USA > North Carolina > Sketches of North Carolina, historical and biographical : illustrative of the principles of a portion of her early settlers > Part 20
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The young tailor knew the spirit of his countrymen, and came to seek his fortune with the poor, but spirited and enterprising peo- ple. Few of them had much money, and many of them had none. In paying for their lands, the skins of the deer and buffalo that had fed them, were taken on pack-horses to Charleston and Phila- delphia, as the most ready means of obtaining the necessary funds. Years necessarily passed before the cattle and horses they took with them to the wild pastures were multiplied sufficiently for home consumption or for traffic ; about the time of the Revolution- ary war, they constituted the available means, the wealth of the country, as cotton has been in years past.
The young man brought his ready made clothes, and cloths to be made to order, and trafficked with his countrymen, transporting
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his peltry on horseback to the city, and returning with a fresh sup- ply of goods, till the droves of cattle and horses taken to the mar- kets, supplied the inhabitants with silver and gold for their neces- sary uses. In about five years, in the year 1759, he married JANE BANE, from Pennsylvania, of the same race with himself, and settled in Hopewell congregation. His permanent abode has been known by the name of Alexandriana. Prospered in his business, he soon became wealthy, and an extensive landholder, and rising in the estimation of his fellow citizens, was promoted to the ma- gistracy, and the eldership of the Presbyterian church, the only church between the two rivers. Shrewd, enterprising, and suc- cessful, a man of principle and inspiring respect,-in less than twenty years from his first crossing the Yadkin, he was agitating with his fellow citizens of Mecklenburg, the rights of persons, of property, and conscience,-and resisting the encroachments of the king, through his unprincipled and tyrannical officers, that oppress- ed, without fear and without restraint, the inhabitants of Upper North Carolina.
In less than one quarter of a century after the first permanent settlement was formed in Mecklenburg, men talked of defending their rights, not against the Indians, but the officers of the crown ; and took those measures that eventuated in the CONVENTION of May 20th, 1775, to deliberate on the crisis of their affairs. Of the persons chosen to meet in that assembly, one was a Presbyterian minister, Hezekiah James Balch, of Poplar Tent; seven were known to be Elders of the Church-Abraham Alexander, of Su- gar Creek, John McKnitt Alexander and Hezekiah Alexander, of Hopewell, David Reese, of Poplar Tent, Adam Alexander and Robert Queary, of Rocky River (now in the bounds of Philadel- phia), and Robert Irwin, of Steel Creek ; two others were elders, but in the deficiency of church records, their names not known with certainty, but the report of tradition is, without variation, that nine of the members were elders, and the other two are sup- posed to have been Ephraim Brevard and John Pfifer. Thus ten out of the twenty-seven were office-bearers in the church; and all were connected with the congregations of the Presbyteries in Mecklenburg.
The Declaration issued by this Convention is the admiration of the present generation, and will be of generations to the end of time,-THE FIRST DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE IN NORTH AMERICA. At a hasty view, this declaration made by a colony on the western frontier of an American province, may seem rash and
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unreasonable ; but when the race and the creed of the people, and their habits, are taken into consideration, we wonder at their for- bearance ; this classic declaration expressed a deep settled pur- pose, which the ravages of the British army, in succeeding years, could not shake.
Neither the Congress of the United Provinces, then in session, nor the Congress of the Province of North Carolina, which assem- bled in August of the same year, were prepared to second the de- claration of Mecklenburg ; though the latter appointed committees of safety in all the counties, similar to the committee in Mecklen- burg. The papers of the Convention were preserved by the secretary, John McKnitt Alexander, till the year 1800, when they were destroyed, with his dwelling, by fire. But the Rev. Hum- phrey Hunter and General Graham, who both had heard the Decla- ration read on the 20th of May, 1775, had obtained copies, which have been preserved, and Mr. Alexander gave one himself to Ge- neral Davie some time previously to the fire.
