USA > North Carolina > The history of North Carolina from the earliest period, Volume I > Part 9
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Under the government of administrators, appointed by the protector, the colony of Virginia enjoyed, during seven years, an uninterrupted repose and tranquility. It afforded shelter to a number of partizans of the royal cause, who imagined it unsafe to stay in England. Sir William Berkely, (the last of the royal governors) had been allowed to remain unmolested on his estate. His mild and upright administration, his honest and candid conduct, during the late struggle of the royal cause, and his retired, and general life since, had rendered him the idol of the friends of the king, without rendering him suspicious to the republicans; and governor Mathews dying, in the year 1659, Sir William was requested to re-assume the reins of government. This he declined to do, unless he was permitted to act under the com- mission he had received from his exiled sovereign. His offer being accepted, he caused Charles II. to be pro- claimed king of Virginia ; and one of the first acts of his administration was to issue writs of election for the legis- lature to meet on the 12th of March, 1660; but he was afterwards induced to prorogue it, and in the latter part of the summer, accounts reached the province, that his example had been followed by the metropolis, and that the sovereign, to whose obedience the Virginians had re- turned, had been proclaimed in England, on the 29th
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of May, and had made his public entry in the city of London, on the 9th of June.
Although, under the commonwealth, the English colonies in America, acquired considerable population and wealth, the island of Jamaica, is the only addition made to their number, during that period.
The legislature of Virginia, having passed laws un- favorable to the Quakers, a number of whom had fled thither, from the persecuting spirit of New England, many families sought an asylum on Albemarle sound.
Smith-Stith-Beverly-Keith-Marshall.
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At the first session of parliament, after the re- storation of Charles II. to the throne of England, was passed a statute, famous in the English annals, and particularly affecting the American provinces. It is the 12 Charles II. c. 18, commonly called the navigation act.
Its bases are those of the statute of 1657: it for- bids the importation and exportation of any com- modity into or from any of the king's dominions in Asia, Africa or America, except in vessels built in England or its plantations, of which the master and three fourths of the crew must be English subjects, under pain of forfeiting the ship and cargo. Aliens are forbidden to exercise the occupation of a mer- chant or factor, in any of these places, under the penalty of forfeiting their goods and chattels: sugar, tobacco, cotton, wool, indigo, ginger and dyewood, of the growth or manufacture of the English colo- nies, are forbidden to be exported to any country but England, Ireland, Wales or Berwick upon Tweed; and, as some return for these restrictions, the act secures to the colonies the monopoly of the tobacco trade. by prohibiting the planting of it in England, Ireland, Wales, Jersey, Guernsey and Berwick upon Tweed.
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While parliament thus early attended to the affairs of the colonies, the king lost no time in for- warding instructions to governor Berkely: he re- quired him to call an assembly as early as possible, and to demand, in his name, a repeal of all acts, passed during the rebellion, that drogated from the dependence and obedience of the colony on and to the king and parliament of England; au- thorizing him to give assurance of the royal inten- tion, and this being done, to grant a general pardon and oblivion, without any other exception than that of persons attainted by act of parliament.
Governor Berkely was at the same time required to send over a statement of every shipment of tobacco from his province, in order that evasions of the navigation act might be detected and punished. The establishment of iron works, in the colonies, does not appear at that time to have been con- sidered as injurious to the mother country; for it appears that the governor was consulted on the practicability of erecting one, at the expense of the king.
The legislature met at Jamestown on the 12th of March, 1661. The speech from the chair, and the answer to it, proclaimed and echoed unqualified professions of loyalty. A legislative revisal of all the colonial statutes was the earliest and chief work of this session: in the preamble, the intention is avowed of repealing and expunging all unneces- sary acts, but more particularly " such as mightkeep in memory their forced deviation from his majesty's obedience." The most of that body, who used these expressions, were persons who, till a very N. CARO. 16
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short time before, had been lavish of the most ful- some assurances of unbounded attachment, and the most respectful submission, to the protector, and of their intended support of the republican govern- ment. Their present declarations might be held up, when contrasted with their former professions, as an example of the facility with which the senti- ments of mankind accommodate themselves to circumstances, if a late event in France had not afforded a more prominent one.
