USA > South Carolina > The history of South Carolina under the proprietary government, 1670-1719, V.1 > Part 6
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was committed the framing of the fundamental laws for the government of Carolina. This nobleman was most influential in the early policy of Carolina.
Sir George Carteret had been a naval officer of the highest reputation and of great influence. He had retired from the navy. and withdrawn with his family to Jersey, but returned to the aid of the Royalists. and was made a baronet by King Charles, May 9, 1645. He was Governor of Jersey when ruin befell the Royal cause. and afforded there an asylum to the Prince of Wales, the Earl of Clarendon, and other refugees. He afterwards defended the island in the most gallant manner against the Parliamentarians, and surrendered ultimately only upon receiving the command of King Charles II so to do. Elizabeth Castle, in the Island of Jersey, was the last fortress that lowered the Royal banner. He was also of the Privy Council.1
Sir John Colleton had been a captain of foot and a most active partisan of royalty in the beginning of the civil wars. Receiving from Lord Berkeley a colonel's commission to raise a regiment for his army in the west, he succeeded in doing so in ten days. and expended for the King's service £40,000 besides losing considerably more than that sum by sequestration. After the success of the parliamentary forces he retired to Barbadoes. There he still maintained the Royal cause, and upon the Restora- tion, witli twelve other gentlemen of that island. among them Sir John Yeamans, who with him was to take an active part in the early settlement of Carolina, secured the diguity of knighthood.2
Sir William Berkeley, brother of Lord Berkeley, was for many years the able and loyal Governor of Virginia. He
1 Clarendon's Hist. of the Rebellion, vol. II. 634.
2 Burke's Peerage; Poyer's Barbadoes, 76.
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espoused the cause of Charles I against the Parliament, refused to hold office under Cromwell. and induced the Colony boldly to adhere to Charles HI as their sovereign while he was in exile and at a time when the power of Parliament was supreme. In remembrance of this' the King is said to have worn at his coronation a robe of Virginia silk.1
The patent to these favorites of the King began with the usual declaration as to the motives of the grant ; viz. that the grantees were incited by a laudable and pious design of propagating the Christian religion and the enlargement of the English empire and dominion.
To carry out these pious and patriotic views, the gran- tees were given "all that territory, or tract of ground called Carolina scituate. lying, and being within our do- minions of America, extending from the north end of the Island called Lucke Island, which lieth in the Southern Virginia seas, and within six and thirty degrees of the north latitude and to the west as far as the South Seas and so southerly as far as the River Matthias which bordereth upon the coast of Florida, and within thirty-one degrees northern latitude and so west in a direct line as far as the South Seas aforesaid."> This territory with all that it contained. the grantees were "to have. use. and enjoy. and in as ample a manner as any Bishop of Durham in our kingdom of England ever heretofore held used or - enjoyed or of right or could. have, use or enjoy." 3
The province of Carolina was thus constituted, as its predecessor of Caroland had been. a County Palatine. and
1 Hist. Blotches of No. Ca. 61, note; Cooke's Virginia, Am. Com- momcoulth Series, 182-192; Genesis of the United States (Alexander Brown), 827, 828.
" Statutes of No. Ca. vol. 1, 22 ; Colonial Records of No. Ca., vol. 1. 102; Charters and Constitutions -- The United States, vol. II, 1382. 3 Ibid.
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as Sir Robert Heath had been, the grantees too were con- stituted Lords Proprietors. Like him they were author- ized to make any law "according to their best discretion of and with the advice assent and approbation of the Free- men of the said Province or of the greater part of them or of their delegates or deputies." whom for the purpose of enact- ing laws the Lords Proprietors should " from time to time assemble in such manner and form as to them should seem best."1 This most important provision, common also to the charters of the Earl of Carlisle and of Lord Baltimore, though subject, as we shall see. to evasion. saved the prov- ince of Carolina from the impositions of the absurd Fun- damental Constitutions of Locke. Like Sir Robert Heath, the grantees under this charter were empowered upon sudden occasions without awaiting the assent of the free- men to make orders and ordinances for the keeping of peace and better government of the people, provided that such ordinances should be reasonable and not repugnant to the laws of England ; but strange to say, while the Carlisle patent forbade any such temporary law to affect either the liberty or the property of the citizen without the assent of the freemen assembled. and while the Balti- more patent went further, and declared that such laws must not extend to limit, restrict, or do away with the right or interest of any person in limb, lite, freehold, or chattels, the Carolina charter protected neither life, limb. nor liberty; it forbade only that such ordinances should extend "to the binding, charging, or taking away of the right or interest of any person or persons in their free- hold goods or chattels whatsoever." 2
1 Statutes of So. Ca. vol. 1, 21; Colonial Records of No. Ca., vol. I, 23; Charters and Constitutions ( Poore), vol. II. 1384.
