USA > North Carolina > Historical sketches of North Carolina : from 1584 to 1851, Vol. I > Part 51
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P.S. Just as I finished this I was told the cruiser, too long a terror of Cape Fear, was likewise burnt.
To WILIE JONES, Esq.,
Chairman of the Committee of Safety, Halifax.
He married Mary Porter, by whom he had John Baptist, born in 1748, and Samuel, born in 1763, and Cincinnatus, born in 1765. If not a soldier him- self, he gave proof that he was of the "stuff of which soldiers are made," for all these sons entered the army.
JOHN B. ASHE entered the army at an early age. He was appointed on 17th April, 1776, a Captain in the 6th Regiment of State troops in the conti- . nental service, commanded by Colonel Alexander Lillington, and promoted to a Lieutenant-Colonelcy ; and, as such, served at the hard fought battle of Eutaw Springs in September, 1781.
After the close of the war he was elected a member of the Continental Con- . gress in 1787 and served until 1788; and a member of Congress under the Constitution from 1790 and served until 1793. He settled in Halifax, mar- ried a daughter of Col. Montfort, and sister of Mrs. Wilie Jones. It was this lady whose wit caused even the martial spirit of Tarleton to quail.
In 1795, he represented Halifax in the House of Commons, and about this time was elected Governor of the State, but died before his inauguration.
His brother, SAMUEL ASHE, was born in 1763. He entered the army in 1779 at the early age of sixteen, as a lieutenant. He joined Gen. Lincoln at Charleston, and was captured at that place in May, 1780. After a captivity of fifteen months, he and his companions were shipped to Jamestown, Vir- ginia ; where they were exchanged. He joined the army under Lafayette, and was soon after transferred to General Greene's army, with which he con- tinued until the close of the war.
SAMUEL ASHE, son of Gen. John Ashe, has often represented New Hanover in both branches of the General Assembly. His last session was in the Senate in 1817. He died about twenty years ago.
Of this family there were in the Revolutionary war, five officers at one time, all actively engaged in the service of their country. Gen. John Ashe and his son Captain Samuel Ashe, and Col. John Baptist Ashe, Samuel Ashe, and Cincinnatus Ashe, a Captain of Marines.
Worthy is such a family of the record of their deeds, and worthily is their name preserved in one of our mountain counties !
Of the family of Butlers, at a dinner in Philadelphia, Gen. Lafayette gave a toast that " when he wished, in the Revolutionary War, anything well done, he got a Butler to do it." " Might not North Carolina say the same of the name of Ashe ?
CORNELIUS HARNETT was also of this county. One of the earliest and most devoted friends of liberty, he threw into the doubtful balance his influence, . his property, and his life, for America.
He was distinguished as "a gentleman and a scholar," as well as a citizen':
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of great wealth and influence. Mr. Quincy, of Boston, who visited him in March, 1773, pronounced him "the Samuel Adams of North Carolina."
As early as 1730, he was named in Governor Burrington's commission, as Counsellor. He was the President of the Provincial Council, which was the Executive power of the State, and as such he was virtually her Governor in the interregnum between the retreat of Gov. Martin, and the accession of a Constitutional officer. This office was one of great peril, arduous and responsible. Had the British subdued this country, and he fallen into their hands,'a halter would have been his fate. Gen. Clinton specially marked him, and excluded him from all marks of pardon or favor. In the course of the events of war he, however, fell into the hands of the enemy and died in captivity .*
It is a matter of deep regret that more of the history of this distinguished man, whose life was offered up to his country, is not known. It is hoped that this feeble notice will excite some friend of the State to collect and collate the full biography of this worthy citizen. Last Session of our General Assembly (1851), a proposition was made to name a County, Harnett. Wor- thy are his services and sacrifices of such a compliment, and the State is proud to cherish his name.
The life and character of WILLIAM HOOPER, who was long a resident and representative of this county, deserve our especial attention. It was most strangely aspersed by Mr. Jefferson, in a letter to John Adams, dated 9th July, 1819, in which he says, that "we had not a greater Tory in Congress than Hooper." This remark produced in 1834, Jones' "Defence of North Carolina." That his prejudices had clouded Jefferson's judgment in regard to this, as well as to our Declaration of Independence at Charlotte, there can be no doubt. It is, however, a matter of no regret, since these very errors have stimulated the sons of North Carolina to examine the records, vindicate her character and the integrity of history. The character of Wm. Hooper has been placed beyond all cavil, and the Declaration of Independence at Char- lotte in May, 1775, now rests on as solid foundations for truth and reality, as the National Declaration at Philadelphia, on 4th July, 1776.
