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Colonial and State Records of North Carolina
Minutes of the North Carolina Governor's Council
North Carolina. Council
March 06, 1744 - March 09, 1744
Volume 04, Pages 682-700


At a Council held at Bath Town 6th March 1743 [1744]
Present His Excellency the Governor.
The Honoble Eleazer Allen Esqr Member of His Majesties Council
The Honoble Cullen Pollock Esqr Member of His Majesties Council
The Honoble Mat. Rowan Esqr Member of His Majesties Council
and The Honoble Roger Moore Esqr Member of His Majesties Council
The Honoble William Forbes Esqr Member of His Majesties Council

On hearing this Day the Article of Complaint Exhibited by His Majesties Attorney General against Isaac Buck Esqr for divers Misdemeanors by him Committed in the Execution of His Office as a Justice of the Peace for the County of Beaufort, And the Attorney General

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in Order to support the said Charge called several Evidences to prove the several Articles complained of who being severally sworn and Interrogated, and the said Buck heard in his defence—His Excellency was thereupon pleased to ask the Opinion of His Majestys Council thereon Who were unanimously of Opinion that the said Articles nor any of them against the said Isaac Buck are Proved, and that it appeared to them that the said Buck was unjustly complained of

Whereupon His Excellency the Govr Declared in Council that the Evidences produced and Sworn against the said Isaac Buck were not sufficient to prove the Articles of Complaint against him, And thereupon the said Complaint is Dismissed


At a Council held at Bath Towne 7th March 1743 [1744]
Present His Excellency the Governor
The Honoble Nathaniel Rice Esqr Member of His Majestys Council
The Honoble Roger Moore Esqr Member of His Majestys Council
The Honoble Eleazer Allen Esqr Member of His Majestys Council
The Honoble Cullen Pollock Esqr Member of His Majestys Council
The Honoble Mat Rowan Esqr Member of His Majestys Council
The Honoble William Forbes Esqr Member of His Majestys Council

This day was Read again the Petition of Julius Cæsar Parke and Mary Gale, and the Parties thereto called and heard by their Council, And on hearing the same His Excellency the Governor, with the advice of His Majesty's Council dissolved the Writ of Ne Exeat Provinciam, And on a full hearing of the other matters contained in the said Petition, The Petrs not making proof thereof, the said Petition is dismissed.


At a Council held at Bath Towne 8th March 1743 [1744]
Present His Excellency the Governor
The Honoble Nathaniel Rice Esqr Member of His Majestys Council
The Honoble Roger Moore Esqr Member of His Majestys Council
The Honoble Eleazer Allen Esqr Member of His Majestys Council
The Honoble Cullen Pollock Esqr Member of His Majestys Council
The Honoble Mat Rowan Esqr Member of His Majestys Council
The Honoble William Forbes Esqr Member of His Majestys Council

His Excellency the Governor by and with the Advice of His Majestys Council was pleased to Order a New Commission of the Peace to issue for New Hanover County constituting and appointing Nathaniel Rice, Robert Halton, Eleazer Allen, Mathew Rowan, Edward Moseley, Roger Moore, William Forbes, Edward Hyrne, James Innis, John Swann, William Farris, Robert Walker, Thomas Clark, James Hasle, William Muklerey, William McKoy, George Moore, John Daniel, Charles Harrison Esqrs Justices of the Peace for and within the said County.

His Excellency the Governor was Pleased also (with the Advice of His Majesty's Council) to Order a New Commission of the Peace to issue for Bladen County constituting and appointing Mathew Rowan, Griffith Jones, Daniel McNeil, James Lyon, William Bartram, Samuel Barker, Hector McAlester, Thomas Brown, Benjamin Fitz Randolph, Samuel Goodman, John Brooks and Ralph Miller Esqrs Justices of the Peace for and within the said County

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Read the following Petitions for Patents Vizt

William Chavers 400 Edgecombe, George Norris 640 Craven, John Carroway 200 Do, William Brice, 200 Do, John Cheeny 200 Do, John Smith 400 Do, Robert Henry 320 N. Hanover, James Henry 320 Do, Caleb Howell 200 Beaufort, Andrew Wallace 200 N. Hanover, John Simpson 480 Carteret, James Wright 200 Onslow, Ephriam Vernor 400 Bladen, Alexander Canaday 640 Bertie, James Atkins 100 Onslow, John Rackley 200 Bertie, Henry Morrice 200 N. Hanover, William Thomas 150 Do, John Keen 100 N. Hanover, Thomas Kennon 270 Do, John Lennon 640 Bladen, James Wantland 150 Onslow, Robert West 330 Bertie, Elias Stallings 600 Do, Joshua Worley, 150 Tyrrell, Ralph Mason 300 Edgecombe. Granted


At a Council held at Bath Towne 9th March 1743. [1744]
Present His Excellency the Governor
The Honoble Nathaniel Rice Esqr Member of His Majestys Council
The Honoble Cullen Pollock Esqr Member of His Majestys Council
The Honoble Eleazer Allen Esqr Member of His Majestys Council
and The Honoble Roger Moore Esqr Member of His Majestys Council
The Honoble William Forbes Esqr Member of His Majestys Council

Read the following Petitions for Patents Vizt

Edward Poor 200 Edgecombe, William Lithgow 640 N. Hanover. Granted.

