USA > North Carolina > The history of North Carolina from the earliest period, Volume II > Part 5
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27
A duty was laid on wine and spirituous liquor, im- ported from South Carolina by land into the county of Anson : this is the first instance that occurs, of an inland duty ; the legislature were induced to lay it, through the desire of checking the growing trade of the province of South Carolina with the western country, which depriv- ed the ports on Cape Fear river of almost all the produce from the upper parts of the province.
By a statute of the parliament, the new style was in. troduced into all the king's dominions ; the old compu- tation of time was declared to be abolished, after the last day of December of this year, and the new year to begin on the first of January ; it hitherto began in March ; the day following the 2d of September, 1752, was reck- oned the 14th, omitting eleven days.
N. CARO. II. 8
58
CHAPTER
The attention of the British legislature was drawn to the advantages which the nation was likely to reap, from the importation of pot and pearl ashes from the Ameri- can provinces : great quantities of these articles were consumed at nome, in making soap and other manufac- tures ; the colonies were encouraged to supply the mno- ther country with these articles, by their exemption from duty.
The statutes, allowing a bounty on the importation of naval stores, masts, &c. were continued, and new regu- lations introduced.
The provincial general assembly met in the town of Bath, on the first of March : this is the only session of the legislative body which appears to have been holden there.
A duty was laid on goods sold by pedlars. Conside- rable injuries having arisen to vessels, from the badness of the channels, leading to the ports of Edenton, Bath and Newbern, and the insufficiency and neglect of pilots ; commissioners were established in those ports, whose duty it was made to examine and license pilots, to cause the channels to be staked out and to superintend the na- vigation. Parts of the counties of Granville, Johnston and Bladen, were erected into a new county, which was called Orange ; and a town was established on the west side of Cashie river, in the county of Bertie, to which the name of Wimberly was given, from the owner of the ground.
In the course of this year, was completed the printing of the first revisal of the acts of assembly : the multipli- cation of the copies of them, by means of the press, was a valuable advantage : it tended to introduce order and uniformity in the decisions of courts, and by defi-
59
THE THIRD.
1752]
ning the rights of the people, in a degree, put an end to the great anarchy and confusion which had hitherto pre- vailed, from the ignorance of the people and the magis- trates in this respect. The work was handsomely print- ed and bound in a small folio volume : a yellowish hue of the leather with which it was covered, proceeding from the unskilfulness of the tanner, procured it the homely appellation of the Yellow Jacket, which it retains to this day.
The trustees for the province of Georgia surrendered their charter to the king, on the second of July, in con- sequence of which regal government was established in that colony. The provinces of Pennsylvania and Ma- ryland were now the only remaining ones, in which a proprietary government existed.
Governor Johnston now died, having presided over the province during a period of nearly twenty years. Un- der his administration, William Smith, Nathaniel Rice, Robert Holton, Matthew Rowan, Edward Moseley, Cul- len Pollock, Edmund Porter, Eleazer Allen, James Mur- ray and Roger Moore sat in council. The chief judi- cial seat was successively filled by William Smith, John Montgomery, Edward Moseley, Enoch Hall, Eleazer Allen and James Hasell.
The province increased considerably : the white popu- lation, which, at the purchase of it by the crown did not exceed thirteen thousand, was upwards of forty-five thousand; an increase of above three and one half for one, during a period of twenty-three years.
The exports of the province were already considera- ble : it appears, that in the following year there were ex- ported 61,528 barrels of tar, 12,055 barrels of pitch, 10,429 barrels of turpentine, 762,000 staves, 61,580
60
CHAPTER
[1752
bushels of corn, 10,000 bushels of peas, 3,300 barrels of pork and beef, 100 hogsheads of tobacco, 30,000 pounds of deer skins, besides wheat, rice, bread, pota- toes, beeswax, tallow, bacon, lard, lumber, indigo, and tanned leather.
Chalmers-Brickle-History of S. C .-. Records.
61
CHAPTER IV.
ON the death of governor Johnston, the administra- tion of government devolved on Nathaniel Rice, the councillor first named in the king's instructions.
