Cp283 
 
 HUMPHREY'S HISTORY OF PROPAGATION SOCIETY 
 
 y^#/m. 
 
THE LIBRARY OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 THE COLLECTION OF 
 
 NORTH CAROLINIANA 
 
 ENDOWED BY 
 
 JOHN SPRUNT HILL 
 
 CLASS OF 1889 
 
 Cp263 
 
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 108 Humphrey' s History of [April, 
 
 HUMPHREY'S HISTORY OF THE PROPAGATION SOCIETY * 
 
 
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1852.] The Propagation Society, §c. . 115 
 
 CHAFfER VI. 
 
 Missionaries sent to North Carolina. The Rev. Mr. Blair sent Mis- 
 sionary, undergoes great hardships, returns to England. Other 
 Missionaries sent thither ; they meet with many difficulties, return 
 to England. The Tuscararo Indians form a conspiracy against 
 the English ; ravage the colony ; are at length defeated. Mr. 
 Nevmam sent Missionary ; takes great pains in his Mission ; dies. 
 
 1. The Society had a very early knowledge of the destitute condi- 
 tion of this Province. The inhabitants, in the year 1702, amounted to 
 above 6000 souls, chiefly English, besides slaves ; a great number of 
 the people were desirous of having the Church of England Worship set- 
 tled among them ; there were some Presbyterians, and fewer Quakers 
 here, but many persons careless of all religion, and of a profane mind. 
 However, some of the principal inhabitants did, in a very serious man- 
 ner, and with a true Christian spirit, set forth their wants of a ministry 
 to the Society. 
 
 But the Society received the fullest information from the Reverend 
 Mr. Blair, who had been an itinerant Missionary in that country, sup- 
 ported with the bounty of £50 from the Lord Weymouth. He arrived 
 in North Carolina in Januarj T , 1*703, and entered upon the duties of his 
 mission with great diligence and pains. The people were settled in 
 such distant plantations on the several rivers' sides, that he was obliged 
 to be continually traveling from place to place, which could not possi- 
 bly be done without a guide, both on account of the badness of the 
 roads, and difficulty to firicTthem if once lost, as also by reason of the 
 deserts between several plantations, some extending forty miles in 
 length, without any inhabitant. Besides, there was another exceeding 
 inconvenience in traveling this country ; it was watered with seven great 
 rivers, all without any bridges over them ; two only which could be 
 passed on horseback ; the others had femes over Ihem, in some places, 
 
116 Humphrey's History of [April, 
 
 and the passage there was chargeable. However, he exerted himself 
 for some time, bought horses for himself and a guide, traveled over all 
 the country, and preached twice every Lord's day, for above a year ; 
 and sometimes on the week days, when the people could bring their 
 children for baptism. He baptized above one hundred during his con- 
 tinuance here. He was very useful to revive a sense of religion among 
 them ; and the people, in pursuance of an act of Assembly there, be- 
 gan to build three small churches. But he found the labor of contin- 
 ual traveling in excessive heats in summer, and extreme colds in winter, 
 beyond his strength of body and mind. He would have resided on 
 one precinct of the country, and officiated to all who could come to 
 him ; but the people were dissatisfied with this, telling him, Lord Wey- 
 mouth's charity was intended for the good of the whole country. An 
 Act of Assembly had been passed a little before, allowing* £30 a year, 
 of that country money, making about £10 sterling for a Minister in 
 each division ; but that Act was not then confirmed by the Proprieta- 
 ries, so that he had no allowance from the inhabitants. These hardships 
 rendered the mission so difficult, that some time after, he was forced to 
 return toJEngland, quite sunk with poverty and sickness. 
 
 2. This unprovided condition of the people, engaged the Society to 
 assist them. In 1*707, they sent over the Rev. Mr. Adams and Mr. 
 Gordon, itinerant Missionaries, with a better support than Mr. Blair 
 had. They were both very sensible ihey should meet with many dis- 
 couragements in their mission ; however, they entered on their office 
 with much resolution. Upon their first arrival, they entertained hopes 
 of good success in their labors, from the encouragement wdiich they 
 received from some worthy persons in the administration of the gov- 
 ernment at that time. But soon after their arrival, many ignorant and 
 irreligious persons in the Colony, raised such factions and animosities, 
 and above all, made such a blasphemous ridicule of the most sacred 
 ordinances of the Gospel, in a manner too profane to be mentioned, as 
 occasioned long and public distractions, and mightily retarded the pro- 
 gress of the Gospel. Mr. Adams and Mr. Gordon persevered, notwith- 
 standing, in their missions. The wdiole Province was divided into four 
 large precincts, Chowan, Paquiman, Pasquetanck, and Carotuck, be- 
 sides Bath county, or Pamlico Division. 
 
