THE LIBRARY OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 THE COLLECTION OF 
 NORTH CAROLINIANA 
 
 CB 
 F213b 
 
Vr im rnf,',y^ OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL 
 
 I 0003171799 
 
 FOR USE ONLY IN 
 THE NORTH CAROLINA COLLECTION 
 
 THIS IITLE HAS BbU^ MiCRQgja^ "" 
 
 Form No. A-368 
 
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HIA BRIEF HISTORYi^ 
 
 <0L. DIVID FANNING.^ 
 
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 mom IJl'ic, or^ the mm^i sf a bj^autiful ^Irl, 
 
 -AND' 
 
 RANDOLPH'S MMUFSCTURING. 
 
 Price ^O Cents. 
 
 HARRCLL'S PRINT, WELDCN, H. O. 
 
WHIG AND TORY OFFICERS — COLONEL DAVID FAN'KIXG HIS 
 EARLY LIFP:. 
 
 Revolutionary times not only " try men's souls, *' 
 Lilt test their priiiciples and develope their chn meter 
 When, society is resolved into its original elements 
 and there is no master spirit to control the perturbed 
 and excited mass ; when, for the present, all law and 
 government are virtually set aside, except, perhaps, 
 martial law, which can neither take cognizance ot all 
 the cases of wrong that occur, nor reach the .whole of 
 a large community scattered over a widely extended 
 territory; and when every one, feeling that '' where 
 there is law there can he no transgression/' does as he 
 ])leases and gives f u 1 scope to his good or bad passions, as 
 the one or the other may happen to be prevalent, a man 
 may become as much distinguished by his vices as by his 
 virtues, — by a course ot rapine, murder, and atrocious 
 villanies, as by the wisdom of his counsels wherever they 
 may be needed, or by his deeds of valor on the field of 
 battle. In the war of the Revolution in this country, 
 which resulted in the unprecedented freedom and 
 ].rosperity which we enjoy, the patriots of that day, who 
 toiled and suffered and shed their blood in the cause of 
 independence, in-scribed their names indelibly on the rolls 
 of fame; and, w^hile the world stands, will command the 
 veneration and gratitude of mankind; but there were 
 others wdio were then about as conspicuous, and who, by 
 an opposite course, have rendered their names quite as 
 immortal. 
 
 Of this latter class, son>e of whom were to be found in 
 every State of the confederacy. Col. David Fanning stood 
 pre-eminent in Xortli Carolina; but when we consider 
 his origin and his early life, we cannot be so much sur- 
 l)rised at his after course. With a native intellect whicii, 
 under proper culture, w^ould have made him prominent 
 anywhere or in any cause, his powers were developed 
 under the influence of poverty, disease and neglect, with- 
 out early instruction or example, and without any moral 
 
COL. DAVID FANNING. 6 
 
 or religions training. Regarded, it seems, wherever 
 known" as an outcast from genteel society, he never re- 
 ceived any favors, or had any kind attentions paid him 
 except from pity on account of his forlorn condition, 
 lender these circumstances, those strong feelings which 
 usually accompany a vigorous intellect, instead of being 
 softened and directed into the proper channel by the hal- 
 lowing influences of religion, or even by the courtesies 
 and bland influences of intelligent and refined society, 
 wore embittered and strengthened for evil by the ungra- 
 cious treatment which he received, and afterwards, by 
 impelling him to the commission of crimes which spread 
 sorrow and distress over the country, gave iiim a most 
 unenviable notoriety, and made his name, not only from 
 that time to the present, but for generations to come, a 
 reproach and a by- word of infamy 
 
 In tlie Utiiversity Magazine, for March, 1853, there is 
 an interesting, communication from Governor Swain, in 
 which he gives the following summarv account of Fann- 
 ing's birth-place, his early life, and his entrance on his 
 military career. David Fanning was lK)rii of obscure pa- 
 rents, in the county of Wake, about the year 1754, and 
 apprenticed to a loom maker. lie removed to Obatham 
 \\\ 1778 and followed his trade until the occupation of. 
 Wilmington ,bv Major Craig, presented other prospects to 
 iiis imagination. Very shortly thereafter, clad in a long 
 v/hite hunting shirt,an(i mountedon a common draft horse, 
 he was fouuM at the head of a band of marauders, not 
 more than 8 or 10 in number. His head-quarters were, to 
 ^ome extent, at the house of John Reins on Brush creek; 
 but he had no horse, seldom lodged in a house, generally 
 passed his nights in solitary and untrequented places, 
 sometimes with companions, but more frequently alone. 
 He and his colleagues were spoken of as '' out liers". 
 His first marauding expedition is said to have been to 
 l>eep river; and the earliest sufferers from his rapacity and 
 violence, were Charles Shearing, and Captains Duck and 
 Dye. He went to Shearings' in the night, shot him as he 
 ran from the house, took his gun. scoured the neighbor- 
 hood and returned to Reins'. His energy, capacity, and 
 courage were duly appreciated by Major Craig, who app(^i- 
 nted him Colonel of the loyal mliitia ol Randolph and 
 <Jhatham, clothed him in British uniform and presented 
 him a sword and holster of pistols. An old royalist, 
 
4 REVOLUTIONARY INCIDENTS. 
 
 named Liiidlv, crave bim a m-are ealled the "Red Doe," 
 from her peculiar color. This animal, whose blood is still 
 traced and hii^^hly estimated at the present day, became 
 subsequently almost as famous as her master. One of the 
 most interesting episods in Fanuinir's history relates to the 
 circumstances under which he lost her/' 
 
 We have given the above extract entire, partly because 
 the well known accuracy of the writer in every thingthat 
 relates to North Carolina history, entitles it to high coji- 
 sideration, and partly because it brings before us in a small 
 space the leading: events of Fannino:'b earlv life. It difil-rs 
 considerably, however, in some particulars, from the acco- 
 unts which I had previously obtained from other sources; 
 but on a subject, for the knowledge of which we have all 
 li) rely, for the most part, on traditionary statements, 
 some discrepancies, at least in circumstances of minor 
 importance, are to be expected; and we shall just state 
 sucH facts, in the course of the narrative, as rest on the 
 authority of those whose opportunities for ascertaining 
 the truth were good, and who had made it their business 
 to investigate the subject. 
 
 Several of the following pages are taken, in substance, 
 from the papers of Mr. McBride; but as those })apers con- 
 sisted chiefly of very short notes, something like a law- 
 yers ''brief," I have not u-^ed the quotation marks. As 
 he collected his materials some twenty-five years ago, more 
 or less, he must have had, at that time, great facilities for 
 ascertaining the trutli; and from his habits of legal inves- 
 tigation we might expect that his inquiries on this subject 
 would be conducted with something of the same precision. 
 It is to be regretted that so many of his papers were lost; 
 but I imagine that most of what related to the birth-place 
 of Fanning and to his history until he became a British 
 officer, has been preserved; and although no one could 
 write off these notes as he would have done himself, since 
 he could have supplied much from memory and from 
 farther in^juiries as he progressed, yet we feel gratified 
 that we have so many of the main focts. lie tells us that 
 he got his information from Jam< s Johnson, a man whom 
 he considered as good authority; and therefore it would 
 seem that his statements ought to be regarded as altogeth- 
 er reliable, dohnson was the nephew of John O'Deniell, 
 with whom Fanning, when a mere youth, lived for two or 
 three years; and of course, he had a good opportunity of 
 
COL. DAVID FANNING. 5 
 
 becoming acquranted with his history. He told McBiide 
 that ahhough he was onl}' eight or nine years old when 
 Fanning came into Ins uncle's family, fee had a distinct 
 recollection of him,— his appearance, condition and deport- 
 ment; that he was at his uncle's house most of the time 
 that Fanning was there; and that he had often heard the 
 facts related afterwards by his uncle, who was still living 
 at the time when he gave Mr. McBride this information. 
 
 Without assuming any further responsibility than to 
 give the facts thus obtained, and to inlorm the reader of 
 the source whence they were derived, w^e proceed with 
 the narrative. According to these papers, David Fanniiig 
 was born in Johnson County, then a part of Wake, in 
 the year 1756 or 1757, and of low parentage. When a 
 boy, he was bound to a Mr. Bryant, of that County, from 
 whom he ran away when he was about 16 or 17 years ot 
 age; and after v,andering over the country for some tim.e 
 on foot, he came to the house ot John O'Deniell, who Uv- 
 ed in Orange County, a little below the Ilawfield settle- 
 ment. Fanning stated to Mr. O'Deniell, as his reason 
 tor leaving his master, that he had treated him with great 
 severity and neglect, making him live in the woods to 
 take care ot his cattle, and without comfortable food or 
 clothing. O'lJeniell took him in, merely from feelings of 
 com[»assion ; for he was a miserable object, being almost 
 naked, and what clothes he had on were ragged and dirty. 
 
 He had also the scald head, or tetter worm, which had 
 been neglected, until it had taken the hair all off his head, 
 except perhaps a very little low dow^n about the neck, 
 which had to be cut off; and the smell was so offensive 
 that he never eat at the table with the family and never 
 slept in a bed. In fact, he seemed to be so conscious of this 
 himself that he was unwilling, even if he had been per- 
 mitted, either to eat or sleep with other people until he 
 could get better clothing and be cured of his disease. By 
 the kind attentions ot Mrs. O'Deniell and the family, he 
 wds cured of the tetter, but having lost his hair, he always 
 wore a silk cap on his head under his hat; and, it is said, 
 that his most intimate friends never saw his head bare. 
 While here, he learned to read and write a little, and this 
 opened to him sources ot information and furnished him 
 with a medium of communication without which he never 
 could have pursued a course so reproachful to himself and 
 socalamitous to the country. He seemed to be very grate- 
 
6 REVOLUTIONARY IXCIDEXT3. 
 
 iul to O'Denioll and the tiuinly for the kindness which 
 thev hadsliown him. He c-on^ducted himselt, while there, 
 with a.s much propriety as coukl l)e expected: and he often 
 s].oke of them in alter life with great respect. While 
 living there, he may have worked at his trade of bnilding 
 houses or making looms, hs Governor Swain has stated; 
 hut he is said to have been famous for his skill ajid dex- 
 terity in breaking or taming wild horses, which nobody 
 else could manage. Stout of his age, and being afraid of 
 nothing, he coutd, in a little time, subdue the most frac- 
 tious and unmanagealde horse that came in his way. 
 
 In the course ot two or three years, when he was about 
 nineteen, more or less, he went into South Carolina, and 
 got in with William O'Deniell, a brother, I presume, or 
 near relative of his former benefactor, who lived on the 
 Pedee, in South Carolina, and near the north line. There 
 he commenced Indian trader, and was carrying on a gain- 
 ful traffic with the Catawba Lidians, by exchanging guns, 
 calicoes, beads and such articles as suited their fancy, for 
 their turs and deerskins, wdiich he carried on puck horses 
 to the sea port towns, and sold them for a very handsome- 
 profit; but he had not more than tairly embarked in this 
 gainful buisness, when the difficulties witlj England com- 
 menced. At first lie declared himselt"a Whig; but on his 
 return from one of hi^ trading expeditions, he was met by 
 a little party of lawles fellows, who called themselves 
 Whigs, and robbed him of every thing he had. Without 
 waitini;' to inquire whether they really belonged to the 
 Whig party or were a mere set of desperadoes, having no 
 settled principles, and with no object but plunder, he at 
 once changed sides; and in the impetuosity and violence 
 of his temper swore vengeance on the whole of the Whig 
 party. 
 
 From his subsequent history, it appears that he kept 
 his w(n*d, or his oath, with the most rigid fidelity: for, 
 whenever and wherever an opportunity occuretl. his vin- 
 dictive spirit was gratified to the full extent of his power; 
 and lienceforth we find him engaged, with unremittiuij 
 ardor in destroying tlie lives and property of his enemies. 
 
 lie then joined the Tories on the Pedee; and, it is said, 
 tliat he was, for some time associated with the famous 
 Colonel MeGirth. As they seem to have been kindred 
 spirits, and to have i-esembled each other very much in 
 some of the most iniportant events of their life, we copy, 
 
COL. DAVID FANNING. 7 
 
 for the gratiilcation of our.readers, the following account 
 of McGirth, from Johnson's Traditions and Reminiscences 
 of the war in the South: — • 
 
 ''Daniel McGirth was a respectable young man, a native 
 of Kirshaw District, nearly related to the Canteys of that 
 neii>:hborhod. lie had married a very amiable lady ot 
 Sumter District, aunt of the late much respected Matthew 
 James, Esq. McGirth, from his early attachments and 
 associates, joiaed with his father and relatives cordially in 
 opposition to the claims ot the British government. 
 Being a practised hunter and excellent rider, he was well 
 acquainted with the woods and roads and paths in that 
 extensive range of country, extending from Sanree river 
 to the Catawba nation on" the east of AVateree river. He 
 was highly va'uable to the Americans for the facility with 
 which he acquired intormation of the enemy, and for the 
 accuracy and minuteness with which communicated what 
 he had obtained. He had brought with him into the sei- 
 sice a favorite mare, his own property, an elegant animal, 
 on which he felt safe from pursuit, when engaged in the 
 dangerous but important duties of a scout ; he called her 
 the Grey Goose. This line mare was coveted by one of 
 the American officers, at Satilla, in Georgia, who tried 
 various means to obtain possession of her, all (3t which 
 were opposed by McGirth, chiefly on the ground that she 
 was essentially necessary to the American interest, in the 
 duties pertormed by him; and without her he could no 
 longer engage in them. The officer continuing urgent, Mc- 
 Girth said'or did something to get rid of him, which he might 
 have intended only as a personal rebuff, but probably was 
 much more. Ho was arrested, tried by a court martial , found 
 guilty of violating the rules and articles of war, and sen- 
 tenced to the public whipping-post, for a breach of subor- 
 dination, which could not be overlooked in an army. He 
 suffered tlie whipping and exposure, and was again com- 
 mitted to prison, waiting to receive another whipping 
 according to his sentence. While thus situated he saw 
 his favorite mare, observed wliere she was picketed, and 
 immediately began to concert measures for his escape, and 
 the repossession of his mare. He succeeded in both, 
 and, when seatedjon her|back,he turned dehberately round, 
 notwithstanding the alarm at his escape, and denounced 
 vengeance against all the Americans for his ill-treatment. 
 He executecl his threats most fully, most fearfully, most 
 
8 REVOLUTIONARY INCIDENTS. 
 
 vindicliv.ely. Induliring this sava2:e, vindictive temper, 
 was indeed productive ot great injury to the American 
 cause, and of much public and private sufi-ering. but it 
 was also the cause of his own ruin and misery. AVhen the 
 State was again recovered by the American army, he still 
 kept in the woods, retreated intc) Georgia, and thence into 
 Florida. When Florida was reconveyed to the Spaniards, 
 by the treaty of peace, he became subject to their laws or 
 suspicions, was arrested, and confined by them live years 
 in one of their damp dungeons in the Castle of St. Augus- 
 tine, where his health was totall}' destroyed. When dis- 
 charged from St. Augustine, he with much difficulty i-e- 
 turned to his wife in Sumter District. McGirth's father 
 was a captain in the South Carolina militia at the time of 
 his son's defection, but continued firmly and devotedly at- 
 tached to the interests of his country." 
 
 How long Fanning continued with McG.rth, and in 
 what deeds of atrocity he was engaged, we have no means 
 of ascertaining; but from his connection with one who was 
 not only his equal, if no more, in native capacity and ener- 
 gy of character, but greatly his superior in education and 
 in his knowledge of the ways and means of doing harm in 
 8uch a country and in such a state ot things as then exis- 
 ted, we may suppose that he was much better prepared 
 than he would otherwise have been for the course which 
 he subsequentl}^ pursued. It was probably the best school 
 for developing and maturing the original elements of his 
 character that he could have found; and, judging from 
 his achievments in this State, not. long after, we may infer 
 that he must have made uncommon proficiency. Accor- 
 ding to McBride's papers and most other accounts which 
 I have had, he is not known to have been in North Caro- 
 lina from the beginning of the war, or a little before it, 
 until the beginning of the year 1781, when he came into 
 the State along with the British army under Lord Corn- 
 wallis, or about the same time; but he did not continue 
 witli it; nor did he, for some time, hold any commission 
 or have any men properly under his command. 
 
 From his natural temper, and from his early habits, he 
 was a sal juris kind of a man, and neither knew nor cared 
 much al'K)ut the military rules and tactics of modern war- 
 fare. Me could not be subjected to the strictness of mili- 
 tary discipline, nor was he calculated|for the slow and mea- 
 sured movements of rcs^ular armies. His irascible' and 
 
COL. DAVID FANNING. 9 
 
 vindictive temper could not endure ;he custom of civiliz- 
 ed nations in showino; humanity to the conquered, and m 
 .nvino- ,>rotection to the feeble. He gloried not in success, 
 becausi he believed it to be necessary to the weltare ot his 
 country, nor in the triumph of valor on the field ot honest 
 contest, but in the capture and extermination of his eiie- 
 inies A strano:er to that manly courage which is sustain- 
 ed and o'uided by great moral principles, he was just fitt- 
 ed for the course which he pursued, theguenl a mode of 
 warfare, in which there have been few m modern times 
 who have surpassed him, either in the rapidity of his luoye- 
 ments, or in the number and atrocity of his deeds \V ith 
 the astuteness of the Indian and the fleetnessot the Arab 
 with a constitution capable of bearing almost any amount 
 of toil; and with a patience of hunger and fatigue worthy 
 of any cause, he might be said to be always on horseback 
 and always in motion. He was often upon his enemies when 
 thev were least expecting it; and,having accomplished Ins 
 IHir'pose of death or devastation, he was gone l^efore their 
 friends could rally. Often, when supposed to be at a dis- 
 tance, the alarm of his presence in a neighborhood was 
 communicated bv the smoke (^f burning houses and by 
 the cries of frio:htened and Hying women and children. 
 
 In the comnmnicaticm to the University Magazine, al- 
 ready noticed. Governor Swain says, that ' he removed to 
 Chatham in 1778, and f\:>llowed his trade until the occu- 
 pation of Wilmino-ton, by Major Craig, presented other 
 v.rospects to his imaj^ination," but takes no notice of his 
 ioino- into South Carolina, and was proV)ably not aware 
 of tlfe fact. There is however no real contradiction or dis- 
 crepancv between his statement and the one ^yhlc•h 1 have 
 made on the authority of McBride's papers; for banning 
 mav have returned to Chatham sooner than was known to 
 McBride or his correspondents, and may have vvorked at 
 his trade for a short time; but, having been with Mcbirth 
 in South Carolina, and engaged in the bold and vindictive 
 operations ofthat adventurous spirit, it is not probable 
 that he would a^ain engage unless from necessity or con- 
 siderations of policy, in the dull business of bmldmg hou- 
 ses or making looms, so uncongenid to his nature, so for- 
 ei--n from his settled purposes, and so much below the 
 ambitious aspirings which had now got the ascendency m 
 
 his mind. _^ 11-21 • f- 
 
 So far as my enquiries had gone, I could find no inti- 
 
10 REVOLUTIONARY INCIDENTS. 
 
 mation of bis being in Nortb Carolina, after tbe begin- 
 ijing of the war, until February 25tb. 1781, when he was 
 at Pj'le's famous '4iacking match," on that memorable 
 (lay, but held no commission, and of course from the i)e- 
 culiar circumstances of that whole affair he could take no 
 part, unless he had stood in the ranks and submitted like 
 the rest to be hacked into pieces, which was not according 
 to his taste, and he was not to be caught in sucli a tra[). 
 When Col. Lee, at the head of his Legion, was riding along 
 the line ot deluded Tories, who had been drawn up for 
 the purpose of receiving Colonel Tarleton, as they suppo- 
 sed, and were shouting •4iara for King George," Fanning 
 called out to them repeatedly that those men were the 
 American cavalry, and not the British; but, as General 
 Green with his whole army had run outof tl)e IState only 
 a few days before, and as the British army, apparently 
 exulting in its power, was so near, they could not believe 
 that an American corps would (bire to show itself almost 
 in sight of Lord Cornwallis, and warnii]gs were in vain. 
 When he saw that his etiorts to undeceive them were of 
 no avail, he withdrew to a place of safety where he could 
 see the commencement of the havoc made on his friends; 
 but as soon as he saw that their destruction was inevitable, 
 he prudently fted and took care for his own safety. It, on 
 that day, so fatal to the Tories and so auspicious to the 
 cause of American freedom, the command had de- 
 volved on Fanning instead of Colonel Pyle, the result 
 would probably have been very different; but an all- wise 
 Providence ordered otherwise, and we have reason to re- 
 joice in this development ot his benignant and unchan- 
 ging purposes. 
 
 A crisis was now approaching in the long and arduous 
 struggle for independence. Throughout the State, all in- 
 teligent and reflecting men, on both sides, were expecting 
 and desiring a general battle, which it was believed would 
 either give the British forces a complete ascendency in 
 the South, or turn the tide so much against them tluxt fur- 
 ther efforts on their part would be useless. The discom- 
 fiture of the Tories, under Colonel Pyle, may be regarded 
 as a fortunate prelude to the battle which was fought a 
 few days after near Martinville, at which we presume Col. 
 Fanning was present. The probability is that, after Pyle's 
 defeat, he either fell in with the British army until after 
 the battle, or "mounted on a common draft horse," and 
 
COL. DAVID FANNING. 11 
 
 attended by a few followers, daring and reckless spirits 
 like himself, he was ranging thr()u.j;h the country plunder- 
 ing provisions for his foreign friends, giving them whatev- 
 er information he could obtain, and producing terror and 
 distress aai3ng the inhabitants. VVhile the British lay 
 in Hillsborough, according to tradition, he committed a 
 number of depredations and cruelties in the Northwest 
 part of the county, but of all that we have no certain in- 
 formation. 
 
 Whether he was at the Guilford battle or not is a matter 
 of little consequence. It is known that soon after, and 
 for some time, he had his residence on or near Deep river, 
 and about the mouths of Brush and Richland creeks, where, 
 remaining for a few weeks in cog^ he took up his lodgings 
 sometimes under the open canopy of heaven, but oftener 
 in the humble dwelling of John Rains, who afterwards 
 became a major in his corps, and one of his most efficient 
 men. Why he never appeared in public nor made him- 
 scif known, would be useless to enquire. Whether he was 
 only maturing his plans for future operations, or was 
 waiting for a commission from British jinthority, without 
 which he could not act so efficiently, for which the initia- 
 tory steps h id, no doubt, been taken, was probably known 
 only to himself, or at most one or two others. If he en- 
 tered upon his career without a commission he must 
 have had assurance that he might expect one in case he 
 proved his loyalty to the king, and his fitness for comm- 
 and. I had understood, many years ago, that, though he 
 did not receive a formal commission, he got ample encour- 
 agement from Lord Cornwallis himself; and, as he had 
 probably given his lordship, some evidence of his valor 
 and of his devotion to the royal cau-^e, either at Clapp's 
 mill or at Martinville; on the strength of this encourage- 
 ment he commenced operations. 
 
 According to the recolleciions of the old people in that 
 region, at the time when Mr. Mc Bride .obtained his infor- 
 mation, his first appearance in public was at a church or 
 meetinghouse, where the people had met on the Sabbath 
 for public worship, and his success was as great, perhaps, 
 as he could have expected. He either did not arrive un- 
 til about the close of the services, or he had kept out of 
 view; but when the people came out of the house, he was 
 the first object that attracted their attention. Being an 
 entire stranger, and somewhat singular in his appearance, 
 
12 REVOLUTIONARY INCIDENTS. 
 
 every eye was Hxed upon him, and they were all enquir- 
 ing, one ot another, who was that stranger. He had no 
 do'ubt been well informed, before he ome. respecting the 
 character and sentiments of the people there, and knew 
 that he was among friends; for he appeared to be per- 
 fectly at his ease. Probably he had been, for sometime, 
 exerting an inliuence through the agency of his friend 
 Rains, and finding that things were ready for the disclo- 
 sure of his purposes, lie had boldly taken this step. At 
 all events he did not keep them long in suspense, for he 
 soon let them know that his name was Fanning, and that 
 he had been authorized by the king to raise as many men 
 as he could for the purpose of aiding his majesty to sup- 
 press the rebellion and to maintain, his government. A 
 man of strong intellect and of great apparent confidence in 
 the Justness and success of the cause in which he is engag- 
 ed, hardly ever fails to sway the minds of tlie multitude: 
 and so it was on the present occasion. 
 
 By discanting, with an air of confidence atid much 
 earnestness, on the irresistible progress of the British 
 arms, and the immense resources of that nation, th^ 
 cruelties of the Whig companies which came into that 
 region, and the injustice of the confiscations to which 
 the property of the loyalists has been subjected, 
 the hopelessness of the American cause, and the 
 pitialde condition of the American forces, half naked, 
 half starved and utterly dispirited by defeat, he so 
 worked upon their fears or strengthened their pre- 
 possessions that a number joined him on the spot, and 
 this number was gradually increased as he continued 
 his exertions and became more known over the 
 country. All congenial spirits, — men who, like him- 
 self, delighted in bold adventure and deeds of cruelty, 
 rallied round his standard without any hesitation, while 
 the idle and dissolute, who were impatient of the restraints 
 imposeil by wholesome laws rigialy enforced, and who 
 would rather live by stealth and rapine than in the way of 
 an h«)norable industry, were easily induced to follow his 
 fortunes 
 
 We shall not undertake to write his biography, nor 
 to give in full tale his deeds of robbery, devastation and 
 wanton barbarity. To do that would require a volume 
 of ampler size, and an abler pen than mine. The time, 
 during which his operations were carried on, was short, 
 
COL. DAVID FANNINGw 13 
 
 only about eighteen moiitlis, more or less; but bis plans 
 were executed, and his deeds of shame and cruelty were 
 often perpetrated faster than the pen of a ready writer 
 could record them. You might as well undertake to 
 describe, for the same length oi time, all the movements 
 ot as manv flying Scythians, or the atrocities of as many 
 Saracens, when borne along by the swelling tide of religious 
 enthusiasm, and in the lull career of triumphant success. 
 AVe certainly take no pleasure in portraying his character 
 or describing his progress. We would much rather throw 
 his name, with all its painful associations, into the dark 
 stream of Lethe, and let it sink to rise no more; but it 
 seems right that we should make a fair estimate of 
 the price which our liberties cost, as well as of the bless- 
 ings which they have confered; and to make such an 
 esnmate, it is necessary to have something like a 
 full length portrait, not only of the patriots who 
 fought and conquered, but of the men with whose 
 prowess, malignity and cunning they had to contend. If 
 we would cherish a proper regard for the memory of our 
 fathers and mothers of that period, who have be- 
 queathed to us an inheritance so invaluable, we must 
 have before us the sacrifices which they made, the perils 
 which they encountered, and the toils and hardships 
 which they endured. Fanning inflicted more injury on 
 the country, and was more dreaded at the time than any 
 other man, and many of his crimes and deeds of violence 
 would live in the traditions of the people, from age to 
 age, while our institutions endure, though they were 
 never to stain the pages of history. 
 
 A few of these, briefly related, may give the reader some 
 idea of the course which he pursued, and may serve as 
 specimens of a long series, continued without interruption 
 to the end of the chapter, and unsoftened by any prom- 
 inent or important acts of an opposite kind, 
 
 HIS FIRST EFFORTS IN THE ROYAL CAUSE. 
 
 Some time in the spring of 1781, and near the com- 
 mencement of his career as the champion of royalty, he 
 had rather an extraordinary affair with one Charles Sher- 
 ring, a man who was as daring in his courage and as im- 
 placable in his temper as himself. The date of this affair 
 is not known; but it was probably before his descent upon 
 
14 REVOLUTIOXARY INCIDENTS. 
 
 Pittsboro', and yet he must have become an object oi 
 some attention, for threats had passed upon botli sides, 
 which wouhl hardly have been the case if he had not be- 
 come known and forniichilde. He seems to have been 
 remarkable for the correctness of his information respect- 
 ins: every man and every road and locality within the 
 ran«:e of his operations, so that he generally knew, before 
 he set out on an expedition, just when to go, what amount 
 of torce to take with him, and everything necessary to 
 success; but if, at any time he was misinformed or mista- 
 ken in his calculations, he was very fertile in expedients 
 and very prompt to avail himself of any advantage that 
 miu^ht be derived from circumstances. The account of 
 this attack on Sherrins: when written out from the abbre- 
 viated notes amoug McBride's papers, is substantially a-^ 
 follows; 
 
 As he made it a point to kill every active and resolute 
 whio; that he could get in his powder, he had determined 
 to kill Sherring; and for this purpose he went to his house 
 in the night; but having ascertained before hand that he 
 was alone and unguarded, betook no one with him. Sher- 
 ri ng either having been apprised of his design, or 
 from the desperate character of the man and the threats, 
 which had been made, being w^ell aware of his danger, 
 was so cautious as not to sleep in the house wdth his fam- 
 ily, but in a little outhouse, which stood a few steps from 
 the dw^elling, and had been used for a corn crib. It was 
 made of small pine logs with the bark peeled off, and 
 floored with a kind of hew^n slabs called '^puncheons " 
 
 The night was dark, or at least there was no moon light; 
 but the logs were not close together, and an outsider 
 could look into the inside. As the weather was warm 
 and pleasant, he had lain down in the bottom of the crib, 
 with some tliin covering over him and without telling his 
 wife or any body else where he had gone. On searching 
 the house he found that he was not there, and he c(Hild 
 get no information as to his whereabouts; but relying on 
 the information given him, he concluded that he must l)e 
 on the premises and he was intent on finding him out. 
 For this purpose he extinguished the lights and sallied 
 out in the dark, but he could find nothing of him in the 
 stable or any of the places where he thought lie might 
 probably be concealed. 
 
COL. DAVID FANNING. 15 
 
 It then occurred to liiin that he might be in the crib; 
 and peeping through the crevices between the logs, dark 
 as the night was, he described something Ijnng on the bot- 
 tom, which, from the shape, he concluded must be a man. 
 and he fancied he could tell which end was the head. 
 With this impression, after looking steadily for some time 
 to be certain, if he could, he put his rifte between the logs 
 and tired. The ball passed through, bet^veen the wind- 
 ])ipe and the neck bone of Sherring; but he was not killed. 
 Though so badly wounded and though he had his rifle in 
 his hand, he neither moved nor made the least noise. 
 The pain must have been intense; but he had sense 
 enough and self command enough to lie as still as if he 
 had been a log oi'wood, and Fanning made no attempt to 
 ascertain the effect of his shot; whether he concluded that 
 he had been mistaken in the object, or that he had accom- 
 plished his purpose, and w^as therefore satistied, or that 
 the report of the gun might alarm the neighbors and 
 Vjring them in upon him before he could get away, was 
 never known. He was, how^ever, so cautious and wary, 
 that he did not even look into the crib; but immediately 
 left the prenaises, without waiting to find out whether he 
 had shot a man or a bag of potatoes. 
 
 As soon as he thought Fanning had time to get off the 
 plantation, Sherring, though so badl}' wounded, thought 
 it neither safe nor prudent to remain there; and setting 
 off forthwith, without waiting to have his wound dressed or 
 even to go into his house, he went eight miles, to Cornelius 
 Tvson's, where he o:ot his wounds dressed and he recover- 
 ed in a short time. The impression of the people in the 
 neighborhood seems to have been that Fanning really 
 believed he had killed Sherring and that his great caution 
 was the reason of his leaving in such haste. Few nights 
 now passed for several months in which he did not leave 
 his mark somewhere. No whig and no avow^ed friend to 
 the cause of Independence could feel safe in his house for 
 a single night, if within reach of this scourge of humanity; 
 and no one, however dihgent in seeking information and 
 however shrewd at guessing, could possibly tell before- 
 hand, with any sort ot probability, wdien or where he 
 would strike, nor in w4-at direction they might hope to 
 find a refuge. 
 
