im ? PRINCETON, N. J. S/ie/f. BX 9211 .N44 V37 1886 Vass, Lachlan Gumming, 1831 1896. History of the Presbyterian church in New Bern, N.C. m^m W? Pw te ^ o z cc tu m z HISTORY OP THE PRESBYTEllIAN CHURCH IN NEW BERN, N. C, WITH A EESUIME OF EAELY ECCLESIASTICAL AFFAIES IN EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA, SKETCH OF THE EARLY DAYS OF NEW BERN, N. C. BY EEV. L. C. YASS, A. M., AUTHOR OF "AMUSEMENTS AND THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.' EICHIVIOND, VA.: Whittet & Shepperson, Printers, 1001 Main Street. 1886. Copyright, BY Rev. L. C. Vass, 1886. CONTENTS. PRELnnx.vRY Statement, T North Carolina, 9 Settlement of Eastern Nortli Carolina, 9 Testimony of John Lawson, 1708, . 12 The Proinietary Government, . 15 Religious Aspect of the Colony, 15 Col. Byrd, 17 Quakers ; Fox and Edmundson, 18 General Character, .... 21 Eeligious Liberty, .... 23 An EstabUshed Church, . 24 Presbj'terian Influence, .... 30 Mecklenburg Declaration, 1775, 32 Hugh WiUiamson and others, . 33 Presbyterian Settlements, 35 Highlanders, ...... 36 IVIinisters Scarce, 38 The First Call : James Campbell, . 39 Hugh McAden, .... 41 Duphn, 42 Robinson and Stanford, . 42 Classical Schools, 43 Old Princeton College, 47 New Bern, 48 Huguenots, 48 Claude Phlippe De Richeboui'g, 50 Christopher Emanuel De Graffenriedt, 53 The Palatines, 55 The Swiss, 58 Their Ecclesiastical Chai'acter, and Reasons for 1 iUiigrat- ing to Carolina, .... 59 4 CONTENTS De Grafifenried's Letter, . De Graffenried's Capture, and his Manuscript, Founding of New Bern, . Craven County, — its Name, Other Immigrants, . New Bern Data. First Printing Press, Bevolutionary Privateers, Education, Memorable Items, Earliest Churches, Ej)iscopal, Whitefield, Methodists, Baptists, . Other Churches, New Bern in 1798, Two Old Accounts, Watson's Journey, in 1777-78; Tryon's Palace, New Bern in 1818 and 1819, New Street, Washington's Letter, Presbyterianism in New Bern in 1800-1817, Benjamin H. Eice, . W. L. Tui-ner, . James K. Burch, Subscription in 1808, James Waddy Thompson, Jonathan Otis Freeman, M. D Organization, The Thirteen, J. N. Campbell, Palmy Days, Churches, Fu-st Meetmg, Lot Bought, Foundation Laid, Address, by Eev. J. Nicholson Campbell, Exhuming the Corner Stone, . 64: 64 69 70 70 72 72 73 74 75 77 77 79 79 81 85 86 87 88 90 97 98 99 100 100 101 101 103 104 105 106 107 108 110 113 115 116 116 117 121 CONTENTS Incidents, Completion, Dedication, Sale of Pews, . Plan of Pews, . Sketches of E. Hawes; R. Hay; J. Jones Eunice Hunt; J. C. Stanly Description of the Cliurcli, Succession of Pastobs : Lemuel Durant Hatch, Michael Osborne, Samuel Hurd, . Drury Lacy, D. D., . Moses Drury Hoge, . 1837 and 1838, Daniel Stratton, Roanoke Presbytery, Thomas Eraser, Thomas George Wall, Moses T. Harris, 1861-1866, Lachlan Cumming Vass, a. M„ Repair's, . Einancial Work, Membership, . Spiritual Building, . Systematic Benevolence, Olden Records, Recent Records, , Financial Summaiy, Personal Sketch, Property Data, Manse, Session House, Trustees, Deacons, . Recent Renovation, . Sundry Memoranda, Sabbath School, Ministers from the New Bern Church, S. N. Chester 121 128 124 125 127 127-135 137 139 139 143 145 148 154 159 160 163 164 164 165 166 167 167 168 169 169 171 172 173 174 176 179 179 179 180 180 180 182 182 182 CONTENTS. Euling Elders and Deacons, .... Oi'gan, Ebenezer Presbyterian Church, Ministers from Hanover Presbytery, Growth of Presbyterianism in Eastern Carolina, Conclusion, ....... Addenda, . . . . . . • . 18a 183 185 185 185 186 18& ILLUSTRATIONS. Paob. 1. New Bern, Frontispiece 2. Marriage License by Go'V'ernor Trton, 1769, ... 30 3. Old Princeton College, ....... 47 4. Communion Gathering in Olden Times, .... 80 5. Tbyon's Palace, ........ 90 6. Seal and Autographs, ....... 92 7. First Presbyterian Church, 116 8. Plan of the Pews, with Names of the Original Holders, 126 9. Eev. Drury Lacy, D. D., 148 10. Eev. Daniel Stratton, ....... 160 11. Eev. Lachlan C. Vass, 176 12. Open Bible, ......... 181 13. Ebenezer Presbyterlan Church, . . . . . 183 PRELIMINARY STATEMENT. OEANGE PRESBYTERY laid on me the preparation of the history of the Presbyterian Church in New Bern, N. C. All the Records of the Church were unfortunately lost in the evacuation of the city, 14th March, 1862. On 1st Jan- uary, 1827, all the Records of Orange Presbytery were consumed in tlie burning of the residence of Rev. John Witherspoon, the Stated Clerk, in Hillsboro, except one volume, containing its proceedings from 18th November, 1795, to 26th September, 1812. A committee, consisting of Rev. Messrs. Witherspoon, McPlieeters, Jos. Caldwell, E. B. Currie, and Wm. Paisley, was appointed to recover, as far as possible, the history embraced in those burnt Minutes. They prepared a book of statistics, necessarily brief and unsatisfactory. My work has thus been very difficult. My search has been wide and laborious to gain any accurate data, and sometimes has utterly failed. So it seems best to begin with a succinct resum6 of the ec- clesiastical and religious status of Eastern North Carolina, and especially of Craven Precinct, from the earliest colonial set- tlement; and a brief history of New Bern itself, with tlie special design to discover any elements of