USA > North Carolina > History of North Carolina V. I, Pt. 1 > Part 19
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Cores on the war path
Hawks, II, 139
Proceedings annulled
C. R., II, 34, 80, 217
194
THE TUSCARORA WAR
1715 hostiles. Again alarm seized the people, and some deter- mined on flight to Virginia. To prevent that exodus, a proclamation was issued forbidding such removals; and Governor Spotswood gave orders for the arrest of any who should come into that province without a passport from the North Carolina authorities. Garrisons were again posted on the southern frontier, and parties of whites and friendly Indians were sent out to suppress the enemy ; but at length Feb. 11, 3715 on February II, 1715, a treaty was made with the Cores and their allies by which they were to observe peace, and territory on Mattamuskeet was assigned them for occupancy.
South Carolina imperilled
Hardly had this peace been concluded before information was received of a very extensive uprising of the Indians in South Carolina, threatening the utter destruction of that colony. The Yamassees near the Savannah River having been instigated by the Spaniards. to the number of 6000, suddenly fell on the planters, and killed 400 whites, while 650 braves of the Catawbas and Cherokees came down the Santee, driving those who escaped into Charleston for safety. Governor Craven's energy and determined spirit alone saved them. Enrolling every man into the militia, he drove the Yamassees back beyond their old territory and expelled them from Carolina. Toward the last of May, the North Carolina council ordered that ten men should be drawn from each of the three companies, forming the "Governor's Own Regi- ment," and that Colonel Theophilus Hastings should proceed with them by water to Charleston; and also that fifty men should be sent by land under Colonel Maurice Moore.
C. R., II, 180
Colonel Maurice Moore's expedition
The route taken by Colonel Maurice Moore was by New Bern down the coast to Old Town, then along the coast by land to the vicinity of Charleston, where he was largely re- inforced. He then proceeded to Fort Moore, on the Savan- nah, seventy-five miles north of Augusta, and from there to the northwest, through Rabun Gap, against the Cherokee Indians.
Colonel Moore and his force were fortunate in rendering such valuable service in South Carolina that the General As- sembly of that province invited him to its floor and thanked him in person for his aid; to Colonel Hastings they after-
195
AID TO SOUTH CAROLINA
ward paid £250 for his services, and to Colonel Moore they made a gift of fioo. Indeed, the situation in South Carolina became so critical that application was made at London for troops and munitions to be sent from England, and the Lords Proprietors admitting their inability to pro- tect their Carolina possessions, the matter of their purchase was considered by the Crown, but no definite action was then taken.
1715 -
In the fall of that year, the Cores broke their peace and killed some settlers, and the council resolved that that tribe should be exterminated ; and again companies were raised to carry on hostilities, generally composed of ten whites and some auxiliary Indians, who made profit in taking the hos- tiles alive and selling them as slaves. This desultory warfare continued for about three years, rangers being required to clear the woods and protect the settlers from massacre. How terrible and murderous was the war may be inferred from the number of infants, more than fourscore, that fell victims, besides the older children and mature persons.
By agreement with the Tuscaroras. they were to occupy a territory between the Pamlico and Neuse, but in fear of the hostile Indians of South Carolina, in the summer of 1717. they desired to be placed in a more protected section, and were assigned a region for occupancy north of the Roanoke.
The Cores renew hostility C. R., II, 200
1715-18
CHAPTER XVI
EDEN'S ADMINISTRATION, 1714-22
The Assembly of 1715 .- The Church of England established in the colony .- Other laws .- The precincts .- Partisan disagreements .- "Blackbeard" harbors in Pamlico Sound .- Complicity of Knight .- Moseley and Moore search the records .- Knight exonerated, resigns and dies .- Moseley punished .- Revolution in South Carolina .- The dividing line .- Colonel Pollock president .- William Reed succeeds him .- Edenton .- Carteret Precinct .- A blow at nepotism.