Judge Cameron, of Raleigh, President of the State Bank, who was for many years a practising lawyer in the Salisbury District, and afterwards a judge, says that he was well acquainted with Mr. Alexander, who was frequently brought to court as a witness in land cases, having been for many years a crown surveyor in Mecklenburg. There was little regularity in taking up lands ; and claims were found to clash, and frequent lawsuits were the conse- quence, and Mr. Alexander was appealed to for bounds and lines. Being a sensible and social, dignified man, an acquaintance com- menced which was ended only by the death of Mr. Alexander. 'The Judge says that the matters of a revolutionary nature were frequently the subject of conversation ; and among others, the cir- cumstances of the Declaration. Some time after the fire that con- sumed Mr. Alexander's dwelling and many of his valuable papers, he met the old man in Salisbury. Referring to the fire, Mr. Alex- ander lamented the loss of the original copy of that document, but consoled himself by saying, that he had himself given a copy to General Davie some time before, which he knew to be correct ; so, says he, " the document is safe." That copy is in the hands of the present governor of North Carolina ; and is in part the author- ity for the copy given in the first chapter of this work. The copies of Hunter and Graham rest upon the honor of those two unimpeachable men. Happily, they entirely agree with the copy given to General Davie, as far as that has been preserved.
The last interview the Judge had with Mr. Alexander was in
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Salisbury. Nearly blind with age and infirm, he was brought down to the court as an evidence in a land case. The venerable old man sat in the bar-room, listening to the voices of the company, as they came in. "Is that you, Cameron ?" said he, as the sound of his voice fell upon his ear, "I know that voice, though I cannot well see the man." Infirm, he was dignified : with white hair and almost sightless eyes, his mental powers remained. The past and the future were to him more than the present; in the one he had acted his part well, in the other he had hope ; but the pre- sent had lost its beauty. He recounted, in the course of the inter- views he had with the Judge, during the intervals of court, the events of the Revolution, particularly those in which Mecklenburg took the lead, and referred to the copy of the Declaration he had given to Davie as being certainly correct.
Mr. Alexander, as an elder in the Presbyterian church, was frequently appointed by the Synod of the Carolinas, during the twenty-four years the two States were associated ecclesiastically, on important business for the Synod, and for a number of years was its treasurer. Of undoubted honesty, and unquestioned reli- gion, he finished his earthly existence at the advanced age of four- score and one years.
The reason for the obscurity in which the proceedings of the Convention in Charlotte were for a time buried may be found in the facts,-first, the county in which they took place was far removed from any large seaport, or trading city ; was a frontier, rich in soil, and productions, and men, but poor in money,-with no person that had attracted public notice, like the Lees and Henry, of Virginia, for eloquence,-or like Ashe, of their own distant sea- board, for bravery,-or like Hancock, of Massachusetts, for dignity in a public assembly,-or Jefferson, for political acumen : and, second, the National Declaration in 1776, with the war that followed, so completely absorbed the minds of the whole nation, that efforts of the few, however patriotic, were cast into the shade. In the joy of National Independence, the particular part any man, or body of men, may have acted, was overlooked ; and in the bright scenes spread out before a young Republic, the Colonial politics shared the fate of the soldiers and officers that bore the fatigues and endured the miseries of the seven years' war. Men were too eager to enjoy Liberty, and push their speculations to become rich, to estimate the worth of those patriots, whose history will be better known by the next generation, and whose honors will be duly appreciated.
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Some publications were made on this subject in the Raleigh Register in 1819, and for a time public attention was drawn to the subject in different parts of the country. About the year 1830, some publications were made, calling in question the authenticity of the document, as being neither a true paper, nor a paper of a true convention. Dr. Joseph McKnitt Alexander, inheriting the resi- dence, and much of the spirit of his father, the secretary, felt himself moved to defend the honor of his parent, and the noble men that were associated in the county of Mecklenburg. Letters were addressed to different individuals who either had taken a part in the spirited transactions of 1775, or had been spectators of those scenes that far outstripped in patriotic daring the State at large, or even the Congress assembled in Philadelphia. The attention of all the survivors of Revolutionary times was awaked; their feelings were aroused ; and they came on all sides to the rescue of those men who had pledged " their lives, their fortunes, and their most sacred honor."
