USA > North Carolina > Chowan County > Economic and social history of Chowan County, North Carolina, 1880-1915 > Part 2
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2 In the early colonial period Roanoke inlet had, at times, as much as fifteen feet of water, tho the depth varied from month to month and from year to year, eight-foot draft vessels not infrequently striking in passing thru. Cf. Colonial Records, vol. i, pp. 99-100.
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throwing out prospectors seeking to better their conditions. In view of these facts it is quite probable that the Albe- marle region was receiving settlers from this source at least as early as 1650.
There are also preserved to us documents which indicate that Europeans were settled here by 1650, or very soon thereafter. Item no. 374 in Book A 1 of the Perquimans County Records is a recorded deed made to George Durant on March 1, 1661, by the King of the Yeopim Indians. In this deed mention is made of another tract of land " form- erly sold to Sam. Pricklove." In 1663 the Lords Proprie- tors commissioned Berkley " to constitute and appoint Gov- ernors and all other necessary Officers both military and civil, and to make, enact and ordayne Lawes by and with the advise and consent of the freemen of the said Province or of the greater part of them there delligates ore deputies." He was empowered to "nominate, constitute and ap- poynt such persons as he shall conceive fitting to be and continew Governor of all that parte of the province afore- said which lyeth on the north east side or starboard side entering the river Chowan now named by us Albemarle river."? By 1666 the Albemarle country had become of such importance in the production of tobacco, that the Maryland General Assembly in passing an act that no to- bacco be cultivated in said province during the year 1666, made it conditional on the following clause : " Provided that the Honble Sir William Berkley and the Assembly in Vir- ginia, and Wm. Drummond Esqre Governor of Carolina and the Assembly there doe make the like Act in their sev- eral & Respective Assemblies . . . " 3 " 3
1 This book is still in the office of the Register of Deeds in the Perquimans county courthouse. I had the keen pleasure of consulting it in the summer of 1914. A copy of the deed is also in the Colonial Records, op. cit., vol. i, p. 19.
2 Cf. Colonial Records, op. cit., vol. i, p. 49. $ Ibid., pp. 139-40.
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CHOW AN COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA
ORIGIN OF THE FIRST WHITE SETTLERS
According to the historians the first white settlers of Chowan were people-many of whom had some means 1- from other English-American colonies, especially Virginia. Lawson, the earliest historian of this region says, "A second Settlement 2 of this Country was made about fifty Years ago [his travels in North Carolina began in December 1700], in that part we now call Albemarle-County, and chiefly in Chowan Precinct, by several substantial Planters, from Virginia and other Plantations." 3 Bancroft says:
The first settlements on Albemarle Sound were a result of spontaneous overflowings from Virginia, and other Planta- tions. . .. Albemarle had, in 1665, been increased by fresh emigrants from New England and, two years later, by a colony of ship builders from the Bermudas. . .. The suppression of a fierce insurrection [Bacon's Rebellion, 1676-77] in Virginia had been followed by vindictive punishment ; and " runaways, rogues, and rebels "-that is to say, fugitives from arbitrary tribunals, non-conformists, and friends to liberty-" fled daily to Carolina, as their common subterfuge and lurking place." Did letters from Virginia demand the surrender of leaders in the rebellion, Carolina refused to betray the fugitives.4
1 Samuel A'Court Ashe, History of North Carolina (Greensboro, N. C., 1908), vol. i, p. 90.
' White's ill-fated Roanoke settlement of 1587 he has previously mentioned.
3 John Lawson, Gent. Surveyor-General of North Carolina, A New Voyage to Carolina; Containing the Exact Description and Natural History of that Country: Together with the Present State thereof. And a Journal of a Thousand Miles, Travel'd thro' several Nations of Indians. Giving a particular Account of their Customs, Manners, &c. (London : 1709), p. 62.
+ George Bancroft, History of the United States from the Discovery of the Continent (D. Appleton & Co., 1885-6, New York), vol. i, pp. 410, 420, 424.