The Assembly of 1715
Nov. 13, 1715
C. R., II, 207
The Assembly that first met Governor Eden in 1715 was a notable one, convening just after the Indian war, and fol- lowing the dissensions that had marked Governor Hyde's administration. Moseley, always at the head of the Popular party, was the speaker, and although differences between the council and administration on the one hand and the Assembly on the other again found expression, some of the greater questions that had agitated the colony had been finally settled by the course of events. The rights claimed for the Quakers under the concessions were now denied them. The senti- ment that prevailed in England found a full voice in Albe- marle. Liberty of conscience was declared ; but Quakers were rendered ineligible to office ; nor were they allowed to give evidence in any criminal case ; nor could they serve on juries, but their affirmation was to be taken as a substitute for an oath in those cases in which their testimony was admissible.
All officers, including members of the Assembly, were re- quired to take the test oath as well as the oaths of office.
The Church of England established in the colony
The Church of England. being the only one which under the charter could have public encouragement, was declared the established church. The two counties were di- vided into nine parishes, for each of which vestrymen were
197
CHURCH OF ENGLAND ESTABLISHED
selected, with the duty of providing a minister at a stipend 1715 not exceeding £50, and to build a church and a chapel in each parish; and to meet those expenses, they were Parishes erected to collect all fines and forfeitures imposed by law ; and were empowered to lay a poll tax not exceeding five shillings per annum on the poll. It was also enacted that every person appointed a vestryman who neglected to qualify for one month was to forfeit his place, and unless he were a dis- senter, should also forfeit £3. So if a dissenter were selected as a vestryman, he need not have qualified. But The Church established while these provisions were made for the employment of ministers, they were not put in operation. No pastors were regularly settled in the colony; only missionaries came, be- ing sent out by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. In 1711, John Urmstone, a missionary, came to Chowan, and he remained in the colony about ten years. Rev. Mr. Rainsford came in 1712, but removed to Virginia in about twelve months. In 1718 Rev. Mr. Taylor came, but died Missionaries after a residence of two years. In 1723, Thomas Bailey was in the colony as a missionary, and Rev. John Blacknall for awhile. These appear to have been all. The vestry act does not seem to have been carried into effective operation in any precinct, but at Edenton there was generally a missionary. In 1732 there was no minister of the Church of England in the entire colony.
Magistrates who by a former law were empowered to per- form the marriage ceremony were forbidden to exercise that function in any place where a minister resided.
The Assembly fixed the price at which skins, hides, furs and produce were to be received in payment of debts, includ- ing quit rents and public dues. It re-enacted laws that had long been in force, including those based on the Fundamental Constitutions which had been adopted and carried into operation as nearly as circumstances permitted. Among these was that which has been known as the biennial act, which, conformably to the 73d and 75th articles of the Con- stitutions, provided that in September of every second year, the people were to choose assemblymen, who were to convene in session the next November, thus making provision for the regular meeting of the people's representatives indepen-
Other laws C. R., II., 213
198
EDEN'S ADMINISTRATION, 1711-22
1715
dently of any action on the part of the governor and council ; although the right to alter the time and place of meeting was allowed to the Palatine's Court ; and the powers vested in the Lords Proprietors by the Crown were not denied.
The new precincts C. R., II, 214
C. R., III 453
Acts of Assembly 1715
At that time, Bath County was divided into three pre- cincts, now named Beaufort, Hyde* and Craven. The in- habitants of Craven Precinct were to vote at Swift's planta- tion, at the mouth of Hancock Creek, while those of the town of New Bern were to vote in that town ; the inhabitants of Beaufort were to meet at Bath Town, and those of Hyde at Websterson's plantation on the west side of Matchapungo River. The Albemarle precincts were to return five mem- bers : those of Bath County only two each. The inequality was doubtless because the new precincts were so sparsely settled. Under the original constitution, each of the precincts of Albemarle County was entitled to five members, but that provision was held not to apply to Bath County. The As- sembly also provided for another issue of paper currency, elected a public treasurer, levied a tax to retire the currency. and arranged to pay its indebtedness to South Carolina. Also provision was made for the appointment of a register in each precinct to register deeds and record all births, deaths and marriages, as had long been the law and was re- quired by the Constitutions. In fact, all the laws were revised and re-enacted at this session, and the common law of England was declared in force in North Carolina.
The revisal of 1715
When the acts were submitted to the Lords Proprietors, they disapproved of the provision requiring the receiver of quit rents to receive the provincial bills for dues to the Pro- prietors, and they further informed the Assembly, "we have resolved that no more land shall be sold in the province, but only in England," and they reminded the Assembly that no act thereafter passed would be valid for a longer time than two years unless it received their approval.
