USA > North Carolina > Sketches of North Carolina, historical and biographical : illustrative of the principles of a portion of her early settlers > Part 3
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CHAPTER XXXI.
EXTRACTS FROM MINUTES OF THE SYNOD OF THE CAROLINAS FROM 1S02 TO 1812 INCLUSIVE.
Fifteenth Meeting. Missionary report from Matthews and Hall. A com-
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TABLE OF CONTENTS.
mission of Synod appointed. Grammar Schools to be erected ; and Youth licensed for the Ministry. Overture about exhorters. Petitions from Abingdon. Stated Clerk appointed. Sixteenth Meeting. Mission- ary to Catawbas appointed. Overture respecting Candidates. Seven- teenth Meeting. Greenville Presbytery dissolved. Missionaries sent to Natches. Overture respecting other denominations. Other overtures. Eighteenth Meeting. Report of the Mission among the Catawbas. Non- attending Presbyteries written to. Respecting the Presbytery of Charles- ton. Nineteenth Meeting. The Records transcribed by the new clerk, Mr. Davies. Overture the Assembly for Division. Overture respecting Ministers holding Civil offices. Twentieth Meeting. A memorial re- specting William C. Davis. Application of the Presbytery of Union to change their connexion. Missionary operations. Questions concerning Elders in Synod. Twenty-first Meeting. The Missionary operations. The Minutes of Synod on the Reports. The case of Mr. Davis taken up. Overture respecting Qualifications of Parents asking baptism for Children. Report on the subject of Communing with the Methodists. Twenty-second Meeting. Missionary matters. A long and interesting Report from Mr. Hall. He prepares questions for the people. His visit to Knobb Creek, Case of Mr. Davis comes up. The charges against him. His explanations. The decision of Presbytery. Synod, dissatisfied with it, takes up the case. Mr. Davis appeals to the Assembly. Synod remits the case with an overture on the book published by Mr. Davis called the Gos- pel Plan. Harmony Presbytery set off. Pastoral letter ordered on account Mr. Davis's errors. Twenty-third Meeting. First Presbytery of South Carolina dissolved. Overture concerning Lotteries. Extract from Mr. Hall's report on Missions. Ordination of Mr. Caldwell of the University sanctioned. Twenty-fourth Meeting. Presbytery of Orange ask advice respecting Mr. Davis. Dr. Hall reports on his Missionary tour. The Synod resign their Missionary operations to the hands of the Assembly. Action on the subject of ordination sine titulo. Order to circulate copies of the Confession of Faith. Twenty-fifth Meeting. Report of Dr. Hall of Missionary labor. Support of the Missionary and contingent funds of the Assembly enjoined. Presbytery of Fayetteville set off. Action of Synod concerning Ordinations sine titulo.
CHAPTER XXXII.
REV. JOHN MAKEMIE WILSON, D. D., AND THE CHURCH OF ROCKY RIVER.
His parentage. Incident in his early life. Enters the school in Charlotte. Completes his course of study at Hampden Sydney College. Devotes himself to the Ministry. Settled in Burke County. Marries. Removes to Rocky river. The Settlement of Rocky River. Origin of the Settlers. Some of the names. They favor the Regulators. Destruction of powder by
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TABLE OF CONTENTS.
the Black boys. Mr. Archibald the Minister. A Revival of Religion. Mr. Alexander Caldwell. Becomes deranged and leaves them. Mr. Wilson becomes their Pastor. The estimation in which he was held by the people. His Ministerial habits, opens a Classical school and educates a large number of Ministers of the Gospel. His preparation for death. His burial. His son a Missionary to Africa. Dies there. Mr. Wilson's grave and epitaph. . 476
CHAPTER XXXIII.
FAYETTEVILLE AND HER MINISTERS.
Cross Creek. The name. Campbelton. The public road opened. Name changed to Fayetteville. First stated Preacher. Second Preacher. Ordi- nation of Elders. First administration of the Lord's Supper. The Third Preacher ordained. Baptism administered publicly. Mr. Robinson re- turns. Mr. Turner. His labors and death. His successor. Church build- ing put up. Succession of Ministers. Second Pastor removed by death. Mr. Douglass. A short Memoir of him. His spirit. His Parentage. His Religious impressions. His temptation in New York. Preparation for the Ministry. Foreign Mission. Visits Mr. Nettleton. Habits of piety. His labors as a Missionary. Ordained. Gathers a Church in Mur- freesborough. Goes to Milton. Gathers a Church there. Goes to Briery. Goes to Richmond. Goes to Ireland. Extract from a letter. Visits the great valley of the Mississippi. Goes to Lexington, Virginia. Goes to Fayetteville. His pastoral habits. Fayetteville Presbytery. Its forma- tion. Notice of. Mr. McMillan. Mr. McNair. Mr. Peacock. Mr. McIntyre. Mr. McDougald.