In the month of September, 1752, a hurricane rava- ged the southern provinces; the town of Charleston was overflowed. and the inhabitants took refuge in the upper stories, or on the roofs of their houses; the impetuosity of the wind was more severely felt in North Carolina; the court house of the county of Onslow, in the town of Johnston, with the dwelling house of Edward Black, the clerk, and almost every building, were blown down and destroyed ; the county lost all its records, and the town was so materially injured that it was abandoned.
On the 28th of January, president Rice died, at an advanced age, and was succeeded by Mathew Rowan, the next councillor.
This gentleman qualified, at Wilmington on, on the first of February, and met the legislature, at Newbern, on the 23d of March.
The calm of peace allowed them to bestow their un- divided attention on the internal concerns of the pro- vince: the trade of the most considerable part of it being greatly obstructed, by the large shoals that lie within Ocracock inlet, so as to render small vessels necessary, to lighten ships of burden over the bar; the heavy ex- pense, thus occasioned, and the great danger to which
62
CHAPTER
[1753
the ships and lighters were, in the mean while, exposed, were sensible injuries to the commerce, to come into Ocracock inlet, and commodiously, to ride at anchor in the harbor of Core sound ; experience had shown, that the merchants trading to Albemarle sound, Pam- plico and Neuse rivers, were compelled to send to Oc- racock inlet, or Core banks; sometimes the whole, and almost always, one half of the cargoes of vessels, of any burden, so as to require wharves and warehouses, near the harbor or on the banks, for the reception and safe keeping of the commodities, they were obliged to send down. It was imagined that these evils would be reme- died, by establishing a town on the Core banks: a law was passed therefor, and the town was called Ports- mouth ; but, as the spot on which it was to be erected, was far distant from any inhabited part of the province and open to the depredations of the enemy, in time of war, even to the insults of pirates at all times, an appropria- tion of two thousand pounds was made, for erecting a fort for its protection, to which the name of fort Gran- ville was given.
The upper part of the county of Anson, was erected into a new and distinct county, which, in compliment to the president, was called Rowan.
The French now began to carry into execution, their long concerted plan of connecting, by a chain of forts and continued settlements, their possessions in Canada and Louisiana, and as part of it, to endeavor to debar the English from all trade and intercourse with the nations of Indians, dwelling along the Mississippi, even those on the back settlements of the British provinces. Early in January, they had taken possession of an English truck- house, in the Twigtees nation, and carried several of
-
63
THE FOURTH.
1753]
the traders prisoners into Canada, and soon after, they sent down a party of their Indians from Louisbourg, to harrass the province of Nova Scotia. On the receipt of the information of these particulars, lord Holderness addressed a circular letter to the governors of the south- ern provinces, to require them, with the utmost dili- gence, to put their respective provinces in the best pos- ture of defence ; to watch the motion of the subjects of France, and, in case any of them, or those of any other foreign power, should presume to encroach on any part of their governments, to erect forts or commit any act of hostility, immediately to represent the injustice of such proceedings and require them immediately to de- sist, and, on refusal, to draw forth the strength of the province, and repel force by force.
As circumstances required that the several pro- vinces should assist each other, in case of invasion, the governors were required to correspond together, and on the first information of any hostile attempt, immediately to convene the legislature, and lay before them the ne- cessity of mutual assistance, and engage them to furnish such supplies as the circumstances might call for.
Lord Holderness concluded, by observing, that he had the king's express command, more strictly to en- join, that no use might be made of the armed force, ex- cept within the undoubted limits of the British domi- nions. The misfortune was, that these undoubted lim- its were far from being easily discernible. The French minister of the marine, Monsieur Rouille, to whose department the concerns of the plantations belonged, was at the same time writing to the marquis de Jon- quiere, governor of Canada, with the same apparent de- sire of justice, when he gave the orders, in consequence
€4
CHAPTER [1753
of which, the British government conceived its rights were invaded. "The king commands me," said he, "to recal to your mind the instructions which have been often given to you, in regard to your conduct towards the British, particularly on the subject of the bounda- ries of the dominions of the two crowns, until they be finally ascertained. In supporting his rights against any encroachment, you are not to undertake any thing that may violate those of the British king. See that the officers whom you may station in the posts near the Bri- tish colonies, act on the same principle ; avoid whatever may give me to just complaints against you."
