISTew  York, 
has  recommended  that  all  the  revenues  of  that  State  should 
be  derived  from  that  source  alone,  leaving  the  tax  upon  real 
and  personal  property  for  county  purposes.  It  has  been  sug- 
gested that  a  tax  of  five  per  cent  levied  upon  the  $16,000,- 
000  of  railroad  earnings  in  this  State  would  raise  $800,000 
from  that  source  alone  which  should  be  a  sacred  fund  de- 
voted solely  to  school  purposes.  The  tax  on  the  earnings  of 
other  great  corporations  would  raise  this  additional  revenue 
for  school  purposes  to  more  than  $1,000,000  annually. 
It  would  not  be  seriously  felt  by  the  subjects  of  it,  for  while 
a  tax  of  five  per  cent  on  the  $16,000,000  of  gross  earnings 
is  $800,000  yet  as  the  net  earnings  of  the  railroads  in  ISForth 
Carolina  are  over  $6,000,000  there  would  still  be  left  them 
$5,200,000  net  revenue,  which  is  thirteen  per  cent,  net  in- 
terest upon  the  $40,000,000  on  which  they  are  assessed  as 
the  fair  value  of  all  their  real  and  personal  property  in  this 
State.  It  would  seem  that  they  can  well  afford  to  pay  $800,- 
000  tax  on  gross  earnings  when  after  such  payment  there 
will  still  be  left  them  thirteen  per  cent  net  earnings  upon 
the  actual  value  of  their  property.     Every  dollar  of  this  sum 


86  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 

will  be  needed  before  you  can  bave  an  adequate  scbool  fund. 
As  Mr.  Mebane  said,  wbere  else  can  you  get  it  from  parties 
wbo  can  so  easily  and  justly  pay  it  ?  If  tbere  is  any  better 
source  let  us  find  it.  Tbe  scbools  must  be  supported  by  taxa- 
tion. 

In  making  tbis  recommendation  Mr.  Mebane  was  but 
following  tbe  examples  set  us  by  so  many  otber  States. 
Tbink  wbat  $1,000,000  added  to  your  scbool  fund  annually 
in  Nortb  Carolina  can  do !  Wbat  a  real  impetus  it  would 
give  to  tbe  cause  of  education ! 

Mr.  Mebane's  recommendation  was  eminently  just,  even 
if  it  bad  required  a  constitutional  amendment,  but  as  long 
as  tbe  francbise  of  tbe  railroads  was  practically  untaxed  bis 
recommendation  was  not  open  to  tbe  objection  tbat  "no  in- 
come can  be  taxed  wben  tbe  property  from  wbicb  tbe  income 
is  derived  is  taxed."  Anotber  provision  to  wbicb  lobbyists 
favoring  tbe  exemption  of  tbe  most  profitable  business  in  tbe 
State  did  not  call  attention  is  in  tbe  same  clause  of  tbe  Con- 
stitution and  requires  ''all  real  and  personal  property  to  be 
taxed  according  to  its  true  value  in  money."  Tbis  did  not, 
bowever,  escape  tbe  General  Assembly  of  1901,  wbicb  bas 
now  provided  (Cb.  Y,  Sees.  50  and  43)  tbat  tbe  intangible 
property,  tbe  francbise,  sball  be  assessed  by  taking  tbe  aggre- 
gate of  tbe  market  value  of  tbe  bonds  and  stocks  of  any  rail- 
road as  its  true  value  (wbicb  is  necessarily  so)  and  tbat  de- 
ducting tberefrom  tbe  valuation  of  its  assessed  tangible  prop- 
erty, tbe  difference  is  the  value  of  the  franchise.  Tbis  is  as 
simple  and  unanswerable  as  a  proposition  in  Euclid,  and  is 
tbe  metbod  recognized  by  courts,  financiers  and  "tbe  public" 
(as  tbe  statute  says).  As  the  market  value  of  tbe  bonds 
and  stocks  of  tbe  portion  of  tbe  railroads  lying  in  tbis  State 
is  known  to  be  considerably  over  $150,000,000  and  tbe  as- 
sessment of  tbeir  otber  property  to  tbis  time  is  only  $42,- 
000,000,   it   follows  tbat  over  $108,000,000   is  now  added 


HOW  CAN  INTEREST  BE  AROUSED  ?  87 

from  this  hitherto  untaxed  source,  which,  on  the  ad  valorem 
basis,  provided  in  the  same  statute,  will  add  $720,000  an- 
nual revenue.  The  act  provides  that  it  shall  be  in  force  from 
its  ratification.  If  the  operation  of  the  act  had  been  post- 
poned, it  would  have  been  an  exemption  of  this  vast  value 
from  taxation  which  the  Legislature  could  not  grant. 

The  same  statute  applies  to  other  corporations  and  thus 
the  franchise  tax  will  appropriate  $800,000,  the  very  sum 
which  Mr.  Mebane  proposed  to  raise  by  his  tax  on  gross 
earnings,  but  which  is  now  to  be  raised  in  a  method  which 
is  beyond  constitutional  objection.  The  requirements  of  this 
law  are  too  plain  to  be  misunderstood  and  we  can  not  pre- 
sume that  there  will  be  any  failure  to  execute  it, 

ISTow,  it  is  for  you  to  procure  the  General  Assembly  to  ap- 
jjropriate  this  tax  on  franchises  (in  lieu  of  the  proposed  tax 
on  gross  earnings)  to  the  public  schools.  The  watchfulness 
of  those  interested  in  public  education  will  thus  be  a  check 
upon  the  influences  which  by  every  device  and  subtlety  will 
endeavor  to  repeal  or  evade  this  tax. 

Declamation  is  cheap.  Words  butter  no  parsnips.  If 
this  people  is  to  become  an  educated  people  it  must  be  done 
by  levying  an  adequate  tax  which  shall  raise  a  school  fund 
sufficient  for  the  purpose.  Your  assembly  having  started 
the  public  sentiment  which  is  now  so  overwhelmingly  in 
favor  of  public  schools,  you  must  now  find  the  means — you 
must  indicate  the  source  from  which  can  be  most  justly  and 
easily  raised  by  taxation  a  sum  sufiicient  to  educate  all  the 
children  of  this  State.  If  you  mean  to  build  up  a  really 
efficient  school  system  and  not  merely  declaim  about  it;  if, 
in  short,  you  mean  business,  you  can  not  rest  till  an  all 
powerful  public  sentiment  shall  be  aroused  which  shall  send 
to  Ealeigh  a  Legislature  to  vote  the  money,  without  which  an 
adequate  school  system  is  impossible. 
2 


88  THE  NOETH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 

The  suggestion  that  the  already  underpaid  public  school 
teachers  shall  each  contribute  two  months',  or  one  month's, 
additional  instruction  without  charge  is  unjust  and  unprece- 
dented. They  have  no  greater  interest  than  others  in  public 
instruction  and  have  already  done  far  more  for  it  by  work- 
ing at  inadequate  wages.  Suppose  the  suggestion  were  made 
equitable  and  democratic,  that  all  others  should  contribute 
two  months'  work  to  the  schools,  that  farmers,  merchants, 
doctors,  preachers,  lawyers,  office-holders  and  gTcat  corpora- 
tions should  contribute  each  their  earnings  for  two  months' 
work !  If  the  teachers  are  to  be  called  on  let  all  others  con- 
tribute in  the  same  proportion. 

Instruction  in  history  can  of  course  be  had  in  the  Uni- 
versity, in  Trinity  College,  Wake  Forest,  Davidson,  Elon, 
Whitsett,  Oak  Ridge,  Guilford  College,  and  many  another 
whose  equipment  would  do  honor  to  larger  and  wealthier 
States.  The  shortage  is  not  there,  but  with  those  less  fortun- 
ate whose  opj^ortunities  in  life  are  to  be  found  in  the  public 
schools  alone. 

You  must  first  catch  your  rabbit^ — you  must  first  get  suffi- 
cient school  terms  and  school  houses  and  school  teachers 
whereby  something  more  than  the  "three  R's"  can  be  taught 
— then  we  reach  the  secondary  stage — how  to  encourage  the 
study  of  the  history  of  jSTorth  Carolina. 

The  first  consideration  when  you  have  the  schools  and  the 
leisure  to  teach  history  is,  you  must  make  it  interesting  to 
the  pujnls.  Articles,  brief  and  striking,  should  be  written 
upon  the  most  salient  points  of  our  history — cameos  of  his- 
tory, so  to  speak.  Something  in  that  line  has  been  done  by 
Mr.  Creecy  and  Mr.  W.  C.  Allen  and  some  others.  Such 
gems  well  set  will  attract  the  boy  or  girl  when  grave  com- 
pilations like  those  of  Dr.  Hawks,  Colonel  "Wheeler  and 
others  will  repel. 

Then,  if  possible,  the  eye  should  be  appealed  to  by  paint- 


HOW  CAN  INTEREST  BE  AROUSED  ?  89 

ings  and  engravings.  In  every  Massachusetts  school  book, 
in  every  Massachusetts  library  and  public  building,  you  will 
find  engravings  of  the  notable  events  in  her  history  and  of 
the  great  men  who  have  led  her  people  on  all  great  occa- 
sions. 

There  you  will  find  placed  before  the  eye  of  childhood  the 
representation  of  the  landing  from  the  Mayflower  upon  that 
rock  bound  coast  in  the  depth  of  winter,  the  flight  of  the 
British  from  Lexington,  the  death  of  Warren,  the  scenes  in 
her  Indian  wars,  the  pictures  of  Adams,  of  Hancock,  and 
Webster.  What  Massachusetts  child  ever  forgets  the  native 
land  which  produced  such  men  or  the  spots  where  such  events 
occurred  ? 

They  have  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims  in  1520.  What 
ISTorth  Carolina  school  room  or  public  building  impresses 
upon  the  mind  of  childhood  that  other  scene  thirty-six  years 
earlier,  when  the  first  English  settlement  on  this  continent 
was  made  upon  our  own  shores  at  Roanoke  Island  ?  ISTot 
amid  the  snows  on  a  barren  coast,  as  at  Plymouth  Rock,  but 
in  the  middle  of  a  semi-tropical  summer,  with  the  great  cy- 
presses, hung  with  moss,  as  sentinels  of  the  historic  scene, 
and  the  odors  of  Araby  the  blest  wafted  to  the  sea-worn 
wanderers  from  the  shores  of  this  new  land  of  hope  and  of 
plenty. 

In  Massachusetts'  books  every  striking  scene  in  King  Phil- 
lip's war  and  in  the  Pequot  war  is  not  only  recorded  by  the 
pens  of  facile  writers,  but  the  painter's  brush  and  the  en- 
graver's tool  have  faithfully  preserved  the  features  of  each 
locality  and  imagination  has  restored  the  features,  the  arms 
and  the  dress  of  the  actors  in  each  stirring  scene. 

What  pen  or  pencil  or  engTaving  or  brush  brings  to  the 
plastic  mind  of  our  children  the  scenes  of  our  own  Indian 
wars  ?  There  is  that  expedition  by  Governor  Lane  up  the 
Roanoke  in  search  of  the  gold  supposed  to  lie  at  its  source. 


90  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 

Between  Hamilton  and  Williamston  he  was  suddenly  as- 
sailed by  flights  of  arrows  and  driven  back.  Had  that  hap- 
pened on  the  headwaters  of  the  Connecticut  what  vivid  re- 
productions we  should  have  both  by  pen  and  engraving. 
From  above  Hamilton  to  the  mouth  of  the  river  the  aspect 
of  the  Eoanoke  flowing  through  an  almost  unbroken  forest 
is  nearly  the  same  today  as  it  was  on  the  day  of  the  defeat 
of  that  hardy  expedition.  The  writer  or  painter  who  wishes 
to  portray  that  scene  has  today  but  to  visit  some  stretches  of 
the  lordly  river  as  it  flows  amid  eternal  silence  and  through 
unbroken  forests  to  its  mouth.  He  has  but  to  draw  true  to 
nature.  There  are  the  great  trees,  and  the  same  solemn 
silence  unbroken  save  by  the  rippling  of  the  river,  the  deer 
on  the  banks,  the  startled  water  fowl,  the  wild  flowers,  the 
same  riotous  magnificence  of  primeval  nature.  Let  him 
evoke  from  history  and  imagination  the  picture  of  the  great 
canoes  filled  with  Englishmen  slowly  toiling  up  the  stream, 
their  habits  as  they  wore,  their  arms,  their  standards,  the 
savages  half  concealed  on  shore,  the  sudden  flight  of  arrows. 
This  and  more,  faithfully  written  or  sketched  on  the  spot 
and  reproduced  by  printing  press  and  the  engraving  stone, 
would  give  the  children  of  N^orth  Carolina  an  interest  in 
that  event  in  the  history  of  their  State  and  a  conception  of 
the  conditions  then  existing  here  which  they  have  never  had. 

Then  there  are  the  terrible  scenes  of  massacre  of  our  own 
great  Indian  war  of  1711,  the  march  of  the  South  Carolina 
troops  hundreds  of  miles  through  the  trackless  forest  to  our 
aid  and  the  stonii  and  sack  of  the  Indian  fort  at  l^ahucke  in 
1713,  which  finally  broke  the  Indian  power.  Could  our 
children  ever  forget  such  scenes  or  fail  to  feel  an  interest  in 
them  if  presented  to  their  minds  by  a  gi'aphic  pen  or  appro- 
priate engraving? 

In  ISTorthern  school  books,  so  largely  used  among  us,  are 
stirring  narratives   of   the   expedition   to  Louisburg  and  to 


HOW  CAN  INTEREST  BE  AROUSED  ?  91 

Canada,  but  where  is  the  book  which  contains  a  reference, 
much  less  a  picturesque  description  or  engraving,  of  the  ear- 
lier expedition  of  1740  to  South  America,  or  the  capture  of 
Havana  in  1762,  in  both  of  which  ISTorth  Carolina  had  a 
share  ? 

Massachusetts  books  and  Massachusetts  school  rooms  bear 
many  an  engraving  of  the  stirring  times  when  Patriots,  dis- 
guised as  Indians,  threw  the  tea  into  Boston  harbor  in  1773. 
But  where  are  the  engravers  or  the  writers  who  have  im'4 
pressed  upon  the  minds  of  our  children  that  scene  when  the 
brave  men  under  Waddell  and  Ashe,  unmasked  and  bravely 
in  broad  daylight  in  a  few  miles  of  this  spot,  in  1765,  eight 
years  before  the  Boston  tea  party,  forbade  Great  Britain  to 
put  her  stamp  act  into  execution  in  this  Province  or  even  to 
land  her  stamps  ? 

In  painting  and  in  bronze  Massachusetts  has  preserved  the 
memory  of  the  Attucks  riot  in  Boston  on  the  eve  of  the  Revo- 
lution. On  Boston  Common  the  great  memorial  stands.  But 
where  is  our  statuary,  or  our  painting,  or  our  engraving  of 
the  battle  of  Alamance  in  1771  ? 

They  have  Paul  Revere's  midnight  ride  to  fame.  Why 
leave  unsung  that  other  ride  from  Charlotte  to  Philadelphia  ? 

Where,  indeed  is  our  painting  of  that  grand  scene  for 
which  Massachusetts  has  no  parallel — the  meeting  which  is- 
sued the  immortal  declaration  of  independence  at  Mecklen- 
burg on  the  20th  of  May,  1775  ? 

They  have  immortalized  by  pen  and  pencil  the  defeat  of 
the  Americans  at  Bunker  Hill.  Where  and  how  have  we 
placed  before  admiring  eyes  the  first  victory  for  the  Ameri- 
can arms,  which  was  achieved  at  Moore's  Creek  in  February, 
1776,  that  striking  scene  when  the  planks  of  the  bridge  be- 
ing taken  up,  brave  men  crossed  on  the  stringers  amid  the 
fires  of  battle,  as  the  Moslems  tell  us  souls  pass  to  paradise 
over  Al  Sirat's  arch,  spanning  by  a  single  hair  the  flames 
of  hell  ? 


92  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 

Pencil  and  brush  and  pen  love  to  linger  on  the  grand 
scene  when,  on  the  4th  of  July,  1776,  the  thirteen  colonies 
declared  that  they  ought  to  be  and  were  sovereign  and  inde- 
pendent. But  has  anyone  ever  seen  a  similar  picture  of  that 
meeting  of  the  Provincial  Congi'ess  at  Halifax  on  the  12th 
of  April,  1776,  when  the  first  resolution  was  passed  by  any 
State  instructing  that  other  Congress  at  Philadelphia  to  do 
what  was  done  nearly  three  months  later  ?  Had  we  im- 
pressed that  by  story,  by  statue  or  by  stipple  plate  upon  the 
minds  of  our  own  people  would  a  scholar  like  Senator  Lodge 
have  forgotten  it  or  ignored  it  in  his  study  of  those  times  ? 

Brave  men  lived  before  Agamemnon,  and  brave  men  and 
great  men  have  lived,  at  least  they  did  live  in  those  times, 
south  of  the  Virginia  line,  but  what  have  we  done  to  per- 
petuate their  memories  ?  In  nearly  every  home  in  Massa- 
chusetts hangs  a  portrait  of  John  Hancock,  or  one  of  the 
Adams ;  where  is  our  Cornelius  Harnett  or  Richard  Cas- 
well ?  They  have  Warren,  dying  in  defeat  at  Bunker  Hill. 
Where  is  our  engraving  of  Nash,  falling  on  the  field  of  Ger- 
mantown  ? 

Like  a  silhouette  the  heroic  figure  of  Hardy  Murfree,  lead- 
ing his  forlorn  hope  of  ISTorth  Carolinians  to  the  capture  of 
Stony  Point  on  the  Hudson,  stands  out  against  the  sky  line 
of  all  history.  But  who  has  preserved  the  names  of  those 
brave  followers ;  what  engraving  presents  their  immortal  ac- 
tion to  our  children ;  what  graphic  pen  has  made  this  scene 
a  living  one  to  our  people  ?  What  ISTorth  Carolinian  can 
claim  that  he  is  descended  from  those  stormy  petrels  of  vic- 
tory, who  piloted  Anthony  Wayne  to  eternal  fame  on  the 
summit  of  that  ridge  ? 

What  has  been  said  or  sung  or  engraved  as  to  the  l^orth 
Carolina  line,  steady  as  the  Old  Guard  of  l^apoleon  itself,  at 
Germantown,  at  Monmouth,  at  Eutaw  Springs,  and  on  many 
other  fields? 


HOW  CAN  INTEREST  BE  AKOTJSED  ?  93 

What  school  room  in  North  Carolina  has  an  engraving  of 
that  event,  unprecedented  in  history,  when  the  volunteers  of 
a  day,  springing,  like  the  clansmen  of  Roderick  Dhu,  from 
our  mountain  sides,  self-organized,  without  muster  rolls, 
without  impulse  other  than  the  defense  of  their  little  homes, 
moved  down  like  an  avalanche  upon  the  foe  led  by  one  of 
the  enemy's  best  officers  and  bursting  over  the  fiery  crest  of 
King's  Mountain  broke  forever  Cornwallis'  hopes  of  suc- 
cess ? 

And  at  a  later  date,  where  are  our  engravings  of  other 
patriotic  sons  of  North  Carolina  who  would  have  been  an 
honor  to  any  people  ? 

It  was  Themistoclcs  who  declared  that  the  trophies  of  Mil- 
tiades  would  not  allow  him  to  sleep.  The  Israelites,  when 
they  had  passed  over  Jordan  built  twelve  pillars  that  their 
children's  children  might  ask,  "What  mean  these  stones  ?" 
that  posterity  being  told  the  story  of  Israel's  greatness  in 
war  and  the  unity  of  the  twelve  tribes  might  bear  it  in  re- 
membrance for  all  ages.  Where  are  our  trophies,  the  proud 
memorials  of  the  great  deeds  of  our  ancestors,  whose  aspect 
shall  stir  the  hearts  of  aspiring  youth  to  emulate  them  and 
to  repeat  our  Marathons  on  future  fields  1  The  tall  shaft 
on  Bunker  Hill  still  rises  to  greet  the  sun  in  his  coming,  and 
on  its  summit  the  genius  of  Webster's  grand  oration  will 
linger  as  a  halo  forevermore.  On  every  heroic  spot  in  all 
that  land  shaft,  or  sculpture,  or  inscribed  tablet,  records  that 
there  man  has  died  for  man.     But  what  of  us  ? 

Of  recent  years,  we  have  made  a  small  beginning.  A 
crumbling  monument  to  Governor  Caswell,  blasted  by  fire, 
stands  in  the  streets  of  Kinston ;  a  monument  in  the  Capitol 
square,  facing  the  setting  sun,  recalls  the  already  fading  tra- 
dition of  the  125,000  soldiers  who  belted  North  Carolina 
like  a  living  wall  in  the  grand  days  of  1861-'5 ;  a  bronze 
statue  of  our  great  tribune  of  the  people  stands  on  the  same 


94  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 

square,  aj)propriately  facing  tlie  East,  for,  ever  hopeful  of 
the  progress  and  prosperity  of  the  people  he  loved  so  well 
and  served  so  faithfully,  he  ever  stood  praying  and  hoping 
for  the  dawn  of  a  brighter  day. 

You  are  arousing  this  people  as  they  have  never  been 
aroused  before  to  the  needs  of  education.  You  propose  to 
educate  them  to  the  last  boy  and  girl. 

You  propose  to  give  them  the  increased  capacity  for  learn- 
ing, for  enjoyment,  for  usefulness,  which  comes  from  educa- 
tion. But  what  then  ?  Shall  you  lay  before  them  histories 
wherein  Massachusetts,  with  some  aid  from  one  or  two  great 
Virginians,  conquered  the  British  lion — books  which  repre- 
sent no  North  Carolina  historical  event,  and  the  features  of 
no  great  ISTorth  Carolinian,  in  which  our  revolutionary  his- 
tory is  a  desert,  with,  perhaps  a  mild  reference  to  the  militia 
at  Guilford  Court  House,  and  in  which  our  ante-revolution- 
ary stone  is  a  mere  table  of  names  ?  Can  you  excite  an  in- 
terest in  the  study  of  Xorth  Carolina's  history  by  such  books 
as  those  ?  Can  you  inspire  any  young  Themistocles  to  emu- 
late the  deeds  of  Miltiades  when  the  story  of  those  deeds  is 
left  untold  ? 

I  will  not  touch  upon  the  ground  of  the  misrepresentations 
of  the  events  of  1861-'5.  Public  attention  has  been  drawn 
to  that  and  probably  a  true  story  of  those  eventful  years  will 
be  laid  before  our  children.  But  will  it  be  interesting  V 
Shall  you  give  them  the  bare  facts  and  a  barren  list  of 
names  ?  Where  can  better  subjects  be  found  for  painter,  for 
sculptor,  for  graphic  writing  ? 

Take  among  so  many  a  single  incident.  At  l^ew  Bern 
the  battle*  had  gone  sore  against  us.  Four  hundred  soldiers 
are  cut  off,  with  a  pursuing  enemy  in  the  rear  and  an  un- 
fordable  stream  in  front,  the  men  in  despair  throwing  their 
arms  into  the  water  to  prevent  the  enemy  from  getting  them. 
A  single  canoe  is  found  carrying  only  eighteen  men,  there 

*  14  Mar.,  1862. 


HOW  CAN  INTEREST  BE  AROUSED?  95 

is  danger  of  its  being  swamped  in  the  mad  rush,  two  young 
officers,*  both  fresh  from  college,  neither  yet  21  years  of  age, 
instead  of  saving  themselves  and  pushing  off  to  safety,  take 
their  stand  and  count  off  from  time  to  time  eighteen  men 
who  pass  beneath  their  crossed  sabres,  till  boat  load  after 
boat  load  is  ferried  across.  With  immediate  peril  of  Yankee 
bullets  and  Yankee  prison,  they  resolutely  keep  their  guard 
till  every  man  is  over  and  those  two,  the  last  to  enter,  float 
across  to  friends  and  to  freedom.  What  a  picture  for  a 
painter,  for  poet,  for  instructor !  How  it  would  have  been 
emblazoned  if  told  in  Eoman  story  by  Livy,  or  by  Macaulay 
to  match  his  stirring  lines  which  tell 

"How  well  Horatlus  did  keep  the  bridge 
In  the  brave  days  of  old." 

But  what  audience  in  JSTorth  Carolina  this  day  can  name 
these  two  beardless  boys  who  came  of  the  race  of  heroes  ? 

And  this  incident  is  but  one  of  hundreds  showing  that  this 
people  of  iSTorth  Carolina  is  one  which  produces  heroes  and 
men  fit  to  command.  If  we  do  not  sulficiently  honor  them 
it  is  possibly  because  such  deeds  are  not  rare  among  us. 

What  pen  or  pencil  can  portray  to  the  life  the  heroism 
of  the  men  whom  Tyler  Bennett,  Frank  Parker  and  George 
B.  Anderson  were  proud  to  stand  beside  in  that  "Bloody 
Lane"  at  Sharpsburg ;  of  the  men  under  Pettigrew,  Low- 
rance  and  Lane,  who  fell  farthest  in  the  front  of  the  South- 
ern line  at  Gettysburg;  the  men,  many  of  them  fresh  from 
the  plow  and  without  a  thought  of  heroism  or  fame,  who, 
like  an  averaging  flame,  swept  down  the  broken  lines  at  the 
Salient,  retaking  and  holding  it  against  fearful  odds ;  and 
of  those  ISTorth  Carolinians  in  the  Seven  Days'  Fight  Around 
Richmond  who  left  more  than  twice  as  many  of  their  dead 
and  wounded  upon  the  field  as  Virginia  herself  or  any  other 
Southern  State ;  the  heroism  of  those  brave  men,  from  our 

*W.  A.  Graham  and  H.  K.  Burgwyn,  at  that  time  respectively,  Capt.  Co.  K,  2  N.  C. 
Cavalry,  and  Lieut.-Col.  26  N.  C.  Reg't. 


96  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 

mountains  to  the  sea,  who,  with  no  other  motive  than  their 
duty,  were  first  at  Bethel  and  last  at  Appomattox,  and  who 
at  all  times  during  those  four  long  eventful  years  proved 
themselves  the  peers  of  any  troops  that  came  against  them  or 
that  fought  by  their  side  ? 

If  you  wish  to  encourage  the  study  of  the  history  of  our 
State,  can  you  do  better  than  to  tell  the  deeds  of  such  men, 
plainly  and  simply,  as  befits  the  men  who  did  them  ?  Can 
the  story  be  more  needed ;  can  the  teaching  come  better  than 
in  these  days,  when  worship)  of  the  dollar  is  growing  and 
when  youths  are  taught  that  the  greatest  among  men  is  not 
he  who  sheds  his  life's  blood  for  his  fellow  men  at  the  call  of 
his  country  and  duty,  but  rather  he  who  gathers,  by  whatever 
device,  the  greatest  quantity  of  the  product  of  the  labor  of 
others  into  his  own  keeping? 

"Ill  fares  the  land  to  hastening  ills  a  prey 
Where  wealth  accumulates  and  men  decay." 

The  State  has  a  great  history.  Its  people  have  shown 
themselves  equal  to  every  call  upon  them  and  equal  to  every 
occasion.  But  that  history  has  not  yet  been  presented  as  it 
should  be.  To  excite  interest  in  its  study  we  must  make  it 
interesting.  Tell  it  as  it  happened,  its  grand  deeds,  its  he- 
roic sufferings,  its  unvaunting  performance  of  duty  in  the 
face  of  every  danger,  its  uncomplaining  endurance  of  every 
hardship.  Paint  its  striking  historical  incidents  by  brush  as 
well  as  by  pen ;  engrave  them,  hang  them  on  the  walls  of 
your  school  rooms,  your  libraries  and  your  public  buildings, 
put  them  in  your  school  books.  Painter  and  historian  have 
recorded  for  the  admiration  of  future  ages  that  Sir  Philip 
Sidney,  when  wounded  at  Zutphen,  refused  a  cup  of  water 
for  which  he  was  perishing  till  a  wounded  private  soldier 
who  needed  it  more  than  he  could  be  supplied.  But  that  in- 
cident, and  even  greater  self-denial,  can  be  related  of  many 


HOW  CAN  INTEREST  BE  AROUSED?  97 

an  unlettered  ISTorth  Carolina  soldier  who  had  never  heard 
of  Sir  Philip  or  of  Zutphen,  but  in  whose  veins  ran  the  blood 
of  heroes  and  whose  courage  is  an  inheritance  from  cen- 
turies of  brave  ancestors  of  the  purest  Anglo-Saxon  stock 
on  the  continent. 

To  sum  up,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  JSTorth  Carolina  has  a 
history  that  is  worth  the  telling  and  which,  when  truly  told, 
will  interest.  It  is  a  brave  story  of  a  people  who  from  the 
first  founding  of  the  colony  would  brook  no  tyranny  and  who 
intended  from  the  first  that  no  one  should  govern  them  but 
themselves ;  the  story  of  a  brave,  self-relying,  liberty  loving 
people. 

Then  tell  the  story  in  an  interesting  manner.  Let  the 
pens  of  your  best  writers  record  it  in  their  most  entertaining 
manner,  but  plainly  and  simply  as  accords  with  the  charac- 
ter of  our  people,  whose  unpretentious  nature  is  summed  up 
in  their  proud  motto :  "Esse  Qtimn  Videri,"  for  in  very 
truth  no  people  can  better  say  in  the  words  of  the  great 
Dictator  to  Sir  Peter  Lely,  "Paint  me  as  I  am."  Like  a 
beautiful  woman,  their  story,  when  unadorned,  is  adorned 
the  most. 

Then,  with  an  interesting  history  interestingly  told,  what 
more  is  needed  ?  You  need  a  wider  audience.  Educate  the 
masses.  Create  in  them  an  intelligent  interest  in  their  sur- 
roundings and  in  their  history.  Make  it  attractive  by  short 
stories  attractively  told.  Appeal  to  the  eye  by  paintings  and 
engravings.  Let  the  State  add,  when  it  can,  sculpture  and 
statuary. 

This  Eome,  Greece,  England,  France  have  done.  This 
the  States  north  of  us  have  done,  preeminently  the  great  edu- 
cational State  of  Massachusetts.  The  means  by  which  other 
States  and  countries  have  created  an  interest  in  their  history 
are  the  means  to  which  we  must  resort  for  the  like  purpose. 


98  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 

And  none  of  them  have  a  better  foundation  upon  which  to 
build. 

In  the  language  of  the  poet-priest  of  the  South : 

"Give  me  the  land  that  is  blessed  by  the  dust, 
And  bright  with  the  deeds  of  the  down-trodden  just. 
Yes,  give  me  the  land  where  the  battle's  red  blast 
Has  flashed  to  the  future  the  fame  of  the  past; 
Yes,  give  me  the  land  that  hath  legends  and  lays 
That  tell  of  the  memories  of  long  vanished  days; 
Yes,  give  me  the  land  that  hath  story  and  song! 
Enshrine  the  strife  of  the  right  with  the  wrong! 
Yes,  give  me  the  land  with  a  grave  in  each  spot, 
And  names  in  the  graves  that  shall  not  be  forgot." 


KILL   DEVIL    HILL  99 


KILL  DEVIL  HILL 


BY  JAQUES  BUSBEE 


At  sunrise  it  floats  in  the  mist  like  the  diaphanous  pink 
ghost  of  a  hill.  To  stand  upon  it  in  the  blinding  glare  of 
noon  it  is  vastly  more  illusive — the  luminous  sands  under 
jour  feet  seeming  more  unreal  than  the  remote  edges  cutting 
sharp  against  the  deep  blue  sky.  Even  on  stillest  days  upon 
the  beach,  the  sand  on  the  summit  is  ever  blowing,  blurring 
the  edges  with  a  film  like  heat  radiations — piling  up  the  hill 
in  a  great  crescent  with  horns  outstretched  to  leeward  from 
the  prevailing  northeast  winds. 

And  this  vast  pile  of  sand,  hard  on  the  windward,  soft  on 
the  leeward  side,  is  ever  moving  towards  the  southwest  at  the 
rate  of  two  or  three  feet  a  year. 

From  the  summit  the  view  thrills  with  its  far-stretched 
beauty.  Three  quarters  of  a  mile  to  the  east,  across  the 
coarse  beach  grass,  is  the  boundless  Atlantic;  north,  on  the 
trembling  distance  is  another  great  sand  hill  fifteen  miles 
away — Paul  Gamel's  Hill ;  south,  the  view  is  splendid  with 
the  gleaming  expanse  of  the  fresh  pond  (a  scant  mile  from 
the  surf)  hemmed  in  on  its  western  shore  by  the  dark  mys- 
terious I^agshead  woods  and  the  ISTagshead  sand  hills  be- 
yond.    But  to  the  west  unfolds  the  view  of  views. 

The  north  end  of  Eoanoke  Island,  on  which  stands  Fort 
Raleigh,  stretches  across  the  southwest.  Roanoke  Sound  is 
divided  from  Kitty  Hawk  Bay  by  Collington  Island  (named 
for  Lord  Colleton,  one  of  the  Lords  Proprietors),  and 
far  to  the  northwest  on  the  dim  horizon  is  Powell's  Point. 
Between  Powell's  Point  and  Kitty  Hawk  is  the  entrance  to 
Currituck  Sound. 

Three  hundred  and  twenty  odd  years  ago  this  same  view 


100  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

burst  upon  the  astonished  sight  of  Amidas  and  Barlowe. 
For  after  anchoring  in  the  inlet,  which  was  Kitty  Hawk 
Bay  extended  through  the  banks  to  the  ocean,  afterwards 
closed  by  the  great  storm  of  1696,  named  Trinity  Harbor  by 
these  first  English  to  set  foot  in  North  Carolina,  they  ran  to 
the  toj)  of  the  nearest  sand  hill  on  the  south  of  the  inlet  to 
view  the  country.  They  beheld  the  sea  on  both  sides  "finding 
no  end  any  of  both  ways."  They  shot  off  their  harquebus 
shots  "and  such  a  flock  of  cranes  for  the  most  part  white" 
arose  under  them  "with  such  a  cry  redoubled  by  many  echoes, 
as  if  an  army  of  men  had  shouted  all  together." 

Standing  on  the  top  of  Kill  Devil  Hill  today,  the  same 
view  unfolds  itself ;  the  green-blue  Atlantic  to  the  east ;  the 
violet-blue  sounds  to  the  west;  the  brilliant  marsh  grasses, 
the  golden  sand  hills,  the  dark  dense  woods,  and  flocks  of 
herons  "for  the  most  part  white" ;  the  whole  vast  panorama 
blue — vivid  blue  from  sky  and  sea  and  the  reflections  of 
myriad  pools  upon  the  beach. 

Just  where  Amidas  and  Barlowe  landed  is  an  always  dis- 
puted point.  Barlowe's  narrative,  with  its  quaint  old  Eng- 
lish wording,  leaves  the  inquirer  in  greater  doubt  than  if 
he  took  the  word  of  any  one  of  the  many  historians  each  of 
whom  chose  for  himself  the  inlet  which  suited  him  best.  But 
language,  says  Talleyrand,  is  a  gloriously  uncertain  vehicle, 
invented  to  conceal  thought. 

So  turn  to  John  White's  map,  or  rather,  bird's  eye  view  of 
this  "coming  of  the  English."  Now  a  picture  can  mean  only 
one  thing.  This  picture  shows  a  boat  with  eight  men  in  it, 
sailing  towards  lioanoke  Island  from  the  northeast.  The  dis- 
tance from  the  inlet  where  the  two  vessels  were  anchored 
to  Boanoke  was  recorded  by  them  as  seven  leagues.  Al- 
though the  distance  by  water  from  Kitty  Hawk  Bay  to 
Boanoke  is  not  as  much  as  seven  leagues,  old  Currituck  in- 
let is  much  too  far  north  and  old  Boanoke  inlet  is  not  far 


KILL,   DEVIL   HILL  101 

enough  north — for  who  can  believe  those  early  explorers 
were  very  accurate  measures  of  distance?  An  inlet  through 
the  banks  at  Kitty  Hawk  Bay  comes  much  nearer  fitting 
both  the  account  and  picture  than  any  other  inlet  indicated. 

One  thing,  however,  is  certain  and  that  is,  an  inlet  once 
pierced  the  banks  nearly  opposite  the  pressure  of  Albemarle 
Sound  waters.  Along  the  shores  of  Kitty  Hawk  and  the 
opposite  shores  of  Colling-ton  Islands  are  undeniable  evi- 
dences that  the  present  fresh  waters  of  the  bay  were  once 
salt.  Great  mounds  of  oyster  shells  or  "Indian  Kitchens" 
line  the  shores.  Indian  relics  are  scattered  here  and  there 
and  are  often  "blowing  out."  Within  the  memory  of  living 
men  the  ocean  beach  curved  in  at  a  point  opposite  the  bay 
to  such  an  extent  that  small  vessels  could  find  in  it  a  partial 
haven. 

The  fresh  pond,  a  mile  to  the  southward,  was  once  con- 
nected with  this  inlet ;  for  old  men  remember  their  fathers' 
statements  that  boats  could  be  taken  from  the  bay  into  this 
land-locked  harbor. 

Kill  Devil  Hill  stands  a  natural  monument  to  mark  this 
old  inlet  of  Trinity  Harbor.  Its  sands  have  moved  and 
shifted  and  wasted  away,  but  other  sands  have  blowm  and 
made  up  in  their  stead.  Is  it  too  much  to  hazard  the  belief 
that  the  first  English  feet  to  climb  its  yielding  slope  were 
the  sailors'  from  Sir  Walter  Raleigh's  two  little  vessels  an- 
chored in  the  ofilng,  and  that  upon  its  summit  Amidas  and 
Barlowe  unfurled  the  English  flag? 

Kill  Devil  Hill  claims  a  present  interest  for  two  reasons ; 
first,  that  from  its  crown  (125  feet  high)  the  Wright  broth- 
ers learned  to  fly ;  and  second  on  account  of  the  legend  of 
its  name. 

Hidden  from  the  world  at  Kill  Devil  Hill  the  Wright 
brothers  labored  secretly  at  the  most  wonderful  success  that 
man  has  yet  achieved.     Over  at  Kitty  Hawk,  Mrs.  W.  J. 


102  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

Tate  shows  with  j)i'icle  her  sewing  machine  on  which  she 
stitched  up  the  sails  for  this  biplane,  and  at  the  foot  of  Kill 
Devil  Hill  stands  the  "flying  shed"  which  sheltered  that  mys- 
terious bird.  How  Nagshead  and  Kitty  Hawk  woods 
swarmed  with  reporters  and  kodaks  when  the  Wrights'  ex- 
periments had  reached  the  point  of  success,  is  all  too  recent 
in  the  newspapers  to  need  repetition. 

But  the  legend  of  the  name  "Kill  Devil"  is  too  character- 
istic of  the  banks,  as  they  were  long  ago,  to  be  lost;  and 
apocryphal  though  it  may  be,  it  deserves  preservation.  "In 
days  of  yore  and  in  times  long  gone  before"  there  dwelt 
upon  the  banks  in  the  thick  tangled  woods  of  Nagshead  and 
to  the  northward,  a  rude  and  primitive  race  of  wreckers 
and  beach  combers  whose  living  came  largely  from  the  sea. 

When  God  in  His  bounty  was  slow  to  drive  vessels  upon 
the  treacherous  quicksands  of  the  coast,  the  natives,  in  prom- 
ising, stormy  weather  would  hobble  a  bank  pony,  tie  a  lan- 
tern about  his  neck  and  turn  him  out  upon  the  beach. 
The  light  bobbing  up  and  down  as  the  nag  gTazed,  closely 
simulated  the  lights  on  a  vessel  at  sea.  Long  before 
the  days  of  light  houses  or  life  saving  stations,  when  ves- 
sels cleared  some  port  never  to  be  heard  from  again,  the 
bankers  along  this  coast  could  have  given  information  in 
many  instances  had  they  chosen.  The  mystery  of  Theodosia 
Burr  Alston  and  the  portrait  of  an  aristocratic  lady  which 
hung  for  many  years  in  a  jSTagshead  shanty,  and  which  was 
but  recently  identified,  held  a  tragedy  of  the  banks  which 
many  writers  have  essayed. 

But  that  is  not  the  story  of  Kill  Devil.  Like  most  stories 
of  the  banks,  it  begins  with  a  wreck.  A  coastwise  merchant- 
man, laden  with  a  valuable  cargo,  was  driven  upon  the 
reef  and  wrecked.  The  crew  succeeded  in  reaching  the 
beach  alive,  and  next  day,  the  storm  having  much  abated. 


KILL   DEVIL   HILL  103 

most  of  the  cargo  was  gotten  through  the  snrf  and  piled 
upon  the  sand  with  a  guard  to  watch  it. 

Towards  midnight  the  guard  sprang  forward  in  wide 
awake  terror,  to  find  the  bale  of  goods  upon  which  he  was 
sleeping  detach  itself  from  the  pile  and  amble  away  across 
the  beach,  to  disappear  in  the  woods  beyond  the  big  sand  hill. 
In  a  moment  all  hands  were  awake  and  regarding  with 
stupified  horror  the  spot  where  a  moment  before  the  bale 
had  rested.  ISTo  power  but  the  Devil  was  capable  of  such  a 
thing,  they  all  declared,  and  they  cursed  the  fate  which  had 
cast  them  upon  such  a  coast.  Two  men  were  ordered  to 
watch  for  the  remainder  of  the  night. 

It  was  just  before  dawn.  Both  men  saw  it  with  wide 
open  eyes.  A  large  bale  of  goods  broke  loose  from  the  pile 
and  went  bounding  over  the  sand,  to  disappear  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  big  sand  hill.  This  was  no  night  ''head  notion." 
Daylight,  however,  restored  quiet  and  these  superstitious 
sailors  held  a  council.  Of  course  it  was  the  Devil.  That 
went  without  argument.  But  then,  who  could  circumvent, 
capture,  or  kill,  the  Devil  ?  Men  were  not  inclined  to  watch 
or  even  sleep  near  such  a  diabolical  spot.  At  length  one  old 
grizzly  seadog  offered  to  watch — alone  if  none  had  nerve 
enough  to  watch  with  him.  He  feared  not  man,  God,  nor 
Devil ;  and  if  it  was  the  Devil,  he  swore  he'd  kill  him. 

Until  midnight  this  fearless  one  patrolled  the  beach  alone, 
keeping  a  close  eye  on  the  bales  of  goods  so  mysteriously! 
diminished  the  night  before.  Finally  he  sat  down  for  a 
moment  just  to  rest  his  legs.  With  a  shock  to  consciousness, 
he  was  startled  to  see  a  large  bale  of  goods  break  loose  from 
the  pile  and  start  across  the  beach  towards  the  big  hill.  In 
an  instant  his  gun  was  levelled  on  it,  but  what  was  there  to 
shoot  ?  So  he  ran  after  it  as  hard  as  he  could,  but  it  bounded 
along  just  ahead  with  increasing  speed.  Then  with  a  des- 
perate effort  he  dashed  forward  between  the  fleeing  bale  and 
3 


104  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

the  sand  hill,  when  he  tripped  and  fell  over  a  taut  rope. 
In  an  instant  he  was  on  his  feet,  and,  taking  aim  along  the 
rope,  he  fired.  The  bale  of  goods  stood  still.  Running  along 
by  the  rope,  he  saw,  dimly  silhouetted  against  the  faintly 
gleaming  sand,  a  large  black  object  with  what  he  took  to  be 
two  horns  and  a  tail. 

While  he  was  reloading  his  gun  this  devilish  thing  began 
again  to  move.  He  pulled  the  trigger.  Immediately  the 
night  was  filled  with  a  fearful  noise,  as  the  black  object  sank 
to  the  ground  and  began  to  kick  up  the  sand.  Rushing  up 
to  the  foot  of  the  hill,  there  he  saw  lying — the  Devil,  welter- 
ing in  blood  ? — an  old  beach  pony  with  a  rope  tied  to  his 
harness — the  other  end  hooked  to  the  bale  of  goods.  But  he 
had  in  truth  killed  the  Devil,  for  the  pile  of  goods  remained 
untouched  upon  the  beach  till  finally  boated  away.  And  so 
that  grandiose  sand  hill  standing  near  the  site  of  the  old  inlet 
was  ever  after  known  as  "Kill  the  Devil  Hill." 

I*^ow  as  Shahrazad,  perceiving  the  dawn  of  day,  would 
remark,  '^Whether  this  be  true  or  only  legend  is  past  find- 
ing out,  but  Allah  is  all-knowing." 


GENERAL  JAMES  HOGUN.  105 


CAREER    OF    GENERAL    JAMES    HOGUN,   ONE 

OF  NORTH  CAROLINA'S  REVOLU= 

TIONARY  OFFICERS. 


BY  CHIEF  JUSTICE  WALTER  CLARK. 


North  Carolina  in  the  Revohition  furnished  ten  regiments 
to  the  regular  service — the  Continental  line.  Five  of  the 
Colonels  of  these  hecame  general  officers,  the  only  Generals 
North  Carolina  had  in  the  regular  service.  They  were  Gen- 
eral Robert  Howe,  who  rose  to  be  Major-General — our  sole 
Major-General — and  four  Brigadiers — General  James 
Moore,  who  died  early  in  the  war ;  General  Francis  Nash, 
killed  at  Germantown  and  buried  near  the  field  of  battle — 
a  brother  of  Governor  Abner  Nash ;  General  Jethro  Sum- 
ner, and  General  James  Hogun. 

The  lives  and  careers  of  the  first  three  named  are  well 
known.  For  some  reason  the  data  as  to  the  last  two  have 
been  neglected.  The  Hon.  Kemp  P.  Battle,  by  diligent 
search  in  many  quarters,  was  able  to  restore  to  us  much  in- 
formation as  to  General  Jethro  Sumner,  of  Warren  County, 
and,  indeed,  to  rehabilitate  his  memory.  As  to  General 
James  Hogun,  of  JIalifax  County,  the  task  was  more  diffi- 
cult. Little  has  been  known  beyond  the  fact  that  he  was 
probably  from  Halifax  County,  and  that  he  was  a  Brigadier- 
General.  The  late  Colonel  William  L.  Saunders  requested 
the  writer  to  investigate  and  preserve  to  posterity  whatever 
could  now  be  rediscovered  as  to  this  brave  officer. 

It  may  be  noted  that  North  Carolina  has  not  named  a 
county,  or  township,  or  village,  in  honor  of  either  of  the 
four  generals — Howe,  Moore,  Sumner,  or  Hogun.  Moore 
County  was  named  in  honor  of  Judge  Alfred  Moore,  of  the 
United  States  Supreme  Court.     General  Nash  was  the  only 


106  THE    NORTH    CAROLINA   BOOKLET. 

one  of  the  five  thus  honored,  the  county  of  Nash  having  been 
formed  in  1777,  the  year  of  General  ISTash's  death  at  Ger- 
mantown. 

General  James  Ilogun  was  born  in  Ireland,  but  the  year 
and  place  of  his  birth  are  unknown.  The  name  is  spelt 
Hogun,  though  usually  in  Ireland,  where  the  name  is  not 
uncommon,  it  is  written  Hogan — ^with  an  a.  He  removed 
to  Halifax  County,  in  this  State,  and  to  the  Scotland  Neck 
section  of  it.  He  married,  October  3,  1751,  Miss  Euth  ISTor- 
fleet,  of  the  well  known  family  of  that  name.  In  the  Pro- 
vincial Congress,  which  met  at  Halifax,  April  4,  1776,  and 
which  framed  our  first  State  Constitution,  James  Hogun 
was  one  of  the  delegates  for  Halifax  County.  He  was  ap- 
pointed Paymaster  in  the  Third  Regiment  (Sumner's),  but 
on  26  November,  1776,  he  was  elected  Colonel  of  the 
Seventh  North  Carolina  Regiment,  and  6  December  of  that 
year  an  election  was  ordered  to  fill  the  vacancy  in  Congress 
caused  thereby.  Colonel  Hogun  marched  northward  with 
the  Seventh  and  Colonel  Armstrong  with  the  Eighth,  and 
both  regiments  arrived  in  time  to  take  part  in  the  battles  of 
Brandywine  and  Germantown.  Colonel  Sumner  was  ap- 
pointed to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by  the  death  of  General 
Francis  Nash.  For  the  vacancy  caused  by  the  promotion 
of  General  Howe  from  Brigadier-General  to  Major-General, 
our  Legislature  recommended  Colonel  Thomas  Clark,  of  the 
First  Regiment ;  but  General  Washington  stated  that,  while 
not  undervaluing  Colonel  Clark's  services,  Colonel  Hogun 
by  his  distinguished  gallantry  at  Germantown,  had  earned 
the  promotion,  and  he  was  therefore  elected  and  commis- 
sioned a  Brigadier-General  9  January,  1779,  and  contin- 
ued to  serve  with  the  army  at  the  north.  When  Charleston 
was  threatened,  all  of  the  North  Carolina  line  which  had 
not  previously  gone  south  with  General  Lincoln,  under  Sum- 
ner, was  ordered  to  that  point.     Owing  to  losses,  the  North 


GENEEAL  JAMES  HOGTJN.  107 

Carolina  regiments  then  JSTorth  were  consolidated  into  four, 
and  General  Hogun  was  placed  in  command.  At  the  head  of 
his  brigade  he  passed  through  Halifax  and  Wilmington  in 
February,  1780,  and  took  part  in  the  memorable  defense  of 
Charleston,  When  General  Lincoln  surrendered  that  city 
on  12  May  1780,  though  he  surrendered  five  thousand  men, 
only  one  thousand  eight  hundred  of  them  were  regular 
troops,  and  the  larger  part  of  these  were  General  Hogun's 
ISTorth  Carolina  brigade.  General  Sumner,  our  other  Brig- 
adier, who  had  commanded  that  part  of  the  ISTorth  Carolina 
line  which  was  at  Charleston  before  General  Hogun's  ar- 
rival, was  home  on  furlough,  as  were  many  officers  that  had 
lost  employment  by  the  consolidation  of  the  depleted  com- 
panies and  regiments.  With  that  exception,  ISTorth  Caro- 
lina's entire  force  was  lost  to  her  at  this  critical  time.  The 
surrendered  militia  were  paroled,  but  the  regular  troops, 
headed  by  General  Hogun,  were  conveyed  to  Hadrell's  Point, 
in  rear  of  Sullivan's  Island,  near  Charleston.  There  they 
underwent  the  greatest  privations  of  all  kinds.  They  were 
nearly  starved,  but  even  a  petition  to  fish,  in  order  to  add 
to  their  supply  of  food,  was  refused  by  the  British.  These 
troops  were  also  threatened  with  deportation  to  the  West 
Indies.  General  Hogun  himself  was  offered  leave  to  return 
home  on  parole.  Tempting  as  was  the  offer,  he  felt  that  his 
departure  would  be  unjust  to  his  men,  whose  privations  he 
had  promised  to  share.  He  also  knew  that  his  absence 
would  aid  the  efforts  of  the  British,  who  were  seeking  re- 
cruits among  these  half-starved  prisoners.  He  fell  a  victim 
to  his  sense  of  duty  4  January,  1781,  and  fills  the  unmarked 
grave  of  a  hero.  History  affords  no  more  striking  incident 
of  devotion  to  duty,  and  North  Carolina  should  erect  a  tablet 
to  his  memory,  and  that  of  those  who  perished  there  with  him. 
Of  the  one  thousand  eight  hundred  regulars  who  went  into 
captivity  on  Sullivan's  Island  with  him,  only  seven  hundred 
survived  when  they  were  paroled. 


108  THE  NOETH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 

We  do  not  know  Greneral  Hogun's  age,  but  as  he  had  mar- 
ried in  1751  he  was  probably  beyond  middle  life.  In  this 
short  recital  is  found  all  that  careful  research  has  so  far  dis- 
closed of  a  life  whose  outline  proves  it  worthy  of  fuller  com- 
memoration. Could  his  last  resting  place  be  found,  the 
tablet  might  well  bear  the  Lacedaemonian  inscription,  "Siste 
viator.     Heroa  calcas/'* 

General  Hognn  left  only  one  child,  Lemuel  Hogun,  who 
married  Mary  Smith,  of  Halifax  County.  To  Lemuel  Ho- 
gun, March  14,  1786,  ISTorth  Carolina  issued  a  grant  for 
twelve  thousand  acres  of  land  in  Davidson  County,  Ten- 
nessee, near  Kashville,  as  ''the  heir  of  Brigadier-General 
Hogun."  In  October,  1792,  the  United  States  paid  him 
five  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  being  the  seven 
years'  half  pay  voted  by  Congress  to  the  heirs  of  Brigadier- 
Generals  who  liad  died  in  service.  In  1814  Lemuel  Hogun 
died,  and  is  probably  buried  at  the  family  burial  ground. 
General  Hogun  resided  in  Halifax  County,  North  Carolina, 
about  one  mile  from  the  present  village  of  Hobgood.  In 
1818  the  widow  of  Lemuel  Hogun,  with  her  children,  moved 
to  Tuscumbia,  Alabama.  jSFumerous  descendants  are  to  be 
found  in  that  State,  and  in  Tennessee  and  Mississippi.  In 
the  late  war  General  Hogun's  papers,  which  might  have 
furnished  materials  for  history,  were  seized  by  the  Federal 
troops  and  presumably  destroyed,  though  it  is  barely  possi- 
ble they  may  be  yet  preserved  in  some  ISTorthern  historical 
collection.  It  is  known  that  among  these  papers  was  at  least 
one  letter  from  Washing-ton  to  General  Hogun. 

These  five  heroes — Howe,  Moore,  ]S^ash,  Sumner,  and 
Hogim — were,  as  has  been  said,  the  only  Generals  from  this 
State  in  the  regular  service. 

We  had  several  Generals  who  commanded  militia,  ordered 
out  on  three  months'  tour  or  on  special  service,  at  sundry 
times,  such  as  General  Griffith  Rutherford  and  General  Dav- 


*  "Pause,  traveler.     A  hero's  dust  sleeps  below." 


GENEBAL  JAMES  HOGUN.  109 

idson,  for  whom  those  counties  have  been  named ;  Generals 
Butler  and  Eaton,  and  others.  General  Davidson  had  been 
a  Major  in  the  Continental  line,  but  was  a  Brigadier-General 
of  militia  when  killed,  1  October,  1780,  at  Cowan's  Ford. 
There  were  others,  as  Colonel  Davie,  Major  Joseph  Graham 
(who  commanded  the  brigade  sent  to  Jackson's  aid  against 
the  Creeks  in  1812),  and  several  who  acquired  the  rank  of 
General  after  the  Eevolution, 

The  militia  figured  more  prominently  in  that  day  than 
since.  The  important  victories  of  King's  Mountain  and 
Ramsour's  Mills  were  won  solely  by  militia,  and  Cowpens 
and  Moore's  Creek  by  their  aid.  Rutherford  and  Gregory 
commanded  militia  brigades  at  Camden,  as  Butler  and  Eaton 
did  at  Guilford  Court  House,  and  as  General  John  Ashe  did 
at  Brier  Creek. 

It  may  be  of  interest  to  name  here  the  Colonels  of  the  ten 
iN^orth  Carolina  regiments  of  the  Continental  line : 

First  Regiment^  James  Moore.  On  his  promotion  to 
Brigadier-General,  Francis  ISTash.  After  his  promotion, 
Thomas  Clark.  Alfred  Moore,  afterwards  Judge  of  the 
United  States  Supreme  Court,  was  one  of  the  Captains. 

Second  Regiment^  Robert  Howe.  After  his  promotion 
to  Major-General,  Alexander  Martin.  He  being  elected 
Governor,  John  Patton  became  Colonel.  In  this  regiment 
Hardy  Murfree,  from  whom  Murfreesboro,  in  North  Caro- 
lina and  Tennessee,  are  named,  rose  from  Captain  to  Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel;  and  Benjamin  Williams,  afterwards  Gov- 
ernor, was  one  of  the  Captains.  David  Vance,  grandfather 
of  Governor  Vance,  was  a  Lieutenant. 

Third  Regiment^  Jethro  Sumner.  After  his  promotion  it 
was  consolidated  with  the  First  Regiment.  In  this  regiment 
Hal  Dixon  was  Lieutenant-Colonel  and  Pinketham  Eaton 
was  Major,  both  distinguished  soldiers ;  and  William  Blount, 
afterwards  United  States  Senator,  was  Paymaster. 


110  THE    NOETH    CAROLINA   BOOKLET. 

Fourth  Regiment,  Thomas  Polk,  General  William  David- 
son, killed  at  Cowan's  Ford,  was  Major  of  this  regiment,  and 
William  Williams,  afterwards  prominent,  was  Adjutant. 

Fifth  Regiment,  Edward  Buncombe,  who  died  of  wounds 
received  at  G-ermantown,  and  for  whom  Buncombe  County  is 
named. 

Sixth  Regiment,  Alexander  Lillington,  afterwards  Gideon 
Lamb.  John  Baptista  Ashe,  of  Halifax,  who  was  elected 
Governor  in  1802  but  died  before  qualifying,  was  Lieuten- 
ant-Colonel of  this  regiment. 

Seventh  Regiment^  James  Hogun.  After  his  promotion, 
Robert  Mebane.  In  this  regiment,  Nathaniel  Macon,  after- 
wards Speaker  of  Congress  and  United  States  Senator,  and 
James  Turner,  afterwards  Governor,  served  together  as  pri- 
vates in  the  same  company. 

Eighth  Regiment,  James  Armstrong. 

Ninth  Regiment,  John  P.  Williams.  Of  this  regiment 
William  Polk  was  Major. 

Tenth  Regiment,  Abraham  Shephard. 

The  State  had  in  the  Continental  line  a  battery  of  artil- 
lery commanded  by  John  Kingsbury,  and  three  companies 
of  cavalry,  led,  respectively,  by  Samuel  Ashe,  Martin  Phifer, 
and  Cosmo  de  Medici. 

My  object  in  writing  has  been  to  give  the  few  details 
which,  after  laborious  research,  I  have  been  able  to  exhume 
as  to  General  Hogun,  his  origin,  his  services,  and  his  de- 
scendants. I  trust  others  may  be  able  to  bring  to  light  fur- 
ther information,  so  that  an  adequate  memoir  may  be  pre- 
pared of  so  distinguished  an  officer. 


A  FORGOTTEN  LAW.  Ill 


A  FORGOTTEN  LAW 


BY  CHIEF  JUSTICE  WALTER  CLARK. 


PETIT    TREASON DEATH    BY    BURNING. 

Blackstone  tells  us  (4  Com.,  75  and  203)  that  for  a  serv- 
ant to  kill  his  master,  a  woman  her  husband,  or  an  eccle- 
siastical person  his  superior  was  petit  treason,  and  that  this 
offence  was  punished  more  severely  than  murder,  a  man 
being  drawn  as  well  as  hanged,  and  a  woman  being  drawn 
and  burnt.  It  is  said  that  the  records  of  Iredell  County  show 
that  this  barbarous  punishment  was  inflicted  upon  a  woman 
in  that  county  for  the  murder  of  her  husband.  This  law  has 
since  been  changed  in  England. 

It  has  doubtless  been  forgotten  by  most  that  the  offence 
of  petit  treason  continued  in  this  State  after  the  adoption 
of  our  republican  form  of  government,  as  to  slaves  at  least, 
and  that  the  punishment  usually  inflicted  was  to  be  burnt 
at  the  stake.  ''History,"  said  a  very  wise  man,  "is  philos- 
ophy teaching  by  example."  It  is  well  to  consider  closely 
the  doings  of  our  ancestors.  When  those  acts  were  wise 
and  just,  honest  and  patriotic  they  should  serve  as  examples 
to  excite  our  emulation  and  shame  us  against  departing 
therefrom.  When  the  deeds  of  our  forebears  are  not  such 
as  to  be  cause  of  pride  and  imitation,  we  should  rejoice  that 
we  live  in  happier  times,  in  the  noonday  splendor  of  greater 
enlightenment,  and  measure  the  progi*ess  we  have  made  by 
our  distance  from  the  evil  precedent. 

Your  magazine  has  been  a  depository  of  much  curious 
as  well  as  useful  historical  data,  which  but  for  it  would 
long  since  have  passed  beyond  proof  and  beyond  recall.  I 
therefore  send  you  a  copy  of  one  of  the  few  remaining 
records  of  the  judicial  executions  by  burning  at  the  stake 


112  THE    NOKTH    CAROLIjSTA    BOOKLET. 

which  have  taken  place  since  the  adoption  of  the  Constitu- 
tion of  17Y6. 

The  Act  of  1741,  which  continued  in  force  till  1793, 
provided  that  if  any  negroes  or  other  slaves  (and  there  were 
other  slaves  in  those  days),  should  conspire  to  make  an  in- 
surrection or  to  murder  any  one  they  should  suffer  death. 
It  was  further  provided  that  any  slave  committing  such 
offence  or  any  other  crime  or  misdemeanor  should  be  tried 
by  two  or  more  Justices  of  the  Peace  and  by  four  freeholders 
(who  should  also  be  owners  of  slaves),  ^'without  the  solem- 
nity of  a  jury;  and  if  the  offender  shall  be  found  guilty 
they  shall  pass  such  judgment  upon  him,  according  to  their 
discretion,  as  the  nature  of  the  crime  or  offence  shall  require, 
and  on  such  judgment  to  award  execution."  It  further 
provided  that  this  commission  should  assess  the  value  of 
any  slave  executed  by  them  and  report  to  the  next  Legis- 
lature, who  should  award  the  owner  of  such  slave  the  com- 
pensation assessed. 

The  following  is  a  verbatim  copy  of  one  of  the  certificates 
made  to  the  Legislature  to  procure  pay  for  a  slave  executed 
under  said  act: 

State  of  No.  Cakolina:   Brunswick  County.     March  5th,  1778. 