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CHAPTER XXXIV.
CHARLOTTE AND HER RECOLLECTIONS.
Extract from Tarleton's History of the Southern Campaigns. Charlotte un comfortable head-quarters to Cornwallis. Extract from Tarleton upon the difficulty of obtaining provisions. The affair at McIntyre's. Epitaph of one of the men engaged in this affair. Extract from Steadman's History of the American war. The place of encampment of the British army. Evacuation of Charlotte. The Polk family. Thomas Spratt. . 504
CHAPTER XXXV.
EFFORTS TO PROMOTE EDUCATION.
Sentiments of the females in Carolina about education. The oldest Academy.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Attempts to make a College. A charter obtained and revoked by the King. A second time obtained and revoked. Queen's Museum goes into operation, chartered as Liberty Hall Academy by the Colonial Legislature. Extract from Charter. Trustees. First President. Laws drawn up by a committee. Overture to Dr. McWhorter. Certificate. Second President. Third President. The Academy broken up. Mount Zion College. List of Academies by Presbyterians. Probable proportion of those able to read. The institutions established by Presbyterians. The Caldwell Institute ; its origin and principles of operation. Opinion of Dr. Caldwell. The Donaldson Academy. Davidson College; its principles. Attention to female education. Martin Academy in Tennessee. Extract from the report of the Committee of Fayetteville Presbytery.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AND REV. JOSEPH CALDWELL, D.D.
A visit to the University on Commencement day. Death of a young lady. The University a State Institution. The interest of the Presbyterians in it. The Legislature determine to found a University. The Trustees. Its location. Laying the corner-stone. Extract from the speech of Dr. M'Corkle. The University is opened. The first Professor. Mr. Harris recommends Mr. Caldwell. His parentage. His early training. Commen- ces his Classical course. His education abandoned. At the suggestion of Dr. Witherspoon his course is renewed. Enters College. His views re- specting his conduct in College. Takes his degree. Commences school- teaching. Is made tutor in Nassau Hall. His connection with the church under Mr. Austin. Correspondence with his classmate. Appointed pro- fessor of Mathematics at Chapel Hill. Sets out for Carolina. Anecdote of Dr. Green. Enters on his office. The advantages of his situation. The difficulties of it. The efforts of infidel notions. Extract from a letter. Exhibition of Presbyterian principles. False notions of education. Or- dination of Dr. Caldwell. His talents judged by his works. Advocates the Presbyterial High School. His religious experience ..
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SKETCHES
OF
NORTH CAROLINA.
CHAPTER I.
THE FIRST DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, MAY 20TH, 1775.
THE little village of CHARLOTTE, the seat of justice for Meck- lenburg county, North Carolina, was the theatre of one of the most memorable events in the political annals of the United States. Situated in the fertile champaign, between the Yadkin and Catawba rivers, far above tide-water, some two hundred miles from the ocean, and in advance of the mountains that run almost parallel to the Atlantic coast, on the route of that emigration which, before the Revolution, passed on southwardly, from Pennsylvania, through Virginia, to the unoccupied regions east of the Mount- ains, on what is now the upper stage route from Georgia, through South Carolina and North Carolina, to meet the railroad at Raleigh,-it was, and is, the centre of an enterprising population. It received its name from Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg, whose native province also gave name to the county, the House of Hanover having been invited to the throne of England.
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Here was located the first academy, or high school, in the upper part of the State ; and here was made the first effort for a college in North Carolina, in the institution called QUEEN'S MU- SEUM.
The traveller, in passing through this fertile, retired, and popu- lous country, would now see nothing calculated to suggest the
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SKETCHES OF NORTH CAROLINA.
fact, that he was on the ground of the boldest Declaration ever made in America ; and that all around him were localities rich in associations of valor and suffering in the cause of National Inde- pendence, the sober recital of which borders on romance. Every- thing looks peaceful, secluded, and prosperous, as though the track of hostile armies had never defaced the soil. . Were he told, this is the spot where lovers of personal and national liberty will come, in pilgrimage or imagination, to ponder events of the deep- est interest to all mankind, he must feel, in the beauty and fertility of the surrounding region, that here was a chosen habitation for good men to live, and act, and leave to their posterity the inesti- mable privileges of political and religious freedom, with abundance of all that may be desired to make life one continued thanksgiving.