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CHARACTERISTICS OF THE EARLY SETTLERS
Qualifications of Contemporary Writers .- What was the nature, character, or psychical constitution of these settlers? Some light has already been shed upon this question by citations in the previous paragraph. Bancroft was, of course, writing of the past, but happily there are three men- Lawson, Byrd, and Brickell (who may be considered con- temporaries of the first settlers)-who have left us inter- esting first-hand accounts of the early Carolinians. Both Lawson, one time surveyor general, and Brickell, a physician, lived and traveled in the state for years, and it is therefore reasonable to suppose that they knew pretty well the people of whom they wrote. Byrd was one of the commissioners from Virginia appointed by that state to assist in running the Virginia-North Carolina line, which line was run in 1728. In considering Byrd's account, written sometime be- tween 1728 and 1737, the reader should ever bear in mind that the most of the Carolinians with whom he came in contact were those living in the strip of territory which Virginia wanted to take from Carolina; that he was a loyal Virginian; that for various reasons many Virginians of this period had an intense prejudice against, and contempt for, the Carolinians. The extremely biased attitude of Byrd is quite patent all through his Dividing Line.
Reasons for Quoting at Length .- The large space devoted to excerpts in this connection is justified on the following grounds : first, they will aid the reader in forming his own estimate of the people of Chowan in early colonial times ; second, the present white residents are to no small degree descendants of the early arrivals; third, the extracts furnish one the best means of insight into the char- acter of both the new settlers and their new environment that can be had from contemporary sources; finally, they foreshadow many of the tendencies and conditions exist-
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ing here today, thus helping us to understand the present situation.
The amount of corroborative testimony of the three chief historians who were contemporaries of this early period is rather remarkable, especially when we consider the fact that two of the writers were inclined to picture conditions over- rosy, and the other one, over-dark. The citations follow :
Observations and Opinions of Lawson .- As the Land is very fruitful, so are the Planters kind and hospitable to all that come to visit them; there being very few Housekeepers, but what live very nobly, and give away more Provisions to Coast- ers and Guests who come to see them, than they expend upon their own Families.
. Some of the Men [in Carolina] are very laborious, and make great improvements in their Way; but I dare hardly give 'em that Character in general. The easy Way of living in that plentiful Country, makes a great many Planters very negligent. ... The Women are the most industrious Sex in that Place. . .. The Women are very fruitful; most Houses being full of Little Ones.
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As for the Constitution of this Government, it is so
mild and easy, in respect to the Properties and Liberties of a Subject, that without rehearsing the Particulars, I say once for all, it is the mildest and best establish'd Government in the World, and the Place where any Man may peaceably enjoy his own without being invaded by another; Rank and Supe- riority ever give place to Justice and Equity. ... Besides, it is worthy our Notice, that this Province has been settled, and continued the most free from the Insults and Barbarities of the Indians of any Colony, that was ever yet seated in Amer- ica; which must be esteem'd as a particular Providence of God handed down from Heaven, to these People; especially, when we consider how irregularly they settled North-Carolina, and yet how undisturb'd they have ever remain'd, free from any foreign Danger or Loss, even to this very Day. And what may well be look'd upon for as great a Miracle, this is a Place
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where no Malefactors are found, desearving Death, or even a Prison for Debtors; there being no more than two Persons, that, as far as I have been able to learn, ever suffer'd as Crim- inals, although it has been a Settlement near sixty Years ; One of whom was a Turk that committed Murder; the other, an old Woman, for Witchcraft.1
Observations and Opinions of Byrd .- We perceiv'd the happy Effect of Industry in this Family [Timothy Ivy's], in which every one lookt tidy and clean, and carri'd in their coun- tenances the cheerful Marks of Plenty. We saw no Drones there which are but too Common, alas, in that Part of the World. Tho', in truth, the Distemper of Laziness seizes the Men oftener much than the women. These last Spin, weave and knit, all with their own Hands, while their Husbands, de- pending on the Bounty of the Climate, are Sloathful in every- thing but getting of Children, and in that only Instance make themselves useful Members of an Infant-Colony.
. Tis natural for helpless man to adore his Maker in Some Form or other, and were there any exception to this Rule, I should expect it to be among the Hottentots of the Cape of Good Hope and of North Carolina. ... They account it among their greatest advantages that they are not Priest- ridden. . . . One thing may be said for the Inhabitants of that Province, that they are not troubled with any Religious Fumes, and have the least Superstition of any People living. They do not know Sunday from any other day, any more than Rob- inson Crusoe did, which would give them a great Advantage were they given to be industrious. But they keep so many Sabaths every week, that their disregard of the Seventh Day has no manner of cruelty in it, either to Servants or Cattle.