 Mr. Gordon had the care of Chowan and Paquiman. Chowan is the 
 westermost, the largest and thinnest settled ; the people had built a 
 Church sometime before his coming there, but it was small, and sorrily 
 put together, and therefore they then had intentions to build another. 
 There were very few Quakers or dissenters in this Parish. The people 
 indeed were ignorant, few that could read, and fewer write, even of the 
 better sort ; yet the body of them were very serious and well-inclined, 
 ready to embrace, both in public and in private, all opportunities of be- 
 ing instructed. Mr. Gordon spent most of his labors in this precinct, 
 it is very large, and divided by the great Sound and several rivers, 
 which made his cure very laborious ; however, he visited all parts of it, 
 and baptised above one hundred children. Mr. Gordon had also the 
 
1852.] The Propagation Society, fyc. 117 
 
 next precinct, Paquiman, under his care. There was a little compact 
 church built here, with more care and expense, and better contrived 
 than that iu Chowan. The Quakers here were very numerous. This 
 precinct is not so large as the other, but the roads are worse. The 
 people were very ignorant, and loose in their lives, unconcerned as to 
 religion, through their want of Ministers and good books. 
 
 Mr. Gordon was in hopes the feuds and animosities among the peo- 
 ple, would have abated in a little time, but on the contrary, they grew 
 higher, and the public distractions increased. He found himself there- 
 fore necessitated to return to England ; which he did, bringing with him 
 letters to the Lord Bishop of London, and to the Society, from the 
 two" precincts which he attended ) certifying that he had discharged 
 his mission with great fidelity among them, and indefatigably employed 
 his time in promoting the interest of religion in those parts. * 
 
 Mr. Adams had the care of Pascotanck and Carotuck precincts. 
 Pascotanck precinct then had no Church built in it. The roads here 
 are the worst, but the country is "closer settled, and better peopled than 
 the other precincts. In their way of living, these people have much 
 the advantage of the rest, being more industrious and careful. But 
 they were above all, to be commended for their order, seriousness and 
 decency, in attending EHvine Worship. 
 
 Carotuck is the eastermost precinct, including the Sand Banks, and 
 part of the south part of the Sound ; a very incommodious place for 
 damp colds in winter, and muschatoesin summer ; they had no Church 
 built here. Mr. Adams behaved himself with unwearied application ; 
 the extent of his mission was in some places above seventy miles. 
 There were 839 souls in the precinct of Carotuck; he preached often, 
 baptised here numbers of children, and administered the Sacrament. 
 But the principal branch of his cure was the precinct of Pascotanck, 
 where he chiefly resided. It contained above 1300 souls, 900 of which 
 professed themselves members of the Church of England. He bap- 
 tised in the Parishes of Pascotanck and Carotuck, above 214 children, 
 besides grown' persons, preached constantly, and administered the Sac- 
 rament in Pascotanck and in Carotuck. 
 
 When Mr. Gordon returned to England, Mr. Adams was much de- 
 jected, but resolved to make a farther effort. He continued very dili- 
 gent in the discharge of his duty. However, the public distractions 
 could not be composed through the perverseness of some Quakers. 
 During all these broils, Mr. Adams behaved himself with so much 
 moderation and diligence, as gained the favor and esteem of the most 
 sober people, and preserved his character unblemished, even by his en- 
 emies. The parties here grew of more imbittered spirits, and Mr. Ad- 
 ams was quite wearied out with the hardships he met with : he in- 
 tended to return to England in 1710, upon which the Vestry of Caro- 
 tuck, and Col. Glover, wrote thus to the Society : 
 
 " Mr. Adams, during his abode among us, hath behaved himself in 
 all respects, worthy the character of a Minister, exemplary in his life, 
 and blameless in his conversation ; and now being bound for England, 
 