Seventy years ago, on the 19th day of May, 1775, might have been seen assembled, in this frontier settlement, an immense con- course of people under great excitement ; some few, well dressed, moving about with the dignity of Colonial Magistrates ; a small number of officers of the militia ; the great mass of the assembly clad in the homespun of their wives and sisters,-not a few shod with the moccasins of their own manufacture,-all completely wrapt in the exciting subjects of a revolutionary nature, then agitating the whole land. Continental Congress was then in ses- sion in Philadelphia, consulting for the welfare of the Colonies ; provincial Legislatures had been dissolved, and the whole popula- tion of the United Provinces were in commotion, discussing the rights and privileges of persons, and States, and Kings. Every man had become a politician, and from being a hunter was pre- pared to become a soldier.
There was no printing press in the upper country of Carolina, and many a weary mile must be traversed to find one. Newspa- pers were few, and, no regular post traversing the country, were seldom seen. The people, anxious for news, were accustomed to assemble to hear printed handbills from abroad, or written ones drawn up by persons appointed for the purpose, particularly the Rev. Thomas Reese, of Mecklenburg, North Carolina, whose bones lie in the grave yard of the Stone Church, Pendleton, South Carolina. There had been frequent assemblies in Char- lotte, to hear the news and join in the discussions of the exciting subjects of the day ; and finally, to give more efficiency to their discussions, it was agreed upon, generally, that Thomas Polk, Colonel of the Militia, long a surveyor in the province, frequently a member of the Colonial Assembly, well known and well ac-
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FIRST DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.
quainted in the surrounding counties, a man of great excellence and merited popularity, should be empowered to call a convention of the representatives of the people, whenever it should appear advisable. It was also agreed that these representatives should be chosen from the Militia districts, by the people themselves ; and that when assembled for council and debate, their decisions should be binding on the inhabitants of Mecklenburg.
Having heard of the attempt of Governor Martin to prevent the assembling of a Provincial Congress, or Convention, in Newbern, in April; and of his arbitrary proceedings in dissolving the last provincial Legislature after a session of four days, before any im- portant business had been transacted ; and being afflicted with the news from distant colonies, and from across the ocean, the people were clamorous for action and for redress. The Provincial Con- gress of North Carolina had assembled in direct opposition to the proclamation of the Governor, and had approved of the acts and doings of their representatives in the Continental Congress, ex- pressing their confidence in their wisdom and abilities, by re-ap- pointing them to the arduous duties of Representatives in the Legislature of the United Colonies ; and the people generally were more and more restless under the exercise of royal author- ity, and daily more irritated by the exactions of men who glutted their avarice under the color of law.
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In this state of the public mind, Colonel Polk issued his notice for the committee men to assemble in Charlotte, on the 19th of May, 1775. On the appointed day between twenty and thirty representatives of the people met in the Court House, in the cen- tre of the town, at the crossing of the great streets, and surround- ed by an immense concourse, few of whom could enter the house, proceeded to organize for business, by choosing ABRAHAM ALEX- ANDER, a former member of the Legislature, a magistrate, and ruling elder in the Sugar Creek Congregation, in whose bounds they were assembled, as their chairman ; and John McKnitt Alex- ander, and Dr. Ephraim Brevard, men of business habits and great popularity, their clerks. Papers were read before the Con- vention and the people ; the handbill, brought by express, containing the news of the battle of Lexington, Massachusetts, on that day one month, the 19th of April, came to hand that day, and was read to the assembly. The Rev. Hezekiah James Balch, Pastor of Poplar Tent, Dr. Ephraim Brevard, and William Kennon, Esq., addressed the Convention and the people at large. Under the excitement produced by the wanton bloodshed at Lexington,
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SKETCHES OF NORTH CAROLINA.
and the addresses of these gentlemen, the assembly cried out as with one voice, "Let us be independent ! Let us declare our independence, and defend it with our lives and fortunes !" The speakers said, his Majesty's proclamation had declared them out of the protection of the British Crown, and they ought, therefore, to declare themselves out of his protection, and independent of all his control.
