THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 The James Spnint Historical Publications 
 
 PUBLISHED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF 
 
 The North Carolina Historical Society 
 
 VOL. 17 
 
 Editors: 
 
 J. G. de ROULHAC HAMILTON 
 HENRY McGILBERT WAGSTAFF 
 WILLIAM WHATLEV PIERSON. JR. 
 
 No. 1 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 THE FREE NEGRO IN NORTH 
 CAROLINA 
 
 SOME COLONIAL HISTORY OF CRAVEN 
 COUNTY 
 
 CHAPEL HILL 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 1920 
 
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THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 The James Sprunt Historical Publications 
 
 PUBLISHED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF 
 
 The North Carolina Historical Society 
 
 EdiloTs: 
 
 j. G. de ROULHAC HAMILTON 
 HENRY McGILBERT WAGSTAFF 
 WILLL\M WHATLEY PIERSON. JR. 
 
 VOL. 17 
 
 No. 
 
 COiNTENTS 
 
 THE FREE NEGRO IN NORTH 
 CAROLINA 
 
 SOME COLONIAL HISTORY OF CRAVEN 
 COUNTY 
 
 CHAPEL HILL 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 1920 
 
THE FREE NEGRO IN NORTH 
 CAROLINA 
 
 BY 
 R. H. TAYLOR. A. M. 
 
 Assistant Professor of History 
 The Citadel 
 
 J5 UOG 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2012 with funding from 
 
 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 
 
 http://archive.org/details/freenegroinnorthOOtayl 
 
THE FREE NEGRO IN NORTH 
 CAROLINA' 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 The most pathetic figure in North Carolina prior to the Civil 
 War was the free negro. Hedged about with social and legal re- 
 strictions, he ever remained an anomaly in the social and polit- 
 ical life of the State. 
 
 The origin of this class of people may be attributed to many 
 sources, the most common of which are (1) cohabitation of white 
 women and negro men, (2) intermarriage of blacks and whites, 
 (3) manumission, (4) military service in the Revolution, and 
 (5) immigration from adjoining States. As early as 17232 many 
 free negroes, mulattoes and persons of mixed blood had moved 
 into the Province and had intermarried with the white inhabi- 
 tants "in contempt of the acts and laws in those cases pro- 
 vided." In the year 1715 in order to discourage intermarriage 
 between white women and negro men, a penalty of £50 was 
 imposed upon the contracting parties, while clergymen and jus- 
 tices of peace were forbidden to celebrate such marriage under 
 a like penalty.^ However regrettable it may be, it is certain that 
 there were a few disreputable white women who had illegitimate 
 children by negro men, and such children inherited the legal 
 status of the mother. The laws of 1715^ take cognizance of this 
 fact by imposing a penalty on any white woman "whether bond 
 or free", who shall have a bastard child by any negro, mulatto 
 or Indian. 
 
 Probably the most fruitful origin of the free negro class 
 was manumission. While it is doubtful whether many slaves 
 were set free prior to 1740, it is certain that the Quakers in 
 their Yearly Meeting began to agitate the question of emanci- 
 
 ^ This paper was prepared as a thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements 
 for the degree of Master of Arts in the University of North Carolina. 
 
 2 State Records, Vol. XXIII, pp. 106-107. Hereafter the Colonial Records and 
 state Records will be referred to as "C. R.", and "S. R." 
 
 3 Ibid., p. 65. 
 *Ibid. 
 
6 James Sprunt Historical Publications 
 
 pating slaves in that year,^ and they never ceased to advocate 
 emancipation both by precept and example. 
 
 The free negro class was slightly augmented by the addition 
 of certain negroes who had served in the continental line 
 of the State during the Revolutionary War, many of whom had 
 been promised their freedom before they enlisted. It was easy 
 in such cases to allege meritorious service as a ground for eman- 
 cipation. To the before-mentioned causes for the existence of the 
 free negro in North Carolina should be added one other ; namely, 
 immigration, particularly from Virginia. Despite the law to 
 the contrary, many free negroes drifted across the State line 
 from Virginia into North Carolina and quietly settled on the 
 unproductive land adjacent thereto.** 
 
 In every instance except one (service in the Revolution) the 
 free negro came into being against the will of the State either 
 expressed or implied; but once given a place in the social order 
 of the commonwealth, his tribe increased in spite of adverse 
 laws and customs prescribed by the dominant race. 
 
 MANUMISSION '"" ^"^'"' 
 
 It has been previously noted that manumission does not ap- 
 pear to have been a well-established practice before 1741; how- 
 ever the practice was not unknown to the early planters. In 
 the laws of 1723''' complaint was made that the law which re- 
 quired all free negroes to leave the State within six months after 
 being set free had been disregarded by the negroes, who returned 
 after a time. In order to discourage their return to the State, 
 the law specifically stated that all such free negroes returned 
 contrary to law should be arrested and sold into slavery for seven 
 years, ^ and the sale repeated in case the negro returned a second 
 time. One may readily infer from the very language of the act 
 that it was "obeyed but not executed." That provision of the law 
 which required all free negroes to leave the State within six 
 months after being liberated does not occur in the laws of 1741 
 
 « Negro Year Book, 1913. 
 
 ^ S. R., Vol. 24, p. 639. 
 
 ' Atlantic Monthly, January, 1886. 
 
 ^ S. B., Vol. 28, pp. 106-107. 
 
The Free Negro in North Carolina 7 
 
 — a fact that would seem to indicate that the law continued to 
 be disregarded. 
 
 Prior to 1741 a master could renounce ownership of his slave 
 without leave of court, and according to an opinion rendered by 
 Justice Ruffin in the case of Sampson vs. Burgwin^ he could 
 probably do so until 1796 ; however such a renunciation on the 
 part of a slave owner was equivalent to a forfeiture of the 
 slave to the public, which in turn might seize him and sell him 
 into slavery. 
 
 The law of 1741, which is the first comprehensive statute on 
 the subject of emancipation, was probably enacted as a safe- 
 guard against promiscuous emancipation of slaves by the 
 Quakers. By virtue of this law^° no negro or mulatto slave 
 could be set free on any pretense whatever, "except for meri- 
 torious services, to be adjudged and allowed of by the county 
 court, and license therefrom first had and obtained. "^^ For 
 the first time since the element of meritorious service enters 
 into the law as a determining factor in emancipation. By rea- 
 son of the fact that the law of 1741 was flagrantly violated by 
 certain Quakers in Perquimans and Pasquotank counties, it was 
 reaffirmed by the General Assembly of 1777. 
 
 During the latter part of the year 1726 the Quakers, already 
 restive under the restrictions of the law regarding the eman- 
 cipation of slaves, took advantage of the uncertainty of the 
 times to set free a number of slaves in the counties of Perqui- 
 mans and Pasquotank. 12 These illegally-emancipated slaves 
 were promptly seized and sold into slavery, whereupon the 
 Quakers brought suit in the Superior Court of the Edenton 
 District for the purpose of testing the legality of the seizure and 
 sale of the negroes. The Superior Court held that the slaves had 
 been unlawfully deprived of their liberties, and as a result of 
 the decision of the Court many of the negroes, in question, were 
 again set at liberty. ^^ In order to silence any further contro- 
 
 9 20 N. C, 21. 
 
 ^■0 Revisal of 1804, ch. 24, p. 66. 
 
 "Weeks' Southern Quakers and Slavery, pp. 209-210. 
 
 12 Ibid. 
 
 ^^ Remarks on Slavery, by John Parrish, p. 210 (Weeks Collection). 
 
8 James Sprunt Historical Publications 
 
 versy, the legislature of 1779 passed a law confirming the sale 
 of illegally-liberated slaves.^'* 
 
 The Quakers were ever the unrelenting foes of slavery and 
 they never lost an opportunity to impress upon the people of 
 the State their conception of the iniquity of slave holding. They 
 petitioned the legislature in 1790 to the end that the law of 
 1741 be repealed and an act passed "whereby the free citizens 
 of this State, who are conscientiously scrupulous of holding 
 slaves may legally emancipate them, etc.."^^ 
 
 Due probably to the Santo Domingo revolt in 1791, a law 
 was passed requiring any and all free persons of color who 
 '^ shall come into this State by land or water or shall hereafter 
 be emancipated" to give bond in the sum of £200, such bond to 
 be held as surety for the good behavior of the sojourning negro.^^ 
 
 Emancipation came to be quite onerous in 1801, when the 
 legislature passed a law^''' placing a further restriction on eman- 
 cipators by requiring them to enter into bond "in the sum of 
 £100 for each slave so liberated." Undoubtedly the law was 
 disregarded in a great many instances. For example, we find 
 in the case of Sampson vs. Burgwin^^ that a county court eman- 
 cipated a slave notwithstanding the fact that meritorious serv- 
 ice was not alleged. The Supreme Court held that an eman- 
 cipation of that kind was valid because the county court had 
 exclusive jurisdiction. Justice RufiSn observes in the case of 
 Sampson vs. Burgwin that the non-enforcement of the law by 
 the county courts probably resulted in a transference of their 
 jurisdiction over the matter of emancipation to the Superior 
 Courts in 1830. 
 
 The act of 1796 did not require a petition in writing in order 
 to emancipated^ ; accordingly a free negro could not always show 
 conclusively that he had been legally set free. The Supreme 
 Court, however, consistently held the opinion that where the 
 people had quietly permitted a negro to enjoy his or her freedom 
 
 1* Weeks' Southern Quakers and Slavery, p. 210. 
 
 ^"^ Ibid., p. 221. 
 
 ^"Martin's Bevisal, ch. 16, p. 79. 
 
 ^'' Ibid., ch. 20, p. 179. 
 
 "20 N. C, 21. 
 
 ^ stringer vs. Burcham, 34 N. C, 43. 
 
The Free Negro in North Caeolina 9 
 
 for a number of years "every presumption is to be made in 
 favor of his or her actual emancipation, "^o 
 
 From 1801 to 1828, notwithstanding the constant fear of a 
 negro insurrection, the active work of the American Coloniza- 
 tion Society and the persistent efforts of the Quakers to secure 
 more lenient emancipation laws, there was a period of compara- 
 tive legislative inactivity with reference to the free negro. In 
 fact, during this period there was considerable sentiment in the 
 State favoring the liberation of slaves, thanks to the work of 
 the Colonization Society and the North Carolina Manumission 
 Society. 
 
 The North Carolina Manumission Society was organized by 
 the Quakers of Guilford, Chatham and Randolph counties in 
 1816, and remained in existence for more than twenty years ; 
 however it did its most efficient work and had its largest mem- 
 bership between the years 1825-1830. Among other things, it 
 investigated cases of kidnapping, helped to raise the necessary 
 money for purchasing slaves, and used its influence to obtain 
 more lenient emancipation laws.-^. The Manumission Society 
 was very active in sending slaves to free territory to be set 
 free. In 1826 two boat loads of negro slaves were sent to 
 Africa22 and in 1828 the Society sent 119 negroes to Haiti. So 
 many negro slaves were sent to Illinois and Indiana by the 
 Manumission Society that these States became alarmed and en- 
 acted very stringent laws against admitting free negroes.^^ 
 
 Another interesting feature of the benevolent work of the 
 Quakers deserves special mention. On account of the rigidity 
 of the emancipation laws, the Quakers devised a scheme by which 
 "Certain parties were authorized to act as agents and receive 
 certain consignments of slaves from masters who wished to be 
 rid of them."--* While these slaves were under the tutelage of 
 the Quakers they were virtually, though not nominally free. They 
 were held ostensibly for the purpose of being transported to 
 
 ^o stringer vs. Burcham, 34 N. C, 43. 
 
 21 Trinity Historical Papers, Vol. 10, p. 48. 
 
 ^Ibid., Vol. 10, p. 36. 
 
 ^-^ Weeks' Southern Quakers and Slavery, p. 232. 
 
 '^Trinity Historical Papers, Vol. 10, p. 37. 
 
10 James Sprunt Historical Pubijcations 
 
 free territory and there set free. In 1826 the Quakers were 
 caring for 600 slaves.^^ From 1825 to 1830 the slave holders of 
 North Carolina placed in the hands of Quakers hundreds of 
 slaves on condition of their removal to Liberia.^^ Much of this 
 work, however, was undertaken in conjunction with the Amer- 
 ican Colonization Society. 
 
 The Supreme Court held in the case of Trustees vs. Dicken- 
 son^''' that the trustees of "the Religious Society and Congre- 
 gation, usually known by the name of Quakers", had a right 
 to receive and hold property for its own benefit, but it could 
 not hold property in trust for another. The Court held that 
 nothing was wanting to' make the condition under which Quakers 
 held slaves complete emancipation except the name. This deci- 
 sion was rendered in 1827 and did much to interrupt the "v^ork 
 of the Religious Society and Congregation of the Friends in 
 their efforts to abolish slavery. 
 
 One would not be justified in assuming that |he numerous 
 negro insurrections in Virginia and South Carolina were pri- 
 marily responsible for the legislative enactment concerning free 
 negroes in 1830; nevertheless these outbreaks on the part of the 
 negroes, no doubt, influenced the action of the legislature. It is 
 more reasonable to suppose that the abolition movement which 
 reached the State certainly by 1830^8 was a more direct cause. 
 There is a popular conception abroad that the Southampton Re- 
 bellion in Virginia was largely responsible for the stringent anti- 
 free negro legislation of the year 1830. Strangely enough, the 
 negro uprising in Sampson and Duplin comities took place in 
 1831,29 and the Southampton Rebellion occurred in the same year. 
 The Southampton Rebellion marks a pronounced change in the 
 policy of Virginia towards the free negro,^*^ but so far as is ascer- 
 tainable, only one law of any importance (that which forbade 
 negroes to preach) '^'^ was enacted in North Carolina as a direct 
 consequence of the Southampton Rebellion. 
 
 ^Atlantic Monthly, January, 1886. 
 
 20 12 N. C, 190. 
 
 ^^ Johns Hopkins Studies, Vol. 27, p. 189. 
 
 ''^Atlantic Monthly, January, 1886. 
 
 2»Tarborough Free Press, Sept. 20, 1831. 
 
 ^ Johns Hopkins Studies, Vol. 31, p. 452. 
 
 ^ Revisal of 1855, ch. 107, p. 576. 
 
The Free Negro in North Carolina H 
 
 As 1832 marks the turning point in Virginia's policy towards 
 the free persons of eolor, just so the year 1830 marks the be- 
 ginning of a pronounced change of policy in North Carolina. 
 Sweeping aside all laws and clauses of laws to the contrary, the 
 legislature of 1830 passed a law, which on account of its signifi- 
 cance is, I quoted, verbatim : 
 
 "Any inhabitant of this State desirous of emancipating a slave shall 
 file a petition in writing with the Superior Court, setting forth name, sex 
 and age of said slave and praying permission to emancipate. The Court 
 shall grant permission on the following conditions : Petitioner shall show 
 that he gave public notice of his intended action six weeks prior in the 
 State Gazette and at county courthouse. Petitioner shall enter into bond 
 with two good securities payable to State of North Carolina in the sum 
 of $1,000 for each slave. "^ 
 
 The bond, of course, was required for the good conduct of 
 the slaves as long as they remained in the State, and to insure 
 their departure from the State within ninety days after eman- 
 cipation became effective, never to return. ^^ On the same terms 
 any person could emancipate his or her slaves by will.^'* 
 
 It is further provided (Sec. 4) that any one could law- 
 fully emancipate any slave over fifty years of age upon petition 
 filed and order of the Superior Court, by satisfying the Court 
 that said slave had performed meritorious services and giving 
 bond in the sum of $500. In all cases if an emancipated slave 
 returned to the State he could be arrested and sold, or if he 
 failed to leave the State the same fate awaited him. Action 
 could also be brought against the bond of the emancipator and 
 the recovery applied to the support of the poor.^^ The claims 
 of creditors had to be satisfied before emancipation was com- 
 plete, since no emancipation could work to invalidate such claims. 
 This law remained in force until the actual emancipation of all 
 slaves in North Carolina took place ; however at least one of its 
 most drastic features was frequently evaded, as I shall take oc- 
 casion to show later. 
 
 ^ Reviml of 1837, ch. Ill, p. 585. 
 ^Ibid., ch. Ill, p. 585. 
 ^Ibid., ch. Ill, p. 585. 
 ^Revisal of 1837, ch. Ill, p. 586. 
 
12 James Sprunt Historical Publications 
 
 The law of 1830 makes three notable changes in the old pro- 
 cess of emancipation : ( 1 ) the substitution of perpetual exile for 
 meritorious service for all slaves under the age of fifty years, 
 (2) the requirement of a written petition, and (3) a transfer 
 of jurisdiction from the county courts to the Superior Courts 
 of the State. Despite the apparent severity of the law govern- 
 ing manumission Booker T. Washington in his book, "The 
 Story of the Negro", says that the conditions and laws relative 
 to the Negro in North Carolina were more lenient than those of 
 any other Southern State. "With the exception of a law passed 
 in 1861 which forbade the emancipation of slaves by wilP^ there 
 was no further legislation in North Carolina with reference to 
 the emancipation of slaves. 
 
 We thus see that the State discouraged the practice of manu- 
 mitting slaves by making it both expensive and troublesome. 
 The only way out of the difficulty was to send slaves out of the 
 State to be set free. Such action was perfectly legitimate, pro- 
 vided the act was done with the bona fide intention that they 
 should remain out of the State,^''' and in the case of Redding 
 vs. Long^s the Court held that "a deed conveying slaves to one 
 in trust for the grantor during her life and then to send them 
 to Liberia or some other free State . . . after grantor's 
 death is not against the provisions or policy of our statutes on 
 the subject of slavery." 
 