I am indebted to the politeness of Mr. Heart, of Hillsboro', for the follow- ing sketch of the life, character, and services of William Hooper, from the pen of one of the best writers of his day, that from his connection with the distinguished subject of his biography, gave him facilities for procuring facts possessed by no other person.
WILLIAM HOOPER, the subject of this sketch, was born 17th June, 1742, in Boston, Massachusetts. His father, the Rev. William Hooper, pastor of Trinity Church in that town, is mentioned briefly and imperfectly in Elliott's , Biographical Dictionary. The addition of a few words would have prevented the suspicion that the account was penned in the spirit of prejudice. Certain it is, that no minister ever enjoyed, more fully the affection and reverence of his congregation, and few have been so much admired for elegance of man- ners, and a bold and impressive eloquence. Besides the learning and the sciences which are obtained at universities, he possessed accomplishmentst such as are not considered, in any degree, essential in forming the erudite and well-bred divine. He married, in Boston, the daughter of Mr. John Dennie, an eminent merchant. William was the eldest of five children by this marriage ..
The plan of his education commenced in his infancy. At the age of seven he was removed in part from the pupilage of his father, and placed at a free grammar school in Boston, the master of which was John Lovel, almost as much celebrated in America, in his day, ¿ as was once the famous Doctor
* Jones's Defence, 267.
t In a letter from the late venerable Doctor Lloyd, of Boston, dated 24th September, 1796, to one of the sons of W. Hooper, pastor of Trinity Church, he says, "Your father's memory will ever be dear to me. " He was the most accomplished gentleman, and one of the best friends I ever had."
# 1749.
283
. NEW HANOVER COUNTY.
Busby in England. Here he was distinguished for his proficiency in the studies preparatory to his entering into College, and completed the regular course of seven years with commendation and praise .* At this early period he was remarked on for the weakness of his constitution. His nerves were so sensitive, that he became an object of incessant raillery to his group of little relatives and to his father's domestics. With increase of years, his constitu- - tion grew firmer, but his nerves always retained much of their early delicacy. Aided by the instruction of his father, which was never remitted, he made literary acquirements uncommon for one of his age, and advanced himself in his scholastic studies beyond his cotemporaries. It was, no doubt, owing to this circumstance that he was admitted, contrary to established rules, into the sophomore class at Harvard College.t There he took rank among the most distinguished, and signalized himself in oratory. He graduated A. B. in 1760, and A. M. in 1763.
Such was the anxious attention which his father bestowed on him, in order to form him as an orator, that his vacations were periods of more laborious study and exertion than the terms of his scholastic exercises. And here it is worthy of observation, that the genius'of the father and son were diametri- cally opposite. . That of the father was of a loftier cast, and was formed in the school of Demosthenes ; that of the son was Ciceronian in its features. The characteristic of the father was vehemence ; that of the son insinuation. Were it not a presumptuous comparison, I would say, the father was Chatham, the son was William Pitt.
It was the early intention and earnest wish of his father to devote this son to the ministry. To this, however, the son was disinclined, for reasons that were considered satisfactory by his father, who agreed to alter his destina- tion. Finding that he preferred the study of the law, he placed him with James Otis, Esq., who was then a lawyer of eminence."
At this period commenced the attempts of the English Parliament against .
the rights and privileges of the subjects in the Provinces. Mr. Otis took an early and decided stand, by his writings and open declarations, against this assumed power of the British, Government. He was exceeded by none in zeal, and equalled by few in abilities. The high esteem and respect which the subject of these sketches entertained for Mr. Otis, naturally rendered him partial to his political principles ; and there can be no doubt, had the effect of assisting to engraft those principles on his mind, and to establish them per- manently there .; Subsequent events ripened them into maturity, and ren- dered thiem active.