16 REVOLUTIONARY INCIDENTS. 
 
 CAPTURE OF THE COURT IN PTTTSBORo' — AND HIS COMMISSION 
 AS COLONEL BY MAJOR CRAIG, 
 
 His next move, of which Ave have any defiinte informa- 
 tion, was one of a much boUler and more important char- 
 acter. Having got some thirty or forty men wdio acknowl- 
 edtred him as their leader, he dashed into Pittsboro' when 
 the county court was in session, July 15th, 1781, and cap- 
 tured the'lawyers, justices, and other officers of the court, 
 with such of the citizens and prominent men in the place 
 as he wanted. Having been thus successful to the lull ex- 
 tent of his wishes, he sVore the rebels should never hold 
 court there aj:ain; and then, without sustaining any loss 
 or meeting with any resistance, he made good his retreat 
 with the wliole of his prisoners. Wheeler, in his history 
 of Xorth Carolina, which is a work of considerable inter- 
 est and importance, says that the court which Fanning 
 broke up, was a court martial; but I had always understood 
 that it was the county court; and I see that it is so stated by 
 Governor Swain, in his communication to the University 
 Mao'azine. Unfortunately the records of both the county 
 and superior courts of Chatham were destroyed by fire 
 and no authentic information can now be obtained from 
 that source. We have, therefore, nothing to rely upon in 
 relation to this important transaction exce[)t tradition; and 
 those traditionary accounts which were first comniitteJto 
 writing, are probably the most reliable* At this time, it 
 a[>pears that Fanning had no horse, or none that w^s at 
 all fit for the business in which he was engaged; and as his 
 success in att-ick or his saletvin flight w-)uld olten depend 
 upon the fleetness of the animal which he rode, it was telt 
 to be a matter of vital importance that he should be bet- 
 ter mounted. In the University Ma2:azine, Governor Swain 
 says, on the authority, it seems, of Judge Murphy, who did 
 not at all times observe ihe same precision and accuracy 
 which were ner*essary in legal investigations, tliat "an old 
 ]o3'alist, named Lindly, gave him a mare called the ''Red- 
 Doe," from her peculiar color;" but he was evidently inis- 
 taken in the name of the mare and probibly in the name 
 also of the donor. Tne verl)al account which I received 
 of this matter, a number of years ago, was, in substance, 
 as follows: 
 
COL. DAVID FANNING. 17 
 
 Feeling much elated with the success of his recent en- 
 terprise, and having his mind tilled with the prospect of 
 still greater achievements, he began immediately to devise 
 ways and means for getting himself better equipped. For 
 this purpose, he went to a gentleman, a friend or acquain- 
 tance, by the name of Bell, who was a loyalist, and very 
 independent in his circumstances. Atter giving him an 
 account of his exploit in Pittsboro, and a sketch of his 
 plans for future operations, he said to him' "Xow, Bell, 
 you are a friend to King George, and the best thing you 
 can do for him is to furnish me a horse; for I have none, 
 and am not able to buy. Bell replied that he had none 
 to spare, or none suitable for that purpose; but that there 
 had been, for two or three days, a. stray filly on his premi- 
 ses; and he would freeh^ give him all his right and title 
 to her, if she would do him any good. 
 
 The hlly was without any marks of ownership, or any 
 indications of having been used, and was withal very 
 poor; but she was, tor the present, his only chance, and 
 he took her. After putting her in some better order, 
 and giving her a little training, she proved to be the 
 fleetest animal in the wdiole country. He called her the 
 ''Bay Due," — bay from her color, and doe from her 
 fleetness; and when on her back, whether he had to attack 
 or fiee, he felt perfectly safe. In a short time he got a 
 horse, — whether by rapine or by donation, from his 
 friend Lindly is not known, — which was also very fleet, 
 but not equal to the mare. He called him the "Red 
 Buck;" and in a little time the fame of the ''Red Buck" 
 and the "Bay Doe" was nearly co-extensive with that of 
 Fanning himself. Precisely, when or where he got either 
 of these animals, is a matter of little consequence, but with 
 him it was all-important that he should get his prisoners 
 safely delivered to the British authorities at Wilming- 
 ton. For this purpose he lost no time; but took care 
 to avoid such routes as would probably expose him to an 
 attack of the Whigs. The following account of his pro- 
 gress to and from Wilmington, together with some of his 
 subsequent transactions and several letters, we take from 
 the University Magazine, already referred to, because it 
 is more authentic and satisfactory than any other, and 
 probably contains all the information that can now be 
 got of his doings at that early stage of his progress 
 
 Leaving Pittsboro immediately, he went that evening 
 
18 REVOLUTIONARY INCIDENTS. 
 
 "to the west side of Deep river, at Beck's, now called 
 Coxe's Ford; and encamped for the night. On the next 
 day, having received a reinforcement of tifteen men, he 
 set out with his prisoners, forty-four in number, for Wil- 
 mington. Of the prisoners, three, John Williams, (Lon- 
 don, Esquire, attorney at law,) Gen. Ambrose Eamse}^ 
 and Col. Griffiths, were permitted to ride, he taking 
 their word of honor not to desert him." 
 
 On that evening they reached ten miles and encamped. 
 On the second night, Stephen Lewis and John Short, 
 two of the Tories, deserted. They traveled by ways, and 
 through the woods to McFall's Mill, on the waters of the 
 Kart Swamp, and before passing the swamp, two of the 
 prisoners, Thomas Scurlock and Capt. James Hardin, 
 who Fanning feared would attempt to escape, were hand- 
 cuffed and so continued to Wilmington. On the other 
 side of the swamp they met Col. McNeill, with one hun- 
 dred and fifty men, returning from Wilmington. They 
 continued their route on the West side of the river, and 
 encamped opposite to Wilmington. 
 
 Gen. Ramsey, John Williams, Esq and Col. Griffiths, 
 who were on their parole of honor, were attended only 
 by one man, Michael Pearson, and rode either before or 
 behind the party as they pleased. At Wilmington they 
 v/ere paroled by Major Craig, and returned. Thomas 
 Scurlock died, and the other prisoners werfe sent by Ma- 
 jor Craig, to Charleston. 
 
 The following letter written by the prisoners when on 
 their way to Wilmington, and addressed to Gov. Burke^ 
 will be interesting to the reader, and therefore we make 
 no apology for its insertion. We copy from the Univer- 
 sity Magazine. 
 
 George H. Ramsey and others, to Gov. Burke. 
 Camp at McFaWs Mill, 
 Raft Swamp, July 22</, 1781. 
 
 On Tuesday last we were captured at Chatham Court- 
 house by a party under the command ot Col. David Fan- 
 ning, which party, we found, consisted of persons who 
 complained of the greatest cruelties either to their persons 
 or property. Some had been unlawfully drafted, others 
 had been whipped and illtreated without trial, others had 
 their houses burned and all their propert;y plundered^ and 
 
COL. DAVID FANNING. 19 
 
 barbarous aucl cruel murders had been committed in 
 tlif ir neighborhoods. The oiiicers they complained of, are 
 Major Naul, Capt. Kobeson. olBhiden, Capt. Crump, Col. 
 Wade and Phill Alston. The latter, a day or two ago, a 
 few miles in our rear, took a man on the road and put 
 him to death, which has much incensed the Highlanders 
 in this part of the country. A Scotch gentleman, the 
 same day, was taken at one McAfiie's mill, and ill-treated. 
 He is said to be a peaceable and inoffensive man. His 
 name we do not know. He lives on the Raft Swamp — 
 should be happy if he could be liberated. JSTotwithstand- 
 ing the cruel treatment these people have received, we 
 have been treated with the greatest civility, and with the 
 utmost respect and politeness by our commanding officer, 
 Colonel FanniDg, to w^iom we are under the greatest ob- 
 ligations; and we beg leave to inform your excellency 
 that unless an immediate stop is put to such inhuman 
 practices, we plainly discover the whole country will be 
 deluged in blood and the innocent will sutler for the guil- 
 ty. We well know your abhorrence ot such inhuman 
 conduct and your steady intention to prevent it. All we 
 mean is information. We expect to be delivered to Major 
 Craig, at Wilmington, in two or three days, entirely desti- 
 tute of money and clothes. How long we shall remain 
 so, God only knows. All we have to ask is, that the 
 perpetrators of such horrid deeds maybe brought to trial, 
 that prisoners may be well-treated in the future. 
 
 And we are 
 
 f 
 
 your Excellency's 
 
 Most obedient servants. • 
 
 This letter was signed by Geo. Herndon Ramsey, Jo- 
 seph Herndon, Math. Ramsey, W. Kinchen, James Hern- 
 don, Thos. Gregory, John Dir Song, James Williams 
 and Thos. Sensbork; and Simon Ferrel was paroled to 
 carry it to the Governor and return to Wilmington. 
 Some of our readers may be a little surprised to find 
 these prisoners speaking so favorably of Col Fanning, 
 and the tories generally in that region; but it is probable 
 that, in this case, they w^ere not allowed to communicate 
 the whole truth nor to make a very frank expression ot 
 their feelings. We presume that Fanning would not suf- 
 
20 REVOLUTIONARY INCIDENTS. 
 
 fer them to write at all unless he knew the contents of 
 the letter, nor to send it if he found that it contained any 
 statements of which he disapproved. 
 
 Under the circumstances, Fanning would have acted 
 unwisely for himself if he had permitted them to say just 
 what they pleased; and being thus restricted; they no 
 doubt thought it w^as for their interest to compliment him 
 and curry favor with him, so far as they could without 
 compromising their honor or their principles. Fanning, 
 too, must have been pleased with the statements made, 
 for they were just such facts as he wished to have announ- 
 ced to the Governor and if he had not been pleased with 
 it he would not have paroled one ot tbeir number solely 
 for the purpose of being the bearer; but there is an ex- 
 pression in a letter which one of them wrote to the Govern- 
 or after his return, which seems to imply the same thing. 
 James Williams was paroled by Major Craig, in August; 
 and when he returned he addressed to Governor Burke, 
 the following letter, which in the dearth of authentic in- 
 formation, we are glad to get, and which we insert, not 
 only as connected with the preceding; but as throw- 
 ing some additional light on the state of things at that 
 period. 
 
 James Williams to Governor Burke. 
 
 Chatham., 22c?. August, 1781. 
 
 Sir: — I returned yesterday from _ Wilmington on my 
 parole to Chatham County, which prevents my w^aiting 
 upon your Excellency in person. 
 
 I am desired by the prisoners to acknowledge the re- 
 ceipt of yours by the flag, and to thank you for your 
 promised attention to them. Their case really merits it. 
 Every article to be sold in Wilmington is at least three 
 times as high for hard money as usual. It cost me in 
 three weeks there, for board and some few articles of 
 clothing, £32 sterling, for which I am indebted as they 
 all are, more or less. They desire me to solicit you for 
 a passport tor as much tobacco, or any other article, as 
 will discharge the debts. If this should fail, they will be 
 in a very disagreeable situation — their credit will stop 
 and they must inevitably sutfer. 
 
 I am told your Excellency understood our letter from 
 Mc Falls Mdl, Raft Swamp. We were very unhappy there. 
 
COL. DAVID FANNING. 21 
 
 There has been no news in WHrnington, either by land 
 or water, these six weeks. I brought up two or three 
 of their newspapers, but they are so barren they are not 
 worth enclosing: We hope to be exchanged for shortly. 
 
 I am your Excellency's 
 
 Most obedient servant, 
 
 James "Williams. 
 
 To his Excellency Thomas Burke, 
 
 After asking the reader to notice the words which we 
 have made ewphatical for the purpose of calling attention 
 to them, in reference to the preceding letter, Ave will give 
 the reply of Gov. Burke to the lettei" which the prisoners 
 wrote to him from McFall's Mill, not because it has any 
 direct bearing upon Fanning, but because it shoAvs the 
 desire of the Executive to maintain the laws and to do 
 justice, as far as possible, to all classes. 
 
 Governor Burke to Messrs. Kamsey and others, 
 Prisoners taken at Chatham. 
 
 State of North Carolina, \ 
 July 28th, 1781. / 
 
 Gentlemen: — I have received your letter, dated from 
 McFall's Mill, Raft S^vamp, 22d July. 
 
 Your having been made prisoners has already been 
 announced to me, but I have not yet obtained sufficient 
 information whereby to determine whether you were 
 acting in a military or civil character at the time of the 
 capture. 
 
 I shall make every due enquiry, and be assured I will 
 be attentive to you as far as my power and circumstances 
 will admit. 
 
 From your letter I am led to suppose Colonel Fanning 
 to be an officer commissioned by his Britannic 
 Majesty, for the people who compose his force must be 
 inhabitants of this State. 
 
 Since my return to this State, which is the same with 
 the time of my being in my present office, I have received 
 a variety of accounts of reciprocal violences and enormites 
 between the well and ill affected to our government which 
 disgrace humanity; but I have received no such infor- 
 
22 REVOLUTIONARY INCIDENTS. 
 
 niation in such a mode as can justify my interposition; 
 either as a civil ma<):istrale or military officer, except in 
 one case, on which I instantly took decisive measures. I 
 have issued the most pointed orders against all rapine on 
 any pretence, and against every act unbecoming brave 
 and magnanimous soldiers and civilized people. I shall, 
 as much as possible, attend to the strict execution of 
 such orders: but for the grievances of which the people 
 you mention complain, I can do nothing at present but 
 put the judiciary power in vigor and preserve it free to 
 hear the complaints of all persons, and independent to 
 determine them agreably to justice and the laws of the 
 State. For this measure is now in train, and if the peo- 
 ple you mention are really aggrieved, the regular mode of 
 redress will be open to them. If they be not citizens of 
 this State, or of the United States, I suppose they must be 
 objects of the law martial, which, so tar as depends on 
 me, shall be executed agreable to the usages of civilized 
 nations. I cannot discover from your letter whether the 
 Scotch gentleman you mention is a prisoner of war or a 
 civil prisoner. Upon application made to me by or for 
 him, which will enable me to distinguish, measures shall 
 be taken suitable to their condition. 
 
 I am, gentlemen, your obedient servant, 
 
 Thomas Burke. 
 
 Without further comment on the above letters, we 
 leave them to the perusal and reflections of the reader, 
 and return to Fanning where we left him with his band 
 of heroes at AYilraington, basking in the reflections ot 
 royal favor and inspirited by the tokens of that favor 
 which he received to aim at still greater achievements. 
 
 BATTLE AT MCFALL's MILL. 
 
 "They remained at Wilmington three davs, during 
 which time he received a commission from Major Craig, 
 of Lieutenant Colonel, and a suit of rich regimentals, 
 with suitable epaulettes, sword and pistols. He set out 
 on his return to Chatham, and at McFall's mill, having 
 encamped, intelligence was received by express that Col- 
 onel Thomas Wade; of Anson county, with six hundred 
 and sixty Ynen, were at Betti's bridge, on Drowning creek, 
 twenty miles south of McFall's mill. The express reach- 
 
COL. DAVID FANNING. 23 
 
 ed the camp about eight o'clock at night. Fanning or- 
 dered his men to moaiit their horses and march immedi- 
 ately. At the dawn of day, ten nnles north of Bctti's 
 bridge, they came up with Colonel Hector McNeill, hav- 
 ing with him three hundred men; the whole number then 
 amounted to three hundred and forty. Fanning took the 
 command, and soon learning that Colonel Wade had 
 crossed the bridge to the eastern side of Drowning creek, 
 he turned to the right, and passed up a swamp to a cross- 
 way, expecting to iind Colonel Wade between that swamp 
 and the creek The cross way was distant about three- 
 quarters of a mile from Betti's bridge Fanning halted 
 at the crossway and gave notice of the order of battle. 
 His men were directed to pass the crossway, two deep, 
 and all having got over. Colonel McXeill was ordered to 
 turn down the swamp to the left towards the bridge, to 
 cut off Wade's retreat in that direction. He was ordered 
 not to bring his men into action unless banning should 
 be hard pressed and in danger of being defeated, but to w^atch 
 the progress of the battle, and if Wade should be routed 
 by securing the pass to the bridge, to prevent his retreat, 
 and captui-e as many prisoners as possible- Fanning was 
 to turn to the right from the end of the crossway with all 
 the other men, and they w^ere directed to follow him in 
 the same order in which they passed the crossway, until 
 he should reach the extreme left of Wade's line, when 
 upon a signal to be given by him, they were to dismount 
 and commence the light. Eleven men were left to guard 
 the crossway and prevent the escape ot the horses, the 
 swamp being impassible for miles except at this cross- 
 way. 
 
 ''These orders being given. Fanning, preceding his col- 
 umn, passed the crossway, his men following him. As 
 soon as he passed, he discovered Wade's men drawn up 
 on the top of the hill in line of battle. The ground was 
 favorable for his attack. There w^as no undergrowth of 
 bushes, and the pines were thinly scattered on the slope 
 of the hill. Fanning immediately perceived the injudici- 
 ous position which Wade had taken, and confident of victo- 
 ry, rode on to the left of Wade's line. Before, however, he 
 had proceeded as far as he had intended, one of his men 
 Avas thrown from his horse, and in the act of falling his 
 gun fired. Instantly Wade's line fired, and eighteen 
 
24 REVOLUTIONARY INCIDENTS. 
 
 horses belonging to Fanning's men were killed. Fan- 
 ning wheeled, gave the signal to dismount, which was in- 
 staiTtly observed by his men, who poured in a deadly fire 
 upon Wade's line. Fanning rode along his lin':i in front 
 and ordered his men to advance upon every tire, and they 
 continued to advance and lire until they got witiiin twen- 
 tv-tive yards of Wade's line, when it suddenly broke, and 
 the men fled in the utmost confusion. Fanning pursu- 
 ing with activity, and expecting that their retreat by the 
 brfdge would be cut olf by Cob "McNeill, he had no doubt 
 of taking them all prisoners. To his astonishment, he 
 found that Col. McNeill had not occupied the ground to 
 which he was ordered; that he had passed down the right 
 of W^ade's line, only a short distance, and left the Avay to 
 the bridge open. Fanning pressed on the fugitives, and 
 soon took forty-four prisoners. Re then directed a few 
 of his men to iiipunt, and with them he pursued Wade at 
 full speed, for two or three miles. But Wade had fled at 
 full speed, and Fanning could not overtake him. 
 
 "During this tight, as well as upon every other occasion , 
 Fanning displayed the most daring courage. Dressed in 
 ricii British uniform, he rode between the lines during the 
 fight, and gave his ord.ers with the utmost coolness and 
 presence of mind. It is strange that he had not been se- 
 lected by some of Wade's men, as he was at the close of 
 the tight, not twenty yards distant from them. He did 
 not lose one of his men; only two or three were slightly 
 wounded. As he ascended the hill, Wade's men shot over 
 his, and when he approached the summit. Wade's men 
 were so panic struck that they tired without aim. Wade 
 lost 27 killed, and. of ihe prisoners taken, several died of 
 their wounds. 
 
 " The battle was fought about 10 o'clock in the fore- 
 noon, on the day of July, 1781. It is said that Wade 
 
 had 600 men: Fanning fought the battle wiih 240 men, 
 lor the detachment under Colonel McNeill was not engag- 
 ed. Orders were given for burying the dead, and the 
 wounded were placed under the care of Fanning's Sur- 
 geon.s." 
 
 This was the first time that he had been engaged, at least 
 when invested with authority, and, considered merely as 
 a coniinanding ofticer, he certainly acquitted himself with 
 honor. Cool and sell-possessed every where, judicious in 
 his arrangements, ready to expose himself when really nee- 
 
COL. DAVID FANNING. 25 
 
 essary, vigilant and quick to perceive where an advantage 
 might be gained, and prompt and energetic to avail him- 
 sellof every circumstance or occurrence that could be ren- 
 dered auxiliary to his success, he showed that, with prop- 
 er intellectual training and moral culture when his char- 
 acter was forming, he might have made a commanding 
 officer ot higher grade and of much distinction, in a better 
 cause too, a^id on a more extended theatre. We cannot 
 do otherwise than feel some regret, both tor his own sake 
 and for the cause of humanity, that his character had not 
 been formed under a better iniiuence; but we must ac- 
 knowledge the hand of an overruling Providence in the 
 atiairs of men. 
 
 " Among the prisoners taken was Joseph Hayes. He 
 was recognized by Capt. Elrod, of Fanning's party. El- 
 rod alleged that Hayes had plundered his house and ill- 
 treated his tamily, and Hayes was ordered to be instantly 
 hanged. The order was executed. Hayes, after hanging 
 iifreen minutes, was cut duwn. One of the surgeons be- 
 ino' present, thought that he could resuscitate him, and 
 determined to make the trial. Perceiving the appearance 
 ot returning life, he informed Elrud of the fact, and Elrod 
 told him to persevere. He did so, and Hayes was restor- 
 ed to life. 
 
 ''- In the evening Fanning set out on his return. Dur- 
 ing his march on Uie next day, an incident occurred which 
 is^vorthy of being recorded, as furnishing some relief to 
 the paintul scenes' which the country was then witnessing.^ 
 A scouting party apprehended Col. Thomas JDougan, of 
 Randolph county, and brought him to Fanning. He had 
 been sent by the*' Whigs of tiie upper counties to learn the 
 situation of atiairs on Hrowniug creek; the strength and 
 position ot the Tories; and their plans of operation. He 
 was beloved by the people of his county, both parties re- 
 garded him as an upright man, and a friend to his coun- 
 try; and those who dirfered from him in opinion as to the 
 contest in which they were engaged, abated neither their 
 esteem or atteciion. ^ With Fanning were several of his 
 intiiiiate acquaintances and personal friends, who all 
 knowing that by the custom of the times, men taken un- 
 der circumstances like his were immediately hanged, ap- 
 prehended the same fate would attend him. They resolv- 
 ed to make a generous eiiort to leave him. Trials, often 
 upon such occasions, were short and their execution 
 
26 EEVOLUTIOXARY INCIDENTS. 
 
 prompt. Col: Dongan was brought forward, his case was 
 heard in a few minutes, and Fanning ordered him to be 
 lamg. Dougan's friends interposed their entreaties, and 
 whilst they were imploring Fanning to spare his life, he 
 was mounted on a horse with a rope round his neck, and 
 placed under the limb of the tree to which he was to be 
 suspended. At this moment one of his friends, finding 
 entreaties unavailing, told Fanning in peremptory terms, 
 that if Dougan was hanged he would instantly shoot him, 
 A o'eneral mutiny was threatened, when Fannino^ resolv- 
 ed to leave Dougan's fate to the decision of the forty men 
 who had attended him in all his expeditions. They divi- 
 ded, and a majority declared in Dougan's favor. He was 
 then taken down and treated as a prisoner." 
 
 "Another man, by the name of Johnson, from the same 
 neighborhood, was taken either withDougan or about the 
 same time. He also was much esteemed, but not, by all par- 
 ties, so roiKih as Dougan. Elrod was a young man of true 
 courage, and lived in the fork of the Yadkin. Although 
 he committed many atrocities and was much dreaded in 
 the country, he was capable of performing, occasionally, 
 a generous acr; but some further account of him and of 
 his death; at which Dougan was present, will be given 
 hereafter in a separate article. 
 
 "At Mc Fall's Mill, Col. McNeill and Fanning separa- 
 ted; the latter with his forty men; returned to Beck's 
 Ford on Deep river, where his men dispersed, and part 
 of them returned to their respective homes. The prison- 
 ers taken at Betti's brido:e, with Col. Dous^an "and oth- 
 ers," were left with Col. McXeill, to be sent to Wilming- 
 ton. "During the time Fanning remained in the neighbor- 
 hood of Beck's Ford, Stephen Lewis and Short, who 
 
 had deserted him on his march to Wilmington, returned to 
 his camp. He reproached them for their desertion, and 
 told Lewis he woukl put him to death; that his men must 
 be true to him, as he intended to be true to them; that 
 they were at liberty to punish him with death the mo- 
 ment he should prove unfaithful to them, as he would pun- 
 ish with death those Avho should prove unfaithful to him. 
 Lewis treated his admonition as well as his threat with 
 levity. Fanning raised his gun, and standing within a 
 few feet of Lewis, took deliberate aim at him: his gun 
 snapped; he then drew his sword and made a pass at Lew- 
 is' head, and cut him severely. Some of Fanning's men 
 
COL. DAVID FANNING. - 27 
 
 rushed in and prevented a repetition of the blow, and 
 Lewis' life was spared. It was by such prompt, decisive 
 conduct, aud by a constant display of energy, firmness, 
 a!ul daring courage, that he sought to win the esteem 
 and attachment of his men aud such was his success, that 
 many foUowed his fortunes who disapproved of his barba- 
 rous cruelties, being led on by their admiration of his ex- 
 traordinary qualities — they thought him invincible, and 
 that with a handfull ot men he could defeat large detach- 
 ments. 
 
 ''Captain Robert Roper, of Chatham, collected a small 
 party of Whigs and marched up Deep river to attack 
 Fanning, who was still at Beck's Ford. Fanning seeing 
 some of Roper's men on the opposite side of the river, 
 attempted to cross the river, accompanied only by Short. 
 As soon as they entered the river they were fired on 
 and Short wounded. They retreated; and directing his 
 men to mount and follow him, he hasteiied to a ford a 
 lew miles above, where he crossed; and being ac- 
 quainted with all the paths and roads of the neighborhood, 
 he went down the river along a small path, expecting to 
 find Roper still at Beck's Ford. In this he was disap- 
 pointed — Roper retired down the river in haste, and Fan- 
 ning pursued him till late at night, when he abandoned 
 the pursuit. He then liad with him only twenty-three or 
 four men. On the next day he proL;eeded down the river 
 and took Moore of Hillsboro', a prisoner. lie was an in- 
 offensive man, and at the solicitation of one of his men, who 
 was acquainted with Moore, Fanning paroled him. On 
 the same day he took Wyat and Tomlinson prisoners, 
 near the gulph on Deep river; and as they were connected 
 with an active whig family, he resolved to hang them. 
 They were placed in a cart with ropes around their necks. 
 The cart was driven partly through agate, to the top piece 
 of which the ropes were about to be fastened, and then, 
 when they were about to be swung off, some of Fanniug's 
 men who knew them interlered and saved them. He 
 letV- their fate, as he had done that of Col. Dougan, to 
 the decision of his followers. Fanning immediately set 
 out for Wilmington, and took W^yat and Tomlinson on 
 with him as prisoners, and delivered them to Major Craig. 
 
 "He remained in Wilmington five days. His camp 
 was near the brick house at Belvidere. Here an incident 
 occurred which marked the peculiar traits of his charac- 
 
lis REVOLUTIOXARY IXCIDEXTS. 
 
 ter. He sent three of liis men to brini^ water. At the 
 spring they met with some British soldiers; and owing 
 to some difierence with them, they were put under guard. 
 Fanning was informed of this fact, and he immediately 
 ordered throe British soldiers who were in the camp to be 
 put under guard, and gave notice to the officer who com- 
 manded at Belvidere of what he had done, and that he 
 should retain those men until his were returned. The 
 officer, indignant at his insolence, drew his sword and 
 hastened to Fanning's camp. Fanning w^as lying in a 
 tent, and the officer entering the tent, inquired whether he 
 was Col. Fanning, who had dared to arrest and place un- 
 der guard, three British soldiers. Fanning answered that 
 he was the man. The officer raised his sword and made 
 a pass at him, which Fanning eluded by his agility; and 
 having grasped his sword as he rose, he pointed it to the 
 breast of the officer, and swore he would run him through 
 if he attempted again to lift his sword. The officer saw 
 the danger which threatened him. They entered into con- 
 versation, which ended in a declaratioumade by Fanning, 
 that he would retain the officer until his men w^ere return- 
 ed. A soldier was immediately despatched for Fanning's 
 men, and upon their return to camp the officer and Brit- 
 ish soldiers were discharo-ed. 
 
 CAPTURE OF COLONEL PHILIP ALSTON. 
 
 Immediately after his return he made his famous attack 
 on the house of Colonel Philip Alston, who lived in the 
 south-west corner of Chatham county, and in a bend of 
 the river, on the north side; called the Horse Shoe. Ou 
 his return from Wilmington, he encamped at Cross Hill, 
 near the present town of Carthage, and on the place then, 
 or afterwards occupied by Mrs. 'Glascock, There he re- 
 ceived information that there was a party of men at Col. 
 Alston's, and he resolved to attack them. Alston, with 
 a good deal of the daring and reckless character about 
 him, had been very severe on the Tories, especially dur- 
 ing the early part of the war; and now, when Fanning 
 seemed to be carrying every thing before him, and when 
 no Whig in that region could feel safe in his ow^u house 
 
COL. DAVID FANNING. 29 
 
 a single night unprotected, he had more cause of appre- 
 hension than many others. He may, therefcn^e, have had 
 these men simply to protect his house from the depreda- 
 tions of these freebooters; but, according to my informa- 
 tion, Fanning was informed that he was raising a body 
 of men for the purpose ot attacking him; and therefore he 
 resolved to take him by surprise, and before he could be 
 fully prepared even for defense. 
 
 Such was the reason assigned in McB ride's papers^ tor 
 the attack on Alston's house; but I have recently received 
 a communication from a correspondent who lives in the 
 Scotch region, and in whose judgment and careful inves- 
 tigations I have much confidence, in which he gives, in 
 substance, the following account: Colonel Wade, with a 
 hundred mounted men had been through the region, wa- 
 tered by the tributaries of Drowning's creek and the Raft 
 swamp,^ taking vengeance on the Tories for some injuries 
 which he had" lately received from them Among others, 
 he made a visit to Kenneth Black, a man in comtortable 
 circumstances, but a Tory; and not long after he left, Col- . 
 onel Fanning came along, going South, with about a doz- 
 en Whig pri^soners, among whom w^as a lawyer by the 
 name of Lightwood. Fanning stayed all night at the 
 house of his'friend Black, and was very kindly entertain- 
 ed. Next morning after breakfast, he resumed his march, 
 and Black accompanied him for a few^ miles, as a pilot. 
 Fanning's horse had been so badly foundered that he \vas 
 unfit to" travel, and at parting, he and Black exchanged 
 horses. When returning home, on the north side of Ray's 
 mill creek, he met Colonel Alston, with a number of 
 men. in pursuit of Fanning, and for the purpose of rescue- 
 ing the prisoners As soon as he saw them he turned up 
 the creek and attempted to escape on Fanning's 
 foundered horse. They discovered and pursued him, 
 shot at and wounded him: but he went on some two hun- 
 dred yards farther, into the edge of the swamp, and then 
 fell with his face on the ground. When they came up 
 they smashed his head w^ith the butt of his own gun, and 
 when begging for his life, 
 
 Alston, "finding that it w^as useless, did not continue 
 the pursuit very far; but, on his return next morning, he 
 called at Black's and told Mrs. Black how some of his 
 men had killed her husband, for which he expressed much 
 regret. Thence he went to a neighbor's house, where 
 
30 REVOLUTIONARY INCIDENTS. 
 
 old Hector McNeill (not the Colonel.) and John Buchan 
 were engaged in making the cotlin. Alston had sold a 
 negro woman to AlcXeill, but nut having sold her husband 
 with her, lie had run away, and he accused McXeill ot 
 harboring him. He snapped a pistol two or three times 
 at his head and then carried him off a prisoner, telling 
 him that if the negro was not returned by such a day, he 
 Avould hang him. Mrs. McNtill engaged her own negro 
 man to catch the runaway, which he did; and then she, 
 in company with another lady, took the negro home to 
 his master, contined and guarded by her own negro man. 
 Her husband was then released; and, as both parties 
 viewed each other with (listrust, Alston was probably con- 
 firmed in his form'^r suspicion. 
 
 If I am not mistaken in the localities mentioned by my 
 informant, the transactions above related took place in 
 the south or south-west part of Moore county; and it so. 
 Fanning at this time must have had his head quarters at 
 or not tar from Cross Hill, where I had always under- 
 stood he had them, where he had got his prisoners 
 is not known; but as Alston was endeavoring to rescue 
 them, it is probable that they were fi'om his region of 
 country. Xor is it known to what point he was aiming to 
 take them. \\y intormant says, playtully, that he was 
 taking them to his ''Pravo" or ''Caboos," in kSouth Car- 
 olina; but we presume that he either took them to Wil- 
 mino'ton, or ii'ave them into the hands ot some oi: his 
 Tory friends who carried them away and delivered them 
 to the British. He soon returned, however, and went to 
 the house of Mrs. Black, where he was informed of all 
 that had been done, and the facts, we may suppose, were 
 feelingly described, with all their aggravating circum- 
 stances. When he learned that Alston had pursued him; 
 that he had carried away McXeili as a prisoner; that he 
 had killed his friend Black, who had received him so 
 hospitably only a few nights before; that he kdled two 
 beeves for his entertainment, he became desperately en- 
 raged, and mustering all the force he could, set oltjforth- 
 with for Alston's house. What number of men he had is 
 not known; but, it he had hot his full complement, they 
 were increasing every day. 
 
 At this time, when Hushed by so uiany victories, and 
 confident of success, it made but little difference with 
 him whether his enemy outnumbered him two to one, or 
 
COL. DAVID FANNING. 31 
 
 was forti-Sed a^ by the rocks of Gibralter. He only wan- 
 ted to know that there was an enemy within strikinoj dis- 
 tance, and he anticipated the victory as already gained. 
 On receiving intelligence, therefore of the party at Alston's 
 house, he immediately set out; and as the river had been 
 a little swelled by a rain, he directed his course to the 
 north-west tor a few miles and then turned to the right, 
 crossed the river at Dickerson's ford, three or four miles 
 above Alston's, and went down on the north side. They 
 arrived on the premises about day-break on Sunday morn- 
 ing, August 5th.; and immediately commenced the attack. 
 The sentinels being asleep were taken by surprise, and 
 made prisoners. Those at the gate, on the opposite side of 
 the enclosure, were tired on but not being killed or badly 
 wounded, they ran into the porch where "most of the oth- 
 er party were lying asleep. They too were fired on; but ' 
 as soon as they could get into the house, the doors were 
 fastened and all the preparation for defence was made 
 that could be made at the moment. The windows were 
 soon demolished; and many of the balls passing through 
 the plank; killed or wounded the men inside. 
 
 The house was a two story framed house: and being 
 weatherboarded, ceiled and painted, was one of the best 
 houses then to be seen in that part of the country. It 
 stands now just as it did then, with the exception of some 
 additions, and still bears all the marks of war that it had 
 when left by Fanning. On the west side was a large 
 porch, one end of which had been made into a bed room, 
 with a door opening into the hall, and this was the room 
 usually occupied by Mrs. Alston and her husband. She 
 now kept her bed, which was thought to be the safest 
 place for her; and her two little children were put up into the 
 chimney. This was done by putting a small table or 
 bench in the fire-place for them to stand on, which was 
 about as high as the front part, and thus they were en- 
 tirely beyond the reach of the bullets. 
 