 Occasionally the legislature assumed the responsibility of 
 emancipating certain slaves,^^ but aside from the regular, vol- 
 untary method of setting slaves free without remuneration, many 
 negroes bought their freedom for a specified sum of money. It 
 frequently happened that an especially industrious and ambi- 
 tious negro slave hired his time of his master for a stipulated 
 amount of money, and all he made in excess of that amount was 
 set aside as a redemption fund. Lunsf ord Lane brought his free- 
 dom in this manner.*^ 
 
 ^'^ Laws of North Carolina, Session 1860-61, ch. 36, p. ^9. 
 
 ^' Green vs. Long, 43 N. C, 70. 
 
 ^^ 34 Jones Equity, 216. 
 
 ^ Laws, 1854-55, ch. 108, pp. 89-90. 
 
 ■** Hawkins, Life of Lunsf ord Lane. 
 
The Free Negro in North Carolina 13 
 
 It seems to be a demonstrable fact that wben a slave owner 
 voluntarily set his slaves free without remuneration, they were 
 usually sent to free territory but instances can be multiplied of 
 negroes who bought their freedom and remained in the State, 
 the law to the contrary notwithstanding. Sam Morphis, a free 
 negro of Chapel Hill, who earned his living by driving a hack, 
 bought his freedom and continued to live in Chapel Hill.^^ 
 Dave Moore, another slave, bought his freedom and re- 
 mained at Chapel Hill.'*^ Thomas Gosset, a slave black- 
 smith of Guilford county, bought his freedom of his master 
 about the year 1850 and remained on the same plantation.'*^ It 
 was not an uncommon thing for a negro slave to buy his own 
 freedom and then bargain for and procure the freedom of his 
 wife and children by the labor of his hands. 
 
 POLITICAL RIGHTS 
 
 As Judge Gaston pointed out, in the celebrated case of State 
 vs. Manuel*^, that under the British Colonial Government in 
 Carolina there were only two classes of people recognized by 
 the law ; namely, citizens and aliens. It necessarily followed that 
 the native-born free negro was by the principle of jus soli a 
 native-born citizen of the State. The fact that he was a citizen, 
 however, did not necessarily entitle him to exercise the privilege 
 of the franchise except by suiferance on the part of the dom- 
 inant race. While political discrimination against the free per- 
 son of color during pre-revolutionary times was not so pro- 
 nounced as it was in 1835, we find very little evidence which 
 tends to show that the free negroes and mulattoes voted to 
 any considerable extent prior to the Revolutionary War. 
 
 In the instructions of the Proprietors to the Governor of the 
 Province in 1667, he was ordered to hold an election in which 
 all freemen should help to choose members of the Assembly. This 
 order on the part of the Proprietors was modified in 1734^^ so 
 that none but free holders could vote; but not until 1760 was 
 
 " Information from Mr. John Huskey, an old citizen of Chapel Hill. 
 
 *^ This was also told me by Mr. Huskey. 
 
 ^''J. J. Brittain, Box 144, Salem Station, Winston-Salem, N. C. 
 
 ■"20 N. C, 144. 
 
 «C. B., Vol. 1, p. 167. 
 
14 James Sprunt Historical Publications 
 
 a free holder defiiied.'*'^ In that year a freeholder was defined 
 to be a person "who bona fide, hath an estate real for his own 
 life-time or for the life of another, etc." The prescription of the 
 property qualification for voting served to deprive the indigent 
 free negro of the franchise. One would hardly feel safe in say- 
 ing that the free person of color voted regularly prior to 1760. 
 In a petition of the colonists to the crown in 1703^'^ it was re- 
 cited that in the election to choose members of the General 
 Assembly "all sorts of people, even servants, negroes, aliens, 
 Jews and common sailors were admitted to vote in elections." 
 In regard to this election, it is said that ' ' it was conducted with 
 very great partiality and injustice," — the inference being that 
 it was an uncommon occurrence for negroes to vote. 
 
 The framers of our State Constitution of 1776, imbued with 
 exalted notions concerning the rights of man, provided that 
 every freeman with a freehold of fifty acres could vote for mem- 
 bers of the State Senate, and that every freeman who had paid 
 public taxes could vote for members of the House of Commons. 
 Of course, under the terms of this section of the Constitution a 
 free negro was entitled to vote; but it is hardly fair to assume 
 that the framers of the Constitution were especially solicitous 
 concerning the political privileges of the free negro when they 
 gave the ballot to all freemen. 
 
 Notwithstanding the fact that the negro vote in the State 
 was practically negligible except in a few counties, such as 
 Halifax,^^ white people came more and more to resent the par- 
 ticipation of the free negroes in politics. They had been dis- 
 franchised in the neighboring States, Virginia having disfran- 
 chised her free negroes in 1723^^ ; consequently North Carolina 
 in 1835 was the only one of the slaveholding states that allowed 
 the free negro to exercise the franchise. Lacking in intelligence 
 and correspondingly venal, the free negro's support of any as- 
 pirant for political office finally came to be regarded as a sort 
 of reproach to the candidate.^*^ It was asserted in the Con- 
 
 *^Ihid., Vol. 4, p. 3. 
 
 "Ibid., Vol. 1, p. 639. 
 
 *^ Political Science Quarterly, Dec, 1894, p. 626. 
 
 *' Johns RopTcins Studies, Vol. 31, p. 418. 
 
 ^ Atlantic Monthly, January, 1886. 
 
The Free Negro in North Carolina 15 
 
 vention of 1835 that the negro vote could be bought with "a 
 little to drink . . . like a lot of poultry. "^^ It is claimed 
 that the free negroes lost the franchise in Granville county by 
 persistently supporting Robert Potter. Robert Potter was a 
 notorious politician who later disgraced himself by committing 
 "a brutal mayhem upon two of his wife's relatives. "^- 
 
 Indicative of the general attitude of the white people toward 
 the negro is an act of the legislature of 1832, — "an act to vest 
 the right of electing the clerks of the County and Superior 
 Courts in the several counties in this State in the free white 
 men thereof. ^^ No mention is made of the free negro as being 
 a qualified voter in this election. 
 
 In 1835 there were 300 colored voters in Halifax county, 
 150 in Hertford, 50 in Chowan, and 75 in Pasquotank. ^^ Of 
 course, there were colored voters in many other counties of the 
 State ; however the free negro was not a regular voter in many 
 western counties, notably Iredell. Mr. King, of Iredell, could 
 not recall that a free negro had ever voted in his county.^^ 
 
 Many broad-minded men in the Convention saw and pointed 
 out the injustice of depriving the free negro of the franchise 
 when "he possessed the same property and other qualifications 
 required of other citizens, "°^ and to correct this injustice 
 amendments were offered which excepted the property-o'vvning 
 class from the general operation of the law disfranchising free 
 negroes. The amendments were defeated by a small majority. 
 In the main, we may say that the colored voter was disfranchised 
 on grounds of expedience rather than upon the grounds of 
 abstract right. 
 
 CIVIL RIGHTS 
 
 Before the establishment of an independent state govern- 
 ment in 1776, not many laws were enacted which abridged the 
 civil rights of the free negro. As a British subject he was re- 
 quired to pay the same tithes as the other inhabitants of the 
 
 "^Debates in Convention, 1835. 
 
 "^Wheeler, Reminiscences, p. 184. 
 
 °^ Hoke vs. Henderson, 15 N. C, 1. 
 
 ^* Political Science Quarterly, December, 1894, p. 676. 
 
 '^Debates in Convention, 1835, p. 353. 
 
 ^^ Ibid., p. 356. 
 
16 James Sprunt Historical Publications 
 
 Province.^^ In 1746 "all negroes and mulattoes bond and free 
 to the third generation (extended to the fourth in 1776) were 
 disqualified to appear as witnesses in any cause whatsoever, 
 except against each other.^^ This law was never repealed. While 
 the law protected a white man against one of the fatal weak- 
 nesses of the negro mendacity, it undoubtedly gave to white 
 people an undue advantage over their incompetent neighbor, 
 the free negroes. 
 
 About 1787 a series of laws were enacted regulating the con- 
 duct of free persons of color. For instance, they were forbidden 
 to trade with slaves in property of any kind^^ under penalty 
 of £10 or three months in prison, they were forbidden to enter- 
 tain any slave in their houses during the Sabbath or between 
 sunrise and sunset,^° and in the towns of "Wilmington, Washing- 
 ton, Edenton and Fayetteville free negroes were required to 
 wear a badge of cloth on the left shoulder, "and written there- 
 on the word 'Free' ". In addition they had to register with 
 the town clerk and pay a fee of ten shillings three days after 
 arrival in these towns.^^ These laws were passed for the 
 purpose of preventing free negroes from harboring run- 
 away slaves, and from receiving stolen goods from slaves. 
 
 The first law making it a criminal offense to bring slaves 
 into the State from a State which had already liberated its 
 slaves was enacted 1786.^^ The law fixed a penalty of £50 for 
 each slave brought in, such fine to take the form of a bond 
 as security for the removal of said slave to the place from 
 whence he came. A similar law was passed in 1826,^^ by virtue 
 of which a free negro was forbidden to enter the State of his 
 own accord under penalty of $500 or a period of ten years in 
 servitude. A period of twenty days was given the intruder in 
 which to leave the State. This law was passed upon recom- 
 mendation of Governor Gabriel Holmes, who became alarmed 
 at the return of a large of free negroes from Haiti, at which 
 
 "^. R., Vol. 23, p. 262. 
 
 ^«Ibid., p. 262. 
 
 ^"S. R., Vol. 24, p. 956. 
 
 ^Ihid., p. 891. 
 
 Bi/bid., pp. 728-729. 
 
 ''^Martin's Revisal, ch. 6, p. 414. 
 
 ^^Laws of North Carolina, Session of 1828-29, ch. 34, p. 21. 
 
The Free Negro in North Carolina 17 
 
 place they had become inoculated with ideas of freedom. The 
 Virginia legislature passed a law in 1806, banishing all free ne- 
 groes thereafter set free,^^ many of whom came to North Car- 
 olina; however no action was taken at that time to prevent the 
 free negroes from Virginia from entering the State. In 
 order to protect the free negro in the enjoyment of his liberty, 
 the State legislature made the act of kidnapping and selling a 
 free negro into slavery in another state a capital offense without 
 benefit of clergy,^ ^ but on account of the law which forbade a 
 negro to testify against a white man, it was frequently difficult 
 to prove a man guilty of kidnapping. A rather singular fea- 
 ture of the law was that the penalty for stealing and selling a 
 free negro within the bounds of the State could not exceed a 
 fine of $1,000 or imprisonment for more than 18 months. 
 
 The legislature of 1830, not satisfied with the task of mak- 
 ing manumission more difficult, proceeded to restrict the move- 
 ments of those negroes already free by ordering that no free 
 negro could return to this state after being absent 
 for a period of ninety days or more.^^ Provision was 
 made for providential hindrance. This law served a double 
 purpose ; namely, it was a means of getting rid of an undesir- 
 able element of the population, and in the second place it pre- 
 vented the dissemination of radical ideas concerning freedom 
 which itinerant negroes might bring back from the North by 
 reason of having come in contact with abolitionists. 
 
 For the purpose of protecting a free person of color in the 
 enjoyment of his property, the legislature extended the law 
 respecting insolvent debtors to free persons of color. '^'^ This 
 law was repealed in 1841.^ ^ ij;^ ^^q same year (1811) the rating 
 of a free negro with respect to citizenship was further dis- 
 counted by the enactment of a law which excluded him from 
 the ranks of the State militia except in the capacity of musi- 
 cian. ^^ A rather singular situation prevailed. Here was a 
 
 '^ Johns Hopkins Studies, Vol. 31, p. 418. 
 
 '^Martin's Revisal, ch. 11, Laws of 1779. 
 
 ^'^ Revisal of 1837, ch. 34, p. 208. 
 
 '^'' Lavjs of North Carolina, Sesssion of 1841, ch. 30, p. 61. 
 
 "^ Eevisal of 1855, ch. 802, p. 1196. 
 
 ^^ Revisal of 1855, ch. 828, p. 1218. 
 
18 James Sprunt Historical Publications 
 
 class of people who paid public taxes and voted, but were not 
 allowed to bear arms in defense of their State. 
 
 On account of the difficulty of collecting taxes from many 
 free negroes, due to the fact that they had very little property 
 which could be levied on, the General Assembly in 1828 re- 
 quired a person on whose land free negroes resided to "pay a 
 poll tax on the same residing there with their consent."'''^ By 
 act of the legislature of 1831, when a free person of color was 
 convicted of a criminal offense and was unable to pay the fine, 
 he should be hired out to any person who would pay the fine in 
 exchange for the negro's services for the shortest length of 
 time — not to exceed five yearsJ^ 
 
 it, In 1838 for the first time in the history of North Carolina 
 the constitutionality of one of the special laws applicable to 
 a particular class of so-called citizens was tested in the case of 
 State vs. Manuel. '''2 Manuel, a free negro of Sampson county, 
 was convicted of assault and battery and fined $20.00 by the 
 court. Upon declaring his inability to pay the fine, he was 
 sentenced to be hired out according to law; whereupon he took 
 an appeal to the Supreme Court of North Carolina. Judge 
 Gaston in a lengthy and able opinion stated two important prin- 
 ciples: (1) that the free person of color was a citizen of North 
 Carolina, and (2) that the law requiring free negroes to be 
 hired out in certain cases was constitutional. It had been argued 
 with much show of reason in the Convention of 1835 that the 
 free negro was not a citizen, mainly for the reason that he was 
 not free to move from State to State. Setting aside this argu- 
 ment. Judge Gaston demonstrated that the right of suffrage did 
 not necessarily accompany citizenship. After postulating that 
 ''all free persons born within the State are born citizens of the 
 State," he proceeded to show that the removal of the disability 
 of slavery would automatically work to make a citizen of a 
 slave born within the State. He justified the unusual mode of 
 punishment prescribed for a particular class of citizens on the 
 ground that the legislation was given a large grant of power 
 in the suppression of crime, and by reason of this fact it could 
 
 ''"Laws of North Carolina, Session 1828-29, ch. 34, p. 21. 
 ''^Bevisal of 1837, ch. Ill, pp. 591-592. 
 "20 N. C, 144. 
 
The Free Negro in North Carolina 19 
 
 discriminate as between different classes of citizens, for what 
 would constitute a punishment for one class of citizens might 
 not be a punishment for another. 
 
 On the case of State vs. Newson'''^ which was decided in 1844, 
 the constitutionality of the law forbidding free negroes to own 
 or carry weapons was tested. Judge Nash, who rendered the 
 opmion of the Court, took occasion to refer to the case of State 
 vs. Manuel, saying in part, that the hiring out of free negroes 
 introduced a different mode of punishment in the case of a 
 colored man and a white man for the same offense, thereby in- 
 ferring that such punishment was in contravention of the third 
 article of our State Constitution, which forbids the granting of 
 "exclusive or separate emolument . . . but in considera- 
 tion of public services." In concluding his opinion he justified 
 the discriminating character of the laws addressed to the free 
 negro by saying that they "are not to be considered citizens in 
 the largest sense of the word." 
 
 Notice has been taken of the fact that a quietus was put on 
 negro preachers in 1831. The rights of the free person of color 
 were further circumscribed during the forties. For example, 
 it was made unlawful to sell spiritous liquors to such people, 
 except on prescription of practicing physicians for medicinal 
 purposes.'^ -^ The marriage of a free negro and a slave was abso- 
 lutely prohibited by law,"^ and a free negro was not allowed 
 to bear arms or to have weapons in his possession unless he 
 had a license from the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions.'''^ 
 However restrictive this legislation may appear, it is not com- 
 parable to many laws on the same subject enacted in Virginia. 
 Free negroes could not own slaves in North Carolina until 
 1861.'" They were not only forbidden to own a gun in Vir- 
 ginia, but they were likewise forbidden to own a dog.'^^ After 
 1832 free negroes were not allowed benefit or trial by jury in 
 Virginia, while in North Carolina this fundamental right was 
 never abridged. 
 
 "27 N. C, 250. 
 
 ''* Laws of North Carolina, Session 1858-59, ch. 31fi p. 71. 
 
 ''^ Revisal of 1855, ch. 107, p. 577. 
 
 ''"Ibid., ch. 107, p. 577. 
 
 "Laws of North Carolina, Session 1860-61, ch. 37, p. 69. 
 
 ''^ Johns Hopkins Studies, Vol. 31, p. 418. 
 
20 James Sprunt Historical Publications 
 
 One might seriously inquire as to what remained of 
 the civil rights of the hybrid citizen, known in legal parlance as 
 the free person of color, save the right of trial by jury, road 
 duty, and the poll tax requirement. In answer to this inquiry, 
 I quote a portion of Governor Graham's letter to Holderby 
 written in 1866 : 
 
 Free negroes have always been regarded as freemen in North Caro- 
 lina, and as such, entitled to the privilege of habeas corpus, trial by 
 jury, ownership of property, even slaves, to prosecute and defend suits in 
 courts of justice . . . and to prove by their own oath, even against 
 white men accounts to the amount of sixty dollars for work and labor done 
 on goods sold under the Book Debit Law.'* 
 
 To the foregoing let me add an excerpt from Governor 
 Worth's message to the General Assembly in 1866: 
 
 Such rights as were accorded to the free colored people of North 
 Carolina were ever most scrupulously observed and maintained. For 
 ages it had been a most ignominous offense to kidnap . . . or to en- 
 deavor to enslave a person of African descent who was free. . . . 
 In all criminal accusations tried by jury, he was allowed the rights of 
 challenge and other safeguards of the common law. Property was acquired 
 and held by them with all the privileges of transfer, devise and descent.*" 
 
 After all has been said, the lot of the free negro in North 
 Carolina was a hard one. He had very little to strive for — ^no 
 high and worthy goal spurred his ambition. The avenues of 
 opportunity were closed by legal and social restrictions ; conse- 
 quently he passed among the white people for a sort of worth- 
 less incubus on society. Had the old slavery regime survived 
 a few years longer it is probable that all the free negroes would 
 have been compelled to leave the State, or at least an attempt 
 to expel them would have been made. During the session of the 
 legislature of 1858-59 two bills, one originating in the House 
 and the other in the Senate, were introduced, providing for the 
 removal from the State of all free persons of color by January 
 1, 1860, or the enslavement of those who remained. 
 
