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Sketches of North Carolina, Historical and Biographical,
Illustrative of the Principles of a Portion of Her Early Settlers:
Electronic Edition.

Foote, William Henry, 1794-1869

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University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,
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Source Description:
(title page) Sketches of North Carolina, Historical and Biographical, Illustrative of the Principles of a Portion of Her Early Settlers
Rev. William Henry Foote
xxxii, 33-557, 8 p.
New York
Robert Carter, 58 Canal Street
1846
Call number C285 F68 c. 4 (North Carolina Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

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Library of Congress Subject Headings, 21st edition, 1998

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SKETCHES
OF
NORTH CAROLINA,
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL,
ILLUSTRATIVE
OF THE PRINCIPLES
OF A PORTION OF HER EARLY SETTLERS.

BY

REV. WILLIAM HENRY FOOTE.

NEW YORK:
ROBERT CARTER, 58 CANAL STREET.
1846.

Page verso

ENTERED according to Act of Congress, in the year 1846, by
ROBERT CARTER,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York.

R. CRAIGHEAD'S Power Press,
112 Fulton Street

Page iii

DEDICATION.

        To the Ministers of the Synod of North Carolina, with whom I have been associated in arduous labors for about seven years, and whose counsel and assistance and cheerful welcome it has been my happiness to enjoy,--

        MOST RESPECTFULLY:

        And to the Elders and Churches with whom I have labored in the cause of benevolence; whose attachment to sound doctrine and the church of their fathers has been so often and so agreeably displayed; whose hospitality has spread around me, times almost innumerable, the comforts and luxuries of life,--

        MOST KINDLY:

        And to the Children, who by their affectionate cheerfulness have been my solace in hours of weariness and exhaustion; the hope of the Church and of the State,--

        MOST TENDERLY:

        And to the Citizens of the sedate and sober State of North Carolina generally, inheriting so much that is estimable from past generations,--

        WITH SENTIMENTS OF STRONG REGARD AND WELL-WISHING;

        Is this Volume dedicated by

THE AUTHOR,
WILLIAM HENRY FOOTE.

Romney, Hampshire County, Virginia,
October, 1846.

Page ix

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER

        NORTH CAROLINA, in the days of colonial dependence, was the refuge of the poor and the oppressed. In her borders the emigrant, the fugitive, and the exile found a home. Whatever may have been the cause of leaving the land of their nativity--political servitude,--tyranny over conscience,--or poverty of means, with the hope of bettering their condition,--the descendants of these enterprising, suffering, afflicted, yet prospered people, have cause to bless the kind Providence that led their fathers, in their wanderings, to such a place of rest.

        Her sandy plains, and threatening breakers jutting out into the ocean, met the voyagers sent out by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1584, and the island of Wocoken afforded the landing-place, "as some delicate garden abounding with all kinds of odoriferous flowers," and witnessed the ceremonial of taking possession of the country for the Queen of England, who soon after gave it the name of Virginia. The island of Roanoke, between Pamtico and Albemarle Sounds, in the domains of Granganimeo, afforded the first colony of English a home so quiet, with a climate so mild, and with fruits so abundant, that the tempest-tossed mariners extolled it in their letters to their countrymen as an earthly paradise. So no doubt it seemed to them the first summer of their residence, in 1585; and notwithstanding the disastrous conclusion of that and succeeding colonies, so the adjoining country has seemed to many generations that have risen, and flourished, and passed away, in the long succession of years, since the wife of Granganimeo, in savage state, feasted the first adventures.

        Her extended champaign around the head streams of the numerous rivers that flow through her own borders, and those of South Carolina, to the ocean, cherished into numbers, and wealth, and civil and religious independence, the emigrants from a rougher climate and more unfriendly soil, of the north of Ireland and the Highlands of Scotland. The quiet of the vast solitudes and forests of North Carolina lured these hard-working men, who, in their poverty and transatlantic subjection, cherished the principles of religion, wealth and independence, to seek in them the abode of domestic blessedness, and the repose of liberty. Far from the ocean, in a province without seaports, and unfrequented by wealthy emigrants, the clustered settlements had space and time to follow out their principles of religion, morality and politics to their legitimate ends; and the first declaration of Entire Independence of the British crown was heard in the province that afforded a resting-place to the first colony.

Page x

        Carolina was settled by emigrants from different parts of the kingdom of Great Britain and her American provinces, in such numbers, and in such remote situations, that it is comparatively easy to follow the line of their descendants, and trace out the workings of their principles and habits upon themselves, the commonwealth, and the country at large. Every state of society owes much of its character for excellence or demerit, to the generations that preceded; the present is a reflected image of the past; and men must search among their ancestors for the principles, and causes, and springs of action, and moulding influences, that have made society and themselves what they are. The present generation of Carolinians look back to the men that drove the wild beasts from the forests, and displaced the savages, as the fathers of a republic more blessed than the most favored of antiquity; and may well ask what principles of religion and morals,--what habits made us what we are. In answer to these questions there is no good civil history of the State; and with the honorable exception of the life of Caldwell, by Mr. Caruthers, there is no church history; and the traditions that reached back to the settlement of the country, are, for the most part, passing away, or becoming dimmed in the horizon of uncertainty. The prospect, then, is, that the coming generations will be ignorant of their ancestors and their deeds, and like the Greeks and Romans, be compelled to go back to a fabulous antiquity to search in dreams and conjectures for the first link in a chain of causes, the progression of which is so full of blessedness.

        It may be well for some people, that the mist of antiquity hides in uncertainty, the lowness of their origin; and that aspersion has sometimes been cast on Carolina. But if any people may glory in their forefathers, the Carolinians, at least a part of them, may glory in theirs, and cherish their principles with the firm confidence that they will make their descendants better, and the progress of excellence shall never end. No human mind can tell with certainty, or even conjecture plausibly, where the principles of the men, that did so much for their posterity, will lead; though they may be certain the pathway shall be resplendent, and the goal glorious.

        The history of principles is the history of States. And the youth of Carolina might study both on one interesting page, were there a fair record of past events presented to their perusal. They might learn at home something better than the histories of Greece and Rome, or the Assyrian and Babylonian, or all the eastern and western empires of the world, have ever taught. They would find examples worthy of all praise, and actions deserving a generous emulation. They would be impressed most deeply with the conviction that people and actions worthy of such examples must be the citizens and the acts of the happiest nation on earth.

        The following pages are an effort to open the way for some future historian to do full justice to the past, by recording the events that are so honorable, and to the future by presenting a page full of interest and instruction, all true, and all encouraging. They contain the history of the Presbyterian population of

Page xi

North Carolina as far as it has been yet collected from traditions, records of the churches and ecclesiastical bodies and printed volumes that refer incidentally to this people and their principles and their doings. Though the history of a denomination, it is not sectarian, because it must of necessity be the history of a large part of the State; and because it is also a fair record of events. Every denomination has the liberty of producing a series of events in their past history of equal or greater interest, and it will be neither bigoted, sectarian, or ambitious.