Vainty were the officers of the two nations required to act towards each other, with all the moderation, com- patibie with the honor of their respective nations, and the security of their possessions ; neither could prevent a rival power, with a different idea of its own rights and possessions in America, from viewing even that mode- ration, as an overt act of hostility.
On the 29th of October, the assembly of Jamaica re- rolved, "That it is the interest and undoubted right of the representatives of the people, to raise and apply mo- neys, for the services and exigencies of government; and to appoint such person or persons, for the receiving and issuing thereof, as they shall think proper; which rights this house has exerted, and will always exert, in such manner as they shall judge most conducive to the service of his majesty and the interest of the people."
Early in January, an express from governor Din- widdie of Virginia reached president Rowan. The governor, alarmed at a rumor of the movements of the French on the Ohio, had sent thither major Washing- ton (the man who, a few years after, became one of the
-
THE FOURTH.
65
1754]
most conspicuous characters of his age) who reported that the French had taken post on one of the branches of that river, and built a fort, in which they had mounted eight six pounders: they had materials in readiness for other forts, which they declared their intention of building on the river, and particularly at Logs- town, the place destined for their future residence, as soon as the season would permit them to embark. For this purpose, they had upwards of two hundred canoes finished, besides a great number of others blocked out. To the representations of the major, the commanding oficer at the post had answered, that the country belonged to the French ; that no Englishman had a right to trade upon those waters; and he had Orders to make any of them prisoners, who attempted it on the Ohio or its branches.
Governor Dinwiddie, in giving the information to president Rowan, observed, that the force of the enemy was far from being contemptible : they had already en- gagrd three nations of Indians, the Chippeways, Otta- ways and the Orendakes, to join them: they had four other forts on the Mississippi, besides a garrison of one thousand men at New Orleans. By the means of the Wabash, they had a communication between Canada and the Mississippi; and before they sent their troops into winter quarters last fall, they had called the several tribes of Indians together at the fort, and told them they might rely on seeing them early in the spring, with a very con- siderable reinforcement ; that they would take posses- sion of the Ohio, if they were not entirely passive. The letter concluded, by soliciting an aid of men from the province, to join the troops, that were raising in Virginia and Maryland, and march against the French.
N. CARO. II. 9
66
CHAPTER
[1754
President Rowan immediately issued his proclama- tion, for the meeting of the legislature at. Wilmington, on the 19th of February.
In his speech, at the opening of the session, he com- municated to the houses, the despatches he had received from lord Holderness and governor Dinwiddie, and pressed them to improve the opportunity of manifesting their loyalty to the king, their zeal for his service and their affection for a sister province. The lower house put a price on their compliance, and insisted, as a sine qua non, on obtaining the president's assent to a bill for issuing a considerable sum in paper currency. This was easier to be obtained from a temporary chief magis- trate than from a governor, who, by yielding the point, might incur the risk of losing his office. President Rowan did not make much difficulty. Various plans were accordingly introduced; the most prominent of which was a scheme for a general loan office, to be managed by four trustees, chosen by the chief magis- trate out of eight persons named by the asembly, one of whom should go out yearly, and be replaced by a similar mode of re-appointment. A sum of eighty thou- sand pounds was proposed to be emitted, in bills of dif- ferent denominations, from fifty to one shilling, and pro- clamation money, of the value of four shillings to three shillings sterling. One half of the emission was to be in bills of twenty shillings and under, and to be loaned by the trustees on security, in sums from three hundred to twelve hundred pounds, with a proviso, that on the in- terest being paid within two months after the day of paymentyearly, five per cent. only should be taken, other- wise six. The rest of the emission, being in large bills, was to be loaned on the same terms; but, with a view to
67
THE FOURTH.