 " The Daily Sentinel, February 8, 1866. 
 
 ^Ibid., January 20, 1866. 
 
 *^ Bills found in the Weeks Collection, U. N. C. Library. 
 
The Free Negro in North Carolina 21 
 
 SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC STATUS 
 
 Socially the free negro was supposed to take a little higher 
 rank than the slave ; however not every slave would acknowledge 
 the social supremacy of his free brother. The attitude of envy 
 and sometimes of contempt for the "old issue," as the free 
 negro was commonly called, was probably encouraged by the 
 slave owners, who wished to discourage the association of the 
 two classes of negroes. It has already been noted that free ne- 
 groes were finally absolutely forbidden to marry slaves, and 
 amongst other laws designed to prevent a too great intimacy be- 
 tween free negroes and slaves, there was one which forbade 
 them to gamble with one another.^^ jj^ spite of the laws de- 
 signed to prevent social intercourse between the two classes of 
 negroes, there was a great deal of clandestine association, espe- 
 cially in the towns. Mr. John Huskey, an old citizen of Chapel 
 Hill, recalls the time when the magistrate's court in Chapel Hill 
 was crowded with offenders against the gambling law.^^ It was 
 a common occurrence on Monday morning to see a group of these 
 offenders led out into the bushes and there given thirty-nine 
 lashes. The relation between free negroes and slaves was prob- 
 ably more cordial in the towns than in the country. Occasion- 
 ally a free negro married a slave, and, indeed, a slave wife was 
 often preferred on account of the fact that she was supported 
 by her master. 
 
 Free negroes and white people were, of course, forbidden 
 to marry on any terms ;^^ at the same time there are many well- 
 known instances of illicit cohabitation between free negro men 
 and white women. 0. W. Blacknall tells the story^^ of a white 
 woman in Granville county who contrived to circumvent the 
 law prohibiting her marriage to her negro lover by having a 
 portion of his blood injected into her veins. She could then 
 swear that she had negro blood in her veins. The free negro 
 women, especially the single ones, were mercenary, and the fact 
 that 55% of the free negro population of North Carolina in 
 
 ^\Revisal of 1837, ch. Ill, p. .590. 
 
 ^ A considerable mimber of free negroes lived in the town of Chapel Hill. 
 
 ^ Laws of North Carolina, Session 1830-31, ch. 4, p. 9. 
 
 ^ Atlantic Monthly, January, 1886. 
 
22 James Sprunt Historical Publications 
 
 1860 consisted of mulattoes^^ is very good evidence that the 
 moral standard of many white men was decidedly low. 
 
 The poor white man was ever an object of contempt in the 
 sight of the free negro. ' ' Big white folks are all right, but poor 
 white folks ain't no better than us niggers." Such was the 
 general opinion the colored citizen held of his indigent white 
 neighbor. 
 
 As a rule, the Quakers were much more cordial in their re- 
 lations with the free people of color than was any other element 
 of the white population in the State.^''' Rev. J. W. Wellons, 
 of Elon College, N. C, relates an interesting experience he had 
 in attempting to preach to a group of free negroes in Randolph 
 county many years before the Civil War. The free negroes re- 
 ferred to were known as Waldens. They owned considerable 
 land and were withal respectable farmers. The Quakers had al- 
 lowed them to sit in the congregation with the white folks, and 
 also to come to the white "mourner's bench." On the par- 
 ticular occasion in question, Reverend Mr. Wellons assigned 
 them a certain space in which to sit, and invited them to a 
 separate "mourner's bench," whereupon they became insulted, 
 raised their tents, and left the camp meeting. As a rule, the 
 free negroes did not attend church, possibly for the reason that 
 in nearly all the churches they had to sit with the slaves. ^^ 
 
 There are no available figures which show the percentage 
 of crime and criminals among the free colored people as com- 
 pared to the slaves. The fact that their criminal record was 
 sometimes pointed out as an argument against the general eman- 
 cipation of slaves, does not indicate that they were any worse 
 than the slaves. The slave owners always regarded the free 
 negro with suspicion because he was known to be in sympathy 
 with the desire of the slaves to be free; he might aid slaves in 
 planning a revolt, in running away from their masters and in 
 disposing of stolen goods. 
 
 *^ Atlantic Monthly, January, 1886. 
 
 *' Rev. J. W. Wellons, Elon College, N. C. Mr. Wellons witnessed the execution 
 of Nat Turner in 1831. 
 
 ^* Pleasant Grove Churcli in Randolph county contained a reservation for free 
 negroes. 
 
The Free Negro in North Carolina 
 
 23 
 
 A glance at the table on the opposite page will show that the 
 counties of Halifax, Wake, Craven, Robeson, Granville and Pas- 
 quotank had the heaviest free negro population, — Halifax lead- 
 ing with 2,452. Probably the largest group of free negroes to be 
 foimd in North Carolina was the exclusive "old issue" settle- 
 ment known far and wide as The Meadows, near Ransom's 
 Bridge on Fishing Creek in Halifax County. The people still 
 bear the appellation "old issue," and are heartily detested by 
 the well-to-do negroes in the adjoining counties. 
 
 The United States Census Reports show the following in- 
 crease in the free negro population of North Carolina, beginning 
 with 1790: 
 
 1790 free black population 4,975 
 
 1800 " 
 
 
 I 
 
 1820 " 
 
 
 
 1830 " 
 
 
 i 
 
 1840 " 
 
 
 i 
 
 1850 " 
 
 
 I 
 
 1880 " 
 
 I i 
 
 i i 
 
 .. 7,043 
 ..10,266 
 ..14,612 
 ..19,543 
 ..22,732 
 ..27,463 
 .30,463 
 
 In 1816 the General Assembly of North Carolina memorial- 
 ized Congress to set apart "a certain portion of the United 
 States, situate on the Pacific Ocean for an asylum for persons 
 of color . . . heretofore emancipated or shall hereafter be 
 emancipated under the laws of this State or any other State. "^^ 
 The Federal Government was to provide free transportation. 
 Of course, no action was taken; but the petition throws light 
 on the prevailing sentiment in North Carolina in 1816 with ref- 
 erence to the emancipated negroes. As a matter of fact, there 
 never was a time that the people of North Carolina would not 
 have rejoiced to see a wholesale exodus of the free colored pop- 
 ulation from the State. 
 
 The pronounced indolence and shiftlessness of the free negroes 
 led to the enactment of a law respecting idleness and vagrancy 
 among this class of people, and provided for the hiring out of 
 any free negro convicted of idleness for a term of service and 
 labor not to exceed three years for any single offense.^*^ 
 
 *" Hoyt, Murphey Papers, p. 61. 
 ^^ Revisal of 1837, ch. Ill, p. 588. 
 
24 
 
 James Sprunt Historical Publications 
 
 FREE NEGROES BY COUNTIES IN NORTH CAROLINA- 1860 
 
 Alamance 422 
 
 Alexander 24 
 
 Alleghany 33 
 
 Anson 152 
 
 Ashe 142 
 
 Bertie 319 
 
 Bladen 435 
 
 Brunswick 260 
 
 Buncombe Ill 
 
 Burke , 221 
 
 Cabarrus 115 
 
 Caldwell 114 
 
 Camden 274 
 
 Carteret 153 
 
 Caswell 282 
 
 Catawba 32 
 
 Chatham 306 
 
 Cherokee 38 
 
 Chowan 150 
 
 Cleveland : 109 
 
 Columbus 355 
 
 Craven 1,332 
 
 Cumberland 109 
 
 Currituck 223 
 
 Davidson 149 
 
 Davie 161 
 
 Duplin 371 
 
 Edgecombe 389 
 
 Forsyth 218 
 
 rranklin 566 
 
 Gaston Ill 
 
 Gates 361 
 
 Granville 1,123 
 
 Greene 154 
 
 Guilford 693 
 
 Halifax 2,452 
 
 Harnett 103 
 
 Haywood 14 
 
 Henderson 85 
 
 Hertford 1,112 
 
 Hyde 257 
 
 Iredell 26 
 
 Jackson 6 
 
 Johnston 195 
 
 Jones 113 
 
 Lenoir 178 
 
 Lincoln 81 
 
 McDowell 273 
 
 Macon 115 
 
 Madison 17 
 
 Martin 451 
 
 Mecklenburg 293 
 
 Montgomery 46 
 
 Moore 184 
 
 Nash 687 
 
 New Hanover 640 
 
 Northampton 659 
 
 Orange 528 
 
 Onslow 162 
 
 Pasquotank 1,507 
 
 Perquimans 395 
 
 Person 318 
 
 Pitt 127 
 
 Polk 106 
 
 Eandolph 432 
 
 Eichmond 345 
 
 Robeson 1,462 
 
 Rockingham 409 
 
 Rowan 136 
 
 Rutherford 123 
 
 Sampson 488 
 
 Stanly 45 
 
 Stokes 86 
 
 Surry 184 
 
 Tyrrell 143 
 
 Union 53 
 
 Wake 1,446 
 
 Warren 402 
 
 Washington 299 
 
 Watauga 81 
 
 Wayne 737 
 
 Wilkes 261 
 
 Wilson 281 
 
 Yancey 67 
 
The Free Negro in North Carolina 25 
 
 How did the free negroes employ their time? While there 
 were exceptions, the majority of the free colored people hired 
 themselves to work for white people for a daily wage, others 
 became blacksmiths, tinkers, barbers, farmers, small merchants 
 and fiddlers. In almost every community there was a free negro 
 well-digger or ditcher. Where they could rent land, many of 
 them attempted farming on a small scale in connection with 
 their work as wage earners. Free negro women usually made 
 better house servants than slave negro women and were conse- 
 quently frequently employed in that capacity. '^^ 
 
 With practically no education, and with very little incentive 
 to accumulate property in any of its forms, one is not surprised 
 to learn that the free negroes, in the words of an old-timer, 
 "never amounted to much." 
 
 This paper would not be complete without reference to a 
 few notable free negroes who achieved distinction in the State 
 and nation. Lunsford Lane, the slave of Mrs. Haywood, of 
 Raleigh, bought his freedom and then went North to collect 
 funds with which to buy his wife and children. On returning 
 to the State, he began to negotiate for the purchase of his fam- 
 ily, but before he could effect their release from bondage he 
 was forced to leave the State. Not content to leave his wife 
 and children in North Carolina, he came back a second time 
 on the assurance of influential friends that he would not be 
 molested. Upon his arrival in Raleigh, he was arrested, tried 
 and acquitted of being an abolition lecturer. He was subse- 
 quently tarred and feathered, but on leaving the State the sec- 
 ond time he carried his family. He later became famous as an 
 abolition lecturer. ^2 
 
 John Chavis is another famous free negro. He was a regular 
 ordained minister until 1832, when as a result of Nat Turner's 
 Rebellion, all colored preachers were silenced. After 1832 he 
 followed the teaching profession with signal success, conducting 
 schools in Wake, Chatham and Granville counties, and num- 
 bering among his pupils such prominent men as Governor 
 Charles Manly, Priestly Mangum, son of Senator Mangum, and 
 
 81 Reverend J. W. Wellons, Elon College, N. C. 
 "^ Hawkins, Life of Lunsford Lane. 
 
26 James Sprunt Historical Publications 
 
 Mr. James H. Horner, founder of the Horner School. He seems 
 to have had a very successful theory of teaching the English lan- 
 guage, and his school was reputed to be the best preparatory 
 school in the state at that time.^^ 
 
 John C. Stanley, another prominent free negro, began work 
 as a barber and eventually acquired several plantations and 
 sixty-four slaves.^'* Lewis Sheridan, a successful negro farmer 
 and business man, the owner of nineteen slaves, was regarded 
 by Judge Samuel Wilkeson, of New York, as a man of high 
 character, moral worth and mercantile ability.^^ 
 
 Other free negroes worthy of special mention are James D. 
 Sampson, John Good, of New Bern, and Henry Evans, a full- 
 blooded free negro from Virginia, a shoemaker by trade, who 
 founded the Methodist Church in Fayetteville during the late 
 eighteenth century. 
 
 After taking into account the entire policy of the State rela- 
 tive to the free negro — a policy characteristic of the entire South, 
 one feels that in many respects it was a mistaken one. For in- 
 stance, should not the State have provided for the education and 
 general uplift of its free negroes? While there were no laws to 
 prohibit the teaching of free negroes, the State did not adopt 
 any positive measures for training them in the duties of citizen- 
 ship ; consequently they remained for the most part in abject 
 and vicious ignorance. It is quite probable that the history of 
 reconstruction in North Carolina would have a brighter aspect 
 had there been an enlightened element of negroes as a nucleus 
 around which the great mass of freedmen could have arrayed 
 themselves. Instead of being led by carpet-baggers, they could 
 have had the leadership of conservative, law-abiding negroes, 
 already instructed in the duties of citizenship. 
 
 ^^ The Southern Workman, February, 1914. 
 ^* Johns Hopkins Studies, 1899, p. 360. 
 '^ Ibid., Vol. 37, p. 35. 
 
SOME COLONIAL HISTORY OF 
 CRAVEN COUNTY 
 
 BY 
 FRANCIS H. COOPER 
 
SOME COLONIAL HISTORY OF CRAVEN 
 COUNTY 
 
 Before we can -understand or know the history of one comity, 
 it is necessary to have a general knowledge of the history of the 
 colony or State. So, before writing the history of Craven comity 
 during the colonial period, I deem it necessary first to give a 
 brief history of North Carolina before 1707. 
 
 Carolina before 1663 belonged to Sir Robert Heath, who 
 had promised to help settle it. He did not, however, make any 
 efforts toward settlement. So in 1663 Carolina was given to 
 eight Lords Proprietors, who were to settle it and govern the 
 settlers as they saw fit. These proprietors were the Duke of 
 Albemarle, Lord Craven, Lord Ashley ; Sir John Colleton, Lord 
 John Berkley, Sir William Berkley, Lord Clarendon, and Sir 
 George Carteret. They immediately met and set up a plan of 
 government for Carolina. They also said, and had it made 
 known to the public, "that freedom should be enjoyed by the 
 colonists, and that for the five years next following every new 
 settler should receive one hundred acres of land, and fifty in ad- 
 dition for each servant that he brought into the colony, subject 
 only to the payment of a half penny per acre. There was also 
 entire exemption granted from the payment of any custom 
 dues. "2 
 
 The first people that we are sure settled in Carolina came in 
 1656, but we have a reason to believe that there were settlers in 
 Albemarle before then. We find Roger Green, a Clergyman, 
 petitioning for and obtaining ten thousand acres of land for 
 the first one hundred persons who should settle themselves on 
 the Roanoke and south of the Chowan.^ This was in the year 
 1653. Again, in 1651 we find a party of the people who lived 
 south of Norfolk making an entrance by the Currituck inlet, 
 touring Carolina. First they explored Roanoke where Raleigh's 
 first colony was, then proceeded to the Tuscarora Indians, whom 
 
 ^ This paper was awarded the second prize in the Colonial Dames contest for 1916. 
 ^ Hawks, History of North Carolina, p. 70. 
 3 Hawks, Vol. II, p. 70. 
 
30 James Sprunt Historical Publications 
 
 they attached to the interest of the English. After meeting the 
 Tuscaroras they journeyed southward and came in contact with 
 the Neuse, Haynokes and Core Indians, who dwelt on the shores 
 of the Pamlico and Neuse rivers.^ It is probable that they came 
 inland as far as the present Craven, or Colonial Craven County. 
 In 1660 the people from New England attempted to settle 
 on the Cape Fear River but failed. In 1664 a group of men 
 landed on Cape Fear from Barbados, intending to make it 
 their home, but they were also unsuccessful. At this time 
 there were two counties in Carolina, Albemarle County on the 
 North and Clarendon on the South, including the Cape Fear 
 region. Between these two counties there was a region including 
 the Neuse and Tar Rivers, later known as Bath County, but 
 at this time unsettled save for the Indians and nearly 
 equally wild northern hunters.^ In fact I have been able to 
 find the record or name of but one settler in the territory which 
 later became Colonial Craven County who came before 1707. 
 That one was Mr. James Blount, who came from Virginia in 
 1664.*^ Although he is the only one we know of directly it is 
 certain that there were others who had penetrated from Albe- 
 marle or had come from Bermuda and settled there before 1707. 
 In 1676 Thomas Eastchurch was made commander in chief of 
 the settlements on the Pamlico and Neuse rivers. At this date 
 undoubtedly there were a few settlers on the Neuse, and these 
 were stragglers from Albemarle. Most of the people who 
 settled in Carolina before 1707 were either fugitives of religious 
 persecution from New England and Virginia, or were fugitives 
 of the law who came from Virginia and the Bermudas to escape 
 from the hand of justice. Dr. Hawks says, ''The region south 
 of Albemarle as far down as the Neuse and Pamlico derived the 
 larger part of its first inhabitants from the counties between the 
 Sound and Virginia."'^ But before these commenced their mi- 
 gration there were some whites there, but not English. Martin 
 says that in 1690 the French Protestant refugees on the James 
 River bought land on the Pamlico and settled there. In 1698 
 
 * Ibid., p. 71. 
 