Mr. Hooper having prepared himself for the practice of the law, and finding the bar in his native State so overflowing, that there was no encouragement for juvenile practitioners, determined, about 1763, to try the experiment of making his fortune in North Carolina. : To this he was invited by the circum- stance of his family having very particular friends, influential characters in the Province. Accordingly, in 1764, he embarked at Boston for Wilmington, on Cape Fear. He did not remain long in North Carolina at that visit, but returned to Boston in about a year. In 1765 he again visited North Carolina, and advanced in the practice of the law. His health, however, sustained such severe shocks, that he resolved, conformably to the wishes of his father, to abandon it. -
In 1767, the death of his father made it necessary that he should revisit his native place, and at the same time blasted the hope of his quitting North Carolina, which, on account of his health only, he wished to do. In the fall of 1767, having determined to fix his residence permanently in Wilmington, he married, in Boston, Miss Ann Clark, of the former place, daughter of Thos. Clark, Esq., deceased, and sister of Gen. Thos. Clark, afterwards of the United States Army. The choice was most fortunate, considered in reference to the qualifications of the lady to adorn and sweeten social life. It was most fortunate, too, considered in reference to that firmness of mind which enables her to sustain, without repining, the grievous privations and distresses to which
+ 1757.
1756.
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HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
she became peculiarly exposed in consequence of the prominent station which Mr. Hooper held in the War of the Revolution.
In relating the events and circumstances in the life of an individual who has acquired distinction by the exercise of superior faculties, it is proper to notice every particular which has an influence on the progress of the mind.
The fatigue of attending to the practice of the law is, in our days, consi- dered excessive. When Mr. Hooper came to the bar, and for several years after, it was infinitely greater. Then the luxury of carriages for traveling was not common. Mr. Hooper attended the County Courts of Rowan, and other counties in the back country, at least one hundred and eighty miles distant from Wilmington, and he traveled on horseback. Such fatigue was too great for a constitution naturally delicate.
The manners and customs of the people of Cape Fear, at that period, were not more favorable to a proficiency in legal science, than was the organiza- tion of the courts. Hospitality carried to an extreme, and an excessive fond- ness for conviviality, were the characteristics of those days. In fact, every class of society became infected by the example ; and numbers of old families, now reduced to comparative poverty, have reason to'rue the prodigal libe- rality of their ancestors. Hospitality is indeed a virtue, which travelers and geographists, who have attempted to describe North Carolina, very generally allow to her, however penurious their praise may be in other respects.
The British Governor Martin, on a visit to Wilmington, having occasion to reply to an address of the inhabitants, presented by Mr. Hooper, styled it "the region of politeness and hospitality." The commerce of Wilmington was then improving, and derived great advantage from a bounty on naval stores. Many of the families residing in it were possessed of fortunes, and all of them in respectable stations, obtained subsistence without painful ex- ertion.
But the dissipation which arose out of an excess of hospitality, exhibited a more animated picture in the surrounding country. Whole families, and frequently several families together, were in the, practice of making visits, and, like the tents of the Arabs, seemed continually in motion. The number of visitants, the noise and bustle of arrivals and greetings, the cries of the poultry yard, and the bleatings of the pasture, require some sounding poly- syllable to convey an idea of the joyous uproar, some new-coined word to distinguish their caravan approaches from ordinary visits or formal visita- tions. Every visit was a sort of jubilee.' Festive entertainment, balls, every species of amusement which song and dance could afford, was resorted to. The neighing courser and the echoing horn, the sports of the turf and the pleasure of the chase, were alternately the objects of eager pursuit. Every- where, on the eastern and western branches of the River Cape Fear, were men of fortune, related by blood or connected by marriage, whose settlements extended almost as far as the then lowly hamlet of Cross Creek, since digni- fied by the name of Fayetteville, and now swollen into importance by a numerous population.
This general ease and prosperity was highly favorable to the cultivation of polite literature, and to the development of talents of a certain kind. The state of manners tended to awaken a spirit of improvement, which pervaded the whole community. Every family possessed a collection of the best English authors, besides which there was a public library, supported by a society of gentlemen, and styled " the Cape Fear Library." Wit and humor, music and poetry, were drawn into action in social and convivial intercourse. Conversation was cultivated to a high degree. Emanating from letters or science, or rising out of the busy scenes of life, it always teemed with instruc- tion and imparted delight. The point of honor was understood and recog- nized, and the slightest approach to indignity resented. In this exercise of colloquial talent, the ladies participated and heightened the pleasures. Then they were not, as now, early instructed, or perhaps, were not instructed at all in the rudiments of knowledge; but they derived from reading, and im- bibed from an association with eminent'persons of the opposite sex, a tincture of taste and elegance, and they had softness, sentiment, grace, intelligence-
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NEW HANOVER COUNTY.
every quality which in the female sex can inspire and exalt the enthusiasm of romantic passion.