Presbyterianism that may have existed hereabout in the past century, or in the open- ing of this century ; and to understand the surroundings of the birth of the First Presbyterian Church in this ancient City of Elms by the sea. No minute or exhaustive investigation is PRELIMINAKY STATEMENT. proposed, nor would it be appropriate here. But it is hoped that the review will be comprehensive and luminous. I am greatly indebted for kind and sometimes laborious as- sistance given me by Rev. B. M. Smith, D. D., of Union The- ological Seminary, Ya. ; to the loved and lamented model Stated Clerk of Orange Presbytery, and of the Synod of ISTorth Carolina, Rev. Jacob Doll, and to his worthy successors. Rev. F. H. Johnston D. D., and Rev. W. S. Lacy; to the Rev. W. E. Schenck, D. D., the veteran Secretary of the Presbyterian Board of Publication, Philadelphia ; to the accomplished an- tiquarian of New Bern, Hon. J. D. "Whitford ; to Rev. E. F. Rockwell, D. D., Col. R. M. Saunders, Secretary of State of North Carolina, and many other kind friends. Among the authorities upon which my statements are based are histories of Nortli Carolina, by Zawsou, Martin, Williarnson, Hawks, Whee- ler, t'aruthers, Sewell (or ^^Shocco''^) Jones, Wiley and Foote Burnet's ''Hlstorij of His Oivn Time'' (Edition of 1734) Hume's England; Gillies' Historical Collections of 1754 Byrd's Westover Manuscripts o/1728 to 1736; Lossing's i^zeZc^ Book of the Revolution ; Bancroft's History of United States; Foote's Huguenots; Weiss's Huguenot Refugees; Maury's Memories of a Huguenot Family; Bernheim's Lutheran Church of North and South Carolina ; Rumple's Roioan County ; MWier's Bench and Bar of Georgia ; Duyckinck's Cy- clo])ccdia of American Literature; Craighead's Scotch and Lrish Seeds ; McTyeire's Methodism. ; Histories of Yirginia, by Chas. Campbell and by J. W. Campbell, in 1813, with many fugitive articles in newspapers and pamphlets about New Bern. All this, old traditions, unpublished diaries, and other material I have used as best served my aim to get and give in- formation. NORTH CAROLINA. 3t$ Scttrcrs. l^ORTH CAROLINA was settled by men "of gentle _L 1 tempers, of serene minds, enemies to violence and blood- shed," These noble pioneers were tlie freest of the free, some of them doubtless escaping severe restraints and unholy l)rn- talities; and in their new homes of balmy airs and virgin beauty, they dift'iised gentle eliarities as richly as the flowers on their smiling savannahs, while they grew strong and sang in the manly vigor of a muscular and benevolent independence. Many unjust slurs have been freely cast upon this province as the notorious refuge of the criminal, and the congenial asylum of the fugitive debtor, a veritable " Botany Bay," the welcom- ing "Arcadia" of universal and blooming wickedness. All this is gratuitous slander. Doubtless evil characters did some- times escape just vengeance for their law-breaking, by passing over the Carolina border. But some of these early colonists fled from ungodly assaults in Massachusetts and Virginia on their rights and liberties, while tlie majority were enterprising immigrants, seeking broader acres and larger fortunes, or ani- mated by the varied practical or romantic motives that sway the same class of persons to-day. In the " Westover Manuscripts" of 1728, the fun-loving, free-spoken, sometimes unjust, but not malicious author. Col. Wm. Byrd, talks about " the distemper of laziness" on the men who relied on the bounty of nature, and reaped the " Carolina felicity of having nothing to do." "The men, for their parts, just like the Indians, impose all the work upon the poor women. They make their wives rise out of their beds early in the morning, at the same time that they lie and snore, till the sun has risen one-tliird of his course, and 10 NORTH CAROLINA. dispersed all the unwholesome damps. Then, after stretching and yawning for half an hour, they light their pipes, and under the protection of a cloud of smoke, venture out into the open air; though, if it happens to be never so little cold, they quickly return shivering to the chimney corner. When the weather is mild, they stand leaning with both their arms upon tlie corn-field fence, and gravely consider whether they had best go and take a small heat at the hoe ; but generally find reasons to put it off until another time. Thus the}^ loiter away their lives, like Solomon's sluggard, with their arms across, and at the winding up of the year scarcely have bread enough to eat. To speak the truth, it is a thorough aversion to labor that makes people file off to North Carolina, where plenty and a warm sun confirm them in their disposition to laziness for their whole lives." "Every one does what seems best in his own eyes." He charges the government of North Carolina with encourag- ing the unneighborly policy of slieltering "runaway slaves, debtors and criminals," and makes merry at the lack of all religion in these borderers. He forgets that, as to many of them, his survey is to determine wliether they are in Virginia, Arahy the hlest, or in unsanctified Carolina! But the planters of Albemarle were neither robbers, rebels nor fanatics, notwithstanding the rough assertions of Governor Spottswood, Colonel Byrd, and others. Tliey