Mathew Rowan Esqr now appeared at this Board and Exhibited his Answer to the Representation of Henry McCullock Esqr setting forth That before this Respondant answers the Particular Charges laid against him in the Representation of Mr Henry McCullock presented to your Excellency at the last Meeting of the Council, he begs leave to lay down his Majesties Order of Council Dated the 29th day of April 1736 which (being the Foundation of Mr McCullocks charge) shall also be the Foundation of his Defence, And this Respondant would have been much troubled at so great a Charge against him, was he not concious that he has not swerved from his Duty, as Surveyor General, and was he not well perswaded that Mr McCullock was induced by other motives than those set forth in his Representation, to bring such a charge against him, which this Respondant doubts not to make appear fully to your Excellency's satisfaction and his Conviction

By His Majesties Order, as set forth by Mr McCulloh, the Surveyor General of North Carolina or his Deputy is directed to Lay out and Admeasure Seventy two Thousand Acres of Land upon the North East Branch of Cape Fear River from the second high Bluff upwards towards the Point of Trent River on the East side, and on the West towards the Head of Black River, And further directs that the Lands shall be laid out within the Limits described in the said Order.

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Now the Charge against this Respondent is, that he has begun the Survey at a different Place from that mentioned in the Order, and at a great distance from it, and that he has not taken in the amount of four Thousand Acres of the Lands described in the said Order. This is the Charge, a very heavy one it is, if true.

In Answer to this, this Respondent begs that your Excellency will observe, that his Majestys Order refers to a Petition of Mr McCollohs, in which Petition the Lands are described to be scituated upon the North East Branch of Cape Fear River, from the second high Bluff upwards or thereabouts; Now Mr McCulloh artfully left out the word thereabouts, because he well knew, that the Survey would appear at first sight to be within the very words of the Order if that word appeared. And as to the second high Bluff he doth not know that any Particular Place at that Time was called by that name

And this Respondant conceives that he was not obliged by his Majestys Order to run the said Lands on both sides of the North East River, but so that he kept within the Limits described in the Petition, and strictly followed your Excellencys Directions, he did his Duty; And your Excellency (if you will be pleased to look over the Plan of the said Lands) will be convinced that the whole Survey is within the Limits described in the Complainants Petition: by which your Excellency may see how little Regard the Complainant has to Truth, when he has so soundly asserts, that this Respondant hath not taken in four Thousand Acres of the Land described in the said Order in the whole Survey.

But to convince your Excellency that Mr McCulloh had no Grounds for Complaining, this Respondant begs Leave to give his Reasons for surveying the Lands in the mannor he did

Before the Warrant for Surveying the Lands was delivered to this Respondant, Richard Evans, by your Excellency's Order had Surveyed about twenty two thousand Acres of Land on the West side of the North East River, and when the Warrant was delivered to this Respondant by your Excellency You at the same time desired him to go out upon the survey himself and directed him to run out Fifty Thousand Acres of Land, to compleat the Complement of Seventy two Thousand Acres, between the Lands Surveyed by Richard Evans, and Black River, and join the same to the Lands already Surveyed by Richard Evans, and extend the same to Black River, so as to take in a Parcel of Land at a place called Fort neck, and that this Respondant might not mistake the Place, William Lewis and William Gray were sent by your Excellency to shew this Respondant where to begin and when this Respondant

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went out to run the said Lands, he was told that at a Place called Soracte (which he now imagines is the Place called the second high Place in the Petition) there were ten Houses built there (by your Excellency's Orders) by John Pidcock, William Lewis and John Porter, so had good Reason to believe the Lands on that side were taken up by your Excellency, and upon that account, and because your Excellency had given him such Particular Directions to run the Lands as above mentioned he did not take in any Lands on that side of the River; Neither could he go higher on the West side of the River because Lands joyning Mr McCullohs Survey on that side, were then laid out for Reece Evans. So that had the Beginning of this Survey been wrong this Respondant is not answerable for it, being done by another Person by your Excellency's Order.

The conclusion of the first Paragraph of the Representation, would have very much surprized this Respondant had it come from any other man, for Mr McCulloh knows that he never desired nor intended that any of those Lands should be Extended upwards on the North East River, he himself having directed this Respondant (tho' his Directions did not come to Hand till long after the Survey was made) to Survey an hundred Thousand Acres of Land (Part of a Large Tract of Land Granted by His Majesty to Murray Crymble, James Huey and others which Lands were taken in their Names, But for Mr McCulloh's Use) on the said River; not above three miles from what he supposes, Mr McCulloh calls the second high Bluff, which if he will venture to deny, this Respondant is ready to prove, As the next Paragraph no way concerns this Respondant, he shall not take notice of it

The two next Paragraphs contain the Complainant great care and charge in Procuring foreign Protestants to Settle those Lands, and the great and unwarrantable injury done to him by this Respondant in taking into this Survey other Lands, which your Excellency had Ordered to be surveyed for him.