2 Colonial Records of No. Ca. vol. 1, 25; Charters and Constitutions, vol. II, 1885 ; Statutes of So. Ca., vol. 1, 25.
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Not to encumber these pages with tracing further the similarity in the provisions of the three charters, we confine ourselves to those of the Carolina patent. It was expressly enjoined that the province of Carolina should be of his Majesty's allegiance and that all subjects who should be transported into the province, and the children born there. should be denizens and lieges of the Kingdom of England. License was given the Proprietors and the colonists to trade with the natives and to transport into the province goods. wares. and merchandise, and all things necessary for food and clothing without let or hindrance, saving the customs and duties due according to the several rates of the places from whence the same should be transported. They were also licensed to bring into any of his Majesty's dominions certain specified articles : silks, wines, currants, raisins. capers, wax, oil, and olives, without paying any custom import or duty therefor for seven years from the first importation of four tons of any of the said goods; and to export therefrom custom free all sorts of tools which should be useful or necessary for the planters there.
The Lords Proprietors were authorized to establish ports of entry and to assess and impose customs and subsidies for the goods imported. They were authorized to build forts, castles, cities, and towns, and to appoint governors, magistrates, sheriffs. and other officers, civil and military : to grant charters of incorporation and erect markets and marts and fairs and to hold courts baron. They were given power to make war and pursue their enemies ; to exercise martial law in case of rebellion, tumult. or sedition. It was expressly stipulated that the inhabitants should not be compelled to appear or answer to any suit or plaint in any place out of the province other than in England or Wales.
The Proprietors were granted the patronage and advow-
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sons of all churches and chapels which, as the Christian religion should increase. might be erected. together with the license and power to build and found churches. chapels, and oratories, and to cause them to be dedi- cated and consecrated according to the ecclesiastical laws of England. These powers they were to use and enjoy in the same manner as the Bishop of Durham exercised his in England.
The Church of England was thus established in the province : but as in the state of religious controversy which prevailed at the time it was expected that many dissenters would seek the new colony if liberty of con- science was protected, the charter went on to provide that "because it might happen that some of the people of the Province could not in their private opinions conform to the publick exercise of religion according to the liturgy form and ceremonies of the Church of England or take and subscribe the oaths and articles made and estab- lished in that behalf." the Lords Proprietors should have full liberty and authority to grant to such persons " who really in their judgments and for conscience sake cannot or shall not conform to the said liturgies and ceremonies and take and subscribe the oaths and articles . . . such indulgencies and dispensations as in their discretion they might see fit and reasonable."
But the feature for which this charter is best known is that which follows the charter of Sir Robert Heath, and is found also in Lord Baltimore's patent. It declares that " because many persons born or inhabiting in the said Prov- ince for their deserts and services may expect and be capable of marks of honour and favour which in respect of the great distance can not be conveniently conferred" by his Majesty. it was the Royal pleasure to give to the proprietors full power and authority. " to give . . . and confer upon such
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of the inhabitants of the Province as they should think to merit the same, such marks of favour and titles of honour as they should think fit so as these titles of honour be not the same as are enjoyed by or conferred upon any subjects of this our Kingdom of England." 1
Such was the first charter of Carolina. It attempted to establish a miniature government like to that of Eng- land. with the Lords Proprietors representing the Royal authority and possessing the viceregal powers and author- ities of a Palatine ; an aristocracy to correspond with that of the mother country and a House of Commons to be elected by the freemen.