A committee, consisting of Dr. Ephraim Brevard, Mr. Kennon, and Rev. Mr. Balch, were appointed to prepare resolutions suitable' to the occasion. Some drawn up by Dr. Brevard, and read to his friends at a political meeting in Queen's Museum some days before, were read to the Convention, and then committed to these gentle- men for revision.
While the committee were out discussing these resolutions, the Convention continued in session and were addressed by several gentlemen. General Joseph Graham, then but a youth, and pre- sent at the deliberations, relates an interesting incident. A mem- ber of the committee, who had said but little before, addressed the chairman as follows : "If you resolve on Independence, how shall we all be absolved from the obligations of the oath we took to be true to King George the Third, about four years ago, after the Regulation battle, when we were sworn, whole militia compa- nies together ? I should be glad to know how gentlemen can clear their consciences after taking that oath ?" The Speaker referred to the blood shed by Governor Tryon, on the 16th of May, 1771, on Alamance Creek, when he dispersed the Regulators, men driven to open resistance of His Majesty's officers, by their tyranny and exactions ;- and to the numerous executions that fol- lowed in Hillsborough and the neighboring country ;- and to the oath of allegiance forced on the people by the Governor, to save their lives and property, after that bloodshed. The question pro- duced great confusion, and many attempted to reply ; the chair- man could with difficulty preserve order. This question did not imply fear, or want of patriotism ; it simply revealed the spirit and tone of the man's conscience, that he was one of those men bless- ed of the Lord, " who sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not." The excitement that followed evinced the fact that the Speaker had struck a chord that vibrated through the assembly. An answer must be given, or the event of that day's discussion would not be for independence. The haste to answer the ques- tion revealed the fact that the community felt the awful and bind- ing sanction of a solemn oath; and unless some answer was
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FIRST DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.
given, and given speedily, the minds of the auditory would be turned back from the proposed declaration, for very many were held by the oath exacted by Tryon. Some cried out that-" al- legiance and protection were reciprocal ; when protection was withdrawn, allegiance ceased ; that the oath was binding only while the King protected us in our rights and liberties as they existed at the time it was taken." Others, of more passion than conscience, cried out that such questions and difficulties were all " nonsense." One man at last carried the assembly with him by a short illustration, pointing to a green tree near the Court House, -" If I am sworn to do a thing as long as the leaves continue on that tree, I am bound by that oath as long as the leaves continue. But when the leaves fall, I am released from that obligation." The people determined that when protection ceased, allegiance ceased also. The Convention proceeded to enact by-laws and regulations by which it should be governed as a standing commit- tee, and about midnight adjourned till noon the next day.
The excitement continued to increase through the night and the succeeding morning. At noon, May 20th, the Convention re-assem- bled with an undiminished concourse of citizens, amongst whom might be seen many wives and mothers, anxiously awaiting the event. The resolutions previously drawn up by Dr. Brevard, and now amended by the committee, together with the by-laws and regulations, were taken up; John McKnitt Alexander read the by-laws, and Dr. Brevard the resolutions. All was stillness. The chairman of the Convention put the question :- " Are you all agreed ?" The response was an universal "aye."
After the business of the Convention was all arranged, it was moved and seconded that the proceedings should be read at the Court House door in hearing of the multitude. Proclamation was made, and from the Court House steps Colonel Thomas Polk read, to a listening and approving auditory, the following resolu- tions, viz. :-
THE MECKLENBURG DECLARATION.
" Resolved, 1st. That whosoever directly or indirectly abetted, or in any way, form, or manner, countenanced the unchartered and dangerous invasion of our rights, as claimed by Great Britain, is an enemy to this country, to America, and to the inherent and unalienable rights of man.
" Resolved, 2d. That we, the citizens of Mecklenburg county, do hereby dissolve the political bonds which have connected us
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SKETCHES OF NORTH CAROLINA.
with the mother country, and hereby absolve ourselves from all allegiance to the British crown, and abjure all political connection, contract, or association with that nation, who have wantonly trampled on our rights and liberties, and inhumanly shed the blood of American Patriots at Lexington.
"Resolved, 3d. That we do hereby declare ourselves a free and independent people ; are, and of right ought to be, a sovereign and self-governing association, under the control of no power, other than that of our God, and the General Government of the Congress :- to the maintenance of which independence, we sol- emnly pledge to each other, our mutual co-operation, our lives, our fortunes, and our most sacred honor.
" Resolved, 4th. That as we acknowledge the existence and con- trol of no law, nor legal office, civil or military, within this county ; we do hereby ordain and adopt, as a rule of life, all, each, and every of our former laws ; wherein, nevertheless, the crown of Great Britain never can be considered as holding rights, privileges, immunities, or authority therein.