 ^Ibid., p. 6. 
 
 ° Wheeler's Men and Memories of North Carolina, under Craven County. 
 
 7 Hawks, Vol. II, p. 84. 
 
Carolina and Craven County or Precinct 31 
 
 the whites from Albemarle made settlements on the Pamlico. 
 The Indians in that region just before the whites came had been 
 killed by a plague, thought to have been the smallpox.^ But 
 with all these settlements there were but about 5,000 whites in 
 North Carolina in 1698.^ Soon after this migration in 1698 
 to the Pamlico River the English settled the present town of 
 Bath. This was the first incorporated to'wn in the prov- 
 ince. Forty-two years had elapsed between the first settlement 
 and the first town in North Carolina. This was due largely 
 to the fact that the people were given to farming, and their 
 products were delivered directly from the field to the boat. 
 
 In 1707 the first settlement that we are sure of was made 
 in Craven Comity. A colony of French Huguenots, encouraged by 
 William III, in the year 1690, had come to America and settled 
 at Manakin Town, Virginia, above the falls of the James River. 
 They were not satisfied with the land that they first occupied 
 and moved southward, one group in 1690,^'^ and, as we have 
 seen, settled on the Pamlico. In 1707 another group moved 
 southward and settled on the Trent and Neuse Rivers, mostly 
 on the Trent in Craven county, near where the old comit}^ 
 bride stood, ^^ which was not over a mile and a half from the 
 site of the present bridge. With these French, who w^ere a 
 sober, frugal, industrious people, and who in a short time became 
 independent citizens, came their minister, Phillipe de Riche- 
 bourge.^^ Some of his deceudants still live in the county of 
 Buncombe. And WiUiamson says that Rymbourg came with 
 them, 12 i3|j^ }^Q must have stopped on the Pamlico. After a 
 short time Richebourge, with a portion of his people, proceeded 
 farther south and planted himself on the Santee River, where 
 he died. 
 
 There are plainly two causes that brought the early settlers 
 to North Carolina. First, the land was fertile and free ; second, 
 because freedom of worship was promised. Not only religious 
 people came to North Carolina, but also outlaws and debtors 
 
 * Ibid., p. 84. 
 
 ^Ibid., p. 85. 
 
 "Williamson, History of North Carolina, p. 178. 
 
 ^^Vass, History of Presbyterian Church and Craven County, p. 49. 
 
 inVilliamson, p. 178. 
 
32 James Sprunt Historical Publications 
 
 came. These mixed and we are not surprised that in a short 
 time we do not find the settlers of North Carolina religious, after 
 having adapted themselves to a new country, new manners and 
 ways, and mixed the best with the worst. In fact they had ways 
 of their own. But these people were not allowed to rest in 
 peace long before an attempt was made to persecute them in 
 their new homes. 
 
 As we have seen, Carolina was given to the Lord Proprietors 
 and they promised freedom of worship to settlers ; also Charles 
 II said, ''that the Church of England should be the church of 
 the province. Yet that toleration should be allowed to all other 
 sects so long as they did not trouble the government or insult 
 the Church." These were the intentions of the Proprietors and 
 the King, but they were unfortunate in picking men for gov- 
 ernors of the province. 
 
 The first of these governors that I shall mention was Stephens, 
 (1667). He did not try to force the English Church on the 
 people, but he did forbid them to pay debts made before coming 
 to North Carolina. He also tried to force "Locke's Constitu- 
 tion" on them. They resisted it, however, until 1775. In 1677 
 came the Culpepper Revolt. Then came the rule of Seth Sothel. 
 He broke off the trade with the Indians for his own private 
 gain. He seized and confiscated without a shadow of cause 
 cargoes, negroes, cattle, plantations, and even pewter dishes were 
 not exempt from his rapacious hands. He upheld men of bis 
 OAvn type, and there was no justice in court. In 1704 Governor 
 Daniels came over. He was determined to establish the Church 
 of England in the Province but had little success. He Avas 
 governor only one year before Cary came as governor. Cary 
 was determined to rule the colony. He ruled for a short time 
 when Glover came over as governor. He did not intend to give 
 up his office and he brought about the Cary Rebellion, which 
 we shall touch upon later. 
 
 In 1664 that part of the country between Albemarle and 
 Clarendon was made into a county by the name of Bath. And 
 in 1705 Bath was divided into three precincts. Craven being in- 
 cluded in the Archdale precinct. 
 
Carolina and Craven County or Precinct 33 
 
 CRAVEN COUNTY, SITUATION, CLIMATE, SOIL, PRO- 
 DUCTS AND TRADE 
 
 The present Craven county lies in the eastern part of North 
 Carolina, on the Neuse and Trent Rivers. It has an area of 
 about 417,950 acres and is bounded by the counties of Carteret, 
 Pamlico, Jones, Pitt, Beaufort, and Lenoir. It is considerably 
 smaller now than at the close of the year 1775. 
 
 In 1664 the territory between Albemarle and Cape Fear was 
 named Bath. In 1705 Bath county was divided into precincts. 
 That part of the country between the Neuse and Pamlico Rivers, 
 together with the settlements on both sides of Neuse, was called 
 Archdale precinct. This precinct included the present Cravea 
 county and more. At this time there were about five thousand 
 inhabitants in the whole province. The coming of the Frencli, 
 Swiss, and Germans to Archdale precinct, or Craven county, 
 made Archdale the most populous precinct south of Albemarle. 
 In 1713 the population of the whole province was not more than 
 three thousand, the Indian war having driven the people away. 
 But in 1715 we find the whole province to have about eleven 
 thousand two hundred inhabitants. There were 7,500 whites 
 and 3,700 negroes. In fact the population had increased in 
 such numbers since 1713 that the Lord Proprietors found it 
 necessary in order to govern the people and in order to estab- 
 lish the Church, to divide each of the three counties into pre- 
 cincts and parishes. Bath was divided into three or four pre- 
 cincts or parishes. That part on the Neuse, Trent, and Bear 
 Rivers, and their branches, formerly Archdale precinct, was 
 named Craven precinct or parish,!^ after Lord Craven, one of 
 the Proprietors. The population gradually increased in Craven 
 precinct. In 1729 all the province was purchased by the crown 
 with the exception of Carteret's part. The royal authority 
 changed the term of precinct to county, giving each the colonial 
 county government. Craven county consisted of the territory 
 on the Neuse, Trent, and Bear Rivers and their tributaries. It 
 seems as if there was no limit to the western part of the county. 
 
 ■C. R. Vol. II, p.207. 
 
34 James Sprunt Historical Publications 
 
 I suppose that it extended as far back as the source of the 
 Neuse. In 1733 Edgecombe county was formed out of part of 
 Craven county.^^ In 1746 Craven county was divided by a line 
 beginning at the mouth of Southwest Creek and extending up 
 the creek. The northern part became Johnston county. ^^ In 
 1764 the northern part of Craven was added to Dobbs county 
 and later a part to Pitt. About this time, by the petition of the 
 people of that part of Beaufort lying between Bay River and 
 Lower Broad Creek, that part of said county, became a part 
 of Craven county. So we see that from the year 1733 the bound- 
 aries of Craven county were steadily decreased and one time 
 increased, so they were nearly the same as now plus those of 
 Jones, and part of Pamlico. 
 
 The climate of Craven is changeable but good. The soil 
 runs from the sandy soil in the fields to the black of the river 
 valleys. In its productiveness it is unsurpassed, both for agri- 
 culture and stock raising. Hawks, speaking of the eastern part 
 of North Carolina, particularly of Colonial Carteret and Craven 
 counties, says, "While from the Virginia line down to the sea 
 coast in Carteret, the region of the first settlers was wonder- 
 fully productive. The swamps and stream banks [Craven is full 
 of such streams and banks] are full of oak, cypress, gum, cedar, 
 ash, maple, and walnut trees. The pasturage was excellent 
 and the oxen grew to a great size and were used for beef. Heif- 
 ers increased so rapidly that in a short time people found them- 
 selves owners of hundreds of cattle and beeves. The hog in- 
 creased greatest being fed from acorns and nuts found in 
 the woods. Sheep thrived," Indeed Craven was a rich terri- 
 tory. Life was made easy by nature, and it is not to be wond- 
 ered at that with such existing natural advantages and freedom 
 as Craven afforded that the oppressed of other countries and 
 colonies sought abodes there. 
 
 The people of Craven county at first only traded with New 
 England and Virginia, but soon with the West Indies and Eu- 
 rope. Indeed, ships left New Bern direct for France and Eng- 
 
 ^* Handbook of North Carolina, 1879, p. 67. 
 ^O. R., Vol. XXIII, p. 248. 
 ^^Ibid., p. 48. 
 
Carolina and Craven County or Precinct 35 
 
 land before 1776. I expect that Craven county had as much if 
 not more trade than any other colonial county of North Carolina. 
 The chief products were beef, pork, tallow, hides, deerskins and 
 furs, corn, peas, tobacco, cotton, hemp, tar, pitch, turpentine, 
 rice, and flour. To Virginia went the greater part of our to- 
 bacco, in exchange for articles needed. To New England and 
 the Bermudas went the greater part of our products in exchange 
 for rum, sugar, salt, molasses and some wearing apparel. To 
 Europe went our naval stores. Indian corn, and naval supplies 
 were our greatest exports. So great an amount of Indian corn 
 was being shipped from New Bern in 1776 that Tryon, fearful 
 that the supply would give out, proclaimed that no more should 
 leave until after four months from date. This corn went to the 
 North and to the West Indies.^' AYe had a good trade "^vith 
 the North and "West Indies. The harbors at New Bern were 
 never seen without a ship from one of these places waiting for 
 cargoes. Craven county was on the post road from Suffolk, Vir- 
 ginia, to South Carolina. The roads of Craven were bad, but not 
 so in comparison with those of other comities. Indeed, Colonial 
 Craven county was an ideal place of abode. 
 
 SWISS AND GERMAN PALATINES 
 
 Craven county, or Archdale precinct, as it was then known, 
 has the distinction of having the first settlers to come direct 
 from Europe to the province. And this colony added greatly 
 to the population of the province. They made good citizens 
 and were welcomed to the colony. Fitch says, ''This was the 
 first important introduction into the eastern section of the prov- 
 ince of a most excellent class of liberty-loving people, whose de- 
 scendants, wherever their lots were cast in our country, gave il- 
 lustrious proof of their valor and patriotism during the Revolu- 
 tionary War. "^^ 
 
 The German Palatines came from the Palatinate. They 
 came also from Heidelberg, and its vicinity. 
 
 "C. R., Vol. VII, p. 225. 
 
 ^^ Fitch Some Neglected History of North Carolina, p. 26. 
 
36 James Sprunt Historical Publications 
 
 The colony was indebted for these to the trouble in Europe 
 in 1693.^^ This trouble was religious persecution. The Elector 
 Palatine, Frederick III, surnamed ' ' the - pious, ' ' who died in 
 1676, was one of the purest and noblest German princes, — the 
 German Alfred. He was devoted to the advancement — 
 political, educational, and ecclesiastical — of his people. 
 In 1685 the successor of Frederick died and the house of New- 
 bury, a bigoted popish family, came in. The religion of a prov- 
 ince in Germany was at that time governed by the religion of 
 the ruling prince, or in other words the people had to recant 
 every time a new prince with a different religion came on the 
 throne. The Palatinate was a strong Protestant province, and in 
 spite of the invasions of 1622, 1634, 1688, ordered by the pope, 
 had retained their faith in Protestantism and would not change. 
 The new prince in 1685 being a Catholic, severe pun- 
 ishment was brought upon them, but they refused to recant. 
 In 1688 Louis XIV of France, a zealous champion of the pope, 
 waged war on and invaded the Palatinate. The country was 
 devastated and the people turned out of their homes because they 
 would not, or could not, change their faith every time the 
 throne was occupied by a new prince. They with their neighbors 
 from the near vicinity, to the number of many thousand, had 
 to seek homes in foreign countries. Great sympathy was felt 
 for these poor creatures, whose sin was merely Protestantism. 2*^ 
 The Queen of England, Anne, pitying their condition by her 
 proclamation, in 1708, offered them protection in her dominicms, 
 and about twelve thousand went to England in 1708-1709. De 
 Graffenried estimated that at the time of his arrival in England 
 more than twenty thousand had come, "but intermingled with 
 many Swiss and people of other German provinces. "^^ 
 
 About this time Christopher Emanuel de Graffenried arrived 
 in England and with him a friend, Lewis Mitchell. Both of 
 these men were looking for a way to repair their fortune. Mitch- 
 
 " Hawks, Vol. 2, p.86. 
 20 Hawks, Vol. II, p. 86. 
 ^^Vass, p. 57. 
 
Carolina and Craven County or Precinct 37 
 
 ell had been to America and knew something of it. De Graf- 
 fenried was a young, handsome and fascinating Swiss noble- 
 man and was a favorite of Queen Anne. He was a citizen of 
 Bern, Switzerland, and the elder son of Antony De Graaffenried, 
 Lord of Worb. He had been mayor of Yoerdon, in Neufchatel, 
 under the commission from the senate of Bern. He had failed 
 financially and went to England, in hopes of going to America 
 to build up his fortune.-^ He saw a chance in these Palatines. 
 He and Mitchell acted and through Mitchell's influence they 
 determined to plant a colony in Carolina. 
 
 They bought ten thousand acres of land between the Neuse 
 and Cape Fear Rivers and their branches. They paid twenty 
 shillings sterling per hundred acres and bound themselves for 
 six pence yearly per hundred acres. In addition to this the 
 Surveyor General was to lay off and reserv^e for them one hun- 
 dred thousand acres of land for a period of twelve years. And 
 when they had paid for five thousand acres at the set price one 
 of them was to be gratified by a title. Graffenried made the 
 purchase and was made Baron. -^ De Graffenried and Mitchell, 
 having made this purchase, naturally wanted settlers for their 
 territory so as to make it pay them. The Palatines offered 
 themselves for speculation. The Baron and Mitchell knew that 
 Queen Anne would help pay for their transportation to America. 
 They mentioned it to the Queen, who was glad to help the 
 Palatines. She not only paid for the transportation of them 
 but also bestowed gifts to the amount of £4,000 sterling^^ on 
 them. Before this, commissioners had been appointed to collect 
 money for the aid of the Palatines. Then De Graffenried and 
 Mitchell made an agreement with the Lord Proprietors. The 
 result was that De Graffenried and Mitchell agreed to transport 
 ninety-two families of the Palatines, nearly six hundred and 
 fifty persons, with their own Swiss colonists. They paid only 
 five and a half pounds per person for the Palatines that they 
 transported to North Carolina, or about $18,000.25 They were 
 also to give to each family two hundred and fifty acres of land 
 
 ^ Ibid., p. 53. 
 
 23 Williamson, p. 182. 
 
 2^ Vass, p. 57. 
 
 23 Ibid. 
 
38 James Spkunt Historical Publications 
 
 and the first five years free from charge, but every year after the 
 said five years the Palatines were to pay them two pence lawful 
 money for each acre.^^ During the first year after their arrival 
 they were to be furnished grain, provisions and other things 
 for the support of life. They were to pay for this two years 
 after their arrival. They were also to be furnished within four 
 months after their arrival with two cows and two calves, five 
 sows with their young, two ewe sheep and two lambs, with a male 
 of each kind. These were to be paid for within seven years after 
 receiving them. They were also to be furnished, gratis, tools 
 and implements for felling trees and building houses.^''' 
 
 The commissioners, on their part, for the Queen agreed to 
 give each colonist, young and old, twenty shillings sterling in 
 clothes and money, and to pay De Graffenried and Mitchell five 
 pounds and ten shillings a head for transportation.^^ The 
 money of the poor Palatines was given to De Graffenried, and 
 if they received any of it it was only a small portion. This agree- 
 ment is dated October 1709. 
 
 In mild weather in January, 1710, after prayer they set sail 
 for America, escorted by Read- Admiral Noris with two ships as 
 far as the latitude of Portugal. The voyage was rough and 
 lasted for thirteen weeks. They suffered terribly from hunger, 
 and more than half died on the way over. At the mouth of 
 the James River a French captain plundered one of the vessels 
 containing the best goods.^^ Besides many dying on the sea 
 a good number died from eating and drinking too much raw 
 fruit and water after landing. Those who were left landed in 
 Virginia, and after travelling twenty miles or more by land they 
 arrived in the county of Albemarle on the River Chowan, at the 
 residence of a rich settler, Thomas Pollock, He took care of 
 them and supplied them with all necessities, for money. He 
 sent them across the sound in boats and into the county of Bath, 
 where they were located April or May, 1710, by the Surveyor- 
 General, Lawson, on a tongue of land between the Neuse and 
 
 2" G. R., Vol. I, p. 988. 
 
 2' Ihid. 
 
 28 Hawks, Vol. II, p. 87. 
 
 »Vass, p. 57 or O. B., Vol. I, p. 909. 
 
Carolina and Craven County or Precinct 39 
 
 Trent Rivers, called Chattawka, where afterwards was founded 
 the small city of New Bern.^^ 
 
 De Graffenried was not able to accompany the Palatines be- 
 cause he had to meet a colony of his own people of Bern. He, 
 after picking out the best and healthiest of the Palatines, ap- 
 pointed three directors, who happened to be then in London 
 and who had lived already several years in Carolina. One was 
 a General Receiver, another General-Surveyor, the third a Jus- 
 tice of Peace. It is not certain that the three sailed with them, 
 but we know that the General-Surveyor, John Lawson, came 
 with them. Lawson, as De Graffenried says, "instead 
 of settling these poor people every one on his own 
 plantation, in order to gain time and enable them to 
 clear and clean out their lands, located them in his own 
 personal interest on part of his own lands on the southern bank 
 of Trent River at the very hottest and most unhealthy place." 
 Furthermore, he sold them that tongue of land between the 
 Neuse and Trent Rivers at a heavy price when he had no claim 
 to it.^^ De Graffenried had later to buy it from the Indian 
 Chief King Taylor. On this place the Palatines remained until 
 September, suffering from lack of food and other necessities. 
 In fact, they were forced to sell their clothes and other things 
 in order to sustain life. 
 