. Surely there is no place in the World where the In- habitants live with less Labour than in N Carolina. It ap- proaches nearer to the Description of Lubberland than any other, by the great felicity of the Climate, the easiness of Raising Provisions, and the Slothfulness of the People.
1 Lawson, op. cit., pp. 63-4, 83-4, 166-7.
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Indian Corn is of so great increase, that a little Pains will Subsist a very large Family with Bread, and they may have meat without any pains at all, by the Help of the Low Grounds, and the great Variety of Mast that grows on the High-land. The Men, for their Parts, just like the Indians, impose all the Work upon the poor Women. They make their Wives rise out of their Beds early in the Morning, at the same time they lye and Snore, till the Sun has run one third of his course, and disperst all the unwholesome Damps. Then, after Stretching and Yawning for half an Hour, they light their Pipes, and, under the Protection of a cloud of Smoak, venture out into the open Air; Tho', if it happens to be never so little cold, they quickly return Shivering into the Chimney corner. When the weather is mild, they stand leaning with both their arms upon the corn-field fence, and gravely consider whether they had best go and take a Small Heat at the Hough [hoe] : but generally find reasons to put it off till another time.
Thus they loiter away their Lives, like Solomon's Sluggard with their arms across, and at the Winding up of the Year Scarcely have Bread to Eat.
To speak the Truth, tis a thorough Aversion to Labor that makes People file off to N Carolina, where Plenty and a Warm Sun confirm them in their Disposition to Laziness for their whole Lives.
.. Some Borderers, too, had a great Mind to know where the Line wou'd come out, being for the most part Apprehen- sive lest their Lands Should be taken into Virginia. In that case they must have submitted to some Sort of Order and Government; whereas, in N Carolina, every One does what seems best in his own Eyes. . . . Wherever we passed we constantly found the Borderers laid it to Heart if their Land was taken into Virginia: They chose much rather to belong to Carolina, where they pay no Tribute, either to God or to Ceasar.
Another reason was, that the Government there is so Loose, and the Laws so feably executed, that, like those in the Neigh-
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bourhood of Sydon formerly, every one does just what seems good in his own Eyes.1
Testimony of Brickell .- The Planters by the richness of the Soil, live after the most easie and pleasant Manner of any People I have ever met with; for you shall seldom hear them Repine at any Misfortune in Life, except the loss of Friends, there being plenty of all Necessaries convenient for Life: Poverty being an entire Stranger here, and the Planters the most hospitable People that are to be met with, not only to Strangers but likewise to those who by any Misfortune have lost the use of their Limbs or are incapable to Work, and have no visible way to support themselves. . .
It is admirable to observe the Prosperity of several Adven- tures to Carolina, in the memory of Man; and how many from the most despicable beginning in a short time, by Gods blessing and their own industry, are arrived to as splendid Fortunes, as any have in other British Provinces on this Con- tinent.
. There is Liberty of Conscience allowed in the whole . Province; however, the Planters live in the greatest Harmony imaginable, no Disputes or Controversies are ever observed to arrise among them about their Religious Principles. They always treat each other with Friendship and Hospitality, and never dispute over their Liquor . .. By this Unity of Affec- tion, the Prosperity of the Province has increased from its first rise, to this Day. But though they are thus remarkable for their Friendship, Harmony and Hospitality, yet in regard to Morals, they have their share of the Corruptions of the Age, for as they live in the greatest Ease and Plenty, Luxury of Consequence predominates, which is never without its at- tendant Vices.2
1 The Writings of "Colonel William Byrd of Westover in Virginia Esq." (published in 1737), edited by John Spencer Bassett (New York, 1901), pp. 56, 58, 61, 75-6, 63, 87.
2 John Brickell, M. D., The Natural History of North Carolina with an Account of the Trade, Manners, and Customs of the Christian and Indian Inhabitants (Dublin, 1737), pp. 30, 46, 36-7.