were searchers for freedom of conscience, as well as quiet living and untram- meled political privileges ; a home, where non-conformity was no dishonor, and a "meeting-house" as sacred a temple of God as the lordliest cathedral of the lordliest ecclesiastic. Bancroft says, " Are there any who doubt man's capacity for self-govern- ment, let them study the history of North Carolina; its in- ha1)itants were restless and turbulent in their imperfect sub- mission to a government imposed on them from abroad; the administration of the colony was firm, humane and tranquil, when they were left to take care of themselves. Any govern- ment but one of their own institution was oppressive." George Fox, the distinguished father of the Quakers, testifies that he found the people " generally tender and open," and had made ITS SETTLERS. 11 among them "a little entrance for truth." Amid these sylvan scenes were growinji; in clearness and power those immortal principles which so sturdily stood forth from these peopled wastes in armed resistance to stamped paper in Wilmington, in the prompt capture of cannon before the governor's palace in New Bern, and in the formulated doctrines of the Mecklen- burg declaration. In March, 1GJ:3, the Virginia Assembly forbade all teaching or preaching not "conformable to the orders and constitutions of the Church of England, and the laws therein estal)lislied." Governor Berkley, in entire sympathy with the act, enforced it by proclamation. In his answer to inquiries of the commit- tee for the colonies, in June, 1671, he said, "We have forty- eight parishes, and our ministers are well paid, and by my consent would be better, if they would pray oftener and preach less; but as of all other commodities, so of this, tlie worst are sent us, and we have few that we can boast of, since the per- secution in Cromwell's tyranny drove divers worthy men hither. Yet I thank God there are no free schools, noi' pi'inting, and I hope we shall not have these hundred years ; for learning has h'Oiight disobedience and heresy and sects into the world, and printing has dividged them, and libels against the best govern- ment^'' Doubtless from Nansemond, Ya., where were many dissenters, there came individuals and squads as refugees and settlers, under the impulsion of adverse legislation.* But the earliest autlientic date of any settlement is 1662. In this year, George Durant, who had probably been banished from Nanse- mond, in 1648, by Governor Berkley, secured a grant from the Yeopim Indians of the tvvngue of land on the north side of Albemarle Sound, between Little River and the Perquimons, It is still known as "Durant's Neck." He stands the oldest landholder in Albemarle. Mr. Durant is said to have been a Scotch Presbyterian elder, a godly man in his congregation.^ Like a Scotchman, he brought his Geneva Bible with him; and • J. W. Campbell's Hist, of Ya., p. L'SG-'T. t Chas. Campbell's Hist, of Va. ; Scotch and Irish Seeds, 267 ; Bancroft's U. S. 12 NORTH CAROLINA. it is the first known to have been in Carolina, and is preserved as a precious relic in the Historical Society of North Carolina, at Chapel Hill. In 1663, George Cathmaid came with his emigrants, and the growth began. Yerj soon the Cape Fear settlements were securely established. The country between Albemarle and Clarendon, on the Cape Fear River, was more slowly occupied, the first settlers being the French Protestant refugees, who were Calvinists from the colony on James River, Va., and who located in Pamlico, near Bath, in 1690. In 1707, another colony of Huguenots settled on the Neuse and Trent rivers, in Craven County. John Lawson wrote his history in 1708. He was Surveyor- General of North Carolina, and travelled extensively over both Carolinas. He describes the country with enthusiasm, as "A delicious country, being placed in that girdle of the world which affords wine, oil, fruit, grain and silk, with other rich commodities, besides a sweet air, moderate climate and fertile soil — these are IJessings (under lieaven's protection) that spin out the thread of life to its utmost extent, and crown our days with the sweets of health and plenty, which, when joined with content, renders the possessors the happiest race of men on earth." After speaking of the failure of Sir Walter Raleigh's settlements, he says, " A second settlement of this country was made about fifty years ago, in that part w^e now call Albemarl County, and chiefly in Chuwon precinct, by several substantial farmers from Virginia and other plantations, who, finding mild winters, and a fertile soil beyond expectation, producing every- thing that was planted to a prodigious increase, their cattle, horses, sheep and swine breeding very fast, and passing the winter without any assistance from the planter, so that every- thing seemed to come by nature, the husbandman living almost void of care, and free from those fatigues which are absolutely requisite in winter countries, for providing fodder and other necessaries; these encouragements induced them to stand their lawson's testimony. 