C. R., II, 217
In the fall of 1715 they appointed Christopher Gale chief justice, and he was sworn in January 24, 1716.
*The territory embracing Mattamuskeet Lake was attached to Currituck Precinct, and so remained until 1745, when it was annexed to Hyde.
199
INTERNAL DISCORD
The journals of the house contained several resolutions, as having been adopted, but which the governor and council declared had not been passed; the first was a declaration against impressments by the governor and council, as being a great infringement of the liberties of the people; another was in condemnation of the treatment of the Core Indians; another, in condemnation of those who refused to take the public bills as paper currency in payment of fees, was evi- dently aimed at some of the administrative officers. Not content with mere resolutions, the Assembly appointed a com- mittee to represent the deplorable circumstances of the colony to the Lords Proprietors. Evidently the former factions were not entirely hushed. On the contrary, the differences springing from diverse interests now became the basis of two parties, one adhering to the officials who represented the Proprietors, and the other composed of those inhabitants who sought the general welfare, which may well be called the Popular party.
Nor was the governor antagonized by only the People's party. He had some enemies closer at hand. In the sum- mer of 1717, Christopher Gale sailed for London, with the purpose, as alleged by Parson Urmstone, himself a very erratic character, of accomplishing Governor Eden's down- fall, and with the hope of supplanting him. This none too pious missionary introduces us to both the parties without evincing much partiality. The complaints against the gov- ernor, he asserts, were not groundless : "His honor has acted toward all men very arbitrarily, not to say unjustly." He is declared "to be a strange, unaccountable man." But of Gale, the parson entertained no better opinion.
The result of Gale's mission, however, was not hurtful to Eden; on the contrary, at the same meeting of the Lords Proprietors at which Gale was reappointed chief justice, Eden was made a landgrave. But Gale, whether smarting from his disappointments, or for other reasons, did not re- turn to Carolina for several years. And another affair oc- curred that stirred the colony and involved the administra- tion.
1715
Partisan disagree- ments C. R., II, 243, 244
C. R., II, 299
200
EDEN'S ADMINISTRATION, 1714-22
1718 -
Thack harbors in Pamlico Sound
C. R., II, 320, 335
Among the pirates who infested the Atlantic coast, having their rendezvous in the Bahamas, was Thack, or Thatch, or Teach, his name being written in several ways, familiarly known as "Blackbeard." One of his lieutenants was Major Steed Bonnett, a man of gentle birth and of education. These sometimes came into the sounds of North Carolina ; and they had friends there, as in Virginia and South Caro- lina. But among the better class of people, there was in- dignation that pirates should be tolerated by the officers. When the king offered pardon to all pirates who should sur- render and reform, Thack availed himself of the terms and came in and promised to lead an honest life; but after a month he was again on the high seas. At length Captain Woodes Rogers, who had saved Alexander Selkirk from his desert island, was sent to break up the nest of pirates in the Bahamas. While he was successful in capturing many, Bon- nett and Thack were not taken, and found a refuge in the in- lets of North Carolina.
Shortly afterward Thack sailed from the Pamlico and soon returned with a cargo of oranges and other fruit, sugar and spices, taken from a French vessel, which he had cap- tured on August 22d, near the Bermudas, and then burned off the coast of Carolina. Some of this plunder he stored in the barn of Tobias Knight, an Englishman who had come over with Eden and who was secretary of the colony; and in the absence of the chief justice, Gale, had been appointed to that high position. Information was sent by some of the inhabitants to Governor Spotswood, who, deeming himself clothed with authority, determined to capture the pirate. There were two British men-of-war in the harbor ; but there was so much sympathy for the pirates in Virginia, that Gov- ernor Spotswood would not hazard communicating his pur- pose even to any member of his council. Obtaining two sloops, and fitting them out secretly with men supplied from the men-of-war, he sent them under the command of Lieu- tenant Maynard in search of Thack's vessel, the Adventure, which on November 22, 1718, was discovered near Ocra- coke Inlet. A desperate battle followed. Knowing the shoals of the sound, Thack had some advantage; but at last,
C. R., II, 325
Spotswood acts
Nov.22, 1718
201
BLACKBEARD, THE PIRATE
hard pressed, the Adventure was stranded. As Maynard's sloop now approached the pirate ship, Thack poured into it a murderous broadside that swept off many of the crew. But Maynard, ordering his men below, steered directly for the Adventure, and as the vessels closed, Thack and his crew sprang upon the deck of the sloop and, animated by a des- perate courage, hoped to take possession and make their es- cape. But Maynard's men rushed from below, and in the hand-to-hand encounter that ensued the pirates were over- come. The Adventure carried 8 cannon; and of the" crew of 18 men, 9 besides Thack were killed outright, and 9, some desperately wounded, were taken prisoners; of the king's men, 12 were killed and 22 wounded. The prisoners who survived were taken to Virginia, tried and convicted of piracy.