 In September 1710 De Graffenried, with his Swiss, arrived 
 in Chattawka. As we have seen, he left London and went to 
 New Castle, where the Swiss joined him. The Swiss were mostly 
 from Bern. They, too, fled from religious persecution. They 
 set sail from Holland, stopped at New Castle for De Graffenried, 
 and according to his statement he, with the Swiss, set sail for 
 America in June 1710, arriving in Carolina about the middle of 
 September of the same year. They landed in Virginia where 
 De Graffenried was offered the place of Governor of North 
 Carolina by a few Carolinians. They took nearly the same 
 route followed by the Palatines, stopping at Thomas Pollock's 
 home, then on to Chattawka. 
 
 'C. i?., Vol. I, p. 911. 
 C. R., Vol. I, p. 910. 
 
40 James Sprunt Historical Publications 
 
 Immediately upon his arrival he assigned each Palatine to 
 his portion of land, and within eighteen months they had homes 
 built that were comfortable. He also settled Chattawka after 
 purchasing it from the Indians. He changed the name to New 
 Bern in honor of the birthplace of himself and Mitchell, Bern 
 in Switzerland. 
 
 In 1713 De Graffenried left the colony and went back to 
 Europe. He took with him not only the money entrusted to 
 him by the commissioners for the poor Palatines, but also he 
 either took with him or spent before he left America eight hun- 
 dred pounds sterling, for which he mortgaged his lands and 
 those of the Palatines to Colonel Thomas Pollock and his heirs. 
 Pollock offered, after the mortgage had expired, to give back 
 the land if De Graffenried would pay him his money, which 
 he would not do. The Palatines were thus left on the land of 
 someone else. In 1714, right after the Indian war, which they 
 had endured fairly well, and had prospered to a certain extent 
 and increased in number, they petitioned the Lord Proprietors 
 that each family might take up four hundred acres of land and 
 might be allowed two years to pay for it. This was granted 
 to them.22 
 
 The Palatines and Swiss, both industrious, religious, 
 mild of temperament, established in Carolina a new 
 spirit of freedom and formed a new and improved society. 
 Both of them prospered and not only lived in Craven county, 
 but increased and expanded their settlements into Jones and 
 Carteret counties. Descendants of these Swiss and Pala- 
 tines figured greatly in the early history of North Carolina. 
 Some of them held the leading places in public life. Others 
 were renowned for their part in the Revolutionary War and 
 the events leading to it. I have in mind one, Richard Cogdell, 
 a Swiss, who held offices in the Assembly, and was a leader in 
 the Stamp Act Riot in New Bern, 1765. Indeed, their value 
 to the province, in either a political, religious, or social view 
 cannot be overestimated. 
 
 'Hawks, Vol. II, p. 
 
Carolina and Craven County or Precinct 41 
 
 The Palatines and Swiss were not, however, the only settlers 
 Craven received in the year of 1710. In this year a colony of 
 Welsh Quakers settled below New Bern, on Clubfoot and Han- 
 cock Creeks on the south side of the Neuse. Among these were 
 Thomas and John Lovick, later promininent men, also Koger 
 and Evan Jones. 
 
 Some names of the Swiss and Palatines who came to Craven, 
 on a petition to the queen, ITll,-^-'^ and some are still familiar in 
 our county of Craven and its neighbors: Eslar (now Isler), 
 Renege, Moor (now Moore), Eiback (Hypock) our present 
 name of Ipock, Morris, Kensey, Wallis, Gernest, Miller, "Walk- 
 er, Simons (our present Simmons), all German. Of the Swiss 
 we find Coxdaile (Cogdell), from whom on the maternal side 
 descended the North Carolina branches of the families of Stanly 
 and Badger. 
 
 RELATIONS WITH THE INDIANS 
 
 At first the people of North Carolina were welcomed by the 
 Indians, especially the Tuscaroras, because of the rum that they 
 brought to them. Again the Indians and white men were gain- 
 ers in each one's own opinion from the trade carried on be- 
 tween them. In fact the relations with the Indians were as 
 peaceful and profitable to the whites as could have been 
 desired until the whites alienated them. For sixty years 
 the Indians and whites lived together without war. This 
 was partly due to the fact that the Indians who lived on the coast 
 were divided into many small tribes without any powerful con- 
 federacy.^"* On every section of the banks there was a tribe. 
 They had a plentiful supply of sea food and did not depend 
 as much on game for a living as the Indians farther inland. 
 Therefore they did not realize the value of land, nor its use 
 until after the whites had made a settlement with determination 
 to remain in Carolina. Another reason is that at first the whites 
 came without any forces and put themselves, in a manner, on 
 the good will of the Indians and begged instead of demanded 
 land. But the one fault of the white man in dealing with the 
 
 =^Vass, pp. 70-71. 
 ^* Williamson. 
 
42 James Sprunt Historical Publications 
 
 Indian was, as I have mentioned before, the selling of too much 
 rum to him. In 1703 Daniels attempted to put a stop to this but 
 with little success.35 
 
 The most powerful of all the Indian tribes which inhabited 
 the eastern part of North Carolina was the Tuscaroras, who 
 lived on the Taw (or Tar) and Neuse Rivers in what is now 
 Bertie county and counties south of Albemarle, also on Pamlico 
 River. At first they invited the whites, but soon looked on 
 them with a bitter eye, as the whites took more and more of 
 their lands and mistreated them in some few cases. They had 
 in all twelve hundred men or warriors. Besides the Tuscaroras 
 southeast of the sound were the tribes of the Neusicos, Pamlicos, 
 Cotechneys, and (nearer the ocean) the Woccons, Maramiskeets, 
 Matchapeengoes, Hatteras, Cores, Croatans, and Bear River In- 
 dians. The whole number of Indians able to take the field was 
 about sixteen hundred.^^ The Indians who lived in Craven 
 county were mostly the Cores, and Neuse, and a few Tuscaroras 
 and Bear River Indians. Lawson says that owing to the plague 
 which killed many of the Indians north of the Pamlico River, 
 the Indians were the thickest on the Neuse, Trent and Pam- 
 lico Rivers. 
 
 As we have seen, the Indians first came in contact with 
 the white man in 1651, when a party from below Norfolk 
 were exploring Carolina. Next the hunters came in contact 
 with them on the Neuse and Trent Rivers. The French in 1707 
 were welcomed by the Indians in Craven county, and when De 
 Graffenried and his colonists came they received a warm recep- 
 tion at the hands of King Taylor and his warriors. They were 
 met by this chief and his followers at what is now the foot of 
 South Front Street, after exchanging greetings both parties 
 went under two live oak trees, which were destroyed in 1841 by 
 fire, where De Graffenried and King Taylor smoked the pipe 
 of peace. Soon they made a treaty and De Graffenried pur- 
 chased that land on which New Bern now stands from this chief. 
 This transaction with the Indians helped to save the life of the 
 Baron later. The Swiss and Palatines took them in trust, gave 
 
 ^Ibid., p. 186. 
 
 3« Hawks, Vol. II, p. 527. 
 
Carolina and Craven County or Precinct 43 
 
 them work in their homes and on their plantations and bought 
 some of their captives for slaves. The whites of New Bern and 
 its vicinity even took the Indians and gave them bedding at 
 night and food when they came to obtain provisions/^''' 
 
 The largest portion of the white population was north of 
 Albemarle. The other portion was to be found in and about 
 New Bern, over the country intervening between it and Wash- 
 ington, and up the Pamlico around Bath, in Jones on the Trent, 
 then part of Craven precinct or Archdale precinct, and in Car- 
 teret between New Bern and Beaufort. The Swiss and Ger- 
 mans remained in and around New Bern.-^^ 
 
 Before the Swiss arrived in New Bern, Cary had started his 
 rebellion. He made so much trouble that the governor of Vir- 
 ginia, Spotswood, was sent to for aid. Aid was sent and Cary 
 was captured and sent to England. It was not destruction that 
 Cary and his followers themselves did that made things so bad, 
 but their influence over the Indians was one of the main causes 
 of the Indian massacre of 1711. Cary had three prominent 
 adherents : John Porter, Mr. Moseley, and a man named Roach. 
 These four men really put the notion of rebellion into the 
 minds of the Indians. Besides the influence of Cary and his 
 adherents, there were other causes that brought on the Indian 
 massacre. One, as De Graffenried says, was the carelessness, 
 negligence, and lack of precaution on the part of the Carolinians. 
 Another was the rough treatment of some of the turbulent 
 Carolinians, who cheated the Indians in trade and wouldn't 
 allow them to hunt near their plantations, and under that pre- 
 tense took away from them their game, arms, and ammunition. 
 They even killed an Indian. This incensed them most of all.^^ 
 Another was that the Indians by this time had begun to realize 
 that their land was being occupied more rapidly every day. 
 
 The Indians could not stand this much longer. All they 
 wanted was a leader. They found him in the chief of the Tus- 
 caroras. He divided the Indian into different groups, so that 
 many settlements could be attacked at the same time. The 
 
 ^^ Old Time Stories in North Carolina. 
 
 ^ Hawks. 
 
 3^0. R., Vol. I, p. 922. 
 
44 James Sprunt Historical Publications 
 
 Coteclineys, who lived in what is now Green county, joined the 
 Cores to do the work at New Bern and on the Neuse and Trent. 
 The Maramiskeets and Matehapungees were assigned to Bath 
 and its vicinity. The work on the Roanoke and Albemarle the 
 Tuscaroras and Meherrins would do. The strange part about ^ 
 this confederacy and its intentions was that they kept them 
 secret so that they were not known, nor was any evil suspected 
 of them until its purpose was accomplished. 
 
 A few days before the massacre • took place De Graff enried 
 and Lawson, accompanied by a negro, started on a trip up Neuse 
 River. They had travelled all day and it was near night when 
 they were surrounded by a party of Indians and hurried to 
 Catechna, King Hancock's town. Here they were cordially re- 
 ceived by the chief, and it seems as if the three would have been 
 liberated had it not been for a Core Indian reporting to the 
 chief some minor insult that he had received from Lawson. 
 Furthermore, the Indians held Lawson responsible for the com- 
 ing of the whites and for their taking up the lands of the reds. 
 Lawson and the negro were burned at the stake. De Graffen- 
 ried made the reds believe that he was the King, and that his 
 death would be avenged by other whites from across the ocean, 
 and he reminded them also of the kindness that they had always 
 received at the hands of the Swiss and Palatines, and that he 
 had paid for, instead of stealing their lands. He was liberated 
 after a stay during which he saw the Christian prisoners brought 
 in from Pamlico, Neuse, and Trent. Before leaving he made a 
 treaty with them which guaranteed the Swiss and Germans to 
 be free from the Indian wars so long as they did not side with 
 the other whites against them and so long as they treated the 
 Indians rightly. '*'* 
 
 On Friday, September twenty-first, a few days after 
 the departure of Lawson and the Baron, the Indians, as they 
 were accustomed, came into the settlements on the Pamlico, 
 Neuse, and Trent, — only in larger numbers. The settlers did 
 not suspect anything wrong. Just before daybreak, Saturday, 
 September 22, 1711, the massacre began. Houses were burned, 
 
 *>0. B., Vol. I, p.935. 
 
Caeolina and Craven County or Precinct 45 
 
 cattle driven off, people captured and killed. In the town of 
 New Bern it was not so bad however. The people fled, leaving 
 their homes and goods to the Indians, yet they were not troubled 
 as the people in the vicinity. In and around New Bern 
 there were sixty or seventy Palatines and Swiss murdered or 
 captured. Yet the people of New Bern were not harmed half 
 so much as the people around Bath. This massacre lasted for 
 three days and nights.'*^ It must have been the past conduct 
 of De Graffenried towards the Indians that saved New Bern, 
 because for twenty-two weeks after the beginning of the massacre 
 New Bern stood armless, before any real aid came to the relief 
 of the people. Then when the colonists were on the point of 
 starvation, the Baron went to Virginia for aid and sent to South 
 Carolina also for aid. What provisions the colonists obtained 
 were from the Albemarle section. South Carolina was the first to" 
 respond. Immediately after receiving the summons for aid Col- 
 onel Barnwell, under the orders of the governor, with eight- 
 hundred reds, mostly Yamasees, and about fifty militia started 
 for the Neuse and the Trent.'^- After a long and hard march 
 they arrived on the Neuse, received orders at New Bern, and 
 marched against the Indians with such fury that they retreated 
 until they reached a strong fort which they had erected in the 
 upper part of Craven county. In addition to the South Carolina 
 troops there were two hundred Englishmen and fifty Swiss and 
 Germans under Colonel Mitchell. Upon reaching their fort the 
 Indians received reinforcements and made a stand to fight the 
 white. Barnwell, however, assaulted them so furiously that they 
 were defeated with great slaughter. Three hundred or more 
 were killed and one hundred captured, beside the wounded. 
 The Indians retreated into the fort and after a siege, offered 
 to make peace, which Barnwell, to his and the colonists sorrow, 
 accepted. Because his terms were light, the Indians renewed the 
 war immediately. If he had not made peace, the Indians 
 would have been completely annihilated ; for Colonel Mitchell, 
 with his fifty Swiss and Germans had raised a battery within 
 eleven yards of the fort and mounted it with two cannon. He 
 
 "Fitch, p. 26. 
 
 ^O. R., Vol. I, p. 934. 
 
46 James Sprunt Historical Publications 
 
 also surrounded a portion of the palisade with combustibles and 
 was ready to open fire when peace was made.'*^ 
 
 The Indians did not maintain their treaty but renewed war 
 almost immediately. Barnwell returned home, and the colonists 
 were left in a bad situation. Tom Blunt, through the efforts of 
 Colonel Pollock, was attached, with a few of his followers, to 
 the white side. In the latter part of 1712 Colonel Moore arrived 
 with aid from South Carolina. After stopping in Craven for 
 a short time, he went to Albemarle. On the 20th of March, 1713, 
 he laid siege to the Indian stronghold Nahuck in Green county. 
 Here he struck them such a blow that they never recovered. Soon 
 after this siege the Indians scattered, and in 1715 the remaining 
 Tuscaroras left the State and went to join their kinsmen, the 
 Iroquois.^^ 
 
 From 1717 the relations with Indians in Craven county were 
 merely those of master and slave, in fact, very few remained in 
 the county. Craven, in the French and Indian War, however, 
 furnished her share of the militia which went to help Washing- 
 ton, under Waddell and Innes, but which was sent back by 
 the governor of Virginia. 
 
 The results of the Indian massacre and war of 1711 to 1713 
 were that the colonists in Craven were captured or driven from 
 their homes, to which some returned. Most of their stock, pro- 
 visions, and homes were destroyed. Indeed, it was a great dis- 
 couragement to the young colonists. However, they stood it and 
 were pleased when, by a petition, they received lands of their 
 own. 
 
 After they became settled and had schools for their children, 
 they attempted with some success to educate and Christianize 
 their old enemies, the Indians. 
 
 RELIGION 
 
 The first inhabitants of Craven county were, as we have 
 seen, only the hunter and straggling parties of Englishmen from 
 Virginia and New England. Their aim in coming to North Car- 
 
 « Hawks, Vol. II, p. 539. 
 ^Ibid., 549. 
 
Carolina and Craven County or Precinct 47 
 
 olina was partly religious freedom. But, they did not bring 
 with them ministers, and after remaining in the changed 
 surroundings for a number of years they lost all of their former 
 rites and worshipped God in their own way. A minister in 
 Carolina was regarded with as much curiosity as we would re- 
 gard an infidel today. These people who first came to Carolina 
 were, before coming, Puritans, Quakers, and other dissenters. 
 
 In 1707 the first real religious settlers came to Craven county, 
 the second such group that came to North Carolina. They were 
 the French Protestants, who had fled from France for the one 
 purpose of freedom of worship. They were of the Calvinist 
 faith. They brought with them their minister, Claude Philippe 
 de Richebourg. They were allowed at first the same privileges 
 as the English, but soon the English became jealous of them and 
 of their right to vote. This right was then taken away from 
 them. They were religious and attempted to Christianize the 
 Indians with some success. 
 
 The next settlers to come into Craven county were the Swiss 
 and the Palatines. These came also for the purpose of religious 
 freedom, they belonged to the reformed Church of Calvinists, 
 and part of them were doubtless Lutherans. They were stout 
 Christians. Therefore, in Craven county there were three 
 groups of colonists, including the Swiss, who were of the Re- 
 formed Church, who were firm believers in the church and in 
 Protestantism, while no other precinct or county had more than 
 one. Therefore, Craven county was settled by more people of 
 the church than any other county. It was the center of religion 
 as it was the center of education and wealth, as we shall see later. 
 During the colonial period there were many other colonists who 
 came and settled in Craven. These were English, and a group 
 of Germans in 1732. 
 