 A few rods from the house, on every side, was a strong 
 rail fence; behind which Fanning posted his men and 
 commenced a brisk firing, which was returned by the 
 party in the house, and kept up, without much effect on 
 either side, until after the middle of the day. There was 
 among the assailants, a lieutenant from the British army 
 by the name of McKay, or as, I am told, it was then pro- 
 nounced and is now written, McKoy, who had either re- 
 
32 REVOLUTIONARY INCIDENTS. 
 
 turned witli Fanning from Wilmington, or, according to 
 my authority, had been sent by Major Craig, probably 
 tor the purpose of observing the state of things in the 
 country whence Fanning had taken so many prisoners, 
 and being in Fanning"s camp when the news came of the 
 party at Alstons, he promptly joined the expedition. 
 
 Having been accustomed to tlie use o± the bayonet and 
 to a rush when a piac-j was to be taken by assault, he be- 
 came impatient at this mode ol attack, which seemed 
 likely to accomplish nothing, and he told Fanning that if 
 he would give him the command he would take the 
 house in a few minutes. Fanning promptly granted his 
 request, and he as promptly entered on the execution or 
 his purpose. As the plitn was tor all to rush up, burst 
 open the doors and enter, pdl null, he started lirst and or- 
 *dered the rest to tolluw him which they did without hesi- 
 tation, and some of them pari passa; but as he jumped 
 over the fence and aligtited on the grcnmd. a ritle ball 
 entered his heart, and he fell dead on the spot. Most of 
 those who had got over the fence or were still on it were 
 more or less wounded, and they retreated to their iormer 
 position behind the fence. Foiled in this unfortunate et- 
 fort; and driven back with loss, the genius of Fanning, 
 ever fertile in expedients, was now busy in contriving 
 some way to accomplish by stratagem what he had failed 
 to effect by force: and he iirst bribed a free negro to set the 
 house on tire at the far side where it was supposed he 
 could do it without being observed; but Alston having 
 noticed Fanning talking to the negro, or seeing the iiegro 
 go round, and suspecting his design, went to the window 
 and shot him when in the very act ot applying the tire. 
 The negro was not killed, but severely wounded. Dur- 
 ing all this time only one or two had been killed in the 
 house, and four or five wounded; but Fanning's loss in 
 killed and wounded was more than double. After the 
 failure of his plan with the free negro, an almost inces- 
 sant fire, on both sides, was kept up for some time, but 
 still without much effect; and through the whole of this 
 fierce conflict thus far, Mrs. Alston had been in her bed 
 and had remained uiduii't, though the weatherboarding 
 and ceiling were riddled with the bullets, which remain to 
 this day as they were then; and some ol them must have 
 passed not more than two feet above her when she lay in 
 the bed. 
 
COL. DAVID FANNING. 83 
 
 After such a protracted conflict aad with so much loss 
 to himself, Fanning began to feel discouraged; and either 
 fro. n the apparent lu)pjlossne3S of his cause, or frjm an 
 apprehension tliat the report of the guns might alarm the 
 country and bring a Whig force upon him too great for 
 his strength, he was on the point of abandoning the en- 
 terprise and drawing ofi his men, when he or some of his 
 men fortunately discovered a large ox cart in the bam 
 yara, a few rods in their rear; and with this he resolved 
 to make his last etlbrt. He ordered them to till it with 
 hay or straw, and bring it up, intending to set it on lire 
 and run it up to the house. If he could burn the house 
 they would be obhged to surrender, and his end would 
 be accomplished. 
 
 Several of the men promptly volunteered their services; 
 the tire was brought; and they were about ready for the 
 operation. The plan was to run up the cart with its load, 
 tail foremost, and thus keep it between them and the 
 house, so tiiat the bullets could not reach them. Alston, 
 perceiving their design, and knowing well, that defended 
 as they would be by the cart, it would be impossible to 
 shoot them, concluded that their only chance was to ca- 
 pitulate; but how was it to be done? The men all believ- 
 ed that if any ot them ventured to go outside of the house, 
 instant death would be the consequence, though the flag 
 of peace were waving over their head; and if Alston him- 
 self went out, no matter under what circumstances, or 
 who might be with him, he would be picked out and made 
 the first victim. In this perilous and critical moment, 
 Mrs. Alston came out of her bed room or j-tood in the 
 door; and with perfect composure, requested them to com- 
 mit this business to her. At first, the men all objected, 
 and particularly her husband, who thought it very im- 
 probable that Fanning, under all the circumstances, would 
 respect even a lady of her standing, though a wife and a 
 mother, and bearing the sacred emblem ot peace; but, as 
 she insisted on it, they finally consented. A man may 
 brave danger with deliberate courage, like a hero on the 
 field of battle, where all the intense excitements of the con- 
 flict, and the hope of victory are bearing upon him; he 
 may meet death with a kind ot defiance, like a savage or 
 a desperado; he may die with tranquility like a patriot, or 
 with resignation and hope, like a Christian; but such se- 
 renity of mind, such calm and entire self possession, such 
 
34 REVOLUTIONARY INCIDENTS. 
 
 mild and dignified Uriniiess in moments of sudden and 
 extreme peril, when life or death is seen to depend both 
 on what is done and how it is done, is pecuhar to woman, 
 Mrs. Alston, raising a white flag, opened the door and went 
 out on the step, where she paused for a moment to see if 
 she coukl discov-er any indications of the treatment which 
 she might expect to receive. 
 
 As soon as Fanning saw her, he called to her to meet 
 him half-way, which she did; and then, in a calm, digni- 
 fied and womanly manner, said to him: — "We will sur- 
 render, sir, on condition that no one shall be injured; oth- 
 erwise we will make the best defence we can; and, if 
 need be, sell our lives as dearly as possible." Planning, 
 Avho could sometimes respect true courage, whether in 
 man or vvoman, promptly agreed to the proposal, and 
 lionorably kept his word. The men all then surrendered 
 and were immediately paroled. 
 
 In the papers of Judge Murphy, as given in the Uni- 
 versity Magazine, it is stated that during the fio-ht, Capt. 
 Andrews, a British officer, who had accompanied Fanning 
 from Wilmington, having climbed up the fence that he 
 might shoot with more effect through a window of the 
 house, as he stood on the fence, one of the men in the 
 house shot him through the head; and I have stated 
 that Lieu enant McKay, from the British army was killed. 
 As these accounts are all traditionary, an exact agreement 
 in every particular is hardly to be expected; but in this 
 case both may be true. There may have been a Captain 
 Andrews and also a Lieutenant McKay present, as officers 
 from the british army, both of whom were killed; for 
 such was Fanning s success at this time that it would not 
 be at a'l strange if two or more of the British officers 
 should be with him on any occasion of the kind; and 
 then there were more killed than we would gather from 
 Judge Murphy's account. Next morning after the fight, 
 eight were buried on the brow of the hill, a few rods 
 from the house: and whether any of the wounded after- 
 wards died oitheir wounds, T have not learned, but, proba- 
 bly they did. Most of the dtad were of Fanning's party; 
 for only two, or at most three, of Alston's men were killed. 
 According to the statements which I have received, Alston 
 had a little over twenty, imd Fiinning somcAvhere about 
 thirty men; but Judge Murphy says that Fanning had 
 only twenty four men including Captain Andrews, and that 
 
COL. DAVID FANNING. 85 
 
 twenty-six men surrendered to him. I have no disposition 
 to question the correctness of this statement, but it seems 
 a little strange, that with such a dis[»arity of numbers in 
 their tavor, Alston and his party, even it driven to extrem- 
 ity by having the house set on fire, shoukl be unwilUng 
 to meet their enemies in open combat. My information 
 was obtained partly from the papers of Mr. McBride and 
 partly from Dr Chalmers, who now lives in the house 
 which was then occupied by Col Alston. In addition 
 to the reports or traditions ot the neighborhood, Dr Chal- 
 mers, two or three summers ago, traveled with his family 
 through he State of Tennessee and became acquainted 
 with the sons of Col. Alston, from whom he got a st^^'.te- 
 ment of the whole transaction. Col. Alston, himself, hved 
 only a short time after the war, having been killed as I 
 was informed by a negro whom he had treated with sever- 
 ity or provoked in some way: and the children were prob- 
 ably too young at the time to have, in after life, a very 
 distinct recollection of the scene; but they must have of- 
 ten heard the facts related by their m jther. John Spears, 
 who lived down the river, and was wounded in Alston's 
 housL, when he returned urged Captain Cunningham, 
 who had a company of Whigs then under his command, 
 to pursue Fanning; but he declined; and Judge Murphy 
 says, that according to report, '*a company of Whigs under 
 Oapt. Duck were lying near Alston's house and heard the 
 firitig from the morning till evening and feared to come 
 to Alston's relief. 
 
 CAPTURE OF CAMPBELTON, NOW FAYETTEVILLE. 
 
 The fact is that the very name of Fanning Avas at this 
 time quite appaling, and he was regarded byltll in that re- 
 gion, Whigs and Tories, as almost invincible. So far as 
 my recollection serves me, I do not recollect to have heard 
 ot an instance, during the summer of 1781, in wliieh tho 
 Whigs showed a willmgness to meet him with an equal, 
 or any thing like an equal number of men; but, within 
 the entire range of his operations, no effective resistance 
 was made, and the country was really in his power. I 
 have always understood that, during this period, the sum- 
 mer and tall of 1781, he had about eighty men who w^ere 
 
36 REVOLUTIONARY INCIDENTS. 
 
 either constantly with liim or at his bidchng, and whom 
 he could at any time summon to his presence m a ciise 
 of emer<^encv; that he seldom had less than thirty or tor- 
 ty and that when Colonels McNeill and McDouga , united 
 with him, they could muster from three to hye hundred 
 strono- In the high career oi successful adyenture and 
 with latterin- prospects before him, it appears to have 
 been his object to take as many prisoners as he could lor 
 the Briti.^i camp, and to bring the country into subjec- 
 tion to British authority. He seldom murdered any, ex- 
 ceptsuchas had proven treacherous to his cause, and 
 those who had excited his wrath by uttering threats or by 
 resistino- his progress. When excited, so unpetuous and 
 vindictfve was his temper, that whoever had given him 
 the least proyocation, if in his power, was sure to be made 
 the victim of his malice, and in all cases the process was 
 
 ^ A?eTdayrafter he captured Col. Alston, and his party, 
 he and his confederates took possession of Campbelton, 
 now Fayetteville, and carried off Col. Emmet, Captain 
 Winslow, and other leading men, prisoners; but the best 
 and perhaps the only authentic account ^yhlch we now 
 have of this transaction, is contained m the tol owing letter, 
 furnished by Goyernor Svyain, and published m the Uni- 
 versity Magazine, March, 1851. 
 
 Col. Emmet to Gov. Burke. 
 
 ''Campbelton;' 19th. August, 1781 
 
 "Sir-— I am under the disao^reeable necessity of inform- 
 ins: your Excellency that on Thursday last, the 14th. mst., 
 
 between nine and ten o'clock in the morning, this town 
 was in the most sudden manner imaginable, surprised 
 by a party of the enemy, under the command of Colonels 
 Slin-slev, Rav and McNeill. They entered the town ir 
 so sudden and secret a manner that it was out ot the 
 power ot any man who was in it to make his escape. J 
 was at a phmtation I have about a mile ofi, ^len I was 
 alarmed by a party of about twenty horse. ^ The noise oJ 
 
 . their horses' feet just gave me time to slip into a swamp, 
 where Hay until the party left the plantation, which the^ 
 did as soon asthey had deprived me of my horses. I ther 
 got over the river, wheu I learned their numbers to b< 
 
COL. DAVID FANNING. 37 
 
 about three hundred. I was likewi.se informed the same 
 evening, that McNeill, with one hundred men, had gone 
 up the Hiver on the west side, and, not being able to judge 
 where they might intend to cross the river, thought it my 
 best way to keep where I was. Had I done so, I might have 
 kept clear of them, but at such times so many reports 
 are Hying, that there is no such thing as distinguishing 
 the true one. At midnight, between the 16th and 17th, 
 word was brought me that a Col. Fanning came down 
 the country with one hundred and eighty men, made a short 
 stay at Cross creek, had crossed the river at lower Camp- 
 bleton late in the evening, and at that time was encamp- 
 ed, with an intention in the morning to pursue his march 
 np the river, and so join McXeill on the east side. On 
 this information, I unfortunately crossed the river, early 
 in the morning, and about nine o'clock was taken a pris- 
 oner by McNeill, on his return to town. 
 
 *'Il was not my intention to trouble your excellency 
 with this tedious relation, by way of intelligence. I 
 am sure you do not expect it from one in my situation, 
 but as I have many private enemies in this count}* who 
 would be glad to lay hold on any circumstances to vilify 
 my conduct and blacken my name, I have taken the lib- 
 erty to trouble you with tbis, by way of vindication. 
 With all deference, I remain, sir, 
 Your Excellency's obed't serv't, 
 
 James Emmet. 
 
 To his Excellency, Thomas Burke, Esq., Governor of 
 N Carolina" 
 
 Let the reader now go back a little and observe the 
 boldness and rapidity with which all the above victories 
 were achieved. Besides the almost daily capture of some 
 iniiuencial individual who would be acceptable to the 
 British as prisoners; the cutting oft of such as were par- 
 ticularly obnoxious to him, and the dispersion of small 
 parties of armed Whigs, on the 15th. of July he entered 
 Pittsboro', and captured all the ofticers of court, with 
 most of the principal citizens, whom he delivered in a 
 few days to the British authorities at Wilmington; on 
 the 5th. of August, he captured Col. Alston and his party 
 in his own house; on the 14th. he took possession of 
 Campbelton and made prisoners of the principal citizens; 
 on the 1st of September, the battle was fought at McFall's 
 Mill, on the Raft Swamp, where he gained on his part an 
 
38 REVOLUTIONARY INCIDENTS. 
 
 almost bloodless victon-; and on the 13th, he entered Hills- 
 boro', and captured Governor Burke, with his whole suite 
 and thirty or forty ofthe prominent citizens. This was per- 
 haps his most famous exploit — the one which spread 
 more alarm over the country than any other, and is the 
 only one ot his important achievements which remains to 
 be described. 
 
 CAPTURE OF GOVERNOR BURKE. 
 
 With whom the project of capturing the Governor of 
 the state and delivering him to the British at Wilmington, 
 originated, is not known. Perhaps it never was known 
 to more than two or three, nor is it a matter ot much con- 
 sequence in itself, but the enterprise was one ol so much 
 boldness in its conception a*nd so much enei'gy and hero- 
 ism in its execution, that the traditions of the country 
 have ascribed its paternity to Colonel Fanning, p'lom 
 some clrcum.-tances however, whiln he was the mo^t 
 prominent and efficient actor in the whoie process, I am 
 disposed to attribute its grigination to some other. The 
 movement WHS one of peril and of bold adventure; it 
 necessarily involved the loss of many valuable lives on 
 both sides; it was successful beyond any roascJisable ex- 
 pectation; and therefore, being vastly important in its 
 results to the whole community, deserves to be traced, if 
 possible, from its inception to its consummation; but in 
 doing so, we are left very much to conjecture, and in that 
 sphere every one must think or judge for himself If it 
 was not proposed by Major Craig at Wilmington, which 
 we think very likely, it was probably lirst suggested to 
 Colonel Ray, or some one of the Scotch leaders, by the 
 following incidents, which were rather of an amusing 
 character, and which occurred only a few^ days before they 
 began to assemble at their place ot rendezvous. The race 
 is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong^ is a maxim of 
 the highe-t authority, and we see it as often vivified in 
 military operations as in other pursuits. 
 
 As tlie Tories, now stimulated by the proximity of a 
 •British torce and by the daring achievements of Fanning, 
 were more menacing and troublesome than they had been 
 at any time since the battle of Moore's creek, Colonel 
 
COL. DAVID FANNING. 39 
 
 James Ilinton, of Wake county, with about two hundred 
 and liity men, crossed the Cape Fear and penetrated into 
 the north side of Cumberland County, for the purpose of 
 subduing or dispersing them. John McLean, who, I 
 have been told, had been a Captain in the Tory army and 
 was still a h)yalist, but not so zealous in the cause as 
 some others, lived on the north side of upper Little river, 
 on one of its tributaries, and his mill was known to be a 
 place of resort for the Tory corps that were embodying in 
 that region. Hinton went to McLean's first, but was 
 disappointed in not finding his enemies. However, as they 
 were in pretty good quar^ters and supposed they had no 
 cause to apprehend any danger, they were in no hurry to 
 get away. The captain was not there to receive his visit- 
 ors and treat them with the best he had; but they concluded 
 that they w^ould make free and "Johnny Penny like," help 
 themselves to whatever they preferred. Some of them 
 cut down corn for their horses and others turned theirs 
 into the HM. They killed a beef or two, got some other 
 articles of provisions, and in fine spirits, commenced ma- 
 king preparations for dinner. 
 
 About the same number of Tories were at no great dis- 
 tance, embodied under McLean, McDougal, Malcolm Mc- 
 Kay and Archibald McKay; but ihey»were some eight or 
 ten miles ubove, near the mouth of Jones' creek. Having 
 got some intelligence of Hinton's visit in the neighbor- 
 hood and wishing to approach him very cautiously, in- 
 stead of taking the ridge road, which was much the near- 
 est and best, they followed the meanderings^ of the river, 
 and near the Beaver ponds, captured Barganier and Ghol- 
 son, then on their way to join Hinton. An old man of that 
 neighborhood, by the name of William Kennedy, followed 
 his Tory friends, whether for the purpose of joining them or 
 for some other reason, is not now recollected; but betook 
 the ridge road, which was much the nearest, and when he 
 got there, instead of finding his friends, as he expected, 
 he found the place occupied by a crowd of strangers. As 
 the men were all out, some attending to their horses and 
 others occupied in different ways, he saw nobody in the 
 house, and walking through the kitchen door, he asked 
 the old negro woman, Saph, who those men were? but 
 she replied, rather equivocally, "They are your own coun- 
 try people." With much haste and agitation, he repeated 
 the question t\vo or three times; but always got the same 
 
40 REVOLUTIONARY INCIDENTS. 
 
 equivocal answer. On seeing some of the Whigs ap- 
 proaching, and being perfectly aware of his clanger, with- 
 out some device, he stepped out quickly into the open 
 space before the door, and clapping his liands with great 
 earnestness, exclaimed at the top of his voice, "Clear 
 yourselves or you will all be taken prisoners I Clear 
 yourselves for Colonel Fanning is coming round the lield 
 with five hundred men ! Clear yourselves or you will all 
 be surrounded and taken prisoners! Clear yourselves!" 
 From his manifesting so much earnestness and so much 
 apparent concern for their safety, they could hardly doubt 
 his good intentions, and they had no time to parley or 
 reflect. Mounting their horses in haste and telling him 
 to come along, they galloped away over the bridge and 
 in much confusion. He did not object to go with them; 
 but he must first get his horse. After crossing the bridge 
 and finding that Kennedy was neither with them nor 
 following them, they began to think there was no danger 
 and some of them returned to search tor the man wbo 
 had given such a false alarm ; but he had got what he 
 wanted, an opportunity to escape, and was not to be 
 found. The Whigs encamped for the night a little above 
 the bridge; but had not entirely recovered from their pan- 
 ic: and their circumstances required circumspection, for 
 they could not, with two hundred and fifty men, encoun- 
 ter an army of five hundred, with Fanning at their head, 
 and in their own country, where they were all acquainted 
 with the swamps, and where they might, in a few hours, 
 be reinforced by a much larger number. 
 
 In the course of the night the Tories arrived, but found 
 no Whigs. One braggadocio Idustered much, and was 
 quite distressed because the Whigs were not there — ''that 
 they might give them such a drubbing;" but old Daniel 
 McPherson thanked God that they were gone. Early 
 next morning, sentinels were placed at the bridge. 
 These sentinels, on seeing two or three men, who when 
 hailed, said they were for the country, fired on them. 
 This gave the alarm at the house and they all marched in 
 battle array down the hill and over the bridge, but still they 
 found no Whigs; for, becoming apprehensive, it seems, 
 from the firing of the sentinels, that Fanning, with five 
 hundred men, was close at hand, they had mounted and 
 fled in haste to the Cape Fear river. They crossed at 
 a ford called the Fox Islands, and encamped for the night 
 
COL. DAVID FANNING. 41 
 
 a little above Col. McAlister's. The Tories followed them 
 to the river, but did not cross. IsText morning the Wljigs 
 went up the river to the cross-roads, about half a mile 
 abov'e Atkin's terry, where they halted for retreshment, 
 and placed seiitinels at the river, just above the terry. 
 They killed two beeves and some sheep, turned their horses 
 into a fine pasture, and were preparing for a good feast. 
 Some were roasting their meat, on spits betore the lire, 
 and some had begun to eat, when tlie Tories fired on the 
 sentinels across the river; and directly a dozen guns were 
 fired. Becoming alarmed again, they mounted their 
 borses and fled, some leaving their meat roasting on spits 
 before the fire, and some leaving both the bread and meat, 
 which they were eating, just lying on the ends of fence 
 rails. They had a few IScotcb prisoners, chiefly men and 
 boys — such as Hugh Ochiltree, John McLean, Irom In- 
 dian branch, and his son Neill, Malcom McPhail, Malcom 
 Graham, Archibald McLean and a few others, about a 
 dozen in all. As none of them were men of influence, 
 and as there was no time for delay, they just lett them at 
 the river, and without giving them any orders or instruc- 
 tions what to do. The Whigs, after getting into the 
 Kaleigh road, about half a mile, drew up across the road 
 and made preparation to receive their enemies; but their 
 prisoners, finding that they had been so unceremoniously 
 left betiind, began to consult among themselves whether 
 they had better return home, remain there, or tollow their 
 captors; but it was finally concluded that it they returned 
 home, the Whigs should they come back again at any 
 time, might accuse them of breaking custody and treat 
 them w^ith severity; and that they had better follow on 
 and stay with them, at least until they knew what dispos- 
 al was to be made ot them. With this intention they all 
 set ofi* together; but the men under arms, on seeing their 
 heads through the bushes, as they were ascendinj: the 
 hill in front, supposed them to be their enemies in hot 
 pursuit, with Fanning at their head, and again fled iii 
 much confusion 
 
 Atter going seven or eight miles, they took up the camp 
 for the night ; and next morning, as the ten days for which 
 the men had engaged, were expired, they were all disban- 
 ded and returned home, except Captain Hadley's compa- 
 ny, which continued up in that direction, and was at the 
 battle of Cane creek. The conduct of the Whi^^s on this 
 
42 KEYOLUTIO^^\IlY IKCIDENTS. 
 
 occasion, is not to be attributed to cowardice, but to tLe a- 
 laim whicb they got at McLean's, and from which they 
 had not yet recovered. Their conduct is still made the 
 subject of much amusement in that region; but without 
 due regard to the circumstances. We all know, how of- 
 ten men under arms become mj'steriously or unaccounta- 
 bly panic struck, and utterly unlit for any manly exercise 
 ofthur powers.. This often Ijappens with veteran and 
 well disciplined soldiers, but much oftener with militia. 
 These men had left home with little or no camp equipage, 
 and without any other arms than such as they carried in 
 their hands. Having engaged lor only ten days, they re- 
 garded it as an excursion of pleasure rather than as an en- 
 terprise full of toil and peril. Expecting to capture or 
 disperse, in a few days, all the Tories they could lind, they 
 never thought of meeting with any serious opposition. 
 When they found themselves in the midst ol enemies, with 
 an armed force at least equal in number to their own, with- 
 in a few miles, who were probably increasing every hour, 
 and who, instead of avoiding, were seeking for them, the 
 case was altered, and they were compelled to take care of 
 themselves; but when they learned, or were led to believe, 
 that an armed body, of at least double their number, with 
 Panning at their head, were in pursuit, alarm was unavoid- 
 able, and their own safety became the paramount object. 
 The panic into which ihey were thrown by the crafty old 
 Scotchman only showed the terror of Fanning's name: 
 and was very much like many others which were produced 
 about that time, by the mention of hisnanie. This whole 
 affair Avas, however, an unimportant one in itself, and 
 would hardly deserve our notice, but for the bearing which 
 we suppose it had on the expedition to Hillsboro. It was 
 Avell calculated to increase the courage ol the Tories; and 
 as the way was now clear, it might readily have suggested 
 to some of them the thought ol making a bold push im- 
 mediately into Hillsboro, and carrying away the Governor. 
 This was somewhere about the first of September, though 
 the precise date is not recollected; and on the fifth, five or 
 six hundred of them, according to tradition, had assem- 
 bled with their leaders, on the '''Dry Fork,'' a tributary of 
 Crane's creek, and were ready for marcliing orders. Miich 
 the largest body of Tories w^as now assembled, that appear- 
 ed in arms at any one time after independence was declar- 
 ed; and, according to tradition, they considered themselves 
 
COL. DAVID FANNING. 43 
 
 as the prime movers in this enterprise. They certainly 
 were the principle agents, and the greatest sufferers. The 
 flower of the Scotch popuhition were in this embodiment; 
 and all their best oihcers, most of whom had been mnch 
 in the British service, and in all of whom they had full 
 confidence were at their head. 
 
 Colonel McNeill was there, and had the command of 
 the whole. It belonged to him, according to military use- 
 age, as the senior oiiictr; but it would have been conced- 
 ed to him, out of respect as the oldest man, for he was now 
 advanced in life and had the full confidence of all who 
 knevv him. Colonel Duncan Ray,young, talented and en- 
 terprising, was also present; and Colonel McDougal, 
 though he was not made Colonel until afterwards, and 
 then held no higher rank, as I am told, than that of Cap- 
 tain or Major. These had all been much in the British 
 service, and had the unlimited confidence of their country- 
 men. Fanning may possibly have been the originator 
 and the master-spirit of this whole enterprise ; but he was 
 not with them when they were assembling; nor when they 
 commenced their march Tradition says that he had the 
 separate command of his own corps, and merely co-opera- 
 ted with them, acting on his own responsibility and as oc- 
 casion required. Governor Swain, in his communication 
 to the University Magazine, or rather Judge Murphy, says 
 that when Fanning and McNeill united for the purpose ot 
 striking sudden and effective blows, at remote and effec- 
 tive points, they commanded alternately day by day; and 
 this, we may suppose ,was sometimes the fact, especially in 
 the early part of their career, before Fanning had got much 
 experience, or had attained much celebrity ; but, accord- 
 ing to the most reliable traditions I have heard, it was not 
 a general or frequent thing; for, I am told, that the Scotch 
 would not fight under him, nor be commanded by him. 
 They disliked his character, and all the better part of them 
 abhored his atrocities. In those days, 'tis said, they v/ould 
 not fi^ht under any other than a Scotch commander; and, 
 on this occasion, they merely co-operated with him for the 
 purpose of accomplishing the object. He was, no doubt, the 
 life and soul ol the business, and gave energy and success 
 to the whole movement. His courage and military tact, 
 which would have made him a prominent character any- 
 where, now gave him the virtual command; and gained 
 for him, in public estimation at least, the honor of the 
 
44 REVOLUTIONARY INCIDEXTS. 
 
 achievement. Leaving "Dry Fork," the place of their ren- 
 dezvous, on the morning of Septemher the 6th, and keep- 
 ing their plans concealed, they commenced their march 
 up the country and, receiving some small reinforcements 
 a^ they, advanced, Colonel Fanning joined them on or 
 near Deep river. With the moral power of Fanning to 
 urge them on, their movements were rapid and they met 
 with no resistance from any quarter. 
 
 So far from dreading any effective opposition, they 
 were determined to fight their way, and actually cut olf 
 or routed the only collection of men w^ho, by spreading 
 the alarm and serving as a nucleus for an ingathering of 
 Whigs, could have given them any trouble. History, I 
 believe makes no mention of the skirmish at Kirk's farm; 
 yet it was quite a spirited affair, and is worthy of record. 
 Captains Allen and Young, of Orange county, encamped 
 for the night on Kirk's farm, on the east side ot Haw river, 
 and near east creek, v.here they were as they supposed, 
 many miles from any tory force, and were apprehensive 
 of no danger. Whether they were out on a voluntary 
 excursion, or had belonged to Colonel Hinton's corps, 
 which had been disbanded onlj a few days previous and 
 were keeping together for mutual safety, until they could 
 get into a stronger Whig neighborhood, ^ve have not learn- 
 ed; but they were only twenty or twenty two in number. 
 They were attacked by about twenty five or thirty: and as 
 they were taken a little by surprise, the result was 
 what might have been expected. Fanning who appears 
 to have been remarkable for the facility and accuracy 
 with whicL he got information respecting every thing with- 
 in the range of his operations, did not deem it necessary 
 to go himself, but sent off a detachment under the com- 
 mand of Captain Richard Edwards. With characteristic 
 boldnci-s and rapidity of movement they came up just 
 as the day was dawning, and killed the sentinel a man 
 by the name of Couch who had been posted at the 
 end of the lane, then retreating a short distance to 
 a thicket, where they lay in ambush and awaited the 
 movements of the other party. The killing of the sentinel 
 gave the alarm at the house, and the party marched out 
 under Captain Allen to give them battle, or rather to as- 
 certain the cause of the alarm, when the Tories emerged 
 from their concealrpent and a severe conflict ensued," in 
 which some important livee were lost on both sides, and 
 
COL. DAVID FANNING. 46 
 
 others mortally wounded. Allen and Young were both 
 severely wounded; thetormer recovered, but the latter died 
 of his wounds within a few days. Captain Edwards was 
 killed on the spot; and ten were left dead on the field. 
 Nearly a third of the whole number engaged were either 
 killed or wounded; and some of the latter died of their 
 wounds within a few days. I have given the main facts 
 in this affair as I found them in McBride's memoranda; 
 but that the assailants vv^ere a detachment from Fanning's 
 corps, I infer from the following facts. It w^asjust at the 
 time when they were on their way to Hillsboro', and was 
 a very little off their route; it was not more than four or 
 five days before the battle at Cane creek; and the detach- 
 ment was commanded by Richard Edwards, who was 
 then a captain under Fanning. There were then in Fan- 
 ning's corps three brothers by the name of Edwards — 
 Richard, Edward and Meredith; and two of them are 
 known to have been in the skirmish at Kirk's farm. 
 V/hen Richard was killed, one of the others, Edward we 
 believe took the command ; and he is said to have been 
 killed the next week at the battle of Cane creek. We sim- 
 ply state the facts, and leave the reader to form his own 
 op hi ion. 
 
 The capture of the Governor was one of the most re- 
 markable feats of the Tories during the w^ar, and one of 
 the most memorable events in North Carolina. "On the 
 first of September the battle w^as fought at McFall's Mills, 
 on the Raft Sw^amp, and on the 13th, about daylight. Fan- 
 ning and McNeill entered Hillsboro', the seat of Govern- 
 ment, by different roads, seized Governor Burke, his suite 
 and other prominent persons, and proceeded with their 
 usual celerity fow^ards Wilmington." Having entered 
 the town in opposite directions and by the dawn of day, 
 before any body was apprised of their coming, they were 
 enabled to take nearly every man they wished; but their 
 first object was, of course, the Governor and suite. The 
 jail guard finding that Governor was captured and per- 
 ceiving their own danger; assumed the badge of their en- 
 emies, by substituting oat straw in their hats for their 
 deer tails, and thus attempted to ride through the Tories 
 in the streets ; but Fanning recognized them at once and 
 cried out, "The rebels! the rebels!" then rushing upon 
 them with the fury of a tiger, he broke his sword on th^ 
 steel plate in the cap which was upon one of their heads. 
 
46 REVOLUTIONARY INCIDENTS. 
 
 Having secured the Governor and all the prisoners they 
 wanted, some of them engaged in drinking and robbing 
 the stores. Alter plundering the town, their next move 
 was to break open the jail and release the prisoners, but 
 to remain long there was neither policy nor interest; and 
 as Capt. John McLean did not drink, the prisoners were 
 committed to his charge Some of the men who engaged 
 in plundering the stores became so drunk that they could 
 not get away and had to be left behind. The Whigs then 
 rallied, and they were taken prisoners. 
 
 Among the prisoners were William Kinchen and Col. 
 John Mebane; but Col. Alexander Mebane, made his es- 
 cape by leaving a very vakiable horse to the care of the 
 enemy, and taking it on loot through the high weeds 
 which had grown up very densely in the cross streets. 
 Then returning to his home and Iriends, in the congrega- 
 tion of the HaAviields, with all the haste he could, he 
 spread the alarm among the Whigs, and collected as many 
 of them as could be got togcthei on the spur of the occa- 
 sion. General Butler who lived on the west side of the 
 congregation near the place where Judge liuflin's mill 
 now stands, being notified, came and took command of 
 the men. A much larger number might have been soon 
 rallied for the rescue of the Governor; for that was one 
 of the strongest Whig neighborhoods east of the Yadkin ; 
 but as Fanning was so notorious for the boldness and ce- 
 lerity of his movements, whatever was done bad to be 
 done with the utmost despatch. Having ascertained that 
 the party with the Governor and suite in charge, were 
 crossing the river and intended going down on the west 
 side as the nearest and most expeditious route to the To- 
 ry region, their object was to get beiore them and occupy 
 some favorable position. The ground at John Alston's 
 mill, a little above or below what is now Lindley's, ap- 
 peared the most suitable, and there they made their stand. 
 
