USA > North Carolina > Historical sketches of North Carolina : from 1584 to 1851, Vol. I > Part 19
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" I knew many of those men," continued this good lady, "well. The Waddells, the Smiths, the, Owens and Leonards are names still well known along the Cape Fear. "Col. Thos. Owen (the father of the late Gov. Owen), was a particular friend of my husband's to the, day of his death. He often spoke of him. 'Tom Owen,' he would say, 'was a warm-hearted friend, generous to a foe, and as brave a soldier as ever wore a sword.' "Morehead,' said she, " was a tall, thin man, of mild and amiable temper. He lived near Elizabeth, and died of consumption.
"Manly, who held a Captain's commission, and was an active partisan officer in the militia during the war, removed to the back country, and settled in the county of Chatham, distinguished throughout a long life for the strictest integrity and unflinching firmness.
" Poor Slingsby," said she (another name mentioned in the account of the battle of Elizabethtown), "who was killed by the Whigs at Elizabeth- town, deserved a better fate. He was by birth an Englishman, had taken the oath of allegiance to the British crown, and like many others, then and now called Tories, acted under a conscientious sense of obligation to his Sovereign. He was a man of fine talents, and left an amiable and helpless family."
Thus, Sir, I sat for hours listening to these narratives ; but I fear I am trespassing. They were to me exceedingly interesting ; but they may not be so to others. And while I ask you to publish this or not as you may see fit, I will conclude as I began, with the sincere hope, that all who can, will contribute such information as they may possess, relative to the early his- tory of the State ; and especially the events and anecdotes of men of the Revo- lution.
The character of THOMAS BROWN is one worthy of Bladen. He was early in arms under Governor Tryon at Alamance, in 1771, and afterwards was wounded at the battle of the Great Bridge, in Virginia, under General Howe. The affair of Elizabethtown proves that the science of war was congenial to his fearless temper. His life, character, and services will afford some future biographer an opportunity to present his claims to the respect, love, and admiration of his countrymen.
THOMAS OWEN was, as described by the sketch just quoted, "warm-hearted to
43
BLADEN COUNTY.
a friend, generous to a foe, and as brave a soldier as ever drew a sword." He was of .Welch origin ; born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, 1735, and came with his father when about five years old to North Carolina.
He was an early friend of liberty. He represented Bladen in 1775 and 1776, and was appointed second Major of Bladen regiment. He was in the battle of Camden ; commanded a regiment in the brigade of General Isaac Gregory.
He represented Bladen in 1786 and 1787. He married Eleanor Porterfield, the sister of Major Porterfield, who fell at Eutaw Springs. He died 1803, leaving James, John, and Mary, who married Elisha Stedman, of Fayetteville, the mother of Rev. James Owen Stedman, living in Wilmington, and pastor of the Presbyterian Congregation in that place.
GENERAL JAMES OWEN Was born' December 1784, educated at Pittsboro' under Mr. Bingham ; he is a planter by profession. Member of House of Commons in 1808, '09, '10, and '11, and in Congress in 1817 and 1818. General Owen married the daughter of Robinson Mumford, of Fayetteville. He has been President of the Wilmington. and Raleigh Railroad, and now enjoys a " green old age" in retirement, enjoying the esteem of his associates and friends. ¿
JOHN OWEN, late Governor of North Carolina, was born in Bladen County August 1787, and educated at the University. He was a man of kind heart, of liberal views, and accomplished manners.
He was a farmer of much science, and seemed rather to prefer the quiet joys of home to the' excitement of popular favor. He was, from his excellent disposition, philanthropic views, and patriotic feelings, a favorite of the people. In 1812 he represented Bladen County in the House of Commons, and in 1827 in the Senate.
He was in 1828 elected Governor of the State; and in 1830 he was within one vote of being elected to the Senate, of the United States, when he was defeated by Hon. Wilie P. Mangum. This contest produced a coolness be- tween these gentlemen, which had terminated in a hostile meeting, but for interference of friends.