1754]
keep the credit of those bills in circulation, it was pro- vided, that one per cent. interest should be allowed thereon, from the time the bill was lent out till returned, and paid into the office in dischage of some money, there borrowed. These bills were to be loaned in sums from five hundred to twenty pounds. All the bills were to be a tender in all payments. The friends of this plan con- tended, that no beneficial commerce could be carried on, without some kind of a circulating medium, and that the mode hitherto pursued, when paper was emitted, to lay a tax for the redemption of it, -by instalments, within a limited number of years, and cancelling and burning yearly the produce of the tax, did not fully answer the intended end; for, the circulating medium was thus gra- dually lessened, the remainder being still sooner absorb. ed by the tax, and, at the end of this operation. the ne- nessity of a circulating medium, was as equally pressing as before the emission: as a sufficient quantity of coin or bullion could not be brought into, and retained in the province, without an increase of trade, and a proper econ- omy to procure a balance in favor of the province, by in- creasing the amount of exports and diminishing that of imports, which could not be effected in an infant and growing province, where all necessaries are to be pro- vided for, to improve the lands and purchase slaves; that the circulating medium ought to be rather increased than lessened, as the population of the province advan- ced. Even if the president's assent could have been had to this plan, it was not likely a majority of the coun- cil would have hazarded their seats by sanctioning the measure: emissions of paper in the colonies being highly disapproved of at home, and exciting the com- plaints of the merchants, who, as the currency fell in
6%
CHAPTER
[1754
value, by the accession of a greater quantity, were obli. ged to receive it in payment from the planters, or take produce at the advanced price to which it naturally rose, with the increase of the medium with which it was to be exchanged. The plan failed. The grant of supplies and the emission of money were made the object of one bill.
The sum of one thousand pounds was appropriated to the raising, subsisting and paying such troops as the president might see proper to send to the assistance of the province of Virginia. Two thousand were also appropriated for the repairs of Fort Johnston, and a like sum for those of Fort Granville, The inhabitants of the frontier counties of Anson and Rowan, being judeed too poor to support, unaided, the expenses attending the defence of the back settlements against the Indians, one thousand pounds were appropriated to the purchase of arms for their use.
Forty thousand pounds, in bills of credit, were emit- ted to meet these expenditures, and another appropria- tion was made of twenty thousand pounds, for the pur- chase of a glebe in every county, for the establishment of a public seminary and the repairs of the public build- ings of the province. This last appropriation was made under a suspending clause, till the king's pleasure was signified. It does not appear that it ever was obtained.
An annual poll tax of one shilling and a duty of four pence on every gallon of wine or spirituous liquors, were the means provided for the redemption of the pa- per now emitted, and to continue till it was in this way all bought in and cancelled. It will appear in the course of this history, that the tax and duty were continued until the abolition of the regal government. The appro ..
Y
69
THE FOURTH.
1154]
priation for the seminary, which, however, proved inef- fectual, is the first evidence of a desire to encourage literature, manifested by the legislature of the province: it did not happen till nearly ninety years after the settle- ment of the country.
The upper part of the county of Bladen was erected . into a distinct county, and called Cumberland.
The town of Exeter, in the county of New Haven, and that of Gloucester, in the county of Anson, were established.
President Rowan lost no time in raising the troops, voted by the legislature for the assistance of the province of Virginia. Colonel James Innis of New Hanover, marched, at the head of this succour, and joined the forces of Virginia, swelled by those of Maryland.
Without considering much the strength or composi- tion of this small army, governor Dinwidie, following the advice of the king's council, directed its march to the Allegheny mountains, with directions either to dis- possess the French of their forts or erect one in the neighborhood. The who'e force was placed under the order of the officer who commanded the detachment of North Carolina. The total number was not equal to one half of that of the enemy, and no care had been taken to provide for the troops any of the necessary supplies or conveniencies, which the season and the part of the country for which they were intended required. In giving order, for procuring recruits for the Virginia re- giment, it had been unaccountably forgotten to pro- vide any money for that purpose. The legislature of that province soon after rose, and there being no provis- ion made for the prosecution of the war, the expedition
-
70
CHAPTER
[1:54
was countermanded, and colonel Innis marched back his men to North Carolina.