The first Instance of his care and Trouble was that he transported into this Province by one Capt Ure One hundred and fifty three Persons; not to insist upon those Persons being Irish not foreign Protestants, as the Complainant would insinuate, the Fact is not true, as your Excellency well knows, and this Respondant is ready to prove; for of the One hundred and fifty three Persons, which came over in that Ship, not above forty were sent in by the Complainant, and but about thirty settled on the Land, all the rest being free Passangers, who came here by chance and were Bound to South Carolina as by their Articles with Capt Ure, ready to be Produced and other Testimony will appear, were prevailed

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upon to continue in this Province by the liberal Promises made to them by your Excellency, which they acknowledge are punctually performed and were settled above and contiguous to Evans' Survey by your Excellencys particular directions, So that what Credit the Complainant deserves from your Excellency when he has given so Notorious a Falsity, in so publick a manner under his Hand and that with a manifest Intent to impose upon your Excellency, this Respondant leaves to your Excellencys Consideration.

As for the Swiss 'tis true that in the Winter 1736 He did import from South Carolina thirty nine Persons and settled them on those Lands; But 'tis as true, he used them so ill and had so little Regard to his contract with them, that they have left the Land.

But as to the great Injury done by this Respondant to the Complainant, in taking in four Thousand Acres of Land Surveyed for him by Your Excellency's Order and Golden Grove in the Year 1735 This Respondant avers, that, tho' he was Surveyor General, he never heard of any such Survey, nor was there nor is there any Warrant for such a Survey in any Office. And if the Case is so tho' the Complainant is at a Loss, your Excellency will be at none to Judge by what Authority this Respondant took in those Lands into the Survey he made on Black River

In the next Paragraph, the Complainant appeals to your Excellency, whether he did not, soon after the Grant and Plot were transmitted to him, Object both to the Survey and Grant as issued and he did not, since his Arrival in this Province apply upon several Occasions to your Excellency, to have a new Grant made out agreeable to the Terms and Conditions contained in His Majesty's said Order of Council.

That the Complainant not only acquiesed but was satisfied with the Survey is manifest, not only in that during so many years after the Survey that he lived in Europe, but after his arrival in this Province he never Complained of the Survey till he was sued by this Respondant for his Fees due to him so many years; and also by a Letter wrote by him to this Respondant from London December 22d 1738, ready to be Produced, wherein he says that he thought Your Excellency had paid for the Survey, and that he had then wrote to your Excellency to pay it.

And as a further proof of the Complainants Acceptance of those Lands, the Complainant has not only settled several Families on the Lands (tho' most of them have been since forced off by his ill usage) but has also mortgaged those very Lands in Europe which this Respondant can prove.

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It the Grant is not made out agreeable to the Terms in the said Order; that no way concerns this Respondant. But your Excellency will observe that he says that he applied upon several Occasions for a new Grant, but does not pretend to say he desired a new Survey, for the conditions in the Grant displeased him (as he explained it in a foregoing Paragraph) not the Survey which was to his Advantage and agreeable to his Desire

This Respondant hath he hopes answered all the Facts charged in Mr McCulloh's Representation against him in Relation to the Lands lying between the North East and Black Rivers, to your Excellency's Satisfaction He shall beg Leave to make a few Observations upon the several Parts of his Representation, by which it will appear to your Excellency that the Motives which induced him to make this complaint were not that he thought himself injured, but that he intended to injure this Respondant, and several other Persons to defraud his Majesty of his Quit rents, and hinder the taking up of his Lands.

Your Excellency well knows that you always directed Mr McCulloh's Affairs in this Province as to those Lands Granted by His Majesty, and that by your particular Directions those Lands were laid out in the manner above said, Your Excellency also knows that by Mr McCullohs particular direction one hundred Thousand Acres of Land were to be laid out upon the Head of the North East River as hath been already shewn. It is then to be supposed that this Respondant (who so carefully followed such Directions) intended to injure him, does it not rather manifestly appear, that this Respondant, by going out upon the Survey himself, and running the Lands according to your Excellency's Order intended to do, and realy did the complainant all the Service was consistent with his Duty

For, had he not intended to serve him, he would not have resigned his own Health by lying so long in the Woods and exposing himself to the various Changes of the Weather as he was not obliged to do, but have sent a Deputy as he has always done as all other Surveyors General have done for others.

And if there was anything unwarrantable in this Respondants Proceedings (as he presumes there is not, the whole Survey being made within the Limits contained in His Majestys Order and your Excellency's Particular Directions) the Complainant, above all others, has no Right to complain for whose Interest those Proceedings were had, and who was the Director of them, and so long acquiesced under them.