Upon the capture of Thack's vessel, Governor Spotswood sent Captain Brand of the British Navy to obtain the stolen merchandise. Colonel Maurice Moore and Jeremiah Vail accompanied him to Pamlico, and the goods were found, some being discovered in the barn of Tobias Knight. Im- mediately the governor and some of his council remonstrated at the action of Governor Spotswood, claiming that these proceedings were unlawful and improper. Separating Col- onel Pollock and Governor Eden from Tobias Knight, it ap- pears that the governor regarded that it was an invasion of his government for Governor Spotswood to send a force into North Carolina waters even for the purpose of capturing a pirate ; and he keenly felt and warmly remonstrated against Captain Brand's taking possession of the sugars and remov- ing them to Virginia, to be disposed of by the court of admi- ralty. Colonel Pollock doubted the strict legality of Gover- nor Spotswood's action, but advised Governor Eden to make no point about it. While the council stood by Knight, Eden's action is hardly consistent with innocence as to the alleged complicity with the pirate, and he certainly did not give ex- pression to any great satisfaction at Thack's destruction. Still if Eden had any association with Thack, it was less operf and notorious than the bearing of some of the governors of other colonies toward the pirates.
The public records according to the instructions of the
1718
C. R., II, 325
Complicity of Knight
C. R., II, 319
C. R., II, 341, 346, 349
202
EDEN'S ADMINISTRATION, 1714-22
IZIS
Moseley and Moore search the records
Lords Proprietors were to be open to public inspection ; but in the absence of any public buildings, they were kept in rooms of private houses. The records of the secretary's office were deposited in a private house at Sandy Point, near Edenton ; and Maurice Moore and Edward Moseley, being determined to search the records for incriminating evidence regarding improper dealings between the authorities and Thack, on December 27th broke into that room, barred the door and proceeded to make an investigation. For this alleged trespass and misdemeanor, the governor issued a warrant for their arrest, and sent a considerable body of men to apprehend them. Indignant at such a posse being sent to take him, Moseley exclaimed that "the governor could find men enough to arrest peaceable citizens, but none to arrest thieves and robbers." The intimation was plain, that the governor was willing to shield the pirate, and the allegation was scandalum magnatum. Moseley and Moore were bound over to court, and an indictment followed as a matter of course. At the trial of the pirates before the admiralty court in Virginia, the evidence implicated Tobias Knight as being in complicity with Thack, and a copy of the testimony was sent by Governor Spotswood to Governor Eden. At a meeting of the council, about the opening of April, this testimony was considered and an order was passed to serve a copy of it on Knight, who was not in attendance. At the next meeting in May, Knight filed a statement in ex- planation. While making sweeping denials, alleging that he was pursued "by Moore and Vail and that family," he de- clared that he had not sought to conceal the fact that the sugars were stored on his premises ; and he alleged that they were lodged there at the request of Thack only until a more convenient store could be procured by the governor for the whole cargo. This apparently connected the governor with the transaction, and would necessarily involve him if Knight were found implicated in any illicit dealings regarding these goods. The governor himself made no particular explana- tion, but the result of the investigation could not be doubt- ful.
