Declaration of Independence by a Colonial 
 Church by Richard Dillads 
 
C&e Hiorarp 
 
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 Onitiersitp of Jl3otti) Carolina 
 
 Collection of Jl5ott§ Catolinfana 
 
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 3ot>n §>pcant ^tll 
 
 of the Class of 1889 
 
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MAGAZINE OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 Vol. XXVIII DECEMBER, 1892 No. 6 
 
 DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE BY A COLONIAL 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 1 £o.aoU 
 
 A CONTRIBUTION TO THE HISTORY OF NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 E DENTON and its environs was the nucleus of civilization for one 
 section of the state of North Carolina at a very early date. St. 
 Paul's church in Edenton is identified with the history of the colony, an 
 account of which forms an interesting chapter. The vestry-books, dating 
 back to 1 701, still In a state of perfect preservation, are of uncommon his- 
 toric interest. 
 
 North Carolina's most accurate historian, Martin, in" referring to the 
 early settlement of the state, says: "At this time [about 1658] there 
 were two points only in which incipient English settlements could be dis- 
 cerned, the one on the northern shore of Albemarle sound and the streams 
 which flow into it, the population of which was very thin and the greatest 
 part of it on the north-east bank of Chowan river " ; the other was the 
 settlement near the site of the present city of Wilmington, of which we 
 have nothing to say in this paper. Lawson, 01 ■ first historian, whose 
 tragic fate with the Indians is more than a counterpart of the romantic 
 adventures of Captain John Smith, testifies to the same fact. The thick- 
 est part of this settlement first received the name of " Chowon precinct," 
 and is subsequently alluded to as the " towne in Queen Ann's Creek," 
 the "towne in Mattercomock Creek," and "Port of Roanoke." Upon 
 the death of the royal governor, Edenton, in 1722, it was dignified by 
 the name of Edenton in his honor. Bancroft says : " Here was a colony 
 of men from civilized life, scattered among the forests, resting on the 
 bosom of nature. With absolute freedom of conscience, benevolent reason 
 was the simple rule of their conduct. Are there any," says he, " who 
 doubt man's capacity for self-government, let them study the history of 
 North Carolina." 
 
 This colony attracted the attention of Sir Wm. Berkeley, of Virginia, 
 who appointed, in 1663, William Drummond, a Scotch Presbyterian then 
 residing in Virginia, their first governor. 
 
 Vol. XXVIII. -No. 6.-26 
 
402 DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE BY A COLONIAL CHURCH 
 
 I wish the reader to note, and history confirms the fact, that resistance 
 to British authority existed here nearly one hundred years before the 
 Revolution, for the many early disturbances and frequent rebellions were 
 nothing more than a resistance to " illegal and usurped authority," and a 
 contest for religious freedom. These were long shadows cast before the 
 mighty revolution. 
 
 This little colony might, therefore, be styled the embryo republic, and 
 the birthplace of the American Revolution. In the history of all govern- 
 ments the oppressed are long tolerant of their oppressors before they 
 break their chains, and revolution was a progressive development. It 
 took nearly five hundred years to free France of its despots. Brazil, I 
 believe, presents a singular exception, when, as if by magic, the empire 
 ceased to exist, and a virgin republic sprang full-panoplied upon the scene. 
 
 The same liberty-loving spirit which characterized the people of this 
 colony crystallized in subsequent years in the form of the " St. Paul's 
 Declaration of Independence." 
 
 Pursuant to an act of assembly, the vestry of St. Paul's met at the house 
 of Thomas Gilliam, December 15, 1701. The Hon. Henderson Walker, 
 then governor, Colonel Wm. Wilkinson, and Captain Thomas Lewton 
 were appointed wardens for a year, and instructed " to agree with a work- 
 man for building a church twenty-five feet long, posts in the ground, and 
 held to the collar beams." It was built upon an acre of land given by 
 Edvvard Smethwick, and was finished in 1702. This was the first church 
 ever built upon North Carolina soil. The vestries of those old days, when 
 church and state were united, possessed considerable civil authority, and 
 were about equal in power to our county commissioners. They were 
 empowered to collect tithes, provide standards of weights and measures, 
 etc. 
 
