USA > North Carolina > Notes on colonial North Carolina, 1700-1750 > Part 3
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28 NOTES ON COLONIAL NORTH CAROLINA 1700-1750.
The planter's home residence was called the Manor or Manor House, The House, The Great House, etc. The family servants were settled near at hnad, while the overseer's house and quarters were some distance away. The estates were generally named, sometimes after the family or family estates in England, and often after the place in England from whence the planter came. The large planters prided themselves upon being "gentlemen"-the owner of lands with laborers to work for them. He was truly lord of all he sur- veyed, governed his own household and was law-giver to his poor neighbors. He arbitrated their disputes and settled their differences-he doctored them in sickness and helped them in time of need. The title of head or master of an estate carried with it position and hereditary dignity and power little less than an inherited title carried with it in the mother country.
Labor was in the greatest demand. In January, 1733, Gov. Burrington, in writing to the Lords of Trade and Plan- tations, says : "Land is not wanting for men in Carolina, but men for land." * * * "I compute the white men, women and children in North Carolina to be fully thirty thousand, and the negroes about six thousand. The Indians, men, women and children, less than eight hundred. * * * Great is the loss this country has sustained in not being sup- ply'd by vessels from Guinea with negroes; in any part of the province the people are able to pay for a ships load ; but as none come directly from Africa, we are under a necessity to buy the refuse, refractory and distempered negroes, brought from other governments ; it is hoped some merchants in England will speedily furnish this colony with negroes to increase the produce and its trade to England." a
The planter's wealth was generally estimated by the num- ber of his slaves. All planters of any pretentions owned
a C. R., Vol. 3. pp. 430, 431. See also Vol. 4, p. 172.
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29
NOTES ON COLONIAL NORTH CAROLINA 1700-1750.
slaves-negroes, Indians, mulatoes and mustees. The gold and silver that came into the hands of planters from sale of produce was saved to purchase slaves with, as the traders re- quired specie payments. Female slaves under 20 years of age were especially desired.
In 1733 the value of products exported to Virginia for which our people received cash was about £50,000 a year. a Quit rents, dues, taxes and all other debts, public and private, were paid to the government or creditors in commodities which were rated in 1715 as follows:
"Tobacco, per cwt.
10 0
Indian corn per bushel
1 8
Wheat per bushel.
3. 6
Tallow tryped, per İb.
5
Leather tanned and uncured, per Ib
8
Beaver and other skins per Ib
2
6
Wild cat skins per piece.
1 0
Butter per 1b.
6
Cheese per ib.
4
Buck and doe skins (raw) per Ib.
9
Buck and doe skins (drest) per Ib
1
4
Feathers per İb.
1 4
Pitch (full gauged) per barl 1
0
0
Whale oil
1
10
0
Porke
2
5
0
Beef
66
1
10
0"
£. S.
d.
Rates were later somewhat changed. Flax and hemp were also added. b
There was little currency in the province even at a much later period. In writing of North Carolina just before the Revolution a traveler says: "There is but little specie in
b C. R .. Vol. 3. p. 622.
c C. R .. Vol. 4, pp. 469. 920.
30 NOTES ON COLONIAL NORTH CAROLINA 1700-1750.
circulation; indeed, there is no great occasion for it; for a planter raises his own meats, beef and bacon, his own corn and bread, his drink, cyder and brandy, his fruit, apples, peaches, etc., and a great part of his clothing which is cot- ton." a Almost all wealth was in land, slaves and stock. There was not much loaning of money; the legal rate of in- terest was 6 per cent, and the penalty for usur? was for- feiture of twice the amount of the principal. b There was a considerable amount of Mexican, Peruvian and Spanish coin in circulation in the province, the value of which was fixed by proclamation of Queen Anne.
a Smyth's Tour in America, p. 99.
b Laws 1741, Ch. 11.
NOTE .- "An act for ascertaining the rates of foreign coins in Her Majesty's Plantations in America.