He was President of the Convention at Harrisburg in 1840, which nomi- nated General Harrison and Governor Tyler for President and Vice-President of the United States.
This was his last public act. He was united in marriage to Miss Brown, daughter of Gen. Thomas Brown, at an early age; whose amiable and quiet disposition tended to soften the pathway of life.
After enjoying the honors of his State and all the comforts of life, he died at Pittsboro', October 1841, loved and respected by all who knew him. 2
This county is also the residence of JAMES J. MCKAY.
His career as a public man belongs to the country, and his public acts are public property.
He is a native and resident of this county. "He was born in 1793. His course as a public man has been successful and brilliant. As a lawyer he was ardent, firm and earnest in his duty. He was U. S. District Attorney for several years .. His first appearance on the public stage as a politician, was in 1815, as a member of the Senate of the State Legislature. He continued in this service, with some intermissions, until 1831, when he was elected a member of the House of Representatives in Congress, where he served until the session of 1849. Gen. Mckay is a disciple of the Macon school of politicians, " severe, strict, and stringent." His indomitable firmness, and Spartan character, won for him position 'and influence. He was for some years Chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means, a position of great responsibility, and second only to the Speaker. In the National Democratic Convention at Baltimore, which nominated General Cass, he received the unanimous vote of the North Carolina Delegation, as candidate for Vice-Presi- dent of the United States.
1
44
HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
The following are the members of Assembly from Bladen County, from 1774 to 1851.
Years. Senators.
Members of House of Commons ...
1774.
William Salter, Walter Gibson.
1775.
William Salter, James White.
1778.
Thomas Owen, Thomas Owen,
Samuel Cain, Francis Lucas. Peter Robeson, Samuel Cain.
1784.
Thomas Owen,
1785. Thomas Brown,
James Richardson.
1786. Thomas Brown,
Peter Robertson, J. Richardson.
1787.
Thomas Owen,
Samuel Cain, John Brown.
1788.
Thomas Brown,
1791.
Jos. R. Gautier,
Duncan Stewart, Josiah Lewis.
1792.
Duncan Stewart,
1793.
D. Stewart,
1794.
D. Stewart,
1795.
D. Stewart,
1796.
Josiah Lewis,
H. Waddell, J. Bradley. James Morehead, J. Bradley. Street Ashford, J. Bradley.
1801.
T. W. Harvey,
1802.
S. N. Richardson,
Richard Holmes, Amos Richardson.
1803.
S. N. Richardson,
Amos Richardson, Street Ashford.
1804.
Richard Holmes, .
1805.
Richard Holmes,
1806.
Richard Holmes,
1807.
Richard Holmes, Samuel Andres,
Thomas Brown, James Owen.
1809.
Samuel' Andres,
T. Brown, J. Owen. T. Brown, J. Owen.
1811.
Isaac Wright,
T. Brown, J. Owen.f David Gillaspie, John Owen.
1813.
I. Wright, I. Wright,
D. Gillaspie, John Owen, James J. Cummings, John Sellers.
1814.
Richard Parish,
1815. James J. McKay,
John Sellers, James J. Cummings.
1816. J. J. McKay,
William J. Cowan, John Sellers.
1817. J. J. McKay,
William J. Cowan, John Sellers.
1818. J. J. McKay,
Thomas White, William G. Beatty. T. White, Joseph Wilson.
1822.
James J. McKay,
1823.
Daniel Shipman,
1824. Daniel Shipman,
J. J. McMillan, John T. Gilmore.
1825.
Robert Melvin,
1826.
James J. McKay, John Owen;
1828.
Mal. McInnis,
1829. 1830. 1831.
John T. Gilmore,
1832. Robert Melvin,
Robert, Lyon, William Jones.
1834.
J. J. McMillan,
Robert Lyon, George Cromartie. R. Lyon, B. Fitzrandolph.