The law of England. which had till now by im- plied consent been considered as the rule of action in the colony, was now expressly declared to be in full force, except in such cases only, in which local circumstances rendered them inapplicable.
A charter granted by parliament, during the protectorate, to the society for spreading the gospel among the Indians on the continent of North Ame- rica, being vacated by the restoration, colonel Beddingfield, a Roman Catholic officer in the king's army, of whom a considerable part of the land had been purchased. seized it for his own use, pretend- ing he had sold it below its value, in hopes to recover it. upon the king's return. In order to defeat his design, the society solicited a new charter, which they obtained by the interest of the lord chancellor: it bears date the 7th of February, in the fourteenth year of the king's reign, and differs but little from the former one. Robert Boyle was their first governor: they afterwards recovered colonel Bed- dingfield's land.
The colony of Massachusetts was not so early as that of Virginia, in returning to the king's obe-
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dience: even after official accounts had reached Boston, of his restoration, the people continued unwilling to recognize his authority. However, in the course of this year, the governor called the general court, and the form of a proclamation was agreed upon, by which Charles was acknowledged as their sovereign, and proclaimed as "the lawful king of Great Britain, France and Ireland, and all other countries thereunto belonging." From an order published by the court before the proclamation, "forbidding all disorderly behavior on the occa- sion, and declaring that no persons might expect in- dulgence for the breach of any law," and forbidding in a particular manner "that any man should pre- sume to drink his majesty's health, which he had in a special manner forbid," it would seem, that the people of New England were less loyal or less versatile, than those of Virginia; at all events, that there were many among them who, far from being ready to shape their conduct and alter their pro- fessions with the circumstances, were too much attached to their principles, tamely to allow the noisy exultations of the successful party, and that they were a sufficiently numerous and respectable body to command some respect for their feelings.
In the following year, the people of Connecticut obtained from the crown a charter, vesting them with such ample privileges, that more than a cen- tury after, when they declared themselves inde- pendent, it was thought quite unnecessary to establish the rights of the people on a firmer basis; and time has not yet shown that necessity. This instrument bears date the 20th of April, 1662.
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The authority of lord Baltimore, over the pro- vince of Maryland, being re-established by the restoration, he sent over Charles Calvert. his eldest son, to govern it. This gentleman met with -no difficulty in assuming the reins of government. The first legislature, after his arrival, passed an act for coining money : it was enacted, that it should be of as good silver as English sterling; that every shil- ling, and so in proportion for other pieces, should weigh at least nine pence in such silver, and that the proprietor should accept of it in payment of his rent and other debts. This law and that of Massa- chusetts, in 1652, are the only ones of the kind that are to be found among the legislative acts of the English American colonies before the revolution. The plantations of this province were now extended as far as cape Henlopen, from which the Dutch had lately retired.
The legislature of Virginia met in the month of March. The principal object, attained bye the governor at this session, was the establishment of the church of England, by legislative authority, in the colony; an object which the king. in his instruc- tions, had strongly recommended. Provision was made for building churches. laying out globes, and the appointment of vestries; power was given to the governor to induct ministers already ordained, and all others were forbidden to preach.
Father Feijoo, in his Theatro Critico, has re- corded the tremendous effects of an earthquake, which was in 1663 felt in Canada and almost every part of the northern continent; in a space of twelve hundred miles, several mountains shook one against
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the other; some were torn from their seats and pre- cipitated into the river St. Lawrence ; others sunk in deep crevasses, which were made in several places. A very large and rocky one, occupying up- wards of two miles, sunk, leaving in its place a wide and extensive plain: lakes were formed on the spot where high and inaccessible mountains had hitherto stood.