WHEREAS. for remedying the inconveniences which had arisen from the different rates at which the same species of Foreign Silver coins did pass in Her Majesty's several Colonies and Plantations in America, Her Most Excellent Majesty has thought fit by her Royal Proclamation bearing date the eighteenth day of June one thousand seren hundred and four, and in the third year of her Reign, to settle and ascertain the currency of foreign coins in her said Colonies and Plantations in the manner and words following :
We having had under our Consideration the different rates at which the same Species of Foreign Coins do pass in our several Colonies and Plantations in America, and the inconveniences thereof by the indirect practice of drawing the money from one Plantation to another to the great Prejudice of the Trade of our Subjects ; and being sensible that the same cannot be otherwise remedied than by reducing all foreign coins to the same current Rate within all our Dominions in America ; and the principal officers of our Mint having laid before us a table of the value of the several Foreign Coins which usually pass in Payments in our said Plantations according to their Weight and Assays made of them in our Mint, thereby shewing the just proportion which each coin ought to have to the other which is as followeth : *
II. And whereas. notwithstanding the said Proclamation the same indirect practices as are therein mentioned are still carried on within some of the said Colonies or Plantations and the money thereby drawn from one Plantation to another, in Prejudice of the Trade of Her Majesty's subjects; Wherefore for the better enforcing the due Execution of her Majesty's said Proclamation throughout all the said Colonies and Plantations, and for the more effectual remedying the said Inconveniencies, thereby intended to be remedied, Be it enacted by the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal. and Commons in this present Parliament assembled and by the authority of the same * Statutes at Large, Vol. 4, 1699-1715. Cap. * * . 30. p. 324. 1707.
The penalty for the violation of this law was six months' imprison- ment and a fine of Ten pounds for each offence.
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NOTES ON COLONIAL NORTH CAROLINA 1700-1750. 31
Slaves were generally bought in Virginia or South Caro- lina at high prices, and after the most select ones had been chosen by the planters of those States. With the opening of the Cape Fear, the planters had an opportunity to buy slaves at first hands. Some of the planters who first settled on the Cape Fear took with them a considerable number of slaves from their plantations in Chowan and Pamlico. Among these may be mentioned :
Edward Moseley with 62 slaves.
Roger Moore with 100 slaves.
John Porter with 62 slaves.
John Lovick with 34 slaves. a
They moved that many in 1732 and were allowed head- rights of fifty acres for each member of their families. Roger Moore at the time of his death in 1751 owned 230 negroes.
Slavery was the greatest eleemosynary and educational in- stitution for a weak and inferior race that the world has ever known. Some of the planters freed their slaves, but this does not seem to have met the approval of the colonists as freed slaves were required to leave the province or to be sold again into slavery. b
In disposing of slaves care was taken not to separate the men and their wives and children; an instance of this kind is shown in the will of Cullen Pollock, 1749. Occasionally negro slaves could read and write even in the earliest period, and negroes were allowed to raise "side crops" of tobacco, to gather herbs, etc., and the money derived from these was theirs individually and to do as they pleased with. c
When it became necessary to execute a slave the owner was repaid his value, which was assessed by the Justices and allowed by the Assembly. d
« C. R., Vol. 3, p. 426. etc.
b Laws 1741. Ch. 24. Sec. 56.
c Brickell, p. 275.
{ Laws 1741. Ch. 24. Sec. 46.
32 NOTES ON COLONIAL NORTH CAROLINA 1700-1750.
All slaves were tythable at the age of 12 years. a Every master was allowed to permit one slave-on every plan- tation to carry a gun for the protection of stock and for hunt- ing game for the table. b All slaves away from their mas- ters' plantations were required to have "certificate of leave in writing for so doing, from his or her master or overseer (negroes wearing liveries always excepted)." c It seemed to please the fancy of the planters to name their slaves after the great characters in mythology and history, or to give them some whimsical name. Every large plantation had its Cæsar, Hannibal, Seipio, Jupiter, Moses, Aaron, . Pompey, Mars, Venus, Dido, Diana, Africa, Mustapha, etc.
Indentured white servants were not as numerous in this - country as in Virginia and Maryland. These unfortunates represented many classes and conditions. "Some of the con- victs sold as indentured servants were persons of family and education." d Convicts were sent to the colonies and sold into bondage. Others were sent into servitude for political offences. Many of the supporters of the Duke of Monmouth were deported to the American colonies and sentenced to ten years' servitude. Some in- dentured themselves to pay their passage money, which was about £5 in cash, and were sold upon arrival here by the sailing master. Christian servants above 16 years old im- ported into this government without indenture, were required to serve five years. All under 16 years of age were to serve till they were 22 years old. e All Christians were to be al- lowed by their master or mistress at the expiration of their service three barrels of Indian corn, two new suits of ap- parel valued at £5 at best, or in lieu of a suit of "apparell" "a good well-fixed gun if he be a man servant"; they were also enttiled to fifty acres of land which they seldom took up.
a Laws 1741. Ch. 24.
b Laws 1741, Ch. 24. Sec. 41.
c Laws 1741, Ch. 24. Sec. 53.
d Bancroft, Vol. 2. p. 251.
e Laws 1715, Ch. 46, Sec. 6.
