USA > North Carolina > Rowan County > A history of Rowan County, North Carolina > Part 19
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35
Thomas Craige lived near Dr. Chunn's place, not far from the old Mocksville Road, and married Susan Jones, the sister of Judge Rowland Jones, late of Louisiana. He died in 1845, and left two children- Thomas, who died in Shreveport; and Mary, who is still living and teaching in St. Louis, Mo.
David Craige, Jr., married his cousin, Mary Foster, and lived on the south fork of the Yadkin, at the place now the residence of James Hudson. His children were: Robert Newton, Samuel, John, and Burton Craige. Robert Newton Craige lived at the home of his father, on South River, and died just before the late war, leaving two daughters. Samuel left two children-Sally, who married Robert Chunn and moved to Arkansas; and Clitus, who was killed at the battle of Cedar Run in Virginia. John Craige left two sons and a daughter, the latter of whom, Miss Bettie Craige, lived with her uncle, Hon. Burton Craige, in Salisbury, for a number of years.
HON. BURTON CRAIGE
the youngest son of David Craige, Jr., was born in Rowan County, March 13, 181I, at the family resi- dence on the south fork of the Yadkin, a few miles above the point, or junction of the two rivers. His early days were spent on the farm and in attending the schools which the neighborhood afforded. About 1823-25, he attended a classical school taught in Salis-
330
HISTORY OF ROWAN COUNTY
bury by the Rev. Jonathan Otis Freeman. From this school he went to the University of North Carolina, where he was graduated in the Class of 1829. Re- turning to Rowan, he for three years edited The Western Carolinian, and studied law under David F. Caldwell, Esq., and was licensed in 1832. The same year of his licensure he was elected to the Legislature from the Borough of Salisbury. The Borough em- braced nearly the same territory comprised in the present Salisbury Township, and was a relic of the old Colonial times when Newbern, Edenton, Wilming- ton, Bath, Halifax, and Salisbury were each entitled to a representative in the Assembly. The convention which met in Raleigh, June 4, 1835, to amend the con- stitution of North Carolina, abolished Borough repre- sentation, and the counties thenceforth sent represen- tatives according to population. In the old Borough system the free negroes were allowed, by sufferance, without specific legal right, to vote at elections, but under the revised constitution this was forbidden. Mr. Craige was wont to describe with much zest how the different political Parties under the old system were in the habit of herding and penning the free negroes, and low white voters also, in the "Round Bottom" and elsewhere, guarding, feeding, and treating them for several days before elections, and then marching them into town and "voting" them en masse. Sometimes the opposite Party would make a raid upon one of these pens, at the last moment, and carry off their voters in triumph. These abuses, among other things, led to the abolition of the Borough system.
HON. BURTON CRAIGE
33I
OLD FAMILIES OF ROWAN
In 1834, Mr. Craige was elected to the Assembly by the County of Rowan. In 1836 he was united in mar- riage to Miss Elizabeth P. Erwin, daughter of Col. James Erwin, of Burke County, and great grand- daughter of Gen. Matthew Locke, of Rowan. The same year Mr. Craige, being in a feeble state of health, visited Europe, and being much benefited returned home and devoted himself to the practice of his pro- fession. During these years he gathered around him a host of friends, and his practice in the Courts of Rowan was extensive. He possessed those qualities that endeared him to the people-plainness of speech, simplicity of manners, and familiarity in intercourse, without the semblance of condescension. He remem- bered the names and the faces of people, and the humblest man whom Mr. Craige had ever known would approach him with perfect assurance of recog- nition and cordial greeting. I do not know that Mr. Craige was peculiarly successful as a farmer himself, but he could talk of farming and of all the interests of the farmer with far more intelligence, fluency, and accuracy than the farmer could himself. He was as perfectly at ease in the homes of the humblest as he was polite and courteous in the parlors of the rich and fashionable. He was thus eminently qualified for a successful politician, and when in 1853 he received the nomination for Congress, he was elected, as he was also in 1855-57-59; and he was a member of Con- gress when the late war began. When the convention of North Carolina was called, in 1861, to determine the course North Carolina should pursue, Mr. Craige was
332
HISTORY OF ROWAN COUNTY
sent there from Rowan County, and on the twentieth of May he offered the Ordinance of Secession, which was adopted, and which placed the State of North Carolina along with her sister States of the South in the great struggle against the Federal Government. By this convention he was chosen as a member of the Confederate Congress, along with W. N. H. Smith, Thomas Ruffin, T. D. McDowell, A. W. Venable, J. M. Morehead, R. C. Puryear, and A. T. Davidson. After this he retired to private life, though watching with eager interest the mighty struggle in which his country was embarked. And when at last the flag which bore the blazonry of the "Stars and Bars" was furled, he declined to take any further part in national affairs. He would not apply for the removal of his "dis- abilities." He still practised his profession, studied the history and recounted the deeds of former days, and sought repose from the strife of public affairs in the bosom of his family. He died in Concord, in the house of his son-in-law, Mr. A. B. Young, where he had gone to attend the Cabarrus Court, December 30, 1875. His remains were laid to rest in Oak Grove Cemetery in Salisbury.