Sir Robert Heath's grant of land, to the south- ward of Virginia, perhaps the most extensive pos- session ever owned by an individual, remained for a long time almost absolutely waste and unculti- vated. This vast extent of territory occupied all the country between the 30th and 36th degrees of northern latitude. which embraces the present states of North and South Carolina, Georgia, Ten- nessce, Mississippi and, with very little exceptions, the whole state of Louisiana and the territory of East and West Florida, a considerable part of the state of Miss uri, the Mexican provinces of Texas. Chiuhaha. &c. The grantee had taken possession of the country soon after he had obtained his title, which he afterwards had conveyed to the earl of Arundel. Henry lord Maltravers appears to have obtained some aid from the province of Virginia in 1639, at the desire of Charles I., for the settlement of Carolana, and the country had since become the property of a Dr. Cox; yet. at this time, there were two points only in which incipient English settlements could be discerned; the one on the northern shore of Albemarle sound and the streams that flow into it. The population of it was very thin, and the greatest portion of it was on the
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north-east bank of Chowan river. The settlers had come from that part of Virginia now known as the county of Nansemond. which, it has been ob- served, began to be occupied by the whites as early as the year 1609: they had been joined by a number of Quakers and other sectaries, whom the spirit of intolerance had driven from New England, and some emigrants from Bermudas. Their num- ber, though not great, must have been far from insignificant; for, besides the culture of corn and other grain, necessary to life and the raising of cattle, they made a considerable quantity of tobacco for exportation; a circumstance, which must be pre- sumed from the attempt of the legislature of Vir- ginia, this year, to procure the union of Maryland and Virginia, in a plan then under consideration, on the subject of tobacco, their staple commodity, which, owing to the glut of the markets and its de- teriorated quality, had fallen so low in value, as scarcely to furnish clothing for the colonists. The other settlement of the English was at the mouth of Cape Fear river: we have seen that those who composed it, had come thither from New England, in 1659. Their attention was confined to rearing cattle.
It cannot now be ascertained, whether the assignees of Carolana ever surrendered the charter under which it was held, nor whether it was con- sidered as having become vacated or obsolete by non user, or any other means; but, on the 15th of March, the king granted to Edward. earl of Claren- don, George, duke of Albemarle, William. earl of Craven, John, lord Berkely, Anthony, lord Ashley,
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Sir George Carteret, Sir John Colleton and Sir William Berkely, the country to the south of the thirty-sixth degree of northern latitude, as far as a line running due west from the river St. Matheo, from sea to sea, in absolute property for ever. The territory was erected into a province, by the name of Carolina, of which the grantees were created lords proprietors, with ample powers to settle the province, and establish a form of government under them.
As soon as the charter issued, the duke of Norfolk and Sir Richard Greenfield's heirs, started a title to the country granted, in the fifth year of Charles I, to Sir Richard Heath; but the king, in council, declared the charter of Sir Robert Heath null and void, and ordered the attorney-general to avoid it, by a writ of quo warranto.
The principal nations of Indians, which occupied the country thus granted, on the eastern side of the Missis- sippi, were the Tuscaroras and the Creeks, on the sea shore ; the Catawbas, Cherokees, the Chickasaws and the Choctaws, in the middle part, and the Natchez, on the Mississippi. Allied to some of these nations, were a considerable number of tribes; the independence of each tribe was marked by its peculiar language, but each, besides its own, spoke that of the allied nation. These tribes were composed of sedentary individuals, or rather were a collection of families, who found their chief support in the waters of the stream on which they dwelt, or from the chase, in some distant spot, secluded from the others by marshes and water courses. Within the country, included by the present limits of the state of which the history is here attempted, the Pasquotanks, Tuteloes, Meherrins, Wopomeaks and Chowanocks, on
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the north ; the Hatteras, Coramines, Pamplicoes, Mat- tamuskeets, and Croatans, on the east, the Saras, Neu- ses, Saponas and Sippahaws, on the south, were the prin- cipal tribes. They had large towns, inclosed with huge pallisadoes, and sent several hundred, and some several thousand, warriors to the field; others, less stationary and numerous, depended for subsistence on the chase, and wandered about, in search of advantageous hunting grounds. The more peaceful, were sometimes dis- turbed by irruptions from the warlike nations, that dwelt on the northern lakes, even as far as the Simmagons, who dwelt in Canada, and who, while their country was covered with snow, came southerly to prey on the occu- pants of a softer climate. The Indians from the west side of the Appalachian mountains, even those of the shores of the Mississippi, at times, joined these northern invaders, and the country exhibited in miniature the spectacle which Europe and Asia has witnessed, in the irruptions of the Hunns, the Goths and the Vandals, on the Gauls and the Germans, and the Tartar on the Chinese.