 In 1704 Dr. John Blair presented himself to the vestry as a minister, 
 and was received by them at a salary of thirty pounds per year. The ser- 
 vices had previously been conducted by readers employed at a small salary, 
 whose only qualifications were that they should promise to live sober and 
 exemplary lives during their period of service. The temporary church 
 lasted but a few years, for in 1709 the Rev. Mr. Adams, who came here 
 under the auspices of the " Society for Propagating the Gospel," wrote: 
 "They built a church some years ago, but it is small and very sorrily put 
 together, and therefore I prevailed with them to build another, which they 
 went about when I came away." The dimensions of the new church were 
 forty feet long, twenty-four feet wide, and fourteen feet high. In 17 14, 
 according to the records, this church was still unfinished, and it was either 
 
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE BY A COLONIAL CHURCH 403 
 
 ST. PAULS EPISCOPAL CHURCH, EDENTON, NORTH CAROLINA— COMPLETED IN 1745. 
 
 never finished at all or soon fell into decay, for Governor Boyd of Virginia, 
 who was here in 1728 on the commission to run the boundary line between 
 North Carolina and Virginia, says that Mr. Fontaine, the minister who 
 accompanied him, " preached in the court-house for want of a consecrated 
 place of worship." It was not until 1729 that the initial step was taken 
 towards building the present brick edifice. In April, 1729, Governor Everard 
 wrote the following letter to the bishop of London in regard to the church : 
 " 'Tis with no small concern I send you this, to inform you that our church 
 is not built now, nor is it like to be gone about ; for those men that were 
 appointed commissioners for the building it have six hundred pounds in 
 their hands, and are now the only opposers of building one. I was, in order 
 to laying the foundation, chose church-warden with one Mr. Mosely. We 
 had several meetings to consult about building it, but could not agree, 
 being always hindered by our secretary, one Mr. John Lovick, a man of no 
 religion, fears not God nor man, believes neither, seldom seen at any place 
 of divine worship, his money is his God, ridicules all goodness. While 
 such a man is in power no good can be expected." In 1736 a tax was laid 
 
404 DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE BY A COLONIAL CHURCH 
 
 for building this church, and in 1738 the work was actually begun ; it was 
 not, however, finished until 1745. About the latter part of that century 
 the church fell into decay, and was restored to its present beauty largely 
 through the munificence of Mr. Josiah Collins, and the stained-glass win- 
 dow over the chancel memorializes this act of generosity. 
 
 Nine ministers officiated here up to the time of the Revolution, the 
 last one being the Rev. Daniel Earle, familiar to tradition and history as 
 Parson Earle. The early ministers were in some instances unworthy of 
 their trusts: being unwilling to endure the privations and inconveniences 
 of a new and unsettled country, they soon abandoned their flocks and 
 returned to England ; but Parson Earle was a man of such strong points of 
 character, and was so typical of the parsons of those old days, that it is 
 interesting to study his life and character. Oliver Wendell Holmes has 
 painted just such an one in his " Wonderful One-hoss Shay." We can 
 almost see him now as he passes in his old stock gig 
 
 " Drawn by a rat-tailed, ewe-necked bay." 
 
 He was born near the town of Bandon, province of Munster, Ireland, 
 and was the younger son of an Irish nobleman. His family was one of 
 prominence and distinction ; one of his ancestors was General Earle, Lord 
 Chief Justice of Ireland in the reign of Queen Anne. In early life he was 
 an officer in the British army, but his marriage with the daughter of a high 
 church official changed the whole course of his life, and he soon resigned 
 his commission to take holy orders. The date of his emigration to America 
 is not known, but he was first sent by the Bishop of London to that part 
 of Virginia now called Gloucester county. In 1757 he came to the Albe- 
 marle section to act as curate for the aged Rev. Mr. Hall, the rector of St. 
 Paul's, who was then in feeble health, and in 1760 was made full rector. 
 His charge not only included Edenton, but many mission stations scattered 
 through the section now known as Chowan, Hertford, and Gates counties. 
 His wife, who died before his departure for America, left him two little 
 daughters ; these he committed to the care of friends in England, to be 
 reared and educated. When he came to this section he settled on Chowan 
 river, and named his residence Bandon, after his native town. He then 
 married a Welsh lad)', the widow Charity Jones, of Smithfield, Virginia, by 
 whom he had no issue. '' Parson Earle " was not only a faithful minister, 
 but grew to be a successful farmer and fisherman : he was one of the pio- 
 neers in the herring-fishing in this country. About this time his church in 
 Edenton became somewhat dilapidated, and the worshipers few in num- 
 ber. One Sunday morning, tradition has it, when the parson arrived in 
 
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE BY A COLONIAL CHURCH 405 
 
 COURT-HOUSE AT EDENTOK — BUILT IN 1731. 
 [Tkis st'as at one time the colonial capital oj North Carolina.'] 
 
