USA > North Carolina > Alamance County > Some neglected history of North Carolina, being an account of the revolution of the regulators and of the battle of Alamance, the first battle of the American Revolution > Part 9
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(See Colonial Records of North Carolina, Vol. VII, pp. 758, 759.)
(REGULATOR ADVERTISEMENT NO. II.)
ADDRESS OF THE REGULATORS TO GOVERNORS TRYON AND THE COUNCIL.
May It Please Your Excellency and Your Honors :
At a Committee of the Regulators, held May 21st, 1768, a Committee was appointed to form a Petition to be laid before Your Excellency and your Honors, where- in among other things it was ordered us to implore the pardon & forgiveness of the Legislature, for whatsoever has been acted amiss, &c. (See Paper No. 10.) And as a Petition had been already formed, we agree to let stand, and in lieu of a better present you with a plain. simple narrative of Facts accompanied with and sup- ported by authentic Papers, and such as have been from time to time sent to our Officers. This We humbly con-
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ceive will give you a more clear and distinct idea of our grievances and the several causes thereof than anything could be conceived in form of a Petition. As to the other part of our instructions, which were to implore your Clemency in behalf of the poor oppressed People, we undertake it with innate pleasure, humbly beseeching your Excellency and your Honors, and every one of you, graciously to forgive, and pardon not only them, but every one of Us, anything that by you may be construed as derogatory to His most sacred Majesty's Prerogative. Person, Crown, or Dignity, or in opposition to His Laws, or that may in any wise contribute to the Disquiet, Dis- satisfaction, or Infelicity of your Excellency's Admin- istration whereby to deprive you of that Bliss you prom- ised yourself when appointed by His Majesty to rule over Us. And we assure, Gentlemen, that neither Disloy- alty to the best of Kings nor disaffection to the whole- somest Constitution now in Being, nor yet Dissatisfac- tion to your present Legislative Body, gave rise to these commotions which now make so much noise throughout the Province. Which, after you have candidly perused this Paper, together with the concomitant proofs, you will easily perceive that those disturbances had their source in the corrupt and arbitrary Practices of ne- farious & designing men, who, being put into Posts of Profit and Credit among us, and not being satisfied with the legal benefits which arose from the execution of their Offices, have been using every artifice, practic- ing every Fraud, and where these failed threats and menaces were not spared whereby to squeeze and ex- tort from the wretched Poor, who, as Colonel Fanning himself observes in the petition he has sent us (if 'tis his), with their utmost efforts can scarce gain a wretched subsistence for themselves and families. Al- lowing this to be a truth, which it lamentably is, how
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grievous, judge you, dear Sirs, must it be for such wretches to have their substance torn from them by those Monsters in iniquity, whose study it is to plunder and oppress them! People can feel oppression, and yet be utterly ignorant how or where to apply for redress. This was absolutely the case with us. & looking on, Colonel Fanning, as our fast friend, in whom we could confide (in fact, the favors we have conferred on him one would imagine were sufficient to rivet him to our in- terest. were he susceptible to gratitude). We applied to him to screen us from the many arbitrary and fraud- ulent impositions we continually groaned under ; how far and to what purpose that Gentleman has answered our Expectations, together with the Artifices he prac- ticed to elude our hopes, and evite (shun) the conse- quences of a Settlement, the several Papers wherein are contained the Transactions will more fully inform you. You will likewise perceive that those frequent ap- plications, and the satisfaction we promised ourselves to redound therefrom, prevented us from laying our Complaints & grievances sooner at your feet, as being unwilling to give You any trouble, on that score, before we had tried our every effort to accommodate and terminate matters among ourselves. But 'tis our fate to be constrained to give you this trouble, and, what we sincerely regret, great uneasiness. We therefore hum- bly beseech you to take our affairs under your serious consideration. and if it appears to you that we have been oppressed. to grant us such justice on our Oppres- sors as to you in your great goodness. candor and wis- dom shall seem meet. We shall just add, that we should have given you this Trouble sooner, but that we have been so embarrassed by your Officers ever since they understood our resolution to seek you for redress, that we could not bring our affairs to any Conclusion, seeing
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they have left no stone unturned by the which they hoped to retard our designs. Flattery on one hand, and menaces on the other, have not been spared to deter us from our Purpose of complaining, as may be seen by the Papers marked B. C. D .; but when they found all was ineffectual, they changed their Battery, and endeavored by their Emissaries to prevail on or frighten us to sign a Petition marked E, drawn up among themselves, and sent us in a letter marked C by Mr. Ralph McNair. You will see how this petition is calculated entirely to screen themselves, and throw the blame on your poor supplicants. We, however, have sent it to you, together with all the Papers we have received from them, that as it contains some truths, however disguised, whereby you will plainly discover the deplorable situation of Our miserable County, and the reason in a great measure, namely, the unequal chances the poor and weak have in contentions with the rich and powerful, and as 'tis at- tested by an enemy, you will the readier give it credit. However, not longer to trespass on your Patience, we shall, without further Preface, proceed to our promised Detail :