In stature Mr. Craige was herculean-six feet six inches in height, and of corresponding proportions. Fearless and positive in the assertion of his convic- tions, and with a mien and physical form that might have awakened the envy and excited the fear of the bravest knight of the days of chivalry, he instinctively commanded the respect of his associates, while at the
HON. KERR CRAIGE
333
OLD FAMILIES OF ROWAN
same time he charmed them with his frank, affable, and jovial disposition.
Mr. Craige left three sons and two daughters who, with their mother, still survive.
James, the eldest, was a cadet at West Point, at the opening of the war, but he returned in haste to his home, entered the Confederate army, and rose to the rank of Major in the infantry.
Kerr, the second son, was in the University of North Carolina when the war began, but entered the calvary service in Gen. Rufus Barringer's brigade. He served through the war, and is now a lawyer in Salisbury.
Frank, the youngest, also entered the Army and served through the war. He now resides in Ten- nessee.
His elder daughter is the wife of Mr. Alfred B. Young, of Concord, and his younger, the wife of Mr. John P. Allison, of Concord.
THE STOKES FAMILY
The Hon. John Stokes lived in Rowan County (now Davie), near Richmond Hill, the residence of Rich- mond Pearson. He was a colonel in the Revolu- tionary army, and lost his right hand in the affair of Buford's defeat in the Waxhaws. He had a silver cup or "fist" made, which he wore, and in his speeches at the Bar he would sometimes bring down this silver fist with a ringing sound.
He married Elizabeth, the daughter of Richmond Pearson, and half-sister of the late Chief Justice
334
HISTORY OF ROWAN COUNTY
Pearson. He had a son named Richmond Pearson Stokes, who was also a lawyer. Colonel Stokes was at one time United States District Judge. He died in 1801.
Gov. MONTFORD STOKES
was for a long period a resident of Rowan County. He was born about 1760, and was in the Revolutionary army, and was taken prisoner near Norfolk in 1776, and confined for several months in a prison ship. For a number of years he was Clerk of Rowan Superior Court, and Clerk of the State Senate. He was elected by the General Assembly to the United States Senate, but declined to serve. In 1816 he was again elected Senator of the United States, and served until 1823. In 1831 he was appointed by General Jackson, Indian Agent in Arkansas. He removed to that State, and died there in 1842.
The historian of North Carolina, Colonel Moore, says of him, that "Few men were so popular as he, and his wit and humor were unceasing in their flow." Governor Stokes removed from Salisbury about 1812, and settled in Wilkesboro. He was first married to Mary, the daughter of Col. Henry Irwin, who fell at the battle of Germantown. By her he had one daughter, named Adelaide, who became the wife of Henry Chambers, of Rowan. Also a son named Mont- ford S. Stokes, who was a Major of the North Caro- lina Regiment in the War with Mexico. At the open- ing of the late War between the States, Montford S. Stokes was Colonel of the First North Carolina State
335
OLD FAMILIES OF ROWAN
Troops. Colonel Stokes was killed at Ellyson's Mill, near Richmond, June 26, 1862.
His second wife was Rachel Montgomery, the daughter of Hugh Montgomery, of Salisbury. By her he had several children-Hugh M. Stokes, David Stokes, Thomas Jefferson Stokes, and several daughters.