 As we have seen, the Proprietors promised freedom of wor- 
 ship to all settlers and the king promised toleration to all dis- 
 senters. Again, we have seen that the Proprietors desired to 
 establish the English Church in Carolina, and some of the gov- 
 
48 James Sprunt Historical Publications 
 
 ernors attempted to carry out the desires of the Proprietors. In 
 order to do this more easily, by the Vestry Act of 1705/-^ the 
 province was divided into nine parishes. In 1701 it 
 had been divided into precincts. Craven lay in St. Thomas 
 parish. In 1705 Archdale parish was made, which included 
 the whole of Craven county, ^° But since there were but few 
 inhabitants in the Archdale parish, no steps were taken towards 
 the establishment of the church. In 1715, owing to the rapid 
 growth of the province in population, it was again divided by 
 a new Vestry Act. Archdale precinct became Craven 
 parish, which contained the territory around the Neuse 
 and Trent, and to this all the southern settlements of the prov- 
 ince were assigned, ''Until further divisions were made." This 
 time, by the Act, twelve vestrymen and a minister were ap- 
 pointed for each parish -.^"^ 
 
 Craven Vestrymen 
 
 Col Tom Brice Richard Graves Thomas Smith 
 
 Major Wm. Hancock Daniel McFarlin Jos. Bell 
 
 John Nelson John Smith Martin Frank 
 
 John Slocumb John MaeKey Jacob Sheets 
 
 These laymen were bound under oath and penalty according 
 to the laws of England for vestrymen in that kingdom. Each 
 one was also required to subscribe to a declaration that it was 
 not lawful on "any pretense whatsoever to take up arms against 
 the king," and ''not oppugn the liturgy of the Church of Eng- 
 land as it is by law established. ' ' These vestrymen, having thus 
 qualified themselves to act, chose from their number two to act as 
 wardens for a year. The statute enjoined the laymen to do their 
 best to get good ministers, and authorized them by a tax per 
 poll, not to exceed five shillings each on every taxable in the 
 parish, to raise for the minister a salary of at least fifty pounds 
 annually. But there was a proviso, that to entitle himself 
 to his salary, he, the minister, should reside in his parish and 
 not be absent over six Sundays, without a leave, in a year. He 
 also had to perform all marriage ceremonies in the parish.^^ 
 
 ^ DeRossett, Church Hist, of North Carolina, p. 162. 
 *" O. R., Vol. XXIII, p. 6. 
 « O. i?., Vol. XXIII, p. 6. 
 « Hawks, Vol. II, p. 170. 
 
Carolina and Craven County or Precinct 49 
 
 These two acts were not the only two acts passed to fasten 
 on an unwilling people, by effective legislation, an Episcopal 
 establishment with an adequate support by taxation. Other 
 acts were passed in 1715, 1741, 1754, 1759, 1764-65. Taxes 
 were imposed for purchasing ample glebes, building comfortable 
 churches, and paying stipends to ministers, all of the establish- 
 ment. 
 
 At first there were two classes who did not go by these laws : 
 Quakers, to whom nothing at first was done, were allowed to hold 
 meetings, but on account of oath these were kept from holding 
 public office. Soon however, these were made to pay church 
 taxes and to comply with the other laws. Protestant dissenters 
 who came from England or the colonies in North Carolina were 
 permitted to hold meetings, if in public, to be subject to all the 
 English statutes touching the toleration of dissenters in the 
 mother country. They were, however, in a short time deprived 
 of the right of holding meetings, or of organizing. 
 
 There were many different sects in Craven county. First 
 were the Puritans, who came, as before stated, from England, 
 and also a large number from New Jersey. They came from 
 1707 steadily until after the war. Yet, they were never organ- 
 ized or established in the county. The next were the Quakers. 
 The first large settlement of these came in 1710. They did not 
 organize, but were "God-fearing" Quakers. They were perse- 
 cuted by being kept out of office, and, by all calamities that be- 
 fell the province being laid to the Quakers as the people re- 
 sponsible. Presbyterians were strong in Craven. The French 
 were the first Presbyterians in the county, and some of the Swiss 
 believed with them. This sect was strengthened by the Scotch- 
 Irish who wandered, few in number, into Craven county. They 
 did not have a church, but attended services with any denom- 
 ination. They were moderate, industrious, and progressive, es- 
 pecially in education. On Christmas eve, 1739, Rev. George 
 Whitefield arrived in New Bern. He preached there in the 
 court house a sermon that made the congregation melt in tears. 
 He was much grieved at the encouragement of dancing by the 
 
50 James Sprunt Historical Publications 
 
 ministers there. In November, 1764, he again visited New Bern. 
 Here he met with what were called New Lights, or Presbyterians, 
 in great numbers. ^^ They were in the lead in number in 1765 
 and were strong during the whole colonial period. There were 
 many Methodists in the county, but not organized. After New 
 Bern was in a district and visited by Methodist preachers, about 
 1773, this sect increased rapidly. James Reed, the minister of 
 the Established Church, says in a letter that he is trying to keep 
 the Methodists down but meeting with little success. He also 
 said that the greater part of the dissenters came from the North, 
 and that they tried to run down the English Church. This 
 was about 1763. The Methodists were of the more ignorant 
 class. They did not organize until after the war. Catholics 
 were few in number. In fact, there were not over ten in the 
 whole county.^^ The Baptists came early in Craven county, 
 and were strong. In 1740 they organized and asked permis- 
 sion, in the form of a petition, to be allowed to build a church 
 in New Bern. This request was granted, but Purefoy and 
 Slede were imprisoned for presenting a petition to the court.^^ 
 But more probably they were imprisoned for charges of unlaw- 
 fulness that had been before this time presented against them. 
 This act was the only one of its kind in North Carolina,^^ ^p. 
 held by the Toleration Act, intended for the punishment of the 
 Catholics. The Baptists were, however, severely persecuted in 
 Craven county but they increased all the more from it. They 
 did not build a church until after 1776. 
 
 The Established, English or Episcopal Church v/as, as we 
 have seen, supported by taxation. This was the only sect in 
 Craven county who were really organized and had a church. 
 From 1701-76 this church or religion, by the different Acts be- 
 fore mentioned was forced upon the people. By the Act of 1740 
 a tax of one shilling and six pence was laid on each taxable in 
 Craven parish.^^ Their church was not completed until 1751 or 
 later. The first minister of the English Church that I can find 
 
 *^ Vass p. 79. 
 
 ^O. R., Vol. VI, p. 265. 
 
 "Vass, p. 83. 
 
 ^^ DeRossett, or Ashe, Vol. I. 
 
 " C. R., Vol. XXIII, p. 141. 
 
Carolina axd Cra\t:x County or Precinct 51 
 
 any trace of was the Eev. John Lapierre, who was ousted from 
 New Hanover by Mr. Marsden. He went to New Bern about 
 1735 and remained until his death in 1755.^-^ He was not 
 engaged as a minister there by the lajnnen, although it is prob- 
 able that he held meetings. This is proven by an Act of 1741°° 
 which enabled the laymen to spend the minister's salary on 
 the church since they had not employed a minister.'''^ By the 
 Act preceding Craven county was made a parish with the name 
 of "Christ Church parish." In 1753 the Rev. James Reed, who 
 was a man of fine character, who was interested in the preaching 
 of the gospel to the people, who did more than any other man 
 in Craven county towards the establishment of the public school, 
 especially the New Bern Academy, who in every way tried to 
 help the progress of Craven county, came and settled in New 
 Bern. Here, during the same year, he preached in the church 
 ever}' evening and at several of his chapels in the county. The 
 vestrymen liked him so well that in 1751 they made an agree- 
 ment with him, which was passed by the Assembly. This agree- 
 ment provided for the payment of a salary of one hundred and 
 thirty-three pounds, six shillings, and eight pence proclamation 
 money to him annually, so long as he continued to hold services 
 at New Bern and to attend the several chapels (which were 
 eight) in the county, according to the terms of said agreement.°^ 
 Mr. Reed remained in Craven county until his death, which 
 was after the Revolution. During this time he did much towards 
 establishing the people in the faith of the English Church. 
 The people of Craven county did appreciate him and his work, 
 and showed it by getting the Assembly to give him a fijxed salary 
 and by building for him a parsonage. °^ Indeed, he was the 
 best minister in the province and fared better than any other. 
 The first members of the English Church in Craven county 
 were some of the English from Virginia, the next were the Pala- 
 tines and Swiss, who in belief were Lutherans and Calvinists, 
 but as soon as settling in North Carolina applied to the Bishop 
 
 "Ihid., p. 365. 
 
 " DeRosset, p. 69. 
 
 ^S. R., Vol. XXIII, p. 182. 
 
 "S. R., Vol. XXIII, p. 420. 
 
 ^C. R., Vol. I, p. 756. 
 
52 James Sprunt Historical Publications 
 
 of London to allow them to be received into his church. And 
 De Graffenried hoped that they would behave themselves as duti- 
 ful patrons of the English Church. ^^ This sect was increased 
 by Englishmen who steadily came into the county from after 
 the massacre until the war. It was, in Craven county, the ruling 
 church, but only by being forced upon the people. For, as we 
 have seen, the New Lights or Presbyterians were in the lead 
 there. 
 
 On the whole the religious conditions of the county were 
 excellent in comparison with the other counties. Mr. Reed, in 
 a letter to the secretary, dated June 26, 1760, said that he esti- 
 mated that there were in the whole county about a thousand in- 
 fidels and heathen and that the negroes were for the most part 
 heathen.^^ 
 
 EDUCATION 
 
 The first people who came to Craven were not educated. 
 They had only the education gained by all early pioneers. The 
 French, German, and Swiss were more of the class of laboring 
 people than of educated noblemen. They were indeed the most 
 educated people in North Carolina at that time. They had edu- 
 cated ministers with them, and they were apt and quick to learn 
 when the opportunity for study offered itself. We have no 
 proof, but judging by the character of the people, and their 
 purpose in coming to America, we are convinced that some steps 
 were quickly, after settling, taken towards preparing schools 
 for the children. 
 
 Craven county soon became the center of learning of the 
 province, when New Bern was made the capital. Then the 
 most learned people moved to Craven. Again, the people of 
 Craven county were wealthy and hired private teachers for 
 their children when they were young. When the boy was well 
 enough fitted he was sent off to college, abroad or in the other 
 colonies. The greater part of the boys who went to college from 
 Craven entered Princeton. 
 
 =»(7. B., Vol. VI, p. 265. 
 
Caeolina and Craven County or Precinct 53 
 
 In spite of Craven being the center of learning of the prov- 
 ince, we do not find any efforts for a public school until 1764 on 
 record. Yet, it is improbable to think that there were not some 
 public schools in the province, because we hear every once in a 
 while of the particular pains taken in educating the negro and 
 Indian in Craven county. In 1764 we find the first public school. 
 Kev. Mr. Reed wrote a letter, dated June 21, 1764, with this ex- 
 tract concerning the school at New Bern: "We have now the 
 prospect of a verj' flourishing school in the town of New Bern, 
 one which has been greatly wanted. In December Mr. Tomlinson, 
 a young man who had kept a school in the county of Cumberland 
 in England, came here at the invitation of his brother, an in- 
 habitant of this parish. On the first of January he opened 
 school in this county and immediately^ got as many scholars as 
 he could instruct, and many more have lately offered than he 
 can possibly take to do them justice. He has, therefore, sent to 
 his friends in England to send him an assistant, and a sub- 
 scription for a school house has been carried on with success. 
 I have notes on hand payable to myself for upwards of two 
 hundred pounds currency (120 lbs. sterling) to build a large 
 and commodious schoolhouse in New Bern."^*' 
 
 In 1764 the Assembly passed an Act allowing a school house 
 to be built in New Bern by a subscription of private citizens. 
 This subscription was taken up by Mr. Reed, who was one of 
 the most earnest promoters of the school. He first received the 
 promise of the money and had great difficulty collecting it later. 
 In May, 1765, a petition, signed by Mr. Reed, and thirty-nine 
 principal inhabitants of New Bern and the vicinity, was sent 
 to Governor Tryon, requesting him to represent to the Society 
 for the Propagation of the Gospel the earnest desire of the 
 petitioners that the Society would assist them by granting Mr. 
 Tomlinson an annual stipend, in order that he might be able 
 to continue in New Bern and instruct their children, "in such 
 branches of useful learning as are necessary in several of the 
 offices and stations in life, and imprint on their tender minds 
 the principles of the Christian religion agreeable to the Estab- 
 
 ' C. R., Vol I, p. 1,048. 
 
54 James Sprunt Historical Publications 
 
 lished Church of England." The memorial is signed by the 
 following names: James Reed, missionary, Thos. C. Howard, 
 Samuel Cornell, John Williams, Richard Cogdell, James Davis, 
 Peter Cornwell, John Clitherall, Jacob Blunt, Richard Ellis, 
 John Franck, Thos. Pollock, Bernard Parkinson, Wm. Wilton, ' 
 Christ. Neale, Thos. Sitgreaves, Corn. Grosnendeyk, Jno. Green, 
 John Fonville, Longfield Cox and many others.^ ^ 
 
 Governor Tryon forwarded this petition to the Society with 
 his hearty approval, giving Mr. Tomlinson a high character. 
 The Society granted him a yearly stipend of ten pounds at first, 
 and later fifteen. Before this, he had been receiving from his 
 thirty students sixty pounds sterling all told annually.^ ^ 
 
 The property of the school building was taken from the 
 church which was changed for a lot better situated on the corner 
 of Pollock and Craven Streets. There was probably only one 
 building used as school house and residence of the instructor.^ ^ 
 The building was started in 1765, and in 1766 we find a letter 
 of Mr. Reed to the secretary of the Society that the building 
 is going on slowly. In July of the same year, he writes that 
 the house has been closed in and that the slow progress is due 
 to the lack of money, men, and materials, — money particularly. 
 The floors were still to be laid and the chimney to be built. That 
 the work might not stop at this stage he drew upon the treasurer 
 of the Society for his salary for the preceding half year, and 
 sent the draft to New York to buy bricks for the chimney. Be- 
 sides that, he made every attempt to raise more money by sub- 
 scriptions. 
 
 The school house when completed was a frame structure 
 forty-five feet long and thirty feet wide. It is probable that 
 Mr. Tomlinson moved into this building the last of 1766 or the 
 beginning of 1767. The school was incorporated by an Act of 
 the Assembly in 1766. '^'^ The Act directed that the subscribers 
 of the Academy Fund should hold a meeting on the first Tues- 
 day in April, 1767, when they should elect eleven men of their 
 
 " DeRossett, Church History, pp. 172-3. 
 «=■ C. R., Vol. VII, p. 98. 
 «3 DeRossett, p. 172. 
 "* Moore, p. 44. 
 
Carolina and Cravex County or Precinct 55 
 
 number to form a board of trustees. These trustees, when thus 
 elected, were to constitute a closed corporation to hold the prop- 
 erty of the school and to manage its affairs under the name and 
 style of the "Incorporated Society for Promoting and Estab- 
 lishing the Public School in New Bern." The second section 
 provides that the master shall be a member of the Episcopal 
 Church, chosen by the trustees and licensed by the governor. 
 
 The Act further provides for an extra tax on distilled spirits 
 of one penny per gallon on all imported into the Xeuse and 
 Trent Elvers, for the purpose of the support of the school at 
 New Bern.'^^ The main object of this special tax was to pay Mr. 
 Tomlinson twenty pounds yearly towards the salary of an assis- 
 tant teacher. This Act was continued in force for seven years. 
 In consideration for the revenue thus granted to the school ten 
 poor children, whose parents were unable to pay their tuition, 
 should be nominated by the trustees and these children were 
 to receive the benefits of the school free of charge. This is the 
 only public provision ever made for the school. In 1768 Mr. 
 Eeed estimated that this duty on spirits would yield an annual 
 income of sixty pounds, which would be sufficient to pay Mr. 
 Tomlinson twenty pounds towards the salary of his assistant and 
 also to supply during the seven years of his continuance a fund 
 which would pay off all indebtedness of the trustees and enable 
 them to complete the building.^^ Besides this revenue the trus- 
 tees received from the Assembly twenty pounds to hold their 
 meetings in a room of the school building. From 1769 to 1761 
 they received forty pounds annually from the same source.^' 
 Also there was another small income available for the purposes 
 of the school. There were two half cut off lots from the church 
 yard which were leased out for twenty-one years and constituted 
 the beginning of a fund intended for the permanent endowment 
 of the Academy. All this revenue for the school amounted to 
 more than was expected. In March, 1772, Mr. Reed sent the 
 following account of the income and expense of the school for 
 the preceding three years : 
 
 85 C. R., Vol. VII, p. 443. 
 ^^ DeRossett, p. 175. 
 "/&id., p. 176. 
 
56 James Sprunt Historical Publications 
 
 Or. 
 
 By net proceeds for duty on liquors £ 247,11, 4 
 
 Eent of school chamber by Assembly £ 100,00, 
 
 Ground rent, first payment 1771 £ 19,10, 
 
 £ 367,01, 4 
 Annual Income , £ 122,07, 1 
 
 Dr. 
 
 To assistant master £ 20,00, 
 
 Poor scholars, ten at £4 £ 40,00, 
 
 Books, paper, and firewood £ 10,00, 
 
 Total £ 70,00, 
 
 Balance for repairs £ 52,07, 1 
 
 Expense £ 122,07, 1 
 
 This revenue was allowed by the Assembly in payment i^or 
 the good the public received from the school. 
 