13 ground, althougli but a handful of people, seated at great dis- tances one from another, and amidst a vast number of Indians of different nations, who were then in Carolina. Neverthe- less, I say, the fame of this new discovered summer country spread through tlie neighboring colonics, and in a few years drew a considerable number of families thereto, Avho all found land enough to settle themselves in (had they been many thou- sands more), and that which was very good and commodiously seated, both for profit and pleasure. And indeed most of tlie plantations in Carolina enjoy a noble prospect of large and spacious rivers, pleasant savannahs and fine meadows, with their green liveries interwoven with beautiful flowers of most gorgeous colors, which the several seasons aflbrd, hedged in with pleasant groves of the ever famous tulip tree, the stately laurels and bays, equalizing the oak in bigness and growth, myrtles, jessamines, \voodbines, honeysuckles, and several other fragrant vines and evergreens, whose aspiring branches shadow and interweave themselves with the loftiest timbers, yielding a pleasant prospect, shade and smell, proper habitations for the sweet singing birds, that melodiously entertain such as travel through the woods of Carolina." Lawson says that it was remarkable as a particular provi- dence of God, handed down from heaven to these people, so irregularly settled, that they "continued the most free from the insults and barbarities of the Indians of any colony that ever yet was seated in America. And what may well be looked upon for as great a miracle, this is a place where no malefac- tors are found deserving death, or even a prison for debtors, there being no more than two persons, as far as I have been able to learn, ever suflered as criminals, although it has been a settlement near sixty years — one of whom was a Turk that committed murder, the other an old woman, for witchcraft. These, 'tis true, were on the stage and acted many years l)efore I knew the place." This does not seem to be a population of violent characters. These planters lived a free and easy life — were poor farmers, rejoicing in the exuberant and inexhausti- ble richness of the soil, yielding annually without any manur- 14 NORTH CAROLINA. ing — were "kind and hospitable to all that come to visit them, there being very few housekeepers but what live nobly, and give away more provisions to coasters and guests who come to see them than they expend amongst their own families." " As for those women that do not expose themselves to the weather, they are often very fair, and generally as well-featured as you shall see anywhere, and have very brisk and charming eyes, which sets them off to advantage. They marry very young, some at thirteen or fourteen ; and she that stays till twenty is reckoned a very indifferent character in that warm country. The women are very fruitful — most houses being full of little ones Many of the women manage canoes with great dexterity. They are ready to help their husbands in any ser- vile work, as planting, when the season of the weather requires expedition; pride seldom banishing good housewifery. The girls are not bred up to the wlieel and sewing only, but the dairy and the affairs of the house they are very well acquainted withal, so that you shall see them, whilst very young, manage their business with a great deal of conduct and alacrity. The children of both sexes are very docile, and learn anything with a great deal of ease and method; and those that have the ad- vantages of education write very good hands, and prove good accountants, which is most coveted, and, indeed, most neces- sary in these pai-ts. The young men are commonly of a bash- ful, sober behavior, few proving prodigals to consume what the industry of their parents has left them, but commonly improve it." The easy way of living in this new and plentiful country fostered negligence. Lawson writes, "The women are the most industrious sex in that place, and by their good house- wifery make a great deal of cloth of their own cotton, wool and flax, some of them keeping their families, though large, very decently appareled, both with linens and woollens, so that they have no occasion to run into the merchant's debt, or lay their money out in stores for clothing." The lands, too, were about one-fiftieth the price of those in Virginia and Maryland. So we are not surprised to read, "We have yearly abundance of strangers come among us, who chiefly strive to go southerly RELIGIOUS CONDITION. 15 to settle, because tliere is a vast tract of rich land betwixt the place we are seated in and Cape Fear, and upon that river, and' more southerly, which is inhabited by none but a few Indians,. who are at this time well affected towards the English, and very desirous of their coining to live among them." ..." And as- there is a free exercise of all persuasions amongst Christians, the Lords Proprietors to encourage ministers of the Church of England have given free land towards the maintenance of a church, and especially for the parish of St. Thomas, in Pamp- ticough."