USA > South Carolina > The history of South Carolina under the proprietary government, 1670-1719, V.2 > Part 10
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fell upon the whites at the dawn of that day. The slaughter was indiscriminate and horrible enough to make the Indian annals of Albemarle the bloodiest and most cruel. One hundred and thirty victims were butchered in the settlements on the Roanoke. The Swiss around Newbern, to the number of sixty more, were murdered. The Huguenots of Bath, and its vicinity, to what num-
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ber is not known, fell under the knife and tomahawk. Women were laid upon the house floors and great stakes were driven through their bodies: from others big with child the infants were ripped out, and hung upon trees ; and so hotly did the Indians pursue the survivors that the dead were left unburied, a prey to dogs, wolves, and vultures. The carnage lasted for three days, and terminated at last only from the disability produced in the savages by the combined effect of drunkenness and fatigue.1
Governor Hyde at once communicated the terrible con- dition of affairs in his province to Virginia and to South Carolina. To the latter he sent, without delay, a special messenger, Christopher Gale. Gale, upon his arrival. presented a memorial to Robert Gibbes as Governor, and to the Council and General Assembly. To receive this, Governor Gibbes immediately convened the General As- sembly. which met on the 26th of October, when he laid before the Houses the letters which Gale had brought. Upon reading these in the Assembly. it was at once " Resolved : That it is the opinion of this House that the inhabitants of North Carolina in their present deplorable circumstances should be aided and assisted by this gov- ernment." Upon receiving notice of this resolution, the Governor and Council promptly replied : " We are heartily glad that the Resolution of your House is so agreeable to ours & that those good intentions may the sooner be put in execution we desire that you would speedily pro- pose a method to answer the end we aim at. the relief of our poor distressed Brethren of North Carolina." It was determined to raise immediately a sufficient number of warlike Indians with proper officers for this service, and to
1 Colonial Records of No. Ca., vol. I. Preface, xxx, and 826 ; Hawks's Hist. of No. Ca., vol. II, 580.
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raise the sum of $4000 to provide arms and ammunition and to meet expenses. It was also " Ordered: That the offer of the chief Captain of the forces to be raised to march agst the Tusqueroras be made to Jno Barnwell Esqr. which the Speaker having made : The S' John Barnwell answered the House that he thanked the House for the offer & that he would accept the same. " 1
Colonel Barnwell set out with all expedition ; and the Assembly appointed Friday, the 16th of November, a day of humiliation and praver in behalf of their distressed neigh- bors. Colonel Barnwell's command consisted of a small body of militia and several hundred Indians ; to wit, 218 Cherokees under the command of Captains Harford and Turstons. 70 Creeks under Captain Hastings. 41 Cataw- bas under Captain Cantey, and 28 Yamassees under Cap- tain Pierce, which little force immediately entered upon the long and toilsome march through the then wilderness between Charles Town and the Neuse River. Governor Hyde, in the meanwhile, had not been idle and, embodying the militia as far as the deplorable factions - which con- tinued even in this great extremity - would allow, and collecting provisions for their coming allies. he awaited their arrival. As soon as this took place and a junction of their forces was made, Barnwell assumed the aggressive. As the troops of the province approached. the Indians collected all their strength into one body, but retreated as Barnwell advanced upon them. He pursued and came up with them on the 28th of January, 1712, in the upper part of the present County of Craven, North Carolina. Here they had erected on the shores of the Neuse a strong wooden breastwork or palisade fort about twenty miles to the westward of the town of Newbern. Receiving at this place some fresh reinforcements, they marched out