Secondly. It should be observed how little Regard Mr McCulloh has to His Majesty's Interest, for tho' by his office he is obliged to promote

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that by all Just and Lawfull means, Yet his Interest has so much the Ascendant of his Duty that he has made it his constant Practice to deter People from taking up his Majesty's Lands, and endeavored to frighten others from their Settlements, tho' several years in Possession, by laying claim to all the Lands for twenty miles above what really belongs to him, threatening Immediate Ruin to any Person who shall be so Presumptious as to look at any Lands he has an Inclination to.

Among many Instances the claim he lays to the four thousand Acres of Land at the Golden Grove is one, for surely he that by his Office ought to take care that no other Person should Incroach upon the King, would not set such ill Example, by laying Claim to any Lands, which were never Surveyed for him for which he never had a Warrant, had his Majesties Interest the least Room in his Heart.

Another Instance of his Sincere Attachment to His Majesty's Interest is the Caveat he has entered against the issuing Grants to twenty seven Persons, who have the misfortune to Live upon Land which he likes. He knows he has got his full Complement of Land, and would never try to distress poor Industrious people, who are desirous of becoming the Kings Tenants, but to force them to purchase Lands from him, that he may comply with the Conditions of his Grant, in settling such a number of Persons on those Lands which he has no Prospect of doing otherwise.

Thirdly. It should be observed how ready Mr McCulloh was to Impose upon his Majesty by Asserting that the Lands Petitioned for, are some hundred miles from the seat of Government.

Tis true the said Lands are a considerable distance from Edenton, not some hundred miles, but your Excellency well knows, that the Lands between the North East and Black river are within the Heart of the Settlements and upon the River which has the greatest Trade in this Province and not far from Navigation, and that a great Part of them would have been settled long since, had not Mr McCullock by his Misrepresentation gained a Grant of them

By all which Facts and observations, it plainly appears that Mr McCullock's sole aim in endeavouring to gain a new Grant, was to injure this Respondant and Several others and defraud his Majesty of His Quit Rents and hinder the taking up of his Lands

For if your Excellency should Judge the Survey void and Order a New Survey to be made and thereon Grant a new Patent to Mr McCulloh he would be in Hopes that as your Excellency had Judged that he had not done his Duty in the Survey, so the Jury that are to try the Issue in the Suite brought by this Respondant against Mr McCulloh for his

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Fees for the said Survey, would judge he deserved none and give a verdict accordingly

He would be in hopes that your Excellency would Order Several Parcels of Land Granted to other Persons and several other Parcels, which are settled, Surveyed and Petitioned for by several Industrious People to be taken into his Survey, by which means the Poor People, who have been at great Expence and Labour in improving their Lands rather than quit their Improvements, would agree to his Terms and so there would be so many Persons settled to secure his Lands which would be so great an oppression, that your Excellency will never consent to it.

He would be in Hopes that as he should have a new Survey, so he should have a new Patent; and that to bear date from the time of the issuing of it. By which he would gain so many Years Quit Rents from the King and have so much longer Time to settle the Lands according to his Grant.

How Mr McCulloh can reconcile such Actings to his Conscience this Respondant is at a Loss to think; but as he is satisfied that he hath done his Duty, both as Surveyor General to the King, and as a Friend to Mr McCulloh, he doubts not, but your Excellency (who knows most of the Facts of your own Knowledge, and by whose Particular direction the survey was made) will acquit him of the unjust and ungrateful charge brought against him and Judge the Survey agreeable to his Majesties Orders.

I am Your Excellency's most obedient Servant

Which was Read and also the Answer of the said Rowans to the Representation of the said McCulloh in behalf of Murray Crymble, James Huey and their Associates in these words Vizt

To His Excellency Gabriel Johnston Esqr Govr of North Carolina

The Answer of Mathew Rowan Late Survey. General to the Representation of Henry McCulloh

May it Please Your Excellency.

Mr Henry McCulloh sets forth, That His Majesty by his Order in Council bearing date the 19th Day of May 1737, Ordered and Directed that the said Murray Crymble, James Huey and their Associates shall be allowed one million two hundred thousand Acres of Land to be surveyed upon the Heads of Pee Dee, Cape Fear and Neus Rivers, and that when the Surveys were returned, that the Governour do grant the same to the Petitioners and their Associates, in such Proportions as shall be required by them, but no Grants to contain less than twelve thousand Acres.

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If any Man who is a Stranger to Mr McCulloh, should read his Representation to your Excellency on the above Order, he would Immediately conclude, that the Surveyor General had done them Gentlemen a great Injury, by running the Lands by them Petitioned for contrary to the said Order and their Intentions. But when Mr McCulloh's whole conduct in this Affair is unravelled, and the Surveyor General's set in a true Light, it will appear to every man, as clear as the sun at noon day, That Mr McCulloh has no regard to Truth in anything he says or does; and this Respondant, tho' he knows Mr McCulloh so well, cannot help being surprized at his great Assurance in endeavouring to Impose Facts on your Excellency which he must and does know to be false; but this Respondant is well pleased that he has thereby an Opportunity to Justify himself to the World.