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Views of Bancroft .- Almost all the American colonies were chiefly planted by those to whom the uniformities of Euro- pean life were intolerable; North Carolina was planted by men to whom the restraints of other colonies were too severe. . The settlers were gentle in their tempers, enemies to violence. Not all their successive revolutions had kindled in them vindictive passions; freedom was enjoyed without anxi- ety as without guarantees; and the spirit of humanity main- tained its influence in the paradise of Quakers.1
Summary and Conclusions. - While some statements in the above citations may be somewhat over-eulogistic in their tone, the fact remains that Carolina was remarkable for the amount of harmony and lack of violence within its borders during the early pioneer days. In order to realize some- thing of the great value to the colony of being " not troubled with any Religious Fumes and Superstitions," we have but to recall some of the conditions in New England where there was little religious toleration,2 and where numerous men and women of sterling worth were jailed, tortured, and some even hanged, all because of superstition-belief in witchcraft.3 There were some political and religious disturbances but they were mostly injected into the colony from the outside." When left to themselves the colonists. settled their own differences, abated their own nuisances and righted their own wrongs, with much justice and mag-
1 Bancroft, op. cit., vol. i, p. 428. 2 lbid., p. 311 et seq.
3 Ibid., vol. ii, pp. 51-66.
4 Cf. Col. Records, op. cit., vol. i, pp. 709-10, for the disturb- ance caused by stopping the practice of allowing one to "affirm," or " declare." The Quakers, as is well-known, refused to "swear," or " take an oath." Under Queen Anne, an act was passed in England (effective also in the colonies) to the effect that no one should hold office prior to taking certain oaths. The Quakers in Albemarle refusing to take these oaths, were dismissed from the assembly and courts of justice. Of course this made trouble.
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nanimity. Although they contended most vigorously for what they considered their rights and were never cowed by unjust authority, they nevertheless manifested surprisingly little malice, or revenge. They seemed satisfied if the brew- ers of trouble were either stilled or removed. All they wanted was to be left alone to work out their own destiny. Along with this spirit of freedom, justice, and fair play, there also dwelt a spirit of equality and democracy foreign to anything known in the neighboring colony of Virginia whence many of the early Carolinians came.1
REASONS FOR EARLY IMMIGRATION TO CHOWAN
Rôle of Religion .- What prompted the first settlers to im- migrate to Carolina? Some doubtless came from a desire to escape the discomfiture caused them by religious enthus- iasm and intolerance elsewhere, but it can hardly be said that these pioneer settlers came because they wanted to worship God in some special manner not allowed where they had previously lived.2 No one was molested in Carolina for worshipping as he chose and yet there was not a church- house in the province till 1702, or 1703, some forty or fifty years after the first settlements, and then only after the assembly of the province had ordered one built at the pub- lic's expense.3 In 1709, Gordon, a man sent over by some Church-of-England society, writing home to the secretary of the society, says, "Chowan is the westernmost, the largest and thinnest seated : they built a church some years ago, but it is small, very sorrily put together, and is ill looked after 4 Another minister of the Church of England writes back to the society in May 1717, as follows :
1 Colonial Records of N. C., op. cit., vol. i, passim; Ashe, op. cit., vol. i, passim; Bancroft, op. cit., vol i, ch. vii, and vol. ii, ch. i.
2 Cf. supra, pp. 27-8.
3 Col. Records, op. cit., vol. i, pp. 543-45, 558-60, 709.
+Ibid., p. 7II.
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I went this winter 7 times to the Church in the neighborhood (i. e. that is 4 miles distance) and met not a congregation ; so indifferent are our Gentry in their Religion they had rather never come to church than be obliged to pay me anything, they cannot endure the thoughts of it: they wonder I do not leave the country and their debt would be paid; that is the way they have treated all of my Function before me and would have the world believe they are no changelings.1
Writing back to the society again, in June of the same year, he says of the church wardens and vestrymen of Chowan, " It is all one to them whether they have a minister & church to go or not." 2
If any have thought the first settlers were Quakers flying from religious persecution, it may probably come as a dis- appointment to them to learn that the known facts fail to support such an opinion.3 Edmundson visiting Carolina in 1672 found only one Quaker family. The journals of both Edmundson and Fox indicate that the first Quakers in Albe- marle were those who embraced the faith after removing hither.4 This fact is also attested to in a letter by Governor Walker of Virginia to the Bishop of London 5 in 1703, and again by one of Gordon's letters (May 1709) to the " secre- tary " 6 (presumably of the foreign mission board).
Economic and Political Motives. - No, the first immi- grants to Albemarle came not as persecuted saints seeking a place to worship God according to their own views, but as men and women seeking a bigger economic and political freedom than they were then enjoying. Some were driven out of Virginia immediately after Bacon's Rebellion in 1676-77 (twenty years or more after the first settlers came
1 Col. Recs., vol. ii, p. 279. 2 Ibid., vol. ii, p. 288.
3 Ibid., vol. i, pp. xviii-xxi.
+ Ibid., pp. 215-18, 227.