 The number engaged on either side is not known with 
 any degree of certainty, but according to the best tradi- 
 tionary accounts, or those which st emed to be most wor- 
 thy of credit, the Tories had about six hurdred and the 
 Whigs about three hundred a little more or less. The 
 Scotch say that they must have had about six hundred, 
 for they had five hundred at the place of rendezvous in 
 the lower side of Moore county, and after they commenced 
 their march they received two or three accessions, of 
 
COL. DAVID FANNING. 47 
 
 which Faniiing's corps was one; and we can hardly sup- 
 pose that to have consisted of less than fifty or sixty. 
 The night before the battle, old Colonel McNeill, who 
 seems to have had the exclusive command, at least of the 
 Scotch, on this expedition, had a presentiment, or what he 
 regarded as a presentiment, of his death. We say noth- 
 ing here about the reality of such impressions, 
 nor, if real, about the source from which they come; but 
 his was by no means a solitary case of the kind. Officers 
 of high standing in their profession and of undoubted 
 courage, have often had, on the eve of a battle, such 
 a presentiment or impression of their approaching fate as 
 to become depressed in spirits and comparatively inactive. 
 
 Several such instances occurred on both sides, during 
 the revolutionary war, and with men who could not be 
 charged with idle fears or superstitious notions. Col Mc- 
 Neill, on this occasion, felt constrained to disclose the 
 state of his mind to some of his friends who tried to laugh 
 or reason him out of his sombre mood, but in vain. The 
 brave old Hector who had witnessed more appalling 
 scenes than the one now before him and had stood firm 
 when a thousand deathful balls were fiying around him, 
 quailed when summoned, and so distinctly, as he supposed, 
 to appear in the presence of his Maker, that there was no 
 possibility of escape. He was not a man however who 
 would bear the charge of cowardice, nor would he shrink 
 from what he considered his duty on such an occasion. 
 
 It was known that the Whigs were gathering and that 
 they might expect a conflict in the course of the day; but 
 precisely when and where was entirely a matter of conjec- 
 ture. In the morning, old Hector like Ahab,King of Isreal, 
 when going up to battle at Ramoth Gilead laid aside his 
 regimentals, and appeared atjthe head of his men in disguise, 
 clothed in a hunting shirt and other parts of dress corres- 
 ponding, very much like a common soldier; but his time 
 was come and his destiny could not be changed. No dis- 
 guise could conceal him from the eye of the Omniscient one 
 and no artifice could countervail his unerring purposes. 
 It is easy for him to conquor by many or by few, and 
 whatever may be the resources or apparent advan- 
 tages of one over another, he controls every thing and 
 gives the victory to whom he pleases. 
 
 As the Tories were crossing the creek, and advancing 
 through a hollow or strip of low ground, along which the 
 
48 REVOLUTIONARY INCIDENTS. 
 
 road led, the Whigs, from the brow of the hill, on the 
 south side oi the stream, gave them a deliberate lire, and 
 with tremendous etfect. They were taken very much by 
 surprise, and quite a number were killed and wounded, as 
 they approached the stream, and before any danger was 
 known or apprehended. Captain McLean haUed his men 
 in the rear and they all sat down to rest. On hearing the 
 first fire of the Whigs, Governor Burke, and most of the 
 prisoners jumped to their feet and looked about; but the 
 Captain told them to be quiet ; for if they attempted to es- 
 cape they should every one be shot down; and they had 
 to obey. Colonel McXeill, on seeing so many of his men 
 cut down by the first lire, and perceiving that if they con- 
 tinued to advance, it would be at a great sacrifice of life, 
 ordered a retreat; but McDougal cursed him, and asked 
 him if he was not going to face his enemies — "Was that 
 the encouragement he was giving to his men ?" The or- 
 der was then countermanded, and they attempted to pro- 
 ceed. 
 
 At the next fire of the Whigs, five or six balls entered 
 the Colonel's body, and he fell dead on the spot. 80 did 
 several others, and many more were woundnd. When 
 he fell, some one thoughtlessly cried out, *'The Colonel is 
 dead." *'It's a lie," exclaimed McDougal, in a bold, strong 
 voice, "Hurra, my boys, we'll gain the day yet." His 
 death was very prudently concealed, for many of the 
 Scotch declared alterwards, that had it been known at the 
 time, they would not have fired another gun, but would 
 have sought for safety in any way they could. At this 
 juncture, the principal officers got together for hasty 
 counsel, or for the purpose of agreeing on some one to 
 take the command ; but those highest in office all refused, 
 and they seemed to be at their ''wit's end." At length, 
 some one said, ''Perhaps McDougal will take the com- 
 ipand ; " and instantlj^ every eye w^as turned to him, if 
 not "imploringly," at least with a strong expression of as- 
 sent. He accepted ; and nobly did he meet the responsibili- 
 ties which he had assumed. According to the traditions in 
 this region, when McNeill fell, the command devolved on 
 Fanning, of course, as the one next highest in office ; but 
 the traditionary accounts of the Scotch are difierent; for, 
 according to them, they would not be commanded by him, 
 and he would not be under any other. He was therefore re- 
 garded merely as a co adjutor, responsible only to himself, 
 
COL. DAVID FANNING. 49 
 
 and having the command of none except his own men ; 
 but with them, as it appears, he actually did more, in a 
 few minutes, to make an impression on his enemies, and 
 arrest the tide of success, than all the rest effected with 
 their veteran officers and military tactics, during the whole 
 of the action. 
 
 Amidst all this, success on the part of the Whigs, and all 
 this disaster and contusion among the Tories, Fanning 
 contrived to cross the stream at another place, or to ascend 
 the hill at another point, and, by making a little circuit, 
 attacked his enemies in the rear. J[3eing thus taken by 
 surprise, the Whigs were thrown into momentary confu- 
 sion, but quickly recovered ; and, for a short time, the con- 
 test was tierce and bloody. I^early every Whig who was 
 killed during the action fell at this time, and in the course 
 of ten or twelve minutes. The charge of Fanning was fu- 
 rious untill his arm was broken by a ritle or musket ball, 
 and he was carried jff the field, when the next officer in 
 rank, we suppose, took the command. Probably, it was 
 on seeing this havoc made of the Whigs by this manoeu- 
 vre of Fanning's, and viewing their situation as now des- 
 perate, considering the disparity of numbers, that Gener- 
 al Butler ordered a retreat, and commenced it himself. 
 The men, in obedience to orders, were following his exam- 
 ' pie, when Col. Robert Mebane got before them, and by 
 arguments and remonstrances, so far inspired them with 
 his own heroic spirit that enough of them returned to re- 
 new the battle and keep the ground. It seems *to have 
 been at hist a drawn battle ; for neither party claimed the 
 victory, and neither appears to have kept the ground for 
 any length of time. The Tories were glad to get away 
 with their prisoners, and the Whigs became willing to let 
 them go. A few years ago, an old Quaker friend, who 
 appeared to have been well informed on this subject, and 
 whose powers, though he was then about fourscore, were 
 unimpaired by age, told me that Col. McDougal, after he 
 took the command, came, under great excitement, and — 
 to use his own language, — ^'in a foam of sweat," to the 
 house in which the prisoners were then kept, and took an 
 oath that if the Whigs did flank him, as they were trying 
 to do, and drive him to extremities, he would put his 
 prisoners all to death, before he would suffer them to be 
 taken from him. Whether this determination became 
 known to the Whigs at that time, and had any iufluenoe 
 
60 REVOLUTIONARY INCIDEN'TS. 
 
 in consing them to give up the contest, my inforinaiit 
 ooiild not tell ; but if they were apprised of it, we pre- 
 Bunie, they would prefer ihat their iriends sJjould remain 
 prisoners, than that they should be shot, en wasse, hy their 
 captors. At all events the battle appears to have ended 
 by inutual consent, and both must have left the ground a- 
 bout the same time. The tradiiion among the Whigs, 
 has been, that they kept the ground, and the tradition a- 
 mong the Tories, is that they kept it; but neither coukl 
 claim it on very decisive evidence ; and as the VVhigs slow- 
 ly withdrew or slackened their lire, the Tories, glad to get 
 away, moved oti with their prisoners towards Wilmington. 
 
 Very little was known about the battle at Moore's creek, 
 at least by the piesent generation, and very little was said 
 about it, until recently. Within two or three years, some 
 of our ablest men have given it their attention; and since 
 the facts have been brought to light, it is regarded as one 
 of the most important events during the war. If some 
 one who is competent to the task would undertake it, and 
 fairly ascertain the facts in relation to the battle on 
 Cane creek, it would be found that there was quite as 
 much military tact and courage displayed as at Moore's 
 ereek; ^•nd, in propotion to the whole number engaged, 
 there was certainly much more bloodshed and destruction 
 of life. A more bold and deliberate act of courage is 
 hardly on record than was done by Col. Robert Mebane 
 in the hottest of the battle. In the midst of the conflict 
 with Fanning, when the W'higs must have been nearly 
 between two fires, as the Scotch were advancing up the 
 hill, they got out of ammunition and Mebane walked 
 slowly along the line, carrying his hat full of powder and 
 telling every man to take a handful, or just what he needed. 
 The day was warm, the 14th of September, we suppose, 
 and near the middle of the day, as the battle commenced 
 about 10 o'clock; and by wiping the sweat of! his face 
 with his hands, after handling the powder, w^hen he got 
 through, his face was nearly as black as the powder itself. 
 The precise number ot killed and wounded is not known, 
 and cannot be readily ascertained; but it was rather larger, 
 in propotion to the whole number than was usual in bat- 
 tles of that period. 
 
 Neither Whigs nor Tories really kept the ground and 
 attended to the burying of the dead; but next morning the 
 neighbors met there and buried thirty-two in one pit. 
 
COL, DAVID FANNING. 51 
 
 Besides these, according to tlie coacirrcnt tralitioa of 
 b(>::h parties, in uiy of tlie deii were carried away by the r 
 friends and baried in the neighborhood. Of the 
 wounded, so:n 3 of whom coald g3t away theLns3lves and 
 others were carried away by their friends and acquaint- 
 ances, a number are known to have died of their wjands, 
 soon after. Between the foot ot the hill and the creek, 
 the dead and dying were strewed about in every 
 direction, and some of them were lying in the water. 
 One of the Scotch companies, the one under the 
 command of Capt. Archibald M'Kay, had six killed on 
 the grounds and twenty-six wounded; some other 
 companies suffered equally as much and hardly any of 
 them escaped entirely. Some ot Fanning's men were 
 killed; but he was so repaid in his movements and made 
 such havoc wherever he went that his corps suffered less 
 than the others. The Whigs, too, lost many, and some 
 valuable lives; but, according to their traditionary accounts, 
 not so manv, even in proportion to their number, as the 
 Tories. Afriend, in writing to me from the Scotch 
 region, says, that "including all of both sides who were- 
 slain on the fiild, and all who died so )n after in coase- 
 quence ot their wounds, the number could not be much 
 under a hundred;" and this estimate, which looks quite 
 reasonable, taking everything into view, we suppose to be 
 not far from the truth. 
 
 Several of the highest officers on both sides were killed 
 and nearly an equal number of each. These were men of 
 much merit as officers, and their death was a great loss to 
 their respective parties. On the Whig side Mxjor John 
 Nails and Colonel Lutteral were among the slain " In the 
 Scotch traditions I find that Nails has the rank ot Colonel 
 assigned to him; but I have never heard him called, in 
 this' region, anything but Captain or Major Nails; and 
 as the Tatter seemed to be more frequently applied to him 
 than the former, I have given him that title. He was 
 killed near the close of the battle by a Tory who singled 
 him out with his rifle and shot him dead on the spot. 
 Having done so, and seeing three of the Whigs sitting on 
 their horses at a little distance, whom he mistook tor his 
 own party, he galloped up towards them, and as he approa- 
 ched called out, "I have just killed Major Nalls;"^ hut the 
 words were hardly out of his mouth until three pistol balls 
 entered his heart, and he fell dead. Nails left a widow 
 
52 HEYOLUTIOlsARY INCIDENTS. 
 
 and family of youni( children. On every account he was 
 much esteemed in Chatham county where he lived; and as 
 an officer he was highly valued. Vigilant, enterprising 
 and rapid in his movements, he was dreaded hy the Tories. 
 Colonel Lutteral was also killed about the close of the bat- 
 tle and Avas a great loss to the country. He is said to 
 have been a brave and valuable officer; but his men 
 thought him too severe in his discipline; and this may have 
 given rise to a tradition in the neighborhood of the battle- 
 ground that he was kided after the battle was over by a 
 Whig., a man by the name of Frazer. According to this 
 account, he rode back after both parties had gone away, 
 to look over the scene or to ascertain the number of 
 killed and wounded. On seeing Frazer, then the only 
 man on the ground and mistaking him for a Tory, roVle 
 up and fired at him with his pistol but without effect. 
 Frazer then leveled his rifle and shot him thro' the body. 
 IJe did not fall at once, but rode to a house, something 
 like a mile off, wheie he lived only a few hours, and was 
 next day l^id in the burying ground of a neighboring 
 church. The Tory account is more plausible, because it 
 is corroborated by other circumstances, and is as follows. 
 Having advanced at the head of his men within pistol 
 shot of a Tory from Eandolph, by the name of Rains, 
 who was in the act of loading his rifle, and fired at him 
 with his pistol, but Avithout effect. He then wheeled his 
 liorse, and dashed off, to get out of reach before the other 
 would be ready to fire; but Eains, having finished in time^ 
 levelled his gun at him, when at full speed, and shot him 
 through the body. He did not fall, but rode to a house 
 about half a mile distant, where the good people took him 
 u[) stairs and furnished him with a bed and every comfort 
 in their power. While lying there, bleeding and dying, 
 lie dipped his finger in his own blood and wrote his narne 
 upon the wall. The house stood there as a Monument of 
 the Cane creek battle and of Colonel Lutteral's death until 
 about seven or eight years ago; and the Colonel's name 
 retained its freshness and brilliancy until the last. There 
 were two men ])elonging to Fanning's troop by the name 
 of John Eains, ftither and son; and McBride says that John 
 Kains Sen., was killed at the battle of Cane creek. H it 
 was he who killed Nails the accounts would be consistent; 
 atid it is possible that the Scotch while they have correctly 
 jireserved the facts have unwittingly confounded the names. 
 
COL. DAVID FANNING. 58 
 
 On the Tory side, two officers in Fanning's corps are 
 known to have been killed, John Rains and Edward Ed- 
 wards. The latter had been a lieutenant before, as we 
 inter, and took the place of his brother Richard, who Avas 
 killed at Kirk's farm, the week before. It is probable 
 that he still commanded, the same company or troop at 
 Cane creek, and there met the same fate. Of the Scotch 
 division Colonel xMcXeill, the veteran soldier and the 
 brave officer, tell at the second tire; and the promising 
 and much beloved Colonel Dushee Shaw lay at his side. 
 He was a mere youth, but seemed to have all the man- 
 liness of mature age. Modest and unassuming, but firm 
 and sagacious, polished in his manners, heroic in his spir- 
 it and chivalrous in his bearing, he was the very idol of 
 his friends and there was great lamentation for his death. 
 They left thirty-one of their number on the ground, who 
 were too badly wounded to be removed; but they were 
 nursed and cared for, some by the neighbors and some by 
 their friends from a distance, who came and stayed with 
 them until they died or had sufficiently recovered to go 
 home. Among the wounded who were thus left, was Mal- 
 colm Downey, whose sister Mrs. ^eill Murphy, walked all 
 the way up to Cane creek from Robeson county, some sev- 
 enty-live or eighty miles, and nursed him until he expired. 
 She was the n-Tother of the Rev Murdoch Murphy, deceas- 
 ed, and the Honorable John Murphy, late Governor of Al- 
 abama. Other instances of a similar kind might be related; 
 but we wdll let one suffice for many. Such women deserve 
 to be remembered and to be held up as examples of firm- 
 ness in times of peril, and of devotedness to the cause of suf- 
 fering humanity. 
 
 At such a time, no respect is paid to a man's opinions 
 however honestly entertained; and but little allowance is 
 made for his inoffensiveness or inactivity in the cause 
 which he approves. Force is everj^thing, and wherever 
 that can prevail, conscience and everj'thing else is disre- 
 garded. There were two brothers by the name of James 
 Torry and George Torry, who were Tories, and had been 
 with the Tories previous to this battle, but their brother 
 David Torry, was a Whig, and had hitherto staid at home. 
 At length, however, he was taken prisoner with Hugh 
 Laskly, and they were both in a manner, forced to join this 
 expedition to Hillsboro',atleast they were induced to do it 
 against their judgment and all their principles of patriotism, 
 
64 BEVOLUTIOXARY INCIDEXTa. 
 
 rather than be sent to the prison ships at Wihnlngton, and 
 they were both among the wounded at the battle of Cane 
 creek, but whether both or either of them died I have not 
 learnel Pro! ably th'ie were other cases o:' a similar 
 kind, but such compul>ory measures, which are an intol- 
 erable hardship, belong exclusively to a state of civil war. 
 
 A Tory who was mortally wounded in the battle gave 
 his watch to the miller on condition that he would bury 
 him when dead; and the miller tulfilled his promise, but a 
 brother Tory, on learning that the miller had the watch 
 went and took it from him. Another of the Tories was 
 found dead next morning, about a quarter of a mile from 
 the place of action, on his feet or apparently supported by 
 his feet, and leaning against a tree, but without any wound 
 that could poesibly have caused his death. It was gener- 
 ally believed that he had died of fright; but his death might 
 have been occasioned by apoplexy, an elfection of the 
 heart, or somthing else. 
 
 On the evening of the battle, or very soon after, a lady 
 by the name of Lindley, wife of Simon Lindley , was shot dead 
 in the road by some onti lying in ambush, audit was believ- 
 ed to have been done by her own husband. Some Whigs 
 happened to be near enough to hear the report of the gun, 
 and led by a curiosity or a suspicion that something was 
 wrong, came up immediately to see what it meant. The 
 lady had a child at the breast, and when they found her the 
 child was trying to suck. That child was afterwards re- 
 moved to Howard county, Indiana, and has left a large fam- 
 ily. So strong was their suspicion of Lindley's guilt, that 
 some of them instantly went in pursuit and soon took him 
 prisoner. They brought him to a house which was close by 
 and set one of their number to guard him tor a short time, 
 until the rest could determine what they would do with him. 
 It was rather suspected, though there was no proof of the 
 fact, that the guard had given him an opportunity to run, 
 and he took through the orchard between J. Newlin's and 
 William Johnson's. However, the alarm was given and 
 the rest all ran round the house to see what was the mat- 
 ter. One of them shot in the direction pointed out by the 
 guard as the one which Lindley had taken, and killed liim 
 without seeing him. The load of shot struck an apple 
 tree, and one of the shot glancing off, perchance, struck 
 Lindley in a vital part and killed him on the spot. It was 
 believed that he, having become apprehensive that she 
 
COL. DAVID FANNING. 55 
 
 would betray liini, had waylaid her and killed her; but he 
 haviucr been killed so soon after, without any investigation of 
 the case, it w^as impossible to ascertain the truth by any or- 
 dinary process. 8uch is the tradition of the neighborhood. 
 The most cowardly are the most anxious to be thought 
 brave; and those vrho least deserve honors are the most 
 proud of them. At the commencement of the battle, there 
 was a man present from the immediate neighborhood, by 
 
 the name of who w^as an arrant coward, but who 
 
 had, not long before, got the office or the title of Captain 
 conferred upon him- Whether it w^as real or only nomi- 
 nal, I did not learn. Probably it was a kind of militia ap- 
 pointment by his Tory neighbors; but he was so proud of it 
 thatfor some time he'^had made his wife always call him 
 Captain. As soon as the action commenced he became very 
 much frightened and took to his heels. Tw^o or three Whigs 
 pursued him and would have overtaken him, if he had not 
 suddenly disappeared in a way which seemed to them rather 
 mysterious. Xear the mill was a long, high rock wdiich, at 
 the lower end, terminated in a precipice some twenty feet 
 high. At the base there was a shelving under, or a recess of 
 some kind, which made a very comfortable hog bed in the 
 winter, and in which a man if fairly ensconced there, could 
 not be seen except from the ground on one side. As this 
 w^as ihe only direction he could take, or the only one in 
 which the danger w^ould not be as great as where he was, 
 he took the rock and two or three w^higs pursued him to 
 the tar end, when he jumped down the precipice and^ dis- 
 appeared. His pursuers went to the edge of the precipice 
 and looked down, then oft on every side^ without getting 
 a glimpse of him; and, concluding that it w^as not worth 
 while to spend time in the search, they returned to the 
 scene of the conflict. In the afternoon, when he thought 
 the danger was over, he went home, and entered the house 
 w^ithavery distressed countenance looking pale, and so 
 weak that he could hardly walk. His wdfe, with surprise 
 and alarm, said to him, '^why. Captain, what in the ^world 
 is the matter with you, that you look so bad?" "O," said 
 he, "don't call me Captain any more. lam a poor wound- 
 ed man, shot through and through, and the blood is run- 
 ning desperately." Of course she ran up to him in per- 
 lect fright, and began to open his clothes, in order to see 
 the wounds, and do what she could for him, but to her 
 great mortification, she soon found that it was not blood 
 
'56 REVOLUTIONARY INCIDENTS. 
 
 and that was the end of bis military career, as effectually 
 as if he had been shot through the heart. 
 
 A friend in the Scotch region, the son of a very respecta- 
 ble Whig officer during the war, writes to me that, as he 
 has been credibly informed, he thinks the Tories had 
 two brass cannon at Cane creek; but owing to the ad- 
 vantageous position of the Whigs, they could make no 
 use of them until they got on the high ground. It they 
 bad cannon, it is probable that they had captured it with 
 the Governor in Ilillsboro' ; and such I believe is the tradi- 
 tionary account.'*' By the desperate attack which Fanning 
 made on the rear of the Whigs, such a diversion or contu- 
 sion Avas produced that the Scotch at length got up the hill; 
 but they had been so roughly handled and so many ot their 
 best officers and men had been either killed or wounded, 
 that they were more anxious to get away than to fight; and 
 the Whigs tacitly, though reluctantly, consented to let 
 
 *The following song, which was made by some one of the corps, not long 
 after the battle, was sent tome by my correspondent in that region, so of- 
 ten alluded to already, who says that he wrote it down as it was repeated to 
 him, not long since, by an aged Whig. It corroborates the suggestion 
 made awh'le ago that the cannon were taken from Hillsboru' ; and the tra- 
 dition that they were thrown into Lindley's mill pond, may be true- At all 
 events, it deserves some attention ; and it is to be hoped that a thorough 
 search will be made. 
 
 "The Governor and Council in Hillsboro' sought, 
 To establish some new laws the Tories to stop ; 
 They thought themselves safe, and so they went on with their show, 
 l5ut the face of bold Fanning proved their overthrow. 
 "We took Governor iiurke with a sudden surprise. 
 As he sat on his horseback and just ready to ride ; 
 We took all their cannon and colors in town, 
 And formed our brave boys and marched out of town ; 
 iJut the rebels waylaid us and gave us a broadsiv'e, 
 That caused our brave Col net to lie dead on his side ; 
 The flower of our company was wounded iull sore, 
 'Twas Laptain McNeill and two or three more. 
 
 The Captain McNeill who is mentioned in the song as having been 
 wounded, was Captain JS'eill McNeill, from upper Little river, in Cumber- 
 land county 
 
 them go. When they drew off from the scene of conflict 
 they turned to the east and kept down the stream until 
 they came to what is now known as Lindley's mill ; where 
 a few of the Whigs having rallied, they had another lit- 
 tle skirmish, and to get clear of an incumbrance, they 
 threw their cannon into the pond, where it is supposed, 
 they might yet be found if a proper search were made. 
 Expedition was a paramount object with them; tor a little 
 delay would give the Whigs time to rally, and in such 
 
COL. DAVID FANNING. 57 
 
 numbers, that they couhl not only rescue the prisoners, 
 but take them too. As they had ei)gaged in the expedi- 
 tion not to tight, unless it was unavoidable, but to capture 
 the Governor and as many of the most active patriots as 
 they could, victory was no object any farther than it was 
 necessary to secure their retreat. It was theretore necessa- 
 ry to disencumber themselves of everything that could im- 
 pede their march, and to act altogether on the defensive. 
 They had made a tine haul and had got a number of 'bigtish. 
 Their great concern now was to get them safely delivered 
 to the British authorities in Wilmington; and tor this pur- 
 pose they would either light or run as circumstances might 
 require. This would surely recommend them to the 
 King, and when the rebels were subdued, give them a 
 pre-eminence in the country. A detea:: by the Whio*s, 
 any encounter with whom was not sought but dreaded, 
 would have blasted all their hopes and been a source of 
 intense and enduring mortitication 
 
 A few of the Whigs a dozen or twenty in number, did 
 make some show of resistance on the evening ot the bat- 
 tle or next morning, at a place a few miles below and not 
 far from the toot of tlickory mountain; but they were so 
 few that they were soon dispersed, and after that the 
 way was clear. They soon got over deep river, into the 
 Tory region, where nearly every man was rejoiced at their 
 success, and w^as ready to lend them a succ jring hand 
 and bid them God speed 
 
 PURSUED BY GENERAL BUTLER. 
 
 It is stated in Wheeler's history of North Carolina that 
 ^'General Butler endeavored to intercept them with a 
 superior force, and did so at Lindley's mill on Cane creek, 
 wfiere an engagement took place on the following day." 
 I presume the author had some good authority tor the 
 statement, and I would be glad had he given it, for my 
 information has been ditferent, and if that was wrong I 
 would like to have it corrected. According to ray infor- 
 mation, the battle was not at Lindley's mill, but at old Jack 
 Alston's, a little above, when the Tories arrived at Lind- 
 ley's mill on their retreat, a few of the whigs had rallied 
 there and a small skirmish ensued; but it was only a little 
 brush on their rear or their flanks. Now if General But- 
 
58 REVOLUTIONARY INCIDENTS. 
 
 ler had a superior torce in the engagement on Cane creek 
 why did he not gain the victory. He had the advantage 
 of the ground, and he was not, like the others encumber- 
 ed wi^h prisoners or any thing else. To suppose then 
 that having these advantages, a superiority of numbers, a 
 more eligible position and freedom from any encumbrance 
 w^hile his enemies were inferior in number, occupied an 
 unfavorable position and had a large number of prisoners- 
 to guard, after all he let them get away with their prison- 
 ers; would be disreputable to General Butler and to the 
 men. who fought so bravely on that occasion, or if by 
 some untoward occurrence, they did elude his grasp in 
 the iirst engagement, as he was superior in numbers and 
 unencumbered, why did he not pursue them and intercept 
 them at some point below — Perhaps my information has 
 been wrong, but according to the most reliable accounts 
 which I have always had from both sides, the Tories o it- 
 numbered the Whigs at least two to one, and I recollect no 
 conflict of the kind during the war in which there was 
 more real bravery displayed or which reflected more cred- 
 it upon the Whigs than the one on Cane creek, except, 
 perhaps, the one at Ransour's mill, and if the Tories on 
 that occasion had been commanded by such a Tartar as 
 Colonel Fanning, or if he had been there at the head of 
 his Saracen corps wi h his daring courage, his rapidity of 
 motion and his quick perception of whatever advantage 
 might be taken, the result would probably have been very 
 different. I have been thus particular in my account of 
 the battle on Cane creek, one ol the most important 
 events in Fanning's career and one of the most calam- 
 itous to the country, — with the hope that some one who 
 is competent to the task will take it up and give it a more 
 thorough investigation. 
 
 It has been stated that when old Col. Hector fell in 
 the battle, some of the officers denied that he was dead, 
 probably making the men believe that he was only woun- 
 ded; and, for the time being, they put McDougal in his 
 place. After leaving Cane creek, in order to keep up the 
 delusion, they appointed to the command another of the 
 same name, Hector McNeill, son of Archibald and Jen- 
 net (Ban). Having afterwards lost an eye, he was known 
 in subsequent life, by the name of '*one eyed Hector," but 
 at this time, as he had not yet lost his eye, he appearg 
 to have filled the place quite respectably. From Cane 
 
COL, DAVID FANNING. 59 
 
 creek, they went directly to their head-quarters on the 
 Rdfc Swamp, and after crossing Deep river they stayed 
 all night at the house of Mr. McRae, father of the pres- 
 ent Collin McKae, Esq., who gives the following account 
 ot thei*' visit: "My father lived on Deep river. My Moth- 
 er's maiden name was Burke. When the Grovernor of 
 that name was taken prisoner at Hillsboro,', by Fanning 
 and his company, they stopped at our house all night on 
 their way to Wilmington. The Governor was put into an 
 additional apartment, at the end of the house and there 
 closely quartered. Our bag of meal was seized and cook- 
 ed immediately; and, having been previously robbed, my 
 mother had no bed clothes, except one cotton sheet, which 
 was carefully wrapped around my infant brother, John, 
 by his mother's side. One of the company seized hold of 
 one corner of this sheet and continued to jerk and shake 
 it until the infant rolled out on the floor. By way ot re- 
 taliation, my mother made some attempts before day to 
 let her namesake, the Governor escape, but without suc- 
 cess." 
 
 The Governor appears to have been treated with m 
 much courtesy, and to have had his situation made as 
 comfortable on the road as could be expected. After leav- 
 ing Gane creek a few miles, and finding that the Whigs 
 were not pursuing them, Capt John McLean, who had 
 the prisoners in charge, dismounted and asked the Gov- 
 ernor to ride his horse. He replied, *'I am your prisoner, 
 sir, and must expect to fare as a prisoner" but McLean 
 insisted, and the Governor mounted his horse. The Cap- 
 tain then took it on foot but soon obtained another horse. 
 Capt. Neill McFall, or, according to the Scotch orthogra- 
 phy, McPhaul, lived on the Raft Swamp, and kept a mill. 
 His house was head-quarters for the Tories all over that 
 region and was the place of rendezvous before and after 
 every expedition in which the different corps united. When 
 they arrived at McFall's with the Governor, the prisoners 
 were all given in charge to Colonel Ray, and a detach- 
 ment of men sufficient for the purpose was assigned him. 
 He conducted them to Wilmington and delivered them to 
 Major Craig; but most of the men remained at McFall's. 
 In a few days before Colonel Ray had returned with his 
 detachment, and after Fanning, with his corps, had left, 
 they mustered three hundred strong and were drilled by 
 Colonels McDougal and McJS'eill, on the plantation now 
 
60 EEVOLITIONARY INCIDENTS. " 
 
 owned or occupied by Mrs. Bethca near Floral College. 
 This is another collateral proof tliat the force with which 
 thev encountered the whigs on Cane creek, has not been 
 overrated on a former [-age; and that the conflict, which 
 these patriotic men had to maintain on that rnomentus 
 occasion, was something more than mere play. 
 
 Word had been to Major Craig, probably by express, 
 that they had succeeded in capturing the Governor, with 
 a number of other prominent AVhigs, and that they 
 would be thereby such a time. A troop of cavalry was 
 sent out to meet them and escort them back to town. A 
 few miles below Elizabethtown, about Hammond's creek, 
 they were met by this troop, and as they were approach- 
 ing, Governor Burke said to the oflicers and men around 
 him, ''Kow, gentlemen, I am Your prisoner. Hereto- 
 fere I had hopes of being released, and, therefore, I did 
 not feel like a prisoner; but now I feel that I am indeed 
 your prisoner." He had hitherto entertained the hope 
 that General Butler would overtake them, and be able to 
 eftect his rescue ; but was sadly disappointed. General 
 Batler did pursue them, and probably with an augment- 
 ed force, tor, as the Tories out numbered him on Cane 
 creek, it was very natural that, when about to pursue 
 them, he should increase his strength by hasty drafts, or 
 by volunteer companies ; and a few years ago, the v/riter 
 became acquainted with one or. two and respectable men, 
 in Caswell county, who were with Butler on this expedi- 
 tion, but had not been at the battle. It is not at all un- 
 likely, therefore, that at this time he did have a force su- 
 perior to that of the Tories ; but he did not overtake them 
 and never had a regular engagement with them. Accor- 
 ding to the traditionary accounts in that region; be was 
 taken by surprise one nigi.t and made a hasty retreat. 
 Colonel Eay, after remaining two or three days in Wil- 
 mington to rest and refresh his men, was on the return 
 home with his detachment when he came upon Butler's 
 camp, on Hammond's creek, while they were all asleep, 
 and fired upon them. A few were killed, probably the 
 sentinels, and some others were wounded. Such an at- 
 tack, made with spirit and in the dead hour of the night, 
 took them by such a surprise that they sought safety in 
 the best way they could. A few evenings after, he had 
 a skirmish with another body of Tories, and some British 
 troops. This was quite a spirited afiair for a short time 
 
COL. DAVID FANNING. « 61 
 
 but was poon over. General Butler ordered a retreat af- 
 ter the iirst tire, under a nii.^takcn apprehension that the 
 enemy had artillery, of which he was destitute; but Col. 
 Kobert Mebane, who belonged to his command, rallied 
 as many men as he could and continued the coniiict. Col- 
 onel Thomas Owen, father of General Owen, and of the 
 late Governor Owen, was there, and, as General Owen in- 
 formed me, took the chief command. The two colonels 
 made quite a manly resistance for a while, but were over- 
 powered and compelled to yield the ground. The whole 
 aifair was one of small importance, and the circumstances 
 are not well known. Whether it was owing to the want 
 of good generalship or to some untoward occurrences, we 
 do not know; but the Governor was not rescued, and the 
 expedition was not signalized by any important achieve- 
 ment. 
 