It happened that just at this time complications growing originally out of the claim of the Earl of Marlborough to the Island of Barbadoes as antecedent to the Carlisle pat- ent, but afterwards becoming involved in controversies fol- lowing the civil war, and disasters by hurricanes and other causes, culminated in loss to that colony but to the great assistance in the settlement of Carolina. The influence which this Barbadian element had upon the settlement of Carolina renders a brief allusion to the causes of this emi- gration interesting. if not necessary, to any historic account of its development.
During the first stages of the civil war in England. Barbadoes had been an asylum for both the Royalists and the Parliamentarians who sought to avoid the contest at home. and emigration from the mother country to this island during the commotions in England was very great. These refugees planted themselves without the license of any one, and the Governor for the time being granted lands to all who applied on receiving a gratuity to himself. The Royalists at this time formed by far the most consid-
1 Statutes of So. Ca., vol. 1. 28; Charters and Constitutions (Poore), vol. II, 1B&T ; Colonial Records of No. Ca., vol. 1, 20.
:
:
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erable part of the people ; but the two parties mutually agreed to avoid all political controversy and live together on terms of reciprocal friendship and good will. This happy condition of things, however, could not last ; the fierce strife at home soon extended to the West Indies ; Barbadoes became the scene of civil war and was for a time reduced by the parliamentary forces. On the reestablish- ment of the Royal authority his Majesty, as we have said, honored thirteen gentlemen of Barbadoes with the dig- nity of baronetage for their loyalty and sufferings during the civil war.1 Among these were two whose names are associated with the early history of Carolina. - Sir John Colleton and Sir John Yeamans.2 Of Sir John Colleton we have already spoken. Sir John Yeamans was the eldest son and heir of Robert Yeamans, alderman of Bristol, who was imprisoned and executed in 1643 by order of Nathaniel Fiennes, son of Lord Saye. who had been appointed Governor of Bristol by the Parliament.
But while conferring these empty titles. the King turned a deaf ear to the planters who had loyally stood by him in the time of his need and whose estates were now called in question. The controversy in regard to the conflicting claims of the Earls of Marlborough and Carlisle was again renewed. In vain the planters pleaded to his Majesty that they, his loyal subjects, had repaired to Barbadoes as to a desolate place and had by their industry obtained a livelihood : that if they should now be left to ransom them- selves and compound for their estate, they must leave the country and the plantations which yielded his Majesty so great a revenue. To no such appeals did Charles the Second ever listen. Between the several claimants there was an opportunity for raising a revenue for himself, and
1 Lecky's Eighteenth Century, vol. II, 23.
2 Poyer's Hast. of Barbadoes. 76 ; Hewatt's Hist. of So. Ca., vol. I, 62.
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this became the only aim of the King's ministers. A permanent and irrevocable revenue of four and a half per cent on the produce of the island was levied, to be applied towards the satisfaction of the claims arising under the Carlisle and Marlborough patents and then to be placed at the disposal of the crown.
The planters of Barbadoes were deeply offended at this treatment. Many of them had been obliged to quit their native country because of their support of the Royal cause ; yet in this settlement they perceived a regard for every interest concerned but their own.
While the Parliamentarians had been in the ascendant, they had passed the famous act which laid the foundation of the navigation system to which Great Britain is chiefly indebted for her opulence and maritime strength, but which was to have an inimical effect upon the American colonies and a great influence in estranging them from the mother country. This act, which prohibited any for- eign nation from trading with any of the English planta- tions without a license from the Council of State. fell with great severity upon the sugar colonies. against which it was indeed chiefly aimed, and was regarded as a chastise- ment inflicted on them by the Commonwealth for their loyalty to Charles. The colonists of the Sugar islands were filled with amazement and indignation on finding the provisions confirmed upon the restoration of that monarch. Cromwell had put an end to their foreign trade. and now Charles was taxing them out of their estates. Many planters determined to leave Barbadoes, and they turned to the proposed colony in Carolina.
On the 10th of June, 1663, Sir John Colleton. then in London, addressed a communication to the Duke of Al- bemarle, stating that divers people desired to settle and plant his Majesty's province of Carolina under the patent
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granted, but that one Mr. Mariot. steward to the Duke of Norfolk, had set up a claim grounded upon the patent to Sir Robert Heath.