In the hospitable conviviality of those times, allurements to dissipation were greater than social life usually presents. The actors were far above the cast of ordinary bon vivants. I once hoped to be able to present a biogra- phical sketch of each of them, but my cares and avocations have compelled me to relinquish the task. Among these there was Eustace,* the correspond- ent of Sterne, who united wit, and genius, and learning, and science ; Harnett, t who could boast a genius for music, and taste for letters ; Lloyd, } gifted with talents and adorned with classical literature; Pennington,? an elegant writer, admired for his wit and his highly polished urbanity; Maclaine, || whose criticisms on Shakspeare" would, if they were published, give him fame and rank in the republic of letters; Boyd, ** who, without pretensions to wit or humor, possessed the rare art of telling a story with spirit and grace, and whose elegiac numbers afforded a striking contrast to the vivid brilliancy of the scenes in which he figured ; Moore, tt endowed with versatile talents, and possessed of extensive information-as a wit, always prompt in reply, as an orator, always "daring the mercy of chance ;" Howe, whose imagination fascinated, whose repartee overpowered, and whose conversation was en- livened by strains of exquisite raillery. Wit and humor, and music and poetry, displayed all their charms among the festive deities, and heightened the glow of delight. Is it to be wondered at that the banquet was often car- ried to an injurious excess ? ·
Mr. Hooper did not escape the contagion. He played his part among these distinguished wits, and shed a classic lustre over these refined revels. He kept, however, his professional pursuits in view, advanced himself, and was considered eminent in 1763. The cause of The State vs. M'Gufford, tried in the Superior Court of New Hanover County, seemed first to establish his claims to eminence. It was a case of atrocious murder, committed by a master on his slave, tried before a Court of Oyer and Terminer. In that cause he was counsel for the defendant; and he displayed such extent of research, and such powers of argument, as excited universal admiration. Maurice Moore was also employed in the same cause, and displayed great dexterity. He thought, and he thought justly, that nature and feeling would resume their rights in time to defeat the efforts of eloquence. He, therefore, moved to set aside the commission of Oyer and Terminer, and succeeded.
Mr. Hooper distinguished himself about the same time at Halifax Superior Court, as counsel for the heirs of Governor Dobbs, in a suit instituted for the recovery of a landed estate, against Abner Nash, who had married the widow of Governor Dobbs. In this suit he was opposed by several advocates, and among the rest, by the defendant, Abner Nash.
.
Such is the effect of impressions early received, that the name of Abner Nash always brings to my imagination the inflamed energy of Demosthenes, . and produces some of that perturbation which is felt in reading his orations. The eloquence of Nash and that of Mr. Hooper, must, indeed, have exhibited a very fine contrast. Nash was vehemence and fire ; Mr. Hooper was stately and diffusive elegance.
Having noted, in the commencement of this number, those particulars which influence the progress of the mind, let me here observe, that the adverse or the prosperous situation of communities depends very much on the state of manners. This observation will be illustrated by a hasty view of the com- parative situation of North and South Carolina at this period.
South Carolina was destined to become a mine of wealth, in consequence
* Doctor John Eustace.
Cornelius Harnett, afterwards member of Congress.
į Colonel Thomas Lloyd.
§ William Pennington, Comptroller of the Customs of the Port of Wilmington, and afterwards Master of Ceremonies at Bath.
|| Archibald Maclaine.
Now in possession of his descendants.
** The Rev. Adam Boyd. tt Judge Maurice Moore. ## Gen. Robt. Howe.
١
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HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA.
of most laborious exertions in opening her swamp lands for the cultivation of rice. Economy preserved what industry acquired.