The first Legislature under the new Constitution. (The counties of Bladen, Brunswick and Columbus form one Senatorial Dis-
trict-the 19th.):
1836. James Burney, Joseph M. Gillaspie.
1838. Robert Melvin, George T. Barksdale.
1840. Robert Melvin, George W. Bannerman.
James Bradley, Josiah Lewis. James Bradley, Hugh Waddell.
1797.
J. Lewis,
1800.
J. Lewis,
Samuel N. Richardson, Richard Holmes.
A. Richardson, Michael Molton. A. Richardson, M. Molton. James B. White, A. Richardson ..
J. B. White, David Gillaspie.
1808.
1810.
Samuel Andres,
1812.
1819. John Owen, 1821. Simon Green,
Samuel B. Andres, William J. Cowan. Robert Melvin, John J. McMillan. R. Melvin, William Davis.
1827.
Malcolm McInnis,' James, J. McKay,
Isaac Wright, John J. McMillan. J. J. McMillan, John T. Gilmore. J. J. McMillan, J. T. Gilmore. J. J. McMillan, Robert Melvin. Robert Melvin, J. J. McMillan. John W. McMillan, Salter Loyd. J. J. McMillan, Robert Lyon.
1835.
George Cromartie,
Benjamin Clark.
1783.
J. Brown, S. Cain.
Josiah Lewis, John Hall.
Josiah Lewis, James Bradley.
45
BRUNSWICK COUNTY.
Years. Senators.
Members of House of Commons.
1842. Robert Melvin,
George W. Bannerman.
1844. Robert Melvin,
H. H. Robinson.
1846. Richard Wooten,.
T. S. D. McDowell.
1848.
Richard Wooten,
T. S. D. McDowell.
1850. Richard Wooten,
T. S. D. McDowell.
CHAPTER VIII.
BRUNSWICK COUNTY.
Date of formation-Origin of name, situation, and boundaries-Smithville, its capital-Population and products -. Delegates from Bladen in 1774, 1775, and 1776-Officers of the Regiment, 1775-Colonial and Revolutionary His- tory-Character and services of Robert Howe, Alfred Moore, Sen., Mau- rice Moore, Alfred Moore, Jr., James Moore, Benjamin Smith, and others- List of members from Brunswick County, from 1774 to 1851.
BRUNSWICK COUNTY was formed in 1764, from the counties of Bladen and New Hanover.
It derives its names from the Prince of Brunswick, who married this year (1764), the King's* eldest sister.
It is situated in the extreme south-eastern portion of North Caro- lina, and is bounded on the north by the Cape Fear River, which separates it from New Hanover and Bladen ; on the east, by the Cape Fear River, which separates it from New Hanover; on the south, by the Atlantic Ocean and the South Carolina line; on the west, by Waccamaw River, which separates it from Columbus County.
Its capital is SMITHVILLE, distance from Raleigh one hundred and seventy-three miles.
Its population is 3,651 whites ; 319 free negroes ; 3,302 slaves ; 5,951 federal population ; and 397 persons who cannot read or write.
36,357 bushels of corn ; 7,868 pounds of cotton ; 2,739 pounds of wool ; 13,670 dollars worth of lumber ; and 14,281 dollars worth of tar, pitch, and tur- pentine.
The Colonial and Revolutionary History of Brunswick is full of incidents of patriotism, valor, and devotion to'liberty. It was in the Cape Fear River, near this county, that on August 8th, 1775, Josiah Martin, the last of the Royal Governors, on board of his Majesty's ship-of-war, the Cruiser, fulminated his famous proclamation against the cause of liberty ; and particularly " the infamous publication,"' the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence of the May previous, which, as he states in his dispatch of June 30th, 1775, to the Secre- tary of State (a copy of which is found under the head of Mecklen- burg County), "surpasses all the horrid and treasonable publica-
* Martin's History of North Carolina, vol. ii. p. 184.
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HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
tions that the inflammatory spirits of the continent have yet pro- duced."
This was the last act of the royal rule in North Carolina.
Brunswick County sent ROBERT HOWE as delegate to the first general meet- ing of deputies of the province to Newbern, August 25th, 1774.