In the year of 1766, there appearing a general Dis- content in the countenances of the People. & grievous murmurings ensuing, the Popular Voice gave out that the demands of Court Officers for Fees of every kind were exorbitant, oppressive and extra-legal. In order, therefore, to prevent such Frauds, if real, or if only imaginary, to give our Offices an opportunity to still those clamors by disproving their entity, We drew up the Paper No. I, and John Marshall waited on them with Copies of the same at the Inferior Court, August Term, Mr. Thomas Lloyd being present, & the purport thereof appearing reasonable to Mr. Lloyd, he promised to give us a Hearing, but altered the day as by Appointment on
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account of his attendance at the General Assembly. Wherefore, in consequence of and encouraged by Mr. Lloyd's approbation, Meetings were held in various Neighborhoods, wherein conjunctively was drawn up the Paper No. 2, and nominated 2 or 3 men in each, who signed the remainder of their Names, & exposed the same to Public View.
In expectation, therefore, of a Meeting, and a satis- factory settlement as a consequence thereof, about twelve men went to Mr. Maddock's Mill, on Eno River, the place appointed, where, waiting until late in the day, and no Officers appearing, we made a motion to disperse, but at the instance of Mr. Maddock, we waited until he could dispatch a lad to Hillsborough to inform him- self of the reasons of the Officers' non-appearance, as he had frequently discoursed with them on the Subject, who had all signified their intentions to meet the Peo- ple, particularly Mr. Lloyd, who had said nothing but death or sickness should prevent him. In about an hour the Messenger returned and brought word they would all instantly be on the spot, but, quite contrary to our expectations, Mr. James Watson came alone and brought a Paper marked (A), which he said Colonel Fanning had drawn up, but said Colonel Fanning had not given him any Orders to show it, and then cavilled at a word in our Paper (viz), Judiciously, and said that the Colonel, with the others, had been preparing to meet us some time since, but on observing the aforesaid term in our Paper No. 2, they declined it, as the word denoted we intended to set up a Jurisdiction among themselves, to which he must be subject, and, therefore, he rejected our purposes as looking more like an Insur- rection than a Settlement; besides, he could not brook the meanness of being summoned to a Mill, the Court House appearing to him a more suitable place. To both
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which frivolous objections, we replied that as to our Term in question we were no Criticks; that as' to the Term in question We know not how many different Constructions it might bear, but as to . ourselves we meant no more by it than wisely, soberly and carefully to examine the matter in hand; that with respect to the Court House, we had no right to appoint a Convention there, but to the Mill we had, having first obtained the Owner's leave to that purpose. However, in order to remove all objections, as we were conscious to ourselves that what we aimed at was just and legal, we drew up the Paper No. 3, couched, as we conceived, in such Terms as would remove all further remora (delay) to our designs; and Mr. Watson himself, after perusing the same, declared in his opinion it was reasonable, just and legal. And on our presenting Mr. Watson with a Transcript of the same. he engaged his honor to present our Officers with the same, which we think he did ac- cordingly, for in the ensuing Court Colonel Fanning read a prolix Instrument in Court to the Justices, in contrariety to our designs of which he vaunted and asser- ted he had served us with Copies thereof, but we declare no such Paper ever came into our hands. Sheriffs, &c., en- couraged as we imagine by the imperious Carriage of their Superiors, began now to assume airs, threatening us behind our backs, which menaces, working on the imbe- cility of some, and the Pusillanimity of others, caused the Association at that time to be laid aside. Neverthe- less, some of the Commonalty endeavoured, to be heard at Court about paying 2s more for recording Deeds than was paid in any other County, but they were si- lenced. The sheriffs now grew very arbitrary, insulting the Populace and making such Distresses as are seldom known. Double, Treble, nay, even Quadruple, the value of the Tax or debt was frequently distrained, and such
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their seizures hurried away to Hillsborough, there to be disposed of, and so iniquitous were they in these Practises, that by taking contrary roads or some other indirect Methods, the Effects could never be recovered, altho' they were followed with the money in a few hours after, nor could we ever learn that they returned any Overplus. For better information we refer you to the grievances proved, &c. And early last Spring Mr. Har- ris, our High Sheriff, published the Advertisement marked (F), in consequence whereof the People who lived in Mr. Harris' Vicinity convened and paid off at 8.4, taking receipts, but Colonel Fanning, arriving just after, gave out that the Taxes were 10.8. This height- ened the rising Discontent, and inflamed the minds of the People, notwithstanding Numbers paid the 10.8, but disputed the Authority of the Act, cited in the Adver- tisement. When