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NOTES ON COLONIAL NORTH CAROLINA 1700-1730. 33
Many people, especially women and children, were kidnap- ped in London and other cities and brought to America to be sold as bond servants. The Colony passed an act a .whereby the person kidnapped, if a Chris- tian or a subject of a friendly power, might recover from the Importer or Seller double the amount for which he was sold, and the defendant was required to give bond to transport the person back to the land from whence he came within one year.
Writing to the Lords of Trade and Plantations Gov. Bur- rington says : b "It is by breeding Horses, Hoggs. and Cattle that people without slaves gain substance here at first, not by their labor." The abundance of grass, reeds and rich vegetation caused the horses, cattle and hogs to multiply in vast numbers ; the stock were branded or marked and turned loose in the woods, being penned and fed enough to keep them from going entirely wild. Lawson says (1707) he had seen as many as one thousand cattle be- longing to one owner, and Brickell says he had seen one hun- dred calves in one pen belonging to one person. The calves were confined to insure the return of the cows each evening, a custom that prevails with cattle raisers in Eastern Caro- lina to this day.
About 1728 there was a disease that destroyed half the cattle in the Province; c again about 1760 another cattle distemper was brought in the Province from South Caro- lina by which near 7-8 of the stock was lost. d The impor- tance of the cattle industry seems to have declined from that time.
a Laws 1741. Ch. 25. Sec. 23.
b C. R .. Vol. 3. p. 14S.
c C. R .. Vol. 3. p. 28.
d C. R .. Vol. 6, p. 1,029.
NoTr .- We are told that in South Carolina the writer Peter Purry in 1781 had known "one Planter to mark two hundred calves last spring": Again. another writer states that in South Carolina "Black Cattle are extremely plentiful, monr gentlemen owning from five hundred to fifteen hundred head. Carr. Coll., Vol. 2, pp. 123, 482.
.
34 NOTES ON COLONIAL NORTH CAROLINA 1700-1750.
Horses were raised in considerable numbers. They were turned out to range, it being necessary to feed them only in the winter time. In almost every locality in the early settled sections of North Carolina there are to-day places where tra- dition tells us were "horse pens." Many localities have such names as the "Horse neck pocoson," "Horse Pen branch," etc. These horses are described as smaller than the average horses now in use but of great endurance. Many of them are said to have gone wild.
Hogs were raised in vast numbers, the woods abounding in berries, fruits, acorns and mast of all kinds. The Coastal Plain was heavily set in oaks of all kinds and the acorns furnished abundant food for hogs. Hogs were kept until grown, and it became a custom on account of their uniform size to count the pieces, hams, shoulders, sides, etc., instead of weighing. This custom prevailed until the middle of the past century. Planters now living tell me that they have sold dried meats that way which were transported in flat boats down the rivers to be loaded in vessels for the West Indies. Beef and pork barrelled dry, and in pickle, were of the rated commodities, and for many years were two of the chief ex- ports of the colony.
Gov. Burrington reported in 1736 that there were fifty thousand hogs and ten thousand fat oxen driven into Vir- ginia yearly. a The want of salt made this necessary. These came from Pamlico and Albemarle, and were in ad- dition to the amount of barrelled meat shipped.
Horses were branded and Cattle and Hogs were marked in the ears, a custom that still prevails. *
For altering or defacing brands or the mismarking of stock there was a penalty of ten pounds proclamation money over and above the value of the animal, and "forty lashes on
a C. R .. Vol. 4, p. 172.
*NOTE .- The writer's mark now in use "a crop slit and under bit both ears," has been the family stock mark for more than a cen- tury.
NOTES ON COLONIAL NORTH CAROLINA 1700-1750. 35
his bare back well laid on, and for the second offence he shall pay the price above-mentioned, stand in the Pillory Two Hours and be branded in the left hand with a red hot iron the letter T." " * * "Such slave or slaves shall, for first offence, suffer both his ears to be cut off, and be pub- licly whipt, at the Discretion of the Justices and Freeholders before whom he shall be tried; and for the second offence shall suffer death." a
1686627
The discovery of the rich Cape Fear bottoms where the rice lands are as fertile as any in the world, attracted at- tention near the close of the Proprietary period, and quite a colony of the leading men from Albemarle and Bath coun- ties went there ; among them the Porters, Ashes, Moores, Lil- lingtons, Moseleys, etc. Of these the Hon. Geo. Davis says : "They were no needy adventurers, driven by necessity, no unlettered boors, ill at ease in the haunts of civilization, and seeking their proper sphere amidst the barbarism of the sav- ages. They were gentlemen of birth and education, bred in the refinements of polished society, and bringing with them ample fortunes, gentle manners, and cultivated minds-most of them united br ties of blood, and all by those of friend- ship, they came as one household, sufficient to themselves, and reared their family altars in love and peace."