5 Ibid., pp. 571-2.
6 Ibid., pp. 710-II.
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to Carolina) because of Berkley's revengeful activity,1 but undoubtedly most of them came for the purpose of making a better and easier living.2 The "Lords Comgmrs for Trade " inquired of the Virginia Council in 1708 the cause of the " removal of the Inhabitants of this Colony into our neighboring Plantations & the way to prevent the same." The Council replied, in substance, as follows : first, the want in Virginia of desirable land convenient to settle which is still unpatented and open to settlers; second, the much easier terms of acquiring land in Carolina; third, the difficulty of collecting debts owed in Virginia by those who remove to Carolina.3 Saunders in the prefatory notes of the first volume of the Colonial Records says:
It is perhaps a very flattering unction that we lay to our souls in supposing our State was settled by men seeking religious freedom, but unhappily there seems to be no solid foundation for the belief. So far as we can see, the moving causes of immigration to Albemarle were its delightful climate, magnifi- cent bottom lands and bountiful products. Immigration, in early days, divested of its glamour and brought down to solid fact, is the history of a continuous search for " bottom land." 4
GROWTH AND LOCATION OF THE POPULATION
Growth During 1790-1870. - The First U. S. Census (1790) accredits the county with a population of 5,01I. The increase for the next 20 years was very slight, on an average less than 3 per cent for each decade. The next decade (1810-20) showed an increase of 22 per cent. From 1820 to 1870, a period of 50 years, the population was stationary. In fact, it was actually a small fraction of I
1 Bancroft, op. cit., vol. i, pp. 467-9.
" Ashe, op. cit., p. 59.
3 Col. Records, op. cit., pp. 690-1.
" Ibid., p. xxi.
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per cent less in 1870 than it was in 1820.1 Since the county was visited by no serious epidemic, war, famine, or other decimating factor in either of these periods, and since there is no reason for thinking that the fruitfulness of the people, commented on by the early historians,2 had all of a sudden greatly decreased, it is highly probable that not a few were emigrating. As this was a period when vast numbers all along the Atlantic coast were flowing over the mountains into the fertile valleys of the Mississippi and its tributaries, it was only natural that many of the more restless and ambitious spirits of Chowan should hear and answer the alluring call of the West.
Growth During 1870-1910 .- During the past forty years there has been a steady increase in the poulation, but the increase, both absolutely and relatively, has lessened with each successive decade. The increase over the previous de- cennial count dropped from 22.5 per cent in 18803 to 10.2 per cent in 1910.4
Rural and Urban .- Chowan has one town, and only one -Edenton. According to the 1850 census (the first to enumerate the town and rural inhabitants separately) it contained 1607 people-nearly one-fourth of the county's population. Each of the three censuses following credited it with a population ranging from 6.4 per cent to 22.6 per cent smaller than that for 1850; the 1850 figures were not again attained till 1890. The census for that year showed a 59.5 per cent increase during the decade immediately pre-
1 Cf. table 4, p. 264.
2 Cf., supra, pp. 26-7, also Brickell, op. cit., p. 31.
3 This is the largest percentage (it is also the largest absolute) in- crease shown by any decade since the inauguration of the federal de- cennial census.
4 Cf. table 4, p. 264, for the number at various census years.
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ceding.1 Since the beginning of separate enumeration the proportion of the population of Edenton to that of the whole county has fluctuated from slightly less than two to ten, to practically three to ten. In other words, during this period Edenton has contained, in round numbers from twenty to thirty per cent of the county's entire population.2
Recent Foreign Immigration .- In 1769 there were in and near Edenton men of prominence-some of national reputa- tion-from several of the other colonies, and from Ireland, France, Scotland, and England.3 During the past hundred years, however, there has been very little immigration of any sort into Chowan. Few, even, have moved in from the adjoining counties. In 1870 there were only 75 native Americans in the county who had been born outside of the state, and 74 of these were from either Virginia or West Virginia. In 1880 there were in the county 110 people from Virginia, and only 54 from all other states and for- eign countries. It is thus seen that at the beginning of the period which it is here proposed to cover, the most of the very small immigration was coming from the same source whence it came in the early days-from Virginia.4
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