To the Assembly at Newbern, in April, 1775, JOHN ROWAN and ROBERT HowE were delegates. -
To the Assembly at Hillsboro', August 21st, 1775, ROBERT HOWE, ROBERT ELLIS, PARKER QUINCE, THOMAS ALTON and ROGER MOORE.
To the State Congress which met at Halifax Nov. 12th, 1776, which formed our Constitution, MAURICE MOORE, CORNELIUS HARNETT, ARCHIBALD MCLEAN, LEWIS DUPREE and WILLIAM LORD.
Of the military officers appointed in 1775, JAMES MOORE was Colonel of the 1st Continental Regiment; ALFRED MOORE, a Captain in the same.
ROBERT HOWE was appointed Colonel of the 2d Continental Regiment.
To no county in the State is the cause of liberty more indebted for fearless and devoted sons, than to Brunswick.
Like the mother of the Gracchi, they were her proudest jewels, and like the same Gracchi, they were ready to offer upon the altar of their country " their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor."
ROBERT HOWE, of Brunswick County, was a soldier by nature. He boldly entered, without hesitation, in that perilous contest between submission or the sword ; and with an energy that never relaxed, and a courage that never quailed, he battled for liberty and America. His first command was import- ant, and showed the confidence of his country. . As Colonel of the 1st Regi- ment, he marched with a part of his troops to relieve Norfolk, Va., then in- vested by Lord Dunmore, the Royal Governor. In Dec. 1775, Howe was joined by Colonel Woodford, with some Virginia troops. Lord Dunmore detached Captain Fordyce, with a strong force, to dispute their advance. At the Great Bridge, on the Elizabeth River, on the 9th December, 1775, the British troops, between daybreak and sunrise, made a furious charge with fixed bayonets.
The Americans received the attack with intrepidity and firmness ; and poured on the enemy a heavy and galling fire. They were slaughtered nearly to a man; the Americans advanced and took possession of Norfolk, compel- ling Lord Dunmore to seek his own safety on board of a ship-of-war, as his coadjutor of North Carolina had previously done.
Howe vigilantly watched the movements of his Lordship. But on the 1st Jan., 1776, the British landed a detachment of troops, and under cover of the cannon of the fleet set fire to the town near the wharf.
1
The Provincial troops repelled the invaders, and they retreated on board of their ships .* From the inadequacy of means for subduing the fire, and a belief that the town would afford the Royal Governor comfortable quarters, it was not stopped, but raged for several weeks, and laid the whole town in ashes, as the Russians destroyed Moscow, to prevent the French from winter quarter- ing in its houses.
There being no further use for his services or his troops, at this point, Howe returned to the Cape Fear.
For his gallantry in this campaign, and good conduct in battle, the Conti- nental Congress promoted him to be a Brigadier-General.
By order of the State Provincial Congress, on the 2d May, 1776, the President of Congress addressed General Howe, and returned to him their thanks for his " manly, generous, and warlike conduct in these unhappy times, and more especially for the reputation our troops acquired under his command."}
Such was the devotion of General Howe to, the cause of liberty, that in an
* Marshall's Life of Washington, vol. i. p. 69.
t Jones' Defence of North Carolina, p. 242.
47
BRUNSWICK COUNTY.
offer of General H. Clinton, of pardon to the inhabitants of North Carolina, Cornelius Harnett and Robert Howe are excepted from the benefits. This pro- clamation is dated on board the Pallas transport, in Cape Fear River, 5th May, 1776.
On 12th May, 1776, General Clinton ordered a detachment of 900 men, under Lord Cornwallis, to land on the plantation of General Howe, which they first ravaged and then burnt.
