USA > North Carolina > History of North Carolina V. I, Pt. 1 > Part 26
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At that time six of the Spaniards were captured, and they withdrew, only, however, to return in heavier force about the beginning of September. On the 4th of that
27I
THE SPANISH INVASIONS
month the alarm was given at Wilmington that they were ascending the river, and the militia companies hurried in detachments to the scene. The general defence had been committed to Eleazar Allen, Roger Moore, Edward Moseley and William Forbes, as commissioners; while Major John Swann was in immediate command. Among the companies participating in the defence were those commanded by Cap- tain William Dry, Captain John Ashe and Captain John Sampson. These alone numbered more than 300 troops. The Spaniards quickly took possession of Brunswick, and for four days, from the 6th to the Ioth, hostilities were active. At length, on the roth, one of the Spanish vessels was blown up, and the others were driven off. All that day Colonel Dry was employed burying dead Spaniards, and two days later he was getting the guns, anchors and other valuables ashore from the wreck. It was from this destroyed vessel that the painting was obtained which is still preserved in the vestry-room of St. James's Church at Wilmington. The spoils from the wreck were appropriated for the use of the churches at Brunswick and Wilmington. A considerable number of the Spaniards were killed and wounded ; while at least twenty-nine fell into the hands of the inhabitants. The alarm occasioned by these attacks aroused the people, and the Assembly readily yielded to the suggestion of the gov- ernor to make preparations for defence. A bill was passed to issue new currency to the amount of £6,000 sterling for the purpose of erecting two large forts, one at Cape Fear and the other at Ocracoke, while smaller ones were to be built at Core Sound and Bear Inlet; but only the one at Cape Fear was ever completed. The governor, however, had been par- ticularly instructed not to assent to a new issue of currency, and in violating these directions he imposed terms which he hoped would shield him from blame for his disobedience. He required that the Assembly should agree that the use of commodities in the payment of taxes should cease, and that all public payments should be made in proclamation money. This was a point gained which the governor had long had very much at heart, and from his standpoint it was cheaply bought.
174 -
Sept. 10
Brunswick attacked, Sept. 6-10, 1748
R. S., XXII, 271-286
S. R., XXIII
292
.
272
JOHNSTON'S ADMINISTRATION, 1734-52
1748 --
Effort to displace Johnston
C. R., IV, 936
No reports
The passage of this currency bill and the disturbed con- dition of affairs in the province, however, led the London merchants and McCulloh to make an effort for Johnston's removal. Toward the end of 1748 John Morris. Francis Corbin, Arthur Dobbs and others began proceedings against him, which J. A. Abercromby, who had just been appointed agent for the province by the Assembly, very skilfully delayed, and then McCulloh filed a memorial in his own behalf complaining of alleged misconduct on the part of the governor, which later seems to have been sufficiently answered. One of the allegations against Governor John- ston was that he had ceased making any reports to the officials at home, but while the Board of Trade stated that for five years, between 1741 and 1746, they had received no communications from him, it appeared that letters and pack- ages had been sent by the captains of the merchant vessels, who had not delivered them. Doubtless the governor was, however. negligent, for he was receiving no salary and all his efforts to procure an adjustment of controversies that might result in his collecting rents sufficient to pay salaries had been defeated by the non-action of the home government.
Local differences
C. R., IV, 972
At length, in 1748, the Assembly having passed the cur- rency bill with his concurrence, the next year they passed two others that afforded him great satisfaction: one pro- viding for a codification of the laws and the other to prepare a rent roll, requiring that all grants and deeds should be recorded for that purpose. The northern counties were opposed to all of these measures. Trading to Virginia, they naturally wanted a currency of equal value with the Virginia currency, and were opposed to any depreciation of North Carolina money ; and being now in Granville's territory, their pecuniary interest was no longer identified with that of the southern counties. Quite an uproar was raised in the province in 1749, and the governor in his address to the Assembly, now composed exclusively of southern members. sought to strengthen them in their position and prevent them from yielding to the clamor of their former associates of the Albemarle section. "Go on, therefore, gentlemen." he said, "and continue in the same good cause you have begun.