"Resolved, 5th. That it is further decreed, that all, each, and every military officer in this county is hereby retained in his former command and authority, he acting conformably to these regulations. And that every member present of this delegation shall henceforth be a civil officer, viz. : a Justice of the Peace, in the character of a committee man, to issue process, hear and determine all matters of controversy, according to said adopted laws ; and to preserve peace, union, and harmony in said county ; and to use every exer- tion to spread the love of country and fire of freedom throughout America, until a general organized government be established in this province."
A voice from the crowd called out for "three cheers," and the whole company shouted three times, and threw their hats in the air. The Resolutions were read again and again during the day to different companies desirous of retaining in their memories sentiments so congenial to their feelings. There are still living some whose parents were in that assembly, and heard and read the resolutions ; and from whose lips they heard the circumstances and sentiments of this remarkable declaration.
THE SECOND MECKLENBURG DECLARATION.
The Convention had frequent meetings, and on the 30th of May, 1775, issued the following paper, viz .:-
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FIRST DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.
" CHARLOTTE, MECKLENBURG COUNTY, May 30th, 1775.
" This day the committee of the county met and passed the following Resolves :- Whereas, by an Address presented to his Majesty, by both houses of parliament, in February last, the American Colonies are declared to be in a state of actual rebellion, we conceive that all laws and commissions confirmed by, or de- rived from the authority of the king or parliament, are annulled and vacated, and the former civil constitution of these Colonies for the present wholly suspended. To provide, in some degree, for the exigencies of this county, in the present alarming period, we deem it necessary and proper to pass the following resolves, viz. :-
" 1st. That all commissions, civil and military, heretofore granted by the crown, to be exercised in these Colonies, are null and void, and the constitution of each particular Colony wholly suspended.
" 2d. That the Provincial Congress of each province, under the direction of the great Continental Congress, is invested with all legislative and executive powers, within their respective provinces, and that no other legislative power does, or can exist, at this time, in any of these Colonies.
"3d. As all former laws are now suspended in this province, and the Congress have not provided others, we judge it necessary for the better preservation of good order, to form certain rules and regulations for the internal government of this county, until laws shall be provided for us by the Congress.
" 4th. That the inhabitants of this county do meet on a certain day appointed by this committee, and having formed themselves into nine companies, viz., eight in the county, and one in the town of Charlotte, do choose a Colonel and other military officers, who shall hold and exercise their several powers by virtue of this choice, and independent of the crown of Great Britain and the former constitution of this province."
[ Then follow eleven articles for the preservation of the peace, and the choice of officers to perform the duties of a regular gov- ernment.]
" 16th. That whatever person shall hereafter receive a com- mission from the crown, or attempt to exercise any such commis- sion heretofore received, shall be deemed an enemy to his country ; and upon information to the captain of the company in which he resides, the company shall cause him to be apprehended, and,
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SKETCHES OF NORTH CAROLINA.
upon proof of the fact, committed to safe custody, till the next sitting of the committee, who shall deal with him as prudence shall direct."
A copy of the acts and doings of this convention was sent by express to the members of Congress from North Carolina, then in session in Philadelphia. Capt. James Jack, of Charlotte, was chosen as the bearer, and set out immediately on his mission. Passing through Salisbury, on the regular court day, he was per- suaded by Mr. Kennon, a lawyer in attendance at court, also a member of the committee that reported the first declaration, to permit a reading of the papers publicly. The citizens of Rowan, generally, approved of the course taken by their fellow-citizens of Mecklenburg. Two individuals, John Dunn and Benjamin Booth Boote, opposed the sentiments of the resolution, pronounced them treasonable, and proposed the detention of Captain Jack. Bidding them defiance, and favored by the great majority of the people, he passed on unmolested, and delivered the declarations to the delegates from North Carolina, then in Philadelphia-Messrs. Caswell, Hooper, and Hewes. Approving of the spirit of their fellow citizens, and the tone of the resolutions, these gentlemen nevertheless thought them premature, as the General Congress had not then abandoned all hopes of a reconciliation with the mother country, on honorable terms ; and did not present them to Congress. By this perhaps prudent smothering of the expressions of sentiment by an intelligent people, the citizens of Mecklenburg were disappointed, but not discouraged ; they lost the foreground their patriotism merited, but lost not their spirit. They declared themselves independent May, 1775, and have never ceased to be so.
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