118 Humphrey's History of [April, 
 
 we with sorrowful hearts, and true love and affection, take our leave of 
 him. We shall ever bless that Providence that placed him among us, 
 and should be very unjust to his character, if we did not give him the 
 testimony of a pious and painful pastor, whose sweetness of temper, 
 diligence in his calling, and soundness of doctrine, hath so much con- 
 duced to promote the great end of his mission, that we hope the good 
 seed God hath enabled him to sow, will bear fruit upwards." The 
 Vestry of Pascotanck write to the same effect ; and Colonel Glover, 
 President of the Council there, transmitted these letters to the Society, 
 and wrote thus with them : "The inclosed papers being put into my 
 hand, I held myself bound to present them to your Board, and to join 
 with the subscribers in the character they justly give of the Rev. Mr. 
 James Adams, and to which I am sure all persons, who have any re- 
 spect to religion, do heartily concur. As for the difficulties he met 
 with, he hath waded through them, under the vigilant eyes of the ma- 
 licious enemy, without committing anything unbecoming a Minister of 
 Christ." But before Mr. Adams embarked for England, he fell sick, 
 and died in Carolina. 
 
 3. The Society resolved again to assist this people ; and appointed 
 the Rev. Mr. Urmstone and Mr. Rainsford Missionaries there, about the 
 year 17.1.1. Mr. Urmstone took care of the North Shore, at the lower 
 end of Chowan, with all Pascotanck ; and Mr. Rainsford of the West 
 Shore. But they had not been long in the country, before the civil 
 feuds among that unhappy people were followed with an Indian war, 
 which threatened the total ruin of the Colony ; and had it not been 
 for a very timely and powerful assistance from their neighbors, the South 
 Carolinians, it might have been effected. The Corees and Tuskararo 
 Indians near Cape Fear, made a terrible insurrection, fell upon the in- 
 habitants of Renoque, killed 137 of them ; most of the Palatines, with 
 a Swiss Baron, perished in the massacre. The Indians carried their 
 plot on with great cunning and secrecy, and put it thus in execution, 
 in a few hours in many places. The Indians did not meet in one 
 body ; but in small parties of five or six men, waited as friends on those 
 whom they purposed to destroy ; and killed them with such weapons 
 as they found in their houses, or near hand. The South Carolinians in 
 this distress of theirs, advanced £4000 and sent Colonel Barnwell with 
 600 whites and 600 Indians to their assistance ; after a difficult march 
 he met the Indians, killed above three hundred, took one hundred pris- 
 oners, surrounded the rest, being about six hundred in a Fort, and forced 
 them to sue for peace ; which he granted, as not having provisions for 
 his own men, if the Indians should have held out ; the other straggling 
 parties of the Indians retreated into the territories of Fort Augustino, 
 and lay there secure, under the Spaniards' protection. 
 
 Mr. Urmgtone, no doubt, could not avoid bearing a share in this gen- 
 eral calamity ; however, he continued some years an itinerant Mission- 
 ary. He traveled as soon as the heat ef the summer was over, through 
 the whole government one hundred miles southward, beyond Neuze 
 River, sixty miles westward towards Virginia, and as far northeast. He 
 
1852.] The Propagation Society, fyc. 119 
 
 baptized in one half year two hundred and seventy-nine, twelve whereof 
 were grown persons ; and had it not been for the neglect of the parents, 
 and want of convenient passage both by land and water, a great many 
 more might have been baptized. Mr. Rainsford also continued some 
 time preaching on the West Shore, and by his labors kept alive, among 
 a wild and scattered people, some sense of religion ; but at length was 
 quite fatigued with the hardships of the mission, and quitted it. Mr. 
 Urmstone continued longer, but was in some years worn out with the 
 many difficulties and distresses he met with, and returned to Eng- 
 land. 
 
 Colonel Eden, then Governor of the country, wrote a very pressing 
 letter to the Society in behalf of the people. Some time after, the So- 
 ciety appointed the Rev. Mr. Newnam Missionary ; he arrived in North 
 Carolina in J.722, and transmitted to the Society an account of his la- 
 bors and success in his mission. The summary of which is as follows : 
 