        The author has had some peculiar advantages in gathering the facts related in the following pages. For about seven years he was constantly engaged in the active duties of Secretary of Foreign Missions; and in their fulfilment was called to visit most of the Presbyterian congregations in North Carolina and Virginia repeatedly. In conversation with the aged ministers and members of the church, he heard many things to which he listened with emotion, and asked to hear them again; and then repeated them to others; and then wrote them down; and then corrected and enlarged the notes; and then occasionally published a chapter in the Watchman of the South, the reading of which often induced persons in possession of interesting facts to communicate them either to the writer personally, or to the public through the Watchman; and then to consulting manuscripts and records as far as they were known to have any relation to the matters in hand, or as they fell in his way, and commonly he stumbled, as it were, upon them most unexpectedly, as he passed around in his arduous undertakings; and then as the agency in which he was engaged was drawing to a close, in looking over the memoranda of interesting events that had accumulated upon his hands, the purpose was formed of making a volume of sketches relating to past events in the Presbyterian settlements of Virginia and Carolina, few of which had ever been in print except in the columns of a weekly periodical, and most were fast passing away from the knowledge of the living, as that generation whose fathers were actors in the most interesting scenes of the early settlement, and from whom many of these traditions were received by the writer, were fast entering the unseen world, when he commenced committing their communications to paper, and have now but here and there a solitary representative in the land of the living. In this state of the case the Synod of North Carolina, during the annual session held in Fayetteville, November, 1844, by a committee, invited the writer to use his materials, and others that might be put into his hands, in preparing a history of the Presbyterian Church in North Carolina; such a history as might show the influence of Presbyterian doctrines, habits, and population, upon the past and present generations of citizens of the North State, and in some degree also upon the population of those States which owe much to the emigration from Carolina. The only hesitation the writer felt in acceding to this honorable proposal, arose from the circumstance, that as the population of a part of Virginia and North Carolina were homogeneous, and were for a long time connected in the same

Page xii

Presbytery, and have always since been more or less connected in their religious and benevolent actions, there might arise a difficulty in giving a fair history of the church and people, disconnected from the church in Virginia, which was senior in point of time and always intimately connected in action. But upon farther reflection and conversation with judicious friends, it appeared there were ample materials, purely Carolinian, to form a volume of the size desired by the generality of readers, and equally as ample materials, purely Virginian, for another; and the gratification of the readers, and the public advantage, would be consulted by giving the volumes separate. The invitation of Synod was then, after a few explanations, accepted, and the brethren generally most cheerfully made offer of their collections of facts and materials for the history, which they had for some time been gathering respecting their own particular charges.

        The writer is under particular obligations to many individuals for the materials for the succeeding volume. To Rev. John Robinson, D.D., now no more, from whom he received the first impulse to make the collection of traditions, by hearing from him, at his own fireside, the recital of some of the events that must immortalize Mecklenburg; and whom he visited for the purpose of correcting and enlarging his traditions, in December, 1843, and found preparations making for his funeral;--a noble, urbane; powerful preacher of the gospel: to Rev. E. B. Currie, in whose retired cottage the writer gathered the principal facts relating to Rev. James McGready and the revivals that accompanied and followed his preaching; and many of the facts respecting the churches in Granville and Caswell counties; the infirmities of whose age but enrich his experience: to the Rev. Robert Tate, from whom I received much that is recorded respecting the churches in the eastern part of the State, himself the patriarch of the present churches in New Hanover: to the Rev. Dr. Morrison, for materials for the interesting Memoir of his father-in-law, J. Graham; and also for much concerning Dr. Hunter and Dr. Wilson: to Dr. T. C. Caldwell, for many traditions relating to Sugaw Creek, received from his father, and for an interesting visit to the old grave-yard: to Dr. Hunter, of Goshen, for many facts and incidents concerning his father, Rev. Humphrey Hunter, D.D.: to Rev. Eli W. Caruthers, for the valuable selections from his Life of Rev. David Caldwell, D.D.: to ex-Governor Swain, President of the University of North Carolina, for materials for the sketch of the University, and Rev. Joseph Caldwell, D.D., and for other interesting facts: to Rev. Colin McIvor, stated clerk of the Synod, for a copy of the minutes of the Synod of the Carolinas, and for the translation of a Gaelic pamphlet: to Mr. Charles W. Harris, for some curious manuscripts relating to Poplar Tent, from the pen of Mrs. Alexander: to Rev. Alexander Wilson, D.D., for facts concerning the county of Granville, and the church in Ireland previous to the emigration: and to Rev. Messrs. Cyrus Johnson, J. M. M. Caldwell, John M. Wilson, James M. H. Adams, E. F. Rockwell, A. Gilchrist, C. Shaw, and Archibald Smith, for manuscripts, pamphlets and volumes relating to the history of Presbyterianism in their congregations:

Page xiii

to Governors Morehead and Graham, and the public officers in Raleigh, for access to the records of the State and the public library: to Dr. Ramsey, of Tennessee, for much valuable information: and to J. S. Jones, the author of the Defence of North Carolina, from which many interesting facts have been borrowed: and to Dr. Pattillo, of Charlotte, for many papers relating to his grandfather. Other sources of information are acknowledged in the body of the work.

        It is more than possible that upon the perusal of these pages other documents will be brought to light that shall confirm the principal facts here produced, add others, and perhaps modify some.

        The strict order of chronology could not be followed in the succession of chapters, but it is, as far as possible, in the events themselves, and also in the narration.

        The volume takes the name of "Sketches," rather than that of "History," for reasons that will be apparent on perusal; and the author has but one cause of dissatisfaction in reviewing the work, and that is, that the Sketches are not more worthy of the scenes and the actors.

Page xv

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Page 33

SKETCHES
OF
NORTH CAROLINA.

CHAPTER I.
THE FIRST DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, MAY 20TH, 1775.

        THE little village of CHARLOTTE, the seat of justice for Mecklenburg county, North Carolina, was the theatre of one of the most memorable events in the political annals of the United States. Situated in the fertile champaign, between the Yadkin and Catawba rivers, far above tide-water, some two hundred miles from the ocean, and in advance of the mountains that run almost parallel to the Atlantic coast, on the route of that emigration which, before the Revolution, passed on southwardly, from Pennsylvania, through Virginia, to the unoccupied regions east of the Mountains, on what is now the upper stage route from Georgia, through South Carolina and North Carolina, to meet the railroad at Raleigh,--it was, and is, the centre of an enterprising population. It received its name from Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg, whose native province also gave name to the county, the House of Hanover having been invited to the throne of England.

        Here was located the first academy, or high school, in the upper part of the State; and here was made the first effort for a college in North Carolina, in the institution called QUEEN'S MUSEUM.