This. he says, "will certainly hinder that publique worke which is intended by the settlement and planting of Caro- lina for the persons that at present designe thither expect liberty of conscience and without that will not goe wch by the patent to S" Robert Heath cannot bee granted them and they cannot settle under the patent least the other gentlemen shall give them trouble or disturbance - so that there is a necessity of the present removall of that obstacle which is humblie left to the consideracon of yo! Grace and the noble persons concern'd."1
Upon this, on the 12th, the Privy Council ordered that his Majesty's Attorney General should proceed either by inquisition or scire facias to revoke all former grants of the province ; and that in future a clause should be inserted in all grants, that if within a certain number of years no settlement was made, the grant should become void.2
While Sir John Colleton was thus removing the obsta- cle presented by the claims under Sir Robert Heath's grants, Colonel Modiford, who had been Governor of Bar- badoes, and Peter Colleton, were preparing and submit- ting proposals for the settlement of a Barbadian colony in the province. Without waiting for the acceptance of their proposals, they sent out an expedition in the ship Adventurer. Captain Hilton, to explore the coast of Caro- lina. The expedition sailed from Spekes Bay, Barbadoes, August 10. 1663. On Thursday, 3d September, Hilton entered a harbor. " and found that it was the River Jordan. and was but four Leagues or thereabouts N-E from Port Royal, which by the Spanyards is called St Ellens ; within
1 Colonial Records of No. Cu., vol. 1, 34. 2 Ibid., 42.
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land both Rivers meet in one." This was doubtless the Broad River. There the expedition remained some days, endeavoring to rescue a party of Englishmen who, they learned from the Indians, were held on shore by the Spaniards. Failing in this, Hilton sailed to the Cape Fear. and after remaining there exploring the country he returned to Barbadoes on the 6th of January, 1663-64. His Relation of his voyage and discoveries was published in London in 1664.1 The Proprietors, however, did not accept the proposals as made by Colonel Modiford and Peter Colleton, under whose auspices the expedition was made. and nothing came of this attempt at a settlement of the new province. Modiford turned his attention to Jamaica, where he settled with his large fortune, and found an ample field for the employment of his capital, talents. and industry.2
1 Year Book City of Charleston, 1884 (Courtenay), 227.
2 Poyer's Hist. of Barbadoes, 68.
CHAPTER III
1663-69
As early as 1660 a company from Massachusetts had found their way to the Cape Fear, then known as Charles River. and planted themselves on its borders. These men were merely adventurers, who came under no authority, and claimed under no grant. They made some slight examination of the country near the mouth of the river only, and determined to occupy it for the purpose of rearing cattle. An effort was made to secure the co- operation of some of their friends in England in bearing the expense, and some individuals residing in London were induced on their representation "to share in the enterprise." The larger portion of the company, however, was composed of New England men. It is not certainly known how long these adventurers remained ; but they had abandoned the country before Hilton's arrival, and left a writing upon a post to the disparagement of the land and to the discouragement of all those that there- after should come to settle there.1
The Lords Proprietors in May. 1663, met to devise their plans. The first measure adopted was that of a contribu- tion of funds in the nature of a joint stock company for the transportation of colonists. Their second was the issu-
1 Hawks's Hist. of No. Co., vol. II, 72 ; Hilton's Voyage ; Year Book Charleston (Courtenay), 1864. 249; A New Voyage to Carolina (Law- son. 1709), 78.
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ing of proposals upon the most liberal terms to encour- age emigration to their territory. Publicity was given to these proposals, not only to obtain colonists under their charter, but also to counteract and warn the public against other proposals made in London by the New England ad- venturers, claiming title by occupancy -a singular claim, truly, for those who had not only abandoned the lands to which they had never had any legal rights, but had taken the pains to warn all others of their worthlessness. The Proprietors also took care to send to every one in London connected with the New England company copies of both the proposals purporting to have been made in the name of that company and of their own. A cautious reply was made by the New Englanders, which neither admitted nor denied the title of the Proprietors, but confessed their own abandonment of the country.