 " After a long and fatiguing voyage of above four months, from De- 
 cember the 1st to April the 10th, myself and little family arrived at 
 Carolina. The late Governor Eden being dead, I waited upon the 
 President, a worthy gentleman, delivered him my credentials, with 
 which he declared himself satisfied, and received me with great kind- 
 ness and respect. I hope I shall do a great deal of good. The Vestry 
 have laid out my journeys wdiere I am to officiate. The first Sunday I 
 go by water, and some few miles by land, and preach at Esquire Duck- 
 ingfield's House, (which is large enough to hold a good congregation,) 
 till such time as they build a Church, which is hereafter to be called 
 Society Church ; and in order to do it, they are now making a collec- 
 tion through the whole Parish. The second Sunday I take a journey 
 up to a place called Maharim, about forty miles off, where there are 
 abundance of inhabitants, who are also making a collection to build a 
 Church forthwith. The third Sunday I perform Divine Service at 
 Esquire Duckingfield's. The fourth Sunday I go up to a place called 
 Wicacon, about thirty miles' journey. The fifth Sunday I cross the 
 Sound to go to Eden town, where the Vestry have also proposed to 
 build a Church very soon. The sixth Sunday I go up to a Chapel on 
 the South Shore, about twelve miles by water ; and the seventh Sunday 
 begin the same course again. But once every quarter I go up to a 
 place called Renoque, eighty miles' journey ; and the five last Sundays 
 of the year, the Vestry allow I may go my rounds, and visit the re- 
 mote parts of the country, where some inhabitants live, one hundred 
 and fifty miles off; people who will scarce ever have the opportunity 
 of hearing me, or of having their children baptized, unless I go among 
 them. The country is in general very well pleased with my coming 
 among them, but the people are for the most part poor and very ignor- 
 ant. I have baptized one hundred and twenty boys and ninety-one 
 girls, five persons above twenty years of age, and two married women, 
 this last year." 
 
 Upon bare reading of this letter, the reader will immediately reflect, 
 that he must take indefatigable pains in performing so much difficult 
 
120 Humphrey's History of [April, 
 
 duty. However, he persevered with great resolution. Some time after- 
 wards other accounts came to the Society, that since his last letter, he 
 had preached constantly, had baptized two hundred and sixty-nine 
 children, one woman, and three men, who gave a very good account of 
 their faith ; and two negroes, who could say the Creed, Lord's Prayer, 
 and Ten Commandments, and had good sureties for their farther infor- 
 mation ; and that he designed shortly to go to Bath county, where he 
 was greatly wanted, being informed there were at least three hun- 
 dred children, whose parents desired his coming among them, to have 
 them baptized. 
 
 But having contracted frequent and severe illnesses by constant trav- 
 eling, he died in the year 1V23, very much to the loss of all this people. 
 
 5. In the year 1725, Sir Richard Everet, going then over Governor, 
 the Rev. Mr. Blaeknal applied to be sent Missionary, and was employed 
 by the Society, but they have had no account of his progress, and it is 
 believed he hath left that country ; "scTthat this whole people, being now 
 above ten thousand souls, are without any Minister. What Gov. Eden 
 remarked to the Society in favor of this colony, deserves to be taken notice 
 of here : "Though the state of this Government hath been for many years 
 very unsettled, chiefly so by reason of intestine feuds ; yet the people 
 have declared themselves sincere members of the Church of England, 
 by the Act of Assembly passed in 1715, for establishing the Church, 
 and appointing select vestries ; the preamble to which is as follows :" 
 " This Province of North Carolina, being a member of the Kingdom of 
 Great Britain ; and the Church of England being appointed by the 
 Charter from the Crown, to be the only established Church, to have 
 public encouragement in it : We therefore to express our gratitude to the 
 Right Honorable the Society for Promoting the Christian Religion in 
 Foreign Parts, and our zeal for promoting our holy religion by 
 making such provision for building Churches and Chapels, and main- 
 taining of the Clergy, as circumstances of this Government will admit, 
 &c. And by this Act, they divide the whole country into nine parishes, 
 name vestries, and settle salaries for the Ministers of each parish, not 
 exceeding £50, and provided the whole parish charges do not exceed 
 five shillings per pole, on all taxable persons." 
 
 This speaks at least the good disposition of the people, though the 
 £50 settled by the Act, would amount to a very small sum in sterling 
 money. There are not above one or two Churches yet built in this 
 Government ; however, the Society have at several times by their Mis- 
 sionaries dispersed here above three hundred volumes of bound books, 
 besides about £100 worth of small Tracts of devotion and instruction. 
 
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00034013237 
 
 FOR USE ONLY IN 
 THE NORTH CAROLINA COLLECTION 
 
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 Form No. A-368, Rev. 8/95 
 
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