In the first Paragraph of the Representation of Mr McCulloh to your Excellency he accuses this Respondant for making any Survey, without being first directed by the parties concerned in what Proportion and in whose names, the Surveys and Plots were to be returned and what Proportion of Lands were to be Surveyed upon the Heads of those Rivers respectively

The Second Paragraph contains what he calls the Practice of the Surveyors of the American Provinces on such occasions, and in a clause in a Law of this Province directing their Method to used in Surveying Lands under certain Penalties

Now if it appears to your Excellency that this Respondant was directed by the only Party concerned, when, where and how to Survey the said Lands before he entered on the said Survey that he Returned the Surveys and Plots in their names, in whose Names only he could justify, returning them and run those Lands out in such Proportions on the Heads of those Rivers as only could be done agreeable to His Majesty's said Order of Council, then this Complaint will appear to be only groundless Noise and Clamour.

To Set this Matter in a clear Light Your Excellency will be pleased to Observe how artfully Mr McCulloh has changed the Order, For the Order is, That the Surveyor General or his Deputy Sheriff shall lay out and Survey the said one million two hundred thousand Acres of Land upon the Heads of the Pee Dee, Cape Fear and Neus Rivers, in twelve different Parcels of one hundred thousand each; that those twelve Parcels be laid out as contiguous as may be, but none of them to be at a greater Distance than ten miles from some of them, that those twelve Parcels so surveyed be Granted by the Governour to the Petitioners and their Associates in such Proportions as shall be required by them but no Grant to contain less than twelve thousand Acres &c

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By the Order as set forth by Mr McCullock it is and may be implied that the Surveyor General ought to have Surveyed those Lands in such Proportions as the Petitioners should direct; but by His Majesty's Order it is quite otherwise for the Surveyor General was Ordered to Lay out the said Lands into twelve Parcels of one hundred thousand Acres each, and then the said twelve Parcels being so Surveyed (observe the words) your Excellency was to grant to the Petitioners in such Proportion as they desired, not less than twelve thousand in one Grant, so that the Surveyor General was tyed up to the Number of Acres in each Parcel, not left at Liberty to follow the Directions of the Petitioners. Tis true the Petitioners were at Liberty to take up the whole in what Quantity they Pleased so that no Parcel was under twelve thousand Acres; but that was another Service, left to the Surveyor Generals ordinary Business, which he was not obliged to do without a Particular Request from the Petitioners, and without he was paid particularly for doing it.

This Respondent having cleared his way by laying his Majesties Order before your Excellency as it realy is proceeds to answer Mr McCulloh's Complaint

Tho' the Petition to His Majesty was in the Names of Murray Crymble, James Huey and others, and his Majesties Order accordingly, yet those Gentlemen Acted only for Mr McCulloh, and were to have a certain Proportion of Land for their Trouble they paying a proportionable Part of the Fees and Charges to Mr McCulloh. This plainly appears to your Excellency by Mr McCullock's Letter to your Excellency and also by a Letter from Murray Crymble to this Respondant from London the 18th of January 1738, Ready to be Produced. And as a further confirmation that this is the Truth of the Case, Mr McCulloh has mortgaged Eight Hundred and fifty thousand acres of the said Lands to Arthur Dobbs of the Kingdom of Ireland Esqr a Copy of which Mortgage this Respondant can Produce, when your Excellency can command the same.

Now as the Kings Order was in the Names of those Gentlemen it was necessary in Order to Enable Mr McCulloh to transact this Affair, that they should convey the said Lands to him which they accordingly did. When the said Conveyance was perfected, and the whole affair was in Mr McCulloh's Hands, he then by his Letter to your Excellency to whose care it was committed, Directed the Survey to be made, and your Excellency delivered the Warrant to this Respondant, and Ordered him to Survey the said Lands, and that Mr McCulloh's Interest might be taken care of, and the Survey made with the greatest Diligence and Exactness, desired this Respondant to go out himself, and to Search well for good

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Lands, and Especially the forks of Pedee River, and to run out as far as to the Westward, as he could find Lands convenient and promised him that he should be well Paid for his Trouble in finding out the said Lands, over and above his Fee and Charges, This Respondant to serve Mr McCullock went out accordingly. That this is true your Excellency well knows, and will do me the Justice to acknowledge so that as this Respondant had Directions from your Excellency under whose care it was for Mr McCulloh, he may venture to say he had Directions from the Party solely concerned.

But that this Respondant was to take any Directions from any Person in whose Names to Return the Surveys and Plots this Respondant utterly denies; for as he had the Kings Warrant he could return the Surveys and Plots only in the Names of those Persons named in the said Warrant.