        The traveller, in passing through this fertile, retired, and populous country, would now see nothing calculated to suggest the

Page 34

fact, that he was on the ground of the boldest Declaration ever made in America; and that all around him were localities rich in associations of valor and suffering in the cause of National Independence, the sober recital of which borders on romance. Everything looks peaceful, secluded, and prosperous, as though the track of hostile armies had never defaced the soil. Were he told, this is the spot where lovers of personal and national liberty will come, in pilgrimage or imagination, to ponder events of the deepest interest to all mankind, he must feel, in the beauty and fertility of the surrounding region, that here was a chosen habitation for good men to live, and act, and leave to their posterity the inestimable privileges of political and religious freedom, with abundance of all that may be desired to make life one continued thanksgiving.

        Seventy years ago, on the 19th day of May, 1775, might have been seen assembled, in this frontier settlement, an immense concourse of people under great excitement; some few, well dressed, moving about with the dignity of Colonial Magistrates; a small number of officers of the militia; the great mass of the assembly clad in the homespun of their wives and sisters,--not a few shod with the moccasins of their own manufacture,--all completely wrapt in the exciting subjects of a revolutionary nature, then agitating the whole land. Continental Congress was then in session in Philadelphia, consulting for the welfare of the Colonies; provincial Legislatures had been dissolved, and the whole population of the United Provinces were in commotion, discussing the rights and privileges of persons, and States, and Kings. Every man had become a politician, and from being a hunter was prepared to become a soldier.

        There was no printing press in the upper country of Carolina, and many a weary mile must be traversed to find one. Newspapers were few, and, no regular post traversing the country, were seldom seen. The people, anxious for news, were accustomed to assemble to hear printed handbills from abroad, or written ones drawn up by persons appointed for the purpose, particularly the Rev. Thomas Reese, of Mecklenburg, North Carolina, whose bones lie in the grave yard of the Stone Church, Pendleton, South Carolina. There had been frequent assemblies in Charlotte, to hear the news and join in the discussions of the exciting subjects of the day; and finally, to give more efficiency to their discussions, it was agreed upon, generally, that Thomas Polk, Colonel of the Militia, long a surveyor in the province, frequently a member of the Colonial Assembly, well known and well acquainted

Page 35

in the surrounding counties, a man of great excellence and merited popularity, should be empowered to call a convention of the representatives of the people, whenever it should appear advisable. It was also agreed that these representatives should be chosen from the Militia districts, by the people themselves; and that when assembled for council and debate, their decisions should be binding on the inhabitants of Mecklenburg.

        Having heard of the attempt of Governor Martin to prevent the assembling of a Provincial Congress, or Convention, in Newbern, in April; and of his arbitrary proceedings in dissolving the last provincial Legislature after a session of four days, before any important business had been transacted; and being afflicted with the news from distant colonies, and from across the ocean, the people were clamorous for action and for redress. The Provincial Congress of North Carolina had assembled in direct opposition to the proclamation of the Governor, and had approved of the acts and doings of their representatives in the Continental Congress, expressing their confidence in their wisdom and abilities, by re-appointing them to the arduous duties of Representatives in the Legislature of the United Colonies; and the people generally were more and more restless under the exercise of royal authority, and daily more irritated by the exactions of men who glutted their avarice under the color of law.

        In this state of the public mind, Colonel Polk issued his notice for the committee men to assemble in Charlotte, on the 19th of May, 1775. On the appointed day between twenty and thirty representatives of the people met in the Court House, in the centre of the town, at the crossing of the great streets, and surrounded by an immense concourse, few of whom could enter the house, proceeded to organize for business, by choosing ABRAHAM ALEXANDER, a former member of the Legislature, a magistrate, and ruling elder in the Sugar Creek Congregation, in whose bounds they were assembled, as their chairman; and John McKnitt Alexander, and Dr. Ephraim Brevard, men of business habits and great popularity, their clerks. Papers were read before the Convention and the people; the handbill, brought by express, containing the news of the battle of Lexington, Massachusetts, on that day one month, the 19th of April, came to hand that day, and was read to the assembly. The Rev. Hezekiah James Balch, Pastor of Poplar Tent, Dr. Ephraim Brevard, and William Kennon, Esq., addressed the Convention and the people at large. Under the excitement produced by the wanton bloodshed at Lexington,

Page 36

and the addresses of these gentlemen, the assembly cried out as with one voice, "Let us be independent! Let us declare our independence, and defend it with our lives and fortunes!" The speakers said, his Majesty's proclamation had declared them out of the protection of the British Crown, and they ought, therefore, to declare themselves out of his protection, and independent of all his control.

        A committee, consisting of Dr. Ephraim Brevard, Mr. Kennon, and Rev. Mr. Balch, were appointed to prepare resolutions suitable to the occasion. Some drawn up by Dr. Brevard, and read to his friends at a political meeting in Queen's Museum some days before, were read to the Convention, and then committed to these gentlemen for revision.

        While the committee were out discussing these resolutions, the Convention continued in session and were addressed by several gentlemen. General Joseph Graham, then but a youth, and present at the deliberations, relates an interesting incident. A member of the committee, who had said but little before, addressed the chairman as follows: "If you resolve on Independence, how shall we all be absolved from the obligations of the oath we took to be true to King George the Third, about four years ago, after the Regulation battle, when we were sworn, whole militia companies together? I should be glad to know how gentlemen can clear their consciences after taking that oath?" The Speaker referred to the blood shed by Governor Tryon, on the 16th of May, 1771, on Alamance Creek, when he dispersed the Regulators, men driven to open resistance of His Majesty's officers, by their tyranny and exactions;--and to the numerous executions that followed in Hillsborough and the neighboring country;--and to the oath of allegiance forced on the people by the Governor, to save their lives and property, after that bloodshed. The question produced great confusion, and many attempted to reply; the chairman could with difficulty preserve order. This question did not imply fear, or want of patriotism; it simply revealed the spirit and tone of the man's conscience, that he was one of those men blessed of the Lord, "who sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not." The excitement that followed evinced the fact that the Speaker had struck a chord that vibrated through the assembly. An answer must be given, or the event of that day's discussion would not be for independence. The haste to answer the question revealed the fact that the community felt the awful and binding sanction of a solemn oath; and unless some answer was

Page 37

given, and given speedily, the minds of the auditory would be turned back from the proposed declaration, for very many were held by the oath exacted by Tryon. Some cried out that--"allegiance and protection were reciprocal; when protection was withdrawn, allegiance ceased; that the oath was binding only while the King protected us in our rights and liberties as they existed at the time it was taken." Others, of more passion than conscience, cried out that such questions and difficulties were all "nonsense." One man at last carried the assembly with him by a short illustration, pointing to a green tree near the Court House,--"If I am sworn to do a thing as long as the leaves continue on that tree, I am bound by that oath as long as the leaves continue. But when the leaves fall, I am released from that obligation." The people determined that when protection ceased, allegiance ceased also. The Convention proceeded to enact by-laws and regulations by which it should be governed as a standing committee, and about midnight adjourned till noon the next day.