It was not an uncommon thing for a wealthy planter to own twenty or thirty thousand acres of land. b
Provoked by a charge that some of them owned more than one hundred thousand acres each, John Porter, Edward Hyrne, Jno. Swann. Sam Swann, J. Davis, M. Moore, Thos. Jones, Nathaniel Moore and Jno. Davis signed a memorial, saying they together did not own more than seventy-five thousand acres, and had "not more than twelve hundred per- sons in their families." c
₡ Laws 1741. Ch. 8.
b C. R., Vol. 4. p. 426.
c C. R., Vol. 4, p. 315.
36
NOTES ON COLONIAL NORTH CAROLINA 1700-1750.
The planters lived on the streams, and every family had its periauger, canoe, sloop or brigantine.
The water-ways were the chief mode of transportation. To the planters' doors came the ships of the old world, and especially the sloops of the New England and West India trader.
Many of the more substantial planters owned vessels that traded with New England, the Barbadoes and occasionally made trips to Europe. The periaugers would carry eight or ten tons or fifty or sixty barrels of pork or tar, and were well adapted to the shallow creeks and landings that they oftenest frequented. The usual vessels in our waters were not of more than fifty or seventy-five tons, mainly the New England sloops. At an early period an effort was made to encourage North Carolina ship owners, and in an act of 1715, a vessels entering the government were re- quired to pay one pound of powder, four pounds swan shot and twelve flints for every three tons' measure, and for want thereof ten shillings for every three tons-this was not to apply to vessels built in this country or owned in whole or in part here, nor to those vessels loaded wtih salt to unload here.
The absence of deep water shipping ports was the greatest handicap under which this province labored. For many years its importations were through the Virginia capes. Most of its commodities were brought from New England where they were imported and re-shipped to us.
Tobacco promised at one time to be our chief money crop, but there was an over production. The first Carolina law of which we have any record was "An Act prohibiting the sow- ing, setting, planting or in any way tending any tobacco" from Febv. 1st., 1667, to Feby. 1st., 1668. b A similar effort was made by Virginia and Maryland
@ Laws 1715. Ch. 35.
b S. P. N., Vol 1, p. 34.
NOTES ON COLONIAL NORTH CAROLINA 1700-1750. 37
at the same time. The next blow to our tobacco interests came about 1679 in "An act against importing tobacco from Carolina, and other ports without the Capes of Virginia." it was enacted: "That such importation from henceforth be, and by virtue of this, remain prohibited and forbidden ; and that if any tobacco hereafter, in anywise whatsoever, shall be imported from Carolina or other ports without the Capes, into this colony and dominion in order to be laid here on shore, sold or shipped, the same shall be thereby forfeited and lost." a
Another act similar to the above was passed by Virginia against North Carolina in 1726. Against this the inhabitants of Albemarle protested, setting forth "That the Inlets to that part of North Carolina are not capable of receiving vessels of Burthen fitt for the transportating of Tobacco from thence to Great Brittain." This effectually prohibited shipping, and thereby destroyed our market for tobacco. The planters could raise tobacco sufficient to pay quit rents, etc,, which the government accepted at the rated price, but they could not sell it profitably and were forced to leave off planting in quantity for profit. "Endeavoring to cloathe themselves with their own manufactures" would compete with British manu- facturers, so the British Board of Trade repealed these acts July 29, 1731. b
According to Lawson Roanoke Inlet was ten feet over the bar, but the sands were shifting and uncertain after coming within. Hatteras had four or five fathom on bar, but after getting into the sound not more than six feet of water was to be found. At Ocracoke, in Lawson's time, there was thirteen feet at low water and eighteen feet at high water, and after crossing the bar safe anchorage was found in seven or eight fathom water. Wimble (1738) says there was 17 feet on bar; in Teach's hole 4 fathoms of water, and in the sound an eight to nine feet channel was to be found.
a C. R., Vol. 1, p. 628.
b C. R., Vol. 3, p. 211.
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38
NOTES ON COLONIAL NORTH CAROLINA 1700-1750.