 With his laurels all fresh upon him and greatly increas- 
 ed by his recent exploit, as soon as his prisoners were safe- 
 ly delivered, or carried beyond the reach of their pursuers, 
 Fanning returned to his old range, and pursued the same 
 course of rapine, murder and devastation. During the 
 last three months, his movements had been rapid; his 
 plans bold and daring; and in every conflict he had come 
 off victorious. Few men, with the same amount of lorce, 
 have ever accomplished more in the same length of time; 
 but after the British were driven trom Xorth and South 
 Carolina, and after the army under Lord Cornwallis had 
 surrendered to General Washington, at Yorktown, the 
 prospects of the loyalists here, as well as everywhere else, 
 became more and more gloom}^ and their operations, it 
 not less atrocious, were neither so bold nor so extensive. 
 Fanning, however, had a considerable number who fol- 
 lowed his fortunes and adhered to him with great fidelity 
 to the last. With these, he was a terror to the whole 
 country; for as his fortunes waned and his prospects dar- 
 kened, he became more vindictive and more ot the cut- 
 throat assassin. Generally he kept his head-quarters on 
 the south side of Deep river, and about Cross-hill, where 
 he was in such a Tory region that he felt secure from any 
 sudden attack of his enemies; but sometimes he had his 
 camp on the north side of the river, and when he and his 
 men were not out on some expedition, they employed 
 their time in horse-racing, gambling, and such sports as 
 were most congenial to their dispositions. The place 
 
62 REVOLUTIONARY INCIDENTS. 
 
 here he had his camp for sometime, on the west side of 
 
 s 
 
 latham county, and not tar from the present residence ot 
 [Doctor Chalmers, is still known by the name of'' Fannin g\s 
 race paths;" but we presume that no gentleman, with 
 even a moderate share of honorable feeling, however 
 much he might delight in the amusement of the turf, 
 would not think ot using them for that purpose! .From 
 the last of September, 1781, until some time in the summer 
 of 1782, a great many murders and atrocities were com- 
 mitted by Fanning, or by his orders, along Deep river 
 and for some miles on the north side, the date«^ and 
 minute circumstances of which cannot be now ascertained. 
 Many have been forgotten, or rather have not been 
 sought for by any one who was competent and had leis- 
 ure or opportunity to write them oft, and throw them into 
 the common stock of public information; for they still 
 exist in the traditions of the country; and enough might 
 be obtained to make a moderate sized volume of pleasant 
 reading, at least for the young people of the country, at 
 their fire-sides in the long winter evenings. We shall 
 therefore relate a few of these, and give the best account 
 of them we can, but without dates or chronological order, 
 except in on« or two instances, of deep and abiding in- 
 terest, in which we have been fortunate enough to obtain 
 the date from letters written at the time, or shortly after, 
 by persons who were eye-witnesses of what they related, or 
 had authentic and certain information. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS DEEDS OF ATROCITY. 
 
 In the fall of 1781, and while Fanning still had a res- 
 pectable number of followers. Captain John Coxe, who 
 was a firm Whig, and who lived, if I mistake not, in the 
 North side of Cumberland county, not far from the river, 
 went up into Chatham with a small company of men, and 
 took up camp for the night at the house of a man by the 
 name of Needham. Fanning having been informed of 
 this movement by some of his friends, went in pursuit 
 with his whole corps and arrived there before midnight. 
 Having tied their horses in a thicket, at a little distance 
 from the house, they rushed up and fired on Coxe and his 
 party before they were properly aware of their danger, or 
 
COL. DAVID FANNING. . 68 
 
 could make any preparation for defence. As none of them 
 were killed, however, they all broke and run without their 
 horses, or any thing else except their guns, which, in those 
 times, every man who had taken up arras at all in 
 defense of his country, always kept in his hand when 
 awake, or by his side when asleep; but fortunate!}^ a part 
 of them, in taking their course from the camp at random, 
 happened to run by the place where Fanning and his par- 
 ty had tied their horses; and with great alacrity and 
 promptness, they all helped themselves to horses, each 
 one taking, without leave or license, the first horse he 
 could get, as, they say members of Congress now take 
 hats when leaving a President's levee ; and they all made 
 tracks a little faster than they could have done on their 
 own stumps. 
 
 On the second day after this occurrence. Fanning ajid his 
 whole troop went down to John Coxe's house and encamp- 
 ed there tor the night. ISText morning they plundered it 
 and burned it to the ground, and destroyed every thing 
 else on the premises that was destructable. John Coxe of 
 course, kept out of the way himself but sent a messenger 
 privately to his father, informing him of all that had hap- 
 pened. From this scene of desolation. Fanning with the 
 whole of his banditti, went to the house of the old man 
 Coxe, for a similar purpose ; ajid when they arrived on 
 the premises John Coxe, William Jackson and Robert 
 Loe were at the house; but they heard the sound of the 
 horses' feet, or got some intimation of their coming in 
 time to make their escape, and they were fortunate enough 
 to get away with so much adroitness, or in such good time, 
 that neither Fanning nor any of his men, with all their vigi- 
 lance and sagacity, had any suspicion of their having been 
 there. Thus left, they had free scope for their rapacious 
 and burnino: propensities, without let or hinderance ; and 
 they w^ere not slow to improve their time. 
 
 While they were thus engaged, John Coxe and his com- 
 rades, who were still lingering within a short distance, 
 as if unwilling to abandon every thing to their enemies or 
 perhaps wishing to witness what was done, so that if the 
 time of retribution should ever come, they might know 
 what to do, agreed that they would go back as near as they 
 could for salety, and while they kept themselves out of 
 harm's way, might be able to see what was doing; hut their 
 curiosity, or an over confidence in their own activity, led 
 
64 REVOLUTIONARY IJfCIDENTS. 
 
 them a little too far. Men who were engaged in a work so 
 atrocious and had made themselves so odious to the com- 
 munity, were obliged to be always on the lookout, and al- 
 ways prepared for any emergency. While the mo?t of 
 them were engaged in burning and plundering, a few were 
 off at a little distance, as sentiiiels, looking and Hstening in 
 every direction; and either hearing a noise, or getting a 
 glimpse ot these men, they gave Fanning notice. J nstantly 
 he and a few others mounted their horses, dashed oit in 
 pursuit, and soon overtook them. When they came in 
 sight, the three men tied in as many different directions; and 
 Fanning with one ot his men, pursued Jackson, who ran 
 towards the Juniper. The other man shot tirst and wounded 
 him in the back. Fanning then fired and broke his arm ; 
 but the ball passing throngh the arm, entered his body and 
 befell dead. Kobert Loe took a pathway up the ridge; 
 but St(?phen Walker, one of the most cruel and blood-thirsty 
 men in Fanning's whole corps, pursued him and, having 
 overtaken him about a mile from old Coxe's house brought 
 him back. Fanning ordered him to be shot, but as he 
 w^as not killed by the first fire, he pulled out his own pistol 
 and shot him dead. One ot the men followed John Coxe, 
 w^ho aimed for the low grounds of iVlcLinden's creek ; but 
 when his pursuer had got near enough to shoot and was 
 just in the act of shooting, his horse stumbled and fell to 
 the ground. By the time the horse had recovered suffi- 
 ciently to continue the pursuit, Coxe was out of sight; and 
 by this fortunate occurrence his life was saved, Robert 
 Loe had been one of Fanning's corps; but for some reason 
 or other, not known to the writer, he had left him and join- 
 ed the Whigs. Knowing Irom the character of Fanning, 
 what would be the consequence if he w^as ever taken, he 
 ought to have been more guarded and not to have put him- 
 self under the very paw of the lion, but he showed no more 
 rashness than was then common in the country; for such 
 is the effect of familiarity with danger that people become 
 reckless; and his fate was not very different from that of 
 many others. 
 
 According to the traditions of the country, this Stephen 
 Walker was a man of most unenviable notoriety, a perfect 
 ruffian, a cold blooded murderer, who had no feelings of 
 humanity, no sense of honor and no respect for moral 
 worth. Many years ago, I was told by an old man in 
 Randolph, that, making an excursion one night for the 
 
COL. DAVID FANNING. 65 
 
 purpose, he shot a Baptist preacher dead in his own house 
 in the presence of his family and when begging for his 
 life, without any sort of provocation or pretext, except 
 that the preacher was a Whig and had used his influence, 
 which was considerable, in favor of independence. This 
 is only a specimen of his atrocities ; and no wonder that 
 his name was a terror wherever it was known. 
 
 CAPTURE OF JAMES HARDING. 
 
 ^ If a man's character is tested by the presence of danger, 
 his wisdom is evinced by avoiding the stratagems and 
 counteracting the plans of his enemies. Both are neces- 
 sary in w^ar and especially in such a civil war as raged for 
 some lime in this country, when a man's foes were often 
 his nearest neighbors and sometimes even those of his 
 own house; nor is it easy to say which is the most impor- 
 tant or the most worthy of admiration. Sometimes, the 
 one is especially called for and sometimes the other; but we 
 teel the highest gratification, and are most hearty in our 
 commendation, when we find them both combined in the 
 same man. We had then many such in our country, of 
 every rank, from the commander-in-chief down to the 
 humblest citizen; and as every one ought to have the 
 credit which he deserves, when we find such a man, how- 
 ever humble his station, we take a pleasure in giving his 
 name to "the historic muse." Nine or ten years ago an 
 old gentleman who had spent all his life in the neighbor- 
 hood where the occurrence took, place, and who had some 
 recollection of those times, gave me in substance, the fol- 
 lowing account. There lived at this time, on the south 
 side of Deep river and near the mouth of Bear creek, a 
 man by the name of James Harding, who was a Whig 
 and a man of a fearless spirit, bold in his address, frank 
 in his manners and very prompt to use his tongue or his 
 hand as occasion required. Of course, he was^ the more 
 obnoxious to Fanning, who had sworn that, if he ever got 
 him in his power, he would take his life; and, being 
 aware of this, he was usually on his guard; but it so hap- 
 pened one day that a scouting party, when ranging through 
 the^ neighborhoor], unexpectedly came upon him ; and 
 taking him prisoner, carried him to head-quarters. He 
 showed no apprehension of consequences and no unwill- 
 
66 REVOLUTIONARY INCIDENTS. 
 
 ingness to go with them; but his captors were rather sur- 
 prised to tind him as sociable and pleasant as they could 
 wish. They expected nothing else, and they thought 
 that he could expect nothing else, than that he would be 
 put to death as soon as they got to camp, yet he was 
 serene and cheerful. 
 
 On entering the encampment, Fanning was much grat- 
 iiied with their success and with the thought that he now 
 had it in his power to exterminate one whom he regarded 
 as a hateful if not a formidable enemy. Harding, how- 
 ever, did not give him time to do any thing nor even to 
 say what he intended to do; for he knew all that before- 
 hand; but, walking up to him, with an air of perfect 
 nonchalance, took him by the hand with much apparent 
 cordiality and told him how glad he was of having an 
 opportunity of joining his standard. He told Fanning 
 that it had been his wish for some time to leave the 
 Whigs and come over to him; but that no opportunity 
 had occurred before of doing it with safety. Now he had 
 got there and he hoped he vrould not be a drone in the 
 camp. Fanning looked him full in the face all the time; 
 but notwithstanding his sagacity and his skill in reading 
 the countenances of people, he could detect no insincerity, 
 either in the tone- of his voice or the expression of the 
 eye. So w^ell did Harding act his part, and so complete 
 was the deception which he practised, that Fanning gave 
 him a friendly reception and a cordial w^elcome. From 
 the first, he made as free with the men in camp as if they 
 had been bosom friends and boon companions all their 
 life. He joked with them, eat and slept with them, and 
 in every respect, they were all Jack fellow alike. 
 
 By a similar course of familiarity and apparent frank- 
 ness, he effectually conciliated Fanning, w^ho laid aside 
 every thing like mistrust or reserve, and made him a 
 kind ot confident. In fact, from his known character for 
 boldness and enterprise, they all felt rather proud of the 
 fancied acquisition which the}^ had made; nothing was con- 
 cealed; aiul no suspicions were harbored. If his feelings 
 were harassed by the recitals of their murders and house- 
 burnings among the Whigs, he kept it to himself; and all 
 seemed to be perfectly smooth and right. Of the morals 
 and religious character of Harding we know nothing; but 
 whatever they were, he no doubt felt that he was in the 
 hands of a man who had little claim on him or any body 
 
COL. DAVID FANNING. 67 
 
 else tor trnth and fairness. He knew well that with such 
 a man as Fanning when the object of his sworn vengeance 
 was before him, an open, manly course would be certain 
 death ; and he probably thought that if he could foil him 
 with his own weapons, and by any stratagem effect his 
 destruction, or impair his strength, he would be dimin- 
 ishing the sufferings of his country and doing so much to 
 aid the triumph of freedom. 
 
 Accordingly, when he found that he had Fanning's con- 
 fidence, he remarked to him, as they were speaking of 
 some meditated excursion, that he could put him on a 
 plan by which he might capture a company of Whi^s on 
 the other side of the river, at the same time mentioning 
 what company it was, or who was the captain ; but he 
 said it would be necessary that he should go over first 
 and make the arrangements, by getting their consent to 
 meet him on a given night and at a particular ford on the 
 river, which was, of course, well known to Fanning ; when 
 he had made the arrangements he was to return to camp 
 and conduct them to the place. Fanning, pleased with 
 the proposal, give it his sanction; and, not suspecting any 
 trick or unfair play, mounted Harding and sent him off 
 with his usual benediction. When he met with his Whig 
 friends, he made an arrangement with them very different 
 from that which his Tory friends expected. They were 
 to lie in ambush on the next night and near a specified 
 ford on the river. A signal was agreed upon, which was 
 so simple as not Jo excite the suspicion of Fanning or his 
 men until Harding could get out of their reach; and, on 
 giving the vsignal, they were to rush upon their enemies. 
 The ford, being only a neighborhood ford, was a little 
 rocky and difiicult to cross. The banks were steep, espec- 
 ially the one on the north side; and the way was so narrow 
 that not more than two could ride abreast. Having made 
 his arrangements, he returned to head quarters and found 
 ail right. 
 
 His account of matters was satifactory, and at the proper 
 time they all set off. Fanning and Harding in front and 
 all in good spirits. They arrived at the river about the 
 appointed time and took the ford. Some had crossed 
 and were on level ground; some were plodding their way 
 among the rocks; and some were ascending the bank. 
 Harding then gave the signal and was answered by his 
 friends to let him know that they were there. At the 
 
68 BEVOLUTIOXARY INCIDENTS, 
 
 same instant he dashed toward them and fell into their 
 ranks, when they all rushed lorward and poured a heavy 
 lire on their deluded enemies. All was confusion, and for 
 a moment the utmost consternation prevailed. Such a 
 scene as followed can be better conceived than described; 
 and I shall leave it to the imagination of the reader. 
 Suffice it to saj that several were killed and a number 
 wounded. 
 
 Among the slain or mortally wounded, was Stephen 
 Walker, a man who was abhorred by every body except 
 Fanning and his party: and at whose death, at least all 
 the Whig community rejoiced. Fanning himself had 
 the good fortune to escape, and the greater part of his 
 corps; but he had never been so outwitted and discomfit- 
 ted before. He never had been so mistaken in his man, 
 nor so completely duped; and he never had met with any 
 thing in all the battles and rencontres in which he had 
 been engaged, at least since he had been a British Colonel, 
 that so mortilied his pride, or that so muchimparied his 
 military strength and his martial prowess. The precise 
 number of killed and wounded I did not learn; but I un- 
 derstood that the Whigs lost none. Fanning and his 
 party, I think, did not pretend to fi|:ht; for they were 
 overpowered by numbers and were taken at such a disad- 
 vantage, where there was no chance lor them all to get 
 together, and on ground where they could not possibly 
 form into any order, lor either an aggressive or a defensive 
 effort, all they could do was to seek safety by flight, and 
 find concealment in the surrounding darkness. 
 
 In reading anything of the narrative kind, it adds much 
 to the gratification when we can trace the order of events 
 and see the connection of one with another, but in this 
 and many other cases that cannot be done. Such have 
 been the peculiar circumstances of this country, that inci- 
 dents of the most interesting kind were lelt unrecorded 
 until the dates and all the peculiar circumstances are for- 
 gotten. My informant believed that the above trans- 
 action took place late in the fall of 1781; but his recollect- 
 ion was not so distinct that he could be certain. It has 
 been suggested to me that Harding made the arrange- 
 ment with Colonal Gholson; and that the Colonel killed 
 Walker with his ow^i hand; but of this I have as yet had 
 no reliable information. The main facts are believed to 
 be correct; and it is a matter of so much interest in itselt 
 
COL. DAVID FANNING. 69 
 
 we hope, that as Colonel Gholson's descendants are still 
 living, some in that region and some in the west, the cir- 
 cumstances will be more fully brought to light, and the 
 transaction be tairly represented. 
 
 EXCURSION UP DEEP RIVER. 
 
 The reader will no doubt feel surprised, as the writer 
 has done, to find that Fanning still kept the Held and 
 pursued his course of devastation with unabated zeal for 
 months after the cause in which he was engaged had be- 
 come desperate. After the British had left this state and 
 had been driven out of South Carolina; after the British 
 army under Cornwallis had surrendered at Yorktovvn, he 
 still maintained as bold a front as ever, and fought on 
 with an unyielding pertinacity. It seems strange, " 'tis 
 passing strange," that in view of all these circumstances 
 and when he had probably not more than twenty or thir- 
 ty men; when confidence was reviving in the breasts of 
 the patriots and when the paralysing effects of discour- 
 agement were pervading the ranks of the royalists, the 
 Whigs did not rally in sufficient numbers to cut him off 
 or capture him at once, and thus put an end to his murders 
 and devastations; but whether it was owing to the terror 
 of his name, or to the fact that they could not overtake 
 him, none of the companies, so far as I have heard, that 
 went down so often below Deep River to subdue the Scotch 
 ever encountered Fanning. This was not all; for we find 
 him at this time writing to Gov. Burke, with as great an 
 air of independence and conscious dignity as if he had 
 been Caesar or l^apoleon Bonaparte, and charging the Gov- 
 ernor with murdering three of his men, dictating terms 
 of peace and threatening to retaliate tenfold if reparation 
 w^ere not made and a stop put to proceedings. The oc- 
 casion of this singular correspondence may be learned 
 from the following communication of Judge Williams to 
 Governor Burke. 
 
 Hillshoro, 27th Jan., 1782. 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 :»t ***** * 
 
 During this term seven persons have been capitally con- 
 
70 REVOLUTIONARY INCIDENTS. 
 
 victed, to-wit. Samuel Poe, for burglary, Thomas Rick- 
 ets, Meredith Edwards, Thomas Eastridge, and Thomas 
 Darke for high treason; Thomas Duke and William Hunt 
 tor horse stealing. And as I suppose some application 
 may be made for mercy, I have thought proper to repre- 
 sent to your Excellency the true point of view in which 
 the several persons condemned stood before the court. 
 
 Thomas Darke, a captain ot Fanning's and one of his 
 right hand men, is the principal person convicted. He 
 has been very active and enterprising, and near as dange- 
 rous a person as Fanning himself, ynd from his proved 
 inhumanities and cruelties in cutting, hacking and wound- 
 ing his prisoners, had acquired among those ot his own 
 party, the name of "young Tarlton." 
 
 Thomas Rickets, though indicted of treason only, it is 
 hard to mention a crime of which he is not accused and I 
 have good reason to believe not wronglully, murder, 
 housebreaking, robbery &c., &c., are on the black list of 
 his crimes, to which is added a general bad character. 
 
 Meredith Edwards and Thomas Eastridge were also in- 
 dicted tor treason. They are both men who appeared to 
 be equally popular among the Tories, and very active, and 
 men of Fanning's gang, though generally kind and hu- 
 mane to prisoners while in their custody, and seemed 
 much to lament the fate of their particulr neighbors, whom 
 they had taken with Governor Burke, and to express 
 some uneasiness at seeing them in captivity. As to the 
 genera! moral character of these men, it seemed to be pret- 
 tv good, only great Tories — Eastridge from the commence- 
 ment of the times. 
 
 I have the honor to be, dear sir, 
 Your very obt' hum. servant, 
 John Williams. 
 
 From this it appears that several of Fanning's men had 
 been captured, when, where, or by whom, does not appear; 
 but after trial in the civil court, they had been found guilty 
 of the crimes laid to their charge. Summary justice was 
 then the order of the day, and three olthem had been ex- 
 ecuted. This provoked the wrath of Fanning, and gave 
 rise to the following very characteristic letter from him 
 to Governor Burke. 
 
COL. DAVID FANNING.* 71 
 
 Feb. 26ih, 1782. 
 
 Sir: — T understand that you have hung three of my 
 men, one Captain and two privates, and likewise have a 
 Capta.n and six men under sentence of death. 
 
 8ir, ifthe requisition of my articles do not arrive to 
 satisfaction, and the effusion of blood stops, and the Uves 
 of those men saved, that I \vill retaliate blood for blood, 
 and tenfold for one, and there shall never an officer or 
 private of the rebel party escape that falls into my hands 
 hereafter, but what shall suiter the pain and punishment of 
 instant death. I have got your proclamation, whereas 
 it specifies this, that all officers or leading men, persons of 
 this class guilty of murder, robbery, and house burning, 
 to be precluded from any benefits of your proclamation, 
 for there nev^er was a man who has been in arms on either 
 side, but what is guilty of some of the above mentioned 
 crimes, especially on the rebel side, and them that's guil- 
 ty is to suffer instant death, if taken. If my request agree- 
 ably to my articles ain't granted, and arrive by the eighth 
 day of March next, I shall fall upon the severest and most 
 inhuman terms imaginable to answer the ends for those 
 that are so executed, and if the request is granted imme- 
 diately, send a field officer to Deep river, to Mr Winsor 
 Pearce, and there he may remain unmolested, or to Colo- 
 nel Phelon Obstones,, under a flag, till we can settle the 
 matter. So no more, but 1 am in behalf of his majesty's 
 troops, 
 
 Your most humble servant, 
 
 David Fanning. 
 
 Commander of the Royal Militia of Randolph and 
 Chatham. 
 
 P. 8. On Friday, the 7th. of January last, I wrote to 
 Lawyer Williams the terms that I was willing to surren- 
 der under, and he wrote to me that General Butler would 
 not comply wdth my terms till he had the approbation of 
 the Governor. On Wednesday, the 11th iiist., the flag 
 was to meet me at a certain house with the letters, and as 
 the flag was coming it was waylaid by Charles GhoUon 
 and a party of men, from which it appeared to me that 
 they seemed more like taking my life by treachery than 
 coming upon peaceable terms; but as the gentleman that 
 hore the flag. Balsom Thompson, acting so honorable to 
 his trust, the moment he arrived at the place, he let me 
 know of it, and declared himself innocent, which gave me 
 
72 REVOLUTIONARY INCIDENTS. 
 
 grounds to think he would act with honor still. 
 
 On the 15th of the present, Mr. Williams, Mr. Clark, 
 and Mr. Barns, were the gentlemen that were kind enough 
 to wait upon me with a l>lank parole and letter, that my 
 request was granted by the Governor. In the meantime, 
 the gentlemen waiting on me at the place appointed, there 
 came around me a company of the Haw Fields, command- 
 ed by Captain Lerbe, which plainly and evidently appeared 
 to me that there was but treachery meant. On b^unday, 
 the 10th. of February, I fell in the rear of Captain Ghol- 
 son and Captain Hines, and following their trail, came on 
 them at dusk, and atter some tiring tiiat night, we rode 
 otf, and came on them next morning, and we came upon 
 terms of peace, till I could write to their superior, tor 
 which I have counselled with some of my officers, and we 
 joined hand and heart, to comply with the terms under- 
 neath written. 
 
 ''We, the subscribers, do acknowledge ourselves sub- 
 jects to the British Government, and as you are well assur- 
 ed of our fidelity and loyalty to his majesty, and has been 
 daily the case that we have been destroying one another's 
 persons aud property to uphold our opinions, and we are 
 hereby willing to come to a cessation of 'arms for three 
 months, on the conditio!) undt-rwritten. 
 
 Our request is, trom Cumberland, twenty miles north, 
 and thirty miles east and west, to be clear of any of your 
 light horse. And further, that every man that has been 
 in actual arms, in a permanent order, in order to estab- 
 lish a Royal Government excepting those that have de- 
 serted from a regular troop, who have voluntarily enlis- 
 ted themselves, them we do obligate to deliver up, and 
 each and every man that is at liberty, shall have a right to 
 withdraw^ in the said district, and that any persons living 
 in the said district that have been in actual arms in a per- 
 inanent manner to establish the Royal Government, that 
 we should at any request by writing to me or Major Reins, 
 have them apprehended and sent to any of the American 
 officers at or near the line. 
 
 That, if any of our men should go out of the line or dis- 
 trict, to plunder or distress or murder any of the Ameri- 
 can party, that we will, by information made to me or Ma- 
 jor Reins, or any of the Captains, that I shall return their 
 names. If their request is granted, that they shall imme- 
 diately be apprehended and sent to you or the next offi- 
 
OOL, DAVID FANNIN*i. 73 
 
 cer, to be tried bjyour own law: and if any of your party 
 shall be caugbt plunderinjr, stealing or murdering, or 
 going private paths with arms, signitying as it they were 
 fur mischief, to be left to our pleasure, to deal with as we 
 see cause agreeable to our laws. All public roads to be 
 free, by any army or company keeping the public roads, 
 or wagons. 
 
 That every person that has been in actual arms in a 
 permanent manner in order to estabUsh the Royal Gov- 
 ernment, shall not be interrupted of his arms or provi- 
 sions, and any person that has not been in arms as above 
 mentioned. If you should want provisions or any other 
 articles from them, to send to either of us, and we will 
 send a sufficient guard to see them safe in and out, the 
 Quakers excepted, and that we will not in the mean' time 
 distress or disturb any person abiding by your law on the 
 said district in their j)ersons or property. 
 
 All back phmder shall be void, as it is impossible to re- 
 place or restore all the plunder on either side. 
 
 Our request is to have a free trade to any part, with 
 wagons or horse back, with a pass from any appointed 
 officer for salt or iron, or any other necessary, and we ex- 
 i^ectthetwo Coxe's Mills to be free from all armies be- 
 longing to America. 
 
 Any man that has, been returned a Continental, without 
 taking the county, that has been in actual arms as above 
 written, shall return in the said District 
 
 If the request is granted above written, I should request 
 the liberty to send to Charleston to let them know what 
 we are about, and any request you should ask in reason, 
 I will petition for, and perhaps^a peace might be made for 
 a twelve month, or more' if you desire it. 
 
 It the request can't be granted, be pleased to let me 
 know as quick as possible, and if you don't like to comply 
 with our terms, send me an answer back immediately, that 
 we may know what to depend on. So, no more at present, 
 but we remain friends, in behalf of his Majesty's Troops. 
 Sir, we remain your faithful and humble servants, 
 
 David Fanning, Colonel, 
 John Reins, Major, 
 William Reins, Captain, 
 John Eagle, Captain, 
 William Price, Captain, 
 Jacob Maner, Ensign. 
 
74 HEVOLUTIONARY INCIDENTS. 
 
 We wonki not blame Fanning, nor any other man, when 
 honestly holding an office under the Royal Government, 
 for standing tirm in his place, and performing with all H- 
 delity the duties of the trust reposed in him, provided he 
 does it according to the rules of civilized and Christian 
 warfare ; but we would blame any one, Whig or Tory, for 
 violating all the principles of honor and humanity, and 
 for employing all his energies and resources, merely to 
 gratify the low spirit of malice and revenge. 
 
 Supposing that it might be gratifying to many of my 
 readers to see something of the judicial proceedings, and 
 of the summary manner in which justice was administered 
 during those troublous times, I Lave extracted from the 
 records of the circuit court in Hillsboro' the account of 
 the sentence passed upon the three of Fanning's men, 
 mentioned above, and and one or two others. 
 
 At a Court of Sessions of the Peace, Oyer and Terminer, 
 (general Gaol delivery begun and held tor the district of 
 Hillsboro' at Hillsboro' on Thursday the Seventeenth Day 
 of January, Anno Dom, 1782, pursuant to a commission 
 issued by the Governor for the time being; bearing date 
 the 19th day of December, 1781, which commission for 
 holding said Court was read, &c. 
 
 Present the Honorable John Williams, Esquire. 
 
 Saturday^ January 26th, 1782. 
 
 **The Court met according to adjournment, Present 
 the Honorable John Williams, Esquire. 
 
 Samuel Poe, Indicted and Convicted of Burglary. 
 Thomas Rickets, Indicted and Convicted of High Treason. 
 Meredith Edwards, Indicted and Convicted of High Treason, 
 Thomas Estridge. Indicted and Convicted of High Treason. 
 Thomas Dark, Indicted and Convicted of High Treason. 
 
 William Duke, and i i i- . j j ^ • ^ j r tj e.. t 
 
 Thomas Hunt \ Indicted and Convicted of Horse Stealing. 
 
 Being brought into Court and to the Bar, received the fol- 
 lowing sentence. That you the said Samuel Poe, Thomas 
 Rickets, Meredith Edwards, Thomas Estridge, Thomas 
 Dark, William Duke and Thomas Hunt, and each of you, 
 be taken from thence to the place whence you came, and 
 from thence to the place of execution, and there be hung 
 by the neck and each of your necks until you are dead. 
 
COL, DAVID FANNIKG. 75 
 
 Ordered that the Sherift'of the County of Orange, or for 
 want of such oliicer, the Coroner of the said county, carry 
 into execution the above sentence of the Court, in the fol- 
 lowing manner, that is to say, the sentence against Samuel 
 Poe, Thomas Rickets and Thomas Dark, on Friday the 
 first day of February next, between the hours ot Eleven 
 o'clock in the forenoon, and two o'clock in the after- 
 noon. 
 
 And the sentence of Meredith Edwards, Thomas Est- 
 ridge, William Duke and Thomas Hunt, be carried into 
 execution on the tirst day of March next, between the 
 hours of eleven o'clock in the forenoon and two o'clock in 
 the afternoon. 
 
 It being recommended to the Court, that the estate of 
 Thomas Estridge, (who this Term was con/iemned for 
 high treason,) consisting of the tbllowing articles, to wit: 
 pork of hogs, eight cows and one mare, seized and in pos- 
 session of C.jlonel Benjamin Seaweli, of Franklin county; 
 also a small quantity of house hold furniture. 
 
 Ordered by the Court, that the above articles be assign- 
 ed to the wife of the said Thomas Estridge, for the main- 
 tenance ot said wife and famiiy; and that a copy of this 
 order be transmitted to the said Colonel Seaweli, or Com- 
 missioner of confiscated property, of said county ot Frank- 
 lin. 
 
 Ordered that the following articles of the estate of 
 Thomas Dark, (who this term was condemned for high 
 Treason,) to wit four head cattle, two horses, one mare, 
 and some household furniture, be assigned to the wife ol 
 the said Thomas Dark, for the maintenance of the said 
 wife and family. 
 
 Ordered that ane cow and bed -jfthe estate ot Thomas 
 Rickets, fwho in this Court was condemned for high Trea- 
 son,) be assigned to the wife of the said Thomas Kickets, 
 for the support of said wife and fatnily. 
 
 (Teste) A Tatom, 
 
 Clk. Pro. Tern, 
 
 The threat in the above communication, which is cop- 
 ied from the University Magazine, seems to have been ful- 
 filled with too much punctuality, and from that time he 
 appears to have become more desperate than ever. Among 
 civilized and Christian nations, especially for the last two 
 or three generations, no class of men make greater preten- 
 
76 REVOLUTIONARY INCIDENTS. 
 
 tions to those feelings of humanity and those gencrons im- 
 pulses which prompt them to spare the fallen and to ]>ro- 
 tect the feehle, than the officers of an army; and an officer 
 of rank and character could not bring on himself a greater 
 reproach than by wanton cruelty to a surrendered toe, to 
 the aged and inlirm, or to women and children. The sexes, 
 however much they may envy and malign, hate and de- 
 stroy their own, are generally chary of each other, and 
 the man who, can deliberately take the lite ot a woman is 
 universally regarded as a maniac or a monster. Probably 
 every man of true courage and manliness, it he must die a 
 violent death, would prefer to be killed by a savage, a 
 lion, or a tiger, a reptile, an insect, or any thing in the 
 w^orld rather than by a woman; for before such an act 
 could be committed, he must have done somthing which 
 w^as beyond all human endurance, or she must have been 
 by some blighting influence, so divested ot all the kind 
 and noble qualities other nature as to have no longer any 
 moral or social affinity with her race. All men ot honor- 
 able feelings respect a virtuous woman, especially if she is 
 a wife or a mother; and she must have a fiendish or a 
 swinish nature who can corrupt the pure or revel with the 
 vile; but Fanning had no such refined feelings and no 
 such sense ot honor. Though a British Colonel and in 
 correspondence with British officers of high standing, nei- 
 ther promotion in the service of the King, nor converse 
 with men of better principles, could revolutionize his mor- 
 al nature nor bring him under the habitual control of 
 more generous and lofty sentiments. 
 