CHAPTER XXIV
-
THE WAR OF 1812-14
In tracing the history of Rowan County, it will not be expected that we shall enter into a detail of the great public affairs of the United States. And yet we must glance at them in order to account for events that took place in this county. The Barbary States, on the north coast of Africa, for a while obstructed the commerce of the United States in the Mediterra- nean Sea, and this led to a war with Tripoli, in 1803, in which Commodore Preble, Lieut. Stephen Decatur, and Commodore Barron took a conspicuous part, and brought the Bashaw to make a treaty of peace, which was concluded in 1805. But this matter was scarcely settled when a greater difficulty arose. England and France were then at war, and the United States be- came involved in regard to her commerce. By "Orders in Council," the English government declared all vessels conveying produce from the United States to Europe legal prizes. Again, in 1806, England de- clared several European ports in a state of blockade. Napoleon, by his "Berlin Decree" and "Milan Decree," forbade the introduction of English goods into any part of Europe, and confiscated the cargoes of all such vessels as should submit to be searched by the Eng- lish. But England was in need of sailors, and as many
338
HISTORY OF ROWAN COUNTY
of them were supposed to be employed on American ships she insisted upon searching the ships of the United States. In vain did America protest. The "Queen of the Seas" held our power in contempt, and continued to search all American vessels by force. As the only course left, the Congress of the United States passed the "Embargo Act," by which all United States trading vessels were prohibited from leaving their ports. This Act operated not only to the dis- advantage of England, but was disastrous to the shipping interests of this country. All foreign com- merce was destroyed, and the people were left to their own resources. Coffee and tea, silks, broadcloths, ribbons, and all such commodities, became as rare as they were in the late Confederate States. This caused distress and murmuring, especially in New England, where most of the shipping was owned. In the mean- time, President Jefferson went out of office, and James Madison was inaugurated in 1809. Soon after Madi- son's inauguration the British Minister at Washing- ton gave assurances that England's "Orders in Council" would be revoked. Upon this Mr. Madison issued a Proclamation-April 19, 1809-that the non- intercourse Act would be suspended after the tenth of the following June. This Proclamation produced great joy throughout the whole country, and the wave of gladness rolled over the land and reached the quiet town of Salisbury. The citizens of Rowan had a gen- eral parade in Salisbury, followed by an illumination at night. Capt. John Beard had an immense frame- work, something like old-time warping bars, erected in
339
THE WAR OF 1812
front of his house, with candles blazing on every part of the structure. At the foot of it was a table filled with decanters and bottles containing choice liquors, and all his friends were invited to drink to the general joy. Mr. Edward Chambers, son of the elder Max- well Chambers, made a speech to the ladies, in which he assured them that now the embargo was raised they would have less work to do, inasmuch as they could purchase goods from Europe. But all this joy was premature. The good news had hardly reached the most distant parts of the country before President Madison was assured that the British Minister had exceeded his instructions, and that the "Orders in Council" would not be revoked. And so the President at once issued another Proclamation countermanding the first. And so matters went on, English ships searching American vessels wherever found, with now and then a naval battle.
In the meantime two remarkable natural phenomena occurred that filled the minds of many of our people with foreboding fears. The first of these was the ap- pearance of the celebrated comet of 1811. This comet was the most remarkable in appearance of all that have been seen in the present century. While its nucleus was only four hundred and twenty-eight miles in di- ameter, it had a tail one hundred and thirty-two mil- lions of miles in length, and had it been coiled around the earth like a serpent, it would have wrapped around it more than five thousand times. This comet has a period of thirty-three hundred and eighty-three years, and had not visited our heavens since B. C. 1572. Then
340
HISTORY OF ROWAN COUNTY
it may have heralded the birth of Moses, and Amram and Jochebed may have gazed at it in wonder, and the cruel Pharaoh may have beheld it with terror, from the banks of the Nile. Be this as it may, many of the people of Rowan County were very much frightened at its terrible appearance, and regarded it as the harbinger of evil. It appeared in June, 1811, and continued to blaze in the western sky until November. It is related that late one afternoon in November, a terrible ex- plosion was heard, like a peal of thunder. But the sky was clear and serene. After this the comet was seen no more. Of course there was no connection between the explosion and the disappearance of the comet ; but the common people naturally connected them together.
On the eleventh of December another remarkable event occurred. At two o'clock in the morning an earthquake occurred, that shook the houses, toppled brick from the chimneys, and caused hanging furniture to sway backward and forward like a pendulum, and the water would splash out of vessels that stood on the floor. The period of agitation lasted from November until April, 1812. Sometimes there would be two or three shocks in a day, and then only one every two or three weeks. Some of the people would feel as if sea- sick, and all of them had awful apprehension of some dreadful catastrophe impending.