At  a  Court  held  for  the  tryal  of  a  negro  man  slave  for  the  murder 
of  Henry  Williams,  said  fellow  being  the  property  of  Mrs.  Sarah 
Dupree. 

Justices  of  the  Peace  present.  Freeholders: 

William  Paine  John  Stanton 

John  Bell  James  Ludlow 

Thomas  Sessions  Needham  Cause 

Aaron  Roberts. 
According   to    law   valued   said    negro    James   at    eighty    pounds 
Procklamation  Money. 

The  Court  proceeded  on  said  tryall  and  the  said  fellow  James 
confessed  himself  to  be  One  that  had  a  hand  in  the  murdering  of 
said  Henry  Williams  in  concurrence  with  the  evidence  of  four  other 
mallefactors  that  were  Executed  for  Being  Concerned  in  said  murder 
on  the  18th.  day  of  March  1777. 


A  FORGOTTEN  LAW.  113 

Ordered  that  the  Sheriff  take  the  said  Jimmy  from  hence  to  the 
Place  of  execution  where  he  shall  be  tyed  to  a  stake  and  Burnt  Alive, 
Given  under  our  hands  this  5th.  day  of  March  1778. 

Justice  of  the  Peace:  Freeholders: 

William  Gause  Aaron  Roberts 

John  Bell  John  Stanton 

Thos.  Sessions  Needham  Gause 

Jas.  X  Ludlow 

his  mark 

State  of  No.  Carolina — Brunswick  County. 

We,  the  undernamed  persons  being  summoned  as  Justices  of  the 
Peace  and  freeholders  of  the  County  aforesaid  to  hold  a  court  for 
the  Tryall  of  a  negro  man  slave  named  James  the  property  of  Mrs. 
Sarah  Dupre  for  the  murder  of  Mr.  Henry  Williams  of  Lockwood 
Polly  do  value  the  said  slave  James  at  the  sum  of  Eighty  pounds 
Procklamation  Money.  Given  under  our  hands  this  5th.  day  of 
March  1778. 

Justices  of  the  Peace  Freeholders: 

William  Gause  Aaron  Roberts 

John  Bell  John  Stanton 

Thos.  Sessions  Needham  Gause 

his 

Jas.  Ludlow  X 

mark 

The  Journals  of  the  Legislature  show  that  the  assessed 
compensatioii,  "^eighty  pounds  proclamation  money,"  was 
voted  to  Mrs.  Sarah  Dupree,  the  owner  of  said  slave. 

There  is  a  similar  record  in  Granville  County,  showing 
^that  on  21  October,  1773,  Robert  Harris,  Jonathan  Kit- 
trell  and  Sherwood  Harris,  Justices ;  and  Thomas  Critcher, 
Christopher  Harris,  Samuel  Walker  and  William  Hunt, 
freeholders,  tried  and  convicted  Sanders,  a  negro  slave  of 
Joseph  McDaniel,  for  the  murder  of  William  Bryant,  and 
he  was  sentenced  to  be  burnt  alive  on  the  23d — two  days 
thereafter. 

Doubtless  there  are  records  of  similar  proceeding  in  other 
counties,  if  not  destroyed  in  the  lapse  of  time,  but  these  two 
will  serve  as  a  curious  reminder  of  a  by-gone  age.'  After 
1793,  the  slave  charged  with  murder  became  entitled  to  a 


114  THE    NORTH    CAROLINA   BOOKLET. 

trial  bj  a  jury  of  freeholders,  and  one  of  the  most  splendid 
efforts  of  the  late  Hon.  B.  F.  Moore  was  in  behalf  of  a 
slave  tried  for  murder.  His  brief  in  that  case  and  the 
opinon  of  the  Court,  delivered  by  Judge  Gaston,  will  remain 
enduring  monuments  of  the  claim  of  both  to  abiding  fame. 
The  opinion  and  brief  will  be  found  reported  in  State  v. 
Will  18  K.  C.  121-172. 

While  the  circumstance  I  have  attempted  to  rescue  from 
oblivion  may  not  seem  to  the  credit  of  the  men  of  that  day, 
it  is  an  historical,  social  and  legal  fact  which  will  serve  to 
"show  the  age,  its  very  fonn  and  pressure."  It  is  to  the 
credit  of  the  next  generation  that  the  statute  was  repealed 
by  a  more  humane  and  just  one  in  1793,  and  that  the  latter 
act  was  afterwards  illustrated  by  the  learning  and  impartial 
justice  displayed  by  Court  and  counsel  in  State  v.  Will. 

It  is  true  of  the  generations  of  men  as  of  individuals 
that  we  "rise  on  stepping-stones  of  our  dead  selves  to  higher 
things." 


HISTORIC  HOMES.  115 


HISTORIC  HOMES.     PART  V:  WELCOME 


BY  ANNIE  LANE  DEVEREUX. 

"Welcome,"  the  summer  home  of  Willie  Jones,  stood  near 
the  eastern  boundary  of  Raleigh  on  the  spot  where  some  of 
the  buildings  of  St.  Augustine  Institute,  a  college  for  ne- 
groes, now  stand.  The  tract  adjoining  was  given  by  Col. 
Joel  Lane,  to  his  friend,  Willie  Jones,  of  Halifax,  to  be 
enclosed  as  a  new  park  in  the  hope  of  inducing  him  to  spend 
the  hot  months  near  ''Bloomsbury,"  Col.  Lane's  residence. 

At  that  time  Wake  County  abounded  in  large  game,  as 
the  names  of  some  of  its  localities  prove.  Mr.  Jones  prob- 
ably enclosed  his  park.  He  certainly  built  a  cottage  at  the 
foot  of  a  gentle  hill,  and  near  a  spring  of  clear,  cool  water, 
and  in  this  cottage  he  spent  part  of  every  year. 

He  was  a  man  of  mark  in  his  day,  and  besides  filling 
other  important  offices  was  Commissioner  for  the  State  at 
large  on  the  committee  which  chose  the  site  of  the  new  Capi- 
tol, Raleigh.  In  spite  of  his  splendid  abilities  he  was  very 
eccentric,  and  some  of  his  "fads," — for  the  thing  is  as  old 
as  human  nature,  though  the  word  is  modern — were  dis- 
played in  the  plan  of  his  house.  It  was  a  one-story  building, 
but  the  rooms  were  in  the  form  of  cubes,  twenty-two  and  a 
half  feet  every  way,  it  is  believed ;  the  effect  of  the  very 
lofty  ceiling  in  comparatively  small  rooms  was  bad.  The 
proportion  being  destroyed  the  windows  seemed  extremely 
long  and  narrow,  and  the  tallest  furniture  was  dwarfed. 
The  manner  of  his  burial  was  also  most  unusual.  By  his 
own  direction  he  was  buried  in  the  garden  at  "Welcome," 
the  grave  being  dug  northeast  and  southwest;  as  this  was 
supposed  to  be  a  practical  expression  of  his  disbelief  in 
the  Resurrection,  it  excited  much  painful  feeling,   and  the 


116  THE    ISrOKTH    CAROLINA   BOOKLET. 

conviction  became  general  that  "Old  ISTortheast  and  South- 
west" could  not  rest  in  his  grave,  and  that  his  uneasy  spirit 
visited  the  place  formerly  familiar  to  the  body.  Heavy  steps 
were  heard  in  the  hall,  strange  voices  sounded  through  the 
rooms,  an  old  disused  spinet  in  the  cellar  was  played  by  un- 
seen hands ;  in  short,  for  many  years  "Welcome"  had  the 
eerie  name  of  a  haunted  house. 

After  the  death  of  Willie  Jones  the  place  was  purchased 
by  Judge  Henry  Seawell,  a  nephew  of  Nathaniel  Macon,  who 
had  married  a  daughter  of  Maj.  John  Hinton,  of  "Clay 
Hill"  ;  he  enlarged  the  house,  adding  a  second  story,  and  mak- 
ing other  improvements,  and  here  he  lived  for  manj^  years  in 
peace  and  prosperity  quite  undisturbed  by  ghostly  visitants. 
While  still  a  young  man  Judge  Seawell  deemed  it  wise  to 
select  and  enclose  a  spot  as  a  burial  place  for  his  family, 
and  taking  with  him  his  favorite  body  servant,  Brittain,  he 
went  into  the  deep  woods  far  from  any  human  habitation, 
chose  a  sjjot  that  seemed  to  him  peculiarly  retired,  and  had 
built  a  heavy  stone  wall  enclosing  a  space  of  the  sixteenth  of 
an  acre  or  less,  hoping  that  he  and  his  would  here  rest  in  the 
silence  of  nature,  hidden  in  the  wild  and  lovely  woods.  But 
by  a  strange  irony  of  fate  the  woods  have  long  since  been 
cleared  away,  the  whole  estate  having  passed  into  the  hands 
of  strangers,  and  a  public  road  now  runs  within  a  few  feet  of 
the  wall  of  the  old  burial  place. 

After  the  death  of  Judge  Seawell  his  widow  sold  the  place 
and  moved  into  town.  It  then  changed  hands  rapidly,  hav- 
ing many  owners,  and  standing  for  long  periods  shut  up  and 
deserted.  Its  last  possessor  fled  in  terror  at  the  approach  of 
Sherman's  bummers  in  1865,  the  empty  house  was  occupied 
by  negroes,  and  later  in  the  same  year  it  was  burned  to  the 
ground. 


ROWAN    COUNTY    WILLS    AND    MARRIAGE    BONDS.  117 

ROWAN  COUNTY  WILLS 


COMPILED  BY  MRS.  M.  G.  McCUBBINS. 


Thomas  Gillespie  (Book  G,  page  3),  November  15,  1796. 
Wife:  Kaomi.  Sons:  Thomas,  David,  Isaac,  Eobert,  Alex- 
ander the  home  place,  George,  John  and  James.  Daughters : 
Martha  Allison  (widow)  and  Lydia  Knox.  Grandsons : 
Thomas  (James'  son)  Thomas  (Isaacs'  son),  Thomas  and 
Jacob  (George's  sons).  Others:  Thomas  Allison,  Thomas 
Knox.  Ex :  Sons  Thomas  and  Eobert.  Witnesses  :  Thomas 
Irwin  and  Philip  Patmer. 

William  Gilbert  (Book  G,  page  46),  August  12,  1787. 
Son:  Eleazer.  Daughters:  Huldah  (or  "Huldreth  day"), 
Mary.  Granddaughter :  Rachel  Backer.  Executor :  Friend 
John  Gross.  Witnesses :  Thomas  Piukston,  John  Cress  and 
Ediff  (her  X  mark)  Cress. 

George  (his  X  mark)  Gentle  (Book  G,  page  45),  April  10, 
1795.  Wife:  Firlender  (or  Felender).  Sons:  Thomas  and 
Joseph.  "Other  children"  (not  named).  Executor:  Wife, 
Felender.  Test:  Xathan  (his  IST  mark)  Sap  (  ?)  and  Ralph 
Ford. 

Christina  (her  D  mark)  Getchen  (Book  G,  page  48), 
March  8,  1790.  Sons:  John  and  Frederick.  Daughter: 
Elizabeth.  Grandchildren:  Christina  and  Elizabeth  (chil- 
dren of  Jacob  Filer),  Elizabeth  (daughter  of  Jacob  Getchen) 
and  Christina  (daughter  of  John  Getchen).  Executor: 
Friend  John  Getohen  (  ?).  Test:  Michael  Brown,  Jr.,  and 
John  Stranger. 

John  Graham,  a  planter  (Book  G,  page  66),  February  1, 
1795  (of  Third  Creek).  AVif e :  Sarah.  Children:  Sarah, 
Mary,  James,  Richard,  Moses,  Margaret,  William  Arm- 
strong Serah  John  and  Samuel.     Executors :   Brothers  Rich- 


118  THE    NORTH    CAROLINA   BOOKLET. 

ard  and  James  Graham.  Test:  Benjamin  Brandon,  Jolin 
Dickey  and  John  Graham. 

James  Graham,  "old  and  infirm"  (Book  G,  page  67),  Sep- 
tember 2,  1788.  Sons:  Richard,  John  and  James.  Daugh- 
ter: Jane  Graham.  Grandson:  James  (son  of  John).  Exec- 
ntor:  Son,  James.  Test:  John  Lowrance,  Jr.,  John  Carri- 
gan  and  Samuel  Yonng. 

Edward  (his  X  mark)  Gates  (Book  G,  page  69),  Septem- 
ber 28,  1799.  Wife:  Esther.  Sons:  Joseph.  Daughters: 
Mary  (wife  of  Walter  Odaniel),  Elizabeth  (wife  of  Lenerd 
Jones)  and  Dorothea  (wife  of  Samuel  Smith),  Rachel  (the 
wife  of  Richard  Lanim,  Others  mentioned:  Daniel  Cos- 
grove.  Executors :  Wife  Esther  and  son  Joseph.  Test : 
George  iSTiblock,  John  Hembree  and  Lyddy  (her  X  mark) 
Hembree. 

James  Gheen,  a  cabinet  maker.  Senior  (Book  G,  page  71), 
April  26,  1796.  Wife:  Elizabeth.  Sons:  James,  Joseph 
(the  youngest  son).  Sons-in-law:  John  Roberts,  Silas  Dunn. 
Daughters :  Hannah,  Elizabeth,  Elenor  and  Rachel.  Grand- 
son: James  (son  of  Thomas  Gheen).  Executors:  Wife  Eliz- 
abeth and  son-in-law  Siles  Dunn.  Test :  James  Kincaid,  Sr., 
James  Kincaid,  Jr.,  and  George  Dunn. 

Ellonor  (or  Eleonor)  Graham  (Book  G,  page  75),  May 
10,  1782.  Sisters:  Else,  Jane,  Agnes.  Mother:  Agnes  Gra- 
ham. Cousin:  Agnes  ("daughter  of  my  brother  James"), 
Maryi  ("daughter  of  my*  brother  Richard"),  Eleanor 
("daughter  of  my  brother  Joseph"),  Elizabeth  Gilespey  ("my 
loving  sister  Janes'  daughter").  Executors:  Mother  Agnes 
Graham  and  "brother  Richard."     Xo  witnesses. 

John  Gardiner,  a  miller  (Book  G,  page  77),  March  11, 
1791,  Sons:  James,  John,  Robert  and  Francis.  Daughter: 
Martha  Vikers.  Grandson:  David  (son  of  Francis). 
Granddaughter:  Francis  (daughter  of  my  son  Francis  Gard- 


KOWAN    COUNTY   WILLS    AND    MAREIAGE    BONDS.  119 

ner).  Executor:  Son  John.  Test:  James  McCullock,  John 
Brown  and  Peter  Frieze. 

John  Garret  (Book  G,  page  81),  May  18,  1793.  Wife: 
Marj.  Children :  Elizabeth,  Mary,  John,  Daniel,  William, 
Wiley  and  James.  Executors :  Wife  Mary  and  Daniel 
Wood.     Test:  John  Baily,  Jr.,  John  Wood  and  Moses  Daty. 

Henry  (his  X  mark)  Gussey  (Book  G,  page  83)^;  August 
18,  1794.  Wife:  Marget  Guifey.  Sons:  John  and  Henry. 
Daughters :  Jean  Luckey,  Elizabeth  Hughes,  Mary  Guifey. 
Executors :  Wife  Marget  and  sons  John  and  Henry  Guff ey. 
Test :  John  Evans,  Jr.,  and  Samuel  Hughes. 

William  (his  X  mark)  Graham,  a  farmer  (Book  G,  page 
86),  December  12,  1787.  Wife:  Is  probably  Jean  (see  Book 
G,  page  64,  where  this  will  is  unfinished).  Sons:  John  (the 
home  place),  James,  William  (the  youngest  son).  Execu- 
tors :  John  Hall  and  Eichard  Graham.  Witnesses :  Robert 
Love,  William  Law  and  Mary  Graham. 

John  Gill  (Book  G,  page  91),  April  1,  1796,  a  noncupa- 
tive  will  proven  by  Mary  Dowdy  April  5,  1796  and  in 
Goochean  County,  May  16,  1796,  by  Molly  Dowdy  and  Willy 
GilL  Wife:  Agnes.  Daughter :  Witty  Gill.  Executor  (?)  : 
Joseph  Wattaus.     Test :  Wm.  Miller,  C.  S.  C. 

EOWAN  MAREIAGE  BONDS. 

Henry  Bakor,  James  Bowers  (both  names  used,  but  James 
signs)  to  Barbara  Bowers.  May  10,  1758.  James  Bowers 
and  Thos.  Fosne  or  Eorster  ?     (Both  may  be  carpenters.) 

William  Best  to  Catharine  Goodhart.  January  19,  1762. 
William  (his  WB  mark)  Best,  William  Williams  and  John 
Johnston.  William  Carson  (Will  Eeed).  This  bond  is 
made  in  Anson  County. 

Robert  Black  to  Elenor  Russell.  March  5,  1762.  Robert 
Black,  Henry  Horah  and  John  Cussens.      (Will  Reed.) 

Thomas  Butner  to  Sarah  Elrode.  July  11,  1762  (  ?)  1764. 
4 


120  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 

Thomas  Biitner,  Adam  Retner(  ?)  and  Adam  (his  X  mark) 
Biitner.     (Thomas  Frohock.) 

John  Bibby  to  Jane  Ruth.  July  28,  1762.  John  (his  X 
mark)  Bibby,  Mark  Whiteaker  and  Joshua  Whiteaker. 
(John  Frohock  and  Thos.  Frohock.) 

James  Buntin  to  (no  name).  June  23  (or  28?),  1763, 
James  J.  Buntin,  Jos,  Erwin  and  John  Buntin.  (John  Fro- 
hock.) 

James  Bell  to  Margret  (or  Marget  ?)  Denny.  March  25, 
1764.  James  Bell,  William  Denny  and  John  McKnight. 
(Thos.  Donnell.) 

William  Baley  to  Mary  Jones.  April  3,  1764.  William 
(his  B  mark)  Baley,  Wm.  ISTapery  (or  Nassery)  and  Matt, 
Lang.     (Thomas  Frohock  and  Will  Ca     en.) 

A  note  enclosed  "April  ye  2th  Day,  1764,  mester  John 
frake  Esquer  Wee  humly  in  tret  yo  to  let  ye  berer  William 
Bile  have  a  lisons  of  mereg  we  the  per  have  Agred  John 
iany(?).     Daved  Bale  his  mark  B." 

Charles  Bussey  to  (no  name).  March  28,  1765.  Charle? 
(his  X  mark)  Bussey,  James  Whittier(  ?),  Francis  (his  E 
mark)  Taylor.     (John  Frohock.) 

George  Black  to  Rachal  Wethrow.  September  24,  1766. 
George  Black,  John  Carson  and  Samuel  Withrow.  (Thomas 
Frohock. ) 

Joseph  Burk  to  Margret  Granl  (Grant?).     December  29, 

1766.  Joseph  (his  B  mark),  Burk,  John  England  and  James 
(his  B  mark)  Burk.     ( [  ?]idon  Wright.) 

AValter  Bell  (or  Bill  ?)  to  Margret  Duncan.     January  3, 

1767.  Walter  Bell  and  Thomas  hill.     (John  Frohock.) 
John  Buntin,  Jr.,  to  Mary  McClun.     January  16,  1767. 

Johny  Buntin,  John  Bonten,  Sr.,  and  George  Senley. 
(Thos.  Frohock.) 

Philip    Byer    to    Mary    Somison.      February    9,    1767. 


EOWAN    COUNTY   WILLS   AND   MARRIAGE   BONDS.  121 

Phillip  (his  X  mark)  Byer,  Fredrick  (his  X  mark)  Somison 
and  Gaspar  Smith.     (Thos.  Frohock.) 

John  Beeman  to  Margret  Hnnler  (Hunter  [?]).  May  19, 
1767.  John  beeman,  George  Smiley,  Oliver  Wallis  and 
Junius  (?)  Quick.     (Thos.  Frohock.) 

Hcnery  Eessand  Bussle  to  Sophiah  Layle(?).  June  10, 
1767.  Henery  Eessand  Bussle  and  Christopher  Rindleman. 
(These  are  written  in  Dutch(  ?)  and  translated.)  (Thos. 
Frohock. ) 

Rudome  Bussell  to  Charity  Smith.     September  4,  1767. 

Rudome  (his  R  mark)  Bussell,  John  Turner  and ? 

(in  Dutch  ?) .     (John  Frohock. ) 

Richard  Berry  to  Ribna(  ?)  Hawkins.  September  24, 
1767.  Richard  (his  X  mark)  Berry  and  William  Simpson. 
(Thorn.  Frohock.) 

John  Hawkins  and  wife  send  note  of  consent,  September 
22,  1767,  for  their  daughter's  marriage  with  Richard  Berry. 

William  Brown  to  (no  name).  January  4,  1768.  Wil- 
liam Brown,  Shadreck  (his  S  mark)  Williams  and  William 
(his  P  mark)  W^illiams.     (Thomas  Frohock.) 

William  Brown  to  Eliz.  Huff.  January  4,  1768.  William 
Brown,  Jonathan  huff  and  Andrew  Endsvoorth.  (Thomas 
Frohock.) 

David  Butner  to  Mary  Crane.  April  9,  1768,  David 
(his  D  mark)  Butner  and  Wm.  Xassery  (or  Xapery?). 
(Thos.  Frohock.) 

John  Boone  to  Martha  Quin.  October  (  ?)  19,  1768.  John 
(his  X  mark)  Boone  and  Jas.  Cooper.     (Thos.  Frohock.) 

Jacob  Bringer  to  Mary  Prock.  December  5,  1768.  Jacob 
(his  i  mark)  Bringer,  Mathias  Prock  and  William  Brown. 
(John  Frohock.) 

''Thease(  ?)    are  to  sertify  that  I  Marget  apock(  ?)   Doe 


122  THE    NOETH    CAROLINA   BOOKLET. 

Give  my  face  conssent  to  this  marriage  of  my  Daughter  Mary 
to  Jacob  Brviiiger  Given  from  under  my  hand 

MarGert'ysock(  ?) 
this  5  Day  of  Dasember  1768 
Wm.   Charles  Kiles." 

"This  is  to  Certify  That  Barringer 

William  Alexander" 

Daniel  Brown  to  Mary  Miller.  (No  other  date),  1768. 
Daniel  Brown  and  William  Patton.     (H.  ?  M.  Goune.) 

Abraham  Brown  to  Mary  Hardmon.  January  27,  1769. 
Abraham  Brown,  Joseph  (his  X  mark)  Hartmon  and  Mich- 
ael Waller.     (These  men  may  be  Dutch.)     (Thos.  Frohock.) 

Thomas  Bestow (  ?)  to  Elizabeth  Murphy.  June  7,  1769. 
Thomas  (his  X  mark)  Bestow  and  Zac(  ?)  Craige. 

("Clio  ?  be  kind  Enough  To  Let  Thos.  Betzer  have  Lisons 
Jas.  Craige  will  be  Security    He  Be  Over  and  pay  you  Ery- 
day     Pray  Let  him  have  thim  and  you  will  Greatly  Oblige 
Sir  your  Humble  Servant 

To  Cllo(?)  John  Frohock.  Geo.  Magonne" 

James  Bell  to  Issabell  S  lorry (  ?).  June  22,  1769.  James 
Bell,  thomas  Hill  and  John  Frohock. 

"Mr.  Cornall  frohack  I  desir  the  favour  of  you  to  Let 
the  Bearer  James  Bell  have  the  Licence  for  it  is  By  Concent 
of  all  pertys  and  in  so  doing  you  will  obledg  your  humble  sir 
William  AVhite  this  given  from  under  my  hand  this  twen- 
teeth  day  of  June  in  the  ye  year  of  our  Lord — 1769  wit- 
ness present  Samuel  Hughey 

Margret  (her  X  mark)  Mcknight 

Martin  Beffell  to  Barbary  Eoadlap(  ?).  June  28,  1769. 
Martin  (his  X  mark)  Beffell,  Paul  (his  X  mark)  Beffell  and 
Dan^  Little. 

Joseph  Biles  to  Ann  Johnson.  Xovember  16,  1769.  Jos- 
eph Biles,  William  Frohock  and  Moses  (his  M  mark) 
Pearse"(?).     (Thomas  Frohock.) 


EOWAN  COUNTY  WILLS  AND  MARRIAGE  BONDS.     123 

George  Bullon  (Bullin  ?)  to  Hester  Stroser.  January  28, 
1772,  George  Bullon,  Jacob  Brown  and  Conrad  Bullon. 
(These  may  be  in  Dutch  ?) 

A  letter  to  Frohock : 

"Sir  this  is  to  inform  you  that  the  Bearer (  ?) ? 


has  made  shute  to  my  Daughter  Jean  Brown  in  purpose  of 
niarig  and  these  are  to  Certify  that  we  are  agread  there  with. 
Sir  I  Remain  your  hu^  ser*^  Margret  Brown, 
December  the  1,  1769." 

There  are  few  "ts"  crossed  in  the  above  note. 

William  Brown  to  Dianna  Davis,  May  6,  1772.  William 
(his  X  mark)  Brown,  Jno.  Blaloc  (lry[?])  and  Henry 
Strange,     (John  Frohock,) 

Benjamin  Burgin  to  Lear  Man  (or  Mar?).  ISTovember  18, 
1772.    Benjamin  Burgin  and  Dan'  Little.     (Ad.  Osborn.) 

A  note  to  Mr.  Osborn  (Clerk)  from  George  Davison (  ?) 
IsTovember  18,  1772, 

Joseph  Bryan  to  Easther  Hampton.  ISTovember  30,  1772. 
Joseph  Bryan  and  John  Bryan.     (Ad:  Osborn.) 

William  Bailey  to  Isbell  Berson  (or  Benson?).  August 
10,  1774.     William  Bailey,  Andrew  Eeed.      (Ad:  Osborn.) 

John  Bryant  to  Eebenah  Orten,  August  26,  1774.  John 
Bryan  and  John  orten.     (Ad  Osborn.) 

Jacob  Brown  to  Elizabeth  Artmire.  August  29,  1774. 
Jacob  (his  X  mark)  Brown  and  Dan'.  Little.     (Ad  Osborn.) 

Thomas  Blackmore  to  Anne  Cornelison  ("Spinster"). 
September  6,  1774.  Thomas  Blackemere  and  Garritt  (his 
X  mark)  Cornelison,     (Ad  Osborn.) 

James  Barr  to  Elizabeth  McCorkle.  December  18,  1774. 
James  Barre  and  Matt:  Troy.     (Ad  Osborn.) 

Eobert  Buntain  to  Sarah  Renshaw.  January  18,  1775. 
Robert  Buntain  and  Elijah  Renshaw.      (James  Robinson.) 

Joshua  Baldwin  to  Elizabeth  Wells,     January  28,  1775. 


124  THE    NORTH    CAROLINA   BOOKLET. 

Joshua  Baldwin  and  William  (his  X  mark)  Wells.  (Jam^ 
Eobinson.) 

Valentine  Beard  to  Obedianee  Giles.  February  14,  1775. 
Valentine  Beard  and  John  Lewis  Beard.     (Ad  Osborn.) 

Harmon  Butner  to  Jemima  Merrill.  February  28  (20?), 
1775.     Hermon  Butner  and  Jonathan  Conger.     (No  name.) 

Andrew  Boston  to  Sarah  Hunehparier.  May  25,  1775. 
Andrew  Boston  and  George  Savadge.  (These  above  may  be 
Dutchmen.)     (David  Flowers.) 

Peter  Butner  to  Betty  Bussell.  August  3,  1775.  Peter 
butner  and  Pressley  Bussell.     (Ad  Osborn.) 

William  Brandon  to  Hannah  Erwin.  September  6,  1775. 
William  Brandon  and  David  Woodson.     (D.  Flowers.) 

Daniel  Biles  to  Jean  Conger.  December  30,  1775.  Dan- 
iel Biles  and  Jonathan  Conger.     (Ad:  Osborn.) 

Eulif!(?)  Booe  to  Mary  Bushellson.  March  9,  1776. 
Kuliff  (his  R  mark)  Booe  and  John  Hunter  ("huter.") 
(Ad :  Osborn.) 

John  Barr  to  Mary  King.  March  28,  1776.  John  Barr 
and  Thos.  King.     (Ad  Osborn.) 

William  Bell  to  Margaret  McNeely.  April  1,  1776.  Wil- 
liam Bell  and  James  Brandon.     (Ad:  Osborn.) 

James  Benson  to  Margret  Kerr.  December  1,  1777. 
James  Benson  and  Joseph  Kerr.     (Ad.  Osborn.) 

Samuel  Brace  to  Dorothy  Davis.  February  4,  1778. 
Samuel  Brace  and  William  Brandon. 

Henry  Bullinger  to  Mary  Savits.     December  20   (28?), 

1778.  Henry  bollinger(  ?)  and  George  Savits(  ?).  (These 
are  in  Dutch?)     (William  B.  Davie.) 

George  Brown  to  Barbara  Wasnbouoy(  ?).      January   2, 

1779.  George  Brown  and  Jacob  Brown.  (William  R. 
Davie.) 

John  Barry  to  Susanna  (?)   Patterson  (  ?).     February  5, 


ROWAN    COUNTY   WILLS    AND    MARRIAGE    BONDS.  125 

1779.  John  (his  X  mark)  Barry  and  Caleb  (his  X  mark) 
Bedwel.     (William  E.  Davie.) 

John  Brinneger  to  Lucretia  Linville.  February  9,  1779. 
John  Brinneger  and  Samuel  Bryan.     (William  R.  Davie.) 

Harbert  Blackburn  to  Martha  Brandon (  ?).  March  4, 
1779.  Harbert  Blackburn  and  John  Brandon.  (William 
R.  Davie.) 

Samuel  Bryan  to  Rachael  Jacks.  March  10,  1779.  Sam- 
uel Bryan  and  Rudolf  March.     (Ad:  Osborn.) 

Samuel  Burns (  ?)  (Barns?  or  Busner?)  to  Rachel  Tur- 
ner. March  20  28(?),  1779.  Samuel  Burns  (?)  (Barns? 
or  Busner?)  and  James  Turner.     (Wm.  R.  Davie.) 

George  Brandon  to  Rebena  or  Rebecca ( ?)  lS[eely(  ?). 
March  22,  1779.  George  Brandon  and  Wm.  Temple  Coles. 
(Ad  Osborn.) 

Archibald  Bready  to  Margret  Ervin.  May  28,  1779, 
Archabil  Breadey  and  Samuel  Irwin.     (Ad  Osborn.) 

A  note  of  consent  from  Margret's  father,  George  Irwin, 
"May  ye  27,  1779." 

Samuel  Bryson  to  Martha  Bogle.  June  14,  1776(?), 
1779 (?).  Samuel  Bryson  and  Samuel  Bogel.  (Ad:  Os- 
born. ) 

Nathan  Baddy  to  Anne  Brice.  September  9,  1779.  ISTa- 
than  Baddy  and  John  (his  X  mark)  Baddy.     (Ad:  Osborn.) 

James  Ballendine  (a  carpenter)  to  Ann  Burke.  Decem- 
ber 4,  1779.  James  Ballantine  and  James  (his  i  mark) 
Townsley  (a  silversmith).     (B.  Booth  Boote.) 

Aquilla  Barns  to  Hannah  Lee.  September  20,  1779. 
Aquilla  D.  Barns  and  Shadrack  Barnes.     (Ad:  Osborne.) 

Benjamin  Baker  to  Comfort  Sewel.  October  8,  1779. 
Benjamin  Baker(  ?)  and  Samuel  Sewell.     (Jo.  Brevard.) 

ISTathan  Briggs  to  Mary  Scriviner.  September  29,  1779. 
l^athan  Briggs  and  Thomas  (his  X  mark)  Briggs.  (Jo. 
Brevard.) 


126  THE    ]SrOETII    CAROLINA   BOOKLET. 

Patrick  Barr  to  Agness  Killpatrick.    ISTovember  17,  19 (  ?). 

1779.  Patrick  Barr  and  John  Kil]}Datrick.      (Ad:  Osborn.) 
William  Buham(  ?)  to  Sarah  Patterson  (a  spinster).   Jan- 
nary  29,   17S0.     William  Batram(  ?)   and  William  Patter- 
son.    (B.  Booth  Boote.) 

Elijah  Bank  to  Ef!y  Gordon.     March  15,  1780.       X 
and  Willian(  ?)  McKay.     (B.  Booth  Boote.) 

Benjamin  Biggs  and  Abigail  Trayer(  ?).  May  15,  1780. 
Benjamin  Bigs  and  Daniel  Clary.     (B.  Booth  Boote.) 

Elias  Baker  to  Sarah  Holbrook  (a  "spinster").     May  20, 

1780.  Elias  Baker  and  Beal  Baker. 

John  Beard  to  Margret  Wood.  December  4,  1780.  John 
Beard  and  James  McEwen.     (Ad  Osborn.) 

Daniel  Bentley  to  I^ancy  Lewis.  February  8,  1782.  Dan- 
iel Bentley  and  Peter  (his  X  mark)  Lewis.     (Ad:  Osborn.) 

James  Bunch  to  Hanna  Walks.  February  7,  1782.  James 
Bunch  and  Samuel  Van  Ellen. 

Eobert  Bell  to  Jane  Miller.  November  30,  1782.  Eobert 
Beel  and  John  Miller.     (William  Crawford.) 

Hugh  Boyd  to  Jean  Boyd.  December  13,  1782.  Hugh 
Boyd  and  Thos.  Anderson.     (William  Crawford.) 

John  Baldridge  to  Margaret  Boston.  July  29,  1782. 
John  Baldridge  and  Dorunton(  ?)  Boston.  (J.  H.  C. 
Caule.) 

Obediah  Baker  to  Patience  Roberts,  December  20,  1782. 
Obediah  (his  X  mark)  Baker  and  David  Woodson. 

William  Bone  to  Margret  Lansden.  February  25,  1783. 
William  Bone  and  Robert  Lansden.     (Ad:  Osborn.) 

Thomas  Bolph  to  Mary  Harison.  January  20,  1783. 
Thomas  Boolph  and  Abener  (his  X  mark)  Schetor.  (Wil- 
liam Crawford.) 

Benjamin  Boone  to  Mary  Wilson.  February  25,  1783. 
Benjamin  Boone  and  Ebenezer  frost. 


EOWAW  COUNTY  WILLS  AND  MARRIAGE  BONDS.     12Y 

Thomas  Biles  to  Tabithali  Marburry.  March  5,  1783. 
Thomas  Biles  and  Charles  Biles. 

Thomas  Brotherton  to  Mary  McLeland.  March  17,  1783. 
Thomas  Brotherton  and  John  Bons.     (T.  H.  McCaule.) 

John  Braley  to  Mary  Beatie.  May  5,  1783.  John  Braley 
(no  other  witness.) 

Christopher  Baker  to  Agnes  Forster.  May  13,  1783. 
Christopher  Baker  and  Conrad  Brem. 

George  Burkehard  to  Mary  Kipley.  June  24,  1783. 
George  (his  X  mark)  Burkehard  and  Ileni-y  Winkler. 

Isaiah  Brown  to  Jean  McKee.  July  22,  1783.  Isaiah 
Brown  and  Alex  McKee.     (Ad:  Osborn.) 

William  Brown  to  Eliz.  Hughey.  October  15,  1783.  Wil- 
liam Brown  and  James  Houston. 

William  Beard  to  Elizabeth  Brevard.  ISTovember  17(?), 
1783.    William  Beard  and  Zebulon  Bravard.     (Ad:  Osborn.) 

Andy  Brison  to  Agness  E'aill.  Dec.  17,  1783.  Andy  Bry- 
son  and  Pamall(?)  I^ail?  (Moses  '^  ?  ylie.) 

John  Brevard,  junior,  to  Hannah  Thompson.  December 
22,  1783.  John  Brevard  and  Ad.  Brevard.  (T.  H.  Mc 
Caule.) 

Jacob  Bullinger  to  Caty  Savits.  June  15,  1784.  Jacob 
Bollinger  and  George  Savits.     Hugh  Magoune. 

Samuel  Berkley  to  Mary  Davis.  July  5(  ?),  1784.  Sam- 
uel (his  X  mark)  Barkley  and  Henry  Davis.  Hugh  Ma- 
goune. 

Daniel  Beem  to  Mary  Xeely.  October  1784.  Daniel 
Beem  and  Elijah  Renshaw.      (H.  Magoune.) 

Abraham  Brown  to  Cathrine  Bonorher  Borrorhey(  ?). 
October  18,  1784.  Abraham  (his  X  mark)  Brown  and 
Charles  Dunn.      (H.  Magoune.) 

James  Barr  to  Elizabeth  McCaule.  January  24',  1785. 
James  Barr  and  Harris.      (ISTo  name.) 


128  THE    NORTH    CAROLINA    BOOKLET. 

Lewis  Beard  to  Susan  Dunu.  January  27,  1785.  Lewis 
Beard.     (No  witnesses.) 

Geo.  H.  Berger  to  Cathrine  Casper.  March  23,  1785. 
Geo.  H.  Burger (  ?)  and  Ad:  Osborn. 

Martin  Basinger  to  Mary  Braun.  June  11,  1785.  Mar- 
tin Basinger  and  Martin  Beffle.     (Hu.  Magonne.) 

James  Brown  to  Fanny  Johnston.  August  29,  1785. 
James  Brown  and  Moses  Linster. 

John  Bartly  to  Jean  Knox.  JSTovember  3,  1785.  John 
Bartly  and  Samuel  Knox.     (Margret  Chambers.) 

John  Bowers  to  Mary  Moore.  December  23,  1785.  John 
Bowers  and  Val :  Beard. 

William  Brown  to  Phoebee  Gillom.  January  12 (  ?),  1786. 
William  Brown  and  Philip  Fishburn.     (W.  W.  Erwin.) 

Henry  Bryan  to  Elizabeth  Sparks.  February  11,  1786. 
henry  Bryan  and  Thos.  Enochs.     (W.  W.  Erwin.) 

Joseph  Brown  to  Susannah  Whitaker  February  23, 
1785  1786(?).     George  Davidson. 

Samuel  Bellah  to  Jean  Morgan.  July  15,  1786.  Samuel 
Bellah  and  Mo.'  Bellah.     (Jno.  Macay.) 

John  Buckner  to  Lucretia  Tatom.  July  22,  1786.  John 
(his  X  mark)  Buckner  and  henry  Whiteaker. 

Thomas  Bailey  to  Jean  Bailey.  August  29,  1786. 
Thomas  Bailey  and  Jno.  Bailey.     (Jno.  Macay.) 

Jadock  Bell  to  Nancy  Begerly.  September  16,  1786. 
Jadock  Beall  and  Evan  Bealle.     (Jno.  Macay.) 

Thomas  Beatey  to  Margaret  Harden.  September  30, 
1886.     Thomas  Beaty  and  William  Harden.     (Jno.  Macay.) 

Michael  Beard  to  Margaret  Zevelly.  January  9,  1787. 
Michael  Beard  and  J.  L.  Beard. 

Corbin  Bevins  to  Katerine  West.  February  12,  1787. 
Corbin  (his  X  mark)  Bevins  and  William  (his  X  mark) 
West.      (Wm.  Cupples.) 


EOWAN    COUNTY   WILLS    AND   MAKRLIGE   BONDS.  129' 

James  Barklej  to  Sarah  Knox.     April  14,  1787.     Henry 
(his  O  mark)  and  William  knox.     (Max  Chambers.) 

William  Bowman  to  Elizabeth  McFarson.  May  14,  1785. 
William  Bowman  and  John  Mcpherson.      (Ad.  Osborn.) 

Charles  Bealey  to  Mary  Gibson.  May  26,  1787.  Charles 
Beaty  and  John  (his  X  mark)  Albright.     (Jno.  Macay.) 

John  Bone  to  Kebecca  Potts.  October  24,  1787.  John 
Bone  and  Henry  Potts.     (D*^.  Caldwell.) 

James  Bell  to  Ellinor  McNeely.  E'ovember  15,  1787. 
James  Bell  and  Alexander  MclSTeely.     (J.  McEwen.) 

John  Ball  to  Agness  Adams.  January  5,  1788.  John 
Ball  and  Abraham  Adams.     (J.  McEwen.) 

Benjamin  Brandon  to  Mary  Knox.  February  4,  1788. 
Benjamin  Brandon  and  James  Wilson.     (Dav       Crawford.) 

John  Boyd  to  Hannah  Boyd.  February  16,  1788,  John 
Boyd  and  Thomas  Thompson.      (Ad.  Osborn.) 

William  Braley  to  Honour  Carson.  February  21,  1788. 
W.  L.  B.  Y.(  ?)  and  Hugh  Carson(  ?).     (J.  Mc- 

Ewen.) 

Humphrey  Brooks  to  Lettice  Boleware  ?  February  24, 
1788.  Humphrey  Brooks  and  William  (his  X  mark)  Wam- 
mock.      (J.  McEwen.) 

Thomas  Bracken  to  Mary  Brenonger.  March  21,  1788. 
Thomas  (his  X  mark)  Bracken  and  William  Button  (or 
Butter?)      (J.  McEwen.) 

David  Blaze  to  Elizabeth  Wenkler.  May  31,  1788. 
David  Blace  ?  Winkler  (in  Dutch  ?)     (Will- 

iam Alexander.) 

John  Brown  to  Elizabeth  Brown.  July  21,  1788.  John 
Braun(?)  and  Hugh  Gray.     (Ad.  Osborn.) 

John  Brown  to  Mary  McCulloch.  jSTovember  26,  1788. 
John  Brown  and  John  Bowman.      (  ?     Yarbrough.) 

Arron  Varas  to  Eebecah  Woods.  August  7,  1788.  Aaron 
voh  ?  and  William  Donaldson.     (Wm.  Alexander.) 


130  THE    NOETII    CAROLINA   BOOKLET. 

Philip  Bariihezer  to  Dally  Clover.  January  25,  1789. 
Philip  (his  b  mark)  Boruhizir  and  (  ?  in  Dutch?)  (W.  J. 
S,  Alexander.) 

Abraham  Buck  to  Elizabeth  Waggoner  (?).  February 
24,  1789,  (They  are  so  blotted,  I  can  not  make  them  out.) 
(Will  Alexander.) 

John  Brandon  to  Jane  Knox.  March  10,  1789.  John 
Brandon  and  Absalom  Knox.     P.  Martin  for  (Ad.  Osborn.) 

Robert  Bradshaw  to  Betsy  Haden.  April  3,  1790.  Rob- 
ert Bradshaw  and  Dugless  Haden.  C.  Caldwell  D  C  pro 
(Ad.  Osborn  C  C.) 

Samuel  Baley  to  Tomith  Pearson.  August  11,  1789. 
Samuel  (his  X  mark)  Baley  and  Robert  Foster.  (Basil 
Gaither.) 

Christopher  Brandon  to  Sarah  ISJ'ewman.  October  15, 
1789.     Christopher  Brandon  and  John  Brandon (  ?). 

David  Boston  to  Barbarra  Lydehher.  November  3,  1789. 
David  (his  B  mark)  Boston  and  Peter  Faust.  (Evan  Alex- 
ander.) 

William  Bateman  to  Ruth  Pinston.  November  23,  1789. 
William  batemans  and  J.  G.  Laumann.     (Ed.  Hains.) 

Samuel  Bracking  to  Ann  Breneger.  December  20,  1789. 
Samuel  (his  X  mark)  Byacking(  ?)  and  William  Butler. 
(Basil  Gaither.) 


KESOLUTIONS  OF  KESPECT.  131 


RESOLUTIONS  OF  RESPECT   TO    THE    MEMORY 

OF  MRS.  HELEN   DE  BERNIERE  HOOPER 

WILLS,  WHO  DIED  JUNE  24.  1911 


IN    MEMOEIAM. 

Whereas,  God  in  His  all  perfect  love  and  wisdom  has 
seen  it  was  well  to  remove  from  earth  to  a  brighter,  higher 
life  our  faithful  member  and  beloved  Genealogist  and  His- 
torian, Mrs.  Helen  De  Berniere  Hooper  Wills : 

Theeefoke  be  it  RESOLVED,  That  the  North  Carolina 
Society,  Daughters  of  the  Revolution,  deplores  the  great 
loss  sustained  in  her  death. 

That  they  are  truly  grateful  for  the  noble  example  of  her 
well-spent  life  and  fully  realize  that  our  Society  has  lost  one 
of  its  most  loyal,  useful  and  wisest  members,  who  held  the 
esteem  and  love  of  all  the  other  Daughters,  whose  devotion 
to  the  organization  was  realized  in  the  painstaking  service 
of  the  most  valuable  years  of  her  life. 

That  they  will  ever  feel  the  absence  of  her  presence,  and 
lament  the  loss  of  her  impartial  guidance  and  wisdom  in 
council,  of  her  usefulness  in  a  special  line  that  knew  not 
the  bounds  of  any  particular  State. 

That  we  tender  to  the  afflicted  family  our  heartfelt  sym- 
pathy in  this  great  sorrow. 

That  these  resolutions  be  spread  upon  the  minutes  of  the 
Society  and  a  copy  sent  to  the  family. 

Maky  Hilliaed  Hinton, 
Mrs.  E.  E.  Moffitt, 
Mrs.   Hubert  Haywood, 
Mes.  James  E.  Shepherd, 

Committee. 


INFORMATION 

Concerning  the  Patriotic  Society 

"Daughters  of  the  Revolution*' 


The  General  Society  was  founded  October  11,  ISnO, — and  organized 
August  20,  1891, — under  the  name  of  "Daughters  of  the  American 
Revolution";  was  incorporated  under  the  laws  of  the  State  of  New  \  ork 
as  an  organization  national  in  its  work  and  purpose.  Some  of  the  mem- 
bers of  this  organization  becoming  dissatisfied  with  the  terms  of  en- 
trance, withdrew  from  it  and,  in  1891,  formed  under  the  slightly  differ- 
ing name  "Daughters  of  the  Revolution,"  eligibility  to  which  from  the 
moment  of  its  existence  has  been  lineal  descent  from  an  ancestor  who 
rendered  patriotic  service  during  the  War  of  Independence. 


''  *Pre  North  Carolina  Society '' 

a  subdivision  of  the  General  Society,  was  organized  in  October,  1896, 
and  has  continued  to  promote  the  purposes  of  its  institution  and  to 
observe  the  Constitution  and  By-Laws. 


Membership  and  Qua!i'ications 

Any  woman  shall  be  eligible  who  is  above  the  age  of  eighteen  years, 
of  good  character,  and  a  lineal  descendant  of  an  ancestor  who  (1)  was 
a  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  a  member  of  the  Conti- 
nental Congress,  Legislature  or  General  Court,  of  any  of  the  Colonies 
or  States;  or  (2)  rendeied  civil,  military  or  naval  service  under  the 
authority  of  any  of  the  thirteen  Colonies,  or  of  the  Continental  Con- 
gress; or  (3)  by  service  rendered  during  the  War  of  tlie  Revolution 
became  liable  to  the  penalty  of  treason  against  the  government  of  Great 
Britain:  Provided,  that  such  ancestor  always  remained  loyal  to  the 
cause  of  American   Independence. 

The  cliief  work  of  the  North  Carolina  Society  for  the  past  eight  years 
has  been  the  publication  of  the  "North  Carolina  Booklet,"  a  quarterly 
publication  on  great  events  in  North  Carolina  history — Colonial  and 
Revolutionary.  $1.00  per  year.  It  will  continue  to  extend  its  work  and 
to  spread  the  knowledge  of  its  History  and  Biography  in  other  States. 

This  Society  has  its  headquarters  in  Raleigh,  N.  C,  Room  411,  Caro- 
lina Trust  Company  Building,  232  Fayetteville  Street. 

1 


Vol.  XI  JANUARY,  1912  No.  3 


13he 


floRTH  CflHOIiIHfl  BoOKIiET 


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


Published  by 

THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  SOCIETY 

DAUGHTERS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION 


The  object  of  the  Booklet  is  to  aid  in  developing  and  preserving 
North  Carolina  History.  The  proceeds  arising  from  its  publication 
will  be  devoted  to  patriotic  purposes.  >     Editor. 


ADVISORY  BOARD  OF  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

Mrs.  Hubert  Haywood.  Miss  Martha  Helen  Haywood. 

Mrs.  E.  E.  Moffitt.  Dr.  Richard  Dillard. 

Mrs.  Spier  VVhitaker.  Dr.  Kemp  P.  Battle. 

Mr.  R.  D.  W.  Connor.  Mr.  James  Sprunt. 

Dr.  D.  H.  Hill.  Mr.  Marshall  DeLancey  Haywood. 

Dr.  E.  W.  Sikes.  Chief  Justice  Walter  Clark. 

Mr.  W.  J.  Peele.  Major  W.  A.  Graham. 

Miss  Adelaide  L.  Fries.  Dr.  Charles  Lee  Smith. 

editor: 
Miss  Mary  Hilliard  Hinton. 


OFFICERS  OF  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  SOCIETY 
DAUGHTERS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION  1910-1912 

regent: 
Miss  MARY  HILLIARD  HINTON. 

VICE-REGENT: 

Miss  DUNCAN  CAMERON  WINSTON. 

honorary  regent: 

Mrs.  E.  E.  MOFFITT. 

RECORDING   SECRETARY: 

Mrs.  CLARENCE  JOHNSON. 

CORRESPONDING  SECRETARY: 

Mrs.  PAUL  H.  LEE. 

TREASURER: 

Mrs.  frank  SHERWOOD. 

REGISTRAR: 

Mrs.  JOSEPH  CHESHIRE  WEBB,  Js. 

CUSTODIAN   OF   RELICS: 

Mrs.  JOHN  E.  RAY. 


CHAPTER  REGENTS 

Bloomsbury  Chapter Mrs.  Hubert  Haywood,  Regent. 

Penelope  Barker  Chapter Mrs.  Patrick  Matthew,  Regent. 

Sir  Walter  Raleigh  Chapter, 

Miss  Catherine  F.  Seyton  Albertson,  Regent. 
DeGraffenried  Chapter Mrs.  Charles  Slover  Hollister,  Regent. 


Founder  of  the  North  Carolina  Society  and  Regent  1896-1902: 

Mrs.  SPIER  WHITAKER.f 

Regent  1902: 

Mrs.  D.  H.  HILL,  Sr.* 

Regent  1902-1006: 

Mrs.  THOMAS  K.  BRUNER. 

Regent  1906-1910: 
Mrs.  E.  E.  MOFFITT. 


•Died  December  12,  1904. 
tDied  November  25,  1911. 


SIR  FRANCIS  DRAKE. 


THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

Vol.  XI  JANUARY.   1912  No.  3 


SIR  WALTER  RALEIGH  AND  HIS  ASSOCIATES* 


ByR.  D.W.CONNOR. 


We  are  standing  today  on  the  threshold  of  American  his- 
tory. At  no  other  point  is  it  possible  to  obtain  so  general  a 
view,  so  broad  a  sweep  of  the  whole  field  of  achievements  by 
men  of  the  English  race  in  the  New  World  as  on  this  historic 
spot.  The  whole  panorama  of  American  history  unrolls 
itself  before  us.  That  history  began  more  than  three  hun- 
dred years  ago  when  men  of  the  English  race,  landing  upon 
the  sand  banks  which  guard  our  eastern  shore,  laid  their  first 
firm  grasp  upon  the  American  continent.  How  unconscious 
were  those  obscure  sailors  that  they  were  there  enacting  one 
of  the  most  significant  scenes  in  the  world's  history !  Three 
and  a  quarter  centuries  have  elapsed  since  that  day,  yet  even 
now,  after  all  the  tremendous  results  that  have  followed  in 
their  train,  we  cannot  fully  appreciate  the  vast  significance 
of  that  simple  ceremony.  But  for  that  ceremony  there  may 
never  have  been  a  "Citie  of  Raleigh  in  Virginia,"  James- 
town and  Plymouth  Rock  may  never  have  become  immortal 
names  in  American  history,  and  English  settlers  may  never 
have  found  their  way  to  the  shores  of  Albemarle  Sound. 
Perhaps  Wolfe  might  never  have  scaled  the  Heights  of  Abra- 
ham and  Daniel  Boone  might  never  have  cleared  the  way  for 
English  civilization  beyond  the  Alleghanies.  There  may 
have  been  no  Thomas  Jefferson  to  write  a  Declaration  of 
Independence,  no  George  Washington  to  make  good  its  prin- 

•  Address  by  R.  D.  W.  Connor  before  the  Roanoke  Island  Colony  Association,  upon  its 
annual  pilgrimage  to  Roanoke  Island,  August  18,  1911,  the  324th  anniversary  of  the  birth 
of  Virginia  Dare. 


136  THE    NORTH    CAROLINA    BOOKLET. 

ciples  for  the  benefit  of  all  mankind,  no  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  to  apply  them  practically  to  the  government  of 
a  mighty  people.  For  there  upon  the  coast  of  North  Caro- 
lina men  speaking  the  English  language,  thoroughly  imbued 
with  the  principles  of  English  law  and  English  liberty,  first 
set  foot  on  American  soil  with  a  view  to  permanent  posses- 
sion, and  thus  led  the  way  to  the  planting  of  English  civili- 
zation amid  the  wild  forests  of  the  New  World. 

I  am  fully  aware  that  many  eminent  historians  sharply 
dissent  from  this  view.  They  count  Sir  Walter  Raleigh's 
efforts  to  plant  an  English  colony  on  Roanoke  as  among  the 
great  failures  of  history.  This  seems  to  me  a  narrow,  short- 
sighted view.  It  would  doubtless  be  correct  were  it  possible 
to  say  that  the  history  of  the  Roanoke  settlements  began 
abruptly  in  the  year  1584  and  ended  abruptly  in  the  year 
1587.  But  you  cannot  measure  great  historic  events  with  a 
yard  stick.  Men  die,  ideas  are  immortal.  The  idea  of 
another  England  beyond  the  waters  of  the  Atlantic,  con- 
ceived by  the  master  mind  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  was  the 
germ  from  which,  through  the  developments  of  three  cen- 
turies, has  evolved  the  American  ISTation  of  the  twentieth 
century.  There  is  a  vital  connection,  both  physical  and 
spiritual,  between  Roanoke  and  Jamestown.  Among  those 
who  founded  Jamestown  were  ten  of  the  men  who  had 
cooperated  with  Raleigh  in  the  settlements  at  Roanoke.  In 
these  men  we  have  the  physical  connection  between  the  two, 
while  to  the  idea  conceived  by  Raleigh  and  to  the  spirit  of 
conquest  and  colonization  which  his  attempts  on  this  island 
called  into  existence,  the  English  race  in  Europe,  in  Asia,  in 
Africa,  in  Australia  and  the  islands  of  the  sea,  and  in 
America,  owes  the  world-wide  predominance  which  it  today 
enjoys  among  the  races  of  mankind.  Nothing  can  be  clearer, 
therefore,  than  that  we,  looking  back  over  the  events  of  the 
last  three  centuries,  can  hail  the  Roanoke  settlements  as  the 


SIE    WALTER   RALEIGH    AND    HIS    ASSOCIATES.  137 

beginning  of  English  colonization  in  America  and  through- 
out the  world. 

The  details  of  no  event  in  English  or  American  history 
have  been  more  faithfully  recorded,  or  are  better  known  than 
the  details  of  the  three  expeditions  which  Sir  Walter  Raleigh, 
during  the  years  1584-1586,  sent  to  Eoanoke  Island.  ISTo 
good  purpose,  therefore,  would  be  served  were  I  now  to 
repeat  that  familiar  story.  Of  the  authors  of  those  events, 
however,  the  same  cannot  be  said.  Even  in  England,  whose 
history  was  so  greatly  enriched  by  their  splendid  deeds,  an 
eminent  British  historian  classes  some  of  them  as  among 
"England's  forgotten  worthies."  Their  memory  deserves  a 
better  fate  from  English-speaking  peoples  on  either  side  of 
the  Atlantic.  Men  who  conceive  and  men  who  execute  great 
ideas  should  forever  be  held  in  honorable  esteem  that  subse- 
quent generations  of  their  fellow-men  may  be  inspired  to 
emulate  their  deeds  and  characters.  Such  a  man  was  Walter 
Raleigh,  and  such,  too,  were  Philip  Amadas,  Arthur  Bar- 
low, Ralph  Lane,  John  White,  Sir  Francis  Drake,  Sir  Rich- 
ard Grenville,  Thomas  Cavendish  and  Thomas  Harriot — that 
group  of  brilliant  soldiers,  sailors,  adventurers  and  scholars 
whose  names  are  inseparably  connected  with  the  story  of 
Roanoke  and  to  whose  genius  England  owes  her  immense 
colonial  empire  of  today. 

The  marvelous  deeds  by  which  these  men  laid  the  founda- 
tions of  that  vast  empire  found  their  inspiration  in  loyalty 
to  queen  and  country,  love  of  liberty,  and  devotion  to  reli- 
gious convictions.  At  various  times  in  English  history  an 
attack  on  any  one  of  these  sentiments  has  been  sufficient  to 
call  forth  the  mightiest  exertions  of  the  English  nation; 
during  the  closing  years  of  the  sixteenth  century  all  three 
were  attacked  at  one  and  the  same  time  by  one  and  the  same 
arrogant  power.  Philip  II  of  Spain,  proclaiming  Elizabeth 
of  England  an  usurper,  had  laid  claim  to  her  throne.    Mighty 


138  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 

armies  and  navies  had  been  levied  and  equipped  throughout 
his  boundless  dominions  for  the  sole  purpose  of  establishing 
the  despotism  of  Castile  by  overthrowing  the  liberties  of 
England.  The  Pope  of  Rome  had  commissioned  His  Most 
Catholic  Majesty  to  lead  a  crusade  against  the  National 
Church  of  England  and  "to  inaugurate  on  English  soil  the 
accursed  vs^ork  of  the  inquisition."  As  one  man,  w^ithout 
regard  to  religious  convictions  or  sectarian  prejudices,  the 
people  of  England  sprang  to  the  defense  of  the  throne,  the 
constitution,  and  the  church  with  an  enthusiasm  that  stirs  our 
blood  with  pride  even  after  the  lapse  of  three  centuries.  In 
this  contest  with  Spain,  England  was  "pitted  against  the 
greatest  military  power  that  had  existed  in  Europe  since  the 
days  of  Constantino  the  Great.  To  many  the  struggle 
seemed  hopeless.  For  England  the  true  policy  was  limited 
by  circumstances.  She  could  send  troops  across  the  channel 
to  help  the  Dutch  in  their  stubborn  resistance,  but  to  try 
to  land  a  force  in  the  Spanish  peninsula  for  aggressive  war- 
fare would  be  sheer  madness.  The  shores  of  America  and 
the  open  sea  were  the  proper  field  of  war  for  England.  Her 
task  was  to  paralyze  the  giant  by  cutting  off  his  supplies,  and 
in  this  there  was  hope  of  success,  for  no  defensive  fleet,  how- 
ever large,  could  w^atch  all  Philip's  enormous  possessions  at 
once."^  This  was  the  work  which  was  done  so  effectively  by 
Paleigh  and  Drake,  Amadas  and  Barlow,  Grenville  and 
Cavendish,  that  even  until  this  day  it  has  never  been  neces- 
sary to  do  it  over  again. 

Before  I  undertake  to  point  out  the  special  service  which 
entitles  each  of  these  men  to  an  honorable  place  in  our  his- 
tory, let  me  refresh  your  memories  by  stating  briefly  the 
relation  which  each  bore  to  the  Roanoke  settlements.  The 
connection  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  with  these  events  is  known 
of  all  men.  Philip  Amadas  and  Arthur  Barlow,  you  will 
remember,  were  the  captains  of  the  expedition  dispatched 

>  Fiske:    "  Old  Virginia  and  Her  Neighbors,"  I,  11,  22. 


SIE    WALTER    EALEIGH    AND    HIS    ASSOCIATES.  139 

by  Raleigh  in  1584  to  explore  the  country  and  select  a  place 
for  the  contemplated  colony.  Ralph  Lane  was  governor  of 
the  colony  sent  out  in  1585.  The  fleet  in  which  his  colony 
sailed  was  under  the  command  of  Sir  Richard  Grenville. 
With  Grenville  sailed  that  "wonderful  Suffolk  boy,"  Thomas 
Cavendish,  aged  twenty-two  years,  who,  before  he  had  reached 
his  twenty-ninth  year,  had  rivaled  the  exploits  of  Sir  Francis 
Drake  in  the  Pacific  and  circumnavigated  the  globe.  Two 
of  the  colonists  with  Lane  were  John  White,  afterwards  gov- 
ernor of  the  "Lost  Colony,"  and  Thomas  Harriot,  the  histo- 
rian and  scientist  of  the  colony,  to  whose  scholarly  narrative 
we  are  indebted  for  most  of  our  knowledge  of  its  history. 
And  finally  there  was  Sir  Francis  Drake,  whose  timely 
arrival  at  Croatan  in  the  summer  of  1586  afforded  Lane's 
homesick  men  an  opportunity  of  returning  to  England. 