As to the Proportion of the Lands to be surveyed upon the Heads of those Rivers respectively, this Respondant conceives he was not obliged to have any Regard to any Private agreement made between those Gentlemen (if there was any such) if the said Agreement was contrary to his Majestys Instructions which this Respondant was obliged to obey. And it will appear by comparing the Survey with the Warrant, that this Respondant has punctually followed his Majesty's Orders, and Your Excellencys Directions; for he has Surveyed one million two hundred thousand Acres of Land as near the Heads of the said Rivers as he could find Lands Plantable and convenient in Seperate Tracts of One Hundred thousand Acres each and in less Quantities he could not return them; and none of them are at a greater Distance from some of them than ten miles except one, which could not be brought nearer than it is because the Property of other Persons intervened, which His Majesty had taken special care of.

The two next Paragraphs contain a formall story of Mr McCullohs, for the Truth of which we must rely on that Gentleman's own Integrity: a Specimen of which he gives in the two next Paragraphs where he roundly asserts, that this Respondent went hastily upon the Survey without any Directions from any Person authorized, which Your Excellency knows to be wide from the Truth, as this Respondent hath already shewed, and in the next Place he says (which is much to be doubted) that he was credibly informed that this Respondent, and Capt Woodward being apprehensive that a Survey would soon be appointed from home prevailed at last with Your Excellency to deliver them his Majesty's said Order of Council, as a matter properly belonging to them, and to be in their Custody.

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Whether at Capt Woodwards request Your Excellency was prevailed with to deliver His Majestys Order of Council to this Respondent, he knows not, but has Reason to believe the Contrary, Capt Woodward having assured him he never spoke to Your Excellency about it; for his own Part he doth aver that he did not know that the said Order was in the Province nor did he ever ask for it, but it was shewn and delivered to him at the same time at his own House by Your Excellency which Your Excellency will, I doubt not, acknowledge.

In the next Paragraph, Mr McCulloh accuses this Respondant of Preventing the Execution of His Majesty's said Order of Council by making the Survey without Directions as above said, and also by entering a Caveat to the great Loss and Damage of the Gentlemen concerned.

The first Part this Respondant hath already answered, and as to the Caveat surely he had a Right to enter it, if he had good Reason for it, and he thinks he is warranted therein by his Majesty's said Order in Council, wherein tis laid down as one Part of the Condition of Granting the said Lands; that the Petitioners &c. Do pay the usual Fees for Surveying and passing the said Grants of the said Tracts. And if those Gentlemen have any Loss and Damage, it is wholly owing to Mr McCulloh who has not taken one step toward obtaining Grants from the said Lands, and who will not pay the Fees and Charges, without which he cannot expect Grants.

In the last Paragraph, Mr McCulloh (out of his great concern for the Interest of Murray Crymble, James Huey and their Associates whose Agent he pretends to be, and hopes he has made your Excellency believe he is so) Humbly insists that your Excellency will allow and Direct that His Majestys said Order of Council shall operate in the Manner and upon the terms and Directions therein contained; and for his own Justification, You will allow him to offer such Evidence, as may be necessary to support the Allegations in his Representation, and Order the Proceedings in Relation to this Affair to be entered at Large by the Secretary, and a Copy of them delivered to him under the great Seal of this Province, that the Gentlemen concerned may not be barred from taking such Measures, as may be necessary to Support their claim at this Juncture

His Prayer to your Excellency this Respondant will not oppose, Provided he pays the Fees and Charges, as he ought to do, And this Respondent joyns with him in his Petition that the Proceedings may be entered at Large, not only that those Gentlemen may have Justice done them, but also that his Majesty may see how his gracious Bounty is abused, and this Province injured by the ill use Mr McCulloh has made, and still makes the Trust reposed in him.

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And this Respondant will be glad to see the Evidence which Mr McCulloh intends to offer, because he doubts not, but that very Evidence, (if any thing to the Purpose) will convince Your Excellency and the whole world of Mr McCulloh's Insincerity, and that this Respondant has in every Respect done his duty.

Before this Respondant concludes he begs Leave to make a few remarks on Mr McCulloh's Petition to His Majesty and his Representation to your Excellency

One Reason to Induce his Majesty to Grant the Lands Petitioned for was that it would be of great Service to this Province to make a Settlement in that Part of it not only as it would be a Security to them from the Excursions of the Indians but also as it would be any Encouragement to the Settling those vast Tracts of Land lying between the Lands taken up and the Settlements and also a means of increasing the Trade of this Province and His Majesty's Rents.

Those Reasons this Respondant allows to be good and the Design might have been answered, had Mr McCulloh Performed his Part, but he had no such view, for he had no Intent to go so far back as those Lands are Surveyed; One great Complaint of his being that they are laid out too near the Cutauboes, as this Respondent can Prove, and those Lands being Surveyed serve Mr McCulloh for Pretence to keep all Persons from Running out Lands between them and the Settlements, for if they desire any of those Lands already Surveyed, he says they are his and if they would have of the Lands nearer the Settlement, he says they ought to be surveyed for him, and that he will get them taken into his survey, so that all that great and fine Part of this Province must remain uncultivated and consequently Trade and his Majesty's Rents unimproved, till Mr McCulloh Pleases to take out his Grants, for which he is in no haste.