273
JAMES DAVIS, PRINTER
Nothing adds a greater lustre to virtuous and public-spirited action than a steady. undaunted perseverance. Let no vain, clamorous boasting. no monstrous calumnies and forgeries, industriously spread among ignorant people, no petulant and noisy behavior in private conversation, the constant attendant of a bad and desperate cause, deter or dishearten you." But if the governor was firm, so were the leaders of the Albe- marle people ; the northern counties were immovable; still the Assembly continued its sessions without regard to the vacant seats in the hall, and session after session it passed- acts of public importance.
Early in 1749 it appointed an agent to represent the First province at London; and it passed an act to encourage printing press C. R., IV, 980 James Davis to set up a printing office in the province, and accordingly in that year the first printing press was put in operation in North Carolina, and after that the laws were printed at the end of the sessions when they were passed and distributed among the counties. There C. R., IV, had been a school kept at Brunswick in 1745, and now the 990 legislature passed an act to establish a free school, of which John Starkey was the author, but which, however, did not become effectual ; and it also established new counties, and, indeed, conducted legislation as if there were no opposition to their enactments within the province.
Samuel Swann and Edward Moseley had been appointed commissioners to revise the laws of the province, and the revisal having been made, it was reported to the Assembly on April 14, 1749. Subsequently this revisal was printed, and was known from its sheepskin binding as "Yellow Jacket."
It was in 1748 that we have a last view of the poor Pala- tines as a distinct body. The land on which they had located was originally granted to De Graffenried, who to obtain needed supplies for his people had mortgaged it to Colonel Pollock. In the next generation the mortgage was fore- Palatines closed and the Palatines lost their homes. On their petition to the king, Governor Johnston was directed in March, 1748, to allot to them an equivalent in lands elsewhere, and to exempt them from any rent for ten years. Two years later Governor Johnston gave them lands in what are now Craven, Jones, Onslow, and Duplin counties, where their descendants
1749
4. Yellow Jacket "
274
JOHNSTON'S ADMINISTRATION, 1734-52
1750
are still to be found-many of their names, however, having in the passage of time been anglicized, as has also been the case with the Germans of the interior.
Wreck of Spanish fleet
About two years after the attack on Brunswick, in a great storm on August 18, 1750, five vessels of the Spanish mer- cantile fleet were cast ashore on the coast; one was lost at Currituck Inlet, one was sunk at Cape Hatteras, one was beached at Ocracoke, one at Drum Head Inlet and one near Topsail. The cargoes were all valuable, that of the vessel wrecked at Ocracoke being worth a million dollars. Its commander, Don Bonilla, made no application for aid, but for some weeks was carrying on futile negotiations with the neighboring bankers for small vessels to carry off his cargo. Eventually, however, Governor Johnston sent Colonel Innes there to give security and protection to the shipwrecked mariners and the valuable merchandise. On arrival he found that the Spanish captain had loaded his silver on two small sloops, one of which slipped away, carry- ing off a hundred chests of silver, but the other Colonel Innes was able to secure, and eventually the property was returned to its owners.
The contest between the counties
C. R., IV, 1152-1225
It was long before the Crown officers took action in the matter in dispute between the old and the new counties ; but eventually they directed depositions to be taken touching the facts underlying the respective contentions. On the part of the governor and new counties it was asserted that the right of the old counties to five representatives was founded on the biennial act. which had been repealed by the king. On the other hand, the old counties traced back the privilege to the Fundamental Constitutions, under which Albemarle was divided into four precincts, each allowed five representatives ; and although it was admitted that the Fundamental Constitutions had long ceased to be operative. yet it was claimed that rights under it had been sanctioned by usage. Wyriott Ormond and Thomas Barker were appointed the agents to manage the affair. and they con- ducted it with great skill, while all the other leaders and
275
THE UNARMED REBELLION
public men of the northern counties zealously co-operated with them.
Yet the southern counties were also active, and when the Assembly met in March. 1752, holding its eleventh session, there were high hopes that these differences would be speedily determined conformably to the wishes of the governor. These expectations, however, were not realized, and the evil conditions continued to prevail. How evil they were may be gathered from the testimony of Bishop Spangen- berg. "In the older counties," wrote the bishop from Eden- Cessation of ton in September, 1752, "there is perfect anarchy. As a C. R., IV, courts 1311 result, crimes are frequently occurring, such as murder and robbery. The criminals cannot be brought to justice. The citizens do not appear as jurors, and if court is held to decide such criminal matters no one is present. If any one is im- prisoned the prison is broken open and no justice is admin- istered. In short, such matters are decided by blows. Still the county courts are held regularly, and what belongs to their jurisdiction receives the customary attention." The condition, however, was not altogether bad, for while the people would not recognize the new courts organized under laws passed since they were denied representation. yet they maintained in full vigor the old county courts held under the long established laws of the province. Local govern- ment was thus maintained despite the unarmed rebellion and the apparent anarchy and confusion, and the progress and development of the province was not materially interrupted.