at a Meeting in Deep River for pay- ment of Taxes, John Wood, Deputy Sheriff, being then present, being questioned about the Act, confidently per- sisted in the affirmative, Upon which William Moffit, on examining the Laws, no such Act could be found. Wood now finding his knavery was detected, no less confidently denied the Advertisement to be Harris's. This unprecedented Effrontery convinced the Spectators that there was Knavery and Collusion, and judging all was of a piece, formed themselves into Bodies under the denomination of Regulators, in order to oppose, if prac- ticable, the torrent of violence and oppression, and drew up the Paper No. (4), subscribing, swearing, or declar- ing to the same under various Chiefs, and now the for- mer application, coming afresh into every one's mem- ory, and being still desirous to accommodate matters, without coming to a rupture, drew up Paper No. (5), and two of the new-formed Regulators waited on our Officers with Copies of the same, but without receiving
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any satisfaction; Whereupon a second Deputation was ordered to be sent with Copies of No. (6), but before they could be set off, one of the Regulators, going to Hillsborough on some private business, had the mare he rode on seized for his Levy. Whereupon the Reg- ulators assembled and went down in order to recover the mare, armed with clubs, staves, &c., and cloven mus- kets, when a Gentleman, coming to Colonel Fanning's door with his Pistols, threatened to fire among us, but a piece being presented at him, he incontinently with- drew, upon which some heated, unruly spirits fired 4 or 5 pieces into the roof of the Colonel's House, making 2 or 3 holes in the roof and breaking two panes of Glass in the dormer windows above; then having secured the mare, they rode off without doing further damage. On this being convinced in our judgments, that our pro- ceedings were inadequate & would greatly contribute to your Excellency's dissatisfaction by embarrassing your Administration, Resolved to proceed on our first plan, viz : Petitioning your Excellency and Honors for re- dress (see Paper No. 4), seeing that it was denied us from every other quarter, and satisfied that we should find it in that source of wisdom, justice and Lenity. And this step, too, was resolved on by our whole Body, in pursuance whereof a Convention was held, in order to carry those salutary purposes into execution. The Paper No. 6 being delivered to Mr. McEljohn, our Rec- tor, while in Town, about the Mare, desiring him to deliver it to the Officers in our names, which he accord- ingly did, for shortly after he came up among us with a verbal message, as he said, from our Officers, and by their Orders, to the following effect, viz: That if the Regulators would nominate any Number of reasonable men to meet them the IIth day of May, at Hillsborough, they would give them a settlement. At the same time
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Mr. McEljohn drew up a paper, which was signed by some private Regulators (see No. 7), but signifying withal that if the Majority dissented therefrom it should be void, Which Paper was objected to, first, because it insinuated a falsity, as tho' we intended violence, where- as, in fact, no such thing was designed, whatever pri- vate Papers might be handed about by particular Per- sons; secondly, it was objected to meet at the Town, as we had intimation they were fortifying that place, in order, as we apprehended, to secure us in Gaol, as soon as they had us in their Power, & that this was their design will appear by the Sequel. Nevertheless, we determined to give them a Settlement in conformity to their message by Mr. McEljohn, and, greatly pleased with the happy prospect of having our differences so speedily terminated, we convened April 30th in order to appoint proper Persons as Settlers, Where we drew up the Paper No. 8, and appointed the men therein spec- ified, Ordering one of our Body to notify the same to our Officers, and drew up and signed the Paper No. o. lest the Officers, by again deceiving us, might put us to further trouble, which, should that be the case, it might be ready. Thus stood affairs when, on Monday Morn- ing, May 2nd, we were alarmed at the astonishing news that Colonel Fanning, at the head of 27 armed men, con- sisting chiefly of Sheriffs, Bombs, Tavern Keepers and Officers, after traveling all night, were arrived by break of day on Sandy Creek, and had made prisoners Mr. Harmon Husband & Mr. M. W. Butler, the former a Gentleman that had never joined the Regulators, had never been concerned in any tumults, and whose only crime was his being active in trying to bring on the in- tended settlement. This extraordinary step of the Col- onel's alarmed the whole County, Regulators or Anti- Regulators; all were unanimous in the recovery of the
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Prisoners; many who had until then opposed the pre- vailing measures, now went down with the foremost, as judging none were now safe, whether active, passive, or neutral; but being arrived near the Town, we there met your Excellency's gracious Proclamation requiring us on sight thereof to disperse, and on acquainting you with our grievances, you would graciously take our case into consideration and redress them where found real, and, where only imaginary, kindly excuse the trouble in compassion to our ignorance; instantly on hearing these glad tidings we dispersed accordingly, and greatly em- boldened by your Excellency's gracious Declaration, and by an agreement with Colonel Fanning to leave our case to Arbitrament of your Excellency and Honors, we convened again on May 21st, in order to consult such further measures as might facilitate our first designs. (See No. 4.)