        The excitement continued to increase through the night and the succeeding morning. At noon, May 20th, the Convention re-assembled with an undiminished concourse of citizens, amongst whom might be seen many wives and mothers, anxiously awaiting the event. The resolutions previously drawn up by Dr. Brevard, and now amended by the committee, together with the by-laws and regulations, were taken up; John McKnitt Alexander read the by-laws, and Dr. Brevard the resolutions. All was stillness. The chairman of the Convention put the question:--"Are you all agreed?" The response was an universal "aye."

        After the business of the Convention was all arranged, it was moved and seconded that the proceedings should be read at the Court House door in hearing of the multitude. Proclamation was made, and from the Court House steps Colonel Thomas Polk read, to a listening and approving auditory, the following resolutions, viz.:--

THE MECKLENBURG DECLARATION.

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

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

Page 38

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

        "Resolved, 3d. That we do hereby declare ourselves a free and independent people; are, and of right ought to be, a sovereign and self-governing association, under the control of no power, other than that of our God, and the General Government of the Congress:--to the maintenance of which independence, we solemnly pledge to each other, our mutual co-operation, our lives, our fortunes, and our most sacred honor.

        "Resolved, 4th. That as we acknowledge the existence and control of no law, nor legal office, civil or military, within this county; we do hereby ordain and adopt, as a rule of life, all, each, and every of our former laws; wherein, nevertheless, the crown of Great Britain never can be considered as holding rights, privileges, immunities, or authority therein.

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

        A voice from the crowed called out for "three cheers," and the whole company shouted three times, and threw their hats in the air. The Resolutions were read again and again during the day to different companies desirous of retaining in their memories sentiments so congenial to their feelings. There are still living some whose parents were in that assembly, and heard and read the resolutions; and from whose lips they heard the circumstances and sentiments of this remarkable declaration.

THE SECOND MECKLENBURG DECLARATION.

        The Convention had frequent meetings, and on the 30th of May, 1775, issued the following paper, viz.:--

Page 39

"CHARLOTTE, MECKLENBURG COUNTY,
May 30th, 1775.

        "This day the committee of the county met and passed the following Resolves:--Whereas, by an Address presented to his Majesty by both houses of parliament, in February last, the American Colonies are declared to be in a state of actual rebellion, we conceive that all laws and commissions confirmed by, or derived from the authority of the king or parliament, are annulled and vacated, and the former civil constitution of these Colonies for the present wholly suspended. To provide, in some degree, for the exigencies of this county, in the present alarming period, we deem it necessary and proper to pass the following resolves, viz.:--

        "1st. That all commissions, civil and military, heretofore granted by the crown, to be exercised in these Colonies, are null and void, and the constitution of each particular Colony wholly suspended.

        "2d. That the Provincial Congress of each province, under the direction of the great Continental Congress, is invested with all legislative and executive powers, within their respective provinces, and that no other legislative power does, or can exist, at this time, in any of these Colonies.

        "3d. As all former laws are now suspended in this province, and the Congress have not provided others, we judge it necessary for the better preservation of good order, to form certain rules and regulations for the internal government of this county, until laws shall be provided for us by the Congress.

        "4th. That the inhabitants of this county do meet on a certain day appointed by this committee, and having formed themselves into nine companies, viz., eight in the county, and one in the town of Charlotte, do choose a Colonel and other military officers, who shall hold and exercise their several powers by virtue of this choice, and independent of the crown of Great Britain and the former constitution of this province."

        Then follow eleven articles for the preservation of the peace, and the choice of officers to perform the duties of a regular government.]

        "16th. That whatever person shall hereafter receive a commission from the crown, or attempt to exercise any such commission heretofore received, shall be deemed an enemy to his country; and upon information to the captain of the company in which he resides, the company shall cause him to be apprehended, and,

Page 40

upon proof of the fact, committed to safe custody, till the next sitting of the committee, who shall deal with him as prudence shall direct."


        A copy of the acts and doings of this convention was sent by express to the members of Congress from North Carolina, then in session in Philadelphia. Capt. James Jack, of Charlotte, was chosen as the bearer, and set out immediately on his mission. Passing through Salisbury, on the regular court day, he was persuaded by Mr. Kennon, a lawyer in attendance at court, also a member of the committee that reported the first declaration, to permit a reading of the papers publicly. The citizens of Rowan, generally, approved of the course taken by their fellow-citizens of Mecklenburg. Two individuals, John Dunn and Benjamin Booth Boote, opposed the sentiments of the resolution, pronounced them treasonable, and proposed the detention of Captain Jack. Bidding them defiance, and favored by the great majority of the people, he passed on unmolested, and delivered the declarations to the delegates from North Carolina, then in Philadelphia--Messrs. Caswell, Hooper, and Hewes. Approving of the spirit of their fellow citizens, and the tone of the resolutions, these gentlemen nevertheless thought them premature, as the General Congress had not then abandoned all hopes of a reconciliation with the mother country, on honorable terms; and did not present them to Congress. By this perhaps prudent smothering of the expressions of sentiment by an intelligent people, the citizens of Mecklenburg were disappointed, but not discouraged; they lost the foreground their patriotism merited, but lost not their spirit. They declared themselves independent May, 1775, and have never ceased to be so.

        A copy of the proceedings of the Convention was addressed to the Moderator of the first Provincial Congress of North Carolina, which met in Hillsborough, August 20th, 1775; and was laid before the committee of business, but not particularly acted upon, as the majority of the body were still hoping for reconciliation on honorable terms.

        A copy of the proceedings appeared in the Cape Fear Mercury, published in Wilmington, and meeting the eye of Governor Josiah Martin, is thus noticed by him in the Proclamation issued from on board his Majesty's ship Cruiser, August 8th, 1775, and sent to the Provincial Congress:--"And whereas, I have also seen a most infamous publication in the Cape Fear Mercury, importing to be

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'Resolves' of a set of people styling themselves 'a Committee of the County of Mecklenburg,' most traitorously declaring the entire dissolution of the laws, government, and constitution of the country, and setting up a system of rule and regulation repugnant to the laws, and subversive of his Majesty's government," &c. The Governor knew the people better than his predecessor, Tryon, and had he known them better still, he would have spoken of them more respectfully.

        A copy of the second declaration (that of May 30th, 1775) appeared in the public papers in New York and Massachusetts; files of which are still preserved; and from them was copied by Mr. Force into his State Papers.

        The history of the preservation of the first declaration (that of May 20th, 1775), in the absence of printed documents, will be given, in full, in the sketch of Hopewell Congregation, and the Secretary of the Convention.