* The advantages of this colony were, in Mr. Law- son's opinion, largely above those of any other in many im- portant respects; and this could not be so reported to Lord Craven, Palatine and the Lords Proprietors, concerning a pro- vince, whose inhabitants were generally, or to any considerable degree, constituted of fugitives from justice, or other disrepu- table and disorderly persons. BcftQtous (totiCktttott^ The proprietary government, after sixty-six years of blun- dering misrule, was closed by sale to the Crown in 1729. The population of the province was scattered and small, amounting, perhaps, to 13,000. Scarcely a school existed in the colony. In 1709, Pev. Mr. Gordon wrote, "The people, indeed, are ig- norant, there being few that can read, and fewer write, even of their Justices of Peace and vestrymen." His field had been Perquimons, Chowan and Pasquotank. There were two or three rude Episcopal churches, and a few C^ualier meeting- houses, but not one clergyman living in 1729 in the "un- blessed" colony. On the Boundary Commission of 1728, there was a Virginia Chaplain, Pev. Peter Fontaine, an Episcopal minister,i' appointed partly that people on the frontiers of North Carolina might get themselves and children baptized. "There • LawBon'B Hist, of Carolina, pp. 109, 127, 13"), 14.S, 272, Ac. t An uncle of the author, removed four generatiouH backwardK. He was Rector of Westover Parish, Va. 16 NORTH CAROLINA. were Quakers in the lower end of Nansemond," said Colonel Byrd, "for want of ministers to pilot the people a decenter way to heaven." So when the chaplain "rubbed us up with a seasonable sermon, this was quite a new thing to our brethren of North Carolina, who live in a climate where no clergyman can breath, any more than spiders in Ireland." "For want of men in holy orders, both the members of the council and jus- tices of the peace are empowered by the laws of that country to marry all those who will not take one another's word ; but for the ceremony of christening their children, they trust that to chance. If a parson come in their way, they will crave a cast of his office, a,6 they call it, else they are content their offspring should remain as arrant pagans as themselves They have the least superstition of any people living. They do not know Sunday from any other day, any more than Kobinson Crusoe did, which would give them a great advantage were they given to be industrious. But they keep so many Sabbaths every week that their disregard of the seventh day has no manner of cruelty in it, either to servants or cattle." The religious aspect of the colony is further shown by " our chaplain taking a turn to Edenton, to preach the Gospel to the infidels there, and christen their children. He was accom- panied thither by Mr. Little, one of the Carolina commis- sioners, who, to show his regard for the Church, offered to treat him on the road to ?^fricai]. 2 26 NORTH CAROLINA. liament; and the avenues to office were closed to all but the dominant sect. This state of things existed until 1778, — a le- gislative fact strangely ignored in the voluminous collection of Cooper." A similar spirit was abroad in this province. Through the kindness of Col. W. L. Saunders, Secretary of State of North Carolina, I have carefully examined the advance (proof) sheets of tlie invaluable "Colonial Records," now in press under his care, as far as November, 1718. The records of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, addresses and memoi'ials to Parliament and to others, the minutes of the Chowan Vestries from 1701, Col. Pollock's letter-book, records of courts, and a vast variety of other heretofore hidden docu- ments, all confirm these statements. Here we get the exact date of the early and, perhaps, fii-st act of Assembly for estab- lishing religious worship, vestries, churches, and glebes, by public taxation, viz.: November 12, 1701."" An insight is ob- tained into the spirit and character of the colonists, and the working of the early Proprietary legislation before we liave public official records. The support for the clergy was both meagre and reluctant; often withheld. Their complaints were loud, lacking in grace, frequently bitter and unreasonable be- cause of their own conduct. One writes: "I never received the value of a Bushel of Corn since 1 was concerned here, but what 1 got by weddings. . . . The difficulties I have gone through are almost inexpressible, and one distemper or another, like the Thunder and Lightning, continually disturl)ing me." Another says: "I did once hope to have Pork and Bacon of my own, but shall not have a morsel save wheat I feed with In- dian Corn, which is very scarce with me. I have not enough to keep me with Bread six months — no Beef, Butter or Cheese, no fat to butter one nor make soap, no Tallow to make me a few candles, so that we shall have a tedious winter long and Dark nights, hungry bellies, and dirty linen. I have nothing to buy with, let one's wants be what they will ; swamp water goes down worse in Winter than in Summer. . . . 'Tis strange living when a man is continually cracking his Brains how to get a Belly full of meat." Again, "I have had no * Vol. i., 543. AN ESTABLISHED CHURCH. 27 Beef in my house these six months nor anything else save fat poriv and that ahnost gone. I got by chance a barrel which has been in salt 18 months; it is protitable victuals, a little goes a great way: I have no other eatables; Peas and Beans I am like to have some but neither Bacon or Butter to eat with them — Jovial living If I must linger out my days here I must have a couple of Negroes and a woman all born among the English, the woman used to house- work. .... I went this winter 7 times to the Church in the neighborhood (/ e that is four miles distance) and met not a congregation; so indifferent are our Gentry in their Religion they had rather never come to church tlian be obliged to pay me anything, they cannot endu;-e the thoughts of it."