In 1778, General Howe commanded the troops in South Carolina and Georgia until December. Our troops suffered from the climate and the want of the necessaries of life; and were finally driven out of Georgia by Colonel Campbell. Howe was censured for neglect, and by Christopher Gadsden, afterwards Governor of South Carolina, among others. Howe required him to retract or deny. Gadsden would do neither. A duel ensued on 13th May, 1778, near Cannonsburg. They met, Howe's ball grazed the ear of Gads- den, and Gadsden fired in a different direction .*
It is regretted that of the former life as well as future course of General Howe, as well as his private history, so little has been known. The material doubtless exists, and justice will yet be done to the gallantry, patriotism and character of Robert Howe, of Brunswick County.
MAURICE MOORE, whose character is worthy of our esteem, was also from Brunswick.
Judge Moore was descended from an ancient Irish family of which the Marquis Drogheda is the present head .; His grandfather, Sir Nathaniel Moore, was Governor of Carolina (then including North and South Carolina) in 1705, and is referred to in the former part of this work.}
James Moore married a daughter of Sir John Yeamans, who established the city of Charleston, and was Governor of the two Carolinas in 1670. Moored was Governor of the Carolinas in 1700 and in 1719. By Miss Yea- mans he had ten children, from the second of whom, Maurice, the subject of this sketch is lineally descended.
He was a lawyer of eminence and a judge of the superior courts in the State under the royal rule. His character is alluded to on a former page. || He, with Martin Howard and Richard Henderson, constituted the Judicial Bench of North Carolina when the Revolution shut up the courts. In the troubles of the Regulators in 1771, although he could not approve their out- rages, he sympathized with their distresses. He openly denounced Governor Tryon as a tyrant, and in a letter addressed to him signed " Atticus," he shows Tryon's character in despicable and odious colors, by severe and powerful invective.
He was a member of the Provincial Congress, which met at Hillsboro' in 1775; and also a member of the same in 1776, which met at Halifax, and aided materially in forming our State Constitution.
He died in the year 1777, and at the same time (by a most remarkable co- incidence), in the same house, his distinguished brother, James Moore, also died, Colonel of the first Continental Regiment, while on his way to join Gene- ral Washington. Both active, enterprising, and devoted to the cause of their country ; their lives, character and services invite the attention of the histo- rian and biographer.
ALFRED MOORE, Sen., of Brunswick, was a son of Judge Maurice Moore. He was born on 21st May, 1755.
He was sent to Boston to acquire his education, and while there he was offered a Commission in the Royal Army, 1768; this was declined, but the pre- sence of a large garrison, the friendship of one of its officers, added to a taste for a military profession, led him to acquire accurate knowledge of military
* Traditions of the Revolution in the South, by Joseph Johnson, 204.
+ Martin, vol. ii. p. 390. Jones, p. 361.
į Vol. i. 34.
|| Vol. i. p. 101.
§ Hewatt's History of Carolinas, pp. 143, 275, and 53.
48
HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
tactics, which soon was destined to be called into the active service of his country and usefulness to her cause.
In 1775, he was appointed a captain in the 1st Regiment of North Carolina Continental troops, which was commanded by his uncle Colonel James Moore. He marched with his company to Charleston, and was on duty there at the memorable attack on Fort Moultrie .. Here he evinced that ardor of patriot- ism and thirst for military glory, patience in fatigue, and boldness in action, which would have distinguished him as one of the captains of the age. But misfortunes crowded so thick upon him that he was forced to resign. His father, Judge Maurice Moore, and uncle, Colonel James Moore, both died at the same time. His brother (Maurice) was killed at. Brunswick, General Francis Nash, his brother-in-law, was killed at Germantown, A helpless family was left without any other protector. 4
Although he left the regular army, his martial spirit was not inactive.
When the British landed and took possession of Wilmington, he left his family (wife and two small children) and raised a troop of volunteers and greatly annoyed the enemy. He became the peculiar object of hatred to the British commander, Major Craig, (afterwards Sir James Craig, Governor- General of Canada). He sent a troop to Captain Moore's house, plundered it of everything valuable, and destroyed the remainder.