The  impelling  mind  behind  the  achievements  of  these  men 
was  the  mind  of  Walter  Raleigh.  Grenville,  Amadas,  Barlow, 
Cavendish,  and  the  other  glorious  English  "sea  kings"  of  the 
sixteenth  century  understood  England's  problem  well  enough 
so  far  as  it  involved  the  ravaging  of  Spanish  coasts  and  the 
plundering  of  Spanish  treasure  ships.  But  Raleigh  under- 
stood that  something  greater  and  more  permanent  than  such 
exploits  was  needed  to  establish  English  supremacy  in  Eu- 
rope and  America.  It  was  not  sufficient  for  England  to  de- 
stroy the  power  of  Spain ;  she  must  at  the  same  time  build 
up  the  power  of  England.  English  colonies  in  North 
America  would  not  only  offset  Spanish  colonies  in  the  West 
Indies,  Mexico  and  South  America,  they  would  also  develop 
English  commerce  and  afford  an  outlet  for  English  manu- 
factures. All  this  the  far-seeing  mind  of  Raleigh  perceived 
in  his  great  design.  The  work  of  Grenville,  Cavendish  and 
their  fellow-rovers,  though  of  vital  importance  to  the  accom- 
plishment of  England's  destiny,  was  destructive ;  Raleigh's 
work  was  constructive  in  the  hiohest  degree.     "An  idea  like 


140  THE    NOETH    CAROLINA    BOOKLET. 

his  has  life  in  it,  though  the  plant  may  not  spring  up  at  once. 
When  it  arises  above  the  surface  the  sower  can  claim  it. 
Had  the  particular  region  of  the  New  World  not  eventually 
become  a  permanent  English  settlement,  he  would  still  have 
earned  the  merit  of  authorship  of  the  English  colonizing 
movement."-  "BafSed  in  his  first  eifort  to  plant  the  English 
race  upon  this  continent,  he  yet  called  into  existence  a  spirit 
of  enterprise  which  first  gave  Virginia,  and  then  ISTorth 
America,  to  that  race,  and  which  led  Great  Britain,  from  this 
beginning,  to  dot  the  map  of  the  world  with  her  colonies, 
and  through  them  to  become  the  greatest  power  of  the  earth."^ 
First  among  the  agents  selected  by  Raleigh  to  carry  his 
great  design  into  execution  were  Philip  Amadas  and  Arthur 
Barlow.  Though  these  two  daring  sailors  were  the  pilots  of 
that  great  Anglo-Saxon  migration  from  England  to  America 
which  ranks  among  the  greatest  events  in  the  history  of  the 
human  race,  yet  the  details  of  their  lives  are  almost  totally 
unknown.  The  fact  that  they  were  selected  by  so  keen  a 
judge  of  men  as  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  to  command  his  expedi- 
tion sets  them  much  above  the  average  adventurers  of  their 
day.  They  were,  as  we  know,  bold  and  experienced  naviga- 
tors. The  manner  in  which  they  conducted  the  enterprise 
entrusted  to  them  showed  them  worthy  of  the  trust  placed  in 
them.  No  expedition  into  an  unknown  region  was  ever  con- 
ducted with  more  complete  success.  From  first  to  last  such 
was  the  judgment  and  skill  of  the  commanders  that  not  a 
single  mishap  occurred  to  mar  their  triumph.  The  report 
which  they  submitted  to  Raleigh  upon  their  return  to 
England  reveals  a  thorough  understanding  of  their  profession 
and  an  extraordinary  keenness  of  observation  coupled  with 
rare  good  judgment.  In  their  dealings  with  the  savages  they 
displayed  firmness  of  temper  guided  by  brilliant  diplomacy 
and  clear  comprehension  of  the  savage  character.     That  Sir 

s  Stebbin:   "  Sir  Walter  Ralegh,"  p.  48. 

'  Henry:   "Sir  Walter  Raleigh,"  in  Winsor's  Narrative  and  Critical  History  of  America, 
III.  105. 


SIR    WALTER    RALEIGH    AND    HIS    ASSOCIATES.  141 

Walter  Raleigh  was  pleased  with  the  manner  in  which  they 
conducted  their  enterprise  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  in 
the  colony  which  he  sent  out  under  Ealph  Lane,  in  1585,  he 
appointed  Amadas  to  the  high  and  responsible  position  of 
"Admiral  of  Virginia." 

In  Ralph  Lane,  Raleigh  found  a  leader  in  whom  were 
combined  in  a  strange  degree  the  character  of  the  soldier  and 
the  spirit  of  the  adventurer.  Lane  delighted  in  bold  and 
arduous  enterprises,  but  he  always  kept  his  eyes  open  to  the 
main  chance.  In  his  character  there  appears  something  of 
the  dauntless  spirit  of  his  cousin,  the  famous  Catherine  Parr, 
the  last  queen  of  Henry  VIII.  We  find  him  constantly  asso- 
ciated with  Burghley,  Walsingham,  Raleigh,  Drake,  Haw- 
kins and  Grenville  in  those  great  events  which  give  to  the 
reign  of  Elizabeth  its  chief  glory.  With  Lord  Burghley  he 
was  on  terms  of  confidential  relation  and  appears  frequently 
in  the  character  of  his  adviser  upon  important  public  affairs. 
From  the  queen  he  received  more  than  one  weighty  commis- 
sion. In  the  very  year  in  which  Amadas  and  Barlow  sailed 
for  the  ISTew  World,  Lane  wrote  that  he  "had  prepared  seven 
ships  at  his  own  charges,  and  proposed  to  do  some  exploit  on 
the  coast  of  Spain,"  and  delayed  only  until  he  should  receive 
the  queen's  commission  and  the  title  of  ^General  of  the 
Adventurers.'  "  When  all  England  was  in  a  fever  of  excite- 
ment over  the  approach  of  the  Armada,  called  "Invincible," 
Lane  was  entrusted  with  carrying  into  effect  measures  for 
the  defense  of  the  coast,  and  at  a  later  date  was  appointed 
"to  assist  in  the  defense  of  the  coast  of  Norfolk."  The  next 
year,  after  the  Armada  had  been  shattered,  he  sailed  with 
Drake  on  an  expedition  to  the  coast  of  Portugal,  and  in 
1590  he  was  with  Sir  John  Hawkins  on  a  similar  adventure. 
During  the  Irish  rebellion  of  1593-1594  he  served  with  the 
royal  army  and  won  special  commendation  for  his  conduct. 
Yet  in  spite  of  the  high  consideration  in  which  he  was  held 
by  England's  great  leaders,  we  are  told  that  all  his  life  Lane 


142  THE    NORTH    CAROLINA    BOOKLET. 

was  a  great  beggar.  If  so  he  was  a  royal  beggar,  for  he 
begged  only  from  his  sovereign,  as  many  greater  men  have 
done,  and  in  his  mendicancy  there  was  nothing  mean  or 
groveling.  Sir  Henry  Wallop  complained  to  Lord  Burghley 
that  Lane,  while  sheriff  of  County  Kerry,  Ireland,  expected 
"to  have  best  and  greatest  things  in  Kerry,  and  to  have  the 
letting  and  setting  of  all  the  rest."* 

Such  was  the  man  whom  Raleigh  selected  to  lead  his  first 
colony.  x\t  the  time  Lane  was  on  duty  for  the  crown  in 
Ireland,  but  the  queen  ordered  a  substitute  to  be  appointed 
in  his  government  of  Kerry  and  Clammorris,  *4n  considera- 
tion of  his  ready  undertaking  the  voyage  to  Virginia  for  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh  at  Her  Majesty's  command."  The  event 
proved  the  wisdom  of  the  choice.  In  his  management  of  the 
colony  Lane  displayed  executive  ability  and  foresight.  His 
dealings  with  the  Indians  were  courageous  and  sagacious. 
He  pushed  his  explorations  with  energy  and  intelligence. 
As  Hawks  has  well  said,  a  review  of  his  conduct  reminds  us 
forcibly  of  the  proceedings  of  Captain  John  Smith  under 
circumstances  not  unlike  his  own.  Lane  remained  at  Roa- 
noke only  one  year.  At  the  end  of  that  time  force  of  cir- 
cumstances over  which  he  had  no  control  compelled  him  to 
choose  between  starvation  and  the  abandonment  of  the  under- 
taking. Like  a  prudent  man  upon  whom  devolved  the  re- 
sponsibility of  men's  lives,  after  making  every  reasonable 
effort  to  carry  his  work  to  successful  conclusion,  he  reluct- 
antly and  regretfully  chose  the  latter  alternative.  For  this 
choice  historians  have  censured  him  because,  a  few  days 
after  his  departure,  Sir  Richard  Grenville  arrived  at  Roanoke 
with  men  and  supplies  sufficient  to  have  placed  the  colony  on 
its  feet.  But  Grenville  had  long  been  overdue,  and  fairness 
to  Lane  requires  that  we  should  judge  his  conduct  by  the 
information  which  he  had  at  the  time,  not  by  that  which  we 
now  have.     It  is  plain  that  he  had  no  intention  of  returning 

*  See  "Dictionary  of  National  Biography,"  XXXII,  77-78;  also  Sainsbury's  "  Calendar 
of  State  Papers;  Colonial  Series,  1574-1660,"  2-4. 


SIR    WALTER    RALEIGH    AND    HIS    ASSOCIATES.  143 

to  England  until  driven  to  it,  as  he  said,  by  "the  very  hand  of 
God  as  it  seemed."  Certainly  Elizabeth,  Raleigh,  Drake 
and  England's  other  great  leaders,  did  not  regard  his  course 
unfavorably,  for  we  find  them  shortly  afterwards,  at  that 
supreme  moment  in  England's  history  when  the  great  Armada 
was  bearing  down  on  her  coast,  summoning  him  to  their  most 
secret  councils  of  war  and  entrusting  him  with  important 
commands;  and  in  1593,  as  a  reward  for  services  to  the 
crown,  we  see  him  kneeling  before  the  great  queen's  repre- 
sentative to  receive  the  honor  of  knighthood.  Dire  necessity 
occasioned  by  causes  beyond  the  control  of  man  drove  him 
against  his  will  to  his  final  decision  and  put  an  end  to  the 
first  attempt  to  found  an  English  colony  in  America. 

The  fleet  which  transported  Lane's  colony  to  Roanoke  was 
under  the  command  of  one  of  the  most  remarkable  men  in  an 
age  of  remarkable  men.  Sir  Richard  Grenville  combined  in 
his  character  all  the  faults  and  virtues  of  the  age  in  which 
he  lived.  Brave,  loyal  and  ambitious,  he  was  proud,  tyran- 
nical and  cruel.  Ralph  Lane  complained  of  his  "intolerable 
pride  and  insatiable  ambition"  during  the  voyage  to  Roanoke, 
and  declared  that  by  reason  of  his  "tyrannical  conduct  from 
first  to  last,  the  action  has  been  most  painful  and  most  per- 
ilous."^ From  others  of  his  contemporaries,  as  well  as  from 
his  own  conduct,  we  learn  that  he  was  a  man  of  "very  unquiet 
mind  and  greatly  affected  to  war,"  and  that  his  nature  was  so 
"very  severe"  that  "his  own  people  hated  him  for  his  fierce- 
ness." But  if  his  followers  hated  him  for  his  cruelty,  they 
admired  him  for  his  daring,  ^o  enterprise  was  too  hazard- 
ous for  his  courage,  no  hardship  too  severe  for  his  endurance, 
if  it  offered  opportunity  for  either  riches  or  glory.  To 
his  credit  let  it  be  said  that  with  Grenville  the  search  for 
wealth  was  a  mere  incident  in  his  search  for  fame.  Jn  the 
service  of  his  queen  and  country  he  counted  no  odds  too  great 
if  only  glory  and  honor  waited  upon  success. 

'  Lane  to  Walsingham,  "Calendar  of  State  Papers,  Colonial  Series,"  3. 


144:  THE    NORTH    CAROLINA    BOOKLET. 

Grenville's  career  is  intimatelj  connected  with  the  events 
which  we  comnQemorate  today.  He  first  became  interested 
in  America  through  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert,  whose  untimely 
death  cut  off  prematurely  one  of  the  choicest  spirits  of  the 
Elizabethan  Era.  After  Gilbert's  death  he  allied  himself 
with  his  cousin,  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  by  whom  he  was  placed 
in  command  of  the  fleet  which  bore  Lane's  colony  across  the 
Atlantic.  That  he  did  not  underestimate  the  importance  of 
the  part  he  played  in  that  event  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  upon 
his  return  to  England  he  wrote  to  Walsingham  that  he  "had 
performed  the  action  directed  and  discovered,  taken  posses- 
sion of  and  peopled  a  new  country  and  stored  it  with  cattle, 
fruits  and  plants."  Returning  from  Roanoke  in  1585  he 
had  his  first  brush  vsdth  Spain  when  he  was  attacked  by  a 
Spanish  man-of-war  which,  "after  some  fighting,"  he  over- 
powered and  captured.  The  following  year  he  made  a  second 
voyage  to  Roanoke,  which  he  found  deserted.  Leaving  fifteen 
men  to  retain  possession  he  again  turned  his  prow  eastward. 
No  good  British  sailor  of  the  sixteenth  century  thought 
that  he  had  done  his  full  duty  to  the  queen  if  he  crossed  the 
Atlantic  without  carrying  home  some  trophy  of  his  prowess 
won  from  Spain.  Grenville  was  not  the  man  to  form  an 
exception  to  this  rule.  On  his  return  voyage,  in  1586,  he 
touched  at  the  Azores  long  enough  to  attack,  capture  and  pil- 
lage the  Spanish  towns  there  and  to  carry  off  for  ransom  a 
number  of  important  prisoners.  In  all  the  British  kingdom 
Spain  had  no  more  implacable  foe,  nor  a  more  dangerous  one. 
Not  Drake  himself  held  her  power  so  cheaply  or  manifested 
his  contempt  more  plainly. 

Grenville's  adventurous  career  was  finally  brought  to  a 
close  by  an  amazing  exploit  "memorable  even  beyond  credit 
and  to  the  height  of  some  heroical  fable" — an  exploit  com- 
memorated by  Tennyson  in  one  of  the  most  stirring  ballads 
in  our  language.     It  was  in  the  year  1591.     Lord  Thomas 


^    *^^ 


■-»  «    t 


SIR  RICHARD  GRENVILLE. 


SIR    WALTER    RALEIGH    AND    HIS    ASSOCIATES.  145 

Howard,  commanding  a  squadron  of  sixteen  sail,  had  taken 
post  at  the  Azores  to  intercept  the  Spanish  treasure  fleet  upon 
its  annual  voyage  from  Mexico  and  Peru  to  Spain.  In  this 
squadron  was  the  Revenge,  commanded  by  Sir  Richard  Gren- 
ville,  vice-admiral  of  the  fleet,  a  ship  of  500  tons  burden, 
carrying  a  crew  of  250  sailors.  In  the  great  fight  against 
the  Armada  she  had  been  the  flagship  of  Sir  Francis  Drake, 
yet  it  is  not  Drake,  but  Grenville  whose  name  occurs  to  us 
when  the  Revenge  is  mentioned.  Soon  after  his  arrival  at 
the  Azores,  scurvy  broke  out  among  Lord  Howard's  crew 
and  in  a  short  time  half  his  men  were  down  with  this  hideous 
disease.  While  the  epidemic  was  at  its  climax,  a  swift  dis- 
patch boat  from  England  arrived  on  the  scene  with  tidings 
that  a  powerful  Spanish  armament  of  fifty-three  sail  was 
bearing  down  upon  the  English  fleet. 

Then  sware  Lord  Thomas  Howard:   "'Fore  God,  I  am  no  coward! 
But  I  cannot  meet  them  here,  for  my  ships  are  out  of  gear, 
And  the  half  of  my  men  are  sick.     I  must  fly,  but  follow  quick. 
We  are  six  ships  of  the  line;  can  we  fight  with  fifty-three?" 

Then  spake  Sir  Richard  Grenville:     "I  know  you  are  no  coward; 

You  fly  them  for  a  moment  to  fight  with  them  again. 

But  I've  ninety  men  and  more  that  are  lying  sick  ashore. 

I  should  count  myself  the  coward  if  I  left  them,  my  Lord  Howard, 

To  these  Inquisition  dogs  and  the  devildoms  of  Spain." 

So  Lord  Howard,  crowding  his  sails,  departed,  leaving 
Grenville  to  follow  as  soon  as  he  had  brought  his. sick  men 
aboard. 

And  they  blessed  him  in  their  pain,  that  they  were  not  left  to  Spain, 
To  the  thumbscrew  and  the  stake,  for  the  glory  of  the  Lord. 

Scarcely  had  Sir  Richard  completed  his  task  when  the 
Spanish  fleet,  carrying  five  thousand  sailors,  hove  in  sight. 
Then  the  sturdy  British  tars,  hankering  for  a  tussle  with  the 
Dons,  inquired  of  their  leader: 


146  THE    NORTH    CAROLINA    BOOKLET. 

"Shall  we  fight  or  shall  we  fly? 

Good  Sir  Richard,  tell  us  now. 

For  to  fight  is  but  to  die! 

There'll  be  little  of  us  left  by  the  time  the  sun  be  set." 

And  Sir  Richard  said  again:   "We  be  all  good  Englishmen. 

Let  us  bang  these  dogs  of  Seville,  the  children  of  the  devil, 

For  I  never  turned  my  back  upon  Don  or  devil  yet." 

Cheer  after  cheer  from  the  throats  of  the  British  seamen 
greeted  this  stirring  reply  as — 

sheer  into  the  heart  of  the  foe, 
With  her  hundred  fighters  on  deck,  and  her  ninety  sick  below, 

the  little  Revenge   plunged  into  the  midst  of  the  jeering 
Spaniards. 

Four  galleons  drew  away 

From  the  Spanish  fieet  that  day. 
And  two  upon  the  larboard  and  two  upon  the  starboard  lay. 
And  the  battle-thunder  broke  from  them  all. 

*  *  <*:  :!:  4c  4:  « 

And  the  sun  went  down,  and  the  stars  came  out  far  over  the  sum- 
mer sea, 

But  never  a  moment  ceased  the  fight  of  the  one  and  the  fifty-three. 

Ship  after  ship,  the  whole  night  long,  their  high-built  galleons  came, 

Ship  after  ship,  the  whole  night  long,  with  her  battle-thunder  and 
flame; 

Ship  after  ship,  the  whole  night  long,  drew  back  with  her  dead  and 
her  shame. 

For  some  were  sunk  and  many  were  shatter'd,  and  so  could  flght  us 
no  more — 

God  of  battles,  was  ever  a  battle  like  this  in  the  world  before? 

Wounded  to  the  death,  as  he  lay  upon  his  deck,  Sir  Rich- 
ard Grenville  cried: 

"Sink  me  the  ship,  Master  Gunner — sink  her,  split  her  in  twain! 
Fall  into  the  hands  of  God,  not  into  the  hands  of  Spain!" 
And  the  gunner  said,  "Ay,  ay,"  but  the  seamen  made  reply: 

"We  have  children,  we  have  wives. 

And  the  Lord  hath  spared  our  lives; 
We  will  make  the  Spaniards  promise,  if  we  yield,  to  let  us  go; 
We  shall  live  to  fight  again,  and  to  strike  another  blow." 
And  the  lion  there  lay  dying,  and  they  yielded  to  the  foe. 


SIR    WALTER    RALEIGH    AND    HIS    ASSOCIATES.  147 

And  the  stately  Spanish  men  to  their  flagship  bore  him  then, 
Where  they  laid  him  by  the  mast,  old  Sir  Richard  caught  at  last. 
And  they  praised  him  to  his  face,  with  their  courtly  foreign  grace; 
But  he  rose  upon  their  decks,  and  he  cried: 

"I  have  fought  for  Queen  and  Faith  like  a  valiant  man  and  true; 
I  have  only  done  my  duty  as  a  man  is  bound  to  do; 
With  a  joyful  spirit  I,  Sir  Richard  Grenville,  die!" 
And  he  fell  upon  their  decks,  and  he  died. 

The  modern  historians,  who  are  accurate  if  not  entertain- 
ing, tell  us  that  of  the  fifty-three  ships  in  the  Spanish  fleet, 
thirty-eight  were  transports  and  only  fifteen  were  men-of- 
war.  But  whether  fifteen  or  fifty-three  makes  but  slight  dif- 
ference. "When  we  have  before  us  the  fact  that  150  men 
during  fifteen  hours  of  hand-to-hand  fighting  held  out  against 
a  host  of  5,000,  and  yielded  only  when  not  more  than  twenty 
were  left  alive,  and  those  gTievously  wounded,  the  story 
*  *  *  is  not  rendered  more  interesting  and  scarcely  less  won- 
drous by  trebling  the  number  of  the  host."  And  we  are  pre- 
pared to  believe  James  Anthony  Froude,  although  his  critics 
assure  us  that  he  had  no  authority  for  his  statement,  when 
he  tells  us  that  this  action  of  the  Revenge  "struck  a  deeper 
terror,  though  it  was  but  the  action  of  a  single  ship,  into  the 
hearts  of  the  Spanish  people ;  it  dealt  a  more  deadly  blow 
upon  their  fame  and  moral  strength  than  the  destruction  of 
the  Armada  itself,  and  in  the  direct  results  which  arose  from 
it  it  was  scarcely  less  disastrous  to  them."® 

One  of  the  vessels  of  Grenville's  fleet  which  conveyed 
Lane's  colony  to  Roanoke  in  1585  was  commanded  by 
Thomas  Cavendish,  in  whom  Grenville  must  have  found  a 
congenial  spirit.  Cavendish,  like  many  other  noblemen  and 
gentlemen  of  the  times,  having  squandered  his  patrimony, 
had  determined  to  repair  his  fortune  at  the  expense  of  the 
common  enemy.  The  voyage  to  Eoanoke,  made  in  a  ship 
fitted  out  at  his  own  charge,  was  his  first  maritime  adventure. 
He  proved  an  apt  scholar  of  his  masters,  Grenville  and  Drake. 


«  Sec   "Dictionary  of   National   Biography,"    XXIII,     122-124;    "Calendar   of   State 
Papers,"  2-4. 


148  THE    NORTH    CAROLINA    BOOKLET. 

While  waiting  at  San  Juan  de  Porto  Rico,  ostensibly  to 
build  a  pinnace,  be  and  Grenville  pounced  upon  and  cap- 
tured two  Spanish  frigates  which  contained  "good  and  rich 
freight  and  divers  Spaniards  of  account,"  whom  they  ran- 
somed "for  good,  roimd  sums."  This  employment  we  can 
well  believe  proved  more  congenial  to  the  tastes  and  temper 
of  Cavendish  than  Raleigh's  scheme  of  "Westerne  Planting." 
Upon  his  return  from  this  voyage  Cavendish,  incited  by 
the  exploits  of  Drake  and  Hawkins,  prepared  on  his  own 
account  an  expedition  to  circumnavigate  the  globe.  His 
fleet  consisted  of  three  small  vessels,  the  Desire,  140  tons ; 
the  Content,  60  tons,  and  the  Hugh  Gallant,  40  tons,  and  car- 
ried 123  sailors.  Sailing  from  the  west  coast  of  England, 
Cavendish  steered  straight  for  the  Spanish  main  where  he 
repeated  the  exploits  of  Drake,  sinking  Spanish  ships,  burn- 
ing Spanish  towns  and  ravaging  Spanish  coasts.  Through- 
out Spanish-America  his  name  soon  became  a  signal  for  ter- 
ror and  consternation.  Running  down  the  Atlantic  coast  of 
South  America  he  passed  through  the  Strait  of  Magellan 
out  into  the  Pacific.  Hunger,  storms  and  battles  had  so  re- 
duced the  number  of  his  crew  that  he  found  it  advisable  to 
sink  the  Hugh  Gallant,  and  with  the  Desire  and  the  Content 
pursued  his  voyage  northward  until  he  touched  Lower  Cali- 
fornia. There  falling  in  with  the  Great  St.  Anna,  700  tons, 
the  private  property  of  the  king  of  Spain,  he  took  her  after 
a  desperate  battle  of  six  hours.  Her  cargo  of  600  tons  of 
the  richest  merchandise  and  more  than  $20,000  worth  of 
gold,  proved  a  prize  well  worth  taking.  Yet  so  heavily  were 
his  ships  already  loaded  with  Spanish  plunder  that  Caven- 
dish was  forced  to  send  the  greater  part  of  this  new  treasure 
to  the  bottom  along  with  the  stately  Spanish  galleon.  The 
historian  of  the  expedition,  an  officer  aboard  the  Desire,  de- 
clares that  "this  was  one  of  the  richest  vessels  that  ever  sailed 
the  seas ;  and  was  able  to  have  made  many  hundreds  wealthy 
if  we  had  had  means  to  have  brought  it  home."    Satisfied  now 


SIR    WALTER    KALEIGH    AND    HIS    ASSOCIATES.  149 

with  the  results  of  his  expedition,  Cavendish  decided  to  leave 
the  Content  to  pursue  her  own  way,  and  on  JSTovember  19, 
1587,  turned  the  prow  of  the  Desire  homeward  by  way  of  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope.  ''On  September  10,  1588,"  records 
the  chronicler  of  his  exploits,  "like  wearied  men,  through  the 
favor  of  the  Almighty,  we  got  into  Plymouth,  where  the 
townsmen  received  us  with  all  humanity." 

All  England  rang  with  the  fame  of  Cavendish.  His  ex- 
ploits became  the  theme  of  ballads  and  his  name  was  on  every 
man's  tongue.  For  a  time  he  held  his  head  high  among  the 
best  of  England's  naval  heroes.  Soon,  however,  he  found 
that  a  fortune  so  easily  gained  was  as  easily  lost.  "Gal- 
lantry and  following  the  court"  quickly  depleted  his  purse 
and  he  again  looked  toward  the  usual  storehouse  with  a  crav- 
ing that  was  not  to  be  resisted.  In  1591  he  fitted  out  a 
second  expedition  for  the  Spanish  main,  but  he  now  sailed 
under  an  evil  star.  Fortune  deserted  him  and  after  suffer- 
ing untold  horrors  from  hunger,  storms  and  desertions,  he 
died  at  sea  in  1592,  it  is  said  of  a  broken  heart.  Something 
of  the  endurance  required  of  English  seamen  of  the  sixteenth 
century  may  be  understood  when  we  learn  that  of  the  seventy- 
six  men  who  sailed  with  Cavendish  on  this  luckless  voyage 
only  a  "small  remnant"  of  fifteen  lived  to  return  and  they 
were  so  weak  from  hardships  and  suffering  that  when  they 
arrived  off  Bearhaven,  Ireland,  they  "could  not  take  in  or 
heave  a  sail."^ 

In  the  summer  of  1586,  while  Lane  and  the  colonists  at 
Roanoke  were  anxiously  awaiting  the  long  overdue  return  of 
Grenville  with  supplies  from  England,  their  anxiety  was  re- 
lieved by  the  appearance  off  Croatan  of  Sir  Francis  Drake 
with  a  fleet  in  which  were  counted  twenty-three  sails.  He 
was  a  welcome  visitor,  for  he  began  at  once  to  make  prepara- 
tions to   supply   the  colony  with   all  needful  things.     But 


»  "Dictionary  of  National  Biography,"  IX,  358-363. 

2 


150  THE    NORTH    CAROLINA    BOOKLET. 

while  these  measures  were  under  way  a  storm  arose  which 
put  an  end  to  all  plans  for  relief  and  resulted  in  the  embark- 
ation of  Lane  and  his  homesick  men  for  England. 

The  man  who  thus  came  to  the  rescue  of  the  forlorn  group 
on  Roanoke  Island  was  ''until  Nelson's  time  celebrated  as 
the  greatest  of  English  seamen."  Like  Raleigh  and  Grenville, 
he  was  a  native  of  that  county  of  Devon  whence  have  come  so 
many  of  England's  mighty  sailors.  Drake's  mind  and  char- 
acter raise  him  to  a  height  far  above  Grenville  and  Caven- 
dish and  place  him  in  the  company  of  Raleigh,  Blake  and 
Nelson.  To  Raleigh  and  Drake,  more  than  to  any  other 
men,  England  owes  her  world-mde  colonial  empire.  As  the 
former  first  put  into  practice  the  policy  of  breaking  down 
Spain's  colonial  power  by  planting  rival  colonies  in  the  ISTew 
World,  so  the  latter  first  carried  into  world-wide  execution 
the  allied  policy  of  destroying  Spain's  maritime  power  by 
attacking  her  in  American  waters.  His  naval  career  was 
begun  under  no  less  a  leader  than  Sir  John  Hawkins,  and  of 
course  came  at  once  into  hostile  collision  with  Spain.  Span- 
ish rapacity,  cruelty  and  bigotry,  we  are  told,  "taught  him 
the  same  kind  of  feeling  toward  Spaniards  that  Hannibal 
cherished  toward  Romans."  Like  Hannibal,  he  swore  an 
eternal  enmity  to  his  foe,  but  in  pursuit  of  his  passion  he 
deserved  and  met  with  a  far  better  fate. 

The  most  notable  of  his  numerous  exploits  was  the  voyage 
in  the  Golden  Hind  which  first  carried  the  flag  of  England 
around  the  globe.  Passing  through  the  Strait  of  Magellan, 
with  a  single  ship  of  only  twenty  guns,  he  skirted  along  the 
west  coast  of  South  America  and  "from  Valparaiso  north- 
ward along  the  Peruvian  coast,  dashed  into  seaports  and  cap- 
tured vessels,  carrying  away  enormous  treasures  in  gold  and 
silver  and  jewels.  *  *  *  With  other  property  he  meddled 
but  little,  and  no  act  of  wanton  cruelty  sullied  his  per- 
formances.    After  taking  plunder  worth  millions  of  dollars 


SIE    WALTER    EALEIGH    AND    HIS    ASSOCIATES.  151 

this  corsair-work  gave  place  to  scientific  discovery,  and  the 
Golden  Hind  sailed  far  northward  in  search  of  a  northeast 
passage  into  the  Atlantic."  In  the  course  of  this  voyage 
Drake  looked  in  at  the  Golden  Gate,  took  possession  of  Cali- 
fornia in  the  name  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  christened  it  New 
Albion,  and  after  sailing  as  far  northward  as  Oregon,  turned 
his  prow  into  the  Pacific,  thence  over  the  Indian  Ocean,  and 
rounding  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  sailed  into  the  harbor  of 
Plymouth  in  September,  1580.  "The  romantic  daring  of 
Drake's  voyage,"  says  John  Richard  Green,  ''as  well  as  the 
vastness  of  the  spoil,  aroused  a  general  enthusiasm  through- 
out England.  But  the  welcome  he  received  from  Elizabeth 
on  his  return  was  accepted  by  Philip  as  an  outrage  which 
could  only  be  expiated  by  war.  Sluggish  as  it  was,  the  blood 
of  the  Spanish  king  was  fired  at  last  by  the  defiance  with 
which  Elizabeth  received  all  demands  for  redress.  She  met  a 
request  for  Drake's  surrender  by  knighting  the  freebooter, 
and  by  wearing  in  her  crown  the  jewels  he  had  offered  her  as 
a  present.  When  the  Spanish  Ambassador  threatened  that 
'matters  would  come  to  the  cannon,'  she  replied,  'quietly,  in 
her  most  natural  voice,  as  if  she  were  telling  a  common  story,' 
wrote  Mendoza,  'that  if  I  used  threats  of  that  kind  she  would 
fling  me  into  a  dungeon.'  "  One  enthusiast,  in  an  ecstasy 
of  admiration,  declared  that  the  Golden  Hind  ought  to  be 
set  upon  the  top  of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  "that  being  dis- 
cerned farre  and  neere,  it  might  be  noted  and  pointed  at  of 
the  people  with  these  true  terms :  Yonder  is  the  barke  that 
hath  sailed  round  about  the  world." 

In  the  same  year  in  which  Lane's  colony  landed  on  Roa- 
noke Island,  war  having  been  declared  against  Spain,  Drake 
fitted  out  a  superb  fleet  of  twenty-three  sails  and  embarked 
for  the  Spanish  main.  On  this  expedition  he  took  and 
sacked  Cartagena,  St.  Domingo  and  St.  Augustine  alid  cap- 
tured twenty  prizes  carrying  250  cannon. 


152  THE    NORTH    CAROLINA    BOOKLET. 

After  these  exploits  Drake  turned  his  prow  northward  and 
skirted  along  the  eastern  coast  of  jSForth  America  until  he 
came  to  Eoanoke,  where  he  stopped  to  take  a  look  in  upon 
Ealeigh's  colony.  He  was  a  welcome  visitor  for,  says  Lane, 
he  made  "a,  most  hountiful  and  honorable  offer  for  the  sup- 
ply of  our  necessities  to  the  performance  of  the  action  we 
were  entered  into ;  and  that  not  only  of  victuals,  munitions 
and  clothing,  but  also  of  barks,  pinnaces  and  boats ;  they 
also,  by  him  to  be  victualled,  manned  and  furnished  to  my 
contentation."  But  while  preparations  were  being  made  to 
carry  these  generous  measures  into  execution  "there  arose 
such  an  unwoonted  storme,  and  continued  foure  dayes  that 
had  like  to  have  driven  all  on  shore,  if  the  Lord  had  not  held 
His  holy  hand  over  them."  The  vessels  of  Drake's  fleet 
were  "in  great  danger  to  be  driven  from  their  ankoring  upon 
the  coast.  For  we  brake  many  cables  and  lost  many  ankors. 
And  some  of  our  fleet  which  had  lost  all  (of  which  number 
was  the  ship  appointed  for  Master  Lane  and  his  company) 
was  driven  to  put  to  sea  in  great  danger  in  avoyding  the 
coast,  and  could  never  see  us  againe  untill  we  met  in 
England.  Many  also  of  our  small  pinnaces  and  boats  were 
lost  in  this  storm."  As  a  result  of  this  experience  Lane, 
after  consultation  with  Drake,  decided  to  embark  his  colony 
for  England.  Then  Drake,  "in  the  name  of  the  Almighty, 
weying  his  ankers  (having  bestowed  us  among  his  fleet,)" 
says  Lane,  "for  the  reliefe  of  whom  hee  had  in  that  storm 
sustained  more  peril  of  wrake  than  in  all  his  former  most 
honorable  actions  against  the  Spanyards,  with  praises  unto 
God  for  all,  set  saile  the  nineteenth  of  June,  1586,  and 
arrived  in  Plymouth  the  seven  and  twentieth  of  July  the 
same  yeere." 

The  next  year,  in  an  exploit  which  thrills  our  blood  even 
at  this  day,  Drake  reached  the  climax  of  his  daring  and 
audacity.     Cruising  along  the  coast  of  Spain,  he  suddenly 


SIK    WALTER    RALEIGH    AND    HIS    ASSOCIATES.  153 

dashed  into  the  harbor  of  Cadiz,  attacked  and  sunk  the  men- 
of-war  there  on  guard,  loaded  his  ships  with  the  spoils  of 
Mexico  and  Peru,  and  calmly  set  his  sails  for  England.  This 
work  he  laughingly  called  "singeing  the  King  of  Spain's 
beard."  Philip,  one  day,  invited  a  lady  of  his  court  to  go 
on  board  his  barge  on  the  Lake  of  Segovia,  But  the  pru- 
dent lady  declined,  saying  that  she  dared  not  trust  herself 
on  water  even  with  his  Majesty  "for  fear  of  Sir  Francis 
Drake." 

It  was  with  their  spirits  chafing  at  the  insults  but  cowed 
by  the  daring  and  skill  of  the  English  seamen  that  the  sailors 
and  soldiers  of  Spain  set  sail  in  their  Invincible  Armada 
for  the  conquest  of  England.  In  that  wonderful  world- 
victory  for  freedom  which  an  eminent  historian  calls  "the 
opening  event  in  the  history  of  the  United  States,"  the  name 
of  Sir  Francis  Drake  stands  high  on  the  roll  of  conquerors.* 

Before  taking  leave  of  Cavendish,  Grenville  and  Drake,  I 
wish  to  say  just  a  word  in  regard  to  the  character  of  the  war- 
fare which  they  waged.  In  the  twentieth  century  we  should 
call  those  who  engaged  in  such  exploits  pirates,  and  their 
work  piracy.  But  we  should  do  a  grave  injustice  to  the 
memory  of  those  bold  men  who  opened  the  way  to  the  plant- 
ing of  English  civilization  in  the  New  World  if  we  should 
so  think  of  them.  The  strict  and  well-defined  principles  of 
international  law  now  prevailing  throughout  the  civilized 
world  were  totally  unknown  during  the  sixteenth  century. 
A  Spanish  fleet  massacred  a  colony  of  French  Huguenots  in 
Florida  and  a  French  ship,  fitted  out  by  a  private  gentleman, 
retaliated  in  full  measure  at  a  time  when  the  two  countries 
were  nominally  at  peace  with  each  other.  As  John  Fiske 
says:  "A  flavour  of  buccaneering  pervades  nearly  all  the 
maritime  operations  of  that  age  and  often  leads  modem 
writers  to  misunderstand  or  misjudge  them.     Thus  it  some- 


'  "  Dictioaary  of  National  Biography,"  XV,  426-442  ;   Froude  :  "  English  Seamen  of  the 
Sixteenth  Century;"  Green:  "History  of  the  English  People." 


154  THE  NOKTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 

times  happens  that  so  excellent  a  man  as  Sir  Francis  Drake, 
whose  fame  is  forever  a  priceless  possession  for  English- 
speaking  people,  is  mentioned  in  popular  books  as  a  mere 
corsair,  a  kind  of  gentleman  pirate.  Nothing  could  show  a 
more  hopeless  confusion  of  ideas.  In  a  later  generation  the 
warfare  characteristic  of  the  Elizabethan  age  degenerated 
into  piracy,  and  when  Spain,  fallen  from  her  gTeatness,  be- 
came a  prey  to  the  spoiler,  a  swarm  of  buccaneers  infested 
the  West  Indies  and  added  another  hideous  chapter  to  the 
lurid  history  of  those  beautiful  islands.  They  were  mere 
robbers,  and  had  nothing  in  common  with  the  Elizabethan 
heroes  except  courage.  From  the  deeds  of  Drake  and  Haw- 
kins to  the  deeds  of  Henry  Morgan,  the  moral  distance  is  as 
great  as  from  slaying  your  antagonist  in  battle  to  murdering 
your  neighbor  for  his  purse. "^  Even  England  has  on  her 
honor  rolls  of  ten  centuries  no  more  glorious  deeds,  no  more 
honorable  names  than  those  of  Walter  Raleigh,  Richard 
Grenville  and  Francis  Drake.  So  effectively  did  those  dar- 
ing men  do  their  work  that  Philip  II,  once  the  mightiest  and 
richest  of  European  monarchs,  lived  to  see  his  maritime 
power  shattered,  his  treasury  empty  and  his  glory  departed. 
Until  this  work  had  been  done  there  could  be  no  hope  that 
English  colonies  could  be  successfully  planted  in  America. 

Among  those  who  accompanied  Lane  to  Roanoke  in  1586 
were  John  White,  the  artist  of  the  expedition,  sent  by  Raleigh 
to  make  drawings  of  the  country  and  its  people,  afterwards 
governor  of  the  Lost  Colony ;  and  Thomas  Harriot,  the  his- 
torian and  scientist  of  the  colony.  To  none  who  bore  a  part 
in  the  efforts  to  plant  a  colony  on  Roanoke  Island,  save  to 
Raleigh  alone,  do  we  owe  more  than  to  White  and  Harriot. 
The  work  of  '^'these  two  earnest  and  true  men" — the  splendid 
pictures  of  the  one  and  the  scholarly  narrative  of  the  other — 
preserve  for  us  the  most  valuable  information  that  we  have 
of   "Ould  Virginia."     They  were   the   intimate  friends  of 


•  "Old  Virginia  and  Her  Neighbors,"  1,  24. 


SIK    WALTER    RALEIGH    AND    PUS    ASSOCIATES.  155 

Raleigh  whose  love  and  loyalty  could  be  affected  by  no  degree 
of  prosperity  or  ill  fortune.  ''Raleigh,"  says  Henry  Stevens, 
"was  blessed  in  his  household,  or  at  his  table,  or  in  his  confi- 
dence, with  four  sterling  adherents  who  stuck  to  him  through 
thick  and  thin,  through  prosperity  and  adversity.  These 
were  Richard  Ilakluyt,  Jacques  Le  Moyne,  John  White  and 
Thomas  Harriot.  When  Wingandacoa  makes  up  her  jewels 
she  will  not  forget  these  four,  whom  it  is  just  to  call 
Raleigh's  Magi.  *  *  *  Together  Harriot  and  White 
surveyed,  mapped,  pictured  and  described  the  country,  the 
Indians,  men  and  women ;  the  animals,  birds,  fishes,  trees, 
plants,  fruits  and  vegetables." 

We  are  told  that  whoever  compares  the  original  drawings  of 
White  with  the  engravings  of  De  Bry,  "as  one  may  now  do 
in  the  British  Museum,  must  be  convinced  that,  beautiful  as 
De  Bry's  work  is,  it  seems  tame  in  the  presence  of  the  origi- 
nal water-colour  drawings.  There  is  no  exaggeration  in  the 
engTavings."  The  late  Henrj'^  Stevens,  of  Vermont,  whose 
work  was  done  principally  in  London,  who  describes  himself 
as  ''Student  of  American  History,  Bibliographer  and  Lover 
of  Books,"  predicts  that  "White's  name  in  the  annals  of 
English  art  is  destined  to  rank  high  though  it  has  hitherto 
failed  to  be  recorded  in  the  art  histories  and  dictionaries. 
Yet  his  seventy-six  original  paintings  in  water-colours,  done 
probably  in  Virginia  in  1585-1586,  while  he  was  there  with 
Harriot  as  the  official  draughtsman  or  painter  of  Raleigh's 
'First  Colonie'  entitle  him  to  prominence  among  English 
artists  in  Elizabeth's  reigTi." 

Thomas  Harriot  was  one  of  the  most  eminent  scholars  of 
his  age.  No  name  in  English  history  deserves  to  take  prece- 
dence of  his  in  scientific  achievement.  A  graduate  of  St. 
Mary's  Hall,  Oxford,  he  was  engaged  by  Sir  Walter  Raleigh 
to  reside  with  him  as  his  mathematical  tutor  and  adviser  in 
liis  maritime  adventures.     In  this  capacity  he  was  sent  by 


156  THE    NORTH    CAROLINA    BOOKLET. 

Raleigh  to  Roanoke  with  Lane,  and  upon  his  return  pub- 
lished at  London,  in  1588,  "A  Brief  and  True  Report  of 
the  New-found  Land  of  Virginia."  This  work  attracted 
wide  attention  both  in  England  and  on  tlie  continent  where 
it  was  translated  into  Latin.  The  Edinhurgh  Review  de- 
scribed it  as  a  work  ''remarkable  for  the  large  views  it  con- 
tains in  regard  to  the  extension  of  industry  and  commerce," 
and  as  one  of  the  finest  examples  in  existence  of  statistical 
surveys  on  a  large  scale.  Harriot,  in  spite  of  weak  health 
which,  he  complained,  made  him  unable  to  write  or  even 
think  accurately,  and  prevented  his  completing  or  publish- 
ing his  work,  won  a  place  among  the  great  astronomers  and 
mathematicians  of  the  world.  After  his  death  some  of  his 
mathematical  discoveries  were  published  by  his  friend,  the 
Earl  of  J^orthumberland.  "This  work,"  we  are  told,  "em- 
bodies the  inventions  by  which  Harriot  virtually  gave  to 
Algebra  its  modern  form."  Had  Harriot  "published  all  he 
knew  in  algebra,"  says  a  modem  scholar,  "he  would  have  left 
little  of  the  chief  mysteries  of  that  art  unhandled."  In 
astronomy  he  applied  the  telescope  to  celestial  purposes  si- 
multaneously with  Galileo  with  whose  name  his  is  forever 
associated  in  one  of  the  greatest  branches  of  human  knowl- 
edge. By  his  wonderful  work  in  mathematics  and  astronomy 
Thomas  Harriot,  the  historian  and  scientist  of  Roanoke,  won 
for  himself  a  place  among  "the  immortal  names  that  were 
not  born  to  die."'" 

Such  were  the  men,  and  such  was  their  work  which  won 
for  English-speaking  people  the  noblest  portion  of  the  ISTew 
World.  Without  their  work  all  the  statesmanship  of  Burgh- 
ley  and  Walsingham  would  have  been  ineffective,  Elizabeth's 
glorious  reign  would  probably  have  ended  in  disaster  and 
shame,  and  a  long  arctic  night  of  bigotry  and  superstition, 
like  the  Dark  Ages,  would  have  enveloped  Europe  in  its 
black  and  impenetrable  folds.     That  these  calamities  were 


*•  Stevens:  "Thomas  Hariot  and  His  Associates." 


SIK    WALTEE    RALEIGH    AND    HIS    ASSOCIATES.  157 

averted,  that  the  power  of  Spain  was  crushed  never  to  rise 
again,  that  the  England  of  Elizabeth,  Shakespeare  and  Ra- 
leigh triumphed  over  the  Spain  of  Philip,  Alva  and  Menen- 
dez,  and  that  English  ideals  of  liberty  and  law  prevail 
throughout  the  northern  part  of  America  today,  the  English 
race  throughout  the  world  may  thank  Sir  Walter  Raleigh 
and  those  bold  and  daring  seamen  and  adventurers  who 
shattered  Spain's  naval  power  and  here  at  Roanoke  seized 
the  best  part  of  the  New  World  for  England.  May  we  in 
America  never  forget  that  the  glorious  achievements  of  the 
Raleighs,  the  Drakes  and  the  Grenvilles  of  that  generation 
are  as  much  a  part  of  our  inheritance  as  are  the  achievements 
of  the  Hancocks,  the  Jeffersons,  the  Harnetts  and  the  Wash- 
ingtons  of  a  later  generation. 


158  THE    NOETH    CAROLINA    BOOKLET. 


GOVERNOR  BENJAMIN  SMITH 


BY  COLLIER  COBB, 
Professor  of  Geology  in  the  University  of  North  Carolina. 


Addressing  Governor  Kitchin,  Professor  Cobb  said: 

May  it  Please  Your  Excellency : 

On  behalf  of  the  North  Carolina  Society  of  the  Sons  of 
the  Revolution,  I  present  through  you  to  the  State  of  North 
Carolina  the  portrait  of  Benjamin  Smith,  patriot,  legislator,, 
soldier,  statesman,  and  philanthropist;  builder  of  highways 
and  of  fortifications ;  conservationist  and  drainer  of  swamps ; 
opener  of  waterways;  believer  in  education  for  every  child 
within  the  State,  and  the  first  benefactor  of  the  University; 
Grand  Master  of  Masons;  Governor  of  North  Carolina  one 
hundred  years  before  his  time,  and  dreamer  of  dreams  which 
you,  sir,  now  help  to  make  come  true. 

LIFE  AND   PUBLIC    SERVICES   OF   BENJAMIN   SMITH. 

Benjamin  Smith's  education  began  more  than  a  hundred 
years  before  he  was  born,  for  he  came  of  a  race  of  men  who 
did  things.  He  was  descended  from  Sir  John  Yeamans, 
from  old  King  Roger  Moore,  and  his  grandmother.  Lady 
Sabina  Smith,  was  the  daughter  of  Thomas  Smith,  second 
Landgrave  of  his  name  in  South  Carolina.  The  father  of 
our  present  subject  was  Colonel  Thomas  Smith,  of  South 
Carolina.  So  far  as  is  known  no  relationship  existed  be- 
tvreen  him  and  his  wife,  whose  name  (as  just  stated)  was 
also  Smith.  Thomas  Smith,  the  first  Landgrave,  had  seen 
rice  cultivated  in  Madagascar;  and  one  day,  in  1696,  when  a 
sea  captain,  an  old  friend  of  his,  sailed  into  Charleston  Har- 
bor from  Madagascar,  Thomas  Smith  got  from  him  a  bag  of 
rice  seed.     This  was  carefully  sown  in  a  wet  place  in  Smith's 


•Address  delivered  in  the  Hall  of  the  House  of  Representatives  at  Raleigh,  November 
15,  1911,  on  the  occasion  of  the  presentation  of  portrait  of  Governor  Smith  to  the  Stat«  by 
the  North  Carolina  Society  of  the  Sons  of  the  Revolution. 


From  the  Painting  by  Jaques  Busbee. 


GOVERNOR    BENJAMIN    SMITH.  159 

garden  in  Charleston.  It  grew,  and  the  two  Carolinas  were 
changed  into  a  land  of  great  rice  plantations.  His  great- 
grandson,  Benjamin  Smith,  was  later  owner  of  the  best  rice 
plantation  in  North  Carolina,  a  portion  of  the  original  grant 
to  Landgrave  Smith,  who  tried  to  establish  settlements  on  the 
Cape  Fear  River  in  1690.  Also  to  be  counted  among  his 
close  kindred  were  the  Bees  and  Grimkes,  of  South  Carolina, 
and  the  Rhetts,  who  changed  their  name  from  Smith  to  that 
of  their  grandmother,  Catherine  Rhett,  whose  family  in 
South  Carolina  had  become  extinct.  Benjamin  Smith 
thus  came  of  a  breed  possessing  ability,  means,  and  position. 
The  William  Smith  who  introduced  the  culture  of  cotton 
into  Virginia  in  1621  is  said  to  have  been  of  the  same  stock. 

While  the  public  acts  and  many  details  of  the  private  life 
of  Benjamin  Smith  may  be  gathered  from  the  records  of  his 
time,  both  State  and  National,  and  from  the  rather  volumi- 
nous correspondence  of  his  distinguished  contemporaries,  the 
date  of  his  birth  and  the  manner  and  place  of  his  burial  have 
frequently  been  brought  into  question.  The  w^eight  of  author- 
ity favors  January  10,  1756,  as  his  birthday,  and  Jan- 
uary 10,  1826,  his  seventieth  birthday,  as  the  date  of  his 
death.  Still  there  are  those  who  contend  that  he  was  born 
in  1750,  and  that  he  died  on  the  10th  of  February,  1829. 
But  a  contemporary  newspaper,  the  Raleigh  Eegister,  of 
February  14,  1826,  has  a  notice  of  his  death  as  having  oc- 
curred recently  at  Smithville. 

We  know  nothing,  however,  concerning  his  childhood  and 
youth,  but  he  must  have  received  careful  training,  for  we 
are  told  that,  "While  still  young,  just  twenty-one  years  of 
age,  he  served  as  aide-de-camp  of  General  Washington  in  the 
dangerous  but  masterly  retreat  from  Long  Island  after  the 
defeat  of  the  American  Army  in  August,  1776.  He  behaved 
with  conspicuous  gallantry  in  the  brilliant  action  in  which 
Moultrie,    in    1779,    drove    the    British    from    Port    Royal 


160  THE    NOKTH    CAROLINA    BOOKLET. 

Island,  and  checked  for  a  time  the  invasion  of  South  Caro- 
lina. A  Charleston  paper  says:  'He  gave  on  many  occa- 
sions such  various  proofs  of  activity  and  distinguished 
bravery  as  to  merit  the  approbation  of  his  impartial  coun- 
try.' "  Yet  during  the  siege  of  Charleston,  in  1780,  a  blun- 
der of  Smith's  brought  about  the  premature  surrender  of  the 
city  on  the  12th  of  May.  "Mr.  Smith  sent  a  letter  to  his 
wife  by  Mr.  Rutlege,  who  was  taking  to  the  Governor  a  com- 
munication that  had  been  confided  to  him  orally,  with  the 
strictest  injunction  that  no  written  communication  be  taken 
from  the  garrison.  A  letter  addressed  by  a  friend  to  his 
wife  under  assurance  that  it  was  only  a  family  letter,  Mr. 
Rutledge  unwarily  considered  it  no  violation  of  his  instruc- 
tions. He  was  captured  soon  after  he  left  the  town  and 
printed  copies  of  the  letter  were  next  day  thrown  into  the 
garrison  in  unloaded  bombshells,  and  most  unaccountably, 
through  a  secret  agency,  dispersed  through  all  parts  of  the 
town  in  printed  handbills.  The  letter  plainly  told  that  the 
garrison  must  soon  surrender,  that  their  provisions  were 
expended,  and  Lincoln  only  prevented  from  capitulating  by 
a  point  of  etiquette.  From  this  time  hope  deserted  the  gar- 
rison, while  the  reanimated  efforts  of  the  enemy  showed  their 
zeal  revived."  Lincoln  surrendered  the  fort,  and  Charleston, 
with  its  stores,  its  advantages,  and  the  army  that  defended  it, 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  British  commander.  Smith  prob- 
ably hastened  the  surrender  just  a  little,  but  he  did  not  cause 
it;  for  historians  are  generally  agreed  that  Lincoln  should 
have  fled  and  saved  his  army  soon  after  Clinton  began  en- 
girdling the  city  about  the  1st  of  April,  and  before  the  British 
fleet  a  week  later  ran  by  Fort  Moultrie  and  entered  the 
harbor. 

In  1783  we  find  Benjamin  Smith  in  the  General  Assembly 
of  ISTorth  Carolina,  representing  Brunswick  County  in  the 
Senate.     He  was  a  member  of  the  Constitutional  Convention 


GOVERNOK    BENJAMIN    SMITH.  161 

of  1788,  that  declined  to  accept  the  Federal  Constitution, 
and  in  that  body  did  all  in  his  power  to  secure  its  adoption, 
since  he  was  an  ardent  Federalist.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  convention  that  adopted  the  Constitution  in  1789,  and 
was  on  the  committee  that  prepared  the  amendments  which 
North  Carolina  proposed  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States.  He  had  some  support  for  the  Senatorship  in  1789, 
but  Benjamin  Hawkins  was  elected.  This  Legislature  of 
1789  chartered  the  University  of  ISTorth  Carolina,  and  Smith 
was  named  among  the  most  eminent  men  of  the  State  com- 
posing the  first  board  of  trustees.  At  the  first  meeting  of 
the  board,  on  the  18th  of  December,  1789,  Colonel  Smith 
offered  to  the  University  warrants  for  20,000  acres  of  land 
in  Tennessee  that  he  had  received  as  pay  for  his  distinguished 
services  in  the  Revolution,  and  he  handed  over  the  warrants 
at  the  second  meeting  of  the  board  in  1790.  He  remained  a 
trustee  of  the  University  until  1824,  and  took  great  pride  in 
presiding  over  the  meetings  of  the  board  during  his  term  as 
Governor  of  the  State. 

The  warrants  Colonel  Smith  gave  were  for  land  located 
in  Obion  County,  in  the  extreme  northwest  part  of  Tennes- 
see. By  the  Treaty  of  Hopewell  in  1795  the  United  States 
ceded  this  territory  to  the  Chickasaw  Indians.  In  1810  the 
most  terrific  earthquake  that  has  ever  visited  the  interior  of 
our  country  turned  portions  of  this  region  into  lakelets,  and 
a  large  part  of  the  University's  tract  is  now  occupied  by 
Reelfoot  Lake,  the  scene  of  the  night-rider  raid  of  a  few 
years  ago.  It  was  not  until  twenty-five  years  afterward 
that  a  sale  was  effected,  realizing  $14,000  for  the  University. 
Smith  Hall,  built  for  a  library  half  a  century  after  the  gift 
of  the  land  warrants  and  today  occupied  by  the  Law  School, 
the  most  attractive  building  on  the  campus,  commemorates 
the  munificence  of   Colonel   Smith. 

In  1791  Smith  again  became  a  member  of  the  Assembly, 


162  THE    NORTH    CAROLINA    BOOKLET. 

and  except  for  the  three  years,  1801,  1802  and  1803,  he  con- 
tinued in  the  State  Senate  until  his  election  as  Governor  in 
the  fall  of  1810,  and  he  was  again  in  the  Senate  in  1816. 
He  was  Speaker  of  the  Senate  from  1795  to  1799.  In  1800 
he  was  defeated  for  the  Speakership  by  Joseph  Riddick,  and 
in  the  next  election  he  was  defeated  for  the  Senatorship  bj 
William  Wingate,  a  Jeffersonian  Democrat.  In  that  day 
personal  conflicts  growing  out  of  political  differences  were 
by  no  means  unusual,  and  there  is  a  tradition  of  a  duel  that 
Smith  fought  with  Thomas  Leonard,  a  political  opponent, 
in  which  the  General  was  seriously  wounded.  The  ball 
could  not  be  extracted,  and  the  Governor  carried  it  in  his 
thigh  to  the  end  of  his  days. 

During  his  career  as  a  legislator  he  served  on  many  im- 
portant committees,  and  he  always  voted  as  a  strict  partisan. 
He  favored  the  making  of  roads,  the  building  of  causeways, 
the  draining  of  bog  lands,  the  foresting  of  dunes,  and  the 
keeping  open  of  rivers  and  creeks  at  their  falls  for  the  free 
passage  of  fish.  As  a  Member  of  the  Assembly  he  bitterly 
opposed  the  founding  of  the  city  of  Raleigh,  and  the  removal 
of  the  capital  from  Fayetteville  and  again  from  New  Bern. 

In  contemplation  of  a  war  with  France,  or  of  a  second 
conflict  with  England,  while  General  Washington  was  still 
President,  Colonel  Smith  was  made  Brigadier-General  of 
Militia,  1796.  When  a  struggle  with  France  seemed  immi- 
nent, during  the  presidency  of  John  Adams  in  1797,  the 
entire  militia  force  of  Brunswick  County,  officers  and  men, 
roused  to  enthusiasm  by  a  speech  General  Smith  made  them, 
volunteered  to  follow  his  lead  in  the  service  of  their  country. 
In  1810,  when  trouble  with  England  was  culminating,  he 
was  again  made  Brigadier-General  of  his  county  forces. 

In  that  same  year  he  was  elected  Governor  of  North  Caro- 
lina, and  in  his  message  to  the  General  Assembly,  November 
20,  1811,  he  recommended  the  adoption  of  a  penitentiary 


GOVEENOK    BENJAMIN    SMITH.  163 

system,  and  appealed  for  a  reform  of  the  too  sanguinary 
criminal  code  of  the  State.  He  also  advised  encouraging 
''domestic  manufactures  employing  those  persons  who  are  un- 
able or  unfit  to  till  the  soil/'  the  improving  of  the  militia,  and 
the  establishment  of  public  schools.  In  recommending  the 
schools  he  said:  ''Too  much  attention  can  not  be  paid  to 
the  all-important  subject  of  education.  In  despotic  govern- 
ments, where  the  supreme  power  is  in  the  possession  of  a 
tyrant  or  divided  amongst  an  hereditary  aristocracy  (gener- 
ally corrupt  and  wicked),  the  ignorance  of  the  people  is  a 
security  to  their  rulers ;  but  in  a  free  government,  where  the 
offices  and  honors  of  the  State  are  open  to  all,  the  superiority 
of  their  political  privileges  should  be  infused  into  every 
citizen  from  their  earliest  infancy,  so  as  to  produce  an  enthu- 
siastic attachment  to  their  own  country,  and  ensure  a  jealous 
support  of  their  own  constitution,  laws,  and  government,  to 
the  total  exclusion  of  all  foreign  influence  or  partiality.  A 
certain  degTee  of  education  should  be  placed  within  the  reach 
of  every  child  in  the  State ;  and  I  am  persuaded  a  plan  may 
be  formed  upon  economical  principles  that  would  extend  this 
boon  to  the  poor  of  every  neighborhood,  at  an  expense  trifling 
beyond  expectation,  when  compared  with  the  incalculable 
benefits  from  such  a  philanthropic  and  politic  system."  Ex- 
cusing the  rhetoric,  this  might  have  been  written  a  century 
later. 

Upon  retiring  from  the  gubernatorial  office  he  entered 
upon  the  carrying  out  of  certain  engineering  plans  which  he 
had  advocated  as  legislator  and  Governor  for  the  improve- 
ment of  conditions  within  the  State.  He  stood  for  the  best 
of  what  has  characterized  each  and  every  administration 
from  the  time  of  Governors  Vance  and  Jarvis  to  the  days  of 
Aycock  and  Glenn  and  of  Your  Excellency.  He  lived  just 
one  hundred  years  before  his  time.  He  could  not  long  re- 
main out  of  politics,  and  in  1816  his  neighbors  returned  him 


164  THE  NOETH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 

to  the  State  Senate.  General  Smith  was  a  zealous  Mason, 
and  during  his  prime  was  for  three  years,  from  1808  to  1811, 
Grand  Master  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  North  Carolina. 