* Yet the Rev. William Gordon says himself, in 1709, that troubles arose from the "ill example and imprudent behaviour of the ministers." The Church of England was claimed emphatically and com- monly as established by law, and entitled to support by the general public. While some of these preaeliers of Proprietary days were good men, and did, or meant to do, a fair work in a hard field; yet the general impression about their labors, from extant documents, is not very favorable. They were im- pelled by a burning agony to l)aptize the children, that the people might be kept froni becoming heathens and infidels. One would almost infer that infant haptisiix was the prime ob- ject of Christ's mission on earth. Sharpest comment is made on the people's "obstinate aversion to god-fathers and god- mothers; neither sense nor reason could prevail with them." What reprol)ates! What reason could tliey give? "There- fore, in anywise will not have their children baptized others think nobody more fit than their parents; to tell them of the orders of the Church avails not they'll not hearken to the or- dinances of man l)ut will have expr^ess scnpture fur all they are to do or ohi>erveP This looks like the people were sensible, and that the preacher thought of something else more than of God's Word. Governor Eden, in 171G-'17, testified that tlie people '•^ are not so Hack as they have been painted^'' but would be * Vol. ii., 54, 248, 279, etc. 28 NORTH CABOLINA. found well enongli inclined 'if the ministers ''''are gentlemen of good lives and affable hehaviour and conversation.''^ Here was another proof that the majority of the population was opposed to the Established Church, as is positively declared in a formal address to the Parliament in England in 1705.* In Kowan County, about 1764-'5 probably, a petition was sent to the Governor, Council and Burgesses, in which " the pe- titioners complain, that his majesty's most dutiful and loyal sub- jects in this county, who adhere to the liturgy and profess the doctrines of the Church of England, as by law established, have not the privileges which the rubrick and canons of the Church allow and enjoin on all its members." They recite the fact that the inhabitants hold a "medlay of most of the religious tenets" in the world, and '■''from dread of sxibmitting to the na- tional Chnrch,^'' refuse to elect a lawful vestry, who will take the oaths; ^'■whence we can tiever expect the regular enlivening beams of the Holy Gospel to shine upon us^ So they pray for compulsion of this unwilling multitude, that the godly seed may get an Episcopal Church, under the provision of what William- son terms a " shameful law," (Vol. ii., 118,) and a system which Hawks characterizes as " infatuated folly," and kindling " the torch of discord" (ii., 506). Now, Williamson says, "There were thirty four subscribers to this petition; six oi them made their marks, and some of the other signatures are hardly legi- ble. Whe7i thirtyfour such persons could propose that six or seven hundred should be taxed for their accomm,odation, they certainly had need of the Gospel that teaches humility.^'' The largest supposition made by a recent historian t of Rowan County is, that the adherents of the Established Church may have been one-third of the whole population. Evidently Dr. Williamson, writing within a few years of the time when the petition was presented, did not estimate them as so many. Continual resistance was made to these acts. Appeals were sent to England, and time and again, after long delays, they were pronounced illegal, and quashed; but the attempts were ♦ Colonial Records, Vol. i., pp. 543, 559, 571, 601, 636-9, 714, 767, etc. tRumple's Eowan, p. 383 ; Williamson, ii., 258. AN ESTABLISHED CHUECH. 29 regularly renewed, and were even partially submitted to. How many churches, glebes and stipends were obtained in whole or in part, under this legislation, will, perhaps, never be known. Old records will disprove assertions that little was collected. Accidentally, I found the following record in the written min- utes of Craven County Court, June 20th, 1740 : "it was ordered that John Bryan Esq', receive the remaining jiart of the Levys laid for the church by the former vestry, and he gives Se- curetys, Col. Wilson and John Fonveille Jun' . in the sum of 500£ Prod money." A similar entry is made at September court following. The amount received is not given ; nor can it be ascertained how long the levy was continued here; but probably for years, as the Episcopal Church was not completed until near 1750, and there was no rector until about 1754. Sometimes there was no Episcopal preacher in the whole colony. In 1725, there was only one for eleven parishes ; there were only from seven to ten here altogether during tlie Proprietary period, and three of these did great harm to morals and religion; in 1704, there were only six to supply twenty-nine