        The energy of the committee was equal to the decision of their declarations. The laws were vigorously enforced; and the venerable chairman, and his coadjutor Col. Polk, with the committee at large, demonstrated that, in seeking freedom from tyranny, they designed no overthrow of law, or perversion of justice. Opposers of independence were reckoned offenders; and open offenders found no refuge in Mecklenburg. As soon as the news of the insult offered their express, Capt. Jack, in Salisbury, reached Charlotte, the committee ordered a party of some ten or twelve armed men, on horseback, to proceed to Salisbury, the seat of jnstice in Rowan, and bring these men prisoners to Charlotte. The party lost no time in fulfilling their mission, and met with no resistance in Rowan. The offenders, Dunn and Boote, were, after examination by the committee, sent to South Carolina as suspicious persons, to be kept in confinement. Gen. Graham says--"My brother, George Graham, and the late Col. John Carruth, were of the party that went to Salisbury; and it is distinctly remembered that when in Charlotte, they came home at night in order to provide for their trip to Camden; and they and two others of the party took Boote to that place. This was the first military expedition from Mecklenburg in the revolutionary war, and believed to be the first anywhere to the South."--But it was far from being the last, retired and frontier as the county was. It characterized, in its spirit, energy and success, the various expeditions in and from Mecklenburg during the seven years' war--more particularly in the distressing campaigns of Cornwallis, which Graham

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himself acted so conspicuous a part. Dunn and Boote were both transferred to Charleston, for safekeeping, as persons particularly inimical to the country. Their wives made a strong appeal in their favor to the Provincial Congress, which met in Hillsborough, August 20th, 1775: on the 29th of that month it was decided by a vote of that body that they remain in confinement.

        Associations were formed, very generally, throughout the different counties in the state during the summer of 1775. Articles drawn up for the purpose were signed individually as a test of patriotism. The first association of which there is a copy, was drawn up in Cumberland county, July 10th, 1775; the second in Tryon, now Lincoln, in August of the same year.

        The first Provincial Congress of North Carolina were not prepared for independence of the mother country; and on the 4th of September, 1775, after discussion and the action of a committee, it was resolved--"The present association ought to be further relied on for bringing about a reconciliation with the parent state." But on the 9th of the same month, the appointment of a Provincial Council, of thirteen persons, with executive powers, was resolved upon; also County Committees of Safety, with executive powers, in connection with the Provincial Council, to consist of not less than twenty-one persons, to be chosen annually by the electors on the day they made choice of Congressmen. It was also determined that, after the 10th day of December, no suit for debt should be entertained except by permission of this committee. These committees of safety appear to have been the same as that already in existence in Mecklenburg; and Abraham Alexander continued to act as the chairman, as appears from the following certificate, which may be also a specimen of the spirit of the times, and the vigilance with which the committee acted:

"NORTH CAROLINA, MECKLENBURG COUNTY,
"Nov. 28th, 1775.

        "These may certify to all whom they may concern, that the bearer hereof, William Henderson, is allowed here to be a true friend of liberty, and has signed the association.

        "Certified by Abraham Alexander, chairman of the committee of safety."


        Though the Declaration of Independence, made and repeated in Charlotte, in May, 1775, had no immediate effect upon the Continental Congress, it is not unfair to conjecture that it had an influence

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on the Provincial Congress of North Carolina, that met in Hillsborough in August of that year, in the appointment of the Provincial Committee and the County Committees of Safety, as four of the members of the convention were members of the Congress, viz.:--Thomas Polk, Waightstill Avery, John Pfifer, and John McKnitt Alexander. Neither is it unfair to conclude that it had some influence on the Provincial Congress that assembled in Halifax, April 4th, 1776: as, on the 8th of that month a committee was appointed, consisting of Messrs. Harnett, Burke, A. Jones, T. Jones, Nash, Henekin, and Person, to take into consideration the usurpations and violence committed by the king and parliament of Great Britain; and, on the 12th, Mr. Harnett submitted an able report, which was concluded with the following resolution, viz.:

        "Resolved, That the delegates from this colony, in Continental Congress, be empowered to concur with the delegates of the other colonies in declaring independence, and in forming foreign alliances; reserving to this colony the sole and exclusive right of forming a constitution and laws for this colony, and of appointing delegates from time to time (under the direction of a general representation thereof), to meet delegates of the other colonies for such purposes as shall be hereafter pointed out."


        This resolution was, on the same day it was proposed, unanimously adopted; and IS THE FIRST PUBLIC DECLARATION FOR INDEPENDENCE BY THE CONSTITUTED AUTHORITIES OF A STATE. It was presented to the Continental Congress, May 27th, 1776, nearly six weeks before the national Declaration.

        The question now arises, who were these people of Mecklenburg, and whence did they come? What were the habits and manners by which they were characterized? What were their religious principles? and what their daily practice? The county was comparatively new; and it was not yet forty years since the first of those composing the convention had settled in the wilderness. Agriculturists, at a distance from market, and in a fertile country affording in its pea-patches, and cane-brakes, and prairies, plentiful sustenance for their herds, they had abundance of provisions, and little of the sinews of war, money. Skilful marksmen, hunters, and horsemen, capable of enduring great fatigue, in making the Declaration of Independence, they offered a heart and a hand, to give and act according to their abilities, and the emergencies in which they might be placed. The riches of the gold mines were then unknown: the wealth of the country was in her sons,

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and she was rich. Protestants, trained in religious things in the strict doctrines of the Reformation, their settlements were made in congregations; and their places of worship so arranged as to accommodate all the families. Their descendants now assemble where their fathers worshipped before the Revolution. Their forms and creed were the forms and creed of their ancestors, who were eminently a religious people; and their Confession of Faith has descended as a legacy from the emigrants, to go down to the latest posterity.

        Whence did these people come? and what was their ancestry? Of the members of the Convention that proclaimed Independence, May, 1775, one was a minister of the Gospel, and nine were Elders in the Church; and all in some way connected with the seven churches and congregations that embraced the whole county of Mecklenburg. In tracing their history, the true and legitimate workings of religious principles are as happily displayed as in the annals of any State or section in the United States. When the history of these people and their descendants shall be the history of two centuries, it may, and probably will appear, that in the advance of true religious and genuine liberty and sound literature, the South and West are not a whit behind the most favored sections of our Confederacy. It cannot well be otherwise, for the principles, the creed of Puritanism, under whose influence human society has so happily been developed in the New England States, are the principles of Presbytery, the principles of civil and religious liberty, that struck deep in the soil of Carolina, and sent out their vigorous shoots in the great valley of the Mississippi.