The Rev. Humphrey Hunter, who had preached in Steel Creek many years, within a few miles of Charlotte, and for a number of years in Unity and Goshen, in Lincoln, a short distance from the residence of Mr. Alexander, sent to the son a copy of the Decla- ration, together with a history of the Convention, of which he was an eye-witness. General Graham, who had grown up near Charlotte, had been high-sheriff of the county, and was an actor in the Revolution, and an eye-witness of the Convention, did the same. From their accounts, the historical relation in the first chapter of this volume was taken. Captain Jack, who carried the declaration to Philadelphia, gave his solemn asservation of the facts, as an eye-witness of the Convention, and as its messenger to Congress. John Davidson, a member of the Convention, gave his solemn testimony, writing from memory, and not presenting any copy of the doings, but asserting the facts and general principles of the Convention. The Rev. Dr. Cummins, who had been educated at Queen's Museum, in Charlotte, and was a student at the time of the Convention, affirmed, that repeated meetings were held in the hall of Queen's Museum, by the leading men in Meck- lenburg, discussing the business to be brought before the conven- tion when assembled. Colonel Polk, of Raleigh, who was a youth at the time, and who repeatedly read over the paper to different circles on that interesting occasion, affirmed and defended the doings of his father, at whose call, by unanimous consent, the delegates assembled. Many, less known to the public, sent their
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recollections of the events of 19th and 20th of May. A file of New York papers, published during the Revolution, gives the declaration and doings of May 30th, in which independence is asserted in language as strong as in the paper of the 20th, and the civil government of Mecklenburg was arraigned, a government that was paramount till after the meeting of the first North Caro- lina Provincial Congress. A file of Massachusetts papers, printed at the same time, gives the same documents. Relying on these affirmations and documents, the son rested securely for his father's honor, and the honest fame of his compeers. By the order of the legislature of North Carolina, these facts and assertions were made a public document. There remains not a man at this day, who saw the assembly of delegates in Mecklenburg. Happily, the son collected the evidences of his father's political honor, before the witnesses had all passed to the land where the truth needs no such evidence, and had joined the band of immortal patriots.
The names of the persons composing the convention, as given in the State documents collected by Dr. J. McKnitt Alexander, are as follows :
Abraham Alexander-Chairman. John McKnitt Alexander-Secretary. Ephraim Brevard-Secretary.
Rev. Hezekiah J. Balch,
Charles Alexander,
John Pfifer,
Zaccheus Wilson, jun.,
James Harris,
Waightstill Avery,
William Kennon,
Benjamin Patton,
John Ford,
Matthew McClure,
Richard Barry,
Neill Morrison,
Henry Downe,
Robert Irwin,
Ezra Alexander,
John Flenniken,
William Graham,
David Reese,
John Queary,
John Davidson,
Hezekiah Alexander, Adam Alexander,
Richard Harris, jun.,
Thomas Polk.
In searching his father's papers that escaped the fire, he came across another document of exceeding value, in the handwriting of Ephraim Brevard, the draughtsman of the Declaration, giving, under the name of Instructions to the Members of the Provincial Congress in 1775, the ideas of civil and religious liberty held by these patriotic men. This paper is given in full in the third chap- ter, and gives an opportunity of judging whether the views of
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liberty held by these have or have not had the sanction of the people of the United States.
A friend that knew the son, gives the following obituary notice : " Died, on the 17th ultimo (Nov., 1841), at Alexandria, the time- honored seat of his ancestors, in Mecklenburg county, N. C., Dr. J. McKNITT ALEXANDER, in the 67th year of his age.