Meanwhile public affairs were drifting towards a declaration of war. The ultimatum of the British government was referred in Congress to the Com- mittee of Foreign Relations, of which John C. Calhoun
34I
THE WAR OF 1812
was chairman. This Committee reported in favor of a declaration of war. The bill to this end was adopted by Congress, and received the signature of President Madison in June, 1812. The plan of the war, on the part of the United States, was to seize the British Provinces in Canada. This was looked upon as an easy method of bringing England to terms, while little was expected from the infant navy. As it turned out, the navy of the United States made a brilliant rec- ord of heroism, while disaster after disaster character- ized the land forces.
But to return to Rowan County, we learn that the military spirit pervaded the whole community in 1812 and 1813. Great volunteer meetings were held, and companies and regiments paraded in the streets of Salisbury. Patriotic speeches were made, and volun- teers stepped into the ranks of the recruiting officers. Barracks were erected on the eastern side of Crane Creek, on the plantation owned by the late Samuel Reeves, and the barracks were under the command of Col. James Welborn, of Wilkes County. Most of the companies were sheltered in cabins erected for the purpose, but it is remembered that Captain Cloud's Company, from Stokes County, preferred to live in tents. Capt. Jerry Cloud was the father of the Hon. J. M. Cloud, and died near Norfolk, in the encamp- ment with his Company, from the ravages of disease superinduced by measles.
Besides Colonel Welborn, in command, the officers were Captain Ward, Lieutenant Dearing, and Paymas- ter Glenn. I suppose the proper title for the barracks
342
HISTORY OF ROWAN COUNTY
would be a "Camp of Instruction." Recruits of vol- unteers and enlisted men came here from all Western North Carolina, from South Carolina, and from Georgia. Here they were drilled, embodied, and sent off to the army on the borders of Canada. Some of them went to Sackett's Harbor. They marched to Portsmouth, in Virginia, and went thence in trans- ports as near to Lake Champlain as they could go by water. The camp remained in active operation until late in 1813. When news of a victory by Com- modore Perry, or Capt. Isaac Hull, or the defense of Fort Meigs by the gallant Harrison, or any other en- couraging news came, the event was duly celebrated at the barracks, or by a feast or dance in some of the parlors of the town. There may have been thanks- giving services in some of the churches in the country, but Salisbury had no church and no minister in those days.
While the war was raging on the northern frontier, the Creek Indians in Georgia and Alabama took up arms against the white settlers. The celebrated Tecumseh made a visit to the Southern Indians in the spring of 1812, and excited them to resistance. The white inhabitants on the Alabama River, in August, 1813, having taken refuge in Fort Mimms, in the Ten- saw Settlement, were attacked by the Indians, under their chief, Billy Weatherford, and out of the three hundred men, women, and children there assembled, only seventeen escaped. This was August 30, 1813. In this massacre, Dr. Spruce Macay Osborne, son of Col. Adlai Osborne, then a surgeon in the army, was
343
THE WAR OF 1812
killed. This unprovoked massacre aroused the whole country, and an army of thirty-five hundred men was raised, chiefly in Tennessee, and placed under the com- mand of Gen. Andrew Jackson. In the meantime, the militia from the Salisbury Congressional District were ordered to rendezvous in Salisbury on the first day of January, 1814, in order to raise a regiment to march against the Creek Indians. It rained and snowed all that day, but notwithstanding the weather the militia flocked in, and were sheltered for the night in the houses of the Salisbury people. On the next day they were transferred to the barracks, and the work of enlistment went on. Some volunteered, others were "detached," until a regiment was formed, which was placed under the command of Col. Jesse A. Pearson. Gen. Joseph Graham was his superior officer in com- mand of the expedition. To this regiment the ladies of Salisbury, headed by Mrs. Moses A. Locke, pre- sented a handsome flag of blue silk, bordered with fringes and tassels of gold. In the center it bore the emblem of the United States, the eagle, painted by Wayne Evans, the son-in-law of Barna Krider. Upon it was also painted a motto composed by Mrs. Locke, as follows: "Let not the rage of war obliterate honor and humanity towards the females of our savage foe." This flag was presented to the regiment by Mr. John Lewis Beard, son of Capt. John Beard, in behalf of the ladies, at the old race-track. The Rowan Company in this regiment was commanded by Capt. Jacob Krider, of Salisbury. James Gillespie was a lieutenant, and John Faust, ensign. Many hearts were sad in Rowan
344
HISTORY OF ROWAN COUNTY
County when this regiment marched out of Salisbury towards Alabama. But, aside from the fatigues and dangers of the march, they were never in peril. While they were on their way to join General Jackson, that intrepid chief had met and annihilated the Creek war- riors at Tohopeka, in the Horseshoe Bend of the Tal- lapoosa River. This was March 27, 1814. After this victory the submission of the Indians was com- plete, and our troops had nothing to do but to turn around and march home again. Very few incidents of this expedition have been handed down. Tradi- tion, however, relates Captain Krider's method of re- ducing a refractory and disorderly soldier into good behavior. He had such a soldier in his Company and he used all the plans he could think of for this soldier's reformation. At last, while encamped on the banks of one of the Georgia or Alabama rivers, a new idea struck the captain. He had a forked stake driven down near the bank of the river, and procuring a long pole, he tied the refractory soldier to one end of it by his hands and feet, something after the style of a dip net, and balancing the pole on the stake, he caused him to be let down into the water. As this was about May, in a warm latitude, it first seemed to amuse the soldier, and he laughed at the experiment. But his open mouth caused him to ship too much water, and as the process of dipping went on inexorably and seemed about to be endless, he was at last subjugated, confessed his errors, and promised to give no more trouble. He kept his promise. The names of Captain
345
THE WAR OF 1812
Krider's Company are on file in a printed volume in the clerk's office in Salisbury.