 Edenton to preach to the faithful, he was shocked to find placarded upon 
 the church door the following doggerel rhyme: 
 
 "A half-built church 
 
 And a broken-down steeple, 
 A herring-catching parson 
 And a dam set of people." 
 
 He was ever afterwards styled the "herring-catching parson. 
 
 He was an active sympathizer in the struggle for independence, and 
 was on that account debarred from preaching in his church in Edenton 
 during the Revolution. 
 
 Several attempts were made by the British to capture him. Upon one 
 
406 DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE BY A COLONIAL CHURCH 
 
 occasion he was informed by a messenger that troops were coming from 
 Edenton to take him prisoner. He immediately buried his silver and 
 treasures in his cellar, and dispatched a servant to his plowmen in the 
 fields to fly to the woods and secrete the horses ; but his messenger was too 
 late, and four of his best horses were captured, the parson himself barely 
 escaping. He was unjustly accused by some of being a tory, because he 
 did not sever all connection with the Church of England, and organize an 
 independent church ; but he held that the church was of divine origin, that 
 he was a simple priest, and that the bishop of London alone had that power. 
 He baptized all the children of this section, and was the welcome guest 
 of every fireside. He was a man of high educational attainments, and 
 possessed great wit and humor, united with the kindest of hearts. He 
 was 
 
 " True to his country, bounteous to the poor ; 
 In all things temperate, sober, just, and pure." 
 
 The two daughters whom he had left in England came to America 
 when they were grown. One of them married Hon. Charles Johnson ; the 
 other, Miss Nancy, never married, but assisted her father in a school of high 
 order which he established at Bandon. He died in 1790, and was buried 
 near the site of his old home. The modest slab which once marked his 
 resting-place has long since been covered by the drifting sands, and the 
 tall pines which surround this lonely spot sigh to every passing breeze their 
 sad requiem for the repose of his soul. His church is the admiration of 
 the stranger. Half-clad in ivy, time's green uniform, it stands like a silent 
 sentinel, and as the sun traces the shadow of its tall spire upon the sod, it 
 points almost every hour, like the hand of a huge dial, to the grave of some 
 distinguished citizen. Its gilded cross, glittering and shimmering against 
 the evening sky, suggests the vision of the Emperor Constantine. 
 
 The original bell of this church was taken down in response to Beaure- 
 gard's call to melt the bells of the confederacy and cast them into can- 
 non, which inspired the beautiful war-lyric, " Melt the bells." It helped 
 to form the " Edenton Bell Battery," which did efficient service, and was 
 surrendered to Sherman at Greensborough. The silver chalice and paten 
 now in use bears this incription : "The gift of Col. Edward Mosely for 
 ye use of ye Church in Edenton in the year of 1725." 
 
 The vestry of St. Paul's, imbued with the same spirit of liberty which 
 had inoculated the whole country, gave vent to the following blazing dec- 
 laration of independence : 
 
 '• We the subscribers professing our allegiance to the king and acknowl- 
 
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE BY A COLONIAL CHURCH 407 
 
 edging the constitutional executive power of government, do solemnly 
 profess, testify, and declare that we do absolutely believe that neither the 
 parliament of Great Britain nor any member or constituent branch thereof 
 have a right to impose taxes upon these colonies to regulate the internal 
 policy thereof, and that all attempts by fraud or force to establish and 
 exercise such claims and powers are violations of tiie peace and security of 
 the people and ought to be resisted to the utmost, and that the people of 
 
 HOUSE ERECTED IN I758 BY THE NOTORIOUS FRANCIS CORBIN. 
 
 [Corbin was Lord Granville's land agent in America forhis betrothed, Jean Junds, both of whom died before 
 their marriage could be consummated. The property was sold by Corbin's brother and heir, Edmund Corbin, to 
 Dr. Samuel Dickinson, and is still occupied by his descendants. The portrait of Mrs. Penelope Barker, of Revolu- 
 tionary Tea-party fame, hangs in one of its apartments. The assembly of North Carol ina is said to have met here 
 formerly. The initials F. C and date 1758 are still plainly visible upon the gable-post.] 
 
 this province singly and collectively are bound by the acts and resolutions 
 of the continental and provincial congresses, because in both they are 
 freely represented by persons chosen by themselves, and we do solemnly 
 and sincerely promise and engage under the sanction of virtue, honor and 
 the sacred love of liberty and our country to maintain and support all 
 and every the acts, resolutions and regulations of the said continental and 
 provincial congresses to the utmost of our power and ability. 
 