" Dr. Alexander was an alumnus of Princeton College in its palmiest days. He had early developed indications of not only genius and talents, but the highest attributes of intellect, sound judgment and profound thinking. One of the usages of the enlight- ened, estimable, and Christian community in which he was reared, was, that each family should educate one son and devote him to the service of the Church. In accordance with this excellent usage, it was determined by his parents that the natural endow- ments of Joseph should receive the culture and finish of a thorough collegiate education, and the school at Princeton was selected for the purpose. Here erudition and science matured the germs of usefulness and distinction, which had in his boyhood given such high promise of a fruitful harvest. He graduated with éclat, and re- turned to his native home-not, as had been fondly hoped by his pious parents, to engage in the study of divinity, and to consecrate him- self to the holy ministry. This, their cherished expectation, to their bitter disappointment, was never realized. He studied medicine under a distinguished preceptor, and after becoming thoroughly indoctrinated in the "Æsculapian mysteries," engaged in the practice of physic, from which he acquired not only profes- sional reputation but wealth and even affluence. The pure duties of humanity imposed upon him by his profession, were ever per- formed with punctuality and cheerfulness, and throughout his long life, no citizen had a more enviable character for integrity, public spirit, and private virtue. He was distinguished for his practical judgment and plain common sense-a trait the more remarkable as it was accompanied in him with the scintillations of genius and the sprightliness of a vigorous imagination. He thought quick, yet deep and accurately. What others found by pains-taking, search and tedious investigation, he obtained intuitively. To look at a subject at all, was to penetrate it with an eagle's glance, to touch was to dissect, to handle was to unravel. He wrote well, yet his productions possessed few of the embellishments of art and none of the ornaments of style, though always enlivened and bril- liant from the flashes of a true and innate eloquence."
"Doctor Alexander, though a child of the church, and the son of
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the most exemplary and pious parents, had passed the meridian of life before he became a professor of religion. Does the pride of intellect or the glitter of human learning lead us to doubt the truth of divine revelation ? The avalanche of infidelity, put in motion about the period of the Doctor's maturity by Montesquieu, Voltaire, Diderot, D'Alembert, Buffon, and Rousseau, threatened to extinguish the best hopes of man, and deluge our sin ruined world with a cold and cheerless scepticism. The infection of this poison may have temporarily obliterated the lessons of his youth, or weakened their influence upon his principles ; it was never able, however, to seduce him from the paths of virtue. His purity, his probity, his honor remained unscathed by the lightning of the French philosophy. It may for a time have diverted his attention from spiritual things, but when ambition became chas- tened by age, in the maturity of his intellect, and at a period of life most favorable for a calm and deliberate examination of the great truths of the Christian's Bible, and the Christian's faith, and the Christian's hope, he believed that Bible, he exercised that faith, he was animated by that hope. He became a worshipper of the God of his fathers, connected himself with the Presbyterian church, and continued through life, until the infirmities of old age prevented, to be active in the promotion of its interests, in alle- viating and ameliorating the condition of men."
" Beyond the flight of time, Beyond the vale of death, There surely is some blessed clime Where life is not a breath."
After its organization, in 1765, Hopewell was for a time asso- ciated with Centre in maintaining the ordinances of the gospel. But at the time that Rev. S. C. Caldwell was called to the church and congregation of Sugar Creek, this church united in the call, and afterwards engaged the pastoral services of that faithful man, till 1805, when he removed from their bounds, and gave, up the care of the church.
During the time of Mr. Caldwell's ministry, the two sessions of the churches under his care, feeling the pressure that was upon them, formed a union for mutual help. The following pa- per reveals the spirit.
" May 15th, 1793. The Sessions of Sugar Creek and Hope- well had a full meeting on the central ground, at Mr. Mons. Rob- inson's, and entered into a number of resolutions, as laws for the government of both churches."
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" NORTH CAROLINA, MECKLENBURG COUNTY, May 5th, 1793.
" We, the Sessions of Sugar Creek and Hopewell congrega- tions, having two separate and distinct churches, sessions and other officers for the peace, convenience, and well-ordering of each society, and all happily united under their present pastor, Samuel C. Caldwell, yet need much mutual help from each other in regard of our own weakness and mutual dependence, and also in regard to our enemies from without. Therefore, in order to make our union the more permanent, and to strengthen each other's hands in the bonds of unity and Christian friendship, have, this 15th day of May, 1793, met in a social manner, at the house of Mons. Robinson. Present, Robert Robinson, Sen., Hezekiah Alexander, Wm. Alexander, James Robinson, Isaac Alexander, Thomas Alexander, and Elijah Alexander, elders in Sugar Creek. John M'Knitt Alexander, Robert Crocket, James Meek, James Henry, Wm. Henderson, and Ezekiel Alexander, elders in Hopewell, who, after discussing generally several topics, proceeded to choose Hezekiah Alexander chairman, and J. M'Knitt Alexan- der, clerk, and do agree to the following resolves and rules, which we, each for himself, promise to observe." (Then follow five resolutions respecting the management of the congregations, as it regards the support of their ministers, inculcating punctuality and precision ; and also respecting a division of the Presbytery of Orange into two Presbyteries.)