After the battle of Guilford Court House, Captain Moore was, with other officers detached to obstruct Lord Cornwallis's march. While the English were in the possession of Wilmington, Captain Moore's condition was deplo- rable. Without money, without decent clothes, exiled from his family, his property all destroyed: not a murmur of regret from him was heard. Dear as these things were, the liberty of his country was still dearer; for this he sacrificed everything.
When peace came his family was restored, but the means of subsistence were gone. 'His country was in the same deplorable situation ; the General Assembly elected him in 1790 Attorney-General, to alleviate, in a delicate manner, his immediate wants, without his ever having read a law book. But blessed with an active discriminating mind, studious habits and retentive memory, his zeal for his profession being quickened by the stern necessity of circumstances, he soon mastered its intricacies, and became one of its most distinguished ornaments. A clear perspicuity of mind, methodical accuracy of argument, and pleasing and natural eloquence, were the distinguishing traits of his character. Nature had been kind in giving him a fine toned voice, distinct articulation, and a small but graceful person.
In 1798 he was called to the bench.
His character as Attorney-general and Judge has been recorded in the deci- sions of our Supreme Court.
" The very question, however, before us, has been decided in the case of the ' State vs. Hall,' in 1799, by a judge whose opinions on every subject, but particularly on this, merit the highest respect. Judge Moore was appointed Attorney-General a very short time after this act of Assembly was passed, and discharged for a series of years the arduous duties of that office, in a manner which commanded the admiration and gratitude of his cotemporaries. His profound knowledge of the criminal law was kept in continual exercise by a most varied and extensive practice, at a period when the passions of men had not yet subsided from the ferment of civil war, and every grade of crime incident to an unsettled society, made continual demands upon his acuteness. No one ever doubted his learning and penetration ; or that while he enforced the law with an enlightened vigilance and untiring zeal, his energy was seasoned with humanity, leaving the innocent nothing to fear, and the guilty but little to hope. The opinion of such a man, delivered on an occasion the most solemn on which, the judge could act, when doubt in him would have been life to the prisoner, assumes the authority of a cotem- porary exposition of the statute, and cannot but confirm me in' the sentiments I have expressed."
In 1799 he was appointed by the President of the United States an Asso- ciate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States : he continued in
49
BRUNSWICK COUNTY.
this important and responsible position for six years ; when his health failing, and finding that he could not longer discharge its duties with satisfaction to himself or advantage to his country, he resigned. His health gradually wasted away, when, with a consciousness of a well spent and useful life, and in the hope of a joyful immortality, he died on 15th October, 1810, at the house of Major Waddell, in Bladen County, in the arms of his afflicted family.
· Of such a man may our State well be proud. She has preserved his name in one of the most enterprising counties (erected in' 1784). His life and services consecrated to the cause of liberty, and the best welfare of his country, will ever render dear to every North Carolinian the name of Moore.
His son, ALFRED MOORE, was born in this county, a distinguished lawyer, remarkable for his ability, eloquence, and spotless integrity in public life, and in private for his amiability and purity. For many years he was a member of the House of Commons and Speaker of the same. He died in Orange County 28th July, 1837 ; leaving several children. One of them mar- ried Haywood W. Guion, Esq., and now resides at Lincolnton.
BENJAMIM SMITH was, too, a resident of Belvidere, Brunswick County. He was intelligent and enterprising, and a favorite before the people. He was a member of the Senate in the State Legislature in 1792, from Brunswick ; a General of militia, and was elected Governor of the State in 1810. From him or his family the capital of Brunswick derives its name. By nature ar- dent,
" Sudden and quick in quarrel,"
his life was checkered by difficulties. He had several duels, in all of which he conducted himself with great firmness and magnanimity."
His generosity in giving 20,000 acres of land to the University, December, 1789, would overshadow many greater defects.
More of his life, services, and character will be procured and presented to the State.
Other names might be presented from Brunswick. But the lim- its of our labors require condensation. Enough has been proved to show that the remark made in the early part of this sketch was not incorrect, "that to no county in the State is the cause of liberty more indebted for fearless and devoted sons than to Bruns- wick County."
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