Tis true those Lands are at a distance from Edenton, but at no considerable distance from Cape Fear where the greatest Trade of this Province is carried on, and tis well known to your Excellency that had those Lands been free for any Person to take up, a great Part of them had been settled before this Day; for not to mention every particular Person Your Excellency knows, that one Colo Simmons of Virginia offered, if those Lands were declared Vacant, so that he might take part of them up to settle three hundred Persons on them in one year and to pay Quit Rents yearly from the Date of the Grant, From hence it appears that the Frontiers are not Secured, The Trade and Quit Rents not increased, but on the contrary, both are extreamly Injured by the taking up vast Tracts of Land, which has hindred many Persons from taking them who would have Improved the trade the trade and increased the Quit Rents.

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Your Excellency will observe that Mr McCulloh mentions a Private Agreement, made between Murray Crymble, James Huey and their Associates, where and in what manner those Lands should be run and that he gave your Excellency notice thereof as he was Trustee for them

Your Excellency (who knows that Mr McCulloh was the real Proprietor of those Lands, and that those Gentlemen were no further concerned than as they were to have one hundred thousand Acres each for their care, Paying to Mr McCulloh, a Proportionable Part of the Fees and Charges, and that their names were made use of to serve Mr McCulloh) will naturally Judge that the Agreement mentioned by him was a Scheme of his own for running out of the said Lands, as he thought he could best make a Penny of them. And to put this out of all Doubt this Respondent must put your Excellency in mind of the Map of this Province sent over to this Respondent by Mr McCulloh whereon he describes the Places where he would have them Lands run by Lines drawn up on said Map; which Map did not come to this Respondants hands till the Survey was finished, but had the Lands been run according to that Scheme, many Families that were then Settled and pay his Majestys Quit rents must have left their Settlements, and gone to some other Colony to seek Habitation, or which is worse have submitted to such Terms as Mr McCullock would have been pleased to have given them.

And those are the Directions which Mr McCulloh means in his Representations, for this Respondent never heard of any other

How can Mr McCulloh (who by his Office is obliged to take care that his Majesty is not Injured in his Revenues, and ought to see that all Persons who run out Lands by Warrants from the King or Your Excellency should take out their Grants in due Time, that his Majesty's Quit Rents may be paid) Delay so many years to take Grants for those Lands, by which, if Mr McCulloh's Grants are to be dated from the Time of their issuing; and not from the Return of the Survey His Majesty will be defrauded of ten thousand Pounds Sterling of his Quit Rents, and can ill Example be shewn to others to do the like

It may be observed those Lands were to be Surveyed in twelve Parcels, not less than One hundred thousand Acres each, but the Petitioners had a Right to have the said Parcels so Surveyed, Granted to them in any Proportion, so that no Grant contained less than twelve thousand Acres; but then all Grants ought to be made Immediately upon Return of the Surveys and to bear Equal Date with each other, which Implys that they ought to have applied immediately after the Return of the Survey for their Grants otherwise it could not be presumed your Excellency could know in what Proportion they desired them.

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This Respondent cannot help taking notice how Mr McCulloh having in the year 1735 taken up some large Tracts of Land to the Amount of fifty four thousand Acres, in the names of Divers Persons then and now unknown, and the same Lands being immediately chargeable with His Majesty's Quit Rents, be sold Part of them to some Gentlemen in Ireland who were his Particular acquaintance, and depended on his Friendship and Integrity, for some thousand of Pounds Sterling upon the great assurance he gave them that the Lands were exceedingly Rich, and upon navigable Rivers; but the Purchasers were miserably disappointed, the Lands he sold them being mostly broken and at a Considerable Distance from Navigation

But to make them some amends for so gross an Imposition, or for some other Reason best known to himself (tho' by his Office of Inspector General of His Majesty's Rents and Revenues, he is obliged to take care that His Majesty is not defrauded) he has connived at the Purchasers Paying no Quit Rents, for none of them (Except Arthur Dobbs of the Kingdom of Ireland Esqr who purchased six thousand Acres of them Lands and has constantly Paid His Majesty's Rents for the same) have ever paid one shilling to His Majesty for the Rents of their Lands; neither has he himself paid Rents for the Lands he holds Waste in his hands, and which are likely to be Waste to the great Detriment of his Province, till he can find some intimate Friends to purchase them. Nor can the Receiver General remedy this Evil there being no Distress to be found on the said Lands, and the Persons in whose Names they are taken up, not being in the Province. And after this even while he was soliciting an Imployment under the Crown, he exposes those Lands mentioned in his Majestys Order of Council to Sale in all Parts of Europe, Promising Golden Showers to the Purchasers and actually sold Part of them, but failed of selling more, most people looking upon it as a Bubble, because they had heard how he had used his Particular Friends before.