        But the question arises with increased force, who were these people, and whence did they come? In what school of politics and religion had they been disciplined? At what fountains had they been drinking such inspirations, that here in the wilderness, common people, in their thoughts of freedom and equality, far outstripped the most ardent leaders in the Continental Congress? Whence came these men, that spoke out their thoughts, and thought as they spoke; and both thought and spoke unextinguishable principles of freedom of conscience and civil liberty? That they were poor and obscure but adds to their interest, when it is known that their deeds in the Revolution were equal to their principles. Many a "life" was given in Mecklenburg in consequence of that declaration, and much of "fortune" was sacrificed; but their "honor" came out safe, even

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their great enemy Tarleton being witness. They did not get their ideas of liberty and law from Vattel, or Puffendorf, or the tomes of English law. From what book then did they get their knowledge, their principles of life? Ahead of their own State in their political notions, as a body, they never wavered through the whole Revolutionary struggle; and their descendants possess now just what these people asserted then, both in religion and politics, in conscience and in the state.

        To North Carolina belongs the unperishable honor of being the first in declaring that Independence, which is the pride and glory of every American. Honor to whom honor is due!

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CHAPTER II.
BLOOD SHED ON THE ALAMANCE--THE FIRST BLOOD SHED IN THE REVOLUTION, MAY 16TH, 1771.

        IN the year 1759 a town was established by the legislature of the province of North Carolina, on the Eno, a branch of the Neuse, near its head waters, in the county of Orange, which might have received its name, Hillsborough, from the beautiful eminences by which it is surrounded, as well as from the Earl of Hillsborough, Secretary of State for American affairs, from whom it is called. Its first name was Childsborough, in honor of the Attorney-General; but the change speedily took place on account of the odium attached to the attorney for his exorbitant fees.

        This little village, the county seat of Orange, has claims upon our attention, for events enacted within its precincts and its neighborhood, in times gone by. It was the seat of the first provincial congress in North Carolina, 1775;--the head-quarters of Gates after his sad defeat at Camden;--and of his adversary, Lord Cornwallis, on his invasion of Carolina in his pursuit of Greene (the residence of his Lordship, then one of the most sightly buildings in the village, is now kept as a tavern of no splendid appearance);--but more particularly noted as the place of the first outbreaking of those discontents, which had shown themselves in complaints and remonstrances, but here assumed form and consistence, first heard of in Orange and Granville, and ultimately spreading over all that section of the State west of a line drawn from the point of entrance of the Roanoke, from Virginia, to the point of egress of the Yadkin to South Carolina;--discontents, and complaints, and outbreakings, that eventuated in the first blood shed in Carolina, in the contest of freedom of opinion and property with the tyranny and misrule of the British government: and the first contest that had any appearance of a regular predetermined battle, in the provinces in North America.

        This spirit of discontent was at first confined to that part of the province granted and set off to Lord Granville, which was bounded by the Virginia line on the north, by the line of latitude

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of 35° 34'' on the south, and extending from the Atlantic Ocean indefinitely west; but more particularly, that part of his Lordship's domain lying west of the line from the Roanoke to the Catawba, at the points specified above. It might have been quieted, had the governor been as ready to require the agents of Granville and his own officers to do justice, as he was to issue his proclamations, filled with promises, and vain orders, to a people irritated by oppression, but not desirous of rebellion.

        On the 24th of April, 1771, Governor Tryon marched from Newbern with a small force, on his way, according to the recommendation of the council, to check a rebellion in the upper country, which had received the name of the Regulators, or the Regulation; the militia of the several counties, in answer to the governor's demand upon the constituted authorities, joined him on his march; and on the 4th of May he encamped at Hunter's lodge in Wake county. Here being joined by a detachment of militia under Col. John Hinton, he found himself at the head of an armed force sufficient to alarm, if not subdue, the undisciplined country in which the dissatisfaction prevailed. He left the palace in Newbern accompanied by about three hundred men, a small train of artillery, and a number of baggage wagons; on the way he had been joined by the detachment of militia from New Hanover county, under Col. John Ashe; of the county of Craven, under Col. Joseph Leech; of the county of Dobbs (now called Lenoir), under Col. Richard Caswell; of the county of Onslow, under Col. Craig; of the county of Cartaret, under Col. William Thompson; of the county of Johnson, under Col. Needham Bryan; of the county of Beaufort, a company of artillery, under Capt. Moore, and a company of Rangers under Capt. Neale; and a company of light horsemen from Duplin, under Capt. Bullock.

        From this place he sent out some detachments to assist the sheriffs in collecting their taxes and various fees due to the government and its officers, with the hope of overawing the community by his military parade; and on the 9th instant marched to the Eno, and encamped within a few miles of Hillsborough, the centre of the infected district, and the residence of the most hated and oppressive officer of the crown, Col. Edmund Fanning, who joined his camp at this place with a detachment of the militia of Orange, whom by various means he had prevailed upon to unite with the governor in putting down their distressed and rebellious neighbors.

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        This was the second visit paid by the governor to the county of Orange on account of the agitation of the public mind, and the disturbances in the community, and the difficulty attending the collection of taxes and the fees of the public officers. In the early part of July, 1768, he came as governor, unattended with any armed force, and used the authority of the chief magistrate, and the address of a practised politician, to restore order, under promises of redress. The apparent quiet gave place to redoubled confusion after his departure, as the promises of protection from illegal exactions all proved vain. He now came with an armed detachment of the colonial militia, to quell by power what he would not control by justice.

        The whole inhabited region of Carolina, west of the line mentioned above, inhabited, as Martin says,--"by several thousand families, removed from the mother country, settled in the frontier counties of the province, exposed to the dangers of savage Indians, and subject to all the hardships and difficulties of cultivating a desolate wilderness, under the expectation of enjoying to their fullest extent the exercise of their religious privileges as a people,"--and with their religious were joined inseparably the civil and domestic rights of an enterprising race accustomed to endure hardship and resist oppression;--all this region of country was agitated, and in some parts in open rebellion; without a single military leader of experience; with few men of much wealth or political eminence, or polished education; with a population of scattered neighborhoods, and not a single fortified place, or any preparations of the munitions of war beyond the rifle and powder and ball of the hunter.

        Mr. Wirt, in his Life of Patrick Henry, says, "the spirit of revolution in Virginia began in the highest circles in the community, and worked its way down to the lower, the bone and sinew of the country." Wherever it may have begun in the eastern part of Carolina, it is certain that in the western division, the people, feeling that their interests were neglected by the governor, and misunderstood or overlooked by the seaboard counties, and not protected, or even consulted, by the parliament or court of England, or any of their executive officers, were moved as one great, excited, undisciplined mass of shrewd, hardy, enterprising men, that acknowledged the dominion of law, and held "opposition to tyrants" to be "obedience to God."