 This school was the first of its kind in the colony, and the 
 first school house established in the province by legislative au- 
 thority. This school was kept open for many years after the 
 war. But the school lost its first teacher, Mr. Tomlinson, by an 
 act of injustice on the part of the trustees. Mr. Reed, in several 
 letters, took the part of the instructor. He had been an admirable 
 teacher and master of the school, according to Mr. Reed, but 
 he believed in making the students Behave and study and when 
 they did not do this he used the only known method of com- 
 pelling them to do so, — that was the switch. This offended the 
 parents of some of the students, who were members of the board 
 of trustees. These, according to Mr. Tomlinson, stopped his pay 
 and he had to sue for it. The trustees discharged him, but Mr. 
 Parrott, who was to succeed him, refused to accept the place 
 after learning how Mr. Tomlinson had been treated, and so Mr. 
 Tomlinson kept the school until he voluntarily retired. His re- 
 tirement, according to his own letters, was caused by the action 
 of the trustees. During the year of 1772 he left New Bern and 
 removed to Rhode Island. Not only did Mr. Reed take sides 
 with Tomlinson, but also Governor Martin went so far as to 
 say that he wished that the Act incorporating the trustees would 
 
Carolina and Craven County or Precinct 57 
 
 be repealed for their condiict.^^ The people of New Bern and 
 its vicinity drove away one of their best citizens. 
 
 De Rossett says: "Mr. Tomlinson must be placed at the 
 head of the line of professional teachers whose work has gone 
 into the history of North Carolina. There had been ministers, 
 'before his day, or contemporary with him, who, acting also as 
 school teachers, had done and were doing an incalculable work 
 for the State, which was to be in training to guide and govern 
 it in its development to wealth and power, but so far as the 
 writer is informed, Mr. Tomlinson was the first professional 
 teacher who had under his training a large element of the youth 
 of the colony. New Bern and the district about it were fruitful 
 of men of eminence and of influence in the end of the eighteenth 
 and the beginning of the nineteenth centuries. Many of these 
 must have laid the foundation of their intellectual and moral 
 training in the New Bern Academy between the years 1764 and 
 1772, while Mr. Tomlinson presided as ' master. "*^^ Governor 
 Try on said of Mr. Tomlinson that he was the only man in the 
 county who was a true professional school teacher. Not only 
 was Mr. Tomlinson a great professional character in his business, 
 but a good member of society. When North Carolina lost him 
 it lost one of its greatest benefactors. 
 
 The New Bern Academy was established and managed ac- 
 cording to the orders of the Church of England. The minister 
 was the main founder of it. Mr. James Reed and the master 
 were compelled to be members of the English Church. Yet, the 
 people did not look upon it with any prejudice because it was a 
 church school. This fact is shown by the names of the most 
 prominent men of the province and county being on the 
 list of subscribers, also as trustees and as petitioners 
 for the salary given to Mr. Tomlinson by the Society. Again, 
 the children of the most prominent men in the province attended 
 school there under Mr. Tomlinson and his assistant, Mr. James 
 McCartney. In fact, this school had the hearty support of all 
 the people of North Carolina. 
 
 «'DeRossett, p. 176. 
 ^^Ibid., p. 177. 
 
58 James Sprunt Historical Publications 
 
 This school established in New Bern in 1764 has had more 
 influence upon the history of the early state of North Carolina 
 than any other institution save the University. It is a fact that 
 the leading men of the State from 1790 to 1835 came from the 
 eastern part around New Bern, Cape Fear, and Edenton. The 
 majority of these men received the foundation of their training 
 at the New Bern Academy. Too little space is given in history 
 to that mother of schools in North Carolina. 
 
 TRYON 
 
 Including a Brief Sketch op Regulation Movement As Far 
 
 As It Concerned Craven County 
 
 In 1764 Governor Dobbs, failing in health, was relieved of 
 his more active duties of office, they being placed upon William 
 Tryon, who was made lieutenant-governor of North Carolina. 
 But Governor Dobbs never left Carolina, as he intended, for in 
 the spring of 1765 he died, and Tryon was made temporary gov- 
 ernor of the colony until the fall. At this time he was made 
 permanent governor by the king. He first lived in Brunswick, 
 but later, after having his palace built in New Bern, lived there 
 during the remainder of his stay in North Carolina. 
 
 Tryon as a man is well described by Fitch, thus: "Tryon 
 was a soldier by profession and looked upon the sword as the 
 true sceptre of the government. He knew when to flatter and 
 when to threaten; he knew when discretion was the better part 
 of valor, and when to use such force and cruelty as achieved 
 for him from the Cherokee Indians the bloody title of 'The 
 Great Wolf of North Carolina.' He could use courtesy towards 
 the assembly room when he desired large appropriations for his 
 palace; and he knew how to bring to bear blandishments of the 
 female society of his family, and all the appliances of generous 
 hospitality. Indeed, he did know how to bring to bear blandish- 
 ments of the female society of his family."^^ It is said and be- 
 lieved by many people that his wife and her sister. Miss Wake, 
 
 '"Fitch, p. 30. 
 
Carolina and Craven County or Precinct 59 
 
 who made her home with the governor, helped and advised him, 
 in all his plans, either social or political. Mrs. Tryon and her 
 sisters are spoken of by all the older historians as being charm- 
 ing and entertaining ladies. "^ Anyway, they had a great deal 
 of influence over the governor, and over the social circles of the 
 capital of the province. Miss Wake was honored by the people 
 of Carolina by their giving her name to one of the now metro- 
 politan counties of North Carolina. The name of the county 
 of Tryon was changed after the Revolutionary War, but Wake 
 coimty is still a memorial to his sister-in-law. 
 
 Tryon, with all the good influences around him, denied the 
 western counties their rights. Dr. Williamson says it was a 
 good thing for the western counties that Tryon was not bigoted. 
 He was not an ideal governor, but he was undoubtedly the best 
 governor who had ruled the province up to this time and up to 
 the War of Independence. He did punish the western coun- 
 ties for the failure of officers to do their duty. But despite that 
 he did more for the province than anyone before him. He was 
 one of the main advocates for the establishment of the public 
 school in New Bern, and partly through his efforts the Assembly 
 chartered the Academy in 1766. He also sent several petitions 
 to the Society for the aid of the church and schools in the prov- 
 ince. It was indeed his misfortune that he had, in order to keep 
 his governorship, to collect taxes, to enforce the navigation acts, 
 and to press the Stamp Act upon the people. 
 
 The one thing that he cannot be excused of is his attitude 
 toward the regulators. He allowed them representatives in the 
 Assembly until Herman Husband, the representative from 
 Orange county, when asked why his people did not pay their 
 taxes, threw the tax money on the table before the governor and 
 remarked: "I brought it to keep it from dwindling, seeing 
 that when passing through so many fingers it, like a cake of soap, 
 grows less at each handling." Tryon eyed him, and after the 
 disapproval of his council, had Chief Justice Howard, who was 
 a member of the council, to issue a warrant for his apprehension, 
 and had him placed in the jail at New Bern where he was con- 
 
 " Moore, p. 41. 
 
60 James Sprunt Historical Publications 
 
 fined for a few days. He was released only when the governor 
 heard that two hundred regulators had crossed Haw River and 
 were marching to New Bern to free him.''^^ j^ fact, the gov- 
 ernor had fortifications erected and Colonel Leach with his 
 troops placed in the trenches to protect New Bern from the 
 Regulators. Tryon, in order to have a secure hold on him, 
 brought an indictment against him that he might have him tried 
 in New Bern by a grand jury of the New Bern precinct. This 
 jury failed to find a bill against Husband and he was dismissed. 
 Even though the governor used his greatest energy against him, 
 and, for the purpose of turning the people of the east, — espe- 
 cially Craven, — against the Regulators, it took him from April, 
 1769, to February, 1771, to find a jury who returned a true 
 bill against Husband,'^^ 
 
 Again, the existing conditions in each part were different 
 without any communication. Tryon, the hater of the Regulators, 
 lived in the east and practically controlled many of the leaders. 
 The people of Craven county were not expected to show sym- 
 pathy for the people of the west, since Tryon lived in the east. 
 Yet besides the refusal to find a true bill against Hus- 
 band by the people of New Bern district, the militia of Craven 
 county for three days refused to march against him. Tryon, 
 speaking of the Craven militia, said that the militia was not to 
 be relied upon.'''* In 1770 Tryon started his campaign against 
 the Regulators in earnest. The militia of Craven and Beaufort 
 under Leach formed the right wing of the front. Craven in all 
 had four companies of infantry and one of artillery. These 
 played a conspicuous part in the whole campaign of Tryon. 
 Several members of the militia from Craven county were killed 
 in the battle of Alamance. One officer that was killed there 
 was ensign William Bryan, of Craven county. 
 
 TRYON'S PALACE 
 
 On November 24, 1766, the Assembly passed a bill for the 
 erection of a convenient building within the town of New Bern 
 for the residence of the governor and commander-in-chief for the 
 
 '^C. B., Vol. VIII, p. 500. 
 
 " Ibid., p. iv. 
 
 '*0. E., Vol. VIII, p. 546. 
 
Carolina and Craven uounty or Precinct til 
 
 time being.'''^ This bill was said to have been suggested by the 
 king first, but Tryon was the main power that pushed it through 
 the Assembly with the aid of his friends and relations. 
 The execution of the bill was put under his orders and direc- 
 tions solelyJ^ The governor's tastes and desires for luxury 
 were paid for by the collection of almost intolerable taxes from 
 the people of the province, who had few resources and less 
 money. The building of the palace had many results. First, 
 it made the people of both the east and west look upon Tryon 
 as a man seeking only self-elevation, and caused them to com- 
 plain bitterly against the taxes. This was the first step that 
 led the people to revolt so soon against the undue oppression of 
 the king. It was a great thing for New Bern and Craven county 
 because it brought the officials of the province into the county 
 and made the social circles of Craven the best in the province. 
 Again, it brought trade to New Bern and put some little money 
 into circulation. Also, it helped to make Tryon known to all 
 America. 
 
 Tryon estimated that it would cost about £14,710, but when 
 the building was completed it was at an expense of £17,845 
 besides the furniture. When it was finished and the governor 
 moved in, it had cost the people of North Carolina at least 
 £20,000,— or $100,000. Tryon procured John Hawkes to super- 
 intend the construction of it. He had come to America with 
 Tryon and was a near relative to the Dr. Hawks, historian, who 
 lived in New Bern.'''^ Skilled artisans came from Philadelphia 
 to do the work. The work on the mansion began August 26, 
 1767. In December Tryon reported that the work was being 
 steadily pushed ahead for completion. And in October, 1770, 
 it was completed and the governor moved in. In January the 
 public records were moved into the palace.'''^ 
 
 It was situated on a square of six acres condemned land 
 bounded by Eden, Metcalf, and Pollock Streets and Trent Riv- 
 er. ^^ Tj^g present George Street was part of the walk that led 
 to the main building. 
 
 ^^ Ibid., Vol. VII, p. 320. 
 
 ^^Ibid., p. 266. 
 
 " Haywood, 64. 
 
 '8 C. R., Vol. VII, p. 695. 
 
 '"Vass, p. 90. 
 
62 James Sprunt Historical Publications 
 
 Almost all the material came from England, especially bricks 
 and prepared material. Even the plumbers and their lead to 
 the amount of eight tons came from London.^^ 
 
 The contract that was made called for a two-story main 
 building, but by the authority of some one it was made a three- 
 story one, eighty-seven feet high in front, and fifty-nine feet 
 wide. This main building was the governor's headquarters, the 
 right wing a two-story building of some expensive material and 
 workmanship was the secretary's office. The left wing resem- 
 bling the right in every particular was the servant's headquar- 
 ters. The three buildings were connected by covered colonnades, 
 of five columns each. ''Between the two wings in front of the 
 main building was a handsome court. The rear of the building 
 was finished in the style of the Mansion House in London.^ ^ 
 The ends of the buildings were beautifully decorated,' with 
 statues, and other work of sculpture. Marble from Italy was 
 not spared, because of price, but used freely. The ball room was 
 not forgotten, because it was there that Tryon, as Maurice Moore 
 says, acted too much like a ruler. In the council chamber there 
 was a handsomely-designed chimney piece, containing decora- 
 tions of Ionic statuary, with columns of Sienna, the fretwork 
 of frieze being also inlaid with the latter material. In addition 
 to this, and above the whole, were richly ornamental marble 
 tablets, on which were the medallions of King George and his 
 queen. ^2 
 
 Over the door of antechamber was a Latin verse showing 
 that it was dedicated to Sir William Draper, in translation by 
 Martin Means; it read: 
 
 "In the reign of a monarch, who goodness disclosed, 
 A free happy people, to dread tyrants opposed, 
 Have to virtue and merit erected this dome; 
 May the owner and household make the loved home, 
 Where religion, the arts and laws may invite, 
 Puture ages to live in sweet peace and delight.'"* 
 
 «>C. B., Vol. VIII. pp. 7-8. 
 
 siVass, p. 91. 
 
 *^ Haywood, p. 65. 
 
 «3 IMd. 
 
Carolina and Craven County or Precinct 63 
 
 The main part and left wing were burned in 1798. The right 
 wing remains today, and is used as a residence by a family 
 named Duffy. 
 
 This palace was by far the most splendid in North America, 
 and if we can believe the unfortunate General Don Francisco 
 de Miranda, of South America, who visited the edifice in 1783, 
 in company of Judge Martin, there was not one in South Amer- 
 ica which could come up with it. He said : ' ' Even in South 
 America, a land of palaces, it has no equal. "^^ Tryon only 
 enjoyed his mansion a year when he went to New York. 
 
 NEW BERN 
 
 New Bern, the county seat of Craven county and the capital 
 of the province for many years was the largest town in North 
 Carolina up until the war and afterwards. In 1777, Mr. Watson 
 on his journey passed through New Bern said then there were 
 about a hundred and fifty houses. In 1796 Mr. Winterbothan 
 says, "New Bern is the largest town in the State. It contains 
 about four hundred houses all built of wood save the palace, jail, 
 church and two residences. . . . The Episcopal Church is 
 a small brick building with a bell. ' '^^ 
 
 New Bern is thought to have been laid off in May or June, 
 1710, by Colonel Thomas Pollock and John Lawson. It is situ- 
 ated on a neck of land at the confluence of the Neuse and Trent 
 Elvers. It is bounded on one side by the Neuse and on the other 
 by the Trent, and on the back by Jack Smith Creek. The place 
 was formerly called Chattawka from the Indians who lived there 
 and who were in alliance with the Tuscaroras, with whom, in 
 1715, they went to New York.^e De Graffenried purchased it 
 from King Taylor and changed the name to New Bern in honor 
 of his and Mitchell 's birthplace. For the first year it seems that 
 things went well with New Bern, other settlers besides the Swiss 
 and Palatines, chiefly English, settled there and there was a de- 
 cided step forward in prosperity. s''' The people of New Bern 
 
 8* Fitch, p. 45. 
 
 ^Winterbothan History of N. C, Vol. Ill, p. 199. 
 
 ^ North Carolina BookletrYol. I, p. 12. 
 
 " Ibid. 
 
64 James Sprunt Historical Publications 
 
 received a severe blow by the Indian massacre of 1711, but re- 
 covered. In 1714 De Graffenried mortgaged the land on which 
 New Bern stands to Thomas Pollock for the sum of eight hun- 
 dred pounds. Pollock willed it to his son Cullen.^^ As soon as 
 De Graffenried mortgaged his land he left for England, leaving 
 the colony in a bad condition. The colonists were sorry to see 
 him leave but the town which he had founded did not languish 
 under the new regime. Houses were built, streets were laid off 
 and fields cleared, soon houses stretched from one river to the 
 other. 
 
 In 1723 New Bern was fixed as seat of Craven precinct and 
 a bill passed the Assembly for the building of a court house 
 there. In 1723 New Bern was incorporated as the third town 
 in the province and was really the only town, since, as Dr. 
 Hawks says, Bath was only a hamlet and Edenton was smaller 
 than it. 
 
 In 1729 New Bern remained the county seat. In 1736 the 
 quit rents of both Craven and Carteret counties were paid at 
 New Bern in gold or silver.^^ New Bern was the seat of all 
 courts, the supreme court of Craven, Carteret, Johnston, Beau- 
 fort and Hyde. The Court of Chancery was held in New Bern 
 on the first Tuesday in December and June. This was started 
 in 1736 by Governor Johnston. The courts of Oyer and Term- 
 iner were held there also on the third Tuesday in April and 
 October. It was there that the land office was kept open for 
 three weeks so that the governor could listen to and settle land 
 disputes. 
 
 In a letter of Governor Johnston, dated 1763, he says, ' ' But I 
 hope we shall be more regular for the future, for in a recent 
 Assembly held at Wilmington I have got a law passed for fixing 
 the seat of government at New Bern, and a tax for a public 
 building. "9*^ Before the passage of this bill the As- 
 sembly and courts had been held at Edenton, near the 
 border of Virginia, while the representatives were mostly from 
 Cape Fear section. The governor attended several of the meet- 
 ings but he could not force the majority of the council to leave 
 
 89 0. B., Vol. IV, p. 186. 
 ^Ibid., 844. 
 
Caeolina and Craven County or Precinct 65 
 
 their business and plantations for three times a year and travel 
 backward and forward twelve hundred miles when they had 
 neither salary nor reward for so doing. This was the main 
 reason why he got the law passed at Wilmington for fixing the 
 General Assembly and courts at New Bern, the center of the 
 province. The passage of this bill caused a disturbance in sev- 
 eral places. ^1 Bath, Wilmington, and Edenton all were jealous 
 of New Bern. Each wanted to be the capital of the province. 
 
 The Assembly met for the first time in New Bern in 1736 
 and continued to meet there until about 1749. 
 
 New Bern flourished while it was the capital, many rich mer- 
 chants lived there. The best people of the province moved there. 
 Trade increased and the town grew at a rapid rate. But as 
 soon as the public business was carried away complaints were 
 heard among its people which is shown by an extract from a 
 letter by John Campbell to Richard Cogdell of New Bern dated 
 1761.92 
 
 "The account of the dullness of j^our town and business in 
 it I am sorry for, but the thinking people in it and about it 
 must thank themselves who drove away the government officers. 
 These people could not bear a little flow of money, but grew so 
 proud and insolent. They will feel the reverse and now may 
 reflect on themselves when too late." 
 