 During this period, though a married man, he succeed- 
 ed in seducing the wife of a Whig, in the absence of ler 
 husband, and, after keeping her for a short time, he mur- 
 dered her in cold blood. On meeting her at their place 
 of assignation, which w^as in the woods aiid not very far 
 from the house, he pretended to be jealous of her and 
 charged her with the want of fidelity. She denied in the 
 most solemn manner, that there was any foundation for 
 the charge, and declared that since she had taken up with 
 him she had not thought of any other; but it was of no 
 avail. He had accomplished his purpose and wanted to get 
 clear of her. He pulled out his pistol, therefore, and shot 
 her dead on the s|)Ot, when on her knees and begging for 
 her life. I got this incidont from a gentleman of rnuch 
 intelligence in that region, who has felt great interest in 
 
COL. DAVID FANNING. 77 
 
 gathering lip the incidents ot the Revolutionary war ; and 
 be told me that, horrid as it was, there was do doubt of 
 the tact. 
 
 An act of such perfidy, baseness and cruelty, caused a 
 coldness ever after, between Fanning and his brother in- 
 law, William Kerr, whose sister he had married; and al- 
 though some correspondence was kept up between them 
 occasionally, while they both lived, it was neither frequent 
 nor cordial. Kerr is reported to have been a man 
 of more humanity and more honorable feelings than al- 
 most an}^ other in the corps; and he resented it, not only 
 for the immorality of the act, and on his sister's account 
 but for the atrocit}^ of tbe deed. He soon after left the 
 service, and there never was any harmonious or friendly 
 intercourse between them afterwards. It is said that 
 Fanning made other attempts ot the kind; but so far as 
 any reliable accounts are known, this was the only case 
 in which he succeeded. When we think of those times 
 with all their perils and sufferings thus spread out before 
 us, with the reports of their atrocities and abominations 
 still ringing in our ears, with the light of Christianity shi- 
 ning around us in so much purity and brightness, and 
 with all the blessings of peace and tranquility, freedom 
 and civilization, flowing in upon us from every side, and 
 in such increasing exuberance, we are made to feel that 
 we need no friendly monitor to keep us in mind of our 
 obligations, and no homily to make us pray with all the 
 fervor of which we are capable, that such times may nev- 
 er return. 
 
 The two following incidents are copied from the Uni- 
 versity Magazine, *' William Lindley was one of Fan- 
 ning's favorite friends and one of his captains. He was 
 a respectable man and beloved by his neighbors, and 
 took no part in Fanning's cruelties. Towards the close 
 of the war, when the Tories began to think that the 
 cause of Independence would eventually triumph, Lind- 
 ley, with many other of the Tories, thought it prudent to 
 leave the part of the country where they were known and 
 retire to distant parts. Lindley crossed the Blue Eidge 
 and determined to remain on Xew river until the fate of 
 the war was determined. During his command under 
 Fanning, he had given some offence to William White 
 and John Magaharty, two of the Tories belonging to 
 Fanning's party. They pursued Lindley and killed him. 
 
78 REVOLUTIOXARY INCIDENTS. 
 
 Upon their return, Fanning, having heard ot the murder 
 of his friend, resolved to hang them as soon as he could 
 apprehend them. In a little time White and Magaharty 
 fell into his hands, and he hanged them together on the 
 same limb." .^ 
 
 "White's wite was pregnant. He gave her a particu- 
 lar account of the murder of Lindley, describing the 
 wounds on his head and the loss of the fingers of one of 
 his hands, which were cut off by the sword in his attempt 
 to save his head from the blow. The story made such an 
 impression upon White's wife, that her child, when born, 
 exhibited a remarkable appearance, had marks on its 
 head, and the fingers of one hand were declared by the 
 mother to be precisely such as White iiad described to 
 her to have been those of Lindley." 
 
 For the following letter I am indebted to Gov. Swain; 
 and give it to the reader as illustrative of the state of things 
 then existing in the country. It was addressed to Gener- 
 al Butler by Col. O'Xeal, a man who, according to the tes- 
 timony of his neighbors, loved to keep up appearances, 
 hut never fought in one battle, nor exposed himself to the 
 fire of an enemy, and never did anything in the cause of 
 Independence, except to receive pay for nominal services 
 and take advantage of his office as Colonel to extort upon 
 the people of his district. Such men are to be found eve- 
 rywhere and in the most trying times, men who have 
 neither courage, nor patriotism, nor generosity, and who 
 are so cowardly or so avaricious as to be intent on their 
 gains even when their countrymen around them are suff- 
 ering and struggling for freedom. If Colonel O'Neal, 
 with the men who were under his command and whom he 
 could, at any time, summon to his standard, had been out 
 bravely opposing that notorious freebooter. Col. Fanning 
 he would have done better service to his country than by 
 writing such a puff at his fireside; but a man of this de- 
 scription may tell the truth, especially when telling it may 
 help to keep him in countenance: and therefore we sub- 
 mit this letter to the reader's perusal. 
 
 To General Butler. 
 
 March 1st, 1782. 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 I had an opportunity of seeing Doctor Boyd yesterday. 
 He informs me that he saw Captain Hanly who informed 
 him that he was in action with Fanning, twelve surprised 
 
COL. DAVID FANNING. 79 
 
 eighteen, killed six and took three prisoners and a negro, 
 the Conjuror. 
 
 Lieutenant Davie who had a very fine mare was ap- 
 pointed to take Fanning in case he ran. Fanning got 
 about forty ^-ards the start of him, but came within four 
 rods in riding tive miles. After the mare failed and Fan- 
 ning cleared himself, but I expect he is Taken now. 
 
 I hope, Sir, that if there is any new particulars, in your 
 letter you will let me know as I am very fond of good news. 
 I am Sir, 
 
 your friend and humble serv't. 
 WM. O'NEAL. 
 
 As an evidence of the strong and universal detestation 
 in which his character and conduct were held, he was ex- 
 cepted in every treaty and every enactment that was made 
 in favor of the royalists. "Sabine, in his lives of the loy- 
 alists, states that when General Marion came to terms 
 with Major Gainey, and conceded to him the privileges of 
 the ''neutral ground", Fanning was expressly excepted 
 from the arrangement. He was one of only three persons 
 excluded by name from all benefits under the general "Act 
 of Pardon and Oblivion" of oflTences committed during the 
 Revolution. [Passed in 1788, Chapter VL Section 8.] 
 
 While his confederates, Colonels Hector McNeill and 
 Duncan Ray, though their operations, when acting sepa- 
 rately, were confined to the intermediate region between 
 the Cape Fear and Peedee rivers, when pressed, they 
 found safe refuge in the Raft Swamp, the neighboring mo- 
 rasses, and occasionally in the "neutral ground" in South 
 Carolina, wdiich the necessities of his position compelled 
 General Marion, to accord to Major Gainey when he sur- 
 rendered," but Fanning was expressly excluded from 
 this privilege, and his operations were confined, for the 
 most part, to the upper country. 
 
 On the same day tbey overtook a young man by the 
 name of Daniel Clii'ton, who had been on a visit to some of 
 his relations, who lived on the Peedee, and was returning 
 to his home in Virginia. They took him as a prisoner; 
 and passing by the same tree on which Fanning had 
 hanged White and Magaherty, they halted for a few min- 
 utes, and hanged Clifton on the same limb." 
 
 About the time the foregoing letter was written, and 
 for some wrecks after, a state of suffering and distress ex- 
 
80 REVOLUTIONARY INCIDENTS. 
 
 isted in Randolph county, especially in the upper parts of 
 it, which can be hardly conceived. Many of the most 
 respectable men in the country, prominent Whigs, who 
 had been active in the cause, and a number of peaceable, 
 inoffensive men, who had taken no active part on either 
 side, were murdered in the most shocking manner. 
 Houses and barns were burned with everything they con- 
 tained. Provisions, bedding and comforts of every kind 
 were destroyed ; and man}- families hitherto in affluent 
 circumstances, were left to beggar\^ or absolute starvation. 
 All this was done from an insatiable spirit of revenge, 
 and notfhmi any hope of maintaining his ground, or of 
 materially aiding the British cause; for at this time, the 
 spring of 1782, the British had been driven from the 
 country; the great mass of the Tories had been complete- 
 ly subdued, and all hope of success had vanished. The 
 reader will now recollect Fanning's letter to Governor 
 Burke, in which he made the bold independant threat, 
 that if the execution of his men who had been apprehend- 
 ed, and were then under sentence of death, was not stop- 
 ped, he would retaliate "ten fold for one", and that ''no 
 officer or private of the rebel party," who might fall into 
 his hands hereafter, should escape instant death. Know- 
 ing the spiteful, reckless and daring character of Fan- 
 ning, the Governor ought, at once to have sent a detach- 
 ment into that region,, sufficient to capture liim forth- 
 with, or drive him out of the countrj-; but probably he 
 had it not in his power, or did not apprehend that, as his 
 number of men was now considerably reduced, lie would 
 be able to fulfil his threats. It would not, however, 
 be difficult, even at this late day, to show that he did lit- 
 erally, if not more than literally, fulfil it; and it is said 
 that some monuments of his atrocities may yet be seen. 
 He made only one excursion into the north-west portion 
 of Randolph county; but that was one of Saracen fury and 
 most terrible destruction. For a fuller account of this 
 excursion than I had previously obtained, I am indebted 
 to George C. Mendenhall, Esquire, who at my request, 
 very promptly and kindly undertook to obtain all the facts 
 he could from Isaac Farlow, a respectable member of the 
 Quaker society, who is now an old man, in the eighty- 
 seventh year of his age, but«eems to retain all his faculties 
 unimpaired, He lives on Deep river, just in the neigh- 
 borhood where many of these atrocities were committed, 
 
COL. DAVID FANNING. 81 
 
 and well recollects all that he saw or heard. From his 
 statements I have been able to trace the sequence ofevents 
 better than in any previous accounts that 1 had received; 
 and he gives some additional tacts of considerable interest. 
 To converse with such a man is like being carried back to 
 those days, and set down amidst the very scenes of deso- 
 lation and wretchedness, as they actually existed. 
 
 The lirst victim of his revenge, or the tirst one of any 
 note, was Colonel Andrew Balfour, who lived in the 
 south west part of Randolph county, and about ten miles 
 from Ashboro'. Only two years before he had represen- 
 ted the county in the Legislature, and was much esteemed 
 in the neighborhood. He was a man of intelligence 
 and public spirit, highly patriotic, liberal in his views and 
 of an irreproachable character. He was at the time just 
 recovering from an attack of sickness, and was unable ei- 
 ther to fight or make his escape; but when he had his 
 passions excited or was burning with revenge. Fanning 
 knew no pity. His enemy was in his power and that was 
 enough. He had before plundered Balfour's house, in his 
 absence, and had now come to take his life, which he did 
 in the most barbarous and shocking manner, in the pres- 
 ence of his sister and little daughter, eight or nine years 
 ot age, who were both trampled upon and treated with 
 savage barbarity. This was on Sunday, March 10th, 1782, 
 and was, certainly one of the most base and cruel deeds 
 of his bloody carccsr. Some of the descendants of that lit- 
 tle daughter are now among our most estimable and use- 
 ful citizens; but we will give a fuller account of Colonel 
 Balfour and of his tragical end, in a separate article. 
 
 From this scene of cruelty and bloodshed they went to 
 the house of William Milliken, Esq., who lived'^on Back 
 creek, about two miles south of Johnsonville or the old 
 cross roads. As Milliken was not at home tbey burned all 
 his buildings, and destroyed every thing they could. On 
 going to a house, if he got the man and took his life, he 
 never burned the house nor destroyed any other property, 
 except perhaps to take just what grain or provisions they 
 needed at the time; but if he failed to get the man, he then 
 destroyed everything he could and seemed to delight in 
 causing as much distress to the family as possible. While 
 Milliken's house was on fire, as Farlow stdtes,his Avife Jane, 
 carried out a favorite feather bed; but they carried it back 
 and threw it on the fire. When the bed began to burn, they 
 
82 RE^'OLUTIONARY INCIDENTS. 
 
 twisted a stick into the feathers and scattered them over 
 the house. When the blazing leathers as they ^ew in ev- 
 ery direction through the rooms, caught in a large bundle 
 of yarn, which being on the wall, they only taunted Mrs. 
 Milliken, and said, "Look at your yarn, old woman." On 
 leaving Milliken 's, the}^ compelled his son Benjamin and 
 a 3'oung man b}' the name ot Joshua Lowe to go along and 
 pilot them to the house of Col. John Collins, where he 
 met with a disappointment; for Collins was not at home, 
 but they burned his house. 
 
 He next went to the house of Colonel John Collier, who 
 was the Senator for Randolph county, and in other respects 
 a prominent man. He had been appointed County Sur-_ 
 veyor, but either being u'nacquainted with the business 
 himself, or not having time for it, he had brought a young 
 man, by the name of William Clarke, from Virginia, to 
 do the surveying. Clarke soon found where the vacant 
 lands lay and entered them. Frequently he entered lands 
 on which people were living, but whether with good title 
 deeds or not I have not learned; but this seems to have 
 been done chiefly with those who were regarded as Tories, 
 or who were not on the Whig side, and perhaps with such 
 as he thought could be frightened into measures. After 
 awhile he employed Ralph Lowe, and a man by the name 
 of Linden, to sell these lands for him. "JS'athan Farlow" 
 says my informant, "had to pay a fat steer and some gold 
 for his land;" but in process of time, Xathan Farlow own- 
 ed all the lands of these men and he himself, Isaac Farlow, 
 now lives on the Lowe land. It was believed by the suf- 
 ferers that these things were done by Collier's connivance, 
 if not by his express direction; and while his prominence 
 as a Whig made him a special object of Fanning's ven- 
 geance, he had incured, justly or unjustly, the ill will of all 
 that class in the neighborhood, and probably in the whole 
 or a large part of the county. 
 
 On the night of Fanning's attack, he was at home, and 
 asleep; but being well aware that he ran a considerable 
 risk in doing so, before he lay down he placed a young 
 man by the name of Benjamin Fincher, as sentinel, on a 
 pile of rails, at the distance of a few rods from the house, 
 and left his horse tied near the door, \vhere he had fed him 
 in a hominy mortar, probably with the saddle on and ready 
 to be mounted at a moment's warning. As the assailants 
 approached, and Fincher hailed them, Faaning made his 
 
COL, DAVID FANNING. 83 
 
 two Whig pilots, Miliken and Lowe, answer that they 
 were friends. Becoming more and more uneasy as they 
 approached so mysteriously, he kept hailing them, and 
 they kept answering that they were friends until they got 
 pretty near, when two guns were fired at him ; but having 
 on a strong, tight vest, the balls glanced and did him no 
 serious injury. My informant, Isaac Farlow, saw Finchcr 
 the next day, and the marks of the bullets on the vest. 
 "When they tired on Fincher, he hopped off the rail pile, 
 and ran for life, leaving his musket behind him. The fir- 
 ing roused Colonel Collier, and springing instantly to his 
 feet, cried out, "Parade! parade! boys, parade!" Such 
 a command, uttered with so much boldness, and by a 
 man of his standing and inftuence, made Fanning pause 
 for a moment, and this allowed Collier time to mount his 
 horse and escape; but the house was burned and the prem- 
 ises made a scene of utter desolation. He lived about 
 three miles from Bell's mill, and in a south-west direction. 
 He went the same night to the house of Captain John 
 Bryant, who lived about half a mile from New Market, 
 and on the place notv owned and occupied by Joseph 
 ]S'ewland ; but missed his way and went to the house of 
 Stephen Harlin, who was a Quaker, if I mistake not, or at 
 least an inoffensive kind of a man. Fanning did not mo- 
 lest him ; but compelled two of his daughters, Betsj^ and 
 Elsy, to go along and show him the way to Bryant's 
 house. On riding up they first enquired for the man of 
 the house, and were told that he was tending Walker's 
 mill, on Sandy creek, when one of them exclaimed with 
 an oath, ''Here is Walker, now." They then began en- 
 quiring who lived in this direction and who lived in that 
 direction, until Bryant w^as named, when they said that was 
 the place to which they wished to go, and made these two 
 daughters of Walker's miller get up behind and go along 
 as pilots. When they came up they made a rush against 
 the door to burst it open, but it was fast barred. The 
 noise waked Bryant, however, and he asked "Who is 
 there?" They answered. Colonel Fanning, and asked 
 him to open the door. He told them to wait till he got 
 his breeches on; but they damned him and his breeches 
 too. He, Bryant, called a young man who was in the 
 house, to get up, but he thought it was all a jest when 
 they told him that Fanning was there. They called up- 
 pn him to surrender ; and when he asked them what they 
 
84 REVOLUTIONARY INCIDEXTS. 
 
 would do with him if he did surrender, they answered 
 that they would jxtrole him, but he replied, ''Damn 
 you and your parole too. I have had one, and I will nev- 
 er take another." Fannino^ then spoke, and said, ''My 
 life for his, if Walker don'f kill him." The Miss Harlins, 
 whom they had brought along as pilots, entreated him to 
 surrender, assuring him that Fanning was there ; but not 
 it, he cursed Fanning and tbe whole of them. He opened 
 the door a little way to admit the girls, and one of them 
 started to go in ; but Walker caught her by the dress and 
 pulled her back, swearing that she was going in to pro- 
 tect Bryant. Bryant seems to have been a brave hut 
 reckless kind of a man. After holding out as long as he 
 could, he opened the door, and going out on the step, 
 said, "Gentlemen, I surrender;" but instantly he was shot 
 down, and fell back against his wife, who was standing 
 just behind him. As she was raising him up, another of 
 the company stepped forward and shot him in the eye. 
 Fanning then threatened death to any one who should 
 give the alarm before daylight ; but, according to his cus- 
 tom, as he had killed the man he was aiter, he destroyed 
 no property and did no further damage. As he probably 
 felt a little Avearied aft^r so many labors, he lay down in 
 the cradle, and after rocking himself there very comforta- 
 bly for some time, while the rest were sauntering about, 
 thty all gathered up and went off in quest of other vic- 
 tims. 
 
 As soon as they were gone, Richard Isaacs, who lived 
 at Bryants, went over to Farlow's and told them what 
 had been done. He and his wife, Ruth, went over to 
 Bryant's before daylight ; but Nathan stopped at some 
 distance from the house until he ascertained whether he 
 could go with safety. His wife on entering the house, 
 found the dead body of Bryant lying on the door sill, 
 with the head inside and the legs and feet outside. What 
 had become of Mrs. Bryant and the children, in the mean- 
 time, — Avhether they had been driven away or frighten- 
 ed away by the ruffians, or finding that they could do 
 nothing with it, after Isaacs left, they were letting it lie 
 until some of the neighbors would come in, and Avere giv- 
 ing vent to their grief, I have not learned ; — but, by day- 
 light, N^athan Farlow and his wife had the corpse laid out. 
 At sunrise, Isaac Farl jw, my informant, went over him- 
 self, and saw the body and the two bullet holes. The first 
 
COL. DAVID FANNING. 85 
 
 hall had entered his hreast and the other his head; but nei- 
 ther of them had passed through him. Br^^ant was a dar- 
 ing, tearless kind of a man. An old friend in that neigh- 
 borhood told me that he could have made his ese*ipe from 
 the back door, if he had done it as soon as the alarm was 
 given ; but that he scorned to run from his enemies, and 
 did not surrender untii he found they were about set- 
 ting tire to the house. When he cursed them and their pa- 
 role too, they told him in language which vrould then have 
 been understood an}- where, that they would "parole hira 
 the near way to Georgia^'' and, going to some ''log heaps" 
 which were burning in a field, not far from the house, 
 they got a "chunk" or brand for the purpose of burning 
 the house, with all that it contained. Seeing that they 
 were determined on his death, and rather than let his 
 wife and children be burned up in the house with him, he 
 opened the door, went out on the step and offered to sur- 
 render, but was instantly shot down. 
 
 After Fanning and his troop had left Bryant's some- 
 thing like an hour, they returned and enquired the way to 
 Colonel Dougan's house. They burned his house with all 
 the buildings on the premises, and destroyed everything 
 they could. After leaving Dougan's, and in the course of 
 the same day, they captured a AVhig and hung him on 
 the spot. The AVhigs had, some time before, hung a Tory, 
 b}^ the name of Isaac Jackson, on the limb of a tree which 
 stood by a shoft turn in the road near Brower's and 
 Spinks' ; and Fanning had sworn that he would hang five 
 Whigs on the same limb for every Tory the Whigs hung ; 
 but, old Friend Farlow says they mistook the limb and 
 hung him on a limb close by the one on which the Tory 
 had "been hanged ; for he knew both the limbs. They 
 cut a notch on the limb on which they hung the Whig, 
 using it as a talley, and intending to cut an additional 
 notch for every W'hig they hung on it until their number 
 was complete; but fortunately for the country, he was 
 disappointed lor this proved to be his first and last visit 
 into that neighborhood. 
 
 During this expedition up Deep river, w^hich included 
 some three or four days, a little incident occurred which, 
 though of sa)all importance in itself, was rather amusing 
 than" otherwise, and showed the terror of his name, of 
 which old Friend Farlow gives the following account. 
 
 A troop of Light-horse, from the foot of the Blue 
 
86 REVOLUTIONARY INCIDENTS. 
 
 Eidge, or what was then called the Hollows, in Surry 
 county, came down Deep river into the Coxes' settlement, 
 on the hunt of Fanning, and after giving him a chase, as 
 they said, in the morning, but without success, they load- 
 ed themselves with plunder tVom the settlers of the neigh- 
 borhood, such as knives and forks, plates, spoons, &c. 
 Having done so, they set off on their return, Iir^aac Far- 
 low says, and came as far as his uncle George Farlow's, 
 who was then living in a cabin on the road-side, with a 
 small lot enclosed around it. The house stood on the 
 east bank of Web's creek, about three or four miles east 
 from the present town of Ashboro', and is now owned by 
 Joseph Cannon. When the party came opposite to the 
 house, Farlow was standing in the door, and one of the 
 men presented his gun as it about to shoot, but another 
 stopped him and told him not to shoot, for that was the 
 man of the house. Here they halted, sitting on their 
 horses, and gave an account ot their adventure in the 
 morning, stating that they had been in pursuit of 
 Fanning that they had given him a hard chase, but 
 without success, and that they were making great 
 boast of what they would do if they could only get a 
 chance at him, when one of them happened to turn his 
 eye down the road and exclaimed, with an oath, ''Yonder 
 is Fanning now." Instantly they dashed olf, down the 
 hill, which was very steep, and into the creek, all huddled 
 up together. Farlow said there was such a blaze of lire 
 from the guns of Fanning's men, as they passed tlie door 
 that he thought the others must have been all killed ; but 
 not much execution was done. When the mountain par- 
 ty got out of the creek, they left the road and took into 
 the woods, towards the place where Ashboro' now stands, 
 and Fanning's party in hot pursuit. It w^as neck or nought, 
 and they fled for life, throwing away every incumbrance 
 and strewing their plunder, knives and forks, plates, 
 spoons, and everything else, all through the woods. In a 
 short time Fanning returned, bringing a prisoner with him, 
 who was badly wounded, and stating that they had killed 
 one man in the woods, over the creek : but, on search be- 
 ing made by the neighbors he was not found. Fanning 
 left the wounded man in the care of Farlow, and told 
 him, rather sarcastically, that when he got well, he would 
 be on the hunt of him again ; but the wounded man very 
 humbly protested that he never would. Fanning then 
 
COL. DAVID FANNING. 87 
 
 returned and in the direction from which he came while 
 in pursuit of the mountaineers, and before he had over- 
 taken them, he met Stephen Mendenhall and his wife; rid- 
 ing two very good horses, and, as some of his horses 
 were failing, he made them exchange, but told them to 
 stay there" until he returned. They did so ; and, on his 
 return, he gave them bacK their own horses. 
 
 A troop of Whigs was instantly raised, headed by John 
 Clarke, and went "in pursuit. Clarke was a man of as 
 much daring courage and energy of character as Fanning 
 himself, buf had not as much stratagem nor adroitness in 
 the execution of his plans. Captain John Gillespie, hav- 
 ing probably been sent for, came down with his company 
 from Guilford and joined them. Gillespie feared no man 
 and would have gloried in meeting this enemy of his 
 country. Fanning "and his corps had not lett the place ot 
 execution more than a few minutes when this troop ot 
 Whigs, under the command or leadership of John Clarke, 
 came in sight A few of Fanning's men it seems had de- 
 layed a little, and having cut down the corpse, were doing 
 something about it, either by way of preparation for bu- 
 rying it, or more probably, they were robbing it, of what- 
 ever" money, clothes or " anything else which the man 
 had about him that was worth carrying away. While thus 
 emploved the Whigs came in sight, and they fled. There 
 was a hot pursuit; but the Tories^, having the fleetest horses, 
 all made their escape except one who was overtaken by 
 John Dugan, and John Clarke. Dugan's gun or pistol snap- 
 ped, but Clarke shot and probably inflicted a slight 
 wound. The Tory fell to the ground and lay there and 
 made pretence that he was just breathing his last. Being 
 deceived by appearances and wishing to overtake the 
 rest if possible, they left him, as they supposed, in his 
 last agonies ; but as soon as they were out of sight, he 
 jumped up and rejoicing at the success of his stratagem, 
 ran for dear life. 
 
 From this time until he left the State, I have been able 
 to get no consistent or satisfactory account ; but it was 
 probably soon after the transactions above related, that 
 he was so befooled by James Harding; for his right-hand 
 man, the bloody Walker, was killed or mortally wounded 
 on that occasion ; but he was with Fanning on this bloody 
 excursion up the river. It is known however that he 
 continued his murders and depredations for some weeks, 
 
88 REVOLUTIONARY INCIDEXTS. 
 
 probably two mouths longer and with a viraleuce increas- 
 ing in proportion as his fortunes became desperate. Many 
 of his men left him and went to the mountains or other 
 places where they would be beyond the reach of law and 
 the vengeance of the other party ; but a number adhered 
 to him until the last, with alirmness and a zeal worthy ota 
 better cause. We presume that it was on their return from 
 their murderuus and dev^astatmg excursion up Deep river 
 that they went to Bell's mill and made an attack upon his 
 house in the night; but were frightened away by a well- 
 managed stratagem of Airs. Bell, a fuller account of which 
 will be given in a separate sketch of her character, sut- 
 ienngs and patriotic services during the war. 
 
 CAPTURE OF ANDREW HUNTER. 
 
 Ever^'body in the whole country has, prol)ably, heard 
 something about the capture ot Andrew Hunter by Fan- 
 ning; and of his singular and almost miraculous escape. 
 The incident was one of the last in Manning's career; and 
 the account of it here given, is taken in part trom Judge 
 Murphy's papers as published in the University Magazine 
 and parti}' from other sources. 
 
 It seems that Hunter was a Whig, and lived on the wa- 
 ters of Little river, inthe south or south-west part of Ran- 
 dolph county. In addition to the well known fact that 
 he was a Whig, and a decided advocate of independence, 
 he had made some remarks about Fanning, which hav- 
 ing come to his ears, had so excited his wrath, that he 
 had sworn to take Hunter's life, if he ever got him in his 
 power. When Hunter and John Latham, one ot his 
 neighbors, were going with a cart to market, on Pedee, 
 for the purpose ot getting salt and some other necessaries 
 for their families, they saw |Fanning and his corps ap- 
 proaching. Latham was walking beside the liorse, and 
 Hunter was riding in the cart. He was well aware of 
 Fanning's purpose to take his life and he knew that it 
 would be perfectly useless for him to think of escaping 
 on foot through the open pine woods. As the only thing 
 in his power, he covered himself up as well as he could 
 in the cart, and left the rest to an all-wise Providence. 
 When Fanning came up he stopped the cart, and asked 
 Latham where he was going. He said he was going to 
 
COL. DAVID FANNING. 89 
 
 such a place on the Pedee to get salt and some other nec- 
 essaries. "What have you iu your cart?" Some flax- 
 seed, beeswax &c." "Have you any thing to eat?" La- 
 tham told him that be had a little, but he hoped they 
 would not take it from him, as it was very difficult to 
 get any thing on that road. Fanning swore he didn't 
 care tor that; and, as they were hungry, they would have 
 it. He then dismounted and entered the front end of the 
 cart to search for provision; but, at the first haul, he un- 
 cov^ered Hunter, and exclaimed, with a kind of malignant 
 joy, -'Ah you interna! rascal — I havegotyou now. Come 
 out here, and be saying your prayers as fast as you can; 
 for you have very few minutes to hve." Hunter obeyed 
 of course; and Fanning, in a minute or two brought out 
 the provisions. 
 
 It was Fanning's design to dispose of Hunter at once 
 and was giving his orders to that eitect; but some of his 
 men remarked to him that, as they were very hungry, 
 they had better eat first, and let "the poor devil" have a 
 little lime to prepare for death. To this proposal. Fan- 
 ning and the rest agreed ; and, throwing the rope with 
 which he was to be hung, at his feet, they told him that 
 he had only fifteen minutes to hve. Then they all stack- 
 ed their arms against a large tree, close by, and set their 
 grinders to work in good earnest, taking care to keep 
 Hunter between them and the cart In this situation, 
 while trying to pray, he was trying to watch, and at the 
 same time, he prepared to act if occasion should offer. 
 The first thought that came into his mind, w^as to seize a 
 gun, and sell his life as dearly as he could ; but the same 
 thought started up in Fanning's mind at the same mo- 
 ment; and he said to his men, ''Stand by your guns, or 
 that rascal will get one and kill some of us before we 
 know what we are about." He next thought of the "Bay 
 Doe," and a swelling emotion of hope arose in his bosom, 
 that if he could only get on her back, there might be 
 some probability of his escape ; but even a look that way, 
 would reveal his intentions, and quench the last ray of 
 hope. 
 
 Before the fifteen minutes were expired, one of the men 
 by the name of Small, rose up with his gun in his hand; 
 and Hunter begged that he would intercede with Fanning 
 to spare his life. As they conversed together they, un- 
 consciously perhaps to themselves, advanced a few feet, 
 
90 REVOLUTIONARY INCIDENTS. 
 
 and this brought them close to the Bay Doe, where she 
 was standing with her bridle loosely thrown on a bush. 
 Upon Snialf is telling him thai there was no hope for him, 
 he leaped forward," vaulted into Fanning's saddle, and 
 throwing himself for^Tirfd, lay as flat on her shoulders as 
 he could. With his left hand, he disengaged or took up 
 the bridle; but the mare unwilUng, perhaps to leave the 
 other horses, did not start at once. Orders were instantly 
 given to shoot him; and Small, though at the distance of 
 a tew paces, fired at him without etiect. The firing ot the 
 gun started the mare at full speed; and she being Fan- 
 iiing's favorite nag, he was about as anxious fi)r her safety 
 as he was for the death ot the rider. Hunter said after- 
 -vvards that as he darted oii, he heard Planning telling 
 them to kill the rascal, but take care and not kill his mare. 
 As he lay so close to the mare's withers, it required a 
 very good marksman, or very good luck, to miss her and 
 hit the rider, and three more guns were fired at him, but 
 he was still unhurt. He heard the bullets whistling by 
 him on every side; but his only chance was to keep his 
 position and go ahead. 
 
 A fifth shot lodged a ball in the fleshy part of his 
 shoulder, which disabled his arm, but so intense w^as the 
 excitement of his mind, that he was hardly aware of the 
 injury. William Kerr, Fanning's brother in law, was the 
 one who shot him; but this was not generally known un- 
 til some time after. He pressed forward and was closely 
 pursued for a mile, but when they lost sight of him he began 
 to breathe more freely, and he saw the blood running down 
 the mare's shoulder. The first thought which passed 
 through his mind, was that the mare must be badly wound- 
 ed, and it so, his case might still be a hopeless one. After 
 a moment's examination, he ascertained that the w^ound 
 was not in the mare but in himself. A slug had lodged in 
 the lower part of the shoulder and his arm was nearly or 
 quite powerless. He kept the road for two or three miles, 
 when he turned into the woods and rode ten miles further 
 to the house of Nathaniel Steed, bleeding profusely all the 
 w^ay. As soon as he alighted he tainted ; and Steed collect- 
 ed a party of men to guard him. He also sent for a physi- 
 cian who dressed his wound, and in a fe^v days he was 
 sent to Salisbury, where the ball was extracted, and he 
 got well. 
 