parishes, each embracing a whole county. From 1662 to 1775, only about fifty-two Epis- copal clergymen had ever been in North Carolina. Hardships and injustice, and in a few cases, perhaps, bodily sufferings, were thus inflicted on dissenters. This was not done by ecclesiastical courts, but by civil, under the laws of England, or of the Colonial Legislature ; illegal laws sometimes, but the fruit of churclily plans, desires and efforts. No spirit of perse- cution prevailed, but wrong ideas about the relation of Church and State, and true religious liberty. So, doubtless, the Colo- nial Estal)Hshment was always a mongrel affair, unsatisfactory to both churchmen and dissenters, and never complete. Governors were instructed to maintain the ecclesiastical au- thority of the Bishop of London. Even a school-master was required to have his license from the Bishop of London to teach geography, aritlnnetic and writing; and only in 1760 or 1770 ■was the law repealed which forbade Presbyterian minisster to 30 NOKTH CAROLINA. perform marriage ceremonies for members of their own flocks, though civil magistrates had been authorized so to do. I have found an original marriage license, issued by Governor Tryon, and illustrating the change in the law ; and give a copy of it on the opposite page. In England, Americans were told that, in spite of all tlie Pres^ byterian opposition, bishops would he settled in America. No wonder the people actually rejected tlie word " church" as odious, and substituted for it — as we shall see — the term "meeting- house," which is the consecrated name given by God himself to his tabernacle, where he promised to meet with his people. Of course, resistance was made to many of these regulations, and witli success, by the dissenting majority. After the "Revolu- tion, a portion of the property thus unjustly wrung out of the pockets of reluctant dissenters was, by appropriate legislation, rightly converted to public uses. This seems to be an accurate general summary of facts about the "Colonial Established Church." It is not intended to cast any reproach whatever upon the Episcopal Church of this day by a recital of the sad story of so much trouble, but merely to body forth the color and temper of those early formative days. Episcopalians stand now on the same platform with Presbyte- rians, Methodists, Baptists, and other churches, in repudiating church establishments in the United States, condenming these colonial schemes, and defending the doctrine of religious liberty and equality. Nevertheless, Presbyterian influence increased steadily, and became powerful, if not dominant, in North Carolina. This was, indeed, chiefly through that section of the State with which we are not at present particularly concerned. In the East, Presbyterianism has liad but few strong centres until recent times. But Sir Wm. Berkley, one of the proprietors, and the Governor of Virginia, in 1663, appointed William Drummond, an old-fashioned Scotch Presbyterian,* " a man of prudence and * Craighead's Scotch aud Irish Seeds in America, pp. 267, 319 ; Maclean's History of Princeton College. NORTH-CAROLINA, fF. ^J^ 'KJiT^L^ t4^a.i^i^n^ HIS EXCELLENCY WILLIAM TRYON, Efq. Captain-General, Governor and Corn- mander in Chief, in and over his Maj- efty's Province o{ North-Carolina, To any Orthodox MINISTER of the Church of Encrland, or for Want thereof, to any reg-ular Hcenced Minifter of the diffent- ing Presbyterian Clergy, or lawful Magiftrate within the fame. Greeting. BY Virtue of the Power and Authority to Me Given, as Governor and Commander in Chief, in and over this Province, (Certificate having been made to Me, by ^tanct^}. Jfaa/i, Clerk of £>ianae County Court, that the Bond as by Law required, hath been taken and filed by him in his Office) I DO hereby Allow, Admit, and Licence you, or any of you, to Celebrate and Solemnize the Rites of Matrimony between S^ov£. tyYac€ ^ %yf&atma K/mc?iau , and to join them together, as Man and Wife, in Holy Matrimony. GIVEN under my Hand and Seal at <^c//aVctou^d this SAl/i Day of ^tc/f/^ in the Year of our Lord 1769 and in the v^^ivZ/^Year of his Maj- efty's Reign. Note.— The name of "John Hawks" Bbould not appear on this document, with the Seal of Trj'on above. PRESBYTERIAN INFLUENCE. 3l popularity, deeply imbued with the passion for popular lib- erty," to be the lirst Governor of Albemarle. Dr. Briekell, whose history was published in Dublin in 1737, and includes his observations on the province from 1730 to 1737, refers to the Presbyterians as an important element then. Dr. Hawks testi- fies that the Presbyterians in Albemarle, though not numerous, ^^ had real religion atnid those without God i?i the world.'''' Their influence for good in every direction was most marked, and was combined with that of the Quakers in moulding the character of the infant State. Looking down on the other side of New Bern, along and East of the Cape Fear, we admire the uplift given to Carolina's fame by a healthy, robust, truth-lov- ing and liberty-loving Calvinistic faith. Passing over some years, a few notable facts will signalize the sweep, dignity, and worth of this influence. The Eastern Shore of Maryland was the cradle of American Presbyterianism. Rev. Francis Makemie, from the Presbytery