But Governor Johnston did not live to see the end of the controversy. On July 17, 1752, death terminated his long and stormy administration. Save the era of good-will, ushered in by the passage of the currency act of 1736, which was disallowed by the king, there were always conten- tions that disturbed the province while he was governor. Many of these sprang from his own action. Ardently desir- ing to promote the welfare of the inhabitants, he was anxious to establish a permanent capital, to have the laws codified and courts provided for, while the payment of his salary depended on the collections of rents and the preparation of a rent-roll. In seeking to accomplish these purposes he resorted to management and methods that resulted in the
1752
The end of Johnston's administra- tion
276
JOHNSTON'S ADMINISTRATION, 1734-52
1752
unarmed rebellion and the great confusion that prevailed in the northern counties. Still he left the province much more populous than when he arrived. Precincts were converted into counties, court-houses built, the southern boundary in part established, and the vexed matter of rents and the currency question settled; and the laws were codi- fied, a better court system inaugurated, and considerable advances made in government.
During his administration, in 1748, the office of treasurer of the northern counties was created. and Thomas Barker was appointed to it. and Edward Moseley was appointed treasurer of the southern counties. On Moseley's death, Eleazar Allen succeeded him, and when Allen died, in 1750, a controversy arose over the exclusive right of the lower house to designate the treasurers. After some unavailing contention the upper house concurred in the appointment of John Starkey. By an act of 1754 Barker and Starkey were again appointed, but whenever a new appointment was to be made the upper house asserted a right to participate in the election, always, however, in the end relinquishing its pre- tension and concurring in the appointment made by the lower house. The period of Johnston's administration is, more- over, remarkable for the rapid settlement of the western part of the province.
The growth of the west
While Virginians continued to cross the line into the upper portions of Granville County, the more remote interior came to be occupied by an influx of unexpected settlers. The north of Ireland had in Charles I's time been settled by Scotch Presbyterians, who were now removing in large numbers to the New World. Some came to Charleston, and pushed into the up-country from that point, but still greater num- bers landed at Philadelphia, and having made some settle- ments in Pennsylvania, turned southward, and by 1739 reached the Valley of Virginia. Others pressed still further to the south, and by 1745 made settlements in that well- watered district between the Catawba and the Yadkin, which has been called a veritable Mesopotamia. These were soon followed by another stream of immigrants known as the
Population increases
277
IMMIGRANTS
Pennsylvania Dutch-Germans who had previously located 1752 -- in Pennsylvania .* These settlers made "the great wagon road from the Yadkin River through Virginia to Philadel- The Germans and the Scotch- Irish C. R., IV, phia, distant four hundred and thirty-five miles," of which a map is preserved in the Library of Congress. It ran "through Lancaster and York to Winchester, thence up the Shenan- doah Valley, crossing the Fluvanna River at Looney's Ferry ; thence to Staunton River and down the river through the Blue Ridge, thence southward crossing the Dan River below the mouth of Mayo," and on near Salem to the mouth of Reedy Creek. Other settlers from Virginia and the north came farther east, by the old Red House in Cas- well County, and then followed the Indian trail across the Haw to Trading Ford, near Salisbury. In 1746 Mat- thew Rowan was in the western region, and estimated that there were not above one hundred fighting men in the entire section between Virginia and South Carolina. Seven years later he thought that there were then thirty times as many, and said their numbers were increasing C. R., V, 24 daily. These immigrants, coming in bodies, settled in neighborhoods to themselves, forming respectively German and Irish communities, scattered here and there throughout the wilderness, and maintaining their customs and manners as well as speech and characteristics, and largely transmitting them to their posterity.
Similarly, Quakers from Virginia and Pennsylvania in 1750, or earlier, located at Cane Creek and at New Garden ; and from time to time their numbers were increased by ac- cessions until the Society of Friends gave a particular cast to the inhabitants of that section.