        The men on the seaboard of Carolina, with Colonels Ashe and Waddel at their head, had nobly opposed the Stamp Act, and prevented

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its execution in North Carolina; and in their patriotic movements the people of Orange sustained them; and called them "The Sons of Liberty." Col. Ashe, in Wilmington, had ventured to lead the excited populace against the wishes and even the hospitality of the governor, and in 1766 his party had thrown the governor's roasted ox, provided for a barbecue feast, into the river. Now they were marching with his very governor, to subdue the disciples of Liberty in the west; perhaps, through a misunderstanding of the true nature of the case, they were willing to convince the governor that they were all supporters of the laws and of the authority of the British crown, by uniting with him and subduing those who were reported to the council and provincial legislature as an ignorant and restless multitude, to be reclaimed, by severity, to the government of the laws. The eastern men looked for evils from across the waters; and were prepared to resist oppression on their shores before it should step upon the soil of their State. The western men were seeking redress from evils that pressed them at home, under the misrule of the officers of the province, evils unknown by experience in the eastern counties, and misunderstood when reported there. Had Ashe, and Waddel, and Caswell, understood their case, they would have acted like Thomas Person, of Granville, and favored the distressed even though they might have felt under obligations to maintain the peace of the province, and the due subordination to the laws. While the rest of this province, and the other provinces, were resisting by resolutions and remonstrances, and making preparations for distant and coming evils; these western men, in defence of their rights, boldly made resistance to the constituted authorities, unto blood. While the eastern men stopped the stamped paper on the shore, these contended with an enemy in their own bosom, and sought deliverance at home in the wilderness.

        The disturbances Governor Tryon came to quell were no sudden outbreaks of a discontented and excitable people. As early as the year 1759, the attention of the legislature of the province was called to the illegal fees exacted by the officers of government, producing great and alarming discontents; and a law proposed for redress failed in meeting the approbation of the legislature, though the discontent of persons living on Lord Granville's land had been manifested by the seizure of his lordship's agent, in Edenton, Francis Corbin, and his purchase of liberty by his bond, for future better behavior, in £8,000, with eight securities. This exhibition

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of popular frenzy was not noticed by the governor, because one of his favorite counsellors, M'Culloch, was engaged in it. In 1760, the people of Orange, finding themselves "defrauded by the clerks of the several courts, by the recorders of deeds, by entry takers, by surveyors, and by the lawyers, every man demanding twice or three times his legal fees," violently prevented the sheriff from holding an election according to proclamation of the governor, in expectation of some new oppression by the office-holders, in the form of taxes and fees. In June, 1765, a paper entitled, "A serious address to the people of Granville county, containing a brief narrative of our situation, and the wrongs we suffer, with some necessary hints with respect to a reformation," was circulated in that county, with great effect, being written with much clearness and force. The wrongs complained of in Orange, and Granville, and Anson, and the other counties, were essentially, and for the most part, individually the same.

        The people complained that illegal and exorbitant fees were extorted by officers of government; that oppressive taxes were exacted by the sheriffs, where they had a right to exact some; and that the manner of their collection at all times was oppressive, especially when the right to exact any was denied. As early as the years 1752 or 1753, Childs and Corbin, the agents for Lord Granville, and successors of Mosely and Holton, began to oppress the people who had been induced, by fair promises, to settle on his lordship's reservation, by declaring the patents issued by their predecessors null and void, because the words, "Right Honorable Earl," had been left out from the signature, which had been simply, "Granville, by his Attorneys." They next demanded a larger fee for the patents they issued, than had been given to their predecessors;--next, a fee for a device which they had invented to be affixed to the papers;--also, by granting over and over again, knowingly, the same lands to different persons, and in no case returning the illegal fees;--and in various ways rendering titles to land uncertain and insecure in a large part of Orange. In all these extortions the people complained that the high officers of the province were so interested, there was little prospect of justice but by some strong appeals and exhibitions of powerful dislike, that could not be frowned down.

        The governor's proclamation, issued from time to time, requiring that copies of the legal fees should be exhibited to the people, and no others demanded, were disregarded by his officers; and it was more than hinted that the judges were, indirectly at least, in many

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cases, partakers of the crime, by sharing the fees of office with the inferior officers. This gave weight and impunity to the oppressive exactions. The people were poor; living on productive land as most of them did, they were far from market, and had scarcely surmounted the labors and exposures of a new settlement. One of them, who was engaged in the opposition, declared that when he had gone with his father to Fayetteville to market, with a load of wheat, he could get a bushel of salt for a bushel of wheat; or if money was demanded, they could get five shillings a bushel for wheat, of which one only was in money, and the rest in trade. And if they could go home with forty shillings, or five dollars, from a load of forty bushels, they thought they had done well. In these circumstances double fees and double taxes were exceedingly oppressive,--and to men of their principles these exactions were sufficient cause of open and persevering resistance.

        In 1766, the Stamp Act was repealed, and the governor issued two proclamations on the 25th of June, one making known that desirable fact, the other requiring of the officers of government strict adherence to the graduated table of fees; expecting of consequence that both the east and the west would be gratified, and make no further resistance to the collection of the lawful taxes, and range themselves on the side of the government. The relief and tranquillity were far greater in the eastern counties than in the western. During the session of the county court of Orange, a number of persons entered the court-house in Hillsborough, and presented to the magistrates a written complaint, drawn up by Harmon Husbands, which they requested the clerk to read, setting forth the views of the people respecting their wrongs,--"that there were many evils complained of in the county of Orange that ought to be redressed,"--and proposing that there should be a meeting in each company of militia, for the purpose of appointing delegates for a general meeting to be held at some suitable place "where there was no liquor,"--"judiciously to inquire whether the freemen of this county labor under any abuse of power,"--"that the opinions of the deputies be committed to writing, freely conversed upon,--and measures taken for amendment." The proposition was considered reasonable, and a meeting was appointed to be held at Maddock's Mill, two or three miles west of Hillsborough, on the 10th of October, to inquire into the acts of government,--"for while men were men, if even the Sons of Liberty were put in office they would become corrupt and oppressive, unless they were called upon to give an account of their stewardship."

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        The company meetings were held, and the delegates were appointed; in some cases, with written commissions, viz:--"At a meeting in the neighborhood of Deep River, 20th of August, 1766, it was unanimously agreed to appoint W. C. and W. M. to attend a general meeting on the 10th of October, at Maddock's Mill, where they are judiciously to examine whether the freemen in this county labor under any abuses of power; and in particular to examine into the public tax, and inform themselves of every particular thereof, by what laws, and for what use it is laid, in order to remove some jealousies out of our minds." "And the representatives, vestrymen, and other officers, are requested to give the members what information and satisfaction they can, so far as they value the good will of every honest freeholder, and the executing public offices pleasant and delightsome."