of Laggan, near Londonderry, Ireland, was the apostolic Bishop who presided over and guided its young life, about 1683, at Snow Hill, Maryland. He was a hero fresh from the dragon- ades of the loyal churchman and incarnate fiend, Claverhouse. When the first Presbytery, tluit of Philadelphia, was organized, in 1705, four of its ministers were from this Eastern Shore, Mr. Makemie being one. In 1743, Kev. William Robinson, who was of Quaker stock, though himself a Presbyterian and a man of distinguished ability, was preaching in North Carolina. A supplication was made to the Synod of Philadelphia, in 1744, from Carolina, showing their desolate condition, and petitioning for help. Rev. Samuel Davies, the future President of Prince- ton College, speaks, in 1751, of the fewness and savage igno- rance of the inhabitants as causing Mr. Robinson much hard- ship, and robbing his visit of much success. But, in 1755, several ministers having spent some time among them in mis- sionary labors, whereas there had been hardly any appearance of pul)lic worship, the tide was changing; congregations were growing, and eager zeal was manifested to be supplied with Gospel ministers. Continual appointments were made by the 32 NORTH CAROLINA. Synods, then the supreme judicatories of the Church, for preach- ing in the Carolinas; and in several instances, New Bern, Wil- mington, and Edenton are specially designated as objective points to be visited and cared for. Messrs. C. Spencer, Lewis, Bay, Caldwell, C. T. Smith, McWhorter, Chestnut, and many others, were assigned to this mission from year to year.* On the Eno, a branch of the Neuse, a church was erected in 1736 on ground, the deed to which bears date 9th of George II. Out of Hanover Presbytery, which was constituted in 1758, and embraced North and South Carolina, was erected, in 1770, Orange Presbytery . Its seven original ministers were Hugh McAden, Henry Patillo, James Creswell, David Cald- well, Joseph Alexander, Hezekiah Balch, and Hezekiali James Balch. Mr. Patillo was a member of the Provincial Congress of North Carolina in 1775 ; was its Chaplain, and also the hon- ored Chairman of the body, in committee of the whole, in con- sidering arrangements for confederation. Mr. Caldwell was a member of the State Convention of 1776, which drew up the " Bill of Eights," and framed the constitution, and he was the reputed author of the Thirty-second Article, which declares, " That no person who shall deny the being of God, or the truth of the Protestant religion, or the divine authority of either the Old or New Testament, or who shall hold religious principles incompatible with the freedom and safety of the State, shall be capable of holding any office, or place of trust or profit, in the civil department within the State." This memorable document was drawn up by a convention in Charlotte, N. C. Its date, according to the best authorities, is 20th May, 1775. The town of Charlotte was pronounced by Lord Cornwallis ^HhehorneCs nest of North Carolina^ Bancroft says it was " the centre of the culture of that part of ♦Gillies' Hist. Col., pp. 432, 506; Records of Presbyterian Church, 173, 263; Webster's History of Presbyterian Church, 209, 2-t.o, 574; Hodge's Constitutional History, Vol. ii., 288; Bancroft's United States History, ii., 172, 181, etc. HUGH WILLIAMSON AND OTHERS. 33 the province." Here was " Queen's Museum," the most cele- brated seminary of learning, except William and Mary, south of Princeton. Its able president. Rev. Dr. McWhorter, and Dr. E. Brevard, were both graduates of Princeton. A few days before the Convention met, a political meeting assem- bled in this Presbyterian College, and entertained some re- solutions, presented by Dr. Ephraim Brevard. These were read to the convention, and referred to a committee, consisting of Dr. Brevard, Mr. Kennon and Pev. H. J. Balch, for revision; and when reported were adopted by a universal "aye," and constitute the immortal "Mecklenburg Declaration," of which Bancroft says, "The first voice publicly raised in America to dissolve all connection with Great Britain, came from the Scotch-Irish Preshyteriansi!'' It is remarkable that this famous convention was composed of one Presbyterian minister^ Mr. Balch^ nine Presbyterian ruling-elders^ and other persons who were all somehow connected with the seven Presbyterian congregations in Mecklenburg County. Another memorable fact is that, as late as July, 1YT5, a petition to the King of Great Britain was signed by every member of Congress, praying in humble terms, as British subjects, for redress of grievances, and declaring, "We have not raised armies with the ambitious design of separating from Great Britain, and es- tablishing independent States." And on Nov. 16th, 1775, the bearer to England of this congressional document, Pichard Penn, the grandson of the celebrated William Penn, and him- self an ex-governor, appeared before the House of Lords, and testified, that in his opinion "no design of independency had been formed by Congress." All lienor to North Carolina for the pronounced and vigorous spirit of liberty that had long been growing witliin her borders, and had its congenial home in the bosoms of her sturdy Calvinistic settlers. HuQtt iUUImmsou aiiCi (Olft