It now behooved the Proprietors, under the rule they themselves had had laid down by the Privy Council, to show some effort to settle the great domain granted them. and in order "that the King may see that Wee sleepe not with his grants." 1 they sent a commission to Sir William Berke- ley, one of their number, then Governor of Virginia, con- stituting him Governor also of " All that Terrytory or tract of ground now called the Province of Carolina syctuate lyeing, and being within his Majestys Dominion in Amer- ica extending from the north end of the Island called Lucke Island which lyeth on the Southern Virginia Seas and within 36 degrees of Northern Lattitude and to the west as far as the south seas aforesaid : "2 that is, the terri- tory between Virginia and Albemarle Sound, and which was by subsequent instruction to Drummond, the succes- sor of Berkeley, to contain 1600 square miles- Albemarle
1 Colonial Records of No. Ca. vol. 1, 55. 2 Tbid., vol. 1, 48.
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County. They also determined at this time to lay off an- other county, - that of Clarendon; so on the 1st of Novem- ber. 1664. Robert Samford (Sandford) was commissioned Secretary and Chief Register of the County of Clarendon, and on the 24th John Vassal was commissioned the Gov- ernor General.1-but its boundaries were not defined.
Sir John Yeamans had been in negotiation with the Proprietors, through his son Major William Yeamans, on behalf of himself and some eighty-odd other Barbadians, which resulted in the execution of an agreement on the 7th of January, 1664-65, entitled " The concession and agreements of the Lords Proprietors of the Province of Carolina to and with the adventurers of the Island of Bar- badoes and their associates of England, New England, the Carribbia Islands and Barmothos? to the Province of Caro- lina and all that shall plant there. In order to the settling and planting of the countye of Clarendine, the county of Albemarle and the county of . . .. which latter is to be to the southward and westward of Cape Romania all within the Province aforesaid. " 3
These concessions constituted a very elaborate system of government for the proposed colony, and in pursuance of the agreement Sir John Yeamans was on the 11th of Jan- uary commissioned Governor of the " County of Clarendon near Cape Faire and of all that tract of ground which lveth southerly as farr as the River St Mathias which bor- derth upon coast of Florida within 31 degrees northern lat- titude and so west as farr as the South Seas as also all Islands and Islets Rivers and Seas within the said bounds. and our said Province of Carolina. With power to nomi- nate appoynt and take to you 12 able men at most, 6 at
1 Colonial Records of No. Co., vol. I. 72, 73.
2 Bermuda " still vexed Bernoother." The Tempest. 1-2.
3 Colonial Records of No. Ca., vol. I, Prefatory Notes xiv, 75-92.
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least to be of your councile or assistance or any even number between 6 and 12 unless we have before made choyee or shall chuse all or any of them." Yeamans was also made Lieutenant General of the county and tract of ground aforesaid.1
By a memorandum at the time, it was agreed that al- though the County of Clarendon and all the tract of ground as far as the River St. Matthias and west as far as the. South Seas was to be for the present under Sir John Yeamans, "yit notwithstanding it is ment and in- tended that that part of it which is about to be settled to the southward and westward of Cape Romania be a dis- tinkt Government from the county of Clarendon, and that their be a distinkt deputy Governor for the present and that it be called the county of Craven, and as soon as it shall be settled by the said Sir John Yeamans or any other that there be a distinkt Governor commisionated to govern there." 2
Some doubts, as we have seen, still lingered in regard to the titles under Sir Robert Heath's patent, and it was doubtless to settle these, as well as to enlarge the extent of the territory in America which England was disposed to claim. that a second charter was granted to the same noblemen on the 13th of June. 1665. The grant to Sir Robert Heath. which had not been formally declared for- feited at the time of the first charter of the present Pro- prietors in 1663. had now been so declared by the King in council. and it was deemed safest therefore for the pres- ent Proprietors to obtain another, dated subsequently to that declaration. The limits of the province were now enlarged to 29º in the south. instead of to the River St. Matthias ( St. John's) and 36° 30" on the north, includ-
1 Colonial Records of Va. Cu., vol. I, 97.
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