In the meantime the war was drawing to a close, and a treaty of peace was agreed upon at Ghent, December 24, 1814, ratified by the Prince Regent of England, the twenty-eighth of the same month, and by the United States, the seventeenth of February, 1815. The ratification of the treaty was celebrated in Salis- bury on the fourth of March, 1815, by processions, speeches, and by a monster ball. The people danced all night, and at sunrise the next morning Mr. Hugh Horah rang the courthouse bell as a signal for break- ing up.
At the close of the war, everything settled down into the peaceful routine of life. But the flame of patri- otism burned brightly in the hearts of the people. Hav- ing made sacrifices to maintain their rights as a free people, they endeavored to keep themselves reminded of the value of their heritage. Hence they celebrated two national festivals annually. One of these was the twenty-second of February, the birthday of Washing- ton. The death of this eminent man occurred on the fourteenth of December, 1799, and for a quarter of a century afterwards there were many still living who had seen the "Father of His Country." His distin- guished services were not forgotten, and the people loved to do honor to his memory. It is a pity that the lapse of nearly a century has so far displaced his image from the memory of our people that they have forgotten even to notice the day.
346
HISTORY OF ROWAN COUNTY
The other anniversary was the Fourth of July. Upon this occasion the Declaration of Independence was read, patriotic speeches were made, toasts were drunk, and as a matter of course the ceremonies wound up with a ball, at some spacious hall or public parlor.
From these scenes we will turn to some of another character, in our next chapter.
CHAPTER XXV
AFRICAN SLAVERY
The history of society in Rowan County would not be complete without a glimpse at the system of do- mestic slavery as it existed here from the first establish- ment of the county. The early settlers were slave- holders, and on the register's volumes you will find here and there a "Bill of Sale" for a negro slave, and in the volumes of Wills you will see how the fathers of the early days bequeathed the negro man Pompey, or Cæsar, or Ned, or Joe, to one son, and Scipio, or Hannibal, or Cato, or Adam to another son, while their daughters received bequests of negro girls and women, by the names of Bet and Sal, Luse and Dinah. The question may sometimes have been raised in their minds whether it was right to hold men and women in perpetual slavery ; but when they opened their Bibles and read how Abraham bought slaves and had slaves born in his house; and how Moses, by divine direction, provided for the release and redemption of Hebrew slaves, but left no provision for the release of the slave of foreign birth, but allowed him to be bought and sold at the will of their masters; and when they read how slavery was recognized by Christ and his apostles, their doubts as to the rightfulness of the institution in the sight of God vanished. They did not feel themselves
348
HISTORY OF ROWAN COUNTY
responsible for its introduction among them. That had been accomplished a hundred years and more be- fore their time, when the Dutch sold slaves to the Virginians at Jamestown, in 1620, or when citizens of Massachusetts, in 1636, built a slave ship at Marble- head and sent it to Africa for slaves. Bancroft re- lates that the representatives of the people ordered the negroes to be restored to their native land, and im- posed a fine twice the price of a negro upon anyone who should hold any "black mankind" to perpetual service. He, however, ingeniously admits that the law was not enforced, and that there was a disposition in the people of the colony to buy negroes and hold them as slaves forever (History United States, Vol. I, Chapter 5). Stephens, in his History, states that many of the most prominent men of the Colony of Massachusetts purchased slaves out of the first cargo brought from Africa, in 1638, in the Marblehead slave ship, "Desire."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.