 It is true that the people of New Bern did not take the in- 
 terest they should have in preparing for the officers. Governor 
 Johnston says in a letter dated December 28, 1748, "One mighty 
 inconvenience we have to struggle with at present is that nobody 
 cares to lay in provisions for man or horse at New Bern though 
 it is the most fruitful and central part of the province, such 
 pains are taken to assure the people that the seat of govern- 
 ment will be removed, when they get five members restored, but 
 no one cares for advancing money to entertain the public, so that 
 in a fortnight or three weeks' time we are obliged to separate 
 for want of the necessaries of life. Things would soon take an- 
 other change if this point was determined. "^^ The inhabitants 
 
 »iC. R., Vol. IV, p. 1086. 
 
 ^^Ibid., p. 844. 
 
 '^C. R., Vol. 4, p. 1166. 
 
66 James Sprunt Historical Publications 
 
 of New Bern did not realize what was the benefit of being the 
 capital until it was removed, which took place between 1746 
 and 1750. Between 1750 and 1762 the Assembly was held in 
 no special town. When Dobbs became governor he appointed 
 Tower Hill on the Neuse as capital in 1758. The people peti- 
 tioned the king to make New Bern capital again because it was 
 more central, better located and had better navigation facilities 
 than Tower Hill.^^ Yet some people objected to having it for 
 capital because of its hot climate and unhealthy atmosphere. 
 Finally in 1766 New Bern was selected as the permanent capital 
 of North Carolina and the palace was built there. ^^ 
 
 The effects of the capital being moved there were immediately 
 felt. In 1767 we have a report which says that trade was in- 
 creasing rapidly.^^ In 1772, two years after the palace was 
 completed, Tryon says, "New Bern is growing rapidly into sig- 
 nificance in spite of the great natural difficulties of the naviga- 
 tion leading to it, and its importance, I hope, will become greater 
 as the spirit of improvement."^^ New Bern had a large trade, 
 its harbor was always full of boats or vessels from Virginia, 
 Bermuda and the West Indies and New England. It exported 
 great quantities of tar, pitch, turpentine- and other naval sup- 
 plies direct to England, also large quantities of com, beeswax, 
 hams, and deerskins were shipped from New Bem.^^ New 
 Bern was on a post road which began at Suffolk, Virginia, came 
 down by Roanoke, Pamlico River, Bath, through New Bern on 
 to South Carolina by New River, Wilmington and Brunswick. 
 Thirty-eight miles of this route was in Mr. James Davis' charge 
 for mails. For his service he received annually one hundred 
 and six pounds, six shillings and eight pence. 
 
 On August 15, 1769, a terrible storm struck New Bern. The 
 banks of the rivers were washed down, warehouses were smashed 
 open and their goods floated away. Some three persons were 
 killed. One man, describing it to a friend, says : ' ' New Bern 
 is really now a spectacle, her streets full of the tops of houses, 
 
 "■•/fcid., Vol. 6, p. 875. 
 ^^ Ibid., Vol. 7, p. 44. 
 ^<'Ibid., p. 499. 
 ^^ Ibid., Vol. 9, p. 281. 
 "^Vass, p. 89. 
 
Carolina and Cra\t:n County or Precinct 67 
 
 timbers, shingles, dry goods, barrels, and hogsheads, most of 
 them empty rubbish, in so much yoii can hardly pass along, — a 
 few days ago so flourishing. "^^ Crops, cattle, sheep, hogs, were 
 washed away and destroyed. There was no place on the coast 
 that suffered like New Bern. One entire street was destroyed. 
 The printing office of Mr. James "Davis was destroyed with all 
 the type, papers, and what money he had. New Bern was not 
 able to pay the expenses of this storm for a while, but soon 
 caught up and surpassed her former position. 
 
 New Bern besides her commercial business had other busi- 
 nesses, namely, manufacturing. In 1772 Mr. Richard Graham 
 set up a pot and pearlash factory which helped New Bern 
 greatly. In 1775 New Bern had one of the only two rum distill- 
 eries in North Carolina, it turned out annually two hundred 
 hogsheads of rum, made from molasses. The other one was at 
 Wilmington and had a capacity of five hundreds hogsheads 
 annually. ^"^'^ 
 
 New Bern was not only the largest town in the province, the 
 seat of the government, the great commercial and manufacturing 
 town, but also the seat of the best education, religion, and social 
 circle of the province. 
 
 In 1767 the New Bern Academy was chartered, which was 
 in New Bern, and the first of its kind in the province. Also 
 there were several private schools there. 
 
 The social circle of New Bern was composed of 
 the government officials, rich merchants and the wealthiest 
 people of the province. 
 
 The people of New Bern were as we shall see ready to rebel 
 against unjust oppression. Here happened in 1765 the New 
 Bern Stamp Act Riot. In 1775 the people seized the guns from 
 the palace court. And in 1775 the first two provincial con- 
 gresses were held there. New Bern indeed plaj^ed a great part 
 in the history of Craven county, of North Carolina, both before 
 and after the War of Independence, 
 
 »!> G. R., Vol. VIII, p. 74. 
 lo^C. R., Vol. VIII, pp. 1, 4. 
 
68 James Sprunt Historical Publications 
 
 ^ PEOPLE OF CRAVEN COUNTY 
 
 The first people of Craven County, as we have seen, were 
 half wild northern hunters, as I have found the Blounts. These 
 were as free as the country in which they lived. Brave, bold, 
 and not to be oppressed were the qualities or characteristics of 
 these early hunters and scattered families. They lived mostly 
 on game from the forest and fish from the rivers. These were 
 obtained with little effort and did not encourage thrift and 
 activeness in the people. These were the only inhabitants until 
 1707, except a few English who strayed across the Neuse after 
 1690. 
 
 The first real colony that settled in Craven was the French 
 Protestants, which in 1690 fled from Prance to Virginia because 
 of religious persecution, thence to Craven, because of its wealth 
 in soil, plants, game, and freedom. They brought their 
 ministers with them. These French settlers were a religious, 
 God-fearing, liberty-loving people. They were, as a whole, in- 
 dustrious and thrifty. Lawson says that they were indeed a 
 very industrious people, ^^^ soberly behaved, and having the 
 advantages of education and being very bright. In 
 general the women were the most industrious sex in that place, 
 and saved money by making their linens and woolens. The men 
 were aided by nature to such an extent that they did not have 
 to labor hard to provide for their families. 
 
 The next, as we have seen, were the German Palatines, — a 
 practical, smart, determined, and free people. Their object in 
 coming was religious freedom and personal liberty. In com- 
 pany with them were the Swiss, from the fatherland of democ- 
 racy, a free country, a free people. Indeed, they were the most 
 liberty-loving people of all the colonists. They were also re- 
 ligious. God-fearing people. They, too, were an industrious, 
 capable people. In the same year with the Swiss came the small 
 groups of Welsh Quakers and settled in Craven. 
 
 After 1710 the new colonists of Craven were English, except 
 in 1732 another cluster of German immigrants landed in New 
 
 ^"1 Lawson, p. 141. 
 
Carolina and Cra\^n County or Precinct 69 
 
 Bern. The English need no description by me, their character- 
 istics being well known. 
 
 Here in such a small extent of territory as colonial Craven 
 count}' were four elements that, if mixed, would be the best 
 mixture that could be made. They did mix, and they did make 
 one of the most religious, liberty-loving people that have been 
 found in the colonies, although each race produced its great 
 men of Craven county in North Carolina. 
 
 Bancroft says: ''North Carolina was settled by the freest 
 of the free, bravest of the brave. The settlers were gentle in 
 their tempers, of serene minds, enemies to violence and blood- 
 shed."^*^- ''North Carolina was the most free and independent 
 country ever organized by man. Freedom of conscience, ex- 
 empted from taxes save by their own consent . . . these 
 simple people were as free as the air of their country', and 
 when oppressed, as rough as the billows of the ocean." 
 
 The people of Craven county submitted to the laws of 
 British rule so long as they were just, but as soon as their rights 
 were stepped upon that spirit of freedom broke forth first in 
 the Stamp Act Riot of 1765, and continued to show itself 
 throughout the war, and still shows itself. 
 
 The people of Craven county, as in the other sections of the 
 province, were divided into three classes : First, the educated 
 abroad before or after coming to America. Craven had more of 
 this class than the other counties of Carolina because all the 
 government offices were there. Second, were the men who had 
 made fortunes in land or such. Craven had many of these, 
 especially rich merchants and land-owners, and with that many 
 slaves. AVe find from reading the wills that this class was pre- 
 dominant in Craven. Third, the common people, farmers and 
 so forth, Craven had her share of these. ^"^-^ 
 
 Life in Craven, as well as in the other eastern counties, was 
 gay. The log houses of the first settlers by 1729 were mostly 
 done away with and in their places were the frame and brick 
 houses. These houses soon were well furnished, and silver 
 
 i"2 Fitch p. 2 5. 
 
 i°3 Hawks, II, p. 572. 
 
70 James Sprunt Historical Publications 
 
 spoons and other such articles were often seen. The stables were 
 full of horses for riding purposes. And nature furnished the 
 eatables with no lax hand. Among the first and second class 
 wealth abounded and was appreciated. But in all the classes 
 hospitality was unbounded, and weddings and other social occa- 
 sions were largely attended. New Bern was the residence of the 
 higher class, who attended the splendid balls given by Tryon, 
 and those, in return, given by the rich merchants. In fact, New 
 Bern was the gayest, liveliest, and busiest town in the province. 
 Imported wines, rum from the West Indies, and negro fiddlers 
 added charms to the midnight revelry of all classes. The curled 
 and powdered gentlemen and the ladies in their hoops were never 
 so pleased as in walking a minuet or betting at a rubber of 
 whist. Horse racing and fox chasing were in high favor as a 
 pastime. 
 
 The roads to Craven and other counties were very bad. There 
 w^as a road from New Bern to Bath. Communication was bad, 
 but the people from all the sections of the country overcame 
 the difficulties and went to New Bern to see and take part in 
 the balls given by Tryon. Craven county, after 1736, was the 
 center of gaiety. Even though it seemed as if the people of 
 Craven were given to too much revelry, they were not taken up 
 so much with it that they did not flourish in wealth, number, and 
 moral laws. 
 
 WAR MOVEMENTS 
 
 We are not surprised in finding the people of eastern North 
 Carolina, especially those of Craven county, revolting against 
 oppression since they were people of such traits of character as 
 we have seen in the previous chapter. In Craven one of the 
 first actions against unjust taxation leaning towards force took 
 place. 
 
 Between 1735 and 1740, when Johnston was governor, Gran- 
 ville's land agents were making trouble with the colonists, and 
 lawful taxes were doubled many times. The currency was scarce, 
 and gold and silver were hardly ever seen and not enough Eng- 
 lish money to pay the taxes. Contentions frequently arose be- 
 
Carolina and Craven County or Precinct 71 
 
 tween the rulers and the ruled. "When Tryon came, although 
 he was a good ruler in some respects, he made the burden of 
 the colonists more grievous. In the year 1765 the British Par- 
 liament passed the odious "Stamp Act," another source of ob- 
 taining money from the colonists without their consent. This 
 was more than the liberty-loving people of eastern North Caro- 
 lina could bear. Meetings were held from one end of the prov- 
 ince to the other, in which they expressed their indignation and 
 declared that they would not submit to the law. 
 
 The speaker in the Assembly told the governor that the law 
 would be resisted to "blood and death." All this had to have 
 a climax which was brought about by the citizens of Cape Fear 
 combined with those of New Bern, under the lead of Colonel 
 Ashe and Waddell, both of New Hanover. 
 
 The Stamp Act was passed and was attempted to be enforced. 
 Dr. William Houston was appointed stamp distributor of Caro- 
 lina and he came to North Carolina as the guest of Governor 
 Tryon. The people of New Hanover learned of his presence in 
 Brunswick. Immediately a body of men under Ashe and Wad- 
 dell marched to Brunswick. There they went to the house 
 of Tryon, surrounded it, and demanded to speak T^dth the stamp 
 agent. Tryon at first refused to allow this. Preparations were 
 made to set his house on fire and he realized that the people 
 were in earnest and he invited Colonel Ashe or Waddell into 
 his residence. He boldly entered and in a few minutes returned 
 with the stamp distributor. Tryon was made a prisoner in his 
 own home, while Houston was hurried to Wilmington, where he 
 resigned as stamp agent and took an oath never to sell another 
 stamp. This occurred on November 14, 1765. i'^^ The next day, 
 November 15, 1765, the people of New Bern and its vicinity had 
 became so enraged that encouraged by the actions of the 
 Cape Fear people they gathered into a mob, while the 
 Superior Court was being held they tried, condemned, hanged, 
 and burned Dr. William Houston in effigy, A riot followed in 
 which no great damage was done. This riot is known as the 
 
 ^'^ Fitch, p. 36. 
 
72 James Sprunt Historical Publications 
 
 New Bern riot of 1765. Not only in Craven, but elsewhere was 
 the same thing done. From an extract of a letter in C. R. Vol. 
 VII, p. 125, we find: "We hear from the inhabitants of that 
 place (New Bern) that they tried, condemned, hanged, and 
 burned Dr. William Houston in effigy, during the sitting of their 
 Superior Court. . . . Also it happened in Wilmington . 
 , . At Cross Creek 'tis said they hanged his effigy and Mc- 
 Carter's together (who murdered his wife). Nor have they 
 spared him in Duplin, his own county." 
 
 In 1774 the Boston Port Bill was passed, which caused the 
 port of Boston to be closed. Soon a cry for aid was sent out by 
 the people of Boston. The people of New Bern and Craven county 
 quickly responded. A great deal of provisions were collected 
 from Craven and sent to Salem for the relief of Boston. On 
 January 27, 1775, we find this notice in the Gazette : ' ' Public 
 notice is hereby given that Mr. John Green and Mr, John Wright 
 Stanley, merchants in New Bern, have agreed with and are 
 appointed by the committee of Craven county to receive the 
 subscriptions which are now or may hereafter be raised in the 
 said county for the relief of the distressed inhabitants of Boston, 
 and to ship the same to Salem as soon as the several subscriptions 
 are received. 
 
 "Proper stores are provided for by the said gentlemen for 
 the reception of corn, peas, pork, and such articles as the sub- 
 scribers may choose to pay their subscription in. 
 
 "Those gentlemen, therefore, who have taken subscriptions 
 either in money or effects, are desired to direct the same to be 
 paid or delivered to the above Messrs. Green and Stanley on 
 or before the middle of March next, and to send as soon as 
 possible an account of the subscriptions to be taken and are 
 taken by which they may be governed in receiving. — R. Cog- 
 deU, Chairman, "i*^^ 
 
 On August 26, 1774, the first provincial congress was held. 
 At first it was planned to be held at Johnston Court House, but 
 it was changed and held in New Bern at the above date. Craven 
 had four members : Coor, Cogdell, Abner Nash, and Edwards. 
 
 "= C. R., Vol. IX, p. xxxviii. 
 
Carolina and Craven County or Precinct 73 
 
 This Congress met in spite of the orders of Governor Martin 
 forbidding such a meeting. ^"^"^ 
 
 On August 9, 1774, the Friends of American Liberty called 
 a meeting of the people of Craven county at New Bern. In this 
 meeting members for the provincial congress were elected.^*^"^ 
 
 The second provincial congress was held on April 3, 1775, 
 at New Bern. Craven was represented by James Coor, Lemuel 
 Hatch, Jacob Blunt, William Bryan, Richard Cogdell, Jacob 
 Leach. New Bern by Abner Nash and James Davis. At the 
 third provincial congress held at Hillsboro August 20, 1775, 
 Craven was represented hy Coor, Biyan, Cogdell, Leach, Blunt, 
 and Edmond Hatch, New Bern, by Nash, Davis, William Tisdale, 
 and Richard Ellis. At the fourth one held at Halifax, April 4, 
 1776, Craven was represented by the same men as at Hillsboro. 
 New Bern only sent one, Abner Nash. Li each of these con- 
 gresses the representatives of Craven and New Bern took an 
 active part. 
 
 On May 23, 1775, right after the news of the battle of Lex- 
 ington had reached New Bern, the commmittee of safety, which 
 consisted of Dr. Alex Gaston, Richard Cogdell, John Easton, 
 Major Croom, Roger Ormond, Edward Saltee, George Burrow, 
 and James Glasgow, led by Cogdell, and backed up by 
 the entire population of Craven county, waited upon 
 the governor. Their mission was to ask him to remount the 
 cannon that were in the town and at the palace. Martin had 
 had them dismounted because he had heard that the committee 
 was to sieze them as was done later. He prevaricated, however, 
 as to his purpose, and seemingly satisfied the committee for the 
 moment, but only for the moment as he well knew. 
 
 Martin realized that the end had fully come ; he saw that with- 
 out a man or a gun he was no longer a governor but was a pris- 
 oner in his 0"wa palace under strictest surveillance, and that his 
 only resort was immediate flight. Therefore he immediately 
 
 ' IMd. p. XXV. 
 Ibid., p. 1041. 
 
74 James Sprunt Historical Publications 
 
 shipped his family to New York 'and almost at the same time 
 sought safety under the protection of the British boats in the 
 Cape Fear. In less than four years from his coming as governor 
 of the province he was a fugitive from his capitol. A capitol he 
 would never see again. He was flying for his liberty if not for 
 his life. Thus the people were the direct agents that brought 
 about the end of the royal authority in North Carolina.^*^^ 
 
 108 wjieeler, Remiscences of North Carolina, p. 129. 
 i«» O. R., Vol. IX, p. xxxvi. 
 
<^'