At Beaufort, on Topsail Inlet, was two fathoms of water, according to Lawson, and five or six fathoms in the harbor. Wimble says there was seventeen feet on the bar. Prof. Bache, Superintendent of Coast Survey in 1851, gives seven- teen feet at low water. In report to Congress Prof. Bache states that "a ship drawing twenty feet of water can leave at any state of tide, with almost any wind and discharge her pilot at sea in from thirty to forty-five minutes after weighing anchor."
Roanoke Inlet was early abandoned because it was shifting, shallow and dangerous, and Ocracoke became the customary entrance as about nine feet of water could be secured from Ocracoke to Bath, Newberne and Edenton. From Bath town to Ocracoke was reckoned seventy miles. a
Bath promised at one time to be the commercial metropolis of Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds, and was an important port of entry. When it was determined to have a permanent capital the General Assembly voted to make Bath the seat of government, but "by management" Gov. Johnston secured the selection of Newberne. b
Burrington, who had considerable wisdom, wished to make Ocracoke the port of entry, abolishing collection districts of Roanoke (Edenton), Currituck and Bath town. At Ocra- coke we could have a direct trade with Europe, receiving the larger sea-going vessels there and distributing the produce to the various parts of our colony in smaller vessels and have direct importation of negroes. He did not, however, have sufficient influence at Court for that purpose, and for years our neighbors to the north and south of us received the great
a C. R., Vol. 3. p. 170.
b C. R., Vol. 4, p. 833.
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NOTES ON COLONIAL NORTH CAROLINA 1700-1750. 39
ships and re-shipped to our waters in smaller vessels, receiv- ing the profits and benefits that should have been ours. #
Gov. Burrington in 1731 writes :
"The pilots I have appointed assure me that at Ocracoke they bring in vessels that draw sixteen or eighteen feet water, at Port Beaufort that draw twenty, and at Cape Fear near two and twenty-this account the Pilots offered to swear too. Currituck Inlet is shut up, and Roanoke is so dangerous that few people care to use it, but go round to Ocracoke." a
Port Beaufort had but a very small quantity of land be- longing to its district and was very inconvenient to traders on Neuse River, and the traders in that section were "forced to ride forty miles to enter and clear at Beaufort thro' a low, watery and uninhabited country, which after great rains is not passable in many days." b
At Cape Fear Lawson found "seven fathom on barr with fine harbor" and this was, and is, probably the best natural port south of New York. Tryon said in 1764: "The en- trance over this bar is esteemed equal to that of Charleston." c
a C. R., Vol. 3, p. 210.
b C. R., Vol. 4, p. 169.
c C. R., Vol. 6, p. 1.059.
* NOTE .- Burrington says. C. R., Vol. 3. p. 336, "At the south end of an island called Ocracock there is sufficient depth of water for any merchantman to come in and a secure harbor, this Island is separated from the main land by a Sound about fourteen leagues over that cannot be passed by a Vessell that draws tenn foot water. it has communications with many large rivers that water so great a part of this country as contain four parts in five of all the Inhabi- tants within the Province. On this Island there is a hill whereon if a small fort was Erected Cannon would from thence Command the Barr. Channell and Harbour. there is no one thing that would cause the trade of this Province to flourish like setting a Custom House on this Place. this would procure a trade from England, in a little time put an end to the Pedling carried on by the Virginians and People of New England."
NOTE .- A letter from Capt. Winslow of the U. S. Corps of Engi- neers gives the distance from Ocracoke Inlet to Washington, N. C., 75 miles : (about 12 miles above Bath). Ocracoke Inlet to New Berne. N. C., 70 miles ; Ocracoke Inlet to Edenton, N. C., 130 miles." Regarding Roanoke Inlet he gives the following data :
"It was open in 15$5 : depth not known. It was navigable for (9) nine feet in 1708: for eight (S) feet in 1738 and 1775; it was open in 1795 : depth not known, and was closed in 1875. The time of the closure not being definitely known."
40 NOTES ON COLONIAL NORTH CAROLINA 1700-1750.
"The distance from Charleston bar to that of Cape Fear is sixty leagues, and has been frequently run in twenty hours."
In a letter to the Lords of the Board of Trade, Dec. 12, 1734, Gab Johnson says the Cape Fear was "the best navi- gation of any betwixt Chesapeak Bay and Cape Florida, and that the past year forty-two ships went loaded from this river." He said that the first settlement there was about eight years before.
When direct trade commenced at Wilmington the Cape Fear country soon became one of the most important com- mercial sections in America.
The leading men of the province were well educated, though little provision was made for the laboring classes. Gentlemen's sons were sent to Williamsburg, Charleston, New England and Old England; some had tutors at home. The daughters were taught by their own mothers or placed with ladies who undertook to educate them.
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