The territory north of Granville's line being withdrawn from the king's domain, and about sixteen hundred square miles between the Catawba and the Uwharrie having been set aside for McCulloh, and the line dividing the province from South Carolina not having been run beyond the Peedee, the
*Pennsylvania was dominated by the Quakers, who lived chiefly in the eastern part of that province, and would make no prepara- tions for defence against the Indians. When the Indians became hostile. through the influence of the French, the settlers on the frontier, getting no protection from the Quaker government, sought more secure homes in western Carolina.
Weeks's Southern Quakers and Slavery, 102-105
Orange County 1752
278
JOHNSTON'S ADMINISTRATION, 1734-52
1752
administrative officers paid but slight attention to these interior settlements that were growing so rapidly, almost without their knowledge and entirely independently of their influence. Still the extension of population westward from the seacoast counties was realized, and by 1752 the upper parts of Bladen. Johnston, and Granville becoming well popu- lated, a new county, called Orange, was erected. beginning at the Virginia line, near Hyco Creek, running south to where Granville's line crosses the Cape Fear, and then west with Granville's line to the Anson line, and with the- Anson line north to Virginia.
C. R., IV, 1348
Explora- tions by Spangen- berg, 1752
C. R .. IV, 1312 et seq.
In the fall and winter of that year, 1752, Bishop Spangen- berg made an extensive journey throughout the western region to locate one hundred thousand acres of land pur- chased from Lord Granville for the Moravians. Setting out from Edenton in September, on November 12th he camped on the Catawba near what he called the "Indian Pass." The nearest settlement was that of Jonathan Weiss, or Perrot, a hunter, twenty miles distant. He found many hunters about there who lived like Indians, and whose purpose was to secure skins and furs for sale. A week later the bishop was near Quaker Meadows, about two miles from the site of the present town of Morganton. Here he thought himself fifty miles beyond the settlements. The whole woods were full of Cherokee Indians pursuing game. Higher up the Middle Little River he found the remains of an Indian fort, where apparently the Indians had lived some fifty years earlier, and other indications of Indians having inhabited that region were met with later. It was in that vicinity that Lederer stopped in his explorations, 1670, and Dr. Brickell found Indians there in 1731.
Owen
Entering the mountains by mistake, on December 3d the bishop reached a branch of New River at an old Indian field, and followed that river to within fifteen miles of the Virginia line. Then turning southward, he reached the head waters of the Yadkin. and coursing down a very rapid stream, eventually got out of the Blue Ridge Mountains and returned to the Yadkin, where he found a Welshman, Owen, who had settled on that stream the preceding spring. This was four miles above an old Indian settlement, known as Mulberry
279
THE MORALIANS
Fields, not far from Wilkesboro. But except Owen's, the bishop understood there was no other habitation within sixty miles. Later the Moravians found seventy-three thousand acres in one body, one hundred and fifty miles from a land- ing on the Cape Fear and three hundred and fifty miles from Edenton, and there they made their settlement.
1752
CHAPTER XX
DOBBS'S ADMINISTRATION-1754-65
Dobbs's visit to Point Lookout .- President Rowan .--- County of Rowan .- Old style abolished .- The French claim .- Christopher Gist. -The French invasion .-- Innes's regiment .- Innes commander-in- chief .- Decision of vexed questions .- Dobbs appointed governor .- Instructions to Governor Dobbs .- The constitution reformed .-- Dobbs reaches New Bern .- The growth of the province .- The Indian inhabitants .-- The Croatans .- The old counties elect their five mem- bers .-- The new Assembly .- Tower Hill .-- The French and Indian War .- The frontier settlements .- Fort Dobbs .- The first news- paper .- North Carolina troops in the war .- Major Hugh Waddell. -Fort Duquesne taken .- McCulloh's grant .- Internal matters .- Dobbs County .- The governor arbitrary .-- The king's bounty .- Cause; of difference .-- The house outwitted .- The Enfield riots .- The Assembly protests .- The governor not sustained .- The court law annulled .- No courts held .- A new Assembly .- The Assembly reso- lute .- The secret session .- The governor makes terms .- Courts re- established .- The Cherokee war .- The western counties desolated .-- Fort Dobbs attacked .- Bethabara threatened .- Walnut Cove sur- rounded .- Conditions more peaceful .- King George III .- Some differences reconciled .- At the end of the war .- The council declares its patriotism .- Population .- The Indians .- Abortive efforts for free schools .- The courts .- Religious conditions .- Republicani-m rife .- British views with reference to America .- The right to tax claimed. -The Assembly of 1764 .- The Weekly Post Boy at Wilmington .- Tryon appointed to relieve Dobbs .- The public agitated .- The firm stand of the Assembly .- Claims exclusive privilege of imposing taxes. -The Assembly concurs with Massachusetts.