1 MSS. Journals; Colonial Records of No. Ca., vol. I, 820-820.
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boldly to give battle to the whites. But Barnwell, with- out waiting their attack, made a furious assault, and defeated them with great slaughter. More than 300 Indians were killed and 100 were made prisoners; how many were wounded or afterwards died of their wounds was not known. The survivors retreated into their fort and were surrounded by the whites. Barnwell, short of provisions and unwilling to carry the fort by assault, because of the white prisoners the Indians had therein. who would doubtless have been at once dispatched had it been attacked. granted a treaty, and peace was willingly concluded. He sent to Charles Town for a sloop to take home his disabled men and himself, for he too had been wounded, while his Indian allies retraced their line of march homeward.1
The news of the battle was a great relief to Governor Hyde and his Council. They ordered a formal vote of thanks, first, to the government of South Carolina, for sending Barnwell and the troops; and secondly, they deputed two of their members to convey the thanks of the board to Barnwell personally, "for his great care dili- gence and conduct." They next resolved at all hazards to prosecute the war, and proposed to raise 200 men for four months' service to act with the South Carolinians under Barnwell's command.2
Thus far. observes Hawks, all seemed prosperous, and Colonel Barnwell appears. on the records of the country. to have possessed the esteem and confidence of the au- thorities in North Carolina. Tradition. too, in that part of the country, he says, has preserved a most respectful remembrance of the South Carolinian leader. Born near
1 Hawks's Hist. of No. Ca., vol. II, 587 ; Hist. Sketches of So. Ca. (Rivers), 251; Hewatt's Hist. of So. Ca., vol. 1, 202.
? Hawks's Hist. of No. Ca., vol. II, 538.
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the spot, Dr. Hawks says that he made inquiries of the most aged of his countrymen in that region, but could hear no disparaging imputation upon Colonel Barnwell's conduct. His name was still honorably preserved in memory by the same Indian fort ; the spot where it stood is called to this day " Fort Barnwell." But the truth of history requires him, he says, with honest impartiality to relate that it would seem, from the records of the Council of North Carolina of May 9, 1712, some three months after the battle. that for some cause not specifically men- tioned the authorities of the province were not satisfied . with Barnwell's conduct.
Dr. Hawks states that he had made diligent search to find from other sources the cause of this altered feeling towards Barnwell. and from letters to Governor Spots- wood, Governor Hyde, and Colonel Pollock he had gath- ered that, in two particulars, his conduct was complained of. First, it was alleged that after the Indians had re- treated to their fort and were surrounded by his men, he had them completely in his power, and might, by ex- terminating them, have put an end to the war; but not- withstanding also that Colonel Mitchell had raised a battery within eleven yards of the fort, and mounted it with two pieces of cannon, surrounding also a portion of the palisade with combustibles. Barnwell, nevertheless, made a treaty with the savages thus beleaguered, and per- mitted them to escape. Secondly, it was stated that after the treaty he violated good faith by permitting his men to fall upon the towns of those Indians with whom he had made peace, and thus renewed the war.
Dr. Hawks examines very thoroughly these charges, which had been partially accepted, even by our own historian. Professor Rivers, upon the authority of Will- iamson -- an authority which Dr. Hawks refuses, how-
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ever, to recognize -and from records not accessible to
Rivers in a great measure explains them away. He shows that Governor Spotswood, who charged Barnwell with " clapping up a peace," knew nothing of the matter personally. and derived his impressions from Governor Hyde and Colonel Pollock, whom Barnwell had offended by an intimacy which had grown up between Moseley and himself. In the bitterness of the factions in North Carolina. it was charged that the Indian outbreak had been instigated by Cary and Moseley. They looked, . therefore. upon Barnwell with suspicion and distrust because of his associates, and when the Tuscarora Indians were allowed to escape and very shortly after renewed their hostilities, it was not difficult for them to convince themselves that under Moseley's influence they had pur- posely been allowed to do so from sinister motives.1
But the recent publication of the manuscript of Baron de Graffenried completely refutes the charges and gives a plain and satisfactory explanation of Colonel Barnwell's motives for not assaulting the fort when its capture was no longer a matter of doubt. The reason was, as before suggested, that the fort was full of white captives, who cried out that they would be slaughtered if the assault was made. That this simple explanation of a transaction for which Colonel Barnwell was very much blamed by the Pollock faction, says Saunders, in his preface to the Colonial Records of North Carolina. comes to us from Switzerland more than a century and half after its occur- rence, and not from the Pollock faction. shows with how much caution the statements of that faction must be re- ceived. Unfortunately, all the records of that day that have come to us were made by the Pollock faction, and none by their rivals of the Moseley party. It seems, 1 Hawks's Hist. of No. C., vol. II, 540, 541.