Then follow eight permanent laws and general rules for each Session. The 1st concerns the manner of bringing charges against a member of the church, that it " shall be written and signed by the complainant," and that previous to trial, all mild means shall be used to settle the matter.
" 2d. As a church judicature we will not intermeddle with what belongs to the civil magistrate, either as an officer of State, or a minister of justice among the citizens. The line between the church and state being so fine, we know not how to draw it, there- fore we leave it to Christian prudence and longer experience to de- termine."
The other resolutions are all found in the Confession of Faith, in their spirit, in the rules given for the management of a single session, with this exception, that it was determined that in this joint session, " A quorum to do business shall not be less than a Moderator and three Elders ;" and that in matters of discipline there shall be " no non liquet votes permitted."
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This union of the sessions was productive of most happy con- sequences to the two congregations, particularly during the strug- gle with French infidelity, and had the effect to preserve the spirit of Presbyterianism, and of sound principles, and free religion.
The elders were jealous of any intermingling of Church and State, even in the proceedings of sessions, and endeavored to keep both civil and religious freedom, entirely separating political and ecclesiastical proceedings as completely as possible. All the dif- ficulty probably arose from the fact that some of the elders were magistrates, and they feared lest, in the public estimation, or their own actions, the two offices might be blended in their exercise.
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CHURCHES IN ORANGE AND GRANVILLE COUNTIES.
CHAPTER XVI.
HENRY PATTILLO, AND THE CHURCHES IN ORANGE AND GRANVILLE COUNTIES.
IN the year 1751, the Rev. Samuel Davies, then residing in Hano- ver, Virginia, made an excursion for preaching, to the Roanoke. In the course of his journeyings, he became acquainted with Henry Pattillo, then a young man desirous of commencing his studies in preparation for the gospel ministry, and invited him to come and commence his course with him in Hanover. This invitation Mr. Pattillo at first declined, as he had engaged to go to Pennsylvania with another young man, and commence his studies under the care and tuition of the Rev. Mr. John Thomson, who was at this time in Carolina on a mission to the new settlements.
In the year 1744, in compliance with a " representation from many people in North Carolina-showing their desolate condition, and requesting the Synod to take their condition into consideration, and petitioning that we would appoint one of our number to corres- pond with them,-Mr. Thomson, of Donegal Presbytery, was ap- pointed by the Synod to correspond with them. He was at this time on a visit to these petitioners, and others in Carolina. Mr. Pattillo had once set out for Pennsylvania in the year 1750, but was seized by a pleurisy before he had proceeded half a day's journey, under the influence of which he labored the greater part of the winter following. Of course his journey to Pennsylvania was given up. While waiting in the summer of 1751 for Mr. Thom- son's return from Carolina, the young man who had engaged to go on with him to Pennsylvania, abandoned the design of preparing for the ministry. Mr. Pattillo then determined to accept the invita- tion of Mr. Davies, and on the first of August, 1751, arrived at his house in Hanover, and " had a kind welcome."
On the 10th of August, 1754, while residing with Mr. Davies, he commenced a journal, a part of which remains, the last date being June 13th, 1757. He gives the following reasons for commencing the journal : 1st (the beginning of the sentence is wanting)-" My growth or decay in the divine life, and thus the blessing of God be actuated accordingly. 2dly, I shall thereby more accurately observe
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the workings of my own heart, and the methods the Lord may take for my reclamation in my strayings from him. 3dly, This may, through the divine blessing, have a tendency to promote my watch- fulness and diligence, seeing I shall have a daily sentence against myself constantly before me, which I hope may tend to promote my humiliation. 4thly, By observing the dealings of God with my- self, I may be the better enabled to deal with others, especially if the Lord shall carry me through learning, and call me to the work of the ministry. 5thly, To mention no more, it may be of service to me in giving an account of my state godward, if ever I should come on trial for the ministry." He then proceeds to give some account of himself from his birth up to that time. From the frag- ments which remain, the following facts are gathered. .
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