The lords proprietors, having obtained a declaration of the privy council, that considering the present condi- tion of Carolina, all former grants were void, hell their first meeting in the month of May, in order to devise measures for the planting of their colony ; they formed a joint stock for the transportation of some colonists, and issued proposals for the encouragement of others ; among other privileges, the proprietors offered, that the emigrants, if in sufficient number, might offer thirteen persons, out of which, a governor and a council of six, should be appointed for three years ; that a grand assem- bly, composed of the governor, the council, and dele-
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gates of freemen, should be called, as soon as the circum- stances of the colony would allow, with power to make laws, not contrary to those of England, and liable to be repealed by the proprietors ; that every one should enjoy the most perfect freedom ; that during five years, every new settler should be allowed one hundred acres of land, and fifty for every servant introduced by him into the colony, paying one half penny only an acre; and that the same freedom from customs, which had been allow- ed by the royal charter, should be allowed to every one. The province was divided into two counties, the river of Cape Fear being their internal boundary ; the northern was called Albemarle, and the southern Clarendon, in honor of two of the proprietors. Sir William Berke- ly, governor of Virginia, who was also one of the pro- prietors and was then in his government, was desired to visit the settlement in the county of Albemarle, and establish in it a form of government suitable to its situation. His instructions are dated September 8, 1663; he was authorized to constitute one or two governors and councils, and other officers, the proprie- tors reserving to themselves only the appointment of a surveyor and secretary.
A copy was sent him of the proposals of the pro- prietors, to all that would settle themselves on Cape Fear river, prepared, on the receipt of a paper from persons who desired to settle there, the terms of which were said to be as low as it was possible for the proprietors to descend. These proposals, governor Berkely was in- formed, were not intended for the meridian of Albe- marle county, where it was hoped to find more facile people, who, by his interest, might settle on better terms for the proprietors. The terms there were left to N. CARO. 17
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his management, and an opinion was expressed, that as much land as possible should be granted, rather than deter any settler.
The proprietors stated the information which they had received, that the people, settled in the neighborhood of Chowan river, had bought great tracts of land from the Indians, which it was deemed improper to allow them wholly to retain : as they would probably keep such land in their hands, and so occasion a great dis- tance between the settlements, and destroy or weaken the means of mutual assistance in time of danger; and if they yielded a part of their lands to purchasers, it would likely be on such hard terms as would deter new settlers, Governor Berkely was therefore instructed, to persuade or compel such persons to be satisfied, with such portions, as were allotted to others.
He was authorized to establish two governments, that is, one on each side of Chowan river, from a belief, that individuals, anxious for liberty of conscience, might de- sire a governor of their own proposing, which those on the opposite side of the river might dislike.
Lastly, he was instructed to procure a vessel, of a small draught of water, to search for an inlet into the sound, through which great ships might come in ; and to obtain some account of Charles river.
Several gentlemen of the island of Barbadoes, being dissatisfied with their condition there, and having seen the proposals of the lords proprietors, despatched a ves- sel to reconnoitre the country, along Cape Fear or Clarendon river, early in the month of September.
Anthony Long, William Hilton, and Peter Fabiau, were intrusted with this expedition ; the journal, which they published on their return, is believed to be the
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earliest account of Cape Fear river, that ever appeared in print.