        On the appointed day, the 10th of October, 1766, the delegates assembled; after some time, James Watson, a friend of Col. Fanning, the most odious officer in the county, came, and as a reason for his not appearing to give account as their representative, read a message from Fanning, that, "It had been his intention of attending them till a few days ago, when he observed in the notice from Deep River, the word judiciously, which signified the authority of a court; and that he considered the meeting an insurrection." The meeting had full and free discussion on a variety of topics; and finally resolved that such meetings as the present were necessary, annually, or oftener, to hear from their representatives and officers, in order to have the benefits of their constitution and the choice of their rulers; and that as their representatives, sheriffs, vestry and other officers had not met them here, with but one exception, they should have another opportunity of conferring with their constituents. It is impossible to conceive what fairer mode of ascertaining the truth could be devised by men situated as they were, without a printing press and without newspapers. Such proceedings might, in the colonial days, be rebellion to be put down; in these days of liberty, a man would lose his hold on the community were he to refuse compliance with such commands from his constituents, or the community at large.

        In April, 1767, another meeting was held at the same place, Maddock's Mills, and the following preamble and resolutions were discussed and adopted, by which these men passed the Rubicon; and from being called a mob, or insurgents, were known by the name of REGULATORS, or THE REGULATION, and were considered as having some continued existence:

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        "We, the subscribers, do voluntarily agree to form ourselves into an association, to assemble ourselves for conference for regulating public grievances and abuses of power, in the following particulars, with others of the like nature that may occur, viz.:

        "1st. That we will pay no more taxes until we are satisfied they are agreeable to law, and applied to the purposes therein mentioned, unless we cannot help it, or are forced.

        "2d. That we will pay no officer any more fees than the law allows, and unless we are obliged to it; and then to show our dislike, and bear an open testimony against it.

        "3d. That we will attend our meetings of conference as often as we conveniently can, and is necessary in order to consult our representatives on the amendment of such laws as may be found grievous or unnecessary; and to choose more suitable men than we have done heretofore for burgesses and vestrymen; and to petition the houses of assembly, governor, council, king, and parliament, &c., for redress in such grievances as in the course of the undertaking may occur; and to inform one another, learn, know, and enjoy all the privileges and liberties that are allowed, and were settled on us by our worthy ancestors, the founders of our present constitution, in order to preserve it on its ancient foundation, that it may stand firm and unshaken.

        "4th. That we will contribute to collections for defraying necessary expenses attending the work, according to our abilities.

        "5th. That in case of difference in judgment, we will submit to the judgment of the majority of our body.

        "To all which we solemnly swear, or being a Quaker, or otherwise scrupulous in conscience of the common oath, do solemnly affirm, that we will stand true and faithful to this cause, till we bring things to a true regulation, according to the true intent and meaning hereof, in the judgment of a majority of us."


        These resolutions were drawn up by Harmon Husbands.

        A subscription was set on foot, and fifty pounds were collected for the purpose of defraying the expenses of such suits as might arise in seeking redress of their grievances.

        During this year, 1767, the governor commenced his palace at Newbern, for which, with great difficulty, he had obtained an appropriation of £5,000 by the last legislature; and proceeded in a tasteful and expensive style of building, to expend the whole sum upon the foundation and a small part of the superstructure. At the meeting of the two houses in December of this year, the governor laid before them the condition of the building. The legislature

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with reluctance gave, as the only alternative, £10,000 more to complete the palace. When finished it was pronounced the most superb building in the United Provinces. The governor was gratified, and the people incensed. The taxes had been burdensome--the palace rendered them intolerable.

        On the 21st of May, 1768, the Regulators had another meeting, and determined to petition the governor direct, and prepared their address; which, with a copy of their proceedings at this and the previous meetings, was sent to His Excellency, by James Hunter and Rednap Howell. In the month of June, these gentlemen waited upon the governor at Brunswick; and in reply to their petition, received a written document from which the following extracts are made:

        "The grievances complained of by no means warrant the extraordinary steps you have taken: in consideration of a determination to abide by my decision in council, it is my direction, by the unanimous advice of that board, that you do, from henceforward, desist from any further meetings, either by verbal appointments or advertisement. That all titles of Regulators or Associators cease among you. As you want to be satisfied what is the amount of the tax for the public service for 1767, I am to inform you, it is seven shillings a taxable, besides the county and parish taxes, the particulars of which I will give to Mr. Hunter. I have only to add, I shall be up at Hillsborough the beginning of next month."


        In all these public and documentary proceedings of the Regulators, we see nothing to blame, and much to admire. On these principles, and to this extent of opposition, the whole western counties were agreed. The most sober and sedate in the community were united in resisting the tyranny of unjust and exorbitant taxes; and had been aroused to a degree of violence and opposition difficult to manage and hard to quell. And the more restless and turbulent and unprincipled parts of society, equally aggrieved, and more ungovernable, cast themselves in as a part of the resisting mass of population, with little to gain, but greater license for their unprincipled passions, and little to lose, could they escape confinement and personal punishment. These persons were guilty of lynching the sheriffs, that is, seizing those they found in the exercise of their office, tying them to a black-jack, or other small trees, beating them severely with rods, laughing and shouting to see their contortions; they would rescue property which had been seized for taxes, often with great violence; and on one occasion, in April, 1768, proceeded to fire a few shots upon the house of Edmund Fanning in Hillsborough. These

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unjustifiable acts were charged upon the party; and the Regulators were made accountable for all the ill that wicked men chose to perpetrate under the name of struggling for liberty; while it is well known that the leaders of this oppressed party never expressed a desire to be free from law or equitable taxation. The governor's palace, double and treble fees and taxes without reason, drove the sober to resistance, and the passionate and unprincipled to outrage. But there were cases of injustice most foul and crying that might palliate, where they could not justify, the violence that followed; such as taking advantage of the quietness of the Regulators to seize a man's horse with the bridle and saddle, and selling them for four or five dollars to an officer, to pay taxes resisted as illegal.

        The sheriff had taken advantage of a peculiar conjuncture of events to seize two of the leading men. A meeting had been agreed upon to be held on the 20th of May, 1768, when the sheriff and vestrymen would meet a deputation from the Regulators, and give them satisfaction. Previous to that day a messenger came from the governor with a proclamation against the Regulation as an insurrection; the sheriff immediately, with a party of thirty horsemen, rode some fifty miles, and seizing Harmon Husbands and William Hunter, confined them in Hillsborough jail. The whole country arose, and making an old Scotchman of some seventy years of age, Ninian Bell Hamilton, their leader, marched towards Hillsborough to the rescue. When they reached the Eno, they found the prisoners set free, with this condition laid upon them among others--"nor show any jealousies of the officers taking extraordinary fees." When the Regulators reached the Eno, Fanning went down to meet them with a bottle of rum in one hand and of wine in the other, and called for a horse to take him over--"ye're nane too gude to wade," replied the old Scotchman. Fanning waded the river, but no one would partake of his refreshments, or listen to his statements. The governor's messenger, who had just then retu