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continues Saunders, incredible that Polloek did not know why Barnwell preferred to " clap up a peace " rather than carry the fort by assault ; yet he makes no mention of it. Barnwell was on too good terms with Moseley for him to find favor in Pollock's sight. Tradition in and about the locality, it is said, corroborates Dr. Graffenried's statement as to the presence of white captives in the fort.1
Dr. Hawks points out, also, that there is something suspicious in the long interval permitted to elapse be- tween the time of the treaty. January. 1712, and the period when the North Carolina Council first noticed the supposed treason, i.e. May, 1712. The treaty was no secret during all this period; and it was four months before the Council said a word. and when they did speak, they confessed they had made no examination of the facts, important as they were to the country. They threatened an official complaint to South Carolina. which was to fol- low if they found Barnwell guilty. No such complaint was ever made.2 Colonel Barnwell's reputation was so little affected by the factional slander in North Carolina that the second expedition which South Carolina was soon called upon to send would no doubt have been en- trusted to him if it were not for the injuries he had re- ceived in the first, which rendered him unable to mount his horse.3
In the year 1711, still further changes took place in the board of Proprietors. William Lord Craven died, and Sir Fulwar Skipwith was shortly after admitted to the board as guardian to that nobleman's successor, the Lord Craven-then an infant. John Lord Carteret be-
1 Colonial Records of No. Ca., Preface, xxxI, 955.
2 Hawk's Hist. of No. Ca., vol. II. 642.
3 Hist. Sketches of So. Ca. ( Rivers), 254, note.
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came of age and took his seat. On the 8th of November, 1711, at a meeting at the Duke of Beaufort's house, at which, however, his Grace was not present but was rep- resented by Mr. Manly. upon a motion to proceed to the election of another Palatine in the room of William Lord Craven, deceased. a letter was read from Lord Carteret, proposing the Duke of Beaufort, which was unanimously agreed to, and the Duke became the seventh Palatine of Carolina.1
1 Coll. Hist. Soc. of So. Ca., vol. I, 183.
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CHAPTER XXII
1712
THE Hon. Charles Craven at length assumed the gov- ernment, - some time in the early part of the year 1712. Since the days of Joseph West, says Rivers, no man more wise, pure, and capable, or more beloved by the people, had been appointed to govern Carolina.1 Nothing had yet been heard from Colonel Barnwell since he had set out upon his expedition.
When the Assembly met on the 2d of April,2 the new Governor in his "speech," as the address upon opening that body was now termed, observed that, having lived some time among them, knowing that the Lords Proprie- tors had nominated him as Governor, an opportunity had been afforded of diligent inquiry into the state of the province to learn wherein its true interest lav, which none of his predecessors had had at heart more than him- self. He recommended them to do everything that might secure the province both from foreign and domestic in-
1 Hist. Sketches of So. Ca. (Rivers), 251, 252.
2 The members of this House of Commons, so worthy of remembrance for its excellent work, were as follows: Colonel William Rhett, Speaker ; Colonel Alexander Parris, Henry Wieginton, Esq .. Thomas Nairne, Esq., Mr. Manly Williams, Mr. John Morgan, Mr. William Gibbon. Mr. Jacob Eve. Henry Noble, Esq., Captain Benjamin Quelch, Captain Peter Staner. Mr. John Oldfield, Mr. William Fuller, Captain Arthur Hall, Mr. John Raven, Mr. Samuel Wragg. Mr. Benjamin Godin, Mr. Jacob Beamor, Captain Lorcey, and Mr. Henroydah English. Commons Journal (MS.).
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vasion. He urged the repair of Fort Johnson and the fortifications around the town. ""Tis true," he said. " we hear of a treaty of peace going forward, and what may we expect from so good and pious a Queen. whose delight is in her subjects' welfare, but the conclusion is yet'un- certain and we are so great a distance that our enemies in the interior may invade us, lay waste our Province before we can receive the benefit of so desirable a bless- ing."1 By his instructions, he said, he was ordered to have a particular regard for the Indians, and to protect them from insult; their friendship was so necessary to the well-being of the province he need not press the mat- ter further to the representatives of the people, whose eyes were always open to the public good.