Up  to  1792  there  were  no  homes  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Fort  Johnston,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Cape  Fear  River,  and 
Mr.  Joshua  Potts,  of  Wilmington,  who  made  the  first  move- 
ment toward  establishing  a  town  there,  has  given  us  an  in- 
teresting account  of  the  settlement  of  Smithville  in  a  manu- 
script that  has  come  down  to  us,  and  published  in  1904  by 
the  University  of  iN'orth  Carolina  in  James  Sprunt  His- 
torical Monograph  No.  4,  pp.  8G-90.  Mr.  Potts  has  told  us 
how  he  and  certain  of  his  friends  in  1790  undertook  to  lay 
off  a  town  there  and  obtain  a  charter.  Their  plan  was  un- 
expectedly opposed  in  the  Legislature  by  Colonel  Smith,  and 
the  charter  for  the  town  of  "Nashton,"  as  they  purposed 
calling  the  place,  was  defeated.  A  year  after  the  defeat  of 
the  bill  at  Fayetteville,  General  Smith's  neighbors  who  fa- 
vored the  bill  determined  that  he  should  not  be  sent  to  the 
Assembly  unless  he  would  do  his  best  to  have  an  act  passed 
for  the  intended  purpose.  General  Smith  accepted  the  con- 
ditions, was  elected,  and  made  good  his  word.  The  act  was 
passed  at  New  Bern  in  1792.  General  Smith,  when  he  re- 
turned from  the  Assembly,  told  his  friends  that  on  his  mak- 
ing a  motion  and  offering  the  bill  for  the  act,  "Mr.  Macon 
or  some  other  respectable  member  made  an  observation  that 
many  applications  had  been  acted  upon  for  different  towns 
in  the  State,  but  that  few,  if  any  of  them,  had  succeeded ; 
that  the  said  worthy  member  said,  'As  General  Smith  has 
applied  in  behalf  of  this  petty  town,  it  should  be  called 
Smithville,  as  if  by  way  of  derision  to  the  applicant,  should 
the  town  (like  many  others)  not  succeed.'  " 

Benjamin  Smith  married  Miss  Sarah  Rhett  Dry,  daughter 
of  Colonel  William  Dry,  a  man  of  ability,  excellent  education, 
and   rare   accomplishments,    and   a   member   of  the   King's 


GOVERNOR    BENJAMIN    SMITH.  165 

Council.  She  was  also  a  direct  descendant  from  Cromwell's 
admiral,  Robert  Blake,  Both  she  and  General  Smith  in- 
herited large  estates.  We  learn  much  of  their  manner  of 
life  and  their  generous  hospitality  from  the  diary  of  General 
Joseph  Gardner  Swift,  of  New  York,  first  graduate  of  the 
United  States  Military  Academy  at  West  Point,  who  in  his 
younger  days  enjoyed  intimate  association  with  General 
Smith.  Swift,  a  young  second  lieutenant  in  the  corps  of 
engineers,  "was  sent  to  Wilmington  in  1804  to  examine  the 
harbor  of  Cape  Fear,  and  to  report  a  plan  of  defense  there- 
for, and  also  to  direct  the  execution  of  a  contract  with 
General  Benjamin  Smith,  of  Belvidere,  to  construct  a  battery 
at  the  site  of  old  Fort  Johnston,  in  Smithville,  of  a  material 
called  'tapia.'  "  He  gave  to  the  United  States  Government 
ten  acres  of  land  on  Bald  Head,  or  Smith's  Island,  which  he 
owned,  on  which  to  build  the  lighthouse  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Cape  Fear  River.  He  constructed  the  causeway  from  Wil- 
mington across  Eagles  Island, 

"As  he  advanced  in  years,"  to  use  the  words  of  Dr.  Battle, 
"Governor  Smith  lost  his  health  by  high  living  and  his  for- 
tune by  too  generous  suretyship.  He  became  irascible  and 
prone  to  resent  fancied  slights.  His  tongue  became  veno- 
mous to  opponents.  He  once  spoke  with  undeserved  abusive- 
ness  of  Judge  Alfred  Moore,  and  the  insult  was  avenged  by 
one  of  the  members  of  the  Assembly  from  Brunswick,  Judge 
Moore's  son  Maurice."  General  Swift  has  given  us  in  his 
"Memoirs"  an  account  of  this  duel,  which  was  fought  on 
June  28,  1805,  just  over  in  South  Carolina,  near  to  the 
ocean  side,  where  then  stood  the  Boundary  House,  the  line 
running  through  the  center  of  the  entrance  hall  and  main 
passageway.  Captain  Moore  was  attended  by  his  cousin, 
Major  Duncan  Moore,  while  General  Smith's  second  was 
General  Swift  himself.  Dr.  Andrew  Scott  attended  as  sur- 
geon for  both  combatants.  At  the  second  fire  General  Smith 
3 


166  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 

received  his  antagonist's  ball  in  his  side  and  fell.  Dr. 
Scott,  aided  by  Dr.  Griffin,  took  the  General  to  Smithville 
by  water,  while  General  Swift  hastened  to  Belvidere,  and 
conveyed  Mrs.  Smith  in  a  chair  to  Smithfield  through  a 
storm  of  lightning  and  rain.  The  ball  lodged  near  the  Gen- 
eral's left  shoulder-blade,  and  it  (or  the  bullet  fired  by  Leon- 
ard years  before)  was  the  means  of  identifying  Smith's 
ashes  many  years  later  when  his  remains  were  removed  to 
the  burial  ground  of  St.  James  Church,  Wilmington. 

General  Smith's  great  burden  of  debt  was  due  to  the 
defalcation  of  Colonel  Reed,  collector  of  the  port  of  Wilming- 
ton, whose  surety  he  was.  It  was  to  discharge  this  liability 
that  General  Smith  had  contracted  to  build  the  tapia  work 
at  Fort  Johnston.  General  Swift  has  told  us  how  this  tapia 
was  prepared  from  equal  parts  of  lime,  raw  shells  and  sand, 
and  water  sufficient  to  form  a  paste  or  batter.  All  the  engi- 
neering work  in  which  the  old  hero  engaged  was  undertaken 
to  discharge  debts,  and  it  is  sad  to  relate  that  in  his  old  age 
he  was  arrested  by  the  attorney  of  the  University,  who, 
Smith  alleged,  was  his  personal  enemy,  and  held  for  a  se- 
curity debt,  ''but  on  learning  the  fact  he  was  released  by  the 
Trustees  with  promptness." 

Besides  the  home  at  Belvidere,  Governor  Smith  at  one 
time  owned  Orton,  which  came  down  to  him  from  his  ances- 
tor, Roger  Moore,  being  originally  the  home  of  his  kinsman, 
Maurice  Moore,  grandson  of  Sir  John  Yeamans.  Mrs. 
Smith's  flower  garden  was  such  an  attractive  place  that  Dr. 
Griffin,  dying  of  yellow  fever  in  Wilmington,  asked  that  he 
be  buried  there.  The  Isabella  grape,  highly  esteemed  by 
us  for  its  fine  flavor,  was  introduced  to  ISTorth  Carolina  from 
Mrs.  Smith's  garden  where  it  grew  from  a  cutting,  the  gift 
of  a  sea  captain  who  had  received  some  kindness  at  her 
hands.  General  Swift  visited  his  old  friend,  General  Smith, 
at  Orton  in  1818,  and  found  him  greatly  depressed  by  his 


GOVEENOK    BENJAMIN    SMITH.  167 

debts,  Mrs.  Smith  "evincing  a  well-balanced  serenity  to  cheer 
her  husband."  Swift  returned  to  Wilmington,  where  he 
"found  it  a  fruitless  essay  to  liquidate  the  large  claims  of 
the  General's  creditors." 

This  man,  of  rare  personal  charm,  of  high  character,  and 
of  openhearted  and  openhanded  hospitality,  became  in- 
volved in  such  pecuniary  difficulties  that  he  was  actually  im- 
prisoned for  debt;  and  at  the  time  of  his  death,  in  1826, 
some  of  his  creditors  resorted  to  the  unusual  method,  though 
allowed  by  the  law  of  that  day,  of  withholding  his  body  from 
burial  until  his  friends  could  meet  the  demands  of  the  credi- 
tors. The  deputies  set  to  watch  the  body  were  lured  away 
temporarily  to  partake  of  refreshments,  and  when  they  re- 
turned the  coffin  and  its  contents  had  disappeared.  Friends 
had  taken  it  out  on  the  river  to  the  old  graveyard  on  the  site 
of  St.  Philip's  Church,  then  a  ruin  of  old  Brunswick  town, 
where  in  the  dead  of  night  they  gave  the  body  of  their  com- 
rade Christian  burial.  A  story,  probably  originating  with 
the  careless  watchers,  that  the  coffin  had  been  taken  out  on 
the  river  and  in  the  darkness  committed  to  its  waters  by  the 
negroes  who  were  trusted  to  row  the  boat,  gained  some 
credence;  but  what  is  less  probable:  that  devoted  friends 
would  thus  leave  his  body  to  slaves,  or  that  they  would  let 
the  story  pass  as  a  probable  means  of  concealing  his  last 
resting  place  ? 

In  1853  their  old  friend,  General  Swift,  caused  to  be 
erected  over  the  grave  of  General  and  Mrs.  Smith  in  the  old 
Brunswick  cemetery  a  marble  slab  on  which  was  inscribed : 
"In  memory  of  that  Excellent  Lady,  Sarah  Rhett  Dry  Smith, 
who  died  the  21st  of  ISTovember,  1821,  aged  59  years.  Also 
of  her  husband,  Benjamin  Smith  of  Belvidere,  once  Gover- 
nor of  ISTorth  Carolina,  who  died  January,  1826,  aged  70." 


168  THE    NORTH    CAROLINA    BOOKLET. 

ACCEPTANCE 

In  a  graceful  speech,  on  behalf  of  the  State,  Governor 
Kitchin  thanked  the  Society  for  this  gift  of  the  portrait  of 
Governor  Smith,  and  expressed  his  gratification  upon  learn- 
ing that  there  had  been  manifested  in  ISTorth  Carolina  a  cen- 
tury ago  such  interest  in  public  education  and  other  benefi- 
cent measures  for  the  upbuilding  of  the  State  and  the  good 
of  its  people.  It  is  a  source  of  sincere  regret  that  Governor 
Kitchin's  speech  of  acceptance,  having  been  delivered  with- 
out manuscript  or  notes,  cannot  be  reproduced  here.  As  is 
always  the  case  with  that  gifted  orator,  his  remarks  were  a 
source  of  entertainment  and  interest  to  his  hearers,  and  it 
would  gratify  us  to  place  them  in  full  before  those  of  our 
readers  who  were  not  so  fortunate  as  to  be  present  on  that 
interesting  occasion. 


queen's  college  ok  liberty  hall.  169 

THE  STORY  OF  QUEEN'S  COLLEGE  OR  LIBERTY 

HALL  IN  THE  PROVINCE  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 


BY  MARSHALL  DeLANCEY  HAYWOOD, 

Author  of  "Governor  William  Tryon  and  His  Administration  in  the  Province  of  North 
Carolina,  1765-1771,"  "Lives  of  the  Bishops  of  North  Carolina,"  etc. 


Of  all  the  Royal  Governors  of  North  Carolina  none  was 
more  interested  in  the  educational  advancement  of  the  Prov- 
ince than  William  Tryon.  In  December,  1770,  while  the 
General  Assembly  was  in  session  at  New  Bern,  he  sent  a  mes- 
sage to  that  body,  urging  the  further  improvement  of  the 
school  system,  which  had  already  been  bettered  to  some 
extent  during  his  administration.  The  Assembly  continued 
its  sittings  several  weeks  into  the  succeeding  year,  not 
adjourning  until  January  26,  1771.  On  the  10th  day  of 
January  in  the  latter  year  (Chapter  III  of  the  Laws  of 
1770),  the  Assembly  passed  on  its  final  reading  an  act  to  in- 
corporate an  institution  of  learning  to  be  called  Queen's 
College,  the  same  to  be  located  in  the  town  of  Charlotte 
and  county  of  Mecklenburg.  As  a  reason  for  such  action 
it  was  recited  that  "the  proper  education  of  youth  has  always 
been  considered  as  the  most  certain  source  of  tranquillity, 
happiness,  and  improvement,  both  of  private  families  and  of 
States  and  Empires,  and  there  being  no  institution  or  semi- 
nary of  learning  established  in  this  Province,  whither  the 
rising  generation  may  repair,  after  having  acquired  at  a 
Grammar  School  a  competent  knowledge  of  the  Greek, 
Hebrew,  and  Latin  languages,  to  imbibe  the  principles  of 
science  and  virtue,  and  to  obtain  under  learned,  pious  and 
exemplary  teachers  in  a  collegiate  or  academic  mode  of  in- 
struction a  regular  or  finished  education  in  order  to  qualify 
them  for  the  service  of  their  friends  and  country,"  etc. 
This  act  of  incorporation  further  recited  that  several  Gram- 


lYO  THE  NOKTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 

mar  Schools  had  already  been  established  in  the  western  part 
of  the  Province,  and  in  these  could  be  obtained  "very  con- 
siderable progress  in  the  languages  and  other  literary  attain- 
ments," but  that  these  schools  were  not  able  to  give  what  was 
considered  a  finished  education.  The  trustees  of  Queen's 
College  were  Edmund  Fanning,  Thomas  Polk,  Robert  Har- 
ris,  Jr.,  Abraham  Alexander,  Hezekiah  Alexander,  John 
McKnitt  Alexander,  Ezekiel  Polk,  Thomas  ISTeal,  William 
Richardson,  Hezekiah  J.  Balch,  Joseph  Alexander,  Waight- 
still  Avery,  Henry  Patillo,  and  Abner  Nash.  All  of  these 
fourteen  trustees,  with  the  exception  of  Fanning  and  ]S3"ash, 
were  Presbyterians,  including  several  learned  clergymen  of 
that  denomination ;  but,  anticipating  the  opposition  which 
later  came  from  the  Court  of  St.  James,  and  wishing  to  con- 
ciliate the  King  if  possible,  this  charter  provided  that  the 
President  of  this  institution  should  be  a  member  of  the 
Church  of  England,  licensed  by  the  Governor.  As  a  source 
of  revenue  it  was  provided  that  a  tax  of  six  pence  per  gallon 
should  be  levied  on  all  rum  and  other  spirituous  liquors 
brought  into  and  disposed  of  in  Mecklenburg  County  for  ten 
years  following  the  passage  of  the  act  of  incorporation.  On 
January  15,  1771,  Governor  Tryon  gave  the  act  his  official 
approval.  In  a  letter  to  the  Earl  of  Hillsborough,  King 
George's  Secretary  of  State  for  the  Colonies,  to  whom  he 
transmitted  the  act  of  Assembly  for  the  King''s  consideration, 
Tryon  wrote,  under  date  of  March  12,  1771,  saying:  "The 
necessity  for  such  an  institution  in  this  country  is  obvious, 
and  the  propriety  of  the  mode  here  adopted  must  be  sub- 
mitted to  His  Majesty.  Though  the  President  is  to  be  of 
the  established  Church  and  licensed  by  the  Governor,  the 
Fellows,  Trustees,  and  Tutors,  I  apprehend,  will  be  gener- 
ally Presbyterians,  the  college  being  promoted  by  a  respect- 
able settlement  of  that  persuasion,  from  which  a  considerable 
body  marched  to  Hillsborough  in  September,  1768,  in  sup^- 


queen's  college  oe  libekty  hall.  171 

port  of  government."  The  last  clause  in  the  extract,  just 
quoted,  has  reference  to  the  loyal  support  accorded  Tryon 
by  the  Presbyterians,  both  clergymen  and  laymen,  in  holding 
in  check  the  lawlessness  of  the  Regulators.  It  was  a  service 
which  the  Governor  always  held  in  grateful  remembrance. 

Unfortunately  for  the  cause  of  education  in  North  Caro- 
lina the  act  establishing  Queen's  College  had  to  take  the 
course  of  other  colonial  laws  and  be  passed  upon  by  a  King 
and  Council  in  England  who  were  never  noted  for  their 
tolerance  in  either  religion  or  politics.  First  it  was  referred 
to  Richard  Jackson,  afterwards  a  member  of  Parliament, 
who  was  legal  adviser  to  the  Lords  Commissioners  for  Trade 
and  Plantations,  a  board  which  had  oversight  of  affairs  in 
America ;  and,  upon  Jackson's  advice,  this  Board  (in  ses- 
sion at  Whitehall,  on  February  26,  1772),  reported  to  the 
King  as  follows : 

From  this  report  of  Your  Majesty's  Governor,  and  from  the  pre- 
valency  of  the  Presbyterian  persuasion  within  the  county  of  Meck- 
lenburg, we  may  venture  to  conclude  that  this  college,  if  allowed  to 
be  incorporated,  will  in  effect  operate  as  a  seminary  for  the  educa- 
tion and  instruction  of  youth  in  the  principles  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  Sensible  as  we  are  of  that  tolerating  spirit  which  generally 
prevails  throughout  Your  Majesty's  dominions,  and  disposed  as  we 
particularly  are  in  the  case  before  us  to  recommend  to  every  reason- 
able mark  of  favor  and  protection  a  body  of  subjects  who,  by  the 
Governor's  report,  have  behaved  with  such  loyalty  and  zeal  during 
the  late  troubles  and  disorders,  still  we  think  it  our  duty  to  submit 
to  Your  Majesty  whether  it  may  be  advisable  for  Your  Majesty  to 
add  encouragement  to  toleration  by  giving  the  Royal  assent  to  an 
establishment  which,  in  its  consequences,  promises  great  and  per- 
manent advantages  to  a  sect  of  Dissenters  from  the  Established 
Church  who  have  already  extended  themselves  over  the  Province  in 
very  considerable  numbers. 

With  this  preliminary  kick  from  Mr.  Jackson  and  the 
Lords  Commissioners  for  Trade  and  Plantations,  the  Queen's 
College  act  of  incorporation  was  passed  forward  -to  King 
George  and  the  Lords  of  His  Majesty's  Most  Honourable 


172  THE    NOETH    CAEOLINA    BOOKLET. 

Privy  Council  at  the  Court  of  St.  James,  on  April  22,  1772, 
when  it  was  formally  vetoed,  or  "disallowed,  declared  void 
and  of  none  effect."  It  was  nearly  a  year  later,  April  7, 
1773,  before  this  action  was  certified  to  Governor  Josiah 
Martin,  Tryon's  successor  in  office,  who  thereupon  issued  a 
proclamation  from  the  Governor's  Palace  in  'New  Bern, 
North  Carolina,  June  28,  1773,  declaring  the  King's  disap- 
proval of  the  movement  to  establish  the  college  in  Charlotte. 

On  December  6,  1771,  before  the  King  had  vetoed  the 
act  incorporating  Queen's  College,  Thomas  Polk,  one  of  its 
trustees  and  a  representative  of  the  county  of  Mecklenburg 
in  the  Provincial  Assembly,  introduced  into  the  Assembly 
an  amendment  to  that  act  (Chapter  IX  of  the  Laws  of  1771) 
which  provided  for  the  election  of  a  Vice-President  of  the 
college,  who  should  act  as  President  when  the  latter  official 
was  absent  from  North  Carolina,  as  was  then  the  case. 
This  amendment  passed  its  final  reading  on  December  12th, 
and  received  Governor  Martin's  approval  on  December  23d; 
but,  when  the  act  of  incorporation  itself  was  repealed,  such 
action  worked  as  a  repeal  of  the  amendment  also. 

The  nominal  President  of  Queen's  College  was  Edmund 
Fanning,  though  nothing  shows  that  he  took  an  active  part 
in  its  management.  Fanning  was  a  much  better  man  than 
written  history  and  the  absurd  traditions  of  North  Carolina 
have  represented  him,  and  few  men  in  the  Province  equaled 
him  in  scholarship.  In  1757  he  had  graduated  with  the 
degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts  from  Yale,  which  later  conferred 
upon  him  the  degTee  of  Master  of  Arts,  finally  honoring 
him  with  the  high  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws  in  1803.  In 
1764  Harvard  College  gave  him  the  degree  of  Master  of 
Arts,  as  did  also  King's  College  (now  Columbia)  in  1772. 
Dartmouth  College,  in  1803,  conferred  upon  him  the  degree 
of  Doctor  of  Laws,  and  he  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Civil  Law  from  the  great  University  of  Oxford,  England, 


queen's  college  oe  liberty  hall.  173 

in  1T74.  We  doubt  if  any  of  Fanning's  contemporaries,  in 
eitlier  Great  Britain  or  America,  ever  received  so  many 
academic  honors ;  and  yet  this  holder  of  literary  degrees 
which  the  greatest  scholars  of  any  time  might  covet,  is  rep- 
resented by  many  writers  as  an  abandoned  extortionist  and 
libertine,  whose  sole  title  to  distinction  was  the  favoritism  of 
Tryon.  In  the  Revolution,  Fanning  became  a  Loyalist,  and 
was  a  General  in  the  army  of  Great  Britain  at  the  time  of 
his  death  in  1818.  At  that  time  it  was  written:  "The 
world  did  not  contain  a  better  man  in  all  the  various  rela- 
tions of  life — as  a  husband,  a  parent,  and  a  friend.  As  a 
landlord  and  master  he  was  kind  and  indulgent.  He  was 
much  distingTiished  in  the  American  war,  and  raised  a  regi- 
ment there,  by  which  he  lost  a  very  large  property." 

It  was  through  no  ill  will  of  any  one  in  ISTorth  Carolina 
that  a  charter  was  withheld  from  Queen's  College.  Gover- 
nor Tryon  did  everything  in  his  power  to  secure  it,  as  did 
also  the  Provincial  Assembly.  Both  Churchmen  and  Dis- 
senters throughout  the  Province  regretted  the  outcome  of 
the  effort  to  secure  one,  but  all  were  then  too  loyal  to  call 
into  question  what  His  Most  Gracious  Majesty  had  been 
pleased  to  do — or  undo.  But  this  feeling  did  not  last. 
King  George's  power  was  soon  likewise  to  be  "disallowed, 
declared  void  and  of  none  effect."  In  the  meantime.  Queen's 
College  was  conducted  without  a  charter,  doing  much  good 
both  morally  and  educationally.  Among  its  students  were 
William  Richardson  Davie,  Joseph  Graham,  and  many 
others  who  afterwards  won  fame  as  officers  in  the  Revolu- 
tion. It  is  also  probable  that  one  of  its  pupils  was  Andrew 
Jackson,  as  we  learn  from  his  biography  (unabridged  edi- 
tion) by  Parton.  In  1775  the  college  building  is  said  to 
liave  been  a  rendezvous  for  some  of  the  earlier  meetings  of 
the  Committee  of  Safety,  though  the  Court  House  was  used 
for  the  principal  sessions  of  that  body. 


174  THE    JSrORTH    CAKOLINA    BOOKLET. 

Queen's  College  was  sometimes  called  Queen's  Museum; 
and,  by  Chapter  XX  of  the  Private  Laws  of  1777  (April 
session),  its  name  was  changed  to  Liberty  Hall — no 
longer  a  namesake  of  royalty  but  of  the  fair  goddess  who 
was  henceforth  ordained  to  preside  over  the  destinies  of 
America.  Under  the  new  charter,  in  1777,  the  trustees 
were  Isaac  Alexander  (President),  Thomas  Polk,  Thomas 
IsTeal,  Abraham  Alexander,  Waightstill  Avery,  Ephraim 
Brevard,  David  Caldwell,  James  Edmonds,  John  Simpson, 
Thomas  Reese,  Adlai  Osborne,  Samuel  McCorkle,  John 
McKnitt  Alexander,  Thomas  McCaule,  and  James  Hall — 
true  Presbyterians  and  patriots  all,  with  none  to  gainsay 
their  rights.  By  the  act  last  mentioned,  the  Legislature 
directed  that  the  treasurer  of  the  college  should  give  bond  to 
the  Governor  of  the  State  for  the  faithful  discharge  of  his 
duties;  and  a  subsequent  Legislature  (Chapter  XXIII  of 
the  Private  Laws  of  1778,  April  session),  appropriated  for 
its  use  all  moneys  which  should  accrue  from  the  sale  of  lots 
in  the  town  of  Charlotte,  but  even  this  could  not  make  it  a 
prosperous  institution  in  the  midst  of  a  war  which  was  mak- 
ing a  heavy  drain  upon  the  resources  of  the  people  of  the 
State.  x\nother  act  of  the  Legislature  just  after  the  war 
(Chapter  XXIX  of  the  Private  Laws  of  1784,  October  ses- 
sion) changed  the  name  of  Liberty  Hall  to  Salisbury 
Academy,  and  directed  that  it  should  be  removed  to  Salis-- 
bury,  in  Powan  County.  If  Salisbury  Academy  began 
operations  with  as  many  pupils  as  it  had  trustees  (thirty- 
six,  including  those  added  in  1785),  it  had  a  promising- 
start,  but  what  its  final  fate  was  we  are  unable  to  say. 

The  building  originally  erected  in  Charlotte  for  the  use 
of  Queen's  College,  and  later  operated  under  the  name  of 
Liberty  Hall,  was  evidently  used  for  school  purposes  even 
after  the  Legislature  directed  the  removal  of  the  institution 
to  Salisbury  in  1784 ;  for  we  find  a  not  over-gratifying  refer- 


queen's  college  ok.  liberty  piall.  175 

enee  to  it  in  Washington's  Diary,  May  28,  1791,  when  the 
Father  of  his  Country  took  a  look  at  it  and  its  surround- 
ings. He  wrote:  "Charlotte  is  a  trifling  place,  though  the 
Court  of  Mecklenburg  is  held  in  it.  There  is  a  school 
(called  a  college)  in  which,  at  times,  there  has  been  50  or  60 
boys."  Such  was  the  sad  lot  of  the  first  college  ever  erected 
in  I^orth  Carolina — crippled  in  its  infancy  by  the  King  of 
Great  Britain,  and  belittled  in  its  old  age  by  the  President 
of  the  United  States ! 


176  THE    NORTH    CAROLINA    BOOKLET. 


BIOGRAPHICAL,  GENEALOGICAL  AND  HISTOR. 
ICAL  MEMORANDA 


COMPILED  AND  EDITED  BY  Mrs.  E.  E.  MOFFITT. 


COLLIER  COBB 

Collier  Cobb,  who  contributes  for  this  number  of  The 
Booklet  the  article  entitled  "Governor  Benjamin  Smith," 
was  born  at  Mount  Auburn,  his  grandfather's  plantation,  in 
Wayne  County,  I^orth  Carolina,  March  21,  1862.  His 
father,  the  Reverend  ISTeedham  Bryan  Cobb,  was  then  chap- 
lain in  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia.  The  Cobbs  are  of 
English  extraction  and  immigrated  to  Virginia  in  1613. 
Another  ancestor,  Martin  Franks  (Francke)  came  from 
Germany  to  ISTew  Bern  and  settled  on  the  Trent  river.  His 
daughter  Susanna  became  the  wife  of  William  Heritage 
(1769)  and  the  mother  of  Elizabeth  Heritage,  who  married 
Jesse  Cobb,  a  distinguished  soldier  of  the  Revolution,  great- 
great-grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  and  through 
whose  services  he  is  a  member  of  the  ITorth  Carolina  branch 
of  the  "Sons  of  the  Revolution."  He  is  also  eligible  and 
member  through  ISTeedham  Bryan  Cobb,  member  of  the 
N"orth  Carolina  Provincial  Congress  of  August,  1775  ;  also 
through  Benjamin  May,  of  Pitt  County,  member  of  the 
I^orth  Carolina  Provincial  Congress,  ISTovember,  1776 ;  also 
through  James  Green,  Secretary  of  the  ISTorth  Carolina  Pro- 
vincial Congress  of  April,  1776. 

"Collier  Cobb  during  his  youth  pursued  his  studies  at 
home  and  was  prepared  for  college  by  his  mother,  Mrs. 
Martha  Louisa  Cobb,  a  woman  of  vigorous  intellect  and  very 
strong  will,  who  reared  twelve  children  and  instructed  them 
herself.  This  lady  learned  to  read  and  speak  German  at  the 
age  of  forty,   that  she  might  teach  that   language   to  her 


BIOGRAPHICAL    AND    GENEALOGICAL,  177 

children,  when  by  moving  to  another  town,  they  had  to  give 
up  the  instruction  of  a  German  tutor.  From  her  Collier 
Cobb  inherited  many  of  his  characteristics,  and  her  influ- 
ence on  his  life  has  long  been  strong  and  lasting." 

Collier  Cobb  entered  Wake  Forest  College,  1878,  at  about 
the  age  of  sixteen,  and  the  following  year  he  entered  the 
University  of  JSTorth  Carolina,  where  he  pursued  his  course 
of  study.  Earth  science  had  always  been  attractive  to  him, 
and  at  the  University  he  determined  on  geology  as  a  pro- 
fession. After  leaving  the  University  he  became  a  teacher 
and  studied  the  topographic  features  of  every  section  in 
which  he  taught.  In  the  year  1885  he  gave  up  teaching 
and  entered  Harvard,  in  order  to  perfect  himself  in  his  pro- 
fession. Here  he  was  honored  with  the  Secretaryship  of  the 
Harvard  liatural  History  Society,  a  post  of  distinction 
which  had  been  held  by  Edward  Everett  Hale,  Alexander 
Agassiz,  Theodore  Roosevelt,  and  many  others.  In  1889  he 
received  the  degree  of  A.B.  with  honors  in  Natural  History, 
and  five  years  later  he  received  his  Master's  Degree  from 
Harvard,  his  major  subject  being  "the  origin  of  the  topo- 
graphic features  around  King's  Mountain."  Mr.  Cobb  was 
assistant  to  Professor  ]^.  S.  Shaler  on  the  United  States 
Geological  Survey  (1886-92),  The  influence  of  this  excel- 
lent gentleman  and  learned  scientist  on  the  life  of  his  pupil- 
associate  became  very  strong,  and  to  him  Mr.  Cobb  owes  the 
encouragement  which  induced  him  to  persevere  under  great 
difiiculties,  and  the  retarding  influences  of  ill  health. 

Mr.  Cobb's  activities  cover  a  broad  field,  for  while  dur- 
ing the  four  years  as  assistant  in  the  United  States  Geo- 
logical Survey  he  was  also  assistant  in  Harvard  University 
(1888-90)  and  instructor  in  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of 
Technology  (1890-92).  Among  his  other  acquirements  and 
accomplishments  he  is  an  artistic  amateur  photographer,  his 
pictures  are  widely  known   throughout  the   United   States. 


178  THE    NOKTH    CAEOLINA    BOOKLET. 

He  has  published  many  scientic  papers,  books  and  maps. 
He  is  Fellow  of  the  American  Association  for  the  Advance- 
ment of  Science,  of  the  Association  of  American  Geographers 
and  Geological  Society  of  America  and  other  kindred 
Associations. 

Mr.  Cobb  is  notably  active  in  the  interests  of  his  native 
State.  He  rendered  valuable  assistance  to  Colonel  William 
L.  Saunders  in  his  monumental  work,  "The  Colonial  Records 
of  North  Carolina."  He  is  President  of  the  North  Carolina 
Academy  of  Science ;  a  member  of  the  Elisha  Mitchell  Scien- 
tific Society ;  has  published  two  geographies  of  the  State ; 
also,  in  1879,  a  valuable  map  of  the  State,  which  has  been 
used  for  over  a  quarter  of  a  century  in  the  schools.  He  was 
elected  Professor  of  Geology  in  the  University  of  North 
Carolina  in  1892,  and  continues  in  that  position,  which 
attests  his  great  popularity  and  fitness  for  the  place.  His 
extensive  travels  in  other  lands  have  proved  of  inestimable 
value  to  his  country  as  well  as  to  himself.  He  is  widely 
known  as  a  student  of  moving  sands,  which  he  has  studied 
on  the  coasts  of  France,  Belgium,  and  Holland,  as  well  as 
those  of  the  States,  and  of  the  desert  regions  of  the  world. 

In  the  January  number  of  The  Booklet,  1905,  Professor 
Cobb  contributed  an  article  on  "Some  Changes  in  the  North 
Carolina  Coast  since  1585."  This  article  throws  much  light 
on  the  mooted  question,  as  to  which  inlet  the  English  adven- 
turers of  1584  entered  the  sounds  of  North  Carolina  (then 
called  Virginia).  His  investigations  covered  a  study  of  all 
maps  and  originals  obtainable,  securing  photogTaphs,  or 
tracings  from  John  White's  map  of  1585,  to  the  Coast  Sur- 
vey Charts  of  the  present  day.  The  notes  presented  by  him 
are  based  on  his  own  researches,  investigations  and  explora- 
tions of  the  North  Carolina  coast.  Many  of  the  inlets  found 
by  early  explorers  have  been  closed  and  others,  formed  by  the 
shifting  sands,  will  reveal  to  the  student  of  history  some- 


BIOGKAPHICAL    AND    GENEALOGICAL.  179 

thing  of  the  nature  of  the  problem  of  which  particular  inlet 
was  entered  by  the  English  colonists.  Whatever  confusion 
there  may  be  as  to  names  of  various  harbors  mentioned,  it  is 
generally  conceded  that  the  explorers  from  1585  to  1590 
headed  for  an  inlet  or  harbor  near  Eoanoke  Island  called 
''Hatorask."  The  influence  of  these  shifting  sands  upon 
the  development  of  our  State  is  an  interesting  subject  for  the 
student  of  earth  science  in  its  relation  to  man. 

Professor  Cobb's  object  in  his  investigations  was  to  study 
the  changes  in  the  zone  of  early  exploration  and  settlement 
as  they  have  influenced  the  history  of  the  State.  The  round- 
ing of  Cape  Hatteras  is  attended  with  such  danger  that  the 
loss  to  life  and  shipping  is  fearful  indeed,  and  to  avert  this 
the  government  now  has  under  consideration  the  opening  of 
a  gTeat  inland  waterway,  which  will  not  only  be  an  economic 
move,  but  humanitarian  in  its  purpose. 

Professor  Cobb  ranks  high  as  a  geologist,  and  in  his  fine 
library  in  Chapel  Hill  he  still  pursues  his  studies  and  to 
exert  his  powers  on  the  students  under  his  charge  to  become 
useful  factors  in  the  building  up  of  the  State  and  its  insti- 
tutions. ''The  story  of  his  life  presents  many  features 
of  great  use  to  young  Americans,  illustrating  how  persever- 
ance and  systematic  endeavor  will  generally  bring  success. 
He  is  indeed  a  representative  American,  not  self-made, 
though  self-educated  in  the  best  sense,  self-reliant  and  suc- 
cessful in  the  career  which  he  has  chosen.  He  has  lived 
thoroughly  up  to  his  motto,  'Always  do  as  best  you  can  the 
work  that  lies  immediately  at  hand.  Want  whatever  work 
presents  itself,  and  you  will  some  day  get  the  work  you  want 
to  do.'  " 

In  1891  Professor  Cobb  married  Mary  Lindsay  Battle, 
a  daughter  of  Doctor  William  Horn  Battle.  She  died  No- 
vember 27,  1900,  leaving  three  children:  William  Battle, 
Collier,  and  Mary  Louise.     In  1904  he  married  Miss  Lucy 


180  THE    NORTH    CAROLINA    BOOKLET. 

Plummer  Battle,  daughter  of  Honorable  Richard  H.  Battle, 
of  Raleigh,  N.  C.  She  bore  him  one  son,  Richard  Battle 
Cobb.  She  died  April  27,  1905.  In  November,  1910,  Pro- 
fessor Cobb  married  Miss  Mary  Catling,  of  Little  Rock, 
Arkansas,  a  descendant  of  Governor  Richard  Caswell. 

Note. — Tho  material  for  the  above  sketch  was  drawn  from  Captain  Samuel  A.  Ashe's 
sketch  of  Mr.  Cobb,  in  the  Biocraphical  History  of  North  Carolina,  Vol.  VI,  p.  141;  also 
from  The  North  Carolina  Booklet,  Vol.  IV,  January,  1903,  article  by  Professor  Cobb; 
also  from  tho  Records  of  the  Sons  of  the  Revolution  of  North  CaroUna. 


MES.    HELEN    DEBEENIEEE    WILLS.  181 


MRS.   HELEN  DeBERNIERE  WILLS 


Mrs.  Helen  DeBerniere  Wills  departed  this  life  on  June 
24,  1911.  The  death  of  this  highly  esteemed  and  honored 
member  of  the  North  Carolina  Society  Daughters  of  the 
Revolution  is  greatly  lamented,  and  the  loss  of  her  valued 
service  as  Genealogist  is  sadly  felt  and  deplored.  Mrs. 
Wills  was  a  highly  educated  woman,  naturally  endowed  with 
a  superior  intellect,  enriched  with  judicious  culture  yet  pos- 
sessed of  a  modesty  so  retiring  that  only  those  who  knew  her 
intimately  were  able  to  appreciate  the  excellence  of  her 
mind  and  character. 

Under  the  guiding  hand  of  a  father  of  unusual  literary 
ability,  Mrs.  Wills  became  proficient  as  a  teacher,  and  for 
a  time  she  pursued  this  occupation  until  her  marriage  to 
James  Wills,  a  prominent  druggist  of  Wilson,  North  Caro- 
lina, on  August  12,  1867.  As  the  years  passed  on,  she  was 
repeatedly  called  upon  to  follow  her  dear  ones  to  the  tomb. 
On  October  26,  1884,  her  husband  died,  in  the  faith  and 
hope  of  a  Christian,  after  many  years  of  trial  and  suffering, 
leaving  her  with  two  small  sons.  She  again  resumed  teach- 
ing, in  which  she  met  with  continued  success  until  her  chil- 
dren were  fitted  to  take  up  their  life  work  and  repay  her  in 
a  measure  for  her  care  of  them. 

With  a  spirit  of  independence,  her  desire  being  to  take  up 
some  work  to  occupy  her  time  and  attention,  she  removed 
to  Raleigh,  N.  C.  It  was  here  that  her  services  were  called 
into  requisition  by  the  Society  of  the  Daughters  of  the  Revo- 
lution to  undertake  the  office  of  Genealogist,  a  peculiar  and 
difficult  branch  of  history.  Not  since  the  days  of  Mr.  Hath- 
away, of  Edenton,  N.  C,  has  any  one  accomplished  what 
she  did  for  Genealogy  in  North  Carolina.  Could  she  have 
had  the  physical  strength  to  take  up  the  work  where  he  left 
4 


182  THE    NORTH    CAKOLINA    BOOKLET. 

it  off,  our  State  would  have  been  doubly  enriched  bj  her 
services,  but  a  weak  constitution  forbade  her  undertaking  its 
continuance. 

Mrs.  Wills  was  a  devoted  church  woman  and  a  faithful 
attendant  upon  the  ministrations  of  her  rector,  the  Rev.  Dr. 
I.  McK.  Pittinger,  of  the  Church  of  the  Good  Shepherd  in 
Raleigh,  in  whose  congregation  she  had  a  host  of  friends  who 
held  her  in  the  highest  esteem.  She  was  a  type  of  the  ante- 
bellum Southern  lady,  impressing  her  personality  upon  all 
those  with  whom  she  came  in  contact.  Firm  in  her  convic- 
tions, based  upon  the  broad  view  she  took  of  life,  her  judg- 
ment was  to  be  relied  on  in  matters  of  social  or  literary  sig- 
nificance. She  was  a  voracious  reader,  and  was  authority  on 
general  literature  and  language.  She  was  especially  a  stu- 
dent of  history  and  had  connected  herself  with  several  patri- 
otic organizations. 

She  became  a  member  of  the  Society  of  the  Daughters  of 
the  Revolution  when  it  was  first  organized  in  the  State,  and 
to  the  day  of  failing  health  was  ever  on  the  alert  to  aid  in  its 
growth  and  progress.  In  all  its  difficulties  and  deliberations 
her  voice  had  a  potent  influence.  The  voluminous  notes  and 
data  which  she  had  collected  during  her  term  of  office  will 
be  most  valuable  to  her  successor. 

Mrs.  Wills  was  also  a  "Daughter  of  the  Confederacy" 
from  the  time  that  the  society  was  organized,  and  one  more 
faithful  was  not  easily  found.  She  was  Historian  of  the 
Johnston  Pettigrew  Chapter,  U.  D.  C,  of  Raleigh,  IST.  C, 
filling  the  place  most  effectually  and  faithfully. 

She  founded  at  Chapel  Hill  and  was  President  of  the 
Leonidas  Polk  Chapter,  the  first  and  only  Chapter  of  the 
TJ.  D.  C.  ever  organized  in  that  place,  leaving  it  in  a  flour- 
ishing condition  upon  her  return  to  Raleigh. 

Her  devotion  to  the  U.  D.  C,  her  intense  interest  in  its 
historic  work,  her  desire  to  see  recorded  the  truth  of  the 


MES.    HELEN    DEBEBNIEBE    WILLS,  183 

cause,  won  for  her  the  place  of  Chairman  of  the  Historical 
Text-book  Committee  of  the  State  Division.  To  this  she 
spared  no  pains  to  vindicate  the  justice  of  the  cause  as  she 
saw  it.  Early  in  1903  she  issued  a  circular  letter  to  the 
President  and  Historian  of  every  Chapter  in  the  State,  then 
numbering  about  sixty.  This  circular  was  for  the  purpose 
of  reminding  them  of  the  importance  of  this  branch  of  the 
U.  D.  C.  work — the  preservation  of  a  truthful  history  of  the 
War  between  the  States,  the  training  of  our  young  people  in 
familiarity  with  such  history  and  the  endeavor  to  eliminate 
from  our  schools  the  false  teachings  which  traduce  the  South 
and  her  heroes.  She  held  up  Jefferson  Davis,  R.  E.  Lee  and 
''Stonewall"  Jackson  as  the  highest  types  of  American  man- 
hood, fit  examples  for  the  generations  to  come.  These  char- 
acters, as  well  as  other  Confederate  history,  to  be  studied  by 
our  young  people  in  order  to  fit  them  to  carry  on  the  work 
after  the  older  "Daughters"  have  passed  away,  and  to  im- 
press upon  them  their  duty  to  the  old  soldier  of  the  Lost 
Cause  while  in  life,  and  to  keep  green  his  grave  after  death. 
This  circular  met  with  many  favorable  responses,  not  only 
from  the  Society  but  from  prominent  educators  and  other 
public-spirited  citizens.  Mrs.  Wills's  actual  experience  before 
and  during  the  war  enabled  her  to  recount  the  trend  of  events 
with  trusted  accuracy.  She  heard  the  first  gun  fired  at 
Sumter,  being  at  that  time  a  resident  of  South  Carolina,  and 
the  echoes  of  that  forerunner  of  a  great  fratricidal  strife  ever 
remained  a  fearful  memory. 

A  few  years  ago  a  society  was  formed  by  the  descendants 
of  "Signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence."  In  this 
organization  Mrs.  Wills  was  solicited  to  enroll  her  name, 
being  eligible  through  her  ancestor  on  the  maternal  side, 
William  Hooper,  "The  Signer."  In  this  she  became  heartily 
interested  and  attended  two  of  the  meetings,  the  last  on 
October  19,  1909,  at  Yorktown,  Virginia — the  one  hundred 


184  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 

and  twenty-eighth  anniversary  of  the  surrender  of  Lord  Corn- 
wallis  to  General  George  Washington.  This  historic  town 
was  the  scene  of  a  memorable  celebration  conducted  under 
the  joint  auspices  of  the  '^Descendants  of  Signers"  and  the 
Yorktown  Historical  Society.  A  very  interesting  descrip- 
tion of  the  occasion  was  written  by  Mrs.  Wills  for  The 
North  Carolina  Booklet  of  July,  1910. 

On  account  of  a  failure  in  health,  late  in  the  year  1910, 
she  laid  aside  her  work,  to  reside  with  her  son,  Mr.  Henry 
Wills,  in  Chapel  Hill,  'N.  C,  hoping  that  a  change  of  alti- 
tude would  restore  her  to  health  and  enable  her  to  resume 
her  wonted  occupation,  but  her  days  were  numbered.  After 
a  lingering  illness  she  passed  away,  surrounded  by  kind  and 
sorrowing  friends.  She  is  survived  by  two  sons,  Henry  C. 
Wills,  of  Chapel  Hill,  N.  C,  and  George  Wills,  a  prominent 
architect  of  New  York  City ;  also  by  one  sister,  Mrs.  R.  H. 
Graves,  now  residing  in  Philadelphia,  besides  several 
nephews  and  nieces. 

GENEALOGY. 

Mrs.  Wills  comes  of  a  noble,  patriotic,  and  cultured  ances- 
try, being  lineally  descended  from  the  Hooper,  Maclaine, 
DeBerniere,  and  Jones  families.  She  is  the  fifth  in  lineal 
descent  from  the  Rev.  William  Hooper,  Trinity  Church, 
Boston,  Massachusetts,  the  second  Rector  of  that  church  from 
1747  to  his  death  in  1767.  She  is  the  fourth  in  descent 
from  his  son,  William  Hooper  (1742-1790),  the  ''signer"  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence,  of  National  fame.  She 
is  the  third  in  descent  from  William  Hooper  third  and  Helen 
(Hogg)  his  wife,  of  Brunswick  County,  N.  C,  who  died  in 
1804.  She  is  the  second  in  descent  from  the  Rev.  William 
Hooper  (1792-1876),  who  married  Frances  Pollock  Jones, 
daughter  of  Edward  Jones  (1762-1841),  for  many  years 
Solicitor-General  of  North  Carolina.  Reverend  Wm. 
Hooper,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  was  for  many  years  Professor  in  the 


MES.    HELEN    DEBEENIEEE    WILLS.  186 

TJniversitj  of  North  Carolina  and  other  institutions  of  learn- 
ing, an  instructor  of  youth  for  sixty-five  years.  She  was  a 
daughter  of  Professor  John  DeBerniere  Hooper  (1811-1886), 
for  many  years  Professor  of  Languages  in  the  University  of 
North  Carolina,  who  was  acknowledged  to  be  one  of  the  most 
accurate  Greek,  Latin  and  French  scholars  of  his  age  and  day. 
From  such  ancestry  Mrs.  Wills  inherited  many  varied 
traits  that  characterized  this  remarkable  family,  and  at  her 
demise  many  relatives  and  friends  are  left  to  mourn  their  loss. 


186  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 


IN  MEMORIAM 

Resolutions  of  Respect  to  the  Memory  of  Mrs.  Fanny  DeBerniere 
Hooper  Whitaker,  \vho  Died  November  28,  1911 

Whereas,  God,  in  His  divine  love  and  never-failing  wis- 
dom, has  called  from  her  temporary  home  to  "the  Great 
Beyond"  our  beloved  Founder,  former  State  and  Honorary 
Regent,  Mrs.  Fanny  DeBerniere  Hooper  Whitaker: 

Therefore  he  it  Resolved,  That  the  ^orth  Carolina  So- 
ciety, Daughters  of  the  Revolution,  laments  the  inexpressible 
loss  sustained  in  her  death. 

That  they  express  the  deepest  gratitude  for  the  high 
standard  she  has  set  us  by  the  beautiful  example  of  her  noble 
life,  and  that  they  appreciate  the  great  work  she  has  done  in 
founding  this  society,  whose  influence  has  been  recognized 
as  a  factor  in  the  universal  historical  awakening  that  is  re- 
storing North  Carolina  to  her  own,  whose  devotion  will  ever 
be  an  inspiration  to  our  members — her  loyal  followers — to 
undertake  more  difficult  tasks  and  to  bring  to  accomplish- 
ment enduring  achievements. 

That  they  will  always  miss  the  guiding  hand  that  has 
safely  piloted  them  through  troubled  waters,  and  treasure 
her  hallowed  memory  through  the  coming  years. 

To  the  dear  ones  is  extended  our  warmest  sympathy  in 
this  hour  of  sorrow. 

That  these  resolutions  be  spread  upon  the  minutes  of  the 
society  and  a  copy  be  sent  to  the  family. 

Mary  Hilliard  Hinton, 
Mrs.  Annie  (Moore)  Parker, 
Mrs.  Hubert  PTaywood, 

Regent  Bloomsbury  Chapter. 
Mrs.  E.  E.  Moffitt, 

Committee. 


MARRIAGE    BONDS    OF    EOWAN    COUNTY.  187 


MARRIAGE  BONDS  OF  ROWAN  COUNTY,  N.  C. 


BY  MRS.  M.  G.  McCUBBINS. 


Squire  Boone  to  Jane  Vancleft.  July  11,  1765.  Squire 
Boone,  John  Johnston  and  Sam  (his  X  mark)  Tate. 
(Thomas  Frohock).  [This  is  framed  and  hangs  on  wall  in 
clerk's  office.] 

Andrew  Beard  to  Anne  Locke.  February  1,  1790. 
Andrew  Beard  and  Jno.  Beard.      (C  Caldwell,  D.  C.) 

John  H.  Berger  to  Susanna  Miller.  February  15,  1790. 
John  H.  Berger(  ?)  (in  Dutch)  and  Peter  (his  X  mark) 
Berger. 

Randel  Bevin  to  Rachael  Wood.  February  15,  1790. 
Randel  (his  X  mark)  Bevin  and  Benjamin  Stony  (  ?).  (Ed. 
Harris.). 

Thomas  Boulwin  to  Mary  Coske  (Cooke?).  February  22, 
1790.     Thomas  Boulwin (  ?)  and  AVilliam  Aldredge. 

Philip  Brown  to  Rel)ekah  Baker.  March  1,  1790.  Philip 
(his  X  mark)  Brown  and  Charles  Dunn. 

John  Baker  to  Jean  Mitchel.  May  20,  1790.  John 
(his  X  mark)  Baker  and  Sehon  Smith.  (C.  Caldwell, 
D.  C.) 

John  Braley  to  Mary  Carson.  May  22,  1790.  John 
Braley  and  Wi'".  St.  Carson.     (C.  Caldwell,  D.  C.) 

Wm.  Brewer  to  Mary  Shumaker.  June  10,  1790.  Wil- 
liam (his  X  mark)  Bruer  and  Rich*^  (his  X  mark)  Speaks. 
(Basil  Gaither.) 

John  Biles  to  Margaret  Whiteker.  July  2,  1790.  John. 
Biles  and  John  (his  X  mark)  Whiteker.      (Basil  Gaither.) 

William  Barly,  Jr.,  to  Jane  Patteson.  July  26,  1790. 
William  Barly  and  Wm.  Belay,  Sr.  (Jan  Harris,  D.  C,  for 
Charles  Caldwell.) 


188  THE  NOETH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 

John  Barklej  to  Yuiley(  ?)  Kern.  August  21,  1790. 
John  Barcley  and  John  Kern.      (C.  Caldwell,  D.  C.) 

John  Berger  to  MargTet  Cruse.  John  Berger  and  Adam 
Stiyerwalt.     September  1,  1790.     (C.  Caldwell,  D.  C.) 

Muddeas  Beam  to  Polly  Wise.  September  21,  1790. 
Muddeas  Beam(  ?)  (both  in  Dutch)  Jacob  Beam.  (C.  Cald- 
well, D.  C.) 

Samuel  Badjet  to  Jenny  Skene.  October  21,  1790. 
Samuel  Badgett  and  Jacob  Skeen.     (C.  Caldwell,  D.  C.) 

James  Brian  to  Margaret  Johnson.  December  8,  1790. 
James  Bryan  and  John  Johnston.     (C.  Caldwell,  C.  C.) 

Manning  Brookshire  to  Elizabeth  Sludder.     December  14, 

1790.  Manning  (his  X  mark)  Brookshire  and  Jesse  Brook- 
shire. 

Douglass  Blue  to  Charity  Hill.  May  18,  1791.  Douglass 
Blue  and  Moses  Bellah.      (Charles  Caldwell,  D.  C.) 

Archibald  Blue  to  Martha  Forest  (or  Foust).     July  18, 

1791.  Arch^    Blue    and    Moses    Bellah.       (C.    Caldwell, 
D.  C.) 

David  Bloomfield  to  Kachel  Barkley.  October  21,  1791. 
David  (his  X  mark)  Bloomfield  and  Wilson  McCay.  Cun:™ 
Harris.) 

John  Buse  to  Sarah  Wyatt.  November  8,  1791.  John 
Buis  and  J.  G.  Lanmann.      (Chs.  Caldwell.) 

Horatio    Baker    to    Rachael    Blaster(  ?).     December    29, 

1791.  Horatio  (his  X  mark)  Baker  and  Philip  Coleman(  ?) 
(in  Dutch).     (Ad:  Osborn.) 

Jeremiah  Brown  to  Mary  Charian  (Marian?).     June  29, 

1792.  Jeremiah  (his  X  mark)  Brown  and  Thomas  (his  X 
mark)  Davis.      (Chs.  Caldwell.) 

Jacob  Bodenhamer  to  Elizabeth  Spurgins.  January  1, 
1792.  Jacob  Bodenhamer  and  Peter  Bodenhamer.  (Jno. 
Monro  ?) 


MAKKIAGE    BONDS    OF    EOWAN    COUNTY.  189 

Moses  Bella  to  Elizabeth  Anderson.  February  21,  1Y92. 
Moses  Bellah  and  Wm.  Anderson.      (Chs.  Caldwell.) 

John  Biles  to  Betsay  Smithe.  March  12,  1792.  John 
Biles  and  Conrad  Brem.      (Chs.  Caldwell.) 

John  Baxter  to  Hannah  Owins(?).  April  13,  1792. 
John  Backster  and  James  (his  X  mark)  Wood.  (Chs. 
Caldwell.) 

William  Balej  to  Lucy  Foster.  June  11,  1792.  William 
Baily  and  Robert  Dial.      (Basil  Gaither.) 

George  Bullen  to  Chlora  Castor.  October  9,  1792. 
George  (his  X  mark)  Bullen  and  Jacob  Call  (Castor?). 
(Jo.  Chambers.) 

Leonard  Bevins  to  Sarah  Moore.  October  16,  1792. 
Leonard  (his  X  mark)  Bevins  and  Val :  Beard.  (Jos. 
Chambers.) 

N.  B.  on  back  of  bond. — Jos.  Chambers  testifies  that  they 
were  married  October  16,  1792. 

Thomas  Briggs  to  Esther  Parks.  October  19,  1792. 
Thomas  Briggs  and  Simon  (his  G  mark)  Watson.  Jos:^ 
Chambers,  D.  C.) 

Conrod  Browii  to  Patience  Penny.  October  (no  date), 
1792.  Conrod  (his  X  mark)  Brown  and  David  (his  X 
mark)  Brown.      (Jo.  Chambers.) 

Jacob  Bining  to  ISTancy  Rowan.  November  17,  1792. 
Jacob  Binning  and  John  Braly. 

John  Buise  to  Martha  Wyatt.  January  12,  1793.  John 
Buis,  Jr.,  and  Laurence  Clinard.      ( Jno.  (  ?)onro.) 

William  Bunton  to  Mary  Cowan.  January  31,  1793. 
William  Bunten  and  Thomas  Barrkley  (or  Barckley?). 
(Jos.  Chambers.) 

William  Bateman  to  Elizabeth  Smith.  March  4,  1793. 
William  (his  X  mark)  Bateman  and  Mesheck(  ?)  Pinkstone. 
(Jos.  Chambers.) 


190  .      TnE    NOKTH    CAROLINA    BOOKLET. 

William  Braly  to  Margaret  Woods.  March  8,  1793.  Wil- 
liam Braly  and  Jno.  Braly. 

Daniel  Brown  to  Ann  Rablin.  August  26,  1793.  Daniel 
Brawn (  ?)  and  Mertin  Rablin.      (Jos.  Chambers.) 

John  Henry  Brinly  to  Catharine  Easter.  August  4,  1793. 
John  Henry  Brennly  and  Peter  Easter  (or  Easten  ?).  (Jno. 
(  ?)onro.) 

William  Brown  to  Lucy  Chaffin.  September  3,  1793. 
William  Brown  and  Valentine  (his  X  mark)  Holderfield. 
(Jos.  Chambers.) 

Henry  Benson  to  Jane  Cathey.  October  12,  1793.  Henry 
Bonson  and  Jno.  McRavey.      (Jos.  Chambers.) 

Charles  Burros  to  ISTancy  Renshaw.  October  18,  1793. 
Charles  Burroughs  and  James  Heathman.     (Jos.  Chambers.) 

George  Briles  to  Barbra  Coonrod.  George  Brile  and 
David  Coonrod  (?)    (in  Dutch).      (Jno.  onro.) 

Samuel  Bucey  to  Katharine  Seigler.  February  10,  1794. 
Samuel  Bucey  and  Laurence  Seigler.  (John  Pinchback  and 
Ly(?)  Pinchback.) 

John  Burns  to  Mary  Lopp.  April  18,  1794.  John  (his 
X  mark)  Burns  and  Charles  (his  X  mark)  Burns.  (Jo. 
Chambers.) 

James  Brown  to  Sarah  Smith.  July  23,  1794.  James 
Brown  and  Tobias  Fouro(  ?)   (or  Furr).      (I.  Troy,  P.  C.) 

Daniel  Benson  to  Mary  Ham.  August  25,  1794.  Daniel 
Benson  and  John  Peraman.      (Friedrick  Miller.) 


INFORMATION 

Concerning  the  Patriotic  Society 

"Daughters  of  the  Revolution*' 


The  Genera]  Society  was  founded  October  11,  1890, — and  organized 
August  20,  1891, — under  the  name  of  "Daughters  of  the  American 
Revolution";  was  incorporated  under  the  laws  of  the  State  of  New  York 
as  an  organization  national  in  its  work  and  purpose.  Some  of  the  mem- 
bers of  this  organization  becoming  dissatisfied  with  the  terms  of  en- 
trance, withdrew  from  it  and,  in  1891,  formed  under  the  slightly  differ- 
ing name  "Daughters  of  the  Revolution,"  eligibility  to  which  from  the 
moment  of  its  existence  has  been  lineal  descent  from  an  ancestor  who 
rendered  patriotic  service  during  the  War  of  Independence. 


**  Ihe  North  Carolina  Society  " 

a  subdivision  of  the  General  Society,  was  organized  in  October,  1896, 
and  has  continued  to  promote  the  purposes  of  its  institution  and  to 
observe  the  Constitution  and  By-Laws. 


Membership  and  Qualifications 

Any  woman  shall  be  eligible  who  is  above  the  age  of  eighteen  years, 
of  good  character,  and  a  lineal  descendant  of  an  ancestor  who  ( 1 )  was 
a  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  a  member  of  the  Conti- 
nental Congress,  Legislature  or  General  Court,  of  any  of  the  Colonies 
or  States;  or  (2)  rendered  civil,  military  or  naval  service  under  the 
authority  of  any  of  the  thirteen  Colonies,  or  of  the  Continental  Con- 
gress; or  (3)  by  service  rendered  during  the  War  of  the  Revolution 
became  liable  to  the  penalty  of  treason  against  the  government  of  Great 
Britain:  Provided,  that  such  ancestor  always  remained  loyal  to  the 
cause  of  American  Independence. 

The  chief  work  of  the  North  Carolina  Society  for  the  past  eight  years 
has  been  the  publication  of  the  "North  Carolina  Booklet,"  a  quarterly 
publication  of  great  events  in  North  Carolina  history — Colonial  and 
Revolutionary.  $1.00  per  year.  It  will  continue  to  extend  its  work  and 
to  spread  the  knowledge  of  its  History  and  Biography  in  other  States. 

This  Society  has  its  headquarters  in  Raleigh,  N.  C,  Room  411,  'Caro- 
lina Trust  Company  Building,  232  Fayetteville  Street. 

1 


Some  North  Carolina  Booklets  for  Sale 

Address,  EDITOR,  Raleigh,  N.  C. 

Vol.  I 

"Greene's  Retreat,"  Dr.  Daniel  Harvey  Hill. 

Vol.  II 

"Our   Own   Pirates,"   Capt.   S.   A.   Ashe. 

"Indian  Massacre  and  Tuscarora  War,"'  Judge  Walter  Clark. 

"Moravian   Settlement   in   North   Carolina,"   Rev.   J.   E.   Clewell. 

"Whigs  and  Tories,"  Prof.   W.  C.  Allen. 

"The    Revolutionary    Congresses,"    Mr.    T.    M.    Pittman. 

"Raleigh  and  the  Old  Town  of  Bloomsbury,"  Dr.  K.  P.  Battle. 

"Historic    Homes — Bath,     Buneomb     Hall,     Hayes,"     Rodman,     Blount, 

Dillard. 
"County  of  Clarendon,"  Prof.  John  S.  Bassett. 
"Signal  and  Secret  Service,"  Dr.  Charles  E.  Taylor. 
'Last  Days  of  the  War,"  Dr.  Henry  T.  Bahnson. 

Vol.  Ill 

"Volunteer   State  Tennessee   as   a   Seceder,"   Miss   Susie   Gentry. 

"Colony   of   Transylvania,"    Judge   Walter    Clark. 

"Social    Conditions    in    Colonial    North    Carolina,"    Col.    Alexander    Q. 

Holladay,   LL.D. 
"Battle  of  Moore"s   Creek   Bridge,    1776,"   Prof.  M.   C.   S.   Noble. 
"North  Carolina  and  Georgia  Boundary,"  Mr.  Daniel  Goodloe. 

Vol.  IV 

"Battle  Ramsaur's  Mill,   1780,"  Major  Wm.  A.  Graham. 
"Quaker    Meadows,"    Judge   A.    C.   Avery. 
"Convention  of   1788,"  Judge  Henry  Groves  Connor. 
"North   Carolina    Signers   of   Declaration   of   Independence,   John   Penn 
and  Joseph  Hewes,"  by    T.  M.  Pittman  and  Dr.  E.  Walter  Sikes. 

"North  Carolina  Troops  in  South  America,"  Judge  Walter  Clark. 
"Rutherford's   Expedition   Against   the   Indians,"    Capt.    S.   A.   Ashe. 
"Changes  in  Carolina   Coast  Since   1585,"   Prof.   Collier   Cobb. 
"Highland  Scotch  Settlement  in  N.  C,"  Judge  James  C.  MacRae. 
"The    Scotch-Irish    Settlement,"    Rev.    A.    J.    McKelway. 
"Battle  of  Guilford  Court-house  and  German  Palatines  in  North  Caro- 
lina," Major  J.   M.  Morehead,  Judge  O.  H.  Allen. 

2 


Vol.  VII.   (Quarterly.) 

July.  No.  1. 

"  North  Carolina  in  the  French  and  Indian  War,"  Col.  A.  M.  Waddell. 

"Locke's  Fundamental  Constitutions,"  Mr.  Junius  Davis. 

"  Industrial  Life  in  Colonial  Carolina,"  Mr.  Thomas  M.  Pittman. 

Address:  "Our  Dearest  Neighbor — The  Old  North  State,"  Hon.  James 
Alston  Cabell. 

Biographical  Sketches:  Col.  A.  M.  Waddell,  Junius  Davis,  Thomas  M. 
Pittman,  by  Mrs.  E.  E.  Moffitt;  Hon.  Jas.  Alston  Cabell,  by  Mary 
Hilliard  Hinton. 

Abstracts  of  Wills.    Mrs.  Helen  DeB.  Wills. 

October,  No.  2. 

"  Ode  to  North  Carolina,"  Pattie  Williams  Gee. 

"  The    Finances    of    the    North    Carolina    Colonists,"    Dr.    Charles    Lee 

Raper. 
"  Joseph  Gales,  Editor,"  Mr.  Willis  G.  Briggs. 
"Our  First  Constitution,  1776,"  Dr.  E.  W.  Sikes. 
"  North   Carolina's    Historical    Exhibit   at   Jamestown    Exposition," 

Mary  Hilliard  Hinton. 