COL. DAVID FANNING. 91 
 
 In the hurry of pursuit, Fanning had neglected to no- 
 tice, or to trace the blood which marked the route of 
 Hunter, and continued up the road to Hunter's house. 
 Finding that Hunter had escaped, and that his niare, 
 with the brace of pibtols presented to him by Major 
 Craig, at Wilmington, were lost, he determined to wreak 
 his vengeance on Hunter's tamily. After plundering tlie 
 house, he tuok Mrs. Hunter, then far advanced in preg^ian- 
 cy, and all ot Hunter's negroes, and conducted them to a 
 lonely place in the woods in the county ot MoorCj on 
 Bear creek. From this place he despatched a messenger 
 to Hunter with an otier to return his wife and negroes if 
 Hunter \vould send back his mare and pistols. Hunter 
 returned for answer, that the mare had been sent away 
 and he could not get her. This answer was delivered to 
 Fanning in the evening of the 5th day atter he had taken 
 up camp in the woods in Moore. The sun was about half 
 an hour high when the answer was returned, and Fanning 
 immediately mounted and went oft, taking with 
 him Hunter's negroes and leaving Mrs. Hunter alone. 
 jSmally, after proceeding a short distance, returned to 
 Mrs. Hunter and informed her where she w^ould tind a 
 path near the camp which led to a house not far distant. 
 Mrs. Hunter proceeded to the house, where she was kind- 
 ly treated, and from which she w^as sent home. It is prob- 
 able, Irom this conduct of Smally, that Hunter's entrea- 
 ties at the cart had weighed upon his feelings, and that 
 when he tired on Hunter, he intentionally missed him. 
 "Hunter was still living when Judge Murphy collected 
 his information, and had long resided in South Carolina, 
 on the Pedee river, above Mars' Blutf. He was a man of 
 respectability and \vealth, and his adventure with Fan- 
 ning had not then ceased to be an interesting topic of 
 conversation to hisiriends." 
 
 That the blood of the Bay Doe has been well known and 
 highly appreciated ever since, is proved from the foil own- 
 ing facts. 
 
 Some forty years ago, more or less, Colonel M , a 
 
 gentleman in one of the neighboring counties, who took 
 much delight in the amusements of the turf, and who at- 
 tained a great deal of celebrity among the sporting gen- 
 try of the State, had a mare which, from her blood, he 
 called the Bay Doe, and which never was beat, except 
 whea she flew the track, a thing which she was very apt 
 
92 REVOLUTIONARY INCIDENTS. 
 
 to do. On one occasion, when heavy bets were pending, 
 she flew the track ; and in her reckless flight, bounded 
 hke a deer over a very high fence, which caused her to 
 fall, and crippled her so badly that it was supposed she 
 never could be run again. An important race was soon 
 
 after to take place in Salisbury, which Colonel M , as 
 
 a matter of course, attended, and took her with him ; but^ 
 as she was still a little lame, he had no thought of putting 
 her on the track. A friend, or an intimate acquaintance 
 of his, a gentleman who lived in an adjoining county, by 
 unfortunate bets of the kind, or in some other way, had 
 60 far reduced his property that he thought it necessary 
 to remove with his family to the far west, and was in Salis- 
 bury on his way to the west when the races came on. With- 
 out consultation or enquiry, he at once bet five hundred 
 
 dollars on the Bay Doe ; and when he told Colonel M 
 
 what he had done, he replied that he was very sorry to 
 hear it ; for, as the mare was not yet entirely recovered 
 from her lameness, she could not be run, and he would 
 lose his money. However; they concluded, about mid- 
 night or alter, when every body else was asleep, that they 
 would go out with her, nearly a mile and a halt from town, 
 and take her round the path t ) see whether it would beat 
 all worth while to enter her for the next day's ra(;e ; but she 
 flew the track again, threw the rider and dashed back, 
 or rather flew back to town as if all the witches in crea- 
 tion bad been after her. From this exhibition of her re- 
 cruited strength and agility. Colonel M concluded 
 
 that he would give his Iriend a chance, at all events, and 
 put her on the track. Contrary to all expectation, she be- 
 haved very genteely, indeed, and "swept stakes." This 
 lucky bet so far relieved the gentlenian from his embar- 
 rassments that he at once gave out his removal to the 
 west, and returned with his family, to their former neigh- 
 borhood. 
 
 Xot more than two or three years ago, a suit was decid- 
 ed in Randolph Court, Judge Battle on the bench, which 
 depended on proving the stock of the Bay Doe, and shows 
 that her blood is to this day well known and highly val- 
 ued in the county. It is a wonder that horses have not 
 been advertised under the name of the Red Buck, and 
 tracing their pedigree back to Fanning's stock, or blood- 
 ed mares selling for hundreds of dollars because they 
 are descended from Fanning's Bay Doe. People in this 
 
COL. DAVID FANNING. 93 
 
 country have been giving immense prices for "blood- 
 ed horses,*' English horses, when we have horses in this 
 country that have as much blood and as good blood as 
 those which are imported from Europe or any other c^jn- 
 tinent. 
 
 The Bay Doe saved Hunter's life on another occasion, 
 and did it by performing a feat, which is well worthy of 
 record ; or at least, such is the tradition in the neighbor- 
 hood, and it probably has some foundation in truth. It is 
 said that when he was riding the Bay Doe, on the high 
 ground, south of Deep river, and not far above the Butta- 
 lo ford, where the village of Franklinville now stands, he 
 was like to be overtaken by some of Fanning's men. He 
 lirst attempted to gain the ford ; but found they were 
 heading him in that direction. He then turned his 
 course up the river, but they were there ready to receive 
 him. The only alternative was to surrender, which 
 would be certain and instant death, or to make a desper- 
 ate plunge down a precipice, some fifty feet high into the 
 river. He chose the latter, and escaped unhurt. The 
 descent is not perpendicular ; but makes an angle with 
 the horizon, probably, of sixty degrees. It is also rough 
 and craggy. Any one v»'ho will look at it from the road, 
 on the north side of the river, will say that it was a greater 
 feat of horsemanship than that of General Putnam in rid- 
 ing down the stone steps at the church. It was such a 
 daring adventure that his pursuers, though they rode like 
 Tartars, were mounted on the best of horses, and were 
 burning with revenge would not dare to follow him, but 
 stopped short, in a kind of amazement, and contented 
 themselves with firing two or three pistols after him As 
 there was no level ground at the bottom of the descent, 
 he plunged right into the river and turned down the 
 stream, sometimes swimming and sometimes on terra 
 Jirnui or floundering over rocks, until he found a place 
 where he got out on the north side and made his escape. 
 
 Very few ot Fanning's ofiicers died a natural death; 
 and not more than two or three of them, so far as I have 
 learned, ever became citizens of even common respecta- 
 bility. Major John Reins, Jr. was in 1819 living in Ten- 
 nessee, very poor, and keeping a mill,. Richard Ed- 
 wards was killed at Kirk's farm the week before the bat- 
 tle of Cane creek. Edward Edwards, his brother, who 
 then took the command, was killed the next week at 
 
94 REVOLUTIONARY INCIDENTS. 
 
 Lindley's mill. Meredith Edwards was indicted tor trea- 
 son about the beginning of 1782. John Keins, Sr., was 
 killed at Lindley's mill. John Eagle was shot or hanged 
 Dear Pedee. James Price Avas hanged near the same 
 place. David Jackson was hanged by Colonel Lopp near 
 Fork creek in the lower end ot Randolph county. Thom- 
 as Darke was hanged at Hillsboro' in 1782. John Willi- 
 son lied to Pennsylvania, and lived very poor. John 
 Lindley, the same. Stephen Walker was shot in April, 
 in 1782, by Colonel Gholson, on Deep river. James 
 Lindley was shot near the mountains; and. as I under- 
 stood, Simon Lindley, the same. Others say that he was 
 vshot in his own neighborhood, under the suspicion that 
 he had murdered his wnfe. William Lindley — Ignatius 
 AVallaston fled to Pennsylvania, where he was alive long 
 after the war, and was a bric^klayer by trade. Thomas 
 Blair removed to the mountains and settled on New river, 
 where he built iron works and became rich. Thomas 
 Kickets and Thomas Eastridi^e were indicted for treason. 
 
OR, 
 
 TEE ffEONGS OF A BEAOTM GIEL. 
 
 <3:^A TRUE STORy.^::S:> 
 
 ENACTED IN NORTH CAROLINA 90 YEARS AGO. 
 
 o:0:o . 
 
 TO THE READER. 
 
 The truth of what the reader will find aud the lesson to 
 be deduced from this story, will commend it to the favor 
 of all the good people of Randolph county, and to the 
 reading public generally. It is not iiction, but a reliable 
 narrative of facts, as gathered/rom the gray-haired fathers 
 and mothers of to-day. 
 
 An account of the present beautiful town of Naomi 
 Falls is annexed. 
 
 The narrative of Naomi Wise is published from the 
 original history, by M. Penny, Randleman, N. C, with 
 the song, as sung in by-gone days when men stood, in 
 this country, heart to heart and hand to hand. 
 
 M. PENNY. 
 
 October, 1888. 
 
 
NSOMI WISE, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 About ninety years ago there lived where Xew Salem 
 now is, in the northern part of Randolph County, North 
 Carolina, a very open and Avarm hearted gentleman by 
 the name ot William Adams. A few families of nature's 
 noblest quality lived in the vicnity. They were not em- 
 phatically rich, but were what our people cdWed good livers; 
 they were honest,, hospitable and kind; they knew nei- 
 ther the luxuries nor the vices of high life. Their farms 
 supplied enough for their own tables, and surplus suffi- 
 cient for a brisk trade with Fayetteville The wild lorest 
 hills and immense glades in the neighborhood, afforded 
 bountiful quantities ot game ; whilst beep River abound- 
 ed with the finest fish. At that tiine the inhabitants wer^ 
 by no means so thickly settled as at present ; trading as a 
 regular business was unknown, except to a few merchants. 
 The people were somewhat rude, still, however, hospita- 
 ble and kind. 
 
 At William Adam's lived Naomi Wise. She had early 
 been thrown upon the cold charity of the world, and she 
 had received the frozen crumbs of that charity. Her size 
 was medium ; her iigure beautifully iornied ; her face 
 handsome and expressive ; her eye keen yet mild ; her 
 words soft and winning. She was left without lather to 
 protect, mother to counsel, brothers and sisters to love, or 
 friends with whom to associate. Food, clothing and 
 shelter must be earned by the labor of her own hands, 
 not such labor, however, as females at this day perform. 
 There was no place for her but the kitchen with the pros- 
 pect of occasionally going into the field. This the poor 
 orphan accepted willingly ; she was willing to labor, she 
 w^as ashamed to beg. The thousand comfortsfthat par- 
 ents can find for their children are never enjoyed by the 
 fatherless. Fanaticism may rave over the chains of the 
 African ; the pity of sixtween States can be pour^ ' ut 
 for the southenr negro ' the great meetings are hv to 
 move on emancipation ; but who pities the orphan ? May 
 the Lord pity him, for man will not. 
 
 At the time of which we speak, neighborhoods were 
 nearly distinct ; all that lived in the same vicinity, gener- 
 
NAOMI WISE. 97 
 
 :>l1y bearing tlie same name. To account for this, we have 
 culy to reco.lect, that most of our settlers migrated from 
 rennsvlvania and Virginiii ; and that families generally 
 ^ came and settled togethcM\ Pliysical force being fre(iuent- 
 ly necessary for self defence, such families made a kind of 
 treaty offensive and defensive. Sometimes, however, the 
 most deadly feuds l)roke out amotig themselves. Such 
 was the case with the Lewis family^ that settled on San- 
 dy Creek, Old David Lewis probably came from Pennsyl- 
 vania ; at least, an old gentleman by name of Buchanan 
 told the writer so; -Buchanan was jpersonally acquainted 
 with the Lewises. David had a considerable family of boys, 
 all of whom were noted for their great size and strength. 
 This was in every respect a very peculiar family, peculiar 
 in appearance, in character, and in destiny. The Lewises 
 were tall, broad, muscular and very powerful men. Li the 
 manner of fighting very common at that time, viz : to lay 
 aside all clothing but pantaloons, and then try for victory 
 by striking with the fist ; scratching, gouging, aiid biting, 
 a Lewis was not to be vanquished. " Thetan'iily were the 
 lious of the country. This character was eminently pug- 
 nacious. ^ Nearly all of them drank to intoxication ; 
 aware of power, they insulted whom they listed ; they 
 sought occasions of quarrel as a Yankee does gold dust in 
 California. They rode through plantations J killed tl:ieir 
 neighbors' cattle: took fish fix>m other men's traps ; said 
 what they pleased^ ail more for contention than gain. 
 Though the oppressed had the power, they were afraid 
 to prosecute them ; they knew these human hydras had 
 no mercy; they dreaded their retaliating vengeatice. For 
 these men would follow their children wliile at work, and 
 whip them from one side of the field to the other. They 
 would compel them to stand in the yard during cold 
 rainy nights, till the little creatures were frozen beyond 
 the power of speech ; and sometimes their wives shared 
 RO bette^ fate. A fine colt belonging to Stephen Lewis, 
 once did some trifling mischief, when the owner, enraged, 
 shot it dead upon the instant. Anything, man or beast, 
 that dared to cross them, periled its life. They neither 
 sheltered themseh^es under the strong arm of law, nor 
 permitted others to do so ; they neither gave nor asked 
 mercy. Yet these same men were unfailing friends, 
 when they chose to protect. Their pledge was sure as 
 anything human could be ; if they threatened death or 
 
98 NAOMI WISE. 
 
 torture, those threatened always thought it rirndeiit to re- 
 tire to the very uttermost part ot the earth ; if they vow- 
 ed protection, their protege felt secure. Some of their 
 remote relations are still in this country: they are among 
 our most worth}^ citizens, but they never tamely submit 
 to insult. Some inquire how such men as the Lewises 
 could ever intermarry with other families; who would 
 unite themselves to such cold hearted creatures ? 
 
 While such characters are in some respects to be ab- 
 horred, yet there is about them that has in all ages been 
 attractive. Ladies are accused, because they falHn love 
 with fops, of wanting common sense, and of loving vanity 
 rather than substance. The accusation is talse. Except 
 the love of a Christian for his Lord, the love of a woman is 
 the j)arest and truest thing on earth ; sweet as the incense 
 of heaven, soft as the air of paradise, and confiding as the 
 lamb; it scorns the little, the vile and the treacherous. 
 The tendrils of woman's affection despise the shrubs of 
 odor and beauty to entwine closely and eternallj' around 
 high forest trees that are exposed to howling storms and 
 the thunders of Jove. The trees may he rough and crooked, 
 but then they are trees. Find a man a great intel- 
 lectual power, of iron will, of reckless daring, but of un- 
 shaken lidelitA^ ; in such you find a master magnet around 
 which women's hearts collect by natural attraction. 
 But how can a pure and good woman love a wicked 
 man ! Nonsense, thou puritan ! Shfe does not love his 
 wickednes>, but his soul. Did not the Saviour love a 
 wicked world, though he died to destroy its wickedness ? 
 Then a woman will love a wicked man better than a good 
 one, will she ? Ko, she will love a good man much best, 
 other things being equal. But you make daring deeds of 
 wuckedness the exponents of man's greatness. I do no 
 such thing. I make actions that require power, energy, 
 and firmness, test of greatness ; that such actions should 
 be tainted with evil, is a blot that mars tliehi in no 
 small degree ; but still they are great actions, i. e. the 
 products of powerful minds, there are certain philosophers 
 in the world that would make all great actions cease to l)e 
 great, when they ceased to be good ; they would make 
 their greatness directly as their goodness. These are 
 evidently two different qualities, the one measuring the 
 action perse, the other its moral character. Genuine 
 love is as follows : woman loves the power which is able 
 
NAOMI WISE. 99 
 
 to support and protect, and if that power be good she will 
 love it the more : man loves the gentle, confiding one 
 that leans upon him with contidence and trusts him with 
 her destiny ; if she be good, he will love her the more. 
 This may be grossly misconstrued ; but /00/5 will not see, 
 and the w'ise can see our meaning, it is therefore pi liu 
 enough. 
 
 We will hazard an axiom or two while on this point. jS'o 
 v\'oman will or can really love a man who is intellectually 
 her inferior. No man can love a woman that has not 
 contidence in his iidelity and protection. If a powerful 
 man be true to his wife, she being what she should, she 
 will love him though he stain his hands in blood, and be 
 iTuiltv of the foulest deeds known in thecatalosjue of crime. 
 J3utthis is an unpardonable digression, let us return. 
 
 But i'^i'^^ ot the Lewises died natural deaths. Stephen 
 Lewis was most unmerciful to his wife. He frequently 
 whipped her with hobblerods, and otherwise abused her 
 beyond endurance. Finally by aid of Richard, a brother of 
 Stepheji's she escaped from home and spent several months 
 at an acquaintance's. Richard at length told Stephen that 
 his wife would return if he would promise never more to 
 abuse her. This he promised upon the w^ord ot a Lewis. 
 He therefore told him to come to his house on a certain 
 day, and he would find her. At the time appointed 
 Stephen went, found his wnfe, and took her on his horse 
 to convey her home. On the way, he made her tell the 
 means of i-cr escape and the agents employed. The agent, 
 as we have said, was his brother Richard. Stephen w^ent 
 home ; kindly told his wife that he should henceforth treat 
 her very kindly, but that he intended to shoot the scoun- 
 drel, Richard. Loading his gun, he immediately return- 
 ed to his brother's. Richard happening to observe his ap- 
 proach and conjecturing the object, fled up stairs with his 
 o^nn. Stephen entered the house and enquired for Richard. 
 Not learning from the family, and supposing him up stairs, 
 he started up, and as his head came in view, Richard shot 
 him, but did not kill him. Stephen w^as carried home 
 and for a long time was unable even to sit up, still swear- 
 ing, however, that when he recovered he would shoot 
 Richard. His brother knowing the threat would be exe- 
 cuted, w^entto the house one day, and while St^^phen was 
 sitting on the bedside, having his w^ounds dressed, through 
 a crack of the house Richard shot him through the heart. 
 
100 NAOMI WISE. 
 
 It is said that the manner of men's deaths frequently re- 
 sembles their lives. The fate of the Lewises seems to 
 confirm the fact. They were heartless tyrants while they 
 lived, and as tyrants deserve, they died cruel and bloody 
 deaths. 
 
 CHAPTER IL 
 
 Like a lovely tyro 
 
 She grew to womanhood, and between whiles 
 Rejected several suiters, just to learn 
 How to accept a worse one in his turn. 
 
 — Br yon. 
 
 Naomi Wise w^as a lovely girl, just blooming in all the 
 attractiveness of nineteen. Though serving as cook and 
 sometimes as out-door hand, she w^as the light of tlie fam- 
 ily, and was trea-ed better than such persons usually are. 
 She was neatly dressed, rode to church on a fine horse and 
 was the occasion of many youngsters visiting the house 
 of Mr Adams. Among those who frequently found it 
 convenient io call at Mr. Adams' was Jonathan Lewis. 
 His father, Richard Lewis, the same that shot Stephen, 
 lived near Centre meeting-house, on Polecat creek, in 
 Gailford county. Jonathan wa^ clerking for Benjamin 
 ElUott,at Asheboro, in Randolph and in passing tromCen- 
 tre to Asheboro, it w^as directly in his way to pass through 
 ]Slew Salem. Jonathan like the others of the same name, 
 was a large, w^ell built, dignified looking man. He was 
 young, daring and impetnous. If he had lived in Scot- 
 land he W()uld have been a worthy companion for Sir 
 William Wallace or Robert Bruce; in England he would 
 have vied with the Black Prince in coolness and braver}' ; 
 in France he might have stood by the side of McDonald, 
 in the central charge at Wagram ; in our own revolution 
 his bravery and powder would, perhaps, have saved the 
 day at brand}' wine. He was composed of the fiercest el- 
 ements; his wTath w^as like wdiirlwinds and scathing light- 
 ning ; his smile like sunbeams bursting through a cloud, 
 illumined every countenance upon which it fell. He nev- 
 er indulged in tricks or small sport, the ordinary pass- 
 times of youth had no attraction for him. The smallest 
 observation would teach us, that such men are capable of 
 
NAOMI WISE. 101 
 
 /anything; once engaged they are champions in the cause 
 of hnmanity ; but once let loose, like unchained lions, they 
 tear to pieces both friends and foes. The greatest men 
 are capable of being the greatest scourges. Liconidas was 
 a rock upon which Persia broke, but some provocation 
 might have made him a rock by which Greece would 
 have been ground to powder. Dirk Ilatteraik was a dar- 
 ing smuggler, that in a low, black lugger, detied the pow- 
 er of England ; if the government had treated this man 
 wisely, he might have been an admiral to eclipse Nelson. 
 Our daring, headstrong boys are generally given over as 
 worthless ; and here is the mistake ; the world neither uti- 
 derstands the mission nor management ot such powerful 
 minds. Bucephalus was pronounced a worthless animal 
 by the whole court of Philip. Alexander alone perceived 
 liis value and knew how to mana2:e him ; and in fact, 
 Bucephalus was the greatest horse the world ever saw\ 
 
 Jonathan Lewis saw Naomi wise and loved her. She 
 was the gentle, confiding, unprotected creature tbat a 
 man like Lewis, would love by instinct. Henceforward 
 he was a frequent visitor at Adams'. The dark clouds 
 that had so long hovered over the orphan were breaking 
 away ; the misty, dim vista of the future opened with 
 clear light and boundless prospects of good; the fogs roll- 
 ed aw^ay from the valley of life, and Naomi saw a pretty 
 pathway bordered with Howers, and crossed only by little 
 rills of purest water. Her young and guileless heart 
 beat with new and higher life; that she was loved by a 
 man so powerful as Lewis, was sufficient recompence for a 
 cheerless childhood. Day and night she labored to pro- 
 cure the indispensables of housekeeping ; for in those days 
 it was esteemed disreputable if a girl by the time she was 
 twenty, had not made or earned for herself a bed, some 
 chairs, pots, tubs, &c. And a young lady then modestly 
 displayed her things to her lover, with as much care as 
 modern misses display their painting, needle-work, and 
 acquirements on the piano. Instead of going to the piano, 
 to the dance and other such latter day inventions, young- 
 sters then went with the ladies to milk the cows, and dis- 
 play their gallantry by holding away the calves while the 
 operation -was performed ; they then accompanied [the 
 damsels to the spring to put away the milk, and brought 
 back a pail of water. 
 
 Time ilew on, Lewis still continued as clerk, and had 
 
102 NAOMI WISE. 
 
 won the good opinion of liis employer. Naomi was 
 T^looming in all the charms of early womanhood; iier love 
 for Lewis was pure and ardent ; and tlie rumor was abroad 
 tiiat a marriage was shortly to take place. But an evil 
 genius crossed the path ot Lewis in the shape of his moth- 
 er. Her ambition and avarice projected for her son a 
 match of different character. She deemed it in tlie range 
 ot possibility that Jonathan might o)>tain the hand of 
 Ilettie Elliott, the sister ot Benjamin Elliott, his employ- 
 er. That mothers are ambitious everybody knows, and that 
 they are the worst of matchmakers is equally well known. 
 But Mrs. Lewis thought Miss Ellioi.t a prize worthy an 
 ettort at letist. The Elliott w^ere wealthy, honorable and 
 in high repute. They have always stood high in this 
 county, and citizens have delighted to honor them with 
 public favor and private friendship. Mr. B. Elliott, 
 Hettie's brother, evidently prized Lewis highly ; he re- 
 garded him as an honorable, intelligent and industrious 
 young gentleman, and no doubt thought him a respectab e 
 match for his sister. Lewis made some advances to 
 Ilettie, which were received in such a way as to insp re 
 hope. This was the turning tide in the fortunes of Lewis. 
 The smile of one superior to Naomi Wise in every re- 
 spect, except beauty and goodness; the earnest exhorta- 
 tions of an influential mother; and the prospect of con- 
 siderable property, bore down all obstacles. The pure 
 love to Miss Wise, the native and genuine passion of his 
 own heart, were not equal to a contfict with pride and av- 
 arice. Not but that Lewis, as any other man could and 
 would love Miss Elliott. She was accomplished, beauti- 
 ful, and of charming manners ; an Elliott could not be 
 otherwise. But these were not the attractions that won 
 Lewis. Money, family connection, name and station, 
 w^ere the intiuences that clouded the fair prospects of in- 
 nocence, opened the flood gates of evil, and involved all 
 the parties concerned in ruin. 
 
 Tupper has wisely said that nothing in this world is 
 single, all things are in pairs; and the perfection of earth- 
 ly existence consists in properly pairing all the separate 
 elements. Two elements properly adapted have a nat- 
 ural attraction, and firmly adhere amid all circumstances 
 of prosperity or disaster; but two elements improperly 
 mated repel each other with natural and undying repul- 
 sion in spite ot circumstances or calculations. The young 
 
NAOMI- AVISE. 103 
 
 instinctively and naturally love those that would make 
 them happy; but pride, family interference andcoldhearted 
 calculations otten interpose; sordid consideratijns tear 
 asunder the holiest chords of affection, and vainly attempt 
 to thwart nature's own promptings. Lewis loVed Miss 
 Wise for herself; no seltish motive moved his heart or 
 tongue ; this would have been a union of peace and joy ; 
 he wished to marry Miss ElHott, not because beloved her, 
 but influenced wholly by other and base considerations. 
 
 An old adage fcays, "the better anything is in its ligiti- 
 mate sphere, the worse it is when otijerwise employed." 
 Lewis no doubt would have been an honorable and useful 
 man, if he had married I^aomi; he would then have been 
 using the highest and strongest principle ot human nature 
 in a proper manner. In an evil hour he listened to the 
 tempter, he turned aside from the ways of honor and 
 truth. His eyes became blinded, conscience, the star of 
 human destiny, lost her polarity, and the fierce storms 
 drove his proud ship into the maelstrom of ruin. Jona- 
 than Lewis was no more the proud, manly gentleman; he 
 was henceforth a hard hearted, merciless wretch. He 
 was a hyena skulking about the pathway of life, ready 
 alike to kill the living, and to tear the dead from their 
 graves. He not only resolved to forsake a lovely damsel, 
 but lirst to ruin her fair name. His resolve was accom- 
 plished. He might have foreseen that this would ruin his 
 prospects with the beautiful Miss Elliott; but the "wicked 
 are blind and fall into the pit their own hands have dig- 
 ged.'*' There are many young men now moving in high 
 society, that think violets were created to be crushed by 
 haughty boot heels ; that desert flowers should rathel' be 
 blasted than waste their sweetness on the air; that pearls 
 should rather adorn a Cyclops, than sparkle in their na- 
 tive deep. Not so, ye canibals. If names must be blas- 
 ted and characters ruined, in the name of heaven, let 
 your victims come from among the affluent and the hon- 
 orable. Who will |)ity and protect the poor daughter of 
 shame; who will give her a crumb ot bread? The more 
 wealthy victim might, at least have bread to eat, water to 
 drink and wherewithall to be clothed. Ye fair, blooming 
 daughters of povert3% shun the advances of those who 
 avoid you in company, as you would shun the grim mon- 
 ster death. 
 
 Lewis, aware that a period was approaching that would 
 
104 NAOMI^ WISE. 
 
 mar all bis hopes, unless they should i mm eel lately be con- 
 summated, urged his suit w.th all possible haste. Miss 
 Elliott, however, baffled him on every tack, and, thopgh 
 she encouraged him, gave him but little hope of succeeding 
 immediately. In the meanwhile, Naomi urged the fuliil- 
 ment of his promise, that he would marry her forthwith, 
 seconded by the power of tears and prayers. When the^^e 
 means seemed unavailing, she threatened him with the law. 
 Lewis alarmed at this, charged her, at peril of life, to re- 
 main silent; he told her that their marriage was sure, but 
 that very peculiar circumstances required all to be kept 
 silent. But before he could bring matters to an issue 
 Avith Miss Elliott, rumor whispered abroad the engage- 
 ment and disgrace of INaomi Wise. This runior tell iTke 
 thunder upon Lewis; the depths of a dark but powerful 
 soul were awaKened, his hopes were quivering upon a bal- 
 ance wdiich the next breath threatened with ruin. With 
 a coolness and steadiness which innocence is wont to wear, 
 Lewis afHrmedto Miss Elliott that said rumor was a base, 
 malicious slander, circulated by the enemies of the Lewis 
 family, to ruin his character, and offered that time, a very 
 fair arbiter, should decide upon the report, and if ad- 
 judged guilty, he would relinquish all claim to her, Miss 
 Elliott's hand. For several diiys Lewis was apparently 
 uneasy, appeared abstracted, neglected his business, and 
 was not a little ill- Mr. Elliott assigned one cause, Miss 
 Elliott another, but the true one was unknown to any one. 
 The kingdom was in conmiotion, dark deeds were in con- 
 templation, and at length the die was cast. Mrs. Adams 
 Lad frequently of late told Naomi, that Lewis did not in- 
 tencito njarry her, that he was playing a game of villiany, 
 and that she should place no further confidence in any of 
 his assertions: but the poor girl thought or hoped differ- 
 ently ; she could not and would not believe that Jonathan 
 Lewis was untrue. Woman's love cannot doubt. Lewis at 
 length came to see Miss Wise, and told her that he wnshed 
 not to delay the marriage any longer: that he had made 
 all necessary arrangements, and that he would come and 
 take her to the house of a magistrate on' a certain day. 
 She urged the propriety of the marriage taking place at 
 the hou-e of Mr. Adams; but he refused and she without 
 much reluctance consented to his wishes. Time sped on, 
 the last morn rolled up the eastern vault in his chariot, 
 dispensing light and joy to millions; Naomi walked forth 
 
NAOMI WISE. 105 
 
 with Uglit heart and Step, thinking only of her coming 
 nuptials. During the day in the nndst of her anticipations, 
 gloomy forebodings would disturb her. Like the liglit 
 breeze preceding the storm, they seemed to come and 
 go without cause. So true is it; 
 
 "That coming events cast their shadows before." She 
 told nothing of what was about to take place to Mr. 
 Adams; but at the appointed time taking the water pail 
 in her hand, she Went to the spring, the place at which 
 she had agreed to meet Lewis. He soon appeared and 
 took her behind him. It is said, that the stump off which 
 Xaomi mounted, remains to this day, and may be seen by 
 any one who will visit New Salem, 
 
 The last lone relic of Xaomi's love, 
 
 A s[.>eaking monument of a wretch's heart; 
 
 Like love, its grasp time scarce can move, 
 
 Like treachery, corruption lurks in every part. 
 
 The strong steed bore Xaomi rapid/y from the home of 
 her chihliiood and youth; from the kind Mrs. Adams 
 that was wont to soothe in every trouble. 
 
 CHAPTER IH. 
 
 Xaomi very soon perceived that they were not ap- 
 proaching the magistrate, by whose mystic knot sorrow 
 was to be killed and joy born ; but to her great surprise, 
 Lewis kept the direct road to the river, speaking to her 
 in the mean time with rather a strange voice and an in- 
 coherant manner. She tried to imagine his object, but 
 she was convinced that he w^ould not take her to Ashebo- 
 ro, and she knew of no magistrate in that direction ; ev- 
 ery etibrt therefore failed to give her troubled mind any 
 peace. Slackening his pace to a slow walk, Lewis and 
 N'aomi held the following conversation. 
 
 ''Naomi, which do you think is easiest, a slow or sud- 
 den death ?" 
 
 "I'm sure I don't know, but what makes you ask me 
 that question ?" 
 
 " Why, I was just thinking about it. But which would 
 3^ou prefer, if you could have choice ?" 
 
 "I would try to be resigned to whatever Providence 
 
106 KAOMI WISE- 
 
 might appoint, and since we cannot have a choice, it is use- 
 less to have any preferences." 
 
 *'Well, Xaomi, do you think you would like to know 
 the time when you are to die?" 
 
 ''Why, Jonathan, what do you m^ean hy such questions ? 
 I have never thought of such matters ^ and I am sure, I 
 never knew you to be mentioning such things betore." 
 
 Lewis rode on for some time tvithout making anj' reply ; 
 seeming in a deep revery ; but in fact in the most intense 
 excitement ; at length he remarked : 
 
 ''Well, Naomi, I beHeve I know both the time and 
 manner of your death, and I think it is in my power ta 
 gi ve y ou a ch o i ce. " 
 
 This ran through the poor girl like a dart of death ; it 
 was some minutes before she could make any reply. 
 
 '•For the Lord^s sake, Jonathan, what do you mean ; 
 do you intend to kill me, or why do you talk so ? 
 
 "I will nev^er harm you; we shall be married in two 
 hours. As you see, I am not going to as I iirst in- 
 tended, bat am going across the river, where we shall 
 have a nice wedding." 
 
 "Jonathan, I'm afraid every thing is not right, and I 
 feel so had this evening, I hacl rather go home and put it 
 off till another day." 
 
 •'No, no, that will not do. I tell you again, you need 
 not fear anything. Just be perfectly contented, and fear 
 no harm from him that loves you better than himself." 
 
 They w^ere now on a high bluff that commanded an ex- 
 tensive view of the river and the country beyond. The 
 bold, rocky channel of the stream was distinctly visible 
 for a great distance to the southeast; whilst from the north- 
 west came the river, now swollen by recent rains, roaring 
 and tumbling over rocky ledges, and then moving calmly 
 away. A blue crane was flying slowly above the bed of 
 the stream, whilst amid the dwart pines and cedais that 
 grew upon the crags, many ravens were cawing and 
 screaming. This scenery, heightened by the dusk of 
 evening, strongly impressed Naomi's mind. She remark- 
 ed to Lewis: 
 
 "I am almost afraid to be in this lonely place; I wish 
 ^ve were away. O! how happy I should be, if we liad a 
 (juiet home like yon from which that smoke is rising 
 away over the hills. It may he foolishness, Jonathan, 
 but I want you to be careful in going down these banks 
 
NAOMI WISE. 107 
 
 and crossing the river. I have so often feared something 
 would happen to prevent the happiness we expect; and I 
 ix\\i sure I never telt so bad in iwy life." 
 