C. R., II, 344
The council hastened to declare that Knight was not guilty, and ought to be acquitted of the crimes laid to his
203
KNIGHT EXONERATED BY THE COUNCIL
charge. Still of Knight's complicity there is no question, while his explanation that seemed to involve Governor Eden may well be entirely disregarded. The circumstances are inconsistent with his innocence. Thack, being a notorious pirate, had accepted the king's offer of pardon : had then re- turned to his trade; had again surrendered and made ap- plication for a second pardon : and while the application was still pending, he had sallied out with his vessel armed with eight cannon and manned by a crew of desperadoes, and hav- ing taken a French merchantman and transferred the cargo to his own ship, had burned his prize off the North Caro- lina coast; and then coming in, devised the story not likely to impose on the credulity of any one, that he had found a wreck on the high seas and had saved the cargo. A part of his stores was conveyed at the dead of night to the barn of the chief justice of the colony and concealed beneath the fodder. When Knight was first questioned by Captain Brand, he positively denied that any such goods had been concealed on his premises. The denial being ignored and he being informed that a memorandum found on the person of the dead pirate attested the facts, he reluctantly made the admission. Also in Thack's possession was discovered a let- ter from Knight of recent date, beginning, "My friend," and containing friendly advice, in itself being full proof of the intimate connection and guilty association. Against these facts, the exoneration by the governor and council carried no weight. Knight resigned as chief justice, Colonel Frederick Jones becoming his successor, and then he died before the summer had ended. Such was the termination of the career of that English adventurer, who, like many others sent over by the Proprietors to hold important office, sought to win fortune at the expense of honor and character, and was ut- terly indifferent to the good fame and material welfare of the inhabitants of the province. He was doubtless quite right in ascribing to the Swann and Lillington connection a purpose to uncover his nefarious dealings. The gentlemen of that family had a patriotic interest in removing from their settlement the reproach of harboring pirates, as their action in searching the records sufficiently indicates.
For their offences Moore and Moseley were tried at the
1718
The council exonerates Knight, but he resigns and dies
C. R., II, 344
204
EDEN'S ADMINISTRATION, 1714-22
1719 C. R., II, 366, 368
C. R., II, 368
general court in October, 1719. To the indictment for break- ing into the secretary's office, they with Thomas Luten and Henry Clayton pleaded guilty ; and a fine of £5 was imposed on Moore, and of five shillings on Moseley. But the case against Moseley, for his scandalous words, was regarded as more serious. The jury rendered a special verdict-that Moseley had uttered the words, and "if the law be for the king, then he was guilty." After several days' delay, the court ruled that he was guilty ; and it being considered that his action was in the nature of stirring up sedition, he was sentenced to pay a fine of f100, and to be incapable of holding any office or place of trust in the colony for three years. His practice, however, was large and important, and as he was silenced as a lawyer, the business of the court was so impeded that the chief justice, Jones, requested that his disabilities as an attorney might be removed ; and in view of the allega- tion that he had intended to raise sedition, perhaps also be- cause of the recent revolution in South Carolina, Moseley was led to state, in a petition to the council, that his words were not uttered with such a sinister design, but only through heat and passion; and he asked to be relieved of the sen- tence. But the governor, perhaps, felt that there was too much truth in what Moseley had so bluntly alleged for the offence to be forgiven. and the only concession he made was that Moseley might bring to an end such litigation as had been committed to him before the sentence was imposed, but should take no new cases. So for three years the leader of the Popular party and the most influential citizen of the province was excluded from all public employment and for- bidden to practise law.
Revolution in South Carolina
While these matters were in progress in North Carolina, the condition in South Carolina had become so intolerable under the inefficient government of the Lords Proprietors, that the people having determined on a revolution, following the methods practised in England, formed an association to stand by each other ; and the Assembly which convened on November 28. 1710. resolved itself into a convention, and threw off the authority of the Lords Proprietors, offering the
--
205
THE REVOLUTION IN SOUTH CAROLINA
administration to Governor Johnson, who had succeeded Craven, if he would continue to act as governor and hold the province for the king. This Governor Johnson properly re- fused to do, and the people then elected James Moore gov- ernor, and applied to the king to receive South Carolina as a royal province.
A revolution so complete and successful cast dismay among the Proprietors and their officers in North Carolina, and raised anew in England the question of the Crown's resuming possession of the entire territory of Carolina. It. also led to the consideration of the dividing line between the two governments.
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