The provinces were much exposed to the depreda- tions of the Indians, more particularly during a war be- tweeu England and France, and, individually, either too weak to take efficient mesures for their own defence, or unwilling to take upon themselves the charge of erecting forts, and maintaining garrisons, while their neighbors, who partook equally with them in the advan- tage, contributed nothing. Some times also, the de- fects which existed between the governor and the as- semblies, prevented the adoption of measures of dif. ference. To avoid the evils attending this immediate difference of interest, and the better to combine the forces of the provinces, it was recommended to them by the lords commissioners of trade and plantations, to de- vise a plan of union between the colonies, to regulate all measures of general interest. To accomplish this end, the former were invited to send commissioners to Al- bany, in the province of New-York. All, however, did not attend this call: commissioners from the prov- inces of New-Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland, attended; a plan proposed by Benjamin Franklin, one of the com- missioners from Pennsylvania, a gentleman famous in the republic of letters and in the American history, was adopted, to be recommended, which has ever since been known by the appellation of the "Albany plan of union."
Application was proposed to be made for an act of parliament to establish, in the American provinces, a general government, to be administered by a president
71
THE FOURTH.
1754]
general, appointed by the crown, on the nomination of a grand council, chosen by the legislatures of the differ- ent provinces. The number of members to be chosen in each, to be in direct proportion to the sum paid by it into the general treasury: but no province was to chose more than seven, nor less than two members. At first, the provinces of Massachusetts and Virginia were to have seven members each; that of Pennsylvania six, that of Connecticut five, those of New-York, North Caro- lina and South Carolina four each, that of New-Jersey three, and those of New-Hampshire and Rhode Island two each. The whole executive power was vested in the president general; the legislative power was vested in the grand council and the president general; his assent being necessary to the passage of a bill into a law. The general legislature was empowered to declare war, con- clude treaties and make peace with the different nations of Indians; to regulate trade with, and make acquisitions of land from, them; in the name of the king or of the union, to settle new colonies, and make laws for their government, till their erection into distinct provinces; to raise troops, build forts, fit out and arm vessels and use all other means for the general defence. To carry these powers into effect, they were empowered to lay duties, taxes and imposts. All laws were to be transmitted over for the king's approbation, and, unless disapproved within three years, were to remain in full force. Mili- tary officers were to be nominated by the president gen- eral and appointed by the council, and those in the civil department were to be nominated by the council and appointed by the president general.
The French, still persisting in their endeavors to oc- cupy the borders of Ohio, the province of Virginia
CHAPTER.
[1754
raised a regiment to check their advances. Major Washington, on whom the command of this corps had devolved, on the death of colonel Fry, advanced towards that river early in the spring. He met with, and defeat- ed a small French party, under the orders of captain de Jumonville, and directed his march to the confluence of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers, where the Ohio company had sent a number of men to erect a fort. But, on the 4th of July, he was attacked and defeated by a party of French and Indians, with the loss of 150 killed and 70 wounded.
The plan proposed by the commissioners of the pro- vince was submitted to their respective legislatures and rejected by all, as giving the president general, the rep- resentative of the crown, an influence greater than ap- peared to them proper, in a plain government formed for freemen. The British ministry disapproved of it; be- cause it gave too much power to the representatives of the people. Perhaps these objections, from each party, are the strongest proof that can be adduced of its excel- lence, as directed to the situation of Great Britain and America, at that time. It appears to have steered, ex- actly in the middle, between the interest of both.
Chalmers-Marshall-Records.
13.
CHAPTER V.
IN the fall of 1754, Arthur Dobbs, who had been ap- pointed governor of the province, arrived at Newbern. This gentleman was an Irishman, and had been a member of the Irish parliament: he was a man of letters and enterprise. It was at his solicitation, that the board of admiralty, in England, had been prevailed upon, in 1741, to cause a new attempt to be made, under the orders of Christopher Middleton, a captain of the Hud- son bay company, to find a northwest passage to Japan, China, and India. The expedition sailed in the month of May, of that year; but it was unsuccessful. The plan of governor Dobbs was complained of by Monsieur Durand, one of the French commissioners, (1742) as tending to encroach upon the trade which the French carried on with the Indians towards the north of Canada, and to extend the British settlementss in these parts to the prejudice of those of the French.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.