Biographical  Sketches:  Dr.  Kemp  P.  Battle,  Dr.  Charles  Lee  Raper, 
Willis  Grandy  Briggs,  Pattie  Williams  Gee.     By  Mrs.  E.  E.  Moffitt. 

January,   No.  3. 

"  General  Robert  Howe,"  Hon.  John  D.  Bellamy. 

"  Early  Relations  of  North  Carolina  and  the  West,"  Dr.  William  K. 
Boyd. 

"  Incidents  of  the  Early  and  Permanent  Settlement  of  the  Cape  Fear," 
Mr.  W.  B.  McKoy. 

Biographical  Sketches:  John  Dillard  Bellamy,  William  K.  Boyd,  Wil- 
liam B.  McKoy.     By  Mrs.  E.  E.  Moffitt. 

April,  No.  4. 

"St.  James's  Churchyard"    (Poem),  Mrs.  L.  C.  Markham. 

"  The  Expedition  Against  the  Row  Galley  General  Arnold — A  Side 

Light  on  Colonial  Edenton,"  Rev.  Robt.  B.  Drane,  D.D. 
"  The  Quakers  of  Perquimans,"  Julia  S.  White. 

"  Fayetteville  Independent  Light  Infantry,"  Judge  James  C.  MacRae. 
Biographical    Sketches:     Mrs.   L.    C.    Markham,   Rev.   R.    B.    Drane, 

Julia  S.  White,  Judge  James  C.  MacRae.     By  Mrs.  E.  E.  Moffitt. 

Vol.  VIM.— (Quarterly  ) 

July,   No.  1. 

"John  Harvey,"  Mr.  R.  D.   W.  Connor. 

"Military  Organizations  of  North  Carolina  During  the  American  Revo- 
lution,"  Clyde   L.   King,   A.M. 
"A  Sermon  by  Rev.  George  Micklejohn,"  edited  by  Mr.  R.  D.  W.  Connor 

3 


Vol.  v.— (Quarterly.) 
No.  2. 

"History  of  the  Capitol,"  Colonel  Charles  Earl  Johnson. 

"Some  Notes  on  Colonial  North  Carolina,  1700-1750,"  Colonel  J.  Bryan 
Grimes. 

"North   Carolina's   Poets,"   Eev.   Hight   C.   Moore. 

No.  3. 

"Cornelius  Harnett,"  Mr.  R.  D.  W.  Connor. 

"Celebration    of    the    Anniversary    of    May    20,    1775,"    Major    W.    A. 

Graham. 
"Edward  Moseley,"  by  Dr.  D.  H.  Hill. 

No.  4. 

"Governor  Thomas  Pollok,"   Mrs.  John  W.  Hinsdale. 
"Battle  of  Cowan's  Ford,"  Major  W.  A.  Graham. 

"First   Settlers   in   North   Carolina   Not  Religious   Refugees,"   Rt.   Rev. 
Joseph   Blount   Cheshire,   D.D. 

Vol.  VI-(Quarterly.) 
October,  No.  2. 

"The  Borough  Towns  of  North  Carolina,"  Mr.  Francis  Nash. 

"Governor  Thomas  Burke,"  J.  G.  de  Roulhac  Hamilton,  Ph.D. 

"Colonial  and  Revolutionary  Relics  in  the  Hall  of  History,"  Col.  Fred. 
A.   Olds. 

"The    North    Carolina    Society    Daughters    of    the    Revolution    and    its 

Objects." 

Biographical    Sketches:     Dr.    Richard   Dillard,    Mr.    Francis    Nash,    Dr. 
J.  G.  de  R.  Hamilton  and  Col.  Fred  A.  Olds,  by  Mrs.  E.  E.  MoITitt. 

January,  No.  3. 

"State   Library    Building   and   Department   of   Archives   and   Records," 
Mr.  R.  D.  W.  Connor. 

"The  Battle  of  Rockfish  Creek,  1781,"  Mr.  James  Owen  Carr. 
"Governor  Jesse  Franklin,"  Prof.  J.  T.  Alderman. 

"North    Carolina's    Historical    Exhibit    at    Jamestown,"    Mrs.    Lindsay 
Patterson,  Mary  Hilliard  Hinton. 

Biographical  Sketches:    Mrs.  S.  B.  Kenneday,  R.  D.  W.  Connor,  Jamea 
Owen  Carr,  and  Prof.  J.  T.  Alderman,  by  Mrs.  E.  E.  MoITitt. 

April,  No.  4-. 

"The  White  Pictures,"  Mr.  W.  J.  Peele. 

"North  Carolina's  Attitude  Toward  the  Revolution,"  Mr.  Robert  Strong. 
"Some  Overlooked  North  Carolina  History,"  J.  T.  Alderman. 
Biographical    Sketches:   Richard    Benbury    Creecy,    the    D.    R.    Society 
and  Its  Objects,  Mrs.  E.   E.  Moffitt. 

Genealogical  Sketches:   Abstracts  of  Wills;  Scolley,  Sprott  anu  Hunter, 
Mrs.   Helen   de   B.   Wells. 


Biographical    and   Genealogical    Sketches:   R.   D.   W.   Connor,   Clyde   L. 

King,  Marshall  DeLaneey  Haywood,  by  Mrs.  E.  E.  Motlitt. 
"Abstracts  of  Wills,"  Mrs.  Helen  DeB.  Wills. 

October,    No    2. 

"Convention   of   1835,"  Associate  Justice   Henry  G.   Connor. 

"The   Life   and    Services   of   Brigadier-General   Jethro   Sumner,"    Kemp 

P.    Battle,   LL.D. 
"The    Significance   of    the    Mecklenburg    Declaration    of    Independence," 

Prof.    Biuce   Craven. 
Biographical  and  Genealogical  Sketches:    Judge  Henrv  G.  Connor,  Kemp 

P.  Battle,  LL.D.,  Prof.  Bruce  Craven,  by  Mrs.  E.'e.  MoHitt. 

January,  No.  3. 

"The  Mecklenburg  Declaration  of  Independence,"   Mr.  A.  S.  Salley,  Jr. 
"The  Mecklenburg  Declaration   of   Independence,"   Prof.   Bruce   Craven. 
"Mr.  Salley's  Reply." 
"Mr.   Craven's    Rejoinder." 

Biographical  and  Genealogical  Sketches:  Prof.  Bruce  Craven,  Mr.  Alex- 
ander S.  Salley,  Jr.,  by  Mrs.  E.  E.  Moffitt. 

"Patriotic   Objects." 

"Information  Concerning  the  Patriotic  Society  D.  R." 

April,  No.  4. 

"Unveiling  Ceremonies." 

"Carolina,"  by  Bettie  Freshwater  Pool. 

"The  Battle  of  King's  Mountain,"  by  Dr.  William  K.  Boyd. 

"Schools  and  Education  in  Colonial  Times,"  by  Dr.  Charles  Lee  Smith. 

"Nortli  Carolina  Heroines  of  the  Revolution,"  by  Richard  Dillard,  M.D. 

Biographical  and  Genealogical  Sketches:  Bettie  Freshwater  Pool,  Wil- 
liam K.  Bovd,  Charles  Lee  Smith,  Richard  Dillard,  bv  Mrs.  E.  E. 
Moffitt. 

Vo'.  IX.— (Quarterly.) 
July,  No.  1. 

"Indians,  Slaves  and  Tories:    Our   18th  Century  Legislation  Regarding 

Them,"  Clarence  H.  Poe. 
"Thomas  Person,"  Dr.  Steplien  B.  Weeks. 
"Sketch  of  Flora  McDonald,"  Mrs.  S.  G.  Ayr. 
Biographical  and  Genealogical  Memoranda:  Clarence  H.  Poe,  Dr.  Stephen 

B.  Weeks,  Mrs.  S.  G.  Ayr,  Mrs.  E.  E.  :\Ioffitt. 

Abstracts  of  Wills:  Shrouck,  Stevens,  Sanderson,  Shirley,  Stevenson, 
Shaiee,  Shearer,  Shine,  Smithson,  Sitgreaves,  by  Mrs.  Helen  DeB. 
Wills. 

October,  No.  2. 

"General  Joseph  Graham,"  Mrs.  Walter  Clark. 

"State  Rights  in  North  Carolina  Through  Half  a  Century,"  Dr.  H.  M. 
Wagstaff. 

5 


"The  Nag's  Head  Portrait  of  Theodosia  Burr,"   Bettie  Freshwater 

Pool. 
Biographical  and  Genealogical  Memoranda:    Mrs.  Walter  Clark,  H.  M. 

Wagstaff,  by  Mrs.  E.  E.  Moffitt. 
Abstracts  of  Wills:    Arnold,  Ashell,  Avelin,  Adams,  Battle,  Burns,  Boge, 

Bennett,  by  Mrs.  Helen  DeB.  Wills. 

January,  No.  3. 

"History  of  Lincoln  County,"  Mr.  Alfred  Nixon. 
"Our  State  Motto  and  Its  Origin,"  Chief  Justice  Walter  Clark. 
"Work  Done  by  the  D.  R,  in  Pasquotank  County,"  C.  F.  S.  A. 
Biographical  and  Genealogical  Memoranda:  Alfred  Nixon,  Walter  Clark, 

by  Mrs.  E.  E.  Moffitt. 
Abstracts    of    Wills:      Clark,    Evans,    Fendall,    Fort,    Gorbe,    Gambell, 

Grainger,  Hill,  White,  by  Mrs.  Helen  DeB.  Wills. 

April,  No.  4. 

"Der  North  Carolina  Land  und  Colonie  Etablissement,"  Miss  Adelaide 
L.  Fries. 

"George  Durant,"  Capt.  S.  A.  Ashe. 
"Hatorask,"  Mr.  Jaques  Busbee. 

"The  Truth  about  Jackson's  Birthplace,"  Prof.  Bruce  Craven. 
Biographical  and  Genealogical  Memoranda:    Miss  Fries,  Captain  Ashe, 
Professor  Craven,  by  Mrs.  E.  E.  Moffitt. 

VoL  X.— (Quarterly.) 
July,  No.  1. 

"The  Chase,"  James  Sprunt. 

"Art  as  a  Handmaiden  of  History,"  Jaques  Busbee. 

"Sketch  of  Colonel  Francis  Locke,"  George  McCorkle. 

"Unveiling  of  Tablet  at  Nixonton,  N.  C,"  Mrs.  Walker  Waller  Joynes. 

"Address  Delivered  at  Unveiling  of  Tablet  at  Nixonton,  N.  C,"  by 
Former  Lieutenant-Governor  F.  D.  Winston. 

"A  Glimpse  of  Historic  Yorktown,"  Mrs.  Helen  DeB.  Wills. 

"Colonel  Polk's  Rebellion,"  Capt.  S.  A.  Ashe. 

"Was  George  Durant  Originally  a  Quaker?"  William  B.  Phelps. 

October,  No-  2. 

"The  History  of  Orange  County,  Part  L"  Francis  Nash. 

January,  No.  3. 

"The  Croatans,"  Hamilton  McMillan. 

"State  Aid  to  Transportation  in  North  Carolina:  The  Pre-Railroad 
Era,"  J.  Allen  Morgan. 

"Joseph   Hewes   and  the  Declaration   of   Independence,"   R.   D.   W. 
Connor. 


April,  No.  4. 

"An  Address  for  the  Baptism  of  Virginia  Dare,"  Rt.  Rev.  Joseph 

Blount  Cheshire,  D.D. 
"The  Early  History  of  Craven  County,"  S.  M.  Brinson. 
"Jacob  Marling,  an  Early  North  Carolina  Artist,"  Marshall  DeLancey 

Haywood. 

'The  Social  Condition  of  North  Carolina  in  the  Year  1783,"  Captain 

S.  A.  Ashe. 
"Rowan  County  Wills  and  Marriage  Bonds,"  Mrs.  M.  G.  McCubbins. 


Vols.  I,  II,  III,  IV,  25  cents  each  number. 

Vols.  V,  VI,  VII,  VIII,  IX,  X,  35  cents  each  number. 


The  North  Carolina  Booklet 


A  QUARTERLY  PUBLICATION   ISSUED  UNDER 
THE  AUSPICES  OP  THE 

NORTH  CAROLINA  SOCIETY  DAUGHTERS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION 


-^x^ir 

THIS  PUBLICATION  treats  of  important 
events  in  North  Carolina  History,  such 
as  may  throw  light  upon  the  political,  social 
or  religious  life  of  the  people  of  this  State 
during  the  Colonial  and  Revolutionary 
periods,  in  the  form  of  monographs  written 
and  contributed  by  as  reliable  and  pains- 
taking historians  as  our  State  can  produce. 
The  Eleventh  Volume  began  in  July,  1911. 


TERMS   OF   SUBSCRIPTION: 
One  Year,  One  Dollar;    Single  Copies,  TKirty-five  Cent's. 


Miss  Mary  Hilliard  Hinton,  Editor,  Raleigh,  North  Carolina. 

Registered  at  Raleigh  Post-office  as  second  class  matter. 

No'.ice  should  be  given  if  the  subscription  is  to  be  discon- 
tinued. Otherwise  it  is  assumed  that  a  continuance  of  the  sub- 
scription is  desired. 

All  orders  for  back  numbers  and  all  communications  relating 
to  subscriptions  should  be  sent  to 

Miss  Mary  Hilliard  Hinton, 

Midway  Plantation,  Raleigh,  N.  C. 


Vol.  XI  APRIL,  1912  No.  4 


lohe 


floRTH  CflROhmfl  BoOKliET 


^'^  Carolina!   Carolina!  Heaven'' s  blessings  attend  Jier ! 
WJiile  we  live  we  will  cherish^  protect  and  defend  her.'^ 


Published  by 

THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  SOCIETY 

DAUGHTERS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION 


The  object  of  The  Booklet  is  to  aid  in  developing  and  preserving 
North  Carolina  History.  The  proceeds  arising  from  its  publication 
will  be  devoted  to  patriotic  purposes.  Editor. 


ADVISORY  BOARD  OF  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 

Mrs.  Hubert  Haywood.  Dr.  Richard  Dillard. 

Mrs.  E.  E.  Moffitt.  Dr.  Kemp  P.  Battle. 

Mr.  R.  D.  W  Connor.  Mr.  James  Sprunt. 

Dr.  D.  H.  Hill.  Mr.  Marshall  DeLancey  Haywood. 

Dr.  E.  W.  Sikes.  Chief  Justice  Walter  Clark. 

Mr.  W.  J.  Peele.  Major  W.  A.  Graham. 

Miss  Adelaide  L.  Pries.  Dr.  Charles  Lee  Smith. 

Miss  Martha  Helen  Haywood. 

editor  : 
Miss  Mary  Hilliard  Hinton. 


OFFICERS  OF  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  SOCIETY 
DAUGHTERS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION  1910-1912 

regent: 
Miss  MARY  HILLIARD  HINTON. 

VICE-REGENT  I 

Miss  DUNCAN  CAMERON  WINSTON. 

honorary  regent: 

Mrs.  E.  E.  MOFFITT. 

recording  secretary: 

Mrs.  clarence  JOHNSON. 

corresponding  secretary: 

Mrs.  PAUL  H.  LEE. 

treasurer  : 

Mrs.  frank  SHERW^OOD. 

registrar: 

Miss  SARAH  W.  ASHE. 

custodian  of  relics: 

Mrs.  JOHN  E.  RAY. 


CHAPTER  REGENTS 

Bloomsbury  Chapter Mrs.  Hubert  Haywood,  Regent. 

Penelope  Barker  Chapter Mrs.  Patrick  Matthew,  Regent. 

Sir  Walter  Raleigh  Chapter, 

Miss  Catherine  F.  Seyton  Albertson,  Regent. 
DeGraffenried  Chapter Mrs.  Charles  Slover  Hollister,  Regent. 


Founder  of  the  North  Carolina  Society  and  Regent  1896-1902: 

Mrs.  SPIER  WHITAKER.f 

Regent  1902: 

Mrs.  D.  H.  HILL,  Sr.* 

Regent  1902-1906: 
Mrs.  THOMAS  K.  BRUNER. 

Regent  1906-1910: 
Mrs.  E.  E.  MOFFITT. 


•Died  December  12,  1904. 
tDied  November  25,  1911. 


THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET 


Vol   XI  APRIL,  1912  No.  4 


JAMES  IREDELL,  1751=1799  ' 


By  H.  G.  CONNOR. 
Judge  United  States  Court,  Eastern  District  North  Carolina. 


"The  character  of  this  excellent  man  has  been  too  little  known. 
Similar  has  been  the  fate  of  many  other  valuable  characters  in 
America.  They  are  too  little  known  to  those  around  them;  their 
modest  merits  have  been  too  familiar,  perhaps  too  uniform,  to 
attract  particular  and  distinguished  attention." 

James  Iredell  was  born  in  Lewes,  Sussex  County,  Eng- 
land, October  5,  1751.  His  father,  Francis  Iredell,  a 
merchant  of  Bristol,  married  Margaret  McCulloch.  The 
family  were  allied  by  blood  to  Sir  George  Macartney,  the 
Earl  of  Wigton,  the  Fergusons,  McCullochs,  and,  by  mar- 
riage, to  Governor  Lyttleton.  Henry  McCulloch  was  con- 
nected with  the  Government  of  the  Province  of  ISTorth  Caro- 
lina, where  he  owned  large  landed  estates.  Through  the  in- 
fluence of  relatives,  James  Iredell  was  appointed  Comptroller 
of  the  Customs  at  Port  Roanoke  (Edenton)  li.  C.  It  was 
said  at  the  time,  "The  office  is  genteel  requiring  little  or  no 
duty,  so  that  he  will  have  time  to  apply  himself  to  business ; 
it  is  worth  upwards  of  one  hundred  pounds  sterling  a  year." 
Iredell  appropriated  a  large  portion  of  his  salary  to  the  sup- 
port of  his  father  and  mother,  thus  "illustrating  in  a  forcible 
manner  his  filial  piety  and  generous  nature."  He  sailed  for 
his  new  home,  bringing  with  him  his  commission,  and  letters 


iThe  writer  has,  for  his  information  relied  largely  upon  McRee's  "Life  and  Corres- 
pondence of  James  Iredell."  Except  as  otherwise  indicated  herein,  quotations  given  are 
taken  from  it. 


202  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 

of  introduction  from  friends  in  England,  to  several  gentle- 
men in  Edenton,  arriving  at  the  latter  place  "near  the  close 
of  the  year  1768."  His  biographer  says  of  him:  "He  was 
then  just  seventeen  years  old,  at  the  age  when  pleasures  are 
enjoyed  with  the  keenest  relish.  Erank,  ingenuous,  of  pleas- 
ing apj)earance,  winning  manners,  and  educated  in  the  best 
schools  of  England,  he  was  kindly  received  and  warmly  wel- 
comed." 

The  ancient  borough  of  Edenton  is  situated  on  the  north- 
ern shore  of  Albemarle  Sound.  It  was  founded  in  1716,  and 
named  in  honor  of  Eden,  the  Royal  Governor.  Mr.  McRee 
says  of  the  people  to  whom  the  young  Comptroller  came  and 
among  whom  he  resided  during  the  remainder  of  his  life: 
"If  there  was  little  of  the  parade  and  pomp  of  older  com- 
munities, if  many  of  the  appliances  of  luxury  were  wanting, 
ease  and  abundance  were  the  reward  of  but  a  slight  degree 
of  frugality  and  industry;  the  homes  of  the  planters  were 
comfortable  and  ample  for  all  the  purposes  of  hospitality ; 
while  their  tables  groaned  beneath  dainties  beyond  the  reach 
of  wealth  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic.  *  *  *  He 
who  supposes  the  inhabitants  were  untutored  people  is  grossly 
deceived.  They  were  not  refugees  from  the  justice  of  the 
old  world ;  nor  were  they  of  desperate  fortunes  or  undisci- 
plined minds — they  were  equal  in  cultivation,  ability  and  pa- 
triotism to  any  of  their  contemporaries.  The  men  were  bold, 
frank,  generous  and  intelligent ;  the  females  tender,  kind  and 
polite."  The  town  contained  about  five  hundred  inhabitants. 
Of  the  residents  of  the  town  were  Samuel  Johnston,  among 
the  earliest,  most  enthusiastic  and  active  Whigs,  President  of 
the  Provincial  Congress,  Governor,  and,  upon  the  adoption 
of  the  Federal  Constitution,  the  first  United  States  Senator 
elected  from  the  State,  a  lawyer  of  learning,  a  man  of  deep 
and  extensive  reading  and  singular  purity  of  life  spent  in 
patriotic  service  to  the  State ;  Joseph  Hewes,  signer  of  the 


JAMES  IKEDELL.  203 

Declaration;  Thomas  Barker,  Thomas  Jones,  Jasper  Charl- 
ton, Stephen  Cabarrus,  Robert  Smith,  Charles  Johnston, 
John  Johnston,  and  Sir  ^N'athaniel  Duckenfield.  In  the  ad- 
joining counties  were  Colonel  Richard  Buncombe,  who,  being 
mortally  wounded  at  Germantown  died  in  Philadelphia ; 
John  Harvey,  Speaker  of  the  Assembly,  and  later  Moderator 
of  the  First  and  Second  Provincial  Congresses  called  in  the 
Province  (August,  1774,  and  April,  1775)  ;  and  others  of 
less  note,  but  of  liberal  education  and  of  honorable  service 
and  position.  The  society  of  the  town  furnished  to  Iredell  a 
social  circle  of  cultured  and  refined  hospitality  into  which  he 
at  once  entered.  It  is  with  Iredell's  preparation  for,  and 
work  as,  a  lawyer,  statesman  and  judge  that  we  are  specially 
concerned,  which  precludes  an  entrance  into  the  interesting 
and  charming  story  of  his  personal  and  social  life  further 
than  it  illustrates  his  public  career. 

Very  soon  after  his  arrival  he  began  the  study  of  law 
with  Samuel  Johnston.  ''Every  moment  of  leisure  was  de- 
voted to  his  legal  studies  and  to  such  intercourse  with  in- 
telligent gentlemen  and  cultivated  ladies  as  was  calculated 
to  refine  and  improve.  He  was  a  diligent  student;  he  copied 
Mr.  Johnston's  arguments  and  pleas  in  important  cases.  He 
read  carefully  and  attentively  the  text-books,  referring  to  the 
authorities  quoted,  and  collecting  and  digesting  kindred  pas- 
sages from  all  writers  within  his  reach ;  he  attended  the 
courts,  returned  to  his  chamber  and  wrote  out  arguments  of 
his  own,  applicable  to  the  cases  he  had  stated."  A  few  ex- 
tracts from  his  "Journal"  give  us  a  fair  view  of  the  young 
Comptroller,  preparing  himself  for  the  career  which,  all  un- 
thought  of,  awaited  him.  On  August  22,  1770,  he  writes: 
"Indolence  in  any  is  shameful,  but  in  a  young  man  quite  in- 
excusable. Let  me  consider  for  a  moment  whether  it  will  be 
worth  my  while  to  attempt  making  a  figure  in  life,  or'whether 
I  will  be  content  with  mediocrity  of  fame  and  circumstances. 


204:  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 

*  *  *  But  nothing  is  to  be  acquired  without  industry ; 
and  indolence  is  an  effectual  bar  to  improvement.  *  *  * 
I  have  not  done  as  much  as  I  ought  to  have  done;  read  a 
little  in  Lyttleton's  Tenures  and  stopped  in  the  middle  of 
his  Chapter  on  Kents ;  whereas  I  ought  to  have  gone  through 
it.  It  would  have  been  better  than  losing  three  or  four  games 
at  billiards.  IST.  B. — If  you  do  play  billiards  make  it  a  rule 
not  to  lengthen." 

We  learn  from  his  journal  that,  while  studying  Lyttleton, 
he  did  not  neglect  polite  literature.  He  says :  "I  have  been 
reading  a  volume  of  the  Spectator,  which  is  ever  new,  ever 
instructive,  ever  interesting.  I  hope  they  will  be  trans- 
mitted, with  honor,  to  the  latest  ages.  *  *  *  Strength 
of  reason,  elegance  of  style,  delicacy  of  sentiment,  fertility 
of  imagination,  poignancy  of  wit,  politeness  of  manners,  and 
the  most  amiable  pattern  of  human  life,  appears  through  the 
whole,  in  so  conspicuous  a  manner  as  at  once  to  improve  and 
delight.  *  *  *  Resumed  my  Spectator;  read  a  great 
many  entertaining  and  improving  things,  particularly  Mr. 
Addison's  Discourses  on  Fame,  in  the  fourth  volume,  which 
are  incomparably  elegant  and  sublime.  Surely  the  writings 
of  such  great,  learned  and  good  men  are  more  than  a  counter- 
poise to  the  libertine  writings  of  professed  Deists,  whose  im- 
moral lives  made  them  dread  an  encounter  hereafter."  He 
continues  this  train  of  reflection  regarding  the  infidelity  so 
prevalent  at  that  time,  concluding  with  words,  which  are  of 
special  interest,  giving  expression  to  a  principle  which  con- 
trolled his  private  and  public  conduct  throughout  his  life: 
"At  a  time  when  licentiousness  is  at  an  amazing  and  danger- 
ous height  we  shall  be  careful  to  guard  against  popular  preju- 
dice, though  we  must  not  blindly  oppose  the  public  voice 
because  it  may  appear  too  tumultuous.  Let  us  do  things  im- 
partially and  not  oppose  or  condemn  any  conduct  on  the 
whole,  on  account  of  a  few  improper  circumstances  attend- 
ing it." 


JAMES   lEEDELL.  205 

His  journal  shows  that  he  was  a  diligent  student  of  the 
''Tenures."  On  July  31,  1771,  he  writes  his  father,  "I  am 
too  often  troubling  you,  but  I  will  hope  for  your  excuse  of 
this  last  request,  as  it  will  be  of  particular,  perhaps  neces- 
sary, service  for  me.  It  is  that  you  will  be  so  obliging  as  to 
procure  Dr.  Blackstone's  Commentaries  on  the  Laws  of  Eng- 
land and  send  them  by  the  first  opportunity.  I  have,  indeed, 
read  them  by  the  favor  of  Mr.  Johnston,  who  lent  them  to 
me,  but  it  is  proper  that  I  should  read  them  frequently  and 
with  great  attention.  They  are  books  admirably  suited  for 
a  young  student,  and,  indeed,  may  interest  the  most  learned. 
The  law  there  is  not  merely  considered  as  a  profession  but  a 
science.  The  principles  are  deduced  from  their  source  and 
we  are  not  only  taught,  in  the  clearest  manner,  the  general 
rules  of  law,  but  the  reasons  upon  which  they  are  founded. 
*  *  *  Pleasure  and  instruction  go  hand  in  hand,  and  we 
apply  to  a  science,  difficult,  indeed,  at  best,  with  less  reluc- 
tance, when  by  a  well-directed  application  we  may  hope  to 
understand  it  with  method  and  satisfaction.  I  would  take 
leave  to  add  one  more  desire,  that  you  would  be  pleased  to 
send  me  the  Tatlers  and  Guardians — the  Spectators  I  have, 
and  these,  with  the  others,  will  aftord  me  agreeable  desultory 
reading." 

Mr.  Johnston  was  a  faithful  and  competent  instructor. 
"As  a  lawyer  he  was  ever  highly  honored  and  esteemed ;  his 
patience,  his  industry,  his  logic  were  signal.  *  *  *  As 
early  as  1776  he  was  one  of  a  committee  to  revise  the  statutes 
of  the  State."  He  was  later  one  of  the  State  Judges.  Mr. 
Iredell  received  from  Governor  Tryon  a  license  to  practice 
law  in  all  the  Inferior  Courts  of  the  Province  on  December 
14,  1770.  He  was  licensed  by  Governor  Martin  to  practice 
in  the  Superior  Courts  November  26th,  1771,  and  duly 
qualified  at  the  April  Term,  1772.  During  the  intervening 
year,  "with  healthy  but  vehement  ambition,"  he  prosecuted 


206  THE    NOETH    CAROLINA   BOOKLET. 

his  studies  and  regularly  attended  the  courts.  "Books  he  had 
not,  save  a  volume  or  two  stuffed  into  his  saddle-bag  with  a 
scanty  supply  of  apparel.  *  *  *  Iredell  early  fixed  his 
eyes  upon  the  glittering  heights  of  his  profession,  and  so 
self-assured  was  he  of  his  capacity  and  industry  that  he  never 
faltered  in  his  purpose — he  was  resolute  to  win;  and  with 
such  men  to  resolve  is  to  compel  success.  If  unemployed  in 
the  courthouse,  he  peopled  his  chambers  with  judge,  jury  and 
spectators ;  he  argaied  his  cases  before  his  imaginary  court 
and  reported  liis  own  arguments."  McRee  gives  an  illus- 
tration of  his  habit  of  writing  out  arguments  in  cases  tried 
in  the  courts,  although  not  employed  in  them.  It  is  interest- 
ing, both  because  of  the  careful  and  orderly  statement  of 
the  facts  and  the  logical  arrangements  of  argument  which 
marked  his  opinions  when  called  into  judicial  service.  The 
journal  shows  that,  while  preparing  for  his  Superior  Court 
license,  Iredell  was  diligent  in  the  study  of  Blackstone's  Com- 
mentaries. The  work  had  been  published  but  a  few  years 
before  and  was  widely  read  in  America.  Burke,  in  his 
speech  on  "^Conciliation,"  stated  that  the  booksellers  informed 
him  that  as  large  a  number  of  copies  had  been  sold  in  America 
as  in  England.  Iredell  writes  in  his  journal,  "'Came  home 
and  read  an  hour  or  two  in  Blackstone."  "Employed  myself 
all  the  rest  of  the  evening  reading  Blackstone."  "I  imme- 
diately came  home  and  finished  the  second  volume  of  Black- 
stone." 

The  journal,  during  this  year,  leaves  the  reader  in  doubt 
whether  he  was  most  assiduous  in  his  devotions  to  Miss  Han- 
nah Johnston  or  the  great  commentator.  That  he  woeed 
both  successfully  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  on  January 
18,  1773,  he  was  united  in  marriage  to  this  estimable  lady, 
who  "supplemented  what  he  needed.  *  *  *  gj^e  was 
his  constant  monitor,  adviser,  banker  and  trusted  friend. 
*     *     *     Their  lives,  united  in  one  stream,  flowed  onward 


JAMES  IREDELL.  207 

softly  and  gently,"  She  was  the  sister  of  Governor  Samuel 
Johnston.  Their  correspondence,  when  separated  by  his 
riding  the  circuit  in  the  practice  of  his  profession  and, 
later,  in  the  discharge  of  his  high  official  duties,  is  both  in- 
teresting and  instructive.  Iredell's  grandfather  was  a  clergy- 
man of  the  Church  of  England.  His  early  religious  training 
and  his  associations  impressed  their  influence  upon  his  mind 
and  character.  He  was  given  to  religious  contemplation  and 
often  wrote  "reflections"  upon  religious  subjects  quite  re- 
markable for  so  young  a  man.  Within  a  year  after  coming 
to  Edenton  he  writes  his  Sunday  "thoughts,"  concluding:  "I 
am  not  ashamed  to  think  seriously  of  religion,  and  hope  no 
example  will  induce  me  to  treat  it  with  indifference.  Youth 
is  as  much  concerned  to  practice  and  revere  it  as  any  in  the 
more  advanced  stages  of  life,  and  I  have  drawn  up  the  fore- 
going plain,  but  useful,  remarks  as  thinking  it  the  best  way 
of  employing  my  time  when  I  have  had  no  opportunity  of 
attending  public  worship."  Writing  his  brother,  he  says : 
"Let  me  desire  you  to  let  no  flashes  of  wit,  or  impertinent 
raillery  of  religion,  shock  your  principles  or  stagger  your 
belief.  Men  of  this  cast  laugh  at  religion,  either  because 
they  know  nothing  of  it  or  care  nothing  for  it.  Men  of  shal- 
low understandings  or  bad  hearts  are  those  who  generally 
rank  themselves  in  the  list  of  free  thinkers." 

The  controversies  between  the  Royal  Governors  and  the 
people  in  ISTorth  Carolina  began  at  an  early  day.  They  con- 
tinued to  grow  in  number  and  intensity.  "Though  a  King's 
officer,  Iredell  soon  became  imbued  with  the  views  of  the 
American  leaders;  felt  that  his  future  was  identified  -with 
their  future,  and  determined  to  participate  in  their  defeat 
or  success,  to  share  in  their  disgrace  or  glory.  He  soon 
formed  intimacies  with  the  leading  men  of  the  Province, 
men  whose  thoughts  were  to  irradiate  subsequent  darkness, 
and  whose  voices  were  destined  to  cheer  and  sustain  the  peo- 


208  THE    NORTH    CAEOLIiSrA    BOOKLET. 

pie  in  the  hour  of  disaster.  Ere  long  he  began  with  them  an 
active  correspondence,  and  his  part  was  so  well  supported 
that  a  learned  gentleman  and  most  competent  judge  writes-. 
'He  was  the  letter  writer  of  the  war.  He  had  no  equal 
amongst  his  contemporaries.'  " 

As  early  as  September,  1773,  he  published  his  first  politi- 
cal essay,  saying,  among  other  things :  "I  have  always  been 
taught,  and  till  I  am  better  informed  must  continue  to  be- 
lieve, that  the  Constitution  of  this  country  is  founded  on  the 
Provincial  Charter,  which  may  well  be  considered  the 
original  contract  between  the  King  and  the  inliabitants." 
''In  1774  the  Revolution  was  fairly  inaugurated  in  I^orth 
Carolina.  Nowhere  were  the  points  in  dispute  between  the 
colonies  and  Great  Britain  more  clearly  stated  or  more  ably 
argued.  The  people  were  generally  agreed.  *  *  *  j^ 
is  true  that  none  meditated  independence  as  an  object  of 
desire ;  but  it  was  foreseen  as  a  possible  consequence.  The 
contest,  that  was  soon  to  be  developed  into  flagrant  war,  was 
eminently,  in  jSTorth  Carolina,  based  u^Don  jDrinciple.  The 
Whig  leaders,  ready  with  the  pen  and  the  columns  of  the 
newspapers  and  the  pamphlets,  discussed  the  tax  on  tea  and 
the  vindictive  measures  that  followed  the  prompt  opposition 
of  Boston,  with  a  degi'ee  of  learning  and  logic  that  was  not 
surpassed  by  any  of  their  contemporaries  in  other  provinces. 
*  *  *  There  was  no  array  of  class  against  class.  The 
foremost  in  talent  were  foremost  in  all  measures ;  they  had 
the  confidence  of  the  people.  The  followers  of  such  men  as 
Harvey,  Johnston,  Ashe,  Harnett,  Hooper,  and  Caswell  could 
not  be  otherwise  than  well  informed.  *  *  *  In  the  quiet 
retreat  of  his  study,  with  naught  to  stimulate  but  the  prompt- 
ings of  his  own  honest  heart  and,  perchance,  the  smile  of  his 
noble  wife,  with  patient  toil  Iredell  forged  and  polished  the 
weapons  of  debate;  if  others  fixed  his  mark  he  recked  not 
who  claimed  the  honor  of  the  cast." 


JAMES   IREDELL.  209 

Mr.  Iredell,  at  this  time,  began  a  correspondence  with 
William  Hooper,  in  which  thej  discussed  the  questions  en- 
gaging the  attention  of  thoughtful  men.  On  April  26,  1774, 
Hooper  writes  him :  "Every  man  who  thinks  with  candor 
is  indebted  to  you  for  the  share  you  have  taken  in  this  in- 
teresting controversy.  *  *  *  You  have  discussed  dry 
truths  with  the  most  pleasing  language,  and  have  not  parted 
with  the  most  refined  delicacy  of  manners  in  the  warmth  of 
the  contest.  "  '"  *  I  am  happy,  dear  sir,  that  my  con- 
duct in  public  life  has  met  your  approbation.  It  is  a  suf- 
frage from  a  man  who  has  wisdom  to  distingiiish  and  too 
much  virtue  to  flatter.  *  "'  ^  Whilst  I  was  active  in 
contest  you  forged  the  weapons  which  were  to  give  success 
to  the  cause  which  I  supported.  *  *  *  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  ruin  of  Great  Britain ;  will  adopt  its  Constitution,  purged 
of  its  impurities,  and,  from  an  experience  of  its  defects,  will 
guard  against  those  evils  which  have  wasted  its  vigor  and 
brought  it  to  an  untimely  end." 

The  first  Provincial  Congress  ''called  by  the  people  them- 
selves"— defying  the  threats  of  the  Royal  Governor — met  in 
N^ew  Bern  August  25,  1774.  Iredell's  friends,  Johnston, 
Hewes,  Thomas  Jones,  and  Hooper,  were  conspicuous  mem- 
bers. John  Harvey  was  "Moderator."  The  first  of  Iredell's 
political  efforts,  which  have  been  preserved,  was  addressed 
to  "The  Inhabitants  of  Great  Britain."  The  address  is  set 
out  in  full  in  McRee's  "Life  and  Correspondence,"  and  con- 
tains an  able  and  exhaustive  statement  and  defense  of  the 
cause  of  the  Americans.  He  gives  the  history  of  their  coming 
and  settling  the  province,  the  provisions  of  their  charters  and 
the  violations  of  them  by  the  King  and  his  Parliament. 

Iredell  soon  thereafter  settled  his  accounts  and  closed  his 


210  THE    NORTH    CAEOLIISrA   BOOKLET. 

career  as  Collector,  to  which  position  he  had  been  promoted. 
After  the  4th  of  July,  1776,  he  became  deeply  interested  in 
the  proposed  form  of  government  to  be  adopted  by  the  new 
State.  He  had  attended  the  courts,  when  open,  and  had 
given  diligent  attention  to  the  practice  of  his  profession. 
After  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  (November,  1776) 
and  the  inaugiiration  of  a  State  Government  a  judicial  sys- 
tem was  established — '^Iredell  drawing  the  first  Court  Law." 
At  the  session  of  the  Assembly,  jSTovember,  1777,  the  State 
was  laid  off  into  three  judicial  districts ;  Samuel  Ashe, 
Samuel  Spencer,  and  James  Iredell  were  appointed  judges. 
His  appointment  was  brought  about  by  William  Hooper, 
who  writes  December  23,  1777 :  "Before  this  reaches  you 
you  will  have  received  the  information  of  being  promoted 
to  the  first  honors  the  State  can  bestow.  *  *  *  You  will 
be  at  a  loss  to  conjecture  how  I  could  have  been  accessory  to 
this  step  after  you  had  been  so  explicit  to  me  on  the  subject. 
Be  assured  that  I  was  not  inattentive  to  your  objections,  nor 
did  I  fail  to  mention  them  and  urge  them  with  sincerity  to 
every  person  who  mentioned  you  for  the  office  to  which  you 
are  now  designated.  *  *  *  j  expostulated  with  them 
upon  the  impropriety  of  electing  one  who  in  all  probability 
might  decline,  and  leave  one  of  the  seats  of  justice  vacant. 
*  *  *  Their  reasoning  j)revailed  and  you  have  now  the 
satisfaction  of  an  unrestricted  choice.  The  appointment  has 
been  imposed  upon  you,  and  therefore  you  are  at  perfect  lib- 
erty to  act  or  not."  Archibald  Maclaine  wrote :  "I  can  only 
say  that  if  it  would  answer  your  purposes  as  fully  as  it  would 
please  your  friends  and  the  public,  it  would  give  me  real 
satisfaction."  When  it  is  remembered  that  at  this  time  Ire- 
dell was  but  twenty-seven  years  old ;  that  only  ten  years  prior 
thereto  he  had  come  to  the  State  a  youth  of  seventeen,  un- 
known, without  wealth  or  other  influences,  his  election,  un- 
sought and  against  his  inclination,  to  the  highest  judicial 


JAMES  IREDELL.  211 

position  in  the  State,  it  is  manifest  that  by  his  personal  con- 
duct and  character,  as  well  as  his  learning  and  ability,  he 
had  strongly  and  favorably  impressed  himself  upon  the  peo- 
ple and  their  representative  men.  William  Hooper  was  a 
lawyer  of  learning  and  experience,  as  were  other  members  of 
the  Assembly.  Maclaine,  also  an  eminent  lawyer  and  mem- 
ber of  the  Assembly,  thus  expressed  the  opinion  of  his  as- 
sociates :  "However  arduous  the  task  you  have  undertaken, 
we  have  the  most  hopes  from  your  judgment  and  integrity, 
and  these  hopes  are  strengthened  by  your  diffidence.  *  *  * 
The  members  of  the  Assembly,  in  appointing  you,  thought, 
with  great  reason,  that  they  effectually  served  themselves  and 
their  constituents.  As  to  myself,  I  confess  I  was  actuated 
by  duty  to  the  public,  having  been  taught  that  your  promo- 
tion would  more  effectually  serve  them  than  you."  Iredell 
accepted  the  judgeship  at  much  personal  sacrifice.  The  sal- 
ary was  totally  inadequate  for  the  support  of  his  family. 

Replying  to  a  letter  from  Governor  Burke  calling  upon 
him  to  hold  Courts  of  Oyer  and  Terminer,  he  says :  "In  re- 
gard to  the  courts  your  Excellency  proposed  immediately  to 
establish,  I  am  always  ready  to  attend  them  as  my  duty  re- 
quires, but  I  take  the  liberty  to  represent  to  your  Excellency 
that  I  fear  that  I  shall  not  be  able  to  defray  the  expenses  they 
will  involve  me  in  unless  I  receive  a  sum  of  money  from  the 
public.  *  *  *  I  am  not  ashamed  of  confessing  my 
poverty,  as  it  has  not  arisen  from  any  dishonorable  cause.  My 
circumstances  have  suffered  deeply,  but  if  I  can  bear  myself 
above  water  I  am  content  to  suffer  still.  *  *  *  J  shall 
not  fail  to  do  my  utmost  then  and  at  all  times  in  discharge 
of  my  duty."^ 

He  rode  one  circuit,  during  which  his  letters  to  his  wife 
give  an  interesting  account  of  the  country  through  which  he 
traveled,  the  people  with  whom  he  was  associated  and  the 

sState  Records  of  N.  C.  XXII,  552. 


212  THE    NOKTII    CAROLINA    BOOKLET. 

experiences  of  a  judge  "on  circuit"  at  that  early  period  in 
our  history.  He  went  as  far  west  as  Salisbury.  At  the  Eden- 
ton  term,  June  6,  1778,  the  grand  jury  requested  that  he 
furnish  his  charge  for  publication,  saying:  "This  charge 
vindicates  the  American  States,  in  the  establishment  of  inde- 
pendency, by  argaiments  drawn  from  undeniable  rights  and 
from  real  necessity,  and  grounded  on  incontestable  facts. 
*  *  *  It  breathes  a  spirit  of  pure  disinterested  patriot- 
ism, and  holds  forth  the  most  powerful  incentive  to  persist 
in  the  opposition  which  America  has  so  successfully  begun. 
It  points  out  persuasively  the  importance  of  a  faithful  ob- 
servation of  the  various  political  and  relative  duties  of  se- 
curity ujoon  which  the  happiness  of  individuals  and  of  the 
whole  depends,  and  which  will  tend  to  give  stability  to  our 
present  Constitution." 

The  language  of  the  charge  is  spirited,  the  sentiment  pa- 
triotic, with  considerable  warmth  of  expression  towards  the 
King  and  his  ministers.  A  few  extracts  will  give  an  idea 
of  its  general  tone.  Eeferring  to  the  fact  that  no  courts  had 
been  held  for  a  long  time,  he  says :  "This  court  of  justice 
opens  at  a  most  interesting  period  of  the  policy  of  this  coun- 
try. We  have  been  long  deprived  of  such,  from  a  variety 
of  causes,  in  some  of  which  we  have  shared  with  our  brethren 
on  the  Continent ;  others  were  peculiar  to  ourselves.  The 
event,  however,  has  been  unhappy  and  distressing,  and  every 
wellwisher  to  his  country  must  view  Avith  pleasure  a  scene 
of  anarchy  changed  to  that  of  law  and  order,  and  powers  of 
government  established  capable  of  restraining  dishonesty  and 
vice.  Such  powers  have  been  established  under  circumstances 
which  should  induce  to  them  peculiar  reverence  and  regard. 
They  have  not  been  the  effect  of  usurpation ;  they  have  not 
proceeded  from  a  wanton  desire  of  change;  they  have  not 
been  imposed  upon  you  by  the  successful  arms  of  a  tyrant ; 
they  have  been  peaceably  established  by  the  public  at  large. 


JAMES   IREDELL.  213 

for  the  general  happiness  of  the  people,  when  they  were 
reduced  to  the  cruel  necessity  of  renouncing  a  government 
which  ceased  to  protect,  and  endeavored  to  enslave  them, 
for  one  which  enabled  them,  with  a  proper  share  of  courage 
and  virtue,  to  protect  and  defend  themselves.  *  ^  *  We 
desired  only  the  privileges  of  a  free  people,  such  as  our  an- 
cestors had  been  and  such  as  they  expected  we  should  be. 
We  knew  it  was  absurd  to  pretend  we  should  be  free  when 
laws  might,  at  pleasure,  be  imposed  upon  us  by  another  peo- 
ple. *  *  *  Our  ancestors  came  here  to  enjoy  the  bless- 
ings of  liberty.  They  purchased  it  at  an  immense  price. 
Their  greatest  glory  was  that  they  had  obtained  it  for  them- 
selves and  transmitted  it  to  their  posterity.  God  forbid  that 
their  posterity  should  be  base  or  weak  enough  to  resign  it, 
or  let  it  appear  that  the  true  British  spirit,  which  has  done 
such  wonders  in  England,  has  been  lost  or  weakened  by 
being  transplanted  to  America.  *  *  *  Yon  will,  I  hope, 
excuse,  gentlemen,  the  particular,  perhaps  too  great  particu- 
larity, with  which  I  have  gone  into  this  subject.  Yet  I 
thought  it  my  duty  to  point  out  to  you  some  of  the  principles 
upon  which  the  revolution  in  our  government  has  taken  place 
and  which,  in  my  opinion,  prove  not  only  the  propriety  of 
its  being  effected,  but  the  indispensable  obligation  we  are 
under  to  maintain  and  support  it.  *  *  *  The  struggles 
of  a  great  people  have  almost  always  ended  in  the  establish- 
ment of  liberty.  The  enjoyment  of  it  is  an  object  worthy  of 
the  most  vigilant  application  and  the  most  j)ainful  sacrifices. 
Is  there  anything  we  read  with  more  pleasure  than  the  suffer- 
ings and  contentions  of  a  brave  people  who  resist  oppression 
with  firmness,  are  faithful  to  the  interests  of  their  country 
and  disdain  every  advantage  that  is  incompatible  with  them  ? 
Such  a  people  are  spoken  of  with  admiration  by  all  'future 
ages.  *  *  *  These  are  the  glorious  effects  of  patriot- 
ism and  virtue.     They  are  the  rewards  annexed  to  the  faith- 


214  THE  NOETH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 

ful  discliarge  of  that  great  and  honorable  duty,  fidelity  to 
our  country." 

Referring  to  the  burdens  laid  upon  the  colonists  and 
their  right  to  resist  them,  he  says :  ''We  knew  of  no  right 
they  could  have  to  such  a  power.  Our  charters  did  not 
recognize  it.  It  certainly  was  not  in  our  ancestors'  con- 
templation, who  left  that  very  country  because  freedom  could 
not  be  enjoyed  in  it.      Custom  had  given  it   no   sanction. 

*  *     -x-     j^  -^^g   reconcilable   to  no  principles  of  justice. 

*  *  *  ^Ye  despised  the  miserable  application  of  a  '^ew 
political  maxims  *  *  *  which  to  this  hour  is  the  basis 
upon  which  all  the  fraud,  iniquity,  injustice,  cruelty  and  op- 
pression that  America  has  exj)erienced  from  Great  Britain 
have  been  defended.  *  *  *  The  divine  right  of  kings 
was  exploded  with  indignation  in  the  last  century.  Men 
came  at  length  to  be  persuaded  that  they  were  created  for  a 
nobler  purpose  than  to  be  slaves  of  a  single  tyrant.  They 
did  not  confine  this  idea  to  speculation ;  they  put  to  death 
one  King  and  expelled  another.  This  was  done  in  England, 
the  seat  of  our  haughty  enemies,  who  seem  to  think  the  right 
of  resistance  is  confined  alone  to  their  kingdom."  When  it 
is  remembered  that  this  charge  was  delivered  at  a  time  when 
the  American  cause  was  far  from  hopeful,  the  courage  ex- 
hibited was  of  no  low  order.  Iredell,  too,  was  a  conserva- 
tive— but  withal  a  man  and  a  patriot. 

Soon  thereafter  he  sent  his  resignation  to  the  Governor, 
who  accepted  it  with  much  reluctance,  saying,  ''as  you  can 
well  conceive,  well  knowing  your  place  can  not  be  supplied 
by  a  gentleman  of  equal  ability  and  inclination  to  serve  the 
State."  He  continued  the  practice  of  the  law  until,  on  July 
8,  1779,  he  was  tendered  and  accepted  the  position  of  At- 
torney General.  Hooper  writes,  expressing  pleasure  that  he 
has  consented  to  accept,  saying:  "I  have  the  happiness  to 
assure  you  that  the  leading  characters  in  this  part  of  the 


JAMES   IREDELL.  215 

country  [Cape  Fear]  speak  of  you  as  a  capital  acquisition 
to  our  courts,  and  exult  that  there  is  a  prospect  of  offenders 
being  brought  to  due  punishment  without  the  passions  of 
party  or  the  prejudice  of  individuals  swaying  the  prosecu- 
tion." Iredell  traveled  the  circuit,  attending  the  courts  in 
the  discharge  of  his  duties  and  receiving  a  large  share  of  civil 
business.  His  letters  to  Mrs.  Iredell  give  an  interesting  and 
often  amusing  account  of  his  experiences.  From  ISTew  Bern 
he  writes:  ''Expenses  are  enormous.  My  last  jaunt  has 
cost  me  $600  on  the  road  and  the  depreciation  will  certainly 
proceed  most  rapidly,  for  they  are  giving  away  the  money 
at  the  printing  office  in  so  public  and  careless  a  manner  as 
to  make  it  quite  contemptible."  Again  he  writes:  ''There 
has  not  been  much  business,  but  I  have  been  applied  to  in 
almost  everything.  I  have  already  received  in  civil  suits 
1,240  pounds  in  paper  besides  nineteen  silver  dollars.  I  ex- 
pect to  receive  tomorrow  500  pounds  and  my  salary  for  this 
and  Edenton  Court,  which  will  be  1,000  pounds.  *  *  * 
My  fear  is  that,  as  usual,  the  money  will  be  much  depreci- 
ated before  I  lay  it  out.  I  shall  carefully  preserve  the  hard 
money  to  the  last."  From  IsTew  Bern,  at  the  following  term, 
he  writes  Mrs.  Iredell  that  he  has  received  4,540  pounds 
"of  this  currency,"  1,350  pounds  of  Continental,  and  $9  in 
hard  money;  that  he  will  receive  1,500  pounds  for  his  salary 
at  these  courts,  "but  my  expenses  here  are  monstrous — 160 
pounds  a  day  for  my  board  and  lodging  only."  At  Wil- 
mington he  was  employed  in  the  first  admiralty  case  tried  in 
the  State  of  which  the  record  is  extant.  The  Assembly  at 
Halifax,  1Y81,  voted  the  judges  20,000  pounds  each  and  the 
Attorney  General  10,000  pounds  "for  making  up  the  depreci- 
ation of  their  allowance."  Iredell  resigned  his  office  (1781), 
of  which,  writing  to  his  brother.  Rev.  Arthur  Iredell,  July, 
1783,  he  says:     "Since  then  I  have  been  only  a  private  law- 

2 


216  THE   NOETH    CAROLINA   BOOKLET. 

jer,  but  with  a  show  of  business  very  near  equal  to  any  law- 
yers in  the  country." 

After  the  ratification  of  the  Treaty  of  Peace  and  the  with- 
drawal of  troops  from  the  State,  the  people  began  the  work 
of  restoring  their  fortunes  and  enacting  laws  suited  to  their 
new  political  situation.  Differences,  more  or  less  funda- 
mental, which  had  manifested  themselves  during  the  war, 
became  more  marked — dividing  the  leaders  and  people  into 
parties.  Iredell  was  in  agreement  with  the  conservatives, 
Johnston,  Hooper,  Maclaine,  Davie,  Spaight,  and  others,  in 
opposition  to  Willie  Jones,  Thomas  Person,  Samuel  Spencer, 
and  others.  The  former  insisted  that  the  State  should  carry 
out  in  good  faith  the  terms  of  the  treaty,  and  adopt  such 
measures  as  were  necessary  for  that  purpose;  enforce  con- 
tracts and  maintain  a  strong  and  stable  government.  While 
Iredell  neither  held  nor  sought  any  public  position,  he  was 
"in  touch,"  through  correspondence  and  otherwise,  with  the 
leaders  of  the  party  known  as  Conservatives.  He  prosecuted 
the  practice  of  his  profession  with  industry  and  success,  rank- 
ing easily  with  the  leaders  of  the  bar.  The  more  radical 
sentiment  in  the  State  was  disposed  to  magnify  the  power  of 
the  Legislature  and  oppose  any  restriction  upon  it  by  the  en- 
forcement of  Constitutional  limitations,  especially  by  the 
courts.  In  an  address  to  the  public,  Iredell  set  forth  his 
views  regarding  the  enforcement  of  Constitutional  limita- 
tions upon  the  Legislature.  Referring  to  the  Convention 
(ISTovember,  17Y6),  which  formed  the  Constitution,  he  says: 
"It  was  of  course  to  be  considered  how  to  impose  restrictions 
on  the  Legislature  that  might  still  leave  it  free  to  all  useful 
purposes,  but  at  the  same  time  guard  against  the  abuse  of 
unlimited  power,  which  was  not  to  be  trusted,  without  the 
most  imminent  danger,  to  any  men  or  body  of  men  on  earth. 
We  had  not  only  been  sickened  and  disgusted  for  years  with 


JAMES   IREDELL.  217 

the  high  and  almost  impious  language  from  Great  Britain, 
of  the  omnipotent  power  of  the  British  Parliament,  but  had 
severely  smarted  under  the  effects.  We  felt,  in  all  its  rigor, 
the  mischiefs  of  an  absolute  and  unbounded  authority, 
claimed  by  so  weak  a  creature  as  man,  and  should  have  been 
guilty  of  the  basest  breach  of  trust  as  well  as  the  grossest 
folly  if  in  the  same  moment,  when  we  spurned  at  the  inso- 
lent despotism  of  Great  Britain,  we  had  established  a  despotic 
power  among  ourselves.  *  *  *  j  }iave  no  doubt  but  that 
the  power  of  the  Assembly  is  limited  and  defined  by  the  Con- 
stitution. It  is  a  creature  of  the  Constitution.  *  *  * 
These  are  consequences  that  seem  so  natural,  and  indeed  so 
irresistible,  that  I  do  not  observe  that  they  have  been  much 
contested.  The  great  argument  is,  that  although  the  As- 
sembly have  not  a  right  to  violate  the  Constitution,  yet  if 
they  in  fact  do  so,  the  only  remedy  is  either  by  a  humble 
petition  that  the  law  may  be  repealed  or  a  universal  resist- 
ance of  the  people.  But,  in  the  meantime,  their  act,  what- 
ever it  is,  is  to  be  obeyed  as  a  law;  for  the  judicial  power 
is  not  to  presume  to  question  the  power  of  an  act  of  As- 
sembly." He  proceeds,  with  remarkable  clearness  and  force, 
to  set  forth  his  opinion  upon  this  question,  expressing  the 
view  which  has  since  been  pursued  by  the  courts,  both  State 
and  Federal.  He  concludes:  "These  are  a  few  observations 
that  have  occurred  to  me  on  this  subject.  They  are  given  by 
a  plain  man,  unambitious  of  power,  but  sincerely  and  warmly 
interested  in  the  prosperity  of  his  country ;  feeling  every  re- 
spect for  the  Constitutional  authority  of  the  Legislature 
which,  in  his  opinion,  is  great  enough  to  satisfy  an  ambi- 
tious as  well  as  support  the  efforts  of  a  public-spirited  mind, 
but  a  determined  enemy  on  all  occasions  of  arbitrary  power 
in  every  shape  whatever,  and  reverencing  beyond  expression 
that  Constitution  by  which  he  holds  all  that  is  dear  to  him 
in  life."     It  must  be  remembered  that  these  views  were  ex- 


218  THE   NOKTH    CAROLINA   BOOKLET. 

pressed  before  any  court  had  held  that  it  was  within  the 
jDOwer  and  therefore  the  duty  of  the  judiciary  to  refuse  to 
enforce  statutes  passed  without  Constitutional  warrant.  The 
question  had  been  mooted,  and  in  one  case  passed  upon,  prior 
to  the  date  of  Iredell's  address  (1786),  but  the  opinion  of  the 
Court  had  not  been  published  beyond  the  jurisdiction  in  which 
it  was  decided.  Kichard  Dobbs  Spaight,  while  a  member 
of  the  Convention  at  Philadelphia  (August  12,  1877),  in  a 
letter  to  Iredell,  refers  to  the  action  of  the  judges  in  holding 
an  act  depriving  litigants  of  trial  by  jury  {Bayard  v.  Single- 
ton, 1  Martin,  42)  unconstitutional.  He  laments  "that  the 
Assembly  have  passed  laws  unjust  in  themselves  and  mili- 
tating in  their  principles  against  the  Constitution  in  more 
instances  than  one."  He  says :  "I  do  not  pretend  to  vindi- 
cate the  law,  which  has  been  the  subject  of  controversy;  it 
is  immaterial  what  law  they  have  declared  void ;  it  is  their 
usurpation  of  the  authority  to  do  it  that  I  complain  of,  as 
I  do  most  positively  deny  that  they  have  any  such  power ; 
nor  can  they  find  anything  in  the  Constitution,  either  directly 
or  impliedly,  that  will  support  them  or  give  them  any  color 
of  right  to  exercise  that  authority.  *  *  *  It  must  be 
acknowledged  that  our  Constitution  unfortunately  has  not 
provided  a  sufficient  check  to  prevent  the  intemperate  and 
unjust  proceedings  of  our  Legislature,  though  such  a  check 
would  be  very  beneficial,  and  I  think  absolutely  necessary 
to  our  well  being;  the  only  one  that  I  know  of  is  the  annual 
election  which,  by  leaving  out  such  members,  will  in  some 
degree  remedy,  though  it  can  not  prevent,  such  evils  as  may 
arise."  On  August  26,  1787,  Iredell  answered  Mr,  Spaight's 
letter  at  length,  saying:  "In  regard  to  the  late  decision  at 
ISTew  Bern,  I  confess  that  it  has  ever  been  my  opinion  that 
an  act  inconsistent  with  the  Constitution  was  void,  and  that 
the  judges,  consistently  with  their  duties,  could  not  carry 
it  into  effect.     The  Constitution  appears  to  me  to  be  a  funda- 


JAMES  lEEDELL.  219 

mental  law,  limiting  the  powers  of  the  Legislature,  and  with 
which  every  exercise  of  those  powers  must  be  compared."  In 
regard  to  his  apprehension  that  the  power  will  be  abused, 
Iredell  says :  ^'If  you  had  seen,  as  I  did,  with  what  infinite 
reluctance  the  judges  came  to  this  decision,  what  pains  they 
took  by  proposing  expedients  to  obviate  its  necessity,  you 
would  have  seen  in  a  strong  light  how  little  probable  it  is  a 
judge  would  ever  give  such  a  judgment  when  he  thought  he 
could  possibly  avoid  it.  But  whatever  may  be  the  conse- 
quences, formed  as  our  Constitution  is,  I  can  not  help  think- 
ing they  are  not  at  liberty  to  choose,  but  must  in  all  ques- 
tionable instances  decide  upon  it.  It  is  a  subject  indeed  of 
great  magnitude,  and  I  heartily  lament  the  occasion  for  its 
discussion.  In  all  doubtful  cases,  to  be  sure  the  act  ought  to 
be  supported,  it  should  be  unconstitutional  beyond  dispute 
before  it  is  pronounced  such." 

The  Convention  at  Philadelphia  having  submitted  the  new 
Federal  Constitution  to  the  Legislatures  of  the  States,  Iredell 
at  once  entered  upon  the  task  of  securing  its  adoption  by  the 
people  of  North  Carolina.  In  no  State  was  the  opposition 
more  pronounced  or  determined.  The  popular  leaders  of  the 
dominant  party  were  active  in  their  opposition,  one  of  the 
most  prominent  of  them  declaring  that  "Washington  was  a 
d — n  rascal  and  traitor  to  his  country  for  putting  his  hand  to 
such  an  infamous  paper  as  the  new  Constitution."  Another, 
said  to  have  been  the  most  popular  leader  in  the  State, 
seriously  insisted  in  the  Convention  upon  rejecting  it  with- 
out discussion,  saying  that  he  had  made  up  his  mind  and  was 
sure  that  others  had  done  so.  "Of  all  those  who  were  most 
active  in  pressing  upon  the  people  the  adoption  of  the  Con- 
stitution Mr.  Iredell  was  undoubtedly  the  most  able  and 
energetic." 