408 
 
 DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE BY A COLONIAL CHURCH 
 
 In testimony whereof we have hereto set our hands this 19th of June 
 1776. 
 
 rlchd. hoskins. thos. bonner. 
 
 David Rice. Wm. Boyd. 
 
 Aaron Hill. Thos. Benbury. 
 
 Pelatiah Walton. Jacob Hunter. 
 
 Wm. Hinton. John Beasley. 
 
 William Bennett. 
 
 William Roberts." 
 
 Aid ' $*&4*>nJ 
 
 
 'firt^ti 
 
 wi#rn cnj^tfta 
 
 FAC-SIMILE OF SIGNATURES FROM THE ORIGINAL DOCUMENT. 
 
 Here is a declaration of independence of which little is known beyond 
 our borders. It is remarkable not only for its precedence of the national 
 by fifteen days, but for the purity of its patriotism and its utterance of 
 the sacred truths of liberty. 
 
 Bold indeed were they, when royal authority was supreme and when 
 the church received its maintenance almost entirely from the crown, to 
 make such declarations. It was treason, and treason was death. The 
 preamble, " professing our allegiance to the king," reads like bitter mockery. 
 The very souls of the signers seemed to exult themselves in the roundness 
 of the sentences and the flourishes of their pens. It would be interest- 
 ing to know who was the author of those patriotic words, — who the Jeffer- 
 son of that occasion. I am inclined, from what is known traditionally, to 
 accredit its authorship to Richard Hoskins, whose name appears first. 
 The spirit of liberty seemed to have taken entire hold upon his family. 
 
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE BY A COLONIAL CHURCH 
 
 409 
 
 His wife, as I have written elsewhere, was a member of the " Historic Tea- 
 party of Edenton, 1774," and signed the noted protest against tea-drinking. 
 Richard Hoskins was a zealous and fearless patriot : joining the American 
 army at the first sound to arms, he served with signal bravery and courage 
 until its close. During his absence his wife managed his entire farming 
 interest with prudence and profit, and proved always to him an efficient 
 helpmate. When they were first married they came down the Roanoke 
 
 " HAVES : HUME OK GOVEKNO.< SAMUEL JOHNSTON — BUILT 
 NOW THE RESIDENCE OF MR. JOHN G. WOOD. 
 
 river in an open boat, crossed the Albemarle sound, and landed at Eden- 
 ton. He then took his bride behind his own horse to his farm by a bridle 
 path, there being no public roads in that direction then. Her wedding 
 dress she spun and wove from flax grown upon her father's farm. So 
 delicate and smooth was the warp, that when she was preparing it for the 
 loom she passed the entire chain through her ring. The art of home pro- 
 duction probably reached its greatest perfection about this time. All connec- 
 tion with the mother country was severed, and the colonists thrown upon 
 
410 DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE BY A COLONIAL CHURCH 
 
 their own resources. It was indispensable to every lady's education that 
 she should know how to spin, sew, and weave. The spider-like fineness 
 of their yarns, the exquisite beauty of their needlework, and the lacy filmi- 
 nessof the woven fabrics which their nimble fingers wrought, are the envy 
 and admiration of the present age. 
 
 Edward Everett, the great statesman, said upon one occasion that 
 " national recollection was the foundation of national character." It 
 seems proper that the celebration of national anniversaries should be per- 
 petuated, and that the great men and great events of our country should 
 ever be kept before the youth of our land, not only to develop patriotism 
 and stimulate example, but to bring about a love for the study of our own 
 history. It is written of the warlike and unlettered Spartans, that before 
 going into battle they offered sacrifices and poured out libations to the 
 Muses, that their valiant and virtuous deeds should not be unsung and 
 unrecorded. We are too careless of our state history : already skeptical 
 writers are beginning to doubt the authenticity of the Mecklenburg 
 Declaration of Independence. 
 
 Our colonial records are a vast mine of historic wealth, but without an 
 index are a chaos of undigested material which nobody can use, and on 
 that account are thoroughly disappointing to all investigators and students 
 of our state history. New York and Pennsylvania have both made valu- 
 able indexes for their colonial records, and it seems plainly the duty of 
 the press of North Carolina to urge immediate legislative action upon 
 the subject. This is the age of the revival of history, and unless some 
 steps are taken to stimulate interest in the study of our state history 
 oblivion must be our fate. 
 
 Edenton, North Carolina. 
 
UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL 
 
 000340 
 
 4511 
 
 FOR USE ONLY IN 
 THE NORTH CAROLINA COLLECTION 
 
 Form No. A-368, Rev. 8/95