The result of which we now lay at your Excellency's and Honor's feet for your inspection. We humbly beg leave to observe on some of Colonel Fanning's strange conduct-that on the very day he set off for Sandy Creek he directed letters to 3 of the Regulators, inviting them to Hillsborough, and promising them all imagin- able satisfaction, one of which he directed to Jacob Fudge, we send herewith for your perusal; and now, gentlemen, you see we have sent without reserve of disguise our whole proceedings of this affair, having concealed nothing, whether for or against us; and as you are chosen by the contending Parties to arbitrate the difference, and as we on our parts are fully deter- mined to abide by your decision, we humbly hope naked Truth and native Ignorance will poise a superior excel- lent Flourishes and consummate Declarations of our powerful Adversary, and, relying on your benignity and Justice, we humbly beg leave to subscribe Ourselves
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your poor, oppressed Supplicants and very humble, ob- sequious servants.
Signed on behalf and by Order of Regulators by us The Committee,
John Low, James Hunter, Rednap Howell, Harmon Cox, John Marshall,
Wm. Cox,
Wm. Moffitt,
George Hendry.
(Col. Rec. of N. C., Vol. VIII, pp. 759-766.)
LETTER FROM COL. FANNING TO MR. JACOB FUDGE.
Hillsborough, North Carolina, Ist May, 1768.
I am pleased with your pacific, prudent and orderly conduct since I last saw you, and convinced from thence that you are a man of sense and reason, and therefore should be glad to see ye, Mr. Richard Cheek and Mr. Benjamin Saxon in Town on Tuesday next without fail. You shall be used and treated kindly and civilly, and I am hopeful, by your and the other Gentlemens' conduct, there will be no more tumultuous riots and Assemblies had or instances of open and lawless violence committed, for, as I told you before, and I repeat it now again, that I declare in my conscience I am, and ever was ready to give all the Information in my power to satisfy and convince the people why and wherefore Taxes have been laid and to what purposes they have been applied. That if the People of Orange labour under any public grievance, let some few of them come to me, and I will draw a Petition to the Governor, Council & Assembly for a relief, and will prefer it at the next meeting of the
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Assembly ; and if they have suffered any private injury, they shall, if they apply to me, find certain and sure re- dress by the Laws of the Land. Let me entreat you to visit me as soon as possible, as you regard the Peace, quiet and safety of the People, & the good order of the Government, but at the same time I must inform you that I will not suffer any Insurrection or Outrage to be committed, and I have orders from the Governor by an Express yesterday to raise our own Militia, and the Militia of Halifax, Bute, Granville, Johnston, Cum- berland. Anson, Mecklenberg and Rowan, to suppress the Insurrections, and if it be necessary he will come himself to enforce an obedience and subjection to His Majesty and His Laws, and to prevent further trouble. and perhaps mischief, but I do not intend that violence shall be offered to any one if I can prevent it.
Mr. Fudge, I have taken the liberty of thus writing you, as I have talked with you on this Subject, and as you have declared to me your entire satisfaction on the matter.
I am, Sir, &c., EDMUND FANNING.
P. S. I have sent a copy of this to Mr. Cheek & Mr. Saxon.
Yours, &c., E. F.
(See Col. Rec. of N. C., Vol. VII, p. 741.)
MR. RALPH MCNAIR TO MR. HARMON HUSBAND.