At  the  session  of  the  Legislature  November,  1787,  Mr. 
Johnston  was  elected  Governor  and  Mr.  Iredell  a  member 


/ 


220  THE   NOKTII    CAKOLINA   BOOKLET. 

of  the  Council ;  he  was  also  appointed  a  commissioner  to  re- 
vise and  collect  the  Acts  of  the  General  Assembly,  then  in 
force.  A  convention  of  the  people  was  called  to  meet  at 
Hillsboro,  composed  of  delegates  from  the  several  counties 
and  the  borough  towns.  Iredell  was  elected,  unanimously, 
from  Edenton.  On  January  8,  1788,  he  published  a  pam- 
phlet entitled  "Answer  to  Mr.  Mason's  Objections  to  the  jSTew 
Constitution  Recommended  by  the  late  Convention  at  Phila- 
delphia," by  "Marcus."  He  stated  each  of  Mr.  Mason's 
"objections"  in  their  order,  and  in  the  same  order  answers 
them.  It  is  not  within  the  scope  of  this  sketch  to  undertake 
a  review  of  Mr.  Iredell's  "answer"  to  the  celebrated  paper 
of  Mr.  George  Mason.  The  pamphlet  made  a  favorable  im- 
pression on  the  public  mind  and  strongly  influenced  Iredell's 
future  career.  The  correspondence  between  Iredell  and  Wil- 
liam Hooper,  William  R.  Davie  and  Maclaine  gives  an  inter- 
esting view  of  the  condition  of  public  sentiment  in  the  State 
in  regard  to  the  new  Constitution.  Says  one,  writing  of  the 
leaders  in  the  Convention:  "The  most  prominent  Federal- 
ists were  Iredell,  Davie,  Governor  Johnston,  Spaight,  Mac- 
lain  [sic]  and  Steele.  Foremost  in  their  number  and  the 
leading  spirit  of  the  whole  body  was  Judge  Iredell,  conspic- 
uous for  his  graceful  elocution,  for  the  apt  application  of  his 
varied  learning,  his  intimate  knowledge  of  the  schemes  of 
government,  and  his  manly  and  generous  temper. 

"Davie,  with  spotless  plume,  towering  in  intellect,  as  in 
stature,  above  the  majority  of  the  members,  stood  like  a 
knight  of  the  olden  time,  lance  in  hand,  the  luster  of  his 
military  services  played  about  him  and  was  reflected  in  flash- 
ing light  from  hauberk,  morion  and  polished  steel. 

"Governor  Johnston,  the  President  of  the  Convention,  calm, 
lucid  and  convincing,  seldom  participated  in  the  debate; 
when  he  did,  his  blows  were  always  delivered  with  stunning 
effect. 


JAMES   IREDELL.  225 

"Maclaine,  sensible,  pointed  and  vigorous,  was  the  Hotspur 
of  his  party. 

"Steele  was  laborious,  clear-sighted  and  serviceable  by  his 
knowledge  of  men. 

"Willie  Jones,  although  democratic  in  theory,  was  aristo- 
cratic in  habits,  tastes,  pursuits  and  prejudices;  he  lived 
sumptuously  and  wore  fine  linen ;  he  raced,  hunted  and 
played  cards.  A  patriot  in  the  Revolution,  he  was  now  the 
head  of  a  great  party.  *  *  *  He  was  a  loving  and 
cherished  disciple  of  Jefferson,  and  was  often  taunted  with 
his  subserviency  to  Virginia  'abstractions.'  He  seldom 
shared  in  the  discussions. 

"Judge  Spencer,  candid  and  temperate,  was  in  debate  far 
superior  to  his  associates. 

"David  Caldwell,  a  Presbyterian  divine,  was  learned  and 
intelligent.  He  had  for  years  discharged  the  triple  functions 
of  preacher,  physician  and  teacher. 

"McDowell,  the  rival  of  Davie  in  military  renown,  was  a 
man  of  action  rather  than  words. 

"Bloodworth,  by  no  means  the  least  among  them,  was  one 
of  the  most  remarkable  men  of  the  era,  distinguished  for 
the  versatility  of  his  talents  and  his  practical  knowledge  of 
men,  trades,  arts,  and  sciences.  The  child  of  poverty,  dili- 
gence and  ambition  had  supplied  the  place  of  patronage  and 
wealth;  he  was  resolute  almost  to  fierceness,  and  almost  radi- 
cal in  his  democracy." 

William  Hooper,  General  Allen  Jones,  William  Blount, 
and  Judge  Ashe  were  defeated  at  the  polls. 

The  debates  were  conducted  with  ability  and  dignity,  and 
at  times  with  much  asperity.  While  Davie,  Spaight,  Mac- 
laine and  Johnston  bore  their  share,  Iredell  was  the  acknowl- 
edged leader  for  adoption.  The  proceedings  of  the  Conven- 
tion are  published  in  Elliott's  Debates.  The  opposition  could 
not  be  overcome  and,  on  the  final  vote,  the  Constitution  was 


222  THE    NOETI-I    CAROLINA   BOOKLET. 

rejected  bj  a  vote  of  184  to  84.^  While  Iredell  was  defeated 
he  made  many  friends  and  advanced  his  reputation  in  the 
State.  One  of  the  new  western  counties  was  given  his  name. 
The  requisite  number  of  States  having  ratified  the  Constitu- 
tion, the  new  government  was  organized  April  30,  1789, 
North  Carolina  taking  no  part  but  remaining  a  free,  sover- 
eign, independent  State. 

It  appears  from  the  letters  of  the  Honorable  Pierce  But- 
ler, Senator  from  South  Carolina,  written  from  ISTew  York, 
August  11,  1789,  that  Iredells'  reputation  had  extended  be- 
yond the  borders  of  the  State.  He  says:  "The  Southern 
interest  calls  aloud  for  some  such  men  as  Mr.  Iredell  to  rep- 
resent it- — to  do  it  justice."  Dr.  Williamson  writes,  at  the 
same  time :  "The  I^orth  Carolina  Debates  are  considerably 
read  in  this  State,  especially  by  Congress  members,  some 
of  whom,  formerly  had  little  knowledge  of  the  citizens  of 
ISTorth  Carolina,  have  lately  been  very  minute  in  their  in- 
quiries concerning  Mr.  Iredell.  By  the  way,  I  have  lately 
been  asked  by  a  Senator  whether  I  thought  you  would  accept 
a  judge's  place  under  the  new  government  if  it  required  your 
moving  out  of  the  State,  as  we  are  not  in  the  Union."  A 
second  Convention  met  at  Fayetteville  ITovember  2,  1789. 
Iredell  w^as  not  a  candidate  for  election  as  a  delegate.  W^ith 
but  little  debate  the  Constitution  was  ratified  and  amend- 
ments proposed.  A  bill  was  passed  establishing  a  university, 
the  names  of  Samuel  Johnston  and  James  Iredell  being  placed 
at  the  head  of  the  list  of  trustees.* 

Maclaine  writes  Iredell  December  9,  1789 :  "What  would 
you  think  of  being  the  District  Judge  ?"  He  was  soon  called 
to  a  larger  field  and  higher  judicial  service.  On  February 
10,  1790,  without  solicitation  on  his  part,  Mr.  Iredell  was 
nominated  by  President  Washington,  and  unanimously  con- 

sConvention  of  1788— N.  C.  Booklet,  Vol.  IV. 

^Battle's  History  of  the  University  of  North  Carolina,  821. 


JAMES  IREDELL.  223 

firmed  bj  the  Senate,  one  of  the  Associate  Justices  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States.  He  was  just  thirty- 
nine  years  old.  The  President  enclosed  his  commission  with 
the  following  letter:  "One  of  the  seats  on  the  bench  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  having  become  vacant 
by  the  resignation  of  the  gentleman  appointed  to  fill  the 
same,  I  have  thought  fit,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent 
of  the  Senate,  to  appoint  you  to  that  office,  and  have  now 
the  pleasure  to  enclose  you  a  commission  to  be  one  of  the 
Associate  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 
You  have,  sir,  undoubtedly  considered  the  high  importance 
of  a  judicial  system  in  every  civil  government.  It  may 
therefore  be  unnecessary  for  me  to  say  anything  that  would 
impress  you  with  this  idea  in  respect  to  ours.  *  *  *  J 
must,  however,  observe  that,  viewing  as  I  do  the  Judicial 
System  of  the  United  States  as  one  of  the  main  pillars  on 
which  our  E^ational  Government  must  rest,  it  has  been  my 
great  object  to  introduce  into  the  high  offices  of  that  depart- 
ment such  characters  as,  from  my  own  knowledge  or  the  best 
information,  I  conceived  would  give  dignity  and  stability  to 
the  government  *  *  *  at  the  same  time  that  they  added 
luster  to  our  national  character."  It  is  said  that  "Washing- 
ton derived  his  conviction  of  Iredell's  merits  from  a  perusal 
of  the  Debates  in  the  North  Carolina  Convention  and  the 
famous  reply  to  George  Mason's  objections."  ^  Butler  wrote 
Iredell  February  10th:  "I  should  have  been  happy  to  have 
had  you  in  Congress.  The  Union  will  no  longer  be  deprived 
of  your  aid  and  the  benefit  of  your  abilities.  *  *  *  I 
congratulate  the  States  on  the  appointment  and  you  on  this 
mark  of  their  well-merited  opinion  of  you."  Acknowledging 
the  letter  from  the  President,  Iredell  writes :  "In  accepting 
this  dignified  trust  I  do  it  with  all  the  diffidence  becoming 
the  humble  abilities  I  possess ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  with 

^Carson's  History  of  the  Supreme  Court,  155. 


224  THE  NOKTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 

the  most  earnest  resolution  to  endeavor  hj  unremitting  ap- 
plication a  faithful  discharge  of  all  of  its  duties,  in  the  best 
manner  in  mj  power."  Judge  Iredell  was  assigned  to  the 
Southern  Circuit  and  entered  upon  the  work  immediately. 
He  reached  Charleston  May  23,  1790,  and  there  met  Mr. 
Eutledge  before  whom  he  took  the  oath  of  office.  He  writes 
Mrs.  Iredell :  "I  have  received  the  greatest  and  kindest 
civilities  from  Mr.  Eutledge,  at  whose  house  I  have  the 
pleasure  of  staying."  He  proceeded  to  Savannah.  There 
was  but  little  business  in  the  new  Court  other  than  organiz- 
ing the  Circuit  Courts  and  putting  the  new  judicial  system 
in  working  order.  Supposing  that  the  judges  would  "rotate" 
in  the  Circuit  Court  work,  he  removed  his  family  to  New 
York.  The  Court  having,  to  his  surprise,  adopted  the  rule 
which  confined  judges  to  one  circuit — Iredell's  being  the 
Southern — he  found  himself  very  much  embarrassed.  The 
long  distance  to  be  traveled  (1,900  miles)  twice  each  year 
was  a  severe  tax  upon  his  health  and  strength.  He  justly 
complained  of  the  arrangement  to  the  Chief  Justice,  who 
conceded  that  "your  share  of  the  task  has  hitherto  been  more 
than  in  due  proportion."  Although  the  judges  refused  to 
make  a  more  equitable  rule,  by  exchanges,  they  sometimes 
rode  different  circuits.  Justice  Iredell  took  his  seat  with  the 
Chief  Justice  and  his  associates  at  the  August  Term,  1790. 
ISTo  business  was  transacted,  the  Court  adjourning  sine  die. 
Iredell  again  rode  the  Southern  Circuit,  but  it  does  not  ap- 
pear that  there  was  much  business  to  engage  his  attention. 

William  Hooper,  to  whom  Iredell  was  strongly  attached, 
and  for  whose  character  and  talents  he  had  the  highest  re- 
gard, died  October  14,  1790.  Writing  a  letter  of  condolence 
to  Mrs.  Hooper,  Iredell  said:  "An  attachment  founded  on 
the  most  perfect  esteem  and  upon  a  gratitude  excited  by 
repeated  and  most  flattering  obligations,  ought  not,  and,  in 
me,  I  trust  is  not  capable  of  being  weakened  by  any  change 
of  place,  time  or  circumstance." 


JAMES   IREDELL.  221 

A  suit  was  instituted  at  this  time  in  the  State  Court  against 
Iredell  and  his  co-executor  upon  a  bond  given  bj  their  tes- 
tator to  a  British  subject.  His  co-executor  pleaded  the  ''Con- 
fiscation Act,"  in  which  Iredell  refused  to  join.  Bj  direc- 
tion of  Justices  Wilson,  Blair  and  Rutledge  a  writ  of  certi- 
orari was  issued  to  the  State  Court,  which  the  judges  refused 
to  obey.  As  an  indication  of  the  jealousy  of  the  new  gov- 
ernment in  the  State,  the  General  Assembly  adopted  a  reso- 
lution declaring  that  "The  General  Assembly  do  commend 
and  approve  of  the  conduct  of  the  judges  of  the  Courts  of 
Law  and  Courts  of  Equity  in  this  particular."®  At  the  same 
session  the  House  of  Commons,  by  a  vote  of  twenty-five  to 
fifty-five,  refused  to  adopt  a  resolution  requiring  the  Gov- 
ernor and  other  State  officials  to  take  an  oath  "to  support  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States." 

On  the  Southern  Circuit  at  Savannah  (1791)  a  question 
arose,  stated  by  Judge  Iredell,  as  follows:  "There  were 
depending  some  suits  for  the  recovery  of  debts,  to  which  pleas 
were  put  in  by  the  defendants,  not  denying  the  existence  of 
the  debts,  but  showing  (as  they  conceived)  a  right  in  the 
State  of  Georgia  to  recover  them  under  certain  Acts  of  As- 
sembly of  the  State  passed  prior  to  the  Treaty  of  Peace.  The 
Attorney  and  Solicitor  General  of  the  State  were  directed  to 
interfere  in  the  defense,  but  the  counsel  for  the  defendants 
refused  to  permit  them.  The  Attorney  and  Solicitor  Gen- 
eral, being  dissatisfied  with  the  pleas,  applied  to  the  Court 
for  leave  to  interfere  in  behalf  of  the  State."  Judge  Iredell 
was  of  the  opinion  that  the  State  could  appear  only  in  the 
Supreme  Court,  and  for  this  reason  denied  the  motion.  He 
suggested  that  the  State  had  a  remedy  by  an  appeal  to  the 
Equity  jurisdiction  of  the  Supreme  Court.  Deeply  impressed 
with  the  gravity  as  well  as  the  novelty  of  the  question  he 
writes:     "I  have  been  thus  particular  in  stating  this  inter- 

"State  Records,  XXI,  441,  865,  1080,  1082. 


226  THE  NOETH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 

esting  subject,  because  it  appears  to  me  of  the  highest  mo- 
ment, although  I  believe  it  would  be  difficult  to  devise  an  un- 
exceptionable remedy.  But  the  discussion  of  questions 
wherein  are  involved  the  most  sacred  and  awful  principles 
of  public  justice,  under  a  system  without  precedent  in  the 
history  of  mankind,  necessarily  must  occasion  many  embar- 
rassments which  can  be  more  readily  suggested  than  re- 
moved." Out  of  these  suits  arose  the  celebrated  case  of 
Georgia  v.  Brailsford,  2  Dallas,  402 ;  3  Dallas,  1. 

At  the  April  Term,  1792,  of  the  Circuit  Court  at  Sa- 
vannah Judge  Iredell  delivered  a  charge  to  the  grand  jury 
which  so  impressed  the  members  that  they  unanimously  re- 
quested its  publication.  A  number  of  his  "charges"  in  other 
circuits  were  published  at  the  request  of  the  grand  juries. 
At  the  June  Term,  1792,  at  the  Circuit  Court  at  Raleigh, 
IT.  C,  Judge  Iredell,  with  District  Judge  Sitgreaves,  was 
confronted  with  a  delicate  question.  Congi^ess  had  enacted 
a  statute  directing  that  the  invalid  pension  claims  of  widows 
and  orphans  should  be  exhibited  to  the  Circuit  Courts ;  that 
those  to  whom  the  Court  granted  certificates  should  be  placed 
on  the  Pension  list,  subject  to  the  review  of  the  Secretary  of 
War.  Conceiving  that  the  duties  thus  imposed  were  not  ju- 
dicial in  their  character,  and  therefore  not  authorized  by  the 
Constitution,  which  carefully  separated  the  powers  and  duties 
of  each  department  of  the  Government,  Judge  Iredell  pre- 
pared a  remonstrance,  addressed  to  the  President,  in  which 
he  said : 

'^We  beg  leave  to  premise  that  it  is  as  much  our  inclina- 
tion as  it  is  our  duty  to  receive  with  all  possible  respect  every 
act  of  the  Legislature,  and  that  we  never  can  find  ourselves 
in  a  more  painful  situation  than  to  be  obliged  to  object  to 
the  execution  of  any,  more  especially  to  the  execution  of  one 
founded  on  the  purest  principles  of  humanity  and  justice, 
which    the   actual   question   undoubtedly   is.      But   however 


JAMES  IREDELL.  227 

lamentable  a  difference  really  may  be  *  *  *  we  are 
under  the  indispensable  necessity  of  acting  according  to  the 
best  dictates  of  our  judgment."  He  set  forth  at  length  the 
reasoning  by  which  he  had  been  brought  to  the  conclusion 
that  he  could  not,  with  proper  regard  to  the  Constitutional 
distribution  of  powers,  execute  this  statute,  concluding:  "The 
high  respect  we  entertain  for  the  Legislature,  our  feelings  as 
men  for  persons  whose  situation  requires  the  earliest  as  well 
as  the  most  effectual  relief,  and  our  sincere  desire  to  pro- 
mote, whether  officially  or  otherwise,  the  just  and  benevolent 
views  of  Congress,  so  conspicuous  on  this  as  well  as  on  many 
other  occasions,  have  induced  us  to  reflect  whether  we  could 
be  justified  in  acting  under  this  act  personally  in  the  char- 
acter of  commissioners  during  the  session  of  a  court ;  and 
could  we  be  satisfied  that  we  had  authority  to  do  so  we  would 
cheerfully  devote  such  part  of  our  time  as  might  be  necessary 
for  the  performance  of  the  service."  The  other  Justices  ad- 
dressed similar  letters  to  the  President.  The  question  was 
brought  before  the  Court  by  a  motion  made  by  Attorney  Gen- 
eral Randolph,  ex  ojficio  for  a  mandamus  directed  to  the  Cir- 
cuit Court  for  the  District  of  Pennsylvania,  commanding  the 
Court  to  proceed  to  hear  the  petition  of  William  Hayburn, 
etc.  The  Court  being  divided  in  opinion  whether  he  could 
make  the  motion  ex  officio,  he  was  permitted  to  do  so  on  be- 
half of  Hayburn.  ISTo  decision  was  made  at  the  time  and 
Congress  soon  thereafter  "made  other  provisions  for  the  re- 
lief of  pensioners."  Judge  Iredell,  until  the  act  was  re- 
pealed, heard  a  large  number  of  petitions  as  commissioner. 
He  writes  Mrs.  Iredell  from  Hartford,  Connecticut,  Sep- 
tember 30.  1792 :  "We  have  a  great  deal  of  business  to  do 
here,  particularly,  as  I  have  reconciled  myself  to  the  pro- 
priety of  doing  the  invalid  business  out  of  court."  In^United 
States  V.  Ferreria,  13  Howard,  51,  Chief  Justice  Taney  says 
of  the  action  of  the  Court:     "The  repeal  of  the  act  clearly 


228  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 

shows  that  the  President  and  Congress  acquiesced  in  the  cor- 
rectness of  the  decision,  that  it  was  not  a  judicial  power." 
Following  the  refusal  to  permit  Georgia  to  intervene  in 
the  Brailsford  case,  in  the  Circuit  Court,  the  State  filed  a 
bill  in  equity  in  the  Supreme  Court,  alleging  that  the  title 
to  the  bond,  upon  which  the  action  in  the  Circuit  Court  was 
brought,  was,  by  virtue  of  an  act  passed  during  the  war, 
confiscating  and  sequestrating  the  property  and  debts  of 
British  subjects  in  the  State.  The  Court  was  asked  to  enjoin 
the  plaintiffs  from  proceeding,  etc.  Each  of  the  Judges  wrote 
opinions.  Iredell  observed  that  he  had  sat  in  the  Circuit 
Court  and  refused  the  motion  of  the  State  to  intervene.  He 
said  that  the  Court  could  not,  with  propriety,  sustain  the 
application  of  Georgia  because  whenever  a  State  is  a  party 
the  Supreme  Court  has  exclusive  jurisdiction  of  the  suit. 
The  State,  therefore,  did  not  have  a  complete  and  adequate 
remedy  at  law.  ''Every  principle  of  law,  justice  and  honor, 
however,  seem  to  require  that  the  claim  of  the  State  of  Georgia 
should  not  be  indirectly  decided  or  defeated  by  a  judgment 
pronounced  between  parties  over  whom  she  had  no  control, 
and  upon  a  trial  in  which  she  was  not  allowed  to  be  heard." 
He  was  of  the  opinion  that  an  injunction  should  be  awarded 
to  stay  the  money  in  the  hands  of  the  Marshal  until  the 
Court  made  further  orders,  etc.  The  Court  was  divided  in 
opinion,  the  majority  holding  that  an  injunction  should  issue 
until  the  hearing.  At  the  February  Term,  1793,  a  motion 
was  made  by  Randolph  to  dissolve  the  injunction.  Iredell 
was  of  the  opinion  that  the  motion  should  be  denied.  He 
held  that,  for  several  reasons,  the  State  could  not  sue  on  the 
bond  at  law,  asking:  "How  is  she  to  obtain  possession  of 
the  instrument  without  the  aid  of  a  Court  of  Equity  ?"  point- 
ing out  the  practical  difficulties  which  she  would  encounter 
in  securing  the  bond.  To  the  suggestions  that  the  State  could 
bring  an  action  of  assumpsit  for  money  had  and  received 


JAMES  IKEDELL.  229 

against  Brailsford,  which  he  termed  "the  legal  panacea  of 
modern  times,"  he  conclusively  answers  that  while  the  action 
"may  be  beneficially  applied  to  a  gTeat  variety  of  cases,  it 
can  not  be  pretended  that  this  form  of  action  will  lie  before 
the  defendant  has  actually  received  the  money,"  and  this 
Brailsford  has  not  done.  He  suggests  that  the  injunction 
be  continued,  and  an  issue  be  tried  at  the  bar  to  ascertain 
whether  the  State  of  Georgia  or  Brailsford  was  the  true 
owner.  Although  a  majority  of  the  Judges  were  of  the  opin- 
ion that  the  State  had  an  adequate  remedy  at  law,  the  course 
suggested  by  Iredell  was  substantially  pursued.  At  the  Feb- 
ruary Term,  1794,  an  amicable  issue  was  submitted  to  a 
special  jury.  The  argument  continued  for  four  days,  when 
the  Chief  Justice  instructed  the  jury :  "The  facts  compre- 
hended in  the  case  are  agreed ;  the  only  point  that  remains  is 
to  settle  what  is  the  law  of  the  land  arising  upon  those  facts ; 
and  on  that  point  it  is  proper  that  the  opinion  of  the  Court 
should  be  given.''  He  says  that  the  opinion  of  the  Court  is 
unanimous,  that  the  debt  was  subjected,  not  to  confiscation, 
but  only  to  sequestration,  and  that  therefore  the  right  of  the 
creditor  to  recover  it  was  revived  at  the  coming  of  peace, 
both  by  the  law  of  nations  and  the  Treaty  of  Peace.  It  is 
not  very  clear  what  question  of  fact  was  submitted  to  the  de- 
cision of  the  jury.  He  further  instructed  the  jury  that 
while  it  was  the  "good  old  rule"  that  the  Court  should  decide 
questions  of  law  and  the  jury  questions  of  fact,  the  jury  have 
a  right,  nevertheless,  to  take  upon  themselves  to  judge  of 
both  and  to  determine  the  law  as  well  as  the  facts.  The 
learned  Chief  Justice  suggests  that  the  Court  "has  no  doubt 
that  you  will  pay  that  respect  which  is  due  to  the  opinion 
of  the  Court;  for,  as  on  the  one  hand,  it  is  presumed  that 
juries  are  the  best  judges  of  facts,  it  is,  on  the  other  .hand, 
presumable  that  the  courts  are  the  best  judges  of  law.  But 
still  both  objects  are  lawfully  within  your  power  of  decision." 


230  THE   NORTH    CAROLINA   BOOKLET. 

JSTotwithstanding  the  facts  were  agreed  upon  and  the  Court 
was  unanimous  in  opinion  in  regard  to  the  law,  the  jury, 
"after  being  absent  some  time,"  returned  to  the  bar  and  pro- 
posed certain  questions  of  law,  which  being  answered,  "with- 
out going  away  from  the  bar,"  they  returned  a  verdict  for  the 
defendant.  The  case  has  the  distinction  of  being  the  only 
one  in  which  a  jury  was  empaneled  in  the  Supreme  Court. 
Flanders  says :  "The  charge  of  the  Chief  Justice  to  the 
jury  is  curious,  from  the  opinions  he  expressed  as  to  the  ex- 
tent of  their  powers.  His  statement  of  the  law  on  that  point 
is  clearly  erroneous."^  Mr.  James  Scott  Brown  says :  "The 
'judgTnent  was  clearly  right,  but  the  statement  of  the  Chief 
Justice  that  the  jury  was  judge  of  the  law,  as  well  as  the 
facts,  is  open  to  serious  doubt. "^ 

In  Chisholm  v.  Georgia,  2  Dallas,  419,  standing  alone,  Ire- 
dell enunciated  and,  with  a  wealth  of  learning  and  "arsenal 
of  argument,"  maintained  the  position  that  a  State  could  not 
be  "haled  into  court"  by  a  citizen  of  another  State.  The 
question  arose  in  an  action  of  assumpsit  instituted  in  the 
Supreme  Court  against  the  State  of  Georgia,  process  being 
served  upon  the  Governor  and  the  Attorney  General.  The 
State  refused  to  enter  an  appearance,  but  filed  a  remonstrance 
and  protest  against  the  jurisdiction.  The  Attorney  General, 
Randolph,  representing  the  plaintiff,  lodged  a  motion  that 
unless  the  State  entered  an  appearance  and  showed  cause  to 
the  contrary,  by  a  day  named,  judgment  by  default  and  in- 
quiry be  entered,  etc.  This  motion  was  argued  by  Randolph, 
the  State  not  being  represented.  Each  of  the  justices  filed 
opinions.  Iredell  first  analyzed  the  provisions  of  the  Consti- 
tution conferring  jurisdiction  upon  the  Court  in  controversies 
wherein  a  State  was  a  party.  He  quotes  the  language  of  the 
Judiciary  Act  distributing  the   jurisdiction  in   such  cases. 

'Lives  of  the  Chief  Justices,  393. 
8Great  American  Lawyers,  Vol.  I,  285. 


JAMES   IREDELL.  231 

He  dwells  somewhat  on  the  meaning  which  should  be  given 
to  the  word  "controversies"  in  the  Constitntion,  with  the  sug- 
gestion that  the  use  of  this  word  indicated  a  purpose  to  so 
restrict  the  causes  in  which  jurisdiction  was  conferred  as  to 
exclude  actions  at  law  for  the  recovery  of  money.  He  pro- 
ceeds to  consider  the  question  whether  it  is  necessary  for 
Congress  to  prescribe  a  method  of  procedure  in  controversies 
wherein  the  State  is  a  party.  He  argues  that  while  the  ju- 
dicial department  of  the  government  is  established  by  the 
Constitution,  the  Congress  must  legislate  in  respect  to  the 
number  of  the  Judges,  the  organization  of  the  Supreme  and 
such  inferior  courts  as  may  be  established,  etc.  He  quotes 
the  fourteenth  section  of  the  Judiciary  Act,  in  which  power 
is  conferred  upon  the  courts  to  issue  writs  of  scire  facias, 
habeas  corpus^  and  all  other  writs  not  specially  provided  for 
by  statute,  which  may  be  necessary  for  the  exercise  of  their 
respective  jurisdictions  and  "agreeable  to  the  principles  and 
usages  of  law,"  noting  the  fact  that  "neither  in  the  State 
now  in  question,  nor  in  any  other  in  the  Union,  any  particu- 
lar legislation  authorizing  a  compulsory  suit  for  the  recovery 
of  money  against  a  State  was  in  being,  either  when  the  Con- 
stitution was  adopted  or  at  the  time  when  the  Judicial  Act 
was  passed,"  and  concludes  that  only  principles  of  the  com- 
mon law,  a  law  which  is  the  ground  work  of  the  laws  in  every 
State  in  the  Union  and  which,  so  far  as  it  is  applicable  to 
the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  country,  and  when  no 
special  act  of  legislation  controls  it,  is  in  force  in  such  State, 
as  it  existed  in  England  at  the  time  of  the  first  settlement  of 
this  country ;  that  no  other  part  of  the  common  law  of  Eng- 
land can  have  any  reference  to  the  subject  but  that  which 
prescribes  remedies  against  the  Crown.  Thus  he  is  brought 
to  the  decision  of  the  real  question  in  the  case.  It  is  mani- 
fest that  if,  until  Congress  has  prescribed  some  mode  of  pro- 
cedure by  which,  in  controversies  wherein  the  State  is  a 
3 


232  THE    NOKTII    CAROLINA   BOOKLET. 

partj,  the  Court  must  proceed  by  a  mode  "agreeable  to  the 
principles  and  usages  of  law,"  and,  to  find  such  principles 
and  usages,  resort  must  be  had  to  the  common  law,  the  ques- 
tion necessarily  arises  whether  the  States  of  the  Union,  when 
sued,  are  to  be  proceeded  against  in  the  same  manner  as,  by 
the  common  law,  is  prescribed  for  proceeding  against  the 
Sovereign.  It  is  just  at  this  point  that  the  line  of  thought 
between  Iredell  and  Wilson  divides.  The  former  says : 
"Every  State  in  the  Union,  in  every  instance  where  its  sov- 
ereigTity  has  not  been  delegated  to  the  United  States,  I  con- 
sider to  be  as  completely  sovereign  as  the  United  States  in 
respect  to  the  powers  surrenderd ;  each  State  in  the  Union 
is  sovereign  as  to  all  the  powers  reserved.  It  must  neces- 
sarily be  so,  because  the  United  States  have  no  claim  to  any 
authority  but  such  as  the  States  have  surrendered  to  them ; 
of  course  the  powers  not  surrendered  must  remain  as  they 
did  before.  *  *  *  So  far  as  the  States,  under  the  Con- 
stitution, can  be  made  legally  liable  to  this  authority,  so  far, 
to  be  sure,  they  are  subordinate  to  the  authority  of  the  United 
States,  and  their  individual  sovereignty  is,  in  this  respect, 
limited.  But  it  is  limited  no  further  than  the  necessary  exe- 
cution of  such  authority  requires."  It  will  be  observed  that 
Iredell  is  not,  at  this  point  in  the  argument,  discussing  the 
question  whether  it  is  within  the  power  of  CongTess  to  pre- 
scribe a  mode  of  procedure  for  bringing  a  State  into  the  Fed- 
eral Court  to  answer  for  a  money  demand  by  a  citizen  of 
another  State.  The  argument  is  that,  until  it  has  done  so, 
the  only  method  of  proceeding  against  a  State  is  that  pre- 
scribed by  the  common  law  for  proceeding  against  the  Sover- 
eigii.  It  therefore  becomes  necessary  to  follow  the  argument 
and  establish  the  proposition  that  prior  to  the  formation  and 
ratification  of  the  Constitution  each  State  was  a  sovereign, 
and  that  in  ratifying  the  Constitution  it  did  not  part,  in  re- 
spect to  the  mode  of  proceeding  against  it  in  a  controversy  in 


JAMES  IKEDELL.  233 

tlie  Federal  Courts,  with  its  sovereignty.  He  proceeds  to  give 
an  exhaustive  and  interesting  history  of  the  method  of  pro- 
cedure for  the  recovery  of  money  at  the  common  law  against 
the  King.  The  history  of  the  law  in  England  in  this  re- 
spect, although  very  interesting,  has  no  permanent  interest 
to  the  student  of  American  Constitutional  law.  He  thus  con- 
cludes this  branch  of  the  discussion:  ^'I  have  now,  I  think, 
established  the  following  propositions :  First,  that  the  Court's 
action,  so  far  as  it  affects  the  judicial  authority,  can  only  be 
carried  into  effect  by  acts  of  the  Legislature,  appointing 
courts  and  prescribing  their  method  of  procedure ;  second, 
that  Congress  has  provided  no  new  law,  but  expressly  re- 
ferred us  to  the  old ;  third,  that  there  are  no  principles  of 
the  old  law  to  which  we  must  have  recourse  that,  in  any 
measure,  authorizes  the  present  suit,  either  by  precedent  or 
analogy." 

This  conclusion  was  sufficient,  from  Iredell's  point  of 
view,  to  dispose  of  the  case  before  the  Court,  but  Judge  Wil- 
son, who  wrote  the  principal  opinion  for  the  majority,  threw 
down  the  gauntlet  and  challenged  the  basic  proposition  upon 
which  Iredell's  argument  was  founded.  Here  we  find  the  line 
of  cleavage  between  the  two  schools  of  thought  upon  the 
fundamental  conception  of  the  relations  which  the  States 
bore  to  the  Federal  Government.  Iredell  was  a  Federalist, 
Wilson  a  l^ationalist.  Wilson  opened  his  opinion  with  these 
words :  "This  is  a  case  of  uncommon  magnitude.  One  of 
the  parties  to  it  is  a  State,  certainly  respectable,  claiming  to 
be  sovereign.  The  question  to  be  determined  is  whether  this 
State,  so  respectable  and  whose  claim  soars  so  high,  is  amen- 
able to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  ?  This  question,  important  in  itself,  will  depend  on 
others,  more  important  still ;  may,  and  perhaps  will  be,  ulti- 
mately resolved  into  one  no  less  radical  than  this — do  the 
people  of  the  United  States  form  a  nation  ?"     Iredell  was 


234  THE    NORTH    CAKOLINA   BOOKLET. 

not  a  man  to  conceal  his  opinions  when  either  propriety  or 
duty  demanded  their  expression.  Meeting  his  associate  upon 
the  "main  question/'  "So  far  as  this  great  question  affects 
the  Constitution  itself,  if  the  present  afforded,  consistently 
with  the  particular  grounds  of  my  opinion,  a  proper  occasion 
for  a  decision  upon  it,  I  should  not  shrink  from  its  discus- 
sion. But  it  is  of  extreme  moment  that  no  Judge  should 
rashly  commit  himself  upon  important  questions,  which  it  is 
unnecessary  for  him  to  decide.  My  opinion  being  tb£l  even 
if  the  Constitution  would  admit  of  the  exercise  of  such  a 
power,  a  new  law  is  necessary  for  the  purpose,  since  no  part 
of  the  existing  law  applies,  this  alone  is  sufficient  to  justify 
my  determination  in  the  present  case.  So  much,  however, 
has  been  said  on  the  Constitution  that  it  may  not  be  im- 
proper to  intimate  that  my  present  opinion  is  strongly  against 
any  construction  of  it  which  will  admit,  under  any  circum- 
stances, a  compulsive  suit  against  the  State  for  the  recovery 
of  money.  I  think  every  word  in  the  Constitution  may  have 
its  full  effect  without  involving  this  consequence,  and  noth- 
ing but  express  words  or  an  insurmountable  implication 
(neither  of  which  I  consider  can  be  found  in  this  case) 
would  authorize  the  deduction  of  so  high  a  power.  *  *  * 
A  State  does  not  owe  its  origin  to  the  government  of  the 
United  States,  in  the  highest  or  any  of  its  branches.  It  was 
in  existence  before  it.  It  derives  its  authority  from  the  same 
pure  and  sacred  source  as  itself,  the  salutary  and  deliberate 
choice  of  the  people."  He  thus  lays  down  a  canon  of  Con- 
stitutional construction :  "If,  upon  a  fair  construction  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  the  power  contended  for 
really  exists,  it  undoubtedly  may  be  exercised,  though  it  is  a 
power  of  first  impression.  If  it  does  not  exist  upon  that  au- 
thority, ten  thousand  examples  of  similar  powers  would  not 
warrant  its  assumption."  That  Iredell  was  in  harmony  with 
Hamilton  is  manifest  from  the  following  language  used  by 


JAMES   IREDELL.  235 

hiiL  lu  the  Federalist:  ''It  is  inherent  in  the  nature  of  sov- 
ereignty not  to  be  amenable  to  the  suit  of  an  individual  with- 
out its  consent.  This  is  the  general  sense  and  the  general 
practice  of  mankind,  and  the  exemption,  as  one  of  the  at- 
tributes of  sovereignty,  is  now  enjoyed  by  the  government 
of  every  State  in  the  Union.  Unless,  therefore,  there  is  a 
surrender  of  this  immunity  in  the  plan  of  the  Convention, 
it  will  remain  with  the  States,  and  the  danger  intimated 
must  be  merely  ideal.  *  •«•  *  There  is  no  color  to  pre- 
tend that  the  State  governments  would,  by  the  adoption  of 
that  plan,  be  divested  of  the  privilege  of  paying  their  own 
debts  in  their  own  way,  free  from  every  restraint  but  that 
which  flows  from  the  obligation  of  good  faith.'"'  So  Madi- 
son declared  in  the  Virginia  Convention.  ''It  is  not  within 
the  power  of  individuals  to  call  a  State  into  court."^^  Mar- 
shall, meeting  the  same  objection  to  the  Constitution,  said: 
"I  hope  that  no  gentleman  will  think  that  a  State  will  be 
called  to  the  bar  of  the  Federal  Court.  *  *  *  It  is  not 
natural  to  suppose  that  the  sovereign  power  should  be  dragged 
before  a  court." 

Mr.  Carson,  writing  of  the  opinion  of  the  Court  in  Chis- 
holm's  case,  says :  "From  these  views  Iredell  alone  dis- 
sented in  an  able  opinion,  of  which  it  has  been  said  that  it 
enunciated,  either  directly  or  by  implication,  all  the  leading 
principles  which  have  since  become  known  as  State  Rights' 
Doctrine  and  which  as  a  legal  argument  was  far  superior  in 
clearness  of  reasoning  to  Wilson  or  Jay.  He  confined  him- 
self strictly  to  the  question  before  the  Court,  whether  an 
action  of  assumpsit  would  lie  against  a  State. "^^ 

In  his  "Lives  of  the  Chief  Justices"  Van  Santvord  says: 
"These  views  [of  the  majority]  were  not  concurred  in  by 
Judge  Iredell,   who  delivered   a   dissenting  opinion.  ,  That 


eNo.  81  (J.  C.  Hamilton,  Ed.  602). 
lOElliott's  Debates,  2d  Ed.,  533. 
"Hist.  Sup.  Court,  174. 


236  THE   NORTH    CAROLINA   BOOKLET. 

able  jurist  considered  the  question  also  in  a  Constitutional 
point  of  view,  and  as  a  question  of  strict  construction.  With 
great  force  of  reasoning,  and  admirable  precision  and  clear- 
ness of  illustration,  be  analyzed  the  argument  of  the  Attorney 
General,  and  arrived  at  exactly  the  opposite  conclusion.  His 
opinion  was  that  no  part  of  the  existing  law  applied  to  this 
case ;  and  even  if  the  Constitution  would  admit  of  the  exer- 
cise of  such  a  power,  a  new  law  was  necessary  to  carry  the 
power  into  effect,  and  that  assumpsit  at  the  suit  of  a  citizen 
would  not  lie  against  a  State.  One  can  scarcely  arise  from 
a  careful  perusal  of  this  able  opinion  without  being  sensibly 
impressed  with  the  force  of  the  reasoning  of  the  learned 
Judge,  and  the  accuracy  of  his  deductions.  Lucid,  logical, 
compact,  comprehensive,  it  certainly  compares  very  favor- 
ably with  that  of  the  Chief  Justice  in  every  respect,  and  as  a 
mere  legal  argument  must  be  admitted  to  be  far  superior.^" 
*  *  *  As  a  constitutional  lawyer  Judge  Iredell  had  no 
superior  upon  the  bench.  His  judicial  opinions  are  marked 
by  great  vigor  of  thought,  clearness  of  argiiment,  and  force 
of  expression.  He  did  not  always  concur  with  the  majority 
of  his  brethren  in  their  constitutional  constructions,  and  on 
such  occasion  rarely  failed  to  sustain  his  positions  by  the 
strictest  legal  as  well  as  logical  deductions.  In  the  interest- 
ing case  of  Ware  v.  Hylton,  3  Dallas,  199,  his  dissenting 
opinion  exhibits  uncommon  research,  learning,  and  ability. 
As  a  legal  argument  it  may  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  best 
specimens  that  have  been  preserved  of  the  old  Supreme 
Court."^' 

"The  rough  substance  of  my  argument  in  the  suit  against 
the  State  of  Georgia,"  bearing  date  "February  18,  1793,"  as 
penned  by  the  author,  is  before  me.  The  writing  is  neat,  the 
"headings"    carefully   arranged,    a   few   erasures — interline- 


»2Pag:e  60. 
13/6.,  p.  61. 


JAMES  IREDELL.  _  237 

ations — showing  care  and  caution  in  the  form  of  expression. 
The  argument  covers  twenty-three  pages;  the  paper  is  well 
preserved  and  the  writing  distinct.  Of  this  opinion  Mr. 
Justice  Bradley,  in  Hans  v.  Louisiana,  134  U.  S.,  14  (1889), 
said :  ''The  highest  authority  of  this  country  was  in  accord 
rather  with  the  minority  than  with  the  majority  of  the  Court. 
*  *  *  And  this  fact  lends  additional  interest  to  the  able 
opinion  of  Mr.  Justice  Iredell  on  that  occasion.  The  other 
justices  were  more  swayed  by  a  close  observance  of  the  letter 
of  the  Constitution,  without  regard  to  former  experience  and 
usages ;  and  because  the  letter  said  that  the  judicial  power  , 
shall  extend  to  controversies  between  a  State  and  citizens  of 
another  State,  etc.,  they  felt  constrained  to  see  in  this  lan- 
guage a  power  to  enable  the  individual  citizen  of  one  State, 
or  of  a  foreign  State,  to  sue  another  State  of  the  Union  in  the 
Federal  Courts.  Justice  Iredell,  on  the  contrary,  contended 
that  it  was  not  the  intention  to  create  new  and  unheard  of 
remedies  by  subjecting  sovereign  States  to  action  at  the  suit 
of  individuals  (which  he  showed  conclusively  was  never  done 
before),  but  only  by  proper  legislation  to  invest  the  Federal 
Courts  with  jurisdiction  to  hear  and  determine  controversies 
and  cases  between  the  parties  designated  that  were  properly 
susceptible  to  litigation  in  courts.  Adhering  to  the  mere  let- 
ter, it  might  be  so ;  and  so  in  fact  the  Supreme  Court  held 
in  Chisholm  v.  Georgia;  but  looking  at  the  subject  as  Hamil- 
ton and  Mr.  Justice  Iredell  did,  in  the  light  of  history  and 
experience,  and  the  established  order  of  things,  the  views  of 
the  latter  were  clearly  right,  as  the  people  of  the  United 
States  subsequently  decided.  *  *  *  In  ^aew  of  the  man- 
ner in  which  that  decision  was  received  by  the  country,  the 
adoption  of  the  Eleventh  Amendment,  the  light  of  history 
and  the  reason  of  the  thing,  we  think  we  are  at  liberty  to 
prefer  Justice  Iredell's  views  in  this  regard."  This  language 
was  approved  by  Fuller,  C.  J. ;  Miller,  Field,  Gray,  Blatch- 


238  THE    NOKTPI    CAROLINA   BOOKLET. 

ford,  and  Lamar,  Associate  Harlan,  J.,  alone  dissenting.  It 
is  not  within  the  purpose  or  scope  of  this  sketch  to  enter  into 
a  discussion  of  the  merits  of  the  great  question  involved  in 
this  battle  of  the  giants  or  of  the  manner  in  which  they  sus- 
tained their  conclusions.  It  is,  however,  a  part  of  the  his- 
tory of  the  controversy  and  of  the  times,  that  two  days  after 
the  opinion  was  filed  sustaining  the  jurisdiction,  by  a  majority 
of  the  Court,  the  Eleventh  Amendment  was  introduced  into 
Congress.  "It  was  proposed  by  Mr.  Sedgwick,  a  Repre- 
sentative from  Massachusetts,  but  was  passed  in  the  Senate 
as  amended  by  Mr.  Gallatin.'"*  Mr.  Guthrie  says  that  Mr. 
Caleb  Strong  was  its  author.  The  words  are :  "The  judicial 
power  of  the  United  States  shall  not  be  construed  to  extend 
to  any  suit,  in  law  or  equity,  commenced  or  proceeded  against 
one  of  the  United  States  hj  citizens  of  another  State  or  by 
citizens  or  subjects  of  foreigTi  States."  It  is  significant  that 
the  langTiage  of  the  Amendment  is  declaratory  of  what,  in 
the  opinion  of  Congress,  was  the  correct  construction  of  the 
Constitution.  It  was  essentially  a  reversal  of  the  decision 
of  the  Court  and  writing  into  the  Constitution  the  dissenting 
opinion  of  Justice  Iredell.  This  is  evidenced  by  the  fact 
that  notwithstanding  that,  in  accordance  with  the  decision 
in  Chisholm's  case,  judgment  was  rendered  for  the  plaintiff 
at  February  Term,  1794,  and  a  writ  of  inquiry  awarded,  the 
Court,  at  February  Term,  1798,  in  H oiling sivorth  v.  Vir- 
ginia, 3  Dallas,  378,  upon  being  informed  that  the  Eleventh 
Amendment  had  been  adopted,  "delivered  an  unanimous 
opinion  that  there  could  not  be  exercised  any  jurisdiction  in 
any  ease,  past  or  future,  in  which  a  State  was  sued  by  the 
citizens  of  another  State,  or  by  citizens  or  subjects  of  any 
foreign  State."  Mr.  William  D.  Guthrie  says :  "The  un- 
usual and  peculiar  wording  of  the  Amendment  first  attracts 
attention.     Instead  of  d'^claring  how  the  Constitution  shall 


"Watson's  Const.,  1535. 


JAMES   lEEDELL.  239 

read  in  the  future  it  declares  how  it  shall  'not  be  construed.' 

*  *  *  The  Amendment,  therefore,  does  not  purport  to 
amend  or  alter  the  Constitution,  but  to  maintain  it  unchanged 
while  controlling  its  scope  and  effect  and  thereby  authorita- 
tively declaring  how  it  shall  not  be  construed. "^^  Mr.  Jus- 
tice Bradley  says:  ''The  Supreme  Court  had  construed  the 
judicial  power  as  extending  to  such  a  suit,  and  the  decision 
was  overruled.  The  Court  so  understood  the  effect  of  the 
amendment."^*' 

With  that  remarkable  prevision  which  marks  him  as  one 
of,  if  not  the  first,  prophetic  statesman  which  the  world  has 
produced,  Hamilton  points  out  the  danger  and  difficulty 
which  lurked  in  the  construction  given  to  the  Constitution 
by  the  majority  in  Chisholm's  case.  He  says :  "To  what 
purpose  would  it  be  to  authorize  suits  against  States  for  the 
debts  they  owed  ?  How  could  recoveries  be  enforced  ?  It  is 
e\ddent  that  it  could  not  be  done  without  waging  war  against 
the  contracting  State ;  and  to  ascribe  to  the  Federal  Courts, 
by  mere  implication  and  in  destruction  of  a  preexisting  right 
of  the  State  Governments  a  power  which  would  involve  such 
a  consequence,  would  be  altogether  forced  and  unwarrant- 
able." This  language  becomes  of  present  interest  in  the  light 
of  the  concluding  words  of  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Justice  Holmes 
in  Virginia  v.  West  Virginia.  "As  this  is  no  ordinary  com- 
mercial suit  but,  as  we  have  said,  a  quasi-international  dift'er- 
ence  referred  to  this  Court  in  reliance  upon  the  honor  and 
constitutional  obligation  of  the  States  concerned  rather  than 
ordinary  remedies,  we  think  it  best,  at  this  stage,  to  go  no 
further  but  to  await  the  effect  of  a  conference  between  the 
parties    which,    whatever    the    outcome,    must    take    place. 

*  *  *  But  this  case  is  one  that  calls  for  forbearance 
upon  both  sides ;  great  States  have  a  temper  superior  to  that 


is"The  Eleventh  Amendment." — Columbia  Law  Review,  March,  1908. 
i^Hans  V.  Louisiana,  134  U.  S.  11. 


240  TIIE    NOKTII    CAROLINA   BOOKLET. 

of  private  litigants  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  enough  has 
been  decided  for  patriotism,  the  fraternity  of  the  Union  and 
mutual  consideration  to  bring  it  to  an  end."^^  Certainly 
the  history  of  attempts  to  enforce  money  demands  against 
States,  through  Federal  Courts,  thoroughly  vindicates  the 
wisdom  of  Iredell's  view  and  the  apprehension  expressed  in 
his  concluding  words :  ''This  opinion  I  hold,  however,  with 
all  the  reserve  proper  for  one  which,  according  to  my  senti- 
ments in  the  case,  may  be  deemed,  in  some  measure,  extra- 
judicial. With  regard  to  the  policy  of  maintaining  such 
suits,  is  not  for  this  Court  to  consider,  unless  the  point  in 
all  other  respects  was  very  doubtful.  Policy  then  might  be 
argued  from  with  a  view  to  preponderate  the  judgment. 
Upon  the  question  before  us  I  have  no  doubt.  I  have,  there- 
fore, nothing  to  do  with  the  policy,  but  I  confess,  if  I  was 
at  liberty  to  speak  on  that  subject,  my  opinion  on  the  policy 
of  the  case  would  also  differ  from  that  of  the  Attorney  Gen- 
eral. It  is,  however,  a  delicate  topic.  I  pray  to  God  that  if 
the  Attorney  General's  doctrine  as  to  the  law  be  established 
by  the  judgment  of  this  Court,  all  the  good  he  predicts  of  it 
may  take  place  and  none  of  the  evils  with  which,  I  have  the 
concern  to  say,  it  appears  to  me  to  be  pregnant."  In  South 
DaJvota  V.  North  Carolina/^  the  question,  as  there  presented, 
was  discussed  and  decided  against  the  contention  of  the  State 
by  a  divided  Court  of  five  to  four.  The  present  Chief  Justice 
wrote  a  strong  and  well  sustained  dissenting  opinion,  con- 
curred in  by  Chief  Justice  Fuller,  Justices  McKenna  and 
Day.  The  decree  there  was,  however,  confined  to  a  statu- 
tory mortgage  upon  specific  property.  The  question  whether 
judgment  for  a  deficiency  would  be  entered  was  expressly 
reserved.     The  case  was  settled  by  compromise. 

The  Court  has  refused  to  take  jurisdiction  in  a  number  of 

iTVirginia  v.  West  Virginia,  220  U.  S.,  35. 
"192  U.  S.,  286. 


•       JAMES  IREDELL.  245 

eases  where  the  attempt  was  made  to  avoid  the  provisions  of 
the  Amendment/^ 

In  Penhalloiu  v.  Doane/^  Judge  Iredell  wrote  an  inter- 
esting opinion  in  which  he  discussed  the  relation  which  each 
of  the  original  colonies  bore  to  each  other  prior  to  the  forma- 
tion of  the  Confederation  and  the  power  conferred  on  the 
Confederation  to  establish  Courts  of  Admiralty,  and  the  effect 
of  the  judgments  of  such  courts  in  prize  cases.  It  is  not  prac- 
ticable to  make  extracts  from  this  opinion,  but  the  following 
is  of  especial  and  permanent  interest :  "By  a  State  forming 
a  republic  I  do  not  mean  the  Legislature  of  the  State,  the 
executive  of  the  State,  or  the  judiciary,  but  all  the  citizens 
which  compose  that  State  and  are,  if  I  may  so  express  my- 
self, integral  parts  of  it.  *  *  *  In  a  republic  all  the 
citizens,  as  such,  are  equal,  and  no  citizen  can  rightfully  ex- 
ercise any  authority  over  another,  but  in  virtue  of  a  power 
constitutionally  given  by  the  whole  community  which  forms 
such  body  politic." 

In  Talbot  v.  Jansen-,''^  an  interesting  question  was  pre- 
sented in  regard  to  the  right  of  expatriation  and  how  it  was 
accomplished.  Iredell  wrote  an  opinion  in  which  he  discussed 
the  law  of  nations,  etc.  Upon  the  right  of  expatriation  and 
the  limitations  upon  its  exercise  the  opinion  is  interesting 
and  enlightening. 

In  the  case  of  Hylton  v.  The  United  States,"  involving 
the  question  whether  a  tax  on  carriages  was  a  direct  tax, 
Iredell  wrote  a  carefully  guarded  opinion  concurring  with 
the  other  Justices  that  the  tax  in  question  was  not  a  direct 
tax  within  the  meaning  of  the  Constitution.  He  says :  "There 
is  no  necessity  or  propriety  in  determining  what  is,  or  is  not, 
a  direct  or  indirect  tax,  in  all  cases.  Some  difficulties  may 
arise  which  we  do  not  at  present  foresee."     His  caution  has 


"Hans  V.  Louisiana,   supra.   Christian  v.  A.  &  N.  C.  R.  R.  Co.,  123  U.  S.,  233;  Murray 
V.  Distilline  Co.,  213  U.  S.,  151. 
203  Dallas,  54. 
*i3  Dallas  133. 
223  Dallas,  171. 


242  THE    NOKTII    CAROLINA   BOOKLET. 

been  justified  by  the  history  of  the  attempt  to  settle  this 
much  vexed  question.  Alexander  Hamilton  appeared  for  the 
Government.  Iredell  writes  to  Mrs.  Iredell :  "The  day  be- 
fore yesterday  Mr.  Hamilton  spoke  in  our  court,  attended 
by  the  most  crowded  audience  I  ever  saw  there,  both  Houses 
of  Congress  being  almost  deserted  on  the  occasion.  Though 
he  was  in  very  ill  health  he  spoke  with  astonishing  ability 
and  in  a  most  jjleasing  manner,  and  was  listened  to  with  the 
profoundest  attention.  His  speech  lasted  three  hours. 
*  *  *  In  one  part  of  it  he  affected  me  extremely.  Hav- 
ing occasion  to  observe  how  proper  a  subject  it  was  for  tax- 
ation, since  it  was  a  mere  article  of  luxury  which  a  man 
might  either  use  or  not  as  it  was  convenient  to  him,  he  added : 
'It  so  happens  that  I  once  had  a  carriage  myself  and  found 
it  convenient  to  dispense  with  it.'  " 

At  the  Spring  Term,  1793,  of  the  Circuit  Court  at  Rich- 
mond, before  Jay,  Iredell,  and  District  Judge  Griffin,  the 
celebrated  case  of  Ware  v.  Hylton  was  heard.  During  the 
war  the  Legislature  of  Virginia  passed  an  act  confiscating 
the  debts  of  British  subjects  and  directing  the  payment  of 
such  debts  to  the  loan  office  of  the  State.  The  defendant, 
who  was  indebted  to  the  plaintiff,  a  British  subject,  had,  in 
obedience  to  the  statute,  made  a  partial  payment  thereon. 
Suit  was  brought  on  the  bond.  The  defendants  were  repre- 
sented by  Patrick  Henry,  Marshall,  Inis  and  Campbell.  Ire- 
dell writes  to  Mrs.  Iredell  from  Richmond,  May  27th:  "We 
began  on  the  great  British  cases  the  second  day  of  the  court, 
and  are  now  in  the  midst  of  them.  The  great  Patrick  Henry 
is  to  speak  today.  I  never  was  more  agreeably  disappointed 
than  in  my  acquaintance  with  him.  I  have  been  much  in 
his  company  and  his  manners  are  very  pleasing,  and  his 
mind,  I  am  persuaded,  highly  liberal.  It  is  a  strong  addi- 
tional reason  I  have,  added  to  many  others,  to  hold  in  high 
detestation  violent  party  prejudice." 


JAMES  IREDELL.  243 

The  discussion  was  oue  of  the  most  brilliant  exhibitions 
ever  witnessed  at  the  bar  of  Virginia.  Mr.  Henry  spoke  for 
three  consecutive  days.  The  case  was  argued  upon  appeal 
at  the  February  Term,  1796,  of  the  Supreme  Court,"^  Ire- 
dell wrote  an  opinion  concurring  with  the  majority  of  the 
Court  that  the  Treaty  of  Peace  enabled  the  creditor  to  sue 
for  the  debt,  but  was  of  the  opinion  (dissenting)  that  the  re- 
covery should  be  confined  to  the  amount  that  had  not  been 
paid  into  the  loan  office.  He  said:  "In  delivering  my  opin- 
ion in  this  important  case  I  feel  myself  deeply  affected  by 
the  awful  position  in  which  I  stand.  The  uncommon  magni- 
tude of  the  subject,  its  novelty,  the  high  expectation  it  has 
excited,  and  the  consequences  with  which  a  decision  may  be 
attended,  have  all  impressed  me  with  their  fullest  force." 
Referring  to  the  argiiment,  he  said:  "The  cause  has  been 
spoken  to,  at  the  bar,  with  a  degree  of  ability  equal  to  any 
occasion.  However  painfully  I  may  at  any  time  reflect  on 
the  inadequacy  of  my  own  talents  I  shall,  as  long  as  I  live, 
remember,  with  pleasure  and  respect,  the  arguments  which 
I  have  heard  in  this  case.  They  have  discovered  an  in- 
genuity, a  depth  of  investigation  and  a  power  of  reasoning 
fully  equal  to  anything  I  have  ever  witnessed,  and  some  of 
them  have  been  adorned  with  a  splendor  of  eloquence  sur- 
passing what  I  have  ever  felt  before.  Fatigue  has  given 
way  under  its  influence  and  the  heart  has  been  warmed 
while  the  understanding  has  been  instructed."  The  opinion 
is  exhaustive  in  learning.  A  competent  judge  has  written 
that  "as  a  legal  argument  it  may  be  regarded  as  one  of  the 
best  specimens  that  have  been  preserved  of  the  old  Supreme 
Court."'* 

Chief  Justice  Jay  having  resigned,  and  the  Senate  having 
refused  to  confirm  the  nomination  of  Judge  Eutledge^  there 

233  Dallas,  199. 

^^Van  Santvoord,  Lives  of  the  Chief  Justices. 


244  THE  NOKTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 

was  much  speculation  as  to  who  would  be  appointed.  Gov- 
ernor Johnston  wrote  Iredell :  ^'I  am  sorrj  that  Mr.  Gush- 
ing refused  the  ofSce  of  Ghief  Justice,  as  I  don't  know 
whether  a  less  exceptionable  character  can  be  obtained  with- 
out passing  over  Mr.  Wilson,  which  would  perhaps  be  a 
measure  that  could  not  be  easily  reconciled  to  strict  neu- 
trality." Iredell  writes  Mrs.  Iredell  a  few  days  after :  "Mr. 
Ellsworth  is  nominated  our  Ghief  Justice,  in  consequence 
of  which  I  think  that  Wilson  will  resign.  *  *  *  The 
kind  expectation  of  my  friends  that  I  might  be  appointed 
Ghief  Justice  were  too  flattering.  Whatever  other  chance 
I  might  have  had  there  could  have  been  no  propriety  in 
passing  by  Judge  Wilson  to  come  at  me." 

Iredell  rode  the  Middle  Gircuit  during  the  spring  of  1796. 
His  charge  at  Philadelphia  was  published  at  the  request  of 
the  grand  jury.  At  the  August  Term,  1798,  in  the  case  of 
Colder  v.  Bull,  ^^  Iredell  set  forth  very  clearly  his  view  re- 
specting the  power  of  the  judiciary  to  declare  invalid  acts 
of  the  Legislature  passed  in  violation  of  constitutional  limi- 
tations. He  says :  "In  a  government  composed  of  legisla- 
tive, executive  and  judicial  departments,  established  by  a 
Gonstitution  which  imposed  no  limits  on  the  legislative  power, 
the  consequence  would  inevitably  be  that  whatever  the  Legis- 
lature chose  to  enact  would  be  lawfully  enacted,  and  the 
judicial  power  could  never  interpose  to  pronounce  it  void. 
It  is  true  that  some  speculative  jurists  have  held  that  a  legis- 
lative act  against  natural  justice  must,  in  itself,  be  void; 
but  I  can  not  think  that  under  such  a  government  any  court 
of  justice  would  possess  the  power  to  declare  it  so.  *  *  * 
It  has  been  the  policy  of  all  the  American  States,  which 
have  individually  framed  their  State  Gonstitutions  since 
the  Revolution,  and  of  the  people  of  the  United  States,  when 
they  framed  the  Federal  Gonstitution,   to  define  with  ^re- 

2f'3  Dallas,  386. 


JAMES  lEEDELL.  241 

cision  the  objects  of  the  legislative  power  and  to  restrain  its 
exercise  within  marked  and  settled  boundaries.  If  any  act 
of  Congress,  or  of  the  Legislature  of  a  State,  violates  those 
Constitutional  provisions,  it  is  unquestionably  void ;  though 
I  admit  that  as  the  authority  to  declare  it  void  is  of  a  deli- 
cate and  awful  nature,  the  Court  will  never  resort  to  that 
authority  but  in  a  clear  and  urgent  case.  If,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  Legislatures  of  the  Union  shall  j^ass  a  law  within 
the  general  scope  of  their  Constitutional  power,  the  Court 
can  not  pronounce  it  to  be  void  merely  because  it  is,  in  their 
judgment,  contrary  to  the  principles  of  natural  justice.  The 
ideas  of  natural  justice  are  regulated  by  no  fixed  standard ; 
the  ablest  and  the  purest  men  have  differed  on  the  subject, 
and  all  that  the  Court  could  properly  say  in  such  an  event 
would  be  that  the  Legislature  had  passed  an  act  which,  in 
the  opinion  of  the  Judges,  was  inconsistent  with  the  princi- 
ples of  natural  justice."  It  is  doubtful  whether  this  princi- 
ple, peculiar  to  American  Constitutional  law,  with  its  limi- 
tations, has  been  more  accurately  stated. 