Extracts from Governor Dobbs to the Board of Trade DOBBS'S VISIT TO POINT LOOKOUT
I set out from New Bern April 9, 1755, to view the River Neuse, and proceeded up it near one hundred miles to the falls to see what proper situations were upon that river for the seat of govern- ment, as being the most central and convenient for the whole province. The most convenient place is at Stringer's Ferry, on the north side of the river, about four hundred yards from it, upon a gentle rising ground near forty feet higher than the river. It is about forty-two miles by land from New Bern to it.
I arrived here [ Portsmouth Harbor] last night from Edenton by water in a sloop. We passed through Albemarle Sound, Roanoke
¥755
281
DOBBS FISITS POINT LOOKOUT
1755
or Croatan, and Pamlico Sounds, and so over the swash to Occa- cock Island; and from thence to this road near Core Banks, where I summoned the commissioners to meet me to fix upon a place to erect a fort or battery to protect the ships in the harbor, out of which they were taken by privateers last war. The stormns. they tell me, for some years past have made vast havoc among these sandy islands. The opening of Occacock Inlet, betwixt this and that inlet, is enlarged from two to four miles. Beacon Island, which lays betwixt them, within the entrance. is one-half washed away, and become only a dry sand at low water. . . . A town is laid out called Portsmouth, where the merchants propose to erect warehouses to lodge their goods in and load all their goods in large ships here by lighters from the several towns of Edenton, Bathtown and New Bern. The company sailed hence to Virginia about three weeks ago. We hope they are now near their rendezvous. I proceed from this to view the harbor at Cape Lookout and Topsail Inlet. Of Cape Lookout, he says, I have gone up in a canoe within Core Sound, and no vessel being in the harbor, I had no boat to sound it; but all agreed to the depth laid down, and that the French and Spanish privateers had known it of late years, brought in their prizes there, wooded, watered and heaved down their vessels, and sent ashore and killed the cattle and furnished themselves with fresh provisions and excellent fish. . This I fixed upon as the only proper place to build a fort upon, but as this harbor is the best, although small, of any harbor from Boston to Georgia, and may be of the utmost consequence to the trade and navigation of England. where all our cruisers can ride in safety, as in a mill pond. and warp out at any time in an hour; where they can wood, water and clean, and be at sea in a few hours; where the whale fishers of the northward have a considerable fishery from Christmas to April, when the whales return to the northward; and where our trading ships may have always a safe harbor upon easterly storms; and the whole bay without, a safe road against all but southwesterly winds, when they can run into the harbor : and since in time of war it has been and will be a place of safety for French and Spanish privateers, to infest the whole coast, I think it should be made a station for our guardships or cruisers.
Rowan's administration
On the death of Governor Johnston, Nathaniel Rice,* who was the ranking councillor, took the oaths of office as presi-
*Rice was secretary of the province, and Henry McCulloh was appointed to succeed him in that office.
282
DOBBS'S ADMINISTRATION, 1754-65
1753 -
C. R., V, 38
dent, but he himself did not long survive his accession to this dignity. He expired in the following January, Matthew Rowan succeeding him in the administration. Rowan was one of Burrington's councillors, and had for twenty years been of the council and was highly esteemed in the province.
Rowan County C. R., V, 76
The old Assembly, which had now dwindled away to about sixteen members, continued to meet, one session being held in the spring of 1753, when, among other acts, it passed one recognizing the large immigration to the western section, establishing the county of Rowan, composed of that part of Anson which lay north of Granville's line. This Assembly held its first session in February, 1747; but at that time the year began on March 25th, so that the record in its journal states that it was begun in February, 1746. By a British statute passed in 1750 "the old style" was abolished, and the year thereafter was to commence on January Ist; and two years later eleven days, being those from September 3d to the 13th, inclusive, were omitted from the reckoning in order to readjust and reform the calendar .*
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