On the contrary, the planters of Cape Fear, many of them holders of great possessions in lands and slaves, scarcely regarded these lands, though supe- rior undoubtedly, to those of South Carolina, and producing a grain larger, more solid, and more nutritious. Content to raise from naval stores a suffi- ' ciency to pay the interest on continually increasing debts, they indulged themselves in habits of ease and dissipation. The consequence is, that while the fruitful lands of South Carolina afford an inexhaustible source of riches, the fertile soil of Cape Fear is destined to remain uncultivated, and to furnish evidence of its superior fertility only in its baneful effects on the health of the inhabitants.
. At this distant day, it is impossible to enumerate the many public appoint- ments which Mr. Hooper filled. It is proper, however, to mention, that he was active in behalf of the government against the insurgents denominated Regulators, who were defeated at Alamance in I771.
Tryon, the provincial Governor, and Martin, his successor, and also Howard the Chief Justice, distinguished him by their regard, and showed a desire to conciliate his friendship. In 1773, Mr. Hooper represented the town of Wil- mington in the General Assembly. In 1774 he represented the county of New Hanover in the same body. There he united himself with a band of patriots, in resisting the demand of the British government, to insert a clause into the bill for establishing a court system favoring British subjects, on the article of process by attachment, to the prejudice of creditors on this side of the Atlantic .* This measure at once deprived the province of courts, and the gentlemen of the bar of their professional emoluments. On this occasion Mr. Hooper took the lead in legislative debate. He also addressed the people of North Carolina in a series of letters, under the signature of Hampden. . These, it is said, were much admired. What effect they pro- duced, in accomplishing the views of the writer, we cannot, at this time, as- certain. The province remained without a judiciary until 1777, when it was revived under the new order of things ; meanwhile the law practitioners. sacrificed their dependency for subsistence, and the other classes suffered greatly.
In the provincial and State assemblies, Mr. Hooper, on various occasions, brought forward high-toned and energetic measures, and supported them with all the powers of his persuasive oratory. The patriots most conspicuous in opposition to the arbitrary acts of the British government, at that memo- rable era, were Ashe,t Iredell, ; Johnston,¿ Moore, | and Harvey, T all emi- nent men. Some of them were Harnett, ** Caswell, tt Maclaine, }}, Nash, ¿¿ Burke, | | and Henderson. IT These were natives of the province, and entitled to great weight from their age, their fortune, and the extent and respecta- bility of their connections. From this band Mr. Hooper, at an early age, with small estate, with but few connections, and those few without influence, was selected for the most important public appointments, and that too at con- junctures which called for first-rate talents and undaunted firmness.
* Among the papers of the late Archibald Maclaine, of Wilmington, are some memo- randa that seem to be intended as the groundwork of a defence of his (Maclaine's) political character, which had been attacked In one item he refers to his conduct "at the time the ministerial instruction came to alter the attachment law."
¡ Samuel Ashe, afterwards Governor Ashe.
# James Iredell, afterwards Judge Iredell.
§ Samuel Johnston, afterwards Governor Johnston.
|| Maurice Moore, Speaker of the House of Commons, one of the judges appointed by the crown.
T John Harvey.
** Cornelius Harnett, one of the members of the first Congress,
tt Richard Caswell, afterwards Governor Caswell.
#t Archibald Maclaine.
§§ Abner Nash, afterwards Governor Nash.
|||| Thomas Burke, afterwards Governor Burke.
TT Richard Henderson, for some time Judge Henderson.
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NEW HANOVER COUNTY.
How he advanced himself so highly in the esteem and confidence of the people of North Carolina, we can at this time only conjecture. It was pro- bably owing to the wider comprehension of his views, to the uncommon fervor of his zeal, to the fascinating splendor of his eloquence ; and above all, to the extraordinary activity and perseverance of his exertions.
In 1775 Mr. Hooper was delegated by the Assembly to Congress, and continued in that capacity till 1777, at which time his private concerns com- pelled him to resign. The proceedings of the first Congress, having been from policy, conducted with great secrecy, the debates were not recorded. When Mr. Hooper first addressed that illustrious assemblage of compatriots, his speech occupied about half an hour ; and it is said, upon authority which seems to be too respectable to be questioned, that he commanded the most profound silence, and was listened to with the most earnest attention. The encomium was, however, qualified with this observation, that the house was seized with astonishment at the display of such powers of elocution from North Carolina. He spoke, it is said, more than once on the floor of the House, and always inspired respect and admiration.
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