Judge  Iredell  rode  the  Eastern  Circuit  with  Judge  Wil- 
son. He  was  much  pleased  with  the  people  of  ISTew  Eng- 
land, receiving  many  courtesies  from  them.  He  writes  from 
Boston  that  he  soon  found  himself  "engaged  for  every  day 
in  the  week — sometimes  different  invitations  on  the  same 
day.  Judge  Lowell  has  been  particularly  kind  to  me."  His 
charge  to  the  grand  jury  at  Boston  was  published  by  request 
and  referred  to  by  the  editor  of  the  paper  as  "uniting  elo- 
quence with  exhaustive  knowledge  and  liberality."  From 
Boston  he  writes:  "I  have  constantly  received  distinction 
and  courtesy  here,  and  like  Boston  more  and  more.  *  *  * 
It  is  scarcely  possible  to  meet  with  a  gentleman  who  is  not 
a  man  of  education.  Such  are  the  advantages  of  schools 
of  public  authority;  every  township  is  obliged  to  maintain 
one  or  more  to  which  poor  children  can  have  access  without 


246  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 

any  pay."  He  writes  from  Exeter,  iSTew  Hampshire :  "I 
met  in  Boston  with  a  gentleman  who  lives  in  Newbury  Port 
of  the  name  of  Parsons,  who  appears  to  me  to  be  the  first 
lawyer  I  have  met  with  in  America,  and  is  a  remarkably 
agreeable  man."  This  was  Theophilus  Parsons,  later  Chief 
Justice  of  Massachusetts.  He  writes  that  he  had  dined  with 
the  Committee  and  Corporation  of  Harvard  College,  ''being 
seated  next  to  the  Lieutenant  Governor,  the  famous  Samuel 
Adams,  who,  though  an  old  man,  has  a  great  deal  of  fire 
yet.     He  is  polite  and  agreeable." 

On  May  27,  1797,  Judge  Iredell  delivered  a  charge  to  the 
grand  jury  in  Richmond,  Virginia,  which  was  "animated, 
perhaps  too  warm."  At  that  time  the  grand  jury  frequently 
made  presentment  of  matters  which  they  regarded  as  worthy 
of  public  attention,  although  not  the  subject  of  criminal 
prosecution.  They  presented  "as  a  real  evil  the  circular 
letters  of  several  members  of  the  last  Congress,  and  par- 
ticularly letters  with  the  signature  of  Samuel  J.  Cabell, 
endeavoring,  at  a  time  of  real  public  danger,  to  disseminate 
unfounded  calumnies  against  the  happy  Government  of  the 
United  States,  thereby  to  separate  the  people  therefrom  and 
to  increase  or  produce  a  foreign  influence  ruinous  to  the 
peace,  happiness  and  independence  of  these  United  States." 
Mr.  Cabell  made  an  angry  retort,  attacking  the  jury,  judge 
and  the  Supreme  Court.  He  proposed  to  bring  the  matter 
before  Congress  as  a  breach  of  privilege.  Mr.  Jefferson 
urged  Mr.  Monroe  to  call  it  to  the  attention  of  the  Legisla- 
ture. Just  what  they  proposed  to  do  with  the  jury  or  the 
judge  does  not  very  clearly  appear.  Judge  Iredell  published 
a  card  in  which  he  said  that  the  charge  was  prepared  before 
he  reached  Richmond  and  had  been  delivered  in  Pennsyl- 
vania and  Maryland ;  that  he  was  not  acquainted  with  Mr. 
Cabell  and  knew  nothing  of  the  letters  referred  to  by  the 
grand  jury.     He  concludes :     "With  regard  to  the  illiberal 


JAMES  IREDELL.  247 

epithets  Mr.  Cabell  has  bestowed  not  only  upon  me,  but  on 
the  other  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  I  leave  him  in  full 
possession  of  all  the  credit  he  can  derive  from  the  use  of 
them.  I  defy  him,  or  any  other  man,  to  show  that,  in  the 
exercise  of  my  judicial  character,  I  have  ever  been  influenced 
in  the  slightest  degree  by  any  man,  either  in  or  out  of  oflice, 
and  I  assure  him  that  I  shall  be  as  little  influenced  by  this 
new  mode  of  attack  by  a  member  of  Congress  as  I  can  be 
by  any  other."  The  political  feeling  in  the  country,  and 
especially  in  Virginia,  was  at  that  time  very  bitter.  Gov- 
ernor Johnston,  Judge  Iredell's  brother-in-law,  and  always 
his  wise  friend,  writing  him  in  regard  to  this  incident,  said : 
''The  answer  was  very  proper,  if  proper  to  give  it  any  answer 
at  all."  He  further  said  that  which  every  Judge  knows  from 
experience  to  be  true :  "I  am  sensible  of  the  difficulties  with 
which  a  man  of  warm  feelings  and  conscious  integTity  sub- 
mits to  bear,  without  a  reply,  unmerited  censure ;  yet  I  am 
not  certain  but  that  it  is  more  suitable  to  the  dignity  of  one 
placed  in  high  and  respectable  departments  of  State  to  con- 
sider himself  bound  to  answer  only  when  called  upon  con- 
stitutionally before  a  proper  tribunal." 

Iredell  rode  the  Southern  Circuit  during  the  spring  of 
1Y98,  suffering  much  fatigue  and  discomfort.  Judge  Wil- 
son, having  suffered  financial  reverses,  sought  the  hospitality 
of  Governor  Johnston  and  Judge  Iredell,  and  found  in  them 
sympathetic  friends.  His  health  failed  rapidly,  resulting 
in  his  death  August  21,  1798.  He  was  buried  at  Hayes,  the 
home  of  Governor  Johnston.  His  remains  were  removed  to 
Philadelphia  a  short  time  since.  At  the  February  Term, 
1799,  of  the  Supreme  Court,  Iredell  sat  for  the  last  time. 
He  filed  "one  of  his  best  and  most  carefully  written  opin- 
ions" concurring  with  the  conclusion  reached  by  the  >other 
Judges  in  Sims  v.  Irvine.'^     He  held  the  Circuit  Court  at 


293  Dallas,  425. 

4 


248  THE   NORTH    OAEOLINA   BOOKLET. 

Philadelphia,  at  which  term  several  of  the  insurgents  were 
on  trial  for  treason.  In  his  last  charge  to  the  grand  jury 
he  dwelt  at  much  length  on  the  law  of  treason  and  the  Alien 
and  Sedition  laws.  It  is  manifest  that  Iredell,  as  were 
many  others,  was  deeply  impressed  with  the  belief  that 
French  philosophy  and  infidelity,  coupled  with  the  revolu- 
tionary proceedings  in  that  country,  were  making  an  impres- 
sion upon  the  people  of  this  country,  finding  defenders  among 
leaders  of  public  sentiment,  seriously  threatening  the  peace 
of  the  country  and  the  dissolution  of  the  Union.  He  was  a 
Federalist  and  joined  with  the  members  of  that  party  in 
their  reverence  for  Washington.  He  disliked  and  distrusted 
the  French  leaders  and  their  principles.  His  charge  was 
filled  with  warning  against  the  influence  of  principles  and 
conduct  which,  in  his  opinion,  were  involving  the  American 
people  in  the  French  Revolution,  and  the  disturbed  relations 
of  that  country  with  England.  His  concluding  words  in 
his  last  charge  to  a  grand  jury  are  interesting  and  illustrative 
of  the  condition  of  his  mind.  He  says :  "If  you  suffer  this 
government  to  be  destroyed  what  chance  have  you  for  any 
other  ?  A  scene  of  the  most  dreadful  confusion  must  ensue. 
Anarchy  will  ride  triumphant,  and  all  lovers  of  order,  de- 
cency, truth  and  justice  be  trampled  under  foot.  May  that 
God,  whose  peculiar  province  seems  often  to  have  interposed 
to  save  these  United  States  from  destruction,  preserve  us 
from  this  worst  of  all  evils,  and  may  the  inhabitants  of  this 
happy  country  deserve  His  care  and  protection  by  a  conduct 
best  calculated  to  obtain  them."  The  grand  jury,  requesting 
the  publication  of  the  charge,  say:  "At  a  time  like  the 
present,  when  false  philosophy  and  wicked  principles  are 
spreading  with  rapidity  under  the  imposing  garb  of  liberty 
over  the  fairest  country  of  the  old  world,  we  are  convinced 
that  the  publication  of  a  charge  fraught  with  such  clear  and 
just  observations  on  the  nature  and  operation  of  the  Con- 


JAMES  IKEDELL.  249 

stitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States  will  be  highly  bene- 
ficial to  the  citizens  thereof."  As  an  illustration  of  the  con- 
dition of  public  sentiment,  Governor  Johnston  writes  Ire- 
dell who,  having  concluded  the  trials  in  Philadelphia  had 
come  to  Richmond,  "I  am  glad  that  you  have  got  away  from 
the  land  of  treason  to  the  land  of  sedition;  the  change  is 
something  for  the  better."  Chief  Justice  Ellsworth,  riding 
the  Southern  Circuit,  writes  Iredell  from  Raleigh,  N.  C, 
June  10,  1799 :  "My  opinion,  collected  from  some  gentle- 
men who  have  been  lately  traveling  in  that  State  (Virginia), 
and  others  who  were  at  the  Petersburg  races,  presents  a 
melancholy  picture  of  that  country.  These  gentlemen  re- 
turned w^ith  a  firm  conviction  that  the  leaders  there  were  de- 
termined upon  the  overthrow  of  the  general  government. 
*  *  *  That  the  submission  and  assistance  of  North  Caro- 
lina was  counted  on  as  a  matter  of  course."  The  Chief  Jus- 
tice, however,  adds:  "As  it  was  shortly  after  the  election 
these  may  have  been  the  momentary  effusions  of  disappointed 
ambition." 

Thirty  years  of  constant  and  wearing  work,  coupled  with 
the  climate  in  which  he  lived  and  the  long  journeys  on  the 
Southern  Circuit,  which  he  rode  four  times  in  five  years,  had 
impaired  Judge  Iredell's  health.  He  was  unable  to  attend 
the  August  Term,  1799,  of  the  Court.  His  illness  increased 
until,  on  October  20,  1799,  at  his  home  in  Edenton,  he  passed 
away,  in  the  forty-ninth  year  of  his  age.  His  friend,  the 
Rt.  Rev.  Charles  Pettigrew,  testified  of  him :  "In  the  run 
of  the  above  twenty  years  I  have  often  heard  high  encomiums 
on  the  merits  of  this  great  and  good  man ;  but  never  in  a 
single  instance  have  I  heard  his  character  traduced  or  his 
integrity  called  in  question." 

His  biographer,  from  whose  excellent  work  I  have  largely 
drawn  in  the  preparation  of  this  sketch,  says  that  with'  Judge 
Iredell's  papers  is  an  original  "Treatise  on  Evidence,"  "an 


250  THE    NORTH    CAROLINA   BOOKLET. 

*  *  *  Essay  on  tlie  Law  of  Pleading,"  and  one  on  the 
"Doctrine  of  the  Laws  of  England  concerning  Real  Prop- 
erty so  far  as  it  is  in  use  or  force  in  the  State  of  North  Caro- 
lina" ;  the  two  last  unfinished. 

When  it  is  remembered  that  he  came  to  America  at  seven- 
teen years  of  age,  with  neither  wealth  nor  family  influence ;' 
that  his  opportunities  and  sources  of  study  were  limited  by 
the  condition  of  the  country ;  that  for  seven  of  the  thirty 
years  of  his  life  here  the  country  was  engaged  in  war,  we 
can,  in  some  degTee,  appreciate  the  immense  labor  which  he 
performed  and  the  results  which  he  accomplished.  His  life 
is  a  tribute  to  the  teaching  and  example  of  his  parents,  the 
influence  of  those  Avith  whom  he  was  brought  into  association 
in  his  adopted  home,  his  industry,  talents,  patriotism,  and 
lofty  principles  of  honor  and  integrity. 

Judge  Iredell  left  one  son,  bearing  his  name,  who  became 
a  lawyer  of  learning  and  distinction.  Judge  of  the  Superior 
Court,  Governor,  and  United  States  Senator.  He  was,  for 
many  years,  Reporter  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State 
and  author  of  an  excellent  work  on  "The  Law  of  Executors." 
He  died  during  the  year  of  1853.  His  descendants  are  among 
the  most  honorable,  useful  and  patriotic  citizens  of  the  State. 

It  has  been  the  purpose  of  this  sketch  to  set  forth,  in  the 
space  which  could  be  allotted,  a  short  survey  of  the  judicial 
work  of  Judge  Iredell.  His  early  death  cut  short  a  career 
on  the  bench  full  of  promise  of  enlarging  scope  and  useful- 
ness. That  he  would  have  continued  to  develop  his  high 
judicial  qualities  and,  if  permitted,  shared  with  the  "Great 
Chief  Justice"  the  work  of  laying  deep  and  strong  the  founda- 
tions of  American  Constitutional  law  can  not  be  doubted. 
His  opinions  upon  Constitutional  questions  evince  a  very 
high  order  of  judicial  statesmanship. 


DAVID  CALDWELL.  251 


DAVID  CALDWELL— TEACHER,  PREACHER, 
PATRIOT 


By  CHARLES  LEE  SMITH. 


'No  other  North  Carolinian  of  the  Revolutionary  period  de- 
serves more  lasting  fame  than  that  consecrated  preacher, 
learned  teacher,  and  devoted  patriot,  the  Reverend  David 
Caldwell,  D.D.  He  had  his  full  share  of  the  troubles  of  the 
times,  as  it  was  the  delight  of  both  the  Tories  and  the  British 
to  persecute  him.  After  driving  him  from  his  home,  thej 
destroyed  with  great  wantonness  his  library  and  the  valuable 
papers  which  he  had  prepared.  An  effort  was  made  to  seduce 
him  with  British  gold,  but  neither  money  nor  persecution 
could  shake  his  loyalty  to  the  cause  he  had  espoused.  His 
is  one  of  the  most  illustrious  names  in  the  educational  his- 
tory of  our  State,  and  it  has  been  said,  ''Dr.  Caldwell,  as  a 
teacher,  was  probably  more  useful  to  the  church  (Presby- 
terian) than  any  other  one  man  in  the  United  States."  He 
was  an  able  preacher.  Through  his  influence  the  Reverend 
John  Anderson,  D.D.,  the  Reverend  Samuel  E.  McCorkle, 
D.D.,  and  many  others  who  became  distinguished,  were 
brought  into  the  ministry  of  his  church. 

David  Caldwell,  the  son  of  a  sturdy  Scotch-Irish  farmer, 
was  born  in  Lancaster  County,  Pa.,  March  22,  1725.  In 
early  youth,  after  receiving  the  rudiments  of  an  English  edu- 
cation, he  was  apprenticed  to  a  carpenter,  and  until  his 
twenty-sixth  year  he  worked  at  the  bench.  He  then  decided 
to  enter  the  ministry,  and  his  first  steps  were  to  obtain  a- 
classical  education.  For  some  time  he  studied  in  Eastern 
Pennsylvania  at  the  school  of  the  Reverend  Robert  Smith, 
the  father  of  John  B.  Smith,  so  favorably  known  in  Virginia 
as  president  of  Hampden-Sidney  College,  and  of  the  Reverend 
Samuel   Stanhope   Smith,   D.D.,   at   one  time  president   of 


252  THE   NOKTH    CAKOLINA   BOOKLET. 

Princeton  College/  Before  entering  college  lie  taught  school 
for  one  or  more  years. 

It  is  not  certainly  known  what  year  he  entered  Princeton, 
though  he  was  graduated  in  1761.  At  the  time  he  became  a 
student  the  requirements  for  admission  were  as  follows: 
"Candidates  for  admission  into  the  lowest  or  Freshman  class 
must  be  capable  of  composing  grammatical  Latin,  translating 
Virgil,  Cicero's  Orations,  and  the  four  Evangelists  in  Greek ; 
and  by  a  late  order  (made  in  Mr.  Davies's  administration) 
must  understand  the  principal  rules  of  vulgar  arithmetic. 
Candidates  for  any  of  the  other  higher  classes  are  not  only 
previously  examined,  but  recite  a  fortnight  upon  trial,  in  that 
particular  class  for  which  they  offer  themselves ;  and  are  then 
fixed  in  that,  or  a  lower,  as  they  happen  to  be  judged  quali- 
fied. But,  unless  in  very  singular  and  extraordinary  cases, 
none  are  received  after  the  Junior  year."  ^ 

His  assiduity  as  a  student  may  be  gathered  from  the  fol- 
lowing incident  related  by  Dr.  Caruthers :  "An  elderly  gen- 
tleman of  good  standing  in  one  of  his  (Caldwell's)  congre- 
gations stated  to  me  a  few  weeks  since  that  when  he  was  a 
young  man  Dr.  Caldwell  was  spending  a  night  at  his  father's 
one  summer  about  harvest,  and  while  they  were  all  sitting 
out  in  the  open  porch  after  supper,  a  remark  was  after  some 
time  made  about  the  impropriety  of  sitting  so  long  in  the 
night  air;  when  he  (Dr.  Caldwell)  observed  that,  so  far  as 
his  own  experience  had  gone,  there  was  nothing  unwholesome 
in  the  night  air ;  for  while  he  was  in  college  he  usually 
studied  in  it  and  slept  in  it  during  the  warm  weather,  as  it 
was  his  practice  to  study  at  a  table  by  the  window,  with  the 
sash  raised,  until  a  late  hour,  then  cross  his  arms  on  the 
table,  lay  his  head  on  them,  and  sleep  in  that  position  till 
morning.     This  was  not  very  far  behind  the  most  inveterate 


iFoote's  Sketches  of  North  Carolina,  p.  232. 

^Maclean's  History  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  vol.  1,  p.  272. 


DAVID  CALDWELL.  253 

students  of  the  seventeenth  century,  whether  in  Europe  or 
America,  and  a  man  who  had  strength  of  constitution  to  pur- 
sue such  a  course  of  application,  though  of  moderate  abilities, 
could  hardly  fail  to  become  a  scholar."  ^ 

The  scope  of  the  instruction  given  at  Princeton  is  set  forth 
in  a  description  of  the  college  by  President  Finley,  published 
in  1764;  and  as  Dr.  Caldwell  was  graduated  in  1761,  prob- 
ably the  courses  were  then  substantially  the  same  as  while 
he  was  a  student.  After  taking  his  degi'ee  in  1761  he  taught 
for  a  year  at  Cape  May.  He  then  returned  to  Princeton, 
where  he  took  a  graduate  course  and  at  the  same  time  served 
as  tutor  in  languages ;  so  it  is  certain  that  he  had  the  system 
of  instruction  as  it  was  under  Dr.  Finley's  administration. 
In  his  account  of  the  courses  and  methods  President  Finley 
says :  ''As  to  the  branches  of  literature  taught  here,  they  are 
the  same  with  those  which  are  made  parts  of  education  in  the 
European  colleges,  save  only  such  as  may  be  occasioned  by  the 
infancy  of  this  institution.  The  students  are  divided  into  four 
distinct  classes,  which  are  called  the  Freshman,  the  Sopho- 
more, the  Junior,  and  the  Senior.  In  each  of  these  they  con- 
tinue one  year,  giving  and  receiving  in  their  terms  those 
tokens  of  respect  and  subjection  which  belong  to  their  stand- 
ings, in  order  to  preserve  a  due  subordination.  The  Fresh- 
man year  is  spent  in  Latin  and  Greek  languages,  particu- 
larly in  reading  Horace,  Cicero's  Orations,  the  Greek  Testa- 
ment, Lucian's  Dialogues,  and  Xenophon's  Cyropedia.  In 
the  Sophomore  year  they  still  prosecute  the  study  of  the  lan- 
guages, particularly  Homer,  Longinus,  etc.,  and  enter  upon 
the  sciences,  geography,  rhetoric,  logic  and  the  mathematics. 
They  continue  their  mathematical  studies  throughout  the 
Junior  year,  and  also  pass  through  a  course  of  natural  and 
moral  philosophy,  metaphysics,  chronology,  etc. ;  aid  the 
greater  number,  especially  such  as  are  educating  for  the  serv- 

'Caruthers's  Caldwell,  p.  20. 


254:  THE  NORTH  CAKOLINA  BOOKLET, 

ice  of  the  church,  are  initiated  into  the  Hebrew.  *  *  * 
The  Senior  year  is  entirely  employed  in  reviews  and  compo- 
sition. They  now  review  the  most  improving  parts  of  Latin 
and  Greek  classics,  part  of  the  Hebrew  Bible,  and  all  the 
arts  and  sciences.  The  weekly  course  of  disputation  is  con- 
tinued, which  was  also  carried  on  through  the  preceding  year. 
They  discuss  two  or  three  theses  in  a  week,  some  in  the  syl- 
logistic and  others  in  the  forensic  manner,  alternately,  the 
forensic  being  always  performed  in  the  English  tongue."  Be- 
sides the  above  there  were  public  disputations  on  Sundays  on 
theological  questions,  and  once  each  month  the  Seniors  de- 
livered original  orations  before  a  public  audience.  Mem- 
bers of  the  Senior  and  lower  classes  were  also  required  from 
time  to  time  to  declaim.*  Such  was  the  course  of  instruction 
taken  by  Dr.  Caldwell,  and  such  in  general  was  the  educa- 
tional system  which  prevailed  in  the  first  institution  for 
higher  education  established  in  ISTorth  Carolina. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Presbytery  held  at  Princeton  in  Sep- 
tember, 1762,  David  Caldwell  was  received  as  a  candidate 
for  the  ministry.  He  was  licensed  to  preach  in  1763.  In 
1764  he  labored  as  a  missionary  in  jSTorth  Carolina,  returning 
to  New  Jersey  in  1765,  being  ordained  to  the  full  work  of 
the  ministry  at  the  Presbytery  held  at  Trenton  in  July  of 
that  year.  He  immediately  returned  to  JSTorth  Carolina, 
where  he  labored  as  a  missionary,  until  on  March  3,  1768, 
he  was  installed  as  a  pastor  of  the  Buffalo  and  the  Alamance 
congregations. 

At  that  time  there  were  but  few  Presbyterian  ministers 
in  North  Carolina,  and  Dr.  Caldwell  was  one  of  the  very 
first  to  make  this  State  his  permanent  home.  His  history 
is  more  identified  with  the  moral  and  educational  history  of 
North  Carolina  than  is  that  of  any  other  one  man  of  the 
eighteenth  century.     In  1766  he  married  the  daughter  of  the 


■•Maclean's  History  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  vol.  1  ,  p.  266. 


DAVID  CALDWELL.  255 

Reverend  Alexander  Craighead,  and  as  the  salary  from  his 
churches  was  not  sufficient  for  the  support  of  a  family,  it 
became  necessary  for  him  to  supplement  it  by  teaching  school. 
At  this  time  schools  for  primary  education  existed  in  various 
parts  of  the  colony,  but  to  him  is  due  the  honor  of  having 
established  the  first  institution  for  the  higher  education  that 
achieved  more  than  local  fame.  The  average  attendance  of 
students  was  from  fifty  to  sixty,  which  was  a  large  number 
for  the  time  and  circumstances  of  the  country.  The  exer- 
cises of  the  school  were  not  interrupted  by  the  war  till  1781, 
at  that  time  nearly  all  his  students  having  taken  service  in 
the  American  army.  The  school  was  reopened  as  soon  as  cir- 
cumstances permitted,  ''though  the  number  of  students  was 
small  until  peace,  and  with  it  incipient  prosperity  were  re- 
stored to  the  country.''  For  many  years  "his  log  cabin  served 
North  Carolina  as  an  academy,  a  college,  and  a  theological 
seminary."  Such  was  his  reputation  as  an  instructor  and  dis- 
ciplinarian, that  in  his  school  were  students  from  all  the 
States  south  of  the  Potomac.  It  is  claimed  that  he  was  in- 
strumental in  bringing  more  men  into  the  learned  profes- 
sions than  any  other  man  of  his  day,  certainly  in  the  South- 
ern States.  While  many  of  his  students  continued  their 
studies  in  Princeton  and  in  the  University  of  North  Caro- 
lina, after  the  establishment  of  that  institution,  the  larger 
number,  and  several  of  those  who  became  the  most  distin- 
guished in  after-life,  never  went  anywhere  else  for  instruc- 
tion, nor  enjoyed  other  advantages  for  higher  education  than 
those  afforded  at  his  school.  We  are  told  that  "Five  of  his 
scholars  became  governors  of  different  States ;  many  more 
became  members  of  Congress;  and  a  much  greater  number 
became  lawyers,  judges,  physicians,  and  ministers  of  the 
gospel."  Dr.  Caldwell  continued  his  labors  as  a  teacher  till 
about  1822,  when  he  was  forced  by  the  infirmities  of  age  to 
retire  from  active  work. 


256  THE  NOKTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 

Judge  Archibald  D.  Murphey,  in  an  address  before  the 
literary  societies  of  the  University  of  North  Carolina  in 
1827,  referring  to  educational  conditions  before  the  opening 
of  that  institution  in  1795,  has  this  to  say  about  the  Caldwell 
School :  ''The  most  prominent  and  useful  of  these  schools^ 
was  kept  by  Dr.  David  Caldwell,  of  Guilford  County.  He 
instituted  it  shortly  after  the  close  of  the  war,  and  continued 
it  for  more  than  thirty  years.  The  usefulness  of  Dr.  Cald- 
well to  the  literature  of  North  Carolina  will  never  be  suffi- 
ciently appreciated,  but  the  opportunities  for  instruction  in 
his  school  were  very  limited.  There  was  no  library  attached 
to  it ;  his  students  were  supplied  with  a  few  of  the  Greek 
and  Latin  classics,  Euclid's  Elements  of  Mathematics,  and 
Martin's  Natural  Philosophy.  Moral  philosophy  was  taught 
from  a  syllabus  of  lectures  delivered  by  Dr.  Witherspoon,  in 
Princeton  College.  The  students  had  no  books  on  history 
or  miscellaneous  literature.  There  were  indeed  very  few  in 
the  State,  except  in  the  libraries  of  lawyers  who  lived  in  the 
commercial  towns.  I  well  remember  that  after  completing 
my  course  of  studies  under  Dr.  Caldwell  I  spent  nearly  two 
years  without  finding  any  books  to  read,  except  some  old 
works  on  theological  subjects.  At  length  I  accidentally  met 
with  Voltaire's  History  of  Charles  XII,  of  Sweden,  an  odd 
volume  of  Smollett's  Roderick  Random,  and  an  abridgment 
of  Don  Quixote.  These  books  gave  me  a  taste  for  reading, 
which  I  had  no  opportunity  of  gratifying  until  I  became  a 
student  in  this  University  in  the  year  1796.  Eew  of  Dr. 
Caldwell's  students  had  better  opportunities  of  getting  books 
than  myself ;  and  with  these  slender  opportunities  of  instruc- 
tion it  is  not  surj)rising  that  so  few  became  eminent  in  the 
liberal  professions.  At  this  day  (1827),  when  libraries  are 
established  in  all  our  towns,  when  every  professional  man 

Tor  Fketches  of  the  schools,  including  Dr.  Caldwell's,  referred  to  by  Judge  Murphey, 
see  the  writer's  History  of  Education  in  North  Carolina  (Washington,  1888). 


DAVID  CALDWELL.  257 

and  every  respectable  gentleman  has  a  collection  of  books,  it 
is  difficult  to  conceive  the  inconveniences  under  which  young 
men  labored  thirty  or  forty  years  ago." 

The  Reverend  Dr.  Caruthers  says :  ''But  the  most  impor- 
tant service  he  (Dr.  Caldwell)  rendered  as  a  teacher  was  to 
the  church  or  to  the  cause  of  religion,  for  nearly  all  the  young 
men  who  came  into  the  ministry  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
for  many  years,  not  only  in  North  Carolina  but  in  the  States 
south  and  west  of  it,  were  trained  in  his  school,  many  of 
whom  are  still  living  (1842)  ;  and  while  some  are  super- 
annuated, others  are  still  useful  men,  either  as  preachers  or 
as  teachers  in  different  institutions  of  learning."  ^ 

It  is  said  that  his  mode  of  discipline  was  peculiar  to  him- 
self, and  while  it  did  not  admit  of  imitation,  yet  it  Avas  so 
successful  that  it  could  not  be  surpassed.  His  students  were 
bound  to  him  with  bonds  of  affection,  and  an  approving  word 
from  their  "Dominie"  was  eagerly  sought  for.  If  the  course 
of  instruction  at  his  school  was  not  very  extended  it  was 
thorough,  as  is  testified  by  those  who  were  prepared  by  him 
for  future  usefulness.  Governor  John  M.  Morehead,  one  of 
North  Carolina's  most  distinguished  sons,  who  studied  under 
Dr.  Caldwell  and  was  prepared  by  him  for  the  Junior  class 
half  advanced  in  the  University  of  North  Carolina,  gave  him 
the  highest  praise  as  a  teacher,  though  at  the  time  he  was 
under  his  instruction  Dr.  Caldwell  was  between  eighty-five 
and  ninety  years  old. 

Dr.  Caldwell  was  a  member  of  the  State  Convention  of 
1776,  which  drew  up  the  "Bill  of  Rights"  and  framed  the 
Constitution.  He  was  also  a  member  of  the  convention  to 
consider  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  in  1788,  where 
he  took  a  decided  stand  as  an  advocate  of  States'  rights ;  but, 
in  the  party  conflicts  preceding  the  second  war  with'  Great 
Britain  he  was  on  the  side  of  the  Federalists.     Such  was  the 


"Caruthers's  Caldwell,  p.  36. 


258  THE   NOETII    CAROLINA   BOOKLET. 

esteem  in  which  he  was  held  by  his  State,  and  such  his  repu- 
tation for  scholarship,  that  on  the  establishment  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  ISTorth  Carolina  the  presidency  was  tendered  him. 
On  account  of  his  years  the  honor  was  declined.  In  1810 
that  institution  conferred  on  him  the  honorary  degree  of 
Doctor  of  Divinity.  He  died  August  25,  1824,  and  the  next 
day  was  buried  in  the  graveyard  of  Buffalo  Presbyterian 
Church,  Guilford  County. 


SAMUEL  JOHNSTON.  259 


GOVERNOR  SAMUEL  JOHNSTON  OF  NORTH 
CAROLINA- 


By  R.  D.  W.  CONNOR, 
Secretary  of  the  North  Carolina  Historical  Cominission. 


On  the  east  coast  of  Scotland,  twelve  miles  from  the  con- 
fluence of  the  Firth  of  Tay  with  the  German  Ocean,  lies  the 
ancient  town  of  Dundee,  in  population  third,  in  commercial 
importance  second  among  the  cities  of  Scotland.  The  gen- 
eral appearance  of  Dundee,  we  are  told,  is  picturesque  and 
pleasing,  and  its  surrounding  scenery  beautiful  and  inspiring. 
Thrift,  intelligence,  and  independence  are  characteristics  of 
its  inhabitants.  It  is  noted  for  its  varied  industrial  enter- 
prises, and  from  time  immemorial  has  been  famous  among  the 
cities  of  Britain  for  its  extensive  linen  manufactures.  A  long 
line  of  men  eminent  in  war,  in  statecraft,  in  law,  and  in  let- 
ters adorns  its  annals.  Its  history  carries  us  back  to  the  time 
of  the  Crusades.  In  the  twelfth  century  it  received  a  charter 
from  the  hand  of  William  the  Lion.  Within  its  walls  Wil- 
liam Wallace  was  educated,  and  there  he  struck  his  first  blow 
against  the  domination  of  England.  In  the  great  Reforma- 
tion of  the  sixteenth  century  its  inhabitants  took  such  an 
active  and  leading  part  as  to  earn  for  their  town  the  appella- 
tion of  "the  Scottish  Geneva."  During  the  civil  wars  of  the 
following  century  they  twice  gave  over  their  property  to  pil- 
lage and  themselves  to  massacre  rather  than  submit  to  the 
tyranny  of  the  House  of  Stuart.  But  in  every  crisis  the  in- 
domitable spirit  of  Dundee  rose  superior  to  disaster  and  her 
people  adhered  to  their  convictions  with  a  loyalty  that  never 
faltered  and  a  faith  that  never  failed.^ 


'An  address  delivered  before  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Masons,  in  the  Masonic  Temple, 
Raleifrh,  January  10,  1912,  upon  the  presentation  to  the  State  by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  a 
marble  bust  of  Governor  Samuel  Johnston,  first  Grand  Master  of  Masons  of  North  Carolina. 

^Encyclopedia  Britannica,  9th  ed.,  VII,  534-36. 


260  THE   NORTH    CAKOLINA   BOOKLET. 

In  this  fine  old  city,  among  its  true  and  loyal  people,  the 
ancestors  of  Samuel  Johnston  lived,  and  here,  in  1733,  he 
himself  was  born.^  The  spirit  of  Dundee,  its  loyalty  to  prin- 
ciple, its  unconquerable  courage,  and  its  inflexible  adherence 
to  duty,  entered  into  his  soul  at  his  very  birth,  and  developed 
and  strengthened  as  he  grew  in  years  and  in  powers  of  body 
and  mind.  Throughout  his  life  he  displayed  in  public  and 
in  private  affairs  many  of  those  qualities  of  mind  and  char- 
acter which  have  given  the  Scotch,  though  small  in  number, 
such  a  large  place  in  the  world's  history.  Says  Mr.  Henry 
Cabot  Lodge,  "six  centuries  of  bitter  struggle  for  life  and  in- 
dependence, waged  continuously  against  nature  and  man,  not 
only  made  the  Scotch  formidable  in  battle,  renowned  in  every 
camp  in  Europe,  but  developed  qualities  of  mind  and  charac- 
ter which  became  inseparable  from  the  race.  *  *  * 
Under  the  stress  of  all  these  centuries  of  trial  they  learned 
to  be  patient  and  persistent,  with  a  fixity  of  purpose  which 
never  weakened,  a  tenacity  which  never  slackened,  and  a  de- 
termination which  never  wavered.  The  Scotch  intellect, 
passing  through  the  same  severe  ordeals,  as  it  was  quickened, 
tempered,  and  sharpened,  so  it  acquired  a  certain  relentless- 
ness  in  reasoning  which  it  never  lost.  It  emerged  at  last  com- 
plete, vigorous,  acute,  and  penetrating.  With  all  these  strong 
qualities  of  mind  and  character  was  joined  an  intensity  of 
conviction  which  burned  beneath  the  cool  and  calculating 
manner  of  which  the  stern  and  unmoved  exterior  gave  no 
sign,  like  the  fire  of  a  furnace,  rarely  flaming,  but  giving 
forth  a  fierce  and  lasting  heat."  *  Had  the  author  of  these 
fine  lines  had  the  character  of  Samuel  Johnston  in  his  mind's 


'McRee  says  December  15,  1733. — Life  and  Correspondence  of  James  Iredell,  I,  37.  John- 
ston himself  writing  to  his  sister,  Mrs.  Iredell,  January  24,  1794,  says:  "Yesterday 
finished  mysixty-first birthday." — Ms.  letter  in  C.  E.  Johnson  Mss.  Collections  of  the  North 
Carolina  Historical  Commission.  But  Samuel  Johnston,  Sr.,  writing  to  Samuel  Johnston, 
Jr.,  in  a  letter  dated  "  Newbern,  17th,  1754,"  month  omitted,  says:  "I  give  you  joy  of  your 
being  of  age  last  Sunday." — Copy  of  letter  in  Collections  of  the  N.  C.  Hist.  Com.  Original 
in  the  library  at  ''Hayes." 

^Address  in  the  United  States  Senate,  March  12,  1910,  at  the  presentation  to  the  United 
States  by  the  State  of  South  Carolina  of  a  statue  of  John  C.  Calhoun. 


SAMUEL  JOHNSTON.  261 

eye,  as  he  did  have  that  of  another  eminent  Scotch-descended 
Carolinian,  his  description  could  not  have  been  more  accu- 
rate. 

In  the  great  crises  of  our  history  in  which  he  figured  so 
largely,  immediately  preceding  and  immediately  following 
the  American  Kevolution,  Samuel  Johnston,  with  keen  pene- 
trating vision,  saw  more  clearly  than  any  of  his  colleagues 
the  true  nature  of  the  problem  confronting  them.  This  prob- 
lem was,  on  the  one  hand,  to  preserve  in  America  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  English  liberty  against  the  encroach- 
ments of  the  British  Parliament,  and  on  the  other,  to  secure 
the  guarantees  of  law  and  order  against  the  well-meant  but 
ill-considered  schemes  of  honest  but  ignorant  reformers.  For 
a  full  quarter  of  a  century  he  pursued  both  of  these  ends,  pa- 
tiently and  persistently,  "with  a  &xitj  of  purpose  which  never 
weakened,  a  tenacity  which  never  slackened,  and  a  determina- 
tion which  never  wavered."  ISTeither  the  wrath  of  a  royal 
governor,  threatening  withdrawal  of  royal  favor  and  depriva- 
tion of  office,  nor  the  fierce  and  unjust  denunciations  of  party 
leaders,  menacing  him  with  loss  of  popular  support  and  de- 
feat at  the  polls,  could  swerve  him  one  inch  from  the  path  of 
the  public  good  as  he  understood  it.  Beneath  his  cool  and 
calculating  manner  burned  "an  intensity  of  conviction"  which 
gave  him  in  the  fullest  degree  that  rarest  of  all  virtues  in  men 
who  serve  the  public — I  mean  courage,  courage  to  fight  the 
battles  of  the  people,  if  need  be,  against  the  people  themselves. 
Of  course  Johnston  never  questioned  the  right  of  the  people 
to  decide  public  affairs  as  they  chose,  but  he  frequently 
doubted  the  wisdom  of  their  decisions;  and  when  such  a 
doubt  arose  in  his  mind  he  spoke  his  sentiments  without  fear 
or  favor  and  no  appeal  or  threat  could  move  him.  He  was 
ready  on  all  such  occasions  to  maintain  his  positions  with  a 
"relentlessness  in  reasoning"  that  carried  conviction,  and  out 
of   defeat   invariably  wrung  ultimate   victory.      More   than 


262  THE    NORTH    CAROLINA   BOOKLET. 

once  in  his  public  career  the  people,  when  confronted  by  his 
immovable  will,  in  fits  of  party  passion  discarded  his  leader- 
ship for  that  of  more  compliant  leaders ;  but  only  in  their 
calmer  moments  to  turn  to  him  again  to  point  the  way  out 
of  the  mazes  into  which  their  folly  had  entangled  them. 

A  Scotchman  by  birth,  Samuel  Johnston  was  fortunate  in 
his  ancestral  inheritance ;  an  American  by  adoption,  he  was 
equally  fortunate  in  his  rearing  and  education.  In  early  in- 
fancy^ his  lot  was  cast  in  jSTorth  Carolina,  the  most  demo- 
cratic of  the  American  colonies,  and  whatever  tendency  this 
fact  may  have  given  him  toward  democratic  ideals  was  later 
strengthened  by  a  ISTew  England  education  and  by  his  legal 
studies."  At  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  became  a  resident  of 
Edenton,  then  a  small  village  of  four  or  five  hundred  inhabi- 
tants, but  the  industrial,  political,  and  social  center  for  a 
large  and  fertile  section  of  the  province.  Its  leading  inhabi- 
tants were  men  and  women  of  wealth,  education,  and  culture. 
Their  social  intercourse  was  easy,  simple,  and  cordial.  Cards, 
billiards,  backgammon,  dancing,  tea  drinking,  hunting,  fish- 
ing, and  other  outdoor  sports,  were  their  chief  amusements. 
They  read  with  appreciative  insight  the  best  literature  of  the 
day,    made    themselves    familiar    with    the    philosophy    of 


^In  his  third  year.  His  parents,  Samuel  and  Helen  (Scrymoiu'e)  Johnston  came  to 
North  Carolina  some  time  prior  to  May  25,  1735.— Colonial  Records  of  North  Carolina, 
IV,  9.  They  probably  accompanied  Samuel's  brother,  Gabriel,  who  become  governor  of 
the  colony,  November  2,  1734.  McRee  incorrectly  gives  the  name  of  Governor  Samuel 
Johnston's  father  as  John. — Iredell,  I,  36.  Letters  of  his  at  ' '  Hayes"  show  that  his  name 
was  Samuel.  See  also  Grimes:  Abstracts  of  North  Carolina  Wills,  187,  188;  and  Col.  Rec. 
IV,  1080,  1110.  He  resided  in  Onslow  county,  but  owned  large  tracts  of  land  not  only  in 
Onslow,  but  also  in  Craven,  Bladen,  New  Hanover,  and  Chowan. — Col.  Rec,  IV,  72,  219, 
222,  329,  594,  601,  628,  650,  800,  805,  1249.  He  was  a  justice  of  the  peace  in  New  Hanover, 
Bladen,  Craven,  and  Onslow.— Col.  Rec,  IV,  218,  275,  346,  347,  814,  1239.  He  served  also  as 
collector  of  the  customs  at  the  port  of  Brunswack.- Col.  Rec,  IV,  395,  725,  998,  1287;  and  as 
road  commissioner  for  Onslow  county.  State  Records,  XXIII,  221.  His  will,  dated  No- 
vember 13,  ns*!,  was  probated  in  Janusry,  1757. — Abstracts,  188.  His  wife  ha\dng  died  of 
child-birth  in  1751  (leltertohis  son),  his  family  at  the  time  of  his  dealh  consisted  of  two  sons, 
Samuel  and  John,  and  five  daushters,  Jane,  Penelope,  Isabelle,  Ann,  and  Hannah.  To 
his  sons  he  devised  6,500  acres  of  land,  and  to  his  daughters  land  and  slaves. — Abstracts, 
188. 

^Governor  Josiah  Martin,  writing  of  Johnston,  to  Lord  George  Germain,  May  17,  1777, 
says:  "This  Gentleman,  my  Lord,  was  educated  in  New  England,  where  *  *  *  it 
may  be  suoposed  he  received  that  bent  to  Democracy  which  he  has  manifested  upon  all 
occasions." — Col.  Rec,  X,  401.  Letters  from  his  father,  addressed  to  him  while  he  was  at 
school  in  New  Haven,  Conn.,  bear  dates  from  1750  to  1753.  I  have  not  been  able  to  ascer- 
tain what  school  he  attended.  In  1754  he  went  to  Edenton  to  study  law  under  Thomas 
Barker. 


SAMUEL  JOHNSTON.  263 

the  Spectator  and  the  Tatler,  and  followed  with  sympa- 
thetic interest  the  fortunes  of  Sir  Charles  Grandison  and 
Clarissa  Harlowe.  They  kept  in  close  touch  with  political 
events  in  England,  studied  critically  the  Parliamentary  de- 
bates, and  among  themselves  discussed  great  constitutional 
questions  with  an  ability  that  would  have  done  honor  to  the 
most  learned  lawyers  of  the  Inner  Temple.^  Within  the 
town  and  its  immediate  vicinity  dwelt  John  Harvey,  Joseph 
Hewes,  Edward  Buncombe,  Stephen  Cabarrus,  and,  after 
1768,  James  Iredell.  Preceding  Iredell  by  a  little  more  than 
a  decade  came  Samuel  Johnston,  possessed  of  an  ample  for- 
tune, a  vigorous  and  penetrating  intellect,  and  a  sound  and 
varied  learning,  which  soon  won  for  him  a  place  of  preemi- 
nence in  the  province.  ''He  bore,"  says  McRee,  "the  greatest 
weight  of  care  and  labor  as  the  mountain  its  crown  of  granite. 
His  powerful  frame  was  a  fit  engine  for  the  vigorous  intellect 
that  gave  it  animation.  Strength  was  his  characteristic.  In 
his  relations  to  the  public,  an  inflexible  sense  of  duty  and 
justice  dominated.  There  was  a  remarkable  degree  of  self- 
reliance  and  majesty  about  the  man.  His  erect  carriage  and 
his  intolerance  of  indolence,  meanness,  vice,  and  wrong,  gave 
to  him  an  air  of  sternness.  He  commanded  the  respect  and 
admiration,  but  not  the  love  of  the  people."  ^  At  Edenton, 
surrounded  by  a  group  of  loyal  friends,  Johnston  entered 
upon  the  practice  of  his  profession  and  in  1759  began  a  pub- 
lic career  which,  for  length  of  service,  extremes  of  political 
fortune,  and  lasting  contributions  to  the  welfare  of  the  State, 
still  stands  unsurpassed  in  our  history.** 


'See  the  picture  of  Edenton  society  drawn  by  James  Iredell  in  his  diary,  printed  in  Mc- 
Eee's  Iredell. 

siredell,  I,  37-38. 

'He  was  twehe  times  elected  to  the  General  Assembly,  serving  from  1759  to  1775,  inclusive. 
On  April  2.5,  1768,  he  was  appointed  Clerk  of  the  Court  for  the  Edenton  District.  In  1770 
he  was  appointed  Deputy  Naval  Officer  of  the  province,  but  was  removed  by  Gov.  Martin, 
Nov.  16.  177.5,  on  account  of  his  activity  in  the  revolutionary  movement.  Dec.  8,  ,1773,  he 
was  selected  as  one  of  the  Committee  of  Continental  Correspondence  appointed  by  the  Gen- 
eral Assemhlv.  He  served  in  the  first  four  Provincial  Congresses,  which  met  .Aug.  25,  1774, 
April  3,  1775," Aug.  20,  1775,  and  April  4,  1776.  Of  the  third  and  fourth  he  was  elected  Presi- 
dent.   The  Congress,  Sept.  8,  1775,  elected  him  Treasurer  for  the  Northern  District.    Sept. 


264  THE    NORTH    GAKOLINA   BOOKLET. 

Johnston's  public  career  covered  a  period  of  forty-four 
years  and  embraced  every  branch  of  the  public  service.  A3 
legislator,  as  delegate  to  four  provincial  congresses,  as  presi- 
dent of  tw^o  constitutional  conventions,  as  member  ol  the 
Continental  Congress,  as  judge,  as  governor,  as  United  States 
Senator,  he  rendered  services  to  the  State  and  Nation  which 
rank  him  second  to  none  among  the  statesmen  of  ITorth  Caro- 
lina. Time  does  not  permit  me  today  to  dwell  on  all  these 
points  of  his  career,  and  I  must  content  myself  with  inviting 
your  attention  to  his  services  in  just  three  of  the  great  crises 
of  our  history :  First,  in  organizing  the  Revolution  in  l!Torth 
Carolina ;  second,  in  framing  the  first  state  constitution ; 
third,  in  the  ratification  by  N^orth  Carolina  of  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States. 

You  are  of  course  familiar  with  the  principal  events  which 
led  up  to  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution.  Johnston  watched 
the  course  of  these  events  with  the  keenest  interest  and  the 
most  profound  insight.  By  inheritance,  by  training,  and  by 
conviction  he  was  a  conservative  in  politics.  He  clung  tena- 
ciously to  the  things  that  were  and  viewed  with  apprehen- 
sion, if  not  with  distrust,  any  tendency  of  those  in  power  to 
depart  from  the  beaten  path  marked  out  by  time  and  experi- 
ence. It  was  not  to  be  expected,  therefore,  that  he,  holding 
the  principles  of  the  British  Constitution  in  great  reverence, 
would  look  with  favor  upon  departures  from  those  principles 
so  radical  as  those  proposed  by  the  British  Ministry.  It  has 
frequently  been  pointed  out  that  in  the  American  Revolution 

9,  1775,  he  was  selected  as  the  member-at-large  of  the  Provincial  Council, the  executive  body 
of  the  revolutionary  government.  The  Provincial  Council,  Oct.  20,  1775,  elected  him  Pay- 
master of  Troops  for  the  Edenton  District.  Dec.  21,  1776,  he  was  appointed  by  the  Provin- 
cial Coneress  a  commissioner  to  codify  the  laws  of  the  State.  In  1779,  17S3,  1784  he  repre- 
sented Chowan  county  in  the  State  Senate.  The  General  Assembly,  July  12,  1781,  elected 
him  a  delegate  to  the  Continental  Congress.  In  1785  the  States  of  New  York  and  Massa- 
chusetts selected  him  as  one  of  the  commissioners  to  settle  a  boundary  line  dispute  between 
them.  He  was  three  times  elected  Governor  of  North  Carolina,  Dec.  12,  1787,  Nov.  11,  1788, 
and  Nov.  14,  1789.  He  resigned  the  governorship  in  Dec,  1789  to  accept  election  to  the 
United  States  Senate,  being  the  first  Senator  from  North  Carolina.  In  1788  and  1789  he  was 
President  of  the  two  Constitutional  Conventions,  at  Hillsboro  and  Fayetteville,  called  to 
consider  the  ratification  of  the  Federal  Constitution.  Dec.  11,  1789  he  was  elected  a  trustee 
of  the  University  of  North  Carolina.  From  1800  to  1803  he  served  as  Superior  Court  Judge. 
He  died  in  1816. 


SAMUEL  JOHNSTON.  265 

England  and  not  America  represented  the  radical  position. 
The  Americans  held  to  the  British  Constitution  as  they  had 
received  it  from  their  fathers,  thej  protested  against  the  inno- 
vations of  the  Ministry,  and  they  went  to  war  to  conserve  the 
principles  of  English  liberty  as  they  had  been  handed  down 
from  time  immemorial.  They  were  the  true  conservatives. 
This,  too,  was  the  point  of  view  of  such  British  statesmen  as 
Fox,  and  Pitt,  and  Burke,  and  Rockingham.  In  this  contest, 
accordingly,  there  could  be  but  one  place  for  Samuel  John- 
ston,— inheritance,  education,  conviction,  all  carried  him  at 
once  into  the  camp  of  the  Whig  party. 

From  the  passage  of  the  Stamp  Act  in  1765  Johnston 
maintained  a  firm  and  decided  stand  against  every  step  taken 
by  the  British  Ministry  to  subject  the  colonies  in  their  local 
affairs  to  the  jurisdiction  of  Parliament.  A  special  signifi- 
cance attaches  to  his  services.  His  birth  in  Scotland,  his 
residence  in  ISTorth  Carolina,  his  education  in  Connecticut, 
his  intimate  correspondence  with  friends  in  England,  all 
served  to  lift  him  above  any  narrow,  contracted,  provincial 
view  of  the  contest  and  fitted  him  to  be  what  he  certainly 
was,  the  leader  in  I^orth  Carolina  in  the  great  continental 
movement  which  finally  resulted  in  the  American  Union. 
Union  was  the  great  bugbear  of  the  King  and  Ministry,  and 
for  some  years  before  the  actual  outbreak  of  the  Revolution 
an  important  object  of  their  policy  was  to  prevent  the  union 
of  the  colonies.  They  sought,  therefore,  as  far  as  possible,  to 
avoid  all  measures  which,  by  giving  them  a  common  griev- 
ance, would  also  afford  a  basis  upon  which  they  could  unite. 
In  order  to  accomplish  this  purpose  more  effectively  acts  of 
Parliament  to  a  large  extent  gave  way  in  the  government  of 
the  colonies  to  instructions  from  the  King  issued  to  the  royal 
governors.  These  instructions  the  governors  were  required 
to  consider  as  of  higher  authority  than  acts  of  the  assemblies 
and  as  binding  on  both  the  governors  and  the  assemblies.     A 


266  THE  NOKTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 

set  was  not  framed  to  apply  to  all  the  colonies  alike,  but 
special  instructions  were  sent  to  each  colony  as  local  circum- 
stances dictated.  Since  these  local  circumstances  differed  so 
widely  in  the  several  colonies,  the  King  and  his  ministers 
thought  the  patriots  would  not  be  able  to  find  in  these  instruc- 
tions any  common  grievance  to  serve  as  a  basis  for  union. 

In  ISTorth  Carolina  the  battle  was  fought  out  on  three  very 
important  local  measures  which  involved  the  financial  policy 
of  the  province,  the  running  of  its  southern  boundary  line, 
and  the  jurisdiction  of  the  colonial  courts.  On  all  three  the 
King  issued  positive  instructions  directing  the  course  which 
the  Assembly  should  pursue.  Thus  a  momentous  issue  was 
presented  for  the  consideration  of  its  members :  Should  they 
permit  the  Assembly  to  degenerate  into  a  mere  machine  whose 
highest  function  was  to  register  the  will  of  the  SovereigTi ; 
or  should  they  maintain  it  as  the  Constitution  and  their  char- 
ters intended  it  to  be,  a  free,  deliberative,  law-making  body, 
responsible  for  its  acts  only  to  the  people  ?  Upon  their  answer 
to  this  question  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  hung  the  fate  of  the 
remotest  posterity  in  this  State.  I  record  it  as  one  of  the 
proudest  events  in  our  history,  beside  which  the  glories  of 
Moore's  Creek,  Kings  Mountain,  Guilford  Court  House,  and 
even  of  Gettysburg  itself  pale  into  insignificance,  that  the 
Assembly  of  North  Carolina  had  the  insight  to  perceive  their 
problem  clearly,  the  courage  to  meet  it  boldly,  and  the  states- 
manship to  solve  it  wisely. 

"Appointed  by  the  people  [they  declared]  to  watch  over  their 
rights  and  privileges,  and  to  guard  them  from  every  encroachment 
of  a  private  and  public  nature,  it  becomes  our  duty  and  will  be  our 
constant  endeavor  to  preserve  them  secure  and  inviolate  to  the 
present  age,  and  to  transmit  them  unimpaired  to  posterity.  *  *  * 
The  rules  of  right  and  wrong,  the  limits  of  the  prerogative  of  the 
Crown  and  of  the  privileges  of  the  people  are,  in  the  present  re- 
fined age,  well  known  and  ascertained;  to  exceed  either  of  them 
is  highly  unjustifiable."  lo 


iTor  a  more  extended  account  of  this  great  contest,  see  my  Cornelius  Harnett:  AnEs- 
sayin  North  CaroUna  History,  68-78. 


SAMUEL  JOHNSTON.  267 

Hurling  this  declaration  into  the  face  of  the  royal  governor 
the  Assembly  peremptorily  refused  obedience  to  the  royal  in- 
structions. In  this  momentous  affair  Samuel  Johnston  stood 
fully  abreast  of  the  foremost  in  maintaining  the  dignity  of 
the  Assembly,  the  independence  of  the  judiciary,  and  the 
right  of  the  people  to  self-government.  With  unclouded 
vision  he  saw  straight  through  the  policy  of  the  King  and 
stood  forth  a  more  earnest  advocate  of  union  than  ever.  He 
urged  the  appointment  of  the  committees  of  correspondence 
throughout  the  continent,  served  on  the  North  Carolina  com- 
mittee, and  favored  the  calling  of  a  Continental  Congress. 
When  John  Harvey,  in  the  spring  of  1774,  suggested  a  pro- 
vincial congress,  Johnston  gave  the  plan  his  powerful  sup- 
port,^^  and  when  the  Congress  met  at  jSTew  Bern,  August  25, 
1774,  he  was  there  as  one  of  the  members  from  Chowan. 
Upon  the  completion  of  its  business  this  Congress  authorized 
Johnston,  in  the  event  of  Harvey's  death,  to  summon  another 
congress  whenever  he  should  deem  it  necessary.  ISTo  more  fit 
successor  to  Harvey  could  have  been  found.  Johnston's  un- 
impeachable personal  character  commanded  the  respect  of  the 
Loyalists,^^  his  known  conservatism  was  a  guarantee  that  the 
revolutionary  program  under  his  leadership  would  be  con- 
ducted with  proper  regard  for  the  rights  of  all  and  in  an 
orderly  manner,  and  his  thorough  sympathy  with  the  spirit 
and  purposes  of  the  movement  assured  the  loyal  support  of 
the  entire  Whig  party.  How  thoroughly  he  sympathized  with 
the  whole  program  is  set  forth  in  the  following  letter  written 
to  an  English  friend  who  once  resided  in  North  Carolina : 

"You  will  not  wonder  [he  writes]  at  my  being  more  warmly  af- 
fected with  affairs  of  America  than  you  seem  to  be.  I  came  over  so 
early  and  am  now  so  riveted  to  it  by  my  connections  that  I  can  not 


»CoI.  Rec,  X,  968. 

i^Archibald  Neilson,  a  prominent  Loyalist  whom  Gov.  Martin  appointed  Johnston's 
successor  as  Deputy  Naval  Officer,  \\Tote  to  James  Iredell,  July  8,  1775: ' '  For  Mr.  Johnston, 
I  have  the  truest  esteem  and  regard.  In  these  times,  in  spite  of  my  opinion  of  his  judgment, 
in  spite  of  myself— I  tremble  for  him.  He  is  in  an  arduous  situation:  the  eyes  of  all— more 
especially  of  the  friends  of  order — are  anxiously  fixed  on  him." — McRee's  Iredell,  I,  260. 


268  THE   NOKTH    CAKOLINA   BOOKLET. 

help  feeling  for  it  as  if  it  were  my  natale  solum.  The  ministry  from 
the  time  of  passing  the  Declaratory  Act,  on  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp 
Act,  seemed  to  have  used  every  opportunity  of  teasing  and  fretting 
the  people  here  as  if  on  purpose  to  draw  them  into  rebellion  or  some 
violent  opposition  to  Government.  At  a  time  when  the  inhabitants 
of  Boston  were  every  man  quietly  employed  about  their  own  private 
affairs,  the  wise  members  of  your  House  of  Commons  on  the  au- 
thority of  ministerial  scribbles  declare  they  are  in  a  state  of  open 
rebellion.  On  the  strength  of  this  they  pass  a  set  of  laws  which 
from  their  severity  and  injustice  can  not  be  carried  into  execution 
but  by  a  military  force,  which  they  have  very  wisely  provided,  being 
conscious  that  no  people  who  had  once  tasted  the  sweets  of  freedom 
would  ever  submit  to  them  except  in  the  last  extremity.  They  have 
now  brought  things  to  a  crisis  and  God  only  knows  where  it  will 
end.  It  is  useless,  in  disputes  between  different  countries,  to  talk 
about  the  right  which  one  has  to  give  laws  to  the  other,  as  that 
generally  attends  the  power,  though  where  that  power  is  wantonly  or 
cruelly  exercised,  there  are  instances  where  the  weaker  State  has 
resisted  with  success;  for  when  once  the  sword  is  drawn  all  nice 
distinctions  fall  to  the  ground;  the  difference  between  internal  and 
external  taxation  will  be  little  attended  to,  and  it  will  hereafter  be 
considered  of  no  consequence  whether  the  act  be  to  regulate  trade 
or  raise  a  fund  to  support  a  majority  in  the  House  of  Commons.  By 
this  desperate  push  the  ministry  will  either  confirm  their  power  of 
making  laws  to  bind  the  colonies  in  all  cases  whatsoever,  or  give  up 
the  right  of  making  laws  to  bind  them  in  any  case."  i3 

This  is  a  very  remarkable  letter.  Consider  first  of  all  its 
date.  It  was  written  at  Edenton,  September  23,  1774.  At 
that  time  the  boldest  radicals  in  America,  even  such  men  as 
Samuel  Adams,  of  Massachusetts;  Patrick  Henry,  of  Vir- 
ginia; Cornelius  Harnett,  of  North  Carolina,  scarcely  dared 
breathe  the  word  independence.  But  here  is  Samuel  John- 
ston, most  conservative  of  revolutionists,  boldly  declaring  that 
the  contest  between  England  and  her  colonies  was  a  dispute 
"between  different  countries,"  and  threatening  an  appeal  to 
arms  to  decide  whether  the  British  Parliament  should  make 
laws  "to  bind  the  colonies  in  all  cases  whatsoever,"  or  be 
compelled  to  surrender  "the  right  of  making  laws  to  bind 


isTo  Alexander  Elmsley,  of  London.— Col.  Rec,  IX,  1071. 


SAMUEL  JOHNSTON.  269 

them  in  any  case."  The  man  who  ventured  this  bold  declara- 
tion was  no  unknown  individual,  safe  from  ministerial  wrath 
by  reason  of  his  obscurity,  but  was  the  foremost  statesman 
of  an  important  colony,  and  his  name  was  not  unfamiliar  to 
those  who  gathered  in  the  council  chamber  of  the  King. 

The  death  of  John  Harvey  in  May,  1775,  left  Samuel 
Johnston  the  undisputed  leader  of  the  revolutionary  party  in 
ITorth  Carolina.  In  July  he  issued  a  call  for  a  congress  to 
meet  in  Hillsboro,  August  20,  and  of  this  Congress  he  was 
unanimously  chosen  president.  Until  now  Josiah  Martin, 
the  royal  governor,  had  cherished  the  hope  that  Johnston 
would  not  go  to  the  extreme  of  rebellion  but  that  he  would 
ultimately  break  with  the  Whig  party  and  throw  the  great 
weight  of  his  influence  on  the  side  of  the  royal  government. 
Consequently  early  in  the  struggle,  in  very  flattering  terms, 
Martin  had  offered  to  recommend  Johnston  to  the  King  for 
appointment  to  the  next  vacancy  in  the  Council ;  and  had  re- 
frained from  removing  him  from  his  position  as  the  deputy 
naval  ofiicer  of  the  colony,  ^^notwithstanding,"  he  wrote,  "I 
had  found  him  uniformly  in  opposition  to  every  measure  of 
Government  during  my  administration."  ^*  But  now  any 
further  forbearance  toward  Johnston  would  be  disloyalty  to 
the  King,  and  accordingly  on  October  7,  1775,  the  Governor 
addressed  a  letter  to  him  notifying  him  of  his  removal.  ''The 
respect  I  have  entertained  for  your  private  character,"  he 
said,  had  restrained  him  from  taking  this  step  heretofore ; 
but  now  duty  to  his  Royal  Master  would  not  permit  his  taking 
upon  himself  ''the  guilt  of  conniving  at  the  undutiful  be- 
havior of  one  of  the  King's  servants"  in  appearing  "in  the 
conspicuous  character  of  Moderator  of  a  popular  Assembly 
unknown   to   the    laws    and    constitution    of   this    province. 