 Lewis reined up his horse, stopped for a short time, 
 then started forward, muttering, "I will though; I am a 
 <'Oward." Miss Wise asked him what he was saying; he 
 ■replied that he only meant that they should be married 
 that nigiit. The river was here toleral)]y wide and below 
 the ford some little turf-islands covered with alders and 
 willows, made several sluices. Lewis rushed his horse in 
 the water, which came up to his sides, and plunged for- 
 ward rapidly till he reached the middle of the chaiinel, 
 then stopping his beast and turning himself in the sad- 
 dle, he said to Naomi in a husky voice: "Xaomi, I will 
 tell you what I intend to do; I intend to drown you in 
 this river : we can never marry. I found I could never 
 tret away from you, and I am determined to drown you.'' 
 
 •'0! J(mathan, Jonathan," screamed the victim, "you 
 do not, cannot mean what you say; do not terrify me so 
 much and make haste out of here." 
 
 "I mean," said Lewis, just what I say; jou. will never 
 go from here alive. You cannot move me by w^ords or 
 tears; my mind is fixed; I swear by all that's good or bad, 
 that you have not live minutes to live. You have enticed 
 me to injure my character, yon have made me neglect my 
 l)usiness. You ought never to have been such a fool as 
 to expect that I would marry such a girl as you are. You 
 did not expect that I was taking you off to marry you, 
 when you got up behind me; you no doubt thought I 
 would take you to Asheboro, and keep j^ou there as a base 
 . Prepare to die." 
 
 "My Lord, wdiat shall I do?" said Naomi, "You know I 
 have loved you with my w^hole soul; I have trusted you, 
 and when you betrayed me, I never reviled you. How 
 often did I tell you that you did not intend to marry mel 
 how many times did I beseech you to be honest w*ith mel 
 And after all. you certainly will not drown me. 0, Jona- 
 than, for heaven's sake take me out of this river! Do, 0, 
 do. O, spare my life! I will never ask you to marry me, 
 I will leave the country, I will never mention your name 
 
 again, and'" 
 
 " Lewis stopped short her entreaties by grasping he • 
 throat with his left hand; her struggles immediately threw 
 them both from the horse. Being ^a tall, strong man, he 
 
108 j:aomi wise. 
 
 Iield her above the water antil he tied her dress above 
 her head, and then lield her under beneatli his toot until 
 he was alarmed by a glare of torches approaching along 
 the road he had just corae. He mounted his horse and 
 dashed out of the river on the south side. 
 
 Mrs Davis lived at no great distance from the river, and 
 had heard the death screaming of poor jS'aomi. She had 
 heard the startling cry as the vidian caught her by the 
 throat ; then she heard the wnld wail when she arose from 
 the water, and lastly the stilled sobs as she was muitled in 
 her dress. The old lady called her boys and bid them 
 hasten to the ford, that somebody was murdered or 
 drowned ; but they were afraid to go, they hesitated and 
 parlied ; at last they set out with glaring torches, but it 
 was too late. They arrived only in time to hear the mur- 
 derer leaving the opposite bank. They neither saw nor 
 heard Xaomi. She was already dead, her last scream 
 had died away, her last gasping groan had arisen through 
 the rippling waters, and her body was floating amid the 
 wallows of a turf-island. A pure and beautiful damsel, 
 she attracted the admiration of a cold-hearted world with- 
 out gaining its respect ; her pathway had been waylaid by 
 those who thought poor, unprotected beauty bloomed on- 
 ly to be blasted. Her pure and ardent aliections having 
 never enjoyed the sunshine of love w^ere ready to grasp the 
 iirst support that offered. She had given her heart to a de- 
 ceiver ; she had trusted her life to a destroyer, and the 
 murmuring waves that now bathed her lifeless form, and 
 rocked her on th.eir cold bosom, were the only agents 
 perhaps, that had ever acted towards her without selfish- 
 ness. 
 
 Early on the next morning the people of her home were 
 searching in all directions for Naomi Mrs. Adams had 
 passed a sleepless night ; a strange impression had in- 
 stantly fixed itself upon her mind as soon as Naomi was 
 missed; and in her broken slumbers during the night, 
 she w^as aroused by sometimes imagining that Naomi call- 
 ed her, at other times by dreaming that she saw her dead, 
 and again by thinking she heard her screaming. At ear- 
 ly dawn she aroused the vicinity, and going to the spring, 
 the tracks of a horse were readily discovered and by the 
 sign it was evident that Naomi liad mounted from the 
 stump. The company followed the track until Mrs Da- 
 vis and her boys were met coming in haste to tell the 
 
NAOMI AVISE. 109 
 
 circinnstances of the preceding evening. The old lady 
 told the crowd of the screaming she hail heard; that the 
 boys had gone down with the lights and heard a horse- 
 man galloping from the opposite hank. 
 
 "Ah !" said the old lady, "murder's heen done, sicli 
 unyearthly screams can't come of nothing ; they made 
 the hair rise on my head, and the very blood curdle in 
 my heart. No doubt poor Naomi's been drowned. O ! 
 ef I had been young as I once was, Iw^ould a run down 
 there and killed the rascal afore he could a got away ! 
 What is the world a coming to ?" 
 
 The company hastened to the river, and in a few mo- 
 ments discovered the body still muffled in the clothing. 
 She was quickly borne to the shore and laid upon a rock ; 
 upon the fair neck of the dead were still to be seen the 
 marks of the ruffian's fingers. The Coroner was sent for, 
 the jury summoned, and the verdict pronounced, "Drown- 
 ed by violence." Some one of the vast crowd now as- 
 sembled, suggested that Lewis should be sought and 
 ]>rought to the corpse ere it was interred. This was as- 
 sented to by acclamation, but who would. do it? Who 
 would dare to apprehend a Lewis ? A firm, brave officer 
 of Kandolph accepted the task, and having selected his 
 company from the numerous candidates, for every youth 
 on the ground offered, proceeded to Asheboro."^ 
 
 So soon as Lewis saw the lights coming while he was 
 at his work of death, as above said, he dashexl out of the 
 rirer, having no doubt that the water \\ould bear the body 
 into the deep pools below the ford, and render discovery 
 impossible. We have seen that in this lie was disap- 
 pointed. Leaving the river, he rode rapidly around to 
 another ford, and hastened to his father's near Centre 
 meeting house. He dashed into the room where his 
 mothei-' was sitting, and asked for a change of clothes. 
 The old lady alarmed, asked him why he came at that time 
 of week (for he usually came on Sunday), why he was wet, 
 and why he looked*^ so pale and spoke in such a strange 
 voice. He replied that he had started home on some 
 business, and that his horse had fallen with him in the 
 river, and that his wet clothes made him look pale and 
 altered in his voice. His mother had too much sagacity 
 to believe such a tale, but she could obtain from him no 
 other explanation. Having procured a change of appar- 
 el, he departed and arrived "at Asheboro early next morji- 
 
110 NAOMI WISE. 
 
 ing. Riding up to Col. Craven's he called at the door : 
 Mrs. Craven answered the call, and exclaimed in aston- 
 ishnierrt : 
 
 '•What's the matter, Lewis, what have you been doing, 
 have you killed 'Omi Wise? 
 
 Lewis was stunned ; raising his hand and rubbing his 
 eyes, he said : 
 
 "Why what makes you ask me that question ?" 
 
 "]^o particular reason," said Mrs. Craven, "only you 
 look so pale and Avild ; you don't h)ok at all like your- 
 self this morning." 
 
 Lewis made no reply, but the flushed countenance 
 w^hich he exhibited, would have attbrded no small evi- 
 dence to a close observer, that something w^as wrong. 80 
 true is it, "That the wicked iiee when no man pursueth." 
 Leaving Asheboro, Lewis went to a sale at a Mr. Han- 
 cock's at a place now owned by Thomas Cox. During 
 the day it was remarked by many that Jonathan Lewis 
 had a cast countenance by no means usual. Instead 
 of that bold, daring independence that was usual to him, 
 he seemed reserved, downcast and restless. By indulg- 
 ing freely in drink, which was always to be had on such 
 occasions he became more like himself toward evening ; 
 and even ventured to mingle with the ladies. For it 
 should be observed, that in those days^, the ladies attended 
 vendues, elections, musters, &c,, without derogation to 
 their characters. And in very many places, a young 
 man showed his 'gallantry by collecting the fair ones 
 whom he would honor and conductincrthem to some wa^^on, 
 where his liberality was displayed by purchasing cakes, 
 cider, &c. Let it not be supposed that this custom was 
 contined to the low or vulgar, for the practice was well 
 nigh universal Our lady readers must not think it be- 
 neath their dignity to read of such characters, for our 
 mothers, and perhaps their's also, have received such 
 treats. Lewis on the occasion above named, seemed par- 
 ticular attracted by Martha, the daughter ot Stephen Huz- 
 za. After waiting upon her according to the manner of 
 the times Lewis accompanied her home. The manner of 
 courting at that day, was very diflerent from what nov/ 
 prevails ; the (;ustom then was, for the young people to 
 remain in the room after the old people retired, then seat 
 themselves beside each other, and there remain until 1*2 
 or 1 o'clock. Lewis had taken his seat and drawn Mar- 
 
NAOMI WISE. Ill 
 
 tha into his lap ; rather a rude move even at that time, 
 and not a little contrary to Martha's will — when a gentle 
 rap was heard at the door. While the inmates were lis- 
 tening to hear it repeated, the door opened, and Kohert 
 Miirdock, the hrave officer who had pursued Lewis, en- 
 tered, attended by a retinue that at once overawed the un- 
 armed murderer. He suftered himself to be quietly ar- 
 rested and taken back to the river bank where his vic- 
 tim still remained. He put his hand upon her face, and 
 smoothed her liair, apparently unmoved. So greatly w^as 
 the crowd, incensed at this hard hearted audacity, that the 
 authority of the officer was scarcely sufficient to prevent 
 the villian's being killed upon the spot. The evidence 
 against Lewis, though circumstantial, was deemed con- 
 clusive. The foot-prints from the stump to the river ex- 
 actly fitted his horse; hairs upon the skirt on w^hich she 
 rode, wxre found to fit in color; a small piece torn from 
 Lewis' accoutrement, fitted both rent and texture ; his 
 absence from Asheboro,' and many other minuter cir- 
 cumstances all conspired to the same point. Li proper 
 form he was committed to jail in Asheboro,' to aw^ait his 
 trial. A vast company on the next day attended the re- 
 mains of Naomi to the grave. The wliole community 
 mourned her untimely death; the aged wiped the falling 
 tear from their wrinkled faces ; the young men stood there 
 in deep solemnity, and sighed over the fair one now pale 
 in death ; many very many maidens wept over betrayed 
 and blasted innocence, and all w^ere melted in grief, 
 when the shroud hid the face of Naomi forever. 
 
 The writer knows not the place of her grave else would 
 he visit that lonely placet he would place at lier head a 
 simple stone, to tell her name, her excellence and her ruin; 
 he w^ould plant tliere appropriate emblems, and drop a 
 tear over the memory of her who sleeps beneath. * 
 
 "Oh! fair as the wild flower, close to thee growing, 
 How pure was thy heart till love's witchery came. 
 Like the wind of the South oe'r a summer lute blowing 
 It hushed all its music and withered its fame. 
 The young village maid, when with flowers she dresses 
 Her dark flowing hair for some festival day. 
 Will think of thy fate till neglecting her tresses 
 She mournfully turns from the mirror away." 
 
112 NAOMI WISE. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Though Lewis was coDiined in the strong- jail, that then 
 towered in Asheboro' as a terror to evil doers, his \vas not 
 the character to yield without an ettort ; and such was his 
 strength, skill or assistance, that he soon escaped. He 
 broke jail and fled to parts unknown. Time rolled on, 
 l^earing upon its ever changnig surface new scenes, ac- 
 tions and subjects of thought. Xaomi was beginning to 
 iade from memory, and Lewis was scarcely thought of. 
 The whole tragedy would, perhaps, have been nearly in 
 the sea of oblivion, but for the song oi'''Owi HYse,". which 
 was sung in every neighborhood. At length, rumor, the 
 persecutor and avenger, gave tidings that Jonathan Lewis 
 was living at the tails of Ohio, was married, had one child, 
 and considered in prosperous circumstances. The mur- 
 dered girl ros'3 fresh in the minds of the people. Justice 
 cried, "cut the sinner down." Indignation cried shame 
 to the lingering servants of law. Col. Craven, Col. Lane 
 and George Swearengain, properly commissioned, started 
 in quest of the criminal. Many were the sighs and ex- 
 pressions of anxieties that escaped their friends, when 
 tliese worthy citizens departed. All were aware that 
 the enterprise was perilous. Most of the Lewis family 
 had migrated to the same region, and one Lewis was not 
 trifled with, much less a community of such personages. 
 But brave men, especially of Kandolph county, sustain ed 
 ])y justice, never count the foe, or ask a parley. Having ar- 
 rived in the neighborhood, or rather in the country, for 
 they were yet many miles from Lewis' home, they made 
 inrpiiry until they found the circumstances and position 
 of the families. Knowing, that if they appeared in person, 
 their object would be defeated, they hired two sturdy hun- 
 ters for a fee of seventy five dollars, to take Jonathan, dead 
 or aiive, and deliver him at a certain town. "Xo work, 
 no pay." The three officers went to the town to await the 
 i^j'jue, audit it failed, to collect if possible, such force as 
 might be necessary to w^age civil war upon the whole of- 
 fending tribe. 
 
 The hunters, unknown to the Lewises, having arrived in 
 the immediate vincinity, learned that a great daiice was to 
 take place that night at a house in the neighborhood, and 
 that pU the Lewises would be there. They concluded 
 that the occasion would either enable them to execute their 
 
NAOMI WISE. 113 
 
 object, or at least to make some useful observations; they 
 accordingly rode to the pia(.'e, in appearance and pi-olcssion 
 two wandering backwoodsmen. Arriving at tlie rude 
 fence in front of the house, and seeing a considerable 
 number already collected, one of the hunters cried : 
 
 '•Hallo to the man of the house and all his friends.'* 
 
 "Kallo back to you,'' said a voice within, "and maybe 
 jou'd light and look at your saddle." 
 
 "Apt as not,'' said the hunter, "if wer'e allowed to see 
 cur Sriddles on the peg, our horses eatin" todder, and our- 
 selves merry over hog and hominy,' 
 
 "Ef you are what you look like," said the landlord, 
 stepping into the yard, "and not Yankee speculators, nor 
 baud)oozled otiicers, nor Natchez sharpers, you are wel- 
 come tosich as we have." 
 
 "And spose vve are not what we look like," replied the 
 liunter' 'Svliatthen?" 
 
 "Why' the sooner you move yonr washing, the better; 
 vver'e plain honest folks here, and deal witii all scatterlo- 
 pers arter their deserts. ' 
 
 "Well, well, we'll light and take some of your pone and 
 a little of your blinkeye, and maybe as how we'll get better 
 {iccjuainted." 
 
 feo saying, the strangers alighted, and having seen their 
 horses supplied with a bountiful quantity of provender, 
 they entered the house and mingled with the guests with- 
 out exciting suspicion or even much notice. They had 
 previously agreed, that <uie should do the ta1ki!)g, lest 
 they might commit some incongruities. A glance con- 
 vinced them that Jonathan Lewis was not there. The 
 guests continued to assemble, women, men and children; an 
 old wrinkled-faced vajfabond commenced tuning his violin 
 vAul the parties were arranginif themselves tor the dance, 
 when a strong powerful man entered. His hair was long, 
 Inisby and matted as if it had never known the virtue of a 
 comb: his eyebrows were dark and heavy; his step wjs 
 decided and tirm: he wore a belted hunting shirt in the 
 l>and of which hung a long, double-edged hunting knife, 
 and under its folds were plainly visible two heavy pistols. 
 His keen eje detected the strangers instantly, and forth- 
 with he sought the landlord at the other end of the house, 
 aind engaged him for a time in whispers. Our huiiters 
 knew their man, and watched him with no small anxiety, 
 nor was it long until he approached them and said: 
 
114 KA03II WISE. 
 
 *'I reckon you're Ptrtiiigers in tliese parts." 
 
 **I reckon we arc too, being we knuw nobody and no- 
 body knows ub ; and we're perlight enough not to trouble 
 strangers "VAitli foolisb questions, and so I guess we shall 
 still be strangers." 
 
 This answei- to his implied cjuestion evidently displeas- 
 ed the interrogator; after eyeing them a moment, he con- 
 tinued, 
 
 '^But maybe we all come from the same land, and so 
 might scrape an acquaintance easier than you ihink," 
 
 ^'As to that, it's no difference, without telling or asking 
 names, Ave give the right hand to every honest hunter." 
 
 **Then you're hunters, I spose, and avS we have a great 
 deer hunt tomorrow^ perhaps you'll join." 
 
 'That we will, ef its agreeable." 
 
 The dance passed oif without anything remarkable, and 
 early next morning the horns were soiinding, the dogs 
 yelping and everything alive tor the hunt. In arranging 
 the couples to stand at the crosses, it so happened "tha't 
 Jonathan and our talking hunter wxre stationed together, 
 and the other stranger at no great distance. The drivers 
 had departed, and the marksmen were reclining at ease or 
 ftxamining their firelocks, when Jonathan discovered that 
 he had no powder. As it would probably be an hour or 
 two before the game would appear, Lewis proposed to his 
 companion that they should go to the village and supply 
 themselves with powder. They liad no sooner started, 
 than the other hunter discovered his comrade to give the 
 signal, he accordingly followed at some distance in the 
 rear. Close by the village he met Lewis and his compan- 
 ion on their return. The hunters exchanged signs and 
 agreed to make the effort ; they were fully aware "of their 
 peril : for though two against one, they knew their antag- 
 onist to be much more powerful than either, and to be 
 well armed. The hunter that met them, pretended that 
 he had become alarmed when he missed them, not know^- 
 ing what might happen, and that he had come in search; 
 then asking about the powder, requested to see some. 
 While Lewis was pouring some into his hand, the other 
 seized him from behind in order to hold his hands fast; 
 while the front man grasping bin) by the legs, endeavor- 
 ed to throw him. Like a second Sampson, Lewis tore 
 his arms from the grasp of the hunter, and with a back- 
 handed blow sent him near a rod backwards, at the same 
 
NAOMI WISE. 115 
 
 time kicking down the man that was before him. But 
 Viefore he aoiM level his gui> the iirst hunter gave hiru 
 8ueh a blow with the barrel oi: his gun that he reeled and 
 fell ; but pointing his gun as the second hunter canie, lie 
 would have shot him dead, if the other had not struck 
 his arm; the flash ot the gun, however, set lire to the 
 powder, that in the melee, had been spilled upon the hun- 
 ter's clothes and scorched the whole company not a little. 
 Lewis better capable of enduring such catastrophes than 
 the others, taKing advantage of the confusion, would have 
 made his escape, "had nottiie villagers arrived in sufficient 
 strength to overpower him by force of numbers. 
 
 Col. Craven and his companions received Lewis bound 
 with strong cords and immediately started for Carolina, 
 nor did they travel at a moderate rate, well knowing that 
 if the Lewis family with their confederates should over- 
 take 'them, death would be the fate of the weaker party : 
 nor did the hunters tarry in the vicinity but hurried 
 themselves far away in the western wilds. After Lewis 
 found that further resistance would be useless he seemed 
 to submit to his fate and became tractable and social, so 
 much so, that his bonds were somewhat slackened and 
 his captivity less strict. He awakened no suspicion by 
 asking theni to be less cautious, and seemed so mui^h 
 more%ocial than they had ever known him, that his 
 o-uards were almost tempted to free him from all restraint. 
 Oi\e evening while indulging their glee around the canip 
 tire, Lewis unobserved' untied his bonds, and springing 
 up,'darted off with the agility of a youth Craven ami 
 Swearen^din pursued, but Craven wa-^ ere long left some 
 distance "^in the rear. They were now in a low bottom 
 and the evening had so far ad vanced that Swearengain , who 
 
 was close in pursuit, could only see Lewis hy the white- 
 ness of his clothes. 80 expert was Lewis in dodging that 
 he constaiitly eluded the grasp of his pursuer and was 
 now within a' few paces of a dense thicket, Swearengam 
 makino; a spring, struck Lewis with a blow so eiiectual 
 that itlelled him to the earth, and before he could regain 
 his feet, he was overpowered by botli of his pursuers. ^ 
 
 Lewis was finallv brought to Randolph from which 
 county his trial v/a3^IlOvedlo Guilford, where he was h- 
 nally tried and acquitted. Most of the material witnesses 
 had died or moved away and much of the minut*, was 
 fbr^ottea. After his release he returned to kentucrcy 
 
116 NAOMI AVISE. 
 
 and died in a few years afterwards. After all liopes oi' 
 liis recovery was o'iven up, and bis friends watched around 
 his couch only to perioral the last sad offices ot'lite, he 
 still lingered, lie «-eemed to sutler beyond human con- 
 ception; the contortions of his face were too horrid for hu- 
 niau gaze ; his groans were appalling to the ear. For 
 two days the death rattle had been in his throat, and yet 
 lie retained his reason and speech. Finally he hid every 
 person leave the room l)ut his lather, and to liini he coJi- 
 fcssed all the circunistasices we have detailed, lie declar- 
 t'tlthat while in prison, ^Saomi was ever befcu-e him ; his 
 sleep was l)roken by her cries for mercy, and in the dim 
 twilight her shadowy form was ever before him, holding 
 up her imploring han<is. Thus ended the career ot Jo- 
 nathan Lewis, tor no soorier was his cont'essiijn com[>leted 
 than liis soul seemed to basten awav. 
 
 The following is the song so well known in this county, as 
 
 POOR NAOMI. 
 
 Come all you good people, I'd ha'i'e you draw near, 
 A sorrowful story you quickly shali hear; 
 A j^tory I'll tell you abcut iN'omi \N ise, 
 How she was deluded by Lewis' lies. 
 
 He promised to n)arry and use me quite well ; 
 P;ut conduct contrary 1 sadly most tell. 
 He promised to meet me at Adams' Springs, 
 He promised me marriage and many tine things. 
 
 Still nothing he gave but yet flattered the case, 
 He says, we'll be married and have no disgrace, 
 Come get up behind me, we'll go up to town. 
 And there we'll be married, in union be bound. 
 
 ] got up behind him and straightway did go 
 
 To the banks of 13eep river, where the water did rtr)w 
 
 He says, "Now, Naomi, I'll tell you my mind, 
 
 I intend here to drown you, and leave you behind." 
 
 (> I pitv your itifant and spare me my life ; 
 1 et nie go rejected and not be your wife. 
 **No pity, no pity." this monster did cry, 
 "In Deepriver's bottom your body shaillie." 
 
 The wretch then did choke her, as we understan", 
 And threw her in the river, below the miUdam. 
 Ke it murder vt treason. Oh ! what a great crime 
 To murder poor Naomi and leave her behind. 
 
NAOMI WISE. 117 
 
 Naomi was missing, they all did well know, 
 AnJ hunting f(;r her to the river did go ; 
 And there touud her floating on the water so deei>, 
 Which caused all the people to sigh and to wtcp* 
 
 The neighbors were sent for to see the great sight, 
 "While she lay floating all that long night, 
 So early next morning the inquest was held, 
 The jury correctly the murder did tell. 
 
 IN'oTE. — It is siiid that in the dusk of evening, the 
 following little song may be heard about ihe river in ac- 
 cents sweet as angels sing : 
 
 Beneath these crystal waters, 
 
 A maiden once did lie, 
 The fairest of earth"s daughters, 
 
 A gem to deck the sky. 
 
 In caves of pearled enamel, 
 
 We weave a maiden's shroud 
 For all the foolish damsels, 
 
 That dare to stray abroad. 
 
 We live in rolling billows, 
 
 We float upon the mist, 
 We sing on foaming pillows ; 
 
 "Poor Naomi of the past." 
 
 On .Talv 7th, 1879, Mr. J. B. Randleman and the pres- 
 ent Naomi Falls Company commenced building a cotton 
 factory, which to day stands as a monnmeiit oi their en- 
 ergy and enterprise. There is now a beaurifnl toAvn of 
 about 500 inhabitants, and the hum of oOOO spindles and 
 the clash of 164 looms and the voices of 22') eiiijdoyees is 
 heard within less than 200 yards of the tbr«i where the 
 tragedy referred to in this book was enactcil. This place 
 was named in honor of Naomi, who was buried on the 
 plantation upon which Calvin Swim now lives, in sight 
 of Naomi Falls Factory. The spring where Naomi met 
 Lewis and mounted his horse on the fatal nighr, is now 
 used to supply water for the New Salem Steam Mill and 
 Tannery Company Mr. J- N. Caudle's hwn now stands 
 ?.bout where Mr. Adams' house then stoo(3. 
 
MUNUFSCTURING. 
 
 THE GEEAT COTTON MILLS OF RAN- 
 DOLPH COUNTY. 
 
 A Statistical Record and Descriptive Sketch of 
 the Mills and their Surroundings. , 
 
 THE XAOMI COTTOX MILLS, 
 Kandleman, N. C. 
 
 These great mills, the iiulustrial moiuuneiit to the mem- 
 ory of the beautiful but uiitortunate Naomi Wise, wer-^ 
 e-:^t.ablished a few years a^^-u by the Xaoiiii Falis Maiiutae- 
 turiug Co., of which Mr. ii. l\ Dicks is treasurer and priii- 
 cipal owner of the stock represented, which is about 
 $180,000. Miss Mamie Pomeroy, than whom there is 
 perhaps no more accurate acountant in this sunny laud of 
 itowers and fair women, has charge of the company's 
 books. 
 
 Mr. Dicks, assisted by his fair book-keeper has tiie gen- 
 eral supervision uf every detail pertaining to the uianage- 
 ment oi' this gigantic enterprise. He is a siirewd busi- 
 ness man, generous and kind hearted and is thoroughly 
 posted in the manutacture vt goods in his line. 
 
 Rev. A. Gregson,generai superintendent has charge of all 
 the departments managed by the following subordinates ; 
 
 Mr. F. C. Furgerson, manager spinning department : 
 Mr. J. A. Wright, manager weaving department ; Mr. 
 Marsh Hughes, chief engineer, assisted by Mr Dave 
 Laughlin. 
 
 These gentlemen have charge of 260 employees, to 
 whom the treasurer pays annually about |50. 000. 
 There are 5,000 spindles and 226 looms, all of which are 
 placed in one grand brick structure 52x405 feet in dimen- 
 MJOQS, one story and a basement the same length and 
 ^idth. This great building has a metal root, in the centre 
 or which, and just above the nixin entrance, there is a cu- 
 p >ia bearing a large tank tilled with crater to be used in 
 
He;- 
 
 case of lire. Tl.e inilis work about 2,500 Imlcs of cott^ji 
 per year from which the 5,000 s])iiKlles, kept constantly at 
 work, produce the immense quantity of 1,000,000 pouinls 
 of warp of diii'erent numbers, annually. A large porlion 
 ofthis IS used in tlie manufacture of about 400 styles ot 
 beautiful plaids, &e., and the remainder is converted iiito 
 excellent grain bags. The value of plaids manufactured 
 is about 1^200,000', and that of bags §50,000, n)aking 
 the grand total of $250,000 annual businer^s. 
 
 The dimensions of the principal buildings coinu ctcd 
 with the main building are as follows : Mana^-ed by 
 J. li, Wilson. Dye house 35x85, Mana^ied by J. E. Mc- 
 Laughen. JJaling iiouse 40x50, iap[)er house 35x50, boil- 
 er house 35x40, e[)gine house 20x30 feet. 
 
 The otiice, one of the finest and best arranged in the 
 State, is a handsome bricis: bui.<ling 30x48 feet in dimen- 
 sions, with three compartments for the treasurer, book 
 keeper and superintendent respectively. 
 
 There are about 75 dwellings occupied by the employ- 
 ees and officers ot the company, the most beautiful of 
 which is the mansion occupied by the treasurer. This 
 building cost $10,000. 
 
 The motive power of the mam motli cotton mill des- 
 cribed in the foregoing sketch, consists of one 150 il. P. 
 Harris Oorless engine and twi) 48 in, Leliell water wheels. 
 The boiler plant consists of three GO li. P. return tubular 
 boilers and is located under the same roof with the en- 
 gine. 
 
 In connection with the manufacturing business the 
 company owns a large store which is managed by Mr. W. 
 J. Glass, assisted by Messrs Steed and Lamb as salesmen. 
 These gentlemen carry an elegant line of general mer 
 chandiseand sell *50,000 worth of goods an:iually. The 
 brick building occupied is 30x115 in dimensions, two story 
 and basement, and is located near the factory. 
 
 Just above this great cotron mill and in the town of 
 Randleman, there is anotl^r mammoth mill, located on 
 Deep liiver, which is the pioneer of all other cotton mills 
 in Kandolph county. . 
 
 THE RANDLEMAN COTTON MILLS 
 Randleman Manufacturing Co., Prop's. 
 These loammoth mflls are located about 3 1-2 miles 
 
120 
 
 from Millboro, tlie present terminus of the braiicii road 
 intersecting with the C. F. & Y. V. Railroad at Factory 
 Junction, Mr. John H. Ferree is the principal owner of 
 the stock representing about $200,000, and is Treasurer of 
 the Company which is composed of the following per- 
 sons. Messrs. J. H. Ferree, L. li. Weaver and Charley 
 C. Randleman, Mr. S. G. Newlin, assisted by^Mr. J. 
 T. Millicau, has charge of the books and is assistant 
 Treasurer. Mr. J. O. Pickard ^s the general superin- 
 tendent and has served in that capacity for a number of 
 years. 
 
 Mr. Charley Randleman is the chief manager .of the 
 spinning department. This young man is a son of the 
 late John Randleman who was at his death one of the 
 principal owners of the mill bearing his name. 
 
 Mr. W. T. Furguson, in charge of the beaming de- 
 partment, has been connected with the mill for about 12 
 years and will have served the company 14 years on the 
 termination of his present contract. 
 
 Mr. M. L. Ellington, assisted by Mr. William Ivey, 
 controls the employees of the weaving department. Mr. 
 John Clapp, for 12 years in the company's employ, has 
 charge of the two large dying establishments. The bal- 
 ing department is in charge of Mr. J. E. Hayworth, a gen- 
 tlemaii of experience and for a long time connected with 
 the mills. Mr. J. A. Myricks is chief engineer and as- 
 sistant superintendent, assisted by Mr. H. II. Nelson. 
 
 Mr. MjTicks is a very fine engineer as will be proven 
 by the engine recently set up by him which is so nicely 
 adjusted that a nickle coin placed edgewise on the cylin- 
 der head will not jar oil' when tbe engine is in motion. 
 
 The number of employees connected with these great 
 cotton mills is 245 to whom the company pays the hand- 
 some sum of §44,824 per annum. 
 
 The mills consume about 1,900 bales, or nearly 2,000,- 
 000 pounds of cotton, annually. From this immense 
 quantity they produce about 800,000 lbs warp, running 
 4,272 spindles, 222 looms are employed in the manufac- 
 ture of about 3,536,000 yards of over 700 difiei*ent styles 
 of beautiful plaids, the value of which is about $247,520. 
 
 The machinery named above is placed in two large 
 buildings, one of which is a brick building, two stories 
 high, 40x100 feet in dimension, with a wing 40x80 feet 
 
121 
 
 oae story. The other is a wooden l)uil(lino- 36x300 
 feet in dimensions, one story. 
 
 The two dye houses are 22x82 feet each, lapper house 
 40x50, baling house 35x70, warpinu- house 30x30, two 
 stories, engine and boiler houses, each, 20x30, and a large 
 three story brick building, 30x70 faat, used as a town 
 hall. On the first floor of this building, an<l in the rear, 
 is the principal office of the company. 
 
 The motive power of this mill consists one 100 II. P. 
 Harris-Corles engine, and tw^o 44 in. and one 40 in. 
 Letfell water wheels, w^orking under 13 feet head of water. 
 
 The boiler plant consists of two 75 H P., and one 60 
 H. P. return tubular boilers, manufactured by Talbott & 
 Sons, Richmond, Va. 
 
 There are about 150 dwellings including the handsome 
 residences occupied by the proprietors an.d officers. The 
 value of the whole property is about $200,000. 
 
 There are about 300 dwellings in the town of llandlemaii 
 proper, including 5 churches, 3 school houses, 2 hotels, 10 
 or more stores and sliops 1 tin shop, 3 blac^ksmith shops 
 and other smaller enterprises. The population is about 
 2,000. The principal store is 'owned by the Ran- 
 dleman Store Co. The building is 3 stories high 
 with basement and is about 40x1 30 feet in dimensions.The 
 salesmen are Messrs. N. N. and J. J. Newlin, andlL D. 
 Scarboro. The annual sales amount to something near 
 150,000, which, including the annual s.nles of the Naomi 
 store, the Naomi cotton mills and Kandleman cotton mijl? 
 amounts to the immense sum of $597,520 i)cr annum. 
 Both the above mills use Electric liirhts. 
 
^