Dear Sir :-
I now, according to my promise, send you the Peti- tion which I think ought to be sent to the Governor. nor can any man who has the least sense of the Danger these inconsiderate men have run themselves into say it is in
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the smallest degree too submissive. You, Mr. Husband, to whom I have opened my thoughts on this subject more than to any other man, I expect will use your ut- most influence to prevail on all you see to choose it, for you may assure yourself, from my knowledge of things, that one couched in any other terms will not, cannot, go down with the Governor. I'm afraid many of the People who are to become Subscribers would object to it, imagining they have been only doing their Duty in opposing the Publick Collectors in the execution of their Offices, and, from this Principle, that a man once ex- acted upon may, with a safe conscience, take any meas- ures, however unlawful, for redress; or this, that not being satisfied as to the legality of the Collectors' de- mand, a man may oppose the measures of Government till his scruples are removed; but if these unfortunate, misguided People had the same opportunity of perusing and examining the Statutes of England & making the same impartial use of them that I have done since the latter disturbance, they would plainly see that their maxims, however plausible they may seem to them at first sight, are diametrically opposite to the law of na- ture and nations, which always were, are, and ever will be, the same. That their method of redress is wrong according to the opinion of all preceding Ages, I need only put you in mind of the ancient Fable, ascribed to Esop, of the Hands and Feet running in mutiny against the Head.
The truth of the Fable, and its having been made use of to a good purpose, We may easily credit, whether we believe there ever was such a man as Esop or not. As I have your good, Mr. Husband, and the good of the whole Country at heart, I shall unbosom myself to you in a manner I would to very few concerned. I shall, therefore, impart to you some of the knowledge I have
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gained by a perusal of the Law Books. For writing. copying, carrying about or dispersing a Libel (and any- thing tending to stir up a People to a dislike of a Gov- ernment, or even to a single Person, is a Libel), the Sentence is Confiscation of goods and chattels ; Painful Punishment-Public Shame and perpetual Imprison- ment-Mobs and Riots (that is, where a number rise without Arms, and only murmuring) are treated gen- erally with Lenity as to the multitude. tho' where the Offence is against Government and ringleaders are to suffer Death, without the King's pardon. But where they take up Arms to remove a Grievance or to alter the form of Government, it is treason, of which there are four sorts: I. Against the King's Person; 2. Against the Administration of His Laws: 3. That which con- cerns His Seal ; and 4. Counterfeiting His Coin. Speak- ing of the Second Sort, it is expressly said that whether it be to remove a real or a pretended Grievance, it is deemed High Treason, and the punishment is the for- feiture of goods and chattels, lands and Tenements, and the Guilty to suffer the most horrid death allow'd by the English Laws; something of this kind I mentioned to you when at your house, but with some degree of un- certainty, but since my return I have examined more particularly, and am now convinced beyond the possibil- ity of a doubt that the above Account is Truth. How- ever, Sir, I can assure (you) with the utmost confidence that this affair, if it stops here, will never be repre- sented by Col. Fanning any otherwise than as a Mob.
I have now to inform you that I have been often in Colonel Fanning's Company since I saw you, and I have had an opportunity of knowing his mind in almost every particular respecting this affair, and I find him most cordially disposed to give any who will come to His House all the satisfaction they can ask or is in his
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power to give. He says he never was applied to by any man that was wronged to prosecute a Sheriff, but that he cheerfully undertook it, where he found the com- plaint just, and that he always would be ready to do it whenever required; that he wishes for nothing so much as that some of the principal men of the Regulators would call upon him for information in any particular they are in doubt about, and that he expects the new Laws up this week, together with the Journals of the House of Assembly, a sight whereof would silence every murmur, dispel every fear, banish all distrust, and con- vince the whole country how much he has been our friend, our Patron, our Benefactor. It is impossible, Sir, in the small compass of a letter (already longer than I expected) to answer particularly all the charges that I have heard against him, such as his receiving £1.500 for his trip with the Governor, his receiving £40 of the Vestry for a dinner, &c., &c., &c .; let it suf- fice to say that he has convinced me of the falsehood of these and many other lies that are spread abroad to his prejudice, and I shall inform you at full upon sight. And since he so much desires to see some of the prin- cipal men your way, let me beg, let me entreat you to come this way, tho' a little round about as you are going to George Sally's, and bring with you Mr. Wm. Butler, Mr. John Lowe, and Mr. James Hunter, and any two or three candid discerning men in your Neighbor- hood. I'm sure 'twill add much to your satisfaction, and greatly to the Peace, Quiet. Ease and happiness of the Country. For my own part I would rather you should come on Thursday evening than on Friday morn- ing, for as I could find provision for your horses and beds for yourselves. I should by that means have an op- portunity in some measure to return that kind and hos- pitable treatment which I so lately received on Sandy
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