"Gov.  Martin  to  Johnston,  Oct.  4,  1772:  "In  case  of  a  vacancy  at  the  Council  Board 
I  wish  to  know  whether  you  will  permit  me  to  name  you  to  the  King;  if  it  be  agreeable  to 
you,  I  shall  be  much  flattered  by  an  opportunity  of  making  so  honorable  an  acquisition  to 
the  Council  of  this  Province." — Col.  Rec,  IX,  342.  See  also  Martin  to  Lord  Dartmouth, 
Col.  Rec.  IX,  1053;  and  to  Lord  Germain,  X,  401. 


270  THE   NOKTII    CAEOLINA   BOOKLET. 

*  *  *  And  [he  continued]  I  have  seen  with  greater  sur- 
prise, if  possible,  your  acceptance  of  the  appointment  of 
treasurer  of  the  northern  district  of  this  colony,  unconstitu- 
tionally and  contrary  to  all  law  and  usage  conferred  upon 
you  by  this  body  of  your  own  creation."  ^^  To  this  communi- 
cation Johnston  replied  in  a  letter  of  biting  sarcasm  but  a 
model  of  courtesy  and  good  taste.  "It  gives  me  pleasure," 
he  said,  referring  to  the  Governor's  reasons  for  his  removal, 
"that  I  do  not  find  neglect  of  duties  of  my  office  in  the  cata- 
logue of  my  crimes,"  and  then  continued : 

"At  the  same  time  that  I  hold  myself  obliged  to  your  Excellency 
for  the  polite  manner  in  which  you  are  pleased  to  express  yourself 
of  my  private  character,  you  will  pardon  me  for  saying  that  I  think 
I  have  reason  to  complain  of  the  invidious  point  of  view  in  which 
you  are  pleased  to  place  my  public  transactions  when  you  consider 
the  late  meeting  of  the  delegates  or  deputies  of  the  inhabitants  of 
this  province  at  Hillsborough,  a  body  of  my  own  creation.  Your 
Excellency  cannot  be  ignorant  that  I  was  a  mere  instrument  in  this 
business  under  the  direction  of  the  people;  a  people  among  whom  I 
have  long  resided,  and  who  have  on  all  occasions  placed  the  great- 
est confidence  in  me,  to  whose  favorable  opinion  I  owe  everything  I 
possess  and  to  whom  I  am  bound  by  gratitude  (that  most  powerful 
and  inviolable  tie  on  every  honest  mind)  to  render  every  service 
they  can  demand  of  me,  in  defense  of  what  they  esteem  their  just 
rights,  at  the  risk  of  my  life  and  property. 

You  will  further.  Sir,  be  pleased  to  understand,  that  I  never  con- 
sidered myself  in  the  honorable  light  in  which  you  place  me,  one 
of  the  king's  sei'vants ;  being  entirely  unknown  to  those  who  have 
the  disposal  of  the  king's  favors,  I  never  enjoyed  nor  had  I  a  right 
to  expect,  any  office  under  his  Majesty.  The  office  which  I  have  for 
some  years  past  executed  under  the  deputation  of  Mr.  Turner  was 
an  honest  purchase  for  which  I  have  punctually  paid  an  annual  sum, 
which  I  shall  continue  to  pay  till  the  expiration  of  the  term  for 
which  I  should  have  held  it  agreeably  to  our  contract. 

Permit  me,  Sir,  to  add  that  had  all  the  king's  servants  in  this 
province  been  as  well  informed  of  the  disposition  of  the  inhabitants 
as  they  might  have  been  and  taken  the  same  pains  to  promote  and 
preserve  peace,  good  order,  and  obedience  to  the  laws  among  them, 
that  I  flatter  myself  I  have  done,  the  source  of  your  Excellency's 


'6Col.  Rec,  X,  262. 


SAMUEL  JOHNSTON.  271 

unnecessary  lamentations  had  not  at  this  day  existed,  or  had  it 
existed  it  would  have  been  in  so  small  a  degree  that  ere  this  it 
would  have  been  nearly  exhausted;  but,  Sir,  a  recapitulation  of 
errors  which  it  is  now  too  late  to  correct  would  be  painful  to  me 
and  might  appear  impertinent  to  your  Excellency.  I  shall  decline 
the  ungrateful  task,  and  beg  leave,  with  all  due  respect,  to  subscribe 
myself,  Sir,  your  Excellency's  most  obedient,  humble  servant."  is 

At  the  beginning  of  the  Revolution  Johnston,  in  common 
with  the  other  Whig  leaders  throughout  the  continent,  dis- 
claimed any  purpose  of  declaring  independence.  But  once 
caught  in  the  full  sweep  of  the  revolutionary  movement  they 
were  carried  along  from  one  position  to  another  until,  by  the 
opening  of  the  year  1776,  they  had  reached  a  situation  which 
admitted  of  no  other  alternative.  As  jSTorth  Carolina  was  the 
first  colony  to  take  the  lead  in  demanding  independence,  so 
Samuel  Johnston  was  among  the  first  advocates  of  it  in  l^orth 
Carolina.  Writing  March  3,  1776,  he  expressed  the  opinion 
that  the  future  might  ''offer  a  more  favorable  opportunity  for 
throwing  off  our  connection  with  Great  Britain,"  but  imme- 
diately added : 

"It  is,  however,  highly  improbable  from  anything  that  I  have  yet 
been  able  to  learn  of  the  disposition  of  the  people  at  home,  from  the 
public  papers,  for  I  have  not  lately  received  any  letters,  that  the 
colonies  will  be  under  the  necessity  of  throwing  off  their  allegiance 
to  the  king  and  Parliament  of  Great  Britain  this  summer.  If  France 
and  Spain  are  hearty  and  sincere  in  our  cause,  or  sufficiently  ap- 
prised of  the  importance  of  the  connection  with  us  to  risk  war  with 
Great  Britain,  we  shall  undoubtedly  succeed;  if  they  are  irresolute 
and  play  a  doubtful  game  I  shall  not  think  our  success  so  certain." 

March  20,  Joseph  Hewes  writing  from  Philadelphia, 
where  he  was  in  attendance  on  the  Continental  Congi-ess, 
asked  Johnston  for  his  views  on  the  subject  of  independence. 
In  reply  Johnston  said : 

"I  am  inclined  to  think  with  you  that  there  is  little  prospect  of 
an  accommodation.  You  wish  to  know  my  sentiments  on  the  sub- 
jects of  treating  with  foreign  powers  and  the  independence  of  the 


"Col.  Rec,  X,  332. 


272  THE   NORTH    CAROLINA   BOOKLET. 

colonies.  I  have  apprehensions  that  no  foreign  power  will  treat 
with  us  till  we  disclaim  our  dependence  on  Great  Britain  and  I 
would  wish  to  have  assurances  that  they  would  afford  us  effectual 
service  before  we  take  that  step.  I  have,  I  assure  you,  no  other 
scruples  on  this  head;  the  repeated  insults  and  injuries  we  have 
received  from  the  people  of  my  native  island  has  (sic)  done  away 
all  my  partiality  for  a  connection  with  them  and  I  have  no  appre- 
hensions of  our  being  able  to  establish  and  support  an  independence 
if  Prance  and  Spain  would  join  us  cordially  and  risk  a  war  with 
Great  Britain  in  exchange  for  our  trade."  i" 

When  the  fourth  Provincial  Congress,  at  Johnston's  sum- 
mons, met  at  Halifax,  April  4,  177G,  the  entire  patriot  party 
was  fully  abreast  of  his  position  on  the  subject  of  independ- 
ence. "All  our  people  here,"  he  wrote,  xlpril  5,  "are  up  for 
independence" ;  and  a  few  days  later  he  added :  "We  are 
going  to  the  devil  *  *  *  without  knowing  how  to  help 
ourselves,  and  though  many  are  sensible  of  this,  yet  they 
would  rather  go  that  way  than  to  submit  to  the  British  Min- 
istry. *  *  *  Our  people  are  full  of  the  idea  of  inde- 
pendence." In  compliance  with  this  popular  sentiment,  the 
CongTess,  April  12,  adopted  its  famous  resolution  empower- 
ing the  North  Carolina  delegates  in  the  Continental  Congress 
"to  concur  with  the  delegates  of  the  other  colonies  in  declar- 
ing independency  and  forming  foreign  alliances."  ^^ 

Samuel  Johnston  had  now  reached  the  climax  of  his  in- 
fluence and  popularity,  for  by  his  election  to  the  presidency 
of  the  Provincial  Congress  he  had  attained  the  highest  posi- 
tion in  public  life  to  which  a  citizen  of  ISTorth  Carolina  in 
1776  could  aspire.  The  next  few  years  were  for  him  a  period 
of  eclipse.  Deceived  by  the  specious  insinuations  of  his  po- 
litical opponents  his  constituents  were  led  to  discard  his 
leadership  and  to  accept  that  of  men  of  fairer  promises  but 
of  smaller  achievements. 

Immediately  after   declaring  for  independence  the   Con- 


"Ms.  letter  in  the  library  at  "Hayes." 

isFor  a  full  discussion  of  the  movement  toward  independence,  see  my  Cornelius  Harnett, 
Chap.  X. 


SAMUEL  JOHNSTON.  273 

gress  at  Halifax  appointed  a  committee  "to  prepare  a  tempo- 
rary civil  constitution."  Among  its  members  were  Johnston, 
Harnett,  Abner  JSFash,  Thomas  Burke,  Thomas  Person,  and 
William  Hooper.  They  were  (as  I  have  said  in  another 
place)  ^'^  men  of  political  sagacity  and  ability,  but  their  ideas 
of  the  kind  of  constitution  that  ought  to  be  adopted  were  woe- 
fully inharmonious.  Heretofore  in  the  measures  of  resist- 
ance to  the  British  Ministry  remarkable  unanimity  had  pre- 
vailed in  the  councils  of  the  Whigs.  But  when  they  under- 
took to  frame  a  constitution  faction  at  once  raised  its  head. 
Historians  have  designated  these  factions  as  ''Conservatives" 
and  "Radicals,"  terms  which  carry  their  own  meaning  and 
need  no  further  explanation.  However  it  may  not  be  out  of 
place  to  observe  here  that  while  both  were  equally  devoted  to 
constitutional  liberty,  the  Radicals  seem  to  have  placed  the 
greater  emphasis  on  the  noun,  liberty,  the  Conservatives  on  its 
modifier,  constitutional.  The  leader  of  the  former  was  un- 
doubtedly Willie  Jones,  while  no  one  could  have  been  found 
to  question  the  supremacy  of  Samuel  Johnston  among  the 
latter.  Congress  soon  found  that  no  agreement  between  the 
two  could  be  reached  while  continued  debate  on  the  constitu- 
tion would  only  consume  time  which  ought  to  be  given  to 
more  pressing  matters.  Consequently  the  committee  was  dis- 
charged and  the  adoption  of  a  constitution  was  postponed  till 
the  next  meeting  of  Congress  in  November.  Thus  the  contest 
was  removed  from  Congress  to  the  people  and  became  the 
leading  issue  of  the  election  in  October. 

Willie  Jones  and  his  faction  determined  that  Samuel  John- 
ston should  not  have  a  seat  in  the  ITovember  Congress,  and 
at  once  began  against  him  a  campaign  famous  in  our  history 
for  its  violence.  Democracy  exulting  in  a  freedom  too  newly 
acquired  for  it  to  have  learned  the  virtue  of  self-restraint, 
struck  blindly  to  right  and  left  and  laid  low  some  of  the 


"Cornelius  Harnett,  152. 


274  THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  BOOKLET. 

sturdiest  champions  of  constitutional  liberty  in  the  province. 
The  contest  raged  fiercest  in  Chowan.  "'No  means,"  says 
McEee,  "were  spared  to  poison  the  minds  of  the  people ;  to 
inflame  their  prejudices ;  excite  alarm ;  and  sow  in  them,  by 
indefinite  charges  and  whispers,  the  seeds  of  distrust.  *  *  * 
It  were  bootless  now  to  inquire  what  base  arts  prevailed,  or 
what  calumnies  were  propagated.  Mr,  Johnston  was  defeated. 
The  triumph  was  celebrated  with  riot  and  debauchery;  and 
the  orgies  were  concluded  by  burning  Mr.  Johnston  in 
effigy."  - 

From  that  day  to  this  much  nonsense  has  been  written  and 
spoken  about  Johnston's  hostility  to  democracy  and  his  hank- 
ering after  the  fleshpots  of  monarchy,  and  the  admirers  of 
Willie  Jones  from  then  till  now  have  expected  us  to  believe 
that  the  man  who  for  ten  years  had  been  willing  to  sacrifice 
his  fortune,  his  ease,  his  peace  of  mind,  his  friends  and  fam- 
ily, and  life  itself,  to  overthrow  the  rule  of  monarchy  was 
ready,  immediately  upon  the  achievement  of  that  end,  to  con- 
spire with  his  fellow-workers  against  that  liberty  which  they 
had  suffered  so  much  to  preserve.  That  Johnston  did  not 
believe  in  the  "infallibility  of  the  popular  voice" ;  that  he 
thought  it  right  in  a  democracy  for  minorities  to  have  suffi- 
cient safeguards  against  the  tyranny  of  majorities;  that  he 
considered  intelligence  and  experience  more  likely  to  conduct 
a  government  successfully  than  ignorance  and  inexperience, 
is  all  true  enough.  But  that  he  also  ascribed  fully  to  the 
sentiment  that  all  governments  "derive  their  just  powers 
from  the  consent  of  the  governed"  ;  that  he  believed  frequency 
of  elections  to  be  the  surest  safeguard  of  liberty;  that  he 
thought  representatives  should  be  held  directly  responsible  to 
their  constituents  and  to  nobody  else,  we  have  not  only  his 
whole  public  career  but  his  most  solemn  declarations  to  prove. 
He  advocated,  it  is  true,  a  government  of  energy  and  power, 

«oiredell,  I,  334. 


SAMUEL  JOHNSTON.  275 

but  a  government  deriving  its  energy  and  power  wholly  from 
the  people.  This  is  the  very  essence  of  true,  genuine  democ- 
racy. 

Although  not  a  member  of  the  Congress  which  framed  our 
first  State  Constitution,  Johnston's  duties  as  treasurer  made 
it  necessary  for  him  to  attend  its  session,  and  his  presence 
there  exerted  a  most  wholesome  influence  on  the  final  draft 
of  that  instrument.  In  mere  matters  of  policy  he  manifested 
but  little  interest ;  but  there  were  three  points  of  prime  im- 
portance to  be  settled  which  would  ultimately  determine  the 
character  of  the  government  about  to  be  formed.  These  were, 
first,  the  degree  of  responsibility  to  the  people  to  which  rep- 
resentatives should  be  held ;  second,  the  basis  of  the  suffrage ; 
and  third,  the  degree  of  independence  to  be  accorded  to  the 
judiciary.  On  these  three  points  Johnston  felt  and  thought 
deeply,  and  exerted  himself  to  have  his  views  incorporated  in 
the  Constitution. 

In  regard  to  the  first  he  expressed  himself  as  follows  in  a 
letter  written  from  Halifax  in  April  while  the  constitution 
was  under  consideration : 

"The  great  difficulty  in  our  way  is,  how  to  establish  a  check  on 
the  representatives  of  the  people,  to  prevent  their  assuming  more 
power  than  would  be  consistent  with  the  liberties  of  the  people. 
*  *  *  Many  projects  have  been  proposed  too  tedious  for  a  letter  to 
communicate.  *  *  *  After  all,  it  appears  to  me  that  .there  can  be  no 
check  on  the  representatives  of  the  people  in  a  democracy  but  the 
people  themselves;  and  in  order  that  the  check  may  be  more  efficient 
I  would  have  annual  elections."  21 

But  by  "the  people,"  Johnston  did  not  mean  all  the  citizens 
of  the  State  any  more  than  we  today,  by  the  same  term,  mean 
to  include  all  the  citizens  of  the  Commonwealth.  Like  us 
Johnston  referred  only  to  those  citizens  who  were  endowed 
with  the  franchise.  He  did  not  believe  in  unrestricted  man- 
hood  suffrage.      Such   a  basis   he   thought   might   be   "well 


silredell,  I,  277. 


276  THE    NOETH    CAEOLINA   BOOKLET. 

adapted  to  the  government  of  a  numerous,  cultivated  people," 
but  he  did  not  think  North  Carolina  in  1776  was  ready  for 
any  such  untried  experiment,  and  he  advocated,  therefore,  a 
property  qualification.  On  this  point  he  was  ''in  great  pain 
for  the  honor  of  the  province"  and  viewed  with  alarm  the 
tendency  to  turn  the  government  over  to  "a  set  of  men  without 
reading,  experience,  or  principle  to  govern  them."  ^" 

But  it  was  to  the  judiciary  that  he  looked  to  safeguard  the 
rights  of  the  individual  citizen,  and  in  order  that  this  safe- 
guard might  be  the  more  effective  he  wished  it  to  be  inde- 
pendent of  the  transitory  passions  of  majorities.  On  this 
subject  he  spoke  with  more  than  his  usual  vigor. 

"God  knows  [he  exclaimed]  when  there  will  be  an  end  of  this 
trifling  here.  A  draft  of  the  Constitution  was  presented  to  the 
House  yesterday.  *  *  *  There  is  one  thing  in  it  which  I  cannot  bear, 
and  yet  I  am  inclined  to  think  it  will  stand.  The  inhabitants  are 
impowered  to  elect  the  justices  in  their  respective  counties,  who  are 
to  be  the  judges  of  the  county  courts.  Numberless  inconveniences 
must  arise  from  so  absurd  an  institution. 23  They  talk  [he  wrote 
later]  of  having  all  the  officers,  even  the  judges  and  clerks,  elected 
annually,  with  a  number  of  other  absurdities."  24 

Johnston's  alarm  was  needless.  Under  his  guidance  con- 
servative influences  prevailed  and  a  method  of  choosing  judges 
in  line  with  his  views  was  adopted.  In  its  final  form  the  Con- 
stitution embodied  to  a  large  extent  Johnston's  views  on  all 
three  of  these  cardinal  points.  It  provided  for  a  legislature 
of  two  chambers  chosen  annually,  for  a  property  qualification 
for  electors  for  state  senators,  and  for  judges  chosen  by  the 
General  Assembly  to  serve  during  good  behavior. 

I  know  of  no  more  striking  personal  triumph  in  the  history 
of  ISTorth  Carolina  than  this  achievement  of  Johnston.  Po- 
litically discredited  by  his  own  people,  without  the  support 
of  a  powerful  political  party,  and  totally  devoid  of  that  glam- 


22To  Thomas  Biirke.— State  Rec,  XI,  504. 

"To  James  Iredell.— Col.  Rec,  X,  1040. 

«<To  Mrs.  James  Iredell.— McRee's  Iredell,  I,  339. 


SAMUEL  JOHNSTON.  27Y 

our  and  subtle  influence  which  accompanies  high  official 
position,  he  had,  through  the  convincing  logic  of  his  arg-u- 
ments,  the  trust  inspired  by  his  acknowledged  wisdom,  and 
the  confidence  imposed  in  his  integrity,  forced  a  hostile  Con- 
vention to  accept  his  views  and  lay  the  cornerstones  of  the 
Commonwealth  on  firm  and  solid  grounds.  How  firmly  he 
builded  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  fifty-eight  years  passed  be- 
fore annual  sessions  of  the  Assembly  gave  way  to  biennial 
sessions ;  seventy-nine  years  before  the  property  qualification 
for  electors  for  state  senators  was  abolished ;  and  ninety-one 
years  before  the  election  of  judges  was  given  to  the  people 
and  their  terms  changed  from  good  behavior  to  a  term  of 
years.  Had  Johnston  been  alive  when  these  changes  were 
proposed  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  he  would  have  advocated 
them.  In  1776  he  stood  for  a  political  system  suitable  to  the 
physical,  mental  and  moral  conditions  of  the  State  at  that 
period:  in  1835  he  would  have  done  the  same  thing.  As  a 
practical  statesman,  more  deeply  concerned  in  securing  a 
good  working  system  than  in  promulgating  vague  and  uncer- 
tain theories,  he  would  have  been  among  the  first  to  recognize 
the  changed  conditions  wrought  by  fifty  years  of  marvelous 
development,  and  to  have  advocated  changes  in  the  Constitu- 
tion in  conformity  with  the  changed  spirit  and  needs  of  the 
time. 

Johnston's  eclipse  was  temporary.  Accepting  his  defeat 
philosophically,  he  withdrew  after  the  framing  of  the  Consti- 
tution from  all  participation  in  politics,  and  watched  the 
course  of  events  in  silence.  For  assuming  this  attitude  he 
has  been  severely  censured,  both  by  his  contemporaries  and 
by  posterity,  who  have  charged  him  with  yielding  to  pique, 
and  with  being  supine  and  indifferent  to  the  welfare  of  the 
State  because  he  could  not  conduct  its  affairs  according  to  his 
own  wishes.-^     But  is  it  not  pertinent  to  ask  what  other 


»5See  letters  of  Archibald  Maclaine  to  George  Hooper.— State  Rec,  XVI,  957,  963. 


278  THE   NOKTH    CAKOLINA   BOOKLET. 

course  be  could  have  pursued  ?  He  was  not  an  ordinary  poli- 
tician. He  had  no  inordinate  itching  for  public  office.  He 
was,  indeed,  ambitious  to  serve  his  country,  but  his  country 
had  pointedly  and  emphatically  repudiated  his  leadership. 
Was  it  not,  then,  the  part  of  wisdom  to  bow  to  the  decree  ? 
Did  not  patriotism  require  him  to  refrain  from  futile  opposi- 
tion ?  The  event  clearly  demonstrated  that  his  course  was 
both  wise  and  patriotic,  for  the  people  soon  came  to  their 
sober  second  thought  and  the  reaction  in  Johnston's  favor 
set  in  earlier  than  he  could  possibly  have  anticipated.  They 
sent  him  to  the  State  Senate,  the  General  Assembly  elected 
him  treasurer,  the  Governor  appointed  him  to  the  bench,  the 
General  Assembly  chose  him  a  delegate  to  the  Continental 
Congress,  and  the  Continental  Congress  elected  him  its  pre- 
siding officer.'*^  The  reaction  finally  culminated  in  his  elec- 
tion as  Governor  in  1787,  and  his  relection  in  1788  and  again 
in  1789.  Among  the  many  interesting  problems  of  his  ad- 
ministration were  the  settlement  of  Indian  affairs,  the  ad- 
justment of  the  war  debt,  the  treatment  of  the  Loyalists,  the 
cession  of  the  western  territory  to  the  Federal  Government, 
and  the  '^' State  of  Franklin"  ;  but  today  time  does  not  permit 
that  we  consider  his  policy  toward  them.  The  chief  issue  of 
his  administration  was  the  ratification  of  the  Federal  Consti- 
tution to  the  consideration  of  which  we  must  devote  a  few 
moments. 

The  Convention  to  consider  the  new  Constitution  met  at 
Hillsboro,  July  21,  1788.  ''Conservatives"  and  "Radicals," 
now  rapidly  crystallizing  into  political  parties  as  Federalists 
and  Anti-Federalists,  arrayed  themselves  for  the  contest 
under  their  former  leaders,  Samuel  Johnston  and  Willie 
Jones.  The  Anti-Federalists  controlled  the  Convention  by  a 
large  majority,  nevertheless  out  of  respect  for  his  office  they 
unanimously  elected  Governor  Johnston  president.     All  the 


"He  declined  to  serve. 


SAMUEL  JOHA^STON.  279 

debates,  however,  were  held  in  committee  of  the  whole,  and 
this  plan,  bj  calling  Governor  Johnston  ont  of  the  chair, 
placed  him  in  the  arena  in  the  very  midst  of  the  contest. 
Thongh  he  was  the  accepted  leader  of  the  Federalists,  the 
burden  of  the  debate  fell  upon  the  younger  men,  among  whom 
James  Iredell  stood  preeminent.  Contesting  preeminence 
with  Iredell,  but  never  endangering  his  position,  were  Wil- 
liam R.  Davie,  Archibald  Maclaine,  and  Richard  Dobbs 
Spaight.  Governor  Johnston  but  rarely  indulged  his  gTeat 
talent  for  debate,  but  when  he  did  enter  the  lists  he  mani- 
fested such  a  candor  and  courtesy  toward  his  opponents  that 
he  won  their  respect  and  confidence,  and  he  spoke  with  such 
a  '^relentlessness  in  reasoning"  that  but  few  cared  to  engage 
him  in  discussion.  Johnston  could  not  have  been  anything 
else  than  a  Federalist.  Since  the  sigTiing  of  the  treaty  of 
peace  with  England  the  country  had  been  drifting  toward 
disunion  and  anarchy  with  a  rapidity  that  alarmed  conserva- 
tive and  thoughtful  men.  The  issue  presented  in  1787  and 
1788,  therefore,  was  not  the  preservation  of  liberty  but  the 
prevention  of  anarchy,  and  on  this  issue  there  could  be  but 
one  decision  for  Samuel  Johnston.  The  day  for  the  specu- 
lative theories  and  well-turned  epigrams  of  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  had  passed ;  the  time  for  the  practical  pro- 
visions of  the  Federal  Constitution  had  come.  Consequently 
the  debates  at  Hillsboro  dealt  less  with  theories  of  govern- 
ment than  with  the  practical  operations  of  the  particular  plan 
under  consideration. 

In  this  plan  Willie  Jones  and  his  followers  saw  all  sorts 
of  political  hobgoblins,  and  professed  to  discover  therein  a 
purpose  to  destroy  the  autonomy  of  the  States  and  to  estab- 
lish a  consolidated  nation.  They  attacked  the  impeachment 
clause  on  the  ground  that  it  placed  not  only  Federal  Senators 
and  Representatives,  but  also  State  officials  and  members  of 
the  State  Legislatures  completely  at  the  mercy  of  the  ITational 

6 


280  THE  NOKTH  CAEOLINA  BOOKLET. 

Congress.  Johnston  very  effectively  disposed  of  this  ridicu- 
lous contention  by  jjointing  out  that  "only  officers  of  the 
United  States  were  impeachable,"  and  contended  that  Sen- 
ators and  Representatives  were  not  Federal  officers  but  offi- 
cers of  the  States.     Continuing  he  said : 

"I  never  knew  any  instance  of  a  man  being  impeached  for  a  legis- 
lative act;  nay,  I  never  heard  it  suggested  before.  A  representative 
is  answerable  to  no  power  but  his  constituents.  He  is  accountable 
to  no  being  under  heaven  but  the  people  who  appoint  him.  *  *  *  Re- 
moval from  office  is  the  punishment,  to  which  is  added  future  dis- 
qualification. How  can  a  man  be  removed  from  office  who  has  no 
oflBce?  An  officer  of  this  State  is  not  liable  to  the  United  States. 
Congress  cannot  disqualify  an  officer  of  this  State.  No  body  can 
disqualify  but  the  body  which  creates.  *  *  *  j  should  laugh  at 
any  judgment  they  should  give  against  any  officer  of  our  own."  2t 

But,  said  the  opponents  of  the  Constitution,  ''Congress  is 
given  power  to  control  the  time,  place,  and  manner  of  electing 
senators  and  representatives.  This  clause  does  away  with 
the  right  of  the  people  to  choose  representatives  every  year" ; 
under  it  Congress  may  pass  an  act  "to  continue  the  members 
for  twenty  years,  or  even  for  their  natural  lives" ;  and  it 
plainly  points  "forward  to  the  time  when  there  will  be  no 
state  legislatures,  to  the  consolidation  of  all  the  states."  To 
these  arguments  Johnston  replied  : 

"I  conceive  that  Congress  can  have  no  other  power  than  the 
States  had.  *  *  *  The  powers  of  Congress  are  all  circumscribed, 
defined,  and  clearly  laid  down.  So  far  they  may  go,  but  no  farther. 
*  *  *  They  are  bound  to  act  by  the  Constitution.  They  dare 
not  recede  from  it." 

All  these  arguments  sound  very  learned  and  very  eloquent, 
retorted  the  opponents  of  the  Constitution,  but  the  proposed 
Constitution  does  not  contain  a  bill  of  rights  to  "keep  the 
States  from  being  swallowed  up  by  a  consolidated  govern- 


^^Elliott's  Debates.     The  following  extracts  from  Johnston's  speeches  on  the  Consti 
tution  are  all  from  the  same  source. 


SAMUEL  JOHNSTON.  281 

ment."  But  Governor  Johnston,  in  an  exceedingly  clear-cut 
argument,  pointed  out  not  only  the  absurdity  but  even  the 
danger  of  including  a  bill  of  rights  in  the  Constitution. 
Said  he: 

"It  appears  to  me,  sir,  that  it  would  have  been  the  highest  ab- 
surdity to  undertake  to  define  what  rights  the  people  of  the  United 
States  are  entitled  to;  for  that  would  be  as  much  as  to  say  they  are 
entitled  to  nothing  else.  A  bill  of  rights  may  be  necessary  in  a 
monarchial  government  whose  powers  are  undefined.  Were  we  in 
the  situation  of  a  monarchial  country?  No,  sir.  Every  right  could 
not  be  enumerated,  and  the  omitted  rights  would  be  sacrificed  if 
security  arose  from  an  enumeration.  The  Congress  cannot  assume 
any  other  powers  than  those  expressly  given  them  without  a  palpable 
violation  of  the  Constitution.  *  *  *  in  a  monarchy  all  power  may 
be  supposed  to  be  vested  in  the  monarch,  except  what  may  be  re- 
served by  a  bill  of  rights.  In  England,  in  every  instance  where  the 
rights  of  the  people  are  not  declared,  the  prerogative  of  the  king 
is  supposed  to  extend.  But  in  this  country  we  say  that  what  rights 
we  do  not  give  away  remain  with  us." 

Though  Johnston  desired  to  throw  all  necessary  safeguards 
around  the  rights  of  the  people,  he  did  not  desire  a  Union 
that  would  be  a  mere  rope  of  sand.  The  Union  must  have 
authority  to  enforce  its  decrees  and  maintain  its  integTity, 
and  if  he  foresaw  the  rise  of  the  doctrines  of  nullification  and 
secession,  he  foresaw  them  only  to  expose  what  he  thought 
was  their  fallacy. 

"The  Constitution  [he  declared]  must  be  the  supreme  law  of  the 
land,  otherwise  it  will  be  in  the  power  of  any  State  to  counteract  the 
other  States,  and  withdraw  itself  from  the  Union.  The  laws  made 
in  pursuance  thereof  by  Congress,  ought  to  be  the  supreme  law  of 
the  land,  otherwise  any  one  state  might  repeal  the  laws  of  the 
Union  at  large.  *  *  *  Every  treaty  should  be  the  supreme  law 
of  the  land;  without  this,  any  one  state  might  involve  the  whole 
union  in  war." 

Acts  of  Congress,  however,  must  be  in  "pursuance"  of  the 
powers  granted  by  the  Constitution,  for  Johnston  'had  no 
sympathy  with  the  notion  that  the  courts  must  enforce  acts 


282  THE   NOKTH    CAROLINA   BOOKLET. 

of  legislative  bodies  regardless  of  their  constitutionality.    As 

lie  said : 

"When  Congress  makes  a  law  in  virtue  of  their  [sic]  constitu- 
tional authority,  it  will  be  actual  law.  *  *  *  Every  law  consistent 
with  the  Constitution  will  have  been  made  in  pursuance  of  the 
powers  granted  by  it.  Every  usurpation,  or  law  repugnant  to  it, 
cannot  have  been  made  in  pursuance  of  its  powers.  The  latter  will 
be  nugatory  and  void." 

Johnston,  of  course,  did  not  think  the  Constitution  perfect 
and  he  was  as  anxious  as  Willie  Jones  to  have  certain  amend- 
ments made  to  it.  But  he  took  the  position  that  ISTorth  Caro- 
lina, then  the  fourth  of  the  thirteen  States  in  population, 
would  have  more  weight  in  securing  amendments  in  the  Union 
than  out  of  it.  Indeed,  he  reasoned,  as  long  as  the  State  re- 
mains out  of  the  Union  there  is  no  constitutional  way  in 
which  she  can  propose  amendments.  Accordingly,  as  the 
leader  of  the  Federalists,  on  July  30,  he  offered  a  resolution: 

"That  though  certain  amendments  to  the  said  Constitution  may 
be  wished  for,  yet  that  those  amendments  should  be  proposed  sub- 
sequent to  the  ratification  on  the  part  of  this  State,  and  not  previous 
to  it." 

Willie  Jones  promptly  rallied  his  followers  against  this 
action  and  defeated  Johnston's  resolution  by  a  vote  of  184  to 
84.  Then  after  proposing  a  series  of  amendments,  including 
a  bill  of  rights,  the  Convention,  by  the  same  vote  of  184  to 
84,  refused  to  ratify  the  Constitution  and,  August  2,  ad- 
journed sine  die. 

Thus  a  second  time,  in  a  second  great  political  crisis, 
Willie  Jones  triumphed  over  his  rival ;  but  again,  as  in 
1776,  his  triumph  was  short-lived.  With  wise  forethought 
Iredell  and  Davie  had  caused  the  debates  of  the  Conven- 
tion to  be  reported  and  published,  and  through  them  ap- 
pealed from  the  Convention  to  the  people.  How  far  these 
debates  influenced  public  opinion  it  is  of  course  impossible  to 
say,  but  certain  it  is  that  no  intelligent,  impartial  reader  can 


SAMUEL  JOHNSTON.  283 

rise  from  their  perusal  without  beiug  convinced  that  the 
Federalists  had  much  the  better  of  the  argument.  Public 
opinion  so  far  shifted  toward  the  Federalists'  position  that 
when  the  second  Convention  met  at  Fajetteville,  November 
16,  1789,  the  Federalists  had  a  larger  majority  than  their 
opponents  had  had  the  year  before.  Again  Samuel  Johnston 
was  unanimously  elected  president.  The  debates  of  this  Con- 
vention were  not  reported ;  indeed,  the  debates  of  the  former 
Convention  had  rendered  further  discussion  unnecessary.  The 
people  of  the  State  had  read  those  debates  and  had  recorded 
their  decision  by  sending  to  the  Convention  a  Federalist  ma- 
jority of  more  than  one  hundred.  Accordingly  after  a  brief 
session  of  only  six  days  the  Convention,  !N"ovember  21,  1789, 
by  a  vote  of  195  to  77,  ratified  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  and  North  Carolina  reentered  the  Federal  Union.  It 
has  been  so  frequently  affirmed  that  in  North  Carolina  it  is 
today  very  generally  believed  that  this  action  of  the  Conven- 
tion of  1789  was  due  to  the  adoption  of  the  first  ten  amend- 
ments to  the  Federal  Constitution;  and,  further,  that  the 
action  of  Willie  Jones  and  his  party  in  rejecting  the  Consti- 
tution in  1788  forced  Congress  to  submit  these  amendments. 
In  the  interest  of  historical  accuracy  let  us  for  just  a  mo- 
ment examine  this  statement.  A  few  dates  quickly  dispose 
of  the  matter.  The  North  Carolina  Convention  rejected  the 
Constitution  August  2,  1788.  On  November  17,  of  the  same 
year,  the  General  Assembly  passed  the  resolution  calling  a 
second  Convention.  It  was  not  until  September  25,  1789, 
nearly  a  year  later,  that  Congress  submitted  the  first  ten 
amendments  to  the  several  States.  When  the  North  Carolina 
Convention  met  at  Fayetteville,  November  16,  1789,  not  a 
single  State  had  acted  on  these  amendments,  and  more  than  a 
year  passed  after  North  Carolina  had  ratified  the  Constitu- 
tion before  the  required  number  of  States  had  accepted  the 
amendments.     Moreover,  when  the  Convention  met  at  Fay- 


284  THE   NOKTH    CAKOLINA   BOOKLET. 

etteville,  in  1^89,  the  opponents  of  the  Constitution  still 
urged  its  rejection  because  the  amendments  which  had  been 
proposed  did  not  meet  the  objections  of  the  former  Conven- 
tion in  '^^some  of  the  great  and  most  exceptional  parts"  of  the 
Constitution.  The  only  result  of  the  action  of  Jones  and  his 
party  in  1788,  therefore,  was  to  keep  ^STorth  Carolina  out  of 
the  Union  for  a  year  and  thus  to  prevent  the  State's  casting 
her  vote  for  George  Washington  as  the  first  President  of  the 
United  States. 

The  privilege  of  transmitting  the  resolution  of  ratification 
to  the  President  of  the  United  States  and  of  receiving  from 
him  an  acknowledgment  of  his  sincere  gratification  at  this 
important  event,  fell  to  the  lot  of  Samuel  Johnston.  It  was 
fitting,  too,  that  he  who,  for  more  than  twenty  years,  had 
stood  among  the  statesmen  of  ISTorth  Carolina  as  the  very 
personification  of  the  spirit  of  union  and  nationalism  should 
be  the  first  to  represent  the  State  in  the  Federal  Senate.  Of 
his  services  there  I  can  not  speak  today  more  than  to  say  that 
he  represented  the  interests  of  ISTorth  Carolina  with  the  same 
fidelity  to  convictions  and  courage  in  the  discharge  of  his 
duties  which  had  always  characterized  his  course  in  public 
life ;  and  that  on  the  great  national  issues  of  the  day  he  lifted 
himself  far  above  the  narrow  provincialism  which  character- 
ized the  politics  of  Korth  Carolina  at  that  time  and  stood 
forth  in  the  Federal  Senate  a  truly  national  statesman.  It 
had  been  well  for  K^orth  Carolina  and  her  future  position  in 
the  Union  had  she  adhered  to  the  leadership  of  Johnston, 
Davie,  Iredell  and  the  men  who  stood  with  them, — men  too 
wise  to  trifle  with  their  principles,  too  sincere  to  conceal  their 
convictions,  and  too  brave  and  high-minded  to  mislead  their 
people  even  for  so  great  a  reward  as  popular  favor.  But  in 
the  loud  and  somewhat  blatant  politics  of  that  day  these  men 
could  play  no  part,  and  one  by  one  they  were  gradually  forced 
from  public  life  to  make  way  for  other  leaders  who  possessed 


SAMUEL  JOHNSTON.  285 

neither  their  wisdom,  their  sincerity,  nor  their  courage.  In 
1793,  Samuel  Johnston  retired  from  the  Senate,  and,  except 
for  a  brief  term  on  the  bench,  spent  the  remaining  twenty- 
three  years  of  his  life  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  his  happy 
family  circle. 

Thus,  Mr.  Grand  Master,  I  have  endeavored  to  point  out, 
as  briefly  as  possible,  why  it  is  that  we  deem  Samuel  John- 
ston worthy  of  a  niche  under  the  stately  dome  of  our  Capitol 
in  company  with  Graham,  and  Ransom,  and  Morehead.  On 
the  mere  score  of  office-holding  he  surpassed  any  of  them; 
indeed,  his  career  in  this  respect  has  not  been  surpassed  by 
any  other  in  our  history.  But  in  the  fierce  light  of  History 
what  a  paltry  thing  is  the  mere  holding  of  public  office;  and 
how  quickly  posterity  forgets  those  who  present  no  other 
claim  to  fame.  Posterity  remembers  and  honors  him  only 
who  to  other  claims  adds  those  of  high  character,  lofty  ideals, 
and  unselfish  service ;  whose  only  aims  in  public  life  are  the 
maintenance  of  law,  the  establishment  of  justice,  and  the 
preservation  of  liberty ;  who  pursues  these  ends  with  a  fixity 
of  purpose  which  never  weakens,  a  tenacity  which  never 
slackens,  and  a  determination  which  never  wavers.  Measur- 
ing Samuel  Johnston  by  this  standard,  I  am  prepared  to  say 
that  among  the  statesmen  of  jSTorth  Carolina  he  stands  with- 
out a  superior.  Indeed,  taking  him  all  in  all,  it  seems  to  me 
that  he  approaches  nearer  than  any  man  in  our  history  to 
Tennyson's  fine  ideal  of  the  "Patriot  Statesman." 

O  Patriot  Statesman,  be  thou  wise  to  know 
The  limits  of  resistance,  and  the  bounds 
Determining  concession;  still  be  bold 
Not  only  to  slight  praise  but  suffer  scorn; 
And  be  thy  heart  a  fortress  to  maintain 
The  day  against  the  moment,  and  the  year 
Against  the  day;   thy  voice,  a  music  heard 
Thro'  all  the  yells  and  counter-yells  of  feud 
And  faction,  and  thy  will,  a  power  to  make 
This  ever-changing  world  of  circumstance. 
In  changing,  chime  to  never-changing  Law. 


286  THE   NORTH    CAROLINA   BOOKLET. 


BIOGRAPHICAL,  GENEALOGICAL  AND 
HISTORICAL  MEMORANDA 


COMPILED  AND  EDITED  BY  MRS.  E.  E.  MOFFITT. 


JUDGE  HENRY  GROVES  CONNOR 

The  article  in  this  number  of  The  Booklet  on  Judge 
James  Iredell  is  the  third  contribution  which  Judge  Connor 
has  made  to  its  pages.  To  Vol.  IV,  ISTo.  4,  he  contributed 
"The  Conventions  of  1778-1779  and  the  Federal  Constitu- 
tion." To  Vol.  VIII,  1^0.  2,  he  contributed  "The  Conven- 
tion of  1835."  A  biographical  sketch  of  Judge  Connor  ap- 
peared in  Vol.  VIII,  1^0.  2  (October,  1908).  In  1909 
Judge  Connor  resigned  from  the  Supreme  Court  bench  of 
I^orth  Carolina,  to  accept  an  appointment  made  by  Presi- 
dent Taft  as  Judge  of  the  United  States  Court,  from  the 
Eastern  District  of  jSTorth  Carolina. 


CHARLES  LEE  SMITH 

A  biographical  sketch  of  Charles  Lee  Smith,  Ph.D.,  LL.D., 
author  of  the  article  on  David  Caldwell — Teacher,  Preacher, 
Patriot,  in  this  number  of  The  Booklet^  was  published  in 
Volume  VIII,  ^o.  4  (April,  1909).  Since  that  time  he  has 
been  elected  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Uni^ 
versity  of  North  Carolina,  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Man- 
agers of  the  ISTorth  Carolina  Society  of  the  Sons  of  the  Revo- 
lution, and  a  member  of  the  Advisory  Board  of  The  North! 
Carolina  Booklet.  A  recent  volume  of  the  National  Cy- 
clopcedia  of  American  Biography  contains  an  interesting  ac- 
count of  this  public-spirited  citizen  of  Raleigh. 


R.  D.  W.  CONNOR 

Mr.  Connor's  address  on  Governor  Samuel  Johnston,  ap- 
pearing in  this  number  of  The  Booklet^  is  the  seventh 


Some  North  Carolina  Booklets  for  Sale 

Address,  EDITOR,  Raleigh,  N.  C. 

Vol.  I 

"Greene's  Retreat,"  Dr.  Daniel  Harvey  Hill. 

Vol.  II 

"Our  Own  Pirates,"  Capt.  S.  A.  Ashe. 

"Indian  Massacre  and.  Tuscarora  War,"  Judge  Walter  Clark. 

"Moravian  Settlement  in  North  Carolina,"  Rev.  J.  E.  Clewell. 

"Whigs  and  Tories,"  Prof.  W.  C.  Allen. 

"The  Revolutionary  Congress,"  Mr.  T.  M.  Pittman. 

"Raleigh  and  the  Old  Town  of  Bloomsbury,"  Dr.  K.  P.  Battle. 

"Historic   Homes — Bath,   Buncomb  Hall,   Hayes,"   Rodman,   Blount, 

Dillard. 
"County  of  Clarendon,"  Prof.  John  S.  Bassett. 
"Signal  and  Secret  Service,"  Dr.  Charles  E.  Taylor. 
"Last  Days  of  the  War,"  Dr.  Henry  T.  Bahnson. 

Vol.  IN 

"Volunteer  State  Tennessee  as  a  Seceder,"  Miss  Susie  Gentry, 
"Colony  of  Transylvania,"  Judge  Walter  Clark. 

"Social  Conditions  in  Colonial  North  Carolina,"  Col.   Alexander  Q. 

Holladay,  LL.D. 
"Battle  of  Moore's  Creek  Bridge,  1776,"  Prof.  M.  C.  S.  Noble. 
"North  Carolina  and  Georgia  Boundary,"  Mr.  Daniel  Goodloe. 

Vol.  IV 

"Battle  Ramsaur's  Mill,  1780,"  Major  Wm.  A.  Graham. 
"Quaker  Meadows,"  Judge  A.  C.  Avery. 
"Convention  of  1788,"  Judge  Henry  Groves  Connor. 
"North  Carolina  Signers  of  Declaration  of  Independence,  John  Penn 
and  Joseph  Hewes,"  by  T.  M.  Pittman  and  Dr.  E.  Walter  Sikes. 

"North  Carolina  Troops  in  South  Carolina,"  Judge  Walter  Clark. 
"Rutherford's  Expedition  Against  the  Indians,"  Capt.  S.  A.  Ashe. 
"Changes  in  Carolina  Coast  Since  1585,"  Prof.  Collier  Cobb. 
"Highland  Scotch  Settlement  in  N.  C,"  Judge  James  C.  MacRae. 
"The  Scotch-Irish  Settlement,"  Rev.  A.  J.  McKelway. 
"Battle  of  Guilford  Court-house  and  German  Palatines  in  North  Car- 
olina," Major  J.  M.  Morehead,  Judge  O.  H.  Allen. 


Vol.  v.— (QuarteHy.) 
No.  2. 

"History  of  the  Capitol,"  Colonel  Charles  Earl  Johnson. 

"Some  Notes  on  Colonial  North  Carolina,  1700-1750,"  Colonel  J. 
Bryan  Grimes. 

"North  Carolina's  Poets,"  Rev.  Hight  C.  Moore. 

No.  3. 

"Cornelius  Harnett,"  Mr.  R.  D.  W.  Connor. 

"Celebration  of  the  Anniversary  of  May  20,  1775,"  Major  W.  A.  Gra- 
ham. 

"Edward  Moseley,"  by  Dr.  D.  H.  Hill. 

No.  4. 

"Governor  Thomas  Pollok,"  Mrs.  John  W.  Hinsdale. 
"Battle  of  Cowan's  Ford,"  Major  W.  A.  Graham. 
"First  Settlers  in  North  Carolina  Not  Religious  Refugees,"  Rt.  Rev. 
Joseph  Blount  Cheshire,  D.D. 

Vol.  VI  — (Quarterly.) 
October,  No.  2. 

"The  Borough  Towns  of  North  Carolina,"  Mr.  Francis  Nash. 

"Governor  Thomas  Burke,"  J.  G.  de  Roulhac  Hamilton,  Ph.D. 

"Colonial  and  Revolutionary  Relics  in  the  Hall  of  History,"  Colonel 
Fred.  A.  Olds. 

"The  North  Carolina  Society  Daughters  of  the  Revolution  and  its 
Objects." 

Biographical  Sketches:  Dr.  Richard  Dillard,  Mr.  Francis  Nash,  Dr. 
J.  G.  de  R.  Hamilton  and  Col.  Fred  A.  Olds,  by  Mrs.  E.  B. 
Moffitt. 

January,  No.  3. 

"State  Library  Building  and  Department  of  Archives  and  Records," 
Mr.  R.  D.  W.  Connor. 

"The  Battle  of  Rockfish  Creek,  1781,"  Mr.  James  Owen  Carr. 

"Governor  Jesse  Franklin,"  Prof.  J.  T.  Alderman. 

"North  Carolina's  Historical  Exhibit  at  Jamestown,"  Mrs.  Lindsay 
Patterson,  Mary  Hilliard  Hinton. 

Biographical    Sketches:     Mrs.    S.   B.   Kenneday,   R.   D.   W.   Connor, 

James   Owen   Carr,  and  Prof.   J.   T.   Alderman,   by  Mrs.   E.   E. 

Moffitt. 

April,  No.  4. 
"The  White  Pictures,"  Mr.  W.  J.  Peele. 
"North    Carolina's    Attitude   Toward    the    Revolution,"    Mr.   Robert 

Strong. 
"Some  Overlooked  North  Carolina  History,"  J.  T.  Alderman. 
Biographical  Sketches:    Richard  Benbury  Creecy,  the  D.  R.  Society 

and  Its  Objects,  Mrs.  E.  E.  Moffitt. 


Vol,  VII.— (Quarterly.) 
July,   No.  1. 

"North  Carolina  in  the  French  and  Indian  War,"  Col.  A.  M.  Waddell. 
"Locke's  Fundamental  Constitutions,"  Mr.  Junius  Davis. 
"Industrial  Life  in  Colonial  Carolina,"  Mr.  Thomas  M.  Pittman. 

Address:  "Our  Dearest  Neighbor — the  Old  North  State,"  Hon,  James 

Alston  Cabell. 
Biographical  Sketches:    Col.  A.  M.  Waddell,  Junius  Davis,  Thomas 

M.  Pittman,  by  Mrs.  E.  E.  Moffitt;   Hon.  Jas.  Alston  Cabell,  by 

Mary  Hilliard  Hinton. 

Abstracts  of  Wills.    Mrs.  Helen  DeB.  Wills. 

October,   No.  2. 

"Ode  to  North  Carolina,"  Pattie  Williams  Gee. 

"The  Finances  of  the  North  Carolina  Colonists,"   Dr.  Charles  Lee 
Raper. 

"Joseph  Gales,  Editor,"  Mr.  Willis  G.  Briggs. 
"Our  First  Constitution,  1776,"  Dr.  E.  W.  Sikes. 

"North    Carolina's    Historical    Exhibit    at    Jamestown    Exposition," 

Mary  Hilliard  Hinton. 
Biographical  Sketches:    Dr.  Kemp  P.  Battle,  Dr.  Charles  Lee  Raper, 

Willis   Grandy    Briggs,    Pattie   Williams    Gee.      By   Mrs.    E.    E. 

Moffitt. 

January,  No.  3. 
"General  Robert  Howe,"  Hon.  John  D.  Bellamy. 

"Early  Relations  of  North  Carolina  and  the  West,"  Dr.  William  K. 
Boyd. 

"Incidents   of   the   Early   and   Permanent   Settlement   of   the   Cape 
Fear,"  Mr.  W.  B.  McKoy. 

Biographical   Sketches:     John   Dillard   Bellamy,   William   K.   Boyd, 
William  B.  McKoy.     By  Mrs.  E.  E.  Moffitt. 

April,   No.  4. 

"St.  James's  Churchyard"  (Poem),  Mrs.  L.  C.  Markham. 

"The  Expedition  Against  the  Row  Galley  General  Arnold — A  Side 

Light  on  Colonial  Edenton,"  Rev.  Robt.  B.  Drane,  D.D. 
"The  Quakers  of  Perquimans,"  Julia  S.  White. 

"Fayetteville  Independent  Light  Infantry,"  Judge  James  C.  MacRae. 
Biographical    Sketches:     Mrs.   L.   C.    Markham,    Rev.   R.    B.    Drane, 

Julia  S.  White,  Judge  James  C.  MacRae.    By  Mrs.  E.  E.  Moffitt. 

Vol.  VIM.— (Quarterly.) 

July,  No.  1. 

"John  Harvey,"  Mr.  R.  D.  W.  Connor. 

"Military   Organizations   of   North   Carolina   During  the   American 

Revolution,"  Clyde  L.  King,  A.M. 
"A  Sermon  by  Rev.  George   Micklejohn,"  edited  by  Mr.  R.   D.  W. 

Connor. 

4 


Genealogical  Sketches:  Abstracts  of  Wills;  Scolley,  Sprott  and  Hun- 
ter, Mrs.  Helen  de  B.  Wills. 

Biographical  and  Genealogical  Sketches:  R.  D.  W.  Connor,  Clyde  L. 
King,  Marshall  Delancey  Haywood,  by  Mrs.  E.  E.  Moffitt. 

"Abstracts  of  Wills,"  Mrs.  Helen  DeB.  Wills. 

October,    No.  2. 

"Convention  of  1835,"  Associate  Justice  Henry  G.  Connor. 

"The  Life  and  Services  of  Brigadier-General  Jethro  Sumner,"  Kemp 
P.  Battle,  LL.D. 

"The  Significance  of  the  Mecklenburg  Declaration  of  Independence," 

Prof.  Bruce  Craven. 
Biographical  and  Genealogical  Sketches:    Judge  Henry  G.  Connor, 

Kemp  P.  Battle,  LL.D.,  Prof.  Bruce  Craven,  by  Mrs.  E.  E.  Moffitt. 

January,  No.  3. 

"The  Mecklenburg  Declaration  of  Independence,"  Mr.  A.  S.  Salley,  Jr. 
"The  Mecklenburg  Declaration  of  Independence,"  Prof.  Bruce  Craven. 
"Mr.  Salley's  Reply." 
"Mr.  Craven's  Rejoinder." 

Biographical  and  Genealogical  Sketches:  Prof.  Bruce  Craven,  Mr. 
Alexander  S.  Salley,  Jr.,  by  Mrs.  E.  E.  Moffitt. 

"Patriotic  Objects." 

"Information  Concerning  the  Patriotic  Society  D.  R." 

April,  No.  4. 

"Unveiling  Ceremonies." 

"Carolina,"  by  Bettie  Freshwater  Pool.  . 

"The  Battle  of  Kings  Mountain,"  by  Dr.  William  K.  Boyd. 

"Schools  and  Education  in  Colonial  Times,"  by  Dr.  Charles  Lee 
Smith. 

"North    Carolina    Heroines    of    the    Revolution,"    by    Richard    Dil- 

lard  M.D. 
Biographical   and   Genealogical    Sketches:    Bettie   Freshwater   Pool, 

William  K.  Boyd,  Charles  Lee  Smith,  Richard  Dillard,  by  Mrs. 

E.  E.  Moffitt. 

Vol.  IX.— (Quarterly.) 

July,   No.  1. 

"Indians,  Slaves  and  Tories:  Our  18th  Century  Legislation  Regard- 
ing Them,"  Clarence  H.  Poe. 

"Thomas  Person,"  Dr.  Stephen  B.  Weeks. 

"Sketch  of  Flora  McDonald,"  Mrs.  S.  G.  Ayr. 

Biographical  and  Genealogical  Memoranda:  Clarence  H.  Poe,  Dr. 
Stephen  B.  Weeks,  Mrs.  S.  G.  Ayr,  by  Mrs.  E.  E.  Moffitt. 

Abstraacts  of  Wills:  Shrouck,  Stevens,  Sanderson,  Shirley,  Steven- 
son, Sharee,  Shearer,  Shine,  Smithson,  Sitgreaves,  by  Mrs.  Helen 
DeB.  Wills. 

5 


October,  No.  2. 

"General  Joseph  Graham,"  Mrs.  Walter  Clark. 

"State  Rights  in  North  Carolina  Through  Half  a  Century,"  Dr.  H.  M. 
Wagstaff. 

"The  Nag's  Head  Portrait  of  Theodosia  Burr,"  Bettie  Freshwater 

Pool. 
Biographical  and  Genealogical  Memoranda:    Mrs.  "Walter  Clark,  H. 

M.  Wagstaff,  by  Mrs.  E.  E.  Moffitt. 
Abstracts  of  Wills:     Arnold,  Ashell,  Avelin,  Adams,  Battle,  Burns, 

Boge,  Bennett,  by  Mrs.  Helen  DeB.  Wills. 

January,  No.  3. 

"History  of  Lincoln  County,"  Mr.  Alfred  Nixon. 
"Our  State  Motto  and  Its  Origin,"  Chief  Justice  Walter  Clark. 
"Work  Done  by  the  D.  R.  in  Pasquotank  County,"  C.  F.  S.  A. 
Biographical  and  Genealogical   Memoranda:     Alfred  Nixon,  Walter 

Clark,  by  Mrs.  E.  E.  Moffitt. 
Abstracts   of  Wills:     Clark,  Evans,  Fendall,  Fort,  Gorbe,   Gambell, 

Grainger,  Hill,  White,  by  Mrs.  Helen  DeB.  Wills. 

Aprif,  No.  4. 

"Der  North  Carolina  Land  und  Colonie  Etablissement,"  Miss  Ade- 
laide L.  Fries. 

"George  Durant,"  Capt.  S.  A.  Ashe. 

"Hatorask,"  Mr.  Jaques  Busbee. 

"The  Truth  About  Jackson's  Birthplace,"  Prof.  Bruce  Craven. 

Biographical  and  Genealogical  Memoranda:  Miss  Fries,  Captain 
Ashe,  Professor  Craven,  by  Mrs.  E.  E.  Moffitt. 

VoL  X.— (Quarterly.) 

July,  No.  1. 

"The  Chase,"  James  Sprunt. 

"Art  as  a  Handmaiden  of  History,"  Jaques  Busbee. 

"Sketch  of  Colonel  Francis  Locke,"  George  McCorkle. 

"Unveiling    of    Tablet    at    Nixonton,    N.    C,"    Mrs.    Walker   Waller 

Joynes. 
"Address  Delivered  at  Unveiling  of  Tablet  at  Nixonton,  N.  C,"  by 

Former  Lieutenant-Governor  F.  D.  Winston. 
"A  Glimpse  of  Historic  Yorktown,"  Mrs.  Helen  DeB.  Wills. 
"Colonel  Polk's  Rebellion,"  Capt.  S.  A.  Ashe. 
"Was  George  Durant  Originally  a  Quaker?"  William  B.  Phelps. 

October,  No-  2. 

"The  History  of  Orange  County,  Part  I,"  Francis  Nash. 

6 


January,  No.  3. 

'The  Croatans,"  Hamilton  McMillan. 

'State  Aid  to  Transportation  iu  North  Carolina:    The  Pre-Railroad 
Era,"  J.  Allen  Morgan. 

"Joseph   Hewes   and  the   Declaration   of  Independence,"   R.  D.  W. 
Connor. 

April,  No  4. 

''An  Address  for  the  Baptism  of  Virginia  Dare,"  Rt.  Rev.  Joseph 
Blount  Cheshire,  D.D. 

'The  Early  History  of  Craven  County,"  S.  M.  Brinson. 
'Jacob  Marling,  an  Early  North  Carolina  Artist,"  Marshall  DeLancey 
Haywood. 

'The  Social  Condition  of  North  Carolina  in  the  Year  1783,"  Captain 
S.  A.  Ashe. 

'Rowan  County  Wills  and  Marriage  Bonds,"  Mrs.  M.  G.  McCubbins. 


Vols.  I,  II,  III,  IV,  25  cents  each  number. 

Vols.  V,  VI,  VII,  VIII,  IX,  X,  35  cents  each  number. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


VOLUME   XI. 

PAGE 

The  North  Carolina  Union  Men  of  1861 3-16 

By  Major  William  A.  Graham. 

Some   Early   Physicians   of  the   Albemarle 17-25 

By  Dr.  Richard  Dillard. 

Some   Ballads   of  North   Carolina 26-42 

By  Professor  John  A.  Lomax. 

A  Painting  of  the  Baptism  of  Virginia  Dare 43-44 

Tablet  Marking  the  Site  of  the  Old  Town  of  Bloomsbury  or 
Wake  Court  House 45-53 

Biographical  and  Genealogical  Memoranda 54-58 

Rowan  County  Wills  and  Marriage  Bonds 59-69 

By  Mrs.  M.  G.  McCubbins. 

Illustration:  Tablet  and  stone  marking  the  site  of 
Bloomsbury,  now  Raleigh,  N.  C,  erected  by  Blooms- 
bury  Chapter  D.  R. 

Roanoke   Island    73-81 

By  Chief  Justice  Walter  Clark. 

How  Interest  Can  be  Aroused  in  the  Study  of  the  History 

of   North   Carolina    82-98 

By  Chief  Justice  Walter  Clark. 

Kill   Devil   Hill    99-104 

By  Jaques  Busbee. 

Career  of  General  James   Hogun,   One   of  North   Carolina's 

Revolutionary    Officers 105-110 

By  Chief  Justice  Walter  Clark. 

A  Forgotten   Law 111-114 

By  Annie  Lane  Devereux. 
Rowan  County  Wills  and  Marriage  Bonds 117-130 

By  Mrs.  M.  G.  McCubbins. 

Revolutions    of    Respect    to    the    Memory    of    Mrs.    Helen 

DeBerni6re  Hooper  Wills 131 

Illustrations:      Walter  Clark,  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  North  Carolina. 
Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

Sir  Walter  Raleigh  and  His  Associates 135-157 

By  R.  D.  W.  Connor. 

Governor    Benjamin    Smith 158-168 

By  Dr.  Collier  Cobb. 

The  Story  of  Queen's  College  or  Liberty  Hall  in  the  Province 

of  North   Carolina 169-175 

By  Marshall  DeLancey  Haywood. 

7 


PAGE 

Biographical,  Genealogical  and  Historical  Memoranda 176-180 

By  Mrs.  E.  E.  Moffitt. 

Mrs.  Helen  DeBerniere  Wills 181 

In  Memoriam — Mrs.  Fannie  DeBerniere  Hooper  Whitaker..         186 

Marriage  Bonds  of  Rowan  County,  N.  C 187-190 

By  Mrs.  M.  G.  McCubbins. 

Illustrations:     Sir  Francis  Drake. 

Sir  Richard  Grenville. 
Governor  Benjamin  Smith. 

James  Iredell,  1751-1799 201 

By  H.  G.  Connor. 

David  Caldwell — Teacher,  Preacher,  Patriot 251 

By  Charles  Lee  Smith. 

Governor  Samuel  Johnston  of  North  Carolina 259 

By  R.  D.  W.  Connor. 

Biographical,  Genealogical,  and  Historical  Memoranda 286 

By  Mrs.  E.  E.  Moffitt. 


L^ 


V