I must observe that the exposing those Lands to Sale in so open a manner was not only an abuse of his Majesty's most gracious Bounty, but a very great Injury to this Province, for People, suspecting that some Fraud was intended by such large Encomiums and Promises, would not purchase; So that instead of sending over great Numbers of foreign Protestants to settle those Lands as was expected, People who were Realy desirous of Settling in this Province were deterred from coming over (Especially after they heard how Grosely Mr McCulloh had imposed on those for whom he Professed a strict Friendship, by which means those Lands lie Wast, to the great Loss of His Majesty and this Province.

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And this Respondent had good Reason to believe that those Lands will never [be] settled, till they are declared free for any Person to take up.

Had not Mr McCulloh some secret Reason to Displeased, which he does not care to avow he would not cavil at a Million of Acres being surveyed on Pe Dee and the Branches thereof, not in one Tract (as he has set forth) but in ten Tracts distinguished by Metes and Bounds; for this Respondant surveyed those Lands on that River because he was directed by your Excellency to take them up as far the Westward as he could and that was the most Western of the three Rivers in his Majesty's said Order; But to avoid paying the Fees and Charges for which he expects to be sued, and to gain a Longer Time for settling the Lands, which he has now no Prospect of doing and that he may have some Excuse for not Paying His Majesty's Rents according to contract, he would lay hold on any Expedient, which he thinks will serve his Purpose.

But as Your Excellency knows that this Respondent has strictly pursued His Majesty's Orders and Your Excellency's Directions, and has surveyed and returned the Lands in His Majesty's said Order of Council near six Years, he doubts not but that Your Excellency will oblige Mr McCulloh to pay this Respondent his just fees and Charges, and take out his Grants for the said Lands, and that His Majesty may not be defrauded of his Rents, and that the Grants may bear Date for the Return of the Survey. And also that this Province may no longer suffer by retarding the further Settling thereof

This Respondent begs Leave to conclude with putting your Excellency in mind of the great Charge he was at in hiring people to go with him to search for and survey those Lands and in Providing necessaries for them and Horses to carry them, And the great many Hardships and Difficulties he went thro', not only occasioned by the various Changes of the weather, the many great Swamps he crossed, but also for the want of Provisions being reduced to a great scarcity of Victuals, and no Liquor before he could regain the Settlements.

I am May it Please Your Excellency
Your Excellencys Most Humble and Most Obedient Servt
MAT: ROWAN.

Mr Rowan thereupon moved that he might have a Copy of the said Mr McCulloh's Representations, And his answer thereto under the Seal of the Colony duly attested which was Accordingly Ordered.

Robert Halton, Mathew Rowan, William and George Gould Esqrs Four of the Five Commissrs appointed by His Excellency the Governor for and in behalf of His Majesty for allotting and setting out in Conjunction with the like Number appointed by the Rt Honoble John Lord

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Carteret, One full and Entire part of the Province of Carolina, now Exhibited their Several Accounts of Expences attending this Service putting in Execution His Majesty's said Orders which were as follows.

ROBERT HALTON ESQr HIS ACCOt
To 21 days wages at 20s per day
£21
To 21 days expenses & Servts
10.
10
To paid on account Chain Carriers
4.
£31.
14.
MATw ROWAN ESQr HIS ACCOt
To 21 days wages at 20s per day
£21
To 21 days expences & Servts
10
10
To paid on Accot of Chain Carriers
4
£31.
14.
WILLIAM FORBES ESQr HIS ACCOt
To 21 Days Wages at 20s per day
£21
To 21 Days Expences and Servants
10.
10
To paid on Accot of Chain Carriers
4.
£31.
14.
GEORGE GOULD ESQr HIS ACCOt
To 3 days Expences at Edenton
£1.
10
To 16 days Wages for a Servant
1.
12
To 14 days Wages for myself
14.
To hire of a Vessell and Expences at the Bank
9.
1.
4
To Bills paid man & Wallis in the Voyage
1.
8.
To 22 Days Wages on the Line
22.
To 22 Days Expences
11.
To money paid Chain Carriers as per Ret
4.
16
To money pd Duncan for maintaining Chain Carriers
1.
13.
£67.
Cr
By 5 Galls of Rum left at the Store
£2
By 2 Loaves of Sugar
2
£4
Balla due to G. Gould
63
£67
-------------------- page 700 --------------------

His Excellency the Governor was thereupon pleased to Lay the same before the Board for their approbation and Allowance. Who having examined the several Articles contained in their Respective Accot find the same to be agreeable to the Order of this Board of the—November last for Settling the Wages and Expences of the said Commissioners during the said Service in Carrying His Majesty's said Orders into Execution which being done as they apprehend agreeable to His Majestys Royal Instructions and attended with no small fatigue and difficulty. The Board were thereon of Opinion that the said Accots are very Just and Reasonable

Wherefore His Excellency the Governor in Pursuance of His Majesty's Royal Order and Instruction was pleased to Order a Warrant to be directed to Eleazer Allen Esqr His Majestys Recr General or the Recr General for the time being of this Province to be signed by His Excellency and the Council for paying the said Commissioners the sum of one hundred and Fifty eight Pounds four shillings and four pence Sterling being the amount of their several Accots as above