On the 29th of September, they reached the conti- nent, in thirty two degrees twenty minutes of north latitude, and ranged the coast as far as thirty-three de- grees eleven minutes, without finding any entrance for their ship to the northward of the thirty- second degree. On the 3d of October, they were overtaken by a vio- lent storm, the wind between north and east; it con- tinued for several days, so that the ship was forced to a considerable distance off the shore, and driven by the rapidity of a strong current to cape Hatteras; on the twelfth, they came to an anchor in seven fathoms of water, and taking the meridian altitude, they found themselves in thirty-three degrees forty-three minutes. The bad- ness of the weather detained them until the sixteenth, when they sailed about fifteen miles, and came to an- chor in seven fathoms of water. Several Indians came on board, bringing a large quantity of fish, large mul- let, young bass and shad; on the twenty-fourth, they sailed up the river for about twelve miles farther, and rowed up the next day nearly the same distance, where they moored the ship. On the twenty-sixth, they went in the yawl to Necoes, an Indian town; they continued sailing up the river for about ninety miles, and finding the passage much obstructed by fallen trees, and their provisions nearly spent, after viewing the land around them, they reached the ship on the second of Novem- ber; on the fourth, they went fourteen or fifteen miles up the river, in search of the north-west branch of it, which they called Swampy branch ; they sailed on it to the distance of fifteen miles, and returned. On the sixth, they sailed up another branch of the main. river,
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the mouth of which was near the place where the ship rode ; they called it Green's river, and sailing up to the distance of fifteen miles, they found it divided into two inconsiderable branches ; the land was generally full of marshes and swamps. On their return to the ship, they took a supply of provisions, and sailed up the main river again ; on the fourth day, they came to . a place, where the river was narrowed by two islands in the middle of it ; it was there so crooked and so much obstructed by fallen trees, that they were compelled to proceed on land along the river three or four miles, and found it widen- ing more and more ; they then returned ; the course of the river, as far as they could see; was straight, and its direction towards the north-east; they judged them- selves at the distance of one hundred and fifty miles from the mouth of the river ; the land on both shores appeared rich, very level, and covered with tall grass ; the banks were steep, and in some places very high ; the woods were full of deer, conies, turkeys, partridges, cranes, ducks, teals, pigeons and paroquets. Thc timber consisted chiefly of oak, some of which were from twelve to eighteen feet, and even twenty-four feet high, below the first limbs ; large cypress were abun- dant ; walnut, birch, beech, maple, ash, bay, willow, elder and holly, were found in the upper part of the country, and in the lower innumerable pines, tall and fit for masts and boards, for the most part in barren and sandy soi!, but in some places up the river, in good ground, mixed among the oak and other timber, mul- berry trees and grape vines were found in quantity. On the north-west side of the river, they viewed a large tract, extending to the distance of several miles, with- out any tree, except a few scattered oak : it was covered
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with luxuriant grass, which rose to the height of a man's waist, and in many places to that of his shoulder; it abounded in deer and turkeys ; they named it stag park. Proceeding downwards, they came to another remarka- ble place, on the same side as the former, which it ap- peared to join; the uncommon circumstance, of its abounding with rock, stone, and pebbles, induced the adventurers to give it the name of Rocky Point, an ap- pellation which it, at this day, still retains ; they judged the distance from this spot to the mouth of the river to be about seventy-five miles. On the twenty-third, they came to a place on the same side of the river, about six miles lower, which from the great quantity of wild tur- keys they saw about it, they called Turkey Quarters. The land along the river was high and rich, but at the distance of two miles from the shore sandy and barren, bearing only pine trees. Going down the river, they stopped, after rowing eight or nine miles, on a rich tract, covered with valuable timber ; the bank of the river be- - ing high and steep, they named the place Highland Point. As they proceeded downwards, the country appeared full of meadows, and still farther on the banks of the river, were large marshes, on the back of which were some good pasture land, but generally sandy barrens, covered with innumerable pines. They reached the ship on the seventeenth, and spent a few days in viewing the land around, on both sides of the river : it was for the most part poor.
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