This led him to speak of the expedition to North Caro- lina, and to express his surprise that in so many months they had no true account of the condition of their friends, their enemies, or even of the army, - none but fabulous reports. Where the fault lay, time only could discover. But as intelligence was the life of action, information must first be obtained before coming to any further reso- lution upon the subject.
He recommended a review of all the laws passed during the late government, and he was ready to do his part in whatever should be determined by the wisdom of the Assembly. He advised also that some effectual means should be devised of settling funds to discharge the debts of the province, for the honor and dignity of the govern- ment, and to maintain the public credit. Then, in reference to the late contentions in the province. he thus spoke : -
"Gentlemen As my own persuasions will ever dispose me to do every thing that may contribute to the prosperity and firm establish . ment of the Church of England. so will my temper always incline me
1 Public Records of So. Ca.
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as a fellow christian to show the greatest tenderness to those who are under the misfortune of dissenting from her, and to do nothing that may seem to endanger them that liberty. It were to be wished indeed that we could all be of one opinion ; but that is morally im- possible : but in this we may all agree, to live amicably together, consult the common good, the tranquillity of our province and the increase of its trade.
" However great such an honor might be," said he. " yet I shall look on it as a greater glory if with your assistance I could bring to pass so noble designs as the safety of this province, the advancement of its riches, and what is more desirable that unanimity and quiet that will so much contribute toward rendering this the most flourish- ing colony on the Main. . .. To what a prodigious height hath the united provinces risen in less than a century of years to be able to create fear in some, envy in others and admiration in the whole world." 1
The anxiety concerning the Indian outbreak in North Carolina was not relieved until the following July. when the news of Colonel Barnwell's success was received, and a sloop sent to bring him and his disabled men home.2 In the meanwhile the spirit of the Governor's address was highly appreciated and fully responded to.
The Assembly, regardless of factions and animosities, devoted themselves to the welfare of the province, and by their assiduity and ability rendered the year 1712 famous in the legislative annals of the province and State. The South Carolinian lawyer or student of history of to-day finds himself constantly referred back to the statutes of this year as the basis of most subsequent legislation of the State. Governor Craven's wisdom and diligence doubtless aided greatly in this achievement, and without the active support and countenance of so wise and beneficent a ruler it is not at all probable that so great a work could have
I MISS. Journal Commons; Dalcho's Ch. Hist .. 93 ; Hist. Sketches of So. Co. : Rivers ). 252.
2 Hist. Sketches of So. Ca. ( Rivers), 254.
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been accomplished. But the inspiration and labor of the great undertaking was another's. To Chief Justice Trott doubtless is due the credit and honor of the great compilation of laws enacted at this time. However un- scrupulous as a politician, corrupt and tyrannical- as a judge. Trott was a profound lawyer, a scholar of great learning, and a most laborious and indefatigable worker. Resting for a while from political agitation, he had spent the time in compiling the laws of the province. For- tunately, it happened that so wise and able & man as Craven was now at the head of affairs, ready with his great influence to assist in securing the results of Trott's work by its enactment into laws. The work consisted of three parts : (1) The revision and amendment of several of the most important matters of recent legislation, and the enactment of measures in regard to the better ad- ministration of justice ; (2) the codification and adoption of so much of the statutory law of England as was suitable to the condition of the province ; and (3) the compilation of all previous laws of the colony.
The first measure of Governor Craven's administra- tion was an additional act to those relating to the estab- lishment of religious worship in the province.1 There was a revision of the previous acts upon the subject, with some new features. The first of these was a provision empowering commissioners to hear and settle all differ- ences concerning the election of ministers. The Church act of 1706 had provided that the rectors or ministers of the several parishes should be chosen by the majority of the inhabitants. This was a very important innovation, as it may be termed. upon the law of England under which the bishop or lay patron had the right of presenta- tion to benefices, and differing from those of the West
1 Statutes of So. Ca., vol. II, 366.
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Indies and other colonies which gave the right to the Governor. It was probably the result of the congrega- tional influence in the colony making itself felt in the establishment of the church, which it could not prevent. But in adopting this provision, in 1706, no method of settling questions which might arise at the election of ministers had been provided. This was now done. If the lay commissioners were not to be allowed to interfere with clergymen in any differences after their installation, they would at least reserve to themselves the right to decide all questions that might arise before ecclesiastical institution. In 1710, under the administration of Gibbes. an act had been passed, as we have seen, for the build- ing of the new brick church at Charles Town, to be the parish church of St. Philip's : provisions were now made for the appointment of commissioners for the purpose.1 It was in this act of 1712 that we find the recital of the establishment of a provincial library in 1700. and the mention of the deaths of five of the original commission- ers. New commissioners are named in the place of the deceased. and times of meeting appointed. That the library was then in active operation is shown by this pro- vision : -
"XXV. Whereas by the said Act (i.e. 1700) all the inhabitants of this Province without any exception may have liberty to borrow any book out of the provincial library giving a receipt for the same, which unrestrained liberty hath already proved very prejudicial to the said library, several of the books being lost and others damnitied and there- fore, for the preservation of the said library it will be necessary to lodge a discretional power in the person that keeps the same, to deny any person the loan of the book that he shall think will not take care of the same."
To prevent further loss, the librarian was given a dis- cretionary power in the loan of books. The library was Statutes of So. Ca., vol. II, 366-376.
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kept in the parsonage belonging to St. Philip's Church, the minister of which was the librarian.
An important provision of this act was the recognition of the jurisdiction of Dr. Compton, the Lord Bishop of London, and his successors, at least so far that upon the arrival of any minister recommended by his Lordship or by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, the sal- ary of such minister, he being chosen the rector or minister of any parish, should begin.
Two very important measures were adopted in relation to schools. The original of the first of these. entitled " An act for the Encouragement of Learning." has been, unfortunately, mutilated. - one half of a leaf torn off. The preamble to it, which. however, remains, again refers to the fact that several sums of money had been given by well-disposed persons for building a free school. which could not then conveniently be done; to supply which defect for the present, it was enacted that John Douglass should be master of a grammar school of Charles Town for teaching the Greek and Latin languages, and should choose an usher to assist him " in teaching the languages, reading. English, writing, arithmetick or such parts of the mathematicks as he is capable to teach." It also re- cited that Mr. Benjamin Dennis, having been sent over by the recommendation of the Society for the Propaga- tion of the Gospel. to be a schoolmaster for the parish of St. James, Goose Creek. had for a considerable time given great satisfaction. and was therefore worthy of con- sideration, and as, by reason of the neglect of many of his parishioners, sufficient provisions for his maintenance could not be made, which might discourage that honor- able society in sending over others. it thereupon provided for Mr. Dennis a salary of 516 a year. As a further
1 Statutes of So. Co., vol. II, 376.
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provision for Mr. Douglass, the schoolmaster in Charles Town, it was provided that he should receive £3 a year for each scholar to whom he taught the Greek and Latin tongue, and a proportional sum for a longer or shorter time, and for every scholar to whom he taught English writing, arithmetic, or any other part of the mathematics, such a sum as should be agreed upon. be- tween the master and learner himself or any other in his behalf; two-thirds of the money received should be for the master, John Douglass; the other third part for the usher.
This act was adopted on the 7th of June ; but on the 12th of December. with that of 1710, it was repealed, and in their places another and more elaborate measure was enacted. This was entitled "An act for Founding and Erecting a Free School in Charles Town for the use of the Inhabitants of the Province of South Carolina." > The same commissioners were reappointed and incorporated under this act as in that of 1710, with the exception of two changes. - Colonel Rbett and the Rev. Robert Maule were substituted for John Abraham Motte, who was dead, and the Rev. Alexander Wood, who had left the province. These commissioners were to meet annually and choose officers, and twice a year or oftener for other purposes. The Hon. Charles Craven was the first President. They were to receive all gifts and legacies appropriated to a free school, and to take up land and build houses for the teachers. John Douglass was to be the first master of the school, " by the name and stile of Preceptor or Teacher of Grammar and other the Arts and Sciences to be taught in the Free School at Charles Town for the Province of South Carolina." The commissioners were empowered upon his death or departure to supply his place. Though